stuffed
January 17, 2010 at 8:49 pm | In digs | Leave a Commentwhenever friends come into town, it’s always the greatest chance to go somewhere to eat that you have never been to. my brother came into town and i kinda laid down the usual questions – what are you feeling? what are you craving? into these days?
i kinda didn’t let him speak, but when i mentioned BBQ becuase i’d be DROOLING over this joint in Williamsburg that i hadn’t been to yet.
fette sau – aka “fat pig” in german … or so i’m told … is the name.
if you read my post on christmas at the Chalkley’s residence, you’ll totally understand that i am not a sweet sauce BBQ kinda gal. i love the smokey, salty, vinegary taste and hints. i read a thing or two when this place had just opened and as i could recall that is exactly how the BBQ is prepared.
and it was. we got a TON because i hadn’t really eaten anything all day.
Nat my brother and i shared pulled pork, belly strips, some boneless beef rib, and some pork spare ribs. side of baked beans and broccoli salad.
then Colin bought a whole gallon of Coney Island Lager.
before
and yes, they plate up all your food onto a parchment covered sheet pan – all to make the gluttony look more glorious.
it was absolutely amazing. they had some squeeze bottles of sauce on the table – and my favorite was the smoked jalapeno. each “plate” came with some squishy potato rolls, so i piled some BBQ on the roll and lathered it with a bunch of the
“smoked” sauce. so amazing. not too salty, insanely smokey. the belly strips were so buttery with just enough tender meat on the gristle. beef was so moist and pulled apart. pork ribs were a little greasy, but the charred bits totally made up for it. the baked beans were SPICY! you know i loves that. the broccoli salad was swimming in olive oil, so i only had a few bites. BEER – ooooh beer i love thee. Coney Island Lager has some very rich tones like an I.P.A. does but a smoother finish -not so bitter.
aftermath
the beanssssssss
wipes needed
i’d love to go back again. when i have a little more time to digest afterwards though. we all woke up this morning still sick from massive over-consumption. i just had a bowl of cereal and an apple and it’s 8:30 PM the day after.
thought about dessert – even said it out loud – but everyone looked at me like i might’ve actually turned into a rib bone and i was talking out the wrong end.
next time, save room for dessert guys. can’t NOT have something sweet!!!
deep disher
January 4, 2010 at 10:31 pm | In homemade | 1 Commenti made my pie recipe but in a spring form pan and pressed the dough way up the sides to make a deep dish.
thinly sliced my apples, and prepared them just like i did my apple pie, but baked it like a tart … without a top and baked a little bit longer.
i was a little nervous to take it out of the pan and have it still all together, but it worked and it was delicious …
chicago
excuse the wine glass, but JD brought a really good white wine. it was perfect. i gave everyone the option of pouring cream over top if they wanted a “cutter” of sorts.
i’ve never done a deep dish pie crust, but the spring form pan is a beautiful and multipurpose tool. i can’t wait to do it again and possibly with a filling that rises or another seasonal fruit.
not to mention, it was a TOTALY Aix en Provence reunion and there are SO many more photos that i can’t possibly share. too good. too funny.
love all of you whom attended, especially the Canadians!!!!!
crepes in bed
December 28, 2009 at 7:34 pm | In digs, food porn | Leave a Commentcolin blessed me with a new camera – the one and only camera, god’s gift to earth after dark chocolate – for christmas. the CANON G10. i flipped and might’ve made colin pee his pants.
anywho ….
since i lost my old iphone, i haven’t been able to take adequate photos and (okay… i know… camera phones blah blah blah) BUT if you imagine what i’ve taken photos of in the past, then well, surprise! it’s all iphone. look at what i’ve been “dealing with”
ugh
see the blurry grossness?
that photo actually has a story and here’s the short version: dad driving me to the airport on my last day in VA for the early Christmas celebration. i said i wasn’t leaving until i had some of mom’s special family recipe eggnog. i’m waiting in the truck and don’t see dad. i walk over to the kitchen and there he is – putting the good stuff in a styrafoam cup and sealing the lid. mom is going on how the recipe erected and then going on how her grandpa used to let it ferment or whatever in the bathtub? wow. this cup is about 16 ounces by the way. i’m on the way to the airport and the windy roads turn into a roller coaster ride as i’m sipping this stuff through a straw. conversation gets a little funny (whether it’s funny or not) and the topic turns to how loose i’m already starting to feel and i haven’t even had half of my serving, yet. my sinuses were clear and i was already holding an airline ticket and wondering how i got the airport with a cooler full of venison tenderloin and some air-tight packaged wild duck.
what was i talking about?
ooooh yeah … crepes.
so here you are… a few days after christmas and i’m sleeping 10 hours a night. colin is getting sick. poor guy is in bed and i asked what he wanted. he said, “crepes”. he might’ve been joking, but i think he knows what i believe i’m capable of AND love to do by now:
from left to right:
maple syrup, apricot preserves, crunchy peanut butter and banana. sprinkled with sifted powdered sugar.
they are a little bit smaller and a tad bit thicker than the a-typical crepe you would find en paris or on the street at a proper crepe joint. however, the taste and consistency were about right. i had a few mess-ups, but turned them into cooked/doughy balls in my cast iron skillet that i nibbled on in my pj’s.
i adapted the recipe from … duh … Julia Child’s The Art of French Cooking, but added a few extras to the Savory version to make it slightly sweet a la jessie mode. of course i didn’t wait the 2 hours that they’re supposed to stand in the fridge, which probably didn’t give them a certain “something” that i have no idea what is. but if you wanna skimp (all you quitters) on the Real Deal, you can just do a watery version of pancakes. i cant believe i just said that.
enjoy!
happy new year and hope you all had a lovely christmas!
sorry guys for the jacked page
December 28, 2009 at 7:13 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Commenti’m figuring out website design – its been in the works for over a year now, but since it’s doing its wear n’ tear … makes for a nice boost of motivation!
apple peels and cores
November 11, 2009 at 5:06 pm | In homemade | 1 Comment
i’m making an apple pie for Saturdays NYC tomorrow. of course in putting all the ingredients together, it requires a bit of prep work and a little waiting. i made the dough, which you can find a recipe for the crust in a previous post, but i’m going to tell you what i did to the apples. boy, i really did them in!!!!
5 large granny smiths, peeled and diced
1/2 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of flour
1/4 cup of bourbon
1 T of cinnamon
**
toss and mix all together until the flour starts to turn an even toned light brown color from the cinnamon and it sticks well to the diced apple chunks. the bourbon is overwhelming and will smack you in the face as you keep mixing, but once it looks about right, cover it with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge to marinate a bit while your dough is still hardening on the shelf next to it.
apple bourbon pie. can you tell at all i’m from virginia?
**if you want to go real holy roller deep, throw in some pecans – about half a cup of crushed ones.
fresh to death
November 11, 2009 at 9:17 am | In daily | Leave a Comment
they ordered pumpkin loaf and coffee - i'm going to eat that every day for the rest of my life.
pizza … now
November 6, 2009 at 2:01 pm | In homemade | 2 Comments
i made a pizza last night using a yeast-free crust.
i was craving salty and an easy pick up concoction, so i did the following:
2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of sea salt or kosher salt
3/4 cups water
1/4 cup of olive oil
2 teaspoons of baking powder
in a mixer – mix well until it forms a ball that is being thrown around the bowl.
take it out and knead it on a well-floured surface for about a minute. it will be sticky, but just keep flouring the surface and it should be smooth, have elasticity, and round out easily – AKA not hangin on to your dialin fingers anymore.
flatten the ball of dough on the floured surface and push the sides out with your fingers quickly and moving the dough in a circular motion so that the circle grows larger and evenly.
when you have reached the max “thinness” possible, carefully transfer your circled-out dought to a non-stick baking sheet. and brush the dough with a thin layer of olive oil.
i made a raw sauce, which i was enlightened upon at Babycakes, in the blender:
4 tomatoes with the seedes and juices squeezed out
2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper
2 teaspoons of dried (or fresh) basil
2 cloves of garlic
blend until it’s pourable. spread over your raw dough. top with whatever you want. i’m on a no dairy diet, so i did onions, eggplant, jalapeno, chorizo, some red peppercorns, and a little more olive oil, AND more sea salt (a sprinkle or two)
in a 425 degree oven for 35 minutes or until edges are crispy and brown.
up close
finito
morgan and colin had a few pieces – as did i. just because the boys love queso, i grabbed some queso that is used for frying at the mexican deli down the street – threw that in a hot pan – brown on both sides, sprinkle with some pepper and a little hot sauce.
italian lightning
October 21, 2009 at 5:41 pm | In homemade | Leave a Comment
ripped from the internet - gourmet RIP
my mom taught me a trick on how to keep pasta creamy after adding sauce. it’s like a zap zing zippidy doo to your din din.
i didn’t know that this is uniquely her trick (in the states – as far as i’m concerned) but if i’m not mistaken it was something she caught on in Italy from Senora Mingarelli. my spelling, and if you say it out loud, the pronunciation is way off as well, but that’s what i can remember for now.
here it is …
per every four servings of pasta, use ONE EGG plus TWO TABLESPOONS OF BUTTER.
beat these together as well as you can in your serving bowl.
boil the water for your pasta with a few pinches of salt and cook normally slash as instructed.
drain the water from the pasta through a strainer.
discard cooked pasta in serving bowl and toss VERY QUICKLY.
if you let it sit, the eggs will cook, but if you toss toss toss like a mad woman, you will get wonderfully creamily coated noodles.
options:
add a quarter cup of permesiano reggiano with a tablespoon of cracked pepper and half a teaspoon of salt and you can have a yummy meal right there. could perhaps add roasted veggies as well. however …
a wonderful characteristic of this egg and butter mixture is that it enables a pasta sauce of choice to remain creamy and not dry out the noodles. it also makes the sauce stick to the noodle and lets you slurp it down faster. don’t mind that. keep in mind: if you’re using a cream based pasta, it won’t be necessary. but this works lovely with pestos (pesti), bologneses (bolognesi), marinaras (marinari), and any kind of primavera (don’t have one for that) as well.
leftovers are still fantastic too – the next morning, it’s great for breakfast. drizzle a little water over the pasta in a plastic container and throw it in the reactor for a minute. stir and nosh nosh nosh.
please do try! so simple – so true.
treasured customers
October 21, 2009 at 9:57 am | In daily | Leave a Commentobviously the ones that get the most excited that venture over to Babycakes are the kids.
everyday we write with chalk pens on the glass what all our products are, price, gluten free or not, sugar or none, etc. when the kids come in, they press their faces up to the glass and run their fingers across the writing that magically erases at the touch. our daily routine always requires rewriting of our baked goods and special items. but we don’t mind. mainly because we are able to snag photos like this one:
this is lyla
i was obviously shocked at the strength of this little girl’s one hand grasp on two dense gluten free cupcakes. and despite the rather distressed look on this cute thing’s face, her mother didn’t budge, but simply said, “she’s very good with her hands.”
well gosh, i hope so. the cupcake insurance boxes oughtta keep those two jammers in place because all that icing better stay in tact to do some noshing and finger licking later.
more deaths from chocolate
October 14, 2009 at 10:37 am | In chocolate, digs | Leave a Commentit’s starting to get cold – real cold and real fast. halloween hasn’t hit yet. bah!
besides my soy lattes that i choose to frequent on cold days to warm up the innards, chocolates and spices claw at my tastes buds. my tongue and my tummy grow starved for some of them goodnesses.
at Saturdays, I’ve started to make pumpkin-raisin loaves and mini bread puddings. today i made a savory – dense sweet potato with roasted scallion and squash. very wintery and very soothing especially if you choose to dip it into a bit of beef stew.
on to what i’m really trying to get at – it’s also the time of year that i drop the dollah$ on a hot somethin’-somethin’. more accurately – i’m on a liquid-type diet of sorts.
drink this
Les Confitures à l’Ancienne puts out a dope, dope hot chocolate called Chocolat en Poudre. I don’t know what it is because it’s made up of just bitter cocoa powder and cane sugar, but it’s the quality of the cocoa power that makes my heart skip beats and the cane sugar that might as well sell for gold. go here and take a gander at the bottom of the page to read a bit about it and get an idea of the company’s amazing philosophy (because we all know there must be one when it comes to good chocolate, right?). you’ll see a bit about it, but you will have to go here to buy it.
stir this amazingness in with some hot milk. i love soy milk for its nutty/earthiness, but whole milk does the trick as well or ORGANIC skim (because it tastes closer to real milk if you’re calorie conscious).
enjoy, sip slow, and add a little cinnamon or a touch of nutmeg if you want some zip.
why
November 14, 2008 at 6:31 pm | In me | 3 Comments
don't even think about it
"special" iced tea into the brooklyn sunset
Good food is my life.
It drives some people crazy how obsessed and particular I am about something as day-to-day as food. But, what most people don’t realize is that it has extreme potential to be a lifestyle, which it has become for me. My mother coined the name “food snob” for everyone in my family, but I blame her 50% and the other half, my father.
Food is, besides a ways and means of survival, an art, love, and fulfillment in my life. In other words, it is my passion in all of its many forms – all of which I will do my best to show you.
My love for food stemmed from my childhood. So you have a better understanding, I’ll describe to you my situation:
everyone’s the cookie monster
November 21, 2008 at 7:08 pm | In digs | 1 Comment
maybe he ate too much
for once, be honest with yourself. no one can resist the true temptation of an honest to God good cookie.
some of my favorites:
- Levain Bakery everything. the monstrosity of one of these cookies qualifies as a meal in itself. i ordered one of each flavor. peanut butter grabs my attention always, but the dark chocolate peanut butter chip is a force to be reckoned with. they came in a nice little plastic package and i swear they must put SOMETHING miraculous in the cookie to keep it so darn buttery – fresh off the ups truck.
- Balthazar chocolate chip. big and flat. you look at the cookie and it looks like jupiter in cookie form. the big hunks of dark chocolate chips swirling and floating around in the golden brown cookie goodness. crunchy around the edges. chewy in the center. almost too easy to get one of those coffees and glance at the cookie basket and say “i’ll take one of those, as well, thanks.”
- Birdbath coconut. can you imagine a pancake sized cookie that looks and tastes like it’s made out of shredded coconut, coconut oil, coconut butter, and probably coconut milk? didn’t think so. now you can. try this little puppy. bring a drop cloth. yum.
- Jacque Torres chocolate macadamia chocolate chip. chocolate overload. dark slash semi-sweet chocolate whirlwind. good thing both locations are kinda in the middle of nowhere because you’ll need atleast 20 blocks to forcefully inhale this one. you can ask for it warm if you’d like. volcanic dark chocolate goo that drips from semi sweet chocolate cookie. and who doesn’t like a little nut? so much finger lickin’ during that extra 100 blocks you take just to walk it off.
- Momofuku Milk Bar blueberry cheese. i stopped in here for the first time for something savory, but the blueberry cheese cookie got me thinkin. somebody made a muffin but these geniuses decided to put it in a cookie form. good thing they did because it’s quite special. the creamy tartness reminds me of a bite of great cheese cake with some crust. then the itty bitty blueberries scattered throughout. uniquely satisfying…addictive… think addictive is the operative word.
- on a lowbrow level, i also just recently tried the Harvest Cookie at Pret A Manger. Those brits can bake up a nice trail-mixey type. Don’t let it scare you… because they also keep them warm.
milk.
rhymes with orange
December 10, 2008 at 4:05 pm | In my two cents | Leave a Commentsome foodie quotes that i rather enjoy.
“I wish they had aperitivo places, like in Italy. You go there, get a drink and there is a whole buffet of FREE food you can serve yourself to (and its usually amazingly good – prosciutto with melon – cold salads – ahhh to be at Colle Bereto in Florence one more time…amazing cocktails and free Asian food on Wednesday…ahhh).” – Ghislaine … are you serious?
“No man in the world has more courage than the man who can stop after eating one peanut.” – Channing Pollock
“How does a cake not fall apart? How does an ice cream cake not melt?” – Matthew Arrow
“What did the dentist’s wife ask his wife when she told him she was making a pie? (What.) Can I do the filling?”
where the fish ain’t fried
November 24, 2008 at 8:20 pm | In my two cents | Leave a Commentrecently on Grub Street in New York magazine, eric ripert picked out the best fish tacos in manhattan. great choices, considering there aren’t a lot of taco joints to choose from that toggle with fish… for tacos, but there are a few he might’ve over looked and one that, well, i agree to disagree.
this is not a fish taco... this is barrio
- Barrio Chino makes a FINE pescado taco – “achiote and citrus rubbed grilled tilapia served with avocado salsa and chopped onions”. three small ones… each are easily consumed with two big bites. fish is tender, salsa is creamy and the onions are limp, so they’re not too strong and overpowering in flavor. also highly recommend the michelada or the grapefruit habanero margarita for a kick in the mouth.
- Cafe el Portal also makes quite a satisfying fish taco. massive in size, but the simplicity and “not-so-flashy” appeal of these three boat-sizers (tender morcels of chopped fish topped with only onions and cilantro) leave your lap and your face a mexican mess. not to mention the ridiculous cucumber margies that, yes, you can get “to go”, make your dinner get a little weird. we like that.
and sorry eric, not that i’m really trying to watch my waistline considering all the chocolate i eat, but fish shouldn’t be fried in my opinion. i’ve been to Pinche Taqueria a handful of times, but fried fish makes me timid – it’s probably not fresh. leave the fried to chicken and conch fritters. pinche does serve little neck Corona’s at their nolita location. if you can tell me where to actually buy these wholesale, we can probably be friends.
hot sauce… lots of hot sauce.
big morning
November 24, 2008 at 9:21 pm | In cinema and food | Leave a Comment
such a beautiful movie and such a memorable scene. “Big Night” is an absolute favorite of mine. this is such a wonderful clip of Stanley Tucci bustin’ out a frittata (italian-style omelette) in one single shot and assumingly hungover. no music. still camera. five minutes. take note: that’s definitely how you properly beat an egg! i didn’t post the insane dinner party scene, so you have to watch the movie to truely understand the meaning and impact of a really good get-together. so old school and so right on SO many levels. here’s another funny scene that might get your juices rollin’. don’t get me wrong, i love meatballs.
pie face
November 24, 2008 at 9:40 pm | In homemade | Leave a Commentweekly (well, i hope) updates. new flavors. new inspirations.
flavors i have recently attempted and been relatively successful with:
mango, key lime, blueberry, apple, and sweet potato, chocolate pear
*crust:
2 cups flour
1.5 sticks of salted butter
quarter cup of sugar – granulated or light brown
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
half teaspoon nutmeg
touch of orange zest
“cut” the flour and butter (mix with hands). add the yolk, vanilla, sugar, nutmeg, orange zest. stick those hands in there and give it ago. i mean take it like a 6 year old to silly puddy. feel the dough as it starts to form and try and make a solid ball. does it feel crumbly? add another yolk. yolk acts as a cement to hold that dough together. or if you like it super buttery and flaky, add butter in smidgens instead. does it feel too sticky? add flour gradually.
eat a little bit (aaaaah yes). it shouldn’t taste too sweet, the filling should be the main source of that sugar rush. also, don’t OD on nutmeg. you don’t want anyone to ONLY taste nutmeg. all i’m sayin is, you be the judge of your own dough.
wrap in plastic wrap and stick in the fridge for an hour atleast. perfect opportunity to make your filling and catch up with all that hub bub you missed.
when it’s time, follow directions accordingly to your filling. double check to see if they need a “pre-baked” pie crust or an “unbaked” pie crust. i trust y’all know the difference. remember to butter and flour your pie dish before rollin’ it out and stickin’ it in. if you need to “pre-bake” it, poke the crust with a fork (not a spoon or a knife) a few times all over after it’s been placed in the dish. put it in at 350 degrees for a solid ten atleast.
makes only 1 crust, guys, for a 9 incher.
holy moly. ya done.
*this is a recipe that i usually eyeball. please feel free to post comments and results. it’s all trial and error. different people, different results. you’ll start to understand what this means when you make dough again and again.
the image below does not portray and confection of my own. it is only a joke. haha funny. however, you’ll notice the pan that is being used. do NOT. i repeat…do NOT use this pan. if you use a pan like this, it probably means a) you bought a pre-made crust
happily dying of chocolate
December 5, 2008 at 1:08 am | In chocolate | Leave a Comment
moment of silence
obsession – n. – an unhealthy fixation.
precisely why i’m going to die from it.
finally! a post about the “big kahuna” in my life…
i can’t really tell you how it all came to be. i do remember two things though from my childhood. 1) my dad keeping a price club-sized box of peanut butter m&ms in the back of his old 79 blue chevy van. i was so little when this was a reality that i couldn’t even finish a whole bag by myself. 2) my first taste of dark chocolate was a king size special dark chocolate bar in cape cod. i never knew it existed until my girlfriend Virginia from California and I biked up to the pharmacy in Davisville and she pulled one down off the shelf. we biked home and jumped on the bed listening to Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers” album… eating dark chocolate and – more than likely – getting sick to the stomach.
anywho, ten… twenty… whatever, fifteen years later, i’m still figuring this stuff out.
food porn
December 8, 2008 at 3:26 pm | In food porn | Leave a Commentso we all experience the excitement when we go out to eat. you read the menu, you have an idea of what your food is going to look like in your head, you wait, drink, and the plate comes out of the kitchen and (get excited) …
don’t think. first reaction. maybe you’re stoked, shocked, disgusted, disappointed, thrilled, hungry, not so hungry. it’s all in the face really. all in all, there’s something super satisfying in my opinion about looking at food, taking photos and trying to portray every characteristic possible. the smell, temperature, texture, and of course the TASTE. as follows are a few photos of well, food and diners, and you be the critic. please disregard photo-quality. this is the poor man’s food photography that we got goin on here. yes, i want and NEED a real camera which i can’t wait to finally purchase and get REALLY raw and nitty gritty with food, but iphones and blackberrys (even flip ups) can do some serious justice. maybe even chip your tooth. feel free to comment and post your own if you want to add to the plate.
morgan, beard, bread, baked eggs, greens, lattes - Brown Cafe
barrel of you-know-whats - third avenue street fair
Curtis Ripley's waffles - homemade from the Chalkley kitchen, Charles City, VA
yellow carrots - Union Square market
homemade shortbread
oysters at Marlow and Sons, BK
focaccia "occhio di bue" - Morandi brunch
so sexy.
al fresco romance
December 10, 2008 at 3:56 pm | In cinema and food | Leave a Commentif “i had a farm in africa”, i’d definitely grow coffee and cocoa beans. meryl streep can convince a good audience that she can start and successfully maintain a coffee bean farm in the movie “Out of Africa”, but who are we kidding? it’s a chick flick and all the gals really wanna do is stare at robert redford and live in that gorgeous house. needless to say, if you’re a fan of dining al fresco, you might consider going on safari just for the sake of camping and eating outside (and hunting lessons from Redford) after watchin this film.
hoppin' haupt's
as a kid, the Boyd family that lives just down the dirt road from us and my family would go to the Weyanoke area of Charles City to go camping in the fall. clear the land, set up camp, build a fire. provisions were always gathered at haupt’s country store. charles haupt can grind up a righteous sausage patty, bacon, pet milk, eggs, s’mores stuff. everything else most likely came out of our backyard – ducks, doves, deer, greens. cooking this stuff over the fire in an iron skillet – even brought a pot to make rice over the roaring flames was always thrilling to watch. juicy smokey goodness… mmm. s’mores for dessert to make it official, then maybe top it off with some skinny dipping. whatever, we’re talkin about Robert Redford… or Out of Africa. i chose this film because there is no shortage of fabulous dining scenes, however, (word to the men in the audience) if you really wanna impress a woman, i’d take some **notes:
(SORRY GUYS YOUTUBE REMOVED THE CLIP… PLEASE SEE THE FILM!)
old fashioned for sure, but wow… down to the wine glasses, china, silverware, fresh oranges for dessert, even a record player. assuming that the game they’re eating was shot on the very same day and cooked on site. budget? no. lots of space to pack? yes. they weren’t hikin’ around with a low alpine, obviously, but scenes like this prove the efficiency of a good fire, a few groceries, good wine and company can really prove an outta-sight outta-mind camping experience. even in a field, in the middle of nowhere, with a box of matches.
this brings me back to my point – anything’s possible. even in the most minimal of settings. don’t be a puss and bring a Bunsen burner. get creative. and if you’re really clueless, stick some good weiners on a treebranch. horseradish. spicy mustard. yes.
**not tryin to crack on gentlemen a-typically armed with power tools or the stock market. it always doesn’t hurt to know how to cook a thing or two. a man over the stove armed with a spatula… melts my face. worked for robert… look where they ended up. sheesh.
overdue pork
December 29, 2008 at 7:21 pm | In digs | Leave a Commentbummed for about two seconds that i missed a brunch date with two girlfriends in Ft Greene Brooklyn, but perfect excuse to hit up a small joint that had been rackin’ my brain for a solid week.
a lazy morning on sunday evolved into an increasingly starved tummy and a promise date to the brooklyn flea. the impossibility of breaking away from a very comfy bed decreased my chances of a nice afternoon in brooklyn, however, my luck and mood changed… after i exited the subway to find that my lovely ladies had already consumed their egg-dishes at General Green, i immediately put myself back on the subway and walked to east 7 street manhattan from canal street. cold and starved, i walked my stiff leather boots into a lovely tiled sliver of a counter-type-restaurant. hesitant at times about food with a limited menu, i couldn’t help but stare at the hunk of meet under the heat lamp in this dig called Porchetta.
name… “kris kringle”
December 24, 2008 at 3:25 am | In tastes funny | Leave a Comment
funnies. ha.
Black Hound makes a down right sinful rum ball. At two bucks a piece, you get a golf ball sized dense chocolate … with a little bit of nut … mouth full. rum is prevalent, but not overwhelming. yes you can fit the whole thing in your mouth. do i recommend it? you betcha. dunno if they’re open on christmas eve, but on the weekends i know they’re open until 11 pm. and they have samples ALL THE TIME. go in and pretend you’re “checking out a menu” for ”an order”. just don’t tell them i told you so. no idea where you can find a good set of dentures. oh my.
sooooo poppable
chalkley christmas
December 29, 2008 at 8:58 pm | In food porn | Leave a Comment
choppity chop chop chop
that’s willie nate haulin the chainsaw to snatch up that tree. the only beauty in the whole field.
so chalkley christmas means a few things… all involving food of course: meat and egg nog.
i’m just going to throw a few “food porn” images at you regarding the 3 day celebration. yes christmas is technically two days – eve and christmas day – but you always have to sneak in the extra day for leftovers. waistline killer.
clams for clam chowdah
christmas eve lunch: baked raclette cheese, homemade coleslaw, billy bread, lisa's spicy pork bbq, red rooster sauce
beluga caviar, toast points
my christmas present to my family was making christmas eve dinner. this is what came outta the kitchen…
middle name “and”
December 29, 2008 at 11:43 pm | In tastes funny | Leave a Comment
typical media these days
M&Ms never thought they’d cause such a stir. compliments of the chalkley refrigerator… thank you vic lee for eating M&Ms. and thanks to all those lovely lady news anchors that have spent decades and hours on that fabulous bubble flip.
mu-mu-marinade
December 29, 2008 at 11:58 pm | In homemade | Leave a Commentour venison doesn’t just sit on the grill with salt and pepper. that slab o’ charles city protein sits in a marinade for a full day. here’s the recipe for a fabulous venison marinade. also may apply to any “gamey” sort of meat: ducks and geese. if you live out west it’s good for any other kind of “antlered” species as well.
takes patience
for a 3 lb. tenderloin of venison:
a 12 oz bottle of hard cider or a belgian blonde
a quarter cup of apple cider vinegar.
1 cup of apple cider
1 cup of red wine
half a medium onion sliced into thin wedges
one medium fuji apple sliced into thin wedges
3 sprigs of rosemary – leaves removed to only use the leaves
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of tiger seasoning or crazy jane’s mixed up salt
1 teaspoon of ground pepper
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 tablespoon of olive oil
place all of ingredients above except for the olive oil into a deep dish that snuggles with the tenderloin. mix and stir it up. place tenderloin in dish and let it rest and soak up in the fridge for a solid 6 hours. flip every few hours or so and make sure that the majority of the meat is submerged completely.
rub it down with the olive oil and place on a covered grill at medium heat for maybe 15 minutes. take that thermometer and check it! the temperature should read a solid 120 degrees. if not, check the meat every minute or so. it should be 20 minutes TOPS to cook.
let the loin rest for ten minutes. slice. fall in love.
because that holiday egg nog is still being polished off in the fridge, here’s a little christmas laughter to keep ya smilin’ in all that grill smoke.
poor rudolph
save those onions and apples. sautee all them marinated jammers in a sautee pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat until onions are soft. garnish.
happy too oh oh nine
January 2, 2009 at 12:40 pm | In homemade | Leave a Comment
dinner at west 106
never seen so much champagne in one fridge in my life. new years eve is the biggest overrated holiday of the year-in my opinion. however, over past years, i’ve come to realize that it should be treated just as any other celebration. close friends, good food, NO FRONTING ZONE.
exactly what we ended up doing. me plus 7 other kids as you can see in the photo above. except lilli who’s hiding!
pulled tables together in a darling harlem apartment. whole foods run that ended up being more like a 20 minutes trip to the zoo on new years eve. but, never the less… this is what we came up with. besides massive amounts of the bubbly.
southern style birthday cake
January 4, 2009 at 5:18 pm | In homemade | Leave a Comment
old school
january 3rd … what a great day. wow. marks the day adrienne stillman (23 years ago) was born… something pounds something ounces. speaking of pounds … put on a few pounds over the holidays. thought i might like to put on a few more.
maybe it’s southern, but pound cakes are a running tradition in my family. i heard the history of pound cakes was the idea of a pound of everything. not too sure that rule applies to this recipe. i hit up the google machine and found a few recipes. one of them from this website caught my fancy. i decided that i’d tweak it just a bit to make it somewhat different. grocery run down the street and calling in delivery to ask for a few extra items i’d forgotten, i finally rolled up my sleeves in my funky little new york kitchen, put on some ongoing good tunes and put myself to work!
here’s whatcha need, betty crocker:
BBB (big bad brunch)
January 13, 2009 at 2:41 pm | In digs | 1 Commenta holiday. a spectacle really that comes once (maybe even twice) a week. brunch in the city is almost as common as swiping your metro card and is hyped as christmas before halloween even hits. i might even be able to name a few people that wouldn’t really know what to do with their weekend if it wasn’t for brunch. i admit… i love the idea of rolling out of bed at 1 pm and still having the opportunity to get eggs and pancakes at fairly respectable dining establishments, but i still want the non-pretentious aspect as well. it’s a meal kids. i gotta FEED myself!
what part of town you live in, how far you want to travel with that achey liver, budget, atmosphere, etc. all play a part in the decision making process. very rarely do you see people brunching alone. i do a lot actually. this is only because sometimes getting everyone together midday for some grub on the weekends is almost as stressful as it was planning your friday night -which literally only happened about 12 hours before. unless you’re a creature of habit, then you probably already have in mind what you want to eat, when, where, with whom – in which case, it all turns into a mindless excercise of showering, clothing, and getting yourself there.
me on the other hand, always want to try something new. it also helps that i have friends that keep an open mind for suggestions. a few places that i’ve rather enjoyed in the past and have revisited on various occasions are as follows (all of them are downtown, yes, but as the brunch oddessy continues, the list will grow) and items that i recommend as well:
mama chalkley turns 21 today
January 14, 2009 at 12:41 pm | In food porn | 1 Comment
sweet potato pie for you
love you. happy birthday.
joe’s junior
January 23, 2009 at 6:21 pm | In digs | Leave a Commentreferring back to my post about brunch and how sometimes all ya want is a solid sandwich? had one of these moments about a week ago. i’ve been scoping out the deli scene. seriously… a good sandwich should not have to cost ya ten bones for a nice one. shaved boar’s head brand on toast wheat with lettuce, tomato, mustard, i like the jalapenos on there, and sliced right down the middle? sound really good? yeeeeeeaah and guess what… it’s right on your corner most likely i.e. that DELI!
all the countless old timer diner’s that sprawl this amazing city have an appeal that puts you at ease and you enjoy the simple perks of food and the undying comfort of the “diner experience”! i live on east 11 street but just up 3rd ave at 15 street is Joe Junior. i was walkin my way up to the whitney museum on a steaming hot 17 degree day last week and popped into joe’s to check out their sandwich board.
perched myself at the counter across from an old-timer just reading and suckin’ on some chicken bones. i took a look at the faded plastic menus… breakfast all day (typical), burgers, funky fried things and SANDWICHES. a dude came up to my left and before he sat down, he yelled out “special soup, bread, salad with that dressing i like and a coffee…thanks.” … “Right away boss.”
that's a dude right there
lawd august-us
January 27, 2009 at 5:23 pm | In digs | Leave a Comment
this guy poured me a nice one and check out that oven
had a ladies brunch on sunday this past weekend at August, which i wrote briefly about below in “BBB”. more photos and laughs to add to the memories and archives. adrienne, ghislaine, michelle, and i waited a small amount of time for a nice table upfront. near the oven – thank goodness because i took out my new bike sunday for a good ride in 27 degree weather. stood by that hot son of a gun and had a nice dry french cider beer. we watched and caught ourselves pointing and “oh man”-ing as the hot food was being dished out to each hungry soul. we all read, reread, and read again the menu and i couldn’t really decide on much until i closed my eyes and did a “finger point wherever” kinda deal.
bouley feels ya
February 4, 2009 at 4:00 pm | In digs | Leave a Commenti’m sure you’ve encountered articles, or first hand, the recently transformed recession-friendly restaurants around the city this winter. a couple of weeks ago i had a casting in tribeca on chambers street and had a run in with one myself. i used to live in this part of town awhile ago for a significant amount of time. things were starting to pop up here and there. some bars and restaurants have been around since the beginning of time, but when Robert DeNiro discovered the potential of real estate in tribeca, he bought the whole hood (almost) and started an empire. money started flooding the streets and little shops and restaurants/cafes took over abandoned spaces and took over a few other strugglers. all a little sad in some respects, however, i gotta say… there is some SERIOUS food being turned out on these ancient cobble stone streets.
i left my casting on chambers street and started to walk up Hudson street and came upon Bouley Market, formerly known as Bouley Bakery. the arched glass window dawned beautiful baguettes and loaves of fresh made bread. i mean… do you honestly think i just kept on walking? i walked straight in, and you know it!
beautiful carbs
carrot cake rules this joint
February 17, 2009 at 1:20 pm | In digs | 1 Commentso, one huge dinner party last saturday evening (february 7) left everyone that attended in a food coma that lasted until the morning coffee. waking up feeling a little gross, my buddy made a nice observation, “the birds are chirping outside.” just bought a new bike, and the no-brainer came to mind: BIKE RIDE.
colin and i rallied up morgan and we set a meeting place in east village. everyman espresso at noon. then, nomads until whatever hour. we wanted to bike this town to shreds. our tire tracks covering as much ground as we could possibly stand. we set out northward on 3rd avenue. adrenaline running, legs pumping, excitement about whatever hood, area, people, places, new digs we might encounter. 3rd ave skipped over to the park. up through the park and across 125 street to st nicholas ave. st. nicholas ave to 149 and we ended up at St. Nick’s Pub. a harlem institution that is magically blessed with unforgettable memories… old school and ones of my own. great jazz. cheap top shelf. and sugar hill beer (only made in harlem). it was closed, but we had a few photo moments and already plan a swift return one of these evenings.
149 on the fingers... backwards
steaks ‘n cakes
February 26, 2009 at 3:29 pm | In homemade | 2 CommentsShrove Tuesday is the correct term for the day before Ash Wednesday. aka Mardi Gras. aka what i like to call FAT TUESDAY. Westover Parish church is the church i used to attend in Virginia as a child and fat tuesday meant that they were going to be serving up all kinds of breakfast goodies for supper. at 6 pm the fam would head on over there and do it right – indulge on pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage (most likely homemade), eggs, syrup, biscuits and cheese, gravy, etc. it was a really great time and the ONLY time when we got to stuff our little cheeks with syrup and pancakes instead of chicken and rice. the other county kids and i would storm through the doors and pile more gluttony on our plates than we could possibly eat in one sitting. everyone joined together in the community room around long, brown foldable tables and chairs. we skipped across old 70’s tiled floors, and under blinking white lights. yellow painted centerblock walls sporadically dawned with children’s graffiti. scarce bulletin boards with dated events newsletters and photographs hung by an old water fountain in the corner. in the opposite corner sat an anceint grand piano. dusty and extremely mangled over decades of use and abuse. a sad sight, really. the keys slowly stopped making any sort of beautiful sounds. i admit that i can recall a few times when i’d peek my head in to look (and touch) the strings. even tried pulling a few Ray Charles moments and banged on the keys with my eyes closed making up words and noise. we were a wild bunch of kids.
so, back to what i’m really trying to say, this is a holiday that i hate to pass up even though i no longer get to “do it right”, it’s a great time to throw the health kick out the window and just get down and dirty on whatever you’re really wanting. next day is lent so i’d go real deep and dark. it’d been awhile since i’d seen my buddy Kerrigan, so i thought i’d see what he was up to and make some supper by my way. i wanted steaks and pancakes. Kerrigan is just so rad in the sense that he’ll eat just about anything, but knows when it’s good. he agreed on the set menu. easy right? so, tuesday afternoon, i’d finally finished running my errands and wandered down to SoHo to snoop around Pino’s on Sullivan and Houston for some filet cuts.
probably walked right by this one a few times
just because i wanted to show you
February 26, 2009 at 4:13 pm | In digs | Leave a Commenti had an amazing breakfast today…
yes, that's mustard
Grey Dog Cafe on University and 11th street. fluffy egg white omelette with spinach and tomato with an english muffin. and, as you can see, lots of mustard. best way to start the day.
ey yogurt!
February 27, 2009 at 5:40 pm | In daily | 3 Commentsi used to eat yogurt religiously. the organic bomb that his this planet in the past few years has doubled the yogurt market and now the shelves don’t just dawn Yoplait or Dannon, but a slew of others with the most outrageous flavors and made from atleast 3 different types of milk … probably more. i walked into a wonderful organic market down the street from my apartment on 1st ave between 10th and 11th streets and pulled a few off the shelf to do a small taste test this week.
a long time favorite of mine is made by a french-quebec brand called Liberté. they make several different types of yogurt but mine is in the Méditerranée group in the passion fruit flavor. extremely creamy and slightly sweet and tart hints from the passion fruit. devine, but not the BEST for you. you’ll want to sit down and eat a boatload because it’s that good, but you might wanna take a small glimpse at the nutrition facts… oof! not fun!
i picked up a new brand that i’d never heard of before, but had seen on the dairy shelves a few times in the past couple of months. it’s called Siggi’s. it’s an “Icelandic style skyr strained non-fat yogurt… Grade A, 0% milkfat”, which in all honesty means absolutely nothing to me. the flavor was outrageous sounding though – orange and ginger. the packaging is a draw as well. nice 6 ounce container with a matte wrap around label. i bought it and i tried it this morning in bed in my pajamas.
last spoonful
so good it makes ya wanna sing
March 2, 2009 at 9:38 am | In music and food | 1 Comment
edith piaf perhaps?
we all know that when you’re mixing those cookies, you wanna jam to some aretha franklin, or when you’re flippin’ burgers maybe some old funk is goin’ out the speakers, mexican makes me want to belt out some santana perhaps. did you know that you are not alone? big names with bonafied record labels sang about vegetables, ice cream, and how they like their eats “lightly salted”.
Theme magazine put a great post up on their site recently “Sound: Food Makes us Happy” by Cool Calm Pete. 26 buzzworthy songs that are all food related. check out this yummy track list:
edible album art
9th Creation, “Bubble Gum”
Audio Two, “I Like Cherries”
Gary Bartz, “Drinking Song”
The Beach Boys, “Vegetables”
Beastie Boys, “Egg Man”
BO Junior and Keb Darge, “Coffee Pot, Pt. 1”
Willie Bobo, “Fried Neckbones and Some Home Fries”
Cameo, “Candy”
The Dynamics, “Ice Cream Song”
Fat Boys, “All You Can Eat”
Monk Higgins, “Little Green Apples”
JBs, “Pass the Peas”
KMD, “Plumskinzz”
Kool & the Gang, “Chocolate Buttermilk”
Galt Macdermot, “Coffee Cold”
The Mar-keys, “Banana Juice”
Jackie Mittoo & The Soul Brothers, “Chicken and Booze”
Idris Muhammad, “Bread”
Elvis Presley, “Song of the Shrimp”
Frankie Seay & The Soul Riders, “Soul Food”
Booker T. & the MG’s, “Mo’ Onions”
Norma Tanega, “Bread”
Maggie Thrett, “Soupy”
Barry Ungar, “Lightly Salted”
The Who, “Heinz Baked Beans”
Wu-Tang Clan, “Ice Cream”
i know you’re looking at that list and saying to yourself, “really? they came out with this stuff?” yeah, it’s on the B side of that number one Billboard hit that made them millions. a great mix of music genres all across the board. put this on before your next dinner party, might come up with some really eclectic creations. hey man, that’s alright with me. all in all, you got something to sing while you’re helming the stove.
good thinkin, Theme. pass those peas, please.
Download it HERE if you wanna take a gander.
this salad hits the motherload
May 1, 2009 at 4:13 pm | In homemade | 1 Comment
that spinach... look at it... just SPILLING OVER
heyyyy…. uh… what happened? it’s been a roller coaster these days my friends, that’s for sure.
May One today. just last weekend the temperature hit a whoppin’ 87 degrees here in new york. you know what that means? yeah, i knew you were thinkin’ sangria and bbqs, but what about that stuff that goes with it? you ever heard of greens?
made some supper the other night with colin. he sniffed cheese and gave words of encouragement: “that looks delicious… i’m going to go sit down and eat some of this cheese.” just joking. he helped slice avocado and i am kind of a hog when it comes to the kitchen knife. yes, you’ll need a nice sharp one for this recipe. we couldn’t really decide which kind of fish we wanted, but we went with tuna. colin learned how to sear tuna. and he put some nice citrus on top. FYI: citrus was the theme of the night. and we “hit the motherload” on that one.
this “citrus-y” salad played a big part in that mother of a load…
ingredients:
1 medium fennel bulb chopped or shredded (like cabbage in chunky cole slaw)
2 cups baby spinach leaves
1 medium navel orange sliced into thin half-moon sections
1/3 cup of shredded carrots
1/4 medium red onion – chopped
1 small thinly sliced fuji or honey crisp apple
pepper to taste
1 avocado thinly sliced, but put it aside
extra half of a lime, put this aside too
3 T roasted sesame seeds, aaaaaaaaand put it aside!
Continue reading this salad hits the motherload…
at ease
May 11, 2009 at 5:32 pm | In my two cents | 1 Comment
eating out. try to avoid it. however, it’s an addiction of mine (not as much as chocolate).
someone coming to your table and saying, “what can i get for ya?” is just music to my ears. so lovely i have to hold myself back from ordering something like the seafood tower at Balthazar or the rib eye with a nice bottle of red (that goes for anywhere).
however, not all places involve dollar signs. and not all places are about the extravagant culinary experience. rainy days are all about warm feelings, good friends, a solid beer and something to fill your stomach that is honest and simple.
a warm, downpour-ish evening involved ducking and hiding under awnings. al fresco seemed outta the question, but colin, sean, morgan, ozzy and i shared a few caipirinas under well-covered sidewalk seating. it all seemed kind of surreal. staying dry and not really thinking about the drenched umbrellas just an arms-length away. a sidewalk spat at us a little bit, but not enough to wipe the smiles off our faces.
a bit on the hungry side and taking notice that the daylight was running away, burgers and beers were on the brain. LUCKY STRIKE was just down the street so we decided to get our shoes more wet and stroll over to one of the Keith McNally empires, but the biggest “no-front-zone” of them all …
corner table, rounds of beers, damp clothes, wet shoes, hum of voices… ticking clocks … time and curfews didn’t deem worthy of our time and worries. only mussels, burger, chicken, and french bread and butter.
i’d just gotten a an old Nikon FE2 fixed up (thank you Jestena!) and decided to try it out. colin supplied the film – slow ASA of 1600 – that gave off a wonderfully grainy image and suit our relaxed moods and frame of minds just perfectly:
bluuuuuue moooooon
“bouley feels ya” update
May 13, 2009 at 8:08 am | In my two cents | 1 Commentso,
just stoked now reading the NYTimes at my desk. they did an article on cut-rate/low-cost restaurants. Bouley Market was one of their diggs!
they do raise an interesting point though. instead of calling it a restaurant, they’re calling these kinds of venues “markets” to make a more relaxed feel setting and “managers aren’t so anxious to turn tables in order to accomidate.” sit back, relax, munch on your cheap gourmet and read this article HERE kids…
FYI – my article ran first. hey Times … ya hiring? jokes!
the food makes you slower
July 9, 2009 at 3:40 pm | In food porn | Leave a Commentaka the south. disregard the steamy hot weather and the thick sweetness of the air. disregard the southern draaaaaaawl and the big open fields of peekin’ up corn stalks. disregard the rocking chair.
why in God’s good earth do those “suthuhnuhs” move so slow? maybe because you slip into a food coma three times a day. just to throw a few hints at you … all the cliches should be a dead ringer: cornbread, fried chicken, grits, grease, pound cake (as mentioned in a few posts below).
colin and i had two tremendously wonderfully ludicrously successful trips down south this past month. first stop: savannah, georgia, where colin went to school (which i actually find so hard to believe … you can actually study in that gorgeous town?) and has a house that he beautifully restored of which i got a grand tour. second stop: charles city, virginia, where my lovely mom and pop fed me crazy food and helped me realize that life is too short (much more than just that and ALL of which i thank them for).
savannah is much like virginia from an architectural stand point. big porches, windows, victorian, emphasis on facade – wood, stone, and brick. the cuisine is not far off either. had a few firsts! but proportions, booze, and ways of dining are almost parallel.
first night we arrived, it was so late. so, colin took me to his favorite dive: pinkie masters (he says “pinkie blasters”) we hadn’t eaten dinner yet and we were starved, so we bought about 7 bags of various chips from behind the bar and 4 wheat beers. (click on images to enlarge)
that's a dorito
that's the damage
after hopping around for a bit – “bar hopping” – we split a few cajun BOILED PEANUTS. now, i ain’t nevuh had me onuh them before, so this was QUITE an authentic experience. what a delight. it was like savory/spicy/almost-there-peanut-butter in a shell. maybe it’s for all those people losing teeth.
baaaahled p-nuts
gazpacho
July 17, 2009 at 2:40 pm | In digs | Leave a Commentmy mom makes amazing gazpacho – and it’s just how she describes it. having enough texture that you can feel the macerated fresh vegetables on your tongue, but not puree’d to the point where it becomes tomato soup, and not chunky where it feels like a soupy salad.
had an insanely lovely lunch with Adrienne at Benoit in midtown. we had a darling sidewalk table that faced the madness on 55 street. if you want the full 411 – we were looking straight at a plumber’s van. bless his heart he’s doing a good thing for someone in nyc.
anyway, glancing at the menu – prix fix no, entrees too heavy, cheese can be for later, cold appetizers mmm yes. my friend Matt Arrow had just described this day as “thick as maple syrup”. nyc has finally been hit by the humid summer weather, but all things aside, i was exactly where i really wanted to be.
Adrienne is a foodie like me and deciding things on the menu is borderling telepathic. we read eachother in between the lines. vocal tones. gestures. pitch. etc. we’ve got it down really. “Chilled Tomato Soup” is what they call it. “gazpacho,” our waiter noah said. blam-o. we got two (one for each).
YUMS. right on the button. small bits of vegetable in a fresh tomato base. little cubes of avocado and croutons (which normally i’m not so jazzed about, but this was an exception – light, crunchy, and there wasn’t an insane amount of them).
hit the spot:
deceivingly lite-fare
you can see the nice hunk of cherry tomato (always allowed) which was a pleasant surprise and a sweet explosion in my mouth. a good cherry tomato, as such, could parallel a fine hunk of chocolate any day for me.
following, i had a truely amazing nicoise salad. just perfectly dressed and exceptionally pleasing to the eye. the tuna was not seared, but hey, can’t be picky sometimes – and that kind of tuna is very “rarely” found. har har.
all in all – lovely experience. highly recommend this place for a leisurely lunch. very pleasant service and overly accomidating (which is not bad when you’re having a bit of rose alongside).
cheers and good eats my lovers.
more brunch … walter’s brunch
July 30, 2009 at 9:48 am | In digs | 1 Commentback a few months ago, i wrote a small blip on my favorite brunch spots.
i gotta admit, that i have had a few shortcomings in my life. obviously, i haven’t been around to breakfast in a few months, nor have i hit enough spots in the city before i had the guts to pick and choose my favorites, but i did say i’d add more soon – so, VOILA!
the steamy, hot weather has put me on two wheels 24/7 and i’ve been cruising to the different burroughs trying to figure out what i’ve been missing out on. a little off-sounding i know. who wants to sweat so much? well, something about sweat reminds me of summer.
Walter Foods, erected by Dylan Tood, owner of Barrio Chino, is one of the latest brooklyn experiments. daggone. i thought i knew what was up when it came to burgers and the corner of roebling and grand in williamsburg is the last place i thought i might hit the money on a nice beef patty. but of COURSE – barrio chino is one of FAVES … duh.
the brunch menu is extremely diverse. but i was torn between two lunch-type items – a lobster club and the shortrib burger. i am SO sqweemish (SP?) about lobster clubs/sandwiches outside of the new england area, but the waiter assured me that they don’t “skimp” on the lobster meat. i kinda thought to myself, “B.S”.
i love burgers. i’ve kinda started eating one a week. mainly because i’m on a world record budget at this point, and i’m full after eating one for the entire day. it was sunday. perfect. i got a brunch cocktail and a short rib burger. the waiter then kindly chimed in and sold me on a popular “breakfast item” known as a blueberry muffin while i waited. two minutes later he came back with a dish of tiny fresh-out-of-the-oven blue-b muffins. scrumptous. i even put a little bit of butter in between to melt into the squishy cake. i don’t usually take the butter, but recently, i’ve been indulging on it’s simple pleasures. my aperol spritz (new found favorite thanks to G) was probably the best i’ve had YET in this town.
the most beautiful color
the burger came out finally. perfect timing because i’d just looked up to glance at the tiny kitchen window to see if anything was on its way. magic.
walter's volcano
magic is right. so. incredibly. juicy. wonderful brioche bun, crispy bacon that hadn’t been sitting around to make it crispy, and SHARP cheddar cheese. i ain’t nevah eaten anything like it (except that steak at Minetta Tavern that i swear on my chocolate addiction they rub with truffle oil before they char grill it). i wanted – and i made such an effort - to eat the entire thing, but it was so rich and i had a lot to make of my day that i didn’t want to spoil my afternoon activities. it definitely helped fulfill my hunger pangs and give me a much needed protein boost.
can’t wait to go back for a nice steak, shellfish, and another one of them cocktails. it’ll be several months before i’m able to do so, but Walter Foods follow up – you got it, dude.
blueberry muffins were free, by the way. cheers.
the moon is in fact “une boule”
July 30, 2009 at 9:53 am | In tastes funny | Leave a Commentlook at this poor guy … just chillin on 13th street between broadway and university.
half moon
judging the texture of the bread, despite it’s negligence in the middle of the street, this is a quality hunk of baked dough. just when i thought the moon might be made of cheese, this “half boule” has convinced me otherwise.
punch drunk
August 10, 2009 at 7:42 pm | In cinema and food, tastes funny | Leave a Commenti love this strip. Rhymes With Orange … it honestly never lets me down. on monday, when you got the whole work week ahead of you, there is nothing like a good honest chuckle at your desk.
childhood hangover
oh, those were the days.
after a sugar high, disastrous things can happen to you when you’re a youngster. the thing is, i never really had the hawaiian punch when i was a kid. i thoroughly enjoyed Capri Sun. but if i’m going to relate to this strip, do you remember Crystal Pepsi?
that and a king size Twix. the car ride home blasting The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” sent me into world-class comas by the time we hit the dirt road. sometimes i’d wake up and be completely relocated. oye! now that i’m 24, they call it a “hangover”. at least these kids are up for a bike ride the next day!
is this lob$ter? in New York?
August 11, 2009 at 9:58 am | In digs, food porn | 1 Commenthi!
didn’t see this one coming … DEFINITELY DIDN’T SEE THIS ONE COMING!
NYC is full of things that are overpriced just because they CAN be. not because it’s necessary. but, even though we know that bag of M&Ms costs ten bucks, we’re still going to buy it because – say you’re really craving that chocolate peanut concoction – are you really gonna go to Yonkers (of all places) to get a pack for a dollar 25?
i’d read about this place called Xie Xie (pronounced “shay shay”). i also saw a lobster roll someone was eating there – excuse me – asian lobster roll. i’ll tell you what’s on my mind … cha-ching. but, to my ultimate surprise …
the thing costs 14 DOLLARS – and LOOK AT IT:
are you kidding me?! i can’t even take a focused picture – the chunks of lobster are buldging out of the brioche roll! this mother needs 3D glasses!
perfect chunks moist of lobster, not too much mayonnaise, a refreshing amount of dill and just the right amount of small crunchies on top. the actual roll is brioche – and it wasn’t dry at all.
inhaled it ina bout 4 bites, maybe. wanted more. thought to myself, “well, that’d defeat the whole purpose of getting a 14 dollar lobster roll. i would’ve bought two and it would’ve added up to about 30 bucks,” (like Ed’s Lobster Bar … never again). market price my sweet tooth – then you can justify 30 bucks a roll, boss man.
yeah, so maybe you’ve already clicked on the link and your shoulders slumped a bit like one of those fresh steamed lobsters on your dinner plate jammer. it’s kinda in the middle of nowhere (9th avenue and 45th street) but, you can’t eat lobster roll every day. make a trip and make it special!
cute al fresco seating too! i know at least one of you digs that.
shotgun wedding
September 16, 2009 at 11:10 am | In digs, food porn | Leave a Commenti love weddings. i REALLY love weddings. i have to admit and say that the biggest seller for me is actually the wedding cake. and all the free shampoo. yes, of course i’m there to celebrate the joining of lives of two very special people – and successful (no objections) – but can i be honest here? (yes please, Jess) i’m all about food when an invite comes my way! just kidding. but not really.
colin invited me to a wedding in Connecticut for a friend of his named Chris Healy. sean came too. so it was the three of us going to Grand Central on a steamy saturday this past august. we were on our bikes, i must add. colin and sean were wearing formal/casual attire and i was in a dress and platform heels. interesting crew (and friggin’ amazing sight) – to say the least.
sean on his bike, lookin fresh
no pictures of me. i was busy keepin’ my dress down.
so the wedding is actually at a small house on a marsh, just by the coast. a tent with some quaintly set tables, two bars, and a small tent for food. what really caught my eye, as we waltzed in, were the two HUGE smokers! maybe three? just to the right of the driveway entrance. i was glad that i hadn’t really eaten much that day and i was also glad that i was finally getting a bbq fix in (or so i rightfully assumed).
the wedding was perfect – “totally vegas” – it went something like this,
“do you?”
“yes.”
“do you?”
“i do.”
“ok. kiss her.”
then we all went and “et”.
delicious appetizers – some buffalo wings that were incredibly tastey, some homemade dips and fresh vegetables, mozzarella and tomatoes on skewers. not to mention yummy bar nuts – next to the kegs.
i saved myself for the real deal. and boy – this stuff got REAL! when the main grub came out, i stood in line like a super happy camper. smoked chicken, parmesan and tomato mac and cheese, corn bread, roasted vegtables, corn on the cob, homemade baked beans, and the last bit i’m going to fill you in on, blew my mind – VINEGAR based spicy pulled pork!! VINEGAR-based is the key description, here. remember when i was telling y’all about my christmas eve bbq? how it’s my favorite? well, this company that catered the party (All Smoked Up) did JUST that. it was soooo perfect. it wasn’t mushy, it wasn’t dry, too tart, too sweet, too much sauce, and just the right ratio of small shreds to tender morsels of marinated pork. and a wonderful detail that they added on the side of the pork was fresh strawberries and sweet cherries. a very clever (and culinary expert-driven) decision. it cut the salt and savory of the meat and put little fresh punches of juice in your mouth after a big bite of that finger-lickin bbq.
one guy that had just gotten out of line when i grabbed my plate, had the MOST amazing looking palate of food that i had to ask him if i could take a picture. he kindly obliged:
flippin' beautiful
so, obviously stuffed and ready to have another drink, i noticed a cake wasn’t around. i mentioned that this was a shot-gun type wedding (and just perfect and the best type of “no fronting zone”). well, in place of where the food was, there was a teared platform. in a few minutes, cupcakes adorned it. carrot, chocolate, red velvet, and plain old vanilla. now, i didn’t think i could eat a different kind of cupcake in my life as i work in the bakery and the icing was just a bit too over-the top decorated and piled on, but i can’t help it – it’s wedding and a sweet tooth comes hand-in-hand ALWAYS after a good meal for this lady right here.
it continued to be a lovely evening: live and local music, some dancing, and a few more beers. colin and i caught the 10:15 PM train back into the city. home before i turned into a pumpkin.
frightful snacking
September 23, 2009 at 11:31 am | In tastes funny | 1 Commenti strolled through the Union Square Farmer’s Market the other day. i always like to feel inspired by the fresh fruits and veggies that are always in abundance. even fresh pastas and free-range meats. the root vegetables are starting to kick in season now, so i was taken by the carrots and their vibrant orange colors. not to mention their unique shapes:
i’m not trying to say that this reminds me of any human limbs, but i couldn’t help but piece together a Quasimodo hand of sorts? let me know what you think. i didn’t buy it, instead i put it back with the other guys down below. even if i did, it would seem a little INhuman to eat it. in my mind.
saturdays nyc
September 23, 2009 at 11:53 am | In digs | Leave a Commenti’ve been baking for a surf shop that colin and other buds morgan collett and josh rosen have just opened up in soho. it’s a coffee bar in front which has been brewing and pulling shots from La Colombe coffee roasters as well as my baked goods and some croissants from Ceci Cela.
i bake out of colin’s apartment or my place. pies sometimes on the weekends, cookies, mostly muffins and sweet loaves though. here are a few examples:
fresh green plum muffins
raspberry almond loaf, banana chocolate chip cookies, mango muffins (in the back)
come by and meet the boys, have some great coffee, hang in the deck out back, and eat some of my treats!
Saturdays NYC
31 Crosby St., New York, NY
also, buy some surf boards, look at the merchandise, but also check out the artwork as well! will post some samples soon!
a brush with venison
October 10, 2009 at 3:09 pm | In homemade | Leave a Commenti went home last week to virginia for not even 48 hours. i got in far too late the first night to have a home cooked meal. sadly. (siiiiigh)
however, the next day before i went to my job, my mom asked me a simple question, “so bird, do you want ribs or venison for dinner?”
duuuuhh…
ribs are everywhere in NYC. maybe not everywhere, but easy to find. i don’t think i paused for more than a second before i gave the obvious thumbs up to venison tenderloin.
mom made julia child’s famous mustard marinade (dijon, rosemary, ginger, soy, garlic, olive oil, pepper) and rubbed the tenderloin, then let it sit for awhile. when dad got home, he fired up the grill and threw that nice piece of meat on the fire over a medium/high flame.
when venison is cooked over fire, the effect is so rich and the meat turns so juicy. cooked just until it’s rare in the middle, it then needs to sit on a wood cutting board just for a few minutes or so until the meat lowers temp and all its juices settle.
dad got the sharp knife and started slicing it very thin – each piece just ribboned and melted onto the cutting board.
deer meat
i ate an insane amount. i hadn’t tasted anything like it since the last time colin and i grilled venison on his roof early this summer. there is nothing that is so satisfying as a well prepared piece of meat. and even with just salt, pepper, and some olive oil. takes no time at all. and a pure and simple cooked vegetable to accompany is a wonderful counterbalance. my mom baked some butternut squash with our venison and it was so sweet and somehow creamy. just a lovely dinner. and we sat on the porch (al fresco).
so bummed i didn’t bring any back to NYC with me. saving it all up for christmas!
special sundays
October 10, 2009 at 3:20 pm | In food porn | Leave a Commentat Babycakes, sometimes we get to go super nuts on our baked goods and do a few specials.
the first few weeks of September is when NYC started to get a little cooler. all of us at the bakery got a little melancholy at the thought that summer hadn’t really hit any of us. what a terrible feeling? but what else than a cool summer cocktail kicks things off again?
we pulled out a bottle of Bacardi from the basement and some mint from the fridge. mojito cupcakes … check.
hubba hubba
vanilla cupcake soaked in a half shot of rum, green mint frosting, a sugar rim, and of course a mint leaf garnish.
these were hardcore, but of course they sold (out) and we carded everyone (kinda).
so glad fall is here – bring on the bourbon!!
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