Dinner And A Movie: Counter & "Hot Fuzz"

Counter
105 First Avenue
New York, NY 10003
(212) 982-5870
www.counternyc.com

FIRST OF ALL, "Hot Fuzz" is the best movie I've seen since "Children Of Men," which was only a few months ago, I know, but I've seen a lot of great movies lately so let's not get too picky. From the master-creators of "Shaun Of The Dead," this cop movie send-up features one of the single funniest moments I have ever seen committed to film: an old woman getting flying-kicked in the face.

Now, Mom, before you yell at me, this woman is trying to shoot the film's hero with a shotgun and she's also responsible for the deaths of several other innocent people. She has it coming. Fast. And jumping through the air into her face. It's hilarious! And she's okay afterwards, she just goes to jail. I'm not ruining anything, I promise. I'm sorry, did you say, "decaffeinated?"

Aaron S. Hitchcock has a great take on this film also. You would all do well to read it and then buy up all of his artwork. It's good artwork and will appreciate in value at approximately 6% annually. Not a bad rate, I'd say.

After the film, Mint and I attempted to go to the Organic Grill since she was in the mood for vegan food (not a mood one is frequently "in" if one is not vegan, I assure you), but the two women working at the Grill informed us they were closed... twenty minutes before the sign on the door said they were so they could get home early. Which brings us to this very important announcement:

The Official Mike Eats Food! Boycott of Organic Grill is now at Day 1!

With two whole exclamation points, Organic Grill now joins the ranks of other such boycott-worthy establishments including the Pinnacle Deli on Third Avenue (for charging $0.10 to toast a bagel), Wasabi on Manhattan Avenue (for not being Sapporo Haru), and MacDonald's everywhere (for ruining modern civilization). Congratulations, jerks! I even started a Citysearch account to tell everyone how much you suck!

And so we ended up at Counter.

Looks fancy, costs fancy

Mint had the meatloaf special (made with house-made seitan) with an order of Counter's enormous hand-cut pommes frites (note: you know you're paying to much for french fries when you have to italicize them in print), and I enjoyed the hearty, pesto-tastic soup au pistou and the East Side Burger made from light mushroom pate and seitan.

Everything was delicious and the wine selection was fantastic, but my main concern with Counter is that vegan food isn't necessarily its greatest as haute cuisine. I mean, this is the food of hippies and neo-socialists, folks with no money and no jobs. Seventeen bucks for an entree isn't exactly keeping to the budget, let alone the spirit of saving the world through food. That doesn't mean creating accomplished seitan doesn't require a four-star chef (double negative!). So, the anti-establishment needs an well-established one to do things properly? That's the kind of oxymoron that makes Counter's take on vegan cuisine ultimately confusing.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: I probably wouldn't, but the East Village is running short on organic options... eh, Organic Grill? I anxiously await your apology.

Photos from Rouge Pictures and Counter/Organic Wine Journal

RECIPE! Spicy Mac

I DECLARED YESTERDAY after seeing a recipe for Spicy Mac at the Not Eating Out In NY blog that this mac would be made. Truth be told, it was! The kicker was that I had most all of the ingredients I needed already in my very own apartment, save only for cheddar cheese which is not exactly a specialty item. Ten minutes and $5 later, I was ready to go.

I'll assume since the recipe was posted online its author doesn't much mind us sharing it here, but to be faithful I'll just give you a link to the Spicy Mac to-do list and let you click your way over there yourself. It's not a daunting set of instructions, but the creation of a bechamel sauce base for the future spicy, cheesy sauce is not something I frequently do. Strike that, it's not something I've ever done.

Looks good so far, right?

Reading up on bechamel sauce after the fact, I'm fairly certainly that I screwed it up. I think I would do well to keep the heat lower next time and make sure the flour and butter don't scald during the first step, but this quick method did, nonetheless, manage to make a delicious and spicy sauce for the for the mac n' cheese--the paprika in particular was a nice touch.

I did not give in and add the chorizo as instructed and opted instead for my own vegetarian substitution--thick chunks of plum tomatoes, which I added at the last minute before popping the tray into the oven. I also sprinkled in a handful of fresh-grated Parmesan cheese at this point and topped the whole thing with a few slices of sourdough bread crumbled in the food processor to add a bit of crunch when baking. Long, spiraling whole wheat pasta certainly added a heartier flavor.

Just 350-degrees and 20 minutes away!

I doubt that anyone should be annoyed with so many alterations to the recipe. After all, mac n' cheese is a rather personal food, so I would expect anyone else to do the same. The spicy sauce, however, does make the dish something more than "everyday" and would be a great party dish since it serves so many.

I'll be attempting this one again in the future. My ultimate goal is to, first, come up with a version that does not use cow milk and substitutes cheddar for something like sheep's-milk Manchego or a goat cheese (avoiding certain allergies), eventually inventing my way to a vegan version that doesn't taste suspiciously fake. Now, I'm not vegan and, yes, the very idea of creating a decent vegan mac n' cheese does seem like chasing a formula for alchemy, but I do like a challenge. Stay tuned!

I Cannot Make Brownies to Save My Life

THIS IS TRUE. I have attempted many times, from box or scratch, to make brownies and I cannot think of one instance in which I have succeeded. This is the recipe I most recently screwed up:

1/3 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp corn oil
4 oz. vegan chocolate chips
Egg replacer for 2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

Combine peanut butter with 2 tbsp corn oil until smooth, set aside. Preheat oven to 350-degrees and lightly oil 8-inch square baking pan, set aside. Combine 1/4 cup corn oil and vegan chocolate chips, stirring occasionally till melted. Remove from heat, set aside. Mix egg replacer, sugar and vanilla in large bowl, blend well. Stir in chocolate mixture, blend well. Stir in flour and baking powder, mix well. Spoon batter into pan and swirl in peanut butter mixture. Bake until top springs back, 20-25 min. Cool before cutting into squares.

Now, I understand, you're thinking--are you vegan? I am not vegan, but I attempted to adapt this recipe using real eggs, white chocolate, and I'm fairly sure I also used the wrong-sized pan. In the end, I'm sure it's wholly my fault that these brownies didn't turn out. But they were close. Close enough I'm encourage me to try again. Stay tuned.

Mike Eats Greenpoint, Volume 1: *erb & Hana Foods

*erb Thai Restaurant
681 Manhattan Avenue
(b/t Bedford & Norman)
Brooklyn, NY 11222
718-349-8215

Hana Foods
534 Metropolitan Avenue
(b/t Lorimer & Union)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718-218-7747

BEHOLD! TWO STAPLES of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint diet. One is consistently good, reasonably priced Thai food, and the other simply must be considered one of the greatest delis in all the five boroughs.

First, it's hard to be disappointed with *erb on any account. Yes, they suffer from occasional menu and service inconsistencies as any neighborhood take-out favorite does to from time to time. You'll get over it.

Recommended are the noodle dishes ($7.95, with tofu, chicken or beef.), especially the Curry Noodles--a huge bowl of spicy curry loaded with thin noodles, veggies, and big triangle wedges of tofu. Lots of interesting appetizers are also big draws. The crispy chive pancakes are frequently sold out. The Taro Crunch is big chunks of fried taro root with peanuts.And the Tofu Crisp is a pile of fried tofu best enjoyed quickly on premises rather than soggy upon delivery.

Next is Hana Foods, a veritable Williamsburg institution serving as a 24-hour deli, flower shop, a specialty/organic food mart, and home to Omar's overwhelmingly extensive board of sandwiches. As a kicker, most everything can be made with (and, honestly, is probably better as) vegetarian and vegan options.

The Godfather is a huge hero of Italian meats that will suffice for two meals; the vegan meatball sub is a more-than-worthy stand-in for its carnivorous cousin; the breaded eggplant, chicken, and tofu cutlets are superb; and the Veggie Reuben (a veggie burger chopped and grilled like corned beef and smashed between rye toast with hot sauerkraut and melting Swiss) is one of the most creative vegetarian sandwiches I've ever eaten.

Best of all, Hana will deliver them (and anything in its store) to your doorstep 24 hours a day (NOTE: their menu is hard to find complete online, so get yourself a full one form the store itself). Williamsburg is prime delivery area, but even nearby Greenpointers can coax a delivery guy out on a slow night.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Yes, he does. Many, many times.