Coney Island

Godzilla vs. Pooh

The ultimate battle between good and evil has finally happened... Sadly, it looks like Godzilla wins again--Pooh's Hunny Blaster just didn't cut it.

I love the smell of good food, but...

...why did a schawarma vendor have to park his cart behind my building? Now, by mid-mornings on weekdays, the aroma of spiced grilled meat wafts through my window.

It smells good.

It is cruel.

Farewell, Old Friend...

Friday morning, at approximately 8:15am, Maxim, my beloved morning helper, passed away. A gift from dear friends, he lived with me for ten wonderful years, faithfully delivering the nectar of a new day: my cappuccino. Through thick and thin, good days and bad, this old friend greeted me lovingly, reminding me that there are beautiful things in this crazy, often ugly world.

I'll never forget Maxim's last words: "Bzzzt bzzzz zzzz zz bzzzzt," while its little red light flickered, then went out.

Thank you, Maxim. You were a good friend. I'll miss you.

Summer in the City

Summer has officially arrived...or at least my grill pan has. The poor little thing has been hiding for a few years...I haven't been in the mood to use it/smell up my apartment/etc. But with the onset of summer and my craving for fresh, simple fare, it has been resurrected!

Last night I prepared a lovely (if I do say so myself) belated birthday dinner for Jimmy and Dan, and it represented early summer blended with inspiration from my recent trip to the Caribbean. It started with pina coladas featuring the guavaberry liquor I picked up in St. Maarten--and yes, apparently guavaberries are a different thing entirely from guava. On its own, the beverage is a bit medicinal (apparently it was originally used for "medicinal purposes"), but blended into pinapple, coconut cream, and ice, it's lovely (and gives the drink a wonderful fleshy-pink hue). So, if you're ever in the St. Maarten vicinity, pick up a bottle...

I moved on to Tony-inspired salmon ceviche (1 lb salmon, 2 mangoes, red onion, green onion all chopped up and marinated in the juice of about 5 limes and some hot sauce), and a portobello mushroom tofu spread (sauté about 1 cup chopped onion and 2 cups chopped portobello, then blend with about 1 cup of tofu...though next time I'd kick it up with garlic (Jimmy's alergic), and a few other things...

For the main course, I grilled some chicken breasts that I'd rubbed with some Trinidadian curry powder, olive oil, and a little pineapple juice. The curry seems to have lots of cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, bay, and a few other things--very West African, which makes total sense.I sautéed some gorgeous snow peas in olive oil, and served everything with basmati.

And for dessert, Jimmy and Dan brought some pints of vanilla and pistachio ice cream...and Dan and I drizzled a little maple syrup on the vanilla...Yummy!!

Happy Birthday, guys, and Happy Summer, everyone!

Carib!

Photos from my family trip on the deep blue sea!

e tempo del fig!

I love grilled figs, and an adventure to the Arthur Avenue Market in the Bronx yesterday reminded me just how much... I picked up a box of fresh, perfectly-ripe beauties, along with some cured meats--primarily prosciutto....

To grill the figs:
Wash and cut in half lengthwise.
Coat a grill or grill pan with olive oil--just enough so the figs don't stick.
Place figs cut side down on hot grill until there are nice grill marks on the flesh--but don't allow to get too mushy. Flip and grill on the skin side until the flesh is hot and juicy.

I like to wrap them in a little prosciutto... Yummy!!!

Everyone should have an extending joke fork...

...to save the day when cooking hot sausage-zucchini pasta!

After a wonderful trans-atlantic chat with Mandounette this afternoon, I went to Chelsea Market, where I was inspired to pick up the ingredients for one of my favorite dishes. An extension of one of my childhood vegetable favorites (my mom's zucchini sautéed with olive oil, onions and Sicilian capers--the ones packed in salt), I add whatever I'm in the mood for to create a pasta dish--sometimes chicken, sometimes fresh herbs, etc. My Sicilian side is always in the mood for sausage, so today I decided to pick up a pound of hot sausage from Buon Italia (I prefer Espositio's on 9th Ave. and 38th, but they're closed on Sundays, so I went with what I could get, which turned out to be pretty good, too).

It's a relatively easy dish to prepare (and ended up being its usual yummy self), but while I was balancing its various ingredients in spots throughout my teeny kitchen, I managed to dump lots of the zucchini onto the floor between the stove and the wall. Great... Thank God for the bottle of wine I'd picked up and my magically-extending joke fork.

Hot Sausage-Zucchini Pasta

1 lb. hot Italian sausage, removed from casings
1 lb zucchini, sliced
1 medium-sized onion, sliced
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp. Sicilian capers (the ones packed in salt, not brine)
1 tbsp. pesto
olive oil
1 lb pasta of your choice

Cook the pasta as you prepare the following:

Sauté garlic in olive oil for a few seconds, then add sausage until cooked, breaking it up into chunks as you go. Add the onion, cook for about 1 minute, then add the zucchini, capers, and pesto. Cover, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is almost cooked. Add drained pasta and toss to coat. Serve with freshly-ground black pepper and freshly-grated Parmesan.

Eggy Madness

(Originally posted by Jimmy on VendrediFriday.)
I was starving on Sunday and all geared up to construct a tortilla/cheese lunch thing. But then all my tortillas were moldy. So, in my desperation for cheese and carbs I frantically whipped up 3 eggs with a little cream, then folded in mashed potato leftovers, poured it into an olive-oiled round cake pan, plopped in some cheddar, sea salt and sliced jalapenos. Baked it for 20 minutes at 400(?), then broiled it brown. When I served it I drizzled some fresh (as in pressed this year) new olive oil. It wasn't half bad, and it tasted better the next day.

Raisin Remix

(Originally posted by Jimmy on VendrediFriday.)
So, I am a big fan of the Trader Joe's Thai Lime Peanut snack mix. Great with pre-dinner drinks, the kids love 'em. Or when I am really desperate they are a meal.

I added raisins to the bowl and it made it a million times better. The mix can be really hot and this balanced it out. If you really want to burn your ass, eat a raisin at the same time as one of the red chilies. Whoa!