Rocking Horse

A couple of nights ago, my wife and I met a couple of good friends out for a pre-Christmas dinner at the Rocking Horse Cafe in Chelsea. I think we first discovered this place by just searching for a place to eat in this neighborhood one evening years ago because we had to be over there for something else. We've been back multiple times since, always enjoying ourselves. I've ever had a bad or disappointing meal here.
This time, I had the Camarones con Papaya (shrimp, caramelized onions, papaya & poblano chiles in chipotle tomato purée with warm organic spelt tortillas) after starting off with some guacamole. It was all really good. A nice blend of sweet and spicy. For dessert we shared the Tarta de Limón (lime custard in ginger graham crust with Myers's rum cream, mango & raspberry purées), which was great, but I recommend the Buñuelos with Ibarra (homemade donuts with chocolate pot au creme & spiced piloncillo syrup) if you're going to be there and saving room for dessert.
I had a great time at this place, and I was really happy that everyone enjoyed their meal. I feel like whenever we take people to a place we really like the chef has an off-night and I feel badly that I dragged people out to this place to spend their hard-earned cash on a sub-par meal. Not this night (whew). The only thing I was a little disappointed in was my wine choice. I got a Rioja (of course I can't remember what it was and the wine list isn't online), and it wasn't as good as I had hoped. Hey, what can you do?

NP: The Backyardigans...

Early Merry Christmas

Today's a day where everything as been going wrong. I've tried to bake some gifts and they keep coming out badly. It really hasn't been my fault, but either way, they turned out like crap. My son has been really cranky (although in his defense he seems to be not feeling well today), and my wife has been really cranky (because of my son). I would like to go to bed and just have a do-over. Well, that can't happen, so...
I decided I would try to change my luck by wishing everyone a somewhat early Merry Christmas!!!

NP: Christmas Is Coming, John Denver & the Muppets

Not Such A Bastard

Last night we uncorked a bottle of Il Bastardo Sangiovese Rosso di Toscana 2001, Italy. I've had this wine before in a restaurant in Boston (I can't actually remember the name of that place, but it's on Newbury Street upstairs from Daisy Buchanan's). Anyway, I liked this wine then and I liked it now. It's a simple Italian red with some dark fruit (mainly cherries) and a little harshness to it, but it's good. Especially since it costs less than 10 bucks a bottle it's a great buy. Besides, everyone enjoys seeing the label...

NP: Limelight, Rush

More Proof He's Mine

Today my son woke up from his nap and was feeling a little cranky. We've got a few tricks to get him out of his post-nap funk. Today I decided to put on his favorite song (No One, by Alicia Keys) and let him sit on my lap on the couch for a bit. (It's really cute because he sings along with her, totally off-key. Of course he doesn't sing the words - he's only 14 months - but he does the melody and he does do a good job with the oh-oh-oh's at the end.)
Anyway, my iPod was on shuffle and after the Alicia Keys song finished, it went to Creeping Death by Metallica. Well, my son jumped off my lap and started bouncing up and down, clapping his hands and squealing with joy. It was awesome. Too bad my wife wasn't around to witness it (I doubt she'll believe me if I tell her). Maybe it's because he got the Metallica Lullaby CD for his birthday or maybe he's just into the metal... only time will tell.
Maybe I need to get him a tiny guitar and get the lessons started early.

Panettone Success!

Yesterday I decided to try my hand at baking a Panettone. For those who don't know, this is basically an Italian holiday bread. It's usually filled with candied fruit. Personally, I'm not crazy about fruit filled breads. I think I must've had some freak accident with a fruit cake as a child that I blocked out from my memory (my fruit cake hate is no where near the level of my M.A.S.H. hate, in case you were wondering). Whatever the reason, I'm just not into it. So, I made mine with chocolate chips instead (the 60% cacao ones from Ghirardelli). Amazingly, it turned out really well on only my first try (see the pics of it on this post).
Anyway, I got the recipe from the Gourmet Magazine website in case you're interested. I pretty much followed it except for the following changes.: Instead of 1 cup of raisins and 1 cup of candied citrus, I used 2 cups of the chips (it's a good idea to toss the chips in flour first so they don't sink). Instead of the lemon zest and juice I used 1 tbsp vanilla. As for the baking, I ditched the coffee can idea and actually used one of the paper things the Panettone will usually come in (I got mine at Chef Central). It was a large one, so I never divided the bread and only cooked one loaf. The instructions on the paper container says to lower to baking temperature with those, so I baked at 350 instead of 375 for 40 minutes. It worked out great.

NP: Beverly Hills, Weezer

Not Just For Breakfast Anymore

I love brunch. My wife loves brunch. While we were in NYC we would go all over the place to have brunch on the weekends (or during the week if we were lucky enough to be off from work). One place that we both really enjoy is the Popover Cafe on the Upper West Side. My favorite breakfast there is the Eggs Benedict on Popovers. Mmmm. The popovers at this place are as big as your head (well... I guess it depends on the size of your head) and are full of flaky goodness inside. They also come with home-made strawberry butter which is perfect.
Well, our son's pediatrician is on the Upper West Side, so after his appointment the other day we needed some lunch. I had never been there for lunch before, so we thought we'd give it a chance. We both (well, all three of us really) had the Chicken "Pop" Pie. It's basically a chicken pot pie served in a popover (in case you didn't get it already, basically everything either comes with or in a popover). This was terrific. It was the perfect lunch on a cold, rainy, winter day.

NP: Damage Is Done, Black Label Society

Fakes Are Good Too

This year I broke tradition and got myself an artificial Christmas Tree. Growing up, my family always had a fake tree and we hated it (well, my sister and I hated it). Sometime during high school we switched over to real trees. I decided at that time I would always get a real tree at Christmas time. Well, that decision, just like many others in my life has been turned over. This year we got a fake tree. This decision was influenced by many factors, but the most compelling were the potential fire and choking hazards a real tree presented to my 1 year old son who can't keep his hands off of anything (do you know how many times I've had to tell him that the oven is bad?). Also, the fact that real tree prices have climbed every year and we've been paying about $100 a year for a tree we thought was nice enough (not even the best tree, just good enough). Of course this was in NYC and not NJ, but the part of Jersey we moved to isn't really that much cheaper than NYC... in fact, in some ways, it's more expensive. Ah well...
To be honest, I wasn't ready for the amazingly inflated prices of artificial trees, but I guess it'll pay for itself over time. Now all trees come with lights already on them. I really do enjoy the ease of these trees, but I would have been happy to have scored a cheaper tree without lights. Unfortunately the only ones I could fine (I think I found 2) were like the tree from Charlie Brown's Christmas. Decorated, they remind me of an old lady trying to look good on a night out - too old and scrawny for a couple of baubles to fool anyone into thinking they are still pretty.
So... I shelled out the big bucks and got a nice tree with 800 lights and over 2100 branch tips. It looks really nice and I'm happy with it. I got it at K-Mart. Not my favorite store in the world - I always leave that place feeling dirty. Also, it's from the Martha Stewart line of trees, and I had to break some of my own moral codes to actually purchase a tree from that lady, but sometimes you've got to sell your soul to get what you want.
Happy Holidays!

NP: Love Like Winter, AFI

I Guess Rats Aren't All Bad

This weekend I rented the movie Ratatouille from Pixar Studios. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, it's a cartoon (well, computer generated cartoon) about a rat in France who decides he wants to be a chef. I had heard that this was another great movie from Pixar, and I wanted to check it out. It was really good. It's a cute movie with some little jokes that are obviously directed towards the adults in the audience. I also enjoyed the scenes of Paris, which made me want to go back and visit again. I would check this one out if you get a chance.

NP: Little Guitars, Van Halen

I Used To Hate Clowns

Since moving out of NYC I've actually started buying wine in my local grocery store. This wasn't something I would ever think of doing in the city, but here there's not too many better options. I haven't been too impressed with the wine selection and the quality of wines I've bought in the local wine stores. The grocery stores sell wine, and it's at least stuff I've heard of. It my not be the fanciest of selections, but it is pretty decent with the cheaper stuff.
One day I grabbed a bottle of Beauzeaux Red Wine California 2005 (pronounced Bo-Zo). It was $7.99 and had signs of "Wine of the Year (can't remember the exact organization that named it wine of the year)" around it. I was easily swayed and bought a bottle. It was actually very enjoyable. I've been through three bottles since and have liked every one. It's a red blend of 68% Zinfandel, 21% Syrah, 3% Petite Sirah, 3% Charbono, 2% Lagrein, 1% Valdiguie, 1% Grenache, 1% Tempranillo, so it pretty much goes with everything. It's a smooth wine with some blackberries and other dark fruits.
Another wine I picked up from the grocery store was Robert Mondavi Private Selection Chardonnay California 2005. This one I actually picked up because all Mondavi selections were on sale for $8.99 and usually we have pretty good success with them. I have to say I didn't love this wine. It was good, and I think most of my reservations are due to bad pairings with dinner, but overall it wasn't the best for me. It was a little too fruity and less buttery than I was hoping for in a chardonnay. Still, we bought 2 bottles and it was very consistent.

NP: Exit, Population 1