Cafe Katja

I tried out Cafe Katja with my friend Wes on Monday, the day I passed my exam. I don't recall the last time I studied like that but it felt great to relax after all the studying and the 6 hour exam. Since I set out for dinner quite last minute, I scrambled to find a place on yelp (I believe the keyword I used was "beer") and stumbled upon this gem in LES. Good thing it's so close to the bus stop since the winter weather does not make for nice walks in LES.

79 Orchard St

New York, NY 10002

http://www.cafekatja.com/

Note: All photos courtesy of Wes. 

For drinks we all had the Bayreuther Zwickel.Their cocktail list also looks great but I may just be tempted by everything elderflower and gin. Since beer goes better with our food choices, I will have to try their cocktails another time. 

We looked over the menu extensively and decided to split two entrees and a dessert. 

Trout with spinach, potato, and dumpling. The potato was buttery and melts-in-your-mouth. The dumpling was very heart-warming and exactly what was needed for a cold winter evening.

Emmental Sausage also came with dumpling and potato and some cabbage (?). I almost went for the sausage sampling but we wanted to try a bit more variety and got this dish with the trout above. The sausage sampler is for minimum of two people and judging by the giant platter my neighboring table received, I think it's heaven for hungry people.

Dessert was molten chocolate cake with orange sauce and schlag. The orange flavor was interesting and offers something a little different from the normal raspberry sauce.

Staff was great and attentive. I am also a sucker for interesting light fixtures, which they had plenty of in the place. I was surprised to see such a nice crowd on a Monday but must be a good neighborhood hangout for residents and visitors alike. As we were mid-way through our meal, we noticed a growing line at the door. Would like to bring J. here so he can look through the drinks and food list as well. Would highly recommend the place for all beer/hearty food aficionados.

Update March 16, 2014: I came back with J. during brunch time. unfortunately dumpling is a dinner thing so the sausage I ordered did not come with it. Instead I tried sauerkraut and shaved horse radish (came with dish) and they were pretty good too. J. ordered the hearty beef goulash with spatzel which came with a few good sized chunks of beef in a nice sauce. The size was reasonable for brunch/lunch. After our meal I was looking for more food to have with my beer so I asked for a side order of the cucumber/potato side. This turned out to be a good find. Fresh cucumber slices, dill, some pickled onion rings and chive all added to the potato nicely. I couldn't figure out how everything was integrated together (some vinegar, but no mayo as far as I can tell).

Food Adventures in New Orleans

Also known as the Big Easy, Crescent City, NOLA, and New Awlins, New Orleans is not short on music, food, or the various nicknames. J. and I visited the beautiful city for a few days and I also got to experience the annual JazzFest (New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival). Full disclosure, this is my first trip to the city, so I don’t have any tips about Mardi Gras. Food in this post, jazzfest in separate post [link TBD], and attractions in yet another.

Jackson Brewery Bistro and Bar
http://jacksonbrewerybar.com/
Near street cars, Jackson Square, and Cathedral. You’ll see a building with JAX sign on top. To give you some context, J. and I arrived in New Orleans late at night so didn’t make it to French Quarters etc until midday next day. After stumbling upon the Old U.S. Mint, we wandered until we found this Brewery for a late lunch. Great first impression of the city since the food, drinks, and service were all superb. Would also come back for dinner/concert upstairs next time.

// southern pecan from lazy magnolia (MS), this beer is so good both J. and I loved it. nutty, sweet, rich, and awesome. (update: according to beermenus there’s none available near me in NY, bummer) http://lazymagnolia.com/
// abita amber. support the local brewery, try their beers when you’re in town. http://www.abita.com/
// crawfish etouffee: light and quite tasty, I got the small portion.
// boudin burger: tasty, although I still don’t know what kind of boudin it was.

Mothers Restaurant
http://www.mothersrestaurant.net/
Near Harrah’s casino, Riverwalk market, Magazine street galleries.
My colleague D. recommended this casual corner restaurant (it’s her fav in NOLA) that has a laid back look and feel. It just happened to be a close walk from our hotel so we took a look. Overwhelmed by the menu, I resorted to ordering their Ferdi special in an attempt to get a sampling of everything. Their sign upfront claims world’s best baked ham, which is no small claim. and they lived up to it. (Why can’t we get better ham in the northeast?) The space also has nice photos/local news/etc. I need to come back for breakfast/brunch.

// Ferdi: Ham and Roast Beef on bun with slaw. Below is a pic of the “smaller” portion. Very filling!

// Roast Beef: Same as above, without the ham.

Mandina’s
http://www.mandinasrestaurant.com/
One out of the many recommendations from my college buddy G. from a few years back when I first started to put together a trip plan for NOLA (glad I finally made it), one of his recommendations “Janita's” unfortunately closed down. I didn’t make it to Jacque Imo’s, so wanted to try this place Mandina’s because G. mentioned their fish selection is great. Located along the Canal St. streetcar line, a bit ways out from downtown. We caught the street car to and back, luckily they run frequently.
//  trout bayou style: this was a daily special. grilled trout topped with shrimp etouffee, with a side of baked potatoes and vegetables. superb fish and shrimp (quite a number of shrimp, by the way) in yummy sauce.
//veal parmesan with spaghetti – Italian food in New Orleans? sure, why not. I know J. loves veal so very happy see him enjoy this dish to his heart’s content.

Cafe du Monde
http://www.cafedumonde.com/
This cafe is on everyone’s top 10 so I had to include it in mine. Great for morning, afternoon, and late night people watching and taking a break from all the walking you’ll be doing. We ended up going there twice during our trip. Good stuff
// cafe au lait (hot): puts all other chain coffees to shame, if you’re not sure if you like chicory in your coffee, don’t worry, just do it! I contemplated buying a can of coffee there but realized I can never quite transport the charm of the shop and nearby streets of NOLA with me. Leave it for my future trips to enjoy and savor. Some things lose context once removed from their homes. 
// beignets (with liberal amount of powdered sugar): don’t even think about sharing one order (they come in threes). lovely with cafe au lait.
// cafe au lait (frozen): looking for a treat to cool off in the hot and humid weather? look no further, order a frozen cafe au lait and your energy level will go right up. I can almost eat it with a spoon!

Spirits Bar (inside Hilton Riverside Hotel)http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/MSYNHHH-Hilton-New-Orleans-Riverside-Louisiana/index.do
Nice place to chill and have a cocktail. Funny enough I got a Manhattan (a tad homesick?) and J. ordered a Tom Collins (there needs to be more gin-based drinks, you know?). They also serve pretty good food even late at night. I had their portabella and spinach sandwich which came with great sweet potato fries.

Tuna Pasta with Green Beans

I've always liked Rachel Ray's recipes and her show on Food Network. The other day I saw her talk show where she made this recipe. Watching a cooking show always inspires me to cook. She made it look so easy!

Website:

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/tuna-nicoise-casserole/

I made some modification to the recipe, namely, no anchovies and no "golden" brown casserole top in the oven (for presentation mostly anyway). Skipping the step makes the recipe so much quicker to prepare and eat!.

Ingredients (serves 2)

Salt

1/2 pound medium shell pasta (we used pipette)

1/6 pound skinny French green beans ("haricots verts"), cut in half (you can add more green beans if you want, I used about half a pound actually)

1/8 cup EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil (enough to coat bottom of pan generously)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped or grated

3/2 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup dry white wine (i used white cooking wine)

1/2 cup heavy cream (i used whole milk)

3/4 cups chicken stock

Ground black pepper

1 can of 5-6oz of tuna fish packed in oil, flaked (i used packed in water kind)

1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

a handful of pitted Niçoise olives, chopped (this is optional depending on what kind of olives you like and how much you can handle, etc. I used about 10....too many!)

Directions

[A. green beans]

1. boil water, drop beans in pot

2. cook for 3 min. drain and leave aside.

[B. pasta]

1. boil water, add salt, cook according to package directions (my box said 8 min)

2. drain pasta, leave it in pot

[C. sauce]

1. heat pan, add oil

2. add garlic, cook for a few mins.

3. add flour, cook for a minute.

4. add wine, reduce in half

5. stir in milk and stock, season with salt and pepper

6. bring liquid to bubble, and cook until thickened. about 5 min

[all together!]

1. stir in tuna (flaked) and green beans to the sauce, cook for a min.

2. add sauce to pot with pasta

3. add cheese and olives, stir, toss to combine

Note:

This is a great way to get your fish, dairy, grains, and veggie all in one go! I like how the crunchy green beans really soak up the creamy sauce and tuna flavors. I found that black olives did not work as well with the dish, so I'd recommend the green kind (we got assorted olives, some stuffed with cheese).

Steamed Whole Fish

Cooking fish is always a big deal in my family when it comes to special occasions. There was no special occasion today. I just wanted some fresh fish. Luckily, I live close to a few markets with fresh fish. Now, this is kind of embarrassing, but I didn't know what kind of fish I bought until later. My fish vocabulary is very limited in both Chinese and English. After I cooked it, ate it, and decided to blog, I looked up the fish.

According to this site, I believe I had a trout. Update: apparently it was a sea bass. Anyhow, the method is mostly Chinese (video from this site), with one twist. One day I was in the cookbook aisle of the library and I just happened to find a book on cooking fish. In the book was a recipe that was either baking or steaming a whole fish. Anyway, they used lemon slices and various herbs. So today I wanted to use a bit of lemon too just to see what the result is.

Ingredients

-one fresh whole fish, around a pound, scaled and gutted (thankfully the fish cleaner does this for me). Always use fresh fish for steaming. If your fish isn't fresh try a different fish recipe (frying works on everything usually).

-salt

-pepper

-rice wine, or some other cooking wine

-scallion (one or two whole scallion and a bunch shredded)

-2 or 3 lemon (my own twist!, this is optional)

- ginger, some slices, some julienned

[below for oil topping]

-oil (optional, I skipped this step)

[below for sauce]

-soy sauce

-1/2 tbsp sugar (to taste)

-salt

-pepper

-a few tbsp water

Directions

1. Clean fish when you get home, scrape off any scales that the store person may have missed.

2. Cut 2 or 3 slits into both side of the fish, this helps flavor and steam process

3. Rub salt on both side of the fish, as well as inside. Repeat with pepper. Then repeat with a bit of rice wine. Let sit for a while.

4. Fill inside of fish with ginger slices, scallion pieces, and lemon slice halves.

5. Cut whole scallion in two, put a few of these halves on a large plate/dish (big enough for whole fish), then put the fish on top. The scallions will help fish steam since it gives a bit of space under the fish.

6. Get your steamer ready. I use a regular pan with a steamer layer. Fill bottom with water and turn on the heat. Put plate with fish inside steamer. Cover.

7. When water boils, turn heat to medium, steam around 6-7 minutes or more depending on thickness of fish.

- - -

Finishing and Presentation!

1. While the fish is steaming, mix ingredients for sauce.

2. After fish finishes steaming, take it out of the steamer. Top with shredded scallion and ginger.

3. (optional) Heat oil in a pan, pour on top of fish

4. Heat sauce in a pan, pour sauce all over fish

Note: So I discovered that while lemon slices didn't do too much for fish (except maybe neutralize odors for kitchen?), when it combined with the sauce later, the sauce took on a citrus flavor. Take it as a kind of hot and sour fish soup as you will. Delicious! The bottom side of fish got a bit of lemon on it, which is pretty cool.

Resources:

Guide to cooking live fish http://tipnut.com/cooking-fish/

ID edible fish http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Fish/Types%20of%20Fish.htm

Steam fish recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ming-tsai/whole-steamed-fish-recipe/index.html