beXnlog

More Assorted Bits

1) S's intern-farewell event was at Plate NYC, a new Asian-Latin tapas place in Soho. Waiting out a sudden summer rainstorm, we were quite late meeting up with her but we had the restaurant to ourselves because of the weather. The decor was very modern yet warm; we had a booth in the middle section right before the covered "backyard" part. The menu is mainly meaty but they were willing to adapt dishes for vegetarians. I opted to just order 2 side plates: the sweet corn croquettes and sauteed Chinese broccoli. The broccoli was good, crispy and hearty, seasoned quite well but not as simple as just sesame oil. The croquettes, however, were too oily on the outsides and too runny in the insides. It was an attempt at "corn nuggets" but the creamed corn insides weren't prepared right. I'm not one to talk since we have yet to make an edible batch, though! Everyone else got assorted meat plates and seemed to really enjoy them. Finally, for dessert we shared a trio of sweets: strawberry mouse, a passionfruit sorbet and a chocolate brownie-wafer. All of the desserts were excellent! Overall, it's a great place for groups since you can share dishes, especially seafood lovers!

2) Goodness gracious. P learned how to make a Thai chile-garlic-vinegar sauce from her dad and i was the lucky recipient of a cup! I ran errands after work and i was salivating from just smelling it in my bag! As recommended, i used a few spoonfuls in a bowl of ramen, in which i also added egg and fresh spinach. It was the best ramen ever: the sauce added a wonderful garlic taste and aroma, while the vinegar added a great sour bite. The ramen soup stock diluted the hotness of the chiles somewhat, but P suggested using the sauce AND the roasted, crushed Thai chiles from her dad. I'm scared of how good that's going to be!

3) This season's strawberries are quite tasty! So far the best batch in the U.S. has been from the box, but batches from Whole Foods and Stop & Shop have been delicious, too. I never liked strawberries that much growing up - they were always so puckeringly sour - but i enjoy them now that i know what good ones taste like. You should always try to get organic strawberries if possible, since they can have very high concentrations of pesticides. In the stores i've seen, there usually isn't a price difference or if there is, it's minimal.

4) I just also love fresh corn on the cob! We've been steaming ears in the microwave (clean off husks and silk, place on plate and cover with plastic wrap, vent in a few places, cook for 2-3 minutes per ear) and it's so yummy. I don't use butter and salt because fresh corn is already so sweet and juicy. To tell if your ear is fresh, poke a kernel with your thumbnail; it's fresh if corn juice squirts out. I just ordered some stainless steel corn picks from CB2 and i can't wait to use them!

5) I should've brought my sister to Viva Natural Pizza when she was here in New York. Midtown pizza really sucks, but this place is quite good. It's kosher so all the meats are fake, they have soy cheese and whole wheat or cornmeal crusts and offer healthy toppings. When i was last there, they had a "falafel pizza" which had falafel chunks, lettuce, tomato and tahini sauce on a white flour crust. I had a plain slice: good crust, sauce and cheese but i would've preferred it baked crisper. I've also had the pesto pizza which is dripping with oil but really tasty. They sure beat all the other Midtown pizza slices i've had.

6) I'm in love with the "Mexican Salad" at the Union Square Whole Foods buffet. It's a julienne of jicama and apple with dried cranberries and sliced red onion, tossed in a cilantro-lime dressing. Jicama is an ultra-crisp, starchy root vegetable that has a texture similar to Asian pears. The salad is so refreshing and complex! I'm going to make a giant bowl and not give any to be - the onions, you know. Note: overall, the USWF buffet is much better than all the various Midtown buffets. I would be happy eating there every day.

7) be's boss and his wife bought various items from an Asian grocery to give them a try, all in a fit of adventurosity - and they ended up disliking everything! They passed the bag onto be so we've been eating yummy Vietnamese sesame candy disks, sandwiched in between rice wafers, "vegetable crackers" and Thai tamarind candies. be actually can't eat the tamarind candies since they're too hot for him, which is fine with me cause it's more for me!

8) Last night we made our first, officially real batch of fondue. No mixes or cheesy packets, but real grated Gruyere and Emmenthaler cheeses, white wine, lemon juice, cornstarch, garlic and white pepper. We didn't have any Kirsch (cherry brandy) but i couldn't tell it was missing. The fondue smelled and tasted just like those $8.00 packets from Europe; it was so cheesy and delicious, but the texture was a little runny. As the sterno bubbled away liquid, the mixture got thicker and stringier which is closer to the packets, but we never got it super creamy-smooth. Nevertheless, it tasted great. We dipped toasted baguette cubes, apple slices, cornichons, steamed cauliflower chunks and sauteed button mushrooms.

posted by beXn @ 2:07 AM