Bennett & Pancakes

For my birthday last week, I got the cutest, heart warming birthday picture from my good friend Carolyn's little boy Bennett.  He asked his mom if I would know what the heart meant.(sniff, sniff)  She said this was all his idea and she didn't help him at all.  This was especially special because the "Sophie" he drew is my little dog that bit him last xmas eve.  Oh yes she did.  :-( Sofie is not the most friendly dog to other dogs or children and yes she did bite him, which I felt terribly about.  Worst because I didn't want him to learn to fear dogs. So you can see, this was sooo sweet of him to show how he loved me and my dog.  (Sniff, sniff again.)

Carolyn said that he when couldn't come to my party (it was adults only), he was sooo sad and thus I wanted to thank him for my wonderful card and love. I invited both of them over for breakfast...a pancake breakfast.

I realized, I've not made pancakes from scratch in like forever.  When I worked at the bakery, we served mainly French Toast and so I really couldn't think of the last time I made pancakes other than as a kid with a box of Bisquick.

Where to start, I wasn't sure. The first recipe I thought of was the Clinton St. Baking Co. pancakes.  They are famous for it in NYC, suppose to be one of the best. They also went up against Bobby Flay for it in the throwdown but didn't quite win.  

This was the recipe I wanted to try.  My first real pancakes from scratch.  The unique part of this recipe is separating the egg yolks and the whites.  You whip up the whites until stiff then fold them in the batter.  I also used one of the best vanilla I have that I picked up from a store in Napa. It's from Zeron Fine foods, it's their Double Intensity, pure Veracruz Vanilla extract.  It was $20.00 for a 100ml bottle, worth every cent...so much flavor.  I also used buttermilk vs. the whole milk in their recipe. I love a little tang and the richness that buttermilk gives.

I also set up various topping that they could choose from and help themselves to.  

The pancakes turned out pretty good.  Carolyn said one of the best she's had.  She liked the cake like texture and the vanilla favor.  Bennett ate more bacon than the pancakes.  I'd like it to be alittle more fluffy and soft.  I'll try this again and prob serve it at my next brunch. I love this concept.  I just think homemade pancakes is so special, that you should only do for people you really care about and love.  It just is...

Here is my tweaked recipe from the Clinton St. Baking Co.  I used half the recipe and still managed to make about 12 6" pancakes.  You can use the full recipe below for a large crowd.

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

6 large eggs, separated

3 cups buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

2 teaspoons unsalted butter, unmelted for the griddle and lots more for serving

-Measure the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt into a large bowl.

-In another bowl, whisk together the yolks, milk, melted butter, and vanilla until combined. Slowly whisk the wet mixture into the dry mixture just until combined. The resulting should be slightly lumpy yet still combined.

-Whip the egg whites by hand with a whisk or in the bowl of an electric mixer until they reach medium peaks. You can whip them by hand with a whisk or place them in the bowl of an electric mixer. (Peaks are “soft” when you put your finger in the whites and they fall over. Peaks are “medium” when you put your finger in and they drip over a bit and stand up. “Stiff” peaks develop when you whip the whites longer and they stay up.) You don’t want to over whip the egg whites.

-Gently fold half of the whipped whites into the batter with a large rubber spatula. Then gently fold the remaining whites into the batter. The batter should be slightly lumpy and have large parts of egg whites not fully incorporated and should look like whitecaps in the ocean with foam on top. 

-Heat a griddle — either an electric griddle, a stove top griddle, or a big flat skillet — over medium to medium-low heat. Grease the hot surface with a teaspoon or so of the remaining butter. Drop 1/4 cup of pancake batter on the griddle. When you see bubbles start to form on top, lift the pancake halfway up to see if it’s golden brown and crisp at the edges. If it is, flip the pancake and cook until golden brown on both sides. Remove to a plate with a spatula.

-Repeat with the remaining batter and filling, adding more butter to the griddle as needed and cooking several pancakes at a time. Serve immediately with butter, maple syrup, fresh fruit, and nuts.

Bennett had some fun creating faces on his pancakes. Little kids just love that. He is such a cute loving kid, gave me lots of hugs and kisses this morning. He made my day....

Birdbath Bakery - NYC

The Birdbath is a lovely neighborhood "green" bakery in NYC.  I came across this bakery by accident, in that it was not on my list but  a pit stop during the Sex in the City tour we took while in NYC.  How wonderful for me because I fell in love this place and it was an inspiration when I open my own bakery some day!
http://birdbathbakery.com/ 

I got a  chocolate chip cookie and iced coffee.  The iced coffee was one of the best I've had.  So creamy and no bitterness at all.  Mmmm...I still remember it.  The cookie was very rustic, crunchy, and buttery.  

Check out the beautiful pumpkin pie they had fresh that day.

This place was created by the Maury Rubin chef owner of City Bakery. One of the old time, popular bakery in NYC.  He was known for his tarts and now is popular for the Pretzel Croissant.  I have his tart cookbook.

I wish I had tried the Pretzel Croissant. I regret this and can't wait for my next trip to NYC.

Dale Talde of Top Chef

Soung and I met Dale Talde from Top Chef while we were on the Sex In The City Tour (SITC).  :)  I know that's another story.  

He was super nice and friendly.  He was on a photoshoot for Top Chef All Stars.  He is now Executive Chef at Buddakan which is a really hot, cool restaurant at Chelsea Market.  This market houses the corporate office of Food Network.  

Buddakan was also the site of the engagement party on the first SITC movie, thus we were there with the tour.  We didn't get a chance to eat here but is on the list for next year.

This was where Samantha gave a toast to Carrie as the maiden of honor.  

Scarpetta in NYC

Here is a little more from the NYC trip...Scarpetta


On our last night, we went to Scarpetta which is the home of the $24.00 Spaghetti.  It is own by uber chef and restaurateur: Scott Conant.  He has many uber restaurants from NYC to Las Vegas.  You might have seen him as Top Chef judge or food network.


On the show "The Best I Ever Ate", Ted Allen says that this is the best sauced item he has ever had.  The way it was described on the show was, freshly made pasta, freshly tomatoes made sauce, and yadi, yadi, yada.


So the anticipation was high!  Had to get this meal in before leaving back to Seattle.  So, I met my friend Heather and my foodie sister in tow, we went.  


All three of us ordered the spaghetti.  If it was the best, we were NOT going to share...


Well...what can I say.  It didn't quite live up to the hype.  It was good.  The fresh pasta was amazing but the sauce had too much cheese and the tomatoes were not that flavorful.  The sauce was flat for all of us.  I like my spaghetti with very vibrant flavors of tomatoes, like the sauce you get on a Maragreita pizza, very fresh, sweet, tart, and very tomatoey.  


The restaurant was beautiful though.  See and be seen.  The kind of place where taking photos of food made you feel like you wouldn't belong.  


I did take some pics but turned off the flash so it wouldn't interrupt the other diners, and the pics turned out blurry.  The only pic that did get a flash in was this Polenta with Truffled Mushroom dish that Soung got.  


The famous spaghetti.  Perhaps the photo serves it well as the flavors were blurry to me.

Here is a photo is from their website so you can see the true dish.

Polenta with Truffled Mushrooms.  I wish I had ordered this.  Soung gave me a bite but ate it mostly herself.  :)

I also had a beet salad but it's too blurry to post.


Banana Budino with Pecan Gelato and Oat Tulle. This dessert was amazing and lived beyond my expectations.  I hope to create and execute desserts like this!

This place does have amazing food and experience to be had.   The spaghetti just didn't meet expectations but otherwise, their food and service is perfection.  

If you are in NYC or Las Vegas, do try this place.  Scott is a genius!

Serendipity 3

The home of the "Frozen Hot Chocolate".  The famous sugary place that has been in countless movies set in NYC like Serendipity and One Fine Day.  It's a legendary place that has been around since 1954.

The frozen hot chocolate is like a chocolate slurpee with lots of whipped cream and chocolate shaving.  I thought it was going to be a cold/hot dessert with real warm hot chocolate over ice cream.  It was nothing like that. It was good and actually nice that the actual shake like concoction was an icy slurpee because it made it less rich.


So silly!  Soung and I are truely on a NYC food tour or else we would not have anything like this normally.  Well...I would.  :)  But we could not finish. Hate wasting food.

Doughnut Plant

For those that know me...you know how I love my doughnuts.  I've found the best doughnut in the world.  This one didn't disappoint!  It met all my expectations and more.  It's the Doughnut Plant's creations.  I just love it when someone specializes in something and makes it so well to perfection.   I will truely miss this one.  And yes Mike!  This is so much better than Krispy Kreme! 


Coconut Cream
Really filled with coconut cream not some sugary stuff.  It's like the coconut cream that tops black rice sticky pudding.  Yummy!

Apple Cinnamon
This was great fresh apple flavor. They use real fruit and not flavoring. See the apple pieces.

Peanut Butter and Blackberry Jam
They make their own jam to fill these.

Doughnut Plant
379 Grand Street
NY, NY 10002
http://www.doughnutplant.com/

Bouchon Bakery

Yum! Yum! Yum!

My other chef idol is Thomas Keller.  He has a bakery called Bouchon Bakery.  This is his spin from Bouchon bistro which is supposed to be like a bistro in Paris.  I'm assuming the bakery is also the same.


The bakery in NYC is located in the Time Warner Building which is like the Bravern in Seattle. An upscale mall with business offices.  This one had a Whole Food on the bottom floor, 3 floors of shopping.  One of the biggest William and Sonomas I've seen that even had furniture.  This building also housed his Per Se restaurant which is 275 per person for the pre fixed meal.


Anyway, I found this place very lovely and very inspired when I open my own place some day.  One thing about Thomas Keller is that everything is so prestine.  Lovely and perfect.  It feels like Martha Stewart like but even crisper and with a touch of white gloves.   They also had sit down lunch, as well as a walk up counter of cafe.  The food looked amazing!

Chocolate Eclair

Doughnut
This is a nice beneigh topped with chocolate covered somekind of krispies.  Each of these little balls are like rice crispies.

Chocolate Tart

Bouchon Bakery NYC

Ten Columbus Circle

Third Floor

New York, NY 10019

WD-50

Tonight was suppose to be the dinner at the creme de la creme...WD-50.  Wylie Dufresne restaurant in NYC.

50 Clinton Street

New York, NY 10002

http://www.wd-50.com/info.html

I have been waiting and eager to try this place for sometime.   I am a huge fan of Wylie Dufresne, for his passion, technique, vision, and his love-play for food. 


Well...I don't know.  The food didn't blow me or Soung away.  It was good, fun, and an experience, but I think I was expecting too much.  It seems this way with these uber chef's places.  David Chang's place was a disappoint and this wasn't but, i don't think I need to go back.


Soung and I both forgot our cameras, and both our phones were weak on batteries to take pics.  This is what happens when you book a 10pm dinner and take a little nap break before hand.  Luckily, his website has some pics of the dinner and discriptions so I pulled the pics that I could from his site here.  Here is what we had.


For starters...
Eggs Benedict
This is what Soung had.  It was a deconstructed.  The play is that the egg yolks are a solid.  The cream sauce was encapsuled into the breaded cubes.  Soung had the florentine version since she didn't eat ham.  It was a spinach chip.  She said it tasted best when she ate it with all the components in one bite.  It tasted like the breakfast food.  It was important for her to try this because she heard Wylie's favorite food was breakfast and this is what he would eat as his last meal.

Cheese and Broccoli Soup with Pickled Onions  
This was just a bowl of cream soup, with small blanched broccoli pieces, pickled read onion, and a cheese twill. 




Main...
Parsnip Tart
Soung had this and it had some smoked quinoa, hazelnuts, steamed bok choy, on a parnip pureed glee, fried parsnip chips, and flat cracker.  Again, all deconstructed.  Tasted a bit bland and the fried parsnip felt like it had been sitting around for a bit.


Arctic Char with Snow Pea, Fried Yucca, Cherry-Black Bean Sauce
This is what I had and it was pretty good.  Fish cooked perfectly and the sauce was very savory and flavorful.  I didn't care for the fried skin,  Again, felt it was fried a head of time and sat too long.  The fried yucca tasted a lot like tater tots.  Not kidding.

Dessert...
Hazelnut Tart with Coconut, Chocolate, Chicory
This was by far my favorite.  It was actually a coconut cream tart with a layer of nutella chocolate layer.  The hazelnut was nicely toasted and salted, but I could do without the foam.  I don't one person who likes the foam unless it's on a latte or cappuchino, not on dinner.  It didn't add anything to the dessert. 

All in all, not bad but not tremendous.  What I did like was that the chef was there in the kitchen being the executive and checking each plate before it left the kitchen.  If I didn't forget my camera, I would have prob asked to take a picture with him. I have no shame.  I still love him and admire him very much.

Candle 79

Candle 79 is a vegan restaurant on Soung's list of places to check out.  Being the nice sister that I am, I of course go with her to try.  Well don't tell her but it was not good and too pricy.  The worst 32.00 I've spent.  Not going to say anything more.  Vegan is enough.  Food is pretty but ugh yuk for me.  

154 East 79th Street

New York, NY 10021

STEAMED DUMPLINGS - seitan, shiitake mushrooms,baby bok choy, sesame-ginger-soy sauce

I asked them what they are known for. They said this was their signature dish.
SEITAN PICCATA - creamed spinach, grilled potato cake,oyster mushrooms, lemon-caper sauce

Soung had this.
CARIBBEAN JERK GRILLED TEMPEH - plantains, collard greens, black bean sauce, coconut-green papaya salsa, habañero-cilantro coulis

Momofuku Noodle Bar and Milk Bar

Last night, we had dinner at the Momofuku Noodle Bar and grabbed some desserts from the Milkbar.

I've been waiting since 2007 to try this place.  I've been dying to try the Crack Pie that Anderson Cooper has been raving about.


Well....


Expectations set too high?  I don't know...was good but not great and did not meet the expectations. 


Some things were good, but maybe it's because I am Korean and know the authentic Korean flavors and know my mom's food's flavors.  It wasn't so exotic for me and the flavors were not new.  I don't know but... David, you didn't meet the hype.  Definititly not in the baked goods department which is my love.  






Noodle Bar


They had more vegetarian dishes than I had anticipated. 


Steamed Buns
We had the veggie version with the shitake mushrooms.  The pork version is the one he made famous.  The mushrooms were too salty. There was some cool sweet pickled cucumbers but not sweet enough.


Beet Salad with Cream
This was a hit. It was roasted beets with blood orange, nori nibs, some buttermilk cream sauce.  This was good and beautifully food.  Or as Lucas said...fancy food.

Roasted Cauliflower
This was mediocure at the best for me. Soung seem to like.  Had brown butter, some raisins and pine nuts.


Jar of Kim Chee
This was surprisingly good but didn't have enough cabbage.  It was full of the chili pepper case. I like the jar it came in. 

Ginger Noodle
This is what Soung and I had.  It was more like a noodle salad.  Had some same shitake mushrooms in the steam buns, some greens, seaweed, ginger, and some oil.  Too salty and not that great.  The noodle texture was good though.

Momofuku Noodle
This is the classic pork ramen  with eggs and seaweed.  Lucus and Heather had this and seemed to like it.  I wish they had some veggie version of this.  I wanted a warm bowl of soup like this.  

The wait for the Noodle Bar was about an hour so we decided to hike over to the Milk Bar first and get some sweets.  Here we are after getting our goodies, sitting outside of Milk Bar and just eating desserts before our dinner.  My way of eating!  :)

Milk Bar
I'm not kidding when I said that Anderson Cooper loves this Crack Pie.  He was guest hosting Regis and Kelly and was talking non stop about this.  So, I was expecting something really salty, creamy, but really, it was some condensed milk thin cold pie.   We also got the Compost Cookie which was suppose to be like a cookie with everything but the kitchen sink but it wasn't.  Just some simple choc chip like cookie, very thin.  Not impressive.  We also got this Birthday Cake Truffles, which was good but flat on flavor.  Perhaps I'm being tough but I just expected a lot, prob too much.    The best thing was probaby the Apple Pie Cake that Lucus got but I didn't get to try. 


Crack Pie

Apple Pie Cake

Momfuku has some great concepts and I wanted to love the food but it wasn't.  The place has some good environment but food was flat for me.  Perhaps this is because I'm veggie and you need to have the meat dishes.   I am a dessert lover so did expect to love Milk Bar but it wasn't for me.    I got some great insprirations. 


I do love that he uses many organic ingredients and most are local.  He lists where he sources his vendors as well.


I'm going to make my own version of "crack" pie.  A pie that is so addictive but will be nothing like this gooie buttery stuff.  Mine will have salt, chocolate, and much more!

NYC Food Tour

It's been so long since my last post and it's due to my busy day job.  But....I am in NYC for next 11 days and food tour here we come!   I have a long list of places to check out, more places than the days will allow us to eat.  I will capture it all!  

Palma NYC

We are arrived in NYC late last night!   For our first meal, we decided to eat a late dinner at below the apartment we are renting from.  The place is called Palma. It's an organic, rustic, family italian restaurant.  The food was AMAZING!  The atmosphere was so rustic, neighborhood, and urban living that I love!!!!  We need more places like this in Seattle.  Check out our foods...

28 Cornelia Street
New York, NY 10014
http://www.palmanyc.com/


Bread and Eggplant Caponata

They started us off with some homemade flat bread and some stewed eggplant and peppers. 

Carciofi Croccanti

Crispy deep fried artichokes with parmigiano and parsley

These were amazing!

Fettuccine ai Funghi

Homemade fettuccine pasta with mixed mushrooms and truffle pate

So much truffle flavors...

Agonolotti di Spinaci

Homemade pasta filled with spinach and buffalo ricotta  in tomatoe sauce, parmigiano, and basil.

You can always tell a great italian by their tomatoe sauce.  It's one of the simpliest and basic item but hard to master.  This was no exception.  I think the organic ingredients really make a difference in flavor.


Simple Tirimisu

The place was so cute and rustic. Love the light fixture.  The funny thing is that since we are renting the apartment above, its decorated very similiar and felt like an extention of our NYC place.  The people were all speaking Italian too.  Just a lovely neighborhood spot with great food.  Just my kind of place!