dinner at chez howley-hansen, 10/12/08

The outside of Chez Howley-Hansen.






JP recently built this table. The top is two particle board floor tiles and the legs are made from scaffolding struts. Function as aesthetic is my favorite design.











Chez Howley-Hansen is filled with JP's paintings.



















Before dinner, JP and I headed up to the roof to play some guitar. It was a crisp, October evening.






Will Oldham






Devendra Banhart






Jane arrives.






















Domesticity.







Appetizer plate: jamon serrano, apples, sliced baguette, kewpie-mustard (inspired by Dave Chang at Ssam Bar). The Berkshire Ham was eaten already.








Holy baguette portrait.










Workin'.









More workin'.






















Grinding.










Sea bass and mixed lettuce salad.








JP's station.











Gnocchi.









Absinthe was chosen as the degustif.




Burn the sugar.




Pour the absinthe over the sugar.


















Enjoy!

game day, 10/13/08

Mike Waggaman and I have tradition of eating good grub and watching sporting events. I do the cooking and Mike hosts and takes care of the drinks. It's called "Game Day." In the past we've eaten wagyu burgers, roasted chicken, pan-fried fish, Portugese stew, and many other hearty dishes. This time around, we grubbed soft tacos with skirt steak, chipotle salsa, tomatillo-jalepeno salsa, refried beans, and Mexican rice. We washed it down with a cascade of Pacificos.




I generally drink Latin beers and, in this case, light, refreshing Pacifico is a perfect match for the carne asada tacos and spicy salas.








Broiling skirt steak. I love skirt steak because it has so much flavor. The steaks were marinated in minced onions and garlic plus ground cumin, coriander, paprika, cayenne for 24 hours. Grilling is the best, but we're in Chinatown and that's not an option. Besides, any direct heat technique that give some char works for skirt steak. Make sure to slice against grain!








Some serious grub.
To make the tomatillo salsa:
- Husk and wash 8 tomatillos
- Stem, wash, and split 4 jalapenos, lengthwise.
- Peel, slice 1/4 onion.
- Season tomatillos, jalepenos, and onion with salt and EVO.
- Wrap in aluminum foil and roast/steam in a 450 degree oven for 45 minutes.
- Puree the everything, plus a handful of washed cilantro, in a food processor

To make the chipole salsa:
- Wash 1 container of grape tomatoes. Season with salt and EVO and roast in a saute pan in a 450 degree oven for 45 minutes with on can of chipotle peppers.
- Puree in a food processor.

Taco garnish:
- chopped lettuce
- avocado
- lime





Grinding.






















Doing damage.









Jock is the new hipster.

blue hill at stone barns, 10/2/08

Elizabeth, Brian, Jane and I had a magical evening at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York. Before, our sumptuous, five-hour-long meal, we took a self-guided tour of some of the Stone Barn's green houses and vegetable gardens. The following are some photos of our explorations in a locavore's paradise.


We rented a zip car to make the 45 minute trip to Pocantico Hills from Brooklyn.









The Blue Hill at Stone Barns logo contains a naturalistic portrait of a cow. Comforting and bucolic.
















The animals raised on the property have much land to graze on and roam freely.








We arrived around 5:30pm, two hours before our reservation. That gave us time to explore the property.








Jane peers into the vegetable garden.








Stone Barns has a welcoming atmosphere. We entered green houses, filled with vegetables and herbs. There was a rubber chicken-head mask on a broom.










Sorrell, one of my favorite herbs.


















Mustard Greens.



















Early evening autumnal light illuminates beautiful vegetables.



















Jane's greenhouse self-portrait.









Greenhouse portrait of the ladies.








Greenhouse portrait of the gentlemen in suits.
















Stone Barnes is predicated on the ideals of sustainability, locality, and seasonality.










A floppy-eared rabbit in a hutch. Cute.






The light really was amazing on that early evening.

















Entering the courtyard of Stone Barns restaurant.








A last minute cell phone call before we entered the restaurant and gave ourselves over to an epicurian fantasy.



What I can recall of what we ate that evening:
1. purple cauliflower, cheddar cauliflower, baby carrots, radishes on a fence
2. last of the season's green beans with their flowers
3. parm crackers with herbs
4. baloney, coppa, pate and chocolate
5. face bacon
6. smoked kale, sage-potato chips
7. veal bone and sturgeon caviar
8. farro crisps, ricotta, carrot salt, arugula salt
9. fairy eggplant, sesame seeds and bacon
10a. red beet, golden beet, mixed greens, pickled plums
10b. sashimi of blue fish, apples, radishes, sturgeon caviar
11. green gazpacho, red tomato sorbet, hazelnuts
12. poached-fried egg, chicken of the woods mushrooms
13. raw and poached celtuse, yogurt foam, nut puree
14. artichoke tortellini, pomodoro
15a. bass, zucchini, raisins, curry sauce
15b. lamb shoulder, eggplant puree
16. cheese course: goat x 2, gouda x 2, seckle pair X 2, honey comb
17a. chocolate cake, currants and raspberries
17b. figs, honey, walnut icecream
18. lemon verbena tea, anise hyssop tea, darjeeling, pineapple sage
19. yogurt marshmallow, sesame chocolate
20. concord grapes, figs, raspberries on a fence

What we drank. I can't remember the producers or the vintage of the wine:
1a. Non-alcoholic Gerwurtztraminer
1b. Elderflower
1c. Ramp martini
1d. Concord
2. Chassagne Montrachet
3. Vouvray
4. Margaux

Rustic Dinner, 9/28/08

It was Sunday evening and there was a Autumn chill in the air. JP, Sheala, Patrick, and Mike joined Jane and I for a low key dinner.



Cooking pasta.























Shells with zucchini, smoked salmon, arugula, and a roasted tomato sauce.
















Grinding.


















Kale soup with potatoes, parsnips, carrots, and, in some cases, bacon and pulled pork jowls.













The soup was served with toasted focaccia.















We moved into the living room and drank some off-dry wine.

















The temp gun makes and appearance!














What we drank.