I'm back! I promise! Thanks for your patience, dear readers, while I replenished my fatigued system, spent a delicious evening with a certain Eggbeater from San Francisco, danced all night at a gorgeous wedding in Vermont (catered, by the way, by these folks, so if you're in Vermont and dying for a seafood martini that will be fresh and delicious and super-elegant, yet whimsical? You now know where to go), howled in disbelief when Zizou butted Materazzi in the 110th minute of the World Cup final, and had just enough time away from my stove to feel now that I can't wait to be back in it again. For the first time in ages, I went down to the Greenmarket yesterday and bought zucchini, tomatoes, wax beans, two kinds of cherries, apricots, blueberries and a bunch of multi-colored zinnias to grace my desk at work. I feel a bit more like my old self again.
Before I say anything else, I first have to tell you about the meal I shared with Shuna last week. Because, let me tell you, if you're feeling down on New York and on life in general, and the taste for good food seems to have slipped away from you for a while, there is absolutely nothing like going out for dinner and dessert with a lovely, interesting chef and woman to get your serotonin levels up again. We first went to Momofuku to pad our bellies. My soup bowl was filled with salty, flavorful broth, a coil of noodles, bright green peas, shredded pork that tasted like no other pork I've ever eaten and a pile of sliced scallions. The restaurant is small and lively - a dynamic, bustling place that I absolutely can't wait to visit again.
And then. Oh, then. We trotted off to Chikalicious, a restaurant that I had always eyed somewhat suspiciously. Dessert Bar? It sounded gimmicky and almost too indulgent for my tastes. But thank heavens to Betsy that Shuna came to town and showed me how very, very wrong I was. You might roll your eyes now when I say that the experience there was transcendent, but I'm going to go ahead and say it anyway. It really was.
We sat at the bar where we could see Chika and her assistant prepare each dish, while Shuna explained to me how the Pacojet and the convection oven worked. We ordered the "Cheese Cake" made with fromage blanc, and it came, served in a small white dish in a pool of cream, balanced on top of a small hill of shaved ice that kept the cream cool and chilled the "cake" with each spoonful that we took. It was cloud-like and airy, yet I can't even really describe the taste - the taste! It was one of the best things I'd ever put in my mouth. We also ordered a bird's-nest of kataifi that was covered with custard and diced white peaches. A spoonful of basil sorbet melted gently alongside the nest and added an herbal grace note. Warm and cold, creamy and crispy - the thought and mastery that went into each dessert was a revelation.
I felt uplifted and giddy when we left - maybe it was all the sugar, but I prefer to think that Shuna gave me a night out in which I could see all the fantastic things available to me at a moment's notice in New York. That is something I'm really grateful for. We all need reminding every once in a while.
And while I was away, Molly posted about the glories of leftover pancakes, awakening something of an urge inside me. While I find most pancakes to hit my stomach in the most leaden of ways, waffles don't have that same effect. So, I whipped up a batch of waffle batter this morning to cook and then freeze for some seriously delicious snacking and subsequent breakfasts. At the beginning of June, Julia Moskin printed a recipe for buttermilk waffles in the New York Times when she wrote a piece on wedding registries. I loved the fact that there was wheat germ and buttermilk in the recipe - good, wholesome items to balance out that stick of butter.
The recipe couldn't have been easier and in the time it took for me to heat and butter my iron, the batter, with all that baking soda and powder, rose noticeably in the bowl. The waffles were light and pleasantly tangy. Drizzled with maple syrup and shared with my roommate, they were the perfect welcome back into my kitchen.
Buttermilk-Brown Sugar Waffles
Makes 3 Belgian waffles or 8 regular waffles
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
1 stick butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour or 1 1/2 cups flour and 1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Nonstick cooking spray or butter
1. Whisk eggs, buttermilk and melted butter in a large bowl. In nother bowl, stir dry ingredients together, then add to egg mixture and whisk just until smooth.
2. Heat a waffle iron and butter lightly or spray with nonstick spray (even nonstick waffle irons require this step). Ladle batter onto iron (about 1/4 cup for an 8-inch round iron), close, and cook just until light golden brown. Serve immediately.
I was given a gift certificate for a three course dessert tasting at chickalicious. I keep delaying going there because even I couldn't find an excuse for a three course dessert tasting!! Sounds like it might be the only real way to eat a meal after all
Posted by: gemma | July 11, 2006 at 12:16 PM
Yaaaay, welcome back! So glad to see - or read, rather - a spring in your step. And your weekend sounds wonderful, Greenmarket to waffles!
Now tell me, was your dish at Momofuku the cold noodles with shredded pork? With a bowl of salty broth on the side, for dipping? Your description sounds a lot like that, which is what I had when Brandon and I went to Momofuku in March, on what later turned out to be the afternoon that we got engaged. If you did indeed have the cold noodles, did you find the poached egg on top to be CRAZILY, WILDLY undercooked? As in, ahem, mucous-like? For as much as I loved the broth and the pork(!) and the peas, that egg nearly made me lose my appetite. And you know how I feel about poached eggs. Harumph.
But to end on an upbeat note: might you be in NYC around Thanksgiving? I hope so. xo
Posted by: Molly | July 11, 2006 at 12:28 PM
If you liked Chickalicous, you should try Room 4 desert. It is the same basic concept, and definately worth a try in the NoLita area.
Posted by: evan | July 11, 2006 at 12:58 PM
When I visited Leland in November the one restaurant he insisted we go to was Momofuku; those roasted rice cakes, I can still taste them in my mind. And how fun to sit at the counter and watch them cook, pulling noodles out of the big pots and biting them in the middle to test for doneness.
When Jon and Leland were little they were addicted to those horrible frozen toaster waffles, and I used to try to get them to eat homemade by making and freezing big stacks of them, slightly underbaked so they could put them in the toaster just like Aunt Jemima's. No dice, though, even though I thought mine were delicious, although probably not as good as these you made here.
Posted by: Rebecca | July 11, 2006 at 02:06 PM
Gemma - it's such a special place. I think you'll love it! Make sure you get the Cheese Cake.
Molly - I remember when you and Brandon told me about your Momofuku plans the night before the big engagement day! I actually had the dish that was called Ramen Noodles with Berkshire Pork. I was feeling a bit under-the-weather, and so didn't go for the Momofuku Ramen with the poached egg, which seemed like it was meant for hardier stomachs. I think I remember reading in the NY Times that egg is poached sous-vide, which might have something to do with the consistency that you found unpleasant.
As for Thanksgiving - I don't have plans yet, but I'll probably be here around the holiday, if not exactly ON the holiday. Looking forward to a visit from you!?!
Evan - I have to say that reading Bill Buford's piece on Room 4 Dessert in The New Yorker kind of turned me off to the restaurant - it sounds like it's a bit too wacky for my tastes. At the end of the day, I'm a bit of a dessert traditionalist.
Rebecca - I chewed on one rice cake from Shuna's bowl, and it was so pleasingly gummy! The whole restaurant is just a great place to eat and watch.
I guess you can take comfort in the fact that as adults your children would rather have homemade waffles than the processed ones that tasted SO delicious to them as kids ;)
Posted by: Luisa | July 11, 2006 at 02:16 PM
Sounds wonderful. Wish I could go too :).
Posted by: Jessika | July 11, 2006 at 04:12 PM
Welcome back! These sound wonderful.
Posted by: BNA | July 11, 2006 at 04:22 PM
I'm glad to be reading you again. Nice to have you back.
Your waffles sound particularly appealing -- it's the brown sugar I think. Can't wait to try them.
Posted by: Julie | July 11, 2006 at 10:34 PM
It's so good to read that you're back!I've been a lurker on your blog for a while now and have tried many of the recommended recipes (romesco potatoes! barratta! non-mayo potato salad! yum).
Alas it is the dessert bar write up that finally inspired me to write. It sounds amazing and I will definitely go there during my visit out in August! If you have any other "must eats" for NY, I would love to hear!
-Sofia
Posted by: Sofia | July 11, 2006 at 10:47 PM
Klinsi announced that he won't extend his contract to be Teamchef and on one hand I'm sad about it on the other hand I can understand this. Life as a coach wasn't easy from him the last two years.
Our newspapers think about what Materazzi said to Zidane during the match and tried to read Materazzi's lips. And when they did it right it wasn't nice what he said.
Your Buttermilk-Waffels are looking delicous. I will keep the recipe in my cookbook.
Posted by: Kaffeebohne | July 12, 2006 at 03:42 AM
Jessika - You'll just have to make a New York trip sometime soon!
BNA - thank you! It's good to be back, and nibbling on leftover waffles only makes it better.
Julie - thank you so much. I hope you like the waffles as much as I did.
Sofia - thank you for delurking! And for trying out so many of the recipes. You listed some of my favorites there. In terms of your visit to New York, you should absolutely go to Prune in the East Village, make a walking trip over the Brooklyn Bridge to Grimaldi's and the Ice Cream Factory on the Brooklyn side and have a casual dinner at Frankie's Spuntino on the Lower East Side. But that's only a fraction of the tip of the iceberg in terms of the things you can do whilst here. You'll have so much fun!
Kaffeebohne - thanks for the update on Klinsi. I'm sad he won't stick around. I wonder if there's truth to the rumor that he'll be offered to coach the US team. I also wonder if we'll ever know what Materazzi said... sad.
Posted by: Luisa | July 12, 2006 at 09:52 AM
I am so happy to finally be catching up with your blog. What nice things you said about our time, it was indeed delightful & delicious!
I went to Room 4 Dessert and I am loathe to write about my experience as it was fairly dreadful. Chikalicious is a place I would practically live at if I could-- keep me updated if you go back! And I hear we missed the amazing pork buns at Momofuko...
Posted by: shuna | July 20, 2006 at 12:17 AM
Today I prepared the waffles and they tasted wonderful. They are 'lockerer' than the ones I usually prepare. Do you have a german translation for wheat germ. The dictionary proposes Weizenkeim, but I don't know exactly what I should take. Wheat sprouts?
Posted by: Kaffeebohne | July 31, 2006 at 05:24 PM
Katja - I'm glad you liked the waffles, and their nice, light texture. Wheat germ is Weizenkeim - you should be able to find it in a Reformhaus.
Posted by: Luisa | August 01, 2006 at 10:03 AM