Turkish Kitchen

One of the doctors I work with treats us producers to lunch every few months (a very, very generous gesture, as no one eats quite like TV/Radio folks!) This recent jaunt took us to Turkish Kitchen in Gramercy, not far from NYC's Curry Hill (which made me realize it's been FAR too long since I've had some good Indian food). We had a great time, filled up on amazing food, and enjoyed a glass or two of pinot noir!

Turkish Kitchen has a great lunch deal: appetizer and entrée for 9.95! I ordered the zucchini pancakes as an appetizer. First of all, they were GARGANTUAN, secondly, they were very much like the ones ABF and I order and share at Ayhan's Mediterranean Grill (tho Ayhan's are just a bit better). This is definitely large enough for 2 people to share. Definitely.

For my entrée, I got the 'vertically grilled sliced lamb' over a garlic yogurt tomato sauce. Holy YUM. I ate almost this entire plate. It helped that I hadn't eaten since breakfast, but still, oof-ah! Nice plate detail, no?--->

With our large group, we ended up ordering one of each dessert and sharing tastes of each, which is a much more waist-friendly way to go about it. My plate, from the top in clockwise order: Almond pudding, semolina cake, pistachio/shredded wheat-type cake, halvah, 1/2 a piece of baklavah, and a bit of rice pudding in the middle. Halvah is basically wedges of sesame seed & tahini. I have to say, the texture of halvah has always freaked me out. It's akin to eating malted milk balls for me, which is also equivalent to raking nails down a blackboard. Yeeeesh! The taste isn't too bad, but I'd rather have the almond pudding (almond being one of my favorite flavors in the whole wide wonderful world), which was sweet but not overly so, and soft, yet sprinkled with crunchy almond slivers throughout. The semolina cake just wasn't my cup of tea, either, so I left most of it on my plate. The rice pudding was good, but it just couldn't hold a candle, IMHO, to the almond.

And you can't end a meal at a Turkish restaurant with some intense Turkish coffee (served in beautiful demitasse cups). Wow--that stuff was potent, but also delicious. It was strong, but not too bitter. Just forceful enough to get you going and power through that potential food coma! Thanks, Doctor Marc, for such a wonderful treat!

Turkish Kitchen
386 3rd Avenue
New York, NY 10016
(212) 679-1810

Caldo Verde

My friend Laura told me a while back about this fabulous soup she made, Caldo Verde (recipe at bottom of post), which is also the national dish of Portugal. In Portugal, they use a specific type of cabbage. For for this stateside version, it's chock full of kale, a green which I KNOW is good for me yet can't manage to make myself eat. Until now. ;)

After work I went up to see Laura's apartment in Harlem and chill out for some movie time. We had planned just to snack on some wine and cheese, but she was putting together a pot of THE soup as well, and I got very excited. Not only was I going to get to taste THE soup, I'd get to see how to make it, from colorful start to delicious finish!

Laura used a recipe from Great Soups. When I arrived at Laura's welcoming, spacious apartment, she already had the veggies prepared: yellow and red peppers, white onion, and shallots (Laura & garlic do not get along). She also chopped up some baby bliss potatoes, cutting them in halves or quarters to achieve bite-size shapes. She added some olive oil to the bottom of her awesome Le Creuset pan and then poured in all the chopped veggies, which quickly set to sizzling and softening. It looked beautiful and smelled fantastic! We also added about 4 links of chorizo--yum! You could leave this out if you wanted to cut down on the fat (and some of the fabulous flavor, I think!) My job was to remove the chorizo from its casing and crumble it into bite-size pieces. I took that job quite seriously (chorizo shown pre-crumbling)!



After less than ten minutes, when the veggies were softening and the chorizo was cooking more, Laura poured in the chicken stock. The recipe calls for 5 cups of chicken stock, but Laura puts 8 in--she says it evaporates too quickly otherwise. I'd say go with her recommendation, because there was NOT a lot of broth, even with the 8 cups used!
Then it was time for the super-star ingredient: curly kale. I was really nervous about trying this, because the few times I've had kale (usually sautéed in olive oil), I found it too bitter and just didn't like it. I was game to give it another go, however, and watched expectantly as Laura piled an entire colander-full of it (about 6 cups) into the pot. I wasn't sure it would all fit, but it cooks down just like spinach, and in a matter of seconds, it was all mixed into the flavorful, bubbling broth.

Once you add the kale, it only cooks for another 3-4 minutes and it's ready to serve! I tried a bite and instantly loved it. No bitterness at all, just leafy goodness with still a little bit of bite/crunch to it. Laura thought it might have needed more salt, but I thought it was perfect as is. The kale gives it a very peppery bite, the veggies are delicious, and the soup is just very satisfying and scrumptious. It's hearty and filling without leaving you sluggish and stuffed. And it has so many ingredients that are so GOOD for you! me! Whatever! I ate the kale and liked it! Loved it!

I've already gone online to FreshDirect.com and added the ingredients to my cart. Looks like this soup will cost about 8 dollars to make (I already have homemade chicken stock in the freezer!) and should last me a few days! Kale is my new BFF. :)

Caldo Verde (adapted from Olga Broderick's "Great Soups" cookbook)
4 T olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
1 large shallot, minced
about 2 c. red bliss potatoes, quartered
7 oz. chorizo (casings removed), crumbled
8 cups chicken stock (recipe called for 5, we used 8)
Salt & freshly-ground pepper
6 1/2 cups curly kale, washed

Add oil to pan, cook onion, peppers & shallots about 10 minutes, until softened. Add the chorizo and cook a few more minutes until it starts sizzling. Add the stock and potatoes, seasonings, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and let simmer another 10-15 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Stir in curly kale and cook another 3-4 minutes. Taste to check seasoning, add more if needed. Ladle into bowls and drizzle swirl of olive oil on top, if desired. Serves 6-8 depending on bowl size and appetites. :)

Fro-yo Faceoff

A few years ago, Pinkberry stores started popping up all over Manhattan. I heard random strangers, TimeOut NY, you name it: everyone was abuzz about Pinkberry. Naturally, of course, this made me NOT want to try Pinkberry (what is that about me??), so it was only last summer that I finally tried it. It is pretty darn tasty. It's basically plain yogurt that is, well, frozen. Not the 'frozen yogurt' treat you may know that is mostly chemicals and non-dairy products. This is actual yogurt frozen, tangy and almost sour but also sweet. "Crackberry" is what many folks called it. I had it last year, then tried to forget I knew how delicious it was (because at almost 5 bucks a pop, it is NOT cheap).

Red Mango soon came onto the scene, trying to edge out Pinkberry in the fro-yo market. I just tried RM last week, when Jenezuela was here.

For both visits, I got the standard (as in, what I've ordered all 3 times I've been to Pinkberry in the last 16 months) plain yogurt with fresh mango and raspberries. Pinkberry was delicious as usual (I went with That Sara & her BF Mike, part of That Sara's tentative return to real food following surgery). Red Mango was also delicious, and even a little more puckery than Pinkberry, which I thought, at first, I would prefer.

But days later, I'm siding with Pinkberry. There's something about it that is just a little smoother. Honestly, this stuff is so refreshing and tangy that it needs no toppings at all. I'll TRY to do that next time I go, but those raspberries always suck me in somehow.

That's me, your trusty food blogger friend, reporting on trends a good solid 2 years after they hit the marketplace! Hope I haven't blown your minds. :)

For my NY-based readers: do you have a preference? Have you tried any of the other fro-yo places popping up all over the city?

Kingston's Clam Bar

This weekend, ABF (Awesome BoyFriend) & I hit up a seafood spot in Sayville, out in Long Island. We'd tried to go here once before, but they were already closed for the season. This time around we thought, it being Labor Day, there might be a long line, but we walked right in and got a table overlooking the water. (Speaking of, we also hit the beach on Labor Day and it was almost empty! Awesome, but weird!)

Kevin ordered the bread bowl of chowder, I ordered the house salad. The house salad was great--an interesting mix of greens, a scrumptious vinaigrette, and really fresh veggies. Kevin's 'bread bowl' was made of plastic. ;) I'm guessing they no longer offer the bread bowl?? It was also NOTHING like New England Clam Chowder (which is what the menu said). In fact, it was like nothing I've ever tasted before. It tasted more like a cream of mushroom soup with a few pieces of clam in it. ABF thought it was okay, but not great, and definitely not New England style (my favorite way to eat clams!)

There were a lot of delicious-sounding options, but once I saw the broiled seafood platter, I was down for that. It came with corn on the cob, french fries, or sweet potato fries. I asked for the corn on the cob, and then the server asked me if I wanted fries as well. I said "Oh, it comes with fries, too?" She said yes, so I ordered the SP fries (I found out later they charged 50 cents extra for the fries. Not extravagant, but hey, let a gal know. They were totally worth it, but I would have been just as happy with only the corn, and I just don't like surprise charges at the end of the meal). Kevin got the same platter, but fried. They each came with shrimp, flounder, scallops, and clams. My shrimp and clams were stuffed. The platters were quite a vast amount of food for not too terribly much money. Favorite parts first: the broiled flounder fillet was awesome. It was flakey and tender and not at all fishy. The corn on the cob was PERFECT--still crunchy but juicy, made even more fantastic with a dash of salt and some real butter. SUMMER!!!

ABF's shared some of his fried platter with me, too. I actually enjoyed the tartar sauce (not usually a fan), and the fried flounder was good. I also enjoyed the clam strips. The breading, however, was a little heavy. I agree with ABF, who commented that fried seafood should be beer-battered! For instance, a fried scallop was perfectly cooked, but the breading was so tough you had to chew through it to get to the goodness!

The sweet potato fries were one of my favorite things on my plate: you could still taste the sweet potato, and they weren't fried beyond belief. What we COULDN'T believe was what they serve with them! I saw a small container of what I assumed was honey-mustard sauce. I dislike honey-mustard sauce, so I set it aside, and ABF dipped one of his fries into it later. His face changed ever-so-slightly, and he said "That is NOT honey mustard." I tasted it and got smacked in the mouth with maple syrup flavor...but what was it in?? We asked our server, who then asked me, "Do you really want to know?" A bit scared, I said "Well, now you HAVE to tell me!" She explained that it's maple mayo. Um. NO. Do not want. Trust me on this--NO.

Overall, the food wasn't as seasoned as I'd like, so I added my own salt and lemon juice, but I would much rather have it that way than too salty. Overall, I'd say the food is just okay, not great. If you're in the area, it might be worth a try, but I wouldn't go out of your way. It is, however, a peaceful place to sit: you can just stare at the big, fancy boats, listen to the lapping water, and imagine yourself back out on the waves...instead of back at work (wahh-wahhh...sad trombone sound).

Kingston's Clam Bar
130 Atlantic Avenue
West Sayville, NY 11796
(631) 589-0888

Boqueria & Me: NOT a Love Story

I've opined before about how I think Sala 19 has the best Gambas al Ajillo in town (if you know of better, please tell me!!) I had a chance last week to pop by again when Jenezuela was in town, but life, sometimes she has tricks up her sleeve.

We walked up around 7 on a Thursday evening and put our name on the list. They told us it would be about 25 minutes, and I was okay with waiting because I knew the Gambas of the Angels would be around the corner. Time crept along, we waited outside, and I thought about the delicious gambas, how I would sop up the sauce with some crusty bread, how I would dream that night about garlic and oil and whatnot...

Laura mentioned that Boqueria was right down the street--mere steps away. She hopped over there to see if the wait was any shorter. I'd never been but had always been curious, so while I was reluctant to give up my Gambas, I was getting hungry enough to take some chances. Not big chances, but little ones. Laura came back quickly and said if all 5 of us were there, they could seat us in 5 minutes. I could live with those odds.

When we walked in the doors, the same hostess who quoted us the '5 minutes' directed us to a table at the bar where we could buy drinks until our table opened up. I ordered a glass of the special that night: peach sangria. At 10 dollars a glass (yipes!) I figured it had better be awesome. It was. What was NOT awesome, however, was the 25-minute wait that followed.

At one point, we saw a party of 4 (which I assume had reservations) show up at 725, saying "Sorry we're late." At this point, Jen's mom (who's hardly the brassy, rude type) walked up to the hostess and asked again how long it might be until our table came. She said "I can't give you a timeline, and I'm not going to rush people." Correct me if I'm wrong, dear readers, but wouldn't '5 minutes' qualify AS A TIMELINE? Ugh..I'm feeling ranty again. Jen's mom went on to mention that we'd left a restaurant 2 doors down where we had our names on the list--was the wait going to be so long that we should just go back? The hostess replied "You're certainly free to do so."

THAT is the point where I wanted to slap a 10 dollar bill on the table and leave. Why must I surround myself with such diplomatic people??? Here's the thing, Boqueria...we're in a recession, and that means I have hardly gone out at all this year. When I do, it had better count. And what I do NOT want is some flippant response from a hostess who's supposed to be giving a good first impression to potential customers. GAH. That really put a sour note on the evening for me. Lucky for Boqueria, their blistered peppers tossed in olive oil and sea salt were tasty enough to make me stop kvetching for about two seconds. Their gambas al ajillo, however, were disappointing for sure. My crankiness wasn't only to blame: the garlic wasn't strong enough, the shrimp were tiny and tasteless, and the dish just didn't hold a candle to the one at Sala 19. There. I said it. And now, days later, when my horror at the hostess's lack of tact has subsided, I stand by it. They just weren't that good. The peppers? Phenomenal. Gambas? El Meh.

Seeing as I was the most outraged of the group, I tried to tuck away my outrage for the sake of the evening. We were (eventually) seated in a corner table. Our server was great. She was attentive when we explained Jen's mom's egg allergy, she checked in on us, and she didn't walk away while we were still talking (something I've noticed a lot lately with servers--weird!). She was just great. A delightful counterbalance to Snippy McSnipperson at the front of the house.

We tried the chorizo and manchego cheese plate. It came with six or seven TINY dice-sized pieces of manchego, a decent serving of salty and satisfying chorizo, and assorted dried fruits, nuts. The manchego portion was almost laughable, but whaddya gonna do? I couldn't help comparing this place to Sala 19, and feeling that we got much more bang for the buck at the other place.

We also ordered the bacon-wrapped dates (which had slivered almonds inside--not a necessary touch to me, but still okay) along with albondigas (I'll figure out later how to put the accent over the 'o' in albondigas), which were meatballs made from lamb. These were tasty, and came plenty of the delicious sauce. The portions were VERY small, but the server was on top of it all, quick to let us know which ones would not be enough for our group of 5, and tacking on extra portions (for which we were charged, but I'm fine with that--at least there was enough for everyone!)as needed. We also ordered another batch of those blistered peppers because hello, nurse, they were OUTTA SIGHT.

We also got the must-try dish: patatas bravas. They're fried pieces of potato with a Tabasco-y sauce on top and a cooling swirl of cheese. YUM. Xunta, on 1st ave, has the best ones in town in my humble opinion, but these weren't too shabby, either. The portion on this was a bit bigger, and we ordered two of them. Know what we DIDN'T order again? The Gambas. :) To sum it up, I'd go back for the peach sangria and the blistered peppers, but I'd only come in if I had immediate seating at the bar...and it's gonna be a while before I pass up Boqueria for Sala 19 again. A lonnnng while.

Artisanal

So my friend Jenezuela is in town this week, and she stayed with me a few nights. I fed her many nights of leftovers from Recession Recipes. One night this past week, she treated me to dinner at Artisanal, a restaurant which has long since been on my 'List.'

Jen, her mom, and her friend Heather joined us for dinner. I ordered the prix fixe menu, which came first with this fabulous bacon and cheese tart. Bacon? Cheese? Oui, s'il vous plait! It was quite tasty, and came with mixed greens tossed in the lightest of vinaigrettes, my absolute favorite way to have salad. Jenezuela tried some of this as well.

Heather & I got the same entrée, the Arctic Char. I've actually never had this before, despite its many appearances on Top Chef, restaurant menus, magazines, etc. It reminded me a lot of salmon, but not as heavy; much lighter, flakier, and just plain delicious. It was perfectly cooked, with a crispy skin on top that I sampled but didn't choose to finish. It sat atop a bed of crisp-tender asparagus and a fava-bean "pesto." I ate absolutely every bite of this, and would go back and get it again. Smashing.

Jen's mom got the Chicken cooked under a brick, and it looked quite tasty. It came with a potato purée, and she seemed to really enjoy it.

Jen got the steak frites, with the hanger steak (they have 3 options for the meat). Hanger steak, as I've mentioned, is just not my favorite cut of meat, but I did try the frites and found them excellently seasoned and crispy.

My prix fixe meal came with dessert, and I opted for one of the few that will always catch my eye (and my appetite): the apple tart tatin. It actually didn't look anything like I expected it, but it was quite fantastic. The Calvados-infused whipped cream on the side was sacrilicious!

Heather chose the creme brulée and Jen's mom got the coconut sorbet--Jen got a sampling of each and seemed to like them all!

Overall, the food was fantastic. Our server was quite odd, though. He seemed a bit...annoyed? Harried? Fed up with life in general? We explained right off the bat that Jen's mom has an allergy to eggs. He seemed to take this seriously (you'd be surprised how many times I've had friends mention allergies only to have the staff roll their eyes or seem all-too-nonchalant about it) and said he'd alert the kitchen. While he was gone, someone brought us a bread basket. Jen's mom wasn't sure if it was safe to eat; I said I thought they might have, at the very least, egg washes (and I'm NOT a major bread-maker or consumer, so grain of salt here). She asked another staffer, and he said nope, no eggs, so she kept eating. Oh, the expression on our server's face when he saw her munching on some bread! He actually said "What are you DOING!?" and explained, in a super-patronizing way, that of COURSE bread has eggs in it. He went on to say "You don't eat anything unless I put it in front of you." Wow. I appreciate your attention, dude, but maybe ratchet down the tone a bit for your CUSTOMER. Oh, and pass that little tidbit on to the guy you WORK with who gave us the go-ahead. Sheesh. Note: Jen's mom was unharmed, btw.

Server's attitude aside, the food was excellent and well-prepared, and well-presented. I don't think I'll have to rush back anytime though..especially in this economy! I do appreciate Jen treating me tho...thanks, Jen!

Artisanal
2 Park Ave
New York, New York
(212) 725-8585