Puttanesca Power

Yesterday, I ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon. With the race day forecast calling for hot and humid conditions and my training being nowhere near adequate, the best pre-race preparation I could do was to eat a carb-heavy meal that would power my ill-trained body through the race. I ended up making spaghetti puttanesca; a meal that was both carb-laden enough to give me energy for all 13.1 miles and salty enough to help me avoid cramps during the race. The result: a personal best half marathon time. Normally, I would take all of the credit for a great race, but this time all the credit goes to the puttanesca power.

Spaghetti Puttanesca
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. spaghetti
• kosher salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes in juice, crushed by hand
• 5 basil leaves
• 3 anchovy fillets, minced
• 1 1/2 tbsp. capers, drained
• 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. oregano
• Ground black peppercorns
• Parmesan cheese, grated for serving

Directions:

1. Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water according to directions on box.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about one minute.
3. Add tomatoes and juice, basil, anchovies, capers, olives, pepper flakes, and oregano. Simmer over medium-low heat until thickened, about 10 minutes. Add pepper to taste.
4. Drain pasta and toss with sauce. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Review: Bar Artisanal

My significant eater and I paid a recent visit to TriBeCa's Bar Artisanal, a newly opened small plates spinoff of Terrance Brennan's popular Artisanal Bistro.  Terrance Brennan himself was in the house the night we were there, increasing our expectations of the restaurant despite its very recent opening.  Despite the boss's presence, Bar Artisanal was a letdown.  

While I hesitate to criticize a restaurant's service when the it has not been open for very long, the poor service we experienced was inexcusable, especially given Chef Brennan's long experience with opening restaurants.  Walking into the spacious restaurant, we were seated at first in the back of the restaurant.  After being seated for a few minutes, the hostess came apologized and said she would have to move us to another table.  She was very gracious about it, but I was perplexed why we needed to be moved in the first place; the restaurant was half empty.  

The service woes continued.  After being seated at our new seat, our waiter took our drinks order.  We order a bottle of Malbec; it took nearly twenty minutes to arrive, after which our waiter promptly disappeared without taking our order.  The restaurant was still only half full, mind you.  Fortunately, as I was very hungry and frustrated, once our waiter took our order, food arrived in a timely manner.  Unfortunately, our waiter again disappeared when we were ready for our check; it took another thirty minutes for him to bring our check and take my credit card.  

After all of our frustrations with the service at Bar Artisanal, I wish I could say that the food overcame the front of the hourse issues.  Unfortunately the food was mediocre, which is a shame because the menu is a very exciting read.  With menu items such as "pork rillette spring rolls, rhubarb marmalade" and "soft shell crab, spicy iceberg, peanuts" you would think that the dishes at Bar Artisanal pack a big punch, but everything we tried read better on paper than it was on the plate.  Manchego beignets ($12) consisted of several fried cubes of cheese on skewers; expensive drunk food, if you ask me.  A duck pissaladiere with gizzard, confit, and foie gras was an excellent mix of flavors and the clear winner of the night, but not worth its $18 price tag.  Grilled octopus with chickpeas and pimenton oil ($12) did not pack the flavor I had hoped for, although the octopus was perfectly grilled.  A dessert of beignets was nicely done and better than its manchego sibling, but again, not crave-inducing.   

What irritated me most about Bar Artisanal is what bugs me about many restaurants that are jumping aboard the small plates bandwagon.  Opened as affordable dining options to give diners a way to continue dining out and still cope with the recession, they are anything but affordable.  After drinking a bottle of wine and ordering several dishes unsatisfying in both size and flavor, I could have eaten at Artisanal Bistro for less than what our meal at Bar Artisanal ended up costing.  And in the end, Bar Artisanal's large plates sibling would have been not only the better value, but the better overall experience.  

Bar Artisanal

268 West Broadway (at 6th Ave.)

New York, NY 

212.925.1600

Hake with Lemon, Chive, and Butter Sauce

Here's a perfect weekday dish that's so easy, it doesn't even need a recipe.  Just season a fillet of any white fish with salt and pepper, then dust both sides with Wondra flour.  Melt a mixture of butter and olive in a pan over medium-high heat, and sautee the fish for about three minutes a side.  Let the fish rest while you make the sauce: melt more butter with chopped chives, lemon rind, and lemon juice.  Spoon the sauce over the fish and serve.  In this case, I served the fish with sauteed broccoli rabe.  

Review: 'inoteca, vino, cucina e liquori bar

As a twenty-something living in Manhattan for over three years, I was probably just about the only person in my demographic who had never been to 'inoteca.  It was not for lack of interest; the never-ending crowds at the restaurant's Rivington Street outpost had me convinced that 'inoteca's wine list and Italian small plates menu were not to be missed.  However, despite it being on my restaurant radar for years, I never made it to 'inoteca, as making the long trek to the Lower East Side just to grab a panino and a Sangiovese never seemed worth it to me (but going to Chinatown for a banh mi and some water, on the other hand...).  So when the owners of 'inoteca converted their short-lived high-end Italian restaurant in Gramercy, Bar Milano, to the much-better-suited-for-the-times 'inoteca, I finally had my reason to give 'inoteca a try.  

The evening that my significant eater and I went to 'inoteca was particularly good weather, so we sat outside on the sidewalk seating along 24th Street.  I did not have much time inside the restaurant, but it is fairly large, and the ambiance seems similar to that of the its Lower East Side sibling.  The outdoor seating, while noisy with Third Avenue traffic, is on a great street corner for people watching; we ran into two separate friends walking down the street during my two hour dinner.  

While Italian small plates restaurants have become nearly as ubiquitous in New York as high-end Italian restaurants, 'inoteca, vino, cucina e liquori bar, as the Gramercy outpost is formally named, has a menu that strays from the cured meats, bruschetta, cheese, and esoteric Italian varietals formula of other restaurants in the same genre.  In addition to those standards, the liquori bar offers an extensive cocktail list, a holdover from the Bar Milano menu.  I have heard that the cocktails are well-made.  However, I am not much of a cocktail drinker, so I stuck to the well-priced and well-chosen wine list, ordering Lachryma Christi ("tears of Christ") del Vesuvio White from Mastroberardino, one of the top producers from the Campania region.  I thoroughly enjoyed this tart wine with a beautiful golden hue and will seek it out for home consumption.

The food menu from 'inoteca also goes beyond the standard Italian small plates menu.  While the menu offers the same panini, fritto, and larger plates as the Rivington Street outpost, it also contains a number of pastas and several spiedini (skewered meats).  Somewhat overwhelmed by the choices, my SE and I chose selections from three areas of the menu: calamari-shaped pasta with mussels in a tomato and saffron broth; a panino with spinach, fontina, mushrooms, and truffle oil; and chickpea fritters with cheese (fontina?) and mint.  All were delicious, going above and beyond our expectations with nuanced flavors and textures in each dish: the mint in the fritters, the meaty mushrooms in the panino, and the saffron in the mussels.  Our favorite plate was the pasta with mussels, which proved to be the perfect meal for sitting outside on a warm spring day.  Despite 'inoteca's small plates concept and fairly low priced menu, with the $16 pasta being $5 more expensive than the other dishes we ordered, the portion sizes were quite large, with three being more than enough to feed the two of us.  All too often in New York restaurants, a small plate dish consists of two minuscule bite-size portions, so it was nice to eat at a small plates restaurant that does not also offer a small value.

I should note that the service as 'inoteca is also very friendly.  Despite the restaurant being very crowded, our sever was patient and helped us navigate the borderline pretentious all-Italian menu (a short and incomplete glossary is provided with the menu).  Each of our plates arrived in separate, well-timed intervals.  

It took me years to finally make it to 'inoteca, and I went only after a more convenient location to my apartment opened.  While the food did not amaze me to the point of questioning why I never ventured to the Lower East Side 'inoteca, it was certainly a good enough value for me to hope to return to the Gramercy location soon.  

'inoteca, vino, cucina e liquori bar

323 Third Ave. (at 24th St.)

New York, NY 10010

212.683.3035

The Best Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Growing up, Duncan Hines' yellow cake was always my benchmark of cake success. Moist, full of flavor, and with a nice crumb, I had found no cake, homemade or out of a box, that could surpass Duncan's. Birthday after birthday, all that I requested was three layers of that perfect cake with chocolate frosting.

When my significant eater's birthday came around, I knew that it would be a great opportunity to attempt to beat Duncan at what he does best and bake the perfect homemade yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Knowing that Duncan had years and years of experience on me, I painstakingly researched recipes to find recipes for both the best yellow cake and the best chocolate icing. I required a cake that would be just as moist Duncan's and was also just as full of flavor. The icing had to be fluffy and rich, but not to sweet. After nearly a week of sugar-obsessed research, I decided upon this recipe from Carol Walters. For the icing, I chose Ina Garten's buttercream frosting.

The two recipes made components that came together to make what I can easily say was the best yellow cake I have ever tasted. The cake was wonderfully moist, an area where I find many homemade cakes to be lacking, and its flavor was full of butter and vanilla. Scharffen Berger chocolate kicked up with a bit of espresso powder and lots of butter made for a sinfully rich frosting. While Duncan Hines was the cake champion of my household for many years, I think I have him beat now.

Chicken Thighs with Panko and Parmesan Crust

A recent article in The New York Times about the universal popularity of Huy Fong brand sriracha sauce had me considering what is the most versatile ingredient in my kitchen. While my spice rack is full of items I find indispensable, and finding myself without garlic or onions has been the source of many last-minute trips to the grocery store, panko would be my answer to the "if you were on a desert island and had to cook a gourmet meal" question.  A well-cooked meal is about texture and taste, and panko provides both of those elements.  If on that dessert island, find a sizable local varmint, coat it in panko, then fry it up.  In the comforts of a studio apartment, chicken or scallops are nice substitutes.  For this dinner, I breaded some chicken thighs in panko supplemented with parmesan cheese.  I served it over some delicious--and not the least bit bitter-- swiss chard from Eckerton Hill Farms.

Chicken Thighs with Panko and Parmesan Crust

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb. chicken boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup panko
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• salt and pepper
• lemon wedges, for serving
  

Directions:

1. Heat butter and oil over medium-heat in a large skillet.
2. Meanwhile, mix panko and cheese on a large plate.
3. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Note: the cheese is salty, so only a few pinches of salt are necessary.
4. Dip chicken each chicken thigh into eggs, then panko and cheese mixture. Shake off excess panko.
5. Add chicken thighs to skillet and cook, about 4 minutes per side.
6. Serve with lemon wedges.

Flap Steak with Red Wine and Shallot Sauce

Ever since reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, I have been tempted to try grass-fed beef. After all, most of my diet consists of local, minimally processed foods, so grass-fed beef would be a logical addition. It's more nutritional and more environmentally-friendly than grain-fed beef, and the theory goes that grass-fed cows are happier since they're digestive systems are made for eating grass, not grain. However, critics say that grass beef is lacking in both flavor and texture to it's grain-fed brethren; plus it's more expensive. In supermarkets, most of the grass-fed beef I see has been shipped in from Australia, which defeats the Mr. Pollan's message to eat grass-fed beef. Taking all of this in mind, my home-cooked steaks have always been from grain-fed cows.

This past weekend, I finally decided to give grass-fed beef a try while passing the Grazin' Angus Acres stall at Union Square Greenmarket. Initially, I had only planned to purchase some of their amazing eggs. But then my eyes turned to the farm's core competency, grass-fed beef. If Grazin' Angus Acres' beef was only half as good as their eggs, I might finally jump onto the grass-fed bandwagon.

Not wanting to risk all of my Greenmarket budget on a piece of meat, my eyes wandered to the cheaper options that Grazin' Angus Acres had for sale: flank, skirt, and flap steak, all of which were in the respectable $13 to $15 per lb. range. The woman at the stall suggested the $13 per lb. flap steak, so I picked up two nice pieces, and returned home with my Greenmarket tote bag held up high in my self-righteous grass-fed glee.

As with most foodie splurges, I was determined not to screw up my foray into grass-fed beef. Upon returning home, I researched how to cook flap steak, a an ill-named cut with which I was unfamiliar. Thanks to know-it-all Wikipedia, I found out that flap steak is a cut similar to hanger steak, coming from the bottom of the sirloin butt. From, there, it was onto finding a suitable recipe that would push me over the edge of the "I'd rather be a vegetarian than eat grain-fed beef" trend. I found this recipe for flap steak with red wine and shallots from the San Francisco Chronicle; with a whole stick of butter in the sauce, it seemed like it would be difficult to screw up my meat with this recipe.

I was impressed with my first taste of grass-fed beef. The beef does indeed have a unique flavor; it's much more gamy than grain-fed beef, but it's just as flavorful. Since flap steak is inherently a tougher cut, I can't be a judge of whether grass-fed beef is less tender than grain-fed, but I will say that my flap steak was just as tender as any grain-fed hanger steak I have eaten. I cooked it to a perfect medium-rare (the picture makes it look more cooked), which I read is important with grass-fed beef; overcooking it will make the meat very tough.

So am I sold on grass-fed beef? My steak was delicious, and its flavor differed from that of grain-fed beef. However, in the end I owe its deliciousness more to the good farming methods of Grazin' Angus Acres than to its grass-fed powers. As with any food, beef's flavor is more about how it is raised than what it is raised on. While all things being equal, I will try my best to choose grass-fed beef for all of its earth friendly good qualities, I will always choose my beef based on it being a good product rather than what the cow has been fed.