the food in nyc

we are a family that loves to eat.  we love trying new things, so living in an ethnically diverse community has immense benefits.  there is a vast array of restaurants on our one main walking path:  thai, indian, greek, middle eastern, bohemian, italian, chinese, mexican, japanese, korean, french, brazilian.... and the list could probably go on.  we rarely eat out in boston, so we're usually limited to my breadth of cooking.  it has been so fun for me to not cook very much this month and just try different things here.  i am paying close attention, asking lots of questions, and taking notes (literally) so that I can broaden my cooking horizons at home.

We went to a Brazilian BBQ buffet last week - $6.99/plate.  It was so delicious.  Jude ate my meat faster than I could cut it (he rarely gets meat, so I think he ate so fast in fear that the supply might end soon)!  This was my plate:

I had the best Green Curry at a nearby Thai restaurant - and the cashier has really taken to Jude, so we love to go by and visit sometimes.  The Chicken Tikka Masala we ate tonight was one of the best I've ever had.  But yesterday's lunch might take the cake for me so far.  We've mostly been eating pretty unhealthy compared to our normal diets (very few greens, lots of white rice, etc), and this poor baby boy inside of me is definitely getting second rate treatment compared to how I ate when I was pregnant with Jude!  So I was craving a really good salad this weekend.  Yesterday, we had the day off, so Greg, Jude and I went to Soho to walk around and grab a sandwich for lunch.  The only sandwich-ey place we found was from following a name on my iPhone - and we happened upon a JEWEL ... Le Pain Quotidien.  I love this place.  I love the freshly baked bread, the pastries, the way they mix flavors, and I love sitting at their communal tables.  We became fast friends with the family beside us as Jude thought it was his duty to provide entertainment for their meal.  Greg had a really delicious chicken, mozerella, and tomato open faced sandwich.  I captured a picture of his below.  I had the most wonderful salad I've ever had: a kale caesar salad.  It sounds plain - but it was so fresh, with the best combination of flavors and I can't wait to make it all the time when we get home. 

i promise i won't bore you with what we eat each day, but i am super excited to get back home and try lots of new foods - and if you'll humor me on my blog, then you can come over for dinner.

Sharing the Love: Pad Thai Recipe

I'm a big fan of sharing recipes.  With that said, I haven't really leaked out my Thai food recipes seeing as that might be the only reason some of you come over to my house. :)  BUT, since a couple of you have asked for it, I thought I'd post it and share the love.  So, hopefully now that you can make Pad Thai at home, you'll still want to come over and have dinner with us!  Enjoy! Our dinner last night:  paht thai:

and yellow curry with chicken and peppercorns:

ginger's favorite version of paht thai noodles: 

- a silver dollar size (looking at the ends) of rice noodles

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/4 pound raw or cooked shrimp (medium to large)

1/4 lb. chicken, diced

2 1/2 Tbsp. fish sauce

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. Tamarind (or subst. 1 Tbsp soy sauce)

2 Tbsp. palm sugar (or brown sugar)

1 tsp. dried red chili flakes

1 egg

4 or 5 green onions, roughly chopped

1 cup fresh bean sprouts

1/3 cup chopped peanuts

3 Tbsp. lime juice

canola oil for cooking

Boil water for noodles.  Add noodles, cover and remove from heat.  Steep 3-4 minutes.  **Do not leave in the hot water any longer or your Pad Thai will be soggy!  trust me :)  Immediately pour noodles into a bowl of cold water.  Cut the chicken, set aside. chop the garlic, green onions and peanuts, set aside.  combine the fish sauce, soy, tamarind, palm sugar, and chili flakes into a small dish and set aside.  Get out shrimp, egg, and juice your limes.  Have everything lined up and ready to go (like you see on food network :)).  Asian food cooks on high heat and very quickly - you don't have time to do prep work once you start. 

In your wok, heat about a 4 count of canola oil on medium heat.  Throw a piece of garlic in the oil, if it sizzles, it's hot enough.  Add the garlic, toss it in the oil for a few seconds and quickly add the chicken and shrimp.  Toss and cook for about 3 minutes until shrimp turn pink and chicken is cooked through.

Drain the noodles from the water.  Add the noodles to the wok and toss well, constantly until noodles begin to curl.  Then take your soy sauce mixture and add it to the wok by pouring it in a swirling motion around the top edges - this keeps the wok from dropping its temperature.Cook while tossing occasionally for about 1 to 2 minutes.  

Push the noodles to one side of the wok and add a 2 count of oil, add the egg and when it begins to set, scramble it and push it aside.  

Add the green onions and bean sprouts and cook about 1 minute until they begin to wilt just a little.

Add peanuts and lime juice and toss to mix everything really well.  Put it all on a serving platter and top with a few bean sprouts and peanuts and serve with lime wedges if you have them.

A couple of pointers are in order.  I've learned the hard way and I tweak this recipe almost every time I make it, so I'll give you my biggest pointers up front. 

1.  I use a carbon steel 14" flat bottom wok - while you can cook asian food in a skillet or a non-stick wok, you won't get the same results and it will make your job more difficult.  if you like asian food, you'd be better off to get a carbon steel wok. Don't wash your wok with soap - it washes off the seasoning - hot water and a bristled brush does the trick, and then oil it down after you wash and dry it.  Here's mine:

2.  Find an asian grocery store to get your ingredients - they will be cheaper and you won't have to substitute.  If you don't cook asian food very often or don't want to keep all those ingredients on hand, OR if you're new at cooking Thai food, I'd recommend the book "quick and easy thai" by nancie mcdermott. 

the recipes are fairly simply and they substitute many ingredients to utilize more everyday pantry items.  The taste isn't always as authentic, but they are still very good. 

if you'd like something more advanced (but also tastes much more like the food you get in thailand), this is my favorite cookbook which i use almost exclusively for thai cooking now:

3.  Try to find lime leaves (Whole Foods carries them) and Thai Basil (you can buy the herb plant at Home Depot and grow it yourself).  These will give your food the distinctive flavor you'll recognize as Thai.  You can use substitutes, but it will never quite taste the same.  

Let me know if you have any questions and I'd love to hear how yours turns out if you try it!  

Gardening without a green thumb

So, it may or may not have been said of me that I kill every plant I own.  (Thanks, Leslie.)  Several years ago, upon returning home from a trip to Home Depot to adopt several new plants for my back patio, my friend Leslie saw them and commented, "oh.  poor plants ... they have no idea what fate has befallen them."  Very much unappreciated.  I try very, very hard to keep my plants alive...just usually unsuccessfully.  I typically forget to water them, so when I remember, I just assume that I should make up for lost time and I end up drowning them.  More recently a friend brought me a plant when I had gotten out of the hospital.  She said, "I love these plants.  They are impossible to kill."  Wow - that's great!  Unfortunately, I killed it too.

So needless to say, Greg was a little leery when I mentioned starting an herb garden.  But I assured him it was a good investment as I love to cook and buying fresh herbs every week gets really expensive.  So I ventured to Home Depot during one of Jude's naps, took Jude outside with me and we planted our herb garden together (well, he watched).

It's great because the rain naturally waters them :) and it does a much better job than I ever do.  And Jude and I usually go cut herbs for dinner during the day on one of our walks.  So it has been really fun.  I planted Thai Sweet Basil (makes a huge difference to have this fresh for Thai food), oregano, basil, dill, italian parsley, rosemary, and lavender.  here are the results!