eG Foodblog: Pan - How to stop cooking and love life

[therese]

Hmm, maybe we need to see the inside of your fridge...

Ahem.

If I may be brazenly presumptuous, owing to our fearless bloggers apparent routine it is conceivable that this request may yield disturbing results.

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It may well. I'm prepared.

[daniellewiley]

Pan,

How does Teresa compare to the former Kiev (I forget it's new name?). We used to go there for lunch nearly every weekend, and I try to return when we visit, but Teresa looks like a damn good substitute.

[sandra]

This is hibiscus tea.

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If you have that tea over ice and add sugar, you have agua de jamaica, a very popular Mexican drink - you can even freeze it to make ice-pops or granita - sometimes I put a bit of lime in it...

It's also very good with vodka

[bushey]

I also had one or two candies from this bag:

Ting Ting Jahe, an Indonesian ginger candy that packs a wallop, is one of my favorite candies. Last Sunday, when I was last in Flushing, I went to the humongous Chinese supermarket, A&C, and bought two bags worth. Any of you who are near one of the branches of Hong Kong Supermarket are almost sure to find the candy there, as well. I also buy it there when I'm in Manhattan's Chinatown.

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I forced myself not to buy a bag of these yesterday, as I cannot eat just one. I LOVE them, especially when eaten with a strong cup of tea.

[Pan]

Hi, everyone. I'm just checking in briefly for now. It's 12:14 P.M., but I'm probably going back to bed. I was woken up a little while ago because someone who was scheduled to arrive at my parents' apartment at 11 had been unable to get anyone to let her in. Turned out, my mother was out, and my father fell asleep and was dead to the world (which is what not infrequently happens when he's asleep -- he sleeps very soundly), but people were worried. [Edit to clarify that it takes me 30-40 minutes to get up to my folks' place if I take the subway and not much less to go by cab, had I gone up there today.] Anyway, yes, I do have a rather small refrigerator (I suppose, medium-sized -- not one of those useless little boxes people living in dorms rent), a Summit. Its freezer is big enough to freeze ice but not much else, and when I get ice cream or frozen yogurt, if I leave the container in the "freezer" overnight, it is not fully frozen the next day but kind of slushy.

There is nothing disgusting in my refrigerator, but I'm not sure there's much point in my showing its contents.

Edited July 13, 2005 by Pan (log)

[therese]

There is nothing disgusting in my refrigerator, but I'm not sure there's much point in my showing its contents.

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Well, it would probably force you to clean it out before photographing it---even a fridge that's not heavily used benefits from the occasional purge.

But you've got better things to do, haven't you? Like wake up and go get something to eat.

[little ms foodie]

I have that same 'tea' spoon and love mine too- they are so handy!! I haven't tried Hibiscus tea.....should I look for that at the grocery with the Earl Greys,ect or is it more of a specialty?

[Abra]

I love that Ting Ting Jahe too - can't keep it in the house, in fact, or I'll eat it all up.

I'm with Therese on the Fiber One. You don't actually need milk or a spoon, just lick it out of your hand. Uh, probably that's more than you wanted to know about my table manners.

LMF, you get jamaica flowers in big bags in the Mexican market, or sometimes even the Mexican section of a good supermarket.

Pan, I like knowing how much your meals are costing. I have the idea that eating every meal out must be really expensive, but maybe you've found ways to minimize the bite. Pray tell!

[therese]

Pan, I like knowing how much your meals are costing.  I have the idea that eating every meal out must be really expensive, but maybe you've found ways to minimize the bite.  Pray tell!

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I think he just stays in bed a lot. That way he doesn't have eat too many meals.

But maybe he's out eating something really cool at this very moment. I hope he remembered his camera.

[Pan]

There is nothing disgusting in my refrigerator, but I'm not sure there's much point in my showing its contents.

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Well, it would probably force you to clean it out before photographing it---even a fridge that's not heavily used benefits from the occasional purge.[...]

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I usually don't have very much in my refrigerator.

[Pan]

I have that same 'tea' spoon and love mine too- they are so handy!! I haven't tried Hibiscus tea.....should I look for that at the grocery with the Earl Greys,ect or is it more of a specialty?

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I think it's more of a specialty in my part of the world. I used to buy dried hibiscus petals from Angelica's Herbs -- a neighborhood place, on 1st Av. and 10th St. -- but I now get them mail-order via the internet from Mount Rose Herbs:

http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/

I get 2 lb. bags of organic hibiscus from Tanzania. It tastes a lot better than the non-organic stuff I was getting at Angelica's, and it's also a lot cheaper.

Edited July 13, 2005 by Pan (log)

[Ling]

Oohhh...some fine lookin' tripe soup and pastitsio on the same day. You are a lucky, lucky guy.

[TheFoodTutor]

But maybe he's out eating something really cool at this very moment. I hope he remembered his camera.

Stop picking on the blogger. Not every foodblog can involve someone bringing tons of food over to your house, you know?

I love the pierogies, Pan. This may be the first blog to feature pierogies, if I'm not mistaken. Excellent choice for ethnic food, and a reminder that ethnic foods up North include more than Hispanic and Asian cuisines. We don't get nearly our fair share of Eastern European food here in Georgia.

As for the Metamucil wafer, I'm just going to presume that you're keenly attuned to the heart protective and cancer preventing benefits of getting a daily requirement of fiber, as opposed to eating them for any other reason. And people drink prune juice because they like the taste of it. Really.

[Pan]

I was really wiped out this afternoon. I think part of that is not only the fact that I went to bed after 5 A.M., but also that the night before last, I had cousins staying over (they slept on a futon on my livingroom-cum-kitchen floor, which I've since rolled up and put back into my walkin closet), and they had to wake up early in the morning, so my sleep was interrupted a few times and fitful. Don't get me wrong, though, I was glad to be of help to them.

Anyway, at length, I went to Moishe's Bakery to get a snack to help tide me over to dinner.

Here's a view of Moishe's from across the street, also showing Kiev Restaurant on the corner:

There was a question about Kiev. I won't pull any punches: I thought the old Kiev sucked, but I haven't been to the new one. Maybe Kiev used to be good in days long gone by, though; that, I couldn't say. But my memory of the old Kiev is from the time a few years ago when I had some potato pierogis that had exactly the consistency of the flour-based paste used for glueing things in kindergarten.

Here's a view of the display case from the sidewalk:

The counterwomen at Moishe's have told me that most of their business is from walkins, so their display is very important to their success.

I also like this shot because one of the buildings you see in the reflection is one of my favorite buildings in the neighborhood, the historic Middle Collegiate Church, which was erected on that location directly across the street from Moishe's in 1891. The corner deli in the red brick building that you also see in the reflection is open 24 hours, but it's horrible. I gave them one shot and then never went back.

I decided to get a blueberry danish today:

The counterwoman was afraid that it wouldn't be photogenic, but I didn't care. I didn't think it was as good as the last time I got it, though; it was a little doughier than I prefer, and the blueberries in the jam were probably less separate. That said, Moishe's is not a gourmet bakery; it's a place to get solid, down-home baked goods, and it's gotten loads of business from me over the years.

I took pictures of many but not all of the contents of their shelves today -- whatever I could shoot without getting in the way of the customers and employees or getting pictures of people who understandably prefer not to have their likenesses broadcast over the internet.

In the middle level of this photo, you can see poppy strudels on the left and nut strudels on the right. I particularly like the nut strudels.

Various things here, but the ones I'm most familiar with are the strudels with cheese, which are very nice.

This is their main area for danishes. At the upper left are cinnamon danishes; at the upper right, blueberry, cherry, and I believe pineapple danishes; at the center left are chocolate danishes; at the center right, cheese danishes; at the lower left, apple turnovers; and at the lower right, little apple strudels.

I often get things from these shelves, particularly the cheese danishes, which are really pleasant.

Of particular note in this photo are the chocolate cigars in the lower left and the almond horns next to them. I like both of those items and get them with some frequency.

On the upper left of this photo, you can see their prune danishes, which are sticky but good. Underneath those are rugelach, and to their right are the remainder of the black and whites. As you can see, the black and whites are popular at Moishe's. So many lousy black and whites are available all over the city, and few bakeries do more than a depressingly mediocre job at them. Moishe's is one of the happy exceptions.

Finally, this is a picture of some of their breads, which are very popular with customers. I don't recall having tried their bread, though.

One other nice thing about Moishe's is that hamantaschen (the three-cornered cookies you can see in their display case), though traditionally baked only for Purim, are available year-round. I find their hamantaschen dough a bit salty, but I still like their poppyseed and prune hamantaschen.

When I'm not in the mood for a sweet, I usually get a bialy.

The small things (danishes, black and whites, turnovers, hamantaschen and such) sell for $1.25-1.50 apiece; larger items are by the pound.

Don't make the mistake I made once and get pumpkin pie at Moishe's; they don't know how to make it, and it's way too doughy. But if you're in the area, consider getting a strudel, danish, hamantasch, or black and white. Also, their coconut macaroons are excellent.

I have a wonderful secretary at the Humanities/Social Sciences Office at Polytechnic University who makes my life easier, so at Christmas and sometimes also at the end of the Spring semester, I get a half pound of assorted cookies at Moishe's for her. She loves chocolate, so I make sure that all the cookies have some chocolate in them. I don't think she's ever been disappointed.

Edited July 13, 2005 by Pan (log)

[SobaAddict70]

Does Teresa's compare to Little Poland?

[Pan]

I've never tried Little Poland, Stash.

I've munched on a few of these this afternoon:

I don't drink coffee because somehow that particular kind of bitter flavor is too strong for me (I like bitter melon and mustard greens, though; don't ask why because I can't explain it). However, I often like things with coffee in them, as long as the flavor isn't overpowering. This is yet another Indonesian candy that can be found at A&C and other Chinese supermarkets in this city. The ingredients are sugar, glucose, milk powder, coffee extract, coffee flavor, vegetable oil, salt, and caramel. The candies themselves look like this:

I've also had a couple of the ginger candies I showed you yesterday.

Edited July 13, 2005 by Pan (log)

[Genny]

Pan what a great blog and personal view of the city. I've never lived in a "city" so I am always in awe of the convenience of bakeries and eateries, esp of such high quality. My next life I will not live in suburbia!

edited to add: Sounds like you have a sweet tooth of sorts...me too! (actually I think all my teeth are sweet!)

Edited July 13, 2005 by Genny (log)

[Pan]

Yeah, I do unfortunately have a sweet tooth (he wrote as he continued eating ginger candies -- it's for the throat-soothing properties, really it is... )

Edited July 14, 2005 by Pan (log)

[Pam R]

Pan - I'm really enjoying this so far - the bakery looks fantastic - reminds me of our local Jewish bakeries.

You mentioned earlier (and I've heard many times) that NY is the city that never sleeps. A few years ago I was in NY - staying around Radio City - and the one thing I noticed was that all of the restaurants within a few blocks (in all directions) of my hotel were closed by about 8. This made dining near the hotel a hard thing to do. What about the places near you? What are the typical hours of your neighbourhood restaurants?

Will we get to see any street knish vendors?

[Pan]

Funny about the area near Radio City. Closed by 8, eh? That's astonishing! That has to be because most of the New Yorkers are there only to do office work during the day, and the great majority of the people there in the evening are tourists. But 8 o'clock? Really! Are you sure those aren't delis that do most of their business at lunchtime and then run out of their sandwich meats and such?

Typically, East Village restaurants are open until at least 11 P.M., with many open until midnight or later, especially on weekends. And there are some halfway decent 24-hour places, like Cafe Orlin, on 41 Saint Marks Pl. (here's their menupages.com page), which makes quite creditable appetizers, main dishes, and desserts. Hmm...I see on the page that they close at 2 A.M. most days. Still....And every convenience store in the neighborhood (of which there is probably one on average ever 1 1/2 blocks) is open 24 hours.

Street-vendor knishes? No, they aren't part of my normal diet. I don't get a lot of stuff from street vendors, except for the odd bag of honey-roasted almonds or cashews from time to time.

[mizducky]

There was a question about Kiev. I won't pull any punches: I thought the old Kiev sucked, but I haven't been to the new one. Maybe Kiev used to be good in days long gone by, though; that, I couldn't say. But my memory of the old Kiev is from the time a few years ago when I had some potato pierogis that had exactly the consistency of the flour-based paste used for glueing things in kindergarten.

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Oh, that's so sad about the Kiev! You'll have to trust me that it did use to be a lot better... but then again, it's been several years since last I was there, so who knows what's happened to it since then? But at least now I know that, if the latest incarnation of the Kiev still sucks when next I'm in NY, I can at least go get good pierogies at Teresa's.

[Pan]

There was a question about Kiev. I won't pull any punches: I thought the old Kiev sucked, but I haven't been to the new one. Maybe Kiev used to be good in days long gone by, though; that, I couldn't say. But my memory of the old Kiev is from the time a few years ago when I had some potato pierogis that had exactly the consistency of the flour-based paste used for glueing things in kindergarten.

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Oh, that's so sad about the Kiev! You'll have to trust me that it did use to be a lot better... but then again, it's been several years since last I was there, so who knows what's happened to it since then? But at least now I know that, if the latest incarnation of the Kiev still sucks when next I'm in NY, I can at least go get good pierogies at Teresa's.

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Yep! And probably at a few other Polish diners in this hood. The thing is, I've been so satisfied with Teresa's that I haven't tried most of the other places, like Little Poland, which Stash mentioned. Stage Restaurant on 2nd Av. near the Orpheum Theatre where Stomp! is playing is not bad and very cheap, though.

Well, I've got company now and we'll be off to dinner shortly. Stay tuned.

Edited July 15, 2005 by Pan (log)

[jgarner53]

Oooh, black and white cookies, one of my favorites! I'd like two, please.

[SuzySushi]

Anyway, at length, I went to Moishe's Bakery to get a snack to help tide me over to dinner.

Here's a view of the display case from the sidewalk:

I took pictures of many but not all of the contents of their shelves today -- whatever I could shoot without getting in the way of the customers and employees or getting pictures of people who understandably prefer not to have their likenesses broadcast over the internet.

In the middle level of this photo, you can see poppy strudels on the left and nut strudels on the right. I particularly like the nut strudels.

Various things here, but the ones I'm most familiar with are the strudels with cheese, which are very nice.

This is their main area for danishes. At the upper left are cinnamon danishes; at the upper right, blueberry, cherry, and I believe pineapple danishes; at the center left are chocolate danishes; at the center right, cheese danishes; at the lower left, apple turnovers; and at the lower right, little apple strudels.

I often get things from these shelves, particularly the cheese danishes, which are really pleasant.

Of particular note in this photo are the chocolate cigars in the lower left and the almond horns next to them. I like both of those items and get them with some frequency.

On the upper left of this photo, you can see their prune danishes, which are sticky but good. Underneath those are rugelach, and to their right are the remainder of the black and whites. As you can see, the black and whites are popular at Moishe's. So many lousy black and whites are available all over the city, and few bakeries do more than a depressingly mediocre job at them. Moishe's is one of the happy exceptions.

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Stop it... you're making me cry!!!

The three foods I miss from NYC:

NY pizza

Tongue sandwiches

Cheese danish

[bloviatrix]

I forget what the flat disc things on the third shelf are called, but have you tried them? They're really good.