My husband sent me this link a little while ago, partially, I think, as a joke– though he knew it would appeal to a certain crazy paranoia I have about how much video surveillance there is of everything. But is it really crazy? Evidently, in a modern urban environment, a person is on camera 85% of the time they are out in public. Which to me is outrageous no matter how you slice it.

I am clearly not alone in my distaste for this fact. Enter the folks of iSee, a site that has plotted where the video cameras are out there (well, at least in Manhattan) and will help fellow kindred spirits to plot the route of least surveillance. All you have to do is click on the start and end points of your voyage and they will highlight the least videoed way to get there.

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This web-based application is brought to you by the good people at The Institute for Applied Autonomy (IAA), which in their own words, “was founded in 1998 as a technological research and development organization dedicated to the cause of individual and collective self-determination. Our mission is to study the forces and structures which affect self-determination and to provide technologies which extend the autonomy of human activists.”

I love the fact that there are people like this in the universe. And I also love the fact that the route I’ve been taking quite a bit recently (highlighted above), from the subway over to SoulCycle’s tribeca studio, just happens to be the least videotaped one.

Phew.

My husband is the real chef in the family, with a gift for just picking up random ingredients from the store and then inventing some kind of delicious restaurant caliber meal off the top of his head. I’m not bad in the kitchen, but I do require step by step instructions, even if I do riff off of them every once in a while. Tonight, however, I managed to make a delicious meal (curried tilapia and collard greens) and I figured I’d share it with you all, not least of all because the recipe comes from a brilliant website called No Take Out, that is dedicated to promoting more home cooked, healthy, family style meals.

They’ve got lots of great recipes (a new one every day!) and a good percentage of them are vegetarian. The preparation is always simple and the results have never been less than delicious. Plus the most brilliant thing about them is that they give you step by step instructions to make the complete meal, from “walk in the door and put a kettle of water on to boil,” to “here you have a few minutes, go set the table and put the bread on.” Which is super helpful, as timing the various dishes is one of my weak spots when planning a meal. If you actually do what they say, you’ll end up with a perfectly timed, healthy flavorful meal. They even make wine and dessert suggestions.

Which is never a bad thing.

recipe below:

Here it is, from start to finish. Super cute, super easy, super delicious. You can even sign up for their mailing list and get the menu of the day sent right to your inbox!

Shopping List

2 shallots

1 bunch collard greens

4 large russet potatoes

1 bunch chives

1/4 cup currants

1 pint heavy, non ultra-pasteurized cream

4 good-sized Tilapia fillets

Dry white wine (Pinot Gris or Sauvignon Blanc)

Pantry Items

Curry powder

Extra-virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves

Red pepper flakes

Sea salt

Unsalted butter

Tools

Chef’s knife

Large saucepan

Measuring cups and spoons

Mixing bowls

Nonstick fry pan

Paring knife

Small saucepan

Spatula

Tongs

Vegetable Peeler

Wooden spoons

Suggestions

Wine: Pinot Gris or Sauvignon Blanc  (whatever you used to cook the fish…)

Dessert:  Yogurt topped with honey and walnuts

Game Plan:

When you walk in the door

Refrigerate the fish fillets

Get out Pantry Items

Get out Tools

Assemble the ingredients

Put a small pan or a kettle of water on to boil

Open the wine and refrigerate it

Prep

Peel and dice the shallots.

Rinse the collard greens.  Coarsely chop them.

Peel the potatoes and cut each into 8 equal pieces.

Peel and thinly slice the garlic.

Rinse and pat dry the chives.

Put the currants in a heat-proof bowl.

Start Cooking

Put the potatoes in a large saucepan and just cover with water.  Add 2 tsps. salt, stir and bring to a boil over high heat.

Reduce the heat to medium and cook the potatoes, partially covered, for 12 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, pour boiling water over the currants and let them plump for 15 minutes.

Set the table now.

Put 6 tbsps. oil in the small saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring once in awhile until it turns pale gold, about 10 minutes.  Don’t let it get too brown.

Check the potatoes – they should be firm in the center but getting soft.  Add the collards, cover the pot and cook for 15 minutes, checking once in awhile and stirring.

Check the garlic.

Now you’ve got a minute – pour yourself a glass of wine and check your email.

Melt 1 tbsp. butter in the nonstick fry pan over medium heat.

Add the shallots and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes.

Add the fish fillets to the pan in one layer.

Pour 1/4 cup wine around them, season with salt and pepper and cover the fry pan.  Cook for about 7 minutes until the fillets are opaque.

If the garlic is golden – it probably is – remove it from the heat and stir in 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes.

Drain the currants and pat them dry.

When the fish is cooked, transfer it to a platter.

Add 1 cup cream and the currants to the pan.  Stir, and reduce the heat to low.  Simmer the cream for about 3 minutes.

Stir in ½ to 1 tsp. curry powder, and taste the cream.  Adjust the seasoning.

Check the potatoes and collards, they must be done by now.

Remove them from the heat and put in a bowl.  Pour the garlic and hot pepper oil over them, toss, season with salt and pepper, and take to the table.

Mince the chives.

Put a fillet on each of four plates.  Cover each fillet with sauce and sprinkle with chives.

Dinner is ready. Take the plates and wine to the table!

Wow that was fast, let’s eat!

I am sorry to have been so MIA lately but I have been finishing this HUGE installation of what we like to call polaroids (but are actually Fuji instax film photos) for the brand new flagship, opening tomorrow, indoor cycling studio called soulcycle.

I am so tired that I cannot even go into detail now, other than the fact that I am thrilled to have been able to orchestrate the piece and that it looks f*cking awesome.

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More details, photos of the piece installed, etc etc to come. Most likely over the weekend. In the meantime, it’s nice to be back with you all.

So with all good new things (2010! Woo hoo!) must come some sadness… My favorite neighborhood restaurant, Silent h, a brilliant delectable casual inventive take on traditional Vietnamese home cooking has closed it’s doors for good. So local that we could pretend it was an extension of our living room, so mellow that the brilliant chef/owner, Vihn Nguyan, gave my daughter the run of the place, so wonderfully delicious that nary a week went by without a lunch and/or dinner there. Revered by the grownups in the local press (and by local, I mean the NY Times, among others)…. and yet, the evil evil economic meltdown was too much for it, and a truly great eatery is no more.

All is not lost, however. Vihn is hard at work with a couple of partners on a new place that will open, like a phoenix, in the same, albeit renovated, space. The type of cuisine is a closely held secret, but one who’s revelation  I am eagerly anticipating.

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I’ll keep you all posted… The new spot is due to open in the early spring. My mouth is waterning just thinking about it.

Here’s to new ventures in the new decade!