Life – Page 25 – Gastography

High Line Park

May 22, 2012LifeLeave a Comment

This past weekend, my DH and I explored the High Line Park in Chelsea. The High Line is a NYC public park built on a historic (previously abandoned) freight rail line in the Chelsea area of Manhattan’s West Side.

The High Line itself was built in the 30s as part of the West Side Improvement, a huge public-private infrastructure project. The 13 mile long rail eliminated 105 dangerous street-level crossings (the area around 10th Avenue had become known as “Death Avenue” for the number of train-related fatalities) and cost more than $2 billion in today’s money.

The High Line quit running in 1980 and fell into disrepair. When it was set to be demolished in 1999, a group called Friends of the High line worked with the City to preserve and maintain it as a public park. The High Line is now one of the most popular parks in the city and draws people from all over the globe.

I heard about it a couple of years ago, way before I moved here, when a project to renovate the Low Line/Delancey Underground (the High Line’s underground counterpart located at the abandoned Delancey station) was attempting to get off the ground. I haven’t heard much more about the Low Line other than it needs funding, but I hope it goes somewhere. The drawings are stunning.

On to the pictures.

_DS31336w — Ok, so this isn’t the High Line. We went to Chelsea Market for a stroll and a bite before the park.

_DS31343w — I love the boats in this shot

_DS31354w — You can see the old train tracks running right through this bed

_DS31357w — This picture and the next are kind of interesting. I took this one, and I would swear the colors are just right in it.

_DSC0637 — My DH took this one and he swears the colors are right in his. Both in the same place – windows right next to each other.

_DS31363w — I can’t resist a nice flower

_DS31368w — I’m also a sucker for old painted advertising on the side of buildings.

_DS31372w — I like the outer petal still stubbornly clinging to this one

_DS31375w — I love this shot and the next and hardly had to do a thing to them

_DS31377w — In this one, I am especially happy the sun sparkle showed up on the buildings. I don’t know what was back there, but it gave a really cool watery effect.

_DS31380-lomow — Just because I can’t resist a good lomo shot.

_DS31382w — Not the best picture in the bunch, but the bricked over and barred windows were tripping me out.

No Tato Salad

May 19, 2012December 29, 2014Life, RecipesLeave a Comment

This is a vegetarian-ish, gluten-free and paleo-friendly version of that perennial Summer favorite – potato salad. I went German with my inspiration, but curry or hot spice versions would be great as well. This really does end up tasting like potato salad. You don’t get the density of potatoes, but if you’re trying to avoid them and Summer just ain’t Summer without some homestyle potato salad (and a big ear of corn and some brats), this salad is for you. It’s also pretty quick to whip up and makes a great side dish for a nice big steak.

No-Tato Salad

1 head cauliflower
2 stalks celery
1/4 to 1/2 c. yellow onion (~ 1/4 of an onion, preferably Vidalia or some other sweet variety)
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. mayo (I use the type made with olive oil – sub with home made to make it paleo)
2 Tbsp. capers (or good old green Spanish olives)
1 Tbsp. dijon mustard (sub with yellow mustard to make it Whole30)
1/4 tsp. celery salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
Salt & pepper
Sweet paprika (optional)

Place the eggs in a small pot. Cover with water and put over a burner on high. Bring to a boil, let go 4 minutes and cut the heat. Remove pot to the sink, drain, and fill with cold water.

While your eggs are cooking, chop/snap the cauliflower into small florets. When this is complete, add to a large pan over medium high heat with a splash or 2 of water. Cook until softened – if you want to go a little brown here, have at it. I went for just steamed to taste as close as possible to potatoes, but brown would be nice, too. Remove from the heat when done. Add to a large bowl to cool.

While that is working, dice the celery, onion, capers and parsley. Add to the bowl with the cauliflower.

When the eggs are done, cool, peel and dice. Add to the bowl.

Add the mayo, mustard, celery salt & garlic powder. Combine. Taste & add salt and pepper if needed. Dust with paprika as an optional old school garnish.

Serves 2 for dinner with a nice steak and 1 for lunch beefed up with a little chicken and the gift that keeps on giving: hazelnut gremolata (yes, this is the same gremolata that’s been kicking around the back of my fridge and popping up here and there since Easter).

Light, Bright Tuna Salad

May 12, 2012October 11, 2013Life, Recipes4 Comments

Light Bright Tuna Salad

This light, bright tuna salad makes a great weeknight meal. Bold and flavorful – you won’t miss the calories.

2 packets tuna in water
2 Tbsp. beet horseradish
2 Tbsp. dill, chopped
1/4 cup red onion, diced
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 Tbsp. capers
1 can garbanzo beans, washed & drained
2 ribs celery, diced
1/4 preserved lemon, diced
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried ground chipotle
Salt & pepper to taste

Prep all ingredients. Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl. Taste. Salt & pepper to your liking.

Serves 2 + 1 for a light dinner & lunch. You can beef this salad up with some crusty bread or crackers, but it is perfectly satisfying without.

Spring at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden – 2

May 10, 2012Life74 Comments

Yes, the Botanic Garden again. Spring is still on high rampage, and this place is amazing. We visited again last weekend, in part to get our memberships, in part to put the new camera through its paces, but mostly because spring is a bustin out and this place changes weekly. Daily, even. Don’t want to miss a thing.

_DS31140w — Something in the desert exhibit

_DS31181w — These guys were amazing and everywhere – hello, Lensbaby bokeh!

_DS31211-lomow — My jam – the rose garden is just starting to bloom

_DS31216w — Aaaannnd… you’ll probably get sick of roses by the end of summer

_DS31220w — Roses used to be almost exclusively what I shot as a teen

_DS31223w — some sort of cherry-looking blossom

_DS31237w — This past weekend was also butterfly and bee city

_DS31246w — Look at this color! Ridiculous!

_DSC0101w — These next shots were taken by my DH with the big daddy new camera. He got some great stuff!

_DSC0129w — This is one of my very favorite trees and I’m glad he got such a great shot

_DSC0189w — Who knew? Butterfly faces are cute!

_DSC0207w — I’m totally swiping this for my Facebook header

And if you’re still not pictured-out, we have even more on our Flickr page.

Corn Salsa Pasta

May 5, 2012October 11, 2013Life, RecipesLeave a Comment

This easy weeknight dinner combines all that is good about corn salsa with a nice gluten-free pasta for a no-fuss meal that is high in taste and low in drama.

Corn Salsa Pasta

2 ears corn, de-cobbed
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 pickled jalapeño, diced
3 Tbsp. salsa
3 Tbsp. crema
1/2 package (2 servings) corn pasta
Salt & pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Put a large pot of water on to boil. While your water is boiling, de-cob your corn kernels, chop your bell pepper, slice your onions, dice the jalapeño and gather the rest of your ingredients.

In a large pan over medium heat, bring the olive oil up to temperature. Add the onions and sautee until translucent. Add the corn and pepper and sautee, raising the temperature a bit if needed, until starting to brown around the edges. The goal is for the corn and peppers to get some nice browning (especially the corn), but to not burn the onions. This is a fine line to walk. When the pepper is soft and everything is browned to your liking, it is time to add the pasta. If the pasta is done, add it now. If not, knock the heat down to low to wait for the pasta.

When draining the pasta, reserve 1/2 a cup or so of the starchy water to help make a sauce.

Add the drained pasta to the pan, along with the jalapeño and salsa. Cook over medium heat, stirring to combine. When all is combined, add the crema and enough pasta water to create a sauce. Toss and serve.

Serves 2 for dinner + 1 for lunch.

Spring Peas and Bacon with Lentils and Miso

April 29, 2012October 11, 2013Life, RecipesLeave a Comment

This dish takes the great springtime combo of peas + bacon and adds an unexpected umami hit from miso. The miso isn’t pungent here, it’s more of a supporting character, so don’t worry about it tasting weird. The Europe-meets-Asia flavors mesh quite well.

Spring Peas and Bacon with Lentils and Miso

3/4 cup beluga (or French green) lentils
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup water
2 cups fresh or frozen peas
2 ounces slab bacon, cut into batons
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1 tsp. butter
1 tsp. white miso

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the lentils, stock and water. Bring up to a boil, cover, knock the heat back and let simmer 20 – 25 mins. or until tender.

Meanwhile, crisp the bacon over medium heat, drain and reserve.

Put the pan back on the stove and add the garlic. Let the garlic go until it is just beginning to smell fragrant and add the peas. Cook until the garlic is golden brown & delicious and the peas are starting to color. Salt & pepper to taste.

When the lentils are cooked, toss in a medium bowl with the miso. Salt & pepper to taste.

Add the peas & garlic and bacon. Toss to combine & serve.

Serves 2 for a hearty dinner or 2 + 1 lunch for a light dinner.

Duck with Broccolini & Tart Dressing

April 22, 2012October 11, 2013Life, Recipes1 Comment

This meal makes a decadent weeknight dinner. Since duck is so rich, two people can very comfortably split one large breast. This not only saves calories, it saves cash.

Duck with Broccolini & Tart Dressing

3 Tbsp. good aged balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. pomegranate molasses
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
1 large boneless duck breast (skin on)
1 cup grits
2 cups milk
1 cup water
1 big handful Parmesan cheese
1 bunch broccolini, chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
White pepper

Start the sauce

In a small sauce pot over medium low heat, combine the vinegar, molasses and ginger. When the sauce comes up to a boil and becomes syrupy, turn off the heat.

Start the grits

In a medium sauce pot over medium-high heat, combine the grits, milk and water. Whisk. Continue to whisk every few minutes until grits come up to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring every minute or two, until grits are soft and liquid is absorbed. If mixture gets too dry, add water. When grits are done, remove from heat. Add cheese & salt & pepper to taste.

And now for the duck

While the grits are cooking, cook the duck. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add 1 Tbsp. olive oil and bring up to temp. Add the duck skin-side down – season with salt & pepper and sautée until deeply browned. Flip, season, and sautée on side 2 until deeply brown. Knock the heat back and continue to cook until medium-rare. Duck feels just like beef to the touch. Remove from the pan and set aside to rest while you cook the broccolini.

Some green veg

Drain fat. Put the pan back over the heat with 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Add broccolini. Sautée 7 minutes or until tender. Season with salt and pepper.

Slice the duck and serve with grits, broccolini and pomegranate molasses sauce.

Serves 2 for dinner.

Bacon & Ramp Pierogis

April 15, 2012October 11, 2013Life, RecipesLeave a Comment

Ramps aka wild leeks are in season in New York right now and are actually a food that is quite often foraged. Ramps herald the beginning of spring, often appearing just as the snows recede. Ramps have a tender spicy/oniony/leek-y taste and oniony smell. Yum. We also ran across some delicious looking pre-made pierogis at a local gourmet market and couldn’t resist. This makes a very quick throw-together dinner for a weeknight. If you don’t have preserved lemon or citrus salt, regular lemon zest and kosher salt will do in a pinch.

Bacon and Ramp Pierogis

8 potato & cheddar pierogis (thawed if they are frozen)

1 bunch ramps, slice thin

3 oz. home made bacon, cut into 1/4 inch chunks

1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp. preserved lemon, diced

1 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped

1 pinch citrus salt

In a large pan over medium heat, sautee bacon until browned and crispy. Place onto paper towels to drain. Set aside.

Pop your pan back over the heat, crank the heat up to medium-high and add 1 Tbsp. of the oil. Add pierogis (non frozen). Sautee until browned on both sides. Set aside.

Add the rest of the oil to the pan and toss in the ramps. Sautee until ramps are tender and wilty.

Add the pierogis, butter, preserved lemon and bacon back to the pan. Toss.

Turn off the heat. Top with thyme and citrus salt.

Serves 2 for a light dinner.

New York Aquarium & Coney Island

April 13, 2012LifeLeave a Comment

The New York Aquarium opened in 1896 on Battery Island and is the oldest continually operating aquarium in the United States. In 1957 it relocated to Coney Island and has become one of the five parks participating in the Wildlife Conservation Society (The Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo are the other 4). The Aquarium hosts the Society’s Aquatic Animal Health Center, which includes a state-of-the-art marine animal hospital complete with full medical services, pools and recuperation facilities. Keepers work with the animals at the park to enrich their minds and bodies and participate in Species Survival Plan cooperative conservation and animal management programs.

Aside from its historical and conservation value, the park is well worth checking out. It’s not huge, but has some really cool animals (even a few I hadn’t seen at an aquarium before), and the setup is top-notch with lots of learning opportunities for kids and adults alike.

Here are just a few shots from our first trip.

IMG_0386w — Must. Have. This. Wall. Of. Jellyfish.

IMG_0388w — Our favorite part of the aquarium - the jellyfish building, complete with killer creepy Bill Hicks acid flashback music.

IMG_0404w — I had no idea how interesting seahorse were. They move strangely.

Coney Island

Coney Island’s history as ‘New York’s Holiday Destination’ began in the 1830s and 40s when roads and steamship services cut the trip from Manhattan down from a half day trek to 2 hours. Hotels, electricity and attractions soon followed and in 1896, Coney Island’s Elephant (now gone) was actually the first sight to greet immigrants (it was visible before the Statue of Liberty). Although the amusement park’s peak has come and gone, it is enjoying a revitalization with the MCU Park and minor league baseball team, the Brooklyn Cyclones.

0415-lomow — Coney Island's Wonder Wheel

0416-lomo-w — The Parachute Jump, which originally came from the World's Fair and is the only remaining part of Steeplechase Park left. Sadly, it has been closed since 1968.

On a side note, wtf is wrong with the NY Aquarium and Coney Island’s websites? They’re nice and all, but don’t people care about the history of a place any more? Neither of these sites had squat about their history. I had to go to Wikipedia (so take the history part with a grain of salt) to find any information – luckily what I did find had footnote references, so one can be somewhat assured that the information is accurate, but damn. Where are all the history nerds?

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

April 10, 2012LifeLeave a Comment

Spring is bursting at the seams all around us and since we finally had a Saturday that was warm enough for two recent Miami transplants to want to spend time standing still, we took a picture-taking excursion to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. And fell in love. This place is stunning, not only because of the blooming cherry trees and tulips, but because it is a very well thought out, very walkable garden with more than enough room to encompass the throngs of cherry blossom obsessed people visiting on the gardens’ free day. Admission all other days is only $13, and a yearly membership is only $50 – well worth the price of admission (and then some).

First, the star of the show and the reason I couldn’t wait to visit, the cherry blossoms.

Only the first blush of trees were ready with blooms and they were mobbed by people wanting to experience Hanami, or the Japanese tradition of enjoying every possible second of cherry blossom season. I can’t wait to go back for the Sakra Matsui Festival later this month when every tree should be in bloom. The cherry tree esplanade promises to be a beautiful sight to behold.

DSC_1793w — This tree isn't even in peak bloom yet

DSC_1762-InLoveWash-w — What is it about those dainty white blossoms with delicate blush?

DSC_1759w — The main star of the show... cherry blossoms

Moving on….

Lomo (Original) — Trellis house roof, taken by my DH

_DS39586 — Trellis house, taken by my DH

I can’t wait for this garden to bloom. These lattice shots are from the large rose garden. Roses just might be my favorite flower to shoot, other than orchids.