fauren

Celebrating Our Independence with Gran Dan's Bar-B-Que Sauce

A.A. Bondy - American Hearts (buy)
Estelle featuring Kanye West - American Boy (buy)

First, a happy belated 4th of July to you all. I hope yours was filled with friends, food, and fireworks. And freedom! Can't forget the freedom.

It rained for the third or fourth year running here in New York, but not before some friends and I got in a solid 7 or so hours of beer drinking and barbecuing at my friend Eric's house (home of the garden, not to mention two grills). Somewhere over the last two summers, it seems we all reached an implicit understanding that each barbecue would have to be better than the last, which means that the food keeps getting better and more elaborate. I couldn't tell you the last time someone dared show up with hot dogs. Or actually, I can, but it involves getting scalded by a core of molten cheese that exploded forth from the cheddar dog belonging to a woman sitting next to me, and I'd really rather not relive the details.

Anyway, this year's 4th of July feast included grilled jalapeños with cheese and grilled tortillas, mesquite smoked baby back ribs; elotes with cotija, chilli, and lime juice; a garden salad with Japanese turnips (I figured out what to do with them), fennel, red onion, and orange-almond dressing; roasted Chioggia beets and lemon thyme; grilled skewers of zucchini, golden zucchini, and summer squash; and what is definitely the best barbecued chicken I have ever eaten.

Dan's mom emailed him a copy of his Gran Dan's barbecue sauce recipe a couple weeks ago, and he had been itching to give it a try ever since. I couldn't wait, either. Growing up in New England, we didn't have much of a barbecue culture -- grilling, sure, but not barbecue -- and I'm still in the process of learning the intricacies. Vinegar, mustard, or tomato base; smoking or grilling; wood, coal, or gas. I had no idea it was so complex.

This particular barbecue sauce is straight from Dan's home base in Raleigh, NC, where vinegary barbecue reigns supreme.

Of Seeds, Weeds, Concrete, and Compost

So I already owe an update on what I'm about to post since this happened nearly three weeks ago, but I can't let it go unmentioned that Eric's backyard garden has officially been planted with the first of lots of delicious things, which promise to make this summer's barbecues all the better.

I took the day off on Friday a few weeks back and headed over to help do some planting, not realizing at all that the list of things a person can plant in one afternoon is actually quite long. After maybe 3 hours, during which Eric took on the unenviable task of digging out foot-long rhizomes of Japanese Knotweed from the end of his yard, I'd planted oregano, dill, three kinds of basil, Chioggia beets, Forellenschluss lettuce, Amish snap peas, black beauty and golden zucchini squash, and swiss chard.

The bonus was seeing all the sprouts from the seeds Eric had planted a couple weeks before that; they were springing up all over the place.

I'm Back, Almost

To any concerned parties: I am alive. I've just been in the throes of event-planning hell at work, which combined with personal events has left me with no choice but to neglect this blog. My apologies.

As I work to catch up on the many things I've had to report in the last two weeks, here is a brief recap in pictures to tide you over:

That's the garden in Eric's back yard, nearly three weeks ago (and Ricky, way in the back, wrestling with the Japanese Knotweed). I spent a very productive afternoon over there, planting things. It was wonderful, and it took three days for my hamstrings to recover.

And here is Dan Barber, petting a pig. On a recent visit to Stone Barns, Dan kindly invited my friend Chelle and I to tag along for a stroll around the farm's livestock with him and his meat guy from Blue Hill here in the city. Top it off with some treats at the Blue Hill bar, and that's a good day.

Having now bought my first official asparagus of the spring, I also spent some quality time saying goodbye to hearty winter greens. I love them, but I am ready for PEAS.

And finally, as I continue to be a neurotic mother to my plant babies, I have to proudly share the current state of my basil sprouts. They've come up so successfully, I'm now in the process of thinning them by occasionally plucking a couple delicious, spicy sprouts from the pot and eating them like candy.

More to come this week, as I wrangle my ducks back into a row.

Some Things Are Just Worth Going Broke For

What a beautiful sight:

It's the most wonderful time of the year... NYC Winter Restaurant Week 2007!

I have been keeping very busy the last few days sorting out where to eat and when.  One could have worse problems.   Thus far there's dinner at The Beacon, The Modern, Alfama, Artisanal, and Bolo,  lunch at db, and a spot on the wait list for lunch at Gramercy Tavern.  If I can handle it, there may be another one or two, though the other places I was hoping to hit for lunch -- The River Cafe and Cafe Boulud -- are completely booked. 

Goodness.  I'm feeling tired (and full) just thinking about it all.

Catastro-pie

So I had this lovely afternoon over the holiday break with my best friend Abby and her mom, who taught us the finer points of homemade pie crust.  Making a successful pie crust is no easy task for a beginner, and I was so proud of my pie that I served it to my family for dessert with Christmas Eve dinner.

When my friend called the other night to see if I wanted to come over and cook some dinner, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to show off my new skills.  It was just after the holidays, though, so in an effort to make a slightly healthier pie, I used whole wheat pastry flour.  In hindsight, this was a Very Terrible Idea.  The crust kept cracking when I rolled it out, and I got so frustrated that after my third attempt at the top crust, I gave up and just flopped what I had over the apples (Jonareds, which are my new favorite pie apples).  After all, it would still taste good, right?  It would just look like hell.

And how.

It smelled incredible, but let's just say I wasn't too proud of this one.

Thanks to Ryan, for allowing me to make a fool of myself in front of his fancy, fancy camera.

It's Like I'm an Adult or Something

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, which included my first official grown-up dinner party, thrown for 8 people in my apartment last weekend.  Food aside, I'm proud that I managed to fit all of those people in one room.  After spending an entire afternoon completely geeking out over my cookbook collection, I came up with what I thought was a nice autumnal menu:

• Roasted whole garlic heads on whole wheat sourdough boule (the latter was from the farmers market, not my oven)
• Green salad with fresh herbs (mint, dill, basil, and flat leaf parsley)
• Quinoa-stuffed acorn squash
• Roasted Brussels sprouts
• Duck legs with red wine and fig sauce
• Baked apples with Calvados whipped cream

With the exception of items like olive oil and sea salt, nothing in the meal came from more than 75 miles from my apartment, thanks to the Union Square farmers market and FreshDirect, which so kindly told me where the duck I was ordering came from: Jurgielewicz Duck Farm (Barnes Road, Moriches, NY). 

I started cooking at 3pm and went straight through until the first person arrived at 8:30.  Thank goodness the trains were messed up due to track construction, or they might have arrived on time at 8 and witnessed the sheer chaos that had swallowed up my kitchen for most of the afternoon.  In the end, though, everyone seemed happy, and I managed to not keel over until after they all left again.

Exhaustion aside, it was totally fun.  I'm pretty sure this was the first of many to come.

 

A Word to the Wise

If your roommate tells you that you that it's impossible crack an egg by squeezing it in your fist, you should probably verify that she knows this from experience before you or a loved one attempt it for yourselves.

Happy Birthday to ME

Yes, it's true.  On this day, 26 years ago, a Fauren was born. 

It hasn't quite sunk in that today is the day, probably because I somehow managed to con all of my loved ones into making the celebration span nine days.  It began with three days in Boston this past weekend, part of which was spent boring my boyfriend with tales of my youth, and most of which was spent with food in my face.  It will end this coming Sunday after brunch with friends.

I had so many exquisite eating experiences in one short weekend that I can't possibly contain them in one post, so I'm just showing my face today to give you all a bit of a teaser.

Coming attractions:

• Dinner on Friday at Henrietta's Table
• Dinner on Saturday at Mamma Maria
• The food of my homeland, including croissants from Quebrada, sandwiches from The Linden Store, and brunch at Joan and Ed's

But right now?  It's time for birthday cake.

A Birthday at Palo Santo

I mentioned a while back that my friend Will had his 30th birthday dinner at a new restaurant in Park Slope, Palo Santo.  Jacques Gautier, Will's friend and the chef/owner of the restaurant, generously opened up the establishment (which was not yet serving dinner, due to a pending liquor license) to cook us all a wonderful three-course meal.

Jacques created two separate menus for the evening.

For the omnivores:

• Tamal with brotas (young, green garlic shoots) and salsa verde
• Picante de Pollo with sweet potatoes and rice

For the herbivores:

• Esquites (boiled corn kernels) with tomato, potato, and mayonesa casera
• Pupusas revueltas with curtido (pickled cabbage salad) and avocado

And we all got our own chocolate cake with chocolate mousse, nueces (nuts, though I don't know what kind), and caramel for dessert.

I wish I could have photographed the presentation of these yummy things, but my terrible camera couldn't compensate for the mood lighting in the restaurant.  Besides, the more important thing is how they tasted, and the word, I believe, is delicious.  My only complaint was that the portions were a little small. 

A couple of friends also wished to spice up their meals a little and asked our waiter for some hot sauce.  He promptly informed us that there was no hot sauce to be found in the restaurant, but offered up a substitute -- a decidedly hotter version of the salsa verde, thanks to the addition of threads of habanero pepper.  If nothing else, it was much more of a conversation piece than a bottle of Cholula.

The food, however delicious, was only a part of what made the evening so great.  Another part was the decor.  The restaurant is entirely decorated with recycled or found objects and the works of local artists.  All of the chairs were handmade for the restaurant, as were the murals, the fence at the front entrance, and a beautiful garden and fountain at the back of the restaurant, which are visible through a pair of tall french windows.  You can tell that a lot of thought and love went into the design of the restaurant; even the bathroom has a cedar ceiling.

The last thing that really made the evening complete, of course, was the company.  The best meals are the ones that aren't just about the food, and I was happy to share my first meal at a very promising new restaurant with some dear friends.

(L to R: me, Chelle, Will, Zak, and Leah.  Not pictured: photographer Jonathan)

Now THAT'S What I Call a Snack

Yesterday was my dear friend Lis's birthday, and we had an evening out in Carroll Gardens to celebrate.  Carroll Gardens, though only a few stops on the subway from my own neighborhood, is a place I don't visit too often.  It's part of that whole Manhattanites-don't-come-to-Brooklyn-for-anything thing... as a result, I either miraculously convince my friends to come to my own neighborhood, or I end up going in to Manhattan.  It's very rare that something happens in between, so I get extra special excited when I have a chance to explore parts of Brooklyn that I don't get to see much.

The evening began with dinner at Frankies 457 Spuntino (457 Court Street, Brooklyn), a cozy Italian restaurant with brick walls and a nice outdoor patio.  The word "spuntino" means "snack" in Italian, and the menu at Frankies is mostly true to the concept; aside from a list of 7 or 8 main dishes and a number of sandwich choices (served on Sullivan Street Bakery rosemary bread), the rest of the menu has a lot of wiggle room for mixing and matching individual items.  You can have the decision made for you with the traditional antipasto (chef's choice of 2 each from their meats, cheeses, vegetables, and marinated olives), or you can get crazy with your own choices.  Add their crostini, salads, and soups into the mix, and suddenly deciding what to eat is a veritable Sophie's Choice of food.

After our very patient waitress plied us with cocktails (and may I take a moment to recommend the bourbon lemonade...), we managed to make a decision upon her third stop at our table.  We had two antipasti for the table, and I ordered for myself the Frankies greens with a delicious cippolini onion cider vinaigrette, an avocado and pesto crostino, and roasted Brussels sprouts.

Between the two antipasti, we got to sample both spicy and sweet sopressata, prosciutto di Parma, marinated cremini mushrooms, roasted cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, string beans with preserved garlic, green and black olives, and two cheeses -- Villa D'Este, which is a soft and rich sheep's milk cheese otherwise known as a Caciotta; and Castelrosso, a harder mixed milk cheese from the Piemonte region of Italy that's a bit saltier and has a very nice bite.

My love of Brussels sprouts is pretty new but totally intense, so I was more than happy to have another plate of them all to myself.  One thing I love about good Italian food is how simple it can be; the sprouts were halved, very lightly salted, and roasted in olive oil, then served at room temperature.  Perfect. 

The crostino was also quite good.  It could have used a bit more pesto and the avocado was slightly under-ripe, but I would be lying if I said it didn't taste pretty darn good anyway.  I also liked having my greens at the end of this meal.  It was a nice, light way to finish things off.  The greens themselves were straightforward, which was fine because clearly the dressing was meant to be the highlight, and indeed it was.

I couldn't believe how full I was at the end of this meal.  I was perfectly happy to be so, except that it meant not getting to sample any of the desserts.  I can imagine them now, though... red wine prunes with mascarpone... tiramisu... ricotta cheesecake...

(A brief pause, to clean up this drool.)

So after dinner it was off to Abilene (442 Court Street, Brooklyn) for a vodka gimlet.  They were advertising a bar spelling bee, which sounds like a prospective replacement for my favorite, now-defunct trivia night, Dr. Fact's Night of 50 Questions at Buttermilk (577 5th Avenue, Brooklyn).  (In Buttermilk's defense, they may no longer have trivia, but they've got pizza night, a photobooth, and a fantastic jukebox.)

Before I threw back one too many cocktails, it was time to head up to Cobble Hill Cinema to meet my partner in crime for some peanut M&Ms (Come on!  No one's perfect.) and Michel Gondry's quirky and beautiful Science of Sleep.

A lovely evening all around.