The Breslin

A couple weeks ago I had a great outing with my sisters (and one of our honorary sisters) to The Breslin at the Ace Hotel, located at 16 West 29 Street in New York. Dinner was amazing and the company excellent.

Our meat-laden meal began with a terrine board: guinea hen with morels, rabbit and prune, rustic pork with pistachios, head cheese, liverwurst. All served with pickles, piccalilli and mustard. This platter was decadent enough in itself, but it was only the beginning.

 Terrine Board

We also split a scotch egg and scrumpets with mint vinegar. Having no idea what a scrumpet is, I was pleased to discover it is lamb breaded and fried. Kind of a like a lamb fishstick. It's a bit heavy, but sharing is a nice way to get a taste without going overboard.

Scrumpet with a vegetable thing in the background

Extreme Close Up Scrumpet & Scotch Egg

We also shared a lamb burger, which was awesome. I had it once before at The Breslin and it's definitely a good deal. As you can see, the meat is cooked very rare, allowing the taste of the lamb to really come through. The feta cheese makes it a little too salty for me, so this time around I tried some bites without the feta and found it more pleasing.

Lammmb Burger

Razor clams also appeared during the meal (and disappeared, quickly). I'd never tried razor clams before and I really enjoyed them. They are a bit heartier than regular clams, and the good chefs at The Breslin cooked them perfectly.

 Razor Clams, with a Scotch Egg peeking out in the distance

To round out the meal we got a roasted beet salad and broccoli. Because, vegetables are a thing that people should eat. But also there was meat in the vegetable dishes as well. You can never escape the meat.

 Tasty Vegetables

If you get a chance, treat yourself to some awesome food at The Breslin! I also recommend retiring to the lobby of the Ace Hotel for a drink to end your delicious meal.

Steak and Arugula Salad

For many of us spring has arrived. Sunny days and warm temperatures call for grilling, and tonight I just so happened to have access to a grill...and a steak. 

Before grilling the sirloin steak rare I coated it with just a little bit of olive oil, salt, and fresh-ground black pepper. After the grill was nice and hot I cooked the steak for just a few minutes on each side, leaving it seared on the outside and tender and rare on the inside. After removing it from the grill I let it sit for a few more minutes before slicing it, allowing the juices to circulate and settle. 

While the steak cooked and sat, I prepared an arugula salad as the final resting place for the lovely steak. Before I ate it, of course. The salad was simple--just baby arugula, chopped fresh cherry tomatoes, and finely chopped red onion. I tossed it all together with a vinaigrette composed of blood-orange olive oil, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, crush red pepper, and a raw egg yolk. 

I tossed the dressing with the salad and topped it with the sliced steak. It's a simple and absolutely delicious dish for these delightful spring days.

Pumpkin Ravioli Awesomeness

For dinner tonight I made pumpkin ravioli tossed with caramelized onions, minced garlic, baby spinach, olive oil and topped with goat cheese and crushed red pepper flakes.

Not too shabby. Not too shabby, indeed.

Bibimbap!

I tried this bibimbap at Village Yokocho while out in New York City with some friends. The rice in the bottom of the sizzling bowl got nice and crispy and that beautiful egg yolk spread lusciously throughout the dish. Amping the spice level up with lots of hot chili sauce we devoured two these between five people in no time. SO GOOD.

Plus bibimbap is the most fun food name to say out loud. Trust me, it's been proven.

A Rooklicious Thanksgiving Feast

This year's Thanksgiving was one of the best. It's truly one of my favorite holidays--good food, warm fires, conversation and laughter, and eating, eating, eating. I'm still full from Thursday.

Seriously.

This year we started off in the afternoon with bowls of mulligatawny soup, meat, cheese, crackers, shrimp, and veggies as the fragrance of roast turkey and mulled wine filled the air.

When dinner was served we indulged in fennel salad, cranberry sauce with pears and oranges, ambrosia, rosemary and garlic smanging mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts with walnuts and garlic, and stuffing muffins.  

The turkey was one of my best yet--I think I've really perfected my technique. The skin of the turkey was golden and crispy after being coated in butter, sage, rosemary, and thyme (cue singing now), and the flavors of apples, onions, garlic, celery, and carrots flavored the turkey from the inside out. I also made a killer gravy from the buttery drippings to accompany the turkey.

And of course no meal is complete without a nice glass of wine. Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving this year. Cheers!

Maine Memories...

Don't get me wrong, the grilled cheese sandwich I devoured for dinner before heading back to the library for mass amounts of lecture writing and reading for seminars was very good. I make a damn tasty grilled cheese sandwich. But the solitary cooking of the sandwich, not to mention its lack of complexity and the quickness in which it was eaten, has got me reminiscing about the last family dinner I had in Portland with my Maine family--potatoes au gratin, empanadas stuffed with fresh Maine lobster, fish tacos made with local fish, avocado-mango dip, and grilled Maine shrimp complete with a specialty tequila cocktail to accompany the fantastic meal. A grilled cheese simply cannot compare to the company of friends and family and the leisurely cooking and consumption of delicious food on a quiet Sunday evening.  

While I can't be in Maine tonight, at least these photos captured some of the culinary joy of that meal...

Lobster Empanadas     

Tequila-Marinated Grilled Maine Shrimp

Tequila Cocktail with Freshly Squeezed Juices, Ginger Simple Syrup, and St. Germaine's Elderflower Liqueur 

Potatoes Au Gratin

Look at that burbling...

Fish Tacos

Mango-Avocado Dip