Ayiyiyiyi

We had leftover shredded chicken and a ton of tortillas left over from last night. The tortillas were left over from a couple weeks ago when I made a southwest salad. I'm not into wasting food so I made tortilla soup:

Heat up some chicken broth in a pot. Add some water to thin it out a little.
Meanwhile, prep your toppings - red onion, cilantro, avocado. Set these aside.
When the soup starts to simmer, add the shredded chicken.
Add some crushed tomatoes and their juice, or crush some whole canned tomatoes up in your fingers.
Simmer simmer simmer.
Meanwhile heat some oil up in a pan and fry up your corn tortillas. I cut mine into strips, then salt them as they're cooking. Drain these on a paper towel.
Add other bits into your soup. I had leftover black beans and corn niblets from the salad I made so I put those in. Simmer simmer simmer.
Season your soup. I just did cayenne pepper and freshly ground black pepper.
Spoon it out into bowls, top with cilantro-red onion-avocado. Some fried tortilla chips. Some cotija cheese.
Do a squeeze of lime just before eating.

Easy easy easy!

Form like Voltron

I gotta admit, I wasn't the biggest fan of enchiladas. All that melted cheese... blech! But we decided to make these anyway, with some tomatillo salsa... No real recipe, we just went from Alex's memory.

What you need:
Corn tortillas
Chicken breasts, de-boned, de-skinned
1 Jalapeno, diced
1 small red onion, diced
some achiote
vegetable oil
1 10 oz. (ish) jar tomatillo salsa (medium spice)
Jack cheese, shredded
Cotija cheese

What you do:
Prep the chicken - simmer it in water or chicken broth. I used water tonight, with a little salt thrown in and some bay leaves. Preheat your oven to about 375-ish.
Meanwhile, heat some oil in a pan and add the achiote until it colors the oil. Toss the achiote and saute the onions. When they start to get aromatic, add the jalapeno and saute til softened. Remove from the heat and set aside.
In the same pan, heat more oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pan and then some.
Add a corn tortilla. After it starts sizzling a bit on the edges, lift it up and place another tortilla underneath. You don't want them to crisp up, this is just to soften them so you can roll them up later. Repeat until you've done the desired amount of tortillas and place them on a plate to drain on a paper towel.
By now the chicken should be cooked. This is where teamwork comes in. One person should shred the chicken while the other assembles the enchiladas.
In each tortilla, place a little Jack cheese and salsa, then add some shredded chicken. Roll it up and place them in a baking dish. Repeat until the baking dish is full.
Spoon more salsa on top, sprinkle some Jack and cotija cheese, then spoon more salsa over it.
Top everything with the sauteed onions and jalapenos, then place the dish uncovered in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Looks good right? It was. I made a side salad with greens, black beans, corn and red pepper. Just a little salt, lime juice and olive oil as a dressing.

If you make a big enough batch of enchiladas, you could possibly freeze them in individual batches for later use. I'll have to get back at you on that one because we only had enough for a batch of leftovers for each of us.

Repeat recipe for sure!

I'm so glad our grocery sells the cotija cheese. Now all I want to do is make Mexican corn. ALL THE TIME.

Aldea
31 W 17 St NYC

Alexis: This year for our late anniversary dinner (3 years wooo!) we had reservations at Aldea. Modern Portuguese and housed close to Union Square, Ricky recommended this spot and spent a good portion of an afternoon with me poring over photos from other bloggers...

I started with the Shiprock cocktail, which was Plymouth gin with sage, orange blossom water and lemon. Very aromatic and mixed really well - herby and refreshing. They brought around a tray of bread after we ordered, from which I selected some thick and chewy olive bread.

Alexis: For my appetizer I had one of their "petiscos" (small bites), the sea urchin toast. Served on a folded napkin, this was a wafer-thin piece of toast topped with cauliflower cream, sea urchin and tiny bits of hidden wasabi.

Alexis: Alex ordered the Jardin (that's Fronchy for garden) which was a salad with root vegetables, pear and country cheese. Port wine dressing.

Alexis: Alex's dinner, the hanger steak with tamarind, red-wine shallot and fall bean salad.

Alexis: This is my entree, the Arroz de Pato. Paprika-spiced rice with chorizo, black olives and pieces of duck leg confit topped with duck skin cracklins and slices of duck breast. It looks deceivingly small but this was really quite filling. The smear of apricot puree on the side was very mild tasting - didn't really do anything for me. I'm also not a huge fan of the duck confit because it's dry and chicken-y. I'd definitely order this again tho, especially since Alex ate all my confit chunks. Spicy, fatty, salty, delicious.

Alexis: By the time dessert rolled around we were pretty much too stuffed to want anything so we opted for the sorbet trio. From the top: coconut, concord grape, green apple. All a bit too sweet for me.

Alexis: On top of all that, they gave us some petit fours before leaving! Little pear jellies, fudgy chocolate and a mini pastry that was kind of crepe-like in texture. I wish I hadn't been so full. Damn you olive bread!

For wine we had a Chamine, which is a red table wine. Fruity but not too sweet, and slightly smokey. Perfect for the duck.

Alexis: ****

I'm obsessed with the possibili-teas

As a treat to myself I sometimes go a little out of my way on my way to work to stop at Macaron Cafe, which has delicious freshly baked French macarons (today: rose petal, honey lavender, lychee, vanilla, dark chocolate, mango, white chocolate, pistachio...). I get a tartine with butter and jam (usually apricot, they never ask). Today I tried their tea for the first time. They carry Mariage Freres, which I have never heard of elsewhere. I ordered the Earl Grey French Blue which they steeped in a little cast iron pot for a few minutes before pouring it into a to go cup. Earl Grey has always been my favorite tea and until now I've been drinking Revolution's Earl Grey Lavender tea. This is similar but the flower aroma is a little more delicate. It's delicious with my tartine. I've since spent the rest of the morning searching for it online. Take a gander at some other yummy-sounding teas:

From Market Hall Foods:

Mariage Frères Casablanca: a fine marriage of green tea with Moroccan mint & bergamot-flavored tea

Mariage Frères Bouddha Bleu: Green tea, sprinkled with blue cornflowers. The delicate floral aroma recalls a traditional Buddhist offering to the monks of fresh fruit, flowers, and tea.

Mariage Frères Eros: A blend made for those in love, flavored with hibiscus and mallow flowers

I'd be pretty happy with any (or all) of these in my Xmas stocking!

Too hot (it's too hot)

Grand Sichuan International
Canal between Chrystie & Forsyth (Chinatown, NYC)

Alexis: For Laurea's early birthday we went to Grand Sichuan International in Chinatown for some body-warming hot pot. I have not had this since I was in San Francisco about five years ago. There is a spot in the Sunset that is all you can eat hot pot. They provide the broth and then you get up and get your meats, veggies and sauces at the buffet. It is awesome.

At Grand Sichuan we were seated downstairs in their private room, which looked like it was set up in someone's bedroom/living room/studio apartment. There was a bed and some cabinets. OKAY! We ordered hotpots with "two flavors." That is, one side with regular chicken broth and the other side teeming with scary red hot peppers.

The hotpot menu is pretty extensive and we started out with pickled cabbage, beef tendons, wheat noodles, scallops, fish balls, bokchoy, black Chinese mushrooms (rehydrated, I might add, for that extra sliminess), lamb, beef, dumplings... As well as a couple of sauces.

Most Westerners when eating Asian foods expect to only order for themselves. They'll order a plate of lo mein or fried rice and that's all they eat. NO NO NO NO NO!! Asian food, especially Chinese food, is meant to be eaten communally. Try eating a traditional 8-course Chinese banquet and you'll see! This is why all tables have lazy Susans, so you can share everything!!

That said, I think people were a little freaked out about putting their food into the pot with everyone else's. But that is how it's done. All the different flavors will meld together in the pot and create a richer and richer broth as the night progresses. This definitely isn't for picky or squeamish eaters. Lots of elbow jostling and double dipping - it was a really fun time.

Afterwards we went on a hunt for a big and chill enough bar to accommodate our large party and after several tries we ended up at Whiskey Ward, which was great.

I'm already craving more hotpot!

Nice weather for soup

I love having an actual fall season right now. Usually it comes and goes in a wink and we're frozen stiff in the midst of cold cold cold. Fall is my favorite time of year because of the changing leaves and mostly because it's the start of soup weather!

I made a delicious soup tonight, on the fly:

Butternut squash, peeled and diced (from Urban Organic delivery)
Cannelini beans (canned - drained and rinsed)
Spinach, chopped roughly (big chunks) (from Urban Organic delivery)
Chorizo, diced
Shallots & garlic, minced
Chicken broth, low sodium
Canned tomatoes (I used marinara sauce in a jar because that's what I had)
Paprika, crushed red pepper

In a heavy bottomed pot, heat some oil. Add the chorizo and cook lightly. Chorizo is already cured/smoked so you don't really need to cook it. Just flavor the oil with it. Remove chorizo and place in a bowl. Add bacon or duck fat to the pot. When it melts, add the cannelini beans. The pot should be hot enough that the skin peels off pretty quickly and the outsides crisp up. Remove the beans and set aside with the chorizo. Add a little more oil, then the shallots and garlic. Sautee lightly then add the squash. Season with salt and pepper. Add enough chicken broth to cover the squash and bring to a low boil. Simmer for a few minutes, slowly adding more and more water. Add paprika and crushed red pepper. Keep adding broth slowly until you reach the desired amount in the pot. Add canned tomatoes or marinara sauce (not too much - I used two big spoonfuls of the sauce). Once squash is softened, add the chorizo and beans back to the pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste. When you're ready to serve it, turn off the heat and add the spinach. Stir to incorporate, then serve in bowls with some garlic bread.

So nice Alex had to eat it twice.

So good soba

Sobakoh
309 E 5th St (bet 1st and 2nd Ave)

Ricky has been talking this place up to me, saying that it's better than Soba Totto, Sobaya and Matsugen. I trust him with most food choices so a couple weeks ago I came here with Sophie, Erin & Jonna...

In the front of the restaurant, a chef rolls the noodles out. He starts with a piece of dough about 4 inches thick!

Octopus carpaccio with onion dressing. I liked this a lot - very tender and simple.

Seared duck appetizer with ponzu and sesame sauces. Served cold - I love duck this way the best.

Uni (sea urchin) ikura (salmon roe) soba. With shiso leaf and nori. Super rich, creamy, tasty. Do you eat uni? You need to. I avoided it my whole life until last year because of its resemblance to the inside of a baby's nappy. But if you can get past that part, you will love it - creamy and slightly briny! The noodles were very firm and fresh. I can't say they were better than Totto or Sobaya (haven't tried Matsugen yet) because these are on another level.

The choice of soba, both hot and cold, is pretty extensive. Must return to try them all!

Easy breezy

No photos! I made a really easy and delicious dinner tonight - can't say I can take credit for the recipes but I managed to add my own touches...

Skinless chicken thighs - cover in salsa (I used green tomatillo) and bake in the oven.

Meanwhile skin and dice sweet potatoes (I used ruby yams) and roast in the oven as well.

Make a dressing using olive oil, garlic, jalapeno, lime juice, salt, and cilantro. I didn't have fresh cilantro so I used dried coriander. Whiz in a blender/food processor.

When chicken is done, layer thin slices of fresh mozzarella on top and put back into the oven.

Add the roasted sweet potatoes to some baby spinach and toss with the dressing and a few cranks of fresh black pepper. Serve beside the chicken, topped with the now melted mozzarella.

Super delicious and pretty healthy too!

We are monsters

That's right. You are seeing FOUR fried eggs on that plate! This was Eros's breakfast this past Sunday. Mario & I ate the same thing but with one egg. Spam, eggs and garlic rice is a typical Filipino breakfast - can't tell you how many times I've eaten this growing up.

The Spam's gotta be cooked right - crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. Then you make the garlic rice, with both minced garlic and garlic powder. Serve with the fried egg on top, then break the eggs into the rice.

It's not for the faint of heart. I also like dipping the Spam into a bit of Datu Puti, which is the scary Filipino white vinegar in a giant bottle with chilis and garlic floating in it. THAT'S THE STUFF.

Comfort food on a nasty rainy Saturday

Buttermilk Channel
524 Court St at Huntington, Brooklyn (Gowanus-ish)

Alexis: Eros & Mario were in town for the weekend and we had dinner at Buttermilk Channel, who managed to squeeze us in after our party went down in size. It was a terrible, rainy Saturday and trains were jacked but we made it down there in once piece. After having brunch here this past spring, Alex & I have been anxious to come back and try dinner.

To start we ordered some small items - sweet potato/goat cheese croquettes, home-cured pickles and pictured below, maple-bacon almonds.

Alexis: This was my dinner, the fried chicken with cheddar waffles and cabbage slaw. First of all the chicken was really good - super crispy skin, not greasy at all and the meat was juicy and tender. The syrup tasted of balsamic vinegar reduction, which I was thankful for because I didn't want it to be too sweet.

Today I have some left over, which I am eating cold for lunch with some spicy Tabasco ketchup. You jelly?

Alexis: This is Alex's dinner, the short rib special. I wish I'd gotten a better photo of the meat because it was so tender and soft. I'll let Alex tell you about it.

Alexis: Eros's dinner, bacon-wrapped trout with fig & shallot jam, baby turnips. This was my second choice but am so happy I went with the chicken. It's the meal that keeps on giving.

No dessert - afterwards we went to Legion in Williamsburg where the beer & whiskey were flowing freely. Needless to say I was pretty useless the next day. But I managed to cook SPeggs, for breakfast. Photo to follow, once Eros lands in LAX.