Involtini di Prosciutto e Provolone al Forno

Reverse engineering is one of those skills that some people are just born with . . .

These people can taste something at a restaurant, immediately identify key ingredients, and then recreate a pretty good mock-up at home. If I could do that, we wouldn't be eating out nearly as much.

Ha ha, in fact, Bryan once said to me, "if you could cook like Jody Adams, I'd be happy to eat at home everyday."

Alas, I am far far away from being anywhere close to having the cooking savviness that many of our local chefs possess. However, once in a blue moon, I do succeed in recreating some easy dishes inspired by local restaurants.

Here's a delicious yet über simple appetizer dish we made the other day. It's inspired by one of Bryan's favorite appetizers from Monica's (both the Trattoria and the Vinoteca) in the North End. It's funny, if you look at both posts, you'll notice Bryan ordered it both times - he likes it that much.

Frankly, we didn't do a whole lot to "reverse engineer" this dish. We gathered clues from the name of the dish. On the menu, this appetizer is called "Involtini di Prosciutto e Provolone al Forno", which translates to baked prosciutto and provolone "rolled up" ("involtini" means rolled up and "al forno" means baked).

That's pretty much what we did.

We bought some nice prosciutto and provolone cheese from Formaggio Kitchen. You don't need anything fancy. In fact, when I told the cheesemonger at Formaggio what I planned on doing with the provolone, he suggested the simpler, less expensive provolone.

Cut up the provolone into manageable pieces (mine were about 1/2 inch by 1-2 inch), wrap with prosciutto, and then bake in the oven. I believe I used the toaster oven and baked at around 350 degrees. You can use convection if you want to crisp up the prosciutto a bit. In fact, I'm guessing that if I did it at a higher temperature, my prosciutto would have looked more crispy.

Serve alongside some roasted red peppers or summer heirloom tomatoes. We did modify Monica's original dish a bit by putting the whole thing over grilled bread (from ACME bread company in San Francisco, no less!), which was awesome.

You can't really go wrong with this combination. It's sort of like a really fancy ham + cheese sandwich. It's brilliant, yet so easy, and really, really good.

Involtini di Prosciutto e Provolone al Forno from Monica's (above) and ours (below).

Ha ha, I put mine in the oven a bit too long (I was cooking a gazillion things at the same time - see entire meal at this post) and the cheese oozed out of the prosciutto "wrapping" while I wasn't paying attention. I really do believe that higher temperature and a faster baking time would have resulted in something that looked more like what they have.

Not a big deal though - it still tasted excellent!

New York Michelin Stars 2013

"Foie Gras" at Eleven Madison Park

It's official! The 2013 Michelin guide for New York City has just been released.

The Michelin Guide is a guide book published by Michelin (yes, the tire company) that reviews and rates outstanding restaurants around the world. It originated from France in 1900 and was pretty European-centric until 2005, when it published its first guide for the US (New York City, to be more specific). Since then, it has published guides in many cities, including Tokyo, San Francisco, Chicago, and Las Vegas.

According to the Michelin Guide, one star represents a restaurant that is "very good cuisine in its category".  Two-stars mean "excellent cuisine, worth a detour", and three stars are given to restaurants offering "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey". 
 
 Cherry Belle Radishes and Miner’s Lettuce with Black Winter Truffle Mayonnaise at Per Se

There are some notable changes. Several newcomers came onto the list, such as two-star Atera and the following one-star places:  Blanca, Cafe China, The Nomad, Torrisi Italian Specialties, Lan Sheng, and Hakkasan.

I'm thrilled there are three Chinese restaurants on this list. Hakkasan, a high-end modern Chinese restaurant, is originally from London and hails from the creator of the Wagamama chain (also from London). Cafe China and Lan Sheng are both Sichuan restaurants in Midtown. Out of all the newcomers, Torrisi Italian Specialties is the only one I've tried, and I can definitely attest that the food there is excellent.

Mosaic of Capon, Foie Gras, and Celery Root at Daniel

In terms of changes, the original chef of the shojin (temple) cuisine restaurant, Kajitsu, had left earlier this year. We visited Kajitsu right when the new chef had begun. Although it was a great dinner, we weren't blown away with the meal as much as we had hoped. It seems like the Michelin reviewers felt the same way, dropping it from a 2-star restaurant to a 1-star restaurant.

The three-star champions remain the same as last year.  Out of all those places, Daniel is my favorite in terms of overall experience (the service, food, and ambiance were all just perfect), while Le Bernardin is still my favorite when it comes to the food (love, love, love Eric Ripert's command of seafood).

Three Stars


Daniel
Per Se
Masa
Le Bernardin
Eleven Madison Park
Jean Georges
Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare

Uni + Lardon at Marea

Two Stars


Corton
Gilt
Gordon Ramsey at The London
Marea
Momofuku Ko
Soto
Atera

The two star list is still pretty exclusive (such a far cry from Tokyo, which currently has fifty-seven two-star restaurants). I love the food at Marea, although I found the total experience at Momofuku Ko to be more unique, surprising, and overall more interesting and fun. It's not a surprise that a reservation is so difficult to procure.

One Star


Adour
Ai Fiori
Aldea
Annisa
Aquavit

Parallel Tasting at Aureole in Las Vegas (also 1 star)


Aureole [Vegas Aureole post]
A Voce Columbus
A Voce Madison
Blanca
Blue Hill
Bouley
The Breslin
Brushstroke
Cafe Boulud
Café China
Casa Mono
Danji
Danny Brown Wine Bar & Kitchen

Bryan has eaten at way more of these 1-star establishments than I have. I know that he prefers Batali and Bastianich's B&B Ristorante to their 1-star New York establishment, Del Posto.  Neither Bryan or I  was particularly impressed with Aureole when we tried it in Vegas (even though it's also rated a 1-star there).


Del Posto
Dovetail
Dressler
15 East
Gotham Bar and Grill
Gramercy Tavern
Hakkasan
Jewel Bako
Jungsik
Junoon

Somen noodles with Summer Cypress at Kajitsu (dropped from 2 stars to 1 star)


Kajitsu
Kyo Ya
Lan Sheng
Minetta Tavern
The Modern
The Nomad
Oceana

As I mentioned earlier, I guess I've only had the "1-star" version of Kajitsu because I tried it right when the new chef began. The experience was really interesting and the variety of plants and other ingredients was most definitely exotic. The entire meal just did not blow me away like I had hoped. Perhaps I need to visit Kyoto someday to get the true kaiseki or shojin ryori experience.


Porterhouse for two at Peter Luger


 Peter Luger
Picholine - closed
Public
Rosanjin
Rouge Tomate
Saul
Seasonal
Spotted Pig
Sushi Azabu
Sushi of Gari
Tamarind Tribeca
Tori Shin

Peter Luger must be one of the few cash-only places on this list (interestingly, contrast that with Japan, where it's not unusual for 3-star Michelin establishments to ask that their $500+ meals be paid by cash). Of course, the steak at Peter Luger is fantastic and probably worth all that hassle (though Carnevino in Vegas is still our all-time favorite steak place),

Trout Roe and Smoked Fish at Torrisi Italian Specialties (newly added to the list)


Torrisi Italian Specialties
Tulsi
Wallse
WD-50 [Wylie Dufresne]

We loved our meal at Torrisi Italian Specialties, and we haven't even had their famous 20-course dinner tasting. The lunch was excellent, though we still like Il Buco Alimentari's pasta a bit better, and (of course), nothing beats Rome and our favorite place there.

Thoughts
Although the Michelin Guide may not catch every great little hidden restaurant in a city, it does a good job of at least choosing excellent restaurants to feature. I've never had a bad meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant, and in general, I agree with their rankings. 3-star establishment tend to be better than 2-stars, which are better than 1-stars.

Kampachi Tartare from Le Bernardin

However, I wouldn't just "Michelin-shop" when choosing where to eat in a new city. There are a ton of fantastic restaurants out there that have not been recognized by Michelin.  Heck, entire cities (Boston included!) have never been reviewed by the Guide. In general, it takes a lot more comprehensive research (my favorites are Chowhound boards, local newspaper reviews, local blogs, and confirmation by other "top restaurant" lists) to really get a complete picture of any one city.

Nevertheless, the Michelin Guide works great, especially if you're short on time (hello business traveler like Bryan!). Chances are, you'll enjoy an excellent meal if you eat at any establishment recommended by the Guide.

A note from our sponsors:

Of course it's fun to dine out in New York, but sometimes you'd prefer to have the food brought to you. Consider catering NYC for a change.

Sunday Night Suppers via Formaggio Kitchen

I love Sunday suppers.

Sunday is the day when you can spend a little extra time preparing for that fun, relaxing dinner. Instead of quickly trying to churn out a dinner in 30 minutes after a long, hard day at work, you have the whole afternoon to shop, prep, and cook that elaborate (or just time consuming) meal.

Oddly enough, I find that the type of dinner I enjoy most on a Sunday evening is actually not that complicated.

Instead, it involves visiting one of my favorite neighborhood markets, Formaggio Kitchen, and just buying whatever catches my eye. Formaggio Kitchen offers tons of fun eye candy for food lovers, but be forewarned! You could easily spend hours (and many, many dollars if you're not careful!) perusing their aisles filled with all sorts of carefully curated, artisanal products.

A few Sundays ago, we noticed that the salumi counter had a really interesting assortment of cured meats. Not only did they have the famous Jamon Iberico from Spain, they also had the most coveted Jamon Iberico Bellota, the richest, (fattiest), and most luxurious cured pork in all of Spain (and possibly the whole world).

Spanish Iberian cured ham is prized for its rich savory flavor. The pigs roam freely in oak forests and are fed a diet of only acorns at the last stage of their lives. Because of this diet, the fat in these pigs is mostly monounsaturated, "healthy" fat (oleic acid). The Bellota breed is the finest because it eats purely acorns during this last stage (as opposed to a mixture of acorns and grain, or grain only).

Jamon Iberico leg from Fernandez & Wells in London

Up to this point, I had only tried the Iberico pork at restaurants, once as cured meat at  a lovely Spanish cafe in London, and (if you can believe this) once as a breaded fried pork cutlet at a specialty tonkatsu restaurant in Tokyo.

Iberico Pork Tonkatsu from Butagami in Tokyo

It's unusual (and typically pretty difficult) to find this type of pig at the market in the US.

The price for the bellota was pretty insane ($189/lb!!!), but ended up only being about $20 for the four slices that we bought.

 For fun, we decided to pit the normal famous Jamon Iberico (still a whopping $99/lb) against the Jamon Iberico Bellota ($189/lb).  We also bought some "ordinary" (I'm sure it was still pretty nice) prosciutto from Italy, and rounded it off with a local Soppressata Picante from New York.

You can't go to Formaggio without getting some cheese, so of course we sampled several at the counter (one of my favorite things to do) before settling on a few different pieces.  

Some of my favorites right now? Hooligan from Cato Corner Farm from Connecticut. It's a washed rind cow's milk cheese that's creamy yet salty and strong. It's classified as "stinky", although I find it more approachable than, say, a blue cheese (which I'm still learning to like).

I also love their buratta and mozzarella, which I believe comes locally from Everett, Massachusetts.

And to top off the simple Sunday supper? Local greens (my favorite is arugula, which is my default), paired with whatever cheese I fancy that day. Here, I've purchased some lovely halloumi, another one of my favorite cheeses (and one that tastes fantastic grilled!).

Wait, what about the meat?
Of course, how could I forget?

I loved the normal jamon iberico. It's got a deep and complex richness that can only come from quality pork that's been aged for quite a while. There's just a bit of fat on the edge to round out the meatiness.

The Bellota is really, really fatty. It's sort of like eating a blend of cured meat and pure lardon (just the fat). The fat, of course, is extremely flavorful. And remember, it's mostly monounsaturated fat, so if you're going to eat animal fat, this is about as healthy as it gets.

For me, however, it was too much. I don't love munching on pure fat, and I couldn't get over that gag reflex that I usually get when eating really fatty pieces of meat (e.g. on steaks or certain Chinese dishes). It was worth trying, but at least for me, I'll gladly pay half the price and enjoy the (still) wonderfully deep and rich flavors from the normal jamon iberico.

The prosciutto was solid, and we actually used it to make a fun "copy" of a dish we so often enjoy in the North End (will post about that soon!).

If you like a bit of "kick" in your salami, you'll love Soppressata Picante. It seems like every cheesemonger (or whatever you call those people behind the cheese counter at Formaggio), recommends this one when we say we want something spicy. We've tried some of the others, but we almost always go back to this one. It's really good, and has become a standby for us every time on our Sunday supper "salumi" plates.

Anyway, if you love fun, gourmet markets full of stuff you didn't even know you wanted, you have to stop by Formaggio Kitchen. They have an excellent selection of cheese, cured meats, and all sort of other things. My most recent "find" there? truffle salt and incredible dried pasta from Italy - yum. It's definitely one of my favorite places in my new "hood."

Uni Sashimi Bar

Just a little over a month ago I celebrated my 11th wedding anniversary.

I guess I never really wrote about our celebratory dinner.

As you can see, I'm just a tad back-logged on my posts. That's what happens when you travel over the summer, I guess. You eat out more when you're on a trip (like every meal), and you have less time to blog.

So the posts (or, more accurately, the photos) pile up.

And then there are the weeks, like this past week, where I was inundated with work (my other job, as a lawyer). I almost never do this, but last week I worked into the wee hours of the morning multiple nights in a row. I was exhausted, severely sleep-deprived, and really unaware of anything else that was going on around me. Thankfully, my mom was in town and cooked me lots of yummy home-cooked Chinese food to sustain me that week.

 I'm finally back.

Back to share with you about a really, really great meal I had last month.  Perhaps it was because it was our anniversary and I was more relaxed. Or perhaps it was because of the excellent service we got at Uni. Or perhaps (more likely), the food is just exceptional here, and that really makes a difference.

Whatever it was, I really enjoyed our special (yet low-key) omakase ("Chef's Choice tasting menu) dinner at Uni Sashimi Bar.

Right at the beginning of the meal, the server handed us a little snack to curb our hunger - one of my favorites - blanched edamame with sea salt. I love it when a restaurant has food ready for you to nibble on as soon as you enter the restaurant. It's a really nice touch, especially when you're really hungry.

 They have a bunch of really cool sounding cocktails. Bryan tried the Flaming Paco, which was described as "illegal Mezcal (smoky tequila) torched lime, and seared hot peppers." I love spicy cocktails, and this fiery cocktail totally hit the spot. I loved the strong, smoky flavors and the crisp lime - it worked together really well. It was so good, in fact, I almost ordered one for myself (even though I hardly ever order cocktails).

Tomato Water Martini
basil oil, jicama tomato squares, tomato Popsicle,

Soon after we ordered, the most intriguing amuse bouche arrived. This "Tomato Water Martini" is served at both Clio and Uni and is one of  Ken Oringer's signature dishes. The tomato water is painstakingly made by gravity dripping mashed up tomatoes through a cheesecloth. Drip, drip, drip, drip. The "tomato water" is then mixed with basil oil, tiny tomato and jicama cubes (the knifework is astounding), and finished with a refreshing tomato popsicle on the side.

You have to try it to get it. It's absolutely incredible.

Next, we had the Winter Point Oysters from Mill Cove, Maine, which were served with pickled cherry, house made yuzu kosho, and birch pepper. These oysters were clean, sweet, and balanced. Although I could not really pick out the individual flavor ingredients, I thought overall the entire dish worked very well.
 As you may know, I did not really like uni until I tried it in Japan. That is because I tend to find a majority of the uni here in Boston to be a bit "stinky." I was happy to discover that I actually really enjoyed our next course, the Uni Sashimi, at Uni. This uni (sea urchin) is from Santa Barbara and was served with pickled mustard seed, ume (plum) vinegar, and citrus rice.

The uni itself was nice, fresh, and creamy. I loved the touch of citrus, though I did find the mustard to be just a tad bitter.

Next up we tried the Suzuki Ceviche, gorgeous slices of striped bass from Rhode Island were served with Sudachi lime, thin slivers of golden beets and coconut green curry. I thought the presentation was whimsical and cute. The beet slivers were clearly made to look like ginger, and the coconut cream resembled wasabi dollops.

This course was also excellent. The overall dish had a lovely clean flavor from the citrus and the cilantro flavors that permeated the dish. The fish was just slightly "cooked", as ceviche should be.

I absolutely loved the next dish, Hirame, which consisted of fluke from Rhode Island topped with preserved lemon, tonburi, roast garlic and crispy potato. The quality of the fish was outstanding - the fish appeared to melt in my mouth and was definitely softer and smoother than most fluke I've had. I loved the crunchy potato strings, and the roasted garlic definitely gave the dish a strong, forward flavor which worked well.

I don't think I have seen Shima Aji, or horse mackerel, much outside of Japan, so I was surprised to see it as part of this tasting menu. Here, the shima aji is dressed with olives, ponzu sauce, and shiso as garnish. Although I've never had cured olives with raw fish before, here the salty olive actually cuts the richness of the stronger fish quite nicely. It surprisingly works.

Next, we had the Amber Jack, which came with a gorgeous slice of uni on top.  I felt the uni flavor was almost a bit too strong here, and I longed for some sake to "offset" the strong Uni flavor (which we had ordered, thankfully!).

The next dish, the Branzino, was gorgeous presented and came topped with mini crispy rice, ginger, and "negi" (chopped scallions).

The Tako (octopus) came all the way from Japan and was served with hot sesame oil, yuzu, soy, cilantro, and ginger. I found the cooked octopus to be just a tad tough but acceptable. Bryan really liked the flavors of the dish a lot (he does love cilantro and anything spicy), and it paired really well with the Riesling  which offset some of the spice.

For our first hot course, we had Lobster Tempura (from Maine), which was served with a Singaporean black pepper chili sauce. This course surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly, since it's Singaporean?) delivered a pretty substantial kick. The deep, rich, spicy sauce offset the rich, fried lobster in a balanced way.

We ended the hot courses with a Barbecued Unagi (freshwater eel from Japan), which was served with seasoned rice, sesame and pickled burdock, and a pickled ramp. I found the pickled "ginger" (or that's what I thought) to be really really strong - a bit too strong! However, the unagi was fantastic - perfectly charred, sweet, and crispy. The rice is on the sweet side, but very good.
For our first dessert, we sampled the Sour Cream Ice Cream, which was served with tri-colored raspberries (red, orange, yellow), cookie, lychees, hazelnuts, and a "snow" of sorts (yes, Ken Oringer most definitely dabbles in a bit of molecular gastronomy!).  I liked the overall tartness of the dish. It felt sort of like a palate cleanser, yet much more sophisticated.

I don't typically love chocolate desserts (they often bore me a bit), but this Raspberry Chocolate Cremoux, which was served with a smorgasbord of molecular gastronomy products, was actually fantastic. I loved the deep, deep rich flavor of the chocolate and rasperry sphere, which went well with all the other crazy textures and flavors on the plate (e.g., other flavor "blobs", powder, crunchy cookies, and the bright red raspberry sauce.  This was served with fragrant jasmine ice cream.

It was really an excellent dessert.

Since we were celebrating a special occasion, Bryan treated himself to a shot of MaCallan 30 (yes, Uni/Clio has a nice selection of various whiskeys, among many other types of drinks). He slowly sat and sipped it, slowly savoring each precious drop.

Cheers!

It was a fabulous 11th low-key anniversary, filled with kayaking along the Charles River, shopping for rain jackets (which I've used a lot since that date!), and just generally hanging around at home. Boston is such a gorgeous place this time of year; I was really thrilled to be able to savor so many parts of this beautiful city we live in.

As for Uni, I would most definitely go back. The menu is pretty vast, and I was surprised how flexible it was. You can spend over a hundred dollars on a fancy omakase, or just mix and match various small to medium sized plates, most of which are under $20. You can even get some of the cheaper items that I thought were only available on the late night menu, such as pork belly buns and fried shishito peppers.

All in all, I was very impressed with the food at Uni. Being a seafood person, I loved how every single course was seafood (yay! No heavy red meats to end the meal). I left the meal feeling satisfied, yet not overly full. It's really my favorite way to end a meal, and a near perfect way to end our 11th anniversary evening.

Uni Sashimi Bar
The Eliot Hotel
 370a Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA 02215


The Eliot Hotel is located in one of the classiest neighborhoods in Boston - Back Bay. One of my favorite things to do is to walk along Newbury Street from Back Bay all the way down to Beacon Hill, another quaint part of Boston which is full of old historic buildings, such as Hampshire House, a mansion that houses the original pub from the iconic TV show, Cheers.