Casablanca

A few weeks ago I went over to a friend’s apartment for dinner and a movie—the first of (hopefully many) themed dinner and movie nights.  Same idea as a book club, picking out a movie and making a dinner that somehow ties into the location.  Somehow I had never seen Casablanca before, so we ordered it from Netflix and made a Moroccan dish to have while watching the movie.  The end result was a riff on a chicken tagine which was both healthy and delicious.  We decided not to follow a recipe and just used a general cooking method with whatever vegetables looked good at the grocery store.  That’s the beauty of this recipe; it’s so adaptable to your tastes and would be good with any combination of spices and vegetables.  Start by chopping your vegetables—here, we chose zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, leeks, new potatoes, and chickpeas.  Then, take chicken legs, thighs, and breasts, heavily coated them with a spice mixture of salt, pepper, cumin, curry, turmeric, and cayenne, and browned them in olive oil.  Remove the chicken, add one chopped onion and a couple garlic cloves, sautee vegetables, add the chicken back in with some broth, cover and simmer until done.  Once the initial chopping is done, it’s a very hands-off dinner, allowing for a glass of wine as everything cooks.  It is perfect when served over a bed of couscous or warm pita.

Casablanca was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time.  Granted I haven’t seen a movie in a while, but I loved it nonetheless.  The WWII-era expats living in Morocco, the corrupt Nazis, the drinking, the music, the clothes, the iconic quotes (“Here’s looking at you, kid”), the striking beauty of Ingrid Bergman… I guess there is a reason it’s always on those “best moves of all time” lists.  It made me realize that there are so many classic old films I haven’t seen and need to add to my list; Roman Holiday, Citizen Kane, The African Queen, La Dolce Vita… looks like I have a lot of move-watching to do.  And I’m sure I can come up with some food to go along with them.

First Date

At long last, there was a plan for the aforementioned date.  After going back and forth via text without a ever making a plan, he finally suggested we meet around 9 at a restaurant downtown.  I agreed, slightly annoyed, since I could have much better planned my day (outfit) around a later meeting time, but figured it wasn't the worst thing in the world.  I may be uptight at times, but wouldn't hold it against the guy.

I realized immediately that it the lack of plan and last-minute decisions were not an excuse to play games-- he is just completely free-spirited and relaxed.  It didn't seem to phase him that I showed up 30 minutes latte (traffic, I swear), whereas that would have driven me crazy.

He picked a really cute restaurant called Esperanto, on 9th and Avenue C.  I've never been as far east as C, and it was surprisingly quaint and very quiet.  The restaurant was on a corner and had two blocks of outdoor seating, so we grabbed a table right by one of the windows-- from there, we could faintly hear the Latin music that was playing from the live band inside.

photo courtesy of NubiaMag

The food was Brazilian-inspired; to start, we split potato and cod croquettes and roasted mussels.  The mussels were wonderfully crispy and garlicky-- perfect with a squeeze of lime on top.  The croquettes were to salty for my taste, and they tasted more like salty fried hush puppies.  Something I would definitely skip next time... though I can see their appeal after a few drinks.  As an entree, I had seared tuna, topped with a roasted pepper and avocado salsa.  Overall it was good, the flavors didn't pop, but the fish was cooked perfectly.  And the caipirinhas were amazing.  We then went for a drink next door to this tiny cocktail lounge called Louis 649 which was really cool-- dark lighting, old jazz music, and great cocktails.

He was certainly very different than anyone I've been out with before.  He was interesting, interested, considerate, very into New York, optimistic, artsy, free-spirited...if nothing else, it was a bit of a reality check.  Not only are there so many different types of (single!) people on this island, I could learn a lot from each of them.  I'm not sure if there will be a second date, but if nothing else, I could probably relax a little... it'll take a while, but maybe not making a plan three days in advance isn't the worst thing someone can do.  Though I'll keep hoping for it.

Lambrusco

It seems that each season I get on a kick and have a new drink that I have to have...all the time.  Last summer is was rose wine.  A couple winters ago it was mulled wine.  Prosecco and sea breezes... well, I suppose those are year-round.

My wine du jour is Lambrusco wine, which is a perfect red for the spring and summer.  White wine is fine, but I'm generally much more interested in red.  Lambrusco, from the Emiglia-Romagna region in Italy, is a crisp red with a gentle effervescence-- much less than that of Prosecco-- and fruity but not sweet. 

I first tried this in Italy with pizza, served chilled and in a juice glass.  I can imagine it working well with anything from grilled chicken to pizza to a summer panzanella.  Lambrusco had a bad reputation in the US after the 1970's, but the true Lambrusco wine is nothing like the overly sweet wine which was super trendy back then.  (or so I've heard...)  It's showing up more and more in restaurants-- or better yet, look out for it at your wine store, since it will be at least 300% cheaper there.

Labrusca Lambrusco, retails for about $15

Impromptu Dinner Party

I'm a huge fan of the Sunday Night Dinner, and I would like to bring it back into my life.  Growing up, Sunday night dinner was pretty much non-negotiable--it happened (and still happens) every week with the same menu: macaroni and gravy.  Or pasta and red sauce, for the non-Italians.  Sometimes with meat, sometimes without-- I think it depended on whatever my mom found in the freezer that morning.

I didn't have much going on this past Sunday afternoon, so I invited a couple of friends over for dinner.  I had visions of an impressive Sunday supper dance through my head... until I realized I only had two hours, no groceries, and not enough seating.  After running to Bed Bath and Beyond to pick up a folding chair, I tried to thnk of something fresh, spring-y, filling enough for two large men, and impressive enough for guests.  I remembered a recent episode of "Everyday Italian" on which Giada made herb-roasted chicken breasts with spring vegetables-- I based my menu off a version of that recipe, and made a delicious spring salad which I had just seen (and had been dreaming about) from the April issue of Bon Appetit, filled with some of my all-time favorite things (peas! goat cheese! edamame!).  Coupled with a side of quinoa with scallions and pine nuts and a quick chocolate-ricotta dessert, I was pretty pleased with what came together in a couple of hours.  More importantly, it was such a nice way to spend Sunday night--squeezing out the last few precious minutes of the weekend.  My apartment, next Sunday?  I have a feeling macaroni and gravy might be on the menu...


Herb-Roasted Chicken Breasts with Spring Vegetables
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis
Serves 6

Marinade
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tbls. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbls. fennel seeds
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Chicken and Vegetables
6 bone-in skinless chicken breasts
1 bunch asparagus
5-6 carrots
1 cup cippolini onions (or 1 large red onion)
1 tbls. fennel seeds
1 tsp. fresh thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup white wine

1. Combine all ingredients for marinade in a resealable plastic bag.  Mix to combine and add chicken breasts, marinating for at least 30 minutes.
2. Wash and prepare vegetables: chop asparagus into 2- inch pieces, peel carrots and cut into 2- inch matchsticks, and peel cippolini onions.  If using red onion, peel and cut into wedges, keeping root intact.
3. Preheat oven to 400.  Heat a skillet on the stove with a drop of olive oil until it shimmers.  Working in batches, brown chicken on both sides until a golden crust forms, about 3-4 minutes per side.
4. Scatter vegetables in a large roasting pan, toss with a touch of olive oil, fennel seeds, herbs, salt, and pepper.  Nestle chicken in vegetables and add white wine.
5.  Cook on lower rack of oven until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear, about 20-25 minutes, depending on thickness.  Remove chicken and allow to rest, covered with foil.
6.  Return vegetables to oven, bumping up temperature to 425.  Roast 10 minutes longer, until onions have spots of golden brown and asparagus tips are just turning crispy.

I wish I had taken a picture to post but was in such a rush that I couldn't take a minute to stop... Giada's picture is above (courtesy of cookingchanneltv.com)

Lisa, party of one

So considering the fact that perhaps no one will be reading this (except for maybe my sister and my two delusional friends who agreed this is a great idea), I probably should not be as stressed out as I am about this first post.  But honestly, starting a blog is pretty stressful.  First of all, it's putting yourself on the internet-- and lord knows what kind of crazies are out there.  Actually, I do know, because that one time I did a 30-day free trial of match.com... too much too soon?  You have to think about what your blog "portrays".  Pink is girly, and I'm kind of girly, but not Mariah Carey butterfly girly... so then I went with the navy font to counteract that.  I think I'm the only one who noticed that one.  Then there's the stigma of being a "blogger".  Really cool if you're good and have a huge following-- not so cool if you suck.  Don't let me suck.  Follow me.  Re-reading those sentences makes me realize that having half a bottle of wine before I write may or may not be the best idea-- though most of this will be done after a half bottle of wine.  I am who I am.

Who am I?  Other than a oenophile who may or may not dabble in online dating, I'm a sucker whose roommate thinks that me blogging is the best thing since pasta.  I'm a twenty-something Manhattanite who is a little late to the blogging party but knows its never too late to join a party... who realizes that my everyday existence of work-friends-gym-cooking-dating (when I'm lucky)-going out-sleeping is probably just like everyone else's... but being relatable and shameless is a good thing, right?