Cooking and not...

So I've been cooking, and not...

Michael and I have been to The Village Grill, Joe's Shanghai and The Blackwater Inn.  The grill is on Yellowstone Boulevard near the Little League fields.  We had gyros and soup.  Average, nothing to write home about, certainly not overflowing like Fontana, nor as tasty. But local and easy to sit and eat and leave.  We went to Joe's Shanghai in Flushing with Jill and Lenny.  Soup dumplings of course; just pork and pork and crab; young chow rice; pork and string beans in black bean sauce and prawns and scallops in garlic sauce. Yum! And because we went early, we just walked in and sat down...priceless :)  Michael and I also went to The Blackwater Inn last week (used to be called The Old Brog) on Metropolitan Avenue.  Beers; shepherd's pie and chicken Caesar.  Their shepherd's pie used to be better, but you can walk in and sit down. 

Lately I have a thing about waiting for a table. Pisses me off.

Jesse is home and I have also been cooking:  Chicken soup, chicken cutlets, shrimp in a garlicky marinara over linguine.  Tomorrow is pork roast with sauerkraut; salt potatoes (small white potatoes, boiled in a pot of water with a TON of salt) and Brussels sprouts.

Saturday is Glenn and Eileen's annual ornament exchange party and I am bringing Old Bay wings.

Sunday I am doing nothing :)

Last Week

Jerk Chicken

Monday was chicken cutlets with panko breading, baby spring mix with goat cheese, beets and dijon vinaigrette.

Tuesday was chicken sausage, peppers, onions and a wedge salad on the side.

Wednesday was a flat iron steak with carrots, butter and rosemary and portobello mushroom caps.

Thursday was Jerk chicken with sauteed broccoli and cauliflower with garlic, oil, red pepper and bread crumbs.

Friday night Michael went to see the Jerry Garcia band at Brooklyn Bowl and I went out to Leslie's for pizza, and to see her dad, Bruce, since he just had a stint put in and he's doing very well!

Saturday night...how can I explain this without peeing in my pants?  Michael and I had a coupon for Piccolo Italia on Metropolitan Avenue.  It's the only reason we went and we'd never go again.  Picture walking in to an Italian restaurant and the only Italians there are Michael and possibly myself :)  The host was Indian (possibly), the servers are Indian and Russian (maybe), the tablecloths are green (yes, it was St. Patrick's Day but still), the guy singing, yes singing with a microphone no less, is Indian with a screaming Kelly green sequined vest--and he's singing--wait for it--Frank Sinatra.  Can you believe we actually witnessed all this and still sat down?  Anyway, cold antipasto was iceberg lettuce topped with sliced salami and ham, cold tomatoes with mozzarella cheese and a handful of jalapenos (seriously).  I ordered a pizza because I was afraid of everything else and it was just as good as Stoufer's frozen.  Michael had chicken cardenalle (some made up name) with red peppers in a cream sauce that was not too bad.

We did leave immediately after we ate.  The singer was killing us, we couldn't stop laughing.  Needless to say, just walk on by.  We did note, however, that a few doors down, a Turkish places will be opening soon and that we will definitely try.

Have a good week!

Full Plate

That's what we've been having lately.  Last week we went to Teddy's in Wiliamsburg with Jill and Lenny.  They were taking us out to dinner as a thank you for cooking meals for them the previous week.  Teddy's is a bar/restaurant on North 8th and Berry.  The sign outside does not say Teddy's, but we still know it's there.  We had:  Tomato soup and grilled cheese; goat cheese and beet salad; fried oysters; shrimp cabana (with jalapenos and bacon); a chicken burger and a regular burger and spinach quesadillas.  Add in a few beers and a few cocktails and a few glasses of wine and we had a really good time.  Afterward, we checked out the bar at a new place called Masten Lake .  Michael found the place on line and the name was reminiscent of where he spent summers as a child.  The bar is nice, they have strange and interesting cocktails.  The menu is a bit eclectic but we decided we would come back and have dinner there one night. However, after checking on line for their menu and website I just discovered that they closed.  They had only been open for seven months.  Sorry to see them go.

We were also at Dani's recently.  A long time favorite of ours.  We had:  Garden salad, truly the best stracciatella soup anywhere, eggplant parm and chicken with broccoli, peppers and onions in marinara.  Yum!

This past week the Wisners have once again joined us for dinner.  Their kitchen is not finished yet.  I made:  Baked shrimp scampi, orzo and spinach; Rack of pork chops, roasted potatoes and broccoli; chicken cutlets and asparagus with an appetizer of mini steamed pork buns from Chinatown.  Tonight is a staple:  Turkey burgers and Greek salad.

Tomorrow night Barb and I are taking Jennie out for her birthday and we have no other plans for the weekend, but I am sure eating will be involved :)

Approaching Holidays

Jesse is home! Holidays are coming! Busy, busy, busy...

Can't say much about cooking lately. Made rosemary lamb chops, papardelle with mushrooms and Greek salad when my mother-in-law came for dinner the other night. Ordered pizza last night :) Tonight's plan (ha ha) is chicken sausage, rice and green beans.

Friday night, however, is a different story. Christmas Eve with the Figliolias and Wisners!!

Our menu is: (If you'd like to be surprised, skip the next paragraphs). Antipasti will include: Cheese board with Manchego, Ciao Angelo and Parmigiano-Reggiano with fig spread, honey, mustard and cornichons. Also, roasted tomatoes, marinated artichokes, olives and baguette and raisin-pumpernickel breads. Along with sauteed shrimp and chorizo.

Dinner is: Turkey lasagna (so all can eat it), Caesar salad, Linguine with white clam sauce, chicken cutlets, foccacia bread and a small baked ziti with no ricotta for Ian. Desert is: Apple and blueberry cobbler with caramel ice cream on the side, along with chocolate chip cookies.

I hope I didn't leave anything out...I am sure Michael will take photos for my next post.

I am making Michael's mom's recipe of sweet and sour meatballs for Christmas Day to take to Denise and Joe's along with a tray of Old Bay chicken wings.

Can't wait to celebrate! Merry Christmas to everyone!

Our Boy is Home!

Jesse came home yesterday! It was so good to see him and hug him. The 3 of us ate dinner together for the first time in 6 weeks. Chicken cutlets, chicken parm, spinach with garlic and oil and ziti with Rao's sauce.

More dinners planned for while Jesse is home, but we'll see how many come to fruition :)

As for last week (sorry I haven't updated, I kept forgetting to ask Michael to add the focaccia photo-so I didn't post it till late)...Saturday Michael rode his bike to Steve and Lori's and we had cheese and olives and bread and baked garlic and wine, then dinner was pork chops and salmon on the grill with a side of salad and cauliflower puree. Everything was Great!! Steve let me pick some hot peppers from his garden which he told me to wash, de-seed, cut up and freeze for future use. So I did.

Sunday was the Austin Street Fair which Michael and I walked and we bought pickles from The Pickle People (yum). Michael picked up Dani's later and we ate with the Wisners.

Monday night I made ginger shrimp: saute shrimp in olive oil, add ginger preserves and lime juice, top with fresh parsley.

Tuesday was supposed to be turkey meatloaf, but we went over to Denise's so Michael could fix a computer problem and we ate Dee's pizza and salad that Denise picked up for us :) thanks!

So Wednesday night was turkey meatloaf (I had pizza again) after Michael and I went suit shopping-unsuccessfully. But he will try again.

The weekend is open, I may cook, I may not. We'll see what unfolds now that the boys are back in town...

My First Break

Brian Karp, owner of Press 195, posted a comment on my blog. Woo Who! It was very exciting to know that someone other than my friends and family read my blog :)

Jesse said "Isn't that a milestone for you?"

Last night I made dinner...for myself. I cannot remember doing that in recorded history. I made what I call Rigatoni Salt. It's rigatoni with a light marinara sauce that I add sauteed, thinly sliced pitted calamata and manzanilla olives as well as non-pareille capers (no salt is actually added, because you don't need any) :) Michael was at a golf outing and Jesse was just out.

Tonight I am making dinner for us and the Wisners. They have had their apartment floors replaced with gorgeous wood flooring, but the effort they put into moving their furniture, packing, unpacking, etc...was heroic. So they are getting help with putting stuff back and dinner.

Dinner is: Chicken cutlets, Risotto Bianco (from Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking)and Peas with butter. Red wine and Pellegrino to drink and no dessert. The only ones who can safely eat dessert are Brett and Jesse (because they are so thin). So we are going to avoid it if we can.