Subway Cards

Since moving to NYC TJ and I try to keep Subway gift cards on hand with enough balance for a 5 dollar foot long.  They give us a chance to engage with some of the hungry people on the streets

January Brunches at Home

Super Natural Cooking Adventure Recipe #3

Farro with Green Onion Sauce, Toasted Walnuts and Asparagus

TJ and I both really liked this recipe. It was not that labor intensive so the biggest deterrents are: #1 finding the farro, and #2 the expense of the asparagus and walnuts. The farro I actually found at a local italian food store on our block. Farro is a grain that has a texture similar to barley but a little different taste.  A lot of the farro that is around these days comes from Italy.

Ingredients:

2 cups farro picked over and rinsed

5 cups veggie stock or water (I used turkey stock)

1 Tbl  olive oil

12 green onions coarsely chopped

1/2 t kosher salt

1 bunch asparagus spears trimmed and cut into 1" diagonal pieces

1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

grated zest of one lemon

grated parmesan for garnish

1. Combine farro and stock and bring to a boil in a large saucepan. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook time will be 25-45 minutes depending on the type of farro you get. The package should say how long to cook. 

2. Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a skillet and saute the green onions for about 5 minutes. Stir in a about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon salt. Puree with hand blender or food processor until slightly creamy but still chunky.

3. When the farro is almost done cooking add the asparagus and let simmer for about 2 minutes until it is vibrant green. There may still be some stock that has not been absorbed and that is ok. Stir in the 

lemon zest and one half teaspoon salt. 

4. Just before serving stir in the walnuts. Ladle into bowls and garnish with green onion mixture and parmesan cheese

Food Exploration 2011- January week #2

Ethiopian, Upper East Side, Manhattan

TJ and I forgot the camera. We had to take these pictures with his i-phone and in the low light, it would be difficult for them to have turned out less descriptive and true to life. We enjoyed the experience and the food was very tasty making us want to explore more ethiopian food in the future. The place seems to be family owned. The waitresses looked like they were from Ethiopia and had a very gentle way about them. 

We shared the sampler platter for two which is our favorite way to try out a new place. 

There were 4 dishes containing some sort of meat: one chicken, two lamb and one beef 

(the meat dishes all came in different thick, spicy sauces...yummy)

and 3 veggie dishes: greens, cabbage and lentils.

You eat with your hands pulling little pieces of the "bread" which is something

between a pancake and a crepe and is made from slightly fermented flour (wheat?)

Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, Chelsea, Manhattan

In this case I brought the camera but forgot to take pictures of our food until it was all eaten. I managed to find some advertisement photos that looked pretty similar to what we ate. This place is a fast food type joint.  It was delicious and pretty cheap. I hope we make it back there. 

We got two Rickshaw regulars: chicken and thai basil dumplings with peanut sate noodle soup and shrimp dumplings with chili-soy noodle soup. Both dumplings were good but I really like the chicken and thai basil ones the best. Both soups were good. The chili-soy was pretty spicy. I also tried the broth from the miso and clear soups as we were there with friends but liked our soups the best. 

Julie and Heidi... The Super Natural Cooking Adventure

Two years ago my brother Josiah gave me the cookbook "Super Natural Cooking" by Heidi Swanson
I love to cook and incorporate lots of organic, whole grain, natural ingredients but this book takes it to a whole new level.  I had been a little intimidated by the fact that many of the ingredients I had never seen in any store. Inspired by Julie and Julia, I am diving in. TJ is excited about the idea and is ready to help. Since there are a little over 80 recipes my goal is 2 per week with the goal of finishing in one year.


Recipe #1: Risotto Style Barley with Citrus and Arugula
This recipe despite many good ingredients lacked flavor and pizzaz. The onions and shallots had me crying seriously before the whole process was over. This one will not be added to the make again list but was fun to make once. One new ingredient for me was creme fraiche- a fancy french version of sour cream. I liked it but am not sure it is worth the extra expense.

Recipe #2 Lime- Bathed Peanut Salad

This one was so yummy! It is a winner and I am pretty sure that it will show up pretty frequently. 

Ingredients:

2 cups raw unsalted peanuts (I had roasted and salted and used those)

4 Roma tomatoes seeded and chopped

1 large jalapeno pepper seeded and diced

3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 T fresh lime juice

1 T olive oil

1/4 t sea salt

1. Roast peanuts for 5-10 minutes at 350 degrees in the oven

2. Combine tomatoes, cilantro and jalapenos in a bowl

3. In a separate bowl mix the lime juice, olive oil and salt. Mix, then add to tomato mixture

4. Just before serving, combine peanuts with other ingredients

Food Exploration 2011

I have enlisted TJ's help for his 2011 creative project Christmas present. One of our favorite parts of living in NYC has been exploring the food. This year our goal is to keep a photo journal of our eating out adventures. Here is the progress to date:

Ben and Jack's Steak House, Gramercy, Manhattan

We celebrate TJ's birthday the first weekend of January. Using a Restraunt.com coupon the meal total was still nice and high. This place has the reputation of being one of the best steak eats in the city and the prices show it. The ambiance was fine but nothing special. We were surprised by how casual many of the other guests were considering how much they were about to spend on their dinners. It was a fun experience but a one time outing. 

The filet mignon did not have bacon which I thought was defining characteristic? It was yummy but I would not say the best steak of my life

Chilean Sea Bass on the other hand was AMAZING!!! TJ and are pretty sure if will be the best one we ever eat. The creamed spinach was also a favorite. Mashed potatoes were standard

TJ at his birthday dinner :)

Le Pain Quotidien, Upper East Side, Manhattan

This place is chain with multiple locations around the city. The locations are all quaint and inviting. We tried it out for the first time and were very pleased. A repeat visit is almost certain. We found a location about 20 blocks north of us that has enough tables that it allows you to linger. The free wi-fi is also appealing, allowing some de-breifing after the meal. 

 Hot pear-ginger spritzer with cinammon stick and mint leaf. This drink was a fun treat, yummy but the ginger was a little strong.  We really liked the cups without handles. 

You order coffee by the "pot"

Tomato avocado omelet with fresh bread... yum!

Hot croissant with french ham and gruyere cheese, three mustards to choose from on the side. 

This one was a winner too.

Paquitos, Gramercy/ Murray Hill,  Manhattan

This little joint is a hole in the wall place just a few blocks from us with a handwritten menu on the wall. We stopped by after church last Sunday. I asked the woman behind the counter for a recommendation to which she replied "I recommend everything." She then went on to recommend the enchiladas. We got chicken enchiladas with corn tortillas that indeed turned out to be amazing. The chorizo burrito was also very tasty. Worth visiting again, especially for the price and proximity to our home. 

Sobaya, East Village,  Manhattan

We were inspired by a student who worked with TJ who was japanese and went to the east village to eat soba noodles. We recently went to an authentic Japanese ramen soup place and really loved it. It seemed like a good time to explore some more Japanese noodle dishes. We found this place highly recommended on Yelp. It did not disappoint us. The food was amazing and, true to the review we read, at least 2/3 of the clientele was asian. Our waitress was very friendly and helped with explaining the menu and giving recommendations in limited English with a huge smile.  Worth visiting again.

This soup has Udon noodles, one of the two main types served at this restaurant. These are made out of wheat flour. The soup additions were mostly from the sea with a tempura fried shrimp, some sort of squid, and another scallop like morsel. This one was the soup she recommended and TJ and I loved it!

This soba noodle containing soup was the daily special with duck and mushrooms. The soba noodles are made in house out of buckwheat flour. TJ said he could not decide which soup he liked best but said this was his favorite broth.

TJ's Christmas Present 2010

Every year since we have known each other I have made TJ some homemade creative project.

Past years have included: stocking ornament with his name stitched on, putting all pictures in albums, laminated place mats made from maps of places we have been together, t-shirt quilt, regular quilt.

This year I transcribed our vows onto these frames and displayed pictures I have taken of our feet together. From left to right the photos are from: US open in NYC, walking around NYC this summer together, at Nick and Rachel Dahm's wedding two summers ago.