A roundup of cool edibles

There's a statistic out there that New Yorkers eat half of their meals out—whether it's at the local deli, a street vendor, food truck, or at one of the 13,000 bars and restaurants in NY.

In recent months R and I have been dining much more outside our home...first out of necessity when we were still apartment hunting, and now because there are so many temptations in our neighborhood. While NYC has many options, those in the know come to Queens which is sort of like a small version of the UN. Walking down the streets below the 7 line, there's no shortage of places to whet your appetite.

Queens is a food mecca of sorts and you don't have to empty your wallet for a delicious dining experience.

Consider Flushing Mall's Food Court. I hear it's closing at the end of this year to make way for a parking lot for the new Flushing Commons development. Before I say goodbye to this place, I'm planning on eating there as many times as possible....and try stinky tofu for the first time!

Or the Roosevelt Food Court which closed down a few years ago. What a shame we never got to try the goodies there.

Here's a quick round up of eats and culture from the past few weeks.

Xi'an Famous Foods

81 St Marks Pl
(between 2nd Ave & 1st Ave)
New York, NY 10003
Neighborhood: East Village

(212) 786-2068

If this place is good enough for Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmerman, then it was certainly good enough for me to try. I brought my Chinese friend M for company. We each ordered a stewed pork bun ($2.50 each); she was prudent and ordered a cold buckwheat noodle dish ($5.00) while I tempted fate with a spicy chewy noodle dish called Concubine's Chicken Hand-Ripped Noodles ($6.00).

Verdict: Xi'an, home to one of China's most amazing treasures, the terracotta warriors, is also known for its yummy spicy cuisine. The spicy chewy noodle has a great texture and is very different than the hand-pulled noodles from Lan Zhou. M and I only scratched the surface of this little resto's offerings. Next time I promise to sample the lamb buns and other not so spicy noodles.

Martha's Country Bakery
70-30 Austin St

Forest Hills, NY 11375
Neighborhood: Forest Hills

(718) 544-0088

Verdict: "A balanced diet is holding a cookie in each hand"......a sign seen at Martha's Country Bakery. R and I visited it for the second time in as many years. This time we had just finished dinner so we only wanted a small nibble and settled on a smallish cherry tart for $3.95 + tax. The results: a flaky but not overly buttery crust, a great cherry not too sweet fruit filling, none of that canned mess. A bit on the expensive side compared to the delicious fruit tarts in my small town in France but I wanted to do a tasting. Besides Martha's, Forest Hill is home to a few other places I'd love to try next: World of Cheese and Homefront.
 
Udon West
150 E 46th St

(between Lexington Ave & 3rd Ave)
New York, NY 10017
Neighborhood: Midtown East

(212) 922-9677

Verdict: Situated across the street from the Grand Central branch of the NY Public Library, it's a small unassuming place except for the large signs outside which enticed me inside to try their little Japanese tapas dishes. A bit cold that day, I had my mind on a big bowl of hot udon soup to warm me up. First, I love the vibe of this place...the entire crew shouts a welcome whenever anyone enters, then you're seated and served a hot cup of green tea right away. I ordered chicken teriyaki which came with jasmine rice, a salad, and miso soup. The chicken was moist, juicy, with the right ratio of salty and sweet. The salad was fine but the miso was delicious! It was clear they don't make miso from a bag, or a can...it tasted fresh, deep, and briny.

Cool edible NYC, Queens-style

In the few months that I've been here, I've found so many cool new places to try in the greater NYC area. We all know that NYC has always been cool (loud, dirty, but cool). And in recent years Brooklyn has become super cool. But what about Queens?

I'm a fan of Edible, a publication about local, sustainable food. This week I found out that there's an Edible Queens!

My NYC kitchen and pantry

I don't know about you, but it's definitely hot enough for me this summer. Last year we didn't need air conditioning because mountains and trees cooled us. Here in the city, even with the plethora of trees in Jackson Heights, the heat and humidity have been stifling.

When the heat's on, I usually don't feel like turning on the stove, and absolutely not the oven! Do you feel the same way? But recently I started stocking my pantry and added essentials like good sea salt, light soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, distilled vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil, vegetable oil, and fish sauce. And for any good pantry, you must have garlic, shallots, onions, lemons, limes, cilantro, scallions, couscous, and jasmine rice. And oatmeal and prunes too. Not to mention butter.

With this and all the good stuff I picked up at this weekend's farmer's market, I've started cooking in my small NYC kitchen and I can't stop! A quarter the size of my French kitchen, it's much smaller and the layout is not great but it'll do for now. There's a full size fridge, stove with microwave on top, and a half size dishwasher. I lament the fact that there's not enough storage or counter space. And no disposal but that's ok. I'm collecting fruit and vegetable scraps for composting which I can donate on Sundays to the farmer's market. Even though I'm back in the States I still would like to hold on to several things I started doing while in France like composting, living simply and as close to nature as possible.

At the farmer's market, I was enticed by the many offerings. Without any recipes in mind, I picked what was visually pleasing. Vivid yellow summer squash, bright red onions, tiny MacIntosh and green pears, and some cucumbers. We couldn't pass the Red Jacket Orchards stall without taking home their delicious all natural rhubarb juice and plum stomp made in Geneva, NY.  On our way out, we stopped to purchase Ronnybrook Farms' all natural yogurt drinks and a bottle of milk. Buying the milk in a glass bottle reminds me of the times R and I bought fresh fromage blanc, bleu de Gex, crème fraîche, and raw milk from our local fromagerie. If you bring back your bottle, you get your bottle deposit back. We still have our milk bottles in my kitchen in France, which means we have to visit le fromagerie when we next visit!

With my bounty, I've made lots of salads and eaten a mostly vegetarian menu this week including an easy salad of cucumbers, red onions, and tomatoes. I dressed it with some extra virgin olive oil, pink salt, a little twist of pepper, and lemon rinds, left over from making strawberry lemonade. For R, I made a no-mayo potato salad using baby red potatoes dressed with a vinaigrette with herbs de Provence, olive oil, a drop or two of distilled vinegar, and two big heaping tablespoons of whole grain French mustard. I also braised some romaine lettuce with garlic, shallots, and the leafy greens from the farmer's market red onions. I used the yellow summer squash in a quick ratatouille cooked in my favorite pot, a 5.5 quart cherry red Le Crueset which my sister gave me one year for Christmas.

To beat the heat and humidity, I pureed the remaining strawberries in a blender, tossed in a bit of sugar, and then added some rhubarb/apple juice. Then I poured this mixture (seeds and all) into some popsicle molds. Voila! Six hours later, R and I enjoyed our strawberry/rhubarb pops! Sweet, tart, and cold enough to cool us down in this city heat.