south indian dinner / the "grape" incident 8/6/07

In August of 2006, I visited South India with my family. On this amazing trip, we toured Chennai, Mysore, Bangalore, Kerla/Allepy, and Kanyakumari. We ate lots of delicious foods including, poori, dhosai, paratha, gobi manchuri and an assortment of chutneys, my favorite of which was daal-coconut-ginger-chile. One year later, I set off to Jackson Heights, with my buddy and fellow cook, Chung Chow of per se, to source some ingredients to make some South Indian dishes for a dinner party.








Foraging in Jackson Heights, Queens, we found some interesting products like fresh curry leaves and angled luffa.





































































I drank a glass of spirulina seaweed mixed with water to give me strength for a long cooking day.












Chung made a potato filling for the dhosai. Here he toasts black mustard seeds.















Braised chicken wings with angled luffa















We fit nine people into my tiny Chinatown apartment. It was a lively crowd and the atmosphere raucous.



































Salad of kirby cucumbers and watermelon.
























This was the famous "grape" incident. We held a contest to see who could fit the most grapes in one's mouth.















































Chung stuffs grapes in his mouth.








































Michel tried the speed technique and the grapes flew out as fast as the went in.



































Dave Guay won without breaking a sweat. We lost count, but it is certain that he got over twenty five grapes into his gaping maw!

barter dinner II, 8/30/07

Barter dinner II with Eric Forman took place in my tiny Chinatown apartment during a sweltering summer night in August. Eric, an artist and IT wizard, made repairs to my ibook. In return, I cooked him dinner. Some friends joined in on the action and things got wild as the night marched on!


Tomatoes and tarragon





Corn soup with smoked sturgeon salad and fines herbs








Part of my end of the barter was to teach Eric some moves in the kitchen. During this dinner party he learned how to saute fish and to butter out a sauce.






































Crispy skin branzino with sunchokes, spinach, and soy-ginger emulsion










We ate and talked and drank.





























































The remnants of dessert: chocolate pain perdue, peanut crumble, and some other stuff.












after dinner began the song and dance









































































still life: "it's over"

oyster riot 1.0 and crayfish boil, 6/22/08

Joel Schott threw an incredible party, dubbed Oyster Riot 1.0, on a rooftop overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge in Dumbo. The day before, Joel was on the phone with a fisherman in Louisiana, arranging for the delivery of 100 pounds of live, chirping crawdads. As luck would have it, the boats came back full and the next morning a package of crawdads arrived at LaGuardia and was couriered to Dumbo, much to the chagrin of a perplexed doorman. On this memorable Saturday, Joel cemented his legendary status for going all out, especially in the name of food and drink and great times.



This is the kettle we set up in the cabana. It was filled with water and a ton of creole spices. The first step was to cook quartered red-skinned potatoes. When the potatoes were 3/4 cooked, we dumped them into a cooler and closed the lid, allowing them to steam until fork tender.




We shucked corn and cut the cobs into thirds.













Peeling pearl onions was a big job. I volunteered to arrive early to help bang out the pearls and help with other prep. Graciously, Joel rewarded my efforts with grand cru champagne.












Nic, Jonathan Schwartz, Craig, and I all peeled pearl onions.















Relaxing, drinking bubbly with a view of the brooklyn bridge and the city on a picturesque day.









































Craig is a hero. He brought oysters that he raised and harvested in Long Island. This is Craig and Matt Fuhrmann shucking.









David Norris shucked oysters, too.










Joel's daughter Sophie meets a crawdad.












JP reckons that it might be a good idea to let a crawdad pinch his finger. It was a bad idea and he complained of pain later.
























Joel at work. He is loading up the kettle with corn, pearl onions, andouille, pre-grilled chicken thighs, and lots of peppers. When all this was cooked, he submerged the crawdads in highly salted water for a few minutes to purge them and then dumped them into the kettle and turned off the heat. He added the cooked potatoes to the brew and ten minutes later the grind-fest was on!












We lined a picnic table with newspapers and ate the crawfish boil with our hands. Round 1!
















Grinding.






























The party flowed out of the cabana and onto the communal roof deck.

























Day faded into night.
























Round 2!














Grinding again.














A Captain is drunk.

















The per se captains club bids you goodnight.