5.31.2009

DINNER BY D







I've said this before and I'll say it again ... our friend D is amazing. Like ... seriously amazing. She makes incredible food whenever there's a special occasion and actually, even when there's not. She's awesome.

That said, she rolled out the red carpet again for Meena's birthday! Early birthday, mind you. Super early. Her birthday isn't until the 15th, but we're gone the next few weekends so we thought it best to gather before and not after.

Anyway, look at that stuff up there! There was quick Korean chicken, stuffed artichokes, hummus, homemade pasta with fresh peas, scallops over avocado and shrimp with tomato and corn and that amazing dessert with incredible cream and berries.

Perfect. Just perfect.

And we also consumed about 8 bottles of wine between D, Meena, Dan, Steve, Matt and myself. Probably the lion's share going in my direction based on the fogginess I felt the next morning, but that's beside the point, right? We had a great time for Meena's early birthday!

THANKS, D! And also her lovely assistant, Mr. Naddeo.

5.30.2009

SATURDAY LUNCH



I don't usually cover lunch on this thing but for some reason I had a photo of this and just figured I'd throw it up. I made a quick couple bites for us on Saturday afternoon while Meena was out running some errands.

I started on a quick salad:
- dressing (whole-grain mustard, olive oil, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar)
- campari tomatoes
- red onion
- mixed greens

And a pita pocket with tuna salad:
- whole wheat pita
- tuna
- garlic
- mayo
- apple and onion chutney (American Spoon Foods)
- red onion
- sea salt
- black pepper

The whole wheat pita was a bit grainy and rough, but the salad was nice. Both salads, actually. And there was even a little extra left over! Bonus.

GREEN PIZZA



After a long week (I know it was short, but when you cram all that work into a couple days, it gets intense), we just wanted to sit around Friday night. No dining out, no nothing. We just wanted to chill.

And the world's greatest chill food is a shrimp pizza. Weird. I know. But it's true.

Our pizza featured:
- shrimp
- spinach
- fresh mozzarella from Fairway
- marinara
- red onion
- bell pepper
- pizza dough
- olive oil
- sea salt
- black pepper

Oh boy. It was a pretty amazing Friday night effort. Not our best pizza to date - it was a little watery due to all the veg and I'm guessing the shrimp. But it was still quite nice and the crust got plump and airy around the edges. I like that. And I like weekends that start this way.

5.29.2009

STAYIN' HEALTHY



I think we're staying healthy. I think. We're trying to eat more fish, more salad, more stuff that won't make us fat and lazy and dumb. It's nice. And I think for the the most part, we're enjoying it quite a bit. I can't say it's completely different from how we normally eat. But you know. We're trying.

Anyway, last night Meena made up another nice salad:
- field greens
- campari tomatoes
- carrots
- bleu cheese
- dressing (garlic, sugar, rice vinegar, canola oil, soy sauce)

And when I finally got home, I threw together the steelhead we'd picked up at Fairway with a bit of olive oil and a tiny bit of Korean BBQ. We served the whole thing over some onions and spinach, also sauteed in a bit of the oil of the olive.

NICE!

This was our first adventure with steelhead and I think we were fairly please. It's a little lighter than salmon but similar in flavor. Meena's salad was top notch. No surprise there.

So it was a solid effort. I'm glad we're staying on track. I'm happy we're eating well. I'm happy we're figuring out ways to make eating well taste really good.

5.28.2009

FAST!



Dan and Steve were heading to Fairway to do a bit of grocery shopping last night and because they offered to let us tag a long, dinner time became condensed into a very small window between the time I got home from work and when the dudes arrived at our door.

The dinner was divided into two parts. First, Meena got started on some fried rice:
- brown rice
- broccoli
- carrot
- onion
- spinach
- egg
- soy sauce
- siraracha
- chicken broth

And when I got home, I tore into the salmon. I just cooked it with a bit of olive oil in the pan and dripped a few drops of Korean BBQ sauce on the crispy edges as it finished in a 500 degree oven.

Delicious. The salmon was cooked just right. Crisp on the outside and silky smooth on the inside. The fried rice was just perfect. That heat from the siraracha was light but very much present. It was the best I remember brown rice tasting since ... well, since it did with our shrimp stir fry, actually.

Anyway, we got it all done. We ate, made it to Fairway, stocked up and ... went to bed. BIG NIGHT!

5.27.2009

GETTING HEALTHY



Again, if you've read this blog over the years, you know that we, like most Americans, make a pledge to eat better off and on throughout the year. Well, it's one of those times again, folks!

Last night Meena got to work on some nice stir fry before I got home. She did all the prep and I just threw a few things in a pan and stirred. Here's what went in:
- stir fry sauce (sesame oil, corn starch, soy sauce, rice vinegar, siracha)
- broccoli
- onion
- garlic
- ginger
- shrimp
- brown rice
- spinach

Delicious. And ... pretty good for us! I think. I don't know. But lots of greens and veggies and seafood. And brown rice. Can't ask for much better than that, right?

Anyway, I hope the rest of this week looks similar. We'll do our best to cook stuff that won't kill us each night this week!

5.26.2009

BRING ON SUMMER














Another excellent trip back to the land of Hoosier. Those of you who read often know that going home for the race is a time honored tradition for me and missing it would be about the worst possible thing on the planet. Fortune was shining on me again this year and Meena and I went back for a couple days of Midwestern wonder, enlightenment and race cars.

And the food was pretty darn good, too.

We started things off on Thursday with a trip to Oakley's Bistro for lunch with the grandmothers. Meena and I both tried their tarts ... a bit of puffed pastry with various toppings and a small salad. I had salmon ... she had shrimp. Meena also started with a bit of their wild mushroom soup with truffled cream. The tarts were lovely but the soup may have been the winner. I felt like we could have used slightly more topping to balance out the dryness of the pastry. It was still delicious. Really delicious. Just sayin' is all.

Thursday night we had what was probably one of the best meals of the trip - BBQ chicken and mayo + mustard marinated asparagus on the grill. Perfection. It gets no more Indiana in the summer than that wonderful combo.

Friday afternoon we were treated to a bunch of deliciousness courtesy of Grant and Sara. Our most pregnant friends were kind enough to get us heaping portions of BBQ from a little spot in Westfield in addition to Sara's spicy cheese dip, cherries, salsa, chips, cole slaw and a terrific tomato salad. Man ... we're lucky to have friends like these.

Friday night was beef tenderloin, salad and mashed potatoes. Mom and Dad took care of the beef and the salad, the Amish of Indiana took care of the potatoes.

The beef tenderloin carried over into lunch the next day and that was just another lovely development in our weekend love affair with food. Some toasted asiago bagel and thinly sliced beef? That's lunch.

Saturday night we had a bit of a party and the grill was once again fired up to feed a small army. Dad made BBQ pork chops for the whole crew to go along with an Asian coleslaw and a handful of other delicious stuff Mom prepared to accompany. At this point you may think we would have had our fill of grilled meat but let me assure you this was very much not the case. We came to Indiana to eat from the grill and eat from the grill we did.

Sunday was, of course, the race. I drank beers liberally and devoured sandwiches with gusto. There's nothing quite like the race and there are few things more enjoyable than eating and drinking massive quantities of grub while it's all happening.

Sunday night we hit the Guggys for a post-race party filled with yellow birds, brats and a bit of scotch. And some slaw and some other stuff. Did I mention there were yellow birds and scotch? Anyway, Anne and John delivered another wonderful evening for massive crew.

Monday morning was our final breakfast and Dad once again delivered with some omelettes made to order. I had some pork, peppers and pepper jack cheese. Perfect.

Our final stop on the Indiana food circuit was the OG Jewish Deli in the Indianapolis metro area - Shapiro's. Meena hadn't ever been and it's just one of those places everyone who visits should try to hit at least once. But if you go once, there's probably a good chance you'll want to make a second visit at some point. It's just good food!

Meena had some beef brisket on a roll with mustard and mayo. I had peppered beef on rye with mustard. Man. I miss it already. I know Katz's is like ... the place. But for my money, it's Shapiro's every time.

So ... yeah. Sorry, long description. But it was a great trip and I wanted to try and get it mostly mapped out. Needless to say, we both miss home already. We've been back less than 24 hours and it's already a bit of a bummer. We miss it! But we had a great time and we're already looking forward to Thanksgiving!

5.19.2009

PIZZA, PIZZA



We’re becoming more and more savvy with this pizza business and I feel like this one might have been our best yet.  You heard me.  BEST. YET.

I think the time spend in the oven at 500 degrees was the real kicker here.  I went a little beyond what I would normally attempt after giving the  undressed crust a bit of heat prior to topping addition. 

Anyway, it was a great effort.  Here’s what we used:

- pizza dough

- balsamic chicken

- buffalo chicken sausage

- mushrooms

- red onion

- olive oil

- sea salt

- black pepper

- mozzarella

- chives

Pretty similar to the one we had on Saturday … but WAY better.  We probably need to find some new toppings, but … man.  I’m liking this.

 

Meena also whipped together a salad with the following:

- red onion

- dressing (canola, garlic, sea salt, pepper and rice vinegar)

- salami

- bleu cheese

Outstanding.

5.18.2009

DA WEEKEND






Well, it was a necessary weekend. We started out with a bang but I think the week finally caught up to me and I crashed Saturday morning. I was just beat. So ... from Saturday morning through Sunday night, I was just sitting around, friends. I think I left the house once. Maybe twice. And I just drank tea, had a few good eats and got better. So necessary.

Friday we started it off at Butcher Bay in the East Village. We'd heard a few good things so we stopped by. I'm guessing this will be our last trip to Butcher Bay.

We had:
- half dozen oysters
- hush puppies
- hamburger
- lobster roll

The oysters and the hamburger were both pretty good. The hush puppies were OK. The lobster roll was awful. It wasn't the worst ever ... but it's just one of those places we won't need to experience again. Sorry.

Saturday morning marked the beginning of the end and because I was so down and out, Meena took the reigns on our new fav breakfast. It featured:
- ciabatta
- smoked salmon
- red onion
- goat cheese
- cream cheese (for meena)
- chives

Delicious. I know you've seen it every week, but friends, it's the best.

Saturday night we were supposed to hit Lucali with James and D but because I was dead to the world, we just stayed in and made our own pizza. No Lucali but we're picking up steam, y'all. We're getting better and better each day. This one feature:
- pizza dough
- buffalo chicken sausage
- mushrooms
- onions
- marinara
- mozzarella
- sea salt
- black pepper
- chives

That crust was pretty awesome. Like I said ... we're getting the hang of this thing.

Sunday morning Meena knocked out another little Caputo's ciabatta joint. This time it was a nice little egg and cheese on that lovely, salty bread. It featured:
- egg
- cheddar
- sambal oelek
- ham

Mmmmmmmm. That's how I like to start day two of recovery. Operation "ALEC FEELS GOOD FOR THE RACE" was going just as planned.

Saturday night we threw together a little "15-minute" meal we saw in Bon Appetite. I'm not sure it took 15 minutes, but it was pretty solid. It featured:
- chicken (marinated in balsamic, sea salt, black pepper, olive oil and cayenne pepper)
- bleu cheese

I also threw in a salad that featured:
- mixed field greens
- red onion
- goat cheese
- olive oil
- sea salt
- black pepper
- rice vinegar

I think I used too much bleu cheese on the chicken, but ... now I know. It was good, no doubt, but I could have used less. The chicken was SOLID. I loved that. I had the butcher butterfly out our chicken breasts and the thin little slivers really soaked up that marinade and just burst with flavor in every bite. Nice. I like it. I love it.

The other coup of this meal was the fact that Meena enjoyed the goat cheese in the salad. It mixed through to all greens and she was into it. It's always a big deal when I can get her on board with ingredients I love.

Anyway, that was the weekend. Boring ... but necessary to my recovery.

5.15.2009

MAN, I'M SORRY





It's been such a long week. So many things to do at work. I really wanted to cook. I really did. But it was not to be. Man, I'm sorry.

Last night Meena called in some Bombay Dream because ... we hadn't in a while. Why not?

Meena had:
- fish pakora
- chicken tiki masala

Alec had:
- lamb vindaloo
- chiken tika

I think we've mentioned this before but Bombay Dream is no Baluchi's. And that's fine. I just wanted to put them on the Indian scale. Baluchi's is a 9-ish. Bombay Dream is probably a 7-ish. Maybe 7.5-ish. It's good. Not great, but pretty darn good on a stressed out Thursday night.

5.14.2009

IT DIDN'T HAPPEN



Well, I wanted to cook but work wasn't having it. I got home 2 minutes before LOST started and there just wasn't any way I was going to step away from that to fire up the kitchen.

Cube 63 it was.

Meena had:
- cube 63 roll
- bahama mama roll
- shrimp shumai

Alec had:
- miso soup
- seaweed salad
- spicy tuna
- part of meena's bahama mama

Nothing too exciting but the food was spot on. Cube 63 typically is spot on. They just don't mess around. I know Meena wasn't a big fan of that bahama mama, but I thought it was OK. A little weird. But OK.

5.13.2009

REMEMBER THE THAI




I'd like to say we'll cook tonight, but I don't know. Big LOST night. So it would be nice. But who knows. I'm not making any promises.

I got home late again last night so Meena just went ahead and called Joya. Totally fine. I stuck with the standard but Meena enjoyed some new favorites.

Meena had:
- phang nga chicken curry
- woon sen with shrimp

Alec had:
- pork salad

All of the above came in way better than normal. Why? No clue. But we weren't complaining. The pork salad had a lovely smoky flavor. Like the pork had been grilled outside at a backyard bbq or something. I'm sure it wasn't, but it was nice to think about.

Meena said the same. The curry was rich and spicy and sweet. The woon sen was spicy and bursting with that caramelized punch. So awesome.

5.12.2009

AT LEAST THERE IS ZAYTOONS




Monday was another awful start to the work week so we figured, why not just order some delicious delivery? Why not make things right by allowing ourselves the delights of Zaytoons? Why suffer when a world of taste is only a phone call away?

I'll stop. But you get it. We were tired so we called our friends.

Meena had:
- chicken shawarma sandwich

Alec had:
- combo plate with hummus, babaganoosh, fatoosh salad, grape leaves, and cucumber yogurt

All was well. I ordered zaytoons mix and not the grape leaves, but whatever. I didn't need it anyway.

Onward and upward.

5.11.2009

BIRTHDAY PARTY



Sunday was a day we’d been waiting on for quite some time. It was to be James’ big surprise birthday party in Prospect Park and cooking (none by me) and preparation (some by me though admittedly very little) had been underway for weeks.

The payoff was amazing.

James was sufficiently duped and the whole thing came as a giant, friend and family filled surprise. The weather was amazing and as you can see, the food was both plentiful and exceedingly delicious. Just what you’d expect from Diana’s lovely mother.

I can’t remember much of the stuff featured in the spread. Not solid details. But I remember lovely pasta, pasta salad, cheese, nicoise salad, crackers, roast beef, chicken, caesar salad, olives, tuna salad, eggs, cupcakes, brownies, taco dip, cookies … man. The list goes on.

Happy early birthday to James. What do you say we do it again next year? Or maybe even next week?

WE'LL TAKE CARE OF IT


Because the bagel shop around here never seems to have any of the baked salmon salad they list on their menu, we figured we'd just take care of it.

While our salmon was cooking Saturday night, we threw some extra in the oven to get it baked up and ready to be flaked up for the salad.

Once it came from the oven, I threw the following together:
- salmon
- truffled salt
- light mayo
- black pepper

That's it. On a Caputo's ciabatta with some red onion ... oh boy. Maybe we'll just keep on doing this from now on. I'm not sure the bagel shops are even necessary any longer.

Just kidding. But it was pretty good!

5.10.2009

SATURDAY SALMON



Meena and I picked up a bit of salmon on Saturday afternoon and we put it to good use for dinner later that evening.

Meena whipped up a little salad featuring:
- mixed field greens
- carrots
- bleu cheese
- red onion
- cucumber
- dressing (canola oil, rice wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, garlic, sea salt, sugar, black pepper)

Delicious.

I got moving on a bit of bbq for the salmon. It featured:
- brown sugar
- honey
- sambal oelek
- sesame oil
- sea salt
- soy sauce
- fish sauce
- ketchup

All that was whipped together and generously applied to the salmon that I had grilling on the stove. I finished each fillet off in the oven and let the sugars in that sauce really thicken and adhere to each and every crack in the fish.

In the end ... boy. Boy oh, boy. The fish was just perfect. Perfectly cooked and so full of caramelized, bbq flavor.

Oh, what a night. Oh .... what a night.

A NEW STAPLE



I think this one is going to become a staple. Meena said she's going to start requesting it the moment we wake up. I have no problem with this because a) I love it and b) it only requires two quick stops outside of the house - Caputo's and the organic grocery.

This one is simple. All I include is:
- goat cheese (for me)
- cream cheese (for Meena's)
- smoked salmon
- ciabatta
- chives
- red onion
- truffled salt
- black pepper

This one is just the perfect little Saturday morning breakfast. Perfect.

5.09.2009

TARTINE!




Meena and I had the wonderful opportunity to join Dan in our old hood for a delicious Friday night dinner at Tartine. We picked up a couple bottles of Rose, tucked ourselves into a diminutive little corner of the West Village's famed BYOB and proceeded to nibble some delicious treats and get a little drunk.

Both Dan and Meena had the classic:
- sauteed chicken with frites

Alec had:
- pissaldiere with goat cheese and anchovy

Pretty incredible food as always. Meena said her sauteed chicken had an abundance of tartness not normally found in this classic, but she was still a fan. My pissaldiere was perfect. Just as good as always .... maybe even better.

At any rate, it was an amazing night. Great food, great rose, fantastic.

5.08.2009

EAT AND RUN



Last night we had a few special guests in the house for some delivery and, in one case, some kicking back on the couch. James and D ran by because there was a little show in the neighborhood that he and I wanted to check out and Meena and D just wanted to chill.

And because James and I needed to run out early, we did two rounds of delivery. Round 1 was for James and me and we went with our friends at Zaytoons, naturally. James had:
- fatoosh salad
- chicken shawarma sandwich

Alec had:
- zaytoons mix
- shish kebab sandwich

Meena and D ended up calling in some Cube 63. Not sure what they had, but the review was good as always.

So it was a good night! Good show, good food and some hangin' out. Pretty good for a Thursday.

5.07.2009

FACE IT



I got home a little later last night but Meena was kind enough to run by the fish market and grab a bit of the fresh salmon for us. I just feel like it's better if we eat fish more often so ... yeah. That's all.

I didn't have any real plans last night, but Meena mentioned that we once made salmon burgers all the time back when we lived in the city. And she's right. We did. All the time. So given we've been digging up all sorts of our old favs as of late, we figured, why not the salmon burger?

I just threw the following in the processor:
- salmon
- garlic
- spinach
- soy sauce
- panko
- egg
- light mayo
- dijon mustard
- black pepper
- sambal oelek
- cucumber

Then I made up a little sauce for the top which wasn't really even a sauce ... it was just cucumber, black pepper and light sour cream. This sauce and a burger went over a whole wheat english muffin half and that was that.

Before I did any of this, Meena threw together one of her stellar salads with the following:
- field greens
- spinach
- bleu cheese
- cherry tomato
- dressing (sugar, canola oil, garlic, truffled salt, red wine vinegar and rice wine vinegar)

The burgers were awesome. Normally we just try to get these together with good old knife work. Using the processor is clearly the way to go. Clean up is a little more annoying, but whatever. Blending all that stuff together properly is the only way to go. I'm not sure what I've been doing all these years.

Meena's salad was, as always, very excellent. She's mastered that dressing, folks.

Anyway, awesome dinner. And I have one left over for lunch!

5.06.2009

CINCO DE THAILAND



When Cinco de Mayo happens to be a disgusting, rainy, cold evening, how do you really celebrate?

You order Thai food?

I don't know. I guess that's probably not the best way of commemorating such an important holiday, but getting hammered in a divey Mexican restaurant probably isn't what the Mexicans of yore had in mind either.

Anyway, Meena had taco salad for lunch, so we just went with Thai. No biggie.

Meena had:
- pha ngan curry with chicken
- spicy noodles with shrimp

Alec had:
- a bit of meena's food
- pork salad

I picked at Meena's orders and I have to say - she did a fine job last night. The curry was spicy and sweet and just spectacular. The noodles were caramelized and spicy.

Awesome.

My pork salad, most importantly, actually showed up this time. That was great. And the taste was spot on, too!

So yeah. Weird Cinco de Mayo, but whatever. It was cold and nasty. We do what we want.

5.05.2009

BAKED SALMON FISH



I've probably noted this joke on the site before but I guess I'll do it again. Sometimes when we go to the bagel shop and Meena asks for baked salmon salad, the man behind the counter will ask in response, "baked salmon feeeeesh?" We're not laughing at his expense. We just love the way he says "feeeeeeeeeesh" with such enthusiasm. Anyway, that's why this post is called baked salmon fish. Now you know. And knowing ... I won't. You know.

Anyway, this one doesn't look all that spectacular. I'll have to work on that part. I feel like I've become OK at making grilled salmon look good on a plate. I'll need to do something about keeping the baked version from looking totally yucky when presented.

This one was super easy. I just threw the salmon in the oven in a foil packet with:
- salmon
- dijon mustard
- olive oil
- truffled salt
- black pepper
- rice vinegar
- red onion
- garlic
- chili powder

That cooked away in the oven at 500 degrees for about 15 minutes. Maybe longer. I don't remember. I checked on it a few times.

While that was going, Meena made a nice salad:
- romaine
- dressing (sugar, vinegar, canola oil, pepper, sea salt and garlic)
- cherry tomato
- bleu cheese
- red onion

I topped the salmon off with a bit of dijon mustard mixed with low fat mayo, rice vinegar, black pepper and olive oil. Just to give it a little kick.

This one came out pretty well. Not only was it super easy, it was full of flavor. That dijon, garlic and vinegar really cooked into the salmon and gave each bite a ton of taste. The salmon, while I can't recall how long it languished in the oven, actually came out perfectly cooked. Not dry, not undercooked. I was pretty pleased with that part.

Anyway, this is the easiest thing ever. When we lived in the West & East Villages, we did this all the time. Baked fish was a staple for us. I'm not sure why we got away from it but I promise you, this one is going to make a massive comeback in the months to come.

5.04.2009

GONE FISHIN


We wanted to close the weekend out with a simple bit of fish and that's just what we did. I had picked up a bit of rainbow trout from the fish market the previous day and I read a recipe that seemed simple and featured only ingredients we had on hand. No extra shopping on a rainy day sounded perfect to me.

This little number went like this:
- trout rolled in cornmeal (also sea salt and chili powder)
- olive oil
- spinach
- garlic
- red onion
- pine nuts
- chipotle hot sauce

Simple. I think the fish ended up being just a bit too cornmealy. I should have probably cooked it a bit longer to make sure that the skin got super crisp. But whatever. There's always next time. I think there WILL be a next time, too. We liked this one. It didn't look amazing, but it was a good, light meal. I'm not sure I'd do the pine nuts next time. But other than that, this one is a winner.

FILLING IN THE GAPS




Meena was feeling a bit of the post-bachelorette party blues so I was left to fend for myself a bit yesterday afternoon. What to do when you're just making lunch and snacks for one (and later two, really. Meena was on board with the guac) .... grilled cheese, of course!

My grilled cheese went like this:
- cheddar
- goat cheese
- salami
- mustard
- sambal oelek

And then the guacamole came together once Meena was up and hanging out in front of the TV. It went like this:
- avocado
- cumin
- red onion
- tomato
- sea salt
- cayenne pepper
- lemon juice
- black pepper

Simple and lovely. With a couple tortilla chips, it's the best way to spend a Sunday afternoon.