mission mural

mission mural, originally uploaded by miyarotstein.

No trip is complete...

We just returned from a fabulous weekend in Montreal- celebrating Netta's 30th Bday. We drove up for a quick trip which culminated in a snow bound weekend up in the laurentian mountains. There was a group of 13 driving up north, car trunks packed with food, drinks warm sweaters and woolen socks. We all met up at the Orange Julep on Decarie Blv to regroup before the 2 hour drive. I just couldn't help myself! I had to buy some Montreal frites...



Since we have not yet gotten our fill of winter here in New York (well not the snowy part at least) it was so beautiful and picturesquely Canadian to be completely surrounded by whiteness. Driving up to the cottage we drove by trees and fields covered in a thick quilt of deep fresh snow.

On Sunday, on our way back to Montreal, a van load of us drove to the snow tubing adventure mountain right outside of St. Sauver... barreling down a steep snowy mountain, 7 of us holding on to each other's inner tubes for dear life... what an amazing feeling to be flying over the snow...

Warm Tummy Part 2: Rice Balls and Rabe

As promised here is dinner idea #2.
On another famed trip to Fairway, we took a gamble on these delicious looking Italian rice balls with cheese. They are cooked rice, stuffed with Mozza and rolled in breadcrumbs, pan fried and dee-licious!
This simple winter meal should be made and eaten right away. The broccoli rabe will be the most time consuming step. Boil salted water in a pot. Drop in rabe (which has been trimmed of its rough stems) and boil for 5 minutes. As it is cooking, prepare a bowl of ice water in the sink. After the 5 minutes are up, drain rabe and plunge into cold water, shocking it and stopping its cooking. It should be bright green and beautiful. After warming the rice balls in a lightly oiled pan, heat up left over red sauce (from the previous post). Rabe should be drained out of the cold water, and thrown back into a hot olive-oiled pan with some garlic. heat and coat with olive oil garlic, toss and sprinkle with salt, pepper and some finely grated Parmesan or assiago. Arrange all parts on a plate and serve!

Cold Night, Warm Tummy Part 1: Pizza

Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of experimental dishes concocted in our Brooklyn kitchen. Most of the meals involved seasonal produce and a little inspiration from our local food coop (which as you know I am totally in love with). As I worked my usual shift today, I was dreaming of the next exciting meal...

Enjoy!


We found an organic, multi-grain pizza bread - vacuum packed and ready eat at the coop a few weeks ago. Inspired by amazing array of root vegetables, we decided to make a roasted vegie pizza.
First step: Cut up some beets (golden and classic red), turnips, parsnip, onions and garlic. Toss with olive oil, fresh or dry herbs (thyme, rosemary) and salt + pepper. roast in the oven at 375 degrees until fragrant and browned (about 40 minutes).
Second step: Prepare a simple red sauce (canned tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil, oregano, salt and pepper). If you have a simple pasta/pizza sauce from a can - well, i guess that's acceptable.

Once the sauce is ready and the vegies are finished roasting, it's time to assemble the pizza! You can make your own crust, buy one pre-packed like we did or use pita or roti bread.
We topped our pie with fresh mozzarella cheese (from the amazing Red Hook Fairway - see Red Hooker post archive...) and fresh basil leaves.
De-damned-licious.

Next yummy post will feature a rice balls, and broccoli rabe dish using leftover red sauce from the recipe above. Stay tuned!

hell-way subway

I think the reason why we New Yorkers feel completely drained, angry, frustrated, hostile and very aggressive on Monday mornings is probably because most of us have spent the past 45 minutes or longer pressed up against strange people, smelling foul morning breath and sweaty bodies wrapped in too tight winter coats and scarves. Watching passengers attempting to open their morning newspapers without whacking someone in the face, clamoring for a seat the moment another body peels itself off of the orange plastic bench as the train squeals into the station.
The subway commute, with its irritatingly cheerful "this is an important message from the New York City Police Department" messages, the lack of oxygen and the loud hacking phlegmy winter coughs and sneezes definitely make me question my ability to sustain this lifestyle for very much longer.
How do you deal with it? Maybe I should carry around a little flask in my bag and take an early morning shot to keep from being so damned irritated or maybe I should come in late to work and catch the later train...