Limitless

The sky’s the limit. Or is it?
My entire life, people (teachers, media, parents, etc) have always told me that the sky’s the limit. I am suppose to aim for the moon so that even if I miss I’ll land among the stars. A little will, a little passion, a little elbow grease was suppose to go a long way. And if I could dream it, I could achieve it. I could fly high and defy gravity. Looking back, I wonder – did everyone just set me up for failure? This bold, brash and unyielding optimism paired with unrealistically high expectations and unabashed goals is dangerous! It gave me a reckless sense of security, and delusions of megalomania. I could jump off a skyscraper, spread-eagle, and my dreams would buoy me to safety. The word “cannot” was never in my dictionary. And yet now, there are a lot of things I cannot do. There are things that I can dream of and yet will never have. I have plenty of ambitious goals, but how many are likely to come to fruition? So why do we teach our children these things? Why do we tell them that they are limitless?

Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Source: Loosely based off this tomato bisque recipe and Thomas Keller
This meal was inspired by a recent trip to the Bouchon Bakery counter at the Time Warner Building. I absolutely love Bouchon, and I wasn’t disappointed by their presentation of Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwich. So here, I’ve tried to replicate that deliciously simple meal.

Tomato Soup Ingredients
3-4 rashers of bacon
1 small onion, small dice
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 stalk celery, small dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 c chicken broth [or better-than-bouillon + water]
2 26-oz strained tomatoes [I use Pomi]
3-4 fresh thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt, pepper, sugar, to taste
1 scallion, thinly sliced

Grilled Cheese Sandwich*
1 loaf brioche bread, sliced into 3/4″ thick
gruyere cheese, shredded or thinly sliced
fontina cheese, shredded or thinly sliced
1 tbs butter, per serving
thinly sliced tomatoes [optional]

*I asked the Bouchon bakers, and they said that both gruyere and fontina cheeses are used, even though the AdHoc recipe says otherwise; I say, do what pleases you
Directions
Place the strips of bacon in a cold soup pot or dutch oven, then place on medium heat. Once the bacon begins to sizzle, gently lift the edges and lift to cook the other side. Allow to most of the render fat as we will be using this in our soup. The bacon is fully cooked once the pink, white, translucence is gone. Remove bacon, drain on paper towel, and crumble into small pieces. Into the bacon fat, add the onion, leek, celery and garlic, and cook until soft and almost caramelized. To the pot, add chicken broth and strained tomatoes. Alternatively, canned whole tomatoes work or even fresh peeled/seeded tomatoes as well. Add the thyme and bay leaves, and bring to a rolling boil. Lower heat and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes for the flavors to develop. Remove thyme and bay leaves and using a emulsion blender, blend the soup, so all the vegetables have been smoothly pureed. Some people like to strain tomato soup, but I personally don’t mind. Whisk in the heavy cream, and season to taste with salt, pepper and a teeny tiny sprinkle of sugar, as needed. Garnish with bacon pieces and green onion.

For the grilled cheese sandwiches, place about 1/8 cup of gruyere and 1/8 cup of fontina cheese in a small bowll, and toss to combine. Sprinkle the mixture over a slice of brioche bread, top with tomato slices [optional], and place another slice of bread over that to make a sandwich. In a skillet or frying pan, melt 1 tbs of butter on medium-low heat (do not want to burn butter), and place the cheese sandwich right into the butter. Turn the heat down to low, and allow for the bread to brown before flipping the sandwich and letting second side to brown. Try not to burn the bread before the cheese melts. To help the cheese melt, I like to place a pot lid over my sandwich to trap in the hot steam, which helps the cheese melt as well. Alternatively, this could easily be done in a toaster oven.

Serve both sandwich and soup together and enjoy!

I struggle with this topic often. Perhaps it’s because I don’t like being told that I can’t do something, and that it drives me absolutely insane to be told to be more conservative with my dreams. Perhaps I hate seeing someone, especially a young child or growing adolescent, being stunted by an unproductive and growth-prohibitive mantra. On the other hand, you might say that I came from too privileged of a background to understand that NO and IMPOSSIBLE are the abject reality for many people. That may be the case – but it’s in our dreams that we can fly. And no one can take that away from us.

You, you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one,
AnhD

Review: Nougatine

Nougatine
1 Central Park West
New York, NY 10023

On Saturday, I had a lunch date with Jean-Jeorges – ok not really, but close. Located inside the Trump Tower, Nougatine is the less-stuffy salon just outside Jean-Jeorges. Bathed in naturally filtered light and sleek, modern wood, the restaurant shares the JJ kitchen and staff, and produces dishes that while are significantly less complicated, still demonstrate precise execution. Rather than choose from the prix fixe menu (which honestly just seemed a bit safe), David and I ordered à la carte.

We began with a beautiful tuna tartare, stacked over a layer of creamy avocado and drenched in ginger-soy sauce sauce, topped off with sesame oil and thinly sliced radishes. The fish was fresh, and the marinade packed the right amount of tang to balance the richness of the fish and avocado. Add in the kick of the ginger, and it was a party. And look how pretty it all is!

My main course included a roasted cod fillet over cauliflower and splashed with a buttery vinaigrette. Thin slices of pepper added an unexpected, though not unpleasant, sting – it helped add another flavor dimension. Again, there was beautiful balance in flavors and textures, as well as aesthetically pleasing presentation. Again, there was precision in the execution and the dish was technically flawless.

David ordered the sirloin steak with miso butter and roasted brussels sprouts. No surprise – precision. Beautiful and complementary flavors. The only thing it lacked, as David pointed out, was the ‘meat’ flavor. He found the sirloin tender and perfectly cooked, but lacking in beefy flavor. Not sure why – lack of age perhaps?

The dessert menu didn’t look spectacular so we headed to north to Boulud instead for ice cream and pastries. Overall, the Nougatine experience was nice. I’m not positive the food justified the price tag, despite the perfect execution and meticulous attention to detail. If anything, I felt like I was paying most for the experience of being as close as I’ll ever get (at present anyway) to Jean-Georges. I might come back, but only if I’m in the mood for something safe.

 

AnhD

 

Chopped

I love watching the Food Network. From the cooking competitions to the cake decorating challenges – it’s tons of fun. It makes me want to turn my own kitchen into a kitchen stadium and savagely yell, “A La Cuisine!” I want someone to present me with a strange basket of ingredients and force me to make a presentable and edible dish. It would be such a fun and creative exercise for me. Seeing how I won’t be featured on Chopped or Iron Chef any time soon, I guess I’ll have to find another way. On a whim, and also because I was craving Julia’s Empanadas, I made Curried Beef & Butternut Squash Empanadas. Sounds weird right? No, it totally works – wait til you read the ingredient list. Fish sauce, chili powder, madras curry powder, ground lemongrass, a bit of cinnamon, tons of cumin – yeah. There are tons of flavors, but they work so well together! The beef itself is salty and spicy thanks to the curry powder and fish sauce, but the butternut squash adds a nice texture change as well as some unexpected sweetness. It reminds me a bit of a red Thai curry I once ate with squash and beef. Very similar (though coincidental) flavor profile. Lastly I have to admit, I had a little help from my corner bodega – you can buy frozen empanada pastry shells! All you do is thaw for a bit, fill, brush with egg, and bake. Magic happens in the oven.

Curried Beef & Butternut Squash Empanadas
I didn’t work from a recipe, just my good old noggin, so as always – please refer to this loosely. It’s more a guideline anyway. Makes 15 mini empanadas.

Ingredients
1.5 c lean ground beef
1 c butternut squash, diced small
1/2 c yellow onion, diced small
1 tbs madras curry powder
1 scant tbs cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground lemongrass [optional]
2-3 tbs fish sauce [or to taste]
1 tbs chili powder [or to taste]
salt & pepper, to taste
olive oil
15 mini empanada pastry shells
1 egg + 2 tsp water, beaten together

Directions
Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Coat with olive oil. Once hot, add butternut squash. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chili powder to taste. Lower heat and put a lid on the skillet. This will help the squash to cook more quickly. Sometimes I find that the squash can brown too quickly, and will add a bit of water to prevent burning in the pan. This is perfectly acceptable. Alternatively, this can be done in an oven. We do not want mush, so the squash is done once tender enough to be pierced with fork, but not falling apart. Remember, these will continue to cook later. Remove squash and set aside.

To the same skillet, add a bit more olive oil as needed, followed by the above spices. The toasting or frying of the spices helps make them extra fragrant and really brings out the bold flavors. Add the diced onions, cooking to a soft, transparent state. Then add the ground beef, stirring constantly to break up any large clumps. Cook until all the red disappears, and season with fish sauce and (if needed) additional salt and pepper. Return the butternut squash to the pan, mix through, and turn off heat. Allow to cool enough to handle before proceeding.

Preheat oven to 350*F. To fill the mini empanada shells, I place a tablespoon of filling in the center of the pastry. I then fold the circle in half, and use a fork to seal/crimp the edges. Sometimes the filling juice comes out, but that’s a sign that I need to seal the empanada tighter, or maybe that I’ve overstuffed the empanada. Adjust accordingly.

Brush each empanada with egg wash. Place on lined baking sheet without over crowding, and bake in oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Consume immediately (at risk of burning tongue, of course). These are perfectly delicious on their own, but a bit of salsa or hot sauce is also good. Empanadas are super fun and easy to make. I am already imagining all the fun filling combinations I want to try – maybe mango and shredded pork, or turkey and apple chutney, ground lamb and feta, or maybe even comfy pork and beans. Ahh I can’t wait!

Sidenote: Prior to eggwash and baking, you can freeze the empanadas on a tray. Arrange them so none touch. Once frozen, gather in a Ziploc bag and freeze for another day. Simply remove from freezer, thaw, bake and eat. Easy peasy.

Enjoy,
anhd