MOM AND DAD (AND FRIENDS)

Sorry it's been about three years since the last update. And I'm even more sorry I don't have a ton of really awesome photos from the food consumed over the last couple days. But I can describe it a bit and offer some insights into my mom and dad's third trip to the big city.

Last Tuesday night the folks hit Brooklyn and they were ready for some food after their travels and neighborhood exploration. We figured Bocca Lupo was in order.

Dan and Steve joined the festivities and we had a whole lot of bruschetta, paninis and maybe a bit of wine. Mom and Dad liked the mushroom and truffled cheese the best. I have to agree.

Wednesday night we made sure they hit the neighborhood's finest pizza — Lucali, of course. It's tough to get in but whatever. We knew we had to do it. That photo was from when D and James went with us, but whatever. Similar pizza. I think we had a hot pepper and shallot pie and a mushroom and onion pie. As always, fantastic.

Thursday night mom and dad went to the city and we were on our own. We called in Joya. Sorry, dudes. We were tired. I had some pork salad, Meena had a curry.

Friday night we went big and had all of m&d's friends out to Brooklyn for some drinks, snacks and dinner at Buttermilk Channel. The Guggenheims and Guipes made the trek down deep into Carroll Gardens for Court Street's finest. I had an Esposito's sausage sandwich and Meena had a flap steak with some crispy marrow.

I think the best thing on the menu is still the duck meatloaf. And despite what you may have heard, the fried chicken is pretty dope. And the bacon almonds ... they're still incredible.

Saturday morning I made a little breakfast with some of the previous night's snacks. A little egg with a nice cheddar from Quebec and a bit of proscuitto and toasted bread bits. Salt, pepper, you know the drill. It was excellent.

Saturday night we hit the famed Boathouse in Central Park and I must say, it went way beyond expectations. I couldn't believe how good the food was. I guess I wasn't expecting much, but I was very, very wrong. I thought it would just be a trap for tourists but the Boathouse delivered.

Meena had a roasted chicken with kale and gratin potatoes. I had a snapper with wilted cabbage and it was out of this world. I almost went with the whole branzino, but man ... that snapper was perfect.

And on Sunday, the folks were on their way back to Indy. Sorta. The had awful issues as LGA and they actually ended up in Cincinnatti later that night. Or Kentucky. Or something. But they made it home eventually and I have to say, this may have been their best trip yet. It was so excellent to see them and we had such a good time eating and exploring all over Brooklyn and the Upper West Side.

ADVANCED MUFFIN TIN

It's been a minute, but for a very long time, muffin tin madness was a staple on this blog. Egg cups with a crispy bread crust. I think I used wheat bread a lot in the beginning. Then I tried tortillas some. Tried to give it a Mexicali twist. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

This time it worked.

Rather than using a ramekin, I opted for a gratin dish this Saturday morning. I went with the whole-wheat tortilla and after greasing up the dish with some cooking spray, I worked the crust into place.

While the oven was heating up to 400, I threw together the filling:
- jalapeno chicken sausage
- trader joe's fresh salsa
- spinach
- egg
- sea salt
- black pepper
- chili powder

I baked these suckers up and when all was set, I popped them out of their dishes and threw them on a plate. With a little sriracha and a side of cucumbers and onions, we had a breakfast to be reckoned with, friends.

SCRAMBLE

Saturday morning I figured the best start to our day was going to be a nice little scramble using up a bit of the taco night filling we had left from the previous night. Just a quick little brekkie with stuff we had on hand.

Here's how I broke it down:
- taco filling (see previous post)
- campari tomato
- chicken apple sausage
- milk
- eggs
- spinach
- sea salt
- black pepper
- smoked mozzarella

And that was that. With a bit of sriracha (we really do put it on EVERYTHING, friends) it was heaven on a Saturday morning plate. Er ... bowl.

QUICK SUNDAY BITES

You knew they had to make a comeback, right? This is the world's greatest breakfast and it had been away for too long. So ... I brought it back.

So simple. I used:
- caputo's mini ciabatta
- low-fat cream cheese
- smoked salmon
- chives
- sea salt
- black pepper

Perfection, friends. Simply. Perfect.

A VARIATION

I decided to make a healthy variation on eggs benedict for Meena on Saturday morning. Why? Cause eggs benedict is bad for you right? I felt it was my civic duty to increase the health quotient on one of Meena's brunch-time favorites. I don't really think I made anything terribly delicious, but I do think I did right by my goal. It was a healthier version than the original.

I started by grilling up some pita triangles to replace the english muffin.

Then I whipped up a bit of sauce to replace that lovely hollandaise. I used:
- balsamic vinegar
- sriracha
- low fat sour cream
- garlic

Then I just threw some smoked salmon and a poached egg (with a little salt and pepper) over the whole affair.

We mixed up some greens with salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic for a bit of veg support on the side.

You know what? Not bad. I don't think it was great, but my poaching skills were a little better than I expected and the sauce + salmon all merged well together. Was it great? No. But it wasn't bad. It definitely wansn't bad.

A GIANT EGG SANDWICH

I was supposed to be camping this weekend but due to the rain, we called the trip off and postponed until July. We should probably have some better luck with the weather then. Let's hope.

Anyway, because I was chillin in Brooklyn instead of dodging rain in a tent somewhere in Pennsylvania, I decided to make Meena a bit of breakfast.

I figured, why not just try a GIGANTIC EGG SANDWICH? Because, honestly, who doesn't love a gigantic egg sandwich for breakfast?

If I recall, the list went a little something like this:
- egg
- yellow bell pepper
- red onion
- marinara
- sriracha
- fish sauce
- jalapeno jelly
- mixed greens
- olive oil
- sea salt
- black pepper
- parmesan
- whole wheat bread
- chicken sausage

So I grilled the peppers and onions and mixed them through with the marinara, fish sauce, jelly and sriracha. It gave them a hearty little kick. Some tomato goodness and a hint of spice.

The greens got tossed with the parm, sea salt, pepper and oil. Like a mini salad serving as the sandwich's ground floor. I like.

Then I just grilled off some bits of chicken sausage and a couple eggs and there you have it. A gigantic egg sandwich that was really, really good. One hell of a way to get the weekend going in the right direction.

MEENA SCRAMBLER

Meena whipped up a delightful little breakfast the moment we stirred back into action on Sunday morning. She was inspired by Buttermilk Channel's scrambles so she got cracking with that in mind.

Hers featured:
- egg
- shrimp
- mozzarella
- chicken stock
- spinach
- pepper
- onion
- siraracha
- sea salt
- black pepper
- olive oil

With a little side of grapes and in a beautiful little bowl, this one was a winner for our taste buds and our eyes alike. Seriously, my wife straight killed it on this one. Light ingredients and a gentle touch on the skillet yielded a breakfast masterpiece. I'll be looking for more like this one for ... oh, I don't know, the rest of my life maybe?

BRING ON SUMMER

Another excellent trip back to the land of Hoosier. Those of you who read often know that going home for the race is a time honored tradition for me and missing it would be about the worst possible thing on the planet. Fortune was shining on me again this year and Meena and I went back for a couple days of Midwestern wonder, enlightenment and race cars.

And the food was pretty darn good, too.

We started things off on Thursday with a trip to Oakley's Bistro for lunch with the grandmothers. Meena and I both tried their tarts ... a bit of puffed pastry with various toppings and a small salad. I had salmon ... she had shrimp. Meena also started with a bit of their wild mushroom soup with truffled cream. The tarts were lovely but the soup may have been the winner. I felt like we could have used slightly more topping to balance out the dryness of the pastry. It was still delicious. Really delicious. Just sayin' is all.

Thursday night we had what was probably one of the best meals of the trip - BBQ chicken and mayo + mustard marinated asparagus on the grill. Perfection. It gets no more Indiana in the summer than that wonderful combo.

Friday afternoon we were treated to a bunch of deliciousness courtesy of Grant and Sara. Our most pregnant friends were kind enough to get us heaping portions of BBQ from a little spot in Westfield in addition to Sara's spicy cheese dip, cherries, salsa, chips, cole slaw and a terrific tomato salad. Man ... we're lucky to have friends like these.

Friday night was beef tenderloin, salad and mashed potatoes. Mom and Dad took care of the beef and the salad, the Amish of Indiana took care of the potatoes.

The beef tenderloin carried over into lunch the next day and that was just another lovely development in our weekend love affair with food. Some toasted asiago bagel and thinly sliced beef? That's lunch.

Saturday night we had a bit of a party and the grill was once again fired up to feed a small army. Dad made BBQ pork chops for the whole crew to go along with an Asian coleslaw and a handful of other delicious stuff Mom prepared to accompany. At this point you may think we would have had our fill of grilled meat but let me assure you this was very much not the case. We came to Indiana to eat from the grill and eat from the grill we did.

Sunday was, of course, the race. I drank beers liberally and devoured sandwiches with gusto. There's nothing quite like the race and there are few things more enjoyable than eating and drinking massive quantities of grub while it's all happening.

Sunday night we hit the Guggys for a post-race party filled with yellow birds, brats and a bit of scotch. And some slaw and some other stuff. Did I mention there were yellow birds and scotch? Anyway, Anne and John delivered another wonderful evening for massive crew.

Monday morning was our final breakfast and Dad once again delivered with some omelettes made to order. I had some pork, peppers and pepper jack cheese. Perfect.

Our final stop on the Indiana food circuit was the OG Jewish Deli in the Indianapolis metro area - Shapiro's. Meena hadn't ever been and it's just one of those places everyone who visits should try to hit at least once. But if you go once, there's probably a good chance you'll want to make a second visit at some point. It's just good food!

Meena had some beef brisket on a roll with mustard and mayo. I had peppered beef on rye with mustard. Man. I miss it already. I know Katz's is like ... the place. But for my money, it's Shapiro's every time.

So ... yeah. Sorry, long description. But it was a great trip and I wanted to try and get it mostly mapped out. Needless to say, we both miss home already. We've been back less than 24 hours and it's already a bit of a bummer. We miss it! But we had a great time and we're already looking forward to Thanksgiving!

DA WEEKEND

Well, it was a necessary weekend. We started out with a bang but I think the week finally caught up to me and I crashed Saturday morning. I was just beat. So ... from Saturday morning through Sunday night, I was just sitting around, friends. I think I left the house once. Maybe twice. And I just drank tea, had a few good eats and got better. So necessary.

Friday we started it off at Butcher Bay in the East Village. We'd heard a few good things so we stopped by. I'm guessing this will be our last trip to Butcher Bay.

We had:
- half dozen oysters
- hush puppies
- hamburger
- lobster roll

The oysters and the hamburger were both pretty good. The hush puppies were OK. The lobster roll was awful. It wasn't the worst ever ... but it's just one of those places we won't need to experience again. Sorry.

Saturday morning marked the beginning of the end and because I was so down and out, Meena took the reigns on our new fav breakfast. It featured:
- ciabatta
- smoked salmon
- red onion
- goat cheese
- cream cheese (for meena)
- chives

Delicious. I know you've seen it every week, but friends, it's the best.

Saturday night we were supposed to hit Lucali with James and D but because I was dead to the world, we just stayed in and made our own pizza. No Lucali but we're picking up steam, y'all. We're getting better and better each day. This one feature:
- pizza dough
- buffalo chicken sausage
- mushrooms
- onions
- marinara
- mozzarella
- sea salt
- black pepper
- chives

That crust was pretty awesome. Like I said ... we're getting the hang of this thing.

Sunday morning Meena knocked out another little Caputo's ciabatta joint. This time it was a nice little egg and cheese on that lovely, salty bread. It featured:
- egg
- cheddar
- sambal oelek
- ham

Mmmmmmmm. That's how I like to start day two of recovery. Operation "ALEC FEELS GOOD FOR THE RACE" was going just as planned.

Saturday night we threw together a little "15-minute" meal we saw in Bon Appetite. I'm not sure it took 15 minutes, but it was pretty solid. It featured:
- chicken (marinated in balsamic, sea salt, black pepper, olive oil and cayenne pepper)
- bleu cheese

I also threw in a salad that featured:
- mixed field greens
- red onion
- goat cheese
- olive oil
- sea salt
- black pepper
- rice vinegar

I think I used too much bleu cheese on the chicken, but ... now I know. It was good, no doubt, but I could have used less. The chicken was SOLID. I loved that. I had the butcher butterfly out our chicken breasts and the thin little slivers really soaked up that marinade and just burst with flavor in every bite. Nice. I like it. I love it.

The other coup of this meal was the fact that Meena enjoyed the goat cheese in the salad. It mixed through to all greens and she was into it. It's always a big deal when I can get her on board with ingredients I love.

Anyway, that was the weekend. Boring ... but necessary to my recovery.

WE'LL TAKE CARE OF IT

Because the bagel shop around here never seems to have any of the baked salmon salad they list on their menu, we figured we'd just take care of it.

While our salmon was cooking Saturday night, we threw some extra in the oven to get it baked up and ready to be flaked up for the salad.

Once it came from the oven, I threw the following together:
- salmon
- truffled salt
- light mayo
- black pepper

That's it. On a Caputo's ciabatta with some red onion ... oh boy. Maybe we'll just keep on doing this from now on. I'm not sure the bagel shops are even necessary any longer.

Just kidding. But it was pretty good!

A NEW STAPLE

I think this one is going to become a staple. Meena said she's going to start requesting it the moment we wake up. I have no problem with this because a) I love it and b) it only requires two quick stops outside of the house - Caputo's and the organic grocery.

This one is simple. All I include is:
- goat cheese (for me)
- cream cheese (for Meena's)
- smoked salmon
- ciabatta
- chives
- red onion
- truffled salt
- black pepper

This one is just the perfect little Saturday morning breakfast. Perfect.

INSPIRED

I love the crostini at Ted & Honey. I've written about it several times here at MOAP and I just can't express enough how good I think these guys are. Delicious, homemade stuff.

So on Saturday morning, pressed for time, we decided to try and replicate something they make rather than running down to Cobble Hill to pick up the real thing. So ... I made an attempt. Our smoked salmon crostini went like this:
- caputo's mini ciabatta
- smoked salmon
- goat cheese
- basil
- truffled salt
- black pepper

Meena isn't a huge fan of goat cheese, so I gave her a mix of goat cheese and cream cheese.

So ... this is lovely. Just fantastic. I mean, cheese, bread and smoked salmon is always going to be a winner and maybe that's all there is to it. But yeah. Thanks for the tip Ted & Honey. We'll be back to have yours, of course, but I'll be making these whenever we can't stop by for original.

LEFTOVER

We had a ton of ingredients left over from the previous night's festivities, so we figured it was best just to use things up.

A bit of the leftover salad went on the plates and then we threw together:
- eggs
- milk
- pesto
- parmesan
- campari tomatoes
- sea salt
- black pepper

Cooked those suckers off and topped with the tomato. Garlicky and delicious.

START IT OFF

The weather was legit this weekend. Up in the 80s and nothing but sun for the foreseeable future. We knew we would be heading on down to Fairway on the bikes later on, so a breakfast was necessary.

I ran over to Caputo's for a really nice roll that was, get this, STILL WARM FROM THE OVEN WHEN I BOUGHT IT. Awesome. Simple fixings went on:
- bacon
- egg
- mozzarella
- chipotle hot sauce (lots of it)

Oh boy. This thing was heaven on a roll. Would have been great without the bread, but boy, oh, boy, that Cuputo's put this one over the edge. Awesome.

WEEKEND PERFECTION

I'm happy to report we did quite a bit of cooking this weekend! I feel like with the last few weeks being insane in the office, we just haven't been chopping and roasting with frequency I'd like. But this weekend we made an effort. Partially because we're heading to LA this week and wanted to get rid of stuff in the fridge and partially because ... we like cooking.

We started off the weekend with a trip back to 40 Verandah to pick up some old mail Pam had saved for us. While we were way over there in our old stomping grounds, we figured the best course of action would be to hit Bocca Lupo. We couldn't remember the last time we'd been and that was a problem.

We started with their cheese plate and I have to say, this may be my favorite cheese plate on the planet. They really have some strong selections here and every time I try this thing I'm blown away by each and every offering. So good. And not terribly expensive.

Meena then had:
- shrimp diavalo
- pasta with boar sausage, green beans and pine nuts

Alec had:
- two truffled cheese and mushroom bruschetta
- one butternut squash bruschetta
- one olive and white bean bruschetta

I didn't order that last one but they brought it by accident. Bank error in Alec's favor!

We finished things off with the banana and nutella panini. Oh Bocca Lupo, I missed you so. I promise we won't go that long between visits again. I promise.

Saturday morning I continued the fridge purge. I did some brussels sprouts with:
- olive oil
- sea salt
- balsamic vinegar
- chili powder
- korean bbq
- chipotle chicken sausage
- onion

And then I did a little egg cup:
- chipotle hot sauce
- egg
- onion
- mushroom
- chipotle chicken sausage
- flour tortilla

Not bad. I forgot to spray my containers and the tortilla stuck. I just looked in the sink where they're soaking and it's STILL sticking. Mental note, spray them next time. PLEASE. But the sprouts were rad. Very rad.

Before dinner I made a little appetizer:
- smoked mussels
- organic ketchup
- korean bbq
- butter
- olive oil
- sea salt
- panko
- sriracha
- chipotle hot sauce

Not bad. We needed a little bread, but it ended up being very nice. Weird. A little. But nice.

For dinner, we did a bit of halibut. Very simple here:
- halibut
- bacon
- sea salt

And I did a bit of topping:
- mushroom
- peas
- white wine vinegar
- chili powder
- sea salt

Meena also made a salad:
- red pepper jelly
- olive oil
- white wine vinegar
- sea salt
- black pepper
- honey
- mixed greens

Lovely. The fish was cooked perfectly and we were really happy with the flavor the bacon gave to the fish when it cooked. I gave it a few turns on the stove then finished it under the broiler. Crisp bacon, perfectly cooked fish and a nice little bite from the mushroom and pea topping. Meena's salad was the perfect sweet companion to our salty bit of bacon and fish. Awesome dinner.

After a lovely brunch with Dan at Buttermilk Channel, we decided to close out the weekend with a truly rich dinner - RIBS!

Nothing special, just a quick bbq and an hour in the oven:
- brown sugar
- garlic
- soy sauce
- sambal oelek
- sesame oil
- water

Meena also made a little salad to go along with it. Came out perfect. Nice vinegar bite to go with the rich, sticky and salty ribs.

Perfect weekend.

TOO FAST

We had a great weekend but it just blew by. Maybe it was the nice weather. Maybe it was going to a concert on Friday. I don't know. But that one disappeared like Kaiser Soze.

Friday night I had the amazing opportunity to see the Handsome Furs at the Mercury Lounge with the dudes. And before the show we decided to hit one of my favorite places from the old neighborhood - Tara Thai. Love the people at this place and the food is always top notch. I can't remember what James and E. Noonz had, but I think Matt had a shrimp pad thai with no egg? That sounds right. I had some southern noodles that were nice and spicy. Sorta like a pad thai but with a bit of that woon sen bbq taste. Very nice.

Saturday night we hit Park Slope for a bit of fun with Dan and Steve. Steve had some previous plans so after a few glasses of wine and some of Dan's hummus, we hit AOC Bistro on 5th Ave. for a bit of the French cuisine. Dan had a wonderful lamb sausage sandwich with some harissa and fries. Meena had:
- mussels + frites

Alec had:
- poached tuna with egg, peppers anchovies and salad on a baguette

Pretty awesome. All those ingredients are just perfect for my palate and I can't wait to get to France next fall. I'm going to eat like this every day. Meena's mussels were pretty solid. Not the best ever, but not bad, either. Her fries seemed a bit weird, but she liked them if memory serves. I don't know why I'm calling them weird. They just seemed like that double fried variety that MAYBE came out of a bag. But probably not. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Sunday morning I made my new favorite breakfast. It doesn't look like much but MAN OH MAN is it good. It included:
- florida avocado
- onion
- olive oil
- mushrooms
- egg
- sea salt
- black pepper
- parmesan

With a bit of the sriracha ... man. This is like 20 bites of pure heaven. Just that silky avocado mixed with the egg and parmesan? Oh man. It's probably not good for you at all but it's what diamonds would probably taste like if you could just bite into one.

Sunday night we wrapped up the weekend with a bit of pizza. Similar to our previous efforts. Fresh Direct crust, touched up with some homey goodness on the pizza stone:
- corn meal
- serrano peppers
- pork shoulder
- mozzarella
- roasted garlic marinara
- mushrooms
- white onion
- olive oil
- sea salt
- black pepper
- parmesan

I like this pizza. VERY much. The pork got just a bit crispy on the edges. And the stone got the crust just right ... a bit bouncy on the inside and crispy and flecked with cornmeal on the bottom. Awesome. The peppers gave it just the right amount of heat and the cheese, oil and mushrooms provided that rich and silky base. WHEW. We're getting better and better with the pizza around here. Watch out, we're just going to make more. If ever there were something worth getting good at, I'm guessing this is probably it.

BEFORE THE SNOW

This weekend really seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. I know that's a pretty typical phenomenon, but it seemed unusually fast for some reason. I don't know why. We did a lot of the things we normally do but for whatever reason, looking back on Monday morning, it just felt a bit accelerated.

Anyway.

I didn't post a Thursday night post but I'll just mention it quickly. I had to stay out late for an event celebrating my former publisher. He moved on to another magazine so we did some drinks as a celebration. I got home really late, but Meena had saved a bit of deliciousness from Chance. Curry noodles, Chang's chicken, hot and sour soup. Niiiiice.

Friday night Meena wasn't feeling so hot so we decided to to order in some Indian from Bombay Dream. I think we'd ordered from here a few times in the past, but these guys really killed it on Friday. My chicken tikka and lamb vindaloo were both perfect. Chicken was spiced perfectly and just a touch dry. I know that's not the ideal with chicken in any other area of the culinary universe, but for some reason, I really appreciate chicken tikka a little dried out. The vindaloo was a bit spicy, but not liquid fire. I know I tend toward the super-human heat, but this was just right for a Friday. Meena had this weird chicken appetizer thing. Mali kebabs? I don't know. They weren't very good. I think Meena was OK with them. I thought they were sorta gross. Her chicken tikka masala more than made up for it. Perfect chicken and a lovely sauce.

Saturday night we went went over to 4th Ave's Sheep Station for Steveo's birthday drinks and decided to grab a bite before the main event. Meena had some fish and chips and I had a chook sandwich. Chook means chicken. I didn't know that. I guess Sheep Station is Australian. Anyway, Meena was the clear winner because her fish and chips were some of the best I've had in a long time. The fish was perfectly cooked and crisp and delicious on the outside. My chook was OK. Not great. It was essentially a lime and curry chicken salad on a bun. Which ... is actually just fine for me. Not perfect. But not bad.

Drinks were great. Dan brought some cupcakes. People had a blast. Happy birthday Steve!

I haven't been paying much attention to breakfast as of late, but I just wanted to mention this burrito/taco thing quickly because it was awesome. Chicken tikka masala, serrano peppers, eggs, onion, olive oil, salsa and sour cream. Oh, and a bit of cheddar. Wow. Awesome breakfast wrapped up in a warm flour tortilla.

Sunday night we used a bit of pork shoulder cooked in the method we've been using the last few times. Slow and low all morning. After it had been all broken down and shredded, we threw it with some Korean BBQ, pickles and sriracha and wrapped it all up in Boston lettuce leaves.

So. Good. So, so, so good.

Meena also threw in a bit of veg. She baked the following:
- red potatoes
- brussels sprouts
- sea salt
- garlic
- olive oil
- black pepper
- balsamic vinegar
- parmesan

Really lovely veg. The parm was grated super fine so it just melted into the veg and gave it this wonderful, buttery flavor. Simple preparation but such a refined taste. I loved it.

That's it!