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...

Red Hookers, livin it up at the end of the world.

This past weekend, New York City experienced yet another out of body, bizzaro, non-winter weekend. In celebration of this Global Planetary Charring, we decided to venture out into the wild outlands of the borough, Red Hook.

Our afternoon began with a ride on the infamous B71, making our way down Union St. all the way to the BQE where the driver let us off at the last stop. We began the adventure on Columbia St. following our eyes and noses, we ventured in and out of some very interesting establishments. A memorable visit to DUB (Down Under Bakery) for a most delicious and inspiring veggie curry pie – a meat free version of the iconic meat pie (savory filling tucked away in crispy flakey pastry dough). The visit later inspired us to cook up a 3 tiered vegan Shepherds pie for dinner. Apparently, one small pie is just not enough.


We continued our walking up Columbia St., walking past a number of interesting bars and restaurants.
From Columbia, we found our way to the main strip, Van Brunt St. We were like those cartoon characters, caught in the drifting, wafting smell of bakery. There was a huge asterix drawn right beside the name, Baked. It didn’t take much to get us through the doors. Café, bakery, neighborhood chocolate center. We drooled over peanut butter brownies, mini cupcakes, scones and cookies. After having consumed way too many pastries before noon in one day, we thought we needed to cut ourselves off.

Some interesting things we noted on our walking tour:
1) Nativity Scenes are not only prevalent all over Brooklyn, but are amazingly intricate and way out there.

As we were walking towards the waterfront, we walked on Van Brunt on a pretty industrial stretch of road. We had to stop and take this picture of a spirited scene of the Holy Family and friends with giant cranes and towers gracing the background. Later in the afternoon, we walked by a house that had illuminated Jesus, Mary and Josephs complete with a “tv monitor” scrolling the Twin Towers and messages of world peace. Very inspiring.

2) We found the hidden lot where all the Mr. Softie Trucks hibernate over the long winter months. (Though this weekend, we could have used a melty Strawberry Shortcake ice cream bar to help us through the day…).


3) In spite of all the hype, Fairway Red Hook rocks. We sampled our way through lunch, I met Will, one of the owners of the joint who I recognized from the uptown Fairway. He gave me a very generous helping of imported French artisanal ginger chocolate. We came home with olives, snacks and very happy tummies.

Tune in next week as our borough travels continue....