3-Day Detox

Every Christmas, I get an issue of Martha Stewart's Living Magazine in my stocking from Tom's mom. This last time I decided to get a subscription to Living and Whole Living (it was a 2-for-1 deal). I don't think it's any secret that I want to be the Asian Martha Stewart. Almost 95% of the things I see, I say to myself "I can make/cook/repair/do that". Like once I brought in boots to get repaired; unfortunately a few months too late as the guy laughed at me and said it would cost $45. "But that's how much the boots cost in the first place!"... cut to, me on google finding out how to mend shoes... cut to me buying the most potent-smelling tube of "Shoe Goo" on Amazon and stinking up the entire apartment with this epoxy-like-stuff that for the record did the job of filling in the cracks of the boot soles, thankyouverymuch. But onto the main subject here, Detoxing!

The latest issue of Whole Living is all about Spring Cleaning- whether it be the clutter in the apartment, life, or body. They included a 3-Day Detox that involved 3 vegan and gluten-free meals 6 snacks- 2 of which you choose a day to eat in-between meals. They list the recipes as a big batch so you can make them all the first day and add little things to them when you're ready to eat.

Always up for a challenge, (and seeing how out-of-shape I've become), I decided to take on this 3-day detox and rejuvenate my life and soul. If anything, I'll make lost a couple of pounds and feel better about this half-marathon I signed up for IN A less than a MONTH!! (I've done ZERO training so far. I'm dead.)

I thought I'd track my progress in case anyone else wants to give it a go. If you're anything like me who usually has a meat, whether it be chicken, fish or beef for dinner 5 days out of the week, you'll probably be a little apprehensive. Tom made no hesitations about declining the offer to do this detox together after repeated requests, so it's just me!

I may have jumped the gun since I made plans to go out with a friend tonight, but maybe I'll ease into it and start it seriously tomorrow.

So far, I have made the breakfast smoothie which consists of grapefruit, strawberries (i used frozen mixed berries- the antioxidant blend), sweet apple, ginger and water.

It was very gingery and tart but the apple and berries made it a bit sweeter. I finished a serving about 30 minutes ago and I am starving. Maybe I'll have one of the snacks... an apple with tahini (which I did not get), or banana "ice cream" (just pureed frozen banana- which I did not freeze). Like I said, I jumped the gun by only having like 90% of the ingredients I need. Good start already, eh?

The Publican

So keeping a blog is really harder than it sounds. I always say I'll write/post pictures but never do. Now that I am unemployed, there is no excuse!

While there are months to catch up on, I would like to dedicate this one to The Publican. It is the middle child of the Paul Kahan trifecta (the higher end being Blackbird, and the other end being Avec). It is peppered with James Beard Award nominations every year (The Oscars of the food world) and anything Paul Kahan-related is Anthony Bourdain-approved. While I missed dinner at Blackbird (got a stomach virus my last day in Chicago!), I would have to agree as The Publican stands as one of the top 10 meals of all time. I actually can't rate what is #1, but Petrossian, Peter Luger, Aliseo, Convivium Osteria, Sushi Nozawa are all up there.

Anyway, if you haven't heard this story, Tom found crazy cheap tickets to Chicago via Spirit Airlines. They have a $9 fare club, but we actually found tickets for $5.05 EACH WAY. With taxes, it was $43 Roundtrip per person. You can't beat that! Trust me, I've looked since with no success. The only drawback was that it was in the middle of the week of February. We booked them in December so we had no idea what the weather would be like. We actually lucked out the first day. It was unseasonably warm and a beautiful day for walking around Lake View and Lincoln Square.

So the first night we were there, we made reservations for The Publican, also approved by our friend Mark who had just moved to Chicago. Tom and I got there a little early so I ordered 1/2 dozen Oysters- Chef's Choice. My friend Kristen (who actually lives a neighborhood over from me in Brooklyn but I never see) was visiting her parents who just moved there had coincidentally also made reservations there 30 minutes before ours.

We got seated in one of the booths arranged around the perimeter of the restaurant that is enclosed by a big wooden door. Much better than the alternative which is community-style seating in the middle of the dining room. The next was all uphill from there. Unfortunately it was too dark to take pictures and the menu changes daily so I don't have the exact meals listed but

We ordered:
blood sausage
pork belly
shaved brussel sprouts with ricotta
ahi tuna
scallops
waffle for dessert
tart for dessert

Obviously all to share. I keep dreaming of going back. Paul Kahan, come to New York City!!

I'm back

Hello world!

Sorry I haven't kept up with this blog. In all honesty, besides my family I really didn't think anyone read it, and it's really hard to keep up with a blog! Actually, if it didn't take 10 minutes for my computer to read my camera's memory card, I might upload more pics. But anyway- my friend Jess (Hey, Jess!) asked about it last weekend and said she liked it. Whether or not she was just being nice, I thought I'd revisit it.

Obviously a lot has been consumed since my last post (8 months ago?? yikes).
Little summary- Easter dinner at my place, Tom's delicious pesto, and Hattie's at Saratoga Springs Round 2. Delicious! Also, a TON of shake shack, five guys and thai food.

I will be posting reviews of restaurants I've grown to absolutely adore and some I abhor. Stay tuned.

BLT Prime

A week ago, my friend posted an article about BLT Steak's 7th birthday party on 3.3.11 and to celebrate, BLT Steak and BLT Prime were offering reduced prices on some of their steaks ($33.04), sides, desserts and cocktails (all $3.03). I've been in the mood for steak for some time and this sounded like a perfect opportunity to go. BLT Steak had already run out of reservations but I somehow scored a 9pm rez at BLT Prime. I got Tom to go with me even though he told me he wasn't the biggest fan. Whatever, 22oz RIBEYE!! $3 sides! How do you go wrong??

Unfortunately we found out. The place was PACKED. I should've known better to go to a restaurant where it would be utter chaos. We got a table upstairs away from all of the hoopla but that also meant limited waitstaff. Well, for us at least... you see, our waitress took our order and was never to be seen again until the very end of the meal. Meanwhile, she was tending to all of the tables around us. Tom ordered a glass of wine and I had to ask another gentleman working there to get him one. He apologized for the delay and comped it, which was super nice.

Finally we started getting bread. It came with chicken pate which was served in a little jar and wooden spoon. Delicious. Tom kept talking about this bread basket that was heavenly... and sure enough, a waiter brought out a basket of the 2 largest popovers I had ever seen. It was light and doughy on the inside but still had a warm crunchy cheesy crust. The whipped butter that accompanied the popovers melted so nicely inside. It also came with a tiny card that had the recipe which is posted at the end.

Then came the steaks. Both still in the cast iron pan it was cooked in. The bone full of marrow and half a head of roasted garlic with a pat of herbed butter on top (which I did not like and put aside). Tiny gravy boats of sauce to accompany the steak were presented. For whatever reason, the peppercorn sauce was given to me (I also asked for their steak sauce) and the red wine sauce to Tom. I actually really liked mine, but the steak was so good on its own anyway. So here's the thing... we both ordered ours medium rare, and mine was cooked perfectly, but his was on the medium well side. TRULY the most disappointing thing ever ESPECIALLY in a steakhouse!(I know, I've been there... I'm looking at you SMITH & WOLLENSKY!!) Unfortunately, no one came around to ask how our meal was, and even if they had, Tom wouldn't let me say anything. Sigh. The rest of the sides were ok though. We had french fries (delicious), creamy spinach (a little too rich for my taste), stuffed mushrooms that were too salty, and I don't think I was in the mood for parmesan cheese which topped them, and onion rings which were ok, but wished they were crispy instead of doughy.

I was really excited for the Special dessert- nutella pudding with mini doughnuts. But since our waitress took so long to come by our table, they were out of it when I ordered! GRR. So I shared Tom's chocolate tart with the tiniest scoop of pistachio ice cream and ate the tiny squares they brought out "compliments of the chef".

Sorry BLT Prime. I know you were all really busy but we were already too insulted at that point to enjoy it. It's the 7th birthday, you would think that they'd know how crazy it gets and to get more waitstaff/fewer reservations. The night would've been great if Tom's steak was cooked correctly but it ruined the dinner. He is boycotting them, however I might go back just for the popovers and fries :D


Popovers
Makes 6 popovers
Ingredients
2 cups milk, warmed
4 eggs
2 cups flour
3/4 heaping tbsp salt
1 1/2 cups grated gruyere cheese
popover pan

Preparation
Place the popover pan in the oven. Heat the oven and pan to 350F. Gently warm the milk over low heat and set aside. Whisk the eggs until frothy and slowly whisk in the milk (so as not to cook the eggs). Set the mixture aside. Sift the flour with the salt. Slowly add this dry mixture and gently combine until mostly smooth.
Once combined, remove the popover pan from teh oven and spray with non-stick vegetable spray. While the batter is still slightly warm or room temperature (definitely not cool), fill each popover cup 3/4 full. Top each popover with approximately 2 1/2 tbsp grated gruyere.
Bake at 350F for 50 minutes, rotating pan half a turn after 15 minutes of baking. Remove from the oven, remove from the pan and serve immediately.

Murray's Cheese Shop

Did you know Murray's Cheese shop offers $4 grilled cheeses (with add ons)?? AND did you know that if you get a melt between 3-6pm you can get a FREE scoop of ice cream (while supplies last)???

You know where I'll be on Monday.

Better Being Underground

Better Being Underground is true in some ways. It's a really cute little lunch shop that is literally underground. Parts of their menu changes daily such as the soups, “grain” and salads with rotating sandwiches every now and then. They also sell little plastic cartons of honey-based heart-shaped jellybeans. But that is where the cute ends. Being underground means not seeing the light of day... this shop should really not see the light of day with their poor excuses for a sandwich.

Their 10 or so sandwiches range from 7.50 to 10.99 (or if you go on tues-thurs, you can get the lobster roll for $14.99). I decided on the Madama Cristo which was described as Antibiotic Free Turkey w/Apple & Gouda on Pressed Raisin Sofitel. Nowhere in the description was there 2 tablespoons of spicy Dijon mustard, which is what I had to scrape off on BOTH sides of the sandwich- which 1) was cold despite the very obvious grill marks 2) was a little circle about 5” in diameter 3) came with a “Pickle Guys” pickle, except the “pickle” was about a spear 1/5 of the size of a normal one. But they do throw in a free bag of chips (whoo).

Still, when I order an $8 sandwich from a little shop, I expect one that I can’t eat in 5 bites. I also expect turkey to look more like turkey than ham, but maybe my standards are a little too high.

I don't think I will be going back here any time soon, especially with so many eateries in the neighborhood.

Sailors Live the Good Life.

When the Village Lobster & Crabhouse started to build up downstairs from my office, jumping and a lot of patient waiting occurred. I work in SoHo/West Village where there are many great restaurants but sometimes, you just have a hankering for seafood. I’ve also always wanted to go to a restaurant opening for some reason. I know better now. I understand starting anything new in any regard takes time and there will be a lot of kinks, but the guy who opened this one also owns City Crab so you’d think he’d have his sh*t together. Don’t get me wrong, I met him and he is very nice and even showed me the new prix-fixe menu he was making up. Currently they have a $14.95 2-course prix-fixe that is available for lunch or dinner and boy does it sound yummy. For a $5 supplement fee you can get a lobster roll. They also have a bar menu ranging from $8-$12 which includes items such as fried calamari with chipotle lime dipping sauce, clam chowder, artichoke spinach and crab dip with old bay pita chips, 99c oysters, mozzarella sticks and of course crab cakes. Happy Hour is from 4-8pm with $10 pitchers, $4 bottles and draughts and $4 oyster shots.

But what really caught our eye was the $21.95 Lobster Bake special that includes a 1 ¼ lb maine lobster, 4 mussels, 3 clams, roasted potatoes, corn on the cop and a cup of clam chowder. How do you beat that??

My coworker and I each ordered that last night and it was certainly filling. Nothing like cracking into a whole lobster with juices squirting in your eye. My only complaint was that the mussels and clams were dry (though I later realized there was a pool of seafood juice under the lobster) and the small portion of potatoes got soggy but the corn was sweet and soft. I only wish there was some more carbs… like a baked potato or French fries. We also had to ask for the drawn butter which would not be a big deal, but how do you have lobster without a cup of melted butter?? I’m not complaining at the value of this meal. The clam chowder was served in a generous bowl and full of clams. I think this place has a lot of potential and I will probably visit it again especially for lunch during a cold winter day.

Photos to come later!

How to Burn Your Tongue

Make the easiest personal pan pizza ever and get too excited to let it cool down...

After my after-work run today, I headed over to Fairway to pick up some groceries. After scoffing at how much the loaves of bread were ($4!) I decided to pick up some wraps. I saw Aladdin Bakers made Sundried Tomato and Basil wraps which was something like $2.50. I read the packaging and it had a list of things to do with it such as various sandwiches but also... pizza. Intriguing, I thought. Even though I have had a lot of pizza recently (including today for lunch where I got 2 slices at Spunto), it was one of the few things that I craved as I was so sick of eating lentils, kale and quinoa that i needed something fatty, cheesy and/or meaty (nevermind the fact that is all I ate over the weekend). So I went to the cheese section, picked up a small ball of mozzarella ($3.99), some anchovies ($2.50) and a can of tomato puree ($1.60). When I got home I just HAD to make it so I found my circular pizza pan, put a piece of tin foil on it, laid out a sundried tomato & basil wrap, spread a tiny bit of tomato puree, cut up some mozz (ok...a lot of mozz), and 3 filets of anchovies, drizzled a tiny bit of Olive Oil and popped it in the oven at 400F. 15-20 minutes later I found the cheese bubbling and the wrap toasted. I pulled it out and it was PERFECT. Surprisingly the wrap held together nicely and crisped up to a SUPER thin-crust. the cheese melded together and the anchovies gave it a nice salty kick. I sprinkled basil, oregano and crushed red pepper flakes and one of the easiest tastiest AND cheapest meals was born. This will definitely be made again soon.

P.S. I went up to the Organic section and found Sprouted Multi-Grain loaves for only $2.50. Organic, gluten-free AND cheaper than the heavily-processed sugared bread downstairs.