Recipe 27: M. Wells Inspired Five-Greens Salad w Buttermilk Dressing

Of course, when I returned from New York City last week -- all my food enthusiast friends have been grilling me for my favorite bites in the Big Apple. And frankly, I'd be hard-pressed for an answer since I had such a diverse dining experience out there that it's really comparing apples to oranges.

But one definitely inspiring dish was M. Well's innocuous-sounding 'green salad' -- which I shared with Destination Eats for brunch (along with a heftier Seafood Cobbler & Bacon Hash.) While the hash & the cobbler were decent (though unnecessarily heavy, even for upscaled-diner grub!) the salad definitely stood out, a bright myriad of leafy greens and herbs backed by a delicate-yet-rich creamy-and-tangy buttermilk dressing that subtly complements the assorted greens.

What I loved best about this salad is how every identical-looking forkful surprises me with a different pop of flavor, sometimes it's the peppery bite of the arugula, other times I'll get a hint of the refreshing basil, and then later maybe the oniony chives or the savory dill.

As such, this was one salad I definitely looked forward to recreating for my mac 'n cheesy brunch yesterday. I did not use nearly as many greens as the M. Wells version (and honestly, I'm not even sure what were all the different ones they threw in theirs) but I tried to emulate the general flavor profile with my own Five-Greens Mix, and thanks to Food & Wine, adapted a very similar-tasting buttermilk dressing of my own that's pretty much a slam-dunk for ANY salad.

M. Wells-inspired Five Greens Salad w Buttermilk Dressing
Serves 4-6 as appetizer, or 2-3 as entree

Salad Mix
5 oz. Spinach Leaves
5 oz. Arugula Leaves
12 Stalks of Scallions, Coarsely Chopped
Handful of Basil Leaves
Handful of Dill Sprigs, Coarsely Chopped

Buttermilk Dressing (can be made a day ahead)
6 oz. buttermilk
3 Tbsp. Greek yogurt
3 Tbsp. lowfat mayonnaise
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. coarsely cracked pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. salt

One-Step Direction:
1) Whisk together ingredients of the buttermilk dressing, then toss with the salad mix greens just prior to serving. Enjoy!

M. Wells
21-17 49th Avenue,
Long Island City, NY 11101
718-425-6917

Special New York Drinkventure: Martin Miller's Masters Competition

The GOP consolation prize: Palin's Christmas Punch -- drink up!

Thanks to Imbibe Magazine and Martin Miller's Gin (particularly Siobhan Crosby of the former and Janet Wampler / Emma Davis of the latter), in New York City I was able to check out some of the best and most creative cocktails out there . . . at the Martin Miller's Gin Masters Competition, with the best bartenders from the U.S. and the U.K. having a drink-making deathmatch at the appropriately named venue Death & Company in the East Village, facing off in 1) making the most creative cocktails, 2) doing the best job of making a classic gin cocktail and 3) making the most drinkable gin & tonics in the allotted time.

The event was very fun, but my friend and I definitely felt like fishes out of water since all the other attendees are professional bartenders, spirits aficionados or somehow connected to the cocktail/bar scene -- whereas we're amateur enthusiasts who just like good drinks a lot. But as time wore on and everyone got more "social" we did loosen up a little had some great chats with others (not to mention getting some wonderful recs on where to eat and drink around the Big Apple -- coming up in another post).

As for the competition itself, between the loud cheering and taunting and the free-flowing gin drinks, not to mention numerous samplings of the assorted creations, we lost track of who made which cocktail and what went in them. Character-wise, I think Team U.K. (with the hilarious Ben Reed as self-appointed captain) won hands down -- they were funny, they had great anecdotes about their drinks and knew how to engage the audiences (with everything from a boat-racing drinking contraption to pseudo-bribing with autographed books and branded memorabilia). Team U.S. made equally whimsical and great-tasting drinks too, but their more serious and quiet attitude when prepping the beverages didn't seem to work as well with a room full of rowdy, inebriated folks.

Of the highlights we *did* remember...

~ The London Cup (being passed around for sampling in picture above) made by Gilles Looker, a refreshing variation of the Pimms Cup made with Martin Miller's Westbourne Strength, Campari, Cointreau, orange jiuce, grapefuit and garnished with mint, strawberries and cucumber. A very well balanced, not-too-sweet, beautiful drink perfect for summertime!

~ Ben Reed's Reedo's Gin Jizz made with pineapple (which he proclaimed to have invented and became a running joke for the rest of the afternoon), cinnamon tea infused MM Westbourne gin, citrus and *ahem* a white, creamy, gloppy mixer. THe drink, a hybrid of Ramos Gin Fizz and pina colada, was actually pretty good even with "Reed's Love Juice" reminds, it's thick texture and fruity-tangy taste reminds me of yogurt smoothie (liquored up, of course).

~ From Team U.S., Milk & Honey's bartender Sam Ross and his Palin Christmas Punch with his housemade pine liqueur, MM Westbourne gin, date syrup, champagne, absinthe and garnished with pine sprig and date, plus punch-bowl version with basically a miniature pine tree!

~ The delicious bar bites offered by up the Death & Company, including tempura-fried cauliflower florets, salmon sliders and truffle oiled mac 'n cheese.

~ And of course, the delightful company who were great to talk to, vastly more knowledgeable than we were in the spirits realm and yet didn't mind explaining to us (repeatedly) everything drinkable.

For a more thorough report of the competition, check out the entry from Meaghan of the Spirit Me Away blog.

In the end, despite the Brit's personality points -- Sam Ross was declared the winner! Again, the diligent Meaghan got the lowdown on his infamous recipe (I'm sure the VP candidate will have plenty of time to chug this down now...) but everyone definitely gave a genuinely good effort, and we are personally amazed by the passion and enthusiasm that the bartenders, judges and the others have for crafting, tasting and analyzing cocktails. Thankfully, one of the contestant is from L.A. (Vincenzo Marianella, who bartended for Providence and consulted for the cocktail menu in the upcoming Drago Centro in downtown) so there's at least one place I can go around here to rekindle a little fond memories.

Sweet and Simple NYC Thoughts

Why does L.A. NOT have one of these? WHY?!!!

Just went the Big Apple for the second time ever -- and first time with an actual food budget -- have plenty of photos in the editing room and blogposts ideas swirling about, but here's a few tidbits I picked up from the weekend that was:

-- loved the late night dining options available here!
-- the cocktail scene compared to LA is practically night and day; checked out Angel's Share, PDT and White Star (and almost got into Milk & Honey, oh well - next time), all of them served up excellent drinks with friendly, knowledgeable bartender service (even towards us West Coasters).
-- O. M. G. -- a mobile, gourmet dessert truck!
-- dining well wasn't super-pricey either. Went to a Michelin 3-star restaurant for lunch; three-course prix-fixe was less than $25!
-- had some East Coast / NYC Specialties: Dunkin' Donuts coffee, good and slightly better than starbucks and the cruellers are nice too, still prefer Peets for chain-y coffee and LA Mill for boutique. As for pizza, I rather like the New York-style slice. The thin-yet-soft crust, the light sauce, and the mozzarella cheesiness plus the oregano and red pepper sprinkles. Also did Gray's Papaya hot dogs, decent and a nice deal for .99 apiece.
-- thank goodness I had my suit jacket or I'd be totally underdressed for most of the places I went to (though at one place I had to shed it before going-in, and was the only person in there wearing a t-shirt-over-long-tee top ~ yikes!) -- love how single-friendly many of these establishments are.
-- only things that kept it from pwning LA on every level, lack of In 'n Outs and taco trucks and the prevalence of public smoking and crazy vehicles and pedestrians (yes, even by our standards)!
-- finally, in one of those rare occasions that I agree with a certain TV food celebrity named R.R.; talking to the locals does help in finding great eats and drinks. Many of this weekend's great gems came from mingling with fellow diners and restaurant/bar staff.

Those are my brief, immediate thoughts for now, longer, tastier ones to be posted soon!