Pastina

I have found a new great pasta recipe as well as a fun new pasta. While searching for a dish that uses carrots, I came across Giada's Pastina with Peas and Carrots. This is definitely a recipe I shall add to my recipe collection to make again and again. It has many of the qualities that I look for in a recipe for it to be a regular. It's easy, it's tasty, and it has room for additions and substitutions such as adding blue cheese or substituting broccoli for the peas. Here are the (original) ingredients for this dish.

This recipe was a perfect place for me to try out this new pasta shape that I had come across called ditalini. I found the little, short tubes to be so fun and cute that I had to pick up a box. The ditalini was perfect for this recipe, as first of all, it is a pastina, which literally means, according to wikipedia, "little pasta" (check out these other fun little pasta shapes!), and secondly because the size of the ditalini matched up well with the peas and the diced up carrots and onions which makes you almost want to eat this dish with a spoon versus a fork. It's funny how using a different size, shape, style of pasta can affect how a dish tastes. I find that doing something simple like that of just changing the type of pasta you use in your regular dishes is an easy way to make your dish a little bit different. Well, it's not really the taste that changes, it's mostly just a change in texture, but still that bit of change in texture can make the dish feel not as boring. Now to find in what other dish the ditalini works well in so the ditalini doesn't become boring.

Recipe Link: Pastina with Peas and Carrots

Minibar by Jose Andres

Minibar. Oh my gosh. Where to even start. Molecular Gastronomy. Some crazy stuff. I enjoyed an awesome meal with some awesome company at Minibar by the graces of A and S (thanks guys!) who were able to snag a reservation. For those of you who don't know what minibar is all about, Minibar is a six seat restaurant located within Café Atlántico. It has a preset menu of 25-30 small bite courses (we had twenty seven) where food is mixed with both art and science. The six seats are at a bar from where you can watch the chefs meticulously prepare each of the courses right in front of you. Our four chefs that night were wonderful, happy to explain each of the courses and happy to answer any questions we had.

So before I begin with the food here are some pictures and videos so you can get a feel of the atmosphere of minibar, of having the chefs accessible and cooking right in front of you.

My Minibar view

Salmon toro and fermented black garlic waiting to be cooked (foreground) while the Fabes Con Almejas is being plated (background)	Freezing yogurt using liquid nitrogen
	Roasting the s'mores

Preparing Organic Carrots with Coconut

Adding minty flowers to Frozen Yogurt & Honey

Onto the food. The meal jumped right in with flurry of "Munchies" served one right after the other. This was a little overwhelming at first as each course was served within minutes of each other, but after a few courses I got used to the pace and was able to process what was going on. So here we begin with the Munchies...


Munchies

Hot and Cold Pisco Sour Never had a pisco sour before, but if this is what they all taste like I'm going to order this drink more often. It had a top foamy layer made with egg whites which was warm, and a liquid bottom layer which was cold

"Neulas" Their interpretation of a fruit roll up. Sweet, fruity and delicately crunchy this Neula (a spanish biscuit) had me picking up every last crumb left on my plate.

Golden Dragon Their interpretation of a Peking duck in wonton form to be eaten in one bite. Wow. What a delicious salty, flavorful, melt in your mouth single bite it was.

"Bagels and Lox" When the roe-like pods of this dish burst open with lox flavor and mixed with the creme cheese hidden in the cone, it tasted like...Bagels and Lox.

Sea Bean Tempura Dusted with frozen coconut shaving made by using liquid nitrogen, these light, salty, and crispy beans are probably two of the best beans I've ever eaten.

"Ferrero Rocher" This golden Ferrero Rocher did not need unwrapping, the hazelnutty treat was pop in your mouth ready.

Blue Cheese & Almond Tart (above left) Loved the blue cheese taste of this dish that lingered in your mouth. "Chicken and Eggs" (above right) The deliciousness of the salty crispy chicken skin was so distracting that I forgot what the "egg" on it was. "Bloody Mary" (left) The celery was somehow infused with a spicy kick. It was topped with liquid nitrogen frozen tomato shavings.

Steamed Pita with Avgotaraho This was one of the only okay dishes. It didn't wow me, but it also wasn't terrible. It was an artful dish as it was a very cute looking bun with some very bright vivid colors.

"Coco Steam Bun" I also wasn't the biggest fan of this dish, but that's because I'm not a huge fan of coconut. I did appreciate how this dish mimicked a steamed bun complete with being served on a piece of paper.

Flavors & Textures

Zucchini in Textures This dish had three different zucchini layers, a top zucchini gelee, a middle soft zucchini seeds, and a bottom velvety zucchini mousse each of which by itself was delicious, and when eaten together was zucchini deliciousness heaven.

Smoked Oyster with Apple - After eating this oyster (above left), I was reminded that I indeed do not like  the texture or the flavor of oysters. I wonder if I would have liked F's shellfish alternative (above right) which was an "olive" waiting to pop open with intense olive flavor.


Sea Urchin with Hibiscus - I had mixed feelings about this one (below left). The bites where I got all three components of the sea urchin, the hibiscus foam, and the olive oil were really good, but  surprisingly when I didn't get the olive oil in a bite it completely changed the dish. Without the olive oil I did not enjoy the sea urchin flavoring and texture as much. The shellfish free substitution dish (below right), a cauliflower couscous with cauliflower "steaks", was awesome. This was apparently the first dish José Andrés  made for Café Atlántico.

"Guacamole" (above left, going clockwise) A spicy tomato sorbet wrapped in creamy avocado and topped with crunchy tortilla chips. Textures, temperatures, and flavors mixed together was like a party in your mouth. Organic Carrots with Coconut An elegant, delicate dish where you had to be careful so that the juices in the carrots popped open in your mouth instead of in your bowl. Fabes Cob Almejas Although I don't like clam, I did enjoy the white beans, the gelee, and the whimsy of this dish. The clam was encased in a gelee made from the liquid inside the shell allowing us to envision a clam sans shell. Charcoal Salmon Toro with Black Garlic The flavors of the salmon toro with the fermented black garlic and micro greens worked together so well. The salmon toro by itself was also oh so delicious. An amazing dish leaving me wanting for more. Giant Hearts of Palm Ravioli w/ Bone Marrow Although Minibar did not change my mind about oysters or clam, it did affect W's opinion of bone marrow. He still doesn't like the texture, but he did at least enjoy the flavor saying it was actually tasty.

Parmesan Egg with Migas The Migas (crumbs) was so tasty I wanted to eat it by itself however the egg which had a beautiful runny yolk was salty and made to be eaten with the migas. Such a dilemma!

"Adam & Eve" This was a fois gras with a touch of peanut butter sandwiched between two apple foam cakes which were soft, yet crispy. The tart apple mixed well with the salty fois gras.

Pre Dessert

Frozen Yogurt & Honey
Liquid nitrogen frozen greek yogurt and liquid nitrogen frozen honey over some honey and olive oil. This dish was both savory and sweet so was a perfect transition into dessert.


Dessert

Terra[Misu] This huge piece of chocolate was to be taken in one bite because it had a liquid center. It was quite a full mouthful of good cocoa flavor.

Thai Dessert Although I do like Thai food, this dish just did not work for me. It was coconut milk ice cream, frozen peanut powder, with a lemongrass-tamarind gelee.

Sweet Surprises

Mango Box/"S'mores"/Bacon and Chocolate
The sweet ending to our meal included a mango flavored box hold, ing a white chocolate cream, two pieces of chocolate sandwiching a passion fruit marshmallow filling, and a piece of bacon covered in chocolate. How can you go wrong with any of that?!


And last but not least, for drinks, W brought a bottle of champagne and a bottle of red wine both of which were excellent additions to our meal.

Joseph Phelps Insignia 1998

Pol Roger Brut 1996

In conclusion, dinner at minibar was a crazy whirlwind meal that is a one of a kind experience. My favorite dishes for the night was the "Chicken and Eggs" and the Zucchini in Textures. F's was the Golden Dragon and the Cauliflower Couscous, and W's was the Zucchini in Textures and "Adam & Eve". Although not every course was a home run, the experience of Minibar as a whole is great. However if you plan on going to experience minibar for yourself, I suggest going with an open mind and be willing to eat things you may not like or you will miss out on a lot. Who knows you might even discover something you've never had but really enjoy.

Watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Season 2 of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution airs this Tuesday April 12 at 8/7c on ABC and I encourage you all to check it out. I watched the first season where Jamie tried to teach the people of Huntington, West Virginia, statistically one of the unhealthiest cities in the United States, how to eat better and be healthier. It was quite eye opening to see how much processed food most of the people in the town ate, both in the homes and in the schools. Many of the kids didn't even understand the concept of fresh foods only haven eaten processed foods all their lives. This season Jamie hits the city of Los Angeles, California. This should bring whole new challenges as I image most people in LA, which has a heavy image conscious culture, are at least informed about healthy eating. How is he going to convince the people of LA to change their easy fast food diets for a healtier lifestyle? Also will he be able to get into the LA school system to change what is being served every day to students? Here is a season 2 sneak peek.

Arganica Box Number 2

My second Arganica delivery:

These items from the box were my inspiration for my meal that night.

A citrus salad and stuffed peppers. I used this recipe for the stuffed peppers with my usual various substitutions and/or deletions depending upon what my pantry held. Nothing fancy this time, just didn't add ground pork, sour cream or green onion tops and used chicken bouillon cubes instead of beef, and shredded cheese instead of jarred cheese. The stuffed peppers were much easier to make than I expected and also much tastier than I expected as I'm not a huge fan of peppers. I will definitely go back to this recipe to make stuffed peppers again.

The citrus salad was also very easy to make it just being the beautiful lettuce from the Arganica box, a grapefruit also from the Arganica box, and some canned mandarin oranges topped with a dressing made from red wine vinegar, lemon juice, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper (the dressing being from this recipe). I also had a lot of fun "plating" the salad. Trying to make food not only taste good but also look pretty is quite a challenging task. Hopefully my many years of incessant watching of the food network channel and seeing the many beautiful plates the chefs make will help me in this endeavor. One tidbit I have taken away recently is from Anne Burnell on the Worst Cooks in America. The first step in having a pretty plate is that your plated dish MUST be clean to look nice. Here was my finished product for the night.

Recipe Links:	Stuffed Red Peppers
	Grapefruit Salad and Dressing

Some NYC food, part three

A few last notes from NYC...

If you are looking for some quality and interesting teas go to Harney & Sons. Located in SoHo they have a tasting room where each person is allowed a free tasting. Go with a few friends and you have an opportunity to try out a few of their many teas such as Florence, a chocolate hazelnut black tea, Mint Verbana, a mint lemon herbal tea, or one of their many earl grey teas. Also feel free to ask their staff any questions you might have about tea as they are very friendly and knowledgeable. A tea tidbit that I came away with is that it is a common misconception that green tea does not have any caffeine. Although green tea does contain less caffeine than black tea, this does not mean it has no caffeine. In fact depending upon the variety and the amount of time it is steeped for, green tea can contain up to 1/2 the amount of caffeine as found in a cup of coffee. Most of the caffeine comes out of the leaves in the first brew, so a trick to minimize the caffeine from a cup of green tea is to dump the first cup of tea and rebrew a second cup using the same leaves.

For some awesome awesome dumplings, and not just any kind of dumplings, but Kimchee Dumplings, go to Mandoo Bar in Koreatown. I did not actually go there myself, but my very thoughtful friends W A F brought some dumplings for me to eat on the ride home. I ended up not getting to them until lunch the next day, but what a great lunch it made it. It started out with a pleasant discovery that my takeout bag contained not only the kimchee dumplings, but also two side dishes. The side dishes that are served with Korean meals are one of the many things I love about eating Korean food. The  meal  got better as  I  bit into one of

the dumplings. Their filling was a delicious mix, the kimchee flavoring not overpowering, but still present, and their dumpling skin was made very well having the right amount of thickness. My only other experience with kimchee dumplings was only a few months prior, in Taiwan. I thought then those dumplings were pretty good, but the dumplings from Mandoo bar blew those away. Next time I am in New York I must go try some of Mandoo Bar's other Mandoos (dumpling in Korean). I am sure those are going to be amazing as well.

Mandoo Bar's Kimchee Dumpling

Kimchee Dumpling in Taiwan