Lotus Cafe feast is my calm after the storm

Filet Mignon Casserole with Chestnuts and Cellophane Noodles at Lotus Cafe.

Sizzling Jumbo Shrimp with Asparagus in Sweet White Sauce.

Lotus Cafe in Hackensack is celebrating the Year of the Snake (4711) with a special prix-fixe menu -- a bountiful four-course dinner for $28 per person.

You won't find snake on the Chinese New Year's menu -- which is being served through Feb. 24 -- but the food is seductive, nonetheless.

Late Saturday afternoon, after we had cleared our driveway and sidewalks of more than a foot of snow from a nor'easter, we set out for the unassuming BYO, which is only a couple of miles away.

I brought a chilled bottle of sparkling Spanish white wine that I bought in late December, but didn't open on New Year's Eve.

Fillet of Flounder in Ginger Sauce with Snow Pea Leaves.

Braised Half Tangerine Duck on soft pancakces.

After I popped the cork, the four of us started our meal with an appetizer of Lobster Spring Roll and  5-Spice Chicken Skewer.

I don't eat chicken and asked for two spring rolls (a $2 supplement), but was rewarded with twice as many tender, fresh lobster bits among the vegetables.

The second course was soup, either Pork and Winter Melon Consomme or Seafood Hot and Sour Soup, both delicious.

The special menu offers four entrees, and we ordered one of each. The portions were generous enough to be shared:

Filet Mignon Casserole with Chestnut and Cellophane Noodles, Fillet of Flounder in Ginger Sauce with Snow Pea Leaves, Braised Half Tangerine Duck and Sizzling Jumbo Shrimp with Asparagus in Sweet White Sauce.
 

An appetizer of Lobster Spring Roll and 5-Spice Chicken Skewer.

Seafood Hot and Sour Soup.

Tender Snow Pea Leaves in a bowl of brown rice.

Owner Philip Su personally removed the duck meat from the bones, and plated it on top of thick, soft pancakes -- Peking duck style.
 
I gorged on the beautifully cooked flounder, tender snow-pea leaves and jumbo shrimp, and plucked chestnuts, caramelized tangerine skin, mushrooms, garlic and cellophane noodles from the other entrees.

This was another unsually good, belly busting meal from Lotus Cafe, a small, unassuming restaurant that has been pleasing customers for decades.

Ice Cream Filled Sweet Rice Mochi.

The front of the dining room at Lotus Cafe.

I have two small complaints: The spring roll was deep fried, but not drained properly, and tasted oily. 

I asked for fruit instead of ice cream for dessert, but the restaurant didn't receive its order of lichee and pineapple that day. 

Lotus Cafe, 450 Hackensack Ave., in the Home Depot Shopping Center, Hackensack; 
201-488-7070. 

BYO, large parking lot. Reservations recommended on weekends.

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AARP lists good and not-so-good foods

A Whole Foods Market shopper, right, sampling crispy, wild-caught flounder.

Editor's note: Today, I report on AARP's "New American Diet," and try some premium free samples at Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

The editors of AARP The Magazine can't resist exaggerating how much weight you'll lose or money you'll save, if you just follow their advice.

When it comes to food safety and nutrition, I've found Consumer Reports magazine and its newsletter, On Health, far more reliable.

Now, the magazine for the 50-plus set is heralding "The New American Diet" from Dr. John Whyte.

In the December 2012/January 2013 edition of the magazine, a double-page photo illustration of fruits, vegetables and fish promises:

"Groundbreaking research shows how the right foods can fight disease. Here's how to lose weight and live longer."

I found a list of good foods and not-so-good foods on Page 41:

Eat this: figs, brown rice, oil and vinegar, sweet potatoes, whole-wheat bread, unbuttered popcorn, whole-wheat pretzels, grilled or roasted chicken, piece of dark chocolate, handful of blueberries, whole-wheat pasta, high-fiber cereal, broiled salmon, steel-cut oats, nuts or seeds, Greek yogurt, olive oil.

Avoid this: cookies; white bread, rice, potatoes or pasta; chips or crackers; fried chicken, sugary cereal, ice cream, butter, prepared salad dressing, fish sticks and instant oatmeal.

Low-fat dairy foods also are recommended.

There is no explanation why pricey Greek yogurt is preferable to other yogurt with active cultures. Or why cream isn't on the no-no list.

But the list of the right foods to eat seems to be on the mark.

On Page 43, here are some of the tips on "How to lose weight fast."

Drink water (not diet soda), eat breakfast every day, sleep at least 7 hours a night, eat smaller meals more often, eat fish two or three times weekly (and red meat at most once), spend at least 30 minutes on a meal, count steps (at least 10,000 per day), incorporate heart-healthy nuts and olive oil into your meals; eat plenty of vegetables and fruit, especially berries."

From my own experience, I would add: ditch bread and pizza. 
 
Super samples

At the Whole Foods Market in Paramus today, I had some terrific free samples: 

Breaded and fried wild-caught flounder; an avocado-and-cucumber sushi roll; and sauteed collard greens, sweet corn and broccoli from the Hudson Valley of New York State.

At the butcher counter, where ground-beef sliders were on sale for $4.99 a pound, an employee grilled some and offered them to other customers.

Whole Foods usually offers free samples only on the weekends.

I picked up organic Fuji apples on sale for $1.99 a pound, and about 5 pounds of frozen organic chicken necks and feet for $2.99 and $3.99 a pound, respectively.

My wife makes soup with the chicken parts, which she usually buys at ShopRite.

Whole Foods' parts are naturally raised, but ShopRite's chicken feet and necks aren't.
   

Dining in never looked so good

A Korean seafood pancake goes well with tofu and a homemade frittata.

We baked flounder coated in breadcrumbs and chili spices, and added sweet plantains.

We fried whole whiting and served it with collard greens, sweet potato and a Korean roll from H Mart. The seafood pancake (top) was left over from a meal out.

We boiled whole-wheat penne, front, and finished it in bottled pasta sauce with anchovies,  red-pepper flakes, powdered garlic and dried Italian herbs.

The next day, the penne went beautifully with eggs sunny side up and a drizzle of olive oil. I especially like breaking the yolks over the pasta and tomato sauce.

No-recipe home cooking in photos

Breakfast salad: Organic spring mix with beefsteak tomato, za'atar thyme mixture, and reduced fat cheese; cabbage kimchi, olives and canned-fish salad (yellowfin tuna, pink salmon and sardines).

Small mustard greens with a bottle of Mexican green salsa.

Mustard greens plated with half of a mahi-mahi fillet cooked in spicy green salsa or salsa verde and a sweet potato made in 6 minutes in a microwave (speed-cook setting).

An egg-white omelet with reduced-fat cheese, white anchovies and coarsely ground Aleppo pepper plated with leftover sugar pea shoots.

Fresh greens


I cook greens, fresh broccoli and French green beans the same way, and they are ready in under 5 minutes.


First, cut and wash your greens, then blanch in a covered pot with boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes.


Using the cover, drain the pot and put it back on the stove with no flame under it.


You can drizzle the greens with extra-virgin olive oil, sprinkle on a little salt and add seasonings such as powdered garlic and black pepper.


Or, you can add a little soy sauce and sesame oil, and no-salt organic seasoning. You're done.


Fish in green sauce


Pour half of a bottle of spicy Mexican salsa verde into a large, non-stick pot and warm it up. Add any kind of wild-caught fish fillets, including frozen mahi-mahi or Alaskan salmon.


Pour the rest of the sauce over the fish and squeeze the juice of one or two limes into the pot. Cover and cook for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on whether the fish is fresh of frozen.


You also can cook a whole fish this way. Slash each side in three places with a sharp knife to help you judge when the fish is done.


You can serve fish in green sauce with a sweet potato, organic brown rice with lentils, made in an electric rice cooker; or whole-wheat pasta with bottled sauce.


I reserve the green sauce for use with omelets or eggs fried sunny side up.


Canned fish salad


Empty canned fish and oil or water into a plastic container, add chopped celery or sweet pepper and then flavor with Dijon mustard, fresh lime or lemon juice and powdered cumin to taste.


Cover and refrigerate.


Sources


H Mart or other Asian supermarkets are great sources for a wide variety of fresh greens, including spinach, collard, mustard, bok choy and Chinese broccoli.


Costco Wholesale usually has fresh wild-caught haddock, flounder and Pacific cod, but when it doesn't, I buy frozen mahi-mahi or salmon in the freezer section.


Costco also sells Kirkland Signature Organic No Salt Seasoning, a blend of 21 spices and other ingredients.


ShopRite and Hackensack Market carry Mexican green salsa from Goya and La Costena. A 16-ounce bottle is enough to prepare as much as 2 pounds of fish.

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