Restaurant review: Tartine

Last night, Brian and I decided to have a date night. How exciting! He chose a small French restaurant in the village called 'Tartine' (253 West 11th Street). While the average check is small, so is the restaurant. With only 10-ish tables in the entire restaurant, you'd think I'd have some leg room... not so much. The tables are so crammed that us tall folk must fold our legs up just to sit. However small the restaurant, the flavor of the food is oppositely large.

I ordered escargot as my appetizer and sauteed chicken for my main course. The snails were excellent in the clarified butter, though I would have preferred to have true French snails, in which the snails are essentially drowned and cooked in butter, while allowing the customer to remove the snail from the shell themselves. The chicken, served with a spinach salad, was tasty and properly cooked, though the chicken could have been cooked a little less, and served with less sauce made of chicken stock. The spinach salad was adequate, but hardly a salad as the spinach was simply piled on one half of my plate.

Overall, the experience is nice. A small, quaint restaurant with all of 2 servers. You're almost forced to make friends with your dining neighbors, talk about the wine they brought (as this is a BYOB restaurant), or share thoughts on the dish your neighbor is eying on your table. Out of 5 stars, Tartine gets 3 from me for tight spaces, only partially correct French food with true French titles (it's hard to stomach something French-named when it's not true French food), but excellent and quick service.

Overall, out of 5 stars, this restaurant earns 3 from me.

Stuffed Artichoke side dish

 So you're having friends over for a dinner party. Everyone is expecting your usual dishes... pasta, chicken, green beans, rice... sound familiar? Well go ahead and make your usual meal, but how about sprucing it up a little?

What you'll need:
- 1 artichoke per person (the whole choke!)
- Panko bread crumbs (or any PLAIN bread crumb- NO SEASONED CRUMB PACKETS! That's cheating :-P)
- 4 whole lemons
- Fresh thyme
- Fresh flat leaf parsley
- Gorgonzola cheese (about 2oz per choke)
- S&P
- 1tbs heavy cream
- 1-2 cloves minced garlic
- Olive oil

What to do:

In a very large pot, fill 3/4 with water and salt. While water is boiling, trim the chokes. Cut off stem as close to base as possible, so choke can stand level on a plate; trim any pointy leaves left on choke with kitchen utility scissors. . Cut approximately 1 inch off the top, so the heart of the choke is exposed. Cut lemons in half. Add chokes to boiling water, squeeze lemon into water and add leftover lemon rinds to water. Allow to boil approximately 25 minutes, or until softened (I suggest between 25-30 minutes).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In the meantime, add Gorgonzola cheese, cream, 1tbs finely chopped thyme, garlic, a pinch of Kosher salt and black pepper. Mix together in a kitchen bowl and place in fridge until you're ready for the next step! In a separate bowl, gently mix 1/4c panko with 1tbs roughly chopped parsley, a pinch of finely chopped thyme, and a small pinch of both salt and pepper. For an extra kick, try adding just a little chili pepper to the bread crumbs.

Once chokes are done, remove from water and allow to cool. I suggest turning them upside down to make sure all the water gets out. Once these are cooled off, take a small spoon and remove the inner choke heart (usually a pinkish area). Don't remove too much, though! Fill empty cavity with cheese mixture, generously sprinkle with panko, lightly drizzle with OO, place on a sheet tray and place in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven after 25 minutes, or when panko is nice and golden.

That's it! It's a gorgeous little side dish, and something that will certainly impress your friends. For those who want something a little more substantial out of this side dish, keep the choke hearts you removed, roughly chop, and add to the cheese mixture with a couple teaspoons of breadcrumb.

Chef William's favorite rice pilaf

Those who know me are aware that the accompanying starch for my signature dish is lemon-scented rice pilaf. It's light, aromatic and refreshing. Recently I caved in and added chopped thyme... BIG WINNER! So here is my recipe for my rice pilaf.

What you'll need:

- 1 cup white jasmine rice (basmati rice is ok too; brown rice is a different recipe)
- 1 1/2 cup warmed chicken stock (put in sauce pot and warm... DO NOT BOIL!)
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1/4 shallot
- 1 lemon
- 2-3 large sprigs fresh thyme
- olive oil
- S&P

Lets get your mise en place out of the way. Mince your 1/4 shallot and place to the side. Zest your lemon and mince lemon zest and reserve lemon juice. Take thyme leaves off sprig and chop leaves so the thyme is chopped, but not dust.

In a medium sauce pan, add 3-4tbs olive oil. Heat oil and add shallots. Cook shallots until they just barely get golden brown. Add rice immediately and stir cover the rice in pan oil/shallots. Add chicken stock and water, lemon zest, lemon juice, and thyme. Stir once or twice, and bring to a boil. Once rice begins to boil, lower stove top to medium-low heat and cover. Let cook for approximately 12-13 minutes, or until all of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, stir once and take in the essence of lemon and thyme... Mmmm yummy! Taste and add S&P TT (salt & pepper to taste). I suggest a pinch or two of kosher salt and 3 pinches ground black pepper. Stir twice and serve hot! If the rice burns, don't worry! It takes 15 minutes total to make, so make another batch! :)

Cooked meat needs to be like a hockey puck, right? WRONG!

Have you ever had a steak that was SO over cooked you thought you could play hockey with it? That's the way meat should be cooked, right? Absolutely no red or pink, right? Because the red means there's blood still in there... you know, that red juice? Wrong, wrong, WRONG!

First of all, the red liquid that streams out of a properly cooked piece of beef is not blood. In fact, it is called myoglobin. Myoglobin is a protein found in almost every living being. It makes meat turn that beautiful red color, which is attributed to the iron and oxygen levels found within the myoglobin protein. Now that we know the red liquid is not blood, lets turn to how meat, specifically beef, should be cooked.

I was once of the school of thought that beef had to be at least medium-well in order for it to be edible. It wasn't until culinary school that I learned beef should be consumed medium-rare. I know, that sounds gross to those who don't know how to eat beef properly. But I assure you... if you want to know the true taste and flavor of a piece of beef, try it. For some, it's a textural thing. I understand that. If you are one who eats your steak medium well, try medium sometime! After your mouth and palate awaken from this new, delicious way to eat meat, take one step further by ordering medium rare. Even meats like pork and chicken can be eaten a little "underdone". I have not been eating my meats just a little "underdone" for 3 years now, and have never gotten food poisoning or a food-borne illness. Take a chance, let meat show you what you're missing out! And if you end up ordering the way I'm telling you, and you don't like it, you can always send it back and have it cooked a little longer. You can always cook something a little more, but you can never un-cook something. Keep that in mind :)

Treating vegetables right- how to blanch and shock

A common misunderstanding when cooking vegetables is that they have to be droopy and soft in order for them to be "properly" cooked, or that broccoli, for instance, either has to be boiled or steamed for several minutes before it is deemed cooked. WRONG! Let me teach you how to properly cook most vegetables, like broccoli, green beans, peas, carrots, etc.

First, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Next, get a large bowl and fill 1/2 with ice and 1/2 with water. Get your vegetables all ready to go into the boiling water by either frenching the green beans, cutting the broccoli into florets, julienne your carrots, etc. Drop your vegetables (please, only like-vegetables together; broccoli with broccoli, not broccoli with carrots... catch my drift?) into the salted, boiling water for about 1 minute, until green vegetables turn a more beautiful green, carrots become more orange, etc. The vegetable should still be al dente, or have that bite/resistance. Immediately remove the vegetables from the boiling water and place in the ice water bath until they are cool to the touch.

What you have just done is called blanching and shocking. You blanched the veggies in the boiling water, and then shocked them in the ice water. Your vegetables are now ready to eat as-is, or you can further cook them by sauteeing in olive oil with maybe garlic or shallots and S&P :) You're now one step closer to becoming a better home cook!

My first blog

Greetings friends!

Tonight, I post my first blog here! My intentions for this blog are to help YOU become a better cook. With my instructions, knowledge, and experience (though I've little experience compared to celebrity chefs), I vow to assist you in becoming a better home cook and to wow your friends at the next dinner party you throw.

My first recipe is a simple one, one which I learned in school from a chef I came to understand and respect over time.

What you will need are the following:

- One skinless, boneless chicken breast per person you are cooking for
- 2 cloves of minced garlic per person (3 cloves per person if you want a more garlic-flavored sauce)
- A pint of heavy cream/whipping cream per 4 people (1/2 pint for 2 people, 1/4 pint for 1 person, one quart for 8, etc)
- Olive oil (NOT EXTRA VIRGIN)
- White wine (sav. blanc is wonderful, or any white cooking wine will do)
- Kosher salt and ground white pepper (though ground black pepper is fine as well)


1.) Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

2.) Lightly season the chicken with salt and pepper. Rub the salt and pepper into the chicken as if you were massaging it.

3.) Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to a saute pan and heat on high.

4.) Add chicken breast to pan once hot and saute until golden brown on both sides.

5.) Place chicken on baking sheet and place in heated oven for approximately 15 minutes, or until chicken reaches 135 degrees and/or until chicken is fairly firm when pressed upon.

6.) While chicken is in the oven, and using the pan you sauteed the chicken in, add minced garlic until in browns (careful not to burn it!)

7.) Once garlic is browned, add 1/4 cup white wine to deglaze pan. Cook until au sec (almost dry)(cook until there is very little liquid left)

8.) add enough cream to cover the garlic. Let sit over medium heat, stirring sparsely, until cream forms thick bubbles. At this point, you may take off heat, or stir in one 1oz tab of butter to thicken and enrich the sauce. Season sauce with pinch of salt and pepper

9.) Once chicken is cooked, place on plate and drizzle sauce over end portion of the breast (the smaller side). Garnish with parsley sprig if so desired.

This dish is wonderful with shallot sauteed green beans or garlic sauteed broccoli florets and lemon scented rice pilaf :)

Bon appetit!