#SnowMonster2015

Everyone had their own name for it, but I kept hearing Pat Kiernan on NY1 call it SnowMonster so I took it for my own. Whatevs! I thought it was going to be really terrible, so after they dismissed us early on Monday afternoon, I went home and cooked.

Well, first I stopped by the store to see if I could get lemons, and I wanted some fresh veggies. After reading this article by First We Feast,  I didn’t figure there’d be kale at my store.

But there was. There was plenty of kale! So much no one needed to fight over it! So much that in fact, no one wanted any. Including me.

I went home and made kielbasa and Swiss chard with penne, lots of lemon juice, garlic and red chili flakes. It was good. I hope so anyway, because I made an entire pound of pasta which I never do. Silly me. I’ll share. It’s okay. I like feeding people. (I figured I’d give some to a friend of mine who lives roughly a 10 minute walk away and doesn’t really know how to take care of himself inasmuch as far as providing nourishing and healthy food for himself.)

And then I made more of Martha Stewart’s mustard crusted salmon. I really love this dish. I didn’t feel like making potatoes (I know, who am I?) so I tossed in some chopped up baby carrots with the purple cabbage. It turned out really nicely – sweet little bits of contrasting texture with the slightly bitter cabbage. Really good! Per usual, the salmon was great. (There are two pieces there, pushed together… great leftovers if you undercook slightly and can microwave it slightly the next day, for fish anyway.)

After pounding back two bowls of that wonderful pasta with a kick at the end along with one piece of salmon and a bunch of veggies, I settled in for a night on the couch with the pup and some bad TV. The next morning, I woke up to a few things: the office was closed, but the subways were going to start running again shortly.

What do you do when you have an unexpected free day that you can wander around the city eating? Ummm, you wander around the city eating. I really wanted to hit Russ & Daughters- which were opening around 3pm- but, well, you’ll see. I also wanted to support the businesses that opened in this crap weather anyway, because they needed it.

I met up with my friend, CY – we started at La Colombe on Lafayette then walked down to Nom Wah Tea Parlor, where we split 3 dishes (thinking we’d hit more places after this). Shrimp shu mai, perfectly tasty; shrimp rice noodle roll, slippery noodles with sweet soy sauce filled with plump shrimp; and the original egg roll – which I found fascinating. I’ve eaten at Nom Wah previously and enjoyed most of what I’ve eaten, but had managed to not have tried this. I also had the Version 2 egg roll at Fung Tu (same owners) so was especially curious about the original.

Well, it’s good. It’s a thin egg crepe/pancake wrapped around goodies and then deep fried. Somehow this makes the egg crepe super flaky and fluffy and crisp, airy… where even though you’re eating something deep fried, it still tastes pretty light and not too heavy or greasy. I ate 3 of these pieces as my friend punked out and didn’t want to eat more. Actually I ate most of the dim sum – 2 of the ha cheung, 1 of the shu mai, and 3 pieces of the egg roll. It’s a lot!

Our next stop was Laduree Soho on West Broadway. He had the pistachio; I had the praline sesame (seasonal flavor) which was the perfect combination of airy first bite and chewy center. Loved it. So good.

After this, we wandered to Dominique Ansel Bakery around the corner, thinking maybe no one went outside for a cronut. We were wrong and there were no cronuts to be had, so we kept walking. I had to convince him to walk to the Flatiron… it’s not that far!! It’s good exercise so we can keep eating!!!

Unfortunately, Maison Kayser was closed so no baguettes for us, sadface.

Then we went to CY’s place to cook – I made Japanese curry with chicken and onions (he didn’t have any carrots), and he made the rice, sauteed bok choi and crispy chicken skin. It was all pretty darn good!!

His friend came over and we chilled, talking about random things, got into the groove, and I toddled home on the subway. It was interesting… and when I got off the subway, completely out of my mind, I went into the local Chinese takeout and ordered this.

Fried wontons with a goopy sweet sauce and a regular Fanta. The perfect food to eat when you’re out of your mind.

How was your SnowMonster2015? What did you eat?

I think I made some pretty good choices…. though I wish I’d remembered how badly I wanted to go to Russ & Daughters.