Gnocchi? Gno problem!

I know I havent really been keeping up with posting stuff, but I'm trying to turn over a new leaf. Now that I've joined twitter (hah), maybe it'll re-jumpstart this avenue as well.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago, I decided to try making some gnocchi. I wanted to do it in a garlic browned butter and herb sauce, topped with a sprinkle of parm, super duper simple. The goal was to make it light, fluffy and delicate... not heavy and starchy the way some gnocchi turns out. So I made Nate buy an extra couple lbs of potatoes (thx brz) and I got to work.

My first batch was a failure. Maybe this is a silly and well-known note, but I learned the hard way. Dont use a food processor.

My second batch, also no good. I abandoned the food processor and went to a potato masher. the gnocchi were still a little too starchy and a little sticky.

The third batch did it though. They tasted like little balls of light potatoes...
How did I get there? well first I channeled the first the long ago italian women who probably started making these little dumplings. I have no idea if this is accurate but here is what I imagined. I figure they wanted to make little morsels that were both comfortingly filling, while still having the fluffiness of a baked potato... and I imagine they also didnt want to work so hard, bc this was more of an everyday dish.

Ok so imaginary italian history in mind, here's how I got the gnocchi to work.

Melody sneaking a bite of the gnocchi.
I didnt take my own photos, so thank you to Meghana for documenting!

Ingredients:
Gnocchi
1 lb russet potatos
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt & pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup grated asiago
4 egg yolks

Sauce
4 gloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/8 of an onion, finely chopped
1/2 stick of butter
fresh thyme (to taste)
fresh basil (to taste)
lemon pepper, if you have it.

Instructions:
Get a pot of boiling water, cut your potatoes in half and boil them till they are overcooked (around an hour and change)
Peel them and *heres the important part* mash them gently with a fork. This may take a while but you want them to be delicate.
Make a moat of potato on your countertop (literally a moat, bc you will be pouring all your other ingreds into the middle)
Combine everything else and break up the egg yolks in a separate bowl and then pour into the middle of the moat.
Then slowly work the potatoes in with the other ingredients. (this will be messy)
Fold the first 1/2 cup fo flour into your potatoes. very very gently.
Then keep sprinkling more and more flour and folding gently until you use it all.

When you can take a little dough and roll it between your palms and the countertop into a 1/2 inch rope, then you have the right consistency.

Flour your countertop, roll out a 1/2 inch rope to a manageable length. (for me it was around a foot)
then cut into about 1/2 inch long pieces and press the top with a fork so it makes that pretty little imprint. (this is great bc it will hold the sauce)

Let them sit for about 30 minutes and then get a pot of boiling water on your stovetop.
You drop the gnocchi in, in batches, and when they rise to the surface (around a minute and a half) scoop them out.
Set them aside when you are done cooking them and get a stainless steel pan hot (butter sticks to aluminum).
lightly olive oil the pan and throw your garlic in, cook on medium high for a couple minutes, till they become fragrant. Then add the onions, cook another couple minutes till they are translucent. Add the 1/2 stick of butter, let it melt. I like to take a spoon, tilt one side of the pan towards me, and scoop the butter from the bottom (side closest to me) and drop it at the top (the side furthest away, and elevated from the heat)
This allows you to watch closely what is happening to the butter so you don't end up with a beurre noir.

When you have achieved a little less than your desired brown, turn off the heat, toss in the gnocchi (the butter will continue to brown until you remove it from the hot pan)
And make sure all your gnocchi is covered with the sauce.
Arrange everything on a plate and top with a dusting of Parmesan, and thyme and basil.

I think it turned out pretty good....

bc here's the reaction after dinner... couldnt have been TOO bad ;)
(thx again to meghana for the photo)

No Time to Cook, Too Much To Eat

I havent had time to cook, take pictures, and post stuff.
Ive been spending way too much time eating out. My fridge is full of leftovers.

Nonetheless, I do have something semi-useful to share.

I recently did a story at cookshop

Zagat Restaurants: Chelsea Ice Cream Cart Is Stocked With Farm-Fresh Ingredients
http://www.ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-content/ny1_living/zagat_reviews/116993/zagat-restaurants--chelsea-ice-cream-cart-is-stocked-with-farm-fresh-ingredients

If you dont feel like watching, here's a sum up -
Cookshop is awesome.
all their ingreds are locally sourced
and they just opened up their ice cream cart for the summer...

a treat that's not on the menu, but u can order year round?
order any of their homemade ice creams with a topping of desset sherry. you wont be sorry.
(though your hips might be)

Burger Baby

After a hiatus from posting because someone stole my laptop :(
I'm back!

This recipe is dedicated to Juan... as he has asked for it more than once and I made him wait till i had pictures.

I was inspired by the Father's Office Burger in Santa Monica... truly the most heavenly burger ive ever eaten in my life, and totally worth waiting in line outside for.
I do not make my burgers with USDA Prime ground rib eye, nor did i go and get applewood smoked bacon for my compote...
If you have a meat grinder and the resources, you should sub those in for an even more succulent burger.

Ingredients:

Carmelized Onions:
4 Slices of bacon
2 onions medium, sliced lengthwise

1 tsp sugar
2 tbsps balsamic vinegar

1 tsp ketchup

2 tsps Worcestershire sauce

salt, pepper to taste

Burgers

2 lbs good ground beef

2 tsps salt, pepper

2 tbsps butter

blue cheese
Gruyere cheese

lettuce

tomato

2 eggs (optional)

4 demi-baguettes or portugese rolls or anything thats kinda crusty on the outside and nice and chewy on the inside

DirectionsCaramelized Onions:

Start your pan at medium-high heat and put your slices of bacon - let them render up fat and when they are pretty crispy without being black, remove and drain on a paper towel.

Pour out abotu half of the fat in the pan, and with the remaining fat, throw in your onions and sugar.

Cook the onions on med-high until they are golden brown and fragrant. then crumble your bacon and add it to the pan. let that cook for another 5 minutes or so. Then add the vinegar, ketchup, worchestershire.

Let those sink into your onions and bacon combo for about 2-3 minutes. add pinches of salt and pepper.

Burgers:

I like to season my ground meat before i shape it into patties, but feel free to salt and pepper before or after.

Melt a tbsp of butter in a large skillet, over medium-high heat. Cook the burgers on each side for about 3-4 minutes. When you flip it, you should see a nice browned up side, if its not brown yet, let it cook on that side for longer.

Add the blue cheese and gruyere in a thin-ish layer on top, and cook till that gets melty.

Now to assemble the burger, toast your bread, top one side with lettuce, tomato, onion if you want (and fried egg if you are into that.... I am)

Top the other side with the patty, and some of the carmelized onion and bacon compote.

Korean BBQ Chicken

I grew up eating lots of korean food without really appreciating like every other little Asian baby with pigtails and horrendous bangs.
My mom used to make fantastic chicken when I was growing up. There were honey sesame wings, and roast drumsticks... and then there was this tangy, spicy asian sauce-d up chicken...

I've made a couple little changes, but this is basically how my mom made em.

 

Korean BBQ Chicken with Scallions

Ingredients

4 whole chicken legs

salt

pepper

chili powder

thyme

Sauce

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 tbsps gochujang (this is a korean red chili paste found in ALL korean grocery stores. I get mine from Hanareum on 32nd street)

2 tbsps of hoisin sauce (found in asian markets and most specialty food stores in the city)

1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

dash of soy sauce

1/2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

Garnish

sesame seeds

red chili flakes

scallions

Directions

take the salt, pepper, chili powder and thyme, mix together and then rub the legs down, both on the outside of the skin and UNDER the skin... this allows the flavor to permeate the meat.. esp if your dinner guest (cough, N.Moss) doesnt eat chicken skin.

Mix together the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Brush a little onto the outside of your legs.

(super easy to make if you can grill... but, you know, NYC in Feb/March is not all that friendly to BBQ-ing)

Cook at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Brush more sauce onto your chicken.

Cook for another 20 minutes, and brush on more sauce.

Let cook another 20 minutes, brush more sauce on.

then switch your oven over to a low broil. top with a healthy coating of sauce and broil until its very brown and bubbly. around 8-10 minutes depending on your oven.

Take your chicken out of the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes.

do a last coating of sauce and then carve up the chicken.

Layer it onto a small plate. top with thinly sliced scallions, sesame seeds and chili flakes.

Fortune-ate to have you, girl...

I had the awesome opportunity to learn how to make chocolate fortune cookies from Stuart Tarff, the pastry chef at Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Spice Market in the Meatpacking District.

Watch the Story on NY1

You can see exactly how Stuart crafts em.
here's the recipe.

Chocolate Fortune Cookies

Ingredients
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup trimoline (an inverted sugar)
3/4 cup & 1 Tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 cup minus 1 Tbsp 10x sugar
3 Tbsp & 1 1/2 tsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup egg whites

Mixing The Batter
Place the softened butter and some trimoline in a bowl, to give some moisture to the fortune cookies. Mix them together to get a cream. Add the dry ingredients – the flour, sugar and cocoa powder. Mix it all together and slowly add the egg white.
Once the batter is ready, form thin discs on a silicone mat and bake them for 8 minutes. Once you pull them out, it’s time to fold the discs into a half-moon shape.

Folding The Cookies

Keep the tray in the oven with the door open while working and work fast. Peel the cookie from the silicone covered tray and place it in the palm of your hand. Lay the paper fortune in the middle of the cookie, and hold it there while folding the cookie in half. Do not crease.Still holding the warm folded cookie in both hands between your thumb and index fingers, bring the ends of the half-circle together, pulling them away from the round side to form a horseshoe shape. You can also drape them while warm on the rim of a glass or bowl to get this shape.
The opened side of the fortune cookie should be facing upward, towards you.

Yo quiero tacos... that taste GOOD

So I spent a whole bunch of time in California and am totally spoiled by the mexican food from the west coast. Even the diviest taco bars serve up flavors that meld perfect combinations of savory, tangy... and of course, spicy.

Last year, I was visiting my best friend in SF and after a night of barhopping, she had a hankering for some tacos.
This took me about 30-45 minutes... RIGHT before she passed out ;)

Recently she asked me for the recipe, so I figured I would post.
No photos because I havent made it recently...
but I was inspired by the tacos from El Taurino in LA (which still remains my favorite tacos ever in the history of the world.

a torta and 3 tacos

my favorite meal at el taurino

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs of a good cut of red meat (that night we used filet mignon which worked out very nicely)
bunch of cilantro
1/2 red onion
dash of white wine vinegar
small flour tortillas
hot sauce

Marinade:
2 limes
the other 1/2 of the red onion
2 cloves of garlic
a couple stalks of cilantro
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp white wine vinegar
pinch of sugar
salt
pepper


So first, cut up your meat into small about 1/2 inch cubes
Mix all the marinade ingredients and pour over your meat cubes.
Let them marinate in the mixture for 1-4 hours. (I usually let them sit around 3-4 hours, but that night I marinated only for the time i was busy doing other things... and it still turned out fine, so if you are in a rush, no biggie)

While your meat is marinating...
I like to toast up my tortillas, put a little bit of oil or butter in a sautee pan, set to medium heat, and just warm up your tortillas. You can cover them with a warm towel to keep em warm.
chop the onion pretty finely
discard the cilantro stalks and just chop up the leaves finely. combine those in a bowl with just a dash of the vinegar.
set aside in a plate. sometimes ill also chop in some plum tomatoes for color.

Once your meat is done marinating, cook it in your sautee pan, around 7-10 minutes or as done as you like your meat. Bottom line, it should smell delicious.

set up a plate with 2 tortillas, top it with a healthy helping of the carne, and then add the onion and cilantro mixture on top.
Serve with a lime slice and salsa or hot sauce on the side.

Sam Sifton rocks my socks

So, I've been reading Sam Sifton's articles in the NYTimes for years...

well today i received multiple emails and texts about this review sifton did on Motorino, where i did a shoot a couple weeks ago.
Imagine my sheer joy, excitement, and starstruck-ness at seeing my name in his article...

Not to be a fangirl, but really, his article about Vancouver Olympics eats made me seriously considering going to Vancouver, not for sporting events, but for gastronomical reasons...

A big feat considering that I hate cold weather more than NYers hate the Red Sox

anyway, enough blathering.
thanks sam sifton!

Sweets for your sweetie...

If you are looking for something cool/fun/different to do this Valentine's day...

http://www.ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-content/ny1_living/zagat_reviews/113531/zagat-shopping--valentine-s-day-treats/Default.aspx

it's worth a looksee, i promise :)

Soupe a L'oignon... Facile.

Oui, my francais est tres tres horrendous, mais... j'aime les food de france.
I am working on honing my french skills... till they're formidable et... jolie?
(clearly i only remember part of 7th grade french)

anyway... i love french onion soup. i make a beeline (or bee ligne.. huh huh) for it whenever I'm in france.

I've given it a few goes in my kitchen, but I always find its not quite as rich and flavorful as I would like, without the feeling of heaviness.

Well... this time, I think i've conquered (or Napoleon'd) it. and it only takes half an hour-ish. Holler!

the KEY is the parmesan rind... but here... read the whole recipe

Easy French Onion

Ingredients:
2-3 tbsps of butter (i err on the side of more butter, but i dont cook for health.)
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 large onions (I used 1 vidalia onion, 1/2 red onion, 1/2 spanish onion)
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 fresh thyme sprigs
2-3 bay leaves
1/2 cup white wine
5 cups of beef broth
1 cup of water
small block of gruyere cheese
1 brioche
salt
pepper
a 2 inch by 3inch piece of parmesan RIND (now you can use it instead of tossing it!)

*also you need ovenproof bowls


Directions:
Preheat your broiler.
Slice your onions into thin strips.
Melt the butter in the bottom of a pot, cook the garlic until aromatic, then throw in the onions and sugar.
Cook until the onions are sweating (5 mins-ish) and then pour in about a fourth of the wine (1/8 cup... im Asian, thus good at fractions.)
continue to cook for 2 more minutes, add another 1/8 cup, then 4 minutes later, or when they are looking brownish and tender, add the rest of the wine.
Stir in thyme, bay leaves, some salt and pepper.
Let this cook until the liquid is absorbed.

Pour in your beef broth and water, then throw in the parmesan rind. Bring everything to a boil and let it boil for 2 minutes or so.
Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves and the rind.

slice your brioche bun into quarters and stick 2 quarters in each bowl, ladle the soup over that.
Thinly slice your gruyere and layer it on top of your soup. (I added in just a little bit of pepper jack bc I like a bit of a kick.)

Broil that baby until the top of the soup looks golden brown, melty, and delicieuse.

bon appetit!

My Cheesy Valentine

Heart Shaped Brussel Sprout and Pancetta Pizza at Motorino

Here's a sneak peak --

If you are looking for something a little different to do for Valentine's day,

I just did a story at Motorino (East Village/Williamsburg) set to air next week.

The eatery will be serving up pizzas in the shape of... yes.. a heart.

Do something out of the ordinary for your main slice ;)

Also got the low down on how to make this pretty pizza.

After I give it a couple whirls in my kitchen, I'll post the best way to do it without a big wood burning pizza oven.

(if you live in the city and HAVE a big wood-burning pizza oven... please be my best friend?)

Stay tuned...

(P.S. I'm not the only one who loves the place. Rachel Ray - yea yea, i know - is calling their pies the best on the east coast!)

eggs bene in only twentay

Ok maybe a little longer than 20... but i wanted it to rhyme.

And my recipe is super simple.

In honor of valentine's day, I want to give all brunch lovers an idea of how to make your feb 14th morning fun, without having to wait for a table while being surrounded by loud couples and mediocre mimosas.

(healthy) Eggs Benedict with Mixed Greens Side Salad

I made my Hollandaise from scratch which is far preferable to buying it due to both cost and flavor, but feel free to buy yours jarred. It's def not the most important part.

Hollandaise

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter

2 medium egg yolks

the juice of half of a lemon [use fresh lemon!]

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

cayenne pepper

salt

The sauce is super simple if you do it in a food processor - if you want to get fancy you can do it in a double boiler. But the last time i tried that, i had a major fiasco, so i will stick with this.

Start your food processor with just the eggs in there till they get frothy.

Hit stop, add the lemon, mustard, and salt. blend again.

Microwave your butter then add it in slowly and steadily, while blending on high.

Add cayenne and salt to taste. 

Ok, so your hollandaise if done. Stick it in a thermos to keep it warm.

The Eggs

I dont own an egg poacher...

So I poach my eggs in a way that they are def poached, but not in those pretty little ovals as you will often find them in restaurants... still I have a very easy way to keep them from getting all over the place.

take 2 eggs per person

put a medium sized pot on the stove and get your water simmering. add 2 tbsps of white vinegar - this will keep the egg from going ALL over the place.

grab a ladle. crack you egg into the ladle.

dip that slowly into the water and let it boil AROUND the ladle for a little bit, till it starts turning white.

slowly submerge.

Your egg should stay round enough that it will be ready to sit atop your english muffin.

The Benedict

Ingredients:

english muffins

turkey bacon

medium cheddar cheese

butter

Put a pat of butter on each side of the english muffin, top it with thinly sliced cheese, and stick it in the toaster oven until the muffin is brown and the cheese is melty.

Meanwhile, fry up some turkey bacon (or regular bacon if you dont mind the fat)

Top your muffin with your poached egg, drizzle that with your hollandaise, then top it with the bacon and give it another hollandaise drizzle.

And voila.
I like to serve mixed greens salad with some vinaigrette on the side, you know, to trick myself into thinking its a healthy way to start the day.

Stocking Your Kitchen

So I am all about eating out...
but considering how expensive that gets, you'd be surprised how far your buck can take you in the kitch.

and i believe in minimalism when it comes to cooking.
But you really can't even start until you stock a couple items.

[sidenote: whenever I watch Rachel Ray amble on over to her pantry and pick out some random, obscure ingredient.. like... i dont know, cinnamon oil or avocado leaves, i want to go into her kitchen and roll my eyes at her. and maybe grab her by the shoulders and shake her a little. I will be listing things that you'll ACTUALLY use. no BS.]

so lets start with the very basics.
These are the things that I like to always have on hand... and not only are they cheap and easy to grab, but they will last you a very long time.

In Your Spice Cabinet (loosely in order of importance):
salt
pepper
thyme
parsley
basil
chili powder
garlic powder
bay leaves
tarragon
dill
rosemary
cumin


In Your Pantry
balsamic vinegar
olive oil (both standard and extra virgin)
soy sauce
arborio rice
dried pasta (prefer barilla)
white/wheat flour
fish sauce
dried mushrooms
walnuts
chicken stock
canned tomatoes

In Your Fridge
tubes of tomato paste (this is great bc you can squeeze and re-cap instead of wasting a can)
butter
proscuitto (or bacon which is easier to find and cheaper) - this comes in unbelievably useful, i promise.
frozen shrimp (ok, your freezer, not fridge)
capers
olives