Edward's kitchen

Today we will be making the Coal Miner’s Pasta.

You will need:

1 package thick cut bacon, 1 box spaghetti, 2 tblsp Buttery Taste, 4 farmer’s eggs, Trader Giotto’s Parmesan Romano cheee, S & P

This is a traditional meal made in communities who depended on coal and coal-mining to provide for their work, livelihood, and the community itself.  It is a hearty and budget-friendly recipe. Mistakenly referred to as “Carbonara”, this dish was made by peasants in small towns in the Coal Region of Northeastern Pennsylvania in the central Appalachian Mountains. They don’t exist anymore.

The Coal region or Pennsylvania Anthracite region, or fields, is home to the largest known deposits of anthracite coal found in the Americas, with an estimated reserve of seven billion short tons.[3]  It is these deposits that provide the region with its nickname. It is a historically important area, comprising Lackawanna, Luzerne, Columbia, Carbon, Schuylkill, Northumberland, and the extreme northeast corner of Dauphin counties. The discovery of anthracite coal was first made in the Schuylkill County by a hunter in 1791.

Lets begin. Prepare by separating the yolks from the egg whites. You can do this easily over the sink by seesawing the egg back and forth using the eggshell halves as unpromptu bowls allowing the thin whites to spill at the drain. Save in small bowl for later.

This version of the Coal Miner’s Pasta calls for spaghetti, but you can literally use any pasta that is unique to your preference. There are so many to choose from. My shoppers were literally confused at the grocery store saying, “well it took us forever to find the traditional spaghetti box.” The problem is there are so many options that are basically spaghetti but differ only slightly: the noodles themselves are thinner, some are flatter, chopped up, completely unpronouncable names -it’s just spaghetti. Bring water to a boil, add spaghetti.  Usually I would go off on my soap box here about adding a pinch of sea salt to the boiling water to keep the noodles from sticking but PLEASE do not do that for this one. The clingy character is actually a helping hand in disguise when it comes to Coal Miner Pasta.  The noodles should be cooked al dente, an old made up Italian phrase that means “to the tooth”, referring to the firmness of the pasta. My lawyer made up a joke for the kitchen that receipes that call for softer, more overcooked noodles should label them al gengive, “to the gums” (Italian.) I like that a lot and it makes sense. Would love to see the cooking community at large adopt this termonology.  Feel free to use on Facebook and Twitter.

Meanwhile, prepare a pan to cook the bacon. Add Buttery Taste and a pinch or so of salt as an underlayer.  Bacon should be diced into pieces around the width of litmus paper is traditional. Grate some cheese.

Note: Before draining pasta you’ll want to save 1 cup of this hot, tempered water as we will use it later.

Drain the pasta and return ti pot. Remove from heat. While stirring, add the egg yolks and the saved water simultaneously.  The conserved heat from the noodles acts as a bonfire to these yolks, literally cooking them on contact and fusing them to the blonde, serpentlike spaghetti. You can check off your serving of protein for the day. The trick is to not ever stop stirring and richoteting the noodle/yolk mixture around.  This is no omelete. The desired outcome is an even keel of yolk coating the noodles. What you dont want is a pile of spaghetti and scrambled eggs. Not only is that unpalletteable but would also not be in keeping with this recipe. Old coal miners used to make this recipe in Pennsylvania.

Once coating is complete, add your bacon and a healthy dusting of  cheese. Mix and serve. Ready to eat? Not quite! Add fresh cracked black pepper.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the Kitchen! Even though this dish^^ isnt a traditional Thanksgiving Day dish you could make it anayway and really have a leg up on dinner conversation.  There’s always room, even at the top, for self improvement.

Welcome back to another mouth- watering edition of Edward’s Restaurant Review, New York City’s premiere restaurant review blog. I hope you saved your appetite because tonight we will be dining at a cool little place called “Dimes” located in the heart of th South East Side of Manhattan. Pull up a chair!

The interior of the place with its curved wood ceilings reminded one of a long ago sea faring vessel. The design was very hipster and very chic, I loved it! The hostess was clearly a fan of Edward’s Kitchen and gave me the best seat in the house at bar.  The Bartender seemed like a character.  I went back and forth on how i felt about the bartender the whole time. Wouldnt take music requests but only played the stupid score from Maze Runner. Seemed like a real New Yorker,

Dont know why this place is called Dimes they should call it Tens of Dollars

I kept asking the bartender for recomendations and he kept saying “everything’s good it depends on what youre in the mood for”. I didnt like that. it was so transperant to me that that was a staged reply. I also learned by usung questioning techniques that the bartender was Straight Edge (link). That was a  real black eye on the evening felt like i couldnt trust anything he or she said. Now i”ve heard of a sad clown before but a teetotaler bartender? Only in New York.  

Let’s eat!

“Lamb Meatballs - spicy heirloom tomato sauce, yogurt, mint - $10″

Delicate yet hardy meatballs with good dose of pepper. Each topped with a whole leaf od mints.  Very flavorful and a delicious start, I will say, I was impressed by this one. Could have kept knocking these back alll night, Sauce was great! Reminscent of mcdonald’s buffalo sauce and also the same viscosity.  Toothpicks were hilarious never saw these before, Looked like the antenna of the elegant grasshopper - my favorite grasshopper.

Excess sauce is always a plus. Bread was brought (oddly enough halfway thru dish) and i was excited to sop. But bread was very badly burnt

“The Desert Rose  - Del maguey mezcal, cynar amaro ciociaro, line -$12″

Weird cocktail that turned out to be delicious. Thought there was a bunch of dill on top but it wasnt. This cocktail tastes super smokey (Dimes may be using Liquid Smoke as a bitter).  Happy to see a bartender using something OTHER than Angustoro bitters, company that cant even trim their labels properly.  GLAD to know someone can still look past the more obvious NY choice. Try this good drink if you want to spend 12 dollars on a drink.

“ The Big Salad - golden beets, celery root, brussel spourts, toasted flax seeds, sage balsamic vinegrette - $14″

The salad was evenly dressed. Light, moist. It looked like an epicurean delight. You could add eggs to it. I added 2. The eggs were done just right.  They were undercooked hard-boiled eggs wich is one of my favorite preparations of eggs. Kinda tempid with a gelatinous yolk, very weird and new. Salad wasnt bitter like a lot of crappy salads these days. Celery root was definitely funny. Once again the mint herb makes an appearance. Dimes definitely should increase the amount of beets in this though.  The price was bad, 14 dollars for a salad.

“Pulled Pork Bowl - jasmine rice, pineapple, enoki, soft herb salad - $18″

Here was a good dish. Classic savory shredded barbeque pork served with blackened, parboiled pineapple chunks.  I’ve only ever hadd hot pineapple when biting into a NY slice of hawaii pizza so it was nice to tr this out of context. I identified saffron threads in the pork wihich is a sure-fire sign that the cook knows what he’d doing. Properly salted and peppered. Loved the wet herbs the way they complimented the pork.

Rice very forgettable.

Guess they serve everything in a bowl

Price too expensive and once again there was a lot of mint herb in the dish.

DESSERT MOUSSe********* Ok, against better judgement I went for what I thought was to be a nice end cap to the meal, a classic dish, the chocolate mousse. That nosey bartender i mentioned earlier said the mousse came highly recommended  by him and others, said I should get it ($10). I thought it couldnt hurt, and my sweet tooth had been acting up again. I ordered it.

Next thing I know some short haired waitress is creeping up behind me with what I could only assume to be a side of ranch. No. let me spare you the anticipation. Pictured below is Dime’s idea of a big chocolately send-off: a half filled souffley cup.

I felt like I had just thrown a handful of money into the mouth of Hell.

Went to bathroom. They had the standard XLERATOR hand drier in there but Dimes made a point to pry off the nameplate, like they were”too cool” for it.  Heres your classic Manhattan restaurant snobbery for you:

Gotta admit, for some hole-in-the-wall in Manhattan the food was pretty amazing and took risks most cooks wouldnt bother with. The portioning to pricepoint ratio is Dime’s biggest flaw.  I wouldnt say i give this place a “dime” overall, but they land a….

6.8 out of 10 Dimes 49 CAnal St., New York City, 10002

Edward’s Kitchen 2015

New York City is disguisting in the summer.  It is hard to enjoy anything in the heat.  This is a salad my father taught me.

SuperSalad- you will need

One bag Dole baby spinach, 3 medium vine tomatoes, 1 pt. blueberries, handful sliced almonds, Maldon course salt, 1/3 mild white cheddar brick, black pepper

Create a bed of spinach in your salad bowl out of half of the amount to begin. Spinach usually comes pre-washed but spot check as you transfer it to your bowl for any putrid leaves that got past inspection. Wash blueberries in plastic strainer and toss out any that are too hard or too soft.   Both these foods are superfoods.

Sprinkle half the blueberries into bowl. Why half?  We are layering the sald 

I buy tomatoes on the vine, it’s easier to count on all the tomatoes in the bunch being the same stage of ripeness. you want your tomotoes softer than most foods, pears, apples, etc.  But not so soft like water grenades, that is when the skin begins to become pruney and the flavor turns. Sharpen your knife and chop each tomato up into 8 wedges like a pizza from above. Do not worry if the internal gel part slips off the rinds/makes mess this will actually work perfectly inthe salad. Dust each wedge with generous pinches of Maldon course salt, hunter green and white box.    Never fridge tomatoes.

Despite what you hear on the nightly news and The Chew and #everywhere about peanut allergies these days its just the new fad diet.-Do not shy away from the nut family. (Michele obamma did not build the Food Pyramid)  Our salad makes use of a hearty addition of sliced almonds. They sell them already perfectly sliced. You can slice them yourself but you make have trouble controlling your sharp knife with such small target for the thin slices we are after for this dish.

While an orange cheddar is classic, the dish goes best with freshly grated mild white cheddar.

Mix tomatoes, cheese, and almonds together with the remainder blueberries and spinach and add to big bowl.  Layering the salad this way makes tossing or salad spinning useless and unnecessary   Enjoy

Welcome to the Review on Edward’s Kicthen!

We are back! Thanks so much for the emails and messages showing your support for EK and ERR over the hiatus, and a HUGE thank you to lawyer Dan Dung Nguyen and his family.

Tonight we head to The Outback Steak House, a clean, modern Australian restaurant in Manhatten for a dinner from “down under”.

Join us wont you? ~~~

First off no one is Aulstralian here. Restaurant is properly lit.  Seating was fine.Drink orders were taken quickly and without issue. The large glass mug of Fosters Beer was the drink of the evening. Did not need a water (I’ve been better about drinking waters throughtout the day) but strangely it wasn’t offered.

We begin with bread - A loaf of Pumpernickel and whipped butter gratis.

 Hands away, this is the softest pumpernickle I have ever had. perfectly warm.  This meal is starting off right.

The Outback Steak House is known for two things.  No. 1: Steaks, steaks, STEAKS. Thick, meaty, no bones about it!   Mouth-watering cuts of steak from all over the animal. Whether you want a prime rib, a porterhouse, butterfly cut, or even Filet Mignon, they have them ALL at Outback. Its a steak lover’s safe haven.

No. 2.  A favorite among the crowd is the Outback Blooming Onion. This is an appetizer.I don;t even know how to desrcibe what it looks like.  It’s a deepfried onion with a patent secret sauce. O.K. You got me That’s putting it in Lamen’s terms. Presenttaion is EVERYTHING with the Blooming Onion. it looks like rows of shark’s backup teeth sharinga common center.

AMAZING! 10/10. Sweet, sour, crunchy, refreshing, warm -- It has it all.  My favoirte part is the sauce.  With its perfect blend of spices, the B.O. sauce packs more of a zing than Foster Brooks.

I like prime rib.  Since I have entered that’s what i’ve been waiting to see Out House `sA Ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccckkckccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc c c c c c c c c c cc c I love prime rib! Since I have enetered that’s what I’ve been waiting for - to see Outback’s take on this choice cut. The name says it all, this steak is taken from prime real estate within the animals ribcage.  this si the juiciest, softest and most tender part of it. prime rib is allways served with “au jus” (pronounced aw-jew) which only means juice. Prime rib is almost more like a roast than a steak.

2 sides ajoin the meal. i chose house salad with ranch (on the side) and grilled asperagus. waiter seemed out of it.

House Salad - simple yet dense. Pleased to find that outback isnt one of those restaurants that outs carot in it.

Next we have the main course  So far so good. How will the main course stack up?  The Herb Roasted Prime Rib,16 oz. This could make or break the meal...

Great! Another steak done right. the herb crusted rim didn’t overtakle the subtle pallete of the  meat. A  slam dunk. However The asperagus was just looked like the same kind you buy in the grocery store

The bill came in a very well made presenter booklet, more personalized than other restaurants. thought it was weird to make it snakeskin, seemed a bit out of place. There was a pharmacy pen wedged in the booklet instead of something less showy. Came off as unprossional. An unfortuneate way to cap off the night.

OVERALL SCORE: 9.1 out of 10 The Outback Steak House, 60 W 23rd St., New York, NY 10010

Edward's Restaurant Review

Hello Readers.  I know what you're thinking - it has been awhile on the Review.  In honor of NYC Restaurant Week we here at the Kitchen have been releasing a new blog post every time. New York Restaurant Week is actually July 21st to Aug 15 which is actually 4 weeks (a month) so indulging was not a problemo for us here at the Kitchen

Tonight the sights and sounds of New York take us to the up and coming neighborhood of Bushwick, located in the center of Brooklyn for New York's own restaurant week.

Let’s eat!

Tater tots…  Dont use your imagination: nothing new here friends. Tastes like Ore-ida bag. This started me off on a sour node. I ordered the cheese sauce (2 dollars extra) And what can I say? Like a watery  buttered down coule of swiss cheese slices in a stoneware bowl they put in the microwave. Pass!    I shared them with my friends.

Salad. A side at best. Mesclun mix, toothpick cut sized carrots, cherry tomato halves, whoopdedoo! Seen this one about a zillion times before. Would rather be at a salad bar with a pair of tongs glued to my hand. Dressing was just some light vinegar and maple syrup(?) mix. No choice offered for the sauce, salad came with it already in. My friend spilled bbq sauce in his salad bc he assumed the brush metal ramakin full of sauce must be the dressing on side for the salad but it turned out it was a side of bbq sauce for his main course burger. I dont blame him for confusion. (Looked like their bbq sauce was extremely runny at that.)

Blt tasted good i guess. Wheat toast with oats or dry oatmeal crusted upon rim. Nothing special about it. It literally was a bacon lettuce and tomato, nothing else, was hoping theyd sneak something extra on it for a price tag of 11 dollars, get out of town

Toothpicks extremely long

Now I’ve had applewood smoked meats before and this bacon beared no resemblance, to the eye or the mouth. No one I was near could tell me if the meal’s “L” was an iceberg cut or a heart of romaine, not a soul. I have a pretty good idea it was neither though. Pale green leaf reminded of getting sick in the car or a peace lily in between stem and flower.  Tomato was fine can’t fault them for that. (Looking now at their online menu there was also quote unquote garlic mayo on it.  I cant remember, maybe there was.)

French fries: reminded of frenchs potato stix the way they were cut. Cant remember what those are used for. Thousand island was rudimentary. Tasted like a salad bar thousand island.

Stella Artois. A flavorful beer. At least they couldnt majorly screw this one up.   I’m not a big fan of Stella though.

Bushwick’s Living Room had a milkshake mixer on display at the bar. Still had warning stickers on it like it was never used, or, if it was used, thats disgusting to keep the stickers on it. Probably a prop.

I dont know what the theme or ambiance was supposed to be here. Staff wore no uniforms so it was hard to tell when someone was talking to you if they were your waiter or just making conversation. Surprisingly this restaurant was crowded.

Overall a decent meal in the up and coming Bushwick.  Can't wait to see you next time on the Review!

OVERALL SCORE: 3.5 out of 10.0

Bushwick's Living Room, 983 Flushing Ave, New York, NY 11206

http://983bk.com/

Edward's Restaurant Review #4

Us New Yorkers know: This city has a history of pizza.  Well known for its Italian districts, New York provides a home for purveyors in both pizza and pasta from around the globe. It is not uncommon to see a busy businessman or woman chowing down on a slice or two on their paid lunch breaks, or pizza cars and bicyclists manuerving past pedestrians to ensure deliveries arrive on time. Today we’re gonna “have a slice” Big Apple style on ERR, so join us won’t you? Seamless and GrubHub are now one in the same, teaming up to guarantee only the best possible web-to-door food delivery.

With just a few short clicks and I had ordered a large pineapple pizza, peppers, sausage, and cheese calzone, and a specialty soda from none other than Rocco PIzza located in the heart of Brooklyn neighborhood Bed Stuy.

Pizza is traditionally a round thrown dough, coated with shredded cheese and pizza sauce, each pizza restaurant closely guarding their secret recipe, oftentimes passed down from generations.  Calzone is a French term for Stromboli.  They arrived within the 30-45 min window.

If youre like me, you unflap the hot cardboard box as soon as you close the door, expecting to see not only that bubbling-hot pie, but also those 2 classic sauce containers under the lid.  We're of course talking about ranch and garlic.  With Rocco's Pizza--dont bother.  You will not find a single sauce to come with any pizza! (Checking back now with their menu it seems as though we must not only go out of our way to request these sauces, but also pay extra.  Looks like they only have those packets of Ken’s Steakhouse ranch, which is a subpar ranch dressing—Ken’s Steakhouse is well known for their visscous dressings that come in those phone-sized packets and most people get away with highway robbery charging the consumer upways of a dollar for something that should be as free as ketchup.  They also coagulate (like blood!) way too fast.   Ken’s Steakhouse and Newman’s Own both make a sorry excuse for ranch dressing. Stick to your Hidden Valley’s and store brands.  Wishbone is also problematic.)

Despite this flaw I kept my chin up and dug into the pie.  Pineapple is a must-try for the causal pizza goer.  With Rocco’s the flavors were there--that tangy red sauce, the hard yet soft crust, the white mozarella cheese- but the topping could use improvement.  These pineapple hunks, while plentiful, I will give them that, were just sitting on top the pie, not among the ingredients as they should be.  (Probably just threw pineapples on some cheese pizza they already had laying around.  The pineapples were definitley from the can, unmistakeable cut by machine not mankind.  They looked like little yellow trapezoids-  Despite this, despite everything, Rocco’s makes a tasty enough slice.)

I turned to the soda, a root beer.  Never had this one before--the company is Stewart’s. Pretty good.

Lastely I tried the calzone.  Pretty good. This one came with a side of sauce.  Looked really fascinating inside.  This one was a better deal than the pizza (5 bucks).  Hot or cold, tastes the same.  Delicious.

Thanks for reading along on the Review.

OVERALL SCORE: 6.8 / 10

Rocco Pizza, 765 DeKalb Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216

Special thanks to Seamless, GrubHub, Shazam, Pandora.  Thanks to "Middle Class Rut"  "Wigger Mom" and "Pitbull" for providing music.

Restaurant Review # 3

Welcome back to another Edward's Restaurant Review  Where the Kitchen turns outward to take a bite out of the Big Apple.

I ate at this restaurant, Chickpea, for the first time the other day.  Chickpea is a popular haunt in NYC well known for their Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine.  The aroma greeted me the second I walked in the door.  After perusing the menu, I stepped in line and prepared myself for what they had to offer.

Wow. The choices were everywhere.  Chickpea has been heralded for its variety of food and its ability to accomodate the dietary customs that vary from patron to patron.  Chickpea boasts gluten free fare, as well as 'vegan' (an abbreviation for vegetarian) cuisine.  They also bring to the gauntlet different flavored hummuses, including sun- dried tomato and chive infused versions. Someone in the restaurant told me to try the chipotle flavored hummus.

I perused their menu.  Two of their most popular dishes are the falafel and the shawarma sandwiches.  Falafel is well known by this point so no point in getting in to all that but "Shawarma" may be a new one to some of our readers.  It originates in the Mid East and is commonly a shaved meat of chicken or lamb. It is carved, (or "shaved") from a vertical spit and is cooked with sauces and spices.  I wanted to try both. I was in luck! Chickpea boasts the "Shawafel", a made up word and combination dish of the falafel and shawarma all in one sandwich.  This one's for the sampler at heart folks.

You get to choose between a wrap, pocket pita bread, or a black plastic tray.  I went with the wrap.  Let's Eat!

Then you only get to choose 4 additives to your wrap (which honestly looks more like a burrito than anything else) and they charged extra ($0.75!) for feta cheese which should be a shoe-in for this sort of thing in my opinion.  I chose that, the diced cucumber and tomato mixture, succulent roasted red  peppers, and red onion.  Luckily the craisins were free.  (If I'm being honest, I felt quite rushed in line.  The wait staff seemed less interested in the quality of the meals they were churning out on that long plastic industrial cutting board, and more interested in the number of customers they could serve.)

The shawafel is terrible !  Extremely messy.  The less said about presentation: the better.  This wrap is too spicy. Spicy for the sake of being spicy - NOT flavored.  Aggressive, yet bland. I dont know if its the hummus of the shawarma or what.  When I drank my Coke to put out the burning flavor, my mouth was already so raw, the usually subtle soda taste felt like a madhouse on my tongue.  Completely inappropriate.

Everything, from presentation to price to the courtesy of people in line ahead of me was poor at best.  I barely had time to wolf down the wrap before my lunch break was over and I had to return to work building this wall.

OVERALL SCORE: 1 / 10

Chickpea, 42-09 28th St, New York, NY 11101

Edward's Kitchen 2014

Welcome back.  It's April in New York City and spring is right around the corner. You can feel it in the air.  People take to the sidewalks leaving their parkas and scarves at home.  Birds perch in the neighborhood trees singing louder than usual as the taxis roll on by below.  Instead of a stuffy commute on the subway, businessmen and women ride their bikes to meetings.  Today we will be making the Late Night Breakfast Tacos. 

You will need:

La Banderita corn tortillas, fresh eggs, beans, 5x6 tomato, Daisy sour cream, butter, assort. sauce, parsley, dillweed, milk, Sargento Sharp Cheddar

Preparing the soft taco shells is so simple. Decide how many you want. I like to go to bed on a full stomach so I always start with at least 4.  The soft shells are so puny so don’t be afraid to splurge.  Stack them on a plate. (If bag condesnsation has made them a little damp this is of no worry to us- the moisture acts as steam in the microwave and makes tortilla even more malleable than you’re used to).  Heat high for 20 seconds.

Two kinds of beans work.  You can use either black beans or refried beans. 

I had to use black beans.  Lets take a moment and learn a great way to prepare your black beans for this and other Mexican dishes.  Begin by straining your beans under cold water until the skin appears shiny and the gray slime is gone. Heat in pot with tablespoon butter, several generous shakes of worchestire sauce, 3 Tablespoons A1, 3-6 drops Liquid Smoke, and a squirt or two of mustard.  Stir occasionally.  As you heat you will begin to notice the beans taking on a carmelized appearance.  The Liquid Smoke really helps seal the deal. The beans will smell like they‘ve just come straight from over the bonfires from the campsite trips of your youth.

Crack 4 eggs (1 taco = 1 egg) into a glass, add a splash of milk and whisk.  Dump it into a heated and buttered frying pan.  While the eggs are still wet add your bits of cheese and a couple pinches of dillweed.  It’s nice to watch as the eggs cook and see the cheese and spice become trapped under the skin of the scrambled eggs, as if looking at the insects from the prehistoric period become trapped in amber.

DICE the tomato.  Get your favorite hot sauce ready.

While still hot spoon equal parts egg and beans into each tortilla and pinch.  Add tomato and sour cream.  A few generous shakes of parsley per each taco will help liven up some of the lesser flavors to be had.  Add your favorite hot sauce.   The wooden capped kinds are the ones to use this spring.

Edward's Restaurant Review #2

Thanks for joining us again as we here at the Kitchen step out into the evening to taste what New York, New York has to offer on another edition of Edward’s Restaurant Review.  Tonight our tastebuds take us out to a little hole-in-the-wall called Romans, a unique restaurant known for its bar, atmosphere, fresh bread and menu.

Romans is located in the heart of Brooklyn.

There were several things I noticed upon entering this classy, vintage style establishment.  The candlelight, the atmosphere, and the smell of oil and fresh crack pepper in the air.   I was seated without any problems. I sat at the bar--new experience for me. The waiter was a genius. It was weird at first I thought he was a foreign American based soley on his language but he spoke English, he was just well taught in kitchen and foodie terminology and had come at me with the specials without introducing himself.   I was brought a butt of a homemade sour dough loaf as i perused their eclectic menu.  A delicious way to start the evening.  no butter.

Alright, let’s eat!

Crostino of Beans and Little Neck Clams

Wow!  What a dish.  This dish contains a bread base, one slice of it that is toasted, fried, and then spiked with an aged garlic.  It is then adorned with sauce, smokey flavored beans, and little neck clams.  One spoonful and I was hooked!  I’ll admit that I’d never had considered clams alongside something as rudimentary as bean dip but this odd combination comes thru in the end in a BIG way.  The price tag of 12 dollars will, however, produce double-take’s considering the proportioning.   The green stuff on top is cooked parsely. Onto the main course!

Agnolotti with Pork Ragu

Basically just bite sized ravioli.   Resembled wet cheez its but did not taste like them/a delicious meal! These flavors were to die for.  An indescribable meal.  The insides of the noodles tasted like a very tender but sweet meat: a maple syrup but sugary sweetness to this beef. A bit hard to describe if I am being serrious with myself/not overly chewy. While eating, I was reminded of when they would pour sugar into meats on the old Oregon trail to preserve their food for their long stay on that western bound trail. Absolutely delicious!  Strange cost of 16 dollars to proportioning better suitable to an appetizer for one.

Ziti with Leeks, Artichokes and Parmigianno

I *loved* this dish. A completely disferent flavor than my main course (above). I only got a few bites, it was delicious--A delicate balance—the consistency reminded me of aspic.  A light and mushy pesto taste.  Mmm!, just thinking about it!  It also seemed like an easy dish to make at home.  Bigger proportions than mine. Finalizing this I thought that I could indulge myself in a little dessert.

Orange Crème & Chocolate Sorbet

Tastes like crap. An untimley end to an otherwise perfectlty tastey meal. Orangesickle one was too sweet like eating Equal.  The chocolate one tasted like someone played an April Fool practical prop joke gag and unscrewed a salt shaker over of someone’s watery chocolate.  I’ll pass.

I settled up.

Great food!  The price is not right.

SOUNDTRACK FOR EVENING (courtesy of Shazam:)

Nina Simone - "Sinnerman"

Thom Yorke - "Eraser"

Primus - "Professor Nutbutter's House Of Treats"

Ours - "Sometimes"

VAST - "Touched"

Peaches - "I'm The Kinda"

Vivaldi - "The Four Seasons"

Andrea Bocelli - "Con Te Partiro (Time To Say Goodbye)"

OVERALL SCORE: 7.5/10

Romans, 243 Dekalb Ave Brooklyn, NY 11205

Edward's Kitchen 2014

Welcome back to an all new year of Edward’s Kitchen! Hope you had a great new year. Have you been confused about what to make for lunch tomorrow?  A healthy sandwich will do the trick. This is my twist on hor d’oeurve appetizer trays that I call the Fruit, Veggie, & Cheese Sandwich. you will need:

Fresh plucked black berries, 1 cucumber, 1 radish, Western Beef raisin bread, 1/2 block Western Beef cream cheese, Brie cheese, mayo, mustard

To begin put the cream cheese in a bowl along with a dash or two of mayo (this helps for viscosity) and squash your black berries into there. 15 should do. Mix.  You’ll notice the delicious hue your spread becomes.   A nice lilac color, maybe like an easter egg or flowers.  (NOTE: The cream cheese should be allowed to soften for a couple hours before mixing)

TOAST bread.  Ideally you will be using raisin bread to cater into our theme of fruits and vegetables (grapes) but use what you have. Cinnamon-raisin bread also works.

Get out your cutting board.  We'll return to an old favorite the cucumber slice.  (You may remember this from EK’s “Morning Breakfast”, the premiere dish of Edward’s Kitchen.).  Next is the radish. Cut into VERY THIN slices. You don’t want to add to much bc its too spicy.

Slice a few lengths of Brie cheese. Use a cheese knife here so you dont collapse the delicate skin and insides of the Brie with your jerky motion.  cheese knives have special indentations on the side so as to aerate the cut as you saw the slices off and you’ll notice how the Brie no longer bunches up like pieces of tape when you do so.  (I recommend this utensil, preferably in forged or stamped German steel.) I don’t have a cheese knife so I used a diffferent one.

WIPE your spread onto the toast.  Add the cucumber, radish, and Brie cheese.  A little fresh ground pepper and table salt goes a long way.  Serve with brown mustard on the side for dipping and whatever else you like.  Garnish the meal with black berries.  Now i know what youre thinking: didnt we already USE black berries?  Yes but sometimes keeping some things solid that are also in a mixture in another part of the dish and serving them together allows for diner to remember the ORIGINAL taste and go back and forth between the two. This gives the eater a false sense of participation, or choice. Serves two to three.

Listen to a playlist by Edward's Kitchen for free on Grooveshark

Happy New Year! Please enjoy this playlist looking back on all the songs from the Kitchen this past year. Looking forwad to another great year cooking alongside you! ~EK

Edward's Kitchen 2013

Hello guest.  Here we are again in the Kitchen.  Tuna salad is a hearty and healthy dish with a lot of applications.  But wheather on a sandwich or just as a side, it is important to make sure it is done right.  This is one of my favorites.  Simply blending it with mayonaisse will not do. Today let’s make the Advent Tuna Bagel Sandwich.  You will need:

Bagels, 2-3 cans chunk lite tuna, Duke’s mayo, cucumber, two handfuls green olives, capers (optional), Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, lemon, onion, scallions, dillweed, yellow mustard, French’s sweet relish, celery, fresh monster cheese, Jane’s Krazy Mixed-Up Salt

This is one of my favorites.  I used to order it as a kid at a breakfast place before they removed it from the menu.

So we have to make tuna salad. There are so many ingredients in this. First things first, pry open your tuna cans.  I like to get the ones that say tuna in oil AND tuna in water to mix it up.  Strain these while pushing down on the aluminum lid (it doesn’t matter). You can also use a colander or strainer for for this part with a cold water rinse bath.  Place your tuna in a bowl along with 4 teaspoons sweet relish, 5 Table spoons Duke’s mayonnaisse, and a couple liberal dashes yellow mustard.  Mix it.  Turn to your cutting board now.

You have all kinds of food here.  DICE your green olives, onion, scallions and celery.  (My general rule of thumb is to keep the chunks smaller than the size of an average persons’ tooth,  Otherwise they become too flavorful and cause problems overtaking the  heterogenous mixture of your salad). Dice finely your capers. Capers are basically impossible to dice so do your best (this is where a very sharp knife comes in handy, as always.) Add to bowl

Wash your zester tool with hot water and dry. Scrape it against   the lemon to zest the otherwise uneatable peel into your tuna salad bowl. The fine, yellow dust will add a lovely zest to your meal.

Add 1 dash Balsamic vineger, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and Jane’s Mixed-Up Crazy Salt to taste, apply more than enough dillweed.  This is the perfect tuna salad mixture: I eat this all the time.

Either toast the bagel or heat oven to 350-450 degrees Farenheit and allow to warn for approximately 2 minutes.  Plop tuna on it and garnish with cheese.  We’ ll return to an old favorite the cucumber slice.  (You may remember this from EK’s “Morning Breakfast”, the premiere dish of Edward’s Kitchen.  I still enjoy that one in my spare time.) Add cucumber slices.

An extra squirt of mustard will help seal the deal and your are ready to eat!  This is a delicious meal for every and any occasion in the kitchen. (I apologize for the hasty delivery of this one. there are countless construction workers and jackhammers going to town outside my window as I post this at this early hour (check the timestamp on the posting) and it is causing me trouble properly relating this delicious recipe. Ridiculous!)  Enjoy.

Edward's Kitchen 2013

Welcome back from the holidays to EK!  Seafood dishes are always a fan favorite in the kitchen.  This Black Friday, instead of leftovers, suprise a guest with a seafood dish.  We turn from the farms to the seas and ocean on this edition of Edward’s Kitchen. Were making the elaborate  Shrimp Cocktail Helgoland.

1 pound shrimp, asperagus, Mandarin oranges, pineapples, bread, mayo, ketchup, mustard, Barefoot Sauvignon Blanc white wine, brandy, pepper

First get out your shrimp. Pull off the hard exteriors and fins and discard. Rinse with cold water. (Make sure there isn't any fecal matter in the shrimp’s spines with a fork as this can ruin meal presentation and be a huge turn-off to a guest. they say that 90% of a meal is presentation but i dont know if I agree with that.)

  PUT about 20 stalks of asparagus on a shallow bowl with some water and put it in the microwave for a minute or 2 (this softens it) and cut them up into segments 1 inch long.  Drain the water and be sure to rid of the hard white bottom parts.

GET a medium to large mixing bowl and put 1 and 1/3  cup of your favorite mayo.  Add a Tablespoon of brandy and ¼ cup chilled Barefoot white wine.  Squirt ketchup and brown mustard in there- teaspoon give or take for each.   Add peppper to flavor and stir liberally.

Drain the cans of Mandarin oranges and pineapples.  The pineapples might be chunked or in rings but cut em up and use half to a whole can depending on how much you like pineapples.

Now it’s just a mmatter of putting everything into that mixing bowl with the sauce and  stirring it all around until all the indredients are coated equally.  Refridgerate for 30 minutes or longer.

The only other thing U have to do is toast bread and chop it into triangles, or “points”, and decorate the platter with them when you serve this to your guest.

I would like to personally thank Pandora and Shazam for livening up the Kitchen with music as always.  Today we enjoyed the hard rock of Theory Of A Dead Man.

Edward`s Kitchen 2013

Its getting chilly outside this time of year when a hearty soup is perfect.  You can feel the warmth almost as soon as the spoon hits your mouth. Today were making one of my favorite pieces that is an adaption of my grandmothers recipe for Pasta E. Fagioli.  Pasta E. Fagoili is a timeless old peasant’s dish that people would eat to keep from starving in the Old Country.  You need.

2 large cans San Marzano crushed tomatoes, 2 cans College Inn chicken broth, water, parsley, 1 can each of black beans, Great Northern butter beans, and dark red kidney beans, box of Barilla Ditalini pasta, 1 white onion,3-4 regular carrots, 4 celery stalks, garlic clove, Turkish Bay leaves, s&p, extra virgin olive oil

Let’s start first.  Boil one pot of water on high on the stove and put one very big pot on a separate burner. This will be your stock pot.

Crack open your crushed tomato and chicken broth cans and pour them in it and heat to medium.  Add the Turkish Bay leaves 2-3 for flavoring, and sprinkle in salt & cracked pepper  and olive oil.  A splash of your favorite beer adds some carbination to the pot.

Theres a lot of cutting so go ahead and get out a lot of cutting boards or plates or what you have.  I don’t have a Magic Bullet so I just take my time with knife.  It gives me time to think. Sometimes so-called “time saving appliences" are just an easy way out.  Chop finely the carrot, celery , garlic, and onion.  My general rule of thumb is garlic and carrot is smallest, celery is second smallest, and I let the onion cuts be a little bigger cause it melts more in heat than one of your harder foods like a carrot.  Stir these vigorously into your stock pot.  Add a cup of water and cover pot  (beer works also instead for an unique twist).

By this time your water pot is probably boiling.  Throw the box of ditalini or whatever pasta in there.  Lets let this cook (stir occasionally to avoid chunks hardening to bottom)  But it doesn’t have to be super soft cause it will be in warmth in the other pot as well and have time to swell.

It will be nice to allow our vegetables to soften in our mixture while we turn to the beans.  Open each bean can and strain.  Stir them into our stockpot.  Now were on our way! 

Strain pasta and add to pot.  Put in 2 Tablespoons ofr parsley.  Stir.  Turn back heat to low and just let it simmer.

Hello and thanks for joining us on the maiden launch of Edward’s Restaurant Review, New York City’s new food and restaurant blog. Today our tastebuds bring us to Umi Nom, a tapas restaurant in Bedstuy known for its Thai and Philipino cuisine.

This was a very interesting restaurant.  “Tapas” roughly translates to “snacks.”  Unlike most restaurants, at tapas places it is common for diners to order several different dishes in one sitting as proportions are small.  Umi Nom was BYOB which I guess doesn’t really matter at the end of the day.  The hostess and waiter seemed a bit unfriendly  but I could tell they were industry veterans.   My companion pointed out that they were playing songs like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra.   I told the waiter that I’d never had tapas before.  We were seated quickly.

Alright, let's eat! 

We started with the Roasted Manila Clams in the Spicy Black Bean Sauce. It was surprisingly brothy, almost like a soup.  The shrunken rings of jalapeno in there were a unique twist! It was good and the clams were tender and juicy but a fair a mount of shells at the bottom were just empty which I couldn’t help but notice.  Overall delicious!

Next came the Calamari.  Never saw it served in a bowl.  One of the best Ive ever had

The next dish was their Pork Belly Adobo braised in Soy, Vinegar, & Garlic.  This is a delicious and chewy cut of meat served in a carrot and radish garnish.  It was seared to perfection and I loved the gravy it was laying it. I had a couple extra pieces of calamari so I mixed the tapases together and I wasn’t disappointed.  The waiter was bringing out the orders too fast though.  I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that I was eating too quickly for my digestion.  Also, a baby kept making commotion several tables down, throwing forks and silverware onto the floor, and I had trouble concentrating.  Now I understand how parents  cant control everything baby does but I must say that I felt uncomfortable when they wouldn’t meet my gaze every time the baby began to cuase trouble.

The last dish was Grilled Mackerel with Toasted Rice, Cherry Tomatoes, & Garlic Chili-Lime Dressing  and it was terrible!  DO NOT ORDER THE MACKEREL AT UMI NOM.  I thought ordering this one would be wise as the description seemed healthy but this was a terrible meal and they brought it out too fast. There were hairlike bones throughtout and it was very dry (I was reminded of the impoverished Heathcliff cat).  I ate their cherry tomatoes to combat the dryness of the fish but they exploded like rancid grenades in my mouth.

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

Umi Nom, 433 Dekalb Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11205

Edward's Kitchen 2013

**Today is a very special episode as we will have a huge announcement at the end of the recipe that regards an exciting new direction the web-series will be taking.

Thanks for joining us again on EK. If your like me this time of year, you may find it difficult to committing to cook yourself an entire meal.  In this is the case, an hor dourve can work, and help break up the frustrating pattern that things have become.  Today we will make the Fall Snack Platter. You will need:

white bread, sauerkraut, kale, mayo, Frank's Red Hot, mustard

Toast 3 pieces of white bread to your discretion.  Create a layer of mayo on 2.  Next tear up some fresh kale and apply the leaves to these pieces.  The third piece of toast is to be severed into toast points.

I never had kale before.  I used it because I overheard a bunch of vegetarians bragging about it on the street corner.  Its bitter but it was nice to be part of a conversation.  Now, dance your sauerkraft over the snack.  The kind from the jar works fine.

Add toast points to the sides of the meal.  These are for design and also for pallete cleansers.  Hot sauce and mustard works for dip.  Spill the sauces in unique, one of a kind designs and patterns.  These colors will be thrilling to the eye.

Enjoy.

***MAJOR KITCHEN ANNOUNCEMENT***

Edward’s Kitchen will be takin’ it to the streets beginning this fall!!  In addition to original, homemade creations, the series will also be reviewing the cuisines of Brooklyn’s cherished restaurant culture!  Self-taught cook and foodie Edward M. Shenk will present his in-depth critiques of all the latest hip and local spots with the ALL NEW “Edward’s Restaurant Review.”  So, save that appetite Brooklyn, and hey! don’t fill up on the bread, because ERR is coming for YOU!