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
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