Fun Days and Nights in NYC

Ok so... today has been a FULL day of updates~ To make up for the lack of updating last week... From the number of pictures and things I have been updating I realise now that I have done alot! Starting with a Risotto class! Taught by a true Italian no less~

 The base of the risotto is butter, olive oil, white wine, onions and a little chilli flake

 In a separate pot, heat up tomato sauce, mushrooms, fresh herbs and more white wine. When the rice is toasted and al dente, pour in the tomato sauce and add grated cheese

Add in small knobs of butter to finish off the dish and remove from the pan and serve immediately whilst still hot. By Italian standards, the rice must be wet enough to swirl around the plate to be good risotto.

Now for more good eats that has been had around NYC~~~

 A burger had at the Soho Park Cafe near school on Prince and Lafayette

 Grilled shrimp on a bed of rocket leaves made by my roommate Elyse~ Yum.

 Cheese fries with pulled pork at Shake Shack on BBQ weekend~

 More Shake Shack burgers~~~ Cos they're yummy.

 Free booze.

 Tons of meat trucks were at Madison Square Park last weekend~

 Wow the crowd.

 The lines were literally round the block, and then some...

 You gotta love it when street signage is used to direct people to more BBQ.

 Oh yes! We spent some time at Nima's pad last week~ He's the only guy in our class, and a cool dude with a hot gf

 Who introduced us to the peking duck sandwich~ Hoisin sauce in a sandwich with duck is really good! I have got to do this back home whenever we have extra duck laying around~ Which is actually pretty often!

 Before we went over to his house to watch the Stanley Cup finals though, we stopped by Curries In a Hurry to grab some grub. I had the beef with naan. Eh. It was alright. For 8 bucks I expect my curry to be served on a silver platter and fed to me.

 Laura and Michelle, my fellow classmates, they had the masala dosai

Oh Now. Hello gorgeous. My new addition. The Bagel.

I have 2 good bagel shops near where I live, and omg I am soooo going to try every type of bagels they have and every kind of cream cheese filling they have. Nothing beats a good bagel and cream cheese. Man am I in trouble. A bagel is equivalent to 4-5 slices of bread~~~

 Michelle has been housesitting and there are 3 cute kitties there~

 Auntie Tricia made a visit and gave lots of scratches... Kitty (the one whose name is not known...) loves sitting on laps and asking for affection

 Here's Leo, he's a huge tabby who sheds a ton! But is such a cutie pie~

 Leo's tufts of fur left behind after each time he comes and sits on my lap!

 Here's how the shirt looks after a scratch fest with the baby

 Awww... isn't kitty just precious?

 They really do love their scratches~ Leo apparently drools when he's in heaven from the scratching

 He's so cute.

Look at that lil face.

 I am hardly ever in the company of cats, and that particular day, I was around 5!

 Here's Bill, Nima's kitty who was investigating the contents of my bag~

 Bill was having a snooze in his new cat bed and Jasper his brother, came by to pick up his favourite blue furry toy that he loves~ He just stuck his paw in Bill's bed and stuck it on to his paw to pull it out... awww... so cute! Nima said he once caught him feeding himself his kibble by poking each one with a claw and bringing it up to his mouth~ That's one classy kitty!

 Last evening we headed out to Caliente Bar and Restaurant on 33rd and 3rd for Happy Hour after class~~~ Here's Michelle (left) and Laura (right) they're room mates!

 Just had to sneak a pic of the guy sitting at the bar across from our table~ I'm sure he has tons of fun. *wink wink*

All that brings us to today~ Dinner was Penne ala Vodka with my little Sally Lunn roll :)

With that my darlings, you are all up to date with everything going on here in NYC and with moi~ Stay tuned for more breads to come!!!

Demos in school

So.... there have been 2 demos in school that I have attended in the last week that was really interesting, so just thought today I would also upload pictures from those too~

 Yours truly with the legendary Jacques Pepin

 The best way to beat egg whites

 How to debone a chicken from within its own skin

Can't wait till his new book comes out in the fall. I hope he'll come back to have another demo then! I'll be sure to get him to sign the book. I must be more prepared for Jacques Torres' demo next week! So excited!!

Meanwhile, there was also a demo on how to break down a fish for sashimi, and the 2 different ways to cut sashimi. Very Interesting! Learnt alot actually~

 Where to cut and how to clean out a fish. Here we had a seabream

 Make a slit down the middle of the bottom of the fish and first remove the guts and the blood. All this has to be removed and the insides washed clean to prevent contamination from the innards and blood onto the flesh

 Remove the head. There are 4 areas that it can be cut into and used for various different things depending on the amount of flesh is on it and the dish intended

 What a beautiful shot.

 Fillet the fish by sliding the knife against the bones

 Cut around the pin bones and remove them 

Remove the skin by cutting off a piece of the tail end of the fillet and sliding the knife between the skin and the flesh, flat against the cutting board. If you don't see a silvery sheen to the skin removed, sad to say, but you have removed too much flesh along with the skin my friend.

 Fresh wasabi root from the base of Mt. Fuji, ground on a sharkskin grater

 Don't you just hate the paste stuff? Fresh wasabi root is so much sweeter and has such a different flavour. I ate the rest of it on my plate just as it was. A 6 inch root costs about US$30 we were told~ I believe it is about $100 a pound!

 Another way to prepare the fillets for sashimi is to pour hot water on the skin side of the fish. Be sure to have a slotted tray to let the water drain out, as well as a sheet of parchment on top to keep the water from cooking the flesh of the fish.

 Immediately dunk the fish in ice water to stop any further cooking, the key is just to heat up the skin enough to ensure that it is not chewy and rubbery when consumed

 Sashimi can then be thinly sliced on a bias or straight cut down in thicker slices, depending on the texture desired

 Plated skin and skinless sashimi

Our little sample plates being plated :) a small dollop of fresh wasabi and a light brushing of good dark soy