Ah, Popovers...

When I was a child, I ate my first popover at Normandie Farms, a rustic French restaurant in Maryland. The hot, fluffy rolls, airy and rich at once, made quite an impression on me. But it was not until this year that I rediscovered this childish pleasure, and in duplicate! There are two places that dispense this manna from heaven on the West Side.

According to Emmanuel Marais of the New York Popover Company (789 9th Ave., 1-800-POPOVER), the venerable popover was a New England creation of the late 1800's. Now, over 100 years later, Messr. Marais has altered the original popover recipe to produce many delightful variations. Today, he was serving them up in apple, chocolate chip, and banana chocolate chip varieties. Marais has also come up with fun new ways to eat popovers; he stuffs them with strawberries and cream, or apple compote, or even savory fillings like teriyaki chicken. I hope they still have some left for you; I just bought nine of them.

If you're looking for a sit-down meal to which popovers are a delightful accessory rather than the main focus, go further uptown to the Popover Café (551 Amsterdam Ave., 212-595-8555). Eat an omelette or a salad, and keep ordering more popovers with homemade strawberry butter!

Heavenly Deliveries in Park Slope

The inclement weather has transformed my life into a sort of Remembrances of Meals Past. However, although I haven't done as much culinary exploring as usual, I have enjoyed some wonderful dinner deliveries. My favorites in Park Slope are: jerk chicken, spicy brown-stewed red snapper, and zippy ginger beer from Brawta Mini-Café (718-788-4870), vegetable curries and fat samosas from Curry Shop (718-832-7701), smoky chiles rellenos, roast half chicken, and cheese enchiladas from Los Pollitos (718-623-9152), and grilled sardines, crisp spring rolls, and stir-fried wide rice noodles with vegetables and egg from Long Tan (718-622-8444). Long Tan sends coupons to their repeat customers. Now it's time for me to sign off and place an order!

Is Spring Just Around The Corner?

I don't know, but the folks at Minamoto Kitchoan seem optimistic. Gone are the flavors of sweet potato and squash in their seasonal pastries; the Japanese bakery is now offering hanamurashi (cherry sponge cake), white peach jelly, and cherry blossom rice cakes to remind us that spring is fast approaching. But if your tastes are still firmly ensconced in winter territory, you could end a meal at Sushiden NY with the rich pumpkin flan.

Minamoto Kitchoan: 608 Fifth Avenue, (212) 489-3747. Sushiden NY: 123 W. 49th St., (212) 398-2800.

Blue Ribbon Sushi (Brooklyn)

Apparently we weren’t the only intrepid souls to venture out into the blizzard. Blue Ribbon Brooklyn was packed to the hilt with diners, and a line of people occupied themselves by shaking the snow off their boots while they waited to get in. Next door, the new Blue Ribbon Sushi was more sedate, so we bypassed the mob scene and prepared for a dimly lit, romantic evening.

It's the little things that make Blue Ribbon so special: the bowls of white miso that one mixes into the soup to taste, the homemade wasabi, and the soy sauce prepared especially for sushi (“It sticks to the fish,” explained our waiter).

Blue Ribbon offers a truly extensive selection of sushi, including king crab, blue crab, smoked yellowtail, and monkfish liver. The sushi menu is divided into seafood from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The specials of the day put me into seventh heaven: ikejima anago was a warm, subtly sweet cured baby eel, and yaki toro was a slice of meaty tuna belly, seared at the edges.

The chawan mushi, a hot egg custard, was a wonderful antidote to the chilly weather, although I was puzzled by the copious amount of crab stick at the bottom of the teacup. A sashimi deluxe included elegant rectangles of melt-in-your-mouth yellowtail, slivers of mackerel dotted with spicy radish, and three silky pieces of salmon on a lemon slice. Instead of the usual tuna or California roll, the sushi combination came with a technicolor avocado/caviar maki. Salmon roe were salty and fresh, with none of the unappetizing sweetness that sometimes mars them.

Stuffed to the seams, we nevertheless made room for a green tea crème brûlée. We then finished off our meal with Choya plum wine, delighting in the real plum floating in the glass. Then it was time to trudge through the snow. Note: As of September 2003, the quality of the sushi at Blue Ribbon Brooklyn seemed to have lost some of its consistency.

Blue Ribbon Sushi Brooklyn: 280 Fifth Ave., Park Slope, (718) 840-0404.

More Hot Chocolate

I was on my way to The City Bakery for the third time this month to try their hot chocolate of the day. Looking in the window, I saw contented people chatting away while they shared delicious pastries. But upon closer inspection, I realized that the counter was being cleared of goodies. The door was locked; I had gotten there too late.

If you also experience this unhappy turn of events, there is a solution: you can make your own flavored hot chocolate at home. A basic recipe is provided, as well as variations like mint and cardamom. There is even a recipe for marshmallows!

A Valentine's Day Dream

My aunt is prone to experiencing vivid dreams, but her latest one takes the cake (or candy)! Last night, a mysterious, handsome stranger showered her with boxes of chocolate marshmallows.

Sometimes we dream about what we wish for. After listening to my aunt's story, I realized that although I could not find her a mysterious, handsome stranger, I could definitely hunt down her desired candy.

On my recent trip to The City Bakery (below), I had made off with a box of stalagmite-sized chunks of Valrhona chocolate and a bag of oversized marshmallows. However, I needed to find a goody that combined both elements. When I headed into the Citarella to-go store today, I spotted the famous Sifers VALOMILK Candy Cups! The "original flowing center" chocolate marshmallow cups, lovingly produced by the same family since 1903, were the result of a happy accident: a failed, runny batch of marshmallows was scooped into chocolate cups to create a divinely messy treat! They are truly a dream, and a dream come true.

Citarella To Go: 1250 Sixth Ave., (212) 332-1599.

Something To Warm Up Your Day...

It is now the time of year for one of New York's most delightful traditions: the Hot Chocolate Festival at The City Bakery! Since 1992, The City Bakery has been pouring steaming mugs of cocoa in flavors of ginger, mango tea, chili pepper, and even beer. Today's flavor was a thick caramel cocoa, slightly sweeter than the dark bittersweet original. I jumped at the chance to add a giant homemade marshmallow, which melted luxuriously into my hot drink. If you're looking for something a little more substantial, check out the amazing salad bar and crunchy-topped macaroni and cheese.

The City Bakery: 3 W. 18th St., New York, NY, (212) 366-1414.