Indian Recipes

I had dinner at my friend Alex's apartment last night and he made a really great curry. While he was cooking, Alex rushed between the stove and his laptop, reading the cooking instructions from a website, showmethecurry. I've always been a little scared of making Indian food...the recipes all look so long and complicated. This website is really useful and well organized, there are lots of instructional youtube videos with awesome muzak playing in the background. I'll report back when I make a recipe from the site.

Harefield Road

Recommended: brunch at Harefield Road in Williamsburg. $12 gets you a
brunch cocktail, bottomless coffee/tea and an entrée. My poached eggs
with smoked salmon was delicious. And something must be said for high
quality English Breakfast tea. The worst is weak and watery tea. If
you want an post brunch snack I hear there is a White Castle nearby.

JFK Terminal 5

I flew out of the new Jetblue terminal at JFK last week and check out
my meal! Doesn't it look edible? And it tasted quite good actually. And I'm not just comparing that to standard airport food. I was quite impressed actually. I ordered the tofu stir-fry with mongolian sauce from Lucy's Asian Kitchen, one of the stalls in the terminal's food
court. The food court also has a pasta place, a sandwich shop, pizza, full salad bar and a bunch if hot soups. There's also 3 full service restaurants: a sushi bar, tapas restaurant and a steakhouse. I was definitely very impressed with the food options. Now if only Jetblue's flights could ever leave on time...

Bacchus Wine Bar

I was pleasantly surprised by my meal at Bacchus Wine Bar. I picked this restaurant purely for its location. I was in Carroll Gardens, Sarah was in Bed-Sty and Samantha was in Lefferts Gardens, and I had to find a place that was relatively easy to get to for all of us. I was expecting decent french bistro food, but our meals were really good, above and beyond what I was anticipating. The restaurant is tiny - only around 7 tables. We went on a Thursday night and place was pretty much empty, but don't let that deter you. I recommend the escargots, scallops, mussels and the skate. Bacchus Wine Bar is located on Atlantic btw Bond and Nevins.

Baked

Down the street from Hope and Anchor is Baked, a bakery that serves
the best hot chocolate. It has a perfect consistency - not cloyingly
thick and not too watery. Their cupcakes, which rival those from Sugar
Sweet Sunshine, are also highly recommended.

Hope and Anchor

Hope and Anchor in Red Hook serves classic diner food, with less
grease. They have an expansive burger menu, all-American dinner
entrees and a fun snack menu. I have my eye on the mac n cheese
fritters. I went there Saturday morning for brunch and my meal was
lovely. I got the vegetable hash, which comes with mushrooms,
tomatoes, spinach, potatoes and a few other unidentifiable veggies.

The food is simple, nothing crazily inventive, but very satisfying.
Prices are very reasonable!

Tortilla Soup

Thanks Molly for the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 chipotle chili pepper in adobo sauce
1 14 oz can of black beans
1 14 oz can of chicken stock
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 package of frozen corn
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 corn tortillas, ripped up
2 zucchinis, chopped
1 handful of cilantro, diced (optional)
lime juice (optional)
avocado (optional)
salt, lots of it
water, lots of it
1-2 tablespoons of cumin, adjust accordingly
1-2 tablespoons of ground coriander, adjust accordingly
1 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
1 teaspoon chili powder (optional)

Instructions:
Heat up a good amount of olive oil in a large pot, saute the garlic and onion for about 5 minutes at medium/high heat
Chop up one chipotle chili, take out seeds if you don't want the soup to be too spicy
Add the chopped chili to the pot, stir for a few minutes
Add the crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, black beans and frozen corn in all at once
Add water to dilute the mixture. Add as much or as little as you want, depending on how thick you like your soup. I added about 2 14 oz can's worth of water to the soup
Add the spices and the salt
Add the chopped zucchini
Continue to salt to taste
Put a lid on the pot and simmer at low/medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
Take the tortillas and cut/rip them into thin long strips
Add the tortilla strips to the soup, stir and simmer for another 10-15 minutes or so.
Optional: Garnish soup with cilantro, lime juice and avocado