Friday, April 3, 2009

York Grill

March 4

One of the benefits of this crappy economy is that it’s easier to get high-powered food writers like me to show up at events.
Okay, maybe not food writers like me, because it has never been hard to get me to show up at events, but you didn’t used to see people like Jane Sigal and Lettie Teague at Susan Rike’s dinners.
Susan’s way of introducing food writers to her clients is to invite a handful of them to sit around at a table at one of her client’s restaurants, eat a meal and meet the chef.
I have met many interesting people at these dinners over the years, including big-time players like Amanda Hesser and James Oliver Cury.
But usually my fellow guests are an eclectic mix of not-so-big names from across the board, quite often including one or more of the young women newly arrived at the revolving door that is Star Chefs (not to say that it can't be a fine jumping off point).
It is rare, indeed, to see two people of Jane’s and Lettie’s caliber at such a dinner, especially if the restaurant that Susan is showcasing is an old neighborhood place like York Grill.
There’s nothing wrong with old neighborhood places like York Grill, but it can be challenging to get big-name writers to cross their thresholds
So after the departure of Jane and Lettie and that evening’s other guest, food writer, cookbook author and Bay Ridge dining scene expert Marian Betancourt (she says Gino’s in that neighborhood is the best Italian restaurant in Brooklyn), I asked Susan if it was easier to get the A-list writers to come to her dinner parties these days, and she said emphatically that it was.
I’m not exactly sure why that is. Lettie’s status recently changed from staff member to freelancer (her wine blog is about to debut on Robert Parker’s web site, by the way), but Jane has been a freelancer for years now.
You might surmise that we were being invited to fewer events these days, but if my e-mail inbox and calendar are any indication, that’s not the case.
Maybe it's the new generosity of spirit in the air that I wrote about awhile back that makes us feel like if we’ve been invited out the only decent thing to do is to accept.
I don't have the answer, but it’s a phenomenon worth noting.

What we ate:
House-made gorgonzola-potato gnocchi tossed with blistered grape tomatoes and baby spinach in light Chardonnay broth topped with crumbled gorgonzola

Grilled Atlantic salmon over crispy Idaho potato-bacon-arugula cake topped with shaved carrot salad, with a drizzle of arugula emulsion

Pan roasted diver sea scallops over sautéed baby candy cane beets, shiitake mushrooms, dandelion greens and fingerling potatoes, and a verjus reduction

Sweet serrano chile glazed grilled pork loin with saffron jasmine rice and sour tomatillo compote

Grilled marinated skirt steak with caramelized onions, baby carrots and garlic mashed potatoes

Mini panna cotta, molten chocolate cake and crème brûlée.

sakura o sakura

3 April 2009, jumat

Hari ini husband kebagian libur nih, gw ajakin hanamian di dogo koen, kebetulan minggu ini lagi mankai...lagi berbunga penuh smuanya....so bagus deh buat foto foto...hehehe
Ini foto fotonya....disambil makan bento n anak2 main disitu, sambil menikmati semilirnya angin. Hari ini cerah, ga berangin, hari yang cocok da buat hanamian............mmmmm....








Healthy Fish, Chips and Peas

Fish, chips and peas is not often considered the healthiest of meals. If you fancy having it for dinner tonight, however, or indeed any night, why not try this method of cooking it?

Ingredients (Per Person)

One skinned fillet of white fish such as haddock
1 large maris piper potato (unpeeled)
1 tbsp of frozen peas
Salt
Olive oil

Method

Put your oven on to preheat to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6 with a baking sheet inside. Chop your maris piper potato in to chips and add them to a large bowl or basin with enough olive oil to subsequently coat all the chips when stirred and salt to taste. Put the chips on to the hot baking sheet and in to the oven.

Place a large sheet of aluminium foil on to a second baking sheet and lightly oil the centre with olive oil. Place the fillet of haddock on the foil and wrap in to a sealed but loose parcel.

When the chips have been cooking for about fifteen minutes, take them out and shake the tray gently to ensure they are not sticking to it. Return them to the oven for a further twelve to fifteen minutes along with the tray containing the fish.

The frozen peas generally only take two to three minutes to cook in boiling water. The instructions will be on the packet which you buy so follow them accordingly.

N.B.

If using a different type of fish, the cooking time will have to be amended accordingly. For example, whiting will cook quicker than haddock while cod is likely to take slightly longer.

Latest Article

If you fancy reading some more about my experience spending the day as a butcher, pick up the May issue of Home Farmer, out today (April 3rd) and available from WH Smith's, Borders and all good newsagents.

For those unable to get hold of a copy, a pdf will be available soon.