EGG in a HOLE my way ...

                            

When I was young, my friend's mom use to make us a breakfast of pan fried bread in butter, with an egg in the middle. We thought it was the coolest thing ever, and we always felt so special eating it. But as with any dish, there are tons of recipes and variations. This breakfast favorite of ours has many names…as it turned out…


It's been called a frog in the pond, bird's nest, birdie in a basket, holey toast, bull's eye toast, one-eyed jack, egg in a window, egg on a raft, man on a raft, paddy egg, castle'd egg, special egg, knothole egg, one eyed Egyptian sandwich, eggy bread, "eggs with hats on top" and "eggy in the basket, and it goes on …

It made a notable appearance in the film Moonstruck, and several recipes for the dish have since been named "Moonstruck Eggs". The dish also appeared in the 2006 V for Vendetta film as "eggy in the basket". I'm sure it has made a mention or appearance in many other films.

In seeing Moonstruck, at the time, I remember those mornings at my friend's house as if it were yesterday.
Funny, how something so simple can spark such wondrous memories - they were certainly happy moments.
Recently, my friends and I were in Woodstock for a weekend getaway. We bought an enormous sheet of focaccia and a giant loaf of whole wheat rustic country bread, when breakfast arrived … we all wanted egg in a hole. An all time favorite shared with friends and family bring back old memories and is bound to create new ones.

Try this fun dish with the kids, and get creative. Most people think of egg as a breakfast food, but trust me - this is great for lunch, brunch or even dinner - as your main course or as a side.

Here is Egg in a Hole My Way …
Serving size: 1
Ingredients: Egg, Focaccia (or your choice of bread), Olive Oil or Butter, Truffle Butter, Salt
and Pepper.  

Use a cookie cutter - or a glass and press out a hole in the center of a piece of bread.

Heat a skillet (preferably non-stick) over medium heat
Melt the butter and add the bread
Fry the bread (if using a thicker cut of bread, press with a spatula) for about 2-3 minutes.
Flip the bread
Break an egg gently into the hole (careful not to break the yolk)
Season with salt and pepper
Cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until the egg sets
You can flip it again or cook until your desired doneness
(2-3 minutes total for runny eggs and 5 minutes total for firm eggs)
Remove from the pan and spread on the truffle butter and serve immediately.

Rinse off my Kumamoto oyster? WTF?

Ooki Sushi is located on 3rd Avenue off 89th Street, and on a recommendation of a friend; we decided to give it a try. We were greeted by a very loud hostess/waitress, who startled the diners seated near the entrance; she wasn’t unpleasant, just loud. We were seated promptly and handed menus. She gave us a few minutes and then asked for our drink order. We had plenty of time to peruse the menu before she returned with our wine. There were some very interesting and even creative sounding sushi rolls, but I wasn’t in the mood to experiment like that just yet. Somehow, bananas and mango with my sushi didn’t sound appealing to me.

To our surprise Kumamoto oysters were on the menu. For those of you who don’t know, the Kumamoto oyster is really a great choice for a newbie to raw oysters. The "Kumie" (my affectionate name for it) has a firm texture, buttery sweet, mildly fruity, richly creamy; with just a hint briny in flavor. In my opinion, it doesn’t need any type of condiment.Originating from the Kumamoto area of Kyushu, Japan, this oyster can take up to three years to develop the small, deeply cupped shell that protects its surprisingly plump little yummy morsel. There are no indigenous Kumamoto oysters, they were too expensive to grow, pollution killed off them off, and hardly any effort was made to protect them – until the Kumamoto seed was brought over 50+years ago to Humboldt Bay in California - luckily for us - oyster farmers from California to Washington have been growing them. They are rare to find on menus these days, due to its popularity as they sell quickly or restaurants choose not serve them because they are expensive.

We were brave and decided to order a dozen, something we normally wouldn’t do unless; it is a reputable Japanese or seafood restaurant we’ve been to, like Nobu, Aqua Grill, City Crab or Ocean Grill – you get the picture. Our other choices were relatively safe – sashimi deluxe, filet mignon roll, spicy scallop roll, gyoza, and a special eel roll.

As I looked around, I realized that the décor is indescribable, with no real theme – neon lights &
a flat screen TV at the bar, exposed brick, a stoned wall with trickling water in the back. The restaurant is too dark; not cozy/romantic dark, but I couldn’t see what I was eating - dark. The seating is arranged a bit too close for my liking, the atmosphere felt cold, some of the other waitresses appear stone-faced and the ambience well, was lacking.

Finally the long awaited Kumamoto oysters arrived – only to be completely disappointed, shocked and mortified my little oysters drowning in a ponzu sauce! I was speechless; many people may enjoy it with a cocktail sauce or a citrus mignonette, but I would have preferred an option, of drowning them myself. We proceeded to tell the waitress that we didn’t know it would be in a ponzu sauce, and that she didn’t tell us when we ordered it. She was not very apologetic but instead said that is how they serve them and it says so on the menu. In fact, she offered to rinse them off…I’m sorry, WTF? That is just wrong. I can’t even fathom that. What ever happened to the customer is always right? Needless to say we were appalled and should have been irate at this point but we remained calm.

The rest of the food arrived – the sashimi was fresh, the filet mignon roll didn’t taste like filet mignon, the spicy scallop roll was good, the gyoza was probably frozen, and the special eel roll was not that special.

In conclusion, Ooki Sushi is sub par with their contemporary take on Japanese. With the enormous amounts of delivery menus being left under my door, it is quite apparent that there is no shortage of sushi restaurants on the Upper East Side, try another one.

Mini Buffet on Wheels

Dim sum originated in China hundreds of years ago. It’s not only popular in China, but in many major American cities with huge Chinese communities. It is believed that it started along the Silk Road, (referring to the trade route between Central Asia and China) where laborers, farmers, and travelers often stopped at roadside teahouses to unwind and regain sustenance before continuing on their journey.

They say a prominent physician in the 3rd Century AD, advised that eating while drinking tea would cause unnecessary weight gain, but the Cantonese in southern China ignored the advice and transformed the calm and dull teahouse into a noisy and energetic eating experience, also it was discovered later, that tea can aid in digestion and that, they say, was how the term "yum cha" (to drink tea) became one and the same with eating dim sum.

The actual translation of dim sum is ‘to touch the heart’ and is more of a culinary custom. Not much different from Spanish tapas, portions are bite-sized, served in small quantities, usually three or four to a plate. It is said that since the 10th Century AD, the Cantonese have created approximately 2,000 dim sum varieties. Some larger dim sum restaurants will usually prepare up to 100 of them on any one day. Obviously, there is no way to have all the different varieties all in one sitting, and it is strictly up to the diner to make a meal of it or eat very little of it. As a child, Sunday mornings were always reserved for “yum cha”, like with many Asian families, it’s a tradition that we gather together and chat over tea – chat loudly at that.

Jing Fong Restaurant is a great choice to yum cha while experiencing the bustle and excitement over Hong Kong style dim sum. After a long escalator ride, you are transported to an enormous banquet hall, overflowing with people; there are red walls, ornate décor, recessed lighting, tables for 4 to 12 people easy. The vibe is hectic and full of energy, the host asks how many in your party and a series of hosts / hostesses flag you over as a way of guiding you to your table. Don’t be surprised if they seat you with others already enjoying dim sum, this is their way to fill the table to seating capacity. To avoid this, go in a large group or early enough to get a table of your own. After you are seated, the waiter would ask what kind of tea you would like. The most common choice is (bo lei)– a fermented tea in bricks and is robust, a tad smoky, with a nutty hint in flavor. You'll see many servers pushing trolleys, steaming and filled with goodies throughout the dining room, and you would keep an eye out for appealing dishes. The idea is to select dishes throughout the meal, rather than to serve all the food at once before eating. The sweet dim sum is mixed in with the savory items. Here is a little bit of advice, you should be a little prepared – do not be shy of summoning the dim sum ladies, sometimes you need to ask what is hidden under the bamboo baskets, if you cannot speak Cantonese, and it’s ok to lift up the lids of the bamboo steamers and dishes to see what is in them - if they are covered. They will color stamp your card each time you choose a dish, each dim sum type is color coded, for pricing and this makes it easier for the waiter to calculate your check. Although there is a huge variety to choose from, and being that this place is enormous and always busy, you need to muster up the energy to seek out your favorites.

Dim sum is categorized into 4 types: steamed, variety, deep fried and sweet.
Here are some popular varieties at Jin Fong to choose from:

Steamed dim sum like: (ha gow) shrimp dumplings, (siu mai) pork dumplings, (cheong fun) rice noodle filled with beef or shrimp and (cha siu bao) pork buns.

Variety dim sum like (law mai gai) similar to a tamale – stuffed glutinous rice with all sorts of ingredients in lotus leaf, (gee bow gai) parchment chicken, (fung zhou) duck or chicken feet, (pai gwut) steamed spare ribs in a black bean sauce, (char siu sou) flaky pastry filled with roast pork, (law bok gao) turnip cakes.

Deep fried and fried dim sum such as (cheun gyun) egg rolls, (haam suy gok) deep fried oval-shaped dumpling made with rice-flour and filled with pork and chopped vegetables. (wu gok) mashed taro, stuffed with diced shiitake mushrooms, shrimp and pork, deep-fried in crispy batter.

Sweet dim sum like (nai wong bao) steamed buns with milk custard filling, (dan tot) egg custard tart, (ma lai go) steamed sponge cake flavoured with molasses, (jin deui) chewy dough filled with red bean paste, rolled in sesame seeds, and deep fried, (mong gwo bo din) a sweet, rich mango-flavoured pudding.

A dim sum devotee knows to hit Jin Fong Restaurant early in the day for the best selection and the freshest dim sum – any time after 1 PM, the selections aren't quite as numerous or as fresh. The ideal number to share this experience with is 4-8 people, since most dim sum have either 3 or 4 servings per plate. Dim sum, as with any other Chinese meal, is shared among all who are dining together, family style - so be nice, don't hog all the fung zhou (chicken feet)!

JIN FONG RESTAURANT 20 Elizabeth Street (212) 964-5256

Pan Asian Eats on the Upper West Side

Cooking is one of the oldest of human actions. When humans were at the hunter-gatherer stage, cooking was very simple – kill it, throw it on the fire along with anything that was found that day. Spices and cooking equipment were rather simple and since then, cooking has become an art form and yet still remains an essential part of our everyday lives.

Many Asian cultures share the practice of gathering the family together to mingle or celebrate over a big meal; the variety of cultures of Asia each developed their own ethnic cuisine through the interaction of history, environment, and culture. Culinary historians identified 3 main styles in Asian cultures that roughly represent the main types of traditional Asian cooking:

Southwest style is comprised of cuisines from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Burma. In Persian-Arabian culture, the eating of nan (or flat bread) became common, along with mutton, kebabs (from Turkish cooking), usage of hot peppers, black pepper, cloves, and other strong spices, ghee (a butter oil) became a staple in this dietary culture. Through the teachings of Hinduism, cows were used only for their milk and not for meat. In addition to rice, chapati (made from wheat or barley) is also a main component of the diet, and beans also play an important part in meals.

Northeast style is comprised of cuisines from China, Korea, and Japan. This tradition developed to highlight using fats, oils, and sauces in cooking. In the northeast dietary culture, the foods, spices, and seasonings go beyond being simple products as they are also used as medicines to promote a long and healthy life. In addition, food became associated with many religious customs, and many northeast Asian cultures used food as symbolic offerings to worship their ancestors.

Chinese cuisine has become the most well-known of all Asian cooking, with numerous styles based on region. The most basic disparity being between northern and southern styles of Chinese cuisine is that Southern dishes highlight freshness and tenderness, and while due to the colder climate - Northern dishes are somewhat oily and the use of vinegar and garlic is more popular. In contrast, Japanese cooking came to highlight the frequent use of deep-frying (i.e., tempura, etc.) using vegetable oil or on the contrary, raw foods (i.e., sushi and sashimi). In Korea, much of the tradition cuisine is centered on grilling or sautéing and the use of hot chili spices (i.e., kim chi, etc.).

Southeast style is comprised of cuisines from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei. The traditional emphasis in this region is on fragrant and lightly-prepared foods, using a subtle balance of quick stir-frying, steaming, and/or boiling, supplemented with distinct spices and seasonings, including citrus juices and herbs such as basil, cilantro, and mint. Also, while northeastern cuisines emphasize using soy sauce in nearly everything, many cultures in the southeast substitute fish sauce, along with galangal, lemon grass, and tamarind for extra flavor.

In comparing the three cuisines with each other, they noticed that curries are very important to the cuisines of the southeast and southwest, and less in the northeast. Southwestern curries are generally based on yogurt, and the curries of the southeast are generally based on coconut milk. Rice is a staple starch in all three areas. In addition to rice, southwestern cuisines are supplemented with a variety of leavened and unleavened breads while southeast and northeast cuisines add noodles made from rice, egg, or potatoes. Garlic and ginger are used in all three areas, and chilies are much more common in the southwest and southeast.

With all of this in mind, comes Pan Asian Cuisine – which consists of foods across the entire East Asian Region. The menu offerings at Asia Kan are typical dishes from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan. Their menu adheres to some original recipes and use authentic ingredients to deliver a balance of remarkable flavors. Asia Kan is ornamented with colorful Buddha paintings, dark wooden tables, and dark leather banquettes that are quite comfy. The staff is extremely friendly and extra attentive. The menu is a fantastic collection of very tasty offerings, although some items are sauce-heavy and predictable Chinese/Thai-influenced dishes, like pad Thai and roast duck, it’s the Japanese dishes that are quite popular.

Flavorful starters include tasty hamachi kama, grilled yellowtail drizzled with ponzu sauce; beef Negimaki, grilled miso cod, and the citrus octopus ceviche. Hamachi Kama is the grilled collar of the yellowtail, and at Asia Kan, they do it just to my liking, it is tender and juicy in every bite and best dipped in a ponzu sauce and eaten with a bowl of rice and some seaweed. Don’t be put off, many like to chew on the bones. Their sushi assortment is excellent, there are over 40 rolls to choose from, including the Chef’s Special which is spicy tuna, shrimp tempura with tobiko outside and the Wasabi which is salmon, tuna, yellowtail, avocado, cucumber with wasabi tobiko and red tobiko outside – YUMMY. They have a fabulous cocktail menu plus various sakes to accompany your meal … try the lounge downstairs – it's nice, cozy and dimly lit …

Asia Kan
710 Amsterdam Ave
New York, NY 10025
(212) 280-8878

A SoHo Institution ...

Café Noir has been a neighborhood institution for years, located in Soho for over 10 years, it has always maintained a varied crowd, with its Mediterranean ambience and reputation for eclectic world music spinning into all hours of the night, the beat goes on at this part bistro, part tapas bar with fantastic Mediterranean offerings of big and small plates.

Mediterranean food is found within the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea and vary from region to region. The countries of Morocco, Egypt, Italy, Spain, Syria and Greece all owe their prosperity to their seafarers who followed the trade routes to the Far East and beyond. Morocco is known for its use of dried fruits, while Egypt offers (fava bean porridge), eaten as a standard breakfast meal, made with fava beans stewed with ground coriander, cumin, garlic, lemon, and topped with hard-cooked egg, cilantro and olive oil. A favorite dish in Syria is cold yogurt soup. Greek cuisine boasts octopus salad as a specialty – just to name a few.

Here are some facts I have come across in my research:

Olive oil is a common staple. Olive trees are found throughout Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey and other Mediterranean countries. Seafood is very prominent in many dishes and used throughout the all regions. Olive oil is believed to promote longevity. 21 countries border on the Mediterranean Sea. Eastern Mediterranean dishes typically consist of grilled meats, breads, hummus, and falafel (fried balls made with fava beans, chickpeas and spices).

The Mediterranean Diet is a heart-healthy eating plan combining elements many of Mediterranean-style cooking. Obviously, eating habits of the Mediterranean people have been influenced by a number of ancient world powers. From the Phoenicians to Alexander the Great, the Arabs to the Romans, the Turks to the Venetians – just about everyone has thrown something into the international melting pot that is Mediterranean cuisine.

Nowadays, Mediterranean cuisine encompasses three distinct areas - North Africa (Morocco), Eastern Mediterranean (Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Greece and Egypt) and Southern Europe (France, Spain and Italy). Now, do you see why many Mediterranean recipes contain such wonderful interaction of flavors?

Here at Café Noir, you will find an array of Mediterranean choices centering on Spanish, French and Moroccan, remember to pick your poison, whether it is the overflowing ceramic pitchers of Sangria, the Mojitos or the Caipirinhas be sure to try the seafood paella, Serrano ham and manchego, gambas al ajillo, the grilled calamari and the cous cous royale amongst other mouth-watering items on the menu.

When the warm weather hits, the bar area tend to overflow onto the street. They leave their front doors open and the crowds tend to gather and chat at the windows. There is always a neighborhood vibe about that, people mingling and interacting, flowing and all-encompassing and can become quite the Soho scene.

Most patrons tend to congregate and ham it up with the DJ, but for those who venture beyond the bar area will discover sexy, cozy and romantic alcoves with leopard-print banquettes, stucco arches, very dimly lit with tin lanterns. Although this has been an institution for many years, I will say this, it has been a “hit or miss” in terms of service – at times it is outstanding and at times not so great. If you can deal with that, then this institution is worth a visit ...

Café Noir
32 Grand Street
New York, NY 10013
212-431-7910