Tilapia Treat Across the Street!

Since everyone had a nice long weekend for Memorial Day, Dave and Elim invited us and Kathy over for a relaxing Sunday night meal.  

Elim and Dave are fabulous hosts, and as soon as we arrived we spied some great delicacies from Chinatown out on the coffee table.  Our tastebuds were so excited about the savory dumplings (veggie and chicken) and variety of pastries (savory tuna and "bird baskets" and sweet coconut) that we had to remind ourselves to leave room for the meal!

And boy are we glad we did.  The tilapia was steamed to perfection - flaking perfectly onto our forks - and the chard was a flavor sensation with hints of ginger.  And for Kathy, DJ, and Mel it was our first time trying black rice.  Verdict?  AWESOME!  Elim mixed it nicely with veggies and we all really enjoyed it.  We were surprised to learn that it is indeed black in its natural state.  We may be adding it to our grocery list soon.  

Between the fabulous food, free-flowing wine, and hilarious British mockumentary, Four Lions, we had a great night of laughing and chatting.  Before we knew it, it was midnight!  Oh, and did we mention that Dave and Elim were thoughtful enough to offer a HUGE bowl of red and black grapes for dessert?  DJ was ready to move in!

We'll definitely have to do this again now that summer is upon us.  

Love you, neighbors!

Hana Graduates! Bye Boston!

It's official: HANA IS DONE WITH UNDERGRAD!

So the family descended on Boston to take her our to celebrate and see her diploma in hand.

The celebration dinner was at Legal Sea Foods in the Prudential Center.  We were a large group - Haile, Almaz, Sara, Manny, Hirut, Aunt Abi, Uncle Belete, DJ and Mel - so we scored a huge table in a quiet booth corner.  Sweet!  We started off with a trio of fried goodness:  calamari, coconut shrimp, and crab cakes.  You really can't go wrong with that!

For a main course, Mel decided to try what sounded like a seafood stew - a variety of delicious seafood in a tomato broth.  But apparently, Legal Sea Foods believes in very large servings so the dish was less of a stew and more of a massive pile of fish.  Granted - it was extremely tasty!!!  But in terms of actually finishing it... not physically possible.

Now DJ, always the adventurous one, ordered King Crab Legs.  Perhaps the fact that he was the only person at the table who received a bib and a shell crusher before the meal should have been a sign that the dish would be intense.  Buuut... as you can see from the smile on his face, he was not to be intimidated.

In fact, the King Crab was quite large and equally delicious.  The meat actually melted in one's mouth.  And DJ tackled it like a champ.  He dug in without abandon or worry that buttery sauce was dripped down his hands, and enjoyed every morsel.

CONGRATULATIONS, HANA!!

Quality Meats = Quality Dining

DATE NIGHT!

We took a little time just for us to enjoy a Saturday movie and dinner.  We checked out "Thor" in Times Square (typical light-hearted, loud explosion, Hollywood blockbuster - fabulous fun), and then headed to a long-anticipated meal at Quality Meats.  Owned by the same folks that bring us Smith and Wollensky, Park Avenue, and The Hurricane Club, Quality Meats is known for... well... its quality meats.  And it did NOT disappoint.  

First things first, the service and decor are impeccable.  The setting is very cozy and rustic with lots of wood panels, candlelight, and wine bottles creatively used as walls.  Every person we encountered welcomed us with a warm smile, and we never felt rushed.  It was as if we were eating at a quiet small town place, despite being smack in the middle of Midtown.

Now the food... 

DJ tried a beer that was brewed especially for Quality Meats by Magic Hat.  It was very light with a flowery after taste - great for summer.  And Mel couldn't resist getting a Columbian Malbec named Schoolhouse (because the winery was once an actual schoolhouse!).  It was a lovely pairing with the meat, and the label had an adorable hand-drawn picture of a school.  :)

We whet our appetites with a taste of the day's special soft shell crab with chipotle sauce - exquisite!

 

Then we moved on to the piece de resistance: THE BEEF!  A filet mignon for Mel and a bone-in aged sirloin steak for Meat Man with a special steak sauce that they make fresh right next to the table.  

 

With veggie sides of creamed spinach and sauteed mushrooms, we enjoyed every bite.  Quality Meats has definitely taken its place high on our list of favorite restaurants in NYC. 

Such a wonderful date night!  We can't wait for the next one.  :)

Tia Pol for Tapas

We met up with Liz for a Friday night of tapas at Tia Pol.  Mel's coworkers highly recommended this place, so we were eager to try some of the dishes they mentioned.  

 fried chick peas 

(SO addictive - could snack on them all day!)

 squid in squid ink 

(don't let the name or mud color scare you - quite tasty!)

 fried potatoes with aioli

 fried custard with drunken cherries 

(sinfully good - could have eaten plates of them if we weren't health conscious!)

Overall, the flavors were smart and savory with paprika being a key spice in many of the dishes.  The sangria was tasty too, but a bit sweet (DJ's palate detected a hint of Coca Cola).  The decor is super cozy and hip, making the most of a small space in NYC.  Definitely check it out!  But get there early - it fills up fast.

Mother's Day Weekend 2011

It's a fun-filled weekend celebrating both our moms!

First stop:  Fairfield!  :)  We actually had two things to celebrate: Mother's Day AND Manny's graduation from his MBA program.  So we offered to make dinner for everyone.  On the menu:  jerk chicken, cauliflower mash, diced sweet potatoes, broccoli salad, rum punch, and rum cake. 

With Hirut's help, all the cooking went very smoothly and we were excited to dig in.  But then there was one slight hitch.  The jerk chicken marinade was not one we had used before (we picked it up in Connecticut) and it was extremely salty.  Fortunately, everyone was a good sport about carefully scraping off the excess sauce to make the chicken a bit more edible.  But definitely a note to selves: always use a marinade you're familiar with when cooking for a group.  Yikes!  lol

Then Sunday we stayed local in Brooklyn.  Toots and Toto came out to meet up with us, Dave and Elim at The Farm for a nice Mother's Day brunch.  We were lucky enough to score reservations, so we didn't have the stress of waiting for a table for six and walked right in to enjoy mimosas, eggs, and sandwiches.  As you can tell by the picture, our tastebuds were very pleased.  :)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

TO OUR WONDERFUL MOMS!

Tuna a la DJ

Grillmaster DJ treated Mel to quite the splurge this week and picked up a sushi-grade piece of tuna steak from Whole Foods.  He pan seared it to perfection (30 seconds on each side) and it was heaven on a plate.  What a delight!

Save the Date Stuffed Peppers

Time to celebrate!  We officially put in the order for our Save the Date cards!!  

So Mel, in a fit of excitement, made stuffed peppers.  One red, one green, one yellow, one orange - each stuffed with spinach, chicken sausage, corn salsa, and ricotta cheese.  

Verdict?  Tasty.  One pepper is plenty for a meal, so we had some left to enjoy over the weekend.  Hooray for a new recipe!