More Christmas Eats and Drinks

Happy (almost) New Year! To celebrate, here are a bunch of pictures from our recent Christmas Day feast in Michigan.

Shrimp cocktail and some Triscuit appetizers. These things (the shrimp) were gigantic, the picture doesn't do them justice at all.

For dinner, we had oso buco made with lamb shanks instead of veal, served with a safron risotto along with walnut-crusted goat cheese medalions. Note the Kerrygold Irish butter which is to die for.

Walnuts for the goat cheese.

Black truffles for the risotto.

The risotto.

Braised lamb shanks.

To drink, we opened a couple of nicer bottles.

First, the table wine for most of the day, a Blackstone Pinot Noir which I always like. This can be found super-cheap ($7-$8) and is always good to have around.

To begin dinner, we opened a Michele Chiarlo Barolo from 1998. It might have been just a tad early (maybe a year or two) for this wine, but it was great.

Finally, the real prize of the night, a 1982 Chateau Bahans Haut-Brion, a very good Bordeaux from one of the premier vintages.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and has a safe and happy new year.

Body By Brooklyn Review

Apologies for the delay in getting this up, but holiday travel and misplacing my camera has meant everything's been backed up a bit.

A couple of weeks ago I got the opportunity to go down to Body By Brooklyn on the north side of Clinton Hill and try some of the fare offered up by their new chef, Alfredo.

First thing's first - yes, Body By Brooklyn is a spa. It doesn't really sound like a restaurant, does it? It sounds like a spa, and it is - as it turns out, it's a really very nice one. Mira, the owner, gave me a quick little tour of the place before we sat down to eat. It's a really incredible space, and with 10 private massage rooms, a wet lounge with body Swedish and Russian sauna rooms, and a private spa room, BBB has got to be the most full-featured spa in the neighborhood.

So why did they invite me? I honestly had no idea at first, since I'm not really a connoisseur of spas, though I doubt I'd mind that. As it turns out, Body By Brooklyn is not just a spa, but a self-titled spa and lounge. The lounge part is key, as it's not only a really inviting space for, well, lounging, but there's also a bar and restaurant. A spa with a restaurant! How European!

So how was the food? Pretty great, as it turns out. I'm not sure exactly what I expected, but new chef Alfred provided for really great courses.

First up was an anise and red onion salad with a pear-infused vinaigrette. Light and refreshing, but not for anyone who doesn't already like onions, as it's very, well, onion-y. I liked it well enough, but I'm interested to see what else they offer as far as salads go.

Next was a really impressive presentation of goat cheese and a spring roll. The goat cheese was panko-crusted and served over a balsamic reduction, and the spring roll had jumbo lump crabmeat, shitake mushrooms, and fresh corn served over a sweet chili sauce. The spring roll was a little on the mild side, but good. We all know my love for goat cheese, and this didn't disappoint, especially with the addition of the very sweet balsamic.

What says a spa more than sliders? These weren't anywhere near what I was expecting for a main course, but they're great. Body By Brooklyn calls them Surf & Turf Sliders - one's a salmon filet with a honey maple mustard while the other is ground lamb with a cranberry horseradish sauce. Of the two, I prefered the salmon, but the lamb was very good and not as greasy as I would have expected. The sliders were served with fried juilienne potatoes between them. The potatoes were good, but I think I'd have prefered something a little easier to eat.

For dessert? A grand marnier sabayon with red currant. Very fluffy, creamy, and refreshing, it was a great end to the meal.

Body By Brooklyn is a rather unique experience, especially in Clinton Hill. It's up on Park and Washington, right next to local favorite Mojito and nearby one of my newest haunts, Il Porto. Word has it that both a new boutique hotel and a gourmet deli (!) will be joining this part of the neighborhood soon, so hopefully there will be more than a few reasons for everyone to go north, off the traditional Myrtle/Dekalb path. I liked Body By Brooklyn enough that I'll definitely be back, although I really do hope they re-brand the restaurant portion somehow so that it stands out a bit from the spa.

If you're in the mood for something new and don't want to travel far, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy Body By Brooklyn. Both Mira and Chef Alfredo were excellent hosts, and be sure and let them know I sent you.

Information:

Body By Brooklyn
275 Park ave
Brooklyn, NY 11205
718.923.9400
http://www.bodybybrooklyn.com

Google Map

Christmas Cookies

I ended up taking a ridiculous number of pictures of what we ate for our Christmas, so I'm separating things out into a few posts. To start, here are the cookies my father and stepmother made. Most of the recipes here come from Dolce Italiano, by Gina De Palma. The walnut brittle is my stepmother's recipe, the recipe for which I won't post here because, well, I'm lazy. It's spectacular, though.

Mostaccioli

Pignoli

Biscotti di limone e semolino - made with semolina and limoncello, if it wasn't obvious from the name

Walnut brittle

Famous Ray's Pizza, Holiday Edition

What's more traditional on Christmas Eve than pizza? Am I right? Ok, maybe not, but it's how we chose to celebrate things, and dammit, we'll do what we like! My dad made two of the pizzas he's been working on hard on perfecting for about a year now. As you can see, the results are a little more photogenic this time around, as opposed to one of his earlier forays.

The pizza dough here was homemade, as opposed to my laziness-inspired use of Boboli. Check the earlier post for the recipe, it hasn't really changed.

These pizzas had some mushrooms and dry Italian sausage in addition to the mozarella, pecorino romano, and parmigiano reggiano cheese.

Merry Christmas!

A Quick, Somewhat Homemade Pizza

On my way home the other night I had a craving for pizza, but I also didn't feel like laying out for delivery. I do this from time to time, picking up some inexpensive ingredients and making a quick pizza with a Boboli or other pre-made crust. Yes, I really should be making crust from scratch, like my father, but I was tired and lazy, so this is what I got.

I didn't have any homemade sauce handy, so I picked up a little jar of a sauce that looked interesting, L.E. Roselli's Pizza Sauce. It's pretty good, so consider it recommended. You can use whatever your favorite marinara sauce it, really, but I liked that this one came in a little jar.

For the cheese, I used a mixture of fresh mozzarella, pecorino romano, and parmigano reggiano. Some pepperoni and sliced baby 'bella mushrooms, a little pepper, basil, garlic, and oregano, and that's it.

Came out pretty good, and it was relatively cheap and easy.

Quick Risotto

Not having much in the house in the way of food last night, I decided to whip up a quick risotto. I pondered briefly doing one of the many interesting variations from over at Last Night's Dinner, but in the end I went with the basic recipe I use and have written about before.

It's always good, and makes for great leftovers.

Want to Try Some Place New Tonight?

I'll have a much longer post on this later (either tonight or this weekend), but last night I had the opportunity to try part of the new menu at the restaurant at Body By Brooklyn. I didn't know the place was even there, but it's easily accessible on Washington and Park, right near Mojito and Il Porto. A restaurant in a spa, you ask? Yeah, I had no idea either.

The spa has an entire area set up as a restaurant and lounge, and it's a really great space. They have a new chef, Alfredo, who's in the process of remaking their menu, and it's well worth trying. If you're thinking about going out tonight and want to try something different, give Body By Brooklyn some consideration. They also have a pretty great brunch, I'm told.

I'll have much more later, including lots of pictures.

Information:

Body By Brooklyn
275 Park Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11205
718.923.9400
http://www.bodybybrooklyn.com

Google Map

Five Spot Soul Food Delivery

Last night I got home starving and didn't feel like cooking (since it required shopping first) or really going out. I promise I'll try No. 7 (sometimes referred to in comments here as 7 Greene) soon, but the last time I went there it was closed, remember? Anyway, I started browsing through the Google map and realized I'd never tried Five Spot Soul Food. Everyone in the area knows this place - it's really hard to miss with its gigantic front on Myrtle - but I'd never actually gone in or ordered. I went to their website and was delighted to see that they delivered. And they deliver beer! How great is that?

I ordered a smothered fried chicken platter with red beans and rice along with a 6-pack. It was awesome, but (and I knew this was going to happen when I ordered it) I felt pretty violated afterward. This is not food for the feint of heart. Nosir.

The question remains whether, in the same situation again, I'd order from Five Spot or Ruthies? I think I liked Ruthie's food a little more, but getting beer with dinner was pretty awesome. It's worth noting as well that the food showed up in less than 20 minutes, which was pretty great.

Information:

Five Spot Soul Food
459 Myrtle Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11205
718.852.0202

http://www.fivespotsoulfood.com

Google Map

Thanksgiving Eats

Ok, I had planned a much more in-depth post about the eatings that went on over Thanksgiving, but as the days kept dragging and it got further into the past, I realized I had to such it up and just get the pictures and a quick recap up. So here we go, and sorry for not having more detailed (or any) recipes to go along with them.

First, the turkey, which was put into a brine over night. As you can see, there were lots of goodies in there, including a couple of cups of kosher salt, some vegetables, and cloves and other spices. A different approach from deep-frying a turkey, but very, very good.

Before dinner, I tried my hand at a drink called a coquito, which was suggested as a replacement for the earstwhile eggnog. This stuff is good, but very, very rich, so keep that in mind and plan on small quantities upon serving.

Coquito

Ingredients:

2 15-ounce cans cream of coconut
2 14-ounce cans condensed milk
6 ounces white rum (use less if you like)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon coconut (or vanilla) extract
Preparation:

1. Mix all ingredients in a blender.
2. Refrigerate for about an hour before serving. Serve cold.

Along with dinner we had roasted vegetables (carrots, parsnips), roasted artichokes, mashed potatoes with gravy, and of course stuffing. The stuffing was my stepmom's recipe and was out of this world. Someone remidn me to obtain and post that recipe for sure.

Pies. Good.

Same with wine. We were drinking well.

We also picked up an amazing wedge of pecorino romano from Arthure Ave.

So there you go. I know, not much detail, but there were a few recipes I'll be trying again soon and posting in a more CHF-like fashion.