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eG Foodblog: Megan Blocker - Trading Pumas for Uggs


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Tea with lemon has been consumed, throat is wrapped in a big scarf (a trick from my days as a singer back in high school and college), and I am off to bed for some healing/preventative slumber.

See you in the morning!  On tap tomorrow, I'm headed to Rockefeller Center for my India inoculations, so we'll probably grab lunch over that way.  What's a good lunch for a sore arm (FIVE shots!!!!)?

I'm glad you don't seem to have had a bad time with the shots. When I got a cholera shot (among two other shots) in 1975 in preparation for an eventual trip to India (which also required a booster in 1977 after two years in Malaysia), it made me so acutely ill, it was truly scary! I actually got serious cholera symptoms - my extremities tensed up so much that my mother had to cut my shirt off with scissors, and I got a high fever and just felt awful! The booster was painful, too. Fortunately, when they realized that the cholera vaccine was only 30% effective, they stopped administering it.

Do you have any ideas of what you would like to eat while you're in India? I really ate well in India, and the trip was great and almost worth the suffering from the cholera shot (but maybe not quite).

Feel good! I'm having what might be the beginnings of a respiratory illness, which would be awful, because I have a recital on the 25th and again on the 28th...

I'm sure you had a fantastic dinner tonight! What's on tap for tomorrow?

Edited by Pan (log)

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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Hi Megan,

I'm relatively new to eGullet and your blog is the first one I'm following. I enjoy it so much, thanks for the peek into your life and onto your plate! Lookin forward to reading (and seeing) more :smile:

Annabel

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Fantastic blog, Megan. Count me as another 'wanna be in NYC' enjoying a vicarious visit! And to be lucky enough to have a meal prepared by Daniel - and for Daniel and Alicia to be lucky enough to have Miss Megan as a guest - well if that doesn't send all of egullet rushing to NYC to find apartments, I don't know what will!!

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I've just finished reading your blog ,start to finish, and am enjoying it immensely.

WOW! you are one lucky girl to snag the hottest invitation in town and one that the rest of us can only dream about.I'm guessing the phrase "eatin' high on the hog" probably won't even begin to describe the tantalizing sensations you got to partake of last night.

Hopefully, by the time I get up tonight, or the very latest, off work in the morning, we can get a glimpse of some serious porn :raz:

We want porn, we want porn :laugh::laugh::laugh:

And this old porch is like a steaming greasy plate of enchiladas,With lots of cheese and onions and a guacamole salad ...This Old Porch...Lyle Lovett

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Have fun, Megan. Any thoughts on where you might have lunch in Chinatown?

Not really...I've never been a habitual visitor...any suggestions? Doesn't have to be Chinese food...I would love some good Vietnamese!

Depends on what you're looking for. Are you looking for a teahouse (chachanteng), congee, dim sum, wonton noodles, over rice dishes, roast duck, roast chicken, seafood, etc? Narrow down your desires and proceed from there.

I would stick with Chinese, Malaysian or Viet food in Manhattan's Chinatown. For Northern Chinese food, visit Flushing. Actually when it comes to Chinese food, I find Flushing has better quality than Manhattan's Chinatown. Now if we could only get Mei Lai Wah to move out here, it would be perfect. (Hey, there's a thought - go check out the grumpy old men at Mei Lai Wah and get some yummy buns.)

Remember, this Sunday is Chinese New Year and in the days leading up to it, Chinatown will be chock-a-block with families buying the necessary foods for the celebration. And I'll bet you on Sunday, it will be darn near impossible to find a spot in any dim sum house past 11am. Everyone's going to do the get together, gossip and once over with the extended families after they've done the visiting. (Or in lieu of visiting.)

Edited by Gastro888 (log)
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I KNEW you guys would get psyched about dinner at Daniel and Alicia's place...and with VERY good reason. First off, the crowd...present were Daniel and Alicia (the little one, having made an appearance, trotted off to bed - she sleeps like nothing I have ever seen before - she must have some incredible noise-blocking gene known only to children raised in Manhattan), Emma (luckylies) and her boyfriend, Emma's friend Silvania, and Alicia's friend Sam.

When I walked in the door, Daniel was walking through the front hall with a leg of bayonne ham in both hands, cradled a bit like a baby. I knew it would be a good night. He and Alicia shuttled me through to the living room, where we guests relaxed with a glass of rose champagne while Alicia and Daniel put the finishing touches on dinner in the kitchen. How they managed to come up with this meal on a WEEKNIGHT boggles my mind, but then I've never been less than amazed by their creative, welcoming food. Here goes...

First course: cromesquis with foie gras...Daniel described these in an early email as "foie gras nuggets," and indeed they were. Foie gras, gelatin and some port, dredged and fried...melty, rich goodness...(photos courtesy of Daniel himself, BTW)

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The inside...

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And we'd only just begun. Next up, a creamy oyster stew, velvety and studded with onions (or leeks? Daniel and Alicia - help!) and three tender oysters. And do they not have the coolest dishes?

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The salad course was based on one of their favorites from Ouest: a frisee and watercress salad with smoked chubb, a poached egg, and a mustardy vinaigrette. I really loved this dish - the meaty fish, the creamy egg, the crunchy croutons, the tangy vinaigrette.

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Next up, my favorite dish of the night, both in flavor and sheer creative joy. Fried quail (cornmeal batter) and waffles. The maple syrup was infused with rosemary, a sprig of which rested on the plate, the scent wafting upward.

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A palate cleanser followed in the form of a lemon, Campari and rosemary granita...sweet and fresh.

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For the final savory course, roasted baby lamb chops with potato puree, red wine butter, and green beans wrapped in bacon. Daniel was worried when we didn't all clean our plates - it was delicious, but we were so full (not that we didn't make room for dessert...separate compartments being not merely rumoured, but actual scientific fact).

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And, finally, dessert...burnt caramel pots de creme, chocolate sorbet, and buttermilk ice cream to cut the richness of the other two. Oh. My. God. SO GOOD. The course was accompanied by some maple whisky, which was delightfully light and just slightly smoky-sweet - really smooth, and paired perfectly with the pots de creme.

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And just when you thought you couldn't get more food out of these two, they bring you a gift-wrapped rocky road brownie for the next day. I'm saving mine for later...

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Thank you so much, Daniel and Alicia - what an amazing evening! You are the consummate host and hostess, and now I am completely terrified of ever having you over to dinner at my house. Give me some time, maybe I can work up the courage... :wink:

Edited by Megan Blocker (log)

"We had dry martinis; great wing-shaped glasses of perfumed fire, tangy as the early morning air." - Elaine Dundy, The Dud Avocado

Queenie Takes Manhattan

eG Foodblogs: 2006 - 2007

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Love in the Time of Cholera.. One of my favorite books. :biggrin:

Someone needs to do a book-themed food blog...how has this never occurred to me before?

"We had dry martinis; great wing-shaped glasses of perfumed fire, tangy as the early morning air." - Elaine Dundy, The Dud Avocado

Queenie Takes Manhattan

eG Foodblogs: 2006 - 2007

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wow, all that on a Monday night? Jeez, I had leftover chicken and dumplings and there were hardly any dumplings left, due to BF eating them all day long while I was at work. Thank you for sharing your truly wonderful meal with us.

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Hi Megan,

I'm relatively new to eGullet and your blog is the first one I'm following. I enjoy it so much, thanks for the peek into your life and onto your plate! Lookin forward to reading (and seeing) more  :smile:

Annabel

Thanks, Annabel! I'm glad you're enjoying...it's always exciting to have new members come along for the foodblog ride...they're a really neat way of peeking into someone else's life for a little bit.

Gastro888, thank you for the suggestions! I'm headed down on Friday, so hopefully I will be able to get a good meal without waiting too long in any one place. Chinatown is where I have to be, since I have appointments in SoHo that morning and afternoon, but hopefully I'll make it out to Flushing soon...

Last night was so much fun and it was an honor to have Miss Megan over..We were happy to be apart of her week.. Looking forward to seeing how the rest of her blog goes..

The honor was all mine. As for the rest of the blog, I can't believe it, but I'm heading out in about an hour for lunch at The Modern...in the meantime, I think I'll help myself to a Diet Coke. :wink:

Edited by Megan Blocker (log)

"We had dry martinis; great wing-shaped glasses of perfumed fire, tangy as the early morning air." - Elaine Dundy, The Dud Avocado

Queenie Takes Manhattan

eG Foodblogs: 2006 - 2007

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You're welcome. I don't think Friday afternoon will be that bad. Chinatown's usually busy in the morning/early afternoon. People don't venture into Chinatown late at night to shop. Dinner & wedding banquets are the main reasons people go to Chinatown at night.

You can always check out the afternoon specials at Egg Custard King. It's a set menu for an afternoon snack, Hong Kong teahouse style, aka Chinese diner. They have two locations - one on Mott and the other on Grand st. The Grand St. location is bigger and a bit cleaner. If you're lucky, you'll be there when fresh egg tarts are coming out of the oven. Good stuff. Their menu is in English but as with most Chinatown places, not many servers speak English well.

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I'm just discovering the blogs , and this is the first one I've caught from the beginning. Lucky me, it's taking place in my own city. I'm really enjoying seeing what life is like waaay up in yorkville :laugh: But OH MY GOD, that meal at Daniel and Alicia's last night. How does anybody do that in a new york apartment? Speaking of which, I don't know if you did this in your previous blog (I'm going back and reading the old ones in reverse chronological order, so I haven't gotten to it), but I'd love to see some pictures of your kitchen. Thanks for blogging!

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I'm just discovering the blogs , and this is the first one I've caught from the beginning. Lucky me, it's taking place in my own city. I'm really enjoying seeing what life is like waaay up in yorkville :laugh: But OH MY GOD, that meal at Daniel and Alicia's last night. How does anybody do that in a new york apartment? Speaking of which, I don't know if you did this in your previous blog (I'm going back and reading the old ones in reverse chronological order, so I haven't gotten to it), but I'd love to see some pictures of your kitchen. Thanks for blogging!

Good point...I did do kitchen and fridge pics in my last blog...I will take some more tonight to show you my new table/magnetic wall boards (great for putting recipes at eye-level). Here's a link to the old post!

"We had dry martinis; great wing-shaped glasses of perfumed fire, tangy as the early morning air." - Elaine Dundy, The Dud Avocado

Queenie Takes Manhattan

eG Foodblogs: 2006 - 2007

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Wow! What a fantastic-looking meal. What a treat to have a meal made by Daniel and Alicia.

foie gras nuggets

gallery_26775_2587_9903.jpg

The inside...

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The foie gras nuggets remind me of these incredible bone marrow croquettes I hade at Vidalia in DC. :wub:

Thanks, Megan, Daniel, and Alicia for sharing your dinner with us.

Edited by I_call_the_duck (log)

Karen C.

"Oh, suddenly life’s fun, suddenly there’s a reason to get up in the morning – it’s called bacon!" - Sookie St. James

Travelogue: Ten days in Tuscany

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Hopefully, by the time I get up tonight, or the very latest, off work in the morning, we can get a glimpse of some serious porn :raz:

We want porn, we want porn :laugh:  :laugh:  :laugh:

This is Caroled's Mama speaking, and what have you got that CHILD up to? For sooth and for shame. :raz:

She's sleeping now, to go out to work tonight in this SNOW---about a foot all over the yard and driveway---just got it "blown" and hope no more fills the gaps. I've already READ and seen---she'll be pea-green I saw it first, and most pleased when she wakes to this glorious little "week-night" dinner.

We both love your wanderings, and all the lovely things you find.

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Oh...my...god.

That looks...

amazing.

The desserts are making me drool while I sit, and if you knew how much I ate for lunch today you'd know how improbable I'd have thought that five minutes ago.

Holy crap, Daniel and Alicia, my hat's off to you! If I had a hat, that is.

K

Basil endive parmesan shrimp live

Lobster hamster worchester muenster

Caviar radicchio snow pea scampi

Roquefort meat squirt blue beef red alert

Pork hocs side flank cantaloupe sheep shanks

Provolone flatbread goat's head soup

Gruyere cheese angelhair please

And a vichyssoise and a cabbage and a crawfish claws.

--"Johnny Saucep'n," by Moxy Früvous

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Foodblog visiting! I love visiting. Megan having dinner at Daniel's is like when Dan Tanna has the walk-on at the end of "Angels in Vegas" or when the Angels went on the Love Boat or maybe more like when Farrah returned for Season 2 special eps. Ultracool.

Megan, you do such a good job showing NYC, and filling your life with good things. Thanks for blogging.

Priscilla

Writer, cook, & c. ●  Twitter

 

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