Friday, July 24, 2009

So much for the dry heat

Arrived in Vegas a few hours ago and it's bloody humid. What up! Lots of eye candy, especially the tatooed kind. We're staying at the Palazzo and thus far we've been oogled by a table of tech geeks, a group of brothers in towels and a lady with HUSTLER tattooed on her neck.

Must say the food out here is really surprising. Impeccable ingredients, top notch cheffery (although no evidence of that hot Scot Gordon Ramsey, dangit!) and innovatively presented. Of course the price tag for all this is flinchingly high. Go to my sister blog Disciplined Foodie for a play by play for the food UX.

Cocktail hour starts at 5:00, 8 PM EST and dinner is at midnight! How will ever will I last without food till midnight?

Thursday, July 16, 2009

In the wilds of New Jersey



Not enough that the month of June reminded me of London, now I have to contend with strange critters in my suburban Jersey home. The other day I found my Jack Russell - Duke bouncing off the garage doors. Not unusual by any means. What was unusual was the response inside of the garage to his mighty pounding paws. Screeches, growls and hisses. Closer I went to investigate and came eye to eye with a raccoon. She recoiled. I jumped and squealed like a little girl at a Twilight premiere. Happens to the best of us, I don't care if I can take down an entire bottle of Cuervo at one sitting, I still get rattled by furry critters with pointy clawlike hands, especially when they are protecting their young. Which this mama raccoon was as evidenced by the ruckus inside the garage.

I wisely grabbed the dog and bolted inside. He was rather put out by being abruptly removed from the noisy object of his fascination. I told him to watch the Animal Planet and consulted Google about *raccoon new jersey*. This is what one listing says:

A raccoon is often rabid, without showing any outward symptoms of the viral disease. The public's fascination with this native New Jersey animal, rabies becomes even greater a threat than previously thought. Not only can a raccoon carry (and spread) the rabies virus; the female raccoon can actually pass the virus to her unborn kits through her uterus.

Despite what a group of Nutley animal activists believe, I am an ardent animal supporter. I fervently support the protection of wolves from that helicopter riding, aerial shooting Sarah Palin. I'm happy to foster small critters and babysit fish, birds and reptiles (although I draw the line at snakes...) But when it comes to the safety of my dog, my elderly cane-dependent parents and myself, I confess I'm all for establishing my boundaries.

So in comes a specialist who rummages through the garage rafters. No raccoon nests here, he informs me casually. Although apparently the squirrels have been stockpiling twine, rubber foam and other winter goodies that make a squirrel's life toasty during snow days. Just to make sure, the wildlife guy sets a trap to catch any unwanted visitors. You'll set what you catch free? I ask nervously. Appalled at the thought of my visiting raccoons being sold for their coats. Or even worse, to some backwoods Pennsyltucky Cletis for food. The wildlife guy assures me he releases the catch in a wildlife habitat that could accommodate a new entry - such as the woods.

The trap catches nothing till the dog decides to investigate and nearly gets caught himself. He slinks indoors, suitably chastized by the encounter. I retreat indoors as well, sobered by the realization that as much I love nature and wee animals, there is no Disney happy ending when it comes to the two of us conjoining living spaces. Moreoever nature is sometimes disturbing, not always tidy but always demanding of respect.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Lucindas is Back


Say what you will about downtown Jersey City, but you can't deny it's vibrant mobile food scene, nor the rabid fans of those establishments. Take Lucindas Burritos, a yellow truck stationed on Hudson Street at Exchange Place. Once conceived as a small business Master's Thesis, the original owner Joanna has since sold the business to a young couple so she can focus on the pleasures of motherhood. Lucindas has been out of commission for the better part of the year so it was with great joy I spotted the truck back in my 'hood. Natasha and Chris, pictured above carry on Lucinda's menu with a few touches of their own. My chorizo, egg and blackbean breakfast burrito not only is drizzled with crema and hot sauce, but also pico de gallo and a spritz of lime. Mmmmmm, lime. Also new to the menu are seafood and vegetarian empanadas. Check Lucindas out some time.

Boasting an equally fanatic following is John's Soup Kitchen on the corner of Montgomery & Hudson. Distinctive not for a moniker truck but for the gigantor line queued up for soup or rice dishes. BTW, many of whom are of East Asian descent. Jersey City is after all the operations base for many of New York's large companies - Barclays (formerly Lehman Brothers), AIG (formerly AIG...) The soups are a hot commodity, you must try the white chicken chili which is really a Middle Eastern stew of chicken thighs, white beans, onions and chilies with spices redolent of the East - cumin, coriander.

And although I've just swooned over the chicken chili, the Chicken over Rice is John's signature dish. Let me tell you it's far more than just chicken over rice. It's chicken marinated thighs (I just LOVE thighs instead of white meat. As any Indian will tell you, white meat ain't got no flavor, it's the dark meat baby, the dark!), grilled so the exterior is crusty while the insides are still moist, chopped with a sharp-edged spatula and server over basmati rice. Oh, and there's a salad of iceberg lettuce and grape tomatoes. Drizzled over the whole shebang is a raita-like, tzaziki-ish white sauce of probably yogurt, herbs and salt.

Finally there's Nick and Peri's, a Greek diner on wheels. While their sandwiches are fine - gyros, chicken kebabs, hamburgers and the like mostly consumed by construction workers - their call to fame has got to be the sausage, egg and cheese on a roll. Hands down the best breakfast sandwich in all of New Jersey. Why? because Nick grills the bread with the cheese under the broiler, giving a melty, saucy, cheesy topping to the hearty but simple sandwich. Go ahead and prove me wrong.

Next time you're in Jersey City give these hard-working small businesses a try.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Weekend in New England - Ok ok, just Maryland

I love hearing my New England friends talking about their weekends. Went to the fish market. Bought half a dozen lobsters. Picked some corn. Made sangria from Reisling and peaches. Went to the beach but it was too cold. Drove back early Sunday to avoid traffic.

Compared to my hectic weekends at home.

Saturday: Drive down in 5 hours of stop and go traffic. Late lunch with Mom and Dad. Mom makes not one but two Pillaus. Her world famous vegetable Pillau chock full of turnips, peas, beans, califlower & meat Pillau with curried chunks of lamb. I'm hungry enough to eat 2 platefuls, but eat three. I've observed one of those unfathomable occurances when it comes to eating. Sometimes you can barely put away half a 12 oz steak. Other times you can devour an entire plate of pasta bolognese. What's up with that? I think it's because we are conditioned to eat plentiful based on our culinary roots. Take for example Indian food. An Indian girl who picks at her large Cobb salad could easily take down a plate of heaping coconut rice, topped with a chicken curry, egg and potato curry, maybe a lamb curry, dahl and yogurt salad. Not just once but twice! It's the same conditioning that allows an Italian to devour an entire plate of pasta and sauce. Or the Polsky to gorge on a dozen pirogy with kielbasa and sour cream. It's the culinary hood you feel most comfortable with that you can ingest stupid quantities.

Take dog for a walk in the park while Mom sits on the swing. while driving back the radio blares SHE SHAKIN THAT THANG LIKE. Mom wants to know. "What is that thing and why is she shaking it?" Take a nap. Hit the stores for presents for my neice. Head back home to entertain friends visiting from out of town. Watch an Indian movie. Watch more of the movie. Keep watching the movie. Go to sleep.

Sunday:

9:00 am and I am tilling the fields of my parents backyard. Loosening the soil for Mom's vegetable garden. I've inherited their love of soil and shrub, attested by the sheaf of mint I plucked from my garden so Mom would have fresh mint for her chutney. The parental garden consists of a 8 x 6 plot of land designated for veggies. Adjacent to a similar plot beneath a wooden trellis under which grows water gourd, bitter gourd, zucchinis, melons and squash. The zucchinis are in flower, which Mom drops into her okra and tomato curries. Very tasty she assures me. In the uncovered plot grows Methi, a pungent small leafed green - delicious stir fried with onions, mustard seeds and red chilies. Sugar snap peas, extraodinarily sweet but tough skinned flank one side while small shoots of gongera spring in neat if parched rows. While New York suffered through daily floods of Antideluvian proportions, Maryland barely got damp. Jalepenos, serranos, tomato plants rigged by individual fences for support and as a deterrant to the leaf-thieves. Mom suspects the wild kitty. Me thinks a bunny a better culprit. Duke doesn't care, lemme at him! is all he says.

It's almost noon and time for a late breakfast. Then I'm off to my neices birthday party. Then the long drive back home.

Somehow weekend's in Maryland just don't have that calm allure. But then, when has my family life ever been calm?