Seasonal Tastes: January 2014 - Couscous with Roasted Root Vegetables

One of my New Years Resolutions is to start a new monthly feature on the blog (and, again, I resolve to revive the last monthly feature I started, Inspiration Station).  Cooking with ingredients of the season just feels...genuine.  Each month I'll select one or two ingredients that are in season and highlight them in a dish.

January in New York means the growing season has been put to bed.  Apples, pears, and root vegetables are your best bet as the snow swoops in.  Let's go with root vegetables, shall we?

You don't hear the term "root vegetable" thrown around all that often, but don't let that trick you into thinking they are some sort of mystical and rare ingredients.  Basically, it's a root vegetable if the part you eat grows underground.  Examples include yams, turnips, parsnips, carrots, and radishes.  Now that you know you've been dealing with root vegetables ever since you dipped a carrot stick in ranch dressing, it doesn't seem like such a weird, foreign ingredient.  After researching root vegetables on Wikipedia and learning I was more familiar with them than I thought, I decided to stretch myself by cooking with those root vegetables I don't use so often.  I followed this recipe for couscous with roasted root vegetables very loosely.  I say loosely because when I started cooking I realized I had accidentally thrown away the lemon so I never made the lemon dijon dressing (just drizzled some olive oil instead).  I also didn't have red onion or za'atar because I don't really like red onion and I'm not sure where you even go to buy za'atar.  I also used parsnips and sweet potato as my root vegetables.  Even with those changes, the dish was still delicious.

The chickpeas were a little unnecessary, in my opinion, but if you're eating this as your main dish (it's great cold or room temp - i.e.: ideal for potlucks or work lunch) the chickpeas are a great source of protein.  The goat cheese and pepitas, however, definitely need to stay in.  The goat cheese balances out the sweet root vegetables and the pepitas add a nice crunch.

3 on Thursday

I am trying so hard to take it easy and get back to a routine this week.  I went to the gym for the first time since Thanksgiving, I got back into the kitchen to test new recipes, and I spent a lot of time reading.  My body and mind both seem to be responding well to my return to the things that matter most.

Today's background: old theater seating by the bar at Macao

1. My last purse kicked the bucket a while ago but it took me a while to get a replacement.  On Sunday I picked up this guy from H&M and love three things about it: 1) it looks great in both the crook of my arm or as a cross-body, 2) tan goes great with both black and brown, and 3) it was only $25.
2. After eyeing these dessert plates at C. Wonder I finally bought them last night.  They are the exact colors of my decor and add a nice touch of whimsy to the dining table.  
3. If you're a true "How I Met Your Mother Fan" you probably know all sorts of trivia about the show.  One such fun fact is that the real life inspiration for McClaren's pub is a bar called McGee's.  Since McGee's happens to be right by my office it has become a go-to for happy hours.  It's also our official secondary UGA bar for a more family friendly experience.  I'm a fan of McGee's but never thought it was anything special - just your average Midtown Irish pub.  Albert, however, convinced me it would be a good idea to spend some time there at 8 PM on Monday nights.  Though I have spent a good amount of time at the bar, I've never been there when HIMYM airs.  Because of their connection to the show, the bar airs the episodes the same way they would for a major sports game.  They also have a special HIMYM menu with items true fans would appreciate like the slapsgiving sandwich and our favorite, the bucket of wings.  This item comes with 12 huge wings and 2 shots of tequila for the "woo girls".  I'm disappointed we didn't discover this viewing party until the last eight episodes of the show's final season, but I'm glad we have a fun way to see the end of the HIMYM era.

Macao

When I say I'm going to eat downtown, I usually mean East Village, Lower East Side, SoHo, or West Village.  Rarely does "downtown" mean anything lower than that.  But when two of your friends live basically at the bottom tip of the city, you may have to travel a bit.  This time, a dinner date with Andrew and Lee took us to the relatively unexplored area of TriBeCa.  We met at Macao, a dark restaurant with a mysterious vibe that brings together Chinese and Portuguese cuisine (Macao is a former Portuguese colony in China).  Dark and mysterious also manifests itself in the artwork.  If you happen to eat downstairs, pay attention to the artwork lining the wall and in the curio - it's all Chinese people having sex.  If that doesn't get you excited for supper, I don't know what will.

I recommend appetizers as your meal here - whether it's done tapas style for the group or just as a two apps instead of an entrée for your dinner thing.  The only dish that didn't get a thumbs up for the evening was, indeed, an entrée - the hake, to be exact.  We started by sharing the squid salad, the lamb meatballs, and the shrimp mozambique.  The shrimp was the table favorite because the sauce was great for bread sopping.  It had a strong black pepper flavor without being spicy.  I wasn't too hungry so I just ordered the red kale salad for my entrée.  It had very thinly sliced crispy potatoes instead of croutons, sheep's milk cheese, and a paprika vinaigrette.  It was actually very satisfying since kale requires lots of chewing.  I also had quite a few bites of Albert's bacon and shrimp fried rice.  It was great.  It came with an over easy egg on top which added lots of flavor.  Considering it's only $9 as a side, this gives you the most bang for your buck.  Just because the restaurant lists it on the bottom of the page as a side dish, don't overlook it.  They may consider it an afterthought, but you shouldn't....kinda like traveling downtown for dinner.

 

Hash Browns Casserole

It's rare that I make breakfast on the weekends.  I usually either use the weekend as an excuse to grab a bagel or breakfast sandwich from around the corner or to sleep in, lounge around, and make lunch my first meal.  But this Sunday I convinced Albert to come over for a proper weekend brunch.  The main dish was one my mother has perfected: hash browns casserole.

Hash browns casserole is not something you find often up North, but it's common on Southern breakfast spreads.  It's incredibly easy to put together and reheats well so it's also great for potlucks or a party where you want to get some of the cooking out of the way early (leaving more time for mimosas).  Start with frozen hash browns (2 lbs) and thaw until the little sticks of potato are broken apart and able to mix with the other ingredients.  To the hash browns add 10 oz shredded cheese, one (10.5 oz) can cream of mushroom soup, one pint sour cream (reduced fat works fine), 1/2 c. melted butter or margarine, one small chopped onion, and salt and pepper.  Bake uncovered in a greased 3-qt. dish at 350 for an hour until the top gets a bit crusty.  If it suits you, add a couple dashes of hot sauce when you serve it.  Like all good casseroles it's creamy and cheesy - I can't think of a better way to start the day.

Monday Reads

1. A new system in development will change the way we get onto the subway.  Bye bye metrocards!
2. Coming of Age Day is a mass Japanese bar mitzvah of sorts.
3. Sometimes I'm tempted to get out of my more traditional career path and become a personal assistant.
4. I've always proudly used the Oxford comma.  My fellow grammar nerds should enjoy this.

Extra Virgin

Extra Virgin is a great place for a date.  I know this because while I was there with a couple girlfriends, we noticed most of the tables around us were occupied by couples.  And why wouldn't they be?  Extra Virgin is a tiny West Village restaurant and "tiny" and "West Village" are three words that can basically be scrambled around to spell "romantic date night".

The menu isn't necessarily made for sharing so I suppose that makes Steph, Brutus, and I three outlaws on a Friday night.  We started with the roasted artichoke salad.  With fresh shaved parmesan, pancetta, and a poached egg, it was pretty much everything I wanted in a salad.  It was my favorite dish of the evening, but the other dishes we also very tasty.  The description for the tuna tartare tart led me to believe there would be too many ingredients on the plate, but thankfully there was plenty of tuna among the puff pastry, pea sprouts, and mango.  The short rib tacos were far more filling than a typical appetizer taco, which means there was actually meat inside, not just a teeny tiny taco shell requiring a magnifying glass.  Finally we shared the butternut squash ravioli.  It was good but just a tad too sweet for me.  The service was a bit spotty, but when you're three gals out on a Friday night, it's hard to be bothered.

3 on Thursday

The cold is back in NYC.  We're talkin' single digits brrrr.  I brought out an extra blanket last night and now my bed is so warm and cozy it's become nearly impossible to get out of it.

Snow is beautiful...until it's been there for a day or two.  Then, the sides of the street are covered in gray mush, as pictured in today's background.

1. I loved the china at Talde.  The food may be more upscale, but the Chinatown style plates reminded me not to take it too seriously.  I liked it even more when I saw half the table received a different, non-Asian, floral pattern.  The mismatched dinnerware made the meal feel more intimate.
2. Now that it's freezing out, I can't just throw on shorts and flip flops for a quick, late night Duane Reade run.  In this weather, my "just throw it on" outfit is a full gray sweatsuit with giant, nearly knee-high Uggs.  Apparently, in the wintertime, my drug store runs bring out my inner thug.
3. Football is totally different in the North.  In the South, it's never cold enough to wear winter gear during the games but when I went to the Niners bar over the weekend for the playoff game, beanies abounded.