We arrived a bit earlier on a Sunday morning this time, so the restaurant wasn’t as busy.

I decided to change it up a bit and get a Masala Dosa instead of pooris in order to try something different. After ordering, it came out super quick. Although the dosa was quite large and extended well over the length of the tray, it was quite thin. Basically, the dosa is a version of Indian crepe.

It was filled with a scoop or two of mashed potatoes with peas. The potatoes weren’t too heavily spiced and creamy enough to pick up with a piece of dosa.

There were also four sauces for dipping. The tomato one had a little bit of heat to it which was my favorite. The one on the far right had green beans and had a super intense green bean flavor. The white and green sauces were pretty plain.

Unfortunately, CT’s pooris took at least fifteen minutes to come out after my dosa was served. Crazy since almost everything was made ahead of time. It takes less than a minute to fry up pooris, we know from making them. As CT’s Dad has wisely told us before, it seems to be a big problem with Indian restaurants. They either have very good food or very good service, but not the two.

Once the pooris were served, she was a happy girl. It was served with the same potato & pea mixture I had in the dosa along with the same mushroom stew from last time.

She likes to customize the flavors a bit so she got some green chiles and yogurt on the side.

All in all, it was a tasty albeit a greasy breakfast at Saravana Bhavan. It is a shame that service is still pretty mediocre, but at least the food is good. It cost $23 including tax and tip for the whole meal. Hopefully, next time our meals will be served at the same time.

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Curry Hill, dosa, poori

We arrived a little before noon on the first Saturday of the event and there was already quite the crowd. We took a walk around to see what the current offerings were and noted a bunch of returning vendors and some new ones.

The first new vendor we came across was selling freshly fried mini donuts. I actually didn’t catch their name because they were giving out FREE SAMPLES! Although we hadn’t had lunch yet, CT tried one for the sake of the blog. I’m pretty sure she like it. A LOT!

CT says: Like them? I loved them! Fresh warm donuts drizzled with chocolate and sugar… for free?! So good! They were cake donuts (whereas I usually prefer yeast donuts), however they were lighter than your average cake-donut and just the right amount of sweetness in the dough. I believe they were selling them by the box, and I would most certainly buy a box for myself… I mean, if I were having brunch with a group of people. Or lunch. Or dinner. I love donuts.

Next door was Macaron Parlour with an interesting variety of macarons and homemade poptarts. I didn’t get the nerve to try the Candied Bacon & Maple Cream Cheese macaron, but maybe next time?

ilili was back with their whole roasted lamb. I’m pretty sure it is just on Saturdays though.

Roberta’s was also back with their mobile pizza oven. They had three of the same pizzas from last time, but now also a Brussels sprout pie. We didn’t try it due to their poor spelling technique.

The offerings at Almond caught my eye.

Octopus? Yes please. Although it was a little small for $8, the octopus had some great flavor that was made even better with the saffron aioli. It was extra chewy, but it is hard to expect perfection at a street market. I didn’t mind the chew though. It was nice especially with the crunch of the crostini.

CT says: Impressive for a street fair, but not my favorite. I let TT take most of this. I’d rather spend my $8 on the next item.

I also got the Moroccan Meatball hero with ricotta salata, salsa verde and lamby deliciousness. This was a pretty great meatball hero. The meat had enough lamb flavor to know that it wasn’t beef. The sauce was nice and tangy but a little too thin so it made the bottom of the roll quite soggy. I hadn’t had a meatball sub in a long time and this was a great way to get back on the horse. I wonder if you ask, if you can get extra lamby deliciousness on the side?

CT says: These were some good meatballs! Soft and meaty. Though the sauce made the bread soggy, I just flipped it around, so soggy side on top, and all was right. I actually like a little bit of soggy bread… crusty on one side, soft on the other, and meat stuffed goodness. This place is a great addition to the market.

We also decided to try one of the new stalls which was from the restaurants Graffiti & Mehtaphor, which are owned by Chef Jehangir Mehta, who you may remember as a contestant on The Next Iron Chef. They had a couple of different Indian inspired offerings. We decided to try the “Indian Street Food burger” aka their veggie burger. It came with garlic fries for a total of $8. The “burger” was basically a vegetarian sloppy joe. It was spiced nicely and quite tasty. The fries didn’t look like much, but had some prevalent garlic flavor. I am glad we tried this especially since it was “healthy,” but I wouldn’t get it again.

CT says: I was hesitant to try the veggie burger, when a perfect good sounding beef-burger was also on the menu, but I figured since we’re getting a meatball sub, why not? It was very spice-fully flavored (though not hot-spicy) and had a nice mix of veggie tumbling out the sides of the burger. I actually liked that they used chopped veggies, instead of trying to form a smushed patty, even though it meant a fork was required. It was a little bigger than a slider. For $8, I was glad it came with the fries. I would have preferred the fries a little crispier, however I liked the garlic flavor – just enough to taste the garlic, but not so much that I was afraid to open my mouth as I continued on my shopping journey.

We washed all of this food down with a Iced Pomegranate Green Tea from Spices & Tease. I think it was $2. It was quite refreshing with just a hint of pomegranate on a humid day.

CT says: Light and refreshing. I always appreciated an unsweetened iced tea – lets the underlying flavors shine better.

All in all, I am sure glad to see Mad. Sq. Eats. back again. They have a lot more seating in the area for everyone to enjoy their food and drink al fresco. I am eager to try some more of the new stalls and return to some of the older ones. This only lasts until October 21st so be sure to head over soon!

Mad. Sq. Eats
Worth Square
(bet 5th Ave. & Broadway and 24th & 25th Streets)
11 am – 9 pm
Everyday until October 21st

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: food market, Madison Square Park

You may remember a couple months back that CT & I cooked a special dinner for CT’s parents (and Aunt B) to thank CT’s Dad for helping her move into my apartment. Once my parents heard and subsequently read about the meal, they got pretty jealous, especially since I had only made them dinner once before in my apartment of almost six years. So for Father’s Day this year, I gave my Dad a coupon good for one home-cooked dinner for himself and my Mom. Of course Aunt B and Scout were also invited and had the honor of being at both dinners. With our busy schedules, we weren’t able to have it until the latter part of August, but what’s the rush?

Before we sat down for dinner, we had some of my Dad’s favorite hors d’oeuvres:

A nice gooey brie with crackers

and some green olives.

CT found a recipe in this month’s Food & Wine Magazine that piqued her interest: Parmesan Tuiles with Heirloom Tomato Salad. Instead of the heirloom tomato salad, I made a simple bruschetta consisting of tomato, red onion and fresh basil. The tuiles were quite fragile, but held up to the weight of the bruchetta. It was the perfect summery bite.

CT said: The recipe was really easy and delicious! They were fragile when warm, but when cooled down they really held their own. Also, they got a little soggy with the bruschetta, so I was glad I only plated these as I was serving them.

For dinner we decided to make some Asian dishes that my parents never had before.

We started with pork laab on romaine leaves. CT made this for me a couple weeks earlier and I enjoyed it a lot. She turned down the amount of chilies since my parents can’t take the heat, but it was still quite tasty and very easy to make. We also pickled some carrots and jicama to top the laab along with the toasted rice and fresh mint.

I wanted to serve some sort of grilled or roasted vegetable as a side dish and found some nice looking red and yellow peppers at the produce market. I roasted them on the stove and cut up some red cabbage we had and tossed with some balsamic vinegar to make a simple slaw.

For the main attraction, I suggested CT make her shrimp mustard curry, since my Dad loves mustard and the dish isn’t spicy. CT was unhappy with how previous versions came out so she went back to her Mom for some updated notes. This time she made sure to use regular fat yogurt instead of low-fat and to fully drain it. That was the secret because the consistency was a lot better. She will readily admit that she was a little overcautious on holding back the seasoning for my parents, but everyone still ate it up happily. It was served on top of some basmati rice.

CT says: Oops…this dish is one of my favorites that my Mom makes and I just can’t get it right. Right consistency, but not enough salt. And a little spice is apparently a necessity to taste right. Luckily, there was some leftovers that I could doctor up and make it just right. As long as TT’s parents enjoyed though, I’m happy.

CT gave Aunt B, the amateur pastry chef, the night off and made dessert herself; whoopie pies! She used a recipe from Hungry Girl that was quite fascinating. For the cookie/cake, all she did was mix Devil’s Food chocolate cake mix with canned pumpkin and bake spoonfuls to form the tops and bottoms. They were super gooey and delicious. It was amazing that there were no eggs, milk or anything else besides pumpkin. I believe the whipped cream was a mixture of low-fat cream cheese and heavy cream, but I’ll let CT tell you more. She also made a nice strawberry sauce from some over-ripe strawberries we had. Everyone loved the dessert and was super impressed by CT’s confectionery skills.

CT says: I’ve been a fan of Hungry Girl for a few years now. I’ve had some hits and misses with the recipes, but this is one of my favorites and incredibly easy (and she has some great daily tips for healthy eating). The whoopie pie was actually quite easy to make, just a little time consuming. I wasn’t completely satisfied with the texture of the filling, as compared to traditional whoopie pie; it wasn’t dense enough for me. Maybe more cream cheese and less heavy cream next time. But it tasted good overall, especially with the strawberry sauce. I’ll keep trying until a get a recipe I like.

All in all, Dad was super happy and impressed with his meal(along with everyone else). It takes a lot of work to throw a dinner party, but it was well worth it. When cooking a lot of different dishes, it made sense to use simpler recipes. Happy Belated Father’s Day!

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: home cooking, laab, shrimp curry, whoopie pie

CT says: And by “a little bit cooler” he means it was only 103 degrees and we stayed in the very air-conditioned house as much as possible.

For hors d’oeuvres, we helped CT’s Mom fry up some vegetarian spring rolls and mini-samosas.

Yes, they were out of the box, but still very delicious. We fried them off early because there was so much to do and some of us ended eating a bunch throughout the rest of the afternoon. I would never do such a thing! The samosas had a nice potato mixture inside with just a touch of heat. There was green chutney and spicy ketchup used as dipping sauces.

CT’s Mom also made some chicken tikka bites, but I didn’t get a picture before they were gobbled up.

Originally CT’s Mom was going to make four salads, but after consulting with her daughters she was convinced it would be overkill. She has been having quite the bountiful gardening season, so she wanted to use the fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and more while they were at their best.

A mixed green caprese salad featuring her super sweet homegrown cherry tomatoes. There were mini mozzarella balls on the bottom on the bowl. This salad helped balance out all the meat intake.

Bean and corn salad.

Red onions, radish, and chili pepper “salad”. Very traditional accompaniment, though not really a salad. Way too much raw onion for me, so I passed on this.

CT’s Sister made some of her famous jalapeno cornbread. Unfortunately, while she started to make it she realized she didn’t have any jalapenos, so she used Thai chilies instead, haha. The chilies were well chopped and spread throughout, so they didn’t cause too much damage while eating the delicious cornbread.

CT says: This might just me one of my most favorite foods in the world. No matter how many times I try making it, it never tastes quite the same. I don’t know how she does it, but it’s just so freaking good.

Roasted potatoes. I’m not sure what CT’s Mom did to them, but they were yummy.

There was some more chutney and I think pickled zucchini as accompaniments to everything.

Paneer with roasted vegetables. I like paneer since it is a cheese that reminds me of feta. It is a lot milder than feta, so the flavor is dependent on what it is served with. The roasted tomatoes were very flavorful and paired well with the green onion. I found out too late that what I thought was a green bean was in fact a green long pepper. Luckily, I didn’t eat too much before I realized what it was.

Channa with fresh sliced ginger. Channa is a chickpea stew. It was super flavorful(as most Indian dishes are) and almost made me forget that I wasn’t eating meat.

There was also a variety of naans available to help all the delicious food get in our bellies. Due to time constraints and the heat, we didn’t make naan in the tandoor.

CT’s parents insisted that CT make the ribs she made for the Big Surf ‘N Turf Thank You dinner. CT allowed me to be her sous-chef as her Mom bought six racks of ribs. We used the same rub we made last time and slow cooked them in the oven for a few hours, making sure to baste them every 30 mins with barbeque sauce. Once they were tender, we finished them off on the grill for a nice char. We were both pretty happy that they turned out even better than last time.

We all knew we were in for a treat because CT’s Dad was making his famous Raan. You may remember the last time he made it was back in the Fall for Indian Brunch. This time around he used two legs of lamb to feed the hungry masses. He cooked them on the grill this time since we were using the oven, but kept them wrapped in foil to braise rather than grill. The meat wasn’t gamey at all. Super tender and flavorful from yogurt and a variety of spices. Truly the star of the show. I did my best to clean the bones the next day to maximize the yummy leftovers. Now only to convince him to give me the recipe so I can make this at home…

There was some fruit and a homemade mango mousse for dessert. This was not pictured because I was in a food coma and couldn’t move from my chair.

All in all, this was a fantastic party. All of the food turned out great and because CT’s Mom was in charge there was enough food for at least 3x the amount of people. Leftovers FTW! I will gladly trek to New Jersey for any of their future parties. Thanks to CT’s Parents for hosting us.

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: home cooking

The Kati Roll Company invited a few bloggers in for the first Happy Hour, enticing us with many varieties of kati rolls — everything from basic chicken through one of their newest, an Angelo Sosa creation called the Shrimp Masala roll, with several vegetarian varieties in-between.

As all the sample rolls were halved for our convenience, I availed myself of a few (with Blondie and Brownie right behind me). I stayed vegetarian on the afternoon, beginning with the Aloo Masala roll. The potato was still hot, and the brown sauce spicy. I wouldn’t say this was an exciting kati roll, but for well-seasoned potato wrapped in paratha it hit the spot.

Since it was Happy Hour, alcohol was pouring at The Kati Roll Company, while Bollywood music (courtesy of DJ Magic Mike) played in the background. Several of the usual suspects were on offer from the beer cooler, plus the featured national beer of India. I’d first had the recommended Kingfisher (more than a beer, it’s a beer and an airline!) from the bartender originally, but as it was a little cupful of nearly room-temperature beer, the next time I was thirsty I opted instead for a juice-based beverage. This was quite sweet, and maybe not Indian in origin, but hey, mango, so it worked as it ought to.

Since I’m not a shrimp guy, next I selected the other new roll of the day, the Veggie Patty roll. I was surprised the cucumber and (I believe) carrot matchsticks held their crunch even after its roll had been waiting for me to choose it for more than a couple of minutes. This roll turned out to be deceptively spicy, and the mango juice came in handy right away. But this was easily the most interesting, and my favorite, roll of the three I sampled.

Finishing off my Kati Roll experience, I tried the Chana Masala. I kind of expected smashed or at least chopped chickpeas, but for the most part whole chickpeas coated with Indian spices dotted the roll. Quite a savory experience, plus a bit messy, and it brought the heat as well.

Just as we had decided to move on to our next destination, the DJ introduced the Brown Boys, who had written a parody of a recent song, entitled “Kati Roll Tonight” in honor of the evening. As the two strutted their stuff, I tried unsuccessfully to snap clear photos of the act. In person it was fun, I assure you.

Happy Hour runs from 4:00 to 6:30 at the Midtown location, and heck, $2 off a roll when you buy it with a beer, or $7 when you buy the featured roll + beer special? It’s rather a good deal when you put it that way.

Please note that my attendance at The Kati Roll Company was courtesy of them and BibiPR. I received no monetary compensation for this review, nor was I obliged in any way to post about this experience, positively or otherwise. This is my own opinion and I feel it was unbiased; you are free to take from this what you will.

© BeerBoor for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: press event, Vegetarian