La Caridad, Upper West Side, NYC

This greasy spoon has an interesting combination of cuban and chinese items on the menu. Our Chinese waiter was fluent in Chinese and Spanish with only limited abilities in English.

Another customer sitting next to use gave some unsolicited history about the establishment with lines of waiting customers going around the block in its hay day.

We were happy for the one time experience but will try out some other places the next time we are up on the West Side.

Cuban steak with fried egg, standard.

Fried sweet plantains made me happy remembering my childhood in Venezuela.

Seafood in some kind of chinese sauce (can't remember what it was called), had a little more squid that we would of have chosen. The sauce was good but a little salty. 

Le Pain Quotidien- Upper East Side, NYC

This was our second time at Le Pain Quotidien. We really enjoyed it again and hope to go back again in the future. Our friends Jared and Laura were visiting from NC and also enjoyed the experience.

This chai tea was made fresh, not from a mix and was yummy. 

We ate this multigrain scone as an appetizer. It was paired with jam and ricotta which were delicious.

This omelet was a solid choice with nice fresh side items.

This dish was one of the daily specials and not what we expected when ordering. The roasted pork with tomatoes, pickles and onions was unexpectedly good. 

Levain Bakery- Upper West Side, NYC

I discovered these amazing cookies through a friend at work. Another co-worker described them as "life changing." I think that description might be a little strong but they are definitely worth the calories. The Upper Westside bakery they come from is very simple and has made it's mark by producing a few quality items. They have 4 varieties of these thick gooey cookies. We chose a chocolate chunk and chocolate cookie with peanut butter chunks. 

The warm temperature of the bakery made my camera lens fog over after coming in from the cold :) 

Gelateria Classica- East Village NYC

We stepped into this East Village spot for some post pizza gelato. The gelato was good but did not leave a lasting impression. The ambiance was nice with a nice loft with cozy tables (despite large TV backdrop).  We enjoyed it but will probably look elsewhere for our next sweet tooth craving.

Two Boots Pizza- Greenwhich Village, NYC

 My brother Jon endorsed this pizza as some of the best in NYC. We were not disappointed. There are at least two locations in the city, maybe more. We enjoyed the food and ambiance of one near NYU undergrad campus in the Greenwich Village. 

We enjoyed "the dude" which has some cajun sausage

The other pizza had peppers and pesto and exceeded expectations. Hopefully we will have another chance to enjoy this delicious pizza.

Supernatural Cooking Recipe #6 Red Indian Carrot Soup

Red Indian Carrot Soup

This recipe is very simple but was delicious. Since we get a lot of carrots from our CSA it is nice to add some more recipes to the rotation. 

2.5 lbs carrots

3 Tbl olive oil

3 cloves garlic minced

2 yellow onions, chopped

6 cups stock (vegetable or chicken)

2 Tbl unfilted raw honey

Sea salt

(3 Tbl olive sludge or premium olive oil for drizzling)

1. Scrub the carrots and cut into 1 inch segments, try to make the same size so they will cook evenly.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot over medium heat, then add garlic and onions and saute for 5 min. Add the stock and carrots, bring to a gentle boil then lower the heat and simmer for 30-40 min until carrots are tender. Do not overcook. Remove from heat and add in honey. 

3. Cool for 5-10 min then puree in blender. Season with generous amounts of salt and serve with drizzled olive sludge or oil. (Also good with toasted pumpkin seed oil, cubes of paneer or halloumi cheese that has been sprinkled with sugar and broiled for a few minutes.)

Supernatural Cooking Recipes #4 and 5 Crunchy Slaw Salad and Otsu

The Otsu noodle dish was delicious, the crunchy slaw did not have enough flavor and would need some adjustments before making again. 

We tried shoyu soy sauce, brown rice vinegar for the first time as well as extra firm nigari tofu. In the past I have only used "firm"tofu which is soft and does not hold its shape. The extra firm tofu did great with browning it. The  These will be good additions into our diet. We were able to find the ingredients at a local health food store.  The soba noodles which are made out of buckwheat are rich in lysine and protein. 

Otsu

Grated zest of one lemon

one inch cube fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 Tbl honey

3/4 tsp cayenne pepper

3/4 tsp sea salt

1 Tbl freshly squeezed  lemon juice

1/4 cup brown rice vinegar

1/3 cup shoyu sauce

2 Tbl olive oil

2 Tbl toasted sesame oil

12 ounces dried soba noodles

12 ounces extra firm nigari tofu

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 green onions thinly sliced

1/2 cucumber, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, seeded  and thinly sliced

cilantro and sesame seeds for garnish

1. To make dressing: combine zest, ginger, honey, cayenne pepper and salt in food processor and process until smooth. Add lemon juice, rice vinegar and shoyu and pulse to combine. Then add in the oils and pulse. 

2. Cook the soba noodles until just tender then drain and rinse under cold water.

3. While the pasta is cooking, drain the tofu, pat it dry and cut into rectangles  roughly the size of your thumb. Cook in a dry nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes until the pieces are browned on one side. Toss a couple of times until the tofu is firm, golden and bouncy.

4. In a large bowl, combine the soba, 1/4 cup cilantro, green onions, cucumber and dressing. Add the tofu and  toss gently. Serve garnished with cilantro and sesame seeds.