Hudson Valley Restaurant Week: X2O Xaviars On The Hudson

I love the idea of restaurant week. Something about a limited time, pre-fix menu really motivates you to get out and try someplace new. Or someplace that you've been dying to go, but couldn't justify the expense. So, in honor of Hudson Valley Restaurant Week(s), I drove a few miles south to X2O Xaviars On The Hudson. The restaurant, which was featured on Anthony Bourdain No Reservations Hudson Valley special, sits on top of an old pier near the Yonkers train station. We were seated in the smaller dining room on the highest level -- at a corner table by the window, looking south toward the GWB and Manhattan skyline. After starting with a Hudson Bubble Cocktail (sparkling wine, blood orange juice and elderflower liqueur), we perused the featured menu which had a ton of options. I started with the spicy tuna roll, and I don't even really like raw tuna. But the generous eight piece serving was delicious and totally not fishy at all. My table also ordered the fennel soup (looked nice) and the mushroom custard, which unfortunately was a little too reminiscent in look and taste to Campbell's cream of mushroom soup straight from the can (although I am sure only the finest wild mushrooms and cream made it into the dish!). We all went with the roasted sirloin for our entree. And it was perfectly cooked, tender and juicy (and this from someone who typically orders her meat medium well). Paired with two sauces, the sauce choron listed on the menu and a sweet and spicy red sauce, the portion was perfect -- filling but not overfilling. Leaving room for dessert! While some went for the rich Belgian chocolate dome... ...I went with an off menu special -- chocolate cake with pistachio ice cream, which was perfectly nice and actually quite light (which I appreciated after my surf and turf dinner). I wish the ice cream (which initially sold me on the selection) had a little more pistachio oomph (like the pistachio gelato I had in Milan last year) but at least it wasn't green!

All in all, I had a great time. Although I felt a tad bit rushed through our meal (I get it -- they need to turn the table), the service was great and as Restaurant Week patrons, I did not feel like we were treated like second class citizens (as some places have been known to do).

There are six more days of Hudson Valley Restaurant Week 2010 -- plenty of time to try to snag a reservation at X2O, or start planning your trip to Yonkers this time next year!

Hastings on Hudson Indoor Market

Saturday morning. High winds. Torrential downpours. A sane person would stay in bed. I went to the Hastings on Hudson indoor farmers market.

The Hastings market, which has been running indoors the second Saturday of each month since January, is slated to move back outside next month. But I am pretty sure all of the vendors were happy to be inside the community center last weekend.

I had never been inside the community center before, and was impressed with the openness and light in the space. Like other indoor markets, the Hastings winter market is heavy on the prepared food and meats, but there were a number of produce vendors. The most popular was tucked into a corner. The farm, which I think is the same as the one I frequented at the Scarsdale market, had all bases covered -- from winter squash and sweet potatoes to greens and spring onions! After waiting patiently in line (the "stand" had a "single occupancy" set up, if you catch my drift), I snagged a several red onions, two sweet potatoes, and small bunch of cilantro. Next door was Red Jacket Orchards, the which I consider one of the more sophisticated farmers market vendors as it's a bigger operation than most. With no honey crisps available, I had to be satisfied with a bag of Fuji apples. Just before leaving, I spotted some blush pink breakfast radishes I had to have. I'm pretty sure they were from Honey Locust Farm, which has been profiled in Edible Manhattan, but I'm not really sure, as by this time I was getting hot and bothered (between the crowds and my non-breathable rain gear). So I picked up my radishes and a bag of chickweed, which I was told was good for my, verbatim, "female parts" (sold!) and especially nice in sandwiches. I have since learned chickweed in fact an edible weed that most people try to kill (except those who raise chickens or are in herbal medicine circles, apparently) but a few people pay to hunt it. Not sure what I'll do with it, especially given the concern over the nitrate levels, but you'll be the first to know. I'm thinking some kind of pesto that can possible double as a salve if I get bug bites...Seriously! Despite the rain, I was on the go most of the weekend, and did not cook much, so the only farmers market find I used was the cilantro on top a bowl of southwestern style chicken soup. But since the next market isn't until April 10, I have some time to use the rest.

Southwestern Style Chicken Soup

This is a great fridge-clean-out soup, especially when you have the less appetizing bits of leftover rotisserie chicken lingering on a shelf. It also freezes well (omit the garnishes).

Ingredients

1 T. Olive Oil

1 Medium Onion, peeled and diced

2 Cloves Garlic, peeled and minced

2 Stalks Celery, diced

2 Carrots, peeled and diced

1 Zucchini or 1 Cup green beans, chopped

1 Red pepper, chopped

1 Yellow or orange pepper, chopped

1 Can Diced tomatoes

4 Cups Low sodium chicken broth

1 Cup Corn kernels

1 Cup Black beans

2 Cups Cooked chicken, shredded

1 Cup Cooked brown rice

Chili seasoning, salt and pepper to taste

Optional: Hot sauce, shredded cheese, chopped cilantro, lime wedges, crushed corn chips, sour cream (for garnish)

Method

Heat olive oil over a medium flame, add onions and saute until translucent.

Add garlic, celery and carrot and saute for three minutes.

Add chili seasoning, salt, black pepper, raw red/yellow/orange peppers and zucchini, if using, saute for another five minutes.

Add broth and diced tomatoes, bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add green beans (if using), corn, black beans, cooked chicken and cooked rice and heat until warmed through.

Garnish with shredded cheese, chopped cilantro, fresh lime juice, crushed corn chips and/or a dollop of sour cream.

Ithaca Indoor Farmers Market

I was upstate President's Day weekend, and headed to Ithaca to enjoy a veggie bagel sandwich from Collegetown Bagels, hit the local TJ Maxx and check out the indoor farmers market. Now the outdoor market at Ithaca is pretty darn impressive so I wasn't sure what to expect from the "winter alternative."

But I was pleasantly surprised. The indoor market, which has been running since January, is located right downtown in the Womens Community Building (which also happens to be right across from the Dewitt Mall and the Moosewood).

There were a bunch of vendors stuffed into a room the size of a small gymnasium -- offering everything from baked goods to sprouts to meat to jewelry. In addition, some of the favorite prepared food vendors had turned out to tempt shoppers with samosa and tacos. Sadly, Macro Mamas was not among them. So I consoled myself by picking up a small bunch of baby leeks ($2.50), a head of napa cabbage ($3), parsnips, a pair of earrings ($5) and this really good piece of sweet almond brioche for $3 (hey, a half a veggie bagel only sticks with you so long). Since the following day was Chinese New Year (go Year of the Tiger!), I used the napa cabbage in a slaw inspired by a recipe in Eating Well (my new favorite food magazine). The recipe calls for cabbage to be combined with grated sweet potato instead of the traditional orange carrot. I fiddled with the recipe it a bit, cutting the amount of sweet potato in half, adding shredded snow peas, chopped mint and chopped cilantro plus rice wine vinegar for extra kick. Although you could not tell the orange was sweet potato, the end result was pretty tasty and a nice complement to the Chinese-themed meal my aunt prepared. If you happen to be in the Ithaca area next Saturday, be sure to check out the market. Sadly, it's only slated to run until the end of the month. Otherwise, you'll be stuck waiting for spring until the outdoor market opens again.

Soup for a Snowy Day

After a long dry spell, we've been getting "a lot" of snow in the metro NYC area this month. There was about an inch on the ground when I left the house today, which was nothing compared to the "snow day" last Wednesday. Fearing "blizzard-like conditions" (which never quite materialized), I elected to work from home.

There are two benefits to working from home: I had a window to look out of (since I worked from my kitchen table) and I was able to make lunch at home. In fact, I dragged out the root vegetables I had purchased at Union Square a few weekends before -- fingerling potatoes, carrots, parsnips and turnips -- and set to make soup.

Taking inspiration from Ina, I peeled (all but the fingerlings) and chopped the green market vegetables into small pieces, combining with diced onion and garlic, sea salt and Penzey's Parisien Bonnes Herbes mix. After 40 minutes in a 400 oven, they were ready to join the broth and chicken bubbling on the stove. I let a handful of egg noodles cook in the broth (yes, it's a double carb soup) and stirred in a teaspoon of dill just before serving...myself.

Although the garlic flavor was a little too pronounced, the end result was hearty and healthy, and gave me enough energy to go out and shovel eight inches of snow off the car. Spring cannot come soon enough.

Chicken Soup with Roasted Root Vegetables

*Note: I diced the garlic and roasted it with the vegetables but think that roasting the cloves unpeeled and whole would have given the soup a more mellow and more desirable garlic flavor. If you go this route, don't forget to peel and diced the roasted garlic before adding to the broth.

Ingredients

3 Carrots, peeled and diced 2 Parsnips, peeled and diced

1 Medium onion, peeled and diced

2 Small turnips, peeled and diced

3 Fingerling potatoes, diced 2 T. olive oil 1 t. salt Freshly ground black pepper, to taste 6 C. chicken broth

2 C. water

2 C. cooked chicken, diced or shredded

1 C. egg noodles

1 t. dried dill

Method

Preheat oven to 400.

Combine vegetables, olive oil, salt, pepper and extra seasonings (if using) in a large pot; dump contents onto baking sheet that has been covered in foil.

Roast vegetables for 40 minutes, or until they start to turn brown and caramelize.

Heat chicken broth and water in original pot, bring to boil and add egg noodles; cook for six minutes or until noodles have softened.

Turn off burner. Add roasted vegetables* and diced chicken to pot and let sit for 10 minutes.

Stir in 1 teaspoon of dried dill and serve immediately. This soup is best eaten fresh as the noodles will continue to soak up moisture as it sits.

Top of the Muffin To Ya

Call it the winter blues, perhaps, but the last few weeks I have been craving muffins. Not the Starbucks calorie laden versions (thank goodness) but the smell and taste of a home cooked treat. First, I made the apple sauce muffins from the Moosewood.The following week, I whipped up the batter for the apple spice cake recipe in the same cookbook (which only uses maple syrup for sweetener) and baked that in muffin tins. Similar to the apple sauce muffins but with instant oatmeal part of the list of ingredients, the end result was hearty and healthy.

Cross-section of the apple spice cake muffins with fresh cranberries

Then, with leftover ricotta in the fridge, I stumbled upon Giada De Laurentiis' Nonna's recipe for lemon ricotta muffins. It's stretching it a bit to call these babies "muffins." Chock full of moist goodness and super sweet, these were more like little cakes. Add some glaze or frosting and you're looking at a birthday party treat.

And then I ran the recipe through MasterCook. Clocking in at 274 calories and 13 grams of fat EACH, these were "special occasion" muffins and definitely not the winter workday morning everyday indulgence I was after.

So I went out on a limb and messed with the recipe. I know baking is a science, it's all about chemistry, yadda, yadda, but even scientists experiment. So I slashed the fat and added fiber. The end result? Down to 200 calories and 8 grams of fat per muffin. So not exactly made for an everyday breakfast, but good for a weekend indulgence. And, given the temptation of moist lemon cake and tart berries, good thing they freeze well. After all, no one wants to gnaw on a frozen muffin in February.

Lemon Ricotta Berry Muffins

Inspired by a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients 1 Cup All-purpose flour

1 Cup Whole wheat flour 1/2 t. Baking powder 1/2 t. Baking soda 1/2 t. Salt 1/2 C. Sugar

5 T. Unsalted butter, softened 1 T. Lemon zest 1 C. Part-skim ricotta 1 Egg 1 T. Lemon juice 1/2 t. Almond extract 1/4 C. 1% Milk

1 1/2 C. Frozen blackberries, raspberries and/or blueberries

2 T. Sliced almonds

Method Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour through salt) in small bowl.

In a larger bowl, cream sugar, butter and zest with an electric mixer; add ricotta and beat until incorporated.

Add egg, lemon juice and almond extract to ricotta mixture and beat until well combined.

Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients by hand; adding up to 1/4 cup low fat milk if needed (batter should be stiff, but all dry ingredients should be well incorporated).

Fold in frozen berries by hand.

Using an ice cream scoop or two tablespoons, scoop batter into a 12 cup muffin tin that has either been sprayed or prepped with paper liners.

Sprinkle a few sliced almonds on top of each muffin.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes in pan before removing from tin and cooling on baking rack.

Union Square Revisited

I went into the city on Saturday for the first time since moving (three months ago). I had fun doing my old routine -- swimming at the Y on 14th Street, getting sushi at Whole Foods Union Square, trekking down to Chinatown for won ton soup, and walking through the Union Square Greenmarket. I realize now I really took the greenmarket for granted. Living in the land of indoor markets, it'll be late spring before the vendors venture outside again. So I grabbed shallots and fingerling potatoes and about 8 lbs. of apples to haul back with me (after first taking them on a trip downtown through Soho and Chinatown. My left shoulder may never be the same). Since I got a mix of eating apples and cooking apples (at $3 a 4 lb. bag, I was willing to take my chances with the "slightly imperfect" ones), I settled on making apple sauce muffins with half the haul. The recipe, which is based on one in the Moosewood Low-fat Favorites cookbook, combines apple sauce with fresh whole cranberries and walnuts for a tart-sweet breakfast treat. With a mix of white and whole wheat flour, and only two tablespoons of oil, this muffin beats the low fat options at your favorite coffee shop hands down. And helps justify buying a grande mocha latte to wash it down.

Apple Cranberry Muffins

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

Ingredients

1 C. White Flour

1 C. Whole Wheat Flour

1 T. Baking Powder

1/2 t. Salt

1/2 t. Cinnamon

1/4 t. Nutmeg

1 Egg

1 Egg White

1 C. Applesauce (Homemade or commercial)

1/3 C. Brown Sugar

Zest of one Lemon

2 T. Canola Oil

2 T. Skim Milk

1/2 C. Walnuts, Toasted and Chopped

1 C. Cranberries (Whole or Chopped)

Method

Preheat oven to 400; spray or grease a 12-cup muffin tin.

Sift together dry ingredients.

In another bowl, beat egg and egg white until frothy; add applesauce, brown sugar, lemon zest, oil and milk and beat until well incorporated.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mixed until just combined; fold in walnuts and cranberries.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill the muffin tins to just below the rim.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

London: Market to Market

After a hectic holiday, work took me to London the second weekend of January. It was a quick trip, and I literally had 36 hours of free time. But I made good use of the time, seeing a show ("An Inspector Calls"), dining in two of my favorite quick casual restaurants, attending evensong services at Westminster Abby (I think I prefer St. Paul's, but still worth checking out) and of course, visiting two of my favorite markets: Greenwich and Borough. Greenwich, just down the Thames from London, is a really cute college town I got to check out on my last visit (in October). Back in late October, the weather was still nice enough to take the river cruise to Greenwich. However, with the bitter January weather, I decide to take the train. And the one hour journey (tube to DLR) was worth it for the shopping and food. Greenwich market has a ton of stalls selling everything from handcrafts to fashion to accessories. And many offer unique items at reasonable prices. The market is also lined with really interesting stores specializing in clothing, jewelry or home goods, so you could spend the whole day there. On this visit, I picked up two makeup purses at Afxentiou. I discovered the stall on my last visit, the bright graphic prints (one could say almost Orla-Kiely-esque) catching my attention straight away. And since it's a small, London-based company with prices that are most definitely not Orla-Kiely-esque, the purses make great gifts too. I also couldn't resist buying a funky chicken doorstop from refab (despite not really having a door to prop up!). And then there's the food. From Portuguese to crepes to "Louisiana sausages," you could eat around the world from the food stalls. I decided to try a lahmacun wrap. The flatbread was crisped on the griddle and then stuffed with salad, hummus and a yogurt sauce. Nice and compact for eating on the go. Later that day (after training back to London, meandering through Soho and attending services at Westminster), I walked across the London Bridge to Borough Market. Sadly, I arrived a bit too late. By 30 minutes before closing, most stalls had gone or were breaking down for the day, including Kappacasein. With no cheese toastie for me this visit, I followed my nose (and the scent of grilling meat) to a new stand -- Northfield Farm. Northfield operates in the market as both a butcher and food stall. On one side, you can get your raw meat product and the other, cooked meat product. The "cooked side" had quite a menu -- from beef to pork to lamb. Although I was hoping for a sausage, by the time I made it to the front of the line, all they had left was lamb, lamb or lamb. So I opted for a lamb burger with mature cheddar and a sweet curry mustard. Once I peeled off the top bun (too much bread!), I actually enjoyed the burger. The lamb patty had been seared a deep brown on the outside but was still moist inside. And the cheese, although cold and not melty, was a nice touch. The burger really couldn't compare to a cheese toastie, but was a good substitute, especially since I was cold and hungry! The moral of the story is, when visiting either market, go early, go hungry and go to the ATM, as there's a lot of temptation at London's food, bric-a-brac and antique markets! Greenwich Market is open Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Take the DLR to "Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich" station. For more information, visit http://www.greenwichmarket.net/. Borough Market is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday but most of the food stalls are only open Friday and Saturday. Although the market closes at 6:00 p.m. on Fridays and 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays, many stalls begin breaking down much earlier. Take the tube to London Bridge. For more information, visit http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/.