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Eric Ripert Loves His Toaster Oven

I know I'm prone to making declarations of love on this blog, but please allow me to put my Fan Girl hat on for just one second.

You know Eric Ripert? Yeah, he runs that restaurant... what's it called? Le Bernardin? It has, like, three Michelin stars or something. Well, he's got a new site called Avec Eric, devoted largely to dispelling the complexities of cooking and making it accessible to bums like you and me.

I got my first glimpse of Chef Ripert when he served as a guest judge on Top Chef and was immediately enamored. Is it inappropriate to insert the term "Silver Fox" here? Well, he is once again bringing his velvety French accent to the masses on this site, which, charmingly enough, features only recipes you can cook in your toaster oven. Between that and an introduction like this, sign me up:

Great cooking doesn’t have to be complicated. High-quality ingredients and simple methods are all you need. Mix in some good friends and great locations and you’ve got a truly transcendent experience...

I have many such adventures planned for us. Over the next few months, we’re going to visit new places, meet new people and cook foods—some new, some familiar–together. I know we’ll inspire and learn from each other as we go.

I’ll share recipes and techniques and tell you my stories. And I hope to hear from you too. Come along with me. We’ll have fun, I promise.

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.

Dinner at Blue Hill, or: How I Learned What It Must Be Like To Be A Famous Person

It used to be I was just a glutton and that was that, but now I'm a glutton with a web site. Writing a food blog is a funny thing... all is well and good when I've got my foodie hat on, but when I'm wearing my "it's 10pm, I haven't eaten dinner, and all I have in my kitchen is some coffee ice cream, a packet of garam masala spices, and that jar of sugar-free candies my dentist gave me for my birthday" hat, I can't help but feel like a bit of a fraud when I get on the phone to the local Chinese place and order up some of those pork dumplings drenched in sesame sauce. Especially because that sesame sauce is probably just melted Skippy peanut butter.

Blogging about food also breeds the compulsion to photograph whatever I eat - if people can't taste what I'm talking about, they should at least be able to look at it, right? But this can be problematic, too. For one, most of my family and friends think it's weird. Also, there's no way to be subtle about taking photographs of my plate in the middle of a restaurant (and consequently, strangers also think it's weird).

Deciding to leave the camera at home can be hard sometimes, especially when it means that it'll take me more than a week to find just the right words to describe a particularly stellar meal, but that's exactly what's happened since Dan and I were lucky enough to enjoy a seven-course tasting menu at Blue Hill last Tuesday night.

Starve A Fever. Then Get Better and Stuff Your Face.

After being laid up last week with the flu and then having my parents in town for the weekend, I have lots of catching up to do. First up: restaurants.

This was a weekend of trying new (or new to me) places. After my parents' arrival on Friday night, I planned to take them to dinner at my neighborhood favorite, Bar Toto (411 11th Street, Brooklyn). When the host informed us of the 30-minute wait, he suggested checking out Bar Tano (457 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn), a new place that the creators of Bar Toto opened in Gowanus at the beginning of February.

I'd been by Bar Tano's space several times over the course of its renovation but never knew what it was going to be. Once I saw the beautiful pressed tin ceiling (a surefire way to my heart), I set my hopes high for a new place in what is pretty much a dead zone for eateries. Learning that it was related to Bar Toto was even better.

The menu is lighter than Bar Toto's, evidently to focus less on food and more on drink. We shared some antipasti, and because I'd already gorged on a delicious triple-creme cheese that had ridden down from MA with my folks, I kept it light for dinner. The lentils and sausage appetizer was great; the saltiness of the sausage could have been overpowering, but the lentils were full of fresh herbs and so lightly salted that they cut it perfectly. The roasted cauliflower, despite being very tasty, was much too oily. Tastes of my mom's salad with herbed chicken and my dad's house-made potato chips were both quite good, though.

I don't know that I'd go out of my way just to eat here again, but the ambiance is great and my experience definitely speaks to its focus - this would be a great place to go for a glass of wine and perhaps a bite to eat, rather than the other way around.

Saturday was farm day, with brunch at The Farm on Adderley and dinner at Flatbush Farm.

Talking Water with Peter Hoffman and Fred Kirschenmann

Last night, I attended "Adventures in the Global Kitchen: Watering Our Breadbasket," a talk with Fred Kirschenmann and Peter Hoffman. It was presented by the American Museum of Natural History in conjunction with their current show, Water: H₂0=Life (an exhibit, I must point out, that was partially designed by my hunky boyfriend).

Hoffman, chef at Savoy in SoHo, spoke largely about local issues, explaining how New Yorkers' buying decisions can affect our water supply and describing State governmental efforts to protect our fresh water supplies.

A lot of this segment fell under the category of I Had No Idea. For instance: In 1997, the federal government sued New York State for failing to install a filtration system for its public drinking water. In response, rather than spending the money on building the filtration systems, the State reached a Memorandum of Agreement with the government to acquire land within the New York State watershed and implement protection efforts that would keep our drinking water drinkable without filtration. The five-year MOA was renewed in 2002 and again just this past July.

I always hear people talk about the quality of New York City drinking water, in that it's some of the best in the country, but I never realized that it was unfiltered. Turns out the watershed protection doesn't just benefit those of us who drink the stuff down here in the five boroughs; it's brought about some major successes for upstate farming, such as the Pure Catskills program from the Watershed Agricultural Council.

Kirschenmann spoke to the larger issues of water consumption and sound agricultural practices, along the way delivering some startling statistics.

Dan Barber, How Do I Love Thee?

Let me count the ways:

1. Blue Hill 
2. Blue Hill at Stone Barns 
3. The Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture
4. That MTV Extreme Close-Up picture of the wild boar testicles you showed to a packed auditorium the other night

Four. I love Dan Barber four ways.

This past Tuesday, Michael Pollan and Dan Barber gave a talk at the 92nd Street Y that was moderated by Joan Dye Gussow. The theme was Hedonistic, Healthy, and Green: Can We Have It All? When I walked into the lobby, the place was absolutely packed, and everyone seemed eager to make it quickly up to will-call so they could take their seats and rain silent praise down upon a couple of our greatest contemporary advocates for local and sustainable eating. I was no exception.

I didn't know what to expect, but the event was pleasantly free-form, with Gussow, Pollan, and Barber each giving a short presentation of sorts from the podium at the beginning but taking comfortable seats on the stage afterward to have a conversation about modern American eating habits. Pollan is fresh off the publication of his latest book, In Defense of Food, which sort of naturally led him to do much of the talking, but Gussow peppered the talk with some personal insight, and Barber forever endeared himself to me with his self-deprecating (and perhaps, at moments, unintentional) comic relief. I mean, after his detailed Powerpoint presentation about how he agonized over what to do with Boris, his wild boar at Stone Barns, when the animal was no longer able to... perform, I kind of had no choice but to love the guy.

Among other things, I came away from the talk feeling reassured that Pollan, who easily runs the risk of becoming a figurehead for whatever you want to call this movement toward more conscious eating choices, is still ceaselessly performing research and ready to not only share his findings, but to interpret and back them up.

Issues of elitism, class, and other impediments to accessing whole, healthy, and/or environmentally friendly foods came up a handful of times, too. I was really pleased to hear Pollan and Barber (whose restaurant is most assuredly guilty of "sticker shock," as Gussow put it) willingly acknowledge that such problems are very real, and also to hear them offer ways in which the public can help change that.

It was really encouraging to see the auditorium at the Y filled to the rafters with folks who are excited about what Pollan and Barber have to say. I may live in a neighborhood that's home to three regular Greenmarkets, a food co-op, and a few CSAs, but despite that (or quite possibly because of it), it's still sometimes hard to tell whether the things these guys and their peers are spotlighting are taking root with the general public. The turnout at this modest talk, however, made it hard to deny.

Video of the talk on the 92y.org blog
The first chapter of In Defense of Food

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.

All I Want For Christmas

The New York Times just informed me that Ten Speed Press has released the Chez Panisse 35th Anniversary 2007 engagement calendar.  A worthwhile cause -- $10 from each sale at Kitchen Art and Letters (1435 Lexington Avenue, New York) will be donated to the Edible Schoolyard program -- and pretty pictures?  I'm sold.

I've also been organizing my wishlist over at Amazon for the last couple of days, not that I expect anyone aside from my mom to buy things off it.  It's just that if I don't get myself organized, I'll never remember what I need for my kitchen.  So, I'm curious as to what people's essential kitchen items are.  Any of the three of you feel like sharing?  At the top of my unnecessary-but-awesome list right now are a cooking torch and an egg wedger.

Birthday Outing #2: Boy Feeds Girl

I've had a very long love-hate relationship with the North End of Boston.  While its narrow side streets and historic buildings give it a certain Old World charm, I've made the mistake too many times of trying to drive (and therefore park) in this neighborhood.  Every Bostonian save for the ones who actually live in the North End will attest to the area's innate ability to enrage even the calmest driver, thanks to throngs of pedestrians trying to navigate said narrow streets (most of which are one-way, often in the direction opposite from the one you need) and an unreasonable amount of exclusively residential parking.

Luckily, Mamma Maria has valet parking.  After a little sitcom moment in which we could see the restaurant down a one-way side street but had to drive for another ten minutes before we could actually pull up in front of it, Zak and I left my wheels at the mercy of the valet and stepped inside for dinner.

Mamma Maria is a two-story restaurant in a converted townhouse in North Square, an area that feels particularly historical thanks to its cobblestoned streets and most significant site, Paul Revere's house.  The steep staircase at the entrance ends inside the door with a narrow hallway that leads to the first-floor dining area and a set of stairs going up the the second floor, which has a number of dining areas (from a private alcove to a 50-person dining room).

Part of the appeal of Mamma Maria is that, though it serves Italian food, the restaurant still believes in focusing on local and seasonal ingredients.  From their website:

We focus strongly on the local foods of New England and find authentic Italian dishes through which to showcase them. In the fall and winter, our menu features more northern Italian and mountain dishes. In the summer, our menu veers to the south - allowing us to highlight local produce and the abundant and diverse summer seafood market. Mamma Maria believes that an Italian restaurant can only be "authentic" when it exploits its own regional specialties. As any real Italian will tell you, the best food comes from his very own village.

We sat on the second floor in the main dining room, which has a dark painted ceiling that makes it feel very cozy despite its relatively large size.  I could barely contain my excitement when I opened my menu.  How on Earth is a person supposed to choose between things like pan-seared pork tenderloin with Gorgonzola Dolce, grilled loin of Vermont lamb with corn polenta-filled grape leaves and caramelized Maine Chantenay carrots, and pan-seared local Halibut with salsa verde, Oregon morel mushrooms, and English peas?!

Birthday Outing #1: The Family

Henrietta's Table is one of two restaurants located in the Charles Hotel in Harvard Square.  I had never been there before and wasn't sure what to expect, given that Rialto (the other restaurant) is a very fancypants affair.  I chose Henrietta's Table for dinner with my family after looking through the list of Massachusetts member restaurants of the Chefs Collaborative; I wanted to find a place that would serve up some quality seasonal and local foods.

To my relief, Henrietta's Table is a jeans sort of place.  We ate a relatively early dinner (7pm), and the place was already packed, probably owing to the very family-friendly vibe.  Aside from a small area with tables and stools by the bar, the dining area is one large, open room, furnished with rustic wooden tables and chairs.  Even in that space, though, the noise was not so overwhelming that we couldn't hear across our table, which is nice when one hasn't seen her family in a month or two.

The entrance to the restaurant has a little store selling stuffed farm animals and local produce (right now they're primarily selling a variety of apples), among other things.  There is a section of the kitchen that opens into the dining area, so you can see cooks preparing some of your food.  I'm always a fan of the open kitchen; that sort of transparency conveys a very reassuring confidence in the restaurant's food and the people who prepare it.

Between the six of us, we sampled almost 40% of the menu for the evening.  Yes, I calculated it.  Henrietta's Table has a staple seasonal menu and then offers a good number of specials on top of that.  Autumn is one of my favorite eating seasons, and Henrietta's Table did not disappoint.  The menu for the six of us:

Appetizers

• Pumpkin and German Russet apple soup
• Three cheese plate: Woodcock Farm's Summer Snow and Weston Wheel, and Lakes End Misty Cove
• Red Oak lettuce, local organic beets, watermelon radish, Valley View (278 High Street, Topsfield, MA) chèvre, and sherry-champagne vinaigrette
• Iceberg lettuce with creamy Massachusetts blue cheese dressing
• Native heirloom tomatoes, basil, Maine sea salt, and extra virgin olive oil

Entrees

• Seared King salmon with raspberry gastric
• Bell and Evans herb-crusted rotisserie roasted chicken
• Rotisserie free-range duck, roast heirloom apple, and natural port reduction
• Niman Ranch grilled smoked pork chop with fresh McIntosh apple sauce
• Wild striped bass, organic pumpkin, roasted corn, native arugula, and butternut-sage butter

Sides

• Yellow waxed and green beans
• Mashed potatoes

Dessert

• Henrietta's pie of the day: heirloom apples and cranberry
• Chocolate bread pudding, caramelized bananas, and vanilla bean ice cream

Beverages

• Stephen Vincent Crimson (a Cabernet-Syrah blend), Sonoma County, 2004
• Henrietta's Cellars Chardonnay, Sonoma County, NV
• Cambridge Brewing Company Pumpkin Ale
• Big Pig Brew

I think it's safe to say we enjoyed it.