A little oddly spaced, this Sunday Supper was during my spring break, so I thought I wouldn’t need a ton of leftovers to work me through the week – but then I realized I planned on staying home all week to work on stuff and actually needed to eat… 

First, I dyed eggs and then silly me, almost immediately made deviled eggs out of them just to munch on – I love these suckers. 

For the dinner portion, I made ribs, roasted broccoli, and the best damn creamed spinach you’ll ever eat in your entire life. 

Here’s a closer shot of the ribs… cooked over very low and slow heat for a lil while… falling off the bone delicious with an amazing homemade BBQ sauce.  SO. GOOD.  Of course, that was an individual portion, and I finished that in one meal. 

This is maybe the 2nd time I’ve ever tried to make creamed spinach, but this was heaven, transcendental, and I will share with you the method further down the page, I promise.  AMAZING.  I was so thrilled with it, I was bragging to everyone…

And when a few days later, I realized I still needed food, I braised short ribs and added pasta to the pot after I skimmed off the fat, and just… nomnomnom (that’s roasted brussels sprouts in the top left of the plate). 

Deviled eggs – hard boil eggs; slice in half and remove yolks.  Mix yolks with Thousand Island dressing, scoop back into hollow egg whites.  (I actually used Dijon mustard, diced celery, pickle relish, a bit of mayo, diced red bell peppers, and diced onions, a bit of lemon juice.  I mix it up according to what’s in my fridge.)
Ribs – roasted on a rack in the oven so the fat just dripped off; basted in a quickie homemade BBQ sauce as it cooked in a 200-250 degree oven, then smothered in the same sauce.  Nice!
Roasted broccoli - same as always; 425 degrees with whole cloves of peeled garlic, roasted till it all smells fragrant and delicious. 
Braised short ribs + pasta – some combination of this recipe and this recipe; after the short ribs had been properly braised for over 3 hours, I took them out and skimmed most of the fat out, very carefully.  Meanwhile I’d cooked a little less than a pound of rotelle and reserved a scoop of the pasta water… In a separate pot, I made a quick roux (heated butter, then added a bit of flour and cooked it together until it was just turning brown and smelling lovely), which I added to the pot of sauce, stirring it around as it heated through, then added the pasta, tossed it together, added the scoop of pasta water, and then shredded the short ribs into the pot.  Mix that all around together in the pot, and voila, you have something amazing and delicious in your pot.  Mmm.  Pot o’goodness. 
Roasted brussels sprouts – as before, 400 degrees with lardons, simple and delicious.  Roast till fragrant. 
Creamed spinach – Here is the capper!  The real wonder of the day!  I’ve been practicing my roux, bechamel, and I’ll be starting on other master sauces soon as well (I am reading Ma Vie en France; can you tell?), but this really pushed me over the edge and made me swoon.  I mean, you have to like garlic, but damn this is good stuff.

5 cloves of garlic
heavy cream
unsalted butter
flour (I used all purpose, but any kind is probably fine)
thawed box of chopped spinach

Melt butter in a saucepan.  Grate garlic into butter as it heats.  (Yes, that’s bolded cuz I consider it the ’secret’ step.)  DO NOT BROWN THE GARLIC!!!  Add flour; cook the flour a bit until it’s been incorporated thoroughly into the butter.  Add heavy cream (more if you like your creamed spinach a lil creamy/soupy, less if you like it ‘tighter’); when it starts to form tiny lil bubbles, add the spinach in and stir until it’s mixed well.  If it’s a lil too ‘hard’ for you, add more cream as you go. 

OMG.  I’m not going to lie.  This is not delicately fragranced with garlic; this is in your face, slap you twice garlic flavor, with a creamy backdrop of spinach – packed with more garlic flavor.  WOW.  I love it.  I will make this repeatedly until the day I die, I am positive.  Awesome. 

I love these Super Supper Sundays for all that I am learning and practicing, and trying to expand my repertoire but also for perfecting things I already like to make and eat.  NOM! 

Happy eating!!!

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Post tags: BBQ, ribs, roasted broccoli

I mentioned a special project I’ve been working on, well, here it is: SUPER SUNDAY SUPPERS!!!  (Credit: TC for coming up with the name unwittingly)  Cook a huge blowout meal on Sunday, then eat the leftovers the rest of the week as I can.  I’ve been planning menus like crazy, trying to make them the perfect combination, and so far… so good. 

First up: pulled pork, cole slaw, salad to be healthy, dinner rolls, and roasted brussels sprouts with bacon.  Nommm?

Nommm.  Better shot for the brussels sprouts glory – because they were glorious. 

Complete with dessert!  I’ve made this for the blog before – strawberry love cake – but had to fix a few problems from last time (YEARS ago). 

Nommms! 

And of course, I re-badged the leftovers after I got tired of eating it the way it was. 

Pulled pork
Cole slaw
Roasted Brussels sprouts
Strawberry love cake
Pulled pork “green chile” stew

Pulled pork: I used a random crockpot recipe to make pulled pork the normal way, vinegary deliciousness.
Cole slaw: shredded cabbage; thinly sliced red onion; white vinegar; celery salt; fresh black pepper; lemon juice.  Toss and let sit in fridge till you’re ready to eat it (it wilts a little bit).
Roasted brussels sprouts: chopped in half (cuz I had big ones, but if you have small ones, by all means leave them whole); lardons of bacon; drizzled with olive oil, tossed, then roasted on a baking sheet for about 20 minutes.  So good and sweet.  LOVE!
Strawberry love cake: recipe as shown, but I chopped the strawberries up and incorporated them into the whipped cream instead of layering them separately.  Pretty damn awesome, if you ask me, and less messy, no squishing out of berries! 
Pulled pork ‘green chile’ stew:  I put green chile in quotes because I didn’t actually use green chiles.  I bought them, then just didn’t add them, because it was awesome enough as is. 

Sautee minced garlic, onions and carrots in the bottom of a pot. 
Add diced tomatoes, with juice, to ‘deglaze’. 
Add black beans. 
Add frozen veggies of your own choosing.
Add shredded cabbage (I had some on hand I wanted to use, but you can feel free to omit that ingredient). 
Add pulled pork and stir to incorporate. 

You can add some heat by adding crushed red pepper flakes, or hot sauce… I wound up eating huge bowlfuls of this, sometimes with sour cream dolloped on top as well.  It was so good… the delicious pork permeating through the broth, and just… amazing! 

Hope you enjoyed following along for Super Supper Sunday #1!!!

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Post tags: cake, pulled pork, soup/stew

Having friends who love food is awesome, but having friends who love food and love to host is even more awesome!  I never run into friends randomly on the street, but recently had a night where I ran into two couples that I haven’t seen in a while.  EE and I caught up for a little bit (I was with HB, after our normal Friday routine), and mentioned how we hadn’t hung out in AGES.  She was meant to attend the pernil party, but timing didn’t work out as it were.  Boo.  So instead, J&J (aka Orzo and his gf, who had hosted the pernil party) kindly offered to host Labor Day Fake-BBQ!  (Fake because we all live in apartments.  Grilling isn’t always an option.) 

And my goodness, the spread was amazing!!!

Ribs!  J said she used Alton Brown’s recipe but didn’t mention which one.  I’m sure if you speak up though she might pop by and let us know

A lovely broccoli salad also made by J.  I loved this – crunchy, creamy, tangy from the onion, vinegary from the dressing, and meaty – from the BACON!!!  *swoon*  I believe it was her own recipe, but I’m sure you could throw together your own.  The broccoli was raw – I wonder how it’d be with the broccoli roasted ever so slightly, omg…!

Creamed spinach made by the male half of J&J, Orzo… I asked him what was in it and do you really want to know?  Cream cheese, heavy cream… spinach…  Mmm…

I arrived a bit late, but this was part of the fluffy angelfoodcake that J made.  She also made an almond scented whipped cream that turned good lemon angelfoodcake to transcendent. 

Apple pie, also from J(f).  I saw BF scarfing this down, so I’ll say it was a success…

My offering, baked mac & cheese, also using Alton Brown’s recipe, though I doubled it (by not quite doubling all the ingredients but macaroni).  I was scared by the amount of cheese I had to use… but the cheese sauce was pretty damn decadent.  I mean, I tasted a bit as I went, and mmm goodness… be still my clogging heart

The dirty upclose shot.  I think people liked it since they all kept raving about it.  Actually, I’m pretty sure they all liked it more than I did, since in the end, I thought it was only alright.

My first plate.  That’s a piece of fried chicken, Orzo’s secret recipe.  Was pretty damn good too – very moist and delicious.  And the plate says it all: I don’t need dessert.  Another piece of fried chicken was my dessert.  You know how I feel about sweets: nice, but not necessary. 

I totally forgot to take a picture of the cupcakes that EE brought – red velvet from Abou’s (I think that’s what she said?).  Yummy!!!  Tons of good food, good friends, great conversation, and fun games later in the night.  Hahaha… involving getting shot but so much fun!!! 

Happy eating~!  Many thanks, once again, to J&J for hosting!!!

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The hype has died down, and it’s close enough to my office that there’s no reason not to go try Picnick, Smoked.  You may recall that I really detested Picnick when I went 2 years ago.  Maybe not.  But I did… but I LOVE BBQ, so whatever. 

As you can see by the above pic, there was no line when I went.  Why?  Because this was the Friday before Labor Day, and the Financial District was pretty empty.  The hype died down, the line was gone, and I could finally comfortably go – I’m sure I’ve mentioned a ton of times that I’m a huge brat, and don’t like waiting on lines.  Especially when it’s super sunny out and I have to stand in the sun… I’m not cut out for that.  (It actually creates health issues for me, but even minus the sun, I hate standing in line.  I embrace my brattiness.) 

I ordered the complete package meal deal – I forget what it’s called, Lil Piggy maybe? – drink, meat, side, and dessert, because I wanted dessert.  Will Goldfarb is known for desserts, and I’d enjoyed his panna cotta, so, why not?  I requested root beer, but the guy behind the counter – who I thought was Will, but then it wasn’t, and I was just confused – kind of young, hipster lookin’ guy who was REALLY nice – pulled out a “Creamy Red Birch Beer” – which I’d never seen before, so I snagged that one instead.  Yum!  It tasted like birch beer, but it was reddish in color. 

I’d planned on getting Kobe beef brisket, but they were out; then I wanted pulled pork, but the nice guy was all “We have beef ribs” (it’s a special, so there’s a $1 surcharge for the meal-deal) and I can’t resist ribs.  It was going to be a slow afternoon at work anyway.  Garlic bread on top…

MASSIVE pile of ribs underneath.  The fat is delicious, I don’t care what anyone says.  The only problem here is (and there are no further pics of the ribs, because once I started eating, that was it for pics) that the meat was tender… but slightly bland.  Salt was nowhere to be found, so I snagged some BBQ sauce, which was quite tangy and had a good kick, surprising my tongue.  Delicious… though finishing this whole lunch put me out of commission for the rest of the day.  Burp.  Yes, I ate the fat, or most of it. 

Creamy potato salad – pretty good, needed a little salt (which I didn’t have! They don’t put salt out on the tables!) but REALLY creamy.  Not for you if you don’t like mayo.

My dessert – I almost took the cookies, but the guy working the counter said I should try the apple tart, because he made it.  I obliged.  I could have sworn he said it was apples on top of almond praline, but I know fo’sho that’s not praline or not praline how I know it.  Whatever.  This tart was f*cking amazing.  OMFG.  The apples were delicious but the bottom, soft, slightly cakey, crumbly, and just… oh my, I want the recipe, even though I’ll never make it – I just want to find someone to make it for me.  Oh, Mr. Nice Guy working there…??? 

Beyond that… I actually returned a week later, intending to try the pulled pork, but they had Kobe beef brisket, so why the heck wouldn’t I get THAT?  Mmm!  I got another meal-deal because it was totally worth it. 

The housemade lemonade was super tart with a slight sweetness, really good… if you like lemonade and tart things.  I do (which is why I ordered it!). 

A better pic of the bread, since last time, I didn’t take one.  I liked the bread because it’s garlicky – but not overwhelming, and crispy, something nice to temper your tongue between bites of whatever. 

\

I opted for the cole slaw this time, which was really creamy.  Seriously, if you’re squeamish about mayo, pass on both the mayo-based sides, but this one in particular.  I mean, wow.  It almost got me… and I LOVE mayo. 

So, I went on a very rainy Friday afternoon – no line again, the week after Labor Day – not just because I didn’t bring my lunch that day, but because I’ve read before that smoked items are even better when it’s rainy out; something about the moisture and smoke really penetrating the items.  Yum.  You see that ring of fat?  I ate the fat.  YES I DID.  And it was smokey, salty, delicious. 

Here’s a pic with the BBQ sauce they gave me – almost not enough.  This sauce wasn’t quite as spicy as the week before, but still a nice kick to it that gave my tongue the tingles.  The meat was super tender - rainy day WIN!!! – but needed a bit of salt.  Sigh.  However, eaten with the fat and a slight dip of BBQ sauce… zomg so damn good I cry big fat tear of joy! 

And at $11 for the deal… so worth it, since the Kobe beef brisket by itself is $8.50 alone. 

My coworker had the pulled pork and really liked it, so next rainy day, I might go back for that…

Yvo says: I was wary of the hype and the crowds.  The hype and the crowds have died out, and luckily, I never saw any hype that said OMG BEST BBQ EVER cuz it’s not.  Location-wise, though, it’s only a few blocks from work, and it definitely fills part of the void of good food down here in the Financial District.  The prices are not prohibitively expensive, and it’s definitely tasty enough that I will return, and am welcoming them to the area with open arms.  Please don’t block me from getting my ‘cue when I want it, though – I will spork you
recommended

Picnick, Smoked
Wall Street & South Street
Mannahatta Park

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2009. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: trucks/carts

Yet another theme night brought to you by SpB!  Tonight’s theme was “Asian BBQ & Booze on a Stick” which piqued the curiosity of many Facebook friends when my status read “can’t wait for Asian BBQ & Booze on a Stick tonight!”  Well, here it is, Asian BBQ first: Yakiniku West.  Funny enough, I posted about Yakiniku Juju and ended that review with “I will be going to Yakiniku West within a few weeks to compare and weigh in.”  That post is dated almost exactly 3 years ago to the day! and I only now went to Yakiniku West.  Whoops! 

I peered at the outside menu and realized that Mondays are an awesome deal – nearly half off short rib cuts!!! but alas it was a Friday night and none of these specials applied to us.  Not even the early bit since we were there at 7 pm. 

You have to take your shoes off when you enter, which can be gross in the summer months when you are, as I was, wearing flip flops… but no big deal, just stay at your seat and don’t touch anything! 

SpB and I arrived first, so we peered at the menu and I debated what to get.  She kept talking like we were getting things together and I got nervous, as I’d read the set menus (per person) were an awesome deal.  HB & BB arrived soon after, and HB told me the set menus didn’t… make… her… full… lol!  So we decided to just order a bunch of stuff a la carte and do things that way.  That worked for me… especially since HB and I probably eat about the same amount (I think I eat more, actually!… maybe?) and she used to go there almost once a week.  Hahahahaha. 

Because I’m mean and like to force my friends to drink, we started off with Kamikaze shots (for these reasons and these reasons alone: they were on the menu with two other shots; they were $3.50; the other two shots were SoCo & Lime and HB refuses to drink SoCo, and I forget the other one but no one wanted it either; no we are not college girls who do sweet shots and think we’re funny, WE ARE NOT WOO GIRLS!!!).  They were a bit too sweet and it’s been too long since I took a shot, as I wound up accidentally drinking it instead of shooting it.  Ah well. 

We started off with the avocado salad “for two” which was huge and way more than enough for all 4 of us to get a good portion.  It was split up for us to mix as we pleased, which can be good or bad depending on your preferences.  We were provided with two bottles of dressing – the standard sesame/ginger/carrot dressing or a ponzu vinaigrette.  I tried both and found they were fine but nothing amazing.  I think next time, I’d request we toss the salad at the table unless my friends really want to keep it all separate… it became a little fussy turning the plate to get a little bit of everything.

BB ordered agedashi tofu for the table.  I don’t know what that means.  I know I’ve had this several times at various restaurants (probably with her?) and it’s always about the same, though I liked this one a little better.  Something about the crispy stuff on top (not the greens, but on the tofu itself) – I think it was fried better than other places I’ve been to?  Whatever it was, I liked this, it was cool, creamy, and crispy.  Yum!

Berkshire pork belly, fatty goodness!  This is one order. 

So fatty it caught fire almost immediately.

I took pictures instead of trying to put the fire out or help at all because I’m a food blogger.  LOL

Salty, crisp goodness.  I really enjoyed this.  It was slightly better dipped in sauce and wrapped in a lettuce leaf… but I didn’t take pictures of that.

Some of the sauces available – the middle one is crushed garlic.  Mmmmm, so good.

This is 4 orders of the prime short rib.  We wound up ordering one more platter later… it was fatty goodness and delicious!!! 

On the grill

We all drank water/tea with our meal, so for the above plus one bowl of white rice (and I’m not sure if they charge for their lettuce?, if so, then two baskets of lettuce to wrap our meat in),… it came out to about $30 a person, a little less, actually.  Not bad – if you consider that the set I was looking at was about that price, but wouldn’t have included so much meat (and that’s pre-tax or tip).  Which is why you’re there, really – for the meat! 

Yvo says: Bonus: you don’t leave this place smelling like meat like you do at some other grill-your-own-places.  (Hey, I don’t really mind that, but my friends really seem to mind…)  If you know how to order, it isn’t expensive at all, and it’s a lot of fun sitting with your friends, grilling up some meat, chatting away.  The atmosphere is casual and fun, and I definitely recommend the place.  In fact, I just made plans to go again at the end of the week.  Hehe. 
recommended

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