eG Foodblog: johnder, slkinsey, weinoo (2011) - A tale of two boroughs

[johnder]

Now onto the actual kitchen. It is still the same layout as the original blog showed. A few layout changes in the drawers and the addtion of the butcher block in the middle. A family friend was about to throw away this block when I happily took it off their hands. It is rock maple, end grain and weighs about 150 pounds. It is a beast. I love it.

Required fridge shots ....

One of the best things about this kitchen (aside from my beloved stove) is this Kraftmaid pantry unit. It just allows for so much storage, and at a glance allows you to find what you need.

It also caught the attention of Otis who is always underfoot in the kitchen.

I try to keep things hyper organized so I can quickly at a glance determine what I have and what I need to buy on my weekly shopping trips. The front storage units are arranged by baking (top left), Asian foods, honey/syrups, Mexican/hot sauce, tuna, pickles, etc. Then Salt and misc.

Up above, it is dry goods, flours, chiles, chips.

Right side is some bulk spices.

In the back left, oils, pasta, tomatoes.

Back right, more Asian ingredients, nuts, grains in hyper organized fashion.

Vinegars, syrups.

Now onto the drawers. One of the things I wanted when designing this kitchen was a lot of drawers for storage. I have almost 14 drawers, but would love even more.

(continued...)

[johnder]

Lastly -- all the odds and ends.

I try not to have anything I really don't use, but I am sure you will spot a few things that are a bit odd and could fall into that category.

I try to organize them by type; all baking things in one area, bartools another but there are some items that are just hard to classify.

For spices, I typically go to one of the indian spice shops on in the East Village and buy a scoop or two of spices when I run low. These are paint jars I pick up from the art supply store. The lids have a rubber seal on the top and keep the spices pretty fresh. That combined with them living in a dark drawer gives them a pretty good shelf life. They are organized alphabetically of course.

[weinoo]

Of course, any time you go to John's house and try to find anything...

[slkinsey]

Considering that John's kitchen has approximately half as many square feet as my entire apartment, my "organization" is considerably more haphazard.

[weinoo]

I prefer to pick up every jar and look at what's inside rather than label them.

[weinoo]

Considering that John's kitchen has approximately half as many square feet as my entire apartment, my "organization" is considerably more haphazard.

No complaining. You have a "big" apartment by NYC standards .

[johnder]

Considering that John's kitchen has approximately half as many square feet as my entire apartment, my "organization" is considerably more haphazard.

No complaining. You have a "big" apartment by NYC standards .

Yah, both of you shouldn't complain. I was in a kitchen a few years ago where you could either a) stand in the kitchen. b) open the 4 burner oven door or c) open the fridge. You could only do one at a time, so you needed to pick. When you actually opened the fridge you had to stand outside the kitchen to look into it.

There was about strip of workspace that was about 4 inches wide and 24 inches deep.

[Shelby]

I prefer to pick up every jar and look at what's inside rather than label them.

:laugh:

[judiu]

Lastly -- all the odds and ends.

I try not to have anything I really don't use, but I am sure you will spot a few things that are a bit odd and could fall into that category.

I try to organize them by type; all baking things in one area, bartools another but there are some items that are just hard to classify.

For spices, I typically go to one of the indian spice shops on in the East Village and buy a scoop or two of spices when I run low. These are paint jars I pick up from the art supply store. The lids have a rubber seal on the top and keep the spices pretty fresh. That combined with them living in a dark drawer gives them a pretty good shelf life. They are organized alphabetically of course.

OK, I give up! What does the little black metallic guy, just under the garlic press, do? Almost looks like an hors d'ovre server, but the toothpick holes are too close together!

[johnder]

haha, weinoo actually gave that to me. It is a toothpick holder. You put clean toothpicks it and people would grab one to eat olives or the like.

[slkinsey]

More unglorious eating on my part. Today's lunch was with Mrs. slkinsey in Midtown East at this place:

My foodie cred had kept me away from this chain for several years. I have a constitutional aversion to eating from any kind of chain while in New York City, because I always figure I can do better for a lower price at someplace local. And I can. The problem is that I don't need to be eating a tuna salad sandwich that weighs a pound. One of the nice things about Prêt a Manger is that they list the caloric values for everything on the menu. Mrs. slkinsey introduced me to their spicy shrimp & cilantro wrap which is plenty filling and a ridiculously low 290 calories. With a 50 calorie serving of miso soup, I'm out of there for 340 calories. Not bad. Now I have plenty of calories left for cocktails tonight.

[weinoo]

More unglorious eating on my part. Today's lunch was with Mrs. slkinsey in Midtown East at this place:

My foodie cred had kept me away from this chain for several years. I have a constitutional aversion to eating from any kind of chain while in New York City, because I always figure I can do better for a lower price at someplace local. And I can. The problem is that I don't need to be eating a tuna salad sandwich that weighs a pound. One of the nice things about Prêt a Manger is that they list the caloric values for everything on the menu. Mrs. slkinsey introduced me to their spicy shrimp & cilantro wrap which is plenty filling and a ridiculously low 290 calories. With a 50 calorie serving of miso soup, I'm out of there for 340 calories. Not bad. Now I have plenty of calories left for cocktails tonight.

And the other thing is, their sandwiches are good. And reasonable. One of the best "fast food" chains, in my opinion.

[johnder]

So I opted for the "international" food today at the cafe. As you can see this was a mildly-busy day. Behind me is the hot line that you can get pizzas, burgers and such from.

I got the rice, some of the pork and the chicken, along with the papaya slaw. They also had on the cold salad bar some potato and corn salad and grilled zucchini.

Back at my desk. Total cost of this was about 6.25. Considering the amount of food it is a pretty good deal.

(sorry about the quality of the pics, I forgot my camera back at the desk so these are with the iphone)

[weinoo]

I wanted to give you a partial tour of my neighborhood, the lower east side with Chinatown rising.

A block from my apartment, you come upon this in front of a Chinese market. It's over 6 feet tall. They built it right after Christmas, and it has been there since...

In the background, you can see my building. Well, it's a sister of my building; there are 4 buildings in the complex and they all look the same. 1720 apartments...

Now, I don't think there is anything that can describe my neighborhood better than this...

That's the fried chicken joint, next to the Chinese take-out place, next to Lamar's Bagel. I think I might have had a jewish uncle named Lamar, I just have to check.

So, walking southwest this time, instead of northeast like yesterday, here's a bit of what you see. Need a chair for your restaurant?

An old synagogue/school, still in use today...

Market...

Sellers under the Manhattan Bridge...

Mall entrance under bridge...lots of food stuff inside, but I don't eat there...

Catherine St. meat market. I do shop here and I picked up a couple of packages of duck legs today...

Then, I got hungry, so I stopped in here, someplace I hadn't eaten before...

I love the menu, under glass. Fancy...

I had the 3 roast meats over rice. Came with soup. I had roast pork, roast duck and roast chicken for $5.25...

And then walked home. Past this...

And this...

[Chris Amirault]

John, what do you use your Suze for?

BTW, feel free to unload any of that Del Maguey cluttering up your organizational perfection on me.

[weinoo]

John, what do you use your Suze for?

BTW, feel free to unload any of that Del Maguey cluttering up your organizational perfection on me.

Hey, you gotta get in line for the Del.

[johnder]

John, what do you use your Suze for?

BTW, feel free to unload any of that Del Maguey cluttering up your organizational perfection on me.

"White Negroni" is always pretty awesome.

Equal parts gin, lillet blanc and suze.

I also really like it on the rocks with soda splash and a orange flag.

[weinoo]

A quick tour of most of my cookbook collection. A lot of it is in no discernible order, but I know where almost everything is .

Sadly, I don't have enough room in our apartment to have every book I own on the shelves.

This is my Spanish, French and Mediterranean section...

Then Italian...

James Beard and baking...

Asian, Latin and Jewish...

Restaurant books, The Good Cook series and others...

Assorted...

Assorted...

Assorted...

Assorted including cocktail books...

There's also stuff on every table, under every table, in back closets. Do not call that show called Hoarders, please.

Oh, I missed a shelf with the Time Life Foods of the World series. Great books, btw.

[weinoo]

So I am off to meet johnder and slkinsey at Pegu Club. Plans slightly changed since I want to get home in time to watch the State of the Union address tonight and since we're being a little lazier than we thought we would all be.

[heidih]

Oh, I missed a shelf with the Time Life Foods of the World series. Great books, btw.

I can't say enough good things about that series- dear to my heart

[Peter the eater]

I prefer to pick up every jar and look at what's inside rather than label them.

:laugh:

I'm with you Mitch, anybody can read a label. Drives my wife nuts.

[Katie Meadow]

Lark & Termite isn't a cookbook, in case anyone is wondering.

[abooja]

Yah, both of you shouldn't complain. I was in a kitchen a few years ago where you could either a) stand in the kitchen. b) open the 4 burner oven door or c) open the fridge. You could only do one at a time, so you needed to pick. When you actually opened the fridge you had to stand outside the kitchen to look into it.

There was about strip of workspace that was about 4 inches wide and 24 inches deep.

That almost exactly describes my old kitchen in Astoria, a one-bedroom garden apartment. I threatened to install a door, stick a vent in the tiny window, and turn the whole room into a smoker. Moved to Jersey just in time.

[Peter the eater]

Lark & Termite isn't a cookbook, in case anyone is wondering.

I just recovered from the spit-take, thanks. My librarian/mom sent me the book, looking forward to the read.

[weinoo]

Lark & Termite isn't a cookbook, in case anyone is wondering.

Yes, some of the books that "made the cut" are Significant Eater's. I try to share.