Tosca, Montclair

I hate haircuts. I know this is completely out of the blue and random, but I really hate getting my hair cut. It has nothing to do with fear--many times I've cut 10, 12 inches of hair without hesitation. I just can't stand the sitting, waiting, trying to make conversation while someone has their hands all over your head. Blech.

So, Dan convinced me to go for a much needed haircut, and afterwords he took me out for a celebratory lunch. We headed to Tosca, an "Authentic Napoletana Cuisine" bistro type place in Montclair that I read about in my favorite community blog.

We were there in time for brunch.

Dan had Brick Oven Eggs Benedict on top of pancetta and artichoke.

And I had Breakfast pizza with two eggs, plum tomatoes, prosciutto di Parma and shaved Parmesan.

I've been wanting to try a breakfast pizza ever since seeing it mentioned on an episode of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate". This one was a bit of a let-down. The dough was a bit tough, and the sauce bland. At least the eggs were cooked perfectly.

Dessert, however, was a win.
Nutella pizza with bananas and berries.

Marea NYC

Who knew that an addiction to cooking competition tv shows would result in such a costly habit?

After our Anniversary Dinner at WD~50, we knew we needed to step out of our comfort zone (sorry Cibo) and explore new restaurants. I took up the challenge of picking a spot for V-Day, and decided on Marea, Chef Michael White's shmancy Italian seafood restaurant.

I tried to keep the restaurant a surprise, but being the world's worst secret keeper, Dan figured it out pretty quickly, leaving us plenty of time to study the menu. I perused reviews and blogs, and knew exactly what I wanted to order.


We both ordered from the $89 Four Course Prix Fixe Menu


It started with a surprise Amuse-Bouche, a shot of Squash Consommé with Picked Pumpkin

It won't go into the "best thing I ever ate" category, but it amused my bouche. I really enjoyed the roasted pumpkin seeds.

For our First Course, Dan ordered a trio of Crudo:

octopus with chili oil, lemon, and parsley
marinated razor clams with fennel and peperoncino
geoduck clam with fresh chilies, lemon, and hearts of palm

And I had the nova scotia lobster with burrata, eggplant al funghetto and basil (see, you can have seafood and cheese together!).

I'm not one to go gaga for lobster, but after reading reviews of the dish, I decided to give it a chance. I am so glad I did. It was phenomenal, although that may have been due to the burrata (a fresh Italian cheese, made from mozzarella and cream) and basil. Why have I never heard of burrata before this?


For our Second Course, Dan had the Risotti with shrimp, lobster, scallops, and rouget

This would have been exceptional, had I not ordered the fusilli. Nothing on this planet can compare to Marea's fusilli, served with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow. Bone marrow! I ordered a dish that centers on bone marrow! Once again, based solely on reviews, I ordered a dish that I normally wouldn't even let Dan order.

Perfectly cooked pasta, salty, silky, rich sauce. Heaven.

Don't question it. Order it. I don't care if you're vegan. Order the damn dish.

For our Third Course, Dan had grilled a 50 day dry aged sirloin served with bone marrow panzanella. Again with the bone marrow, who knew?

I had black sea bass, with beluga lentils, puntarella, hazelnuts, red pepper sofrito. The bass was outstanding, flaky and moist, but with a perfectly seared crunch. This was my first experience with puntarella, a relative to chicory, and if you know me, you know I love my lentils. I'd say the sides were unnecessary, but I think I was just too full at this point to really enjoy them.

Finally for dessert, Dan had Affogato a zabaglione gelato served with espresso and amaretto. This came recommended to us, and I don't know why it isn't more common. What's not to love, gelato, coffee, booze? Awesome. So good in fact, that we ate half before remembering to take a picture.

I had a trio of sorbetti: cardamon, blood orange and grapefruit. They were lovely. I'm not a big fan of dessert, and I was already stuffed to the gills (pun intended), so this really hit the spot, light and tangy.

This was hands down one of the best meals I have ever eaten. The food was impeccable, and although a bit spendy, the prix fixe option really makes it worthwhile.

I will really be torn between returning to Marea, and exploring a new joint.

Super Snacks

Sorry Max, the Jets didn't make it this year.

Since the Superbowl calls for some serious snacking. I was looking for a new, easy, tasty recipe, and came across these. Bacon wrapped, cheese-stuffed crescent rolls.

Eh, I give them a C+

They were tasty enough, you just can't go too wrong with cheese and bacon. But still disappointing.


The recipe calls for 1 lb cream cheese, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper.

Roll into little grape-sized balls, and let set in the refrigerator.

Unroll 1 tube of crescent rolls, and wrap the cheese balls up in small strips of dough. (I ended up having enough dough for only half the cheese balls)

Wrap these pockets in strips of bacon and secure with a toothpick.

Bake 350 degrees until bacon is crispy, the dough golden brown, and your creation delightfully phallic.

I found these entirely too peppery. If I made them again, I would half the pepper, and add cayanne, or something else to cut through all the rich cheese.

I can't entirely blame the recipe. I used low-fat cream cheese, and turkey bacon. Had I used the real-deal, the outcome may have been much tastier.

Spaghetti Squash

You know what's awesome? Peapod. Now, I love grocery shopping, and I love grocery stores (I even used to work at one) but, when there is almost two feet of snow outside, and more on the way, the grocery store turns into a madhouse. Enter Peapod, I click a few buttons, and my groceries show up at the door.

My only complaint is that I can't find a way of telling them that when I order a squash, I am ordering a big-ass squash.

Hence, my planned pesto spaghetti squash meal wound up as a side dish.

This was quick and easy, nuke the squash for 10 minutes (after piercing it a dozen times---make sure to do this), and when cooled pull the strands out, and sautee with jarred pesto sauce.

Make Ahead Minestrone

With a long, cold winter coming up, I set aside one Sunday to cook and freeze a bunch of soups. This was my first Minestrone, borrowed from Make Ahead Meals

Ingredients

1 diced onion
1 stalk celery diced
1 carrot diced
1 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
5 cups chicken stock
14 oz canned chopped tomatoes
16 oz canned red kidney beans

For last minute prep:
1 cup packed, chopped escarole
1/4 cup orzo pasta
Freshly shredded parmesan cheese (optional)

Make Ahead Prep:

In a medium saucepan over mean heat, saute the onions, celery and carrots in the heated olive oil for approx. 5 minutes or until very lightly browned. Add the garlic and continue to cook for approx. 1 minute stirring constantly to ensure that the garlic does not brown.

Add the chicken stock, tomatoes (with the juice) and kidney beans. Bring to a boil over high heat and let boil for one minute. Remove from heat and let cool.

When fully cooled, transfer to a freezer-safe container leaving at least 1" of headspace. Cover. Freeze for up to one month.

Last Minute Prep:

The night before serving, transfer soup in its container to the refrigerator to defrost.

Put the soup back into a 3-quart saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add in the escarole and orzo. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve topped with freshly shredded parmesan or fresh basil leaves. Great with a side salad and slice of crusty, grilled Italian bread.