New York Wot

The Times Talk with Marcus Samuelsson inspired Mel to break out his African cookbook and try a quintessential Ethiopian dish: doro wot (chicken stew).

First Step: blending berbere, one of the key spices for many Ethiopian dishes.  Marcus offers a recipe that incorporates spices that can be found here in the States. 

Next Step:  using the berbere in a mix of butter, onions, chicken broth and wine to slowly stew the chicken pieces.  Dark meat is best since it absorbs the spice nicely and stays juicy.

After the stewing process was done, Mel was really pleased with the texture of the chicken but the sauce seemed a little watery.  Soooo, another cooking adventure: creating a roux.  Gradually mixing flour into melted butter creates a substance that thickens sauce without ruining the flavor.  Slowly but surely, the sauce took shape and looked more like the doro wot we've seen.  Victory!

As for the flavor, it came out well!  It didn't have quite as much spicy kick as other doro wot we have had, which we chalked up to the fact that the berbere blend had chili powder rather than freshly ground dried chilies.  (If we ever see a bag of those in a store, we'll grab them immediately!)  But it was still really tasty chicken, so we decided to dub it "New York Wot."

Bonus Feedback:  DJ's parents and Sara were kind enough to drive us home from Connecticut so they could check out the new place.  So we shared the New York Wot with them, and they really enjoyed it.  Hooray!  Will definitely be using Marcus's cookbook regularly.

Fun in Fairfield with Lia

We were so excited to head to Fairfield to see little baby Lia and congratulate Hirut and Manny on their new house!

We had a lovely afternoon getting cozy in their new place and making Lia giggle.  She's growing so fast!  And the new homeowners along with Amanda (in town from Florida) were kind enough to host us for a yummy steak dinner.  

What a perfect way to spend a Saturday!

Local Dinner: Enthaice

What's the best way to get through Hump Day Wednesday?  Try a new local take-out place of course!  On the menu for this new neighborhood adventure:  Enthaice, a thai restaurant that got decent reviews on Yelp.

Since we were testing them out, we decided to order a couple of our preferred thai dishes so we could do a fair comparison:  pad kee mow (DJ) and pad thai (Mel).

Verdict?  DELICIOUS!  So glad we have a good thai place nearby for those nights we crave some comfort food.

Conde in da House-a-doodle!

'Tis not only the season of checking out all our new local restaurants, but also of having family and friends over to check out the new place.  Rather than having one big crowded housewarming, we're extending the joy (and maximizing space) by hosting many small group gatherings.  :)

So this weekend we invited the Conde Crew over to hang out and watch the Giants game.  

 

We set out an assortment of chips/hummus/veggies/guac for folks to snack on...

and then gave our local pizza place - Nick's - a try.  Nick's got the best reviews in the area and is right up the block from us, so we've been curious about their pies.  Overall, the crust is tasty, the sauce is rich, and the cheese is fresh.  For those of you who know pizza, you know that the cheese being fresh also means that it's a lot clumpier than shredded cheese.  So if we're in the mood for a super chewy and gooey slice, we may try another spot.  But for fresh ingredients and prompt service, we were quite pleased with our neighbor, Nick.

 

We also chowed down on some yummy pigs-in-a-blanket that Jessica and Andreas brought (which went perfectly with the pizza), made some great cocktails courtesy of Ladell, and Victoria baked a delicious pumpkin tart for all of us to try.  

  

The perfect sweet deliciousness to ring in autumn and enjoy the sparkling skyline!

Local Lunch at Libertador

The gradual exploration of our neighborhood restaurants continues!  On this unusually warm October day, we opted for an outdoor lunch at Libertador because it usually has such a great crowd whenever we pass by.

It's an Argentinian restaurant, so DJ got the Libertador Brunch in order to properly sample the skirt steak.  Verdict?  Steak, delicious; fries, excellent; eggs, average.

Mel, unfortunately, did not follow her initial inclination to try the tomato avocado salad (which sounded delicious) and thought she should be more adventurous with a brunch dish.  After much deliberation...

she chose the oven baked eggs.  

Big mistake.  It looked promising at first, but once she cut into it she discovered the center was completely runny.  Not her cup of tea. 

So Mel wound up stealing a piece of DJ's steak and eating around the perimeter of her dish where all the fully cooked egg had nestled.  

Moral of the story: always go with your first inclination when ordering; the gut never lies.  We may go back to Libertador eventually if we're in the mood for a steak dinner.  But there are lots of other places we'd like to try sooner.  

Oh... and Melissa now hates eggs so expect future entries about brunches to include lots of salad reviews.

Dessert for Dinner: Katie's Birthday

Katie and Scott - our food blogging gurus! - are masters of dessert, and had the brilliant idea of throwing a Dessert for Dinner party for Katie's birthday!  We all met up in the garden area of a local bar and sampled on sweet delights from some of NY's best bakeries.

The piece de resistance?  The 'chocolate-chocolate-chocolate' cake wishing Katie a very "Happy Dessert Day!"  Love it!

Happy Birthday, Katie!

Meeting Marcus & Red Rooster

Ibee and Uncle Stan, always so thoughtful, gifted Kenyon and DJ tickets to TimesTalks with Marcus Samuelsson!  Marcus is Ethiopian, but was raised by an adoptive family in Sweden and has made his mark on the world as a fabulous chef.  It was great to hear him speak about his experiences and overall philosophy about the world of "cheffing."  He was also extremely gracious and agreed to sign autographs and take photos!  Of course, starstruck Mel was over the moon while DJ calmly took on the role of photographer.

After the event, we all met up with Ibee and Uncle Stan for dinner at Marcus's newest restaurant venture:  Red Rooster in Harlem.  In a word: phenomenal.  

 amuse-bouche

(tasty bites of fish, veggies, and beef)

fabulous cocktails (try the "Yes, Chef" for sure!) 

and warm-from-the-oven cornbread

tasty appetizer tomato salad

salmon

fried yard bird 

catfish

berbere chicken

bread pudding

From beginning to end, the dining experience there is a perfect combination of low-key and classy.  The wait staff is extremely attentive and pleasant, and we never felt rushed (which is rare in popular NYC restaurants).  

It was a wonderful evening of fun, laughter, and great food.  Doesn't get any better than that!  

Huge thanks to Ibee and Uncle Stan for such a thoughtful birthday present for two Leo dudes and their ladies.  :)

Getting Artsy in Jersey - Amazing Grapes Art Show

Uncle Stan has finally shared his amazing watercolors with the world!  On a crisp fall day, we all headed out to Amazing Grapes Wine & Spirits in NJ to celebrate his gorgeous collection of work and toast his talent.

The turn out was incredible - a testament to all the love people feel for him.  And thanks to the months of planning and collaborating with his lovely wife (and biggest cheerleader!), Amazing Grapes was transformed into a cozy, welcoming art space with a delicious wine and cheese spread.

  

DJ couldn't get enough of the seemingly endless mound of grapes!

Overall, it was a wonderful day to celebrate a wonderful uncle/artiste.  We can't wait for the next one!!! 
(*hint, hint* Get busy painting, Uncle Stan!  hehehe)

Hello, NYC!

We have been loving getting settled in our new neighborhood and finding new favorite places to eat.  As luck would have it, one of our favorite restaurants - Pio Pio - has a location just 2 blocks from our place!  

We went to the midtown Pio Pio on one of our first dates, and always love feasting on their rotisserie chicken and sangria.  

Hooray for a new go-to spot in our new hood with a view!

Bye Bye, Brooklyn!

It was our last weekend in Brooklyn and we slowly started coming to terms with saying goodbye to some of our favorite local haunts.  So when DJ's family offered to bring us a few extra boxes for packing, we couldn't resist enjoying a meal at Kumo one more time.  

We had a sampling of all our favorite dishes:  

a bento box with teriyaki pork, 

 

delicious fresh miso cod, 

the most amazing ramen noodle soup, and their awesome specialty lobster mango sushi roll.

We'll miss you Kumo!  We may need to hop on the Q once in a while just to soothe a Kumo craving. 

Vanessa's Wedding!

It was a lovely Ithaca reunion when we headed upstate for Vanessa's wedding!  

The cocktail hour was overflowing with yummy treats, and the formal dinner included an amazing pasta course and beef done to perfection.  But most importantly, the happy couple was absolutely glowing and old friends had a chance to celebrate love.  Cheers!

Wings Showdown

There was a lot of trash talking going on in the Conde office about who could throw down the most spicy wings.  So we put folks to the test and dragged the Conde Crew down to Croxley's for some super serious wings.  

We started out tame with just the normal range of mild to super spicy.  

 But then the challenge was kicked up a notch with an order of "Cry Like a Baby" wings (so hot, they're not even listed on the menu!).  And we can honestly say, that name is quite accurate.  The uncontrollable tears  and puckered mouths around the table made us crack up laughing... which only made the tears come out more! 

If you're looking for a place serious about their wings, Croxley's is for you!