Hi friends! How is everyone doing? Happy Jewish New Year, everyone!
Yesterday marks the one year anniversary of my return to vegetarianism. It was October 19, 2010. I remember it distinctly because Greg was beginning his whirlwind Comic Con weekend and my lovely cousin, Ellen, came in from Florida for her soap opera weekend so everyone was busy with their fun obsessions while I was busy with mine-cooking (and eating). I had slowly been losing my desire for meat and cooking vegetarian dishes for Greg all the time so it seemed like the natural course to take. Also he has a distinct knowledge of any and all people in the entertainment industry who is either vegetarian or vegan and whenever he would pipe up with "Oh, Olivia Wilde...she's a vegan." I would feel such admiration for the person and I would miss the days when I was a vegetarian. So I gave up meat for good and never looked back. (By the way, my best friend, Caroline, can do the same parlour trick with who's Jewish so I can cross reference the two of them and find out all the Jewish vegans in Hollywood!)
Today I wanted to once again celebrate the beautiful offerings in Connecticut and share a wonderful place I discovered recently. Being a city girl, when Tom and Meaghan invited us to visit a farm I pictured us playing with goats in an open field. They took us to Sunflower Farm in Orange, CT. (767 Derby Milford Road, Orange, CT 06477). There were neither sunflowers nor goats. However, there was an amazing abundance of fresh produce all laid out outside. I didn't know what to grab first, so I immediately got my hands on an acorn squash. Dinner!!! Next I found some perfectly round and firm green tomatoes. I'd never prepared fried green tomatoes but it was the name of one of my favorite films so there was hope for me. I grabbed several other things, while Meaghan's adorable terrier, Shadow, munched on an apple :-) The general store held more treasures. They had fresh eggs and milk which they offered samples of. I had a tiny "shot" of some as I haven't really drunk straight milk since the 9th grade (not without Kahlua in it at least). It was the way milk was supposed to taste. The way it did in my childhood when we used to get it delivered in glass bottles. I purchased four perfect eggs for the morning and a loaf of challah. I then gave the owners a lesson on the proper pronunciation of "challah". They had freshly baked pies so we purchased a small peach one and left happy with our beautiful items. Shadow, meanwhile, made quick work of her apple!
When we came home, I set to work on dinner. I cut our acorn squash in two halves, cleaned out the seeds and rubbed the inside with our favorite butter substitute, Earth Balance. Then I sprinkled them with brown sugar, cinnamon and a little salt and pepper and baked them in the oven for an hour until the flesh was nice and tender. After consulting Epicurious.com, I went ahead and sliced the green tomatoes, dipped them in flour, then egg, then coarse bread crumbs and fried them in vegetable oil until golden brown. I asked Greg, who lived in Atlanta for some time, if they met his approval and he gave me a big thumbs up. I loved that beautiful tomato flavor contrasting with the crispy coating. We had a lovely salad of arugula and big fat cherry tomatoes and roasted eggplant and fresh corn on the cob. It was an amazing feast and everything had been grown locally so the flavors were so intense with very simple preparation. The peach pie was amazing too and we ate the whole thing!
In the morning, I gently scrambled the eggs (two of them had double yokes!!!) with salt, pepper and a touch of milk, cooked them in butter until they were no longer runny but still soft and sprinkled them with fresh chives. We had them with warm challah. The color was such a bright yellow and even the shells felt different from supermarket eggs. They were softer somehow. I was one happy city girl that weekend.
Now I can say welcome to the fall! In my last post, I sat at the computer in shorts and airconditioning writing about the autumn solstice. But I can see the leaves actually beginning to change color now and there are lots of horror movies on tv indicating the approach of Halloween and all the candy in the store that I am NOT buying and wearing a sweater walking through the slightly chilled air. I really am feeling it now and I love this season. Too bad it has to turn into winter....I shiver like a frightened chihuahua in cold weather but that is for another post.
Eat fabulous food, get out the sweaters and snuggle in.
Peace out,
Robina
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Happy Fall Solstice!
Hello, Friends! The end of summer is always a bittersweet time for me. I absolutely love the summertime and every year I mourn its passing like an old friend that leaves before she's worn out her welcome. But I do love the fall-don't get me wrong. The beautiful colors of the leaves and the pumpkins and apples and all that jazz....love it all.
Anyhow...now that you have suffered my dissertation about the seasons, let's talk about food. (Before I start waxing poetic about the Island of Misfit Toys and how it reflects dissention in our society.)
Last weekend was Greg's parents' anniversary and as they have invited me to their home for every holiday and really made me feel like part of the family, I wanted to make them a nice dinner to celebrate. I immediately began to plan the menu and wanted to share a couple of recipes with you.
First course: Summer Corn Chowder. This is a recipe I discovered recently and made many times at work and I loooove it! It's completely vegetarian and since corn was so amazing this summer it really is celebrated here. Take four ears of corn and shuck them, reserving the corn kernels in a bowl. Break the now naked cobs in two and place them in a large sauce pan with three cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 mins. You are essentially making a corn stock. Strain it out and discard the corn cobs. Reserve the liquid in a bowl or small pot on the side. Next, sautee 1/2 of a medium chopped yellow onion in a Tbls. of butter and a splash of olive oil. When the onion is translucent and soft, add 1 Russet potato that has been peeled and chopped into small pieces, the corn kernels, 2 sprigs of thyme (throw them in whole as you will remove the stems later), the corn stock, 1 cup of milk and 1 tsp of salt and some crushed black pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender which should take about 10 minutes. I personally find that there isn't enough liquid so I like to add about a cup of vegetable stock to this. Remove the stems from the thyme, adjust seasoning and serve. It is amazing and the corn is so sweet and still has a bite to it. The heat from the pepper really balances out the sweetness.
The next thing I want to share is my new and favorite discovery. It is a vegetarian product called Quorn. What's that you say? Corn? No Quorn. It originated in the UK and Ireland and uses egg whites as a binder and it absolutely positively replicates chicken breast like I have never seen before! My friend, Stacey's, cat thinks it's chicken! They sell many varieties (one is filled with Gruyere cheese....yummers!) But I was making a chicken dish for the anniversary dinner and was looking for a vegetarian version for us and lo and behold I found Quorn (which Stacey, has been begging me to try all this time).
Here is the recipe for "Chicken" with French Mushroom Sauce. First you make this gorgeous velvety sauce. The recipe calls for a package of dried morel mushrooms which you would reconstitute in hot water. I have done this and they are wonderful. But (a)-dried morels are not always easy to find and (2) they can be bloody expensive and who among us can pay $10 these days for a little package of dried mushrooms? So I ended up using fresh button mushrooms and also baby Portobellas. Slice the mushrooms and sautee them with 2 chopped shallots in a little butter and oil (about a Tbls of each). Cook them for about 12 minutes until they are nice and tender and have released their liquid. Add a cup of Medeira wine (this is a sweet Portugese wine) and let the whole thing reduce by 1/2. Add 1 cup of creme fraiche (fancy cream cheese) and 1 cup of heavy cream and stir it all together. Adjust seasoning (always add salt and pepper as you go and taste). Simmer for about ten minutes gently to thicken the sauce and voila! It is so decadent and delicious.
For the meat-eaters, I sauteed some chicken breasts. It felt oddly sinister preparing chicken in Greg's kitchen and scrubbed every surface the meat may have touched afterward like I was cleaning up a crime scene on Dexter. For us, I cautiously opened the box of Quorn and peered inside, not sure of what I would find and they looked like little plain chicken breasts! I sauteed them off the way I had done with the real ones and then smothered both (in seperate dishes) with the mushroom sauce. When I tasted the veggie version of a dish I ate and loved as a meat-eater I was beyond ecstatic. It was a seamless transition. The carnivores at the table were happy and we veggies were as well and we all licked our plates clean. I served it with Orzo cooked in a little sauteed onion and veggie stock and some roasted broccoli. Dessert was my famous lemon tart that I discovered many years ago and have been making ever since to rave reviews.
Now some vegetarians don't really care for substitutions of meat dishes and some meat-eaters have told me it makes no sense because if I want the dish why not just eat the "real" thing? But I still want these yummy things which is why I told you guys about the substitution for the McRib (the McRob) and the veggie sausage pizzas and pigs in blankets I served for the Oscar party last year.
It's so wonderful to eat amazing food and not miss a beat being a vegetarian. I am thrilled to know that while preparing these amazing dishes I have not harmed any animals....except for that time I dropped a piece of broccoli on Leo's head.
Happy Fall and happy eating!
Love,
Robina
Anyhow...now that you have suffered my dissertation about the seasons, let's talk about food. (Before I start waxing poetic about the Island of Misfit Toys and how it reflects dissention in our society.)
Last weekend was Greg's parents' anniversary and as they have invited me to their home for every holiday and really made me feel like part of the family, I wanted to make them a nice dinner to celebrate. I immediately began to plan the menu and wanted to share a couple of recipes with you.
First course: Summer Corn Chowder. This is a recipe I discovered recently and made many times at work and I loooove it! It's completely vegetarian and since corn was so amazing this summer it really is celebrated here. Take four ears of corn and shuck them, reserving the corn kernels in a bowl. Break the now naked cobs in two and place them in a large sauce pan with three cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 mins. You are essentially making a corn stock. Strain it out and discard the corn cobs. Reserve the liquid in a bowl or small pot on the side. Next, sautee 1/2 of a medium chopped yellow onion in a Tbls. of butter and a splash of olive oil. When the onion is translucent and soft, add 1 Russet potato that has been peeled and chopped into small pieces, the corn kernels, 2 sprigs of thyme (throw them in whole as you will remove the stems later), the corn stock, 1 cup of milk and 1 tsp of salt and some crushed black pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender which should take about 10 minutes. I personally find that there isn't enough liquid so I like to add about a cup of vegetable stock to this. Remove the stems from the thyme, adjust seasoning and serve. It is amazing and the corn is so sweet and still has a bite to it. The heat from the pepper really balances out the sweetness.
The next thing I want to share is my new and favorite discovery. It is a vegetarian product called Quorn. What's that you say? Corn? No Quorn. It originated in the UK and Ireland and uses egg whites as a binder and it absolutely positively replicates chicken breast like I have never seen before! My friend, Stacey's, cat thinks it's chicken! They sell many varieties (one is filled with Gruyere cheese....yummers!) But I was making a chicken dish for the anniversary dinner and was looking for a vegetarian version for us and lo and behold I found Quorn (which Stacey, has been begging me to try all this time).
Here is the recipe for "Chicken" with French Mushroom Sauce. First you make this gorgeous velvety sauce. The recipe calls for a package of dried morel mushrooms which you would reconstitute in hot water. I have done this and they are wonderful. But (a)-dried morels are not always easy to find and (2) they can be bloody expensive and who among us can pay $10 these days for a little package of dried mushrooms? So I ended up using fresh button mushrooms and also baby Portobellas. Slice the mushrooms and sautee them with 2 chopped shallots in a little butter and oil (about a Tbls of each). Cook them for about 12 minutes until they are nice and tender and have released their liquid. Add a cup of Medeira wine (this is a sweet Portugese wine) and let the whole thing reduce by 1/2. Add 1 cup of creme fraiche (fancy cream cheese) and 1 cup of heavy cream and stir it all together. Adjust seasoning (always add salt and pepper as you go and taste). Simmer for about ten minutes gently to thicken the sauce and voila! It is so decadent and delicious.
For the meat-eaters, I sauteed some chicken breasts. It felt oddly sinister preparing chicken in Greg's kitchen and scrubbed every surface the meat may have touched afterward like I was cleaning up a crime scene on Dexter. For us, I cautiously opened the box of Quorn and peered inside, not sure of what I would find and they looked like little plain chicken breasts! I sauteed them off the way I had done with the real ones and then smothered both (in seperate dishes) with the mushroom sauce. When I tasted the veggie version of a dish I ate and loved as a meat-eater I was beyond ecstatic. It was a seamless transition. The carnivores at the table were happy and we veggies were as well and we all licked our plates clean. I served it with Orzo cooked in a little sauteed onion and veggie stock and some roasted broccoli. Dessert was my famous lemon tart that I discovered many years ago and have been making ever since to rave reviews.
Now some vegetarians don't really care for substitutions of meat dishes and some meat-eaters have told me it makes no sense because if I want the dish why not just eat the "real" thing? But I still want these yummy things which is why I told you guys about the substitution for the McRib (the McRob) and the veggie sausage pizzas and pigs in blankets I served for the Oscar party last year.
It's so wonderful to eat amazing food and not miss a beat being a vegetarian. I am thrilled to know that while preparing these amazing dishes I have not harmed any animals....except for that time I dropped a piece of broccoli on Leo's head.
Happy Fall and happy eating!
Love,
Robina
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The Tastes of Summer!
Hey everyone! Hope you survived Hurricane Irene and that your homes and possessions didn't suffer too much damage. I, for one, hunkered down with Leo and Chloe kitties and enough food to keep me going for a month and rode it out. Why were people convinced that we were doomed to suffer the great Wonder Bread famine of 2011? My local supermarket was picked clean of every last crumb of bread while everything else was fully stocked.
It has been a while since my last post but I wanted to rewind a bit and talk about some wonderful local veggies I got my hands on a couple of weeks ago.
Greg and I went to visit our friends, Tom and Meaghan, who have a fantastic little garden they made out of a patch of land in the parking lot behind their house. The irony of this is not lost on me. Instead of turning paradise into a parking lot, they turned a parking lot into paradise! I enviously gazed at the gorgeous fat red tomatoes beside their adorable little cherry tomato cousins, beautiful cucumbers, peppers, carrots hiding just under the earth with only their greens exposed (to which I had to make the obligatory "I'll never go hungry again" Scarlett reference). After a nice visit we said our goodbyes and they handed us a paper bag filled with goodies from the garden! Earlier that day, Tom had given Greg a big handful of jalapeno peppers and they now resided in the cupholder of the car.
On the way home we stopped at a little farmstand in Orange, CT, called Field View Farm. It was founded in 1639 and apparently you used to be able to get all sorts of wonderful produce there as well as amazingly fresh dairy products made from the milk of their own cows. But now they sell a limited number of fruits and vegetables and some fantastic homemade ice cream. The first time we went there Greg's mom bought us ice cream and I had the Maple Walnut...yum delish! But on this visit we picked up some zucchinis, fresh ears of summer corn and a few tiny purple plums. We followed the mooing to the huge open pen and visited the cows. They seemed so happy and healthy out in the fresh air and sunshine all day. We said hi to them and assured them that we came in peace and would eat neither them nor any member of their family. I invited them to read this blog but I don't think they are quite so computer savvy just yet.
The next day we planned to visit Greg's parents so I decided to make a simple preparation of our treasures. I wanted to keep the integrity of each vegetable and not let them disappear among too many other ingredients.
I chopped up the big fat red tomatoes, and a few of the cherry tomatoes and cooked them down in a medium saucepan with olive oil, shallots and garlic until they released some beautiful liquid but still had chunks of tomato. I added a little fresh thyme and oregano and tossed in some organic pasta we had on hand. The zucchinis I simply sliced and placed in a single layer on a baking sheet, drizzled them with olive oil and a good sprinkling of salt and crushed black pepper and sent them into a 375 degree oven, turning them over midway through the cooking process so they browned on both sides. The entire cooking process was maybe 20 minutes. I cleaned the corn of their husks and silk and Greg's mom cooked them in boiling water for ten minutes and we ate them with butter and salt. Finally I chopped the cucumber and tossed them with the rest of the cherry tomatoes for a simple salad to which his mom added a bit of fresh mozzarella, sliced Vidalia onions and a little olive oil and vinegar.
We had the most amazing feast that evening! The summer corn was indescribable....so sweet and plump and perfect. The zucchini was nice and caramelized and had such a beautiful fresh earthy flavor. I really prefer this method to sauteeing them because I find they tend to release alot of liquid in the pan and they end up steaming and getting mushy rather than brown and keep their structure. The pasta was nice and simple with the beautiful August tomatoes as the star of the dish.
As I have said in previous posts, eating things that have been grown locally is so important. I love knowing exactly where my food comes from and knowing the earth wasn't damaged in order for me to enjoy it. No jet or diesel fuel was used to bring it to me. Nor were chemicals introduced to mass produce anything which could then seep into the earth and affect other plants, animals, and eventually us. Besides, it just tastes so much better.
Please go and visit your local farmers' markets or any friends who may have their own garden and enjoy! Everything is so good in August.
This is Robin signing off....peace out!
Love,
Robina
It has been a while since my last post but I wanted to rewind a bit and talk about some wonderful local veggies I got my hands on a couple of weeks ago.
Greg and I went to visit our friends, Tom and Meaghan, who have a fantastic little garden they made out of a patch of land in the parking lot behind their house. The irony of this is not lost on me. Instead of turning paradise into a parking lot, they turned a parking lot into paradise! I enviously gazed at the gorgeous fat red tomatoes beside their adorable little cherry tomato cousins, beautiful cucumbers, peppers, carrots hiding just under the earth with only their greens exposed (to which I had to make the obligatory "I'll never go hungry again" Scarlett reference). After a nice visit we said our goodbyes and they handed us a paper bag filled with goodies from the garden! Earlier that day, Tom had given Greg a big handful of jalapeno peppers and they now resided in the cupholder of the car.
On the way home we stopped at a little farmstand in Orange, CT, called Field View Farm. It was founded in 1639 and apparently you used to be able to get all sorts of wonderful produce there as well as amazingly fresh dairy products made from the milk of their own cows. But now they sell a limited number of fruits and vegetables and some fantastic homemade ice cream. The first time we went there Greg's mom bought us ice cream and I had the Maple Walnut...yum delish! But on this visit we picked up some zucchinis, fresh ears of summer corn and a few tiny purple plums. We followed the mooing to the huge open pen and visited the cows. They seemed so happy and healthy out in the fresh air and sunshine all day. We said hi to them and assured them that we came in peace and would eat neither them nor any member of their family. I invited them to read this blog but I don't think they are quite so computer savvy just yet.
The next day we planned to visit Greg's parents so I decided to make a simple preparation of our treasures. I wanted to keep the integrity of each vegetable and not let them disappear among too many other ingredients.
I chopped up the big fat red tomatoes, and a few of the cherry tomatoes and cooked them down in a medium saucepan with olive oil, shallots and garlic until they released some beautiful liquid but still had chunks of tomato. I added a little fresh thyme and oregano and tossed in some organic pasta we had on hand. The zucchinis I simply sliced and placed in a single layer on a baking sheet, drizzled them with olive oil and a good sprinkling of salt and crushed black pepper and sent them into a 375 degree oven, turning them over midway through the cooking process so they browned on both sides. The entire cooking process was maybe 20 minutes. I cleaned the corn of their husks and silk and Greg's mom cooked them in boiling water for ten minutes and we ate them with butter and salt. Finally I chopped the cucumber and tossed them with the rest of the cherry tomatoes for a simple salad to which his mom added a bit of fresh mozzarella, sliced Vidalia onions and a little olive oil and vinegar.
We had the most amazing feast that evening! The summer corn was indescribable....so sweet and plump and perfect. The zucchini was nice and caramelized and had such a beautiful fresh earthy flavor. I really prefer this method to sauteeing them because I find they tend to release alot of liquid in the pan and they end up steaming and getting mushy rather than brown and keep their structure. The pasta was nice and simple with the beautiful August tomatoes as the star of the dish.
As I have said in previous posts, eating things that have been grown locally is so important. I love knowing exactly where my food comes from and knowing the earth wasn't damaged in order for me to enjoy it. No jet or diesel fuel was used to bring it to me. Nor were chemicals introduced to mass produce anything which could then seep into the earth and affect other plants, animals, and eventually us. Besides, it just tastes so much better.
Please go and visit your local farmers' markets or any friends who may have their own garden and enjoy! Everything is so good in August.
This is Robin signing off....peace out!
Love,
Robina
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Location location location!
Hi, friends! I am so sorry it has been a few weeks since my last posting. A new chapter is slowly emerging in my career (I do emphasize "slowly") and I am taking on some new projects. I am really happy to say that two of the new projects that have come my way are vegetarian. See how the universe listens to what we put out there! In my professional career, I try to be open to everything and when clients request anything that once had a face I regretfully comply because I can't really turn down work. But I do a happy dance when clients request a vegetarian menu and lately that is what is happening so I am tickled pink!
Another thing that I have been making a concerted effort to do is use locally grown ingredients. Being a country bumpkin in the body of a city girl, I love my weekends in Connecticut with Greg and our friends. I had written recently about our strawberry picking adventure and a couple of weeks ago we went to Bishop's Orchard in Guilford fore blueberry picking! Oh joy of joys! Blueberries happen to be one of my favorite foods and they are also one of the healthiest things you can have because of the crazy antioxidants that come in such a tiny little package. Bishop's Orchard has a wonderful farmer's market with a small wine tasting area inside. Although I was raised by an absolute shopaholic mother, this is my Bloomingdales. Rows and rows of fruits, vegetables, cheeses, breads - all locally grown - all fresh and bright and beautiful. That evening I lightly sauteed some button and baby portabella mushrooms in a little butter, white wine and thyme and tossed it with some fresh eggplant ravioli. I warmed a baguette from Judies European Bakery in New Haven and we had it with some local goat cheese. I also made a simple salad with romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers which came right out of our friend, Tom's, garden.
The next morning I made pancakes and stuffed them with our gorgeous blueberries which were even sweeter the next day and we poured incredibly dark and decadent locally grown maple syrup on them.
A week later I decided to take advantage of NY Restaurant Week. If you have never done this I urge you to go. It takes place for two weeks in January and two weeks in July and it is a wonderful way to try out excellent restaurants in the city for alot cheaper. They have a lunch ($24.07) and a dinner ($35.00) 3 course prix fixe and you can look at the menus online and see which appeals to you. My friends and I chose Blue Water Grill, which I had been to years ago and absolutely loved. Hopefully my strict vegetarian/vegan followers won't curse me for eating seafood. Food is a personal choice and we do the best we can. I am a proud pescatarian and I suppose I pray at the temple of...well...Blue Water Grill!
Since the restaurant is a few blocks from Union Square Farmers Market they take advantage of that and so many of their ingredients come from local farms. To that end, I chose a Fried Goat Cheese, Pear and Arugula salad as my appetizer. The goat cheese were these tiny, delicate little balls of creamy goat cheese gently fried until the outside was crisp but not remotely oily. They were surprisingly light. The salad was clean and pungent and fresh and had little roasted hazelnuts sprinkled on top. My entree was outstanding - fresh salmon with a citrus tabouli salad and summer corn. It was summer on a plate! When I look for a restaurant to dine at, I always try to find a place that serves clean food. I am not one for heavy sauces and even when things don't appear heavy they often are cooked with tons of butter. I should know...in culinary school when we went to gather our mise en place (our ingredients) I came back to my station from the refrigerator every day loaded down with blocks of butter and cartons of heavy cream. As this is the classic French way, many chefs in good restaurants still prepare food like this which is why it tastes so amazing. But a new lighter way of cooking has been cropping up over the past several years (I personally think Jean Georges Vongerichten ushered this in) and Blue Water Grill benefits greatly from this style. Bottom line, I hightly recommend this restaurant.
So kids....what did we learn today?Vegetarianism is sweeping the nation, neither my mother nor I can resist a good bargain, in the year of 1999 I sacrificed myself to the butter gods and eating locally grown ingredients is very very important and delicious.
Please let me know any restaurants you absolutely love that use local ingredients and I will check them out!
Lots of love,
Robina
Another thing that I have been making a concerted effort to do is use locally grown ingredients. Being a country bumpkin in the body of a city girl, I love my weekends in Connecticut with Greg and our friends. I had written recently about our strawberry picking adventure and a couple of weeks ago we went to Bishop's Orchard in Guilford fore blueberry picking! Oh joy of joys! Blueberries happen to be one of my favorite foods and they are also one of the healthiest things you can have because of the crazy antioxidants that come in such a tiny little package. Bishop's Orchard has a wonderful farmer's market with a small wine tasting area inside. Although I was raised by an absolute shopaholic mother, this is my Bloomingdales. Rows and rows of fruits, vegetables, cheeses, breads - all locally grown - all fresh and bright and beautiful. That evening I lightly sauteed some button and baby portabella mushrooms in a little butter, white wine and thyme and tossed it with some fresh eggplant ravioli. I warmed a baguette from Judies European Bakery in New Haven and we had it with some local goat cheese. I also made a simple salad with romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers which came right out of our friend, Tom's, garden.
The next morning I made pancakes and stuffed them with our gorgeous blueberries which were even sweeter the next day and we poured incredibly dark and decadent locally grown maple syrup on them.
A week later I decided to take advantage of NY Restaurant Week. If you have never done this I urge you to go. It takes place for two weeks in January and two weeks in July and it is a wonderful way to try out excellent restaurants in the city for alot cheaper. They have a lunch ($24.07) and a dinner ($35.00) 3 course prix fixe and you can look at the menus online and see which appeals to you. My friends and I chose Blue Water Grill, which I had been to years ago and absolutely loved. Hopefully my strict vegetarian/vegan followers won't curse me for eating seafood. Food is a personal choice and we do the best we can. I am a proud pescatarian and I suppose I pray at the temple of...well...Blue Water Grill!
Since the restaurant is a few blocks from Union Square Farmers Market they take advantage of that and so many of their ingredients come from local farms. To that end, I chose a Fried Goat Cheese, Pear and Arugula salad as my appetizer. The goat cheese were these tiny, delicate little balls of creamy goat cheese gently fried until the outside was crisp but not remotely oily. They were surprisingly light. The salad was clean and pungent and fresh and had little roasted hazelnuts sprinkled on top. My entree was outstanding - fresh salmon with a citrus tabouli salad and summer corn. It was summer on a plate! When I look for a restaurant to dine at, I always try to find a place that serves clean food. I am not one for heavy sauces and even when things don't appear heavy they often are cooked with tons of butter. I should know...in culinary school when we went to gather our mise en place (our ingredients) I came back to my station from the refrigerator every day loaded down with blocks of butter and cartons of heavy cream. As this is the classic French way, many chefs in good restaurants still prepare food like this which is why it tastes so amazing. But a new lighter way of cooking has been cropping up over the past several years (I personally think Jean Georges Vongerichten ushered this in) and Blue Water Grill benefits greatly from this style. Bottom line, I hightly recommend this restaurant.
So kids....what did we learn today?Vegetarianism is sweeping the nation, neither my mother nor I can resist a good bargain, in the year of 1999 I sacrificed myself to the butter gods and eating locally grown ingredients is very very important and delicious.
Please let me know any restaurants you absolutely love that use local ingredients and I will check them out!
Lots of love,
Robina
Monday, June 27, 2011
Strawberry Serenade
I think I have fully shed my city skin this past weekend and become a true living off the land girl. I even went so far as to liken myself to Laura Ingalls Wilder. What else can a Brooklyn girl do when she is skipping through a strawberry patch with a little cardboard basket? Last summer I caught the strawberry picking fever as Greg and his parents took me to Bishop's Orchard and I knealt down in the dirt and plucked my very first gorgeous red strawberry. In fact, the photo I use for this blog comes from that very day.
On Saturday we went with our lovely friends, Tom and Meaghan, to a different farm, Jones Farm, which is known for its colassally beautiful yet fairly pricey Christmas trees. First the Berry Ferry (which is a big truck thing you would imagine would be used for hayrides) took us out to the fields...a mere 72 seconds away...and deposited us among the rows upon rows of strawberry bushes. We knealt down migrant worker style and begin plucking away and dropping our treasures into the cardboard basket provided. As it was the end of strawberry season, many of them were going through the stages of decomposition, but we did manage to fill our basket to nearly overflowing. All in a day's work.
The other wonder of Jones Farms is Jones Winery!!! Heck, we were thirsty farmers and deserved some cocktails! We drove the three minutes to the winery and it was a sight to behold! The tasting area was a beautiful open sunny room with a long counter for tastings. Unfortunately the tastings were over when we arrived but they did let us have a few samples. Greg tried the strawberry wine called Strawberry Serenade. It was 65% grape wine and 35% strawberry wine and was carbonated so it was like a strawberry champagne....so refreshing and such a burst of strawberries in your mouth. I tasted the apple pear wine called Harvest Time, which was dry and crisp and tasted like biting into a tart apple with notes of sweet pear. We purchased Strawberry Serenade and Tom and Meaghan purchased Harvest Time. When we emerged we noticed the outdoor patio sitting area...oh my god! Small iron tables and chairs were set up where you can sit and sip your wine and look out onto the vineyards. Greg said that if we had taken a photo of it people would think we were in Italy and I concur. We swore we'd be back soon to do the tastings and sit on the patio.
We ended the beautiful afternoon by picking up groceries at a local organic market in Hamden, CT, called Thyme and Season which we are huge fans of. They carry amazing produce, local baked goods by a company called Judies which makes fantastic breads, and fabulous organic cheeses to name a few things. We went back to Greg's house and proceded to have our own episode of Iron Chef and the secret ingredient is....strawberries! As Tom is a chef, as well, we attacked Greg's little kitchen and prepared several dishes for dinner. Tom made a wonderful flatbread with fresh mozzarella and strawberries macerated in blueberry infused balsamic vinegar. I made a salad of red leaf lettuce, feta cheese, toasted pecans and can you guess????? Strawberries! My dressing was made with raspberry infused balsamic vinegar and olive oil. We also had some potato pierogies we picked up at a market and some of Judy's amazing bread. We opened the two bottles of wines and toasted to a fantastic day.
What was so satisfying about the day was that we knew where everything came from that we were consuming. The next day we shared our strawberries with Greg's parents and his mom made a wonderful shortcake by immersing them in heavy cream and then spooning the mixture onto slices of pound cake. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I remembered how my grandmother used to serve strawberries in cream in her little yellow Depression glass bowls.
Anyway, I must run. If I don't make the remainder of our strawberries into jam today, they will be goners. Check out Jones Farms at www.jonesfamilyfarms.com. Happy picking!
Love,
Robina
On Saturday we went with our lovely friends, Tom and Meaghan, to a different farm, Jones Farm, which is known for its colassally beautiful yet fairly pricey Christmas trees. First the Berry Ferry (which is a big truck thing you would imagine would be used for hayrides) took us out to the fields...a mere 72 seconds away...and deposited us among the rows upon rows of strawberry bushes. We knealt down migrant worker style and begin plucking away and dropping our treasures into the cardboard basket provided. As it was the end of strawberry season, many of them were going through the stages of decomposition, but we did manage to fill our basket to nearly overflowing. All in a day's work.
The other wonder of Jones Farms is Jones Winery!!! Heck, we were thirsty farmers and deserved some cocktails! We drove the three minutes to the winery and it was a sight to behold! The tasting area was a beautiful open sunny room with a long counter for tastings. Unfortunately the tastings were over when we arrived but they did let us have a few samples. Greg tried the strawberry wine called Strawberry Serenade. It was 65% grape wine and 35% strawberry wine and was carbonated so it was like a strawberry champagne....so refreshing and such a burst of strawberries in your mouth. I tasted the apple pear wine called Harvest Time, which was dry and crisp and tasted like biting into a tart apple with notes of sweet pear. We purchased Strawberry Serenade and Tom and Meaghan purchased Harvest Time. When we emerged we noticed the outdoor patio sitting area...oh my god! Small iron tables and chairs were set up where you can sit and sip your wine and look out onto the vineyards. Greg said that if we had taken a photo of it people would think we were in Italy and I concur. We swore we'd be back soon to do the tastings and sit on the patio.
We ended the beautiful afternoon by picking up groceries at a local organic market in Hamden, CT, called Thyme and Season which we are huge fans of. They carry amazing produce, local baked goods by a company called Judies which makes fantastic breads, and fabulous organic cheeses to name a few things. We went back to Greg's house and proceded to have our own episode of Iron Chef and the secret ingredient is....strawberries! As Tom is a chef, as well, we attacked Greg's little kitchen and prepared several dishes for dinner. Tom made a wonderful flatbread with fresh mozzarella and strawberries macerated in blueberry infused balsamic vinegar. I made a salad of red leaf lettuce, feta cheese, toasted pecans and can you guess????? Strawberries! My dressing was made with raspberry infused balsamic vinegar and olive oil. We also had some potato pierogies we picked up at a market and some of Judy's amazing bread. We opened the two bottles of wines and toasted to a fantastic day.
What was so satisfying about the day was that we knew where everything came from that we were consuming. The next day we shared our strawberries with Greg's parents and his mom made a wonderful shortcake by immersing them in heavy cream and then spooning the mixture onto slices of pound cake. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I remembered how my grandmother used to serve strawberries in cream in her little yellow Depression glass bowls.
Anyway, I must run. If I don't make the remainder of our strawberries into jam today, they will be goners. Check out Jones Farms at www.jonesfamilyfarms.com. Happy picking!
Love,
Robina
Thursday, June 9, 2011
The Simple Kitchen
Hello, friends!
Please forgive me for my tardiness in writing a new post. I suppose I can blame it on spring fever. Doing cartwheels through fields of dandelions has apparently addled my brain! No...no....I joke....that is what I do!
But anyway, I am back and I won't abandon you all again....promise. Honestly, I am looking for willing souls who will pay me to cook, write about or do just about anything with food.
I have had a few conversations with friends lately about vegetarianism versus veganism and how at times these two camps go to war like bitter enemies. A few tweets went around after the Vegetarian Food Festival about how veganism is the only way to go and vegetarians are evil for eating dairy and it is all very militant. I know alot of vegans that are very happy. In fact, my friend's twelve year old daughter is a staunch vegan. But once you introduce judgment into it, I can't help but wonder one's true motivation. I read things about the dairy industry that make me feel awful for those poor cows. Apparently, cows are given hormones to trick them into thinking they are pregnant so they will produce milk. Once they get older and start producing less milk they are no longer useful and god knows what their fate is. I do try to drink almond milk or soy milk as much as possible but I really do like milk in my coffee and I love cheese. The bottom line to this whole diatribe is this...it is a personal choice and you have to be true to what you believe in. It is a lifestyle and we all do the best we can each day. It is important to know where your food comes from and what happens before it arrives at your market and in some cases, it truly is a house of horrors. Now I will get off of my biodegradable soap box and tell you about an amazing restaurant I just discovered.
It is called "The Simple Kitchen" and I had lunch there yesterday. It is an organic cafe in Chelsea which serves biodynamic and organic wine, as well as fantastic food. What is biodynamic, you ask? I have no freakin idea...but I have looked it up and here is the definition: a method of organic farming that emphasizes holistic development without the use of artificial fertilizers or pesticides. Sounds good to me and it seems to work because the ingredients were beautiful. It's a small sunny space with limited seating. There is a big farm table in the middle for communal seating, two small tables and a counter along the window. Most people seem to get take away so it was pretty empty when I walked in with my friend, Dizery, but we took a seat at the farm table. You order what you like and they bring it to you. In the refrigerated area, it was stock full of prepackaged salads such as Poached Chicken salad, Shaved Cabbage salad with baked tofu and Golden Beet and Quinoa Salad. There were entrees such as Vegetable Curry with brown rice, Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs and Beef and Broccoli Rice Bowl, which my dear lunch companion chose. She made a happy plate so I know she enjoyed it. I had the Seasonal Hummus Wrap and it was perfect! I am still thinking about it and want to have it again asap! There was creamy, flavorful hummus cradled inside a wrap with mesculin greens, cucumber, shredded carrots and came with a tahini sauce which I loved! Tahini is something we see everywhere but there was something about this tahini that was so addictive. It had a subtle sweetness from locally grown honey and gave you such an explosion of flavor. The vegetables were crisp and fresh and I loved the lemony hummus. We decided to sample one of their desserts so we shared a slice of carrot cake. It was more spice-cakey than carroty and I love that kind of cinnamon, cardamom flavor almost as much as I do chocolate. Then you take into consideration the cream cheese frosting (another fave of mine) and it was a beautiful end to a beautiful meal. Not only was I satisfied from eating fantastic food but I felt good about where it all came from. The meats are humanely raised and free of antibiotics and hormones. If my friends are going to be carnivores I would rather they eat it this way. I once heard Alicia Silverstone say on Oprah that she would want to meet the cow or chicken and see that he was raised happily, and I totally understand that. But until we can actually do that, this is a good start. They also offer a weekend brunch although it is a fairly limited list of brunch items.
The Simple Kitchen is located at 361 West 17th Street. It is reasonably priced and you can check out their website at http://simplekitchencafe.com/.
So go out there and enjoy the beautiful spring and eat really good food! Please let me know your thoughts and any questions or requests you may have for a topic.
Love,
Robina
Please forgive me for my tardiness in writing a new post. I suppose I can blame it on spring fever. Doing cartwheels through fields of dandelions has apparently addled my brain! No...no....I joke....that is what I do!
But anyway, I am back and I won't abandon you all again....promise. Honestly, I am looking for willing souls who will pay me to cook, write about or do just about anything with food.
I have had a few conversations with friends lately about vegetarianism versus veganism and how at times these two camps go to war like bitter enemies. A few tweets went around after the Vegetarian Food Festival about how veganism is the only way to go and vegetarians are evil for eating dairy and it is all very militant. I know alot of vegans that are very happy. In fact, my friend's twelve year old daughter is a staunch vegan. But once you introduce judgment into it, I can't help but wonder one's true motivation. I read things about the dairy industry that make me feel awful for those poor cows. Apparently, cows are given hormones to trick them into thinking they are pregnant so they will produce milk. Once they get older and start producing less milk they are no longer useful and god knows what their fate is. I do try to drink almond milk or soy milk as much as possible but I really do like milk in my coffee and I love cheese. The bottom line to this whole diatribe is this...it is a personal choice and you have to be true to what you believe in. It is a lifestyle and we all do the best we can each day. It is important to know where your food comes from and what happens before it arrives at your market and in some cases, it truly is a house of horrors. Now I will get off of my biodegradable soap box and tell you about an amazing restaurant I just discovered.
It is called "The Simple Kitchen" and I had lunch there yesterday. It is an organic cafe in Chelsea which serves biodynamic and organic wine, as well as fantastic food. What is biodynamic, you ask? I have no freakin idea...but I have looked it up and here is the definition: a method of organic farming that emphasizes holistic development without the use of artificial fertilizers or pesticides. Sounds good to me and it seems to work because the ingredients were beautiful. It's a small sunny space with limited seating. There is a big farm table in the middle for communal seating, two small tables and a counter along the window. Most people seem to get take away so it was pretty empty when I walked in with my friend, Dizery, but we took a seat at the farm table. You order what you like and they bring it to you. In the refrigerated area, it was stock full of prepackaged salads such as Poached Chicken salad, Shaved Cabbage salad with baked tofu and Golden Beet and Quinoa Salad. There were entrees such as Vegetable Curry with brown rice, Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs and Beef and Broccoli Rice Bowl, which my dear lunch companion chose. She made a happy plate so I know she enjoyed it. I had the Seasonal Hummus Wrap and it was perfect! I am still thinking about it and want to have it again asap! There was creamy, flavorful hummus cradled inside a wrap with mesculin greens, cucumber, shredded carrots and came with a tahini sauce which I loved! Tahini is something we see everywhere but there was something about this tahini that was so addictive. It had a subtle sweetness from locally grown honey and gave you such an explosion of flavor. The vegetables were crisp and fresh and I loved the lemony hummus. We decided to sample one of their desserts so we shared a slice of carrot cake. It was more spice-cakey than carroty and I love that kind of cinnamon, cardamom flavor almost as much as I do chocolate. Then you take into consideration the cream cheese frosting (another fave of mine) and it was a beautiful end to a beautiful meal. Not only was I satisfied from eating fantastic food but I felt good about where it all came from. The meats are humanely raised and free of antibiotics and hormones. If my friends are going to be carnivores I would rather they eat it this way. I once heard Alicia Silverstone say on Oprah that she would want to meet the cow or chicken and see that he was raised happily, and I totally understand that. But until we can actually do that, this is a good start. They also offer a weekend brunch although it is a fairly limited list of brunch items.
The Simple Kitchen is located at 361 West 17th Street. It is reasonably priced and you can check out their website at http://simplekitchencafe.com/.
So go out there and enjoy the beautiful spring and eat really good food! Please let me know your thoughts and any questions or requests you may have for a topic.
Love,
Robina
Friday, May 6, 2011
Polish Invasion!
Hello all! Let me start off by saying HAPPY SPRING!!!!! It's all I can do not to cartwheel across my neighbor's lawn in celebration of this glorious weather lately. Speaking of celebrations, I hope everyone had a wonderful Passover and/or Easter. After preparing an early Passover dinner for 30 people at work where I had to cook two turkeys (sorry turkeys!) as well as 400 side dishes and things, I was able to have my own Passover at my lovely friend, Stacey's, family's home. I haven't actually celebrated Passover in many years because I have always had to work and it was really wonderful to be part of a Seder.
The following week was Easter Sunday and I got to enjoy a wonderful day with Greg's family. His mother prepared for us the most fantastic roasted vegetable soup. It's one of her specialties and it reminds me of my butternut squash soup but there is so much more going on in there. I believe it has sweet potatoes, butternut squash, onions, parsnips and I am probably missing something but it is so good and has such depth of flavor. Occassionally she adds a dash of curry to it which takes it to another level. Mine is simpler but of course you can add any root vegetables you like. I love adding parsnips to things because it has that lovely sweet taste.
Butternut Squash Soup: I always use a couple of yellow onions because it always adds a wonderful flavor no matter what veggies you use. Peel and cut up your onions and butternut squash into medium sized chunks (size and shape don't matter because you are going to puree it all in the end). Melt two tablespoons of unsalteed butter and a tablespoon of olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat and add the chopped yellow onions. Toss in a pinch of good Kosher salt and some black pepper. I personally like to add a little bit of chopped rosemary and thyme. Instead you can add a tablespoon of curry power if you want to give it a Middle Eastern flavor. Stir the onions so they don't burn and let them get to a sort of buttery yellow color and they should be soft (about 7 minutes). Add the chopped butternut squash with another tablespoon of butter and a 1/4 cup of dry white wine. Mix that all up and cook for about ten minutes, making sure the wine cooks off. Next, add your vegetable stock. I like the organic vegetable stock that comes in those cardboard containers. Pour enough into the pot so that is completely covers the vegetables. It should require about 4 cups of stock. Bring this to a boil and lower the flame so that it is gently simmering and cover the pot. Allow to cook for about an hour until all the squash is soft. Once this is acheived, remove the cover and allow it to cool for about a half hour. Then take one of my most favorite kitchen toys....the (drumroll) immersion blender!!!! In most soup or sauce recipes where pureeing is required, they instruct you to pour hot liquid into a standard blender, place the cover on and pulverize this which always ends up a gigantic mess! Apparently hot liquid does not enjoy being contained in a glass apparatus and inevitably tries to make a break for it through the top and all over the cook. Even if you do manage to get the task done without wearing your soup, it is painstaking and annoying and requires a second pot to place the pureed soup into. Thank heaven for little immersion blenders! (Anyone remember Gigi? No...just me?) All you need do is place the stick into the soup, turn it on and puree the soup right in its original pot. It's amazing! And there you have it! People always ask me if there is cream in it because the texture is so creamy and velvety and I answer with a resounding NO! It isn't necessary and then you can proudly declare that it is low-fat. The butter is the only naughty ingredient, really. And I have nothing against naughty ingredients...but that is for another blog ;-) My point is this soup is absolutely amazing but also healthy.
Now to explain the title of Polish Invasion...
I went to a fabulous restaurant the other day with my friend, Evelina. We both live in the Forest Hills area and like to try out the local fare. I love my neighborhood because we have so many restaurants of every possible nationality. But I have lived here for many years and have tried almost all of them. There was one however I have passed many times and never tried. It is called "Just Like Mother's". I never knew what it was but one day I stopped to look at the menu and it turns out that it is Polish. I've been very interested in this type of cuisine lately because of two things. One is the Polish housekeeper I work with who is quite the character. She calls me "Robeeeen" and always tells me that she has a "very heavy life". I love that phrase for there are times that I too have a very heavy life. The other reason is that Greg's family is Eastern European and I have been enjoying pierogies and borscht and things over the past couple of years. So when Evelina asked me where I would like to go I exclaimed "Just Like Mother's" and off we went!
When we entered it was very cozy and homey and the smelled familiar. It had that "grandma's house" smell of cooking onions and potatoes. We sat down at a nice corner table near the window and were immediately given a basket of black and rye bread. That put me right in the mood for this type of cuisine. The menu is very extensive and offers all manner of pierogies, blintzes, stuffed cabbage, kielbasa, veal and salmon in dill sauce. They have a nice sampling platter which gives you a little of a few things, which Evelina had, but unfortunately those contained meat, so I made my own sampling. I ordered potato latkes with sour cream, an assortment of pierogies and red cabbage. Everything was so good! I know some people don't like the term "comfort food" because it has become one of those trendy phrases that gets overused. But this was the quintessential comfort food. The latkes were not at all greasy, but very crisp on the outside and well seasoned and light. I was so excited when I cut into the spinach pierogi and the spinach was bright green! That told me straightaway that they cared about their ingredients and about cooking things properly. The pierogies come either fried or boiled. I chose fried and they were clearly just tossed lightly in a small amount of butter just to brown them and it gave them such a nice texture. I also had the traditional mushroom and sauerkraut and the potato ones. The potato was fluffy and light and the mushroom sauerkraut was amazing. Finally the red cabbage had that wonderful balance of sweet and sour and was cooked perfectly. Mind you, my dining partner is from the Soviet Union and she made a "happy plate" and gave her stamp of approval. The cooking was clearly done by someone who understood these dishes and put alot of pride into the preparation. I saw the waitress walk by with some gorgeous blintzes but was too full to have them, as well. They do offer a brunch so I am hoping to go back in the very near future and try them.
So what did we learn? It is never too late to learn to appreciate a new cuisine and if you are in Forest Hills, Queens, check out "Just Like Mother's Restaurant" at 11060 Queens Boulevard 718-544-3294.
Now go forth and enjoy the gorgeous weather and have some wonderful food! Let me know if you would like me to talk about anything or review anything.
I am the mom of two beautiful kitties so if you are the mother of anything, even if it's a plant, have a very Happy Mother's Day!!!!!
The following week was Easter Sunday and I got to enjoy a wonderful day with Greg's family. His mother prepared for us the most fantastic roasted vegetable soup. It's one of her specialties and it reminds me of my butternut squash soup but there is so much more going on in there. I believe it has sweet potatoes, butternut squash, onions, parsnips and I am probably missing something but it is so good and has such depth of flavor. Occassionally she adds a dash of curry to it which takes it to another level. Mine is simpler but of course you can add any root vegetables you like. I love adding parsnips to things because it has that lovely sweet taste.
Butternut Squash Soup: I always use a couple of yellow onions because it always adds a wonderful flavor no matter what veggies you use. Peel and cut up your onions and butternut squash into medium sized chunks (size and shape don't matter because you are going to puree it all in the end). Melt two tablespoons of unsalteed butter and a tablespoon of olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat and add the chopped yellow onions. Toss in a pinch of good Kosher salt and some black pepper. I personally like to add a little bit of chopped rosemary and thyme. Instead you can add a tablespoon of curry power if you want to give it a Middle Eastern flavor. Stir the onions so they don't burn and let them get to a sort of buttery yellow color and they should be soft (about 7 minutes). Add the chopped butternut squash with another tablespoon of butter and a 1/4 cup of dry white wine. Mix that all up and cook for about ten minutes, making sure the wine cooks off. Next, add your vegetable stock. I like the organic vegetable stock that comes in those cardboard containers. Pour enough into the pot so that is completely covers the vegetables. It should require about 4 cups of stock. Bring this to a boil and lower the flame so that it is gently simmering and cover the pot. Allow to cook for about an hour until all the squash is soft. Once this is acheived, remove the cover and allow it to cool for about a half hour. Then take one of my most favorite kitchen toys....the (drumroll) immersion blender!!!! In most soup or sauce recipes where pureeing is required, they instruct you to pour hot liquid into a standard blender, place the cover on and pulverize this which always ends up a gigantic mess! Apparently hot liquid does not enjoy being contained in a glass apparatus and inevitably tries to make a break for it through the top and all over the cook. Even if you do manage to get the task done without wearing your soup, it is painstaking and annoying and requires a second pot to place the pureed soup into. Thank heaven for little immersion blenders! (Anyone remember Gigi? No...just me?) All you need do is place the stick into the soup, turn it on and puree the soup right in its original pot. It's amazing! And there you have it! People always ask me if there is cream in it because the texture is so creamy and velvety and I answer with a resounding NO! It isn't necessary and then you can proudly declare that it is low-fat. The butter is the only naughty ingredient, really. And I have nothing against naughty ingredients...but that is for another blog ;-) My point is this soup is absolutely amazing but also healthy.
Now to explain the title of Polish Invasion...
I went to a fabulous restaurant the other day with my friend, Evelina. We both live in the Forest Hills area and like to try out the local fare. I love my neighborhood because we have so many restaurants of every possible nationality. But I have lived here for many years and have tried almost all of them. There was one however I have passed many times and never tried. It is called "Just Like Mother's". I never knew what it was but one day I stopped to look at the menu and it turns out that it is Polish. I've been very interested in this type of cuisine lately because of two things. One is the Polish housekeeper I work with who is quite the character. She calls me "Robeeeen" and always tells me that she has a "very heavy life". I love that phrase for there are times that I too have a very heavy life. The other reason is that Greg's family is Eastern European and I have been enjoying pierogies and borscht and things over the past couple of years. So when Evelina asked me where I would like to go I exclaimed "Just Like Mother's" and off we went!
When we entered it was very cozy and homey and the smelled familiar. It had that "grandma's house" smell of cooking onions and potatoes. We sat down at a nice corner table near the window and were immediately given a basket of black and rye bread. That put me right in the mood for this type of cuisine. The menu is very extensive and offers all manner of pierogies, blintzes, stuffed cabbage, kielbasa, veal and salmon in dill sauce. They have a nice sampling platter which gives you a little of a few things, which Evelina had, but unfortunately those contained meat, so I made my own sampling. I ordered potato latkes with sour cream, an assortment of pierogies and red cabbage. Everything was so good! I know some people don't like the term "comfort food" because it has become one of those trendy phrases that gets overused. But this was the quintessential comfort food. The latkes were not at all greasy, but very crisp on the outside and well seasoned and light. I was so excited when I cut into the spinach pierogi and the spinach was bright green! That told me straightaway that they cared about their ingredients and about cooking things properly. The pierogies come either fried or boiled. I chose fried and they were clearly just tossed lightly in a small amount of butter just to brown them and it gave them such a nice texture. I also had the traditional mushroom and sauerkraut and the potato ones. The potato was fluffy and light and the mushroom sauerkraut was amazing. Finally the red cabbage had that wonderful balance of sweet and sour and was cooked perfectly. Mind you, my dining partner is from the Soviet Union and she made a "happy plate" and gave her stamp of approval. The cooking was clearly done by someone who understood these dishes and put alot of pride into the preparation. I saw the waitress walk by with some gorgeous blintzes but was too full to have them, as well. They do offer a brunch so I am hoping to go back in the very near future and try them.
So what did we learn? It is never too late to learn to appreciate a new cuisine and if you are in Forest Hills, Queens, check out "Just Like Mother's Restaurant" at 11060 Queens Boulevard 718-544-3294.
Now go forth and enjoy the gorgeous weather and have some wonderful food! Let me know if you would like me to talk about anything or review anything.
I am the mom of two beautiful kitties so if you are the mother of anything, even if it's a plant, have a very Happy Mother's Day!!!!!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Happy Easter everyone!
As a nice Jewish girl from Brooklyn I always associated spring with the odd assortment of my parents' friends coming over and me preparing the Passover feast with my grandmother. She taught me how to separate eggs when we made matzoh balls in my kitchen in Canarsie. But as I got a bit older I was invited to my Sicilian friend's house for Easter dinner, as well. I have loved Easter ever since. Theirs was a very Italian Easter that went on for hours and hours and was very meat heavy. These days I have been enjoying beautiful Easter holidays with the Greg's family-the Ukrainians. Last year, many platters of good food were passed around, one being an offering of cold cuts. Everything was lovely and a good time was had by all. But I was prepared with my vegetarian back up system... a beautiful Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Tart! I want to share it with you now. I think it works for brunch or dinner. I have used it in many catering jobs and it is always a wild success and so easy!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and first make the caramalized onions. Take four yellow onions and cut each on in half, then slice them up. Take a large sautee pan and melt 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter with a drop of olive oil. Toss them in the pan and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on them and cook them at a medium-low heat. Stir them periodically so they don't burn. You want them to cook very evenly and get golden brown and soft. (Like the color of mahogany.) It should take about a half hour. Then take them off and put them in a bowl. Whisk three large eggs with a cup of heavy cream and add a teaspoon of fresh thyme, as well as pinch of salt and pepper. Grate 1 cup of Gruyere cheese. Prepare your favorite pie crust recipe or use a frozen one. Take a tart pan (sprayed with Pam) and roll the pie crust into the pan making sure the sides are properly covered as the crust will shrink slightly in the cooking process. You will bake the crust slightly and you don't want it to bubble up in the middle so either use pie weights or prick the dough with a fork gently about four times to create tiny holes for steam to escape. Cook it for about ten minutes so the crust is dry but not browned. Remove the crust from oven and cover the bottom of the crust with the caramalized onions, then the grated Gruyere. Finally carefully pour the egg mixture onto the filling so that it fills it up about 3/4 of the way up the side- be sure not to overflow. Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes until the filling is set and puffed slightly. The sweetness of the onion and the salty nutty flavor of the cheese are such an amazing contrast! Enjoy!
Okay okay....one more recipe! In case you choose to just make dessert or want to try both, I have a wonderful Lemon Buttermilk Cake recipe. This is a variation on a recipe I found in a southern cook book. (In fact I have one cooling on the counter right now!) Years ago I was having a "stoop sale" (Park Slope's version of a garage sale) with my roommate and we were selling our old clothes and junk. But I decided to sell some of my baking as well and, to my shock and awe, no one cared about my Girls Just Wanna Have Fun tee shirt circa 1986 going for $2 but they bought up my baking! In fact, I had to run into the house and quickly make some more cakes and in my haste, I accidentally squeezed some lemon juice into my batter instead of just using the lemon zest. Well it ended up making the cake so much better so now I always squeeze the juice in every time I make it. That is what you call a happy accident! Here it is...it's really simple!
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and butter and flour a large loaf pan. In a large bowl combine 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon of fine salt and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. Mix this gently until just combined. In another bowl, cream together 1 1/2 sticks of softened, unsalted butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar, then add (one at a time) 3 large eggs and whisk until the mixture is light yellow in color and fluffy. Measure out 3/4 cups of buttermilk and place to the side. Add about a quarter of the flour mixture to the butter sugar mixture and gently mix it in with a rubber spatula. Next add about a quarter of the buttermilk and mix that in gently. Alternately mix each into the butter mixture until they are finished. Please mix gently so you don't overwork the flour and end up with a tough cake. Once everything is incorporated, take a lemon and grate it into the batter (make sure you remove the little price tag label thing on it as I learned the hard way!). Then take that lemon, cut it in half and squeeze the juice into the batter catching the seeds with either your other hand or through a tiny strainer. Gently mix the lemon juice and grated rind into the batter and place into the prepared pan. Bake for about 45 minutes until it is baked through. Test with a toothpick to make sure the inside is done (toothpick will come out clean). Allow to cool for about a half hour and then remove it from the pan carefully. Wait until you cut into this thing. It's a gorgeous yellow color and so simple but has so much beautiful lemon flavor! Enjoy!
These are the two things I am bringing to the Ukranian Easter this year and I am very excited to share them. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and if you try these recipes I hope they end up in your repertoire, as well!
Bon appetit!
Love,
Robina
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and first make the caramalized onions. Take four yellow onions and cut each on in half, then slice them up. Take a large sautee pan and melt 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter with a drop of olive oil. Toss them in the pan and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on them and cook them at a medium-low heat. Stir them periodically so they don't burn. You want them to cook very evenly and get golden brown and soft. (Like the color of mahogany.) It should take about a half hour. Then take them off and put them in a bowl. Whisk three large eggs with a cup of heavy cream and add a teaspoon of fresh thyme, as well as pinch of salt and pepper. Grate 1 cup of Gruyere cheese. Prepare your favorite pie crust recipe or use a frozen one. Take a tart pan (sprayed with Pam) and roll the pie crust into the pan making sure the sides are properly covered as the crust will shrink slightly in the cooking process. You will bake the crust slightly and you don't want it to bubble up in the middle so either use pie weights or prick the dough with a fork gently about four times to create tiny holes for steam to escape. Cook it for about ten minutes so the crust is dry but not browned. Remove the crust from oven and cover the bottom of the crust with the caramalized onions, then the grated Gruyere. Finally carefully pour the egg mixture onto the filling so that it fills it up about 3/4 of the way up the side- be sure not to overflow. Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes until the filling is set and puffed slightly. The sweetness of the onion and the salty nutty flavor of the cheese are such an amazing contrast! Enjoy!
Okay okay....one more recipe! In case you choose to just make dessert or want to try both, I have a wonderful Lemon Buttermilk Cake recipe. This is a variation on a recipe I found in a southern cook book. (In fact I have one cooling on the counter right now!) Years ago I was having a "stoop sale" (Park Slope's version of a garage sale) with my roommate and we were selling our old clothes and junk. But I decided to sell some of my baking as well and, to my shock and awe, no one cared about my Girls Just Wanna Have Fun tee shirt circa 1986 going for $2 but they bought up my baking! In fact, I had to run into the house and quickly make some more cakes and in my haste, I accidentally squeezed some lemon juice into my batter instead of just using the lemon zest. Well it ended up making the cake so much better so now I always squeeze the juice in every time I make it. That is what you call a happy accident! Here it is...it's really simple!
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and butter and flour a large loaf pan. In a large bowl combine 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon of fine salt and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. Mix this gently until just combined. In another bowl, cream together 1 1/2 sticks of softened, unsalted butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar, then add (one at a time) 3 large eggs and whisk until the mixture is light yellow in color and fluffy. Measure out 3/4 cups of buttermilk and place to the side. Add about a quarter of the flour mixture to the butter sugar mixture and gently mix it in with a rubber spatula. Next add about a quarter of the buttermilk and mix that in gently. Alternately mix each into the butter mixture until they are finished. Please mix gently so you don't overwork the flour and end up with a tough cake. Once everything is incorporated, take a lemon and grate it into the batter (make sure you remove the little price tag label thing on it as I learned the hard way!). Then take that lemon, cut it in half and squeeze the juice into the batter catching the seeds with either your other hand or through a tiny strainer. Gently mix the lemon juice and grated rind into the batter and place into the prepared pan. Bake for about 45 minutes until it is baked through. Test with a toothpick to make sure the inside is done (toothpick will come out clean). Allow to cool for about a half hour and then remove it from the pan carefully. Wait until you cut into this thing. It's a gorgeous yellow color and so simple but has so much beautiful lemon flavor! Enjoy!
These are the two things I am bringing to the Ukranian Easter this year and I am very excited to share them. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and if you try these recipes I hope they end up in your repertoire, as well!
Bon appetit!
Love,
Robina
Saturday, April 16, 2011
A Special Vegetarian Passover Post
Good afternoon and an early Happy Passover! Thank you for letting me visit you two days in a row. I wanted to write a bonus post in honor of the high holidays as they are almost here. Although we grew up, for the most part, with huge roasted chickens, turkeys and briskets, it is not only possible but delicious to have a vegetarian Passover.
First let me tell you about one of my most favorite people I never met. That would be a lady by the name of Mollie Katzen. Not only do I feel a kinship to her because my mother's family is named Katz but because she is a chef and an artist and grew up with a tremendous respect for food and where it came from. She was one of the first voices to sing the praises of vegetarian cooking back in the 1970's-the same time I thought the best food came from Nathan's. She opened a restaurant with some friends called "Moosewood Restaurant" up in Ithaca, NY and soon after began writing cookbooks based on those recipes. As an amazing artist, her books are filled with her beautiful illustrations. Her philosophy is that food is sacred and should be beheld and honored and slowly enjoyed. I could not agree more...which may explain why am I always the last one finished at the table.
Many years later, a roommate of mine owned one of her books called "Still Life With Menu Cookbook". Not only was it filled with beautiful illustrations but gave menus for complete meals including Vegetarian Thanksgiving and Vegetarian Passover. It was in that apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn, that I denounced my relationship with meat and looked to Mollie Katzen for guidance. My roommate and I made the Passover dishes (plus a roasted chicken for my parents) and had a beautiful Passover. A couple of years later, I moved out of that apartment and regretfully left the book with its owner. That was the period in my life that I decided to go to culinary school and something moved me to write a letter to Mollie. I told her of my love of "Still Life" and my plans to start a career in the culinary world. To my absolute astonishment and joy I came home to a package in the mail. It was a copy of "Still Life" with an inscription from Mollie! So in her honor I am going to pass on some of her wonderful recipes for a very happy and healthy Passover.
First off...the soup. This is Mollie's "Not-Chicken Soup". Combine in a large soup pot the following ingredients: 8 cups of water, 2 teaspoons salt, peel and cut into small chunks - 1 medium parsnip, 2 large carrots, 2 medium onions, 2 stalks of celery, 8-10 garlic cloves cut in half, a handful of button mushrooms cleaned and trimmed of their stems, 1/2 teaspoon tumeric and a little black pepper. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer partially covered. Let cook slowly for 1 1/4 hours. Let cool and then strain out all vegetables. Heat it gently before serving. It's really wonderful and you serve it with her matzoh balls. This is her Matzoh Ball recipe: Break 2 eggs in a small bowl and beat lightly. Add 1/2 cup of Matzoh meal and 1 teaspoon salt. Take a few springs of fresh parsley and use scissors to snip in a few tiny feathery pieces right into the matzoh meal. Mix well, cover and refrigerate for 30 mins. An hour before serving, heat a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Dust your hands with a little extra matzoh meal and form 1 inch balls, placing them one by one on a dusted plate. Then drop the matzoh balls gently into the boiling water and cook for 40 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place them to serving bowls. Ladle the hot soup on top.
Matzoh Kugel- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking pan with butter or margarine. Break 1 box of plain matzoh into pieces (size doesn't matter) and soak them in a large bowl of warm water for 10 mins. Drain well and return to bowl. Chop 3 medium onions into small pieces, mince 2 stalks of celery, chop a 12 oz package of button mushrooms, and mince 6 garlic cloves. Saute these vegetables (except the garlic!) in a large heavy skillet in butter with a little salt and pepper until it is all very tender. At the last minute, add the minced garlic and cook for five more minutes. Add the sauteed vegetables to the matzoh and mix well. In a separate bowl beat 5 eggs and add to the matzoh and veg mixture. Adjust seasoning and then spread into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle the top generously with paprika and (if you like) sunflower seeds for added crunch. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake for 30 mins. Then uncover and allow to bake for another 20-25 mins. to achieve that lovely golden brown on top.
Steamed Fresh Asparagus and Hard Boiled Eggs with Horseradish Sauce- This is a very easy recipe and a great holiday twist for a side dish. Hard boil 3 eggs for 8 minutes. Remove from simmering water but do not peel and cut into quarters until 30 mins
Finally...dessert! Mile High Sponge Cake- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Have an ungreased stand sized tube pan ready. Separate 9 eggs into two large bowls. Beat the whites with an electric mixture at high speed, gradually adding 1/2 teaspoon of salt, until stiff peaks are formed. and set aside. Juice 2 lemons and grate the rind. Put the lemon juice into a measuring cup and add enough water to make 3/4 of a cup of liquid and set aside. Combine 3/4 cup of matzoh cake meal and 1/4 cup of potato starch in a small bowl and stir in the lemon rind and set aside. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture is light yellow and thick (5-8 mins at high speed). Add everything else (except the egg whites!) and beat at medium speed for a few more minutes until everything is combined. Finally add the egg whites and fold in gently by hand until incorporated. Turn the batter into the tube pan and bake for 1 1/4 hours or until the top springs back when touched lightly. Turn the pan upside down and cool thoroughly. Remove from pan onto a serving plate and serve.
So here are some of my favorite Passover recipes. I hope you try them and enjoy them as much as I have! Have a beautiful and healthy holiday!
Love,
Robina
First let me tell you about one of my most favorite people I never met. That would be a lady by the name of Mollie Katzen. Not only do I feel a kinship to her because my mother's family is named Katz but because she is a chef and an artist and grew up with a tremendous respect for food and where it came from. She was one of the first voices to sing the praises of vegetarian cooking back in the 1970's-the same time I thought the best food came from Nathan's. She opened a restaurant with some friends called "Moosewood Restaurant" up in Ithaca, NY and soon after began writing cookbooks based on those recipes. As an amazing artist, her books are filled with her beautiful illustrations. Her philosophy is that food is sacred and should be beheld and honored and slowly enjoyed. I could not agree more...which may explain why am I always the last one finished at the table.
Many years later, a roommate of mine owned one of her books called "Still Life With Menu Cookbook". Not only was it filled with beautiful illustrations but gave menus for complete meals including Vegetarian Thanksgiving and Vegetarian Passover. It was in that apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn, that I denounced my relationship with meat and looked to Mollie Katzen for guidance. My roommate and I made the Passover dishes (plus a roasted chicken for my parents) and had a beautiful Passover. A couple of years later, I moved out of that apartment and regretfully left the book with its owner. That was the period in my life that I decided to go to culinary school and something moved me to write a letter to Mollie. I told her of my love of "Still Life" and my plans to start a career in the culinary world. To my absolute astonishment and joy I came home to a package in the mail. It was a copy of "Still Life" with an inscription from Mollie! So in her honor I am going to pass on some of her wonderful recipes for a very happy and healthy Passover.
First off...the soup. This is Mollie's "Not-Chicken Soup". Combine in a large soup pot the following ingredients: 8 cups of water, 2 teaspoons salt, peel and cut into small chunks - 1 medium parsnip, 2 large carrots, 2 medium onions, 2 stalks of celery, 8-10 garlic cloves cut in half, a handful of button mushrooms cleaned and trimmed of their stems, 1/2 teaspoon tumeric and a little black pepper. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer partially covered. Let cook slowly for 1 1/4 hours. Let cool and then strain out all vegetables. Heat it gently before serving. It's really wonderful and you serve it with her matzoh balls. This is her Matzoh Ball recipe: Break 2 eggs in a small bowl and beat lightly. Add 1/2 cup of Matzoh meal and 1 teaspoon salt. Take a few springs of fresh parsley and use scissors to snip in a few tiny feathery pieces right into the matzoh meal. Mix well, cover and refrigerate for 30 mins. An hour before serving, heat a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Dust your hands with a little extra matzoh meal and form 1 inch balls, placing them one by one on a dusted plate. Then drop the matzoh balls gently into the boiling water and cook for 40 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place them to serving bowls. Ladle the hot soup on top.
Matzoh Kugel- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking pan with butter or margarine. Break 1 box of plain matzoh into pieces (size doesn't matter) and soak them in a large bowl of warm water for 10 mins. Drain well and return to bowl. Chop 3 medium onions into small pieces, mince 2 stalks of celery, chop a 12 oz package of button mushrooms, and mince 6 garlic cloves. Saute these vegetables (except the garlic!) in a large heavy skillet in butter with a little salt and pepper until it is all very tender. At the last minute, add the minced garlic and cook for five more minutes. Add the sauteed vegetables to the matzoh and mix well. In a separate bowl beat 5 eggs and add to the matzoh and veg mixture. Adjust seasoning and then spread into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle the top generously with paprika and (if you like) sunflower seeds for added crunch. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake for 30 mins. Then uncover and allow to bake for another 20-25 mins. to achieve that lovely golden brown on top.
Steamed Fresh Asparagus and Hard Boiled Eggs with Horseradish Sauce- This is a very easy recipe and a great holiday twist for a side dish. Hard boil 3 eggs for 8 minutes. Remove from simmering water but do not peel and cut into quarters until 30 mins
Finally...dessert! Mile High Sponge Cake- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Have an ungreased stand sized tube pan ready. Separate 9 eggs into two large bowls. Beat the whites with an electric mixture at high speed, gradually adding 1/2 teaspoon of salt, until stiff peaks are formed. and set aside. Juice 2 lemons and grate the rind. Put the lemon juice into a measuring cup and add enough water to make 3/4 of a cup of liquid and set aside. Combine 3/4 cup of matzoh cake meal and 1/4 cup of potato starch in a small bowl and stir in the lemon rind and set aside. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture is light yellow and thick (5-8 mins at high speed). Add everything else (except the egg whites!) and beat at medium speed for a few more minutes until everything is combined. Finally add the egg whites and fold in gently by hand until incorporated. Turn the batter into the tube pan and bake for 1 1/4 hours or until the top springs back when touched lightly. Turn the pan upside down and cool thoroughly. Remove from pan onto a serving plate and serve.
So here are some of my favorite Passover recipes. I hope you try them and enjoy them as much as I have! Have a beautiful and healthy holiday!
Love,
Robina
Friday, April 15, 2011
Happy Spring! Happy Passover!
Hello, friends! Do I dare allow myself to think spring is finally here? I don't know about you but I have spring fever!!! The trees are starting to blossom and I can leave the house without taking an hour to put on eleven layers of clothing. But besides that I am inspired to eat more healthy foods. During the winter months if it isn't either covered in cheese or frosting I don't want it. But when the warm breezes begin blowing the garbage around New York I start making healthier choices. (No no...I love New York and am not afraid to shout it from the rooftops!)
Today I found myself wondering what to have for lunch. I usually keep a mental list of places I have been meaning to try so when the time comes I can choose something off that list at any given neighborhood. Is this a foolproof system? No. I often drag poor Greg around in search of some imaginary bistro insisting, "I know there is this adorable French place right around here."
But today the system paid off. Hooray! I was working in the midtown area and had seen a casual vegetarian place called "Otarian". In fact it had made it onto the mental checklist but I'd never gotten around to going. So today was the day. I looked first at the website and was smitten. It was created by Radhika Oswal whose philosophy is to create a more sustainable planet and to eliminate the negative effects of livestock production. My fellow vegetarians, we all know what a horror the meat/livestock industry is and Otarian provides a very wide range of dishes that are meat-free and also help to decrease our carbon footprints. The ingredients are local and never air-freighted and each item lists the CO2 footprint right on the menu. Also, the materials used in the restaurant are good for the planet. The chairs are made in an ancient southern African technique of weaving recycled plastic onto recycled aluminum frames. But not only that - the floor, tables, ceiling lamps are all made from recycled materials as is the packaging for the food.
Speaking of the food...isn't that the reason I set food onto their recycled floor? When I walked in I immediately saw a refrigerated display with beautiful and fresh sandwiches, fruit salads and desserts. Being a chocolate lover, I grabbed a chocolate crunch bar. Beside that was a small salad area where they offered a tabouli salad and a mozzarella, tomato and avacado salad. It was all very bright and beautiful and lightly dressed so I wouldn't even dare call it a salad bar which brings connotations of heavily dressed wilting pools of gunk that had once been a vegetable in a former life. Finally I looked at the menu and got even more excited. Even though the food wasn't flown in from around the world, the recipes must have been. There was a Vegetable Biryani with a yogurt cucumber dip, Spicy Vegetable noodles, Roasted Vegetable Lasagna and various meatless burgers. This wasn't your average soy burger at all! There was a Portabello mushroom burger, a Potato Spinach burger and (the one I chose) a Lentil Mushroom burger. Mind you, there are plenty more things on the menu. I am only naming a few. Each had an egg-less mayonnaise aioli dressing and lots of fabulous burger toppings. Mine had lettuce, tomatoes, cheddar and lots of good pickles. It came with a spicy Chipotle mayo but I am a wimp so I changed it for a Dijon mayo dressing and it was amazing! There was a subtle taste of cumin in the lentils. It definitely satisfied that burger craving but you know you are eating something really healthy. You can choose between a white or wheat bun and my wheat bun was soft and fresh but held up to the goodies within. They also serve fries and various desserts. My chocolate crunch bar was so decadent and amazing! It was like a buttery shortbread cookie with chocolate running through it and a slab of dark chocolate on top.
They have two locations in NYC and two in London. Check it out and let me know what you think! You can look into it at www.otarian.com.
I will be back tomorrow to talk about Passover. I have some wonderful vegetarian Passover recipes to share with you.
Have a lovely day!
Love,
Robina
Today I found myself wondering what to have for lunch. I usually keep a mental list of places I have been meaning to try so when the time comes I can choose something off that list at any given neighborhood. Is this a foolproof system? No. I often drag poor Greg around in search of some imaginary bistro insisting, "I know there is this adorable French place right around here."
But today the system paid off. Hooray! I was working in the midtown area and had seen a casual vegetarian place called "Otarian". In fact it had made it onto the mental checklist but I'd never gotten around to going. So today was the day. I looked first at the website and was smitten. It was created by Radhika Oswal whose philosophy is to create a more sustainable planet and to eliminate the negative effects of livestock production. My fellow vegetarians, we all know what a horror the meat/livestock industry is and Otarian provides a very wide range of dishes that are meat-free and also help to decrease our carbon footprints. The ingredients are local and never air-freighted and each item lists the CO2 footprint right on the menu. Also, the materials used in the restaurant are good for the planet. The chairs are made in an ancient southern African technique of weaving recycled plastic onto recycled aluminum frames. But not only that - the floor, tables, ceiling lamps are all made from recycled materials as is the packaging for the food.
Speaking of the food...isn't that the reason I set food onto their recycled floor? When I walked in I immediately saw a refrigerated display with beautiful and fresh sandwiches, fruit salads and desserts. Being a chocolate lover, I grabbed a chocolate crunch bar. Beside that was a small salad area where they offered a tabouli salad and a mozzarella, tomato and avacado salad. It was all very bright and beautiful and lightly dressed so I wouldn't even dare call it a salad bar which brings connotations of heavily dressed wilting pools of gunk that had once been a vegetable in a former life. Finally I looked at the menu and got even more excited. Even though the food wasn't flown in from around the world, the recipes must have been. There was a Vegetable Biryani with a yogurt cucumber dip, Spicy Vegetable noodles, Roasted Vegetable Lasagna and various meatless burgers. This wasn't your average soy burger at all! There was a Portabello mushroom burger, a Potato Spinach burger and (the one I chose) a Lentil Mushroom burger. Mind you, there are plenty more things on the menu. I am only naming a few. Each had an egg-less mayonnaise aioli dressing and lots of fabulous burger toppings. Mine had lettuce, tomatoes, cheddar and lots of good pickles. It came with a spicy Chipotle mayo but I am a wimp so I changed it for a Dijon mayo dressing and it was amazing! There was a subtle taste of cumin in the lentils. It definitely satisfied that burger craving but you know you are eating something really healthy. You can choose between a white or wheat bun and my wheat bun was soft and fresh but held up to the goodies within. They also serve fries and various desserts. My chocolate crunch bar was so decadent and amazing! It was like a buttery shortbread cookie with chocolate running through it and a slab of dark chocolate on top.
They have two locations in NYC and two in London. Check it out and let me know what you think! You can look into it at www.otarian.com.
I will be back tomorrow to talk about Passover. I have some wonderful vegetarian Passover recipes to share with you.
Have a lovely day!
Love,
Robina
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Hello, friends! Let's talk about food!
Welcome back! I am so pleased to have you. I sort of view this blog as a conversation in my daffodil yellow kitchen with you guys sitting around the table and my twenty one pound orange tabby climbing in my lap. Wish you were here!
First I must apologize for not getting to report on what would've been a fantastic way to kick this thing off. Whilst investigating other vegetarian chefs in NYC I accidentally found myself on the website for the very first NYC Vegetarian Food Festival!!! It was to take place on Sunday, April 3 in the Altman building in Chelsea. I awoke on Sunday, April 3rd to an absolutely gorgeous, sunny morning and not so subtly awoke Greg, the aforementioned vegetarian boyfriend, declaring that we had to go the festival. I briefly considered singing Cinderella's song from Sondheim's "Into the Woods"...."I wish to go the festival....more than anything....more than life." But then scrapped that idea, jumped out of bed and continued, "I can write about it in next week's blog!" It was created by Sarah Gross of "Rescue Chocolate" and Nira Paliwoda, event planner and foodie. Well, long and sad story short, we arrived to find the line to get into the festival around the block, then another block and another! I kid you not....it wound around three city blocks! The bad news is some people waited up to two hours in line (I was not one of them). The good news is what an amazing statement this whole thing made in terms of how vegetarianism and veganism are sweeping the nation....or at least the city. If anyone still clings to the notion that we are a bunch of dirty tree huggers, they should've seen the line of happy, healthy, beautiful people excited to taste the amazing dishes being whipped up by such places as "V-Spot", a Park Slope vegan restaurant, Williamsburg's "Foodswings" vegan fast food spot and "Cinnamon Snail", a vegan food truck from Hoboken. Apparently, a good time was had by all!
I am constantly flooded with food memories. Doesn't food always play a major part in every lovely memory we have of our childhoods? One particular one I was thinking about recently was how, as a kid, I looked forward all week to our Friday night dinners at fast food restaurants. My mother was not the most culinarily adept lady so our dinners were often under-seasoned and over-cooked slabs of meat accompanied by a vegetable in a can. But on Friday nights under those flourescent lights things finally had flavor and seasoning and color! My parents and aforementioned Russian grandmother would pick me and my best girl friends up from dancing school and we'd head over to Burger King, coupons in hand. What a culinary adventure!
Those were wonderful nights and I cherish those memories and those people. I haven't eaten fast food in years but sometimes still crave those big messy sandwiches. People talk about the elusive McRib as though it were a religion and sitcom characters mourn it's loss like a beloved relative. To that end I have created the vegetarian McRib. (I accidentally typed McRob and then corrected it but maybe I should just call it the McRob, since I invented it.) Morningstar Farms makes a fabulous bbq rib substitute that has the taste and texture of boneless ribs. But I do find that with many of these products they just need to be doctored up a bit so here is what I do. I heat up a nice, soft bun, place the Morningstar Farms bbq boneless "ribs" on the bun and place a few pickle slices on top. Voila! Is it rocket science? No. But it is a nice, quick and easy fast food fix. I love pairing it with homemade sweet potato fries. Just take a couple of sweet potatoes and cut them into thick wedges. Sprinkle some good Kosher salt and a little pepper on top and give them a very light drizzle of olive oil. Cook them at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes until they are slightly browned and soft inside. They are heaven! I make them at work all the time and the sugar really comes out in the cooking process. I like to cut them thick bc nice pretty little slices tend to burn too easily.
So there you have it...healthy fast food....who knew? I promise more sophisticated recipes are forthcoming. But for now I present to you the McRob!
Please post here with any questions or requests for topics or recipes.
Enjoy!
Love,
Robina
First I must apologize for not getting to report on what would've been a fantastic way to kick this thing off. Whilst investigating other vegetarian chefs in NYC I accidentally found myself on the website for the very first NYC Vegetarian Food Festival!!! It was to take place on Sunday, April 3 in the Altman building in Chelsea. I awoke on Sunday, April 3rd to an absolutely gorgeous, sunny morning and not so subtly awoke Greg, the aforementioned vegetarian boyfriend, declaring that we had to go the festival. I briefly considered singing Cinderella's song from Sondheim's "Into the Woods"...."I wish to go the festival....more than anything....more than life." But then scrapped that idea, jumped out of bed and continued, "I can write about it in next week's blog!" It was created by Sarah Gross of "Rescue Chocolate" and Nira Paliwoda, event planner and foodie. Well, long and sad story short, we arrived to find the line to get into the festival around the block, then another block and another! I kid you not....it wound around three city blocks! The bad news is some people waited up to two hours in line (I was not one of them). The good news is what an amazing statement this whole thing made in terms of how vegetarianism and veganism are sweeping the nation....or at least the city. If anyone still clings to the notion that we are a bunch of dirty tree huggers, they should've seen the line of happy, healthy, beautiful people excited to taste the amazing dishes being whipped up by such places as "V-Spot", a Park Slope vegan restaurant, Williamsburg's "Foodswings" vegan fast food spot and "Cinnamon Snail", a vegan food truck from Hoboken. Apparently, a good time was had by all!
I am constantly flooded with food memories. Doesn't food always play a major part in every lovely memory we have of our childhoods? One particular one I was thinking about recently was how, as a kid, I looked forward all week to our Friday night dinners at fast food restaurants. My mother was not the most culinarily adept lady so our dinners were often under-seasoned and over-cooked slabs of meat accompanied by a vegetable in a can. But on Friday nights under those flourescent lights things finally had flavor and seasoning and color! My parents and aforementioned Russian grandmother would pick me and my best girl friends up from dancing school and we'd head over to Burger King, coupons in hand. What a culinary adventure!
Those were wonderful nights and I cherish those memories and those people. I haven't eaten fast food in years but sometimes still crave those big messy sandwiches. People talk about the elusive McRib as though it were a religion and sitcom characters mourn it's loss like a beloved relative. To that end I have created the vegetarian McRib. (I accidentally typed McRob and then corrected it but maybe I should just call it the McRob, since I invented it.) Morningstar Farms makes a fabulous bbq rib substitute that has the taste and texture of boneless ribs. But I do find that with many of these products they just need to be doctored up a bit so here is what I do. I heat up a nice, soft bun, place the Morningstar Farms bbq boneless "ribs" on the bun and place a few pickle slices on top. Voila! Is it rocket science? No. But it is a nice, quick and easy fast food fix. I love pairing it with homemade sweet potato fries. Just take a couple of sweet potatoes and cut them into thick wedges. Sprinkle some good Kosher salt and a little pepper on top and give them a very light drizzle of olive oil. Cook them at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes until they are slightly browned and soft inside. They are heaven! I make them at work all the time and the sugar really comes out in the cooking process. I like to cut them thick bc nice pretty little slices tend to burn too easily.
So there you have it...healthy fast food....who knew? I promise more sophisticated recipes are forthcoming. But for now I present to you the McRob!
Please post here with any questions or requests for topics or recipes.
Enjoy!
Love,
Robina
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Welcome, Friends!
Welcome to my very first blog. Oh happy times!
Years ago I was required to write an essay while applying for a scholarship to go to culinary school. I ended up writing about what was to become my eternal quest....my odyssey.....the search for the perfect meal. The PERFECT meal. Beautiful to behold. The fragrance makes your mouth water. The taste makes you weep with joy. What a lovely ghost to chase. I have spent years visiting wonderful restaurants as well as cooking both professionally and for loved ones and I have come to the conclusion that there is not just one perfect meal. But if you are very very lucky....a lifetime of gorgeous and joyful meals.
But what if you don't eat meat? What then? I constantly meet with the stings and barbs of people's perceptions of vegetarians...i.e. we are weak, pale, angry, questionable hygiene, banging on tamberines at airports, dress our cats in J-Crew twin sets...who knows? Not true! We get to enjoy some of the most delicious fare out there and there are new restaurants and cafes cropping up all the time. Not only that but the culinary offerings that have been coming out of my own kitchen have been plentiful, as well. Nothing gave me more pleasure than when, at my last Oscars party, a meat-eater friend popped one of my meatless pigs in a blanket into his mouth and insisted that there was a real hot dog inside the fluffy pillow of pastry dough. Oh contraire!
That is what I have set my mind, heart and blog to do. I will take my entourage of vegetarian boyfriend and friends both veggie and non and we will eat our way through New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Along with that delicious endeavor I will also be creating and preparing vegetarian dishes at home. Then I will report all my findings back to you. I hope that you will follow my adventures and perhaps get some ideas that you might enjoy as well.
In the immortal words of Julia Child....bon appetit! (Translation by my Russian Jewish grandmother, "Eat something-you are so skinny!")
Love,
Robina
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