Class Time

I've done my fair share of cooking classes. From a week long boot camp at the Culinary Institute to various Groupon deals, these classes have ranged from very hands-on to very laidback. Personally, if I'm paying for a cooking class I expect to actually do the cooking and eat that food that I made, not have everything done for me by the instructor or eat something that was made earlier for the sake of time. So I was very pleased with a chocolate soufflé class at Cathcart & Reddy (formerly known as Dessert Truck).

Set on the Lower East Side, the shop was nice and small, with less than 10 people in the class (all women of course). Everyone prepared 2 soufflés - one to be cooked and eaten at the shop, and one to be taken home and baked at another time (i.e. tonight). We started by generously buttering and sugaring our ramekins to give a nice coating. Next was the beating of the egg whites, some lemon juice, and sugar. Without an electric mixer, this was quite exhausting! Luckily our instructor, lent us some muscle to speed up the process.

Look at her go!

Once the meringue (egg whites + sugar) came to a medium-stiff peak, we folded in an egg yolk and lots of melted dark chocolate. (The chocolate was melted beforehand for us over a double boiler). After carefully incorporating the chocolate (and taking several licks), into the ramekins the mixture went, for about 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Souffle waiting to be baked!

Out came our beautifully risen chocolate soufflés that were perfectly moist and airy in the middle with an ever-so-slightly crisp crust on the outside. Topped with some powdered sugar and vanilla creme anglaise (already prepared by the bakery), it was the perfectly indulgent dessert without being too heavy or rich. Though I was surprised by how simple the process was, I'm not sure that I'll be making soufflés in my apartment anytime soon. Mostly because precision of ingredients and temperature is so important in soufflé making, and my lack of a scale or reliable oven would compromise this particular balance. At least I have that leftover soufflé sitting in my fridge with my name on it!

Look at that oozin' creme anglaise!

Chocolate Souffle Recipe courtesy Cathcart & Reddy 

makes five 4 oz. ramekins

Ingredients:

approx. 4 tbsp of softened unsalted butter (for ramekins)

approx. 1/2 cup of granulated sugar (for ramekins)

250 g egg whites

120 g granulated sugar

3 g cream of tartar or lemon juice

150 g 70% dark chocolate

35 g egg yolks

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Using a brush, generously brush the interior of the ramekins with softened butter, ensuring that the entire interior is buttered. Coat the butter with sugar, knocking out any excess sugar.

2. Using a double-boiler, melt the chocolate over simmering water, stirring occasionally.

3. Place the egg whites, the cream of tartar or lemon juice and a pinch of sugar in a large bowl. Using a whisk or an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, whip the whites and gradually add the rest of the granulated sugar. Whip the whites until you get stiff peaks. You now have a meringue.

4. Stir in about one-third of the meringue into the melted chocolate. Then fold this mix into the remaining meringue, making sure you use a rubber spatula at this point.

5. Now fold in the egg yolks into approximately one-third of the chocolate-meringue mixture. Fold in the rest of the chocolate-meringue mixture into the mix with the yolks.

6. Spoon or pipe the souffle mix into your ramekins. Level the tops of each ramekin so that the souffle mixture is even with the top of the ramekins. Run your thumb along the inside edge of each ramekin rim. Bake the souffles on the middle rack until they have risen, formed a crust on top, but are still jiggly in the center, approximately 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Fast(ish) Food

I spent this past weekend at my first ever music festival, Governors Ball, which is deceivingly not on Governors Island but Randall's Island. After hiking it up to Randall's Island once for a soccer game via subway and a bus ride with lots of creepy men, I swore I would never go back there, but alas, there I was. And this time, the trip to Randall's Island was well worth it.

Rainbow balloons for Pride Weekend!

My friends and I were in agreement that the absolute peak of the weekend (and also unexpected) was the show/extreme dance party put on by Major Lazer. Jumping, fist pumping, champagne popping, and shirts flying all ensued (not our shirts, of course). Top that off with a naked girl running across the stage  and lots of booty-popping from the dancers, and you have got an awesome sweaty dance party outside in the 85-degree heat.

Other musical favorites of mine included Chromeo, Passion Pit and Modest Mouse.

Chromeo

Passion Pit

But with all that sweating and dancing, we obviously had to keep ourselves satiated too, and Governors Ball had a nice little spread of food vendors for just that. On Saturday I indulged in the "Vinh" from Asia Dog: a Vietnamese banh-mi style hotdog (I opted for a chicken dog) with aioli, pork pate, cucumbers, pickled carrot & daikon, cilantro and jalapeño. The pickled carrots and cilantro were a refreshing bite on the hot afternoon.

photo credit: padmalakshmi.com

On Sunday I went for a half lobster, half crab roll from Luke's Lobster. I'm no newbie to Luke's Lobster. I love a lobster roll with big chunks of lobster and just a little bit of butter. Some people prefer their roll as more of a salad with a mayo-based sauce, but I like to taste all that fresh lobstah! The crab roll is also simple and delicious with just some butter and old bay seasoning. Sandwich that between a buttery toasted bun, and you've got the perfect snack for lounging out in the sun on a Sunday afternoon.

photo credit: lukeslobster.com

Friday Favorite: Buvette

As much as I love New York City, Paris has that magical je ne sais quoi that will always have my heart. And while I can't afford a trip to gay Paris any time soon, I can at least humor my Francophile tendencies at Buvette in the West Village.

Enjoy the perfectly indulgent croque madame for brunch, or share glasses of Beaujolais and the uber-rich chocolate mousse with a friend at the bar. Every item on the menu makes me feel as if I've been transported to a hidden cafe in Saint-Germain-des-Pres.

Buvette is made even more charmant by the handsome waiters, who will even amuse your poor French that hasn't been used since college.

So when I need a break from this concrete jungle (or some eye candy), I head to Buvette for a little Parisian escape. Bon voyage!

Buvette, 42 Grove Street, no reservations

Restaurant Raves: Prune & Perilla

I know this blog has primarily been an accumulation of my own recipes (or adaptations of others), but the reason I haven't written in months is that I really haven't made anything that I felt was worth writing about. Not only have the past couple months been quite busy - lots of birthdays, graduation, holiday weekends - but I get lazy when it comes to cooking in the summer months. Not to mention it just gets too damn hot in my apartment to turn on the stove. So today I'm going to switch it up a bit and share some quick highlights from two excellent meals I had out in the city!

First up, Gabrielle Hamilton's Prune.  My foodie book club just finished Hamilton's memoir Blood, Bones & Butter, so it only made sense to have our discussion at her restaurant. The tiny East Village spot is charming and girly: a bright pink awning matches the pink menus. The menu also sways to the feminine, which was unexpected given Hamilton's bold and ballsy persona portrayed in her book. Our group started with sardines with triscuits & mustard, garrotxa cheese with buttered brown bread & salted red onion, and a shaved celery salad with warm blue cheese toast. I've never been one for sardines, but I even gobbled those down. For my entree, I had a whole grilled branzino with lots of lemon and fresh dill - perfectly flaky and light. For dessert we shared mascarpone ice cream with salted caramel croutons and rhubarb bread pudding. The mascarpone ice cream was a huge hit with the group.  The entire meal was delicious. All of the dishes were so simple, yet so flavorful.

photo credit: Justcook NYC

Next is Perilla. One of Top Chef  Harold Dieterle's restaurants (his other being Kin Shop, which I also recommend), Perilla was the perfect setting for the birthday dinner of a close friend. The ambiance and price point  are more on par with a special occasion or nice date, rather than a casual book club gathering like at Prune. Because the menu was a little pricey for us newly 24-year-olds, we stuck to wine and entrees. I tried the special: halibut with turnips and israeli couscous cooked in a lobster sauce. The birthday girl had hanger steak, which looked delicious, and she even let me try some of her "hen of the woods" mushrooms. We all scraped our plates clean, but the leaner portions left plenty of room for dessert. For that, we headed to one of my favorite gems - Buvette - but I'll have to dedicate a full post to that another day.

photo credit: The Daily Dish

Prune: 54 East 1st Street (between 1st & 2nd avenue), accepts lunch & dinner reservations, brunch first come first serve

Perilla: 9 Jones Street (off of West 4th), accepts reservations