Mac and Cheese Party

One of the things that comes with having a food blog is that co-workers, family members, friends, and significant others (and eaters) all request that you make their favorite foods. If anything, these special requests give me confidence that the meals I cook at least look good on a computer screen.

One such cooking request came from the Significant Eater and seven of her girlfriends, when they asked that I cook a macaroni and cheese feast for them. I've never been a fan of mac and cheese, but this was one cooking job I could not turn down. Doing so would have jeopardized my good-boyfriend standing. Despite my dislike for mac and cheese, I would have to make the mac and cheese of my life for the group of mac-and-cheese-loving women.

Scouring for recipes was no easy task for me since I find most mac and cheeses to pretty much the same no matter what goes into them. I felt like a steakhouse chef trying to come up with a salmon dish to put on his menu. I finally came across Jean-Georges Vongeritchen's wife's recipe for mac and cheese. Yes, I decided on a recipe for macaroni and cheese that a French chef proclaims to be the best. How very snobby of me. But with four cheeses and a fairly simple preparation, it sounded like a mac and cheese that would please everyone.

I created another challenge for myself with my mac and cheese party. In my desperate attempt to forever be deemed a good boyfriend by the Significant Eater's friends, I offered to make a healthy version of mac and cheese for those who were averse to eating pasta soaked in milk, cream, half and half, and four cheeses. I myself have an aversion to low fat cheese, so finding a "healthy" version of mac and cheese that I was willing to put my name on proved to be much more difficult than finding a recipe for the standard version. I settled on making carrot mac and cheese. The recipe sounded pretty vile, but I figured if anything, its awfulness would force the health-conscious girls to at least try the four cheese version.

The best thing about any casserole dish is that it is easily transportable. After spending an hour in my own kitchen preparing the two mac and cheeses, they were both packed in their baking dishes and ready to head to the party. While drinking wine and enjoying some hors d'ouevres that one of the girls made, I was able to simply pop the two dishes into the oven. Fifty minutes and a few more glasses of wine later, they were ready to be eaten.

The dinner turned out very well. All of the girls tried and loved the Vongeritchen mac and cheese. Surprisingly, the carrot version, while far from tasting anything like mac and cheese, went over well. Even me, the mac and cheese hater, went back for seconds of each. With yet more wine and some great side dishes that the girls made, it was a very enjoyable dinner. It may have just been the wine speaking, but all of the girls said I did a great job with the mac and cheeses. Will I forever go down in history as great boyfriend material? That, I will not know, but I did woo one of the girls.

Sesame-Crusted Tuna Steaks

I always have somewhat of an ethical dilemma when I purchase tuna. It's over-fished, but it also happens to be one of my favorite seafoods. Unfortunately, there is really no substitute for the rich, meaty taste of a seared tuna steak, so I have chosen to continue to eat tuna, but only sparingly and only when confident that it has been line caught. This past Sunday, I could not resist purchasing tuna steaks from American Seafood at my local Greenmarket. Caught early that morning off the coast of Long Island, this was some well-sourced tuna that I felt a bit less guilty about enjoying.

I chose to encrust the tuna steaks in a mixture of sesame seeds and spices based on this recipe from Food & Wine magazine. I served the fish with roasted corn mayonnaise with kicked up with some sriracha sauce.

Sesame-Crusted Tuna Steaks
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 6-ounce tuna steaks
• 4 tbsp. grapeseed oil
• 1 tbsp. lime zest
• 1 tsp. ground white pepper
• 1 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp . crushed red pepper
• 3 tbsp. while sesame seeds
• 3 tbsp. black sesame seeds

Directions:

1. In a bowl combine all ingredients except for the oil and tuna.
2. Brush tuna steaks on all sides with 2 tbsp. oil.
3. Rub spice mixture over tuna steaks, patting them down to ensure that the spices adhere.
4. Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a large skillet over high heat until very hot.
5. Add tuna to skillet and sear until just cooked on the outside and rare in the middle, no more than two minutes per side.
6. Serve tuna with spicy mayonnaise and lime wedges.

Review: Scarpetta

Scott Conant's Scarpetta has all of the characteristics of a restaurant that I would expect to be overpriced and overrated: a Meatpacking District location, a celebrity chef who by appears to spend more time in the salon than the kitchen, a branch that recently opened in Miami. Despite my apprehensions, having read great reviews of Scarpetta, the Significant Eater and I made a recent visit and were pleasantly surprised. Scarpetta is far from the usual Meatpacking circus.

I had assumed Scarpetta would be just another big box restaurant with a location perfect for Bridge and Tunellers to stop in for a bite to eat before their nights on the town. What I found was a cozy restaurant set in a Greek revival townhouse. Elegant leather booths line the sides of the restaurant. Mirrors, wrapped in orange leather belts, line the walls. If only it served French cuisine, Hermes would have been very proud of the design.

Of course, elegantly designed restaurants are practically the rule in the Meatpacking District. It was Scarpetta's food that made us forget the fact that we had ventured to West 14th St. on a Friday night after 8. The dinner started off on a good note when a plate of delicious breads arrived. It contained ciabatta rolls, focaccia, and a cheese and salami stuffed bread. I generally try not to fill up on bread when I am in for a big meal, but at Scarpetta I could not resist, especially with the salami-stuffed bread.

As our appetizer, we ordered the soft shelled crab, which was lightly battered, served atop a bed of pea sprouts, and dressed with a lemon and prosecco emulsion. The soft shell crab was as refined as the salami bread was decadent, but both were equally delicious. I loved how the prosecco emulsion transformed the crab into some much more refreshing than simply fried seafood.

The dish of the night, and possibly the dish of the year for me, was our pasta plate. We ordered the duck a foie gras ravioli, which was served in a marsala reduction sauce. The ravioli definitely gave me one of those "why didn't I think of that!" moments, as it is the perfect marriage of flavors: the richness of the foie gras, the meatiness of the duck, the slightly sweet marsala sauce. As he also did with the crab, our server graciously split this dish on two plates for us to share; lucky for our relationship or else I most likely would have swiped a few ravioli off of Significant Eater's plate (it's okay, she had the same feeling).

Our main courses were not nearly as memorable as the crab and the ravioli, but in all fairness, both were tough competition. For my main, I ordered the roasted goat, which was served on a bed of roasted potatoes. The goat, while perfectly cooked, was a fairly one note dish and I found the portion to be so large to the point that I grew tired of it midway through eating. The Significant Eater ordered the black bass, which we both found to be slightly overcooked. Full from the large portion sizes served, we decided to forgo the dull-sounding desserts and enjoy the rest of our inexpensive Sangiovese and lust for just one more bite of that ravioli.

Scarpetta made me realize that the Meatpacking District does not always have to be a lackluster experience. All it takes is some foie gras and a well-made pasta, and even two Manhattanites can find bliss in the Meatpacking District.

Scarpetta
355 W. 14th St.
New York, NY 10014

Something New to try with Beets

President Obama's dislike for beets will no doubt ensure that beets remain at the bottom of the vegetable popularity rankings for the next four years. Nonetheless, here is an easy dish that the few remaining beet lovers should try.

Beet Greens with Roast Beets and Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of beets with greens intact
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Meanwhile, trim greens from beet bulbs, leaving about half an inch of the stem attached to each beet, Wash greens and scrub bulbs.
2. Wrap each beet bulb in foil. Place bulbs on an oven tray and roast until tender, 45 minutes to one hour. Let beets cool.
3. Once beets have cooled, peel the skin off. Chop beet bulbs into 1/2 inch pieces.
4. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
5. Add beat greens and saute until they begin to wilt, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve beet greens topped with roasted beets and goat cheese.

Cereal-Milk Panna Cotta with Strawberries

Momofuku's cereal-milk panna cotta is modern comfort food at it's best. I finally made the salty/sweet dessert again, and this time I was patient enough to take a photo before I ate it. I topped the panna cotta with sliced strawberries and did not regret it.

Pappardelle with Corn, Bacon, and Mushrooms

Corn with pasta? Authenticity aside, don't knock it until you've tried it. This recipe was adapted from Andrew Carmellini's Urban Italian. Carmellini states that despite helming the stoves at some of New York City's finest Italian restaurants, he's a Midwesterner at heart. For that reason, he always manages to add corn into his menu when corn season arrives in the summer. If it's good enough for Andrew Carmellini, it's good enough for me; this pasta is excellent, I should add.

Pappardelle with Corn, Bacon, and Mushrooms
Serves 3 to 4

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. fresh pappardelle pasta
• 4 ears of sweet corn, kernels removed
• 3/4 cup of bacon, diced
• 8 oz. thinly sliced button mushrooms, stems discarded
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• pinch of ground cayenne pepper
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Add half of the corn kernels, the milk, and the cream to the bowl of a food processor and process until nearly smooth, approximately 1 minute. Set aside.
2. Add bacon to a large skillet and cook over medium heat until fat has rendered and some pieces begin to crisp, 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Add mushrooms and remaining corn kernels to skillet and cook until they begin to brown, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Reduce heat to low. Using a mesh strainer to filter out the solids, add the milk and corn mixture to the pan. Press the solids in the strainer with a spoon in order to extract all of the liquid. Simmer mixture for another two minutes or until it has thickened slightly.
5. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente.
6. Add cayenne pepper to skillet. Stir well. Remove pan from heat.
7. Drain cooked pasta and add it to the skillet.
8. Add parmesan cheese to skillet and stir well.
9. Taste for salt and pepper and serve.

Quick Bite: DBGB Kitchen & Bar

The Significant Eater and I recently stopped in for lunch at DBGB Kitchen & Bar, Daniel Boulud's much-hyped new restaurant in the once rundown, soon to be ultra-trendy Bowery neighborhood. Walking into the main dining room, most foodie nerds will find it difficult to contain themselves once they spot what is essentially a culinary Hall of Fame lining the walls: copper kitchenwares from nearly every famous chef one can imagine: Jacques Pepin, Ferran Adria, Alice Waters, and Dan Barber, just to name a few of the displays I could view from my seat. My personal favorite was Andrew Carmellini's pasta machine. Needless to say, I was slightly distracted throughout lunch trying to check out all of the superstar chefs who were featured on the walls.

Food-wise, DBGB did not let me down. I ordered the basic "Yankee" burger, a standard hamburger with lettuce, tomato, and a Guss' pickle. The Significant Eater went with the DBGB Dog, a hot dog topped with sauteed onions and relish. I would never rate a restaurant solely based on its burger and hot dog, but since so many people seem to do exactly that in these burger-obsessed days, I can easily say that DBGB will be atop many New Yorkers' list. My burger was nicely charred on the outside but cooked to a juicy medium-rare in the center. I was glad that I ordered the most unadorned burger on the menu because the Yankee burger needed nothing else. The hot dog the Significant Eater ordered was well-executed as well; one bite told me that the mildly spiced sausage was handmade by a topnotch kitchen and not just some run-of-the-mill frank. The fries that came with each of our meals were also well-salted and perfectly crispy. Everything went down well with a Sixpoint IPA. For dessert, we ordered the Kreik Beer-Cherry (pictured), a sundae that had lots of cherry and no discernible beer flavor--most likely a good thing.

All in all, I was very impressed by my quick bite at DBGB. I will definitely return to try the its more ambitious offerings, which I fully expect to be just as good as my lunch samplings. Even if they aren't, I will surely continue to stop in for a burger and a beer.