Ed Mitchell, pitmaster and owner of The Pit in Raleigh, North Carolina
St. Louis-style ribs with pickled okra, courtesy of Blue Smoke
For additional coverage and loads of pictures, please be sure to check out Off The Broiler.
If you’re a vegetarian, you’ll probably want to skip this post. 
Garry Ubon, pitmaster and owner of Ubon’s in Yazoo, Mississippi
John Marcus of Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q
Click here for more information for the Big Apple BBQ Block Party 2008.
Kachumber Kooler — green chiles, cilantro, cucumber and Plymouth gin
Masala Mary — spiced tomato juice with Ketel One vodka and pickled cippolini onions
Chutney sampler
Left to right: cilantro, tamarind, rhubarb
Navaratan dal — beans and lentils flavored with ghee
Saag “paneer” pizza — spiced creamed spinach with crumbled Coach Farm goat cheese on corn roti
Sea scallops ceviche, marinated with chiles, cucumber, Thai basil and peanuts
New Orleans shrimp curry — Goan classic coconut curry, paired with green mango
Basmati rice pilaf with baby cilantro
Grilled lambchops
Asparagus foogath — asparagus sauteed with mustard seeds, ginger, kokum and fresh coconut
Banana leaf roasted mahi-mahi, marinated with a Parsi coconut-coriander chutney
Chicken kofta korma — chicken meatballs seasoned with cashews, ginger, cilantro and yogurt
Kumquat, citrus and pineapple fruit salad
Pineapple upside-down cake, macadamia crunch ice cream and rum sauce
Executive chef Floyd Cardoz
Since opening Tabla in 1998, Mr. Cardoz has shown diners what happens when fresh, seasonal American cooking meets the richly layered flavor traditions of India. He was previously associated with Lespinasse as executive sous-chef under Gray Kunz.
Out of 10? A very strong upper range 7 to moderate-low 8. There are very few fusion restaurants that remain on my short list of “go-to” places in New York. This is one of them.
Tabla is located at 11 Madison Avenue (East 25th Street) in the Flatiron district of Manhattan.
Chilled nettles soup with asparagus and pickled ramps
2007 Txakoli Getariako, Txomin Etxaniz, Basque, Spain
Seared scallop with spring minestrone (green garlic, cippolini onion, fava beans)
Sable, potato and leek puree, potato “croutons”, American paddlefish caviar
Veal, braised pork belly, roasted Adirondack blue potatoes, baby turnips
2001 Ramirez de la Piscina Rioja, Rioja, Spain
Vanilla chantilly cream, shortcake, whipped cream, rhubarb and strawberry puree
Roasted almond sorbet, caramel citrus tart, candied orange, meringue tuille
Mignardises
Gramercy Tavern is located at 18 East 20th Street (Park Avenue South) in the Flatiron district of Manhattan.
It was great when it first opened. It’s even better now.
“Four Seasons fill the measure of the year;
There are four seasons in the mind of man:
He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clear
Takes in all beauty with an easy span…” –John Keats, excerpt from The Human Seasons
Linguine with turnip greens and pancetta
Well, not exactly. But imagine what I could do if I were a southern boy.
Stewed turnip greens, bacon and heirloom beans with a poached egg
dried beans (1)
bacon
onion, diced
turnip greens, washed and coarsely chopped
pinch of salt
white wine vinegar
poached egg
Soak beans in cold water for 4 hours or overnight. Alternately, place in a pot with cold water to cover by 3″. Bring to a boil, cover and remove from heat. Let stand for about an hour. Drain and rinse.
Place in a pot with water to cover by 3″. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for about an hour. Drain and set aside.
Fry bacon in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot until browned but not crisp and fat is rendered, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add onion and lowe heat to medium-low. Saute onion until golden brown and onion becomes translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add greens, a pinch of salt and a splash of white wine vinegar. Cook partially covered for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally or until greens are tender.
Fold in beans. Check seasoning. Add liquid (either water or stock) if dry. How much depends on your taste. Cook partially covered over low heat or until beans are warmed through, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Check seasoning. Transfer to serving bowls. Top each bowl with a poached egg and serve at once.
(1) — I used rio zape beans from Rancho Gordo but any type will do.
This is the quick rendition of greens with pot likker. If I had had more time and I wasn’t starving, I’d make a huge pot with a ham bone and cook this for hours. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
I went to an art fair held last night in Upper East Side. It’s not every day Spamwise goes to one of these things, especially since most of the people attending were probably millionaires. I felt like a fish out of water and got out of there after spending an hour looking at stuff.
Some pix for your viewing pleasure.
Detail of the Mao “painting”
The title of this post is a reference to Andrea Strong’s review of Fatty Crab where she describes the nasi lemak as “a serious life-altering dish where chicken is slowly poached in some sort of pork fat so that it becomes “cashmere of poultry”. But don’t take it from me, read it for yourself.
Click here for a previous writeup from August 2006.
Oh, what’s that? You just want to look at the pictures? Okay, well here you go.
Fatty tea sandwiches
Malay fish fry
Kang kong belacan
Watermelon pickle and crispy pork salad
Nasi lemak
Fatty Crab isn’t my favorite restaurant in New York City. In fact, it doesn’t even come close to second tier. That said, I wouldn’t say no if you wanted to go there. The waiters provide more than adequate eye candy to make up for lack of atmosphere.
Thanks for the well-wishes folks. I’m 80% better, just the usual stuffy nose and lingering cough now.
Linguine with asparagus, fromage blanc and lemon
linguine
olive oil
cippolini onion, finely diced
asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch lengths
pinch of red pepper flakes
lemon juice
grated lemon zest
salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
fromage blanc (1)
chives
freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook linguine until just al dente. Drain linguine, reserving one or two ladlefuls cooking water.
Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat olive oil until it shimmers. Add the onion and cook over moderately low heat until softened, about 3-4 minutes. Add the asparagus and crushed red pepper and cook over moderate heat until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes.
Add the linguine and the reserved cooking water to the skillet along with the lemon juice and zest. Check seasoning. Cook, stirring, until the linguine is al dente and the asparagus tender, about 1-2 minutes. Add the fromage blanc and chives. Stir to incorporate. Transfer the pasta to bowls and serve immediately, passing Parmesan cheese at the table.
(1) Goat cheese is a nice substitution.
