Wine Bar Construction

Today is a day for an update. As some of the readers of this blog know, I own a bed and breakfast in Windham NY, Catskill Maison. However, few readers know that we are currently in the process of expanding our business to open a Wine Bar. Construction of a Winebar is a very interesting undertaking, its my dream unfolding before my eyes and I get more and more excited each day. Today I saw the paint that I chose put on the walls, I saw molding being placed on windows, and I'm giddy with happiness. I also purchased flooring and got an education on wood floors, engineered (as in man made planks) vs. true wood planks, and the pros and cons of both. I now understand the difference between pine and oak, 3/4 vs. 1/2 inch thick. It's a learning experience and I'm drinking in every minute of it. I chose oak floors, true wood, red oak with a beautiful finish 3/4 inch thick so it can withstand some wear and tear. I am trusting myself that I made the right decision. As I walk into the front room I can envision the bar, the fireplace, the lounge chairs...I hear the live guitar with the sweet singing of my Innkeeper and I'm filled with joy. Today I am at peace, I realize how very blessed I am to have this opportunity to reach into myself and fulfill my dreams, and I look forward to the adventure that awaits me.

One More Thing To Do With Chicken

My mother is getting her kitchen remodeled, and her new kitchen is going to be our catering kitchen as we are going to start catering professionally later this year and I'm so psyched! We are getting all new appliances for the kitchen and her current refrigerator is going upstate so we have the challenge of getting everything out of her freezer. She had chicken breast and legs in the freezer so we had to cook it. We defrosted the chicken during the day today, and looked in my fridge to figure out how we were going to prepare the dish. Since I'm leaving in a month to go upstate for 5 months and the Bed and Breakfast is opening this weekend, my cooking days in NYC are limited as well so it's in my best interest to try to clean out my fridge too. I opened the freezer and saw frozen artichokes, and then saw frozen peas, onto the counter they went. Then in the fridge we found Carola potatoes from RSK farm (the best potatoes in the world hands down), roasted garlic and lemons and realized that we had a dish. We got some vine ripened tomatoes from the store to accompany our creation and we were on our way to a great one pot supper. We made chicken with roasted garlic, artichoke hearts, lemon, potatoes and peas in one sauce pan with balsamic glazed roasted tomatoes on the side...it was AWESOME! There is always something that can be created when trying to clean out the fridge. I encourage you to try this recipe or a variation of it the next time you need to make room in your fridge.

Ingredients
Cut up chicken legs and breast
1 onion small dice
8 cloves of roasted garlic (or regular garlic if you can't find roasted)
1 package of artichoke hearts thawed
1 lemon zested and juiced
1 cup of peas thawed
5 small potatoes diced 1 inch thick
1 tablespoon of Herbs de Provence
1 tablespoon of Paprika
1 tablespoon of Adobo seasoning
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
1 cup of white wine
1 cup of chicken stock
Olive oil (twice around the pan) and 1 tablespoon of butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Heat a large ovenproof skillet or sauce pan and put in olive oil and butter. Season chicken with seasoning and then brown chicken on all sides and remove from pan. Add onions and saute until translucent. Add potatoes and pan fry for about 5-7 minutes until slightly tender. Add garlic, and after 2 minutes add lemon zest and juice, then add wine and deglaze the pan (get up all of the good bits of chicken and onion drippings). Then add the chicken back to the pan and add artichokes and chicken stock and put the pan in the oven. Roast chicken in the oven until meat thermometer reads 150 degrees and then add peas. Cover with a top or foil for 10 minutes and then remove cover and roast for another 10 minutes. Check for doneness (165 degrees F for free range/free roaming chicken) and then bring to the table and serve...

Goes well with roasted tomatoes or crusty bread.

Love for Chilies

I absolutely love anything spicy. Curries, and chilies are some of my favorite foods, and I tend to order it in restaurants as hot as possible. I even make my own hot sauce, and it's so hot that I had a coughing attack while making it (total habanero). Last night I was at dinner at Pranna, and ordered Malaysian goat curry and asked the chef to please make it spicy. When it came to the table it wasn't remotely hot enough for me, so I did something that I rarely do, I sent it back. When it came back it still wasn't hot enough but the chef put 2 types of chili paste next to it. I dumped the entire contents of the hotter one in my curry, stirred it up and began to eat. My lips were on fire, I was giddy and smiling and laughing and oh so happy. This is a common trend for me; I eat something that is so hot that tears are running down my face but I don't surrender, I keep eating and am so happy. Often I find myself saying "oooh it's so hot but oh so good", as I'm sweating like a pig. After the hot curry I ate a bite of ice cream that my friend ordered which had green hot chilies poking out of it...LOVED IT! Brilliant!...So I have come to the conclusion that it really is true; Capsaicin (the active chemical in red chili peppers) also has been shown to stimulate endorphin release. This explains why I'm so happy and giddy and constantly doing the food dance as tears are running down my face.

For all of you who crave that endorphin rush, or simply just love hot foods, try making your own hot sauce. You can experiment with different types of chilies; just make sure that you add vinegar and salt to anything you do and grind them in the blender or food processor. Oh yeah, and most importantly wear gloves!

No Sancerre - try Muscadet

I love red wine, and generally lean to ordering reds in restaurants more than whites...I also tend to drink more red wine at home than white wine, due to the health benefits plus the full bodied flavor of many red wines. However when the weather gets warm, sometimes there is nothing better than a crisp and refreshing white wine. I love a good California chardonnay but at times, especially when I'm outside and just want something refreshing, a chardonnay can be too heavy. When it's 90 degrees outside what I generally crave is a Sancerre. Sancerre is in the eastern portion of the Loire Valley and generally is known for the production of a Sauvignon Blanc grape that is very dry, pretty full bodied and minerally, almost grassy on the palate (there is a hint of citrus at times). A Sancerre doesn't have that melon, heavy fruit on the nose that a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is known for. The high acidity and citrus undertones of a Sancerre make it very refreshing.

Today I went to a great restaurant in Hastings, Buffet de la Gare; and since it was a warm day and it was a French restaurant I asked for a Sancerre. To my disappointment they didn't have a Sancerre by the glass, however the waiter suggested that I try their Muscadet. I was hesitant at first; yes the Muscadet grape is produced in the Loire valley but unlike the Sancerre it's produced on the west side of the Loire (I won't bore anyone reading this on the nuances between how the grapes differ on the different sides of the valley). Lets just say that I was concerned that there would be a "musk" flavor that would be overpowering (like a muscat), but to my surprise the wine was light, dry and acidic, almost like a lighter bodied Sancerre with a less citrus finish. Nice, very nice...

Dining on the Hudson

Living in Riverdale (the culinary wasteland with only 2 decent sit down restaurants and a cool take out Greek spot) there are 2 options when you want to go somewhere to eat, Manhattan or Westchester...and because Riverdale is so far west, when the goal is to find something quickly or without much driving the Hudson River towns in Westchester become very appealing. From Yonkers to Tarrytown there are a plethora of really good and sometimes great restaurants to choose from, and often with great views of the Hudson River. In the warm weather, there is nothing better than sitting at Harvest on Hudson, Red Hat, Striped Bass or Half Moon and watching the boats go by. Tonight was one of those nights where I feel truly blessed to be able to dine outside on the Hudson river while being so close to home.

City Island Secrets

City Island is the most popular dining destination for Bronxites, so being a Bronx native I've dined in almost every restaurant on the strip. It's a little island off of the northeast Bronx, with one road in and one road out. On the weekends in the summer it's a zoo and has a reputation for being a not so nice, loud, low class "hang out spot", but during the week especially on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening when the weather is nice, it's worth taking the trip. The trick to City Island is knowing where to go if you aren't a huge fan of fatty cholesterol laden fried fish and shellfish with a side of precut frozen french fries or mediocre Southern Italian seafood which is commonplace. For first timers visiting the Island it can be quite overwhelming, huge signs with huge restaurants one right after the other...its hard to differentiate between which ones are for tourists (or people with a really unexposed palate), and which ones are actually worth going to. Let me first say that there isn't a restaurant in City Island that is 5 star quality, with the exception of La Refuge Inn...it simply doesn't exist, so ratchet down your expectations, realize that you are going for the "experience and ambiance" and have some fun. There is no reason to go to City Island to sit inside, read between the lines DON'T GO IN THE WINTER...half of the experience is to smell the salt water and sit outside in the good weather. The food just isn't good enough to make the trek all the way out there in the freezing cold (remember it's a tiny island surrounded by water). Now, if you go in the summer (during the week only), head to the following spots and you will not be disappointed.

Seafood - the Seashore Restaurant and sit on the outside dock by the water
American food - Black Whale - probably the best of the bunch (I went there tonight). I've only had one bad experience in all of the times I've been there. My vegetarian friend didn't have a good meal because they put pork in her penne vodka, and tried to say there was no pork in it (but there was). However, tonight my dish came laden with green peppers(which I never, ever eat under any circumstances) despite the fact that the list of ingredients didn't include them, and the waiter apologized a million times, and so did the chef and he recooked my meal and it was perfect. Really cute garden, a prix fixe, great desserts and they take restaurant.com coupons.
Italian Seafood - Lobster House Restaurant - all tables are by the water


Some like Arties or Portofinos - but in my honest opinion neither have the outdoor dining ambiance to make it worth the trip unless looking at the buses and cars passing by the main road are your thing.

I think that City Island is a must experience for all New Yorkers at least once, and with the above choices you will have a fun time and a decent meal.

Ceviche So Refreshing in the Summer

I recently hosted a Latin American cooking class and one of the dishes that I taught how to make was a shrimp and fish ceviche. Ceviche is seafood that starts out raw and is literally "cooked" by citrus. It's served room temperature or slightly chilled and often has onion, cilantro, hot peppers (jalapeno) and other vegetables added. Ceviche is so easy to make because it doesn't require any cooking at all, the only skill required is to chop and the only other requirement is to get the freshest seafood possible. It's the perfect refreshing dish for a hot humid day.

Pictured above is fish and shrimp ceviche...recipe is below:

Fish and Shrimp Ceviche

1lb shrimp peeled and deveined

¾ lb Red Snapper or similar substitute

1 cup tomato (small dice)

1 ¼ cup of lime juice

1 clove garlic (very finely chopped)

1 serrano or jalapeno chili (very finely chopped)

1 teaspoon cilantro (chopped)

1 red onion (finely chopped)

1 red pepper (small dice)

½ cup jicama (medium dice)

2 teaspoons sugar

1 oz of olive oil

Cut shrimp and fish into ¼ inch dice and combine with lime juice.

Add all ingredients to shrimp and fish, toss lightly and marinate for 40 minutes to an hour in the refrigerator.

Season with salt and pepper and serve.