Bedford Slice

Okay. I know that I have not yet posted on pizza. What's up with that? This is not because I haven't eaten any pizza or that is has not been up to par, quite the contrary. I have probably eaten my weight in incredibly awesome pizza in the past two months. It is merely because I rarely carry around my shitty, malfunctioning, digital camera.

On average, I eat two to four slices of pizza a week, usually trying to hit different spots in an attempt to find the Queen of all slices. Jared says he eats about three a week too. All the pizza joints I've tried have been tasty--poor unpopular pizza doesn't function in NYC; it can't, the rent is too high. Certainly some slices are better than others but many are wonderful and one quite exceptional...

That would be Anna Maria Pizza on Bedford in Williamsburg better known as "The Bedford Slice". Everyone knows that it's the best, it IS the best (so far that I've found) and even the New York Times has a boner for their pizza. When you get in you are greeted with a loud, "OKAY GUY, WHO'S NEXT. NEXTTTTPPHULLEZZZ!" from this guy who can smack a paper bag open on the counter louder than a 12 gage. He always has a rad hat and a smarmy attitude but he's a sweetheart at the core.



A couple of days ago my friend Lauren came to town on business so I had to take her.



We both got the roasted garlic, basil, and ricotta slices, which I had never had before. The regular cheese slice is mind-bendingly good but the other more topping-heavy pizzas are great too. Oh! the fried eggplant and sausage. Ahhh! the arugula and tomato. Mmmmm! the pepperoni. The crust and dough is chewy, yet supple, crispy in some places, burnt and charred in perfect amounts like a Nancy Silverton wet dream. The sauce bright and garlic-y, the cheese gooey, stretchy, and in all the right amounts. Not too greasy, not too sloppy, very, very hot. Let it sit for a full 30 seconds before eating.


I will try them all before I die.


Kitty too!

16 Days and Growing

16 day old Kombucha!



Here's what our baby kombucha looks like. Really awesomely disgusting. I keep tasting it and it's not at the nice n' tangy, ache-the-back-of-your-throat stage that you get from store-bought kombucha... I think I'm going to let him grow a little more, however, how long can it go? I have no idea. The tea is starting to evaporate.

Oyster Pot Pie

Oyster Pot Pie?! No way! Actually, that sounds pree-teeeee, pretty, pretty, pretty, good. However tonight I ate them separate. Today I wanted to make a vegetable heavy dish for dinner to offset all the slices o' pizza we've been eating. So I took onions, garlic, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, parsley, and basil, chopped it up simmered it in chicken stock and milk and made a pot pie with some leftover quiche crust.


Rollin' out the dough.


Ready to bake. I threw in some chicken for good measure.


Now for the mollusks. I, like most sensible people, are consumed with interest and intrigue for oysters, especially ones on the half shell. As much as I would love to dine at any of the popular NYC seafood restaurants, I thought I would save some dozens of dollars and shuck the guys myself.


I got these guys at Citarella on 9th St. and 6th Ave (Ave. de las Americas) They have a great seafood counter with nice guys who can discuss the finer points of razor clams in broken English. They said, "You are going to open these yourself?" and I said, "Yes, sir!"


The only other time I have attempted opening oysters was about four years ago, when I bought one out of curiosity and after not being able to wedge it open with a blunt knife, thought I could kind of smash it open with a metal meat tenderizer. I embarrassedly slid the smithereens into the garbage. Here goes my second time.


TA-DA!


Some of those fuckers are much harder to open than others. Think more finesse than brutish strength and you'll be fine. You gotta wiggle around the knife, being careful not to stab yourself, twisting it now and then until you hear a dull pop and the oyster liquor starts to seep out. I think the most difficult thing was keep the silt and mud out of the oyster cavity--even if you wash and scrub them really well, it's hard to remove all the grit. Also, severing the muscle that attaches the oyster to the interior ivory shell takes practice. I certainly mangled a few but that didn't make them taste any less delicious.

I thought I was a lemon-squirt purist; however, I dabbed on a little Tapatio every other oyster--LA style. Jared and Captain Sensible do not indulge.


They did gobble up the pot pie and broccolis though.

President Mole

Today I made mole for the very first time. It is odd that I have never attempted it before because it is one of Jared's favorite dishes and one of my LA obsessions; however, it does require a deft hand with the spice rack and a really great recipe.

I got this one from a friend who called his mom in Oaxaca for her secret recipe. It calls for over twenty ingredients, three types of chiles, chocolate, bread, sesame seeds, to name a few.


I made home-made tortillas too. I don't have a tortilla press or a comal (a flat griddle specific for cooking them)- I just use two pieces of wax paper and a flat-bottomed saucepan to squash them out and a normal fry pan to cook them.


LUNCH. The mole turned out alright. I have certainly eaten worse moles. It was earthy, deep, with a subtle chocolaty flavor and a nice balance of sweet and salty. I think the recipe could be tweaked a bit though-Sorry Raphael's Mom.



Kitty in a box!

Soup Dumplings

On Sunday Jared and Kate and I caught the aftermath of Chinese New Year in Chinatown.

We were on the search for the famous "Soup Dumplings". We found these beauties at Joe's Ginger Restaurant though they are usually served at any Chinatown restaurant.

Here's the deal with soup dumplings. The eating method is very tricky. The wrapper is delicate and pliable and when you puncture it hot delicious soup seeps out. You have to hold a big spoon underneath to catch the inevitable stream of liquid that falls from the dumpling. Slurp it up! Or if your boca is big enough you can encase the whole dumpling in your mouth and chomp it like a savory Gusher.

But how do they get soup into a dumpling?! The secret is, they make a incredibly rich broth with lots of pork bits and bones and simmer it for hours. The broth is super concentrated and calcified (from the bones) If you've ever had really great soup Ramen, the same kind of broth is used. When this mixture cools it actually congeals into a jelly mass because it has so much collagen in it, like a meat Jello. This is called aspic. The aspic can then be cut into little cubes and wrapped into a dumpling. When the dumpling is steamed, the aspic melts and turns back into tasty broth. So sneaky and amazing! The kind of soup dumplings we had were crab dumplings in a pork broth. Fucking incredible--the marriage of pork and crab never tasted so delicious. The crab meat had a slight oceany flavor tied up in the sweetness and depth of great pork broth. Mmmmmmm. Stop! I'll just have the veggie dumplings, says Jared.

These veggie dumpling had no soup involved but lots of leafy greens, vermicelli noodles, soybeans, and mushrooms. They were very good.

I already want to go again.

Veggie Burritos

Apparently, the bean and cheese burrito is incomprehensible here. I have asked for numerous burritos with just beans (the smooth and creamy refried variety) and cheese (the oozing and melty orange or white kind). Beans and cheese. Cheese and beans.
Usually what you end up getting, along with quizzical stares, is some style of veggie burrito with beans, cheese, rice, mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, and corn which can actually be quite awesome. The burrito at Taqueria Restaurant New Mexico on 189 Graham Ave. is a winner. It is not, however, a bean and cheese burrito.

Our New Baby

This is our new baby, Kombucha! I started brewing my own fermented mushroom tea on Monday with the help of my friend Adam, who graciously donated a SCOBY. It is not actually a mushroom but a Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast. Gross! No, actually great and delicious.
You make a big batch of tea (this kind is regular black) add a bunch of sugar, plop in the scoby when it's cool and some bottled kombucha, and let it sit for at least ten days. When it smells like apple cider vinegar and tastes good it's done. I can't wait.

Garlic, chile, lemon

This is a little pasta dish I made the other day with everything that was left in our fridge. Lately, I've been obsessed with the simple Italian flavor profile of olive oil, garlic, chile and lemon. If you heat up a good amount of olive oil, throw in a couple gloves of minced garlic, a small finely chopped shallot, a couple of pinches of dried red chile flakes and cook it over low heat, then toss it with some cooked hot pasta, a little pasta water, Parmesan cheese, lemon zest, and maybe some parsley for good measure... holy shit, it just tastes so good! Really clean, bright flavors with ingredients that are always on hand. I threw in some julienned zucchini and carrot too.