Fatty Crab

8pm plays (and movies for that matter) are always problematic for me. Eating before feels so early, and waiting till after is painfully late. For someone who lives for her three meals a day, skipping dinner entirely is out of the question. And so I found myself heading over to meet Daniel, April and Josh at Fatty Crab, a Malaysian restaurant near my office, at exactly 6pm on the dot last night, exactly two hours before the start of our friend Joe's play in the West Village.

Fatty Crab was opened in the end of 2005 by Zac Pelaccio, of the former Chickenbone Cafe in Williamsburg (which I regrettably never had a chance to visit) and 5 Ninth, a delightful restaurant where I once had the most amazing short ribs with a blueberry sauce and panzanella salad.

When I arrived at the restaurant, April and Daniel were the only people there, though considering its location in between the West Village and ever so trendy Meatpacking District, we knew it wouldn't be quiet for long. Josh was stuck uptown and since time was of the essence, our waiter, after a little coaxing, agreed to seat us.

Fatty Crab's menu is divided into snacks, salads, noodles/soups/rice, Fatty's specialties, vegetables and rice bowls, all of which are served family style and perfect for sharing. After some deliberating and a little peer pressure from our waiter to order a few extra dishes, we decided on the Fatty Tea Sandwiches and Heritage Foods Slow Cooked Pork Ribs from the snacks category, a crab salad with candied kumquats and shrimp crackers (a special), Lo Si Fun from the noodle section, the duck and and Skate Panggang (grilled on a banana leaf, and served with sambal udang kering, a dried shrimp condiment)from Fatty's specialties, a side of coconut rice and a Hitachino White from the Fatty Beer category.

The tea sandwiches, a dainty introduction to an overall messy, finger-lickin' meal, were the first to fly out from the shoebox of a kitchen. Each sandwich contained a thin layer of rich, tender pork belly nestled between two slices of the softest, crustless white bread, and a gentle swipe of mayo that didn't sneak out over the edges. Effortless and incredibly comforting, I tried to savor each bite as long as possible, since when sharing one order with three other people, you only get a few --note to self to order two next time.

Next we set to work on our pieces of fatty duck which required a fair bit of gnawing. The skin was crunchy and slightly sweet, though I was disappointed by the fairly bland meat it was hiding. Luckily, the Heritage Foods pork ribs came next and I'm happy to report that those were sticky, sweet, and perfectly tender.

The last dishes to arrive were the skate, crab salad and Lo Si Fun noodles. The skate's spicy sambal took some getting used to (it had a fairly pungent aftertaste), but I found that combining it with spoonfuls of coconut rice helped balance out the flavors. The crab salad, which we spooned on top of crunchy shrimp crackers, served as a wonderful palate cleanser which I ate in between bites of the Lo Si Fun -- thick, earthworm shaped noodles slick with a salty sauce of shitakes and Chinese sausage.



Since I'd ended almost every night this week with something sweet, I didn't plan on having any dessert. Then the waiter arrived with our check and plate full of golden moshi rice cakes. Mochi, which I had only tried one other time at Rickshaw Dumpling (where it's injected with a rich chocolate sauce and rolled in sesame seeds), is glutinous rice that's pounded into a paste and then molded into a specific shape. Its texture is quite unusual, and I find the chewy, gumminess of it incredibly soothing and fun to eat. These particular cakes had a sweet, buttery flavor, and as our waiter so eloquently proclaimed, I'd just want to lie in a cloud of them. We quickly devoured the entire plate, though since we'd forgotten to save one for Josh, we convinced our waiter to give us two more -- one for him, and a second for me.

Josh arrived just as we were playing the bill, so we grabbed the to-go plate we'd been saving for him, then dashed out to his car right before a summer storm erupted, soaking the sticky city streets. Our drive to the theater was a quick one, leaving Josh a few minutes to devour a lovely plate of leftovers from the comfort of his car. It might not have been as cozy as Fatty Crab, but when the food is this good, it can be enjoyed practically anywhere.

Fatty Crab
643 Hudson St., nr. Horatio St.
212-352-3590

Brooklyn Girls Night: Ici

Food, good conversation and Brooklyn. These are without a doubt three of my favorite things. And now, thanks to Brooklyn Girls Night, a culinary club of sorts my friend Judith and I created with some fellow food-obsessed friends, I can enjoy them all at the same time.

For our first outing this past spring, we celebrated our common love for Italian food at Tempo in Park Slope, followed a month later by a gluttonous meal (where we ordered the entire menu) at Superfine in Dumbo. Yesterday, at our third gathering, we ventured to Fort Greene, a charming neighborhood with brownstone-lined blocks and a bustling restaurant row. It was there that we discovered Ici, a cozy spot whose menu boasted fresh, local and seasonal foods (three more of my favorite things).

Unfortunately, our group which usually includes five Brooklyn regulars, and a few Manhattanites, was only three strong for this particular outing. Rather than try to find a different time that would work for the bunch of overbooked twentysomethings that we are, Judith, Lucy and I shared a mellower, yet just as lovely Brooklyn Girls Night together.

I'd heard great things about Ici over the years, so I wasn't worried when I walked into the restaurant and saw just one diner finishing up his dessert in a corner nook. I quickly learned that all the action was in the serene backyard garden, and luckily there was one table left.

We promptly put in an order for some glasses of white wine, then studied the menu before selecting two appetizers -- Montauk squid and an arugula salad with grana padano, fennel and button mushrooms -- to start. Both were big hits, but the Montauk squid won me over. I loved its combination of spicy paprika oil and chopped cilantro. Each bite delivered a nice burst of heat, quickly cooled off by one of my all-time favorite herbs.

For entrees, instinct told me to go with the sauteed wild bass with a samba salsa, but since Lucy and Judith had both ordered that, I chose the bluefish instead. When I saw the wild bass, swathed in a sunny sauce of softly cooked summer fruits, I knew I should have gone with my gut. Light yet meaty and sweetened by the salsa's slices of peach and mango, it was the perfect dish for this particularly sticky evening.

My pan fried bluefish came buried under a messy mound of watercress. Once I ate my way through some of the tangled greens, I was happy to discover a crispy filet, livened up by a tangy pico de gallo. While it was almost as good as the wild bass, it would have been much easier to eat (not to mention more pleasing to the eye) had it come nestled on top of the watercress, not hidden underneath. A bigger scoop of pico de gallo would have been good too.

Despite being fairly full from our first two courses, we still managed to save some room for dessert. We easily agreed on the pound cake, something I've been craving ever since sampling one with a rhubarb compote at last month's outing to Superfine, and after hearing the table next to us rejoice over a slice of date cake (I was surprised too), we ordered one of those as well.

This time, I'm glad I didn't listen to my instinct since the date cake, moist with a light crumb and decorated with a delicious drizzle of sticky toffee sauce, was scrumptious. As for the pound cake, it's hard to go wrong with anything that consists mainly of butter, sugar, flour and eggs, so it hit the spot as well. I enjoyed taking back and forth bites of each, and found that the pound cake's nice sprinkling of summer berries tasted especially good when paired with a swipe of sweet toffee sauce.

Lingering over another successful Brooklyn Girls Night in Ici's dimly lit garden, we talked about Judith's upcoming nuptials, what we each believed makes a marriage work, the ever growing price of real estate in our beloved borough, my obsession with all things sweet and why sherry (served at Ici with a hunk of high-quality chocolate) reminded us of our grandmothers. I felt proud of Brooklyn and its fabulous taste in food, but more importantly, I felt lucky. To live in a place full of good food is one thing. To have incredible people to share it with is even better.

Ici
246 Dekalkb Avenue
718-789-2778

Coffee cupping

If you're a coffee lover (or someone who is trying to learn to love coffee) and you plan on being in Portland, Oregon sometime soon, be sure to stop by The Annex for a lesson in cupping. I was lucky enough to experience one myself during a recent shoot for Dave Does, Food Network's new broadband show devoted to cool culinary trends (launching August 14 on foodnetwork.com).

Used by coffee experts to evaluate the different characteristics of particular beans, coffee cupping might seem scientific and a little intimidating to some. But at The Annex, connoisseurs and those who are clueless coexist. Together they sniff, swirl and slurp cups of freshly brewed coffee, then assign an array of adjectives to describe the fragrance, acidity, body, flavor, and finish.

It makes for a very fun, albeit caffeinated afternoon, not to mention that it's entirely free.

The Annex
3352 SE Belmont Street
Portland, OR
503-467-4123

A taste of Mexico

Summer weather has finally made it to New York, so we decided to celebrate its arrival on Saturday night with an impromptu dinner party in our backyard. We'd had plans to eat at La Esquina in Manhattan with a group of our friends, but after having no luck with a reservation, I decided the next best thing would be to invite everyone over to our place for a homemade Mexican meal prepared by yours truly (with Margherita serving as sous chef).

Normally when hosting a dinner party, I hit the streets with my trusty wheely cart, picking up all the necessary ingredients at my favorite local food shops: Los Paisanos on Smith St. for meat, followed by Smith & Vine for some wine, Fish Tales on Court St. for seafood, the local produce stand on Atlantic Avenue and Clinton St. for fruits and veggies and Sahadis for nuts, olives and other goodies. It's one of my many Brooklyn rituals, but since this particular dinner was thrown together at the last minute, Daniel and I drove Sunny (our rockin' Plymouth 1993 Sundance) to the new Fairway in Red Hook to do all our shopping in one shot. It felt so suburban, but to be honest, I kind of liked the change of pace.

Margherita and Dante arrived at noon, just in time for the start of the US vs. Italy World Cup match. At halftime, Marg and I set to work washing the salad, shredding the cheese, and chopping the array of colorful veggies spread out on my dining table. We even took a quick break to find out what exactly jicama is: "a large, bulbous root vegetable with a thin brown skin, white crunchy flesh, and a sweet, nutty flavor that is good both raw and cooked" for those of you who are wondering. Once we were done with the pre-prep, I gave Marg a quick tutorial on how to use my citrus juicer (the food-related wedding present that Daniel and I use the most -- thanks Olivia!), so she could juice an absurd amount of limes for our salad dressing and homemade margaritas, and then I got started on a tres leches cake.

Around 7pm all of our friends had arrived and were nagging us about how they could help -- a question I don't handle well when trying to execute a fairly ambitious meal in the world's smallest kitchen. Since my apartment became the proud recipient of a portable air conditioner the day AFTER this particular soiree, she and I were sweaty, grumpy, and still a few hours away from being finished. I quickly mixed up a pitcher of the most delicious pink grapefruit margaritas and lured everyone outside to our serene backyard (where the hydrangeas are in full bloom!) so she and I could continue slaving away in peace. I'm not sure if we needed quite as much food as we prepared, or if it had to be so elaborate, but it felt extrememly rewarding to finally sit down, around 9pm, surrounded by wonderful friends and an equally delicious homemade meal. Being able to eat beneath the Brooklyn sky made it that much better.

Below is the full menu as well as some notes on what worked, what didn't, and how I might have tweaked the recipes. I'd make everything (except maybe the warm queso dip) again but next time, I'll get started a few days earlier.


Pink Grapefruit Margarita
From InStyle
1 lime, cut into wedges
Kosher salt
2 1/2 cups tequila
1 1/4 cups orange-flavored liquer, such as Cointreau or Triple Sec
1 1/4 cups ruby red grapfruit juice
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
Pink grapefruit wedges or lime wheels for garnish

1. Rub rims of the 10 margarita or other stemmed glasses with the lime wedges then dip in salt. 2. In a large, ice-filled pitcher, stir together tequila, orange flavored-liquer and juices. Pour into prepared glasses, and garnish with pink grapefruit wedges or lime wheels.

Note: I opted for 100% natural pomegranate juice (not from concentrate, no sugar added) from Elite Naturel. Since I knew I'd be busy squeezing a ton of fresh limes, I bought Tropicana ruby red grapefruit juice, which worked just fine, but next time I make these, I'll definitely try squeezing my own. The whole drink was delicious without being too tart or sweet. They go down easy though, so drink slowly, if at all possible.

Warm Queso Dip
From InStyle
(Serves 10)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb. sliced white mushrooms
2 roasted poblano chiles, seeded and cut into strips
1 lb. shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Heat oven to 350 F. 2. Heat olve oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. 3. Add mushrooms; saute until softened, about 8 min. Combine mushrooms, chiles and cheese in an 11"x7" baking dish. 4. Bake for 5-7 min., or until cheese has melted. Serve with tortilla chips.

Note: This was probably my least favorite part of the whole meal just because it's a very heavy start to an already filling meal. Rather than toss all the ingredients together, I sprinkled the cheese on top of the mushrooms and peppers which resulted in one big, congealed lump of cheesy goodness. My advice would be to toss everything together in order to allow the cheese, mushrooms and peppers to fully mingle together. The final result is pretty similar to nachos with the chips just being on the side. If you're strapped for time, this would be the one part of the menu I'd scrap.

Guacamole
Adapted from InStyle
(Serves 10)
4 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
3 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp chopped mint
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a medicum bowl, mash 2 avocados and coarsely chop the remaining two. 2. Combine avocados with remaining ingredients. Serve with tortilla chips.

Note: No matter how many guacamole recipes I make, I always have to make some minor adjustments in order to get it just right. For this one, I added a little extra lime juice, and a tablespoon of fresh salsa just to liven it up a bit. But overall, this recipe was delicious and the addition of scallions and mint were an interesting twist.

Jicama and Watercresss Salad with Lime-Cilantro Dressing
From InStyle
(Serves 10)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tbsp lime zest
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1 shallot, chopped
3/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
1 jicama, peeled, cut into strips
1 large bunch watercress, trimmed

1. Whisk together cilantro, lime zest, lime juice and shallot in medium bowl. 2. Gradually whisk in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 3. Place salad ingredients in bowl. Toss with desired amount of dressing.

Note: This was a huge hit, but I find that it's never necessary to make so much salad since people never eat too much of it. I brought some to work on Monday and dressed it with a balasamic vinaigrette that worked just as well as the lime-cilantro dressing.

Grilled Red Chile Steak Fajitas
From InStyle
(Serves 10)
2 1/2 lb. flank steak
Salt and pepper
4 tbsp. olive oil, divided
3 red, yellow and/or orange peppers, seeded and sliced
2 onions sliced thin
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 large chipotle in adobo sauce, minced
2 tsp chile powder
Flour tortillas, warmed

1 Heat broiler. 2. Season beef with salt and pepper; rub with 1 tbsp olive oil. Place on rack in broiler pan. 3. Broil 8-12 min., turning once or until cooked to desired degree of doneness. Let sit 10 min. before slicing. 4. In large skillet heat remaining olive oil over medium-high heat. 5. Add peppers and onions to skillet; cook 4-5 min. 6. Add garlic, chipotle in adobo, chile powder and 1/2 cup water. Continue cooking until vegetables are softened. 7. Season with salt to taste. Serve with warm tortillas.

Note: Since we're always looking for any excuse to fire up the grill, we decided to skip the broiler and grill the flank steaks instead. They were delicious!

Chipotle Shrimp Fajitas
From InStyle
(Serves 10)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 oz.) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
2 chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped
2 tbsp adobo sauce
2 lb. large shrimp, peeled, deveined and cut into 1/2" pieces
Salt to taste
Corn tortillas, warmed

1. Heat vegetable oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. 2. Add garlic and cook 1 min. 3. Reduce heat to medium low; stir in tomatoes, chipotles and sauce. Simmer covered for 3 min. 4. Add shrimp and simmer until shrimp are cooked through, about 4 min. 5. Season with salt to taste. Serve with warmed corn tortillas.

Note: I had never cooked with chipotles in adobo sauce before, which is why I probably went a little overboard in my addition of them. It would have been best to ask my guests how hot they like their food. If you're making this for a crowd that likes it mild, only use 1 chipotle since they pack a punch. If you're like me and can handle some heat, throw both in. Be sure to use corn tortillas which work better with the shrimp than a traditional flour tortilla.

Tres Leches Cake
From InStyle
(Serves 10)
6 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar, divided
6 egg yolks
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened, condensed milk
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 1/2 tsp vanilla, divided
2 tbsp confectioners' sugar

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 9" spring form pan. 2. In medium bowl beat egg whites with half the sugar until stiff peaks form. 3. In a large bowl, beat together remaining sugar and egg yolks until thick and pale yellow in color. 4. Alternately fold egg whites and flour into egg yolks. Pour batter into prepared pan. 5. Bake in heated oven for 28-32 min. or until a pick insertd in the center comes out clean. Let cake sit in pan on wire rack for 10 min. 6. In medium bowl combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, 1 cup heavy cream and 1 tsp vanilla. 7. With wooden skewer poke holes in top of cake 1" apart. Pour milk mixture over top of cake. 8. Let sit 30 min. for cake to absorb the milk. Remove cake from pan. Cool completely before frosting. 9. In medium bowl, beat together remaining heavy cream, remaining 1/2 tsp anilla and confectioners' sugar until stiff peaks form. 10. Spread over top and sides of cake. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

Note: The true star of the evening. I'd never made one before and was delighted to see how easy it is. Unfortunately, I put the finishing touches on this after a few pink grapefruit margaritas and missed the note about refrigerating for 1 hour before serving. None of the guests seemed to notice, though Daniel brought the leftovers to work on Monday (after it refrigerated overnight) and said it was the perfect temperature by that point. Apparently, it mellowed out some of the sweetness, which probably explains why his co-workers were able to devour it first thing in the morning.

Let me introduce myself

Up until a few weeks ago, I didn't know much about blogs, nor did I ever think I'd want one of my own. The name itself was never too appetizing. Then my friend Emily sent me a link to Chocolate & Zucchini. I couldn't have asked for a more delicious introduction.

Not only does Chocolate & Zucchini focus on two of my favorite things (sweets and healthy foods), it's also about Paris, the place that I called home for 8 months, exactly 8 years ago. It was there that my own passion for good food truly blossomed.

For as long as I can remember, I've always had an incredibly hefty appetite, one that didn't seem to match my somewhat smaller frame. In college, I gained some of the freshman 15, but it wasn't until the summer before I left for Paris that my so-called fast metabolism just couldn't keep up with me.

I was living in a house on Martha's Vineyard with some college friends. My days were spent languishing in a lifeguard chair and my nights were devoted to devouring fatty foods and guzzling a whole lotta beer. Believing that I would always be able to eat exactly what I wanted, I did just that. Scoops of peanut butter cup ice cream from Mad Martha's as a post-work treat, saucer-sized bowls of fettucine at Among the Flowers for dinner, free chocolate chip pancakes at a local church on Saturday nights (random, I know, but I'm a sucker for free food), handful after handful of chocolate covered pretzels while grocery shopping, half a box of sugary cereal every morning before work. I ate mostly carbs and sugar, with an apple thrown in for good measure every now and then.

When I got home in August, I couldn't understand why my clothes didn't fit. I was officially chubby for the first time in my life and didn't like it. Not to mention that I was leaving for Paris in four months and could only imagine what all that calorie-laden French food would do to me.

And so, I'm embarrassed to admit, I went on a "diet" if you can even call it that. Let us not forget that I was your typical clueless college female when it came to eating: I was afraid of all the right foods for all the wrong reasons. Rather than replace my beer and fro yo with fruits and vegetables, I loaded up on lots of fat-free salad dressings, cereals, yogurts and cookies, somehow convincing myself that all this stuff was healthy, because it was fat-free and fat as I learned over the summer was baaaaad.

As my trip to Paris grew closer, I knew I had to continue leading a boring, fat-free loving life or they'd have to roll me off the plane at the end of the semester. Pathetic, I know, but considering my lack of knowledge about food, this ignorance is slightly forgivable.

When I arrived in Paris, my host family welcomed me into their home with a lavish lunch: red wine, fresh baguette, pate, a platter piled high with lamb, a full cheese course, AND DESSERT. What gluttons, I thought! Hadn't they ever heard of a sandwich? It was only 12pm for chrissake.

I had never been a big meat eater, and now with all my new food fears, I decided it'd be best to tell Mme Collantier that I didn't eat it at all. Better to nip that one in the bud than be forced to eat meat cooked extra rare, if even cooked at all. She was not pleased.

On weekends, my new French family gathered around their dining room table for both lunch AND dinner, a complete anomaly to me. At Lafayette, my midday meal consisted of an everything bagel with half a tub of low-fat veggie cream cheese scarfed down on the couch in my dorm room. Never these multi-course affairs that sometimes lasted for hours. Didn't their four children, who were all in their 20s like me, have places to go and people to see? These neverending meals soon became a major source of frustration and anxiety for all of us. They were upset when I didn't show up for them, and I was annoyed when they insisted on inviting me.

To accommodate my sudden stint as a vegetarian, Mme Collantier whipped up a variety of meatless meals (including some of the best quiche I have ever eaten). But it was her insistence on proclaiming: "J'ai fait ca parce que Lia n'aime pas le viande" (I made that because Lia doesn't like meat) every single night that eventually forced me to take a walk on the wild side of eating and never look back --- HALLEFREAKINLUJAH.

It didn't happen overnight, but I'd try a bite of something new here, order something different there, and before long, I was slurping up mussels steamed in white wine and garlic at brasseries, slathering rich chunks of pate on doughy baguette, dunking a buttery pain au chocolat into a big bowl of cafe au lait, scooping up the last meaty bites of a hearty pasta bolognese, sampling all sorts of stinky cheeses, and ending most meals with a thick WHOLE milk yogurt sweetened with just a swirl of honey. Goodbye processed, nutritionless food, hello gastronomic heaven!

In order to make up for lost time, I spent the next seven months eating my way throughout all of France and the rest of Europe. And while even in my third year after college I was still paying off everything from that chicken souvlaki in Mykonos to antipasti served on colorful ceramic bowls at Borgo Antico in Florence, it was worth every single penny.

Not to mention that I didn't gain a pound. I felt better than ever. No longer was I craving a whole box of fat-free cookies when just one scoop of creamy straciatella gelato would do the trick. While the foods I began eating regularly did include fat, and sometimes a lot of it, they were not laden with chemicals and all the other crap that we poison ours with. Plus, I was eating them in moderation which left me completely satisfied and never searching for something else every time I finished a meal (except maybe those delicious Veloute yogurts that I bought in bulk at my local supermarche).

I'll never forget when I tried to call my Mom one day from my friend's apartment. It was around noon on a Saturday and she wasn't home. This being the age before cell phones, I wasn't sure where she could be and pondered the possibilities aloud. My friend's 14-year old host brother Alexi turned to me and said: "Ehh, maybe she went out to buy zum bread?" The funny thing is that he was dead serious. His mere really did go out to buy a fresh baguette, every single day. So to him -- voila!-- that's where my mom just had to be.

When I returned back to Lafayette for my senior year, I started to experiment more in the kitchen, often whipping up elaborate breakfasts and multi-course meals for my roommates and neighbors (including my future husband, Daniel). Gathering around a table to laugh, drink wine and eat good food just because, reminded me of Paris and my time with the Collantiers. Nothing made me happier than eating and eating well.

So here I am, ready to try my hand at this thing called blogging. There are many more layers to my life as a foodie, but this is my first post after all. We have plenty of time to get to the rest, but what's a blog without a little back story any way?

What else will you find on future posts you ask? A list of my favorite restaurants in New York, Rio de Janeiro and beyond (so stop sending me emails for them -- you know who you are -- and come here instead), stories about memorable dining experiences, This Little Piglet moments (such as Tuesday night when I convinced Daniel that ordering three desserts after a two-course dinner was completely acceptable), funny food discoveries, recipes I've tried, food-focused trips I've taken or are planning to take (we're heading to the Pacific Northwest next week and there will be lots of eating!) and much, much more. So please, do come back.