Morandi - the Italian Pastis

I went to dinner with RRR and a few of her co-workers. Since I didn't want to freak out the old school finance dudes, I refrained from snapping photos throughout the meal, but that didn't prevent me from telling you all about Morandi.

Morandi is the latest venture from Keith McNally aka the dude behind Pastis, Schiller's Liquor Bar, Balthazar, Lucky Strike and Pravda; all perennial New York favorites. Morandi is his venture into Italian fare with some of the same approaches that have served him well in his highly successful restaurants. The decor is familiar, the menu layout reminiscent and the staff seems to have gone through the same training session. Hey, if it's not broke....

Anyway, onto the food! RRR and I started by sharing an appetizer of grilled radicchio and smoked mozzarella. The portion was a bit small (I would have preferred some more radicchio) but the cheese was quite lovely, with a nice charred layer on the outside and oozy smoky gooey goodness on the inside with just the right touch of seasoning.

I followed this up with pappardelle con cinghiale; fresh flat pasta with boar ragu. It was a bit of a risk since in the past, this dish (outside of Tuscany) can go very, very wrong. At Morandi, it went very, very right. With just the perfect portion, I happily finished every last bit of the tender slow-cooked boar and sopped up as much of the well-layered tomato sauce as I could using the fresh pasta as my vehicle. And with a bit of grated cheese to add another layer of flavors and texture to the dish it was quite lovely!

My meal was complete with a plate of mini-cannoli, a dessert I can never resist. The shell of the pastry was thinner than expected, closer to the texture of a sugar cone than a traditional cannoli. The filling was fresh and lemony with a nice strong flavor of pistachio. A load of powdered sugar and plenty of tiny chocolate chips gave the presentation a nice touch while adding to the flavor of the dessert.

I think the old school folk might have been a bit disappointed in the portion size and the rustic slant of the menu, however, if you are looking for a casual, reasonably priced Italian restaurant in the very crowded restaurant row of Seventh Ave in the West Village you really can't go wrong at Morandi.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving (to me)...

You may think that Thanksgiving is a time for Ms. Foodie to get all fancy with her turkey. And I have. Twice. A port marinade to be exact. However, truth be told, I've traditionally gone out to dinner for Thanksgiving. Yes, I go out to dinner on the biggest food holiday of the year.

Growing up, Thanksgiving was always my Dad's holiday and we would go out to dinner with my Grandparents. RRR and I enjoyed the fact that we can get something besides turkey (which can be abysmal outside of a Jersey diner) and keep our calories in check by not being able to go back for seconds and thirds and fourths. My Mom, however, hated that we went out to eat and would often make us a small turkey before she went off to her Mother's so that we had leftovers to come home to.

This year, I took on my Mom's role and decided I'm going to make myself a pseudo-Thanksgiving dinner; albeit a few days later. So on Thursday, I had a petit filet mignon and shrimp scampi and today's feast consisted of: garlic, lemon and rosemary roasted chicken, cornbread stuffing with cranberries, sage and prosciutto, roasted acorn squash and a mix of balsamic roasted vegetables finished off with pumpkin pie for dessert.

Thighs came over for what is becoming a routine day of dinner and football so I was able to share today's feast (she brought the pie - a delicious leftover from Rockstar's T'giving meal).

First in the oven was the stuffing; a recipe given to me by Contessa and listed below:

Saute 4 carrots, 4 celery & one large onion in vegetable oil

Add about 6 - 7 slices prosciutto, chopped sage, salt, pepper

Add ¾ cup cranberries - soaked, drained & dried (I use dry - you can also use currants or any other dried fruit)

Mix these ingredients with six cups cubed cornbread & one cup chicken stock. Throw into a buttered baking dish and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

It's pretty foolproof.

Once the stuffing was on it's way, I prepped my chicken; slathering it with lemon zest, chopped sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, garlic powder, lemon juice and a bit of chicken stock. I also put half a lemon and some of the herbs in the cavity of the bird. While this was starting to cook, I roasted one head of garlic (with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper) alongside it in the oven. Once the garlic had roasted and cooled; I smeared the chicken with it; getting some of it under the skin along with the herbs. Finally, I basted the chicken a few times to keep it moist and you know the drill - let the internal temperature of the bird come to 170, let the meat rest before carving, yada yada yada.

The acorn squash prep was pretty simple too: diced, coated with olive oil spray, salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme and a generous helping of nutmeg. The balsamic veggies were pretty much the same deal except I used actual olive oil which was vigorously whisked with the balsamic to make a bit of an emulsion, then mixed with chopped fennel, eggplant and yellow squash.

Rockstar's pumpkin pie (courtesy of Fresh Direct) was creamy with an intense fresh pumpkin taste. What a great finish to a great meal!

The result was a post-Thanksgiving feast to remember... and with plenty of leftovers!