Saturday in New York/Wilmington

Saturday morning in New York, we got up early and headed to Tom Colicchio's casual restaurant, craftbar, on Broadway in the Flatiron District (NoHo). The vegetarian selection was small, but thoughtful and I settled on the Brioche Pain Perdu with Vermont Maple Syrup (aka French Toast). Along with maple syrup was a dish of fresh lemon preserves which I happily spread on my toast with just a tiny bit of the syrup. It was delicious.

After brunch, we wandered our way over (way over) to the other side of Manhattan to browse the selection of chocolates at Jacques Torres on Hudson Street. I chose a custom box of chocolates from a large selection that included a key lime granache-filled white chocolate "Lovebug" and a passion fruit granache-filled dark chocolate heart. I also picked up a small bag of dark chocolate covered almonds dusted in cocoa powder for a special someone. It was hard to leave without buying out the store.

We were fairly tired from our trek across the island to the chocolate store, so we took a cab back to Washington Square Park, home of NY Dosas, another recommendation from my friend, Celine. I got lucky to be there on a Saturday when there was not a huge line. Yes, it's a food cart, but each dosa (a southern Indian crepe made of lentils and filled with various things such as potatoes, onions and peas, popularly known as a masala dosa) is prepared to order and takes about five minutes to cook. I ordered the Pondicherry Dosa, filled with the usual curried potatoes as well as some other vegetables (carrots, peppers and a few others). It came with a side of chutney and lentil soup. At just $5, it's a real bargain in comparison to many restaurants in the area, and just as tasty, though you'll have an audience of a cast of interesting characters and animals if you opt to stay in the park to eat.

Not long after lunch at the dosa cart, it was time to head back to Wilmington, Delaware for the evening, where my friend and her husband live. She's of Persian descent and knew that green rice was one of my favorite dishes, so she surprised me with a dinner that included Sabzi or Baghali Polo that evening. The recipe I linked to includes several other herbs, but as far as I know, she only uses fresh dill. A couple of other tweaks: use basmati rice for the base (I've used wild basmati instead of white and it's just as good and healthier), olive oil instead of vegetable oil, and in a pinch, lima beans can be substituted for fava beans. It's an excellent dish and very hearty, though she did prepare some chicken for the carnivores as well as a salad and roasted broccoli. I'd never had roasted broccoli before, but was convinced to try it when I told her that I eat broccoli, but don't like it and she assured me I would like it this way. Try this simple recipe if you have a hard time swallowing broccoli, too because it really does alter the flavor in a positive way. She roasted it long enough to have a few crunchy spots on it, which was a nice touch, texture-wise.

So now, it's back to Nashville and my regular food for a while. Though I did treat myself with a trip to McNeil's to get fresh tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, a seedless watermelon, and "Peaches and Cream" bi-color corn on the cob. It'll be a yummy week.