Nonna Restaurant

These last few weeks have consisted of a lot more delivery than I recall. I have barely turned on my stove which is disheartening. Thankfully I’ve had some time to meet up with a few friends here and there. On one such occasion, I met up with Ms. H at Nonna Restaurant in the UWS.  Before she became a Times Square resident she lived a more refined life on the UWS.  Nonna is dear to her because of the hearty Italian food.  I was open minded, especially after the kind of day I had at work.  We started with the Arancini.

Three huge balls of rice and cheese lightly coated and fried laying atop spicy tomato sauce.

They tasted magnificent and were even better when dipped in the sauce.  Ms. H ordered Lasagna Nonna.

This multi-layered beauty was filled with meatballs and sausage and topped with mozzarella cheese. It was quite a large portion and pretty reasonably priced.  I could not decide what to order so I decided to make my own pasta dish.

I selected Rigatoni, Shrimp and spicy tomato sauce. It was an excellent dish! The shrimp was incredibly fresh and the tomato sauce was perfect. It had chunks of tomato that added a great texture to the dish. The sauce was thick and stuck to the rigatoni perfectly. 

Although I could not finish my entrée, I was quite disappointed when I wasn’t offered any dessert. It was quite presumptuous for the waiter to not offer us the dessert menu.  Other than that oversight, the meal was fantastic.  The restaurant has a low-key vibe and is very laid back. I recommend heading there for a week night dinner of great food, large portions and moderate prices.  

Hungry yet?

Friendsgiving 2011

It's the most wonderful time of the year! The Super Bowl of cooking is here! Thanksgiving is the BEST holiday EVER! I love my family and spending Thanksgiving with them is fantastic.  But, I also love my friends. So this year, I decided to get the best of both worlds by hosting a Friendsgiving a few weeks before Thanksgiving.  It was an awesome treat for me because I love cooking, eating, and hosting.  I tried a couple of new recipes, but also had many oldies but goodies in the mix.  I think there was something wrong with my camera, or perhaps I just got too excited about the food that I didn't get a chance to take a picture of certain dishes.  The recipe posts will hopefully come later, although last year I never got around to posting the recipes.  Without further ado, below are some of the delicious treats that were part of the feast.

The appetizer selection included two types of wings. Spicy BBQ on the right and Jerk Wings on the left.

Mr. N got quite the shock when he took a bite of the Jerk Wings without realizing what he was getting himself into.  I was patting myself on the back for the quality of these Crab Cakes.

I must have been patting with both hands, because I didn't remember to take a photo after they were plated.  le sigh. I will say the Marylanders approved so I must have done something right :) The Shrimp Dumplings were also a hit.

Ms. O was kind enough to construct and fry these crispy delicious bites. She also mixed the accompanying sauce which was terrific.  After the appetizers, the many parts of the main course were served. It's not Friendsgiving without the Turkey!

This one was Honey Brined and fall off the bone good. Cooking turkey in a bag is really the way to go. I also served Drumsticks with peppers and onions.

Ms. H was convinced this was sausage....I guess the peppers threw her for a loop.  To compete with the poultry, I also served Salmon.

Whole Foods was having a sale on Coho Salmon that week, so once Mr. M mentioned it, I decided to incorporate it into the menu.  I think most will agree that the sides are truly the stars of Thanksgiving. This was definitely the case at Friendsgiving.  By far the most popular was the Sweet Potato.

I served one with marshmallow topping and the other with streusel. I didn't get a chance to photograph the streusel so I'm using a photo from last year.

There were plenty of debates through the night about which was best.  I think a little bit of both is the way to go.  For those who only enjoy the classics, I also served Mashed Potatoes.

I was afraid I wouldn't have enough carbs so I made two pastas.  The Baked Mac and Cheese was a hit, primarily because of the potato bread crumbled on top.

The lasagna also got a lot of love, but unfortunately none from the camera.  Here's a picture from last year.

I can't make pasta without also including rice, so of course some Jollof Rice was absolutely necessary.

And by some, I mean 8 cups of rice.  We also had quite the bounty of vegetables.  Two types of spinach. Creamed and Sauteed.

The Sauteed Spinach was one of the last items to come out so unfortunately no photograph.  Similarly the Broccoli and Cheese was still in the oven when I put my camera down. I did capture the Collard Greens which were slow cooked for about 6 hours.

I'm definitely using that recipe again!  As though those weren't enough greens, Ms. O also fixed a delicious salad!

All that food took a lot more time than I anticipated so I could only offer one homemade dessert.  Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake! This year, it didn't crack.

Thankfully my guests brought plenty of dessert...

Seriously a lot of dessert...

I'm not kidding when I say a lot...

It really was a lot!

This Friendsgiving day feast was everything I hoped for and more. Ms. O was an amazingly awesome sous chef in so many ways. I am incredibly blessed to have such great people in my life and I hope this Thanksgiving you also Count Your Blessings...

Hungry yet?

Max Restaurant

Sometime last week, I was fortunate enough to attend a press dinner* at Max Restaurant hosted by Susan Rike.  I had perused the menu a few times online and was really looking forward to dining at Max.  This East Village restaurant was established in 2000 and if you're fortunate enough to speak to the owner Luigi, he will tell you tons of stories about the restaurant, its food and other fun facts.  Luigi joined us for parts of our meal but mostly spent time shuffling in and out of the kitchen with one magnificent dish after another.  

The bread that we were served was pretty unremarkable, but the Salsetta (Max's complimentary dipping sauce) was excellent.  A delicious blend of tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, rosemary and citrus peels. As far as dipping sauces go, this is one of the better ones I have tasted.

Next we sampled the Crostino Toscano.  I'm not a big fan of chicken liver pâté so I didn't love this particular appetizer.  However, if you are so inclined this one was pretty good...I could definitely taste the liver.

Lucky for me the next appetizer was Melanzane a Funghetto.  Eggplant is not my favorite vegetable, but this dish was great.  Luigi mixed in the Parmesan tableside, which was awesome and made it taste that much better.  

I really enjoyed the Melanzane and finished every bite; unfortunately this meant that the next 11 courses would be difficult to stomach.  The Mozzarella di Bufala was pretty remarkable although I must admit that I am as much enticed by the story, as I am the actual flavor.

Apparently, Luigi gets his mozzarella from a small producer in Italy.  The product comes in on one plane every Tuesday. That's right, pretty exclusive stuff over there.  The mix green salad was a nice departure from everything else and the olive oil and balsamic vinegar livened up the greens.

The best part of most real Italian restaurants is the pasta.  Max's pasta outshined many of the places that I have been to and when you consider the price point of the dishes in the restaurant, I am truly amazed at how fresh, light and delicious the pasta tasted.  We started with the Ravioli di Porcini in Crema Tartufata.

From the smell alone, I knew I would enjoy this dish.  It is extremely rich so even the two that Luigi served was more than enough to keep me satisfied.  The truffle cream sauce was rich yet somehow tasted light enough to lead me to believe I could finish a plateful.  The next dish was Lasagna.

It contained ground beef, and since beef is not on my to eat list, Luigi was kind enough to serve me one of the specials for the evening Lobster Ravioli with spicy tomato sauce.  

It was round, cooked to perfection and well spiced.  The tomato sauce was INCREDIBLE.  Luigi imports his tomatoes from Tuscany and they truly are special.  He opened up a can for us so we could taste them. 

The sauce takes about 3 to 4 hours to cook and it definitely tastes as though it is made with great care.  After the Lobster Ravioli, I was definitely getting full.   Luigi then served Fettuccine al Sugo Toscano. 

Very good-looking fettuccine, but it was a beef sauce so Luigi prepared something special for me.  Black Linguine with Shrimp.

Oh Luigi! The linguine was perfect! The sauce had a little kick to it and was similar to the sauce used for the Lobster Ravioli.  I do recall singing a little bit after taking a bite of this particular dish.  After three pastas, I felt I had enough.  Luigi had other plans.  He served the rest of the table Spaghetti Chitarra al Ragu d’Agnello.

Nothing wrong with a little lamb ragu, but Luigi made sure that I had Gnocchi alla Sorrentina served with tomato sauce, basil and fresh mozzarella.

These bite size pieces of gnocchi were delightful.  Light and delicious. Even as I write this almost a week later, I am dreaming of the little yummy bits.  I must go back for the gnocchi!  About two hours after we started our meal, we reached the protein.  The Filetto di Baccala was perfection on a plate and I really wish it photographed better.

Salted Cod has never tasted so good.  It was served with a side of mashed potatoes.  They tasted like they had a hint of truffles in there.  The cod tasted like it was pan-fried but was very light so likely placed in the oven for a short time.  I had enough after eating the Cod.  However, Luigi had other ideas and served the Polpettone.

A large serving of meatloaf with a potato pancetta gratin and a side salad.  The meatloaf is actually stuffed with eggs, ham, and mozzarella.  

Apparently, people order this dish and actually finish it! Unbelievable! Lucky for me I got to sit that round out.  As full as I was from all the wonderful items I had consumed, I was still very much looking forward to the desserts.

The Tiramisu was by far my favorite.  The presentation was great and the consistency was perfect.  If you are a Tiramisu lover, this one will not disappoint!  The crème brulee on the other hand just wasn’t as great as I wanted it to be.  

I consider myself somewhat of a crème brulee connoisseur.  While the sugar was properly caramelized, the custard wasn’t as smooth and creamy as I like.  It was sweet, but still the consistency threw me off.  Unfortunately, the Panna Cotta was even less impressive.  

It just didn’t sing out with sweetness the way I expected it to. Although to be fair, I dug into it immediately after the crème brulee without a palate cleanser so it may have been too much for the flavors to follow each other.   Regardless, I was glad the Tiramisu was sitting on the table and I could enjoy more of it.

Max Restaurant in the East Village is truly a gem of an Italian restaurant.  The atmosphere is energetic without being obnoxious.  There are three areas to the restaurant including an enclosed patio that I would LOVE to dine in when the weather gets a little warmer.  The restaurant opened in February 2000 and I can see why it is still thriving.  The price points are reasonable and I will definitely make the trip down to that neighborhood just to eat there again.

* Although this meal was complimentary, that did not at all affect my comments or views towards this dining experience.

Hungry yet? 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It should come as no surprise that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday ev-er!  While I recognize that some of the history of Thanksgiving may be a little shady, I choose to focus on the part that lets me be thankful for the fabulous family and friends that I have in my life and the feast that we eat to celebrate.  As is usually the case, there were several dishes featured at this year's Thanksgiving.  Some of these you've seen before and others are brand new.  I will share recipes in due time (still have a lot of catching up to do for last week's meals)  I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving and are enjoying your black friday!

20 pound Honey Brined Turkey

BBQ Chicken Wings

Shrimp Dumplings

Meat Loaf stuffed with Spinach

Creamed Spinach

Stir Fry Broccoli with Garlic

Baked Drumsticks with onions and peppers

Turkey Lasagna

Stovetop stuffing

Plantain

Lamb and Couscous

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Streusel Topping

Candied Yams with Marshmallows

Baked Mac & Cheese

Sausage and Cornbread Stuffing

Biscuits

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap crust

Best Brownies Ever

It was quite the feast and belief it or not we cut a few items out of the menu.  I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving!  Recipes forthcoming over the next couple of weeks...

Hungry yet?