JP Eats Food Blog

Welcome to my food (and wine) blog. I am very lucky to enjoy good food and wine pretty frequently. I also spend a good deal of time learning and experimenting with both. The point of this blog is to share some of that with you as well as help me remember foods, wines, and little bits and pieces of information I pick up along the way. I rarely take pictures in nice restaurants, so most of what you see here comes from my kitchen, my friends' kitchens, or various casual and local hot spots.

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My one lone bottle of 2015 KBS, come and gone... Fantastic as always.

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Perfect pizza from Rubirosa.

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Best ragu ever. A great ragu is pretty easy, it just takes some time.

For this rich short rib ragu, start a day early and give some bone-in short ribs a really good sear (in bacon fat, because bacon fat). Then remove the short ribs, and start out making your favorite long and slow base red sauce recipe, the kind that takes a minimum of four hours that you probably learned from your Italian grandmother, or someone else's Italian grandmother. If you don't have one of those, try this recipe.

Here are the keys from this point on:

Add the short ribs back once the sauce simmers, cover and cook in a 300 degree oven for 2.5 hours, remove the ribs again, and finish cooking your sauce as you would.

When done cooking, let cool, put the ribs back in, then put everything in the refrigerator.

The next day, gently reheat, then remove the ribs, pull apart the meat, discard the bones, and return to the pot to heat through. 

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Just a random close up of some duck breasts and pumpkin risotto, at home.

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Shio Ramen from Ivan Ramen. I'm shamed by how long it took for me to get to the Ivan Ramen flagship, but how does this guy choose locations? This one is even harder to get to than his other place at 44th and 11th. Regardless, expectedly fantastic ramen; flavorful, delicate broth and his special noodle recipe does stand out.

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October Cronut from Dominique Ansel is "Pumpkin Chai (with maple sugar)." I may just be a sucker for pumpkin-y things in the fall but this is one of my favorites so far. I've got a couple lined up for Halloween on pre-order just for confirmation.

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Chambers Street Wines makes Bourbon! Well, not really, but spirits guru John Rankin did go down to Kentucky and pick a barrel from the 7th floor of a Heaven Hill distillery to call their own. Apparently the entire lot sold out in a day... so New Yorkers should forget Pappy or BTAC, this is Fall 2014's in-demand whiskey.

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Lobster roll from Neptune Oyster in Boston. This is the iconic lobster roll, and it always lives up to the hype. Sure it's expensive, you're packed into the restaurant like sardines, and so on, but just look at that lobster roll. There's so much perfectly seasoned and tender lobster packed in that you have to eat with a fork for five minutes just to get to the point where you can pick it up. If only it weren't four hours away...

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Cut away of a Flannery Rib Cap, one of the best pieces of meat in existence.

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Kentucky Breakfast Stout.

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New wines from Bérèche! I was lucky to get my hands on a couple bottles from this new project of Raphaël Bérèche and his brother Vincent. Can't wait to give one a try sometime soon.

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Spring risotto at Charlie Bird in NYC, with clams, peas, and prosciutto. I'm a huge fan of Charlie Bird, and though I only recently discovered the lunch program, I intend to take full advantage of it this summer.

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Racines NY opened in Tribeca last week with much excitement among members of the NYC wine-loving community. That's because Racines is co-owned by the folks behind Chambers St Wines, and the wine program is sort of a restaurant-ized version of what you find on the shelves of CSW. That means lots of fantastic and unique wines, young and old, made by small growers and producers, mostly coming from the old world.

I found the wine list to be filled with interesting wines at very reasonable prices (see photo of my happy selection of Francois Pinon's delicious Vouvray from 2002). It might not be all that accessible to folks who aren't familiar with the certain styles and regions that are featured, but I would be shocked if the staff wasn't able to help just about anyone find something to get excited about.

Racines calls itself a neo-bistro, which is a neo term to me. It's certainly not a wine bar. The food is serious and really very good, focusing on fresh and flavorful ingredients without a heavy hand. My favorite was the veal tartare (pictured), maybe because the place vaguely reminds me of Septime in Paris, and a similar dish was my favorite while dining there. The Mangolitsa pork was also delicious, particularly with that Pinon.

I highly recommend stopping in for more than just a glass of wine; you'll probably find me there.

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The greenmarkets are finally emerging from winter in NYC. And by that, I mean Lani's Farm is back. First up this spring is their broccoli rabe, along with a crispy-skinned duck breast from Hudson Valley Duck Farm. Now, where are the ramps? 

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Lobster and truffle fettuccine, a new favorite of mine. There are two versions - full on indulgent (expensive) and quick and relatively cheap. This is quick and cheap, and it's still seriously good. The wine is Aubert chardonnay, a love it or hate it wine (though, I think most of the haters haven't actually tried it, but I digress...) that's a perfect pairing. Here's how to make the quick/ cheap version of this:

Get and thaw frozen lobster tails from a trusted source--one larger tail per person should do. Start cooking your pasta. Cut the tails at the joints into even segments, season with salt and pepper, then sear for 1-2 minutes in a really hot pan with a bit of oil, turning once. Remove the pan from heat, and spoon out as much of the oil as you can. Add one of those 3oz packages of D'Artagnan (or similar) white truffle butter, and swirl it around to melt. Return to low heat, and once the butter is melted, add half a cup heavy cream. Remove the lobster and set aside. Add the cooked pasta, combine, and, if needed, add up to a cup of the pasta cooking liquid to get the right consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Top pasta portions with lobster, chives, and parmesan.

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Flannery lamb saddle with duck fat potatoes and Pegau Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The lamb saddle is prepared like always, sous vide at 134 for four hours than seared and basted in a hot skillet with herbs and garlic at all steps.

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Brown butter chocolate chip cookies, or Kenji's 'The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies' from over at Serious Eats. I appreciate the thought and experimentation that goes into Kenji's recipes and this article was no exception. It's an interesting read. As for the recipe, we've made them twice, and if you're into the browned butter thing (I sure am), I can tell you they are seriously tasty.