Blooming Hill

I wrote this in my food writing class. It's a cherished memory that I thought I'd share with my four readers. Here you go.

In the summer of 2004 I was very tired. I had been working as a line cook at ‘Cesca, an Italian restaurant on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and was working 60 hours a week. It was my first job as a cook and adjusting to the long hours and tedious work was making me very cranky to say the least. So it seems odd that when my chef, Amanda Freitag said she needed another cook to come upstate with her and work a dinner at Blooming Hill Farms I volunteered. At the time I think I thought it sounded fun and though I didn’t know it at the time it was very beneficial to me to cook in an environment that wasn’t a restaurant. I like most line cooks had stopped cooking at home almost immediately after I started working in a kitchen professionally.

Guy Jones, the proprietor of Blooming Hills Farm, invites chefs to cater a diner for up to 60 people throughout the summer months. Amanda had taken off on a Saturday to be the guest chef and was bringing Myra, another one of the line cooks from ‘Cesca with her. The point of the dinner is to only use ingredients that are in season and grown on the farm. As the two of them poured over the list of produce available and started planning the menu they realized they needed another cook. I flippantly offered myself, “I don’t need a day off.” Looking back I wanted to be included, I wanted cooking to be fun again, which it was increasingly not back in those days. The long days and 6-7 day work weeks were wearing me out, just about anything would drive me to tears. A change in enviorment would do me good I thought.

That is until I realized that I would be picked up at six in the morning. I am not now, nor have I ever been a morning person. One of my favorite things about the restaurant industry is the hours, they are made for me. So waking up at five am on my day off to cook seemed like a ludicrious idea. But I had given my word, so bleary eyed I jumped into the car with Amanda and Myra, cds for the road trip in one hand, my FCI chefs jacket in the other. We drove from Brooklyn to Cesca to pick up equipment and some food we had prepped before hand. The drive up seemed like a montage out of chick flick, as I started to wake up and the coffee started working we laughed and talked and fought about the music (mine as is most always the case was deemed “too sad and depressing” for a road trip).

Upon arrival Blooming Hills farm seemed like some sort of paradise. Impossibly green and fragrant it was the perfect refuge for three women who spent all their time stifled by the heat of the kitchen and the concrete of the city. Guy Jones lives on the farm with his three sons, the oldest 16 at the time, the youngest 10. These children with their straight blonde hair and their enthusiasm to help run their fathers farm, only added to the idea that I was on some foreign idyllic planet.

All the food was in the kitchen waiting for us. At times Myra and I might run to the market on the farm to pick up basil or look for a colander. But mostly it was just the three of us cooking and enjoying each other’s company. As dinner approached we were ready to put out 5 courses. By the third course the sangria Guy had made and that we couldn’t stop drinking started to have its intended effect. We giggled, we plated, we ran out of Amanda’s apricot polenta cakes. I don’t quite remember how we remedied that but in the end everyone had dessert.
Before we had to go back Myra and I just lay in the green grass and stared at the stars, a luxury I think only a New Yorker really appreciates. Before we left Guy let us take whatever we wanted from the market. I returned to the city with sunflowers, tarragon and a newfound love of cooking.

Top Chef Chicago, episode 2

Woo hoo,



Stephanie and Valerie know each other from before, everyone knows each other this season. Lesbians switching shoes, where is the kiwi?



Quickfire challenge: create an entree from the Chicago Greenmarket only using five items



That douche richard is buying eucalyptus. you know because he's different. I hate him.

Mark the kiwi keeps on saying mate and he lost his lettuce. Sigh, he's dumb and precious.

Hey Wylie Dufrene is the guest judge, oh snap, Richard just creamed himself. "Our food is in the same genre of food" Fucktwat. Richard you are no Wylie Dufrene. Next week i'm taking a shot everytime douche king says Molecular gastronomy. I'm going to be wasted.

Richard: Chicken soup with apples chickens and eucalyptus. Wylie doesn't seemed impressed

Ryan: Lettuce radishes potatoes, sirloin steak dijon mustard Wylie likes

Dale: Mushrooms shallots radishes eggs butter Wylie likes

Valerie Rib eye steak peaches sweet potatoese tomatoes arugula Wylie likes (he seems to like everything)

Spike: Tenderloin tips apples bread aple cider rosemary

Erik: Lamb chop baby carrots potatoes mint garlic

Mark: Sirloin, turnips mushrooms peaches butter (Wylie compliments him on his sideburns)

Andrew: Lamp chops peaches onions mint potatoes balsamic



Bottom: Spike, Erik, Richard, NICE, called richards dish oily HAHAHAHAHA - you know what, like just because you carry around a mini smoker doesn't mean that you can make some greasy ass chicken. I hate you richard i hate you so much

Likes: Valerie, Ryan and Mark

Mark wins, both the quickfire and my heart



Elimination Challenge: Catering a zoo party, they have to base their food on the diet of the animal that they chose when they drew knives:

team vulture: the diet of a vulture is tiny fish, lamb and rabbits, mark says it's similar to his diet. I swoon some more

Team Gorilla: Vegetarian, they are going to add some meat to this one

Lion: Beef Bison Chicken Beans, Richard wants to sous vide some chicken. i want to punch him in the face

Penguin (I root for this team because i love penguins): herring anchovies scallops basically lots of fish

Bear: Honeycombs and Cheese, sigh whatever, fish

Team Gorilla: Lamb and edamme lettuce cups, banana bread crab salad on a celery root chip black olive blinis with mascarpone
They are doing the blinis before hand, which sounds like a bad idea

Team Lion: Bison Tartar Beat salad with goat cheese foam chicken sate Prime rib with horseradish foam

Team Bear: Venison Loin with Squash, Seared Salmon Stuffed Mushroom Cheese and honeycomb

Team Penguin: Thai Shrimp and crab salad, Roasted zucchini, squid ceviche, yuzu and mint glacier

Let me take this oppurtunity to say that I think Andrew is either some kind of crazy, or on some kind of awesome drug.

Team Vulture: Braised chicken on tostada chip, moroccan lamb meatball ancovy on quinoa croquette
Uh Oh. .

Team Bears mushrooms look like shit, Team Gorillas chips are soggy problems. . .

They decided to go with just the crab salad, no celery root chips.

Team Bear decides not to go with the mushrooms

Richard has beets with ras al hanout, can you find a new spice mix, please please thanks.

Okay the judges ask what happened to the mushrooms and niki's served it anyway, because she's an idiot, wylie just made fun of her

Best teams: Penguin and Vulture, Wylie loved the squid dish, Andrew won, which i'm down with i like his insane ass.

Worst teams: Gorilla and Bear: Worst dishes crab salad, blinis and mushrooms, um Niki's an idiot.

They send Valerie home, I think they get some people who suck so they know who they are sending home.

Next week: Chefs run and chefs cry

Top Chef Chicago

So I've decided to "live blog" this top chef season, i mean it's only the first episode so don't hate me if these are late or stupid. Just don't hate me. please. thank you.

I am fast forwarding through the begining, I can do that thanks to tivo, thanks tivo.

:02- Ryan from San Fransico, so apparently he outcooked line cooks when he was 11. Shut up Ryan, cocky isn't always sexy

04: Mark from New Zealand, automatically one of my favorites because of the accent. I'm pretty predictable.

:06: Richard blaise, that faux hawk is dumb, molecular gastronomy, and cooking with liquid nitrogen, blahhhhhhhh

:08: Zoe and other lesbian annouce they are a couple. I've seen many a couple work in the kitchen. It spells DRAMA. Thanks top chef, thanks alot.

:10 Padma, you look gorgeous even walking into a pizzeria uno, tom collichio not so much.
Ahh first quickfire, make you're own signature deep dish pizza, didn't see that one coming A THOUSAND MILES AWAY. Sigh

:11 Kiwi is making a deep dish pizza with chicken zucchini and marmite molasses. Sigh, he has cemented his place in my heart

:12 Faux hawk douche is making a deep dish pizza with taleggio and peaches. Shut it guy, i hate you already. No peaches on my pizza douche, he also just stole someones deep dish pan. All he has to do is snap his fingers and I will hate him forever.

:18 OH THANK GOD, Rocco DiSpirito is guest judge, there was a douche defiencey before

Richard: Peach taleggio pizza with a sweet tea reduction
Stephanie: Melon tomato sauce, procusitto arugla and olives
Zoe: Broccoli Pesto goat cheese
Dale: Sausage, Pickled Kohlrabi, scallions and Sriracha (I want this one)
Ryan: Grilled escarole, Ricotta Salata and Butternut squash
Nikki: White piek Comte, Fresh ricotta and pecornio
Andrew: Smoked marinara prociutto heirloom tomoato
Jennifer: Grapes bacon fontina
Erik: Mushrooms sausage peppers onions
Spike: Onions feta olives
Nimma: Mushrooms onions stracchinio
Mark: Chicken zucchini marmite

:24: bonding time, meh, Andrew is talking, man he is cocky, the house they live in is nice, but i'd want to be in a hotel, like last season.

Here comes elmination challenge: head to head classic dish cookoff, the losers v. the winners 9 classic dishes
Duck a l'orange
souffle
shrimp scampi
steak a poivre
eggs benedict
chicken piccata (the guy doing this challenge doesn't know what piccata is)
lasagna
crab cakes

okay, nimma's making a cauliflower custard with her scampi, do people know what they are doing? I understand doing a play on classics but COME ON PEOPLE

that richard guy just referenced ras al hanout, (north african spice blend, which i knew jackass), man i do not like him.

OH Anthony Bourdain is HERE, hooray, that makes up for Rocco.

1. Duck a'lorange
Mark: Enoki Mushrooms, Squash, Tangerine, and Soy Glazed Duck Breast with a sakitini
Stephanie: Duck breast muschrooms bok choy and duck spring rolls
**Stephanie won, more composed dish, still love Mark, you can do no wrong, my kiwi boyfriend**

2. Crab cake:
Andrew: Panko and lumb crab cake with cilantro basil pudding and orange sauce
Richard: Blue crab, brussles sprouts and apple coleslaw with smoked ras al hanout (i hate richard)
Richard won, UGH shut up faux hawk

3. Lasagna
Jennifer: Autumn vegetables, meat sauce and mint verde (the mint wins points in my book)
Nikki: Classic Lasagna with sheeps gouda
Nikki won, she made her own pasta and jennifer had a more composed dish

4. Shrimp Scampi
Antonia: Parpardelle with shrimp, lobster tomatoes and squash blossoms (I love squash blossoms!)
Nimma: Shrimp Scampi with Scampi with Cauliflower Scramble
I think Nimma's going home tonight

5. Eggs Benedict
Spike: Poached egg with Bacon, Muschrooms and Lemongrass Sabayon on a Crouton (hey spike it's eggs benedict, I want hollandaise!)
Lisa: Piached egg on toasted halla bread with lobster spinach hollandaise sauce and bacon (hey lisa i want to eat this)
Lisa won. But they loved both dishes.

6: Steak Au Poirve:
Dale: New York Strip Steak with Candied Pepperconr parsley puree and Bok Choy
Manuel: Sirloin with Muscroom Seviche and scallion Cilantro Sauce

7. Chicken Piccata:
Ryan: Chicken cutlets with lemon potato gnocci and warm herb salad (where's the picatta?)
Valerie: Chicken Breast with Orange Demi Glace Potato and Haricot Vert Salad
EEK, Anthony Bourdain hates both, niether made picatta says Rocco
Oh Ryan, shut up about cooking since 11. I hate you second most

8. Souffle:
Erik: Pepperjack cheese souffle with avocado creme fraiche and black bean puree and salsa (straight up this plate looks a mess)
Zoi: Rice Pudding Souffle: with candied figs and fennel with espresso (pernod in the espresso)
Rocco thinks Eriks' plate looks like a straight up mess, okay you're not that bad

:: Stephanie wins the first elimination challenge, (duck a l'orange). She beat the kiwi, therefore I hate her, but at least it's not Richard::

Mark is up for elimination, oh no baby, Bourdain just called him pretensious, sigh, please let him stay PLEASE.

Also straight up, Ryan has no idea what a piccata is, no bread crumbs, no gnocchi. It's chicken in an egg batter with a lemon butter sauce. Didn't they teach you that when you were 11?

Oh thank god, they sent Nimma home, as long as it's not mark, says the girl swayed by accents. Plus Nimma can't salt

OHHH next week: Chefs yell! Can't wait

Degustation Wine and Tasting Bar

Holy fucking shit. Yeah, sigh so dinner last night REALLY FUCKING GOOD. Should I stop using profanity? Nah, Last night warrants all the profanity a 19th century scurvy ridden sailor could conjure. So yesterday I was slightly mopey, so to counteract the mope I made dinner plans with my friend Nadine. I had read about Degustation in an interview with Anita Lo of Annisa and decided to try it out. The 5 course tasting menu for $50, was also pretty tempting.

The dining room is simply a bar, maybe 20 seats, behind the bar is the kitchen. The chef Wesley Genovart and two line cooks. Nadine was already there (I'm always late) sipping a glass of Spainish sparkling white wine. Looking over the menu i saw the tasting of five courses for $50, and a ten course tasting for $75. My meager math skills told me teh deal was with the ten course tasting. I ordered a black velvet (guniess and cava) and two ten course tastings. Man was I happy.

Our amuse bouche was a trio of popular tapas there. A croquette of bacon with bechamel on a pimento sauce, a spainish tortilla filled with shallot confit and house cured sardines with parsley. The spainish influence is evident (I believe the chef is Spainish born, and his Spainish is perfect). The amuse was fantastic, my favorite was the croquette (I love fried food!) and Nadine loved the sardine (which was also fantastic).

First course was a crudo of snapper with avocado and parsley. The fish was marinated with olive oil and had a little spice to it. Really light and refreshing.

Second course was whole fried anchovies with and herb tartar sauce parsley and pickled fresno chiles. I love fresno chiles, and anchovies, though I did not eat the heads. Sorry I draw the line at eyes, dont want to eat eyes. The rest of the anchovies were delicious though.

Third Course was an egg. It came in a little egg holder, inside the hollowed out shell were soft scrambled eggs with yoghurt and chives duck bacon and rye croutons. I wish someone would make this for every day for breakfast. So so good. Rye croutons man, can we get married? (Here i ask rye croutons to marry me, i know it's not going to happen)

Fourth Course was a fucking revelation. Prawns with the head (they were some special prawn from Morocco I think), the most sweet and succulent prawn i have ever tasted, done simply with olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Served with amaranth (Asian grain) cooked with blue crab stock and lobster roe. Holy mother of god was this good, it was like porridge of the gods, we were instructed to suck the heads, but once i lifted mine the delcious shrimp head juice ran out and made my shellfish amaranth all the more delicious. This dish was absolutely perfect.

Fifth course (I might be mixing up the order): Rouget with cilantro and mint. Man it's like someone climbed into my brain and was like "what does anasua want to eat?". Basically this. The rouget was served whole, was perfectly cooked and seasoned sat on a spicy yet light chili sauce and cilantro and mint. We polished our plates. Perfection, might have been one of my favorites.

Sixth Course: Uni and Oatmeal Risotto with crisp ham and parsley. SHHHHIIIITTTT. I love me some uni and the textural interplay between the uni and the oatmeal was satisifying and brillant. The crisp ham chips added more texture and a nice saltiness, the parsely puree added a freshness. This dish was awesome. I am officially starting to run out of adjectives.

7th Course: Grilled octopus with confit potoatoes, pearl onions and pimento sauce. This dish is so fucking spainish it makes me want to lisp and drink sangria. The ingredients were so fresh and honest. Really Really good. Octopus was perfectly cooked.

8th Course: Squab with beet puree and pickled white asparagus. Man, well I love squab, I am a huge fan of game meats. Most times chefs try and pair them with something a little sweet to stand up to the gameiness. What I loved is that Wes (can i call him Wes now?, i think i asked him to marry me around the 6th course. He smiled which i think was his polite way of saying um no). The beets were sweet yes, but the pickeled asparagus had a little kick. Apparently the pickling liquid was water, vinegar, all sorts of citrus and thai red chilies. Between the sweetness and the beets and the subtle heat of the asparagus, the perfectly cooked squab and the crunch of the aspargus this dish was perfectly balanced.

9th course: Perhaps my favorite Kobe beef with molasses, red onion marmalade, horseradish foam and sea beans. Yes sea beans! I saw them on my plate i was so happy. This dish made me so happy, happy to be alive. I cannot stress how skillfully the beef was cooked perfectly seasoned and just amazing AMAZING. The sweetness of the marmalade was countered with the horseradish, but because it was a foam the horseradish wasn't overpowering (like freshly grated horseradish can be) or too creamy (like a lot of people do with horseradish). This dish was delightful, so so good I kind of wanted to cry.

The Intermezzo was a tequilla and ginger granita with an apple foam. Consider our palates cleansed, the granita was boozy and hot (thanks ginger) but instantly cooled by the foam.

Dessert. Torija with grapefruit foam. Man, man I missed marsha. Apparently a torija (forgive me if it's misspelled) is a bread pudding of sorts, soaked in heavy cream and then carmelized. I don't know the exact process, long story short i could eat this for the rest of my life. It was so rich and beautiful but not heavy at all. Oh my god. little bits of frozen grapefruit segements and the foam lightened.

In terms of wine they do offer a wine pairing we did a few glasses to pair with specific courses. They sent us a glass of dessert wine, like a muscat (spelling?), but spainish and lighter and paired really well with the dessert. We talked to the kitchen most of the night because you know they are right there. Really friendly, wonderful staff. The service was not pretensious and on point. I think the owner (Jack Lamb?) came over and we talked about places we'd worked and people we know. All in all a super satisifying meal. The portions were just the right size so I left feeling full and not stuffed. A little buzzed but not drunk by any means. Pure Bliss.

We ended the night at Whiskeytown which was around the corner. Owned by George of I used to own a part of Tribe fame, and his brother Justin the bar is nicer than you'd expect for someplace called whiskeytown, really laid back and fun. We had something that Justin had created that night the "Elliot Spritzer", rye whiskey cherries and sweet vermouth. Tasty.

Dallas BBQ East Village

I love my friend Marsha. She is one of the lights of my life. We went to dinner Tuesday night before a birthday party (happy birthday comtois!). Both of us being cash poor we wanted to keep things cheap. We were in the East Village so I automatically recommended Yokocho (I LOVE YOKOCHO) and Klong (cheap thai on St. Marks). Unfortunatley Marsha hates the entire continent of Asia. This isn't true, but I enjoy hyperbole. She does however love chain restaurants. So Dallas BBQ here we come!

So when I think Dallas BBQ I think of giant glass of booze like the tangerine margarita with an extra shot that I started with. Apparently you're supposed to do the shot and then drink your margarita. I didn't understand this (Notice the confusion on my face). I poured the extra booze in my drink and went to town. My thinking is this, if i'm going to Dallas BBQ I'm not going to order a diet coke and a salad. I want some chicken and a big glass of booze.

There's also some fried shrimp on that plate a backed potato and some cornbread. After that meal i kind of wanted to die. But in a good way. The BBQ sauce there was more sweet than spicey but it was still great. Marsha had the roast chicken white meat only (I'm a dark meat only girl this is why we are great dinner companions). Both Marsha and I left stuffed with chicken and happy as clams! And dinner was cheapish, which is always good so i can spend more money at better restaurants. Retirement be damned!

On a somewhat related note, the service was fair, nothing crazy good, but we were well taken care of. The table next to us however seemed to be having alot of problems with the server. And dealt with it the entirely wrong way. Instead of being oh what's the word, a bitch when service is poor, the best thing to do in my opionion is to be extra nice. This is not earth shattering advice, but lets face it none of you are coming here for the answer to peace in the middle east. As someone who is in the service industry, we make mistakes, we're sorry it would be nice if you didn't treat us like idiots or human filth because of it. Love me.

Oh and here's a picture of Marsha about two seconds before a brain freeze

Mo Rocca Interviews Frank Bruni

This is pretty hilarious and interesting.

Gin and such

So here is the link to the article in the Washington Post. To sum up it's talking about Dutch gin (genever), the differences in taste and how hard it is to get in this country. The gin that I had at pounds and pence last week was one of the few Dutch genevers you can get in this country. The article is interesting if you are you know obsessed with gin and spirits as I am. The author also recounts his trip to Amsterdam to pick up some more genever. Any man that would travel 7 hours over an ocean to pick up some booze is marriage material in my book. My sad sad book.

In other news, went to The Hideaway in Fort Greene. The bartender (sorry mixologist) is a friend of a friend and the drinks were superb. People who know me know that I love food that tastes like perfume (anything with rose, lavender, or orange blossom), so the first drink I had The Poisoned rose hit the spot. Rose flavored simple syrup, hendricks gin, citrus juices and some other stuff (sorry, reports on bars are not going to be as lucid). The bartender put a little wooden block in front of me, on top of said block he put the empty martini glass, next to the box was a glass of rose buds and a container of some kind of herb. He poured my drink in the glass and garnished it with a rose petal and some herbs. The presentation was a bit much but the drink was heaven. I followed that with something called an American beauty which is bourbon muddled with raspberries and blackberries. So tasty and i feel like a good whiskey drink for people who don't like whiskey. The bar is basically a converted three car garage, no sign just a bouncer with an eye patch (yes an eye patch) sitting outside. They are going for a Milk and Honey vibe in Brooklyn it seems (isn't everyone going for that now a days, while i appreciate the speakeasy vibe, sometimes i just want to know where the bar is). It's really cute, the cocktails are a bit pricey ($12-16 a pop), so this is more a special occasion place rather than a i'll be here all the time place.

In mostly unrelated news Drew Barrymore was just on Oprah giving a million dollars to the World Food Programme. Obviously she should be commended for such a generous donation to a cause that people often forget about (I always find it sad that causes get press because a celebrity is involved, i mean people were starving before Drew Barrymore wrote that giant check). In the midst of all the good causes that vie for our philanthropic dollars, it is easy to forget that so many people in the world have nothing to eat. In many ways it seems frivolous for me to be sitting here with a fridge full of food dissecting the food and service at restaurants when so many don't have this basic necessity. This maybe why am so interested in food and how things relate to it, seeing how basic sustenance can be elevated to high art, instantly bring comfort, or insight into other culture is just fascinating to me. I also like to eat. That may have something to do with it. If youre interested in donating to the World Food Programme click here.

Applebees (yes that Applebees)

So I ate dinner at Applebees tonight. Why you ask, if I'm trying to write seriously about food would i 1. eat at applebees 2. Admit to it ? Well I was having a bit of a mopey day, and was talking to Marsha about where to have dinner. We both have a soft spot for chain restaurants (I'm from long island, I make no apologies)and the mediocre food at chain restaurants is always comforting. Another factor I think is that the Applebees is a ten minute walk from my house and I barely wanted to leave my apartment today.

So the food: Well, um, we started with a trio of appetizers, spinach dip, boneless chicken wings, and steak quesidillas. They came to our table, looking less fabulous than they did in the pictures in the menu. Everything was fine, I mean at a place like Applebees its really about expections, and for the three of us, they were pretty low. For dinner I had a quesidilla burger, which is a quesidilla with a burger inside with something called Mexi-Ranch sauce. It was astoundingly medicore, and i had expected nothing less. Nadine had a steak and some broccoli which looked fine. The dressing on Marsha's grilled shrimp and spinach salad was a bit too sweet. I must say the service at Applebees was great. Now I understand that our waitress had to undergo some sort of Clockwork Orangesque training session, but after the apathetic french waiter from Les Halles, our waitress was considerate and attentive.
We passed on dessert, which is unfortunate because the applebees on fulton has red velvet cake from the cake man in fort greene. I was slightly upset about this until i realized that the acutal raven cake man store is literally 4 mintues from my house. For those of you who don't know about the raven cake man, he started baking cakes in harlem in the 90s and has been in brooklyn for at least four. The red velvet cake here is fantastic. I can understand people being skeptical because I am an Indian girl from the north, but my southern friends agree, and they're from the south so they should know. What is the point of this post, um okay, lessons learned, the service at applebees, better than Les halles
the red velvet cake at the cake man is awesome
applebees is mediocre.

I'll be posting something about gin over the weekend, there was an interesting article in the Washington Post.