VittlesVamp

Egg Me On

Little did I know when I snapped this photo that I was actually taking a mug shot of an evil culprit who would do me harm.

Mind you, it did taste marvelous. Who could resist an omelette made by your truly, filled with buttery triple-creme Fromage d'Affinois, slices of roasted red pepper, fresh thyme and crunchy morsels of pancetta?

And at first it was yummy. The perfect brunch. The combination of the soft eggs, oozing cheese, sweet peppers, crispy pork and fragrant thyme was irresistable. Then, the pancetta's crunch became too much. Way too much. Was that a bit of bone I was biting into?

OH MY GOD! It was part of a tooth. My tooth!

I freaked for a minute. Then I realized something: My teeth didn't hurt. Then I remembered something: I'd had the filling in that tooth replaced not that long ago. All that work on it had probably loosened its resolve.

Harumph! I called the dentist and sure enough he said I'd be fine. Quite fine. Already scheduled for a fix on Monday morning. But until then, his sage advice was to eat on the other side of my mouth - and to keep brushing.

Done and done.

But what was I to do now? Was I going to let a partially broken tooth ruin my Saturday afternoon? Heck, no! I put on something fabulous and headed out the door into the sunshine (then promptly went out of it to go below ground for the subway heading to Union Square). I spent the afternoon shopping with friends - bargaining down the price on a gorgeous black scarf at the holiday marketplace and buying myself a pair of leather boots at DSW.

Then my friends wanted to stop for a "little something." What to do? I got over myself quickly enough and led us all to Cedar Tavern. Apparently I led us there not a moment too soon. The Village landmark was about to shut its doors for 6 months while real estate developers build a multi-story condo above the bar.

Downing a cup of coffee with Frangelico, I was feeling even less pain then before. Should I continue on? Heck, yes!

And so we did. We wove our way through quaint Greenwich Village gift shops and then hit Soho like a force. At this point, my resolve was firm - but my wallet was light, so I kept to window shopping as we hunted and pecked for handbags, jewelry and alike.

Then my friends wanted to stop for a "little something" once again. It was dinner time. Would I slink off and head home to down a bowl of oatmeal? Gosh, no! I joined the gals at the posh Barolo for a smile-enducing meal of steak tartare with slices of black truffle and penne in a creamy tomato sauce with vodka, guanciale and salmon roe. A glass of Barbera completed the picture.

All in all - a great day.

Still, I'm looking forward to having my tooth repaired tomorrow.

But I won't wait for tomorrow to get out and about. Today still awaits. So, I'm off...

Gobble Gobble

Another year, another T-day. My Spicy Yam Mash with Pineapple and Lime (above) once again proved itself a worthy side. And, then I took those vibrant green stalks of brussel sprouts (in the background) and ended up sauteeing them with salty bits of pancetta (below).

Other sides abounded as well. My friend Paula providing many of them - including Savory Brioche Dressing and a Cranberry Chutney, cooked down with apples and apricots.

Where's the turkey?

No worries - there was a beauty of bird on the table as well...

And let me say - my frozen butter bark method still rules. The meat was so moist and scrumptious, I'm amazed there is any turkey left in my fridge. (Guess, I should be thankful that one of my guests was a vegan!)

Comfort Carbonara

After a hectic weekend including a truly wonderful night at the theater, a myriad of errands and chores, a shopping splurge at Sephora, an awe-inspiring day at MoMA, and a workday that started at 7:15am (on a Sunday - yes, that's right!), I needed to be comforted and coddled.

The Vamp's way to achieve that warm, fuzzy feeling of contentment? To cook, of course! And, what better to cook on a chilly evening than a rich, eggy bowl of Spaghetti Carbonara dotted with bits of roasted red peppers and salty slices of proscuitto?

Spaghetti Carbonara (alla Vamp)
Serves 2

Half box of spaghetti (8 oz.)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup cream
8 thin slices proscuitto - torn into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup roasted red peppers - chopped
1/3 cup dry white wine
Fresh black pepper - ground

Boil spaghetti in salted water until al dente. Drain pasta and set aside.

Separate eggs - with yolks set aside in individual bowls. Combine egg whites with parmesan, cream and ground black pepper.

In a large sautee pan heat olive oil. Add garlic clove and cook until browned on all sides over high heat. Remove and discard clove. Add proscuitto and roasted red peppers and sautee for 4-5 minutes - until cooked through and the proscuitto starts to crisp. Add wine and cook down for an additional 2 minutes until bubbly and well combined.

Toss in pasta and sautee for a few minutes until all liquid is soaked up by the spaghetti. Add the parmesan/cream/egg white mixture. Turn off heat. Toss until thoroughly incorporated.

Divide into two bowls. Create a slight well in the middle of each bowl of pasta and delecately place egg yolk in each. Topped with more grated cheese and black pepper, if desired. Mangia.

Miami Delights

Miami offered its fair share of delights. My fave? Not a hard call. It could have easily been the view from my hotel room's balcony (pictured above). It could have been the decadently deep marble tub, where I enjoyed several luxurious baths (pictured below).

Or, it easily could have been South Beach's party scene (Sunday night at the Raleigh most definitely qualified as a scene.) Or it could have been the district's glorious art deco architecture.

But, no. I found my most pleasurable Miami experience in a legendary Cuban diner in Little Havana - Versailles.

From squeezing wedges of mouthpuckering lime into a traditional Sopa de Platanos to the last flavorful bite of Ropa Viejo on my mixed platter of Cuban specialties, I was soothed and sated.

OK - I was more than soothed and sated. I was stuffed.

But that didn't stop me from sipping on a Cafe con Leche and taking a few bites of the restaurant's sweet, luscious Dulce De Leche Flan. Mmmmmm...

The manager called me a cab. I plunked into the backseat and the cabbie instantly recognized my soul-satisfied expression as we pulled out of the restaurant's parking lot.

"Good. No?"

Most decidedly "yes."

"I haven't eaten there in a while. Such great food!"

I agreed and then regaled him with a blow-by-blow of my evening repast.

The cab came to a screeching halt.

"Are you telling me that you didn't have the Queso Flan?!? That's wrong! Just wrong!"

Suddenly he hit the gas and made a U-turn. We were back in the Versailles parking lot in seconds.

"You cannot leave Miami without trying the Queso Flan!"

I adored this man. This man whom I would learn is named Baldo. This man who had a weak spot for melt-in-your-mouth desserts - and for the women who adored them too.

The manager was so taken aback by Baldo's tale of Queso Flan worship that he promptly brought over the off-menu treat and refused payment. He knew true love when he saw it. And, Baldo was a man most certainly in love with Versailles' Queso Flan (pictured below - Yes, I know it's fuzzy! I didn't have it in me to focus - on several levels).

So, was the real Miami delight Versailles or Baldo or the Queso Flan?

I'll never tell.

Shiny Object Ahead

My kitchen saw a death earlier this week.

My fridge officially died.

I knew it was on its last legs when its freezer unit was no longer capable of generating enough chill to inspire ice.

I like ice. A lot.

And, so a purchase was born.

A picture of my brand-spanking new refrigerator is above. Ain't it purty? Its so nice and shiny. I like shiny objects. It's going to be hard to tear myself away from it to go to Miami in the morning. Think I could get it through security and take it with me? I'm sure ice could come in handy down in Florida!

Miami Vice

That's right. I'm heading to vice - I mean Miami!

Well, maybe a little of both...

Any advice for the Vamp before she makes her way down to South Beach?

Another Night at the Puck

Another night, another food-fest charity event at the Puck...

Yeah. Sure. Right.

In all honesty, I was thrilled to be invited to New York Magazine's Taste of New York event last night, chock-a-block with gourmet glitterati and savory tidbits from the likes of Gotham Bar & Grill, Le Cirque, WD-50, Telepan and Per Se. But, would this charity extravaganza get me as jazzed (and buzzed) as the Tre Bicchieri? Goodness knows that my last trip to the Puck for ViniPortugal left me less than impressed.

Within seconds of walking into the threshold, I saw a sign that boded well for the evening: Phil (pictured above). For those of you that read this blog regularly, you'll know that Phil is one of my favorite people on the planet - a mixologist with great talent and great humor. He is usually found behind the bar at Pegu Club, but tonight he was shaking up Applejack Cobbler and Intro to Aperol cocktails for the Taste of New York's clamoring crowd.

I could have easily stayed at his station all night, but I knew that I needed to explore - and taste. I grabbed a Cobbler to-go and made my way through the maze.

And, what a maze it was! A maze filled with a throng of mice, overwhelmed by a wonderland of cheese.

In other words: It was Bar Mitzvah buffet on crack cocaine (a Long Island Bar Mitzvah on crack cocaine, at that).

Never in my life had my palate been on such a rollercoaster, rollicking up and down and up again in a sea of textures, aromas and flavors, the finest of which included Blue Hill's Vegetables on a Fence...

...Aquavit's Goat Cheese Mousse with Lemon Curd and Basil-Apple Compote...

...and Bouchon Bakery's selection of Autumn Pastries...

I was on culinary sensory overload - and elbow room was essential.

So, would I return to another Taste of New York event? For it's charitable benefits to City Harvest - absolutely. For a truly remarkable epicurean event - I'll have to think twice - but some more of those Bouchon Bakery pastries and another cocktail from Phil might just push me over the edge - and push me right back to the Puck.

To Drink Or Not To Drink?

Puh-leaze!!! That's not even up for discussion - especially after this week's good news about red wine:

Can you have your cake and eat it? Is there a free lunch after all, red wine included? Researchers at the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging report that a natural substance found in red wine, known as resveratrol, offsets the bad effects of a high-calorie diet in mice and significantly extends their lifespan.

Their report, published electronically yesterday in Nature, implies that very large daily doses of resveratrol could offset the unhealthy, high-calorie diet thought to underlie the rising toll of obesity in the United States and elsewhere, if people respond to the drug as mice do.

Think I'll test out the study on human specimens right now with a bottle of Borsao.

Life Is Too Short For Cheap Wine

Or is it?

That was the question of the evening on All Hallows Eve at my apartment, where I hosted a wine tasting - a very unusual wine tasting.

Trick or treat, you ask?

Ended up being a little of both. That Halloween night, our esteemed panel of judges tasted 34 wines in total - each costing $5.99 or less.

That's right. Yours truly swirled and sipped swill.

OK - that's an exaggeration. Not ALL of the wine was swill, but a good deal most assuredly was. We're talking nasty. The kind of nasty that makes you want to hunt down the supposed vitner and slap them silly. No grape is evil enough to deserve that cruel an end!

I won't even go into the particulars as to "why" price ceiling was set that evening - but I will say we felt awfully triumphant when we happened upon a bottle we actually enjoyed.

So, is life too short for cheap wine? Well, let's just say that life is too short for bad wine. I'll leave the price point out of the equation.

That said, I am totally open to hosting a follow-up wine tasting event at my place - one where the wines cost $599.00 or more. Anyone care to join me?

In My Mailbox

Halloween is barely over and already I'm getting loads of email about sites to check out for holiday gifts. And, my offline mailbox is brimming with catalogs too.

Gets me thinking. What do I want to put on my holiday wish list? And, to make matters worse, my b-day falls right smack dab in the holiday season too. Guess I'm going to have to create an extra long wish list...

Thinking that tops on the list will be a new sound system for my apartment - a must for dinner party background music. But what else?

Guess I'll hafta keep opening up that mailbox for ideas.