catch of the day: rosaberry

in

It's quite the modern dilemma. The food media has declared 2012 the year of the dinner party, and while you're a gung-ho host(ess), you haven't the slightest cooking skills.

Then again, you're a multi-tasker, a modern juggler of motivation and goals. So what do you do? Host an in-home cooking class/dinner party for you and your nearest and dearest. That's where Rosaberry comes in.

I had the pleasure of meeting Rosaberry founder, Jenna Helwig, at just such a double-duty dinner in the Meredith Corp test kitchen. Our motley crew's skills ranged from "totally intimidated by cooking" to "considering going to culinary school" - but Jenna beautifully catered to all levels of interest and expertise.

The menu was Spanish-influenced...

  • Almond-stuffed dates
  • Green gazpacho
  • Northern Spy Food Co-inspired kale salad
  • Shrimp paella
  • Smoky chicken & baby potatoes
  • Spiced vegan chocolate pudding

...and remarkably delicious. More importantly, it was easy to replicate. No foam or fancy knife skills necessary, just contemporary home cooking at it's finest.

That, for me, is the mark of a top-notch personal chef or recipe developer (Jenna, in fact, wears both hats) : the ability to transform current food trends into simple - but admirable - meals. Moreover, Jenna proved quite the personable chef. Supervising five chatty and debatably focused students, she neither raised her voice nor let us burn the rice.

The best part of such a meal? The communal sense of accomplishment. Beyond the joy of sharing a meal, Rosaberry reveals the pleasure of preparing food together. Don't be surprised if it's your best dinner party to date.

eater's digest: sandwiches of nyc

in

It might sound sacrilegious, but I'm not the type of girl who gets excited about a sandwich. In fact, before I lived in Paris, I wasn't really "into bread." Since then, I've learned to love a good loaf, but the crusty heritage grain or sourdough boules I crave are more suited to sopping up sauces than stacking up cold cuts.

The average ol' American sandwich doesn't celebrate bread; it renders it a mere vehicle for debatably exciting fillers. And those who do try to use exquisite loaves often botch the crust-to-inside balance of the ideal bite. (*For the record, I exclude open-faced tartines. They are an entirely different animal from the sandwich, given their sit-down/fork & knife style.)

Yet everyone once in a while, I fall upon an inventive sub or panini that revives my faith in the the future of portable lunch. After two years in New York - and countless meals on-the-go - there are three sandwiches I still swoon over, even if I've the time for a proper seated siesta.

1) Num Pang - Pulled Pork or Catfish w/ Pickled Carrots, Cilantro & Cucumber

When the bahn mi craze hit, I wasn't the biggest fan. After living in Paris, stateside baguettes tend to leave me less-than-impressed. In the case of most BM shops, their stale impressions of this seminal French bread remain impossibly dry, no matter the highly-curated contents. So when my sister and mother started raving about a "Cambodian sandwich shop", I anticipated an equally desiccated sub. To my surprise, the semolina num pang rolls are a softer, subtler sibling to the bahn mi baguette. Here, filling is king, and boy is it delicious. Savory, spicy, acidic and crunchy - it is sustenance and refreshment in one. To boot, NP's grilled chili-coconut corn is beyond addictive.

2) No. 7 Sub - Broccoli, Riccota Salata, Lychee Pickles & Toasted Pine Nuts

I'm all for wacky, rare ingredients, so I was pretty intrigued when I got wind of the latest Flatiron food addiction. I've tried a few different sandwiches at No. 7, but the broccoli is by far my favorite. I usually hate syrupy-sweet lychees, but pickled, they are genius. Riccota salata and toasted pine nuts are enough to win over any good Italian girl, and I pity people who hate broccoli. Depending on who makes your sub, the bread here can tend a little towards the aforementioned Bahn Mi dryness, but on a good day it's just so damn delicious.

3) Porchetta - Namesake Sandwich

The first NYC sandwich to ever win my heart, the Porchetta classic will go down in East Village history. Can you ever have enough cracklin'? I think not. In fact, I've asked for extra and the pig-loving meat carvers are sometimes lovely enough to indulge me. The pork itself is slow-cooked and stuffed with rosemary, sage, garlic, salt and - the hot spice of 2011 - wild fennel pollen. By the way, the similarly seasoned potatoes with cracklin' are also sinfully good...