Tea Smoked Salmon, No Labor, Just Love

Smoked Salmon, sorta

I imagine we are all making our Labor Day Weekend grocery list right about now. I am sure there are lots of scrap paper lists that have the words – Hamburger Meat, Hot Dogs, Pork Ribs, Beef Ribs, Sausages and Steaks on them. All good, don’t get me wrong. However as the days of Summer are now severely numbered, I am craving fish. It won’t be long when cold crisp Autumn days have me craving more hearty fare like stews and meat pies. So I am just going to throw it out there to you as you scribble madly on that grocery list before dashing out the door – let’s cook a side of SALMON this weekend!

Besides, we all know Salmon is so much better for us than that perfectly marbled steak.

Fresh Caught Coho

This recipe has always found rave reviews with my guests. You can make it in a traditional smoker if you have one, but for most of us here in Brooklyn we do not have access to a patch of grass, little less a smoker. There are some wonderful stove top smokers out there and I highly recommend you invest in one. Get one that can go on a grill, a stovetop or a campfire. Good to be prepared!

As for the tea, well that is personal preference. Black teas will give the fish a richer, more intense flavor especially as it smokes into the prosciutto;  while green teas or blends will add subtle flavors and a lighter overall taste. I usually go with Earl Grey tea because I always have it in my cupboard and its a happy medium flavor.

Fresh Horseradish MMM

Tea Smoked Salmon w/a Horseradish Orange Sauce

3/4 cup tea leaves

1 – 2 lb Side of Salmon (skin removed)(Any salmon works – go with what is fresh!)

5 Thin Slices of Prosciutto

1 Tbsp. Fresh Orange Juice

1/2 Cup Creme Fraiche

1/4 Cup Fresh Horseradish

Bit of salt, pepper and 10 minutes of time.

Dampen the tea leaves only slightly. You don’t want them wet or dry. Just damp. Place leaves in the bottom of the smoker.

Season the salmon with S&P. Wrap the prosciutto slices around the salmon, slightly overlapping each slice.

Place the Salmon on the smoking rack. Close the lid and place it on the stovetop at a medium heat. Salmon will take approximately 12-15 minutes to smoke.

Remove when done and let rest a few minutes before opening the lid.

While the salmon is smoking, whip up the sauce. In a mixing bowl combine the orange juice, creme fraiche, horseradish, a good pinch of fresh ground pepper and a dash of salt. Mix well. The sauce should be the consistency of ketchup more or less. Not runny but not tartar sauce. Add more horseradish to taste. I like ALOT!

To serve – Place the side of salmon on a platter. Slice an orange into 1/4″ slices and place on top of the fish overlapping across the top. Drizzle that guppy with some sauce and put the rest in a gravy boat.

Roasted Pear & Parsnip

*A fresh green salad and some  Roasted Potatoes & Pears are really good friends to have over with the Salmon. Savor it all with a nice bottle of Rose, I suggest Mulderbosch.

No Labor...Just Love

Have a great weekend America!

Tapas & Turbans!

Team Turban

Why not, let’s make it Turban Tuesday. I think we should bring the look back and I am willing to host a party to get things rolling. A few convincing thoughts and some inspiring imagery from my travels:

• Just think of all those bad hair days that will be glamorously rescued!

• They go with everything!

Bold Statement

• They work like a sweatband while exercising and are waaay cooler than the headband no?
• They make you look taller.

Turban Envy

• You will never get lost in a desert.
• If necessary they can be used as a spare dress or to lower yourself out of a second story window.

Charmed

• They guarantee you a snake charming gig at Burning Man this year!

Tiny Turban

• They come in all sizes and most important of all (at least for you guys)…

CHICS DIG THEM!

Really, what’s the downside? I am thinking about hosting a Turban Tapas Night! Seriously. What fun would that be? Bring your favorite appetizer and come donning a turban! Tapas & Turbans!

And as the sun goes down…you have the coolest Thinking Cap of them all to sit and comtemplate life under.

Turbans & Tapas - UR Invited!

Sweet Sunday Secrets

Dough Re Mi

Even for those of us who really love to cook and entertain, there are days when a few “shortcuts” are necessary to get the job done! Maybe its the boyfriend or hubby calling late in the day to say that dinner reservations for his client can’t be had so can you “throw something together” or maybe its a late Sunday afternoon case of “everyone dropping in to say hi and OH What’s for Dinner?” or maybe you just actually really do feel like having guests over but are short on the luxury of time. In any case, and in response to the requests, I get for “entertaining shortcuts, secrets and sidesteps”, I am devoting a Sunday blog this Fall to this topic.

Sunday Secrets will share some of my most protected secrets on what can be done on a “bad TV Wednesday night” to prepare for a weekend of entertaining ahead. It will share products I use that are GASP – “off the shelf” like marinades and sauces. So go ahead, send in your requests for specific shortcut secrets and in the meantime I will pass on my deepest darkest secrets!

These two “sweet” doughs are saving grace. You can make them anytime and keep them in the freezer until needed. Both of these keep easily over a month, if not more, and have multiple applications for desserts and sweet treats. I even break the dough into individual tart or pie portions to make it even easier. *Hot tip – Wrap dough in plastic wrap and then into individual plastic sandwich bags for extra protection against freezer leaks or burn. Mark each bag with the date it entered the freezer. Its never a good thing to be half way into a pie and realize the crust was made in 2004.

Strawberry Crostata mmmm

Crostata / Pie Dough

*This dough is my go-to for making Fruit Crostatas, literally in under 10 minutes.

2 Cups Flour

1 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

1 Tsp. Salt

In a bowl mix the flour, sugar and salt. Make a well in the middle of the bowl and add one egg. Using your hands, oh yeah its the best way, knead into soft dough. If it is sticky add just a bit more flour. Do not over work. You want it soft. One recipe makes 1 generous crostata (feeds 6). So double or triple and then divide dough accordingly. Freeze.

When the neighbors show up on Friday at 8 with a roast chicken and fixins but no dessert – Guess who is ready?

Take the dough out of freezer and let thaw for 30 min. Roll out into a very rough circle on parchment paper on a baking tray. Add any berries or stone fruit or apples or pears (you get the idea) in a bowl. Toss with a pinch of sugar, a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of flour. Arrange on the dough and pull up the edges of dough up 1/4 inch to meet the fruit. Quick beat an egg and brush over the crust (we like ‘em shiny). Bake crostata at 350 for 30 min. (Recipe is in the book, which I know you have right?)

EZ Nutty Dough

Nutty Cookie/Tart Dough

*Love Love this dough. It makes the most scrumptious lemon tarts, marmalade thumbprint cookies, nutty tea cookies or chocolate sandwich cookies. You can use hazelnuts, pecans or walnuts rather than pine nuts if desired. They all work equally well.

2 Cups Pine Nuts

3 Cups Flour

1/3 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

8 Oz. Unsalted Butter, room temp

1 Tsp. Vanilla (good quality)

In a food processor, chop the nuts rather finely. Add the sugar, then flour and continue to mix until the nuts are finely ground in the mixture.

In a separate mixing bowl combine butter, egg, sugar and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix well (again by hand is the best! It’s therapeutic I promise). Dough is ready. This dough makes roughly 24 mini muffin pan tarts or same amount of teaspoon cookies.

When in a pinch for a dessert or sweet treat, pull this dough out, let thaw for a bit and then make cookies or tarts. The dough does need to proof for about 10 minutes (for a tart) in a 350 degree oven. When you remove, use a fork to let out the “air” as the dough will rise a bit. Let cool and then fill with lemon sabayon (lemon tarts) or rich chocolate Nutella sauce for chocolate tarts! Even fresh fruit works well.

Two Doughs.

Too many delicious sweet treats fresh from your oven – the EZ way!

Lovely Lemon Tarts

Best of My Brooklyn

My Brooklyn

Marcel Proust wrote that “The real voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes”.

While I will be the first in line to board a plane to some far off exotic location, I have to agree that there is something wonderful about looking around at the “everyday ordinary” and finding new delight. It saves a lot of plane fare & jet lag too!

Since December 8th, 2009 (the day I drove into town with dog and a whole mess of hopes and dreams) I have been so busy with planning my next great global adventure that I have blindly walked by some real treasures right under my nose. I have even ventured out to other parts of Brooklyn to find some new culinary or cultural experience. Even walking the dog, I often keep my nose buried in my iphone and have missed out on all that passes by on my own streets.

So this weekend, rather than run off to the Hamptons (because no one invited me to be honest) or off to the Hudson Valley to explore farmlands (which is sooo next weekend) I stayed home and explored everything up one side of Court St and down again the other on Smith St.  I went into every Italian food shop I passed, chatted up the butchers, sat on the front bench and gossiped with the sweet little old ladies who used to skip down these streets 50, 60 yrs ago. I went into the churches (thank god no lightning bolts came down on me), antique stores, produce stalls, flower shops, pastry stores, coffee shops and I even got a tour of an old Italian Supper Club (can’t write about it though or well ya know…)

Morning on Smith St.

So here it is…my BEST of MY BROOKLYN! (Includes Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, a sprinkle of Brooklyn Heights and a dash of Red Hook).

We will start with coffee and end our evening with a nightcap with a whole mess of yummy bites and sips in between.

1. Coffee – At 502 Henry St resides the best Cafe Latte in the hood made by the friendliest staff. Perhaps one explains the other. NAIDRES (www.naidres.com) has a full menu of delishness from breakfast through lunch but I come for the latte and the $1 dog bone treat that has white frosting and sprinkles. Sula loves Naidres too now.

Best Latte

2. To Market To Market – After breakfast we shop for fresh fruit and veggies and nothing compares to K&Y FRUIT & VEGGIE INC. at 291 Court St. Ok, so the name might have you thinking of other kinds of shops, but one look at the amazing selection of beautiful local fresh fruit spilling onto the sidewalk and all thoughts of lubrication leave the mind. Better than the quality of their produce are the amazing prices. They also carry more unusual tropical fruits, exotic mushrooms, loads of fresh herbs and for some reason a bizarre collection of Asian prepared sauces.

Veg Out Here

3. Lunch – Sula & I head over to 264 Clinton St beside Cobble Hill Park. TED & HONEY (www.tedandhoney.com), a cafe with an adorable red facade, dishes up the bestest lunch in the hood for a Southern girl. Get the house smoked pulled pork sandwich with their own barbecue sauce, homemade pickles and southern slaw! Get it “to go” along with an Arnold Palmer (1/2 iced tea, 1/2 lemonade for all ya’ll non Southerners) and sit in the park gobbling it up. Sula waits for bits of slaw and sauce to fall and then licks my pork perfumed fingers.

Arnold Palmer is here!

4. Stock the Bar – Over to 268 Smith Street where SMITH & VINE (www.smithandvine.com) have the best wine deals in town. A large center island boasts great wines NOT over $15. The staff was all either born in a vineyard or have been studying wine since the sippy cup. You say dim sum, they say 11 great names that would be perfect in red, white or rose. They have dog treats (gotta keep Sula interested) and funny stories of shoppers thinking they are wine crackers.

In Vino Veritas

5. Say Cheez – Just across the street from SMITH & VINE is STINKY BRKLYN (www.stinkybklyn.com) Same owners, same great service but here is where to find the best cheese in the hood. Yes, here too, the staff were born out of a parmesan wheel. They have great gourmet goodies to go along with the cheeses like jams, quinces, crackers, mustards etc… They have weekly cheese classes (most paired with wine) and host an annual cheese eating contest. What’s not to love here! Is that cheesy?

Cheese Eating Contest

6. A long afternoon walk finds us in Red Hook and a bit peckish. Lucky for us, we can get BAKED! 359 Van Brunt has the best BAKED (www.baked.com) goods going. What kind of shop were you thinking it was? Their brownies are dee-vine. The chocolate banana is dreamy and the peanut butter chocolate will make you cry. YUM. I love the decor of the store too which basically takes it over the top for me. Eye Candy & tummy candy.

Get Baked here

7. Provisions – Whether for a Sunday picnic or Sunday roast, Paisano Italian Market, 162 Smith St (lospaisanosmeatmarket.com) is the place to shop.  45 years and still going strong! The best selection of meats in the hood. Everything from rattlesnake (not kidding) to age dried beef tenderloin. You must buy some of the grilled olives, the prosciutto di Parma and the Parmigiano Reggiano for the perfect picnic. The staff is full of knowledge and flirts. I always leave with a spring in my step and inspiration for a new recipe. They carry it all from homemade pastas, sauces, Italian specialties, breads, marinades, spices to even prepared dinners delivered to your dining table.

Paisanos!

8. Happy Hour – Our busy afternoon called for a little nap and now its happy hour! Brand new to the hood, BROKEN ENGLISH, has a wonderful walk up window raw bar. A glass of Prosecco and 1/2 dozen fresh shucked oysters is the perfect start to the evening.

9. Dinner – THE RIVER DELI, Jouralemon St in Brooklyn Heights. Take a long stroll or take a cab but don’t miss dinner in this great little restaurant. A Sardinian husband and wife team are putting out the best Sardinian food I have had since being there. The fresh catch has not disappointed and the bruschetta are great for sharing. All Italian wine list with some very nice Vermentinos. Ask for a window seat and the tiramisu!

Little Slice of Sardinia

10. Music & Dancing – Gotta work some of that pasta off, so over to BAR TABAC (www.bartabac.com) for live music and a livelier crowd! Never a dull minute here at the corner of Smith & Dean Streets. With serious whirling dervish fans it is also the “coolest” spot in the hood on a hot summers day. Bartenders are all delightful and this place definitely has the best vibe going for a little late night shake shake your booty. My favorite is the band on Sunday nights but you should hear them all for yourself. They also throw the best Bastille Day party outside of France.

Good Times @ Tabac!

11. Nightcap – Almost time to put the dancing shoes to bed and give Sula that last walk. I offer you two nightcap spots depending on your mood. CLOVER CLUB (www.cloverclub.com) is the place to go for an artisanal drinks like punches, collins, swizzles, royals, juleps or mashes. Ya know, drinks that walked right out of Mad Men. The bartenders are dressed the part and are always ready to make you a custom cocktail that matches your mood or personality. OR there is BGH (BAR GREAT HARRY) www.bargreatharry.com. A true beer bar with daily changing beers on tap and specials. It’s the bar you don’t really want to see in the light of day but always has an interesting crowd. You pick your poison!

Last Call

*Disclaimer: Yes there are LOADS more great foodie finds in the hood. I need something to write about tomorrow ok! So, if you got left out, maybe its ’cause you are getting a whole blog to yourself, wink wink.

Know a great spot I overlooked? Shout it out!

Sammy’s!

Sammys

There is a restaurant in the LES, NYC that should have a warning label on the front door. The front door that is down three steps and almost completely hidden under scaffolding on a low rent block, I might add. The warning should say something like, “CAUTION: Has been thrown to the wind past this door” or “DANGER: EXCESS AHEAD”.

I rushed right in to Sammy’s Roumanian!

I was late for my friend Claudia’s birthday dinner because this Southern Belle hailed the only taxi in Brooklyn that did not know where the LES is. Really? What did we do before Iphone GPS?

Bright & Bold Decor

Immediate impression as I ran in was BAM! Florescent overhead lights on high beam. Not a fan of this as it reminds me of cheap chinese food. Just sayin. How wrong I was. Sammy’s is down home old school Eastern European Jewish Food, and grandma is kicking it strong in the kitchen after 34 yrs of biz.

Sampling of Starters

Latke Love

Once my eyes adjusted and I found my seat at the table I looked down at the food already circulating. A platter piled high with eggplant salad, fire roasted green peppers & onions, chopped liver platter “sammys way”, homemade pickles, a fresh green salad and latkes with applesauce. Then there was karnatzlack, a sausage of beef, veal & garlic but the addition of seltzer & soda give it a spongy light texture and taste. Very moist, very delish and VERY BIG. One sausage fed several.

Stuffed Cabbage

One Size Skirt Steak

This, the appetizer portion I warn you, was all washed down by straight frozen vodka! Oh yeah. The vodka bottles are brought to the table wrapped in an ice blanket and stuck in a plastic bucket. The regulars drink it straight. The light weights, like me, gave it a splash of cranberry which I was very pleased to see they provided, along with OJ.

Visions of Vodka

I was stuffed. Then the entrees arrived -

Stuffed cabbage the size of a child’s head, the biggest flank steak I have ever laid my eyes on in a gorgeous garlic sauce, dinosaur chops (seriously they were insane big) potato coins, mashed potatoes with greeven and a pastry stuffed with …more meat!

Here is where it gets interesting. While we are all stuffing gross amounts of meat, potato and vodka down our throats, there is a “DJ”. Our DJ is say roughly 60. He is playing Sinatra, classic Jewish tunes from the 60′s, Milli Vanilli, Michael Jackson and maybe a little Bette Midler. The crazy part is we are all singing along at full volume with a sausage in one hand and a vodka in the other.

Scene @ Sammys

Our table is a party of roughly 15 and there are about 8 others just like this. No romantic two tops in the corner at Sammys! Once we have demolished the food everyone takes to their feet and the dance party is ON!

More vodka bottles, more 80′s music, more Sinatra and more fun that this girl has had in some time. I have the T-shirt to prove it.

Sammys Roumanian. It needs to go on your bucket list. Take a crowd. Take an empty stomach. Take some pepto. Take away a great night out!

Oh, here’s the address.

157 Christie St.

Tray Table Travel

Is that soup?

I tell you about the exotic food markets, the amazing restaurants experiences and personal moments of culinary genius that all happen on my travels around the globe. But we never talk about the rather significant amount of time that I am assigned to a very small chair some 35,000 ft in the air, while I am reaching all these destinations.  Why is that? Angry flight attendants, neighbors who reak of garlic & BO, the curry fueled farts on the flight from Delhi to NY - you don’t find these things terribly interesting?! I have actually decided there is an entire blog here dedicated to life in the sky. I am afraid to even calculate the amount of time in my life of which I have been screaming across the skies in a big tin can.

However to stay on theme, I want to share with you some of the fine culinary moments I have seen come across my tray table. Does it make a difference which airline you fly for the quality of food? Hell Yes. Does it really change that much from economy to business to first class? Hell Yes. Its basically the difference of The French Laundry to Macaroni Grill to a school cafeteria as you make your way down the plane.

Best food flight of my life was 1st Class D.C. to Capetown S.A. The steak was so good I was sure that there was a butcher in the cargo hold. The vegetables fresh and cooked al dente straight from the cockpit garden? Fine wines, a cheese cart that was surely imported from Paris that morning and decadent Belgian chocolates with frothy cappuccinos. I cannot provide picture of this meal – because I was too busy eating it!

It’s all down hill from there.

Jodhpur - Jaipur Lunch

This was pulverized cucumber with tomato flecks, onion and mayo on a “bread” that was something of naan crossed with baguette. The best part is how soggy it was.

Singapore - Manila, Dinner (economy)

Here we have a balance meal of “chicken” pasta salad appetizer with more “chicken” in lemon sauce (aka oil slick) with boiled to death beans and sweet potato served with more boiled white potatoes. Earlier in the day I had flown from Bali to Singapore and the EXACT same lunch was delivered to my ever hopeful tray table. Oh goodie airplane food de ja vu!

Tray Table Travel - Vietnam

And what culinary greatness was served for breakfast, I repeat breakfast, while flying to Ho Chi Minh on Vietnam Airlines? Why pork belly, white rice of course! How about that donut like cupcake like cream puff thing. Yikes.

HK - Ho Chi Minh, Breakfast, Economy

In India you get two choices – Veg or Non Veg. The choice between serious mystery meat and serious curry gas for the next 24.

In China you get two choices – “beef” with noodle or “chicken” with rice both in a brown gravy that is partially curdled.

In Thailand you get fish! Now that is novel. However it is as bland as the chicken and has that same quality of being manufactured meat.

In first class, you get all things that you left behind 5000 miles ago.

Jakarta-Singapore, Biz Class Lunch

Here it is! The rarely experienced moment of a tray table meal that is actual food. Foie Gras on fresh greens with steamed asparagus. Wow! A real fork, not a plastic spork. Linen napkin not a drinks cocktail napkin damp from your diet fanta. This was just the starter. Again, too excited to be eating it to take pics after this.

So, they aren’t so friendly those skies. There are some real challenges that cross your tray table for the 16 hrs from NY to Delhi or HK. On a recent flight the attendant handed me a tray without asking which I wanted – beef with pasta or chicken with rice. I asked her which she was giving me. She looked at me rather blankly and said, “Does it really matter?” No joke.

Got any good airplane tray table dinner stories or experiences? What is the worst /best you have had?

I will post more on food at 35K ft through the Fall as my travel ramps back up. But for now, as they say in the friendly skies – Bu Bye now Bu Bye.

Midsummer Night’s Dinner

Come Dine with Me

I responded to a casting call a few weeks ago for a new cooking reality show by BBC America called “Come Dine With Me”.

Hahahahahah! Hahahahahhaha!

Seriously just writing the line above sends me to giggles. I have never in my life “responded to a casting call”. I am so NYC. (Insert more laughter here). Not. This Southern gal was as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

But…it went really well! So, after all the prep work to make the BIG impression I was left with a beautifully dressed table, a clean apartment, a cute outfit, a new manicure and…the perfect components for a dinner party! So I jumped on the phone and VOILA…an inspired table meets inspired eats and made for a wonderful evening with friends.

I give you A Midsummer Nights Dinner!

Dinner by Design

Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic, Basil, Olive Oil nestled up against room temp oozy goodness Buratta Cheese with crunchy crostata. Face first works best

Buono Buratta!

Hand Rolled Pearl Pasta with Chorizo, tomatoe, Moroccan black olives, shrimp, fresh parsley and all tossed in harissa!

Moroccan Inspired Pearl Pasta

Shrimp Pil Pil (lemony goodness) with roasted artichokes drizzled with a warm herb vinegarette.

Awesome Artichoke

Dessert Anyone? How about fresh from the farmers market figs, strawberries and grapes?

Farmers Market Best

Dinner is over but the memories are here to last. A wonderful evening of food and friends at home followed by an impromptu stroll down Smith St and a late night bonding sesh at BGH, even Sula came along! Princess was center of attention as usual! LOL.

Ya Like?

Best of Trip

My newest Addiction

My NYC – Jakarta – Bali – Manila – Shenzhen – Hong Kong 14 day trip is just 6 hrs away from coming to end (if we don’t count the 17hrs to follow that which will be spent in seat 31C, hopefully beside a slender, non garlicky, non snoring, non farting person). Fingers crossed.

I have just arrived to HK airport from Shenzhen China via ferry and am all settled into the lounge waiting for my massage appointment (mental preparation for the 17hr flight of course). I have downloaded the last of my images (from the ferry ride) and thought I would share my 10 BEST of the Trip. So without further adieu…

Rain at Beach

1. Rainy Day at the Beach – I forgot how amazing the light is at the beach when its overcast. I also forgot how nice it is to sit under an umbrella on a beach lounge, with raining coming down all around you. (Added bonus, no beach peddlers on rain days).

Playing in the Rain

2. Bintang – Maybe it was because I had been walking through markets in the hot sun all afternoon and was nearly crawling by the time I hit the beach shack, but that was the best damn beer I have had in years.

Bintang on the Beach

3. Mani/Pedi – on the beach! Ok yeah its true, there is some sandy grit in the pedicure. I look at it as a “texture” pedi – could be a whole new sensation! If Ralph can sell $50 paint cans of sandy lacquer, why can’t it work for nails?

Sandy Mani/Pedi

4. Tribal Shell Necklaces

What earrings with this?

5. Red Frangipani - How have I never seen this? Me, the self-professed frangipani freak did not know that a red color existed! I heart it.

Frangipani Rojo

6. Timbal - Forget Nasi Goreng, I think timbals are the best thing going in Indonesia. *Make note to find Timbal in NYC.

Tasty Timbals

7. Empty Seats – I still get giddy when the doors close and I have a row of empty seats beside me! It’s the little things on the long journeys.

A good flight

8. Rickshaw Buses – The local transport around Manila. I am addicted. They are sooo cool. I was like the “first time tourist” to India who goes home with 500 pictures of cows. I now have a Manila rickshaw bus image for every day of the year.

Rickshaw Buses Rock

9. Creepy Dudes in the bushes - Why anyone would want to find creepy dudes lurking in the bushes is a very good point. Usually this would result in a panicked call to 911. However in Indonesia, its more like a game. There are figures around every corner and they all have this same googly-eyed look about them as if they have been smoking the local flora & fauna. I name them.

Meet Harold

10. Ferry Rides – It’s been awhile since I was on a ferry and I forgot about the experience. They are way better than crossing a bridge to get to the other side! I stood right up front, ala Titanic, and let the salty spray cover me in what was truly a Saturday Night Live skit.

HK-Shenzhen, al fresco

So my only question is, are you coming with me next time so you can sit across from me right now and debate what the top 10 favorites were? I hope so. Won’t be long so get that passport up to date.

Ciao,

- H

Places & Plates…a day n the Life

I get asked ALOT of questions about my day  J-O-B and why I am always in exotic places like Rajasthan, Manila, Bali, Shenzhen, Jarkarta and Hong Kong; sometimes Paris, often Delhi and every now and then Shanghai, Singapore or Srinighar!

Let’s dismiss the suspect and often “first to think of things” like – drug mule, weapons dealer and sex trafficker. While all have their place, this is not my bag baby! My bag is furniture & textiles. Yeah, bummer of a let down, I know.

Next question after the disappointment has settled in over question #1 is …what do you eat? I like this one. My ever-growing ass apparently does as well, lol. The good news is that in Asia, I am only one parasite away to be being back to my perfect weight! (Oh just kidding, don’t go report me to Tyra, lol).

So, we are going on a field trip! A day in my foodie life while on the road for furniture!

Breakfast of Tropical Champions!

This gorgeous fruit plate is the standard slop at any hotel in SE Asia. Yesterday it happened to be Bali. Awe Darn.

Le Lunch

Lunch – a quick stop at a vendor’s favorite warung in Jakarta turned up this gorgeous fresh salad of chicken satay, fresh chilies, carrot, cukes, celery, green onion, red onion and parsley in a lite vinegar dressing. A staple fresh asian salad. Now, off to the factory…

9-5!

My man here in the Nikes is roughing out those splinters for you…before he could do this, your other man carved the entire piece from hand…uh hu..

Hand Carved Hunger

On the way back to the hotel to grab bags and go to airport, the 2nd vendor who couldn’t feed me lunch, offers a snack stop. It would be sooo rude not to. A quick stop at a road side shack provided a late afternoon snack of curried calamari with red chili, spicy potatoes, sweet carrots and green beans washed down with a Bintang of course!

Curry Calamari

Goodbye Indonesia, I must be on my way. A late evening flight gives me little choice for dinner and this is more often than not…glamorous huh! Shhh…don’t blow my fabulous lifestyle secrets. At least it was Singapore Airlines to Manila. Best meal in the skies! Last nite it was chicken pasta salad with red chilies of course, fish (who the hell knows what kind) with green beans, yams and boring white potatoes in a tomatoe sauce. Airplane food. Need I say more?

Window Seat 60A dinner

At least I had a view…

Sunset Seating for Dinner

Some days are better, some much worse, some days are more like 2 days on one plane (16 hrs, NYC-Hong Kong). Some days I get all street food, my favorites!

Some days I eat whatever is pushed my way by the vendor I am visiting….which leads me to -

Travel Rule #2 – Eat (even a bite and push the rest around) of whatever is prepared for you by a stranger, a vendor, a family member or anyone else who has taken you in to feed or care for while traveling. It is THE RIGHT THING to do. Run an extra mile tomorrow on the polluted streets. Sit for 30 in a sauna – whatever – just don’t turn down the effort put forth to feed you. It is a real gift, a real honor.

Tell me you favorite travel story when someone unexpected fed you!???

Java Jive

Welcome to Java

Did you just call me a NASI PUTIH?

What did you say? -My mother bites GORENG AYAM!          Why I never!

Sometimes we just need a new word for an old thing to sound so much more interesting, insulting or even mysterious.

Who knew being called white rice in Indonesian sounded like such a serious insult and so what if my mother bites fried chicken. (Can you believe that fried chicken is a staple in the Indonesian diet? For realz. How much more at home could a Southern girl be?! But I digress.)

Being armed with a few foreign “menu” words can change one’s entire stockpile of tongue launched missiles.

Today at lunch in a small town near Jakarta called Batung (Paris of Java – who knew), I certainly felt like I was attacking someone as I continuously  yelled “Nasi Putih” at deafening levels to the waiter. Why was I yelling at the young, innocent faced boy standing over me in his batik “Hawaiian” shirt?  Um…that would be because I had resorted to volume over sanity.

Casa dolce casa

Question #1 of the day – Why do people think that saying something louder is going to make the (now insulted) recipient suddenly understand the words, in their own language, that you are slaughtering in pronunciation.

I see this over and over in my travels and today there I was yelling WHITE RICE in a quiet establishment in Bandung Java, Indonesia. I should be beaten with a PISANG SATAY (banana stick) for breaking one of my own travel rules.

H’s Travel Rule No. 4 – Do not raise your voice when trying to communicate in either your own native language or someone else’s language with the expectation that that will make them somehow suddenly understand what you are trying to say. Volume does not, nor will ever, improve pronunciation. It does, almost always, get spit strategically placed in your food.

The bigger question on your mind right now should be why was Heather ordering white rice in the first place. She is travelling in Java, exploring the culture through food and furniture and she gets “all adventurous” with a side dish of white rice. WTF?

Warning: Spicy

Sambal. Sambal, aka, “tongue melting, burning two times, certain Asian flag making chili paste” comes served with a KAMPUNG NASI TIMBEL (traditional Indonesian rice, meat, veg dish) in a sweet little volcanic rock  bowl. The fact that the bowl was volcanic rock should have been a hint that it’s contents would be F’N hot. That is why I was yelling for Nasi Putih.

Designer's Dream Dish

2nd WHY? Question of the day – Why did I go back for more Sambal after I got the nasi putih?

It’s what all the white rice tourists do.