Christmas with the folks

It's Christmas time! This is definitely my favorite time of the holidays....it's a time where society is happier as a whole, festive music is playing all day long, and people exchange gifts with their friends and loved ones. Again, being the adventurous young soul that I am, I went back to Texas to spend time with my mother and father....I really need to do something else besides always going to Texas for the holidays; at this point it seems predictable. Maybe I'll go to Jamaica and surf with the locals, or travel to the Maldives and soak in its natural beauty.

One thing I really enjoy every time I'm home is eating at Seasons 52. So, as one can predict, I went to Seasons 52 yesterday. I know, I know....I recently blogged about this place, but I promise, it'll be about new dishes. Give me some credit, please.

Appetizers: 
1) My mom actually saw the table next to us ordering this. It's 3 chicken skewers presented as a tower. Beneath it is a apple salad with a sour apple vinaigrette. The chicken skewers were delicious; perfectly moist and cooked. Not too dry, yet not too soggy. And yes, before you ask, I have had soggy chicken, and it's disgusting. Kinda like eating a slug. Unfortunately, I'm not too much of a fan of salads, let alone fancy salads with a sour apple vinaigrette. It wasn't bad (I'm sure salad lovers would adore its taste), but for me, it was ok. Luckily, I had my parents to help me finish it off.

2) Lemmongrass mussels. We ordered this last time...still as delicious as last time. It's nice to come back to familiar food.

 * from top to bottom: mussels, chicken skewers

Main course: 
1) now, what makes Seasons 52 unique is that in addition to their year round menu, they have a seasonal menu where, based on the month and time of the year, they will have dishes that are "in season:"...aka special dishes. Both my dad and I ordered from the seasonal menu; in particular, we ordered BRANZINO WITH LEMON, THYME, and VEGGIES/POTATOES, I really enjoy Branzino, and I rarely get a chance to eat it. What's great about this dish was that there was some table side service in that the dish is served ala this picture right here: 

Now the waiter will cut up the fish, and remove all the lemons and limes that are wedged in between the fish...ala this photo:

They say a picture's worth a thousand words: the picture of the fish above should describe just how delicious this fish was.

* Getting the branzino sliced open!

 

* My dad and I 

 

* My mom and I

* the family, we look so happy! Probably because of the delicious food we're about to have!



Dessert:
1) This was also a seasonal dish that I ordered...it was an Eggnog Mousse. I'm not gonna lie, it was very sweet..a little sweeter than I would have liked...but if you notice the container it's served in, it's tiny. So overall, this was actually the right amount of dessert to eat. If I had a normal portion that is usually served in steakhouses or other restaurants, I would have died. But overall, this dish was delicious. I love eggnogg; if there was only one thing I'd critique, it'd be the sweetness of the mousses.

2) I also ordered a cappuccino! It had the perfect ratio of foam to coffee. The foam was very light and fluffy that for a second, my mouth felt like it was floating on a cloud! This place definitely knows how to brew their coffee!

Again, if you can't tell by my review, Seasons 52 has crept up to my top restaurant in Texas. Rarely do you find a restaurant that serves an impeccable three course meal with nothing to really critique about. Yeah, the dessert was really sweet, but that was me nitpicking with a fine tooth comb. I highly recommend this place to anybody who's visiting the Dallas Area.

Thanksgiving 2013

I had probably the best Thanksgiving dinner of my life. And to nobody's surprise (I hope), it was because I spent Thanksgiving at home in Dallas, Texas, eating my mom's cooking. Holy !@$)(%, she really pulled out her guns this time and flexed her muscle! As a family, we decided to change the game up a bit from a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Instead of the usual Thanksgiving spread, such as turkey, yams, and stuffing, we had more of an "Asian" inspired meal. The meal was inspired based on the teachings of the great Chinese philosopher, Ming Tsai. He is probably the most famous Asian celebrity chef and was a household name on the Food Network, hosting his famous show "East meets West." I must give my thanks to him, for dinner would not be possible without his contributions to society.

The meal was a twist on the famous Peking duck dish. However, instead of using duck as the main protein, the recipe calls for using Pork Belly. I have discovered that Pork Belly is probably one of my top 3 favorite foods in the world, especially when it's prepared the "Ming Tsai" way. So, without further ado, here is:

Ming Tsai's Pork Belly 

1) First, you need to gather all the ingredients together to make the rub. It calls for 2 Tbsp of Korean chile flakes. I cheated and used Japanese flakes instead. Oops. In addition, you need 1 Tbsp of sugar, and 1 Tbsp of salt.

* Then, you need to mix it all together using your "dextrous" wrists, so everything is evened out!

2) Next, you gots to rub the mixture all over THREE WHOLE POUNDS of pork belly. Then, you need to leave it in the fridge overnight...allowing the meat to soak in the delicious flavors of the rub.

* staring at this makes me very hungry!

3) I forgot to mention that you need to put the pork belly in the fridge uncovered. That is my bad.

4) Now, after you've had a good night's sleep, and pork belly has been sitting in the fridge over night, it's time to take it out. But before you do, you've got to do some prep work:
a) Find a roasting pan with a flat rack on the top. The picture below will perfectly display this.
b) Pour 1.5 cups of rice vinegar into this roasting pan.
c) Celebrate that you were able to accomplish this task

* From left to right: Rice wine and roasting pan

5) Place the Pork Belly on top of the flat rack, with the fat facing on top. Now, slice a DIAMOND SHAPE PATTERN into the fat. I like this recipe because not only are you cooking, but you're also getting a world class education. The recipe calls for Diamond shaped patterns, not triangular or rectangular shaped patterns. You need to have a prior knowledge of shapes before attempting this dish.

* I have expertly wielded the knife to slice diamond patterns into the fat.

6) Now, you need to cover the pork belly tightly with foil, and put in in a 359 degree oven for about an hour, until all the liquid has evaporated. The liquid = the vinegar. Keep up with me. Why 359 instead of the customary 375? Because that's what the recipe calls for, and you NEVER deviate from the recipe. After the necessary time has elapsed, let the dish cool.

7) This is what the pork dish looks like when it cools:

* SEXY!

8) Now, you've got to step it up a notch and take this cooking to the next level. The BBQ LEVEL!!! Step outside, brave the chilly weather that you're about to face, and walk to your bbq grill. Turn it on, and grill the pork belly on each side for the 6 minutes.

* Make sure the grill is clean. If not, you're gonna have to clean the grill before actually partaking in any grilling action!

9) This is my favorite part. Once the grilling is complete, cut the pork belly into two-inch squares.

The pork belly dish is complete. Just stop and admire this perfection...

Now, in addition to pork belly, we also cooked duck. SURPRISE!!! I didn't mention it at the beginning of my post because I wanted to focus on the pork belly, and trick ya'll.

1) This is the duck in the rotisserie. We bought a pre-marinated duck...to save time...and so that we could focus on the pork belly, the star of the Thanksgiving dinner!

* Duck in rotisserie

2) This is the duck after being cooked for about 30 minutes.

* I always feel sorry for the duck. It looks so helpless with its butt sticking up in the air.

3) I wanted to add this photo because it shows how badass my mom is. She is taking out the duck from the rotisserie machine all by herself. For those of ya'll who own rotisserie machines, ya'll understand how difficult it can be to remove anything from a rotisserie oven.

* Badass Mama Lee at work

4) Now, the meal wouldn't be complete without some steamed buns!

So as you can tell, this Thanksgiving was one for the ages. Good food, amazing family, yay to me! The pork belly was sooo succulent and flavorful. If anybody wants to come visit me for Thanksgiving in Texas next year, you will have the amazing opportunity to try this beautiful dish.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYBODY. HOPE YOU HAD SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR!!!! :)

New York Rangers game with the girlfriend!

This past Sunday, Angela and I went to a New York Rangers game, courtesy of her baby bro, Brian. Holy crap those were some nice seats that he bought us...it wasn't too close to the eyes where you have to crane your neck to see the action, while it wasn't too far from the ice where you could barely see anything. We were the perfect distance from the ice...and to make things even better, we were seated right at mid ice!  It was her first time seeing a Rangers game live at MSG, and I was happy that I could be there to witness history in the making!

To start the night off, we went to Koreatown for some dinner. It'd been a while since we had eaten any Korean food, so what better than to eat some seafood pancakes and then catch a hockey game? We ended up eating at a restaurant called Korea Spoon. Turns out, I had actually blogged about this restaurant in a previous post, but Angela had never been there, so I happily ate there with her! If you recall, it's the "upscale" Korean restaurant; in other words, the venue places a premium on its decor as well as its food! Yaaay! But seriously, this place is crazy good. Don't believe me? Just check out the pics:

1) The normal array of "free Korean bites"

2) I ordered a very hard to pronounce Korean dish. In essence, it's Bulgogi noodle soup, complete with peppers and onions! This dish was very delicious...however, it was a fairly small portion. :( the waiter lied to me. He said it was good portion for one person...more like a half a person. Neverthless, I was happy with my selection.

3) Angela ordered her usual: Budae Jigae. In english, it means "booty stew." Just kidding! I don't actually know what it means, but I always make that same joke because I believe that the word "Budae" sounds like "booty." Just me and my immature mind at work. I actually wish I ordered that dish because her portion was more fit for a single diner. Luckily for me, she couldn't finish everything, so I helped her finish her dish...at her request of course. I didn't just chow away at her food without her permission! 

As I mentioned already, Angela and I had a game to catch! The Rangers were playing the Los Angeles Kings. Originally, I was a little sad because the Kings' starting goaltender, Jonathan Quick, was injured and wouldn't be playing in the game. He's on my fantasy team, so that was a huge blow for me. However, I realized that the Kings' backup goaltender, who WAS playing in that game, was former Cornell standout goaltender, Ben Scrivens. So yay, Cornell pride! I kept cheering for him whenever he made a save, much to Angela's chagrin. In my defense, my cheering stopped in the third period. The Rangers were down 1-0, and I really wanted the game to go into a shootout. Alas, the hockey gods weren't with us...the Kings beat the Rangers 1-0...Scrivens go the shutout, yet it didn't feel like the cause for a celebration...oh well, there's always the next meeting between the two teams. Vengeance will be had!

1) Our seats! Look at how perfect they are! And we're right at mid ice!

2) This is my current lover, Henrik Lundqvist...aka the King...aka the best dressed man in the NHL...aka best goaltender in the world...by far! 

 * look at how flexible Sir Lundqvist is.... ;)

3) My former lover, Ben Scrivens. He's not as flexible as Henrik Lundqvist...

 * but he does have a big butt

4) Faceoff! Nothing special here

5) Two La Kings players in the box. Too bad the Rangers couldn't score on the 5-3 powerplay. So embarrassing!

6) Setting up for a glorious opportunity...only to see it fail. Miserably! Get it together Rangers!

7) Happy girl at her first hockey game at MSG (Madison Square garden for the unititated)

It was a great night of eating, watching hockey, and spending time with Angela. Unfortunately, the Rangers lost. The next time Angela and I watch a Rangers game at MSG, I will make sure they play a basement team, such as the Columbus Blue Jackets. They are a joke of a team.

Fish en Papillote

Greetings from Texas! I'm back home for the week, which means that I'm learning more delicious recipes from Mama Lee. One of the dishes I learned this week was a dish she cooked for my dad on his birthday: Fish en Papillote! I know, I know...it's a silly name. But it's a french saying, so it's to be expected. En Papillote is a method of cooking in which the food is put into a folded pouch or parcel and then baked. In other words, this is a very delicious dish.

Ingredients: 

From left to right: Chilean sea bass, carrots and cabbage, butter, lemon slices, ginger,  and white wine.

1) This is probably the most difficult part: Cut a square piece of baking paper. Then, fold it in half.

2) Next, because we all love cooking, cut the folded paper into a heart! 

 * it's a big white heart

3) Make sure that the veggies are well mixed with soy sauce, pepper, salt, and thyme. Mix it real good to make sure that everything is well dispersed.

 4) Next, place the ginger on one of the halves of the heart.

 5) Now, you'll wanna place one of the fat pieces of fish right on top of the garlic, like a boss.

 6) Next, place the veggies on top of the fish. It looks as if the fish is growing a funky, progressive hairstyle.

 7) Now, you'll place the lemon slices on top of the bass' "hair." Now, it looks like the fish has two very round yellow eyes. Kinda cute actually....
In addition, you'll want to place a nice ball of butter in between the lemon slices.

 8) Channel your inner Chinese person, and fold the fish over with the other half of the baking paper. Make sure you fold the edges very tightly. I say channel your inner Chinese person because you're essentially folding the fish to resemble a gigantic yummy dumpling!

 9) Now, leaving one side of the "dumpling" unfolded, pour the wine into the vessel. That's why you need to make sure that the edges are folded tightly: that way, the wine won't leak! We're going to get drunk off wine with this dish :)

 10) Now, place the dumpling on a baking sheet. Make sure the oven is preheated to 425 degrees F.

 11) Place the fish in the oven for about 10-12 minutes. You're looking for the "dumpling" to plump up and be fat and juicy. The plumper, the juicier and more delectable the fish will be.

 12) Peek a boo! The finished product! The fish is perfectly cooked, and the smell emanating from the sheet is to die for.

* Note that the fish is now a Cyclopes!

This dish is very delicious. If you like fish, this is a perfect new way to enjoy an old classic. It's simple, easy, and doesn't take much time to cook...so you leave less of a mess in the kitchen and have more time in the day for other activities. The dish is very succulent, and the butter perfectly coats the bass to add a nice "fatty" taste.

I definitely food coma'd after eating this.

Telepan

Yesterday, my Uncle and Aunt came to visit Manhattan to view an opera. They're from Boston, so the trip wasn't too bad for them. It was great seeing them because my Uncle recently had a horrible biking accident, so seeing him in better health was heartwarming.

Not only did I see my Uncle and Aunt, but I also met the rest of their relatives that live in New York; it was nice to meet my other distant relatives. They are all very artsy and opera connoisseurs, so I tried to act as if I knew all the various operas there are. I think I succeeded, since nobody asked me if I was bluffing haha.

So we went to a restaurant on the UPPER WEST SIDE called Telepan. I was elated to find out that that was where the restaurant was located. No more traveling to the lower east side...or just the east side in general. This restaurant was very nice....when I first entered the restaurant, the light was dimmed, a sure tell sign indicating that this restaurant is high class. I wasn't expecting the place to be soo upscale; the restaurant was located in a residential area, and every residential restaurant typically is not fancy. Well, Telepan was that rare exception that served an amuse-bouche before our entrees. Like I said, it's a nice swanky restaurant.

1) This was the Amuse Bouche. It was some sort of creamy pumpkin soup with delicious bacon bits in it. I don't normally like a creamy soup, and I don't normally like pumpkin. However, this dish was very delicious. I also enjoyed the nifty little cup that held the soup; it's shaped like an espresso cup, but a little taller. I was very tempted to take it home with me.

2) This was my entree: it was called Heritage pork. Why? I'm not quite sure. What exactly does "heritage" imply? Well, based on last night's meal, I believe it's four different types of pork: crispy bacon, pork belly, pork chop, and pork loin. It was super delicious. They also had one pork rind on the top of the meat. I don't know how that relates to the dish, but I wasn't complaining. But yeah, this dish was VERY DELICIOUS. I'm glad I ordered it! 

I was very pleased with this restaurant. It had nice ambiance, great food, and when you mix all that with great company, you just have an overall good time. I will definitely be frequenting this place in the future!

Au revoir, mon frere's  :)

Simply Oliver

Last Friday, Angela met up with me in the city...at NY Penn Station to be exact. We had made a bet earlier in the week predicated on the NY Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys game. The loser would have to buy the winner dinner at any restaurant of the winner's choosing. Well, guess who won?

My Dallas Cowboys, of course! They forced 6 turnovers during the game....and only won by 6 :) Whatever, a win is a win, and I'll take them any way I can. Seeing that I won, I chose a restaurant by the name of "Slightly Oliver." I always walk by this place on my way home from the gym, and the aromas that dissipate from the restaurant always make my stomach grumble. It's a gastropub...or in other words, a venue that serves high end beer and food.

1) I decided to order a cocktail. It was called "Simply Sparkling," and contained Elder Flower essence, lemon, mint & Prosecco. What is Elder Flower essence? I don't know, but this drink definitely had its fair share of bubbles...but was a tad too sweet. At least it looked pretty....

2) For appetizer we ordered one of the specials. It's a Margherita Flatbread Pizza. This was Angela's suggestion. She rarely ever makes suggestions when it comes to what to share, so when she comes out and says let's try a "Margherita Flatbread Pizza," I listen....and boy am I glad I did. Perfectly cooked, not too much cheese...I wanted to eat the whole thing for dinner!

3) I ordered an organic roasted chicken with sauteed carrots, sugar snap peas, and
chicken jus. Chicken jus is a sauce that's created from the juice of the chicken itself and some other liquid...usually a red wine.

This dish was absolutely delicious. The skin was crispy, and the meat was super tender, just how a chicken should be cooked. To give you a visual, it's akin to the skin being a nice tin foil to lock in all the juices of the meat. Well done, Simply Oliver! 

4) Angela's dish: Braised short ribs with roasted garlic mashed potatoes,
horseradisc creme fraiche, and crispy shallot. Creme fraiche is a soured cream that has a higher fat content than U.S. soured cream. I only had one bite of the braised short ribs, but I would say that they come a close second to my mother's braised short ribs. Yep, it was that good. Again, Angela made a great choice!

In case you can't tell by my descriptions of the food, I would go here again. Great place to eat, have a drink, and watch a sports game...if you're into that.