Last month I had the opportunity to dine at Alexander's Steakhouse, an amazing steakhouse that recently received its first Michelin star. As much as I enjoy food, I can count on one hand the number of Michelin-rated restaurants that I've eaten at because they tend to be very expensive and hard to get a reservation. Luckily, I knew someone who had an "in" at Alexander's and so I was able to finally eat there. Given that it's a nicer restaurant, I did not feel comfortable taking pictures of the dishes I ate so all I can do is list the information here (based on memory, which may be deficient). Lest you all wonder if I've developed the appetite of an NFL linebacker, I went with a party of 5 people and we shared most of the items below:
Starter course
Hamachi shots - truffled ponzu sauce, chili, avocado, frizzled ginger, cilantro greens
Palate Cleanser
Shot of creamy truffle soup
Main Course
10 oz filet mignon - tarragon-mustard beurre blanc, demi-glace
Truffled french fries - white truffle oil, parmesan potato purée
Mac 'N Cheese - white truffle oil
Creamed Spinach - feta cheese, crisp filo
Potatoes Au Gratin
Palate Cleanser
Fruit sorbet
Dessert
Lemon Chamomile herbal tea
Housemade cotton candy - bubble gum flavor
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Potato Leek Soup
Even though I now live in a place where it doesn't really turn that cold in the fall/winter, my psyche still craves soup this time of year. I've always enjoyed ordering potato leek soup at restaurants so when I came across Ina Garten's (aka The Barefoot Contessa) roasted potato leek soup recipe, I figured it was worth a try because vegetables taste better roasted.
I didn't have enough chicken stock (not broth, stock) on hand to make an entire recipe (plus, I'm not feeding a family of 10) so I halved the recipe. One tip when working with leeks, make sure that you thoroughly clean them of all the dirt/sand, otherwise your soup will end up gritty. The easiest way I've found to clean leaks is to cut the dark green stalk off (it's too tough to eat anyway) and then cut from the white end to the green end lengthwise. Then roll the stock a half turn and make another cut lengthwise. When you're done, you should end up with a small part of the white stalk that isn't cut and then 4 even portions of the stock sort of splaying out from there, like this:
This way, when you run the stalk under water, you can spread out the four portions and really get in between the layers.
Here's the potatoes and leeks in the roasting pan:
The recipe calls for the use of a sheet pan but I didn't have one that would have been large enough to fit all the ingredients and so I used a roasting pan. When I make this again, I will use a sheet pan because the roasting pan took longer to roast the vegetables and some of the thinner leek slices burned before the rest of the potatoes were done. I'm guessing this is because the sides of the roasting pan are higher than a sheet pan, thereby preventing the air in the oven from circulating over the pan as easily as it would with a sheet pan.
Here are the roasted veggies with the white wine and chicken stock to deglaze the pan:
The recipe called for blending the vegetables in batches and then transferring them to a dutch oven to finish cooking. However, since I don't have a blender and actually prefer to use my stick blender, I just dumped all the veggies and the juice into the dutch oven and blended them in the pot:
Here's a picture of the soup after adding the cream and creme fraiche:
I didn't have any shallots on hand so I skipped the steps to make crispy shallots. I finished my bowl off with some grated parmesan:
And ate it with some crusty bread:
I will definitely make this soup again, using the sheet pan and cooking the white wine out a little more in the deglazing step since my soup had a strong taste of wine. Still, this will go into my recipe box for the next time I'm craving a hearty soup when it's cold(er) outside.
I didn't have enough chicken stock (not broth, stock) on hand to make an entire recipe (plus, I'm not feeding a family of 10) so I halved the recipe. One tip when working with leeks, make sure that you thoroughly clean them of all the dirt/sand, otherwise your soup will end up gritty. The easiest way I've found to clean leaks is to cut the dark green stalk off (it's too tough to eat anyway) and then cut from the white end to the green end lengthwise. Then roll the stock a half turn and make another cut lengthwise. When you're done, you should end up with a small part of the white stalk that isn't cut and then 4 even portions of the stock sort of splaying out from there, like this:
This way, when you run the stalk under water, you can spread out the four portions and really get in between the layers.
Here's the potatoes and leeks in the roasting pan:
The recipe calls for the use of a sheet pan but I didn't have one that would have been large enough to fit all the ingredients and so I used a roasting pan. When I make this again, I will use a sheet pan because the roasting pan took longer to roast the vegetables and some of the thinner leek slices burned before the rest of the potatoes were done. I'm guessing this is because the sides of the roasting pan are higher than a sheet pan, thereby preventing the air in the oven from circulating over the pan as easily as it would with a sheet pan.
Here are the roasted veggies with the white wine and chicken stock to deglaze the pan:
The recipe called for blending the vegetables in batches and then transferring them to a dutch oven to finish cooking. However, since I don't have a blender and actually prefer to use my stick blender, I just dumped all the veggies and the juice into the dutch oven and blended them in the pot:
Here's a picture of the soup after adding the cream and creme fraiche:
I didn't have any shallots on hand so I skipped the steps to make crispy shallots. I finished my bowl off with some grated parmesan:
And ate it with some crusty bread:
I will definitely make this soup again, using the sheet pan and cooking the white wine out a little more in the deglazing step since my soup had a strong taste of wine. Still, this will go into my recipe box for the next time I'm craving a hearty soup when it's cold(er) outside.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Cuban food
I'm not quite sure how this happened but I've managed to go more than 30 years of my life without trying true Cuban cuisine. I finally managed to solve that problem a few days ago when I ate dinner at La Bodeguita Del Medio. The restaurant had been recommended to me by a friend and so when a few friends and I were looking for a new place to eat dinner, I suggested La Bodeguita. It's a small restaurant serving authentic Cuban food with a great menu. I love places that have a small menu because it makes it easy to pick something to eat and you know that every dish has to be good or it wouldn't make it onto the menu. The group started with the empanadas, which were recommended by our waiter. Here's a photo:
Our waiter also brought us some extra dipping sauces for our empanadas, my favorite sauce being a warm guava sauce with jalapenos.
I ordered the Arroz Con Pollo for my main dish, which I've been dying to try since I saw the dish featured on a food special. Here's a picture:
Although there were about 8 other dishes on the menu that I still want to try, I would absolutely order this dish again in a heartbeat. The chicken was so tender that it fell off the bone and the tomato sauce it was coated in was amazing. Add in the sweetness of the plaintains and the rice and each bite was perfectly balanced.
I finished off my meal with a blood orange sorbet which was ok, not spectacular. Still, I'll be going back to this place very soon because I can't wait to explore some more Cuban dishes!
Our waiter also brought us some extra dipping sauces for our empanadas, my favorite sauce being a warm guava sauce with jalapenos.
I ordered the Arroz Con Pollo for my main dish, which I've been dying to try since I saw the dish featured on a food special. Here's a picture:
Although there were about 8 other dishes on the menu that I still want to try, I would absolutely order this dish again in a heartbeat. The chicken was so tender that it fell off the bone and the tomato sauce it was coated in was amazing. Add in the sweetness of the plaintains and the rice and each bite was perfectly balanced.
I finished off my meal with a blood orange sorbet which was ok, not spectacular. Still, I'll be going back to this place very soon because I can't wait to explore some more Cuban dishes!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Butternut Squash Lasagna
The first time I ever made a bechamel sauce was as a part of this Butternut Squash Lasagna recipe. Turns out, knowing how to make a bechamel sauce is a good skill to have as it's the base for most alfredo sauces, souffles, macaroni and cheese and a part of this great recipe.
Here's the butternut squash, diced and ready to cook for 20 minutes until fork tender:
And after it's cooked and blended (has the consistency of good baby food):
One more thing about the butternut squash layer, the recipe calls for some crushed amaretti cookies. These are the italian equivalent of those super dry, crunchy, tasteless almond cookies that you sometimes see in Chinese restaurants. Most grocery stores carry the amaretti cookies if you want to add them, I never do and the recipe is just as good without them.
The bechamel sauce after it's cooked and thickened:
I know when the sauce is done when it coats the back of a spoon and keeps separate when a line is drawn down the back of the spoon:
Although the recipe calls for the use of a blender when adding the basil to the bechamel sauce, I've found that my immersion blender (aka stick blender) works better:
Here's the slightly cooled bechamel with the basil added:
The secret to this recipe is actually in the fact that it uses no-boil lasagna noodles. No more having to boil the noodles and keep them wet until you actually need them for the recipe. Here's the brand I use, just look for "No Boiling Required" on the label:
Here's the first layer of bechamel sauce on the bottom of the pan, it helps keep the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pan:
First layer of noodles. The recipe calls for 3 noodles but I sometimes squeeze in 4 in a layer and just overlap them:
Layer of the butternut squash sauce:
I use an offset spatula to spread the squash layer:
The cheese layer:
And the sauce layer:
Repeat the steps above as many times as you can with the bechamel, squash and noodles you have. Here's a picture of the layered lasagna before it goes into the oven:
The final product after it comes out of the oven:
The hardest part about this recipe is really all the prep work it takes to prepare the different sauces. Once you can master those, the assembly isn't bad and the end result is well worth all the work. Enjoy!
Here's the butternut squash, diced and ready to cook for 20 minutes until fork tender:
And after it's cooked and blended (has the consistency of good baby food):
One more thing about the butternut squash layer, the recipe calls for some crushed amaretti cookies. These are the italian equivalent of those super dry, crunchy, tasteless almond cookies that you sometimes see in Chinese restaurants. Most grocery stores carry the amaretti cookies if you want to add them, I never do and the recipe is just as good without them.
The bechamel sauce after it's cooked and thickened:
I know when the sauce is done when it coats the back of a spoon and keeps separate when a line is drawn down the back of the spoon:
Although the recipe calls for the use of a blender when adding the basil to the bechamel sauce, I've found that my immersion blender (aka stick blender) works better:
Here's the slightly cooled bechamel with the basil added:
The secret to this recipe is actually in the fact that it uses no-boil lasagna noodles. No more having to boil the noodles and keep them wet until you actually need them for the recipe. Here's the brand I use, just look for "No Boiling Required" on the label:
Here's the first layer of bechamel sauce on the bottom of the pan, it helps keep the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pan:
First layer of noodles. The recipe calls for 3 noodles but I sometimes squeeze in 4 in a layer and just overlap them:
Layer of the butternut squash sauce:
I use an offset spatula to spread the squash layer:
The cheese layer:
And the sauce layer:
Repeat the steps above as many times as you can with the bechamel, squash and noodles you have. Here's a picture of the layered lasagna before it goes into the oven:
The final product after it comes out of the oven:
The hardest part about this recipe is really all the prep work it takes to prepare the different sauces. Once you can master those, the assembly isn't bad and the end result is well worth all the work. Enjoy!
Crepes
I think people think I'm kidding when I tell them that my dream is to own a food truck that sells sweet and savory crepes. Reality is, I'm totally serious. If I'm going to make good on my dream, I figure that I need to master the art of making crepes before anyone will want to buy them from me (especially from a food truck). I've tried several recipes over the years and have not yet found "the one." In the meantime, it's fun to try out different recipes. Until I can get a crepe maker of my own:
I use a regular pan:
This batch was a fresh mango, nutella, homemade whipped cream crepe:
My search for a good crepe recipe continues. If any of you have a recommendation, leave it as a comment and I'll give it a try!
I use a regular pan:
This batch was a fresh mango, nutella, homemade whipped cream crepe:
My search for a good crepe recipe continues. If any of you have a recommendation, leave it as a comment and I'll give it a try!
Frozen Brownie Sundaes
I'm not ashamed to admit that a majority of the recipes I try come from one or two chefs on the Food Network. This one is no different, it's Giada De Laurentiis' recipe for Frozen Brownie Sundaes. I don't normally like recipes that waste food as part of their process (this one has you use only part of a brownie mix) but I was so intrigued by the recipe that I made an exception. Although the recipe takes awhile to make, it was well worth the wait.
Here is the brownie layer before cooking:
And after cooking:
For some reason, I forgot to take a picture of the ice cream layer. Since I was worried that the ice cream might melt too much if I didn't watch it, I ended up "softening" the ice cream in the microwave. 15 seconds in the microwave softened the frozen ice cream enough so that it was still frozen but easily spreadable.
After the ice cream layer re-froze overnight, it was time to make the chocolate layer. Although the recipe tells you to heat the cream in a pan and then add in the chocolate, I've never had much luck with heating the cream to the right temperature without burning it. So, I just used the double boiler method and it came out fine:
One other point on the chocolate layer - I made the chocolate layer as the recipe directed but found that it made for too thick of a layer on top of the ice cream than I would have preferred. Next time, I'll cut the chocolate layer recipe in half so that it's more to my liking.
Back into the freezer for an hour or so and it was ready to eat (thankfully, I was losing patience). I didn't have frozen strawberries on hand but my roommate had some fresh strawberries so I improvised and came up with a pretty good strawberry sauce. Here's the final product:
This dessert was tasty and, all things considered, not too hard to make. I probably won't make it all the time but it'll go into my repertoire for when I need to really impress.
Here is the brownie layer before cooking:
And after cooking:
For some reason, I forgot to take a picture of the ice cream layer. Since I was worried that the ice cream might melt too much if I didn't watch it, I ended up "softening" the ice cream in the microwave. 15 seconds in the microwave softened the frozen ice cream enough so that it was still frozen but easily spreadable.
After the ice cream layer re-froze overnight, it was time to make the chocolate layer. Although the recipe tells you to heat the cream in a pan and then add in the chocolate, I've never had much luck with heating the cream to the right temperature without burning it. So, I just used the double boiler method and it came out fine:
One other point on the chocolate layer - I made the chocolate layer as the recipe directed but found that it made for too thick of a layer on top of the ice cream than I would have preferred. Next time, I'll cut the chocolate layer recipe in half so that it's more to my liking.
Back into the freezer for an hour or so and it was ready to eat (thankfully, I was losing patience). I didn't have frozen strawberries on hand but my roommate had some fresh strawberries so I improvised and came up with a pretty good strawberry sauce. Here's the final product:
This dessert was tasty and, all things considered, not too hard to make. I probably won't make it all the time but it'll go into my repertoire for when I need to really impress.
Vermont Brownie Company - Part II
Last year I ordered some brownies from the Vermont Brownie Company for my mom for her birthday. I'd seen the two owners win a brownie throwdown against Bobby Flay and my mom said that the brownies I'd ordered her were delicious so put them on my list of things to try. A few weeks ago I got an email announcing one of their new flavors - peanut butter. There are only a few things that I like more than peanut butter with chocolate so I saw this as a sign that I was finally meant to try the brownies myself. I ordered a box and they arrived 3 days later:
Needless to say, they looked so appetizing that I had to try one right away:
The brownie was excellent although a little on the rich side. I ended up having to split it with my roommate but we were both satisfied. The all-natural peanut butter really makes a difference, it blends well with the rich chocolate.
Needless to say, they looked so appetizing that I had to try one right away:
The brownie was excellent although a little on the rich side. I ended up having to split it with my roommate but we were both satisfied. The all-natural peanut butter really makes a difference, it blends well with the rich chocolate.
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