Small Bites

Good afternoon and happy Tuesday. I’m sorry I’ve been late in posting local links this week. It’s a lot to catch up when you’re away for a week. I had a nice week of cooking and eating while I was out, though. I’ll be posting some recipes later in the week, but for now, here’s a look!

First up, a nice hearty braised short rib over polenta:

I used part of a recipe from Epicurious.com: Braised Beef Short Ribs. But I didn’t do the vegetables, just the ribs. And I made local polenta with milk and parmesan. Nice glass of red, too.

Another comforting winter supper. Roast chicken with fingerling potatoes and romaine lettuce salad:

Then one evening, we went out to the Hudson House in Nyack and had chef Christopher Dunn’s killer cassoulet:

Another evening, we made the deep dish pizza from America’s Test Kitchen:

The dough only takes about half an hour to rise, and you press it into a cake pan. Super good.

And Saturday evening, we went fancy with a paella of sorts:

It’s my take on Aldea chef George Mendes’ Arroz de Pato, a rice-duck dish made with olives and apricots. I combined two recipes: one from the Village Voice blog, Fork in the Road, and the other from Food & Wine magazine. (Here’s my post with a few pics from my visit to Aldea last winter.) I decided to up the ante with the dish and garnish it with some candied olives that I made (see them in the center?). Unfortunately, I think that threw the balance of the dish off. But I would like to try again. There are some very good flavors there.

For dessert, we had pastel de vasco from Suzanne Goin’s Sunday Suppers at Lucques coookbook.

I adore that book, and this dessert has been a go-to of mine for several years. It’s bascially a very buttery pound cake with blackberry compote baked in the center. You can toast the slices in a pan with butter and it’s even better!

We ended the week at the Olde Village Inne, watching the Jets game (yay for that win!). I had to get the wings. I’m helpless around them:

And that was a recap of my week of eating! I’ll share some recipes later on in the week.

For now, here’s a look at what people have been talking about:

MH thinks Arrosto in Port Chester is “worth it.” (NYT)
Meet the chef: Lori Dunne at Jimmy’s on Main in Nanuet. (P)
Meet the chef: Rick Iseman at Clarksville Inn in West Nyack. (P)
Meet the chef: Jospeh Mortelliti of On the Way Cafe in Rye. (P)
Meet the Chef: Belal Hossain of Swagat Halal Indian Restaurant in Tarrytown. (P)
Looking for a fancy lunch in Westchester. (CH)
Meyer lemons for sale in New Rochelle. (CH)
Where to get red velvet cake in Westchester? (CH)
Stephen Mancini of Restaurant North in Armonk writes a love letter to Westchester. (EDP)
Julia likes the lamb dish at Bedford Post. (EDP)
Dinner at Juniper will be no longer. (EDP)