Forecast: food, snow and sleet

Mid-march and we have an actual snowstorm in NYC. The whole day I was buried in my scarf, hiding from little beaming ice pellets and avoiding giant piles of snow and slush. Ryan and I planned to meet at BAM cafe after work, have a little dinner and go back downstairs to the theater to catch a movie, thus smartly avoiding more wintery mix.

We walked into the hugely cavernous cafe, looking forward to the menu, but saw empty tables full of empty wine glasses. It looked like a mass exodus had just occurred. It was 10 minutes of feeling semi-strange as waitstaff were cleaning before we found out that the kitchen had just closed. The people before us had ate, drank and scurried into the theater. Whoops. The best laid plans...

No worries. We went back outside and trudged through the ice and snow to nearby Pequena.

The only thing about Pequena that's actually small is the restaurant itself. The plates are huge. I don't know how authentically Mexican the food is, but I'm always happy eating there. Little tables are crowded into a small colorful space with el Dia de los Muertos figurines and little twinkly rose lights.

We were pre-celebrating Ryan's birthday (more food and fun coming next week!) and after two minutes of sipping our deliciously tart margaritas, the entire table was full of food for us to share. There was some serious rearranging to get everything to fit. And we were faced with a food challenge: eat everything in 30 minutes in order to make the movie. Fish tacos with chipotle mayo in soft corn tortillas, rice and black beans, and a plate of sweet plantains, guacamole, and pico de gallo with hot tortilla chips to scoop it all up. Needless to say, we packed in quite a bit and ran to the movie.

It's cash only - thus one more dash through snow and ice to an ATM. Then a quick hustle through the messy streets and sidewalks to get back to BAM. Wet socks and shoes, but great dinner and movie. The movie, The Lives of Others (Leber der Anderen) was brilliant and beautiful.

Pequena
86 S Portland Ave (at Lafayette Ave)
Ft. Greene, Brooklyn
New York
718-643-0000

The Lives of Others (Leben der Anderen) - in German with English subtitles
http://www.sonyclassics.com/thelivesofothers/

Oscars Night, 2007!

Michelle and Christian are very into this. Thanks to them, I've seen more Oscars movie nominees than I ever have. Leading up to the event, they had online spreadsheets for us to keep track of movies watched and rated. We had voting ballots and there were prizes! The decorations were superb.

As it flurried outside, we piled together with out of town Yorksters Angie, Katy and Mike, in Michelle and Christian's cozy Park Slope apartment on their huge and comfy couch. And enjoyed great food and wine, of course. M and C are dependable and serious with the wine - nice reds from various regions that they had picked up at neighborhood wine store Big Nose, Full Body. I had two from Spain and Australia, one a bit spicier than the other and both going nicely with the range of cheeses, meats, crackers, spreads and fruit.

In the spirit of Best Picture nominee Babel, I had made a well-received cous cous with chickpeas, almonds, dates, curry and cilantro. And for dessert, our hosts made the diner breakfast Olive ordered in Little Miss Sunshine - Waffles a la Mode-y. Mmm. Scoops of vanilla ice cream on warm, toasted waffles - especially the cinnamon mini waffles - is just goooood. We thought of all sorts of possible toppings, but the fundamentals were perfect.

And after watching the special past-Oscar winner montages, my movie list has grown ever longer.

Big Nose, Full Body
382 7th Avenue (between 11th and 12th Sts)
Park Slope, Brooklyn
718-369-4030
www.bignosefullbody.com

Cous Cous Salad with Dates and Almonds
www.epicurious.com

"Stoup"

Is it soup? Is it stew? No...it's stoup! I did not coin the term. Rachael Ray did. But it's a very good one and should be cooked up more often. Seth and I made a delightful stoup of chicken and italian sausage for the presidents birthdays. The first time I made this meal was in sunny San Diego with my cousins. Auntie was working, so cousin Mike and I had to feed Marc and Graeson. They were very happy when we sat down to eat, and I still remember Graeson's full mouth with little bits of tortilla chips spraying out when he said, "Mmm, this is good."


As you can see from the picture, the aroma of stoup also had an interesting effect on Seth. He became rather enamored with the pot of bubbling potatoes, peppers, beans and chicken...I've never seen this happen before in real life, but I did just recently see the movie Like Water for Chocolate, and know that when cooked with love food can have strange and wonderful effects on people...

This stoup is quite easy, can be made in one pot, and should necessarily be topped with cheese and crumbled tortilla chips.

Chicken, Chorizo and Tortilla Stoup
www.foodnetwork.com

Like Water for Chocolate (Como Agua para Chocolate)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103994/

The energy crisis and the love of chocolate

The last supper. At Alix and Colin's amazing three floor abode, that is, before they move in to the next great place (with a backyard! Imagine dinner on the patio, among the plants and lawn furniture!). At least Alix is one friend who isn't leaving the city, or even the neighborhood. She treated me to some of her week's delightful leftovers, with a springy green and fruit salad. We shared a nice bottle of Montepulciano and watched a disturbing documentary, "Who Killed the Electric Car?" According to the doc, we have several guilty parties to blame, including the government, oil industry, car companies, and consumers.

Alix was getting quite steamed as the show went on (I had seen it before), so luckily we had made another famous fruit crisp to cool the tempers. Apple and pear, with a secret weapon in the topping - candied ginger and shredded coconut. It is our dream to make the best fruit tart on the planet. There will surely be some fanfare when that happens.


Our sweet, hot beverage of choice was the "I Like it Spicy" hot chocolate from the Cocoa Bar. If you've ever balked at chilis and cayenne pepper in your hot chocolate, balk no more. This is a thick and frothy chocolate with a hot kick at the back of your throat. Cocoa Bar is a favorite place in the neighborhood that specializes in not only chocolate in all forms - drink, truffle, cake and pie - but also in wine and coffee. The search for happiness is over.

Chocolate sloshing inside, I walked home in the first lovely Brooklyn snowfall of the year!

The Cocoa Bar
228 7th Ave (between 3rd and 4th Sts.)
Park Slope
Brooklyn, New York
718-499-4080
www.cocoabarnyc.com

Who Killed the Electric Car?