NYC Food Porn #2, another Get Sconed! Travel Post

Welcome to the second Spring 2009 NYC Food Porn Post!  The first one is here.  I'm specifically labelling it spring because there's always the hope I'll visit my siblings again this winter before the year is up. Actually, it's their turn to visit, hint hint!

Spread of Dim Sum featuring Amanda's hand.

My first and last sit sit down meals on this trip were at Vegetarian Dim Sum House.  I used to go here during my college years since it was a)vegetarian! and b)so close to the bus stop! but I didn't fall in love with their cheap, expansive dim sum menu until I moved to Portland, silly jess.  I went twice on my vacation last spring as well.  On day one, it was not only my first meal of the trip, but my first meal of the day after the bus from Boston.  Between my sister, her boyfriend Mike, and myself, I think three orders of the Roasted Pork buns were eaten!  It's their favorite, and of course I'm a fan.  My other favorite dim sum are the spinach dumplings and Chinese kale rice rolls, but gelatinous blocks of grey can attest, I'll try anything there.  My last meal of the trip was with my friends from the PPK, Amanda and Gory, heart! 

Treasure balls

Pineapple Chicken entree

The entrees here are on the pricey side.  Jenny and Mike wanted fruity chicken after seeing the Mango Chicken on our first visit.  This chicken is actually tofu wrapped in yuba.  It was tender and soaked up the sauce - and they ate it, but it really confused them and my sister noted how she's tried every type of fake chicken there is, and she's never had anything like this.

Classic spring rolls - classic, and spring rolly.

Steamed sesame buns.  Sweetness.  I've tried these fried, and prefer the steamed.

Steamed Spinach Dumplings

Next top on this photo tour, to Teany!  Co-founded by musician Moby (who I saw there once a few years ago!), it's a vegetarian tea house with some sandwiches and a bunch of Vegan Treats desserts.  It's where I fell into the sweet embrace of Teanychinos - my trip featured three visits, two teanychinos, two shared slices of cake, and a pot of Smoked Russian Black tea.

Earl Grey Teanychino 

Exterior

Red Velvet Cake - 

we gave my sister the flower, because you know, younger sisters have that natural right.

Carrot cake

They exist!  Here's Jenny, my sister, and Mike, looking like two cool cats in their leather jackets, waiting for the subway. They're the best.

My brother, Rick, the perpetual smirker.

Rivington Street - we hit up Economy Candy for...candy.

Little Italy 

Pommes Frites - 

I gotta say, Potato Champion! kicks their ass, as fun as a late night stop here with my crew was.  I'm not complaining, just pointing this out!  PC's fries are just tastier.  I do like Pommes' peanut sauce more, however, but that's because PC's sauce is loaded with fresh cilantro.

Frites and peanut sauce - brings me back to my semester in the Netherlands... 

We also continued our tradition of hitting up Milon, 

one of the intensely festive Indian restaurant on 1st ave.  

Daytime:

And inside the restaurant, come nightfall:

The last stop on today's recollection is Buddha Bodai in Chinatown for more fulfillment of my vegan chinese cravings.  aka - painful to look at now in the future.  I've never been during the afternoon dim sum hours, but I have cherished their entrees and appetizers.  Fried noodles smothered in sauce and sauteed, flavorful veggies?  Yes!  Vacation indulgence!!

General Tso's - 

My sister's pick.  She's had it before - and gone without me! and my brother told her, conveniently while I was in the bathroom, that this was the best General Tso's he's ever had, even with his fake meat issues.

Pan fried dumplings - again, filled with flavorful vegetables!

Buddha's Delight Pan Fried Noodles.  

What I described above.  It may not look like much, but I could eat this for days.  Buddha's also has a lunch special that's a great deal.

Okay - come back for pizza and to moan over vegan ice cream with Bazu, Panda & myself!

Review and Indian Dinner: WK Pacs

Chola Curry, Peas & Potato Sabji, Coconut Rice

When I crave Indian food, I usually go to a cheap food cart downtown.  I'm talking SW 12th and Yamhill.  There's a lot of murmur recently about the new management of the original India Chaat and the curiously opened Bombay Chaat House next door, which an old owner opened - but I'll save that for another time.

Indian food hasn't made it into my regular cooking repertoire.  I've made curry and samosas at home before but it's a special occasion thing when I do.  When the folks at Waverly Kitchens offered to send me some Indian meal spice packets that promised quick, authentic meals with the addition of a few fresh ingredients, I was intrigued and made two of the three packets they sent on Friday night - the Curry and Sabji you see above.  The coconut rice is based on the recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance.  I also received a packet for Pineapple Raita to make with soy yogurt.

TIME TIME TIME

When it comes to dinner time, I don't mind putting in an hour's worth of work into most meals, it helps me relax and focus on my own life after a day at the office, ha!   While I rarely find myself eating packaged dinners other than the few times a year I pick up Trader Joe's craptastic Soy Nuggets, I don't mind the notion of using pre-mixed quality spices in my own cooking, which this basically was.  I buy cajun and chili spices in bulk.  The WK pacs don't contain scary preservatives - what they do have is authentic spices, simple instructions and a shopping list on one side of the packet with the few vegetables you need for dinner for two.  

For example - for the Sabji I needed a bag of frozen peas, two potatoes, lemon juice and cilantro. Yeah, I skipped the cilantro because I'm a hater.  I can handle it very well mingled into salsa and Indian food, but I gleefully left it out here since it just garnishes the dish.  On Friday night I started the coconut rice in my rice cooker, dropped the first set of spices in canola oil for the curry, and within 30 minutes, all three dishes were done. 

There are two sets of spices in the one packet for each meal that I made - the top half has the spices that cook first:

After a couple minutes, you move onto the next step.  Easy.  Add garlic (and onion or onion powder) for the Curry:

White garlic from the farmer's market

A can of chickpeas and spices from the bottom of the the packet-

.....and you've got nothing left to do but simmer.  The Sabji didn't require any sauteing, just two diced, peeled potatoes and frozen peas that I've had in my freezer waiting for a day to shine. The final products were impressively flavorful for meals not only made quickly, but a type of cuisine I enjoy but don't bother to cook at home.  Two thumbs up!  I have to give the packets street cred for not ripping, or at least canvas bag cred, because I carried them around with me for a few days so I wouldn't forget to make them.  

I was curious which type of oil to use and opted for canola, and my only criticism is that I wish I had two paks of the curry, in particular!

They have starter kits available on their website here and they are all vegetarian, and can be made vegan with nondairy substitutions.  Definitely keep an eye out for these, I was really happy with my dinner.