FOODYHOLIC'S Choice: January 2014

Monday, January 27, 2014

FUKUROU - Japanese Restaurant

My latest favorite Japanese restaurant in Greenwich Village

And here are the dishes we ate!

Fried seaweed for appetizer

Avocado tofu was smooth and light. You dip it in sauce with wasabe

Fried chicken that falls off the bone skewered well so you don't have to pick it up with your fingers

Black ribs - grilled with some miso sauce

Seafood rice. Order this first because of the delicate flavor

Eel in special house sauce

Cheesecake with sweet "pickled" Cherry tomatoes (so good - not sweet and like a chiffon cake)

Mango cheesecake - more like a mousse.

We live everything we ate and very reasonably priced!

Fukurou

87 MacDougal St, New York, NY 10012

Greenwich Village

http://fukurou.soh.bz

#ORIENTAL GARDEN RESTAURANT

We recently celebrated a family birthday party at the Oriental Garden. Just as I heard about it from another friend, I got to attend the party at this restaurant. Lucky me! They just read my mind!

This restaurant rates high in my list for authentic Chinese food. It's not usual soy sauce paradise except for the scallops on tofu.

The lobsters above was excellent

Above are scallops on silky tofu

The beef dish was very tender

The table setting was better than usual with a fancy glass Lazy Susan

Above, were dumplings as part of the appetizer

Above was my favorite appetizer, crab claws with fine tiny fish that looked like fried noodles.

ORIENTAL GARDEN

14 Elizabeth St
(between Canal St & Bayard St)
New York, NY 10013
Neighborhood: Chinatown

(212) 619-0085

orientalgardenny.com

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Grilled Prawns and Pasta

I picked up some fresh whole fresh prawns originating from the Mediterranean Sea. Tonight, I decided to broil it served with baby the baby octopus I picked from the seafood place as well.

First, I marinated the fresh baby octopus overnight in:

1TB minced garlic

1 tsp oregano

2TB lemon juice

1/3 cup olive oil

SHRIMP:

Combine

4 cloves of minced garlic

1TB of minced fresh parsley

1/3 c olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

Pepper to taste

12 6 inch bamboo skewers

Slit the back of each shrimp and coat the open side with the mixture above.

Broil in Lo broiler setting for about 6 minutes with the squid in the same pan with a drain. (Broiler pan)

Remove shrimp and continue to broil the octopus in the other side for another 3 minutes.

PASTA

Boil linguine pasta per box instruction, drain when cooked aldehyde a out 8 minutes and set aside. Pour some olive oil to separate and prevent the nooes from sticking.

SAUCE:

1/2 pint of premium sundried tomatoes in olive oil with wine

2 TB capers

1/2 can of anchovy fillet

2 cloves minced garlic

1/3 c olive oil

1 tsp to 1TB dried crushed red pepper

Heat olive oil in wok or pan then add the garlic. Before garlic turns golden, add the rest of the ingredients including the juice and oil of the sundried tomatoes, the marinade from the octopus, some of the oil of the anchovies and let it simmer for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Serve the grilled seafood with fresh lemon slice(s) and grated aged Parmesan cheese.

You can even add arugula on top if your pasta and mix it in - if you don't feel like making salad.

Enjoy this health seafood dinner!

Monday, January 20, 2014

FEAST is definitely a feast!

I couldn't remember what food I ate in here before but I knew I wanted to go back.

Tonight, we tried the Farmer Feast. It is their vegetarian feast. We had about 8 items that was served to us. Everything was well prepared including their light and crisp home made bread

Parsnip soup

We started with parsnip soup

We then had the nitrate and beers

The acorn squash was just awesome with baked seeds

Mini pizza

Kale salad with poached pears

Toasty crisp stuffed eggplant

Cannelloni stuffed with acorn squash

Apple crisp slice on top if vanilla ice cream and apple crumble for desser

MY BROILED FISH

This has Asian twist and a very easy fish dish to make.

Ingredients:

1 to 1-1/2 lbs of fish fillet (I have been using a Peruvian fish using half of the fish of a whole side - you can use salmon as well)

Mix in a separate bowl:

1/3 to 1/2 of sweet pepper sliced

1/3 of an average sizes onion, sliced

1 small shallot minced

4 TB organic ketchup

1TB sugar

2 tsp Worcestershire suce

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/3 c grape seed or canola oil

2 TB soy sauce

1 inch peeled ginger sliced thinly

Salt and pepper the fish fillet.

Line a broiling pan with aluminum foil.

Spread some oil on the back of the fish and lay on the pan. Season the fish with a little salt and pepper to taste (about 1 tsp salt total).

Spread the mixture all over the fish trying to cover it around with the mjsxyure.

Broil in Lo or medi flame for 10 minutes. Remive promptly and serve.

Lately, this has been my favorite fish dish to make at home. Serve with a little rice and vegetable in the side.

Friday, January 17, 2014

#King's #Cake

Per Wikipedia:

A king cake (sometimes rendered askingcake, kings' cake, king's cake, or three kings cake) is a type of cake associated with the festival of Epiphany in the Christmasseason in a number of countries, and in other places with the pre-Lenten celebrations ofMardi Gras / Carnival. It is a popular food item during the Christmas season (Christmas Eve to Epiphany) in Belgium, France, Quebecand Switzerland (galette or gâteau des Roisor galette des rois), Portugal (bolo rei), Spain, and Spanish America (roscón or rosca de reyes and tortell in Catalonia), Greece and Cyprus (vasilopita) and Bulgaria (banitsa). In the United States, Carnival is traditionally observed in the Southeastern region of the country, particularly in New Orleans, Mobile,Pensacola, Galveston, and other towns and cities of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In this region, the king cake is closely associated with Mardi Gras traditions and is served throughout the Carnival season, which lasts from Epiphany Eve to Fat Tuesday.

Therefore, I decided to compare Sucre's if New Orlean's King cake with 3 of the traditional French versions:

Above:

First King cake on the top left corner is my favorite from Laduree.

On the right hand top corner photo is New Orlean's version of King cake from Sucre. This version is like a brioche dough filled with sweet cream cheese.

My conclusion is that the French Version are all flakey like a croissant filled with some type of marzipan based filling; except for Eric Kayser's Boulangerie which filled it with apples plus some marzipan. (As explained to me by the sales person when I bought it). All have surprise charms in it. And whoever gets the charm in their slice is King!

The sliced flakey King cake was from Benoit which was close to Laduree except Laduree's filling seemed a bit more moist. Which is why it is my favorite of them all. And my 2nd favorite is the one from Sucre which is a different recipe from the traditional French King cake. A little sweeter but it was moist.

I wish I could check out the King cake from Portugal and maybe even in Bulgaria and see how they make them.

Whatever the other versions may be, these cakes traditionally only appear in January - except for New Orleans - they're available through Mardi gras.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

COBURG PALACE's SILVIO NICKOL

After a couple of weeks in Greece and Turkey, I was in for a formal haute cuisine in Vienna.

FOODYHOLIC'S Choice

STROFI - Athens, Greece
3/1/2014
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUrl-a_partnerKey.1-a_url.http%3A__2F____2F__www__2E__strofi__2E__gr-a_urlKey.5e0bd9bfd6b17b378.html
#MATSUNOSUKE (New Japanese treat spot)
2/21/2014
This is a new Japanese cafe and pastry shop originally from Tokyo and Kyoto - now also in New York!…
MYSTTIK MASAALA (Food Truck)
2/7/2014
Mysttik Masaala304 E 44 StMidtown East This place is overrated. I would rather have Indian buffets where I can sit.My…

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FOODYHOLIC'S Choice

#MATSUNOSUKE (New Japanese treat spot)
2/21/2014
This is a new Japanese cafe and pastry shop originally from Tokyo and Kyoto - now also in New York!…
MYSTTIK MASAALA (Food Truck)
2/7/2014
Mysttik Masaala304 E 44 StMidtown East This place is overrated. I would rather have Indian buffets where I can sit.My…
#Gotham Market
2/21/2014
Gotham Market is la food hall in Midtown West called Linton area in Manhattan.The restaurant I chose specialized in Spanish…

Subscribe to this Feed

FOODYHOLIC'S Choice

#MATSUNOSUKE (New Japanese treat spot)
2/21/2014
This is a new Japanese cafe and pastry shop originally from Tokyo and Kyoto - now also in New York!…
MYSTTIK MASAALA (Food Truck)
2/7/2014
Mysttik Masaala304 E 44 StMidtown East This place is overrated. I would rather have Indian buffets where I can sit.My…
#Gotham Market
2/21/2014
Gotham Market is la food hall in Midtown West called Linton area in Manhattan.The restaurant I chose specialized in Spanish…

Subscribe to this Feed

FOODYHOLIC'S Choice

#MATSUNOSUKE (New Japanese treat spot)
2/21/2014
This is a new Japanese cafe and pastry shop originally from Tokyo and Kyoto - now also in New York!…
MYSTTIK MASAALA (Food Truck)
2/7/2014
Mysttik Masaala304 E 44 StMidtown East This place is overrated. I would rather have Indian buffets where I can sit.My…
#Gotham Market
2/21/2014
Gotham Market is la food hall in Midtown West called Linton area in Manhattan.The restaurant I chose specialized in Spanish…

Subscribe to this Feed

I have never been to Vienna so I had to plan a very packed weekend to taste, view and see everything I could from Friday night and leave Monday morning. If you schedule everything in advance, one will be able to achieve a highlighted stay.

I knew had to choose a restaurant that is something different to remember my trip. I researched the best in the list you can find within the area of my hotel in the heart of Vienna. And that is how I ended up with Silvio Nickol.

1) Appetizer: Balhau - Caviar - Black cumin, Veal tartar - pumpkin