NEW AMSTERDAM MARKET

Roughly a week ago I attended the New Amsterdam Market in the South Sea Port, basically at the tip of Manhattan. This was my first visit, and I am kicking myself for not attending sooner. New Amsterdam Market is held the third Sunday of each month, and while it is unclear whether it will continue next year, I certainly hope they gain the necessary support to keep it open.

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THANKSGIVING DINNER RECAP

 

For Thanksgiving Day, my husband and I headed over to his parents in rural New Jersey. It was utter mayhem in New York Thursday morning as we ran across town to get to the train station. It was a futile attempt as we were competing with a crowd of spectators and performers in attendance for the Macy's Day parade. Several times my eye brows raised and scrunched from being bumped, jabbed and just downright assaulted from surrounding directions, altogether way too rapidly for me to know what was happening. I'm sure my face indicated that I was suffering from some sort of spasmodic attack.

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THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS

I don't need to elaborate on which countdown I am referring to. You already know. Long before the turkey was allowed to go cold and even before the cranberry sauce hit the table, chatter abounded about Black Friday. After all there were only a few hours to ration before the stroke of midnight, when the real consumption began.

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I wanted to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. I hope that everyone is able to enjoy this holiday with loved ones. It's a good time to reflect on this past year, be thankful for all that we have been blessed with and plan for what we may look forward to in the future.

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SWEET POTATO CRANBERRY HASH

I know many of you probably have already sketched out and finalized your plans for Thanksgiving Day.  Recipes have been tested, fine china and silver polished, and a well-thought out orchestration of how each dish will be prepared, has been set. That's a lot of pressure. Thank goodness nobody put me in charge!

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MA PECHE RESTAURANT A MOMOFUKU SNEAK PEAK

The chef that brought you Momofuku Noodle Bar, Ssam Bar, Ko and Milk Bar, will be opening a new restaurant in  midtown Manhattan, Ma Peche, next door to the modern and sleek Chambers Hotel on 56th between 5th and 6th Avenue.

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DUCK A L'ORANGE RECIPE

Last week while watching The Departed, a Martin Scorsese movie, one of the main characters played by Matt Damon pompously laments toward the end of an elegant dinner at a French restaurant that it was able to offer an extravagant-looking dessert but not duck a l'orange. Do all fancy French restaurants serve duck a l'orange? Not from my experience, but that was probably the point.

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WHAT DO YOU FIND BEAUTIFUL?

Recently I encountered a question on Fresh New England's blog, "What do you find beautiful?" As many of you probably know, I find tremendous beauty in nature, farms and naturally the fresh produce at the farmer's market. Being surrounded by such incredible beauty has inspired much thought for me about what I see as beautiful, and why.

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SMOKY SHRIMP AND CHORIZO SOUP

It's been a busy few days for me running to one meeting after another. The only thing that keeps me sane these days is chocolate and coffee.

This past weekend when I had some time to slow down and cook, I decided to make smoky shrimp and chorizo soup from a recipe that I had bookmarked in Food & Wine magazine from two months ago. It's about time!

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GARAM MARSALA RECIPE

Each month I visit the Union Square Farmers' Market for the purpose of bringing back photos of  seasonal fruits and vegetables to share in the post 'Fresh from New York'.  This month's Fresh from New York will be featured as a guest post on Chow and Chatter. Rebecca writes a lovely blog that focuses on nutrition and Indian cuisine. She has encouraged me to start my own collection of Indian curry mixes, so I am sharing with you a recipe for garam marsala (below), which Rebecca frequently uses in her cooking.  When you have a chance, please visit Chow and Chatter to read this month's Fresh From New York.  

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ABURIYA KINNOSUKE

When Food & Wine magazine's Editor-in-Chief Dana Cowin set out to gain a better understanding of Japanese food, she visited a handful of restaurants that specialized in a few of the fundamental concepts of traditional Japanese cuisine: tofu, robata, yakitori, soba and kaiseki.

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Chinese Braised Oxtail Stew Recipe

When I was younger, my mother refused to allow me to cook. She desired no help in the kitchen, moreover did not want any of her children learning how to cook, instead she insisted that we focus on school work. I'm not sure if she lacked the patience or if it she did not want us distracted by the labor involved with cooking, looking back it was probably both.

Consequently none of her three children know a single recipe for the dishes they grew up consuming, and the culinary skills they have developed as adults are independent of what they have learned from their childhood.

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