Klancy's Potluck

Le Fooding Provides a Song

Last night I went to Frankies 457 to experience Le Fooding Brooklyn Fling. It was magic. Beautiful weather for eating outdoors. Grapevines overhead. Mellow lights hanging low. Candles by foot. Champagne everywhere. Good company—lots of smiling faces and for good reason. The food was a revelation. My favorites were the scallops crudo—thinly sliced marinated in olive oil with tiny sticks of toasted almonds on top there was also a dish I missed the name of with beautiful pork, a puree of something green and the smallest leek. The star of the night though was the buttermilk sorbet with cucumber. I saw it on the chalk board when I arrived and thought “that better not be dessert.” It sounded like a salad. It tasted like a song. Light as air and not too sweet buttermilk ice cream was surrounded by thinly sliced and diced cucumber and sprinkled with delicious herbs—maybe lemon verbena. There were also a few teeny bits of white chocolate. I could not believe how refreshing and delicious this last course was. The meal was all the better because of the cool people I sat and talked with—all of us around a long table with a mini bottle of Veuve per person.

It was the kind of night that makes you fall in love with New York all over again. As I rode in a taxi across the Manhattan Bridge and stared at all the lights I was reminded of what makes this city great—constant energy and possibility of a beautiful surprise almost everywhere.

Le Fooding Je t'adore

My favorite and most beloved French food festival--Le fooding--comes to New York. Details to follow.

 

Paris in New York

Maison Kayser is now in Manhattan on 74th and 3rd avenue. Bon app!!!

What I Did This Summer

Desmond Tutu said it best: "A person is a person through other people." I could not agree more. We need each other. But with that said I had a lot of exquisite moments and meals alone this summer. Of course there were plenty of times spent with others in revelry or eating beautiful food too. Here are the highlights.

Montauk. I had never been to Montauk or the Hamptons before so I took the Hampton Jitney for a day trip to Montauk. For starters the Jitney was the most pleasant bus ride I've ever been on. Once you board and get your seat, there's the equivalent of a flight attendant who sells you your ticket and then goes around handing out beverages followed by your choice of muffins or granola bars and then she hands out newspapers to everyone on the bus. Then she puts on this video about how no one is allowed to use their cell phone for the whole trip and you proceed to have the best bus ride ever on the way to Richlandia.

From what I could see most of the Hamptons look like the Upper East side but by the beach. The towns were super cute and packed with chic stores and perfectly manicured lawns and lots of landscape design shops. As I rode past Bridgehampton and East Hampton and Amagansett I wondered if Montauk would look the same. I was glad to see the landscape change--I could see the ocean and the building looked smaller, less manicured and more relaxed. After three and a half hours the bus made its final stop, I got off and walked right to the beach. I picked a spot immediately, spread out my picnic blanket and took out my goodies to eat: roasted vegetables, salad greens, sliced roasted pork loin, cheese, olives and a baguette. I ate enough so that I was full but had leftovers for later then I took a snooze. I really didn't do much that day except read, eat, look at the ocean and people watch--but it was so satisfying and relaxing. I'd go back to Montauk anytime. When I returned to Manhattan later that night I had a light meal, went to bed and had one of the best night's sleep ever.

Afropunk festival. Quite the opposite of soothing Montauk--Afropunk was packed full of sounds to make you dance and sing. My first night there I saw Erykah Badu and Mos Def. The next day I went back and ended up hanging out with friends and watching Toro y moi, Jonelle Monae, and TV on the Radio. All awesome.

Atlanta and Serenbe Farm. I went with my family to Atlanta--one of my former hometowns--and we stayed at a friend's gorgeous Victorian oasis in this city. We also went to Serenbe Farms for brunch and a stroll and I had the best biscuits and fried green tomatoes and catfish. Southern food done right. I bought some of the delicious preserves like Peach butter and strawberry lavender and hot pepper jelly to take home with me.

Other highlights include going to Melvin van Peebles' 80th birthday party, seeing Shakespeare in the Park, and reading the amazing novel Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter. Besides wine, my drink of choice this summer has been my own homemade Strawberry Liqueur. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients

1 to two pints strawberries

4 cups Vodka

2 cups sugar—plus 2 tablespoons a week for a total of 4 weeks

2 16-ounce mason jars

To prepare:

1. Hull your strawberries. Rinse or brush them and place them in a clean mason jar.

2. Add the sugar to the jar followed by the vodka.

3. Seal the jar and place it in the refrigerator.

4. After a week remove the jar from the refrigerator. Get out the second clean mason jar and pour only the vodka into it—keeping the strawberries in the original jar.

5. Put a lid on the jar with the vodka and put it back into the refrigerator.

6. Add a cup of sugar to the jar with the strawberries. Put a lid on that jar and place it back in the refrigerator. Over the course of the next week the sugar will extract more liquid from the strawberries. Let the strawberries sit in the fridge for a week.

7. Once seven days go by take out both the jar of strawberries and the jar of vodka.

8. Strain any liquid from the jar of strawberries into the jar of vodka. Keep the strawberries in their original jar. Once you’ve pour the new strawberry juices into the vodka—close that jar and put it back into the refrigerator.

9. Keep the jar with the strawberries open and add another tablespoon of sugar. Close the jar and place it back in the refrigerator for a week.

10. Repeat the straining of the strawberry juices into the jar of vodka and the addition of one cup of sugar to the strawberries one more week.

11. At the end of this four week process the strawberry liqueur is complete

 

Remodeling

So I haven't posted in forever and a day and that's super lame, but it's been for a good cause I promise.  In addition to my daily grind, I've been hard at work on a cool culinary project to be unveiled at a later date.  Plus I found an awesome graphic artist friend to help me remodel the look of this blog--to be revealed sometime in early '12.  Thanks for your patience! 

Meanwhile, my random food shout out is to Brooklyn Larder for their insanely delicious molasses ginger cookie.  There was a time when I thought Brooklyn was a cult--I have now joined the cult and go there regularly for this cookie...it's magical and you should treat yourself to one or several for the holiday season or just because.

That's all for now.  See you soon!!!!!!

Remembering September 11th

 

When the planes struck the towers I was in Paris, working in Taillevent’s pastry kitchen, preparing petit fours for the lunch service.  At the time, I was a stagaire and one of my responsibilities was making miniature versions of madeleines, passion fruit tarts, chocolate tarts, fruit jellies, wild strawberry tarts and chocolate truffles for the end of each meal. 

After lunch, the cooks and chefs went on coupe heure—the daily two-hour break before the dinner service.  That day, when they returned, each cook peered into the kitchen’s doorway to look at me.  I was alone and wondered why they stared at me silently.

Eventually, the pastry chef and sous chefs showed up.  One of the waiters ran in to tell them, to tell us all—“two planes crashed into the World Trade Center! One plane crashed into the pentagon and another in Pennsylvania—il y a 10,000 morts!”  I could not believe my ears—especially the part about 10,000 people dead.  I didn’t completely believe him, but I was worried.  My dad was scheduled to fly into New York that morning from South Africa where he was attending the U.N. conference against racism.  My only thought was—"was that my dad’s plane?" 

We were about to break for staff dinner.  Instead, I went to one of the neighborhood bars to watch the news and see what was happening.  And there it was on the screen over our heads—a perfectly blue sky and one burning tower and then a plane crashing into the second tower.  It was like a mirage—it did not seem like it could possibly be real.  The image re-played on loop.  There were other Americans in the bar and one of them said, "this was done by gangs—the crips or the bloods."  I’ll never forget that line. 

I called my mom and told her I was worried this was the start of a world war.  I babbled endlessly. She listened and then explained what her day had been like and what was going on and said that she doubted my dad was on any of the planes because he was flying from London.  I didn’t feel any less worried.

During dinner service I told the chef that my dad was supposed to be flying into New York.  He tried to comfort me and said he’d be fine and then let me leave a little early that night.

At the time I was living at my dear friends Tania and Shay’s apartment.  When I got home I just balled.  Tania had the television on.  I still couldn’t believe my eyes.  Shay had brought Mike, a musician he was working with, over that night.  It was the first time I had met Mike.  He was very cute and I was embarrassed to be crying, sorry I couldn’t make a better impression, but the tears kept coming.  I offered him a cup of tea.

The days following September 11^th blurred into one anxiety-filled week.  I finally heard from my dad.  He was stranded in London.  He was supposed to have flown out of Heathrow on the 11^th but then the attacks happened so his flight was cancelled.  Meanwhile the streets around Taillevent, especially the Champs Elysees, filled with soldiers with huge guns.  I spoke with the doorman at Taillevent and he said that all the other three star Michelin restaurants in the city had hardly any customers.  Somehow, Taillevent stayed busy. 

The world war that I feared did not happen, but I chose to stay in Paris for a few years longer.

The loss of life that happened on September 11^th and that continued to happen because of the attacks, because of the wars, seems very real now.  I don’t really like to write about sad things on this blog, but on this 10^th anniversary of that horrible day it seems appropriate to take a moment to remember what happened.  For me, so many of the experiences, things and people I love are bound up in that day: my family, Paris, making sweet things to eat, my favorite buildings in New York, my friends in Paris.  I pay my respect and condolences to everyone who perished or lost someone because of 9/11.

 

The Royal Wedding and A Day at New Amsterdam Market

photo by Jason Smith from The New York Times

It's taken me just over 24 hours to get over waking up at 5 a.m. for the Royal Wedding on Friday.  For the special occasion I made a pot of green tea, had a yummy gigantic cinnamon bun from Bouchon Bakery, as well as an apple and yogurt to make the repast an ounce more healthy.  For all that I am not a morning person, I actually enjoyed being up before sunrise.  I timed the alarm so that I would see Henry and William enter Westminster Abbey.  I've had a bit of a crush on those boys forever--maybe it's not a crush.  I just think they're adorable, especially Harry, who seems to be the rogue of the family.  Anyway, the wedding was fun to watch.  I have slight memories of Diana's wedding and that long long wedding gown train.  My favorite parts were: Catherine's dress, her sister Pippa's dress which I thought was the perfect mix of elegant, surprisingly sexy, demure and modern-meets-the-Church-of-England.  I also loved watching Harry and all of the hats.  My favorite hat was the most ridiculous of all, the one worn by Princess Beatrice.  

Fast-forward to today.  Sunday was a perfect spring day in New York.  Fortunately, New Amsterdam Market was on today and I went to stock up on vegetables, meat from Fleisher's and other treats.  Here are some of my favorite vendors where were there as well as a photo of the market:

Queens County Farm: for the most beautiful produce ever.  I got spinach, beet greens and lemon verbena

Fleisher's Grass-Fed and Organic Meats: Superior and sustainable meats

North Winds Farm Lavender: best smell ever

Wild Food Gatherers' Guild: ramps!!!

Liddabit Sweets: yum

Bellocq: most beautifully packaged tea ever and without synthetic flavoring

Pansanella and Son Vintners: Most aesthetically pleasing, beautifully curated wine store in Manhattan.  Love this place!

 

This is the wonderful stand for Queens County Farm and the photo below is from the Bellocq stand which had great tea

Spring and the Royal Wedding

 

It took a while, but spring is finally making an appearance in New York.  The photo above is one I took this week in Central Park.  I'm letting the beautiful colors throughout the city's green spaces inspire my cooking.  Soon, I'll report back about spring things I'm cooking.  In the meantime, I'm all about the royal wedding.  Time to get some zzz's so that I can wake up fresh and early to see the nuptials and the dress.  I wonder what their cake will be like.  

Happy Springtime...Nice to See You Again

The worst thing about not posting to your blog in an age is trying to come up with some excuse for your hiatus.  Suffice it to say that my plate has been fuller than usual with work, two projects on the side--to be unveiled at a later date--and the attempt at a social life plus enjoying various goings on in New York City.  The good news is the hard part is over, I'm already maybe a quarter into my first post in a while.  So here are the highlights of what I've been into, what I highly recommend, and what I'm looking forward to:

First off, if you have not yet been to The Whitney to see Glenn Ligon's exhibit, get thee into a taxi pronto.  His mid-lfe retrospective is one of the smartest, most vibrant, thought provoking and brilliant exhibitions I've seen in a while.  Actually, not since the Basquiat exhibit that I saw in Paris in October have I been so thrilled to be in a museum.  I'm looking forward to checking it out again before it leaves this June.  It will be doubly exciting to go to the Whitney again because Danny Meyer's new restaurant, Untitled, is now open and apparently they serve among other things pie from the Brooklyn place called Blackbird.  I've been meaning to try their famous pie so my next trip will combine two of my favorite things, pie and art.

What else?  I went to the always fantastic Rendez-vous with French Cinema hosted by the Film Society of Lincoln Center.  My favorite movie was What Love May Bring by Claude LeLouch.  It's an epic film about one woman's love life and her many lovers, starting in the World War II era kind of going up to the present.  It's really lush and pretty to look at.  My favorite part of the screening though was after the film, when Claude LeLouch, legendary director of A Man and a Woman and so many more iconic films, walked past me and I told him "j'aime beaucoup votre film" and he smiled, said "merci" and patted me on the shoulder.  He's great.

Speaking of film, I also went to see the premier of Desert Flower.  The movie is based on Waris Darie's memoir about the path that led her from Somalia to London to become a model, it is also about the horrific act of female mutilation which she endured as a little girl.  Liya Kebede, possibly the world's most stunning model, plays Waris and she does a fantastic job.  The movie is beautifully filmed and as a bonus, for me at least, includes one of my favorite new actors--Anthony Mackie. It's such a powerful story and with so much redemption, I can't recommend it enough.

I've been in quite a filmgoing mood as of late.  The other film that I was excited to see and am equally passionate about sharing is the must-see new movie by Julian Schabel, Miral.  This movie is also based on an autobiographical novel written by Schnabel's now girlfriend, Rula Jebreal.  In a nutshell, the story is about a Palestinian girl who is almost orphaned and grows up in a boarding school for girls during the first intifada, or Palestinian uprising.  As Miral says in the movie, it means stand up straight.  The movie does an amazing job of telling some of the history of that region from a Palestinian perspective--which is rare.  It's gorgeously filmed and though it's been a while since I visited the region it looked like what I remember and captured so much of the beauty there.  Frida Pinto and all the actors in the film are fantastic.  This is a movie I'm going back to see again to support the director and the message, which ultimately is one of hope and peace.

Another movie related adventure was a master acting class with the magnificent Isaach de Bankole.  The Museum of Arts and Design is hosting a film festival called An Unexpected Gentleman featuring several of de Bankole's films and the workshop was part of that.  He's the man in the photo at the top of this post.  Anyway, it was so much fun and so interesting to listen to him talk about acting and then do actual exercises with the audience.  Such a treat.  I recommend checking out the festival.  Here are the details.

Food related, here are the goodies that made an impression over the past several weeks: the brussels sprouts pizza at Motorino is insane.  It's that good.  Just bonkers.  I trekked over to Williamsburg and had this pizza of the Gods with a glass of the wine they recommend for all pizzas, Penisola Sorrentina "Gragnano" Monteleone.  This wine was so good I did not know what to do.  It's dark as night, if night skies were purple, red and bubbly, and it tastes fantastic with the pizza.  Mostly dry and just perfect.  Words fail.

The other stand out food adventure was to find this Greek bakery called Artopolis in Astoria, Queens.  I got so many cookies here that I had to give some away so I would still fit into my clothes.  The delicious baklava and sugar and honey cookies and cakes I got were yummy beyond belief and frighteningly addictive.  I want more.

The third food destination I will mention is one I've waxed on and on about on this blog before, ABC Kitchen.  I love that place.  I just went for lentil soup and a chocolate mint cookie on a day off but it was such good soup and the cookie was also just the capital C of cookies, so moist on the inside and refreshing with mint but rich with chocolate and crunchy on the outside.  This is what Plato would have had in mind for what a cookie should be in Plato's Republic.  It's the one others strive to be.  It's so good I went back the next day, or was it the next week, and had another afternoon bowl of lentil soup followed by that perfect cookie.  I'd like to call it my friend.

And here's what I'm looking forward to: reading Tina Fey's Bossypants; cooking from Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook; and seeing the play Motherfucker with the Hat.  I intend to report back with all the details.

Cookie Bar Deliciousness

 

Cookie time!  Today I almost skipped to Dorie and Josh Greenspan's Cookie Bar at Mizu salon.  I took a longer lunch than usual and headed to Park Avenue and 59th to pick up some of the best cookies ever and to say hi to the fabulous baker-cook book author Dorie Greenspan and her lovely family.  This time last year the Cookie Bar had its debut at Mizu Hair salon.  It was a week-long pop-up experiment that did so well that it's back a second year and the business is about to become an online cookie store.  This is both a delicious and a dangerous prospect.  The cookies are so good that it's easy for me to imagine ordering them regularly and slowly morphing into a chocolate chunker.  Speaking of which, the chunkers were the only cookies I didn't buy today because they sold out early, which is kind of great because it gives me an excuse to return and buy more cookies!

Here's what I got today - one of everything, which includes: 

Sable: the classic French butter cookie

Sugar-topped vanilla sable - like the butter cookie, but with more vanilla

Coconut-Lime Sable - a transcendent butter cookie with the genius addition of lime zest that's rubbed into the sugar, plus toasted coconut.  You want 50 of these cookies.

Espresso-chocolate sable - this cookie speaks for itself, it's like a sophisticated chocolate chip cookie.  Way beyond Toll House

The chocolate - I saved this one to eat later but it's calling me

World Peace cookies - God bless Pierre Herme for teaching Dorie this cookie, it's got the best combination of chocolate and fleur de sel

chocolate chunkers - sold out, I have to go back

Strawberry-raspberry jammer - I'm saving this for breakfast with yogurt.  It's really pretty

Pear-pineapple jammer - also saving for breakfast

Chewy, chunky blondies - this one is a new addition, a caramel blondie with coconut, pecans and Valrhona milk chocolate

Fortunately, I have really great co-workers with good appetites so I shared some of the goodies with them, next time I visit the cookie bar I'm keeping them for myself.