Author: cia

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

I’m not a baker so I was very careful with this recipe I adapted from foodtv.com. It was very involved but I had fun rolling the dough like clay.

Ingredients:
2 cups of oatmeal
2 cups of flour
1 cup of raisins
2 sticks of unsalted butter, melted for a few seconds in the microwave
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp hot water
2 tsps vanilla extract
1 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350º. In the meantime, brush a cookie sheet with some of the melted butter. Set aside.
2. Use the remaining butter and combine with the sugars in a mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer. Add the eggs. Mix in oatmeal, flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt with a big spoon. Add water, raisins and vanilla extract. Mix well to finish your dough.
3. Transfer the dough to a floured kitchen counter or table. Form a snake with your dough using your hands. Cut in several small pieces and place on prepared cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until light brown. Let them cool before serving.

Gam Mee Ok / Gahm Mi Oak

43 West 32nd Street between Fifth and Sixth
212/695.4113
about $30 for two solontangs, with two drinks, with tip
♥ ♥

Solontang is bone marrow soup that the Koreans have perfected. Gam Mee Ok slow-cooks beef bone marrows in large vats of water until the broth becomes milky white. It is served in a clay pot with rice and noodles and all you have to do is sprinkle it with scallions and add some salt to bring out the beef taste.

Gam Mee Ok also makes the best radish kimchi in New York City’s Koreablock.

Related post/s:
I love Han Bat three blocks away

Baby Spinach Endive Bacon Salad

I usually have several bags of baby spinach handy after a trip to either the farmers’ market or a big warehouse store like Costco or BJ’s. What’s better than a tossed vegetable salad? Why, a tossed vegetable salad with crispy bacon, of course!

Ingredients:
1 bag of baby spinach
4 slices of bacon
4 Belgian endives, roughly chopped
1 red onion, roughly chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. In a skillet with hot oil, cook the bacon until crispy. Remove to a chopping board lined with paper towel. When cool enough to handle, remove paper towel and roughly chop crispy bacon.
2. Combine and toss all ingredients in a large salad bowl.

Related post/s:
Baby Spinach Artichoke Endive Salad

Baby Spinach Artichoke Endive Salad

This is a very easy salad to make. Di Palo’s in New York City frequently cooks and preserves artichokes in olive oil and sells them in a plastic container. You can use canned artichokes as long as you drain them and use good olive oil as dressing. Endives are available in nicer supermarkets but you can substitute watercress or arugula.

Ingredients:
1 bag of baby spinach
4 pieces of cooked artichokes, chopped
4 Belgian endives, roughly chopped
1 red onion, roughly chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Toss all ingredients in a large salad bowl.

Related post/s:
Where to buy cooked artichokes

Honmura An

170 Mercer Street off Houston
212/334.5253
about $125 for two, with two drinks, without tip
♥ ♥ ♥

Updated, 2007: Honmura An is now closed.

When it’s cold outside, all I want is a hot bowl of soba. When I have money, Honmura An is always my first pick. It’s one of the few places in New York City that still makes its own soba. If you come at the right time during the week, you can watch one of the Japanese guys cut the buckwheat into single noodles in the back of the restaurant. It’s pretty cool to watch the precision involved in soba-making.

If you go on a Saturday, several limos pull up outside dropping off well-dressed Japanese people for brunch. Even when it’s packed inside, the cherry blossoms and the clean lines of its furniture design provide a haven from busy Houston Street. The dinner menu is a little more pricey and a $50 tasting menu requires at least two people to order per table. I usually order the nameko mushroom hot soba with an avocado or salmon salad to start. Whatever I’m in the mood for, I end my meal with their homemade green tea ice cream.