AND THE DELIVERY BEGINS

So it begins. We're going to be doing lots of delivery this week and we got things started with some Baluchis (they have one in BK that delivers to the new place ... this stuff is here to stay). Yesterday was rainy and miserable in NYC. And unlike most rainy and miserable days in NYC, I had to be out, trudging through it. I had a shoot on 10th Ave. and I was soaked and miserable when everything came to a close. So warm (HOT) Indian just felt right.

Meena had:
- fish pakora
- chicken tikka masala

Alec picked up:
- chicken tikka
- lamb vindaloo

Excellence. I love this stuff. And it made me feel so great last night. Yankees game on ... check. Hot Indian food with all the proper condiments ... check. Meena by my side ... check.

THE KITCHEN IS CLOSED

Again, we're packing, dudes. We're up to our eyeballs in boxes and we decided it would be best to close this kitchen tonight with one last meal before the skillets and knives made their way to Brooklyn.

I noticed a forgotten box of Jiffy corn muffin mix in the back of the pantry when we were sorting through stuff and I got inspired. I know it's low brow, but it's one of my favorite things to cook with. When I was in college, this stuff kept me going many a time. It's 99 cents, man.

Anyway, tonight I thought we'd add a little wild salmon and make it a meal:
- sockeye salmon (with sugar, salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, mustard powder, cayenne pepper and garlic powder)
- jiffy corn muffin mix
- charred jalapeño
- gouda
- red pepper flakes
- grilled onions
- corn
- sambal oelek

Meena really enjoyed this one. I did, too. We decided it could probably even be made again. For friends! So for our final cooking engagement in 73 East 3rd, we had a success. We've had tons of them here. And a few failures. Can't wait to see what we get into in Cobble Hill!

HIGHWAY TO THE BAGELZONE

Today was a packing day and I honestly just didn't feel like making breakfast. And because we really needed to hit Bagelzone once more before we left the East Village, it was a pretty easy choice when the topic of breakfast came about.

Meena kept it strictly old fashioned with:
- everything bagel with baked salmon salad, cream cheese, tomato and red onion

Alec got crazy and did something different:
- sesame bagel with lox, cream cheese, red onion and tomato

Mmmmmmmm.

A QUIET DINNER

This one is a mishmash of stolen flickr photos and camera phone shots, so I just want to apologize up front. But last night was such a wonderful night of eating that I just had to show everyone all the delicious stuff we had the pleasure of consuming!

James and Diana had us out to Williamsburg for a wonderful trip to the BYOB gem, Silenth. It's a cute little Vietnamese joint with a wonderful little back porch and a penchant for liberal use of pork belly. FANtastic.

We followed James and D's lead and split the green papaya salad:
- green papaya, greens, sautéed pork belly and sliced shrimp

All three of them had a wonderful Vietnamese take on classic steak frittes:
- shaken beef with frittes tossed in a chili basil oil (with grilled pineapple, herbs and chili ketchup)

And I went out on my own with a crepe:
- crepe stuffed with shrimp, ground pork and pork belly (with greens, mung bean, bean sprouts and sweet chili-coconut glaze)

We rolled out after that delicious meal and made our way back to James and D's to see a) all their beautiful new apartment gear and b) D's amazing raspberry dessert.

Well, the apartment looked amazing. All the new furniture made the place look completely different and we were completely impressed. They managed to keep the place entirely cozy. That's not always easy to do with new furniture.

The dessert was incredible, too. I'll have D send me an ingredient list if she's willing to share ... but rest assured, this was far better than anything I've had at a restaurant in a long time.

UGLY BREAKFAST

Ugly, yes. But completely and utterly delicious. It wasn't a garbage operation at all. I went to the store and everything. I used a few leftovers, but mostly, this was a planned affair. Why didn't I make any effort to make this thing look pretty? I don't know. I guess I just didn't care this morning. I wanted taste, son!

This little number went a little somethin' like THIS:
- flour tortilla
- egg
- chipotle salsa
- sour cream
- avocado
- roasted chicken
- black pepper
- salt

This was big and delicious and completely wonderful. I loved it. Meena loved it. Now let's do this Saturday thing.

BEST OF BROOKLYN?

We went out to the new place last night to take measurements and get some keys. We're happy to report it looks fantastic. Everything is being repaired and repainted for our arrival and we couldn't be happier.

Following the little tour, we ran over to Park Slope to have some dinner with Dan and Steve at the fabled Franny's. My dad had even called me from Indy to tell me all about the delicious rumors he'd heard about Brooklyn's famed pizza joint. They say it's the best in the borough, so we decided it was time to taste it ourselves.

I'll say this ... Franny's did not disappoint.

Dan and Steve split some dishes. One of which I also ordered:
- pizza with tomato, olives, garlic and oregano

Meena had the:
- pizza with tomato, provolone piccante, anchovies and chilies

Dan and Steve's other order was the wonderful:
- ricotta gnocchi

We all finished the whole thing off with one order of:
- vanilla panna cotta with saba

Everything was truly delicious. I'd say that for a super simple pizza, I'll still give my pizza marinara at Lil' Frankies the edge, but this olive number I had was awfully delicious. Amazing crust.

Meena's pizza was wonderful. Outpaced anything we've ever had at our neighborhood joint. The anchovies and that subtle cheese? Amazing.

Now that we know this place is just steps from Dan and Steve's place ... we'll be back often.

I FELT LIKE CHICKEN TONIGHT

Like chicken tonight! Yes, like the old song goes, I felt like some chicken tonight. Meena was out with the girls from work so I decided to roast a nice chicken with some herbs and lemon. Simple and delicious.

My little bird was super easy and went a little like this:
- organic chicken (butterflied and backbone removed)
- oregano
- olive oil
- garlic
- smoked paprika
- salt
- black pepper
- lemon juice

Basically I just stuffed up this little chicken' skin with all those wonderful ingredients and roasted it for a few. It came out pretty delicious. The recipe I saw for this used a grill (I will be using one soon ...) but I think the oven was fine. And I have a bunch left for something else! Whoo hoo!

MATT'S IN THE HOUSE

Last night we had our good friend Matty Chaymez over for a bit of the Top Chef and some light eats. I'm working on this miserable project at work and didn't get out quite as fast as I would have liked, so I quickly hit Whole Foods on the way home and got cooking as soon as I rolled up on 73 E. 3rd.

Matt's a great eater with a curious palate, but he doesn't eat meat or dairy. So I had to make sure I didn't get any of that stuff in there. The meat was tricky. I cook with that a lot. But then again, I cook with fish just as much. So whatever. Not tricky. I don't ever really use butter. That wasn't a problem. Really, this wasn't much of a challenge!

Our first course was a salmon cake:
- salmon
- sesame oil
- black sesame seeds
- salt
- black pepper
- panko
- garlic
- jalapeño
- avocado
- red wine vinegar
- cabbage slaw (from Whole Foods ... I cheated!)

And our main course was a nice salmon with couscous:
- salmon fillets
- salt
- black pepper
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- cherries
- dried cherries
- couscous
- white wine

Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal. I liked the salmon cake with the avocado. Some o' that good fat as they say. The main course was nice. Little heavy on the balsamic. I need to figure out a way to cut it a little. Our dessert was courtesy of Mr. Matty Chaymez. On his way down he hit Birdbath, a storied little bakery we only recently learned about (at dinner with everyone the previous night!). The cookies were fantastic. Matt had the vegan one ... we had the high octane. Tons of butter. Totally excellent. Thanks, Matt!

BACK IN THE SADDLE

After a couple days of sickness, Alec has returned to the land of the living and is eating like a champ again. The previous night, we celebrated with Dan and Steve, but I was a little under the weather, so you know. But I wanted to show Dan's beautiful watermelon and goat cheese appetizers. Wonderful!

Last night, we did some after work drinks for James since he was required to leave the building ASAP the other day. It was great fun and we got to tell everyone at work about the whole relationship progression thing. Tons of fun.

Following our drinking affair at Moda Outdoor, we worked our way downtown for some Thai at a little spot called Thai on Two. My phone was dead so you don't even get cell shots. Just the Google street view of the front. But everything was nice (with the exception of Diana's).

Matty Chaymez had some crazy curry that looked like it was drawn from Architectural Digest. I had some spicy noodles that lived up to their name. Meena kept it real with some chicken pad Thai. Diana's was bad so I'll spare you. I can't recall what James ate. Other than that it contained chicken, his dinner escapes me.

A BIG NIGHT

Saturday was a rather big day for us given the fact that we've decided collectively to move this relationship along a little, so we thought with the whole Bastille Day thing going on, we'd try an out-of-the-way French spot called Le Pavillon for our celebration dinner.

Please excuse the photos (I was trying to avoid being "that guy" with the irritating flash going off), I know they're lacking focus. Literally.

We began with a nice pinot gris from Oregon that was again, very affordable. I'm not sure what was going on in Hyde Park (actually, Le Pavillon is in Poughkeepsie), but wine was very affordable. Once we'd determined the wine was satisfactory, Meena began with:
- herb shrimp with spinach gnocchi-like dumplings

And Alec ordered a special:
- trio of pâté with condiments (duck liver, country duck, country pork)

Meena chose a French staple for her main course:
- coq au vin (with mushrooms, bacon and mashed potatoes)

Alec was feeling lucky and went with another special scrawled on the blackboard:
- venison medallions and quail with mashed potatoes and a red wine pan sauce

When I walked into the place, I had the distinct feeling I was going to get a very stuffy meal that didn't have a ton of imagination. The place is literally an old house and it doesn't seem like the decor has been updated in a decade.

That said, I was wrong. The food was wonderful. I don't think Meena loved her starter, but I thought mine was fantastic. The presentation was consistently nice despite our slightly decrepit conditions. And we were celebrating, so everything seemed a little better.

I'm not sure how often we'll be back (it's awfully far away for a dinner through the week, obviously), but I think we left feeling pretty good about Le Pavillon.

LET'S TWIST

For Meena's birthday, I gave her a trip to Hyde Park, NY where we'd stay at the Journey Inn, a beautiful little bed and breakfast across the street from the Vanderbilt Mansion. When considering bed and breakfast options in New York, there are literally a million options. They're everywhere ... from Long Island to Albany, they pepper the entire state.

One of the primary reasons I went with Hyde Park was its proximity to the Culinary Institute of America. After some brief research, it seriously seemed as if half the restaurants in town had former graduates (and current students) manning the pots and pans.

After a day of driving our newly rented car through New Jersey and some of the most beautiful parts of New York I'd ever seen, we checked in to Journey and wandered into town for a bite at Twist.

We got lucky because when we arrived, they still had two seats available at the chef's table. It was a long bar overlooking the open kitchen and it allowed you to see all the excitement. It was like getting entertainment along with the meal. I'm sure Meena could have done without, but for me, it was wonderful to see all that was happening in there. I think you could probably learn a ton just by eating there once a week.

At any rate, we got started with a bottle from their unbelievable wine list. And to accompany the wine, Meena had:
- spicy tuna tartare (with bell peppers, sesame oil, avocado puree, house-made spiced crackers)

And Alec had:
- 1/4 lb. peel and eat shrimp

For the main course, Meena had:
- seared sea scallops (mashed potatoes, peas & shoestring potatoes, lobster cream sauce)

Alec had:
- sautéed hudson valley duck breast (bacon-wrapped fingerling potatoes, swiss chard
red onion marmalade)

The food was fantastic. And plentiful. We wanted dessert, but we just couldn't do it. We couldn't even (ODDLY) finish our wine. I had to drive back to the Inn, so I didn't want to go nuts. Fortunately for us, they had the most fantastic thing in the world ... the wine doggy bag! In NY you can apparently seal your wine in a bag and take the thing home with you! Fantastic.

But seriously, the food was amazing. We both enjoyed Twist tremendously and we'll be back the next time we hit Hyde Park.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

Dan and Steve came by last night to pick up our buddy Reardon (he's the fish up there) and because we hadn't seen them in what felt like a month, we had a little wine, some tapas and Lil' Frankies delivery!

The little starter included:
- whole wheat baguette
- gouda
- homemade hummus
- roma tomato
- cilantro

And for dinner, Meena had:
- rigatoni with baby meatballs

Dan had:
- pizza angelina

Alec had the delicious:
- pizza marinara

I think everyone enjoyed the food and Reardon was returned to his home after an extended holiday at our house.

We're heading out to Hyde Park tonight to stay at a little bed and breakfast to officially celebrate Meena's birthday. It's in the shadows of the Culinary Institute of America so we're looking to show everyone some great food when we're back!

EXECUTIVE DECISION

Open faced burgers are nothing terribly new for us. Sorry if you've seen it all before, but when I was as the store last night and couldn't reach Meena on her cell, I just had to get to it and make some choices. So ... open faced burgers it is.

I'm still hooked on the whole Anytime concept, so this is yet another variation. It's just so good! This attempt included:
- lamb burger (ground lamb, jalapeño, green onion, worchestershire, olive oil, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes)
- tomato
- red cabbage
- field greens
- homemade hummus
- pepper cream (sour cream, sambal oelek, barbecue sauce)
- toasted bialy

Meena isn't normally a huge fan of lamb so I knew I was taking a chance on this one. But she loved it, thank goodness. She actually raved throughout the entire meal.

I don't have any negatives of consequence. I don't like my photo, I guess. And the burger wasn't a perfect shape or anything. But man, when that lamb gets all caramelized and done ... it's just. so. good.

NOT QUITE

I had to steal another photo. I'm not sure why I ALWAYS forget to take photos at Cube 63 but I do. Sorry!

We weren't in the mood to cook last night (it was 300 degrees ... I didn't want to heat up the apartment), so we wandered down Lower East Side way for some BYOB and great sushi.

Meena had:
- shrimp shumai
- boston roll
- volcano roll (actually pictured above)
- spicy tuna roll

Alec had:
- seaweed salad
- boston roll
- salmon and avocado roll

Everything was delicious. We sat at the bar because it was oddly packed for 7:00, but the food never suffers. I actually think it was better than the last few times I've been. They were on last night.

It was hot in there. That was the only downfall. But it was hot EVERYWHERE last night. Can't fault them for that!

ASIAN SENSATIONS

I've obviously been on a bit of an summer roll kick. I can't deny it. They are pretty delicious. Although I think I might have reached my saturation point last night. I may take a break for a week or two.

But for last night's version, I threw in:
- rice paper rounds
- jalapeño
- red cabbage
- carrot
- cucumber
- cilantro
- smoked salmon
- dipping sauce (hoison, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sambal oelek)

And for our second little dish, we made a noodle salad:
- spaghetti
- garlic
- green onion
- carrot
- red cabbage
- black sesame seeds
- chicken breast
- sesame oil
- rice wine vinegar
- soy sauce
- black pepper
- red pepper flakes

I went easy on the oil in that last dish and I think that it didn't really suffer. Sesame oil is a beautiful thing, but it's not that great for you. So I try to use it in small doses. And a little goes a long way. So no big deal. But the noodles were great.

The summer rolls were good, but I think I liked the shrimp ones the best. If I used smoked salmon again, I'd do something a lot different. I feel like I'd try for something sorta creamy to go with them. I also need to learn how to roll these suckers tighter. I'm just nervous to break the skins. Oh well. Work in progress.

WELCOME HOME LETS EAT THAI

I forgot to snap a photo so you're getting a repeat, but I can assure you, everything was delicious at Tara Thai on Sunday night. When Meena got in from the airport, the little thing was starving so we thought a nice bowl of pad thai would fix her right up.

We started with:
- steamed dumplings

And then we both had:
- chicken pad thai (SPICY)

I hadn't ordered pad thai in a minute and it was totally delicious. I had missed it. It was all wonderful and filling. And this time around, it was even pretty spicy. Usually they hold back a little (which is totally fair ... how do they know I have a superhuman heat tolerance?), but last night they went ahead and threw in the heat.

We're going to miss this place so much. Expect trips back to the EV for some of this stuff.

SATURDAY. JULY. WHAT ELSE?

I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit yesterday for summer rolls and when I woke up this morning, I figured I had to hit Chinatown for some rice paper and shrimp. It seemed the only fitting thing to do before another afternoon Yankee's game.

I should have technically divided this into two posts (because I had the first round for lunch and the next for dinner) but I didn't really feel like it. And they're basically the same thing ... just slightly revised ingredients. So sorry. You get one post.

My lunch version featured the best Chinatown had to offer:
- shrimp (cooked with red pepper flakes, sesame oil, garlic and salt)
- red cabbage
- green onion
- carrot
- cilantro
- dipping sauce (soy, hoisin and sambal oelek)
- rice paper rounds

My dinner round was a vegetarian friendly selection:
- portabello cap (cooked with sambal oelek, sesame oil and hoisin)
- red cabbage
- cucumber
- cilantro
- green onion
- peanut sauce (natural peanut butter, white wine and hoisin)
- rice paper rounds

I think both were really good options. I think the shrimp version was just a touch better. Really only because I love shrimp. That's honestly the only reason. I think the peanut sauce was really nice on the second version. I'm not sure which sauce was better. I don't really want to choose because I think both were good for different reasons.

Meena claims she doesn't like rice paper, but I'm going to make these for her anyway. They're too darn good. She'll see!

IT'S DIFFERENT ... SORTA

I didn't get THAT creative last night. Rather than reinventing the wheel, I used a bunch of what I had leftover from my last mini pita experiment and just added a few new things.

This time around, I used:
- skirt steak (grilled with smoked paprika, salt and black pepper)
- cucumber
- red cabbage
- homemade cucumber sauce
- homemade hummus

The only thing I really did differently was the way everything was arranged. I think that's part of the trick ... just figuring out the proper way to layer this stuff. That and the skirt steak. I still think this would be great with lamb like the Anytime version, but this skirt steak was excellent. I got it just medium and let it have a nice rest before I carved it up. I shouldn't have eaten the whole thing, but I couldn't help myself. It was just delicious.

THIS TIME

I was inspired by my Anytime burger from the 4th and when I was walking the isles at Whole Foods yesterday, I realized I could pick up very few items and probably produce something similar in my own little kitchen. And as it turns out, I could!

My little burgers included:
- mini whole-wheat pitas
- thai chicken sausage
- red cabbage
- cucumber
- homemade hummus (chickpeas, olive oil, garlic, salt, black pepper, red wine vinegar)
- homemade cucumber sauce (cucumbers, greek yogurt, salt, black pepper)
- chile sauce

I'm going to be making this a lot in the future. It was super simple and pretty darn delicious. I think I'll work on the "burger" part. I'd rather have lamb like Anytime, but they didn't have any at Whole Foods so I just made some substitutions. I used the sausage because I knew I could cut it out of the casings and it would be pre-spiced. When Meena is back, I won't mind mixing up my own burgers.

I put too much garlic in my hummus (and I subsequently smell like a garlic patch this morning) . But I don't care. I knew I was putting too much in the processor ... but I love it and that's the way I wanted it to be. So sue me.

I'm taking this again today for lunch. Whoo Hoo!

MORE 4th

I had my own picture of my delicious Anytime burger from Anytime in Williamsburg, but it was really crappy and I decided to just spare you. Just take my word for it ... it was totally delicious.

I can't remember what everyone had ... I know Lopez had chicken fingers and James had a cheeseburger. Diana's meal escapes me. At any rate, I know we all enjoyed the food. I think D thought it was a touch heavy (it was) but I needed it.

My little Anytime burger went like this:
- lamb kebab
- chopped salad
- hummus
- pita

I also had a little side salad and some fries. Entirely delicious. Likely not very nutritious.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA

In what I feel is a rather strange development, I've become a baseball fan. I'm not sure how it happened, but I watch nearly every game I can get my eyes on. And with Meena out of town, I've really pushed even further into this new hobby. Too bad the Yankees are horrible. I haven't watched a win in weeks (they've won ... I just never seem to watch those).

Anyway, for some stupid reason, I bought sushi for my 4th of July lunch. Real American, Alec. I had an IPA from upstate NY, though. That sorta cancels out the Japanese part.

Anyway, the sushi was from Whole Foods. I'm not sure why I went there. Or why I bought it. But it was ok. And it filled me up.

Now I'm going to hit billysburg for some grilled goods and a couple cold brews before the fireworks kick into high gear.

LATE NIGHT

Last night was ready to be another slow evening spent in front of the telly watching some dumb movies, but my friend Cassie from my Miami days gave me a call and we grabbed a couple drinks and chatted about the impossible nature of securing living space in this wonderful city.

We had a couple drinks at Tile bar (which is actually quite affordable and very quaint) and then I hit good old Cinderella for a delicious gyro to go.

They forgot hot sauce, so I ended up slathering this puppy in sambal oelek. It was subsequently VERY spicy. And completely delicious.

REPEAT

I'm not ashamed. This salad is delicious. And it's so much prettier than my photography reveals. The jalapeño is getting all incorporated and mixed. It's even better the second day. That cabbage is up to the challenge. Still crunchy and delicious.

I'll make something new soon. Promise.

PREPARATION

Tonight I felt like if I was going to cook, I should make a bunch of something so I could take it to work with me for lunch the next couple days. After some very brief recipe searching, I just decided to make up a new one for chicken salad. I didn't know what I was going to make, but I knew it would have lots of smoked paprika. Meena isn't a fan, so I thought I'd use it up while she's out of town.

My little salad included:
- chicken breast
- smoked paprika
- salt
- black pepper
- garlic powder
- charred jalapeño
- red cabbage
- low-fat mayo
- cayenne pepper

I also made a little red cabbage salad:
- red cabbage
- olive oil
- salt
- black pepper
- red wine vinegar

This one was pretty solid. It'll be even better on a sandwich tomorrow around 1:00 p.m. But the jalapeño was nice. And the cabbage gave it a nice little crunch. No complaints.

HOME ALONE

With Meena in Milwaukee, I'm not really all that inspired to cook anything too crazy. Case in point - I had a grilled cheese for both dinner last night and lunch this afternoon. Now I feel fairly confident my grilled cheese was superior to the old Kraft singles version. But I'm not delusional ... it's still just grilled cheese.

Mine featured:
- peasant bread
- olive oil
- swiss
- cheddar
- maytag bleu cheese
- smoked paprika

This was actually very delicious. The maytag gave it a nice little pop and the swiss and cheddar melted just right on the crusty bread. Quick, easy, tasty. Expect more of the same the remainder of this week.