10-minute Salvation Cabbage

This recipe gets done in less time than it takes me to write about it, expecially considering it took me two attempts to actually upload the picture. It is really  my salvation on some weeknights when I need a vegetable to balance out the meal. In fact, these days I actually keep chopped cabbage handy in the fridge. It would actually take away the essense of the recipe to write a long post around it.

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Kalbi House - Korean in White Plains

Trying a new ethnic restaurant can be interesting for a variety of reasons – it of course offers us a new place to try and of course if the food is good, it adds one more place to the family dining collection. If you have little ones like us, a new style of food can also afford an opportunity to talk about the Geography and other cultural snippets of the cuisine that we are trying.  It was mostly a combination of proximity and adventure that drew us to Kalbi House, actually a while back and we have been back a couple of times since. Actually, we even tried little Korea in NYC and I shall tell you at some other about that experience.

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Panch Misali Chorchori - Bengali Mixed Vegetable Medley

Our Sunday lunches are usually both simple and complex at the same time. I try to do something closer to homey food. Something either I have grown up with or probably something closer to the MIL's cooking. Winter has been really hard this year and this weekend we wanted something simple and satisfying. I cooked a light Dal, some fish and then this chorchori. A chorchori is the Bengali word for a mishmash or medley of vegetables, both frugal and healthy at the same time.

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Waldy's Pizza - New York City

I first visited this small and quaint neighbourbood kind of joint this summer. I realize that there are probably so many such places, but then again a place that has brought me back ever so often at lunchtime, a place along with its very good pizza, has a self full of fresh herbs that you can snip off yourself to actually season your fired Pizza with does deserve a mention. Without the little touches it would be just another neighborhood place that offers good pizza, but then food and life is always about the small touches, it is the accents that make a difference. The menu consists of thin crust crisp well spiced pizza options and a smaller selections of pasta (penne to be specific!) and fresh salads. Oh! I forgot to mention that the wall of fresh herbs also has olive and fresh parmasan and their staff are very pleasant and efficient.

The pizza topping range from the basic tomato basil to interesting and novel concepts like arugula, garlic and sunny side eggs and then everything in between. Yesterday, I ate their chicken, bacon and chipotle pizza. The pizza's come in three sizes and their small is a nice generous size for about $8 you get the pizza and a drink. They carry a small but interesting selection of Pepsi products. The do have wine and beer options should you want to have them. So if you are in that neck of the woods and want to give the place a try, you should.

The low down on Waldy's is,

Waldys Wood Fired Pizza & Penne

800 6TH AVE
New York City, New York 10001

(212) 213-5042

http://www.waldyspizza.com/



A slow simmer kind of day...

On a day like today, it probably was not a bad day to be indoors, if the icy weather was the only issue that was impacting the state of my universe. The kids had no school, so I was at home trying to get some work done. It is actually a treat for both them and me to squeeze in that extra time. However, this was more going on and not all good, the car refused to start yesterday when I got back from the train, possibly a result of my doing so that needed to be dealt with and it looks like I have managed to loose a flash drive that had all kinds of stuff and despite my best intentions this stuff was not backed up and then there was more.

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Creamy Lemon Thai Inspired Noodles

Some weeknights, you feel totally wiped just because it is the end of the week. All things considered it was not a bad week as things go. The weekend is not quite measuring up, the dad and the son are rather sick which does not make for fun.
The end of my weekend was a rather fascinating and unusual train encounter.
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Jade Garden - A potentially viable Dim Sum option

Before we discovered Aberdeen and Central Ave Seafood, there was a restaurant we used to go to called David's Jade Garden. The place closed down they had something else in there and looks like they are back to being a Chinese and Dim Sum joint.
I am not sure about the management just commenting on the nature of the restaurant. There is something comforting about small plates, irrespective of the cuisine, something that sort spells relaxed and experimental without being overwhelming.
The place is very spacious and as our local Dim Sum restaurants go, pretty decent in terms of decor. The colors are lighter and brighter. The general think that we really liked was that despite being reasonably crowed, we did not feel crowded in.
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Saucy Shrimp Vindaloo

Last week in class, I had a spice lover, I mean a serious about my chilies kind of guy. So at his request I wanted to scope out a spicy recipe. When you tend to think spice in Indian food, what comes to my mind actually is the thought of vindaloo. A vindaloo, is a dish that is most popular in the western coastline of India and has Portuguese roots. I was looking for a recipe that was bold but not overwelmningly spicy since for a class setting, it is important to balance the flavors and the spice. So I went on a quest for a spice balanced recipe.

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End of the Week Cracked Wheat Pilaf

This simple and reasonably healtht effort is the result of my visits to Shiraz Grocery is that I end up picking up stuff, all sorts of stuff - pistachios, saffrons, dried fruit, tea and even odds and ends.
Yes, Mr Shiraz man and I are now good buddies, he always offers me persian recipe tips and in turn I tell him how to Indianize things so we have a happy relationship. He was even concerned about my coping with the cold weather given than we do not have such cold weather in India. Now, that is concern about a customer! Anyhow I digress...
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Bhojan - A delightful stop

This little spot in the Indian hub in NYC around Lexington and the corner of 27th was a pleasant surprise and absolutely joy to visit.

The word Bhojan actually translates to a meal in Hindi. This little spot is a vegetarian tea room and cafe that actually also serves regular healthy complete meals in Indian platters called Thalis.

The restaurant has warm open brick walls, reminding you of rural style Indian decor. The space was small and packed this afternoon that I visited. The wait staff however moved very efficiently through it all to accept and service your order.

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Clove Tea and Coconut Date Cake

I love tea, and have managed to transfer my affection for this unassuming brew over to my  husband. I am fussy about the temperature and variety and in winter I love to add spices in my tea. Clove is one such variation. The tea I used for this particular recipe was whole leaf Assam tea.
For texture purposes this a full bodies black tea, usually the kind found in the English breakfast blends. This also holds it own with a bold flavor like cloves. To make clove tea my way is pretty simple.
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Seriously Good Potato Fries

This recipe is as essential and as basic as it gets. Somewhere a few weeks back, the husband was running fever and needed to get to the immediate care facility. Actually, this was about a week before, the cat and his Christmas day visit. Well, the problem with our house like most houses is that one of the grown ups are sick. It is not quite so easy for the other partner in crime to leave the house and take the sick grown up to the doctor. Taking the thus far well little ones to such a place is just asking for trouble.

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Happy New Year - A stop in Ardsley

 In the midst of everything we have started a year, in fact, "the holidays" are over! I had initially not really thought of a resolution. For some reason, I gave up that idea last year. However, as they say ideas exist to be changed. This year as I end the weekend and get ready to brave the new year in earnest, my resolution is to enjoy and be grateful for the simple pleasures of life. The ones that we sometimes take for granted. 

The year thus far already promises to be filled with a lot of them.

Late last year, just before Christmas, Anshul and I made a stop to a relatively new Indian place in town called Calcutta Wrap and Roll. A restaurant named after the town I was born in is naturally worth a visit just based on its name, however once I was there I think the place deserves to be visited for a whole lot more reasons.

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Merry Christmas - Liz's Cranberry Sauce for Grown Ups

Today has been rather unusual as holidays go, but then again maybe not quite so unusual. The weekend was deliciously long, since I was at home on Thursday. The daughter had a concert in school, that I had to attend and I felt I deserved a couple of extra hours off. The husband and I tried a new rrestaurant a quick kind of place. I shall hopefully tell you all about it before the weekend is over.

Yesterday, we had a nice group of people over. Anju and Melanie, my aunt and cousin and a couple of other friends were over. I cooked some really good stuff. However, the cat too, decided to run out and spend a day in the backyard and came back with a wound. So this morning was spent at the emergency veterinary hospital.  Now, that was the tip of the problem. Benji was generally OK, but I now have 14 tiny tablets that he needs to be fed 2 times a day.

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A candy store for spice lovers - Kalustyan's

How or why would you pick an isolated spice store, particularly when the store is located in New York City. A city that never sleeps (had to put that in) and has anything a foodie could want. Well, Kalustyan's on Lexington Ave, in the upper 20's is what I call a candy store for spice lovers. The store has the most amazing selection spices, teas, coffee, and cookware that I can think of.

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Wilted Spinach with Carmelized Onions and Raisins

I loved reading Little Women and all the rest of the series, like a lot of people my heart was captured by Jo, the independent almost tomboyish sister. Jo had lovely hair, refered to as her one beauty in several places, I think like Jo, my one reedeeming eating habit is my love for greens. I love them year long.

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Harvest Latkes and Spiced Date Apple Sauce

At the risk of offending some of the Microsoft engineers in my life, I sometimes think working with Microsoft Office is much like my husband. It is pretty much a part of my life, and on most days it works,  some days it completely drives me crazy and other days, it totally surprises me with its multidimensional possibilities. 

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One of those bad good dishes...

I might as well warn anyone, for the most part the next few posts shall be all about bad good food, in case you are wondering what I mean by that, I mean food that tastes good, but not quite so good for you. But hey, tis the season. Also, it is going to be way to busy for me at work, so not really that relaxing in terms of the time of the year. What would normally be Santa's workshop, the office dowstairs is currently a podium for the new I-POD and the edges of the TV stand are begining to get all cluttered with mail.

However, it never stops me from cooking. One of my many weaknesses is fried calamari, actually fried food in general but I can actually get my partner in crime (PIC), to share the fried calamaris and enjoy them with untimate relish.

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Slow Cooker Fish Curry

A curry has actually earned a bad reputation as being boring, but in all fairness a curry is about as boring as a sandwich or a soup, let us face it, these days we have the simple tuna fish on toast variations, or a classic and comforting BLT, to a down right impressive and stunning goat cheese panini. The curry for me too is much like a bowl of soup that ranges from light and comforting to rich and decadent. To truly bring out your curries flavors needs care and time rather than butter and cream.

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Peniche on a Monday Evening

There is something about our household and eating out on Mondays. What I mean by this is that for some unbeknownst reason we plan on getting out, this too with the kids down in bed and realize that, we have picked a Monday. The problem with Mondays is that a lot of restaurants close down that day to recover from the weekend chaos.

Well, this Monday a few weeks back, the destination of choice was Peniche in White Plains a place serving Tapas, the delightful Spanish style small plates. The mood in the restaurant on this pre-holiday Monday evening was similar to what many other bloggers have described. Rather than being crowded the spacious restaurant had one large table a couple of smaller tables filled but was definitely quite, in fact, to the point the chatty waitress was entertaining herself chatting with us. She was rather funny rather than being annoying.

Now down to the food and drinks, we tried a cocktail called the portonic, which was an interesting cocktail made with port wine and tonic. Moving onto to the smaller bites, they had a selection of Pizza like flatbreads, rather unique and interest. We had a cheese and fruit platter and small mushroom and white truffle dish and absolutely delectable salt cod fritters. We also had an unusual quinoa dish, that was pleasing in its simplicity.

All in all a very pleasant experience, just the place you want to get to on a night where you want to eat, drink and be merry.

Peniche Tapas

175 Main St.

White Plains, NY

914-421-5012