f is for frittata

People are often suprised to hear that I am a Weight Watchers "lifer". The same questions usually follow this revelation: How can you be on Weight Watchers and love to eat? I would do it but I would never eat those frozen meals! This from people who know very well that I don't do the frozen meal thing. Can you have that dessert if you're on Weight Watchers? You are on Weight Watchers - but you're not fat, what gives?

This is all a load of shit. Without getting on my WW Soapbox, Weight Watchers is about portion control, meal planning, good nutrition and wise choices. I've had great success following the program sometimes I'm strict, sometimes not so much but come back when I've gained a few pounds. Plus I love to eat but there's a difference between eating good nutritious meals and greasy transfat-laden fast food. And hey, at the end of the day, life's too short to not enjoy every meal to its fullest!

Working in Times Square, there are plenty of overpriced unhealthy nasty tourist-trap lunch options so instead of fighting the crowds of strolling packs of people heading to Bubba Gump Shrimp, I make my own lunch and bring to the office trying to avoid the jealous glances of my co-workers. Sandwiches can be a bit of a snooze, so it is usually something a bit more creative like this week's lunch; a mexican frittata courtesy of the aforementioned Weight Watchers recipe website:

4 large eggs
1/2 cup fat free skim milk
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
15 oz cannned white beans, rinsed & drained
14 1/2 oz canned diced tomatoes, with green peppers & onions
4 1/2 oz chopped green chilis or canned diced green chilis
3/4 cup shredded reduced fat Mexican cheese, divided
2 tsp olive oil

Preheat broiler. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cumin & pepper. Stir in beans, tomatoes, chilis and 1/2 cup cheese.

Heat oil in a large oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Add egg mixture and cook until almost cooked through to surface, frequently smoothing top with back of a spoon, about 5 minutes.

Place skillet under broiler and cook until top is cooked through, about 1 - 2 minutes. Sprinkle top of frittata with remaining 1/4 cup cheese; return skillet to broiler. Broil until cheese is golden, about 1 minute.

Slice frittata into 4 equal weges and serve warm. (6 points per serving in WW-speak)

I also bring a small side salad to round out this midday feast. I was feeling a bit rebellious so this week's concoction was a spinach salad (and I'm still standing) with oranges, pistachios, balsamic vinegar and oil.

How I suffer on this "diet" of mine....don't you feel sorry for me?

Chicks Love ChikaLicious

So after our dinner at Novecento, RRR & I decided to check out ChikaLicious. Having topped off our Momofuku dinner the night before with a trip to Magnolia Bakery, my sweet tooth even more out of control than usual!

When we arrived, there was a bit of a line but only about 6 parties ahead of us. The restaurant was tiny and our host friendly, almost too friendly (perhaps he was on a sugar high) and the wait was maybe about 20 minutes.

As always, we decided to divide and conquer the menu, choosing desserts we would both enjoy. They have a $12 prix fixe which comes with an amuse, dessert and petit fours. We ordered a pot of coffee and a Muscat de Beaumes-de Venise 2002 (still can't leave France behind!) and waited to be wowed.

Our amuse was a white coffee scoop of ice cream over gelatin. I use the term scoop lightly since it was really a tablespoonful and the ice cream was rich and creamy but not too heavy to overpower the flavor of the coffee. Not a fan of anything gelatin but the cubes were so tiny you barely noticed them; not quite sure why they were there but I digress...

For dessert we had a pumpkin caramel trifle with spiced cake and toasted pecan. The presentation was adorable and the pecans were underneath the cake with the pumpkin custard blanketing either side of the spongy cake. Perfect fall dessert!

We also ordered a warm chocolate tart with pink peppercorn ice cream and a red wine sauce. The sauce was more of a smear to decorate the plate but the tart was fantastic! The crust was thick and kept the molten center of the tart warm.


I did find the peppercorn ice cream to be unusual but I think I would have preferred another scoop of the white coffee instead. Perhaps if there were some spice in the chocolate this would have been a better pairing, but regardless, this one was the winner for both of us!

Our petit fours were two small chocolate truffles and two coconut covered marshmallows.

Not being a coconut fan, this choice was a bit lost on me but at this point our sugary paradise can one really be greedy?

Date night...with your sister!

RRR & I were agonizing over where to eat this weekend and eventually decided to have dinner at Novecento, an Argentine restaurant she read about in Zagat. Since we rarely dine in SoHo it seemed like a good idea to hit a part of town we haven't been to in awhile.

The reservationist said she could accommodate us if we hurried down there - no need to tell us twice! We jumped on the subway and got down there post haste. My first impression of the candlelit restaurant was "this would be a nice date place - unfortunately MY date is my sister" and we settled into a cozy booth in the back of the restaurant. The ambience was very downtown and as the night progressed the volume of the music eminating from the restaurant's sound sytem increased.

Our server was friendly and helped us chose a delicious full-bodied temparillo. We started with a choice of two empanadas, picking the spinach and cheese and the chicken. Unfortunately, the spinach and cheese lacked a bit of flavor and I was unable to identify the coma-inflicting cheese. A more pungent dairy component would have made this empanada above average instead of well, just average. The chicken empanada fared much better - the sofrito sauce was tasty and the empanada pastry flaky and light.

We followed this up our empanadas with the ensalada de rucula: argula salad, cherry tomatoes, parmesan cheese and a truffled vinagrette. I usually don't get overly jazzed about salads but the parm made this one really savory and the perfect intermezzo to our main event...

and that would be the entrana con chimichurri: a 14 ounce flank steak with fries and a side of chimichurri sauce. The flank steak was a great cut of meat; crisp on the outside, pink on the inside.

We decided to forgo dessert and find some sweets on our way home... (I'll keep you in suspense for that one!)

All in all a pretty decent meal. Would I say the best ever? No, but a good option in SoHo whether you are on a date and not out to break the bank, out for a couples night or even a relaxed evening with the girls. And hey, when you have the best dining companion a foodie could ask for - your sister - what more can you ask for!

This Lucky Peach went to Momofuku!

I finally made it AND I can finally pronounce it! After months of reading Momofuku Noodle Bar's reviews and my passion for all cuisines Asian, the time finally arrived for me to see if it lived up to the hype.

RRR was in town for the weekend and MPV was trekking in from suburbia, so we gave it a whirl. I was a bit concerned about getting in on a Friday night to a hot no-reservation restaurant, so we had our area back ups ready just in case...

The restaurant was crowded and we were told there would be a 45 minute wait for our party of three. We decided to have some wine & cheese at Tarallucci e Vino next door and the hostess kindly offered to come by and get us when our table was ready. Less than 45 minutes later our table was ready and we wound up delaying our seating a bit; eventually abandoning what remained of our 1/3 bottle of wine to head to what we hoped was an Asian street food paradise.

We bellied up to the bar (pun intended since MPV is very pregnant at the moment!) and ordered a few items to share:

We started with two orders of steamed buns, choosing the shitake and the chicken over the pork since we were ordering a few pork items and didn't want to be over-swined. The chicken proved to be a bit dry but the shitake buns were delicious! The juicy barbeque sauce that surrounded the mushrooms and the crunch of the cucumbers that were on top was a taste explosion.

Having had my share of pork buns in Chinatown, these were really on the money! The open faced presentation of the buns added a bit of polish (and some pretension) to the dish.

Sadly, the chicken bun didn't fare as well; the mini-patty shaped chicken was crispy but slightly overcooked and dry. And the sponginess of the bun didn't help.

We then shared broccoli rabe with Berkshire pork. The pork was spicy and the broth had a hint of clove and seemed to be in a beef or other hearty stock. If we had bread, these three Italians would have been dunking away!

Then out came the "main event": the namesake Momofuku Ramen which came with a pork combo (Berkshire and something other type of pork just to be vague), a poached egg, scallions, and noodles of course. RRR & MPV were a bit grossed by the egg and I must admit it was a bit runny - bursting into my bowl before I managed to scoop out some of it to a nearby empty plate. The yolk however did add a bit more flavor and heartiness to my bowl of fun. We enjoyed sluping up the noodles and the broth had just the right amount of salt for my palate. I also enjoyed my portion of the noodles with a white ale recommended by our server.

RRR duly noted that we really don't have much of a point of comparison as far as noodle bars go but I did enjoy our Momofuku experience. It is tough for a restaurant to live up to the hype but this 'lucky peach' came pretty darn close. Not really a place to go to lounge; this is a get a bite to eat and go hang out somewhere else - but in a good way. The only thing these guys need to work on is their ventilation system... even after a double dose of Febreeze my jacket still smells like a fryer!

Happy Slurping!