Marea

Last Monday night, I went to Marea to knock another one-star off my Michelin list. Marea is a restaurant I’ve been meaning to try for quite some time, especially after reading so many rave reviews about their fusilli pasta with braised octopus. After reviewing the menu for quite some time, my dining companion and I decided to be adventurous and do the tasting menu. We did one tasting menu and ordered more items a la carte. The waiter gave us some great suggestions (although his suggestion for the risotto ended up not being so great). We started off with an amuse bouche of salmon with fresh basil:

The fresh basil flavor lingered in my mouth long after I finished the small bite of delicious salmon. An interesting and fresh flavor.

After the amuse bouche, we ordered the Ricci: sea urchin, lardo, and sea salt:

Everyone raves about the ricci; how can you go wrong with sea urchin and lard on a crispy piece of sea salt crostini? I didn’t like the lard that was lightly melted over the sea urchin; my friend Eunice said it changes the texture of the sea urchin, but I think it distracts from the full flavor of the sea urchin.

After our ricci, we had a crudo tasting:

Left to right: Mackerel with pomegranate seeds, Long Island fluke with lemon thyme and olive oil, and octopus with lemon and olive oil.

The octopus was very light in flavor but the lemon and olive oil really brought it to life. The mackerel was also delicious, especially with bursts of pomegranate seeds with every bite.

My next dish, from the tasting menu, was the astice (nova scotia lobster, burrata, eggplant al funghetto, basil):

The waiter explained that the burrata cheese is flown in from Italy every day and made in very small quantities; the cheese was buttery, creamy, and an amazing complement to the perfectly poached lobster and fresh basil.

After we finished the ricci, crudo, and astice, we were both getting kind of full, but then came our house made pasta and risotto. We ordered the risitto with our tasting menu because wanted a full order of the fusilli (which ended up being a very good decision because neither of us enjoyed the seafood risotto). The risotto:

The squid ink made the risotto too gooey and masked the flavors of the seafood it was paired with. I’ve had one other bad experience with squid ink in Barcelona and think I’m just not a fan of it in general. The risotto was cooked perfectly, but the taste of the squid ink ruined the dish for me.

The fusilli, on the other hand, was my favorite dish of the evening:

The fusilli is hand made in the restaurant, comes with red wine braised octopus, and bone marrow. The tomato adds the right amount of acidity to complement the light bone marrow and the octopus was flavorful but didn’t overpower the sauce. I would have no complaints if I had to eat Marea’s fusilli every day for the rest of my life.

After the pastas, we were really full but still had the fish – one pound of dover sole with a citrus lemon sauce:

The dover sole costs about $57 a pound and the fish we ordered was a little over a pound before removing the bones. The fish was tender and meaty and the citrus lemon sauce was the perfect pairing for the white fish.

The dover sole also came with a side of roasted beets with ricotta salata:

Throughout our entire meal, this man also came by with lots of different breads, including whole grain, focaccia, and white bread:

The breads weren’t that great so I didn’t eat too many pieces (only two…look at that self control) and the focaccia was definitely too oily (there was oil all over my fingers and my plate!)

Since we ordered the tasting menu, we still had one dessert to go (luckily, we shared one dessert). We ordered the Gianduja (cocoa nib crema, hazelnut chocolate, fior di latte gelato):

The hazelnut chocolate was actually very light and the different textures from the cocoa nib, gelato, hazelnut, and hazelnut cream was a perfect way to end the meal. After our first dessert came out, a waiter delivered some chocolates:

Dark chocolate filled with caramel, white chocolate with lavender, milk chocolate with malt (and malt balls), and dark chocolate with raspberry. The milk chocolate with malt was very delicious (but a tad sweet) and THAT was the end of a very long but VERY delicious meal.

Marea is very deserving of their one Michelin star; their food is exceptional and very creative. However, the service was not the best (it took our waiter at least 30 minutes to come over to get our order, he didn’t seem very knowledgeable about the menu, and I could not get a water refill to save my life). The next time I dine at Marea, it might be for lunch; two dishes for $34 (and one of the dishes is the fusilli pasta!)

Artisan Bread School

On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of taking an Artisan bread making class from Carl Shavitz at the Miele Center in Midtown (the PR firm sent me to the class for free). The all day class is an introductory course to bread making (there are also 3-day and 5-day courses all over the world – you can find more information on their website, Artisan-bread-school.com). Carl is an artisan bread maker in the UK and taught us how to make focaccia, a white bread with an overnight sponge, and whole wheat bread with sesame seeds and molasses. The focaccia was definitely my favorite bread of the day (especially with the special ciabatta flour Carl brought for the class!) It was a really informative, fun, and hands on class and Carl is an absolutely amazing teacher. Below are some pictures I snapped from our day with Carl.

Some of my materials from the class:

We used a LOT of olive oil to make the bread and my hands were covered in olive oil for the majority of the day. On the plus side, my hands were really soft by the end of the day!

Here’s my focaccia dough after combining the flour with a starter Carl prepared for the class and some water (and lots of olive oil):

All of our doughs resting (the focaccia is in the clear plastic containers and the white bread is in the silver bowls covered with towels):

My focaccia after resting and kneading:

Carl instructing me on stretching the focaccia dough:

Attempting to fold the dough:

Getting ready to fold the dough again:

After lots of folding and kneading, my focaccia dough was ready for baking! I placed sprigs of rosemary all over:

And Carl placed all of our breads into the oven:

Look at the fruit of our labor – the focaccia was so incredibly delicious (I froze the rest of mine because I would’ve eaten it all in one sitting otherwise)!:

Carl was very impressed with my bread:

We also made a white bread with an overnight sponge. The bread can be made with fruits and nuts (ours were plain, but I definitely plan on making this again). Making this bread wasn’t as intense as making the focaccia:

And here’s my bread with my signature – the second from the left:

The last bread we baked only took about 45 minutes – all we had to do was mix whole wheat flour with water and a LOT of yeast:

The finished product:

The class was a lot of fun and I took home three breads that I made all by myself! A huge thank you to Carl for teaching the class and to the Artisan Bread School for giving me the opportunity to attend.

Dishing Up Vermont Giveaway

Tracey Medeiros, the author of Dishing Up Vermont, is sponsoring a giveaway of her new book! The book is all about Vermont farmers, chefs and food producers who practice sustainability. Dishing Up Vermont applauds its contributors for their dedication to producing fresh, healthy, pesticide-free products. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to the Vermont Fresh Network. If you purchase a ticket to the event at Murray’s, it includes a copy of the book, a glass of wine, a taste of one of her recipes, and the opportunity to speak with Tracey in person.

When: 04.08.10, 6:30 – 8:00 PM
Instructor: Tracey Medeiros
Cost: $25.00 (Limited seating and early sign-up is recommended)*
Website: www.murrayscheese.com

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment answering this question:

What’s your favorite type of cheese?

I’ll post the winner on April 5th – if you live in New York City, I’ll deliver you the book so you can get it signed by Tracey at the event!

Quick and Easy Weeknight Dinner: Oven Baked Salmon

I absolutely love to prepare salmon for dinner because it’s quick, easy, and really delicious. David and I had this on Monday night and I had the salmon in a salad for lunch on Tuesday. The recipe requires very few ingredients (and I think most should be in your pantry, especially if you have ever followed my other weeknight dinner recipes).

Oven Baked Salmon

Ingredients:

1 pound salmon
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
1 Lemon

First, preheat your oven to 475 degrees. While the oven is preheating, place the salmon (skin side down) on a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spread a thin layer of salt on the salmon:

Next, spread a layer of garlic powder on the salmon:

Then add some freshly ground black pepper to the fish:

Cut your lemon in half and squeeze half of the juice on the salmon. Cut the other half into slices and place on the fish:

Place the salmon in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes (depending on how thick the tuna is):

Serve with a side of vegetables (we did a side salad with avocados) or stir fry some spinach with garlic to serve on the side!

Cost Breakdown:

1 pound salmon – $6.99
Salt – free
Pepper – free
Garlic Powder – free
1 Lemon – $0.45

Total: $7.44

Yoplait Greek Yogurt and Stop & Shop Giveaway!

Congrats commenter #8!

Yoplait and Stop & Shop teamed up with MyBlogspark to send me four Yoplait Greek yogurts to sample as well as information about these yogurts – 2 strawberry and 2 honey. I like the texture as an alternative to Fage, Chobani, and other Greek yogurts on the market, however, they premix the strawberries and honey into the yogurt, which is something I like to do on my own (especially with the honey – I thought the yogurt was way too sweet). Yoplait, Stop & Shop, and MyBlogSpark are doing a giveaway today – answer this question in the comments:

What’s your favorite afternoon snack?

You’ll be entered for a $20 giftcard to Stop & Shop AND four coupons for the Greek yogurt. I’ll draw a random winner on Friday at 5pm! Good luck!