AfterTaste (by Sherry)

Translation: “Gifts from Paris and Belgium”

My lovely soeur (sister) recently returned from a two week jaunt through Paris, Belgium, and Germany. She brought me back a few delectable gifts perfectly suited to my primary interests in life (eating and cooking).

First a box of mind blowing Belgian chocolates from Bruges.

The variety box she got me was filled with hazel nut chocolates, almondy caramel chocolates, and white chocolate marzipan chocolates among many, many others (like one with rice krispies and another with butter cream inside). Those Belgians know their chocolate, no doubt. Respect.

The other gift I got was the recipe book below filled with pictures of a cracked out redhead who loves to cook. Love it.

Translation: “My Notebook of Recipes”

Oh yeah, she also brought me an impossibly soft t-shirt from some French brand called Zadig et Voltaire. But who wants to hear about that?

Cafe Habana
17 Prince Street (Corner of Prince and Elizabeth Streets)
(212) 625-2002 Reservations Not Accepted

Nolita (short for “North of Little Italy,” absurd, I know) is a small segment of Manhattan that I don’t get to as often as I would like: just a tad too far north of my job, a tad too far south of Matt’s neighborhood, a touch too far east of SoHo. And yet it’s full of great bars, shopping, and, most importantly, food.

Yesterday, in celebration of Matt’s last final of his first year of law school and per my friend, Aline’s, recommendation, Matt, my two coworkers/friends (Mr. and Mrs. Derby), and I traipsed there for lunch at Cafe Habana.

Didn’t I say it was just a tad too far north of my job? Yes, I did, and it is, but with the sun shining and the general pop and buzz in the air that goes along with the idea of one’s last final of the year (Mr. and Mrs. Derby and I are not so old as to forget that incredible feeling) we were willing to make the trip.

The small corner diner has touches of ’50s flare with its curved booths and polished counter, and yet still evokes the idea that you might just be in some breezy spot in Cuba with palm trees painted on the walls. I suppose illegally since US Citizens are technically not allowed to go there.

Disclaimer: AfterTaste (by Sherry) does not condone illegal travel or violations of any US embargoes.

Anyhoo, while the four of us were shoved in the back corner of the joint, we didn’t mind considering the wait was the five minutes that the waitress had promised us.

We shared an order of the grilled Mexican corn (2 ears) loaded with butter, crumbly queso fresco, and lime. It was a salty, cheesy, creamy mess that should not be missed. It is cleverly served with a pile of toothpicks.

I had the grilled steak and corn atop mixed greens and dotted with fried tortilla strips. The greens were tossed in just enough vinaigrette to coat each leaf. Overall, it was a lighter way to enjoy a large hunk of lean, tender steak charred to near perfection during the daylight hours. Next time, however, I will order it without the tortilla strips since chasing little kernels of grilled corn around the plate is time consuming enough without having to figure out how to stab thick, crunchy strips of tortilla.

Matt had the fish tacos, which came with rice and beans. He loved the tacos, which were filling, but not too heavy, as well as the rice and beans, which were far tastier than most.

Dan’s steak sandwich was loaded with peppers and onions and made him want to curl up and take an afternoon siesta…but in a good way. And Jenny’s mango and jicama over mixed greens was refreshing and light. She cleaned her plate of every single leaf.

To top this extravagant lunch off, I had a frozen strawberry margarita served in a classically tall, tapered sundae-style glass. It tasted like the most balanced frozen strawberry lemonade you’ve ever had. Not too syrupy sweet, but not too tart with just a hint of tequila, it was just what I needed as I sat sweating profusely in my gray pant suit surrounded by hipsters in flowy, chambray sundresses with leather bags slung lazily over their shoulders.

Oh yeah, and by “extravagant,” I was referring solely to the somewhat rich, delectable flavors of our meal, not at all to the price, a rarity in such a trendy neighborhood as Nolita.

So go, be prepared to wait a bit, and definitely get the corn.

Lunch Bill (for Four):

• Grilled Mexican Corn - $3.75
• Grilled Steak and Corn Salad - $11.50
• Fish Tacos - $9.95
• Mango and Jicama Salad - $7.50
• Steak Sandwich - $8.95
• 2 Pacifico Beers - $9
• Frozen Strawberry Margarita - $7.95
• Total (not including tax and tip) = $58.60

PS-If you don’t feel like waiting, there’s a take out window right next door to the restaurant. Take your order with you or eat it sitting on one of the benches by the curb.

A few months ago, my sister stumbled upon a description of a class at the Institute of Culinary Education (aka ICE) that, for my birthday, she registered me for, “Culinary Career Exploration Day,” an eight hour day full of lectures and a professional-style cooking class all aimed at helping the hapless and career-confused decide if culinary school or any career in the culinary industry is right for them. Absolutely perfect for me, right?

The day was fascinating and seemed to pass in a flash and while I was exhausted at the end of the day, it wasn’t exhaustion from meetings or reporting to bosses (or, worse yet, the gym). It was blissful exhaustion from demonstrations of ideal knife skills, learning how to stuff a chicken breast with goat cheese, and learning that you can actually make money in the food industry.

The cooking portion was taught by Chef Karen Schley, an affable, easy going, articulate chef who is an actual instructor at ICE. Before donning our aprons Chef Karen pointed out to us the increased interest in the food industry in the past twenty years due to celebrity chefs, the Food Network, and reality television shows like Top Chef and Hell’s Kitchen. She asserted that those aspects of being a chef (fame, fortune, psychotically abusive little English men) are a tiny percentage of the realities of the food industry. She then went on to emphasize hygiene in the kitchen and keeping your cutting board/station clean (”always think of sushi chefs,” she said).

It took the dozen of us approximately four hours to prep and make a mixed salad with tomato concassé (peeled and seeded little tomato cubes) and sliced cucumbers with a basic vinaigrette, a breaded chicken breast stuffed with herb goat cheese, roasted vegetables (cauliflower, parsnips, potatoes, asparagus), and a rice pilaf (fancier word for fluffy rice with onions). I have to admit, my knife skills were pretty kick ass, but I still despise making rice.

All fun and self-discovery aside, the class was one giant publicity/orientation event for ICE, but that was to be expected. At one point, when we had sat down in the kitchen at a white clothed table to enjoy the fruits of our labor for lunch, the associate director of admissions joined us and made sure none of us walked out the door without her card and without our goody bags which, among other things, included brochures about successful ICE alums and how to apply.

The management lecture portion after lunch was led by Steve Zagor, the head of ICE’s culinary management diploma program. He was a funny, slightly awkward, but clearly very experienced “restaurant guy.” He rattled off his credentials, which included stints as a big time restaurant consultant for PriceWaterhouse Cooper, owning several restaurants, and teaching marketing and finance at NYU’s well-known food and nutrition program. He went through hot food trends in NYC in the food world (diners, locally grown produce, cupcakes, Asian fusion, etc.), as well as important aspects of the American demographic today (the average age of Americans is getting older, families go where children are welcome).

I loved every minute of it and am now more conflicted than ever. I had written culinary school off, saying, “absolutely not, never,” but now I’m not so sure. I experienced this inner turmoil to some degree when I visited the Culinary Institute of America, but it seemed so unattainable that it was easy to push the notion out of my mind. The fantasy of going to school to cook all day and study food all night thrills me though. For me, there is nothing about that that does not appeal to me.  So where to go from here? I’m not sure. Sigh.

I wish I had never gone.

Last Saturday I had my own little Kentucky Derby party, New York-style. Isn’t the Derby this Saturday, you ask? Yeah…so?

The point is I wanted to throw a fun, festive dinner party and someone suggested Kentucky Derby as a theme. I’ve rarely had a chance to cook Southern food so I jumped at the opportunity to test out some Southern recipes on my guinea pig friends.

I typed the menu out pretty quickly after a whirl around the Internet researching typical Derby/Kentuckian food, not comprehending how much work it would be.

Menu:

• Mint Juleps (naturally)
• BBQ Sweet Potato Chips
• Benedictine Finger Sandwiches
• Southern Fried Chicken Wings
• Sticky Honey BBQ Pulled Pork Bar with Cole Slaw and Baked BBQ Beans
• Citrus Asparagus Salad

Quite ambitious, no? Made all the more ambitious by my debilitating Spring allergies that decided to freak out in full force these past two weeks. At one point, oh, I’d say around 11am Saturday morning, as I began gearing up for this bash and really began cooking, I thought to myself, “WHAT AM I DOING? I CAN’T EVEN TASTE. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO COOK?” Nothing is more important to a home chef than her taste buds, not dexterity, not vision, just that precious tongue. But I already had 10 hungry people depending on me for bourbon and dinner so I pressed on.

With “My Old Kentucky Home” and “The Gambler” blaring, my friends and I munched our way through pounds and pounds of crunchy fried chicken, sweet asparagus, dainty cream cheese sandwiches, and crisp cole slaw (my way). The biggest hits of the night were the fried chicken, cole slaw, and the mashed potatoes.

For the chicken, I followed Paula Deen’s recipe on foodnetwork.com. It came out great. The only changes I made were that I used split chicken wings and that I seasoned the flour with salt and garlic powder in addition to the black pepper that the recipe calls for. The next time I make this (and if Matt and my friends have any say in it, there will be a next time and soon) I will try double dipping the chicken. Meaning instead of doing one round of chicken-in-egg-mixture and chicken-rolled-in-flour, I’ll do two.

I’m posting the cole slaw and mashed potato recipes, because they were the most popular and are truly my own, especially the cole slaw which I was particularly proud of. I normally hate cole slaw for its heavily sweet, one dimensional mayo-y flavor. Even the vinegar based cole slaws are always still a little too sweet for my tastes. So I made cole slaw the way I wanted: spicy and tangy. And judging by everyone else’s reaction, it’s the way they wanted it too (but never realized it).

And They’re Off!…Pigs.

Spicy Sherry Slaw

1 package pre-shredded cole slaw mix (cabbage and carrots)
2-3 scallions, chopped
4-5 tsp. reduced fat mayo
3 tsp. Dijon mustard
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbs. white vinegar
3-4 dashes garlic powder
5-6 dashes onion powder
3 dashes smoked paprika
2 tbs. Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (or however spicy you’d like it)
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce (optional)
Salt and Pepper

Serves 6-8.

1. Whisk together all the ingredients besides the scallions and cole slaw mix. The dressing should be a pale, pale yellow-y pink and should be thin. Use the above amounts as a general guide, but you might like it slightly sweeter or less tangy or more spicy. Feel free to go nuts.
2. Toss the dressing with the cole slaw mix and scallions (reserving a pinch of scallions as a pretty garnish).
3. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Toss once more and garnish it with reserved scallions right before serving.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

1 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 - 1/3 cup heavy cream or half and half, room temperature
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled and whole
4 tbs. unsalted butter, room temperature
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Serves 4.

1. Heat oven to 300 degrees. To roast garlic, place whole cloves in foil and cover in olive oil. Loosely wrap foil around the garlic, leaving it open a bit. Roast garlic in oven for approximately 20 minutes or until garlic is very soft when you poke it.
2. Put peeled and diced potatoes into a large pot of salted water. Place pot over high heat and cover. When water comes to a boil, check the potatoes for doneness by inserting a knife into the middle of a couple of the cubes of potato. The knife should go cleanly in and come out easily. By the time the water has been boiling the potatoes should be done.
3. Drain the water from the potatoes and place the potatoes back in the hot pot they cooked in so the heat from the pot dries up the water clinging to the potatoes. Begin mashing potatoes. Add cream, butter, garlic, salt and pepper. Taste for salt content and creaminess. Add more butter if not rich enough. Add more cream if too dense or if it’s not coming together smoothly. Add more salt if…well, you know. Finish mashing until smooth.

Mint Juleps Noo Yawk Style

5 cups water
3 cups sugar
1 bunch fresh mint
1-2 bottles Kentucky Bourbon (Jim Beam)
Tub full of shaved or crushed ice

Serves anywhere from 1 (yikes) - 15.

1. Boil sugar in water over medium high heat until sugar completely dissolves. This is not the ratio for a typical simple syrup, which is usually 1:1, but when I did that initially it was tooooooo sweet and syrupy.
2. When sugar is dissolved, take syrup off the heat and drop in six or seven mint leaves while the syrup cools. The mint will turn brown. That’s okay, just make sure to fish these out after the syrup is room temperature (brown floaty things in your drink ain’t pretty). Add six or seven fresh mint leaves in syrup again. Put syrup in the fridge. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
3. Serve mint julep in a small cup (preferably a silver one) by piling ice high in the cup, pouring in about one shot of bourbon, and filling most of the rest of the cup with mint syrup. Garnish with mint and a short straw (I bought flexi-straws and trimmed them with scissors). I say short straw because as the drinker sips from the straw, your nose is pushed into the mint garnish and fills with the beautiful scent of mint…which then masks the horse poo smell.

Other Tips for a Derby Party:

• Buy paper plates from a children’s store or some party supply store with horses on them. They exist, trust me. Just avoid the ones with cowboys on them. Unfortunately, Manhattan has a severe shortage of party supply stores so instead of horses I just got some pretty pastel green plates with very genteel white ribbon and flower patterns on them and striped pink and white and green and white napkins that reminded me of seersucker.
• If you’re dying to make fried chicken but can’t deal with making that much chicken, make fried chicken wings. They’re just as delicious and taste the same, just in miniature.
• Decorate the house with red roses (like the wreath thing that the winning horse wears).
• Wear a seersucker blazer or a giant flowery hat with a flowery sundress.
• If you can’t get silver julep cups, get small silvery paper cups. Please, no 16 oz. blue Solo cups.
• Make as much ahead of time as possible, but of course that goes for any type of party.

Mr. and Mrs. Derby