Famous Fish and Salad

Jenny made me a really nice dinner one Friday. Some kind of white fish, roasted carrots with parsley and goat cheese and a salad of red leaf lettuce, cucumber, red onion and walnuts. A long time ago we had this conversation about how she likes food on the plainer side and I prefer stronger flavors. She remembered this and pulled out some pesto for the fish. I only took some because she offered it because I've matured! I like subtle tasting food. I've been thinking about Jenny's delicious and light meal. It inspired me to eat more fish and salad.
So I made miso salmon then put it over a watercress and orange salad. It's super easy to do. You just get some fish, thin some miso with water and spread it onto the fish. Then cook it. I once saw an Oprah show where Gwyenth Paltrow made miso fish because she was macrobiotic and Oprah made stink faces as they prepared it. For some stupid reason I always think of that show when I make fish with miso. Maybe Oprah would have liked the dish more if Gwennie chopped up some ginger and garlic and mixed that in for more flavors like I do. One day Brian and I were walking under the East Broadway bridge to get hand pulled noodles, and I accidentally bought like 5 lbs of ginger for a buck. We put them in our coat sleeves and pretended they were our hands all day. The point is, I put ginger in everything now and found it's easier to handle it if it's been frozen, it kind of slices off, just use a sharp knife and use more, the flavor seems weaker when frozen. Usually I wrap the fish in foil and throw it in the toaster oven, but I had a beer in the fridge that I never finished, so I cooked the fish in a pan with the beer. It made a nice sauce that served as a dressing for the salad.
Still, my favorite fish is fried fish, and there's nowhere better to get that than Famous Fish Market on 145th St. and St. Nicholas. I try to avoid taking the 145th St. express train because it stops right in front of Famous Fish and if that hole in the wall is empty, I'm so tempted to get fish and chips. It's only $5.50, and the portion is big about 6 pieces of fish. While the fries are on the soggy side, it's because they don't have time to double fry them since there's always a line. Especially on Good Friday. I think I waited 30-40 minutes that night! While in line, I asked the people in front and in back of me if they had ever tried Devin Fried Fish, just up the street on 147th and St. Nich's. Both women said no, this one is the best. The batter is just flour, salt and lots of pepper. The cook simply dredges it and dumps it into the fryer basket. In a few minutes, perfect fried fish is offered up onto the bar so you can put your tartar sauce, ketchup, mustard, hot sauce or lemon juice. I can't remember if there's malt vinegar, I don't think so. Then they wrap the the package in white paper, stick it in a brown bag and then a black plastic bag to keep the heat in. Paired with a salad to even out the fat content, it's a perfect meal. I know, it's fried it can't be that light, but it really tastes light. It's not greasy and because it's fried so quickly, there's not as much fat. Right?

Easter Eggs, Fierce Food, and Maple Sap

I'm reading a fun little book called Fierce Food by Christa Weil. It's an alphabetized list of exotic foods like armadillo, blubber, and yuba (some kind of tofu? I haven't gotten that far) At first I was wondering why there weren't any photos, then I realized it's better with the classy half tone illustrations. It would be full of wacky images like the one I snapped a couple of weeks ago somewhere in Chinatown. Those yolks could be Balut, 16 day old duck embryos, as described in Fierce Food.
Weil matter-of-factly delivers food facts like, “Gelatin is, essentially, the glue that holds the skin and bones together.” Regarding corn smut(huitlacoche—a mushroom tasting fungus that grows on corn)the closing passage on p62 cracked me up:
“In an attempt to deflect attention from huitlachoche's dubious appearance and smutty origins, promoters have dubbed it Mexican truffle, Aztec caviar, or maize mushroom. Please. If we must use nicknames let's stick to black excrement, in honor of pre-Hispanic farmers who knew good shit when they saw it.”
While reading it on the subway, I missed two stops. It's perfect for the subway or Sunday morning on the can. Happy Easter, Dad!
Here's my entry for Fierce Food: while running errands, I saw that one of the maple syrup farmers at the Green Market was selling an item that I've never seen before. Maple sap! For a buck, I got a small cup of what looked like water. Surprisingly, or not, it actually tasted like water, too. You would think that it would be sweet, but no. Without concentrating the tree juice with heat, you can't taste the sweet. When I said it was the blood of the maple tree, Ted corrected me and said it was more likely the pee of the tree.
Perhaps, but blood has more nutrients and sap must have minerals and obviously sugars that feed the tree. If I were a marketing person, I'd call them electrolytes. Let's note it now, maple sap will be the next sports drink. Right now, the Coconut Water people are shaking in their shells.

Frank & Beans, but not at The Smith

After veggie dimsum with the Moxie Firecrackers on Saturday, CP and I paired off to check out the Michel Gondry stuff at Deitch Projects. There were tons of people playing with the sets and props from Be Kind Rewind. We always have fun at that gallery. Remember this?
Apparently, I've never blogged about veggie dim sum. I know I have pictures from there, but eh, the time has passed. If you've never eaten there, then call me and we'll go. Instead, here are some pictures of brunch the last time we ate together at the Smith. Not be confused with Smith's. It's a newish bistro place like Schiller's or about a million other places in the East Village, but this place is right across from the Loews movie theater and sort of near the Union Square subway stop.So it's a good place to meet up when you're hankering for an East Village brunch. Typical EV brunch is pretty decent food, a watery drink, watery coffee, nice decor and a loud atmosphere for 15 bucks or so. The Smith is no different. The food was generally good. I ordered the country breakfast which was cheese grits, ham, biscuit and gravy. I could have done without the gravy—it didn't add anything in flavor to the food. It just sat thick and beige as it sogged up the bottom of my biscuit. Maybe it was that pasty so it would be easier to wipe off of the ham. This was heavy hang over food, but I wasn't hung over so I just felt bloated with all those grits and champagne bubbles in me. CP got the Potato waffle which didn't contain potato chunks or shreds like a potato pancake, but was a nice savory change of pace. JP got the eggs benedict. I have to say, service was fine, we got a bunch of bottles of tap water without even asking, that's unusual. But I remember feeling kind of rushed, which isn't unusual at such a busy place. It was so loud in there, I didn't want to stay that long. That's it regarding the Smith.
Back to Saturday. We also hit the other Deitch Projects at 76 Grand St. The main installation by Tim Noble and Sue Webster was um, you know. I really like the flyer for the show — great use of metallic ink! This piece was actually very exciting to watch because Carissa didn't believe me that I thought I saw something coming out of the can.

Tofu Lady at Grand St.

Without the subway, I would be so out of it. Due to the advertising everywhere, I see what's being pushed by the networks on tv (the new animal planet logo is stupid!), or release dates for movies (can't wait to see Stop Loss on March 28). This morning on the subway, there was a huge swarm of kids wearing green mad hatter caps and teeshirts that said "I shamrock beer." I forgot that it was St. Patrick's Day. All I could think about was, I wish I could eat dinner at mom's because she'll make corned beef and cabbage tonight. Then I struggled with the metro card machine. Not only have the prices increased, but my credit card wasn't swiping.
Anyway, without the subway, I never would have noticed my current food obsession. Outside of the D train stop at Grand St, there's a woman literally wearing several hats (well, in the winter) who sells hot fresh tofu. Cut into long rectangles, the firmer stuff sells for a buck for 2 long blocks. It's great because it's fresh and it's not stored in that gross water like at the grocery store. But what I'm crazy about is the silken tofu that she sells from a huge pot in a grocery cart. When she slides off the lid, the steam hits your face as she quickly spoons out either a small (1.25) or large (2.00) soup tub size, dumps a little container of sugar syrup and a spoon into a plastic bag and shoves you away. Seriously, she's really fast and kind of stern. I haven't bothered taking her picture because I know she'd get pissed. Her daughter has a more gentle disposition, but I've only seen her twice on the weekend.
Martha Stewart went to another soft tofu place on Mott St. years ago and I remember her saying something like, "Oh, it's like creme caramel" or something fancy like that. I got the impression she didn't really like it, but who can tell. I'm sure she craved it when she was in the slammer. The consistency is sort of creamy like flan, but the taste is really plain. Some people complain soybean products are beany, but with the syrup, it's not an issue. It's simply comfort food. On a cold day, there's nothing better than the smooth warmth going down. It'd be great on a sore throat because you don't even have to chew it, you can just kind of inhale it and it's got to be so nutritious. Check out the link for the other tofu place. The photos are great. I prefer the tofu lady's product, though. She is able to sell for cheaper (no rent!) and I've been reusing the same tub. The tofu man on Mott St. uses styrofoam, but he also sells soymilk which is great in coffee.

Free as a Bird

So I'm done with the last job and here's my parting shot. There are lots of things to blog, but I'm in tax hell, so you, my anonymous reader will just have to wait. Or just call me and we can get together. Since I'm not working, I'm all about catch up socializing.

Real Genius

AtomFilms.com: Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | Comedy Central

Have you seen this short film that reenacts war using food? It's awesome! The sound design is great, the animation terrific. I like it so much, I want to eat it.