ernesthon

I recently went to my first concert at Carnegie Hall: a...

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 12:57:00 -0400

I recently went to my first concert at Carnegie Hall: a wonderful performance of Guiseppe Verdi’s Requiem Mass.

Verdi’s Requiem is one of my all-time favorite pieces for its larger-than-life sounds and rollercoaster of emotions. Verdi

A view of Manhattan from Sunset Park I’ve recently...

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 13:59:40 -0400

A view of Manhattan from Sunset Park

I’ve recently discovered the neighbourhood of Sunset Park in South Brooklyn as the third “Chinatown” of New York City, after the more well known Manhattan Chinatown and the Flushing, Queens Chinatown. Sunset Park was originally an enclave for Scandinavian immigrants that originally settled the area between the harbor and 8th Avenue, but over time, Chinese and Mexican communities have become the dominent ethnic groups in the area. 5th Avenue in Sunset Park is where you can find many Mexican restaurants and supply shops, while the Chinese food stands and grocery stores are clustered on 8th Avenue.

I’m slowly building up a small collection of vintage...

Wed, 30 May 2012 14:08:05 -0400

I’m slowly building up a small collection of vintage watches, especially from watch brands that I feel are underpriced. The vintage watch market has been going crazy over the last 2 years, with people increasingly looking at watches as jewelry and as investments. Vintage Rolexes and Patek Philippes have done extraordinarily well at auction, especially unique submariners and complicated gold pieces from PP.

Universal Geneve was one of the watch brands that was highly regarded from the 1930s until the 1980s. It is sometimes referred to as “the poor man’s patek”, referencing to its high level of finishing quality and conservative design. Universal Geneve was distributed in North America by Patek Philippe USA, making it the “sister brand” to the most revered watch brand in the world. UG never made the transition past the “quartz” era, when many Swiss watches faced extinction due to quartz technology in the 70s and 80s.

This one that I found is a UG Compur dating from probably late 1930 - 1940s. It was one of the first watches that used two pushers to manipulate the chronograph mechanism, and therefore is able to start and stop timing without resetting. The dial is excellent condition, with a bit of champagne colored patina. The time hands are in rose gold and the chronograph hands in blued steel.

Come out and play. Lamborghini Aventador in Soho, May...

Mon, 28 May 2012 12:47:00 -0400

Come out and play.

Lamborghini Aventador in Soho, May 2012

photo:ernesthon

One of the favorite things I like to make to eat is soup....

Sat, 26 May 2012 12:56:40 -0400

One of the favorite things I like to make to eat is soup. Chicken, French Onion, Leek, Beef Barley, Tomato… the list goes on. I find that when making all of these soups, there are 3 ingredients that are in pretty much every recipe: Onion, Bay Leaf, and Carrot.

Onions, especially the stronger spanish and yellow onions, start with a pungent sulfury smell that the plants produce as a chemical defense against being eaten. When cells within the onion are broken through chopping and chewing, enzymes are released that trigger the breakdown of volatile sulfurous molecules that cause the stinging sensation and rubbery smell. The reason that our eyes water when cutting onions is due to one of these volatile chemicals which, when landing in our noses and eyes, breaks down into sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfuric acid. However, once the onion is cooked for a long time, it becomes mellow, meaty, and sweet, flavors that are prized in soups and stocks.

Bay leaves, from the Laurel family of plants, is related to avocado and cinnamon. The leaves are dry and tough, and is the best herb to cook in soup as it requires a bit of time for flavor extraction. Just 2 or 3 leaves in a big pot of soup will make a big difference. Bay leaves contribute eucalyptus, clove, and pine flavors, which brightens up stocks made with meat.

Carrots are perhaps the most surprising of the bunch: they have a bland vegetal flavor when raw but develops into something completely different when cooked. The flavor of carrots comes from a variety of terpenes that give pine, wood, and terpentine aromas. Prolonged cooking accentuates its sweetness, as the softened cell walls allow the concentrated sugars in carrots to be released.

Sunset over Staten Island photo:ernesthon

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:50:22 -0400

Sunset over Staten Island

photo:ernesthon

Magnolias in Central Park at f/1.1

Thu, 24 May 2012 14:46:00 -0400

photos:ernesthon

Hanami: cherry blossom festival

Thu, 17 May 2012 12:52:02 -0400

I picked up a new Voigtlander f/1.1 lens just in time for the springtime bloom in NYC. Central park blooms a little bit earlier than the outer boroughs, and NYC in general is earlier than the surrounding regions by a week due to the heat island effect in the city. Both of the Frederick Law Olmstead-Calvert Vaux parks in the city are planted with groves of cherry and apple trees that create this surreal scene for a couple days each year.

photos:ernesthon

Cooking this week: Roast Pork Loin

Tue, 15 May 2012 13:00:00 -0400

Carrots, butter, honey, sea salt

Pork Loin, salt, black pepper, sage

Roast garlic, onions, and bulgar wheat, raisins, slivered almonds

Springtime vanilla sky and patio lights. photo:ernesthon

Sun, 13 May 2012 13:01:00 -0400

Springtime vanilla sky and patio lights.

photo:ernesthon

Favorite dish at my favorite brunch spot… Eggs Rothko at...

Sat, 12 May 2012 11:15:23 -0400

Favorite dish at my favorite brunch spot… Eggs Rothko at Egg in Williamsburg.

An egg fried in the hole cut out of a slice of fluffy brioche, topped with cheddar. Side of broiled tomatoes and a biscuit with plenty of butter.

Leica releasing a new M camera tomorrow?

Wed, 09 May 2012 13:57:17 -0400

There is a rumor that there might be a new Leica being released tomorrow. May 10… M10…? (the M9 was released 09/09/09)

I’m really curious in seeing what the new model is going to have. The M9 is a wonderful camera - I have been using one since last fall - but it feels a little long in the tooth compared with the top of the line Canons and Nikons currently on the market. I’m hoping to see an improved sensor with better sensitivity, a dust removal system, a better LCD screen, live-view, and maybe some sort of on-screen focus assist system (like Sony’s focus peaking). With Kodak having gone into bankruptcy, I hope that Leica has ditched the CCD and turned to one of the amazing CMOS sensors made by the big Japanese firms.

I bought my first Leica, an M6, back around 2006 when I still exclusively used film. The design of the Leica M has hardly changed for the last 50 years, and is one of those icons of industrial design that is both functional and beautiful. I picked up an M8 last summer thinking that I would use it just for fun, but I ended up falling in love with it enough to convince me to buy an M9.

photos:ernesthon

Blue suede monks for the spring.

Tue, 08 May 2012 18:42:54 -0400

Blue suede monks for the spring.

Warm cookies delivered late night. Yes, Please. Greenwich...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:00:47 -0400

Warm cookies delivered late night. Yes, Please.

Greenwich Village, NYC

I got this unnecessary but totally gorgeous camp stool from...

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:00:29 -0400

I got this unnecessary but totally gorgeous camp stool from Etsy… It’s made with a reclaimed frame and an old pendleton navajo pattern blanket.

Cooking this Week: Zucchini Risotto

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:44:58 -0400

Zucchini, like cauliflower, is one of those neglected vegetables that doesn’t seem to get much of the attention at the supermarket. I was a little hard pressed to think of a recipe that used fresh zucchini, so I made myself try making it with risotto.

Because zucchini has such a high water content, it helps to salt it when it is thinly sliced and allowed to drain. This is true for lots of “bland” vegetables. The water trapped in them essentially steams the vegetable rather than searing, which is a major component of developing flavor (that’s why frying and grilling is generally tastier than boiling and steaming). By removing some of the water through osmosis before cooking, the zucchini will have the opportunity to brown if the pan is hot enough that the water in it evaporates as it is frying.

To prepare risotto, you need good arborio rice. This is a super short grain Italian rice that is high in starch. Longer grain rice doesn’t have the starch content to create the creamy sauce of a risotto, and will be lacking in texture. The rice is sauteed with onions and olive oil over low heat to toast the grains before stock is added- this partially cooks the rice and prevents the water from turning the grains mushy in the final dish. The toasting is done when grains are translucent. Then stock is added bit by bit with regular stirring to bring out the starches and prevent sticking.

To finish, I added thinly julienned sun-dried tomatoes, plenty of Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of good olive oil.

photos:ernesthon

Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:59:29 -0400

Greenpoint at the north end of Brooklyn feels like one of those parts of the city that has not changed at all for the last 50 years. I’m amazed at the fact that most of the storefronts here are still local mom-and-pop stores, and hasn’t been taken over by the chain stores. This neighborhood is in between Williamsburg and Long Island City, and sits along a picturesque strip of waterfront by Newtown Creek, that separates Brooklyn and Queens. Unfortunately (but maybe fortunately), the lack of convenient transportation options into Manhattan its appeal and has limited the amount of gentrification that has happened in this area over the past decade. The G train connects Brooklyn and Queens (the only line that doesn’t enter Manhattan) and doesn’t run 24h a day like many of the other NYC trains. Greenpoint is also the center for Polish culture in NYC - the area near the intersection of Greenpoint Ave and Manhattan Ave are populated with Polish stores and restaurants.

photos:ernesthon

1 World Trade Center reached 100 floors earlier this week. I’m really looking forward to...

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:00:33 -0400

1 World Trade Center reached 100 floors earlier this week. I’m really looking forward to seeing this building when it’s complete. These photos were from last fall, when I visited the 9/11 memorial, which is at the center of the World Trade Center complex.

photos:ernesthon

Photo Essay: Curves at the Guggenheim

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:02:43 -0400

Frank Lloyd Wright’s only major commission in New York City is the Guggenheim Museum in the museum mile of Fifth Avenue. It likely draws as many people because of its architecture than for the art inside. When it was built in the 1950s, the architect had problems finding a contractor that was capable of building the smooth concrete curves; he ended up working with a construction firm that specialized in parking garages and freeway construction.

The museum was renovated about 7 years ago - a major issue that came up was what to color to paint to use. When it was first built it was painted in a warm yellow color, and was then repainted a few years later in off-white. Landmarks preservation council eventually decided to keep the off-white, which disappointed many purists who were pushing for the yellow given evidence that it was Frank Lloyd Wrights original preference.

photos:ernesthon

Cooking this week: Soughdough, alpine sheep-milk cheese,...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 11:33:00 -0400

Cooking this week:

Soughdough, alpine sheep-milk cheese, whiskey-soaked gold raisins, caramelized onions, egg, black pepper