The favorite appetizer at Thanksgiving dinner

The Sriracha-and-Wasabi Deviled Eggs were the hit at Thanksgiving dinner this year. This simple to make, delicious recipe came from the Thanksgiving issue of Food & Wine Magazine (November 2010 issue). This recipe puts an “Asian” spin on the traditional deviled eggs with Asian spices such as “Five Spice Powder” and Sriracha hot sauce.

Recipe from foodandwine.com:

TOTAL TIME: 30 MIN Plus 4 hr marinating SERVINGS: 12
Ingredient:

1 dozen large eggs
2 cups soy sauce
1/2 cup sake
10 star anise pods
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup coarsely grated peeled fresh ginger
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Sriracha
2 1/4 teaspoons wasabi paste
1/4 cup snipped chives
Pinch of Chinese five-spice powder

Directions
1) In a large saucepan, cover the eggs with cold water and bring to a boil; boil for 1 minute. Cover the saucepan, remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes.
2) Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine the soy sauce with the sake, star anise, chopped scallions, sugar and grated ginger. Add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Transfer the mixture to a heatproof bowl and let cool completely.
3) Drain the water from the large saucepan and shake the pan gently to crack the eggs. Cool the eggs slightly under cold running water, then peel them under running water. Add the eggs to the soy mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the eggs for at least 4 hours.
4) Drain the eggs and rinse lightly to remove any bits of scallion or ginger; pat dry. Using a slightly moistened thin, sharp knife, cut the eggs in half lengthwise. Gently pry the egg yolks into a medium bowl and mash with a fork. Stir the mayonnaise, Sriracha, wasabi and 3 tablespoons of the snipped chives into the mashed yolks. Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a star or plain tip. Set the egg whites on a serving platter and pipe in the filling. Sprinkle the deviled eggs with the remaining 1 tablespoon of chives and the Chinese five-spice powder and serve. - The marinade made the eggs really salty already, so we sprinkled some brown sugar on top instead of the five spice powder. The brown sugar was a great substitute because it brings out a sweetness among the salty and spicy.

Wondering where you get these Asian Spices? There are many markets in the NYC area where you get them all:
-Hong Kong Supermarkets (various locations in Manhattan and Queens)
-Great Wall Supermarkets (Locations in Elmhurst, Flushing, and more)
Google these markets to find your nearest location.

The BEST cake ever!

Lady M’s crepe cakes are by far the best cakes we’ve ever tasted! The many thin layers of crepes with cream spread in between each crepe slice is just heavenly. If you are looking for a unique cake with an out of this world taste – buy one a cake at Lady M’s. The one risky factor with Lady M’s cakes is that can’t stop eating them!...they are that good!

http://www.ladymconfections.com/

SushiSamba

We’ve been to this restaurant several times now – for happy hours, for dinners, for restaurant week – all just a mediocre experience. The drinks at this place never disappointed, but the food was another story.

This last time we visited this restaurant, we had:

The Pacific Roll: Pacific king crab, avocado, asian pear, soy paper, wasabi-avocado crema
This roll costs $16.00, but it was flavorless and it might as well be a $3.00 California roll. The Asian pear in the roll was more like tiny apple match sticks. This was a very forgettable roll. Not worth the money!

The El Topo™ Roll: salmon, jalapeño, shiso leaf, fresh melted mozzarella, crispy onion This roll costs $13.50 and its trademarked! We ordered it to see why its trademarked. It’s not actually a roll, its actually in rectangular pieces (rice on the bottom with the fish and sauce on top). Again, not worth the money. There was nothing uniqe about it. We guessed that was trademarked because of the shape?

Eal Avocado Roll: This was actually the surprise item of the night. This standard roll was actually our favorite (and costs only $6). The eel was very flavorful and cooked to perfection.

The next time I come here, it would just be for the drinks! The Caipirinha hits the spot.

www.sushisamba.com

Total Yummy Points: 6/10

Essex House Restaurant

Essex House Restaurant is a place to come to back over and over again. This restaurant has been on our favorites list for many reasons. It has something to offer whatever the occasion is:

Weekend Brunch: nice menu selection. Almost all the items are $20, which comes with includes 3 bloody marys, screwdrivers or mimosas. The waiters are very generous with the drinks. You'll inevitably have more than 3 drinks. The menu changes from time to time, but we've liked all the dishes we've had so far (and that's a lot of them!)

Happy Hours: The sangrias are our favorites! Try the red pitcher. Happy hour is 6-9 Sunday - Thursday. The drinks are half price during Essex House's happy hour and there are $1 Oysters all night. The Oysters were not really worth it, they are really tiny. We always come for the drinks and the nice atmosphere. The place plays great music, but not so loud that you can't chat with friends or have to scream on the top your lungs.

Dinners: We love the regular menu items for dinner. The two items pictured here are the filet mignon with sweet potato fries, mixed greens & shallot red wine reduction ($25) and firecracker bbq short rib with cheese grits, collard greens & jalapeño hush puppies ($22). Both dishes were delicious! The filet mignon melts in your mouth and the short ribs come right off the bone. On certain nights, there are also dinner specials. For example, Wednesday nights is their Lobster Special - where you get a whole lobster with several sides for only $18. This is not worth it. When we tried it, the lobster was not fresh and it seemed like it has been cooked and left out for hours before it was served. We always enjoyed the regular menu items, but the lobster dinner special was a huge disappointment.

We would always come back here for the drinks, for brunch and for their regular dinner items! Go check out Essex House Restaurant!

http://www.essexnyc.com/index.html

120 Essex Street (@ Rivington Street) New York, NY 10002

Total Yummy Points: 8.5/10

Olivia Tapas

A group of friends and I went out for Tapas recently at Olivia Bar and Restaurant. We tried almost EVERY SINGLE item on their tapas menu. The verdict (from all of us) - "bland and nothing special." The only items we liked were the cheeses they recommended and the warm bread that it came with . The only other memorable item we ate were the dates wrapped in bacon. Literally, it was just dates wrapped in bacon...nothing more (you can do this yourself without the high price tag). However, we did liked the contrasting taste of the sweet dates and the slightly salty bacon.
Don't let the pictures fool you, they look tasty..but really, its just bland.























If you want to check it out:
161 East Houston Street, New York NY, 10002

Total Yummy Points: 4/10

Pinang Malaysian Thai Restaurant

We recently had dinner at Pinang Malaysian Thai in Forest Hills, NY. We read reviews by other diners on websites such as Yelp and decided to try this out. Many Yelpers raved about the rotti, some even said it was "the best they've ever had." So, that's was the first thing we ordered....2 of them! The waiter told us 1 rotti appetizer was not enough got 2 people. I thought that was strange, but we listened to his advice and ordered 2.Here was the rotti. One was enough! It's no larger or smaller than roti you order anywhere else and its NOT the best we've had. It's not bad, nor good -- really nothing special.

Our entrees were nothing special either. I am not sure all the praise this place gets on reviews sites are well deserved. We ordered the pineapple chicken and sizzling beef entrees -- there was absolutely nothing to rave about. The food was average. It was not what I expected at all from all the reviews. I wouldn't come here again.

If you want to check it out for yourself, here is the address:
111-10 Queens Blvd Forest Hills, NY 11375

Total Yummy Points: 4.5/10

Unidentified Flying Chicken (UFC) in Jackson Heights, NY - Best Korean Chicken Joint!

We recently tried out Unidentified Flying Chicken (UFC) in Jackson Heights, NY. The menu is mostly...CHICKEN as you would expect from the name. We actually thought the name of this place was weird, but the FOOD was definitely not! We were pleasantly surprised at how great the food was! It’s a small eatery nestled on a busy street, so it can be easily overlooked. The upstairs just have a few tables and just for take-out orders. However, if you do downstairs, it has cozy table settings for full service dinner.

We ordered the large chicken wings (in BBQ mustard – this was a little spicy & soy garlic) – both tasted awesome! There are 4 flavors to choose from, we plan to go back to try the other two. The chicken wings were fried to perfection – no grease dripping off, just light and crunchy. The chicken was perfectly seasoned with the sauces, so each bite was just so yummy! The chicken wings came with two sides, we picked the cold slaw and the radish – both were great.

We also ordered sweet potato fries – this actually really impressed us! The fries were very fresh, not the frozen kind you get at most places. They were peeled, cut, and fried on the spot! I’ve never tasted better sweet potato fries before! A+ for the fries and chicken!

We will be back! Go try it out for yourself! Here is a link to their website (its still under construction, but you can see the menu). http://ufchicken.com/

Total Yummy Points: 10!!!!!!! Hands down!

Mario Batali’s Esca Restaurant

We went to ESCA during restaurant week. Mario Batali is a great chef, so we figured the food at his restaurant must be delicious! However, just one word sums up our experience….disappointing!

Let’s get right to the food:

Appetizer

: Calamari – grilled squid with hot pepper, lemon and parsley.This dish was not spectacular; it was neither good nor bad. The most potent flavor in this whole dish was the lemon. I am not sure if that’s what I want in my Calamari.

Entrée: At first, I ordered the Scallops with Cauliflower, after a few bites, I could not eat it anymore. When the dish first arrived, it looked burnt (see picture) – but I thought it must taste better than it looks. No it didn’t! It was extremely salty and the scallops were so overcooked (hence the burnt look) that it tasted rubbery. I chucked down 4 glasses of water while attempting to eat this dish. I gave up after 3 bites. The waiter was extremely nice; he asked if he can bring me something else instead. We chose the Bass. Again, not much flavor aside from the lemon and lime juice. Also a grilled dish (like the calamari and the scallops). We gave up after this…just waited for dessert.

Dessert: Pannacotta – roasted vanilla pannacotta with summer fruit. This was the one dish that we actually liked. We devoured every last bit of the pannacotta. It was creamy and the sauces it came with complimented it very well. Overall, we were very satisfied with the service and the dessert, but that’s no reason to come back again. Mario Batali – we love you, but will not be returning.

Total Yummy Points: 5

Foodie Book Pick: The Fortune Cookie Chronicles

I give this book, by Jennifer 8 Lee two thumbs way up!

I devoured this book from font to back. Lee traveled the world to give you an insight into the Chinese-American food world. Ever wonder where General Tso’s Chicken really came from? Do you know what’s in your Chop Suey? How about the famed FORTUNE COOKIES—where did they come from? How did it get started? Lee addresses all these questions, while also answering the question – Which restaurant is the greatest Chinese restaurant in the world?

Grab a copy of this book before you crack open your next fortune cookie!