A Dropped Ball Rolls - NYC, volume 2

The Broadway portion of our New York City trip was well planned. In fact, the trip was, in part, brought about by one friend's infatuation with Darren Criss and need (No, not want, desire, or wish. NEED.) to see him perform in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. She put together a schedule for us to see three very different and extremely entertaining Broadway shows. In addition to How to Succeed, we also attended Wicked and Godspell during our brief visit. While I can't claim that I am as bitten by the Broadway bug as my friend, I do find myself (even weeks later) humming the tunes and know that if when I return to NYC, another show is a must. Witnessing that talent first hand is incredible. I recommend it to everyone. Really...even if you think you won't like it...the.shows.are.AWESOME.

As for the food portion of that New York City trip, I think I dropped the ball. No, I don't think, I KNOW I dropped the ball. I started out requesting info about various dining spots from others. They all promised to get back to me, and none did (and I didn't follow up as I should have). I started researching on my own. I became overwhelmed with the options, the desire to find perfect (for us) places, and the need to fit our nightly dining around the Broadway schedule. I became intimidated and dropped the ball. We went to New York without any definite food plans. Big fail on my part.

When we got there, we used Yelp, OpenTable, and the brochures/guides in our hotel room to locate options near to the theaters we would be visiting. We tried to search out places that were slightly different, but mostly we chose our destinations based on convenience to the theater.

Of course, sushi had to be one night's dinner. Of.course. I was really looking forward to experiencing sushi somewhere other than the Midwest. We are very fortunate to have several good sushi options available in our larger South Dakota cities. I enjoy them very much every time I visit, but something told me I had to find the "real deal" in the Big Apple. I shouldn't have listened, or I should have looked harder. I am afraid our sushi choice was sadly disappointing for me.

On first entering, the atmosphere was promising. The twinkling white lights of the birch branches outlining the restaurant seemed enchanting. Energy was high and while our reservation was early, the place filled up quickly. Our sashimi orders were good...but other than having bad fish, how do you mess up sashimi? The rolls were where the meal became lackluster for me. The rice was dry and (to my palate) underseasoned. Rolling also left something to be desired, as even my more practiced chopsticked hands had trouble holding the loose and sloppy pieces together. Overall, it was a meal. It was OK, but not great. If it were my first sushi experience, I wouldn't go back (and with all the other sushi eateries in NYC, when I do go back, it won't be back to that one). I honestly left that restaurant hoping that when we flew back to South Dakota, we would have time to stop for sushi in our big city before heading back to the prairie.

Now, I know that many of my local readers are cringing. "Sushi?" they say. "Yuck." That's OK. I am a firm believer that we don't all have to like the same things, and if you don't like sushi, there is more (of the good stuff) for me. *grin* I also have a very tame treat for you, Cowboy Sushi. (And for those of you that DO love sushi, this snack or appetizer is just a fun little departure from the usual.)

I have made these cream cheese and beef wrapped pickles for almost 20 years. The friend who originally shared the recipe called them Monkey Pods. Some call them Pickle Wraps, or just Those Pickle Things. I saw a blog calling them Cowboy Sushi and since I do dearly love all things sushi, decided that should be the name for me.

There are variations of these made with deli ham and with dried beef, but there is something about the seasoning of the processed slices of Buddig Beef that (I think) really complements that pickle and cream cheese. (Don't send me hate mail about that deli meat choice, please.) These couldn't be further from real sushi, but I don't care. I like both a good Dragon Roll and Cowboy Sushi On My Plate.

Cowboy Sushi

(with naming rights going out to The Good Wife)

1 jar of dill pickles (whole)

cream cheese, softened

2-3 packages Buddig Beef (or dried/chipped beef or deli ham)

Remove several pickles from the jar and pat dry with paper toweling.
Arrange a slice of deli meat on a cutting board (also pat dry, if damp).
Carefully (really...it tears pretty easily), spread softened cream cheese over the slice of deli meat.
Place a whole pickle on one side of the cream cheese topped deli meat and carefully roll the meat around the pickle.
Refrigerate until firm (about an hour).
Slice in 1/2 to 1-inch thick portions.
Serve as an appetizer or snack.