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Archive for July, 2009

Coppersmith’s

Friday, July 10th, 2009 by virginia

DSCN0986

I went to Coppersmith’s for lunch two Fridays in a row so I decided to roll it into one post. The first trip was on July 3, when I went with Josh around 4 pm for a super late lunch. We both had the day off for the July 4 holiday and slept in, then dawdled around the apartment for a while before hunger drove us to seek food. We and had no ambition to travel far from home, and Josh was craving a French dip so Coppersmith’s was the first bar/grill we saw to serve one.

French dip sandwich with swiss cheese

It turned out to be a good call, as the food at Coppersmith’s was really tasty. The French dip was stuffed with tender beef and lots of melty swiss cheese. The bread was nicely toasted and sturdy enough to contain the sandwich fillings, making it perfect for dipping in the accompanying ramekin of French onion soup. The soup tasted like the canned variety but had big pieces of soft onion in it and was just salty enough to complement the rest of the sandwich.

French onion soup for dipping

We also shared a turkey club, which was decently moist and packed with a lot of roasted turkey breast. Both sandwiches came with French fries that were deliciously crispy and salty.

Triple decker turkey club sandwich

It was a nice day outside so we sat at a table next to the giant windows, which open up onto 9^th Ave. We sat for a while as we nursed our beers, just enjoying the pleasant weather and watching people walk by.

On my second trip, I went with Rodney for a quick sit down lunch, as we both had to get back to work. It was also a beautiful day and we wound up sitting at the same table next to the window. This time I got there early enough to enjoy the lunch special, which included burgers, sandwiches, salads, and other entrees. All items listed on the lunch special are only $6.95, which is a terrific bargain (burgers and sandwiches usually run around $10 & up).

Burger with a thick layer of swiss cheese

I had a burger with swiss cheese (50 cents extra), and it was cooked perfectly at medium rare. It was very juicy and nicely seasoned. There were two slices of melted cheese on top so I could taste the tanginess of the swiss with every bite. The fries were perfect again, and had a nice sprinkling of parsley over the top.

Autopsy shot

Rodney had the fish and chips, which was a generous portion that also came with a salad on the plate. The fish tasted fresh and meaty, and the coating was delicately crisp. The salad came with a nice and creamy balsamic vinaigrette. It was a ton of food for such a small price.

Fish and chips and a salad

Coppersmith’s is really a great bar to have in the neighborhood. They have lots of different beers on tap, and the food is really good and decently priced. If you can go before 3 pm, the lunch specials are such a great deal. There are lots of options to choose from, and I haven’t had a bad meal there yet. It’s a nice casual place to just sit and eat/drink, and there are lots of TVs for the sports fans. I will definitely be hanging out there more often.

Coppersmith’s
793 9^th Ave. between 52^nd and 53^rd St.
New York, NY

Tags: Bars, Burgers, Lunch, Midtown West
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Ichiban

Sunday, July 5th, 2009 by virginia

We were back in NJ on Sunday to do a little shopping (ok fine, a lot of shopping) and had dinner at Ichiban Japanese Restaurant in Hackensack. Ichiban is attached to a Best Western hotel but it has a separate entrance and is a far cry from mediocre hotel food. They serve sushi as well as regular Japanese food, but the hibachi tables are the highlight of the restaurant. The food is cooked on the flat griddle in front of you, and many of the chefs take the opportunity to turn it into a show. Depending on how interested the audience is, it can mean an onion volcano, a beating fried rice heart, or lots of ingredients being tossed in the air at various targets.

We started off our meal with a la carte orders of hand rolls – yellowtail and scallion for me, tuna for Josh. My yellowtail, though more reddish than normal, was fresh and tasty, and the little bits of scallion really go well with the fish. Josh’s tuna, though beautifully red, was tough and stringy. It was hard to bite through the fish, which is not a good thing. Oh well. This is why we come for the hibachi and not for the sushi.

Yellowtail and scallion hand roll and a tuna hand roll

Hibachi dinners start off with soup, either miso or clear. I prefer the clear, which is a peppery and salty broth with mushrooms and scallions floating in it. There are also little bits of fried onions, similar to the kind that tops off green bean casserole. Yum!

Clear soup

Next up is the salad, which is a bowl of mixed greens topped with delicious carrot ginger dressing and one sad cherry tomato. I can’t get enough of the dressing though, and my attempts at replicating this at home have failed miserably. Does anyone have a good recipe to share? Ichiban’s version is light, sweet and tangy, and there’s no mayo in it, so it doesn’t come off like a watery thousand island dressing. I could drink this stuff, so I don’t mind that they use such a heavy hand in dressing the salad.

Salad with ginger dressing

Now this is usually time for the show, when the hibachi chef comes and shows off his skills (I’ve never seen a female hibachi chef. Why is that?). Our particular chef this evening didn’t seem to keen on entertaining though, and stuck with straight cooking. We didn’t even get an “egg roll” joke out of him when he was making our fried rice. This has never happened before (the lack of entertainment) so I was surprised but I didn’t really mind. Usually I can’t stand when they bang utensils around, but I do enjoy an onion volcano once in a while. Nevertheless, he prepared our food in front of us methodically, only pausing to ask if we liked garlic in our fried rice (of course), and how we wanted our steaks cooked (rare).

Food cooking on the hibachi

First thing off the grill is fried rice, which I think costs about $3 extra (the hibachi dinners come with white rice). It’s just eggs, diced onions and carrots, garlic, soy sauce, salt and pepper – you can make this easily at home and it’s very tasty.

Fried rice

Next up were our shrimp appetizers, which are three big pieces that come with your set dinner.

Shrimp appetizer

Then come the mains, which for me were sirloin steak and chicken. He cooked my steak well past rare, rendering it a bit tough, but the chicken was cooked perfectly and still juicy. I guess it’s hard to regulate temperature when everything is cut into little squares. Josh’s order of filet mignon was cooked better and much more tender. The mains are quickly followed by cubes of vegetables that have been grilling on the hibachi, and noodles quickly sautéed with soy sauce and garlic. The portions here are enormous; I could barely fit everything onto my plate.

Crazy amount of food

What makes the meal complete for me are the sauces, ginger sauce and mustard sauce. I’ve been to lots of hibachi places that don’t offer mustard sauce, and it completely detracts from the experience. Mustard sauce is to hibachi as ketchup is to fries. I don’t enjoy one without the other (though I’ll still eat it!).

Ginger sauce on top and mustard sauce on the bottom

Finally, after most of my food has been placed into takeout containers for future meals (seriously, I can stuff myself silly and still have enough leftovers for at least two lunches at work), we get ice cream. They offer green tea and red bean, as well as chocolate, vanilla, and sherbet (usually orange). I always go for the green tea. Josh likes to mix it up and chose the red bean this time. The ice cream is always just a bit icy but it’s included in the meal, so that just makes it a bit more forgivable. I wouldn’t pay extra for it though.

Green tea and red bean ice cream

Overall Josh and I both love the hibachi dinners at Ichiban. It’s one of our more frequently requested dinners when we’re in NJ with his family. The prices are reasonable, especially for the amount of food that you get. I usually order steak and chicken because it’s only about a dollar or two more than just getting steak, and you get full portions of both (I’m a pig, but like I said, I also take home a lot of leftovers). Josh’s filet mignon is pricier, but most dinners top out at under $30, and that includes the soup, salad, white rice, shrimp appetizer, noodles, vegetables, and ice cream. For us, it’s always a nice treat since there aren’t many hibachi restaurants in the city (Benihana doesn’t count), and the food at Ichiban is consistently good.

Ichiban Japanese Restaurant
414 Hackensack Ave.
Hackensack, NJ

Tags: Hackensack, Hibachi, Japanese, NJ
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Fireworks and Food

Saturday, July 4th, 2009 by virginia

Waiting for the sun to set and watching all the boats congregate in the Hudson

The anticipation builds...

Happy July 4th!

Oooh!

Aaah!

After watching the Macy’s fireworks from our rooftop, Josh made me a delicious meal of steak, roasted potatoes and arugula salad. For the steak, all he did was season it liberally with salt and pepper, and then placed it in the oven on the top rack, near the broiler. The steak accidentally caught on fire but fortunately it went out on its own before we had fireworks in our kitchen!

T-bone steak, post fire(works)

For the roasted potatoes, he added slices of onion and garlic, and seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary from our windowsill planter. Yum!

Roasted potatoes with onion, garlic, and rosemary

Arugula salad is super simple and a tasty complement to an otherwise rich meal. The peppery, slightly bitter baby arugula is dressed with a squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and topped with slivers of parmesan cheese cut from a wedge using a vegetable peeler.

Arugula salad topped with shaved parmesan

A bottle of full bodied Spanish tempranillo red wine topped off the meal. What a wonderful evening!

A tasty home cooked dinner

Tags: Steak
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Pretzels and Pretzel Dogs

Saturday, July 4th, 2009 by virginia

I saw this great recipe and fun pictures on Food Mayhem for pretzel dogs, and I knew immediately that I would have to try it out since the recipe had simple ingredients and didn’t seem too time consuming. My only reservation was that I suck at baking. I don’t know why, but I have very little success when it comes to baking, even though it is the only time I follow recipes to the letter. Even my attempts at no-knead bread have failed miserably. Oh well, practice makes perfect, right?

I had all the ingredients on hand and figured there’s no better time to make hot dogs than July 4. I used my often-neglected Kitchen Aid stand mixer to do all the hard work, then set the dough in an oil bowl to rise.

Letting the Kitchen Aid do all the kneading

I was surprised that the dough actually did double in size, and my hopes for a successful completion of a baking recipe rose.

Started off at this size...

Now it's double the size!

Next came the fun part – shaping the pretzels and pretzel dogs. I pulled the dough from the bowl and quickly shaped it into a rectangle, taking care not to handle the dough too much. Using a wide flat blade, I cut the dough into 12 pieces, setting aside seven pieces for the number of Hebrew National hot dogs that come in a package (why seven?).

Strips of dough ready to be shaped

The dough was soft and springy so I just pulled it a bit to stretch it out into long strips; there was no need to roll it into a snake. It took me a little while but I eventually figured out how to form a pretzel without manhandling the dough too much. Then I dipped them into the baking soda water and placed them on the cookie sheet.

Dipping the pretzels in a baking soda/water mixture

For the pretzel dogs, I patted each hot dog dry with a paper towel then twisted the dough around it. I had a few scraps leftover from each that I quickly kneaded together, let rest for a bit, then made into regular pretzels. These turned out to be a bit denser than the other pretzels, but still tasty. Baking took longer than the eight minutes stated in the recipe – it was actually closer to 10-12 minutes. I also found that eating the pretzels right away made them taste too fluffy and bready.

Hot pretzels right out of the oven

Once I let them sit and cool down for a bit, they shrank a little and became crispier on the outside and chewier in the middle. The pretzels were also a little too sweet for me (they reminded me of the honey wheat pretzels), so I might cut back on the sugar next time (hopefully that won’t affect the rest of the recipe! Like I said, I suck at baking, and I have no idea how baking works).

Almost ready to eat...

The pretzel dogs were my favorite. The salty hot dog and the sweet pretzel, plus a dipping sauce of ketchup and mustard, really hit the spot.

Pretzel dog innards - yum!

Overall, this is really a great recipe to make, and I even I managed not to mess it up too badly. I actually found that they tasted better reheated. I don’t know if the it’s because of the butter and salt you brush on when they first come out of the oven, but the texture was much crunchier on the outside and chewier on the inside after a quick reheat in a 375 degree oven. I can’t wait to make them for our next cocktail party!

Tags: Hot Dogs, Pretzels
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Max

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 by virginia

Because we left for Alaska right after my birthday, I planned a belated get together with my friends at Max in Tribeca. Everyone had a long weekend for the July 4 holiday so even though it was a Thursday, it felt like a Friday. The restaurant in Tribeca (there are other Max locations) is a pretty tiny space; the dining room is long but extremely narrow. Josh made reservations but unfortunately a lot of people were running late so they gave up our table. Luckily we didn’t have to wait super long for another big enough table to open up, but it was a pretty tight squeeze.

The bread baskets came out after everyone placed their orders. It was rustic Italian bread with a sturdy crust, and they brought bowls of olive oil with what I think was mashed sun-dried tomatoes mixed in it. The bread was just ok but the oil/tomato dip was deliciously fruity and a nice change from the usual plain oil or butter.

Bread and an olive oil dip

We ordered a few appetizers to share. First up was the bruschetta, which was decently fresh and garlicky. The pieces of toast were pretty big and not too crunchy, and the tomatoes were piled on. It was a simple but tasty appetizer.

Garlicky tomato bruschetta

We also got a few orders of fried calamari. The portions were large and the calamari was fried well – crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It came with a tangy marinara sauce for dipping.

Fried calamari

Unfortunately, things went downhill with the entrees. I got an order of black spaghetti with shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce. The pasta was pretty mushy and gluey, and had no briney taste to it at all, which is unusual for a black pasta. The tomato sauce was a bit too acidic, and the shrimp were overcooked. I was very disappointed with the dish and barely ate half of it.

Black spaghetti with shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce

Josh got a special of the day, which was pasta with mushrooms. The pasta had no flavor and was overly oily. We dumped a bunch of salt into it which helped a bit, but it didn’t have that earthy mushroom flavor we were hoping for.

Pasta with mushrooms and olive oil

Overall I think most of us were unimpressed with our food. Aside from the appetizers, nothing was really cooked properly. One person had the lasagna, which was served in a beautiful individual casserole dish, but it was totally mushy. I took a bite and couldn’t distinguish between the noodles and the sauce and the cheese.

Mushy lasagna

Most of the pastas were really overcooked and not well seasoned. It was disappointing because it’s a really cute restaurant and the prices are very reasonable. It might be a good place to get a glass of wine and nibble on some appetizers, but I don’t think I would go back there for a full meal.

Max (multiple locations)
181 Duane St. between Greenwich and Hudson St.
New York, NY

Tags: Italian, Tribeca
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Miso Soup with Tofu Shiratake Noodles

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 by virginia

I first read about House Food’s Tofu Shiratake Noodles on Hungry Girl and was pretty intrigued by the low calorie/low carb aspect. Obviously I’m far from a carb (or calorie!) counter, but the idea that I could eat an entire package of noodles and not feel guilty about it was an alluring concept. Looking at the package of noodles, however, I knew they probably wouldn’t be good with pasta sauce, so I thought about what goes well with tofu. Miso soup immediately sprang into mind, and I thought we could make a sort of miso pseudo ramen soup that would be filling and nutritious.

Josh is the miso soup expert in our household, so he took care of making the dashi. He did this by shelling approximately 20 shrimp and boiling the shells in a pot of water with a handful of dried bonito flakes. If you don’t have shrimp on hand, don’t worry about it. If you just filleted a fish and have a fish head or some fish bones, you can throw those in. But they’re also not necessary, they just add a different flavor to the soup. The bonito flakes are important though and you should always have those on hand. You can get them at almost any Asian supermarket.

Bonito flakes and shrimp shells for the dashi

Basically just boil all the flavor from the shells and flakes into the water. Keep a lid partially on top so that it doesn’t boil over but all the liquid won’t evaporate too quickly. Check it periodically to make sure you don’t need to add more water. Strain the dashi into a new pot (or you could strain it into a big mixing bowl and wash out the first pot before putting the dashi back in). Season with soy sauce to taste.

Shelled shrimp, miso paste, wakame seaweed, Shiratake Noodles

Now you just throw in whatever ingredients you have on hand. Wakame seaweed is a big favorite of ours. It’s cool to see the tiny pieces of dried seaweed expand into big sheets in the soup. We also usually add cubes of soft tofu, but this time we replaced the tofu with the Shiratake Noodles. These noodles come in liquid so make sure you wash them really well. They have a weird fishy smell when they come out of the package so just beware, but the smell goes away after a few thorough rinses. These noodles are also super long so I use scissors to cut them in half. Not necessary, but makes them easier to handle when you eat them.

Sprinkling of fresh chives on top of the finished noodle soup

We threw the shrimp in last minute so they don’t overcook and get rubbery. As soon as they turn pink, which is pretty quickly, they’re ready to eat. Top with fresh chives or scallions, and enjoy!

Close up of the Shiratake Noodles

This miso soup with Shiratake Noodles really makes a quick, healthy, and filling meal. The noodles have kind of a bouncy texture to them, but you can cook them forever and they’ll still be a bit “crunchy”. The weird texture makes them not ideal for pasta sauce, in my opinion, but in soup, they’re kind of like ramen noodles. They even have the same curly look to them. I don’t think of them as a replacement for regular noodles, but they’re nice to have once in a while and I don’t feel as guilty stuffing my face. Try them out sometime – just don’t be put off by the weird smell at first. They’re actually pretty good, and good for you.

Tags: Shiratake Noodles
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Indus Express

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 by virginia

DSCN0946

I first heard about Indus Express on Midtown Lunch and was intrigued by their naan sandwiches. You get your choice of filling, like basil chicken tikka or lamb sheesh kebab, and they heat it up on a griddle and wrap in into a big fluffy piece of naan. I had already tried kati rolls at the 46^th St. biryani cart but I always found the kati roll wraps to be too thin for my liking. The idea of using naan for a sandwich wrap seemed genius to me.

I met up with Josh for lunch and we decided to split a naan sandwich and a chaat. The special sandwich of the day was a mixed grill, which basically included all the meats available. It was a huge mishmash of chicken, lamb, and vegetables, all really well spiced and stuffed inside a piece of naan bread. I was excited to see them serving seasoned curly fries on the side. Those were a little cold but still tasty, and much better than the soggy homemade potato chips they served previously. There’s also a little salad on the side. It’s a lot of food for approximately $8.

Mixed grill naan sandwich and seasoned curly fries

I’ve had the samosa chaat previously and was horrified to see them microwave the already cooked samosas and then dunk them into the oil for a re-fry. This time I ordered the papri chaat instead, which was like big pieces of thick and crispy chips topped with cucumbers, potato, chickpeas, tomatoes, mango, red onion and cilantro. The whole thing was covered with yogurt and I think tamarind sauce. It was cool and refreshing and very tasty. We couldn’t even finish the portion in one sitting; I took half of it back to work and ate it as an afternoon snack later on. At only $5, this dish is a total steal.

Papri chaat

Indus Express is close to my office so it’s easy for me to pop in and grab a quick lunch. There are lots of tables in the back as well so you can eat in if you’d like. I’ve ordered the lunch specials before but I wasn’t the hugest fan of their curries. Everything was a bit watered down and not as flavorful as the curries I’ve had at other Indian restaurants. The naan sandwiches and the chaats are really good though, and I’ll keep going back for more. They really do make a cheap and filling lunch.

Indus Express
48 West 48^th St. between 5^th and 6^th Ave.
New York, NY

Tags: Indian, Lunch, Midtown
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Archive for July, 2009

Coppersmith’s

Ichiban

Fireworks and Food

Pretzels and Pretzel Dogs

Max

Miso Soup with Tofu Shiratake Noodles

Indus Express

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