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Heart attack in a bowl. Minca's Toroniku Ramen has about a pound of braised porkbelly floating in a broth the taste and texture of a light gravy you'd make from pan drippings off a garlic roast pork. And half a tea-boiled egg.
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Porkapalooza cont'd. Shake Shack's "Pancake" frozen custard, topped with real bacon crumbles. I need me some shack-cercise now.
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iPhone NYC nostalgia roll: Shake Shack Madison Sq Park, with Pancake Custard + bacon in foreground
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Legendary $1 Peking Duck Sandwich Stall, Flushing, Queens. You watch while the woman carves chunks off a whole duck to make your sandwiches to order.
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You can sorta think of these as roast duck tacos on thick rice-flour tortillas, topped with julienned cucumber, scallion, and plum sauce. Did I mention they're a buck each? (Peking Duck Sandwich Stall, Flushing, Queens)
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iPhone NYC nostalgia roll: Otafuku, East Village (saucing the okonomiyaki = shrimp pancakes)
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iPhone NYC nostalgia roll: Otofaku, East Village (takoyaki are like savory donut holes with a core of tender octopus, served with two sauces and bonito flakes)
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Linguini a la carbonara e funghi: finished with parmesano reggiano, more butter, a raw egg (just laid), black pepper, and fresh oregano from the flowerpot on the kitchen stoop. Paired with a Pinot Grigio from Meridian in Napa. Chi chi, what?
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Feral mustard greens - escaped from nearby farm cultivation - grow thick on the hillsides surrounding Davenport Landing.
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Musseling: All it takes is a pair of sneakers, work gloves, and a bag. You can collect your 10 pound daily limit in about 10 minutes.
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Mussel bed. They don't seem on the verge of overfishing like so many other marine food species. I like a slice of raw tuna or an ahi steak or a bacalao as much as the next guy, but eating that stuff is starting to feel immoral.
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Moules marinieres in prep. Sautee onion & garlic in butter, wet with white wine & sea salt, throw in shellfish, bring to boil, cover and steam 6-8 minutes. Easy peasy.
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Served with wild mustard greens, crusty french bread to mop up sauce, and a bottle of Albariño found at last minute gathering dust on the discount shelf at Summit Store. Albariño = coarse green wine from Galicia, killer with big shellfish flavours.
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The other day I was telling somebody the chanterelles have come up behind the house every January, but no sign of them this grievously hot dry winter. So today January 31 I walk up from the shed, and there they are, nick of time to hold up my woodlore.