A Chopsticks Optional Wedding

It wouldn't be a Chopsticks Optional wedding if food wasn't the focus of it all! Not too long ago, we got married on the family farm in the Hudson Valley. Not only did we have a beautiful venue but we had free reign on all aspects of the wedding. In the early stages, the challenge was finding a local caterer that could meet our wildest dreams. We've long been fans of brunch at Sweet Sue's, who else would be up to the challenge! 

First we had this crazy idea of gauchos walking around with churrasco swords but playing off my own cultural traditions, we decided to have a pig roast instead. The idea evolved into four different marinated suckling pigs to reflect our blend of cultures and favorite global flavors: an Asian 5-spice pig; American brown sugar bbq pig; Hawaiian pineapple pig; and a Cuban mojo pig because Chef is our favorite movie. 

The rest of the menu was a combination of traditional and non-traditional sides that would complement the Asian/American pigs: lettuce wraps with noodle salad :: papaya salad :: cornbread and tortillas :: quinoa tofu salad :: black bean, corn, and cilantro salad :: chilled watermelon and fruit salad with mint :: jicama cole slaw :: mac 'n cheese :: grilled chicken and shrimp skewers :: pickled fiddleheads and grilled vegetables.

The Grocery Soft Serve

It's been the summer of soft-serve and we've probably eaten more than our weight in ice cream. Now that The Grocery started making their own soft-serve, plan to gain at least 10 more pounds. With tantalizing flavors like green tea, barley & rye, and bourbon vanilla, it was too good to resist a trip to Troy. Unique flavors rotate daily; we sampled chocolate cardamom and burnt honey orange on our visit. The quality of the ice cream is leaps and bounds better than most places around here but it's the adventurous flavors and equally unique toppings that really spoke to us. Chocolate ice cream is delightful on its own but the addition of cardamom adds so much warmth and complexity to a classic flavor. As for the honey ice cream, vanilla beans are speckled throughout a mashmallow-like concoction with subtle citrus notes. It was delightful, enough to turn a chocoholic into a believer. 

Ingredients are elevated to a new level, with playful toppings like caramelized rice crispy and sbrisolona citrus cornmeal crumble, each complementing the flavors of our soft-serve without taking away from the flavor profiles. The Grocery has taken soft-serve to a sophisticated level without being too pretentious; it's ice cream after all. Summer needs to last just a bit longer so we can squeeze in a few more trips. 

Sushi Birthday Cake

While most people celebrate with a traditional birthday cake, I celebrated a milestone with a sushi cake from Sushi Tei. The big 3-0 was ushered in with a lovely layered surprise of my favorites--salmon, yellowtail, and tuna. The monstrosity is made up of layers of sushi rice, avocado, nori, and your choice of fish. Who needs frosting when you can have spicy tuna and sashimi roses? The hubby knows exactly what to get this birthday girl. 

Savory Delicatessen

This past weekend, we hit up the food truck scene in Hudson as the craving for donuts from Gracie's grew stronger by the day. But this time, we also checked out their neighboring food truck, Savory Delicatessen. The truck is committed to scratch cooking, from curing and roasting its own meat to handcrafted sodas, translating to well-made and cared for classics.

Hot Pastrami: If you're looking for a fatty, melt-in-your-mouth pastrami look no further. More often than not, deli pastrami is flavorless but Savory Delicatessen packs a punch. The meat is not just brined but expertly smoked, like it should be, adding that beloved flavor. The pastrami is beautifully sandwiched between perfectly toasted marbled rye with caramelized shallots, a smear of spicy mustard, and melty emmental cheese. All the flavors complement each other very well, making each bite as delightful as the next, especially when you pull away with a melty, cheezy bite. 

Fried Risotto Bites: These were so comforting; crispy on the outside and deliciously creamy and cheesy on the inside. The pomodoro dipping sauce is a delightfully bright tomato sauce, simple and well-made. 

The Cuban: This was a daily special made with the house-made porchetta. If you're going to make a Cuban, the pork has to be the star and this interpretation did not disappoint. Juicy roasted pork brought back fond memories of the pig roast at our wedding and each bite reminded us how much we love Cubans too! You can taste how much love and care is put into the meats at Savory and it's heaven for us carnivores.

Don't forget about the house-made sodas. You'll find unique flavors like spiced cherry with hints of clove and ginger lemon but the cream and cardamom is unforgettable. This little part of Hudson just gets tastier with every visit. With food trucks like Savory Delicatessen and Gracie's, Hudson is quickly becoming one of our favorite places to visit and eat. 

currently snacking on...

... freshly picked blueberries from Samascott Orchards.
Open for pick-your-own fruits and veggies. 

Banh Mi at Saigon Pearl

No need to travel to Montreal when the craving hits. You can finally find a banh mi in Albany with the right kind of bread. Saigon Pearl on Madison Ave. delivers a light and crisp French baguette that shatters upon first bite. The bread has drastically changed since their opening day offering and finally highlights the most important element of a banh mi. You won't find the classic fillings of cha lua bologna or liver pate, but the bbq beef and meatball versions are equally as satisfying, bringing together savory, sweet, and fresh flavors. Plus at $5.00 a sandwich, it's a steal and a much tastier alternative to that generic five dollar foot long. Add a durian milkshake if you're brave enough and you've got yourself a pretty good Vietnamese meal. 

Gracie's Food Truck

As much as we love the Capital Region food truck scene, it was refreshing to discover what the Hudson Valley is up to. On a recent trip down to Hudson, we discovered the most adorable little outdoor food court on Warren Street in Hudson. The parking lot is dotted with a handful of food carts and trucks offering global flavors from Indian to Mexican and American classics.

I previously stopped by for doughnuts at Gracie's Food Truck and had to come back with J for the doughnut burger challenge. Yup, we went there...and more.

Gracie's prides itself in producing scratch-made American classics using locally sourced ingredients. That just translates to deliciousness in our bellies. The donuts are heavenly on their own; these pillowy-soft yeast donuts are going to make you weak in the knees. Sandwich a juicy farm fresh all-beef patty in between with a couple slices of crispy bacon and cheese for good measure and you've got the makings of a gut-busting experiment that's worth all the calories. The meat is quite flavorful for such a small bite and could easily be tasty as a normal burger but why not go the extra mile with added gluttony. The extreme contrasts between the sweet vanilla-specked glazed donut, salty bacon and greasy beef worked ridiculously well. But it was the homemade donut and quality meat that made all the difference.

What's a burger without fries? While the loaded fries with bacon and cheese were a tad over salted, the saving grace was the tangy truck special sauce. Plus the fry job was on point and I certainly love hand-cut fries with the skin on. 

To complete the donut trifecta we had to round things out with an orange creamsicle donut and since we stumbled upon Pride Day, we got a rainbow donut to add to the festivities. I wish I had room for at least a dozen more treats, include a donut ice cream sandwich that we just couldn't fit it. Gracie's donuts are easily my favorite yeast donuts to date with a constant rotation of seasonal and creative flavors that are right up my alley. We got the traditional ones this time but the hibiscus berry one from a couple months ago was phenomenal. Luckily they are only a day-trip away to sample more flavors. Can't wait to come back to Gracie's and check out the rest of the Hudson food truck scene!

A Tale of Two Albany Ramen Bowls

The Capital Region is slowly catching on the ramen trend. There was the one-time Tavern Noodle pop-up, a couple of mediocre bowls from Mr Fuji Sushi and Samurai, and a soon-to-open ramen shop in the former Miss Albany/Scortino's space. In less than two days, we encountered two more ramen bowls on the local scene.

Brunch just got tastier thanks to the Breakfast Ramen Bowl at New World Bistro Bar. Savory soups just don't get enough attention as a breakfast item. To me, soups like pho and rice porridge are considered breakfast items so the idea of a ramen for breakfast wasn't too foreign. NWBB presents a veggie version with shiitake mushrooms, snap peas, carrots, bean sprouts and sweet peppers. I tend to hold back on veggie dishes, thinking they won't be as flavorful but I was wrong with this one. The broth was very well-developed and rich in flavor thanks to the shiitakes and added layer of umami from fermented black beans. A slight kick of heat kept your palate awake. The magic was in the perfectly cooked al dente noodles. The only tragedy was the lack of runny yolk in my poached eggs. I also found myself missing some meaty flavors but a side of peppered bacon did the trick. 

Sushi Tei has long been our #1 spot for sushi in the Capital Region. Along the way we've found gems like roasted yellowtail collar and udon noodle soup. Now we can add ramen to our list of favorites but so far it's only offered on Tuesdays.  Succulent slices of pork belly adorn a bowl of creamy golden meaty broth glistening with just the right amount of fat globules. A few shakes of chili oil, sesame seeds, and togarashi adds some zip. The dish was suppose to come with fermented menma bamboo shoots but the substitute of wood ear mushrooms worked just as well adding another dimension of texture. Interesting enough, the ramen noodles at Sushi Tei were thin and straight while the ones at NWBB were wavy. For some reason or another, I prefer the wavy kind and its chewiness. The egg here was also a misstep, hardboiled rather than poached. A slice of nori also would have been welcomed but the flavor of the broth more than made up for it. It'll be tough choosing between sushi and ramen, or just do yourself a favor and order both.

It's a tale of two different ramen bowls but it's nice to see Albany embracing a dish that deserves a spotlight. 

currently snacking on

...lavender honey frozen yogurt from Ayelada with swirls of local Acadia black locust honey from
Lloyd Spear Beekeeper and vanilla bean caramel sauce for good measure.

Miyake Fore St.

How could we leave Portland without enjoying some of the best sushi in town. Our experience at Miyake topped a slew of a list of delicious honeymoon eats. Last year we had a very satisfying bowl of ramen at its sister restaurant, Pai Men Miyake and couldn't wait to dive into this pick-your-own four-course dinner. 

Marinated Salmon: [Thinly sliced raw salmon with capers, mustard vinaigrette, and oba shiso leaves] This unique carpaccio-style sashimi was tangy and briny with beautiful velvety slices of salmon but the pickled plum was the crowning jewel.

Tuna 3 Ways: [sashimi, zuke, tartare] The least innovative dish of the night was this classic trio which lacked the punch and wow of others. Not that it was terrible, just not as exciting. Tai Kubuton: [Tai snapper head marinated and braised in sake, soy, dashi and ginger] Now that's a face only a mother could love. It was a bit of a Hannibal Lecter moment but it's one of the best cuts; the flesh is melt in your mouth tender. The simple fragrant sauce was just what this dish needed and nothing more. 

Local Forage Dinner

After the whirlwind of our wedding, it was nice to enjoy a nice sit down dinner at Sweet Sue's in Troy. This past weekend, J and I were lucky enough to attend Chef Josh Coletto's special Local Foraged Dinner as Chef Susan Dunckel's guests. Sweet Sue and her team catered our dream wedding meal with four different flavored pig roasts! You may know Josh from Rock N Roll Brunch at The Low Beat . This dinner was a whole new out-of-the-box experience for us, considering our only encounter with wild greens have been with ramps and fiddleheads. 

The six-course tasting menu featured local foraged ingredients with wine pairings. Wilderness educator Cait Denny was on hand to answer the five million questions we had about all the greens.

We were greeted with a glass of prosecco sweetened with honeyed angelica syrup and started the meal with this beauty:

First Course: Soft Duck Egg [Cranberry Beans, Dame's Rocket, White Pine Vinegar, Yogurt Dressing] :: Wine Pairing [Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Risling Kabinett Halbtrocken, Mosel, Germany 2012]

That soft yolk...enough said. The creamy beans were delicious but I was more drawn to the sour and bitterness of the dame's rocket, which we learned was from the mustard family.Second Course: Burdock Root Puree [Wild Thyme Aioli] :: Wine Pairing [Naked Flock Apple Cider, Hudson Valley, New York]

I have childhood nightmares of prickly burrs tangled in my hair as we played in the woods at recess but in edible root form, it lends a nice starchy texture to soup. Think potato leek soup but elevated. The aioli added a lovely tang. 

Third Course: Stinging Nettle and Ricotta Dumpling [Ostrich Fern Fiddlehead, Sauteed Wild Ramps with Slow-Roasted Ramp Bulb, Smoked Trout, Chive Blossom, White Wine Sauce] :: Wine Pairing [Clos Cibonne Tibouren Rose, Cotes du Provence, France, 2012] 

Chopsticks Optional Honeymoon: Portland, Maine

It wouldn't be a Chopsticks Optional honeymoon it we didn't stuff ourselves silly with delicious Maine eats! We took a few days for a short getaway to Portland and Kennebunkport after our wedding, where I gained all the weight I lost from suffering four days of food poisoning the week of my wedding. You read that right, what luck! Needless to say, after a brutal diet of bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast, I was ravenous! Here are a few highlights from our Portland leg:

Eventide Oyster Co: A trip to Portland wouldn't be complete without a stop by Eventide. It's our go to spot for a brown butter lobster roll but with each visit, we discover even better, innovative bites.

Bangs Island Mussel Tamago: fried mussels nestled in a creamy egg concoction, swirled with a salty umami-packed nam prik sauce and artfully sprinkled with pickled cabbage and crispy puffed rice. It was almost too pretty to eat, almost. 

Roasted Jumbo Winter Point Oysters: We love raw oysters but these roasted beauties were too tempting to pass. Crispy fried potato added a wonderful textural contrast to the briny oysters but it was the Korean BBQ sauce that elevated this one bite wonder.

Torn Maine Scallops: These little beauties were caramelized to perfection and bathed in the same brown butter elixir from their signature lobster roll but it was the sweet creamy parsnip puree that sang to us and brought all the elements together. 

Maybelle's Breakfast Egg Sandwich

It's 20 something days and counting until our wedding and I've been running back and forth from Hudson firming up plans. My stomach was rumbling after my hair appointment so I decided to treat myself to brunch. As I asked around while antique shopping in Catskill, locals were praising this new farm-to-table establishment called Maybelle's. Can't beat local advice!

The culinary compass usually points toward Hudson but don't underestimate Catskill. The sleepy stretch of Main Street may not standout as a gourmet destination but Maybelle's lays the foundation for an exciting menu worth coming to Catskill for. At first glance, I was mesmerized by the menu and its offerings: pan-seared duck sandwich, caramelized brussel sprouts with pickled okra, lamb merguez, among a bevy of tantalizing dishes. Sadly I was by myself and restrained myself to a simple breakfast sandwich accompanied by a sip of homemade lavender soda. 

As simple as a breakfast sandwich can be, the right elements can elevate this breakfast staple to a whole new level. At Maybelle's, two over easy eggs are sandwiched between the most tender and fluffy homemade buttermilk biscuit, schmeared on both sides with a generous amount of tangy goat cheese, and topped with your choice of local Catskills bacon or sausage. Add a swirl of sriracha and I was in breakfast bliss. Forget all the other frozen microwaveable breakfast sandwiches. The stars are the fresh ingredients but that goat cheese added an extra creaminess that made this little 'ole sandwich so decadent. I might very well start putting goat cheese on all my breakfast sandwiches from now on. But first I gotta bring J with me on a return visit, most likely as husband and wife the next time around!

currently snacking on...

... The Ice Cream Man's Throwdown Sundae as seen on Food Network's Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Homemade vanilla hard ice cream, warm cinnamon apple pie filling,
whipped cream with nuts and a cherry on top, in this case burried somewhere!