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The Platformers Episode 67 : Karma Chameleon
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Another quickie of a post, but something's better than nothing, right? Caught a play on Broadway on Friday night (God of Carnage) and afterwards we decided to hit up No. 7, which I'd never gotten around to taking my girlfriend to. Since I quite enjoy a good restaurant and maintain that No. 7 is my favorite, it was quite rude of me to have never brought her, don't you think?
Needless to say, it didn't disappoint. After a couple of dirty martinis (they make some great ones), we sat down to a great meal. To start we had the fried broccoli with dill, grapefruit, and black beans. Much like the fried artichoke hearts (which I miss), the fried broccoli was subtle and interesting. Unlike the artichokes, the broccoli was *massive*. They had an Arctic char sashimi appetizer special that I almost ordered in addition, and I'm glad I didn't. It would have been too much.
For dinner, I had the grilled mahi mahi with lentils, bok choy, rhubarb, and artichoke dip. Liv had the pecan-crusted tofu. I loved the mahi mahi, though I felt the lentils and bok choy were a bit too salty. The fish was fantastic, though.
Liv loved the tofu, proclaiming it the best tofu she'd ever had. I concurred, but that's not saying much for me.
I also need to mention a great cocktail we ordered with dinner, the bourbon with honeysuckle and lemon bitters. Get it.
Stopped in at what I thought was Poppa's Place the other night, only to discover they've changed their name once again, this time to Cornerstone. The new name is much better, so no complaints there.
A few quick notes:
Chai Cheesecake
Adapted from this recipe at Epicurious
Ingredients:
Crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 tbsp granulated sugar
4 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp ground ginger
Filling
2 8oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 8 oz package mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
Topping
1 cup sour cream
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and grease the sides with butter or nonstick cooking spray. Place a casserole dish full of water on the oven's bottom rack.
In a large bowl, combine the ingredients for the crust and mix together with a fork. Line the bottom of the pan with the mixture and bake for 10 minutes. Set aside.
In a stand mixer, combine the cheeses and sugar for the filling. Mix until smooth. Add the eggs, one ad a time and mix until smooth. Add the egg yolks. Add the rest of the filling ingredients and mix until smooth. Poor the filling into the pan and bake for 1 hour. Turn the oven down to 200 and continue baking until the cake is set around the edges. Turn off oven and open door to cool for 15 minutes. Let the cake cool slowly before putting it in the refrigerator.
For the topping, whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl and spread over the top of the cake.
Let the cake cool in a refrigerator overnight.
Brian's Quick Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp oregano
2 cans (or 1 28 oz can) diced tomatoes
Directions:
Combine the olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a pot and turn on the heat to medium-high. Stir frequently while it heats up, making sure not to brown the garlic. Add the white pepper, and after 3-4 minutes add the tomatoes and stir to combine everything.
Add the oregano and stir. Bring the sauce to a soft boil and reduce the heat to low. Let simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over pasta.
Despite some relatively kind words in the past, I was never really a huge fan of Red Bamboo's fake meat food. I'm not against vegetarian and vegan fare in general - quite the contrary - but I'm much less a fan of "this vegetable protein has been mushed into a shape that looks and almost tastes like something similar to beef!" But that didn't mean I was happy when Red Bamboo closed up shop. It was a really great space, despite what seemed like a constant basketball game on their projector, and I had absolutely zero complaints about their bar.
I knew Red Bamboo had departed, but I'd apparently overlooked the fact that there's now a great new soul food-ish place as a replacement. I'd actually set out the other night to try the newly re-opened Kif, but their inability to take credit cards led me across the street to try Poppa's Place for the very first time.
The space isn't markedly different from Red Bamboo, but they have made a few changes, pretty much all for the better. Gone is the incessant basketball on projector, for instance. It's not terribly well-lit, but it makes for a pretty cozy feel even if it also makes for a difficult place to take decent pictures.
The bar is as well-stocked as ever (Woodford Reserve bourbon is always a good sign) and like Red Bamboo they offer a good selection of specialty cocktails. Now, I'm not usually one for these kinds of liquor shenanigans, but Poppa's Place won me over in two ways. First, all of their specialty drinks are named after local streets - The Lafayette, The Waverly, etc - which is pretty cool. Second, the first two drinks I saw had Maker's Mark in them. Nice.
We tried a few different ones, but by far our favorite was the peach iced tea with Maker's Mark and muddled lemon. Seriously, if you do nothing else this summer, stop in to Poppa's Place and try this drink while sitting in the sun outside. I promise you won't regret it.
The food turned out to be as good as the drinks. It's a soul food restaurant with some really clever twists on a few classics. They do have a basket of buttermilk fried chicken, which was extremely tempting and I'll be trying soon enough.
We started with a veggie tower that had deep fried eggplant, squash, and gruyere among other things (they don't have a full menu online, so I can't look it up). Accompanied by both green chili and tahini dips, it was a great little appetizer, though I think next time I'll get something more veggie and a little less fried.
We both tried specials for our entrees, Olivia the red snapper served over a rice pilaf, and me with a BBQ pulled pork sandwich served on a brioche roll. Yeah, you read that right.
Here's the snapper. It was tasty, and in the absence of the pork sandwich, probably would have been scored very good. The problem was that while she was eating, she was staring at this:
A pulled pork sandwich on a brioche roll with apple cider vinegar barbecue sauce and a side of red cabbage slaw? Yes, please. It's really good. If they have it the night you're there, order it. That's all I have to say.
For a restaurant that seems to have sprung up out of nowhere, Poppa's Place has rocketed towards the top of my list of favorites. I imagine it'll be one of my favorite hangouts this summer, and I can't wait to try the rest of the menu.
Information:
Poppa's Place
271 Adelphi St.
Brooklyn, NY
718.643.4216
http://www.poppasplacebrooklyn.com/
Google Map
My wonderful new job affords me the luxury of working from home a lot of the time, so I've begun to try and make myself some tasty lunches while remaining relatively healthy. One of my favorite things to do lately has been to take a piece of mahi mahi and either lightly fry it in vegetable oil with some Cajun spices, or in this case bake it in parchment, similar to how I made tilapia a little while back.
Parchment Baked Mahi Mahi
Ingredients:
Mahi mahi filet
1 cup sliced green pepper
1 cup sliced red pepper
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
Other seasonings to taste
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the ingredients one one half of a large piece of parchment paper and fold in half and crease around the edges.
Bake for 30 minutes.
If you're a regular reader then you know I have a severe and almost crippling fondness for baking cheesecakes. If I'm making something for a special occasion, in all likelihood I'm going to end up making some sort of cheesecake. For the Superbowl, it was a key lime cheesecake. For @EmilysPearl's housewarming party, a red velvet. For Easter last year, I made my first ricotta cheesecake, and with an invitation to another big family Easter dinner this year, I was on deck for a cheesecake once again.
For all the cheesecakes I've made, be they pumpkin or pumpkin chocolate, I've never made a classic cheesecake without any kind of nonsense going on. That struck me as a pretty incomplete way to go through a cheesecake-loving life, so this year for Easter I decided to rectify that in the most forceful way I know how: make Alton Brown's recipe.
Now, I'm an Alton Brown fan. My fried chicken recipe is based partly on his, and that particular episode of Good Eats was what inspired me to make it in the first place. For my birthday this year my good friend Kate bestowed upon me Alton's book, Good Eats: The Early Years, and I've been remiss for not making something from it well before now. Thankfully, he's got a recipe for a Sour Cream Cheesecake that fit the bill perfectly. Here it is:
Sour Cream Cheesecake
Adapted from Alton Brown's Good Eats: The Early Years
Ingredients:
Crust:
33 graham cracker squares, crumbled
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus additional, for brushing the pan
1 tablespoon sugar
Filling:
20 ounces cream cheese
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 yolks
1/3 cup heavy cream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Brush some of the melted butter around a 9 by 3-inch cake pan. Adhere parchment to the bottom. Place a casserole dish filled with water on the lower rack of the oven.
In a small bowl, combine crumbled graham crackers, the remaining melted butter, and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Press 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the parchment-lined pan. Place remaining crumbs on a sheet pan and bake both the crust and the remaining mixture for 10 minutes. Cool. Reserve additional crumb mixture for sides.
In a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat sour cream for 10 seconds. Add the cream cheese and sugar and mix on low for 30 seconds and then turn up to medium. Scrape the bowl.
In a separate container, combine vanilla, eggs, yolks, and heavy cream. With the mixer on medium, slowly pour the liquid mixture in. When half of it is incorporated, stop and scrape. Continue adding the mixture until the rest of the ingredients are incorporated.
Once completely combined, pour into the cooled crust.
Turn the oven off and open the door for one minute. Close the door for one more hour. Remove the cheesecake and place in the refrigerator for 6 hours to completely cool before serving.
When ready to serve, slide a knife carefully around the sides of the pan to separate the cheesecake. Remove the sides of the pan, then slide the parchment and cheesecake off the bottom on to a cutting board to slice.
To slice, place your knife into a hot water bath and wipe dry each time you make a pass through the cake.
Friends and acquaintances alike have grown tired of my incessant blather about how much I've grown to love scrambled eggs recently. Now, I've always been fond of them, but an interesting bit of serendipity led to completely change how I go about preparing this divine dish and now I'm completely addicted.
A few weeks ago while trolling Youtube for video recipes, I stumbled across Gordon Ramsay's version of his scrambled eggs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU_B3QNu_Ks
Those certainly looked good, but I was more intrigued than hooked. After looking at a few other recipes, I found this one by Antony Worrall Thompson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbLU87PYsZE
Similar technique, but a little more manageable, I felt. I've personally been using 1% milk in place of cream, and the result has been spectacular. I've actually put off writing this post for a while, hoping to do a real step by step. In the end, that Youtube video does a much better job than I ever could, so all I'm doing is evangelizing someone else's cooking (though the ones pictured are my own). They're yummy, go make 'em.
I'm behind on a number of posts, so pardon me while I catch up. A couple of weeks back while walking down to a friend's new place on Myrtle, I passed by this new grocer that was having its grand opening, Mr. Coco.
I stopped in to snap a few pictures and chat for a moment with the owner, who was very friendly and welcoming.
The place is clean and well-lit, with a decent selection of high-end stuff for a neighborhood bodega. This isn't quite on the scale of some the better Fulton markets like Greene Grape Provisions or Fresh Market, but it looks like a great little addition to the area.
Anyone else been?
Information:
Mr. Coco
414 Myrtle Ave
Brooklyn, NY
347.987.4578
Very late in getting this post up (or any posts, really), but better late than never, I suppose. Last weekend was Easter, and what says Easter more than brunches? Well, maybe church and eggs and chocolate bunnies, but frankly I'm way more partial to the brunches than anything else.
On Saturday I ventured up to Westchester for brunch at the beautiful new home of my cousin Tara and her husband, Jim. As is customary for a family get-together, there was plenty of food, most of which I've documented here. I have no idea who made what, so apologies for not giving proper credit to the chef(s).
Toasted bread with gruyere
Crab salad puffs
Shrimp cocktail
Shumai (Japanese shrimp dumplings)
Pigs in a blanket
Finding myself with a spare hour between appointments the other night, I stopped into Brooklyn Public House for a quick drink and a bite to eat. I'd never eaten there before, only having stopped in a couple of times for a few drinks.
I have kind of a love/hate relationship with Brooklyn Public House. Well, hate's probably way too strong a word - let's call it a love/"kind of disgruntled and annoyed, but realizing I was being a bit petty" relationship. I was ecstatic when I heard a new bar would be filling the space, and my excitement level only increased when I discovered what kind of vibe they were going for - neighborhood pub with decent food and an awesome beer selection.
My first visit didn't go all that well, though, as I felt the staff was kind of surly with me and frankly I didn't ever want to bother coming back. There are so many great places to hang out around here, why patronize a pub that made me feel unwelcome? The other factor was that Brooklyn Public House has a feeling of, well, trying too hard I guess is the best way to put it. It's trying desperately to feel like an upscale version of Cheers, but everything's just too...contrived, I guess. The little clever old-timey signs on the wall, for instance. Yes, they fit, but the whole effect is of a place that really wants to feel like it's been there forever right from the start. I understand the sentiment and admire the execution, but there was just something about the effect that I found a little off-putting. I fully admit that I probably wouldn't have reacted so strongly if I hadn't felt so unwelcome during my first visit, so part of it was me just being petty.
I've been back a couple of times since and my impression has softened a bit. The beer selection is honestly very good, and since that first visit the staff has been uniformly friendly. I want to like Brooklyn Public House, and I think I'm finally getting there.
Anyway, back to Wednesday when I stopped in to eat for the first time. The menu is pretty standard when it comes to bar food, but they did have two interesting specials the night that I was there: broiled salmon with mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach and...um, some other kind of fish that looked interesting but I didn't order. I'll update the post if I remember (or am otherwise reminded) what it was, but right this moment I can't for the life of me recall.
They also had a beer on special for $4 which I ordered and again, can't remember what it was - some Scottish creamy thing. This blog post is lacking in salient details, I know. I really need to carry around a notebook or something when I plan on posting about a restaurant.
Both the beer and the salmon were pretty good. The beer was better, but the food was actually pretty impressive. I expect a place like this to make good burgers and wings and chicken fingers and whatnot, but I'm always a bit wary of going beyond that, even if its something relatively simple. My fears were unfounded in this case. This isn't the best fish you can get in Fort Greene, but for quick, simple, inexpensive food, it was pretty good. The salmon was broiled well with a nice thin crispy outer layer, and the mashed potatoes and spinach were tasty and filling. Along with the beer(s), it was a pretty nice little dinner that cost me less than $25.
Brooklyn Public House has probably the best beer selection in the neighborhood, so it's probably worth stopping in for that alone. If you're in the mood for some inexpensive bar food as well, you'd be hard pressed to do worse. It's never going to be my first choice as a place to grab a bite, but it's no longer my last choice, either.
Brooklyn Public House
247 Dekalb Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11205
347.227.8976
http://www.brooklynpublichouse.com
Google Map
…on the Internet, but this is actually incredibly awesome. (Note: if you just see the normal video, try logging out and then going to the link again. For me there seems to be some sort of problem where it usually doesn’t work when I’m logged in.)
Once again, The Local does a far better job than I could of letting us know what's going on. Kif, the French and Morroccan restaurant on Dekalb that's been closed up for a little while, is set to re-open its doors on Friday.
Mr. Zoughbi had knee surgery in January and had planned to close the restaurant for only a few days, he said. Instead, he spent two months resting in his hometown, Paris. “My body said stop, so I listened. I had no choice,” he said.
In addition to a new paint job, Kif will have a new menu, with more tapas dishes and more organic food. The restaurant will open for breakfast, offer a wireless Internet connection and sell “picnic boxes” to take to the park, Mr. Zoughbi said. Also, Kif will sell Moroccan products like preserved lemons, olives, spices and argan oil.
Thanks to Brownstoner for the heads up on a blog post hinting at Shake Shack maybe replacing Thomas Beisl, across the street from BAM.
"Let's say a moderately well-known restaurant was known to be closing its doors
after half a dozen or so years. And let's say it had a nice terrace for
outdoor dining alongside. And it was very near an entertainment
center. A good place for a Shake Shack?"
Ack! Thanks to starting a new job, this completely flew under my radar this year. Rather than try and compile a big list like I usually do, I'll just point you over to The Local. Yes, it's lazy, but hey, new job! Forgive me this once...
