Restaurant review: Pasha

Last night Judd and I had our standard Friday night date at Pasha, a Turkish place in our neighborhood that we'd been curious about for months. I haven't had a lot of Turkish food. In fact, I can only think of two other Turkish restaurants in NYC: Turkish Kitchen near Grammercy Park and Beyoglu on the Upper East Side. But as of last night, I am Turkish food's new biggest fan.

Pasha is tucked away on West 71st Street and is about three or four buildings east of Columbus Avenue. Our table wasn't ready when we arrived, causing us to spend about fifteen minutes at the cozy red-walled bar where I enjoyed an enormous glass of wine.

The main dining room was not quite as cozy as the bar area, but still richly colored with shades of deep red. We started by sharing three appetizers: mucver (oven-baked zucchini and dill pancakes with homemade yogurt); igara boregi (pan fried phyllo cigars filled with feta, parsley, and dill); and manti (tiny steamed lamb and mint dumplings served in a bowl of garlic yogurt sauce). I liked all of them, but the lamb dumplings were glorious - so little (possibly made by Turkish elves), so tender, and so tasty!

I could have just had those appetizers for dinner. But when my tavuk gogsu sarmasi (chicken breast stuffed with rice, pistachios, and currants served with spinach in a tarragon white wine sauce), it was too delicious to resist. Judd, a dedicated vegetarian, ordered yogurtlu kebab (sliced grilled lamb with pita, yogurt, and tomato). I liked that too, but as a general rule, don't love lamb, so was happy with my chicken.

We shared some baklava for dessert (is that really Turkish?) and agreed that Pasha is our new favorite place. Even the couple breaking up at the table next to ours couldn't dampen our enthusiasm. After only one visit, I am ready to declare Pasha a neighborhood standout. I'm so excited to have this little gem of a place only five blocks away! And it was reasonably priced to boot - most entrees were less than $20 each.

***

Details:

Pasha

70 West 71st Street (between Columbus and Central Park West)

New York, New York

(212) 579-8751

Dinner for two: ~$110.

Recipe: sauteed brussels sprouts

Oh the humble brussels sprout. I know they are an acquired taste for some, but I've loved them since I was little. They are slightly tangy - almost mustardy - and, if not over or under cooked, they make a delicious fall treat.

Steph asked me for my recipe for sauteed brussels sprouts, which I am very happy to share.

There's no need to list ingredients: all you need are brussels sprouts, salted boiling water, and unsalted butter.

Step 1: bring a pot of salted boiling water to a boil. Thomas Keller, the celebrated chef behind the French Laundry and Per Se, believes that vegetables should be blanched in water with the same saltiness as the ocean. I think about him and his advice every time I salt water with a heavy hand.

Step 2: while the salty water is heating up, trim the brussels sprouts. I usually cut off any excess remaining stem and the top two outer leaves if they look sad.

Step 3: drop trimmed sprouts into boiling water. When water returns to a boil, drain sprouts and either drop into a bowl of ice water, or put under the faucet and turn on the cold water. Basically, you just want them to stop cooking and to stay bright green.

Step 4: when sprouts are cool enough to touch, slice them in half lengthwise.

Step 5: melt unsalted butter in a sautee pan (probably about 1 tablespoon per 2 pints of sprouts). Add halved sprouts and cook over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, or until the sprouts are starting to brown, jiggling the sprouts in the pan every few minutes.

Step 6: add salt and pepper at your discretion. Enjoy!

Dinner for two: update

The roast chicken dinner I made tonight was pretty enough for a picture, or three. All of which Judd, with his self-proclaimed "artist's eye" took. You are looking at roast chicken with pan gravy, cauliflower gratin, bread stuffing with fresh herbs (good, but not good enough for Thanksgiving dinner), and sauteed brussels sprouts. And yes, we have a lot of leftovers.

Also, after a whole post about my enthusiasm for farm-fresh local and seasonal produce, I want to point out to my readers that I am no mother earth. In fact, I might have enjoyed chicken nuggets from Wendy's more than the organic, free-range, antibiotic-free roast chicken I cooked tonight. I cannot live without Splenda or "I Can't Believe It's not Butter" -- the spray-on version -- neither of which exist in nature. In another posting, I will catalogue all of the non-foodie things I love to love, critics, purists, locavores, and snobs be damned.

Dinner for two

To celebrate Judd's first work-free weekend in weeks, I made a farmer's-market inspired dinner for two at home. I served: pork tenderloin with apple cider sauce, roasted carrots with parsley, potato and celery root puree, and sauteed green beans with shallots. I bought almost every ingredient for our meal from the Stokes Farm stand on the corner of 65th and Columbus yesterday morning, including the apple cider, green beans, potatoes, celery root, apples, and fresh herbs (i.e., sage, parsley, and thyme).

I kind of screwed up the apple cider sauce, which I had torn out and saved from an old issue of Cook's Illustrated - - it needed to reduce a lot longer, but we were too hungry to wait. And I think I might brine pork tenderloin next time I cook it since it didn't have much flavor without the sauce and turned out a little on the dry side. But all around, I was pleased. Especially with the easiest component of our meal: the roasted carrots. All I did was slice them into long wedges, toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast at ~400 degrees in the oven on a baking sheet. 40 minutes later, I sprinkled chopped parsley on the top and voila - delicious sweet carrots!

There were so many gorgeous vegetables for sale at the farmer's market that I am planning another happy and industrious day in the kitchen today to address the butternut squash and cauliflower I didn't use yesterday. For breakfast, I'm making the Barefoot Contessa's herbed-baked eggs (eggs also from the farmer's market, recipe from Barefoot in Paris). For lunch, I'm making butternut squash soup with sage, parmesan, and truffle-scented wild rice (Uncle Ben makes perfectly good long grain wild rice, and I just add black truffle oil at the end). I plan to add the remaining left over apple cider from yesterday, too. And for dinner, I'm going to roast a chicken - yes, I am roasting an entire chicken - with cauliflower gratin, bread stuffing with fresh herbs (I am in the throws of planning my Thanksgiving menu and am test driving this simple meat-free stuffing from Fine Cooking), and sauteed brussels sprouts. I can't think of many other ways that I'd prefer to spend a chilly fall day.

Restaurant review: Recipe

Last night my old friend and fellow Upper West Sider, Steph, met me for dinner at Recipe, a tiny little sliver of a restaurant that was featured in the "$25 and Under" section of the New York Times dining section over the summer. (Here's the review, if you're interested.) They offer local and seasonal New American fare to the 26 diners that can fit inside at once.

We started by sharing a bread basket with "New York honey-butter and sea salt." Lame that we had to pay for bread and butter, but at only $3, it wasn't the end of the world. And who knew that a little drizzle of honey AND a sprinkling of salt would be so darn delicious on unsalted butter?

All that bread and butter was followed by healthy salads. Mine had roasted beets, lolla rossa (that's a red leaf lettuce - I learned something new!), goat cheese, and toasted pecans; and Steph's had bitter-sweet greens, pancetta, walnuts, and shaved parmigiano reggiano cheese. I've had a lot of unimpressive salads lately, but the salad I ordered last night was wonderful. It had just the right ratio of salad leaves, small and tender beet wedges, creamy goat cheese and crunchy nuts. Steph really enjoyed her salad as well, though I wasn't crazy about it since I don't like bitter greens. But I did really like the porky flavor of the salad dressing - they must have used some of the grease rendered from the pancetta. Nice touch.

For my entree, I ordered a berkshire pork chop with sugar snap peas, fingerling potatoes, zucchini, and a port and pineapple glaze. The pork chop was a hair overcooked for my taste, but the port and pineapple sauce was lovely. I question the chef's decision to serve the pork with chunks of pineapple which were almost the same size as the chunks of fingerling potato since they were the same color. The zucchini was also served in strange little chunks - almost like they'd used a melon baller - I've never seen zucchini cut up that way. Odd. Good flavors though all around. Steph ordered a red snapper special that looked very pretty. I believe it had been sliced down the middle, deboned, and then tied back together with chives and served with its skin and tail still on. It was topped with some pomegranate seeds. I didn't try it - I don't like snapper - but Steph liked it.

The meal ended on a high note with a show-stopping warm banana tart tatin with a scoop of vanilla gelato. It came in its own little cast-iron skillet. Oh. My. Heavens. It was insanely good. Like my eyes rolled back into my head for a moment good.

I liked Recipe. The tiny clothespin on the menu and the checkered cloth napkins were a little country cute for me. And our wine was served in a glass cup instead of a wine glass. Since I'm not used to seeing wine in that receptacle, I couldn't tell if we got a pour or not. But the food was well-seasoned, surprisingly refined, and quite tasty. I don't know if it's worth a subway ride for non-Upper West Siders, but it's definitely a great place to have in the neighborhood.

Steph and I give it:

(that's two and a half stars)

Details:

Recipe

452 Amsterdam Avenue (between 81st and 82nd Streets)

New York, New York

(212) 501-7755

dinner for two: ~$150 (so much for that $25 and under idea . . .)

A few of my favorite things

Judd and I were very lucky to get so much great stuff for our kitchen from our Williams-Sonoma registry. When my soon-to-be married friend Ciara recently asked for some registry advice, I thought I might make a list of my very favorite cooking and serving pieces that I also use again and again, including things I bought or received well in advance of ever even meeting Judd, in case anyone besides Ciara is shopping for similar items.

Here they are, my favorite cooking accessories, in no particular order:

1) 7 1/4 quart Le Creuset round dutch oven

I use my red dutch oven more than any other pot I own. I will use it even if it is far bigger than the pot required for a particular recipe just because I love it so much. It's bottom is very thick and it's nearly impossible to burn the contents. And it's covered with enamel so it's virtually non-stick and so easy to clean. And it goes in the oven (it's essential for no-knead bread)! The list of good qualities goes on and on. Which is why I have an entire collection of red Le Creuset cookware (i.e., the deep saute pan, braiser, and saucepan), though I rarely use the others, mostly because they're so heavy!

2) Cuisinart Classic 14-cup food processor

I only had a small "mini-prep" before getting this enormous contraption. It is so liberating not to have to puree/chop/mix things in little "mini" batches! I love the feed tube on this model for drizzling olive oil into pesto or salad dressing. I love the promise of all of the things this machine it does besides "processing" food, e.g., grating or slicing things, though I have never tried using it for either of those purposes.

3) All-Clad cookware

Within moments of Judd's proposal, it occurred to me that I might soon own the All-Clad cookware I'd been dreaming about for years. I am pleased to report that they were well worth the wait. While our new pots and pans look a lot like our old pots and pans, they cook food much more evenly. I feel like I'm really in the culinary big leagues with All-Clad cookware. And it feels so good :)

4) My knife, "Ming"

Stash's family gave me this ceramic knife as a graduation gift after they had taken us to an incredible celebratory dinner at Ming Tsai's Blue Ginger restaurant in Wellesley, MA. While Ming's signature is branded on the knife, it was made by Kyocera, not Ming Tsai. I am still in love with it, more than 8 years and many painful and bloody cuts later.

5) Tongs

I use these Cuisipro tongs almost every single time I cook anything (FYI - Cuisipro is not a brand I know and I have no idea where I got these). It's like having a hand that can reach into any temperature. Since the tips are plastic, I don't worry when using them in my non-stick pan.

6) small pairing knife

I use this little guy almost every day to slice berries or fruit or to cut up vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower. It's sharp enough to get the job done and yet I have never seriously hurt myself using it!

7) Commercial aluminized steel jelly roll pans/sheet pans

I use these pans all the time for roasting vegetables like asparagus, brussel sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, broccoli, or buttnernut squash. All you need to do is cut the vegetables and toss them with olive oil, salt, and pepper and pop them into a hot oven on one of these pans until they look sufficiently roasted for you. Also, they can go right into the dishwasher afterward.

8) Apilco deep-oval roasters (No. 6 and No. 8) and Pillivuyt rectangular bakers (2 quartt and 3 3/4 quart)

I love these dishes because they are great for the oven, but they also look great on the table. And they are dishwasher-safe. I also use them as serving pieces even if I didn't put them in the oven first.

9) Perfex pepper mill

This is a terrific pepper mill. I know that it doesn't have a matching salt grinder, but I don't grind salt or serve it in a shaker (I keep kosher salt in a little jar near my stove so I can reach in and grab pinches out), so it doesn't matter to me. I love that it has a door that opens up to pour the peppercorns into so you don't have to disassemble the entire thing when you run out. I also like the way you make it grind up the pepper by moving that wand around its top instead of its having a big top to twist, thereby getting your potentially-messy fingers all over the thing.

10) Microplane grater

I don't know what rock you live under if you don't know what I'm talking about. Microplane graters have razor-sharp little teeth that transform anything you're grating into mincemeat -- including your fingers, if you're not careful. I use mine all the time for cheese, garlic, citrus zest, and nutmeg (as you can see, I actually have a separate Microplane nutmeg grater). You might never use a traditional box grater again.

I am sure I will think of more essentials/favorites over time, but that's my current top 10 list.

A rating scale

I think I need some kind of rating scale for my restaurant reviews. I thought about letter grades, a number on a scale of 1 to 10, or even apples (like the NY1 movie reviewer). But I'm going traditional: stars.

So here's the scale:

" " (no stars) - do I really need to pay for this?

* - unimpressive, no need to return when there are so many other places out there

** - some hits, some misses, might give it a second try

*** - a great meal, recommended to all, I look forward to returning

**** - exceeded all expectations and one of my very favorite places. Please take me here on my birthday

I will now go back and score the restaurants I've already reviewed.

Restaurant review: The Mermaid Inn

On this cold, wet, and all-around dreary night, my mom and I decided to meet for an impromptu dinner at the Mermaid Inn on the Upper West Side. I had a craving for seafood, and they had a table, so it all worked out.

Our meal started off strong. The first thing to arrive was a basket of flatbreads with a little ramekin of cold unsalted butter (remember that I have no aversion to flatbreads even though they probably have the same number of calories as regular bread, which I have been trained to fear/avoid/feel guilty about eating. I will never actually attempt to confirm the calorie count of flatbreads and I know they contain flour, so please don't burst my bubble and tell me anything bad about flatbreads).

For my first course, I opted for a traditional shrimp cocktail: 5 large shrimp dangling over a glass filled with crushed ice and seaweed with some tasty cocktail sauce on the side. My mom ordered delicious fried clam strips which were served with a tangy tartar sauce. For about fifteen minutes, the Mermaid Inn was my new favorite place.

And then things ground to a halt. It took about half an hour for our entrees to arrive once our first courses were cleared. That is unacceptable even on a night when the restaurant was crowded, as it was tonight. And they had taken our flatbreads away! Thankfully, I decided to enjoy a third glass of the French chardonnay that Mermaid Inn offers by the glass. I learned a long time ago that a third glass of wine can improve any unpleasant situation.

Sadly though, when our entrees and sides did arrive, they were underwhelming. I ordered the skate with a shallot and mushroom ragu. First problem: the skate was not the traditional skate wing that I'm used to. Instead, it was served on the bone (or cartilage - whatever skate is). I didn't like that one bit. The mushroom ragu was also super garlicky and not shalloty. I love garlic, but it overpowered the mushrooms and boney skate. Shallots, on the other hand, are much more subtle. This might have been the least yummy or appealing skate I have ever ordered. My mother ordered tonight's cod special: cod with white beans and broccoli rabe. It was completely flavorless even though the fish was well cooked. Very disappointing.

Our Old Bay fries were ok - not nearly as good as many of my other favorite spiced fries (e.g., the truffle and parmesan fries I had at the new Capital Grille in my office building last week, or the spiced fries with chili aoili at my favorite restaurant in all of NYC, the Little Owl). We also shared grilled asparagus with parmesan which was actually very good - I like the flavor a grill imparts on asparagus. And yes, I know, asparagus do not grown in the Northeast in October, so the ones I ate probably came from South America which was very irresponsible. Yes, yes, yes. I have read Barabara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle." But I also really like asparagus.

The Mermaid Inn does not have a dessert menu. Instead, they bring everyone an adorable little mug filled with chocolate pudding and a dollop of whipped cream. And I don't like chocolate.

For those of you who are counting, that's three strikes against the Mermaid Inn: 1) unacceptably long break between courses, 2) bland boney fish/stingray wing, and 3) only chocolate for dessert. Do what you will with that information. If you do decide to eat there, don't bother looking for me at a neighboring table.

*

Details:

The Mermaid Inn

568 Amsterdam Avenue (between 87th and 88th Streets)

New York City

(212) 799-7400

Dinner for two: ~$130

World's easiest marinara sauce

One of my favorite things to do on a Sunday afternoon is make marinara sauce. It is so easy and the resulting product tastes fresher and better than most jarred marinara sauces that I've tried (not to mention the fact that it costs less to make than buy). And it will make your house smell wonderful.

Here is my recipe for restaurant-quality marinara sauce:

2 28oz cans of peeled, diced, or crushed San Marzano tomatoes (see photo below of the can)

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, minced or grated

1 large pinch of crushed red pepper flake

1 teaspoon salt

12 leaves of fresh basil, chopped or torn*

*since it's unlikely that you will be able to purchase such small amount of basil, I suggest buying a whole bunch of it and making pesto with the rest.

Heat the oil in a large pot. Add garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. When garlic starts to brown, add tomatoes and salt. Simmer for 20 minutes - 1 hour (depending on how thick you like your sauce). Add basil. Taste and adjust salt, if necessary. That's it!

This recipe yields about 2 quarts of sauce which will keep in the fridge for at least two-three weeks. It also freezes well. And it's a great base to add lots of other ingredients (e.g., cooked sausage meat, sauteed zucchini, wilted spinach). Today, I used it in a new recipe that I tried from Fine Cooking for eggplant parmsean, which not only took several hours to make but was very messy and the resulting meal, quite greasy. Which is why I am not sharing that recipe. Instead, I will continue to buy eggplant parmasean at restaurants where someone else can clean up.

In any event, I encourage everyone to try this recipe, unless you already make your own marinara sauce and have an even better recipe (in which case please e-mail me with your suggestions!) You will never buy a jar of marinara sauce again.

Restaurant review: Shun Lee

I live on West 65th Street. Many people know this as the home of NYC's most famous and celebrated Chinese restaurant: Shun Lee. I walk by it AT LEAST two times per day. And I am intrigued each time. Judd and I have eaten at its sister (read: cheaper) restaurant, Shun Lee Dim Sum Cafe, and have even ordered takeout a few times. But we'd still never visited the big kahuna. Until last night.

Judd left work early last night. Way early. So early that he got home before me. And by the time I got home at 7:15ish, we were both quite hungry. And Chinese sounded perfect. So to Shun Lee we headed.

Shun Lee is trapped in a 90's time warp. Its interior is surrounded by a very cool dragon, but is otherwise still all black formica with pink linens. We started by sharing an order of "steamed dumplings with spicy tangy sauce." That meant 3 tiny shrimp and pork dumplings each, sitting in a pool of spicy orange "sauce" (I think it was chili oil). Judd really ike his dumplings, but mine were so overcooked that the filling had fallen out of the wrapper. Not impressive. Especially since they took at least 15 minutes to arrive. And they cost $16. In case that sad description of these sorry dumplings tempted you, take note that they were a special, and might not always be on Shun Lee's menu.

Next course: Beijing Duck (aka Peking Duck). Yes, the skin was crispy. And it was sliced and wrapped in pancakes with hoisin sauce, scallions, and sliced cucumber tableside. But for $29, I've had WAY better. Way, way better. With crispier skin, bigger pieces of scallion and cucumber, and more duck per pancake.

Finally, we shared an order of Prawns with Garlic and Scallions. Bamboo shoots? Garlic? Scallions? I don't remember any of those. Only the "Szechuan sauce," which was so cloyingly sweet that these shrimp were hard to eat. And yet they also set us back about $28.

Bottom line: DO NOT GO TO SHUN LEE. There are so many Chinese places that are less expensive and much, much tastier. Some of my and Judd's favorite places: Pig Heaven on the Upper East Side (NYC's best Chinese, in my opinion - we love their suckling pig, Pig Heaven Pork, and peking duck), Ollie's - multiple locations on the West Side (best steamed dumplings and scallion pancakes EVER.), and New Green Bo (excellent soup dumplings) in Chinatown.

I knew I'd give a bad review eventually. And tonight's the night. When it comes to Shun Lee, the emperor has no clothes. There, I said it.

*

Details:

Shun Lee West

43 West 65th Street

New York, NY

(212) 595-8895

Dinner for two (with minimal drinking): ~$110 HIGHWAY ROBBERY!

Birthday weekend in Boston

Ack! I'm 30. How did that happen? My sister, who turned 30 two minutes after I turned 30, also says "Ack!" And our mother, who still claims to be thirty-nine, is in deep shock. But as tough as this birthday blow was to swallow, I had a wonderful first few days as a thirty-something.

On Friday afternoon, my sister and I boarded the Acela to Boston. Since it was my birthday, after all, I splurged on my favorite lunch of all time: a smoked turkey sandwich with honey mustard, tomatoes, and brie (if you are ever ordering this from Stash, just ask for "the Loren"). Once in Boston, we had some fantastic massages at Bella Sante, and headed over to Ciara and Ryan's new apartment in Beacon Hill for wine and cheese - thanks again to our lovely hosts!

At 9:00pm we arrived at Hamersley's Bistro in Boston's South End for a late dinner where Judd, John, and Shannon met us. I started with a puree of celery root soup with truffle oil and creme fraiche, followed by a spicy halibut with white beans, braised greens, trumpet mushrooms, and roasted clams. We shared a blueberry and nectarine pie AND a peach turnover with ginger ice cream for dessert. It was a wonderful birthday dinner.

On Saturday, we celebrated Kate and Eoghan's wedding at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel. It was a fantastic night full of champagne, dancing, and more champagne and dancing. And it was the first wedding we'd attending since getting married in March, which brought back many happy wedding memories for me and Judd.

And today, we drove home, stopping for excellent brick oven pizza at Covo, a casual restaurant near the uptown Fairway, before my sister headed off to the airport to return to London.

Despite this very memorable celebration, I still will probably forget how old I am the next ten times anyone asks. Oh well.