Home Grown Bean Sprouts

It doesn't get fresher than this. I don't have land, so I can't really do farm to table, but how about random container to table? Bean sprouts can be grown any time of the year.

You start with dry green beans. The hard kind that comes in a plastic bag in most Asian or Italian grocery stores. I'm sure plenty of other stores have them too.

Then you need a container that has drainage. I use the level of my steamer with the smallest holes, but you can use a plastic container with holes punched through the bottom or a jar with a cheesecloth.

I like to layer my container with 2 sheets of paper towel before I dump in the seeds (well dispersed, and pick out the broken ones if you want... they're not going to turn into bean sprouts, I can assure you of that).

I then layer on another 2 sheets of paper towel, and wet the whole thing so that all the seeds and paper towels are damp. Don't drown the seeds... they just need to sit on some damp paper towels.

I then cover the container and leave it some place dark.

I re-dampen the bean sprouts every day....

On day 3-5 they should be nice and tall. Little yellow flowers should be coming out of some of the sprouts. Don't worry... they are tender and delicious.

I wait until they're about 2 inches tall. I think the speed of their growth depends on the weather more than anything. In the summer, it took about 3 days, and in the winter, closer to 5.

I then pull them off the bottom paper towels and put them in a big bowl. I then rinse it and dump all the green shells and runts that float to the top.

Don't be afraid of the green shells. Most of us can use the extra fiber!

I sautee them with a little garlic, oil, and salt until translucent You can flavor it however you like really. It only takes about 2 minutes. Put in some soy sauce. Go nuts.

I refrigerate the rest covered for up to 3 days.

Well we couldn't eat it by itself.... so my boyfriend kindly cooked some tomato and egg; "kung pao" shrimp and cashews; and we had a pork belly bao left over from lunch (post coming soon on how those were made. I'm a little behind with the holidays!).

Spark's Steakhouse

I always thought that if I were starving in midtown east, I would have to resort to stale pizza and M&Ms, but fear not, fellow food lovers. You can have surf and turf. There are steakhouses tucked around around every corner... they seem accessible only during off peak hours, and don't forget to suit up!

Spark's Steakhouse is like a time capsule. The modern suits almost look out of place. The atmosphere is corporate with a healthy amount old school flair; ornate red patterns line dish ware and match the worn but plush red carpeting. Oil paintings cover every inch of the walls and are individually lit by long incandescent lamps.

We started with a butterflied 3 pound lobster. If it weren't for the propriety of everyone around us, I would think that the lobster is over the regulation size.

It was delicious only because it was a massive lobster. The cooking was rather plain, and slightly overdone. It was somewhat amusing to watch someone pull the meat out and cut it into bite size pieces by the table.

For my entree, I ordered (practically) the only thing on the menu - steak. I picked the one with roquefort cheese melted on top. I heard that it's a house special.

The steak was perfectly cooked and extremely high quality. The pungent cheese provided complexity to the mild meat. (and it went excellently with the wine selection!) All of the portions were massive. I actually almost finished my steak despite the lobster and various sides.

Overall, I loved the steak. I would go there for just the steak, but it almost feels wrong to get it alone - and I do think the restaurant tries to send not-so-subtle hints by placing the lone steaks without much decoration on the side of the plate.

At the end we had a couple of chocolate desserts which were pretty good but not mind blowing by any measure. I had too many glasses of wine at this point and forgot to take a picture.

Well at least I know that I won't starve if I need to eat unless it's between 6-11pm on a weekday.

Yellowtail Jalapeño at home

One of the great things about Sunrise Mart is that they have all the ingredients for yellowtail jalapeno in one place.

Nobu never serves enough... who eats only 6 slices?!

All you need is the following:

yellowtail (duh)

jalapeno (duh again)

garlic - I'm quite sure that a lot of imitation restaurants miss this ingredient. It does change the flavor subtly. If you sit at the bar, you will see the sushi chefs at Nobu dipping their fingers in a small jar of minced garlic and dabbing it onto the sliced fish.

sauce. it should be yuzu soy, which is approximately 2:1 yuzu and soy, but I like my sauce a little heavier on the yuzu. Yuzu is a tiny (and expensive) citrus fruit, and the sauce is sold in tiny and somewhat pricy bottles.

Last but not least, you need a good knife.

The piece of hamachi (yellowtail) that I got was a little large.

No one was around to help me make a video, but you should try to cut the fish with one smooth knife stroke. You can also hold it even against the knife with your knuckles.

I like my fish 1-1.5mm thick. I then press it against a pile of minced garlic before plating. This jalapeno turned out to be larger and spicier than I thought.

The sauce is sprinkled on top. It looks a little dark here on the dark plate...

So good... even though I accidentally rubbed some jalapeno into my eye....

Inside Out Egg

Back when I was looking for the Singaporean egg recipe, I came upon this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbKSx3mAVbc&feature=player_embedded

Since then, I've been waiting for one of my tights/pantyhose to get a run in it so that I can try this out.

It all starts with an egg:

and a stocking.

These got old. I did wash them first though.

Tape up the egg before the experiment. I didn't do it as elegantly as the person in the video. I didn't want to risk any leaks!

You're supposed to shine a flashlight through it before and after, but I forgot to do the before, and I'm pretty sure that at this point, the yolk was already broken. The inside looks pretty dark. But after this picture, I didn't know what was going on so I swung it like a maniac some more.

The way you break it is by centripetal force. You can tie a knot in the sock (don't use the leg with the run in it), and close the other end with the twisty tie and swing it like in the video while risking egging yourself in the face... or you can swing it vertically like a madman and risk smashing the egg into the floor or your wall. Your choice.

I forgot the step where you're supposed to flash freeze it after boiling so that the egg separates from the shell. Because you've most likely destroyed the thin membrane that makes peeling an egg so easy, it's important to remember this step.

I thought the egg looked pretty cool, and at this point you can no longer flash freeze...

So I kept peeling.

My egg wasn't quite inside out, but it was pretty cool none-the-less and was quite delicious. If I had boiled it longer, maybe the inside layer would have been lighter. It's kind of strange though that there was still a yolk-shaped layer on the inside.

Bourgeois Crepe Suzette

One morning, I wanted some crepe suzette. I had no orange liqueur of any kind, and had just run out of powdered sugar. I didn't even have milk. However, I had a swig of orange juice, 2 eggs, some flour, butter, and sugar.

They turned out pretty delicious. The crepes were non-alcoholic, but suzette-y nonetheless. BTW there are 6 crepes in this picture. They are super thin... makes me wonder how people make mille crepes. I would get so sick of flipping crepes.

I used a crepe recipe from an old friend/roommate's brother. Basically mix ingredients in this order (everything at room temperature): 1/4 stick Butter + 1.5 tbp sugar + dash of salt + 2 eggs + 1/2 cup orange juice.

+ 1/2 cup flour. Mix until smooth. It doesn't have to be super duper smooth.

+ 1/4 cup lukewarm water. I honestly don't know what this does, but the recipe's great, so I don't mess with it.

The resulting mixture is very liquid. This way you can make super thin crepes!

I put about half a ladle in a 10 inch pan.

You can cover it or not, but put it on med-high heat and do not mess with it! walk away! go watch some TV.

Don't even think about touching your crepe until there are bubbles and the edges are a little brown.

Flip, cook for a minute longer, and you have a delicious thin crepe.

These might not look as perfect and uniform as the ones that you get from random trucks and stands, but they are so much thinner and more delicious. Also orange juice is naturally sweet, so you don't even need to add filling. 

It's a simple meal to make. Sometimes I cheat a little and do not warm the eggs and juice up to room temperature, because the best time to make this is on a weekend morning when I have no patience to incubate eggs.

Lamb and Spinach Lasagna

Look, I'm not Italian. I don't know if lasagna is usually made with leftovers, but when I eat it in most places, it sure tastes like it. But as you might very well know, I love elevating leftovers.

Okay so I got a little aggressive with the cheese layer and it slid.. but you know what, I'd take more cheese layer over more pasta layers any day.

I had left over dough and spinach/ricotta/parmesan filling left over from making ravioli. I think of lasagna as its less elegant and much easier to make cousin.

I only have to roll the dough to the 2nd thinnest setting, and I can leave it in massive sheets. It's then boiled for about 5 minutes until soft. If you're using box pasta, please follow the box directions. It turns out that baking it doesn't actually add much additional cooking.

My bf went ahead and spiced some ground lamb to his liking. Those are onions btw, not garlic. This is the part where people use leftovers... just like leftover meat and veggies in fried rice. I say just get the fresh stuff darn it!! We were joking about putting the leftover ma po tofu in the lasagna. New age fusion?!

Cheese mixture. Yeah this was probably enough for 3 layers, not 2.

Make sure to add a tad extra salt in your meat. The pasta and cheese should be mild. No, do not over-salt the pasta water or cheese layer to compensate.

Layering!! I put some olive oil on the bottom so that the bottom pasta sheet doesn't stick.

More layering!! I criss cross the pasta in different directions. I have no idea why... the thing is stuck in a pan. But I guess it helps keep everything from sliding in case of an emergency.

I threw some parmesan on top, and baked it for 20 minutes. After all, everything was already cooked, so it was just a matter of melting the cheese. You can put pasta sauce on top and or meltier cheese. It's up to you. I simply didn't have any.

I had some pieces that were upright, but I think the goopy sliding ones look more rustic. Also I got hungry and ate all the upright ones before I got a chance to take a picture.

100th post! Panna Cotta

It's only fitting that for the 100th post, I will write about the best dish I made all November. I made it in under 10 minutes, my boyfriend had one bite, and he exclaimed "This is the best thing you made all month!" I was insulted at first, but then I used it as a weapon to win the Thanksgiving cook off.

You family is going to think that you are so cool if you whip this out for the holidays. It costs $12 in a restaurant... and all you need is a few ingredients as the foresight to refrigerate this 4-48 hours ahead.

This makes about 10-12 servings. I'm listing NYC prices...

Necessary ingredients:
1.25 packets of gelatin (packets of 4 are about $2)
1 pint/2 cups of half and half ($2.5)
1/4 cup sugar ($negligible)

A few drops of vanilla extract (cents)
water (I hope it's free for you)


Optional ingredients:
1 pint/2 cups of heavy cream ($3): 1 cup for the dessert and 1 cup for the whipped cream topping
Small box of raspberries ($4)
Some powdered sugar ($2 at most)

So that adds up to call it $13-14 at most, which averages to about $1 per serving. I'm never ordering this in a restaurant again.

This recipe is extremely flexible. You can make this with either half and half or cream. I like a 2:1 combo. You can also adjust the gelatin and sugar however you like.

The only non-common ingredient is gelatin, which grocery stores keep near the Jello. They come in little packets, that you must keep dry.

In my mixing bowl, I start off with 2 tablespoons of water and a sprinkle a thin layer of gelatin on top - about 1/3-1/2 packet.

This is the only hard part. If too much gelatin is clumped together, it won't mix smoothly and turn into a hard block, and it's a lot of work to separate, so you want to keep thin layers setting and floating on the top of your liquid in portions.

Then while it sits....

I dissolve 1/4 of a cup of sugar in 2 cups of half and half by zapping it in the microwave for about 45 seconds and mixing it until all the sugar granules are gone.

I then pour this mixture into my gelatin mixture while mixing vigorously, and then sprinkle the rest of the packet of gelatin on top.

I like to let it sit for a few minutes before I add 1 cup of heavy cream and sprinkle on about an additional 1/4 of a packet of gelatin.

Give it a few more swirls and pour it into your serving containers.

4-8 hours later, it should be set. We just ate it like this. It's absolutely delicious. It also keeps very well in the fridge for a few days. I just plastic wrapped it after the first 24 hours.

But if you really want to wow people, you can throw some raspberries on top, whip some whipped cream (1 cup + ~4 tbp of powdered sugar whipped to peaky fluffiness), and some jam (for Thanksgiving I made home made cranberry jam, which was just a handful of cranberries cooked in water, sugar, and a dash of lemon)

Best. Dessert. Ever. Trick someone into thinking that you're a dessert genius for the holidays. I dare you.