Top Chef Agency

I am so excited about tonight's premier of Top Chef.  I can't wait to see a new batch of up-and-comers.  Tonight's post, however, is about another cooking competition, which I have dubbed Top Chef Agency.

Last night, some co-workers and I went head-to-head against six other agencies in a culinary showdown of sorts.  Four of the teams (ours included) worked on Menu B, while the three other groups attempted Menu A.  I am proud to say my team beat out all the other Menu B teams; however, when it came down to us and the Menu A winner, the another agency took home the grand prize. 

Since we're talking about the prizes, I have to admit, I'm not all too sad we brought home the silver.  The final two teams each won the same amount of prize money, but the grand prize winner also took home medals and a bronzed pan.  Trophies are nice, but what I really wanted was the money, anyway. 

The most exciting part of the challenge was actually being judged.  The panel of judges was made up of the executive chef and sous chef from Metrazur and the executive chef of Aureole (who had an awesome seersucker chef's coat, and if you've read my About Me page, you know I love seersucker).  These are two of the nicest restaurants in the city.  It's hard enough to get these men to cook for you; and here they are, eating my food.  Not just eating, complimenting.  One chef took a bite and said, and I quote, "Mmm, it's good."  As another was about to dip his fork into our dish, he remarked, "They charred the tomatoes.  That's cool."  You can't see me, but I'm patting myself on the back right now since I was manning the tomatoes.

Last night spurred some activity ideas: I want to have my own Top Chef competition among friends.  It would be a new twist on game night.  I would also like to take more classes at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), which is where the event was held.  If anyone wants to pony up the cash (I think it's somewhere in the $125 range), I would love a buddy.

I still think our dish should have won, and I am ready for a rematch - anytime, anyplace.  See below for pics of our bread salad and roasted tomato/herb/goat cheese pasta. 

Hummus Kitchen in Hell's Kitchen

Typically, I bring my lunch to work, but yesterday I was meeting a friend so I ventured out of the office.  Lindsay was in the mood for falafel, and I didn't think I knew of any place nearby that could satisfy her craving so we decided to walk until we saw something good.  A half-block into our walk, we were surprised to find Hummus Kitchen.

Lindsay and I both ordered the falafel laffa, which is a wrap filled with falafel, hummus, chopped salad, pickles, and tahini.  For only $1 more, you could add any appetizer, so I chose the burekas (one potato, one mushroom) and Lindsay got the cous cous.  The wrap was sufficiently large and I probably didn't need the appetizer, but I couldn't pass up a deal like that (the appetizers are usually $4 each).  I'm not one to drink on the job, but it also looked like there were some pretty sweet drink deals.

I was happy to satisfy Lindsay's yen for falafel and to discover a new restaurant near my office.  The food was good enough for me to decide that Hummus Kitchen will be added to the lunch rotation on the rare occasions that I don't bring from home.

Berries and BBQ

After cooking Friday and Saturday nights, I still had one more recipe in me before the weekend ended.  I may love to cook, but baking is not so much my cup of tea; nonetheless, I wanted to give it the old college try.  I heard crisps are the easiest things to bake, so I figured that would be a good entry into the baking world for me.  I picked up blueberries, raspberries, and pears from the grocery store and popped it in the oven with a brown sugar oat topping.  Not too bad for my first try, but it was a little too tart.  I was hoping the fruit would be sweet enough, but I think it called for a little extra sugar.  It did, however, give me the confidence to try again.

I carried my crisp over to Sarah's so we would have a nice brunch treat to snack on while we chatted and got ready for the real meal of the day: The Big Apple BBQ Block Party.  The Big Apple BBQ is an annual, two-day bar-b-que fest where pitmasters from across the country take over Madison Square Park and allow Yankees to taste real bbq.  It's always packed, but it's worth it.  Good bbq is not hard to find in my Southern hometown, but I've learned that Yankees have no idea what they're doing when it comes to bbq.  Once a year, that doesn't matter because the real deal makes its way to the middle of NYC.

At most food events, the cost of food affords you a mere taste, but at the Big Apple BBQ, $8 gets you a full plate of food (includes entrée and side) from any one of the 17 vendors.  One plate is enough food to satisfy you, but then you only get to try one thing, which is a grave injustice to the tummy.  I started with a pulled pork sandwich from Ubon's Barbeque of Yazoo.  I picked them for no reason other than the fact that I wanted pulled pork and they had a short line.  The line length was no idication of taste.  The sauce was sweet and the meat was super moist.  I'm not a big cole slaw fan, so I was a little disappointed that I wound up in a line serving it as their side, but my mouth was pleasantly surprised.  Best cole slaw I've ever had.  Seriously.  It was a little spicy and had just enough mayo.  If all cole slaw tasted like this, I would eat it by the barrel.

I was already full, but I needed to push forward.  When bbq is only  here once a year, I need to take full advantage of the occasion.  The next stop was Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Que for some spicy sausage.  I must admit, this time it was the side that inticed me, not the main course.  Though the sausage was amazing (both sweet and spicy at the same time), the main draw for me was the pimento cheese served on the side with saltines.  I love pimento cheese.  It is a Southern delicacy.  The second I saw it on my plate, my mind was flooded with images of my Mom packing pimento cheese sandwiches for a day on the boat.  It may look weird, but if made properly, it tastes amazing.  Since I can't find it in any of the grocery stores here, I may have to take to making it myself (though I'm not sure how that's done) because I now realize how much I miss having it in my diet.

I would have loved to taste more (there were ribs and briskets galore), but my stomach had reached its max.  You may have to wait a year, but I highly suggest you mark your calendars for The Big Apple BBQ Block Party next June.

Welcome to the Neighborhood

If you haven't noticed a new channel in your cable lineup, do yourself a favor and find the Cooking Channel.  The baby sister of the Food Network, Cooking Channel is all about food prep and less about crazy reality tv.  I admit, I love me some Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives, but it's nice to have a channel whose  sole purpose is to show the viewer how to prepare recipes.  I'm glad Food Network recognized the desire for a channel like this after they steered away from the platform in their original space.  It's kind of reminiscent of when MTV stopped showing music videos and attempted to create MTV2...except my bet is that Cooking Channel actually catches on.  It's currently 1 AM, and I can't bring myself to go to bed because I can't stop watching.

Wonton Weekend

Another night at home tonight.  What can I say, I guess I'm turning into a huge lame-o, but every once in a while, it's nice to have a really laid back weekend (especially after a busy b-day weekend like the one I just had).  It's not like I sat around doing absolutely nothing.  After the breakfast of champions mentioned in the previous post, I meandered around the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market, did a little shopping in Herald Square, and then met Raychel for a movie.  By the time I got back to my apartment, it was 8 PM and I was pooped and had no interest in heading out again.

On went the pajamas and I got ready for another night of cooking.  After learning how simple crab rangoons are, I decided I wanted to try my hand at making the Chinese treat.  I could have used a few more scallions, but other than that, I thought they came out really well!  I'm sure they would have been even better if I used lump crab meat, but I'm on a budget and the claw meat is half the price.  It's getting mixed in with cream cheese, so no one can really tell the difference, anyway.  I also decided to buck tradition and bake them instead of frying them.  I would like to say I made that decision in an attempt to be healthy, but we all know that doesn't really sound like me.  It was more because I knew I couldn't make a meal out rangoons, so I paired them with another wonton based treat, some gyoza (pork dumplings) that were pan-fried.  Health-wise, I think the calories cancelled each other out.  The gyoza were actually courtesy of my good friend, Trader Joe.  They're super easy and taste like they came from a restaurant.  I keep them in my freezer at all times and I suggest you do the same.  You'd think I would be a little sick of all the wontons, but you'd be wrong.

gyoza on left; homemade crab rangoons on right

Good Dinner Makes for Great Brunch

Early in the week, I decided this would be a low-key weekend.  It has been a while since I tried out any new recipes, and I was feeling the itch to get back in the kitch.  I downloaded all sorts of apps onto my fancy phone, one of which - Epicurious - provides me with a recipe of the day as well as a pretty serious database.  It was there that I discovered a recipe for pea/feta/scallion mash that I served over nan bread.  This dip/spread has great texture, an interesting flavor combination (sweet from the peas, tangy from the feta), and a nice springy color.  All in all, a good way to start the meal, especially since I'm tired of using hummus as a go-to Mediterranean spread in a pinch.

Like I said, it was a good way to start the meal, but an appetizer is simply not enough.  For a side dish, I prepared asparagus proscuitto bundles.  Easiest thing I've ever made and maybe one of the tastiest.  As a child, smothering my veggies with cheese was the way to get me to eat my leafy greens.  Now, I think I'll eat it if it's covered in prosciutto or bacon.  For the main dish, I grilled scallops, squid, and octopus and served atop zucchini ribbons.  The pics don't do it justice - whole meal was delicious, simple, and bound to be repeated.

One of the greatest things about cooking for one is that I often have lots of leftover bits and pieces.  It's easy to get sick of leftovers...unless you repurpose last night's dinner as this morning's brunch like I did today.  I used the leftover peas and prosciutto, scrambled with eggs and some goat cheese I already had in the fridge.  Thanks to my leftovers, it was way better than a normal scrambled egg breakfast.

So I know it sounds like an incredibly lame Friday night, but I happened to enjoy myself and when you come to visit and try some of this cooking, you'll be very happy I spent an evening at home perfecting the recipes.

Gleecap: 6/8 Episode

I know I didn't report on the Season 1 finale nearly as soon as I should have, but you should know I'm a very important person with lots of things on my plate.  Enough excuses, time for the final Diva-meter of the season:

• Black Dude (whose character's name we now know is Matt Rutherford) and Other Asian (character name: Mike Chang; name forever on this blog: Other Asian) actually got some speaking lines: +1.  In other surprising news, Santana and Puck usurp a solo (albeit a teeny one) from Rachel and Finn during a major performance: +2.  However, Quinn did not get a single solo (-1), probably due to the fact that she was popping out her bastard child.
• Vocal Adrenaline decides to compete at Regionals with a song that showcases only one person in the entire group.  We love Jesse, but it's called "show choir", not "show person".  If they're all going to be awarded Range Rovers, everyone in the group should have to participate.  This aint American Idol.  -3
• New Directions' clearly picked out their outfits to hide Quinn's baby bump.  +2 for good strategy.
• The McKinley kids begin their performance with a dramatic entrance from the back.  Oh wait, it's not dramatic anymore because that's how they began their performance at Sectionals.  -1
• Mama Fabray (original, not post-natal Quinn) says she left Quinn's father after she discovered his infidelity with "a tatooed freak."  +1 for the up-to-date cultural reference to Sandra Bullock.
• In Josh Groban's 1st appearance he was attracted to Will's older, drunk mother.  This episode he's interested in Sue.  Apparently, he loves the messed-up ladies.  +2 because you could probably say the same thing about my own boyfriend.
• Rachel's face when she says, "Screw that; we're gonna win this!" reminds me of her overzealous childhood dancing from the pilot: +1.
• Olivia Newton John's acting seems to have gone downhill since her performance in Grease, -1.  Her face, however, appears to have remained exactly the same.  +2 (thanks, Botox!)
• Kurt wears not one but two hats this episode.  One is a newsboy cap and the other is a sailor hat.  +2 because that was very diva (and 1920s) of him.
• Song recap:
• Journey Medley: Awesome.  +4
• Bohemian Rhapsody: see above
• To Sir, With Love: soooo unbelievably fitting +2
• Somewhere Over The Rainbow: Neither here nor there; therefore, no points awarded or subtracted.

Total: 13--> The finale was as Diva as Gloria Estefan - a performer on Season 1 of VH1 Divas (circa 1998).  Much like the tiny Latina popstar proved big voices can come in tiny packages, the first season of Glee showed us a true TV hit can come from the unlikeliest of places.  Like Estefan, Glee is quite saucy, and I'm hoping they keep it that way.  Here's hoping Season 2 keeps us intrigued!