From Japan with Love

A farm in Kumamoto Prefecture has been working at growing these melons for four years. This is like cantaloupe foot-binding, or maybe it's just romantic.

via Coldmud

Pocket Guide to Wine

This pocket guide from Slate promises to help you the next time you need a good bottle for cheap. It focuses on trusted importers rather than vineyards which seems like a brilliant idea when every wine store has such different selections. Read the full article here.

Visualize

I don't really think this is fair way to illustrate how much sugar is in a given food. However, the image of the cubes stacked next to the Coke is arresting. Less so when you compare it with the grapes though. As Sugarstacks.com mentions on their blog, a lot have people have been giving them guff for making such a comparison given that there are different types of sugar.


And apparently there is more sugar in Vanilla Frozen Yogurt than Vanilla Ice cream...

Slap Chop Remix

I really love this guy Vince. I don't understand why I can actually watch his infomercials, but he has a real gift. Between SlapChop and ShamWow, pretty much everything he touches turns to gold.

Thanks Sham.

How did I miss this?

I can't believe I missed this from a few episodes back in Lost. If you don't watch Lost, I apologize. For me, it ranks at the top of the TV food chain. I don't see a huge need for back story, but I'll say this: in the story, which mostly takes place on an island with seemingly magical powers/history, back in the 70's there was a group called the Dharma initiative which was inhabiting parts of the island and building different facilities/stations that enabled them to monitor the people on the island or press a button which may or may not stave off the end of the world. Each station had a symbol. Here, one of the main character's sports an as of yet unseen symbol, the one for the mess hall. I love it.

Review: Perry Street

Ever since I went to his self-titled flag ship restaurant Jean Georges, Vongerichten's fleet of other restaurants have been calling my name. This is especially true because of the enticing deals that many of Jean Georges's spots have been rolling out as the economy slowed. Take his far West Village eatery, Perry Street which offers a four course dinner for $35. The one catch is that you must make a reservation for between 5:30-6:30 or 10:00-11:00. But this happens to be perfect if you're going to the theater as I was last Friday with Elizabeth and her folks.

We arrived at 5:30 as one of two parties there, however, they sat us right next the other guests. We asked to be moved to a different table and were immediately granted a better one which had less of the late sun on our backs. Thankfully, this early, minor gaff proved to be the lowest point of the evening. Everything from there on out was delightful, from the food to the superb service.

Perry St. is about as far west as you can get, pretty much overlooking the highway and river. However, the design of the restaurant is such that you get all the good parts of being near the water and no sense that cars are speeding past you. We all made a conscious effort to try all the dishes on the small menu which essentially gives you two choices for each course, but changes every four weeks. Let's begin:

Amuse Bouche
Carrot Puree crystallized ginger foam. The perfect way to the start the evening, two sips of something that was so airy it can hardly be called soup. The foam was exquisite and the puree was the perfect temperature, warm but not hot.

First Course
Sauteed Shrimp fried baby artichokes, lemon fennel vinaigrette and paprika oil: Plump and succulent, the shellfish were. They were too fishy for Elizabeth but I liked them. They reminded me slightly of the mighty diamond shrimp appetizer at Oishii Sushi in Boston.


Roasted Beet Carpaccio fresh ricotta, crystallized wasabi and black bread: Black bread does not suffice as a description. These croutons were hands down the best croutons I'd ever eaten, fresh, but crunchy, oh so buttery. I love roast beets and the fresh ricotta combo was right in every way. I could eat this everyday.

Second Course
Slowly Cooked Salmon truffle vinaigrette and steamed maitake mushroom: a perfectly cooked piece of salmon. Gotta love sauteed scallions. I was the only one at the table who had choosen the skate which was to my mind was superior.

Pan Roasted Skate braised leeks and pistachios, aromatic spiced vinaigrette: I don't care if it's a cheap fish, pan roasted skate gets the job down. Between the skate and the mashed potatoes was a secret compartment of braised leeks and pistachios which kicked ass, great combo. I can not say what was in the aromatic spiced oil, but it's such a beautiful color and I asked for extra bread to mop up every last drop.


Grilled Beef Hanger Steak smoked paprika butternut squash and caramelized brussels sprouts: I actually didn't try any of the meat, but I hear it was perfectly down and it looked beautiful. I would get this next time.

Fried Chicken smoked gravy, roasted sweet potato and lemon confit: My least favorite dish, but still really good anyway. The dark meat on the plate was better than the white. I loved that they poured the gravy from a white porcelain tea kettle, table-side. The sweet potato wasn't anything special but the lemon confit was out of this world. I ate mine and Elizabeth's. Tastiest was to eat lemon ever!!

Warm Valhrona Chocolate Cake and vanilla ice cream: classic dish done well. Molten in the middle, mmmm.

Frangipane Torte with pineapple sorbet: I choose this dessert and was mildly happy. The flaky torte was nice, not to sweet and went well with the sorbet, but didn't blow my mind.


Green Tea and Chocolate Petit Fours: Fortunately, this final note did blow my mind. Jean Georges always keeps it real classy with the Amuse Bouche to begin and Petit Fours to end. I love that. $35!!!??? Yeah, it doesn't include wine or tip, but if you are a baller on a budget don't sleep on Jean Georges' deals.

Pesachdik and low-fat dessert (tastes way better than it sounds)

Having been asked to make fruit compote to accompany Passover desert, I managed over the days prior to the Seder to test a few different stewed fruits. First of all, let me say that stewing dried fruit is super easy and can add an extra something to dinner (as a sauce for lamb or chicken) or dessert (see below). Wine-stewed prunes and apricots simmered in tangerine juice were both winners and both took two minutes of prep time and 30 minutes left alone on the stove .

Apricots in Tangerine Juice
2 cups of apricots
1 1/2 cups orange juice
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

Bring to a boil over medium heat, then let simmer stirring occasionally til liquid begins to thicken (about 20 min).

Prunes in Red Wine Syrup (modified from Fresh Food Fast)
1/2 lbs of prunes
1 cup of dry red wine
a few strips of lemon zest
1/2 cup of water

Repeat above directions. You can then put the fruit in the fridge and it keeps for over a week.


To further the fun post-passover, I whipped up each into a tasty low-fat dessert that was slightly awesome.

1/3 cup of compote
2/3 cup of fat free ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
mint leaves
(makes 1 serving)

Combine all ingredients in bowl and mix vigorously. If you happen to have a macaroon lying around, cut it in half and serve on top.