Happy Fourth!

What better way to celebrate the Fourth of July than seeing a movie set in Paris followed by Thai French fusion fare?

That's exactly what Rockstar and I did for the Fourth. Our evening began with going to see "Ratatouille". How adorable! And knowing that Thomas Keller consulted on the film made it that much more intriguing and entertaining! It certainly made me long for Paris... but even more importantly made me hungry. With rain having long put a damper on any plans for fireworks (go ahead you can call us wimps) we decided to get something to eat.

Rockstar suggested checking out one of the few new Thai-French fusion restaurants in her Hell's Kitchen neighborhood and I was certainly game. We decided on Breeze located on Ninth Avenue not that far from my office.

We sat in a cozy table al fresco and ordered some cocktails. Our meal started with the Wild Mushroom Dumplings; a crisp open dumpling of wild seasonal mushrooms and caramelized onions with sweet soy sauce and black truffle essence foam. According to the three asterisk it was given on the menu, this item was "very popular" and "Best Appetizer" according to Time Out and with that recommendation could we really pass them up? The crispy wonton shell was a nice vehicle for the mixed saute of mushrooms, however, the black truffle essence foam was barely evident in the dish. A bit of false advertising but a decent tasty appetizer nonetheless.

We also chose the Pad Thai Rolls, from the list of specials. I particularly liked this idea since I am a Pad Thai freak and having it as an app leaves room to explore other entrees. The rolls were a nice departure from the norm and satisfied my Pad Thai jones even though the noodles were slightly dried out.

It was tough to pick an entree from the extensive list but we finally reached a decision: King Tiger Prawns for Rockstar and Crispy Duck with Three Flavor Sauce for me. The King Tiger Prawns were really large grilled shrimp folded into fresh pasta sheets with coconut green curry sauce and zucchini noodles sauteed with Thai basil and shallots. It was tasty, inventive, light and flavorful with a delicate sauce that encouraged you to sop it up as much rice as you can get on your chopstick.

The Crispy Duck was a roast breast served on a bed of crispy noodles topped with Breeze's three flavor sauce. While the duck was a tad overcooked, the spicy brown sauce that coated it was exactly what I was hoping for - a nice peppery hit on the finish with a rich sauce that had the tiniest hint of sweetness. The crunchy noodles softened under the sauce aftera bit and gave me an opportunity to indulge in a bit more of the sauce.

While not a "destination restaurant" Breeze is certainly a welcome option in a neighborhood that often sticks to tried and true tourist fare. I am not so sold on the "fusion" part but with reasonable prices, a variety of tasty dishes, well mixed cocktails and a nice atmosphere you can certainly do a lot worse.

It Ain't Pretty...It's Monkfish

I got home a bit later than my stomach had hoped tonight so I was in a bit of a rush to get dinner on the table.

Tonight's entree was monkfish. I seasoned the fish with a generous helping of kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and garlic powder after a quick blitz of olive oil cooking spray. While the fish was sauteing in the pan I cut up some white onion, olives and tomatoes. When the fish was cooked; I removed from the pan and threw in some minced garlic and the onions. Being impatient, I didn't sweat the onions and after about only a minute, threw in some capers, the olives and then the tomatoes and seasoned again.

The bright red tomatoes gave the dish a nice splash of color to what would otherwise be a pretty bland colored dish and for someone in a hurry I was pretty dead on with my seasoning. Of course if I had taken an extra thirty seconds to add some fresh thyme it would have added another level of herby freshness, but alas, piggy was hungry.

The monkfish came out much better than expected with the only caveat being that I probably cooked the fish about a minute too long.

It wasn't pretty but it was pretty good.

Foodie F-Rants: E-V-Oh-nO!

On today's shopping trip I saw something so revolting and frightening that I wish I could go back to being blissfully unaware of its existence:

RACHEL RAY EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL! And of course it is called "EVOO"!

When did this culinary crime against humanity happen? And more importantly, can the Rachel Ray juggernaut be stopped?

I think I'm going to be sick... somebody get me a garbage bowl!