This is disgusting

If you have to file an article under "TMI," it probably shouldn't be an article. I'm pretty sure this writing would have been perfectly content to stay locked up in a diary, hidden under the author's mattress. But the following is actually a featured article on Salon.com, of all sites: On tonight's menu: Placenta

Yup, it's about a woman who eats her placenta, stir-fry style with some "soy, garlic, and ginger."  I consider myself pretty open-minded, and I can usually appreciate things from a sociological standpoint in the very least, but in this case, I was grossed out beyond belief.  It doesn't help that the writer is quite adept at descriptive writing.  (The part where she describes the smell of her own "meat" cooking really put me over the edge...And this woman calls herself a vegetarian!)

To each his own, I guess.  I'll just sign off with one of my favorite lines:

"Most people are repulsed by the idea of eating their own flesh, particularly an excretion from the vagina."

Exactly.

Craft Beers: Faring Well Despite Tightening Budgets and Questionable Tastes

After reading about the Americanization of hummus, Friendly's Grilled Cheese BurgerMelt, and the Runaway General's beer of choice (Bud Light Lime), I was feeling pretty disheartened by American taste. So I was delightfully surprised to hear that, despite an overall drop in beer consumption and sales, many consumers are willing to pay more for higher quality craft beers.

NPR's Morning Edition reports that sales of craft beer, produced by small, independent microbreweries, are up by 10%.  This, at a time when many are cutting back on their bar tabs.

Photo from NPR.com

An assistant manager at a Maine microbrewery interviewed for the piece sums up the appeal in a nut shell:

"People realize that it's good flavor, and they want the more sophisticated flavor. And everyone's palate has just gotten better.  Plus it's a higher alcohol content, so people get a buzz on quicker too. So I think that's part of it too."

Listen to the full piece below.

And to round out this post, I leave you with a list of the Best Beers to Sip Outside from the Kichn, many of which are craft beers.  Enjoy!

Gothamist Slideshow: 12 Great Places to Eat and Drink Outside

 The Kimberly Hotel, 145 E 50th St., photo from the Gothamist

Someday I hope to meet and become fast friends with some of the writers for Gothamist, because you just know they're awesome. Check out their slideshow for some amazing-looking outdoor restaurants and bars (description below).  Also, make sure to read the caption for #10 Traif.  This may merit a future post.

You spend enough time stuck inside reading Gothamist at work; why should you be imprisoned by walls and roofs all over again on your free time? It's summer, and you are entitled to drink and eat outside, with nothing separating you from the stars but a thin layer of gabardine. With that in mind, we've put together this handy guide to some outdoor dining and drinking spots to hit this summer. Some are old standbys, some are new arrivals, and none of them feature any of that B.S. sidewalk seating. They are, in order of appearance, Bohemian Hall, B Bar, Faustina, Ardesia, The Summit, Hot Bird, The Upstairs, Luckydog, Blackout, Traif, Sky Terrace/Private Park, and The Rock Shop.

Berrylicious Dessert

It normally irks me when people take liberties with the word "berry," but I made an exception here because it really is the perfect way to describe one of my favorite--and easiest to prepare--summer desserts: the berry crumble.  You can find recipes like this anywhere, or just make one up yourself, which is basically what I did.  Though, to be fair, I borrowed some inspiration from Vegetarian Times magazine (yes, they even do desserts!), The Joy of Cooking, and my mom of course.

If you've never made a crumble, you should! Basically you throw together your favorite assortment of fruit, sprinkle it with a crumb mixture, and bake.  No fancy equipment or technique necessary.  In fact, you can be downright sloppy about it because it's pretty hard to mess up; and because there's no such thing as a perfect-looking crumble.

In this case, I used some strawberries and blueberries that Gus's mom picked up for us at a farm stand.  I'm not sure if there's anything better than fresh, ripe, in-season local produce.  It reminds you of what fruit is at its essence--and of what you're missing out on during the rest of the year.  Sure, I can get big, firm, red--sometimes, even sweet--strawberries at my supermarket, but it's not until I walk past the stands at the Union Square farmer's market that I remember that strawberries have a very strong, sweet scent.  And the taste just doesn't compare.  Anyway, I digress, back to the crumble.  Here are my berries:

Now the next step is sort of optional, but I threw in a little cornstarch to make sure it wasn't terribly drippy.  If I had some lemon juice, I would've squirt some in too.

And now for the most important part: the crumb topping.  This is what makes it, folks. I used The Joy of Cooking's recipe for a basic streusal topping (1/3 C sugar,  2 tbsp flour, 2 tbsp butter) and added 1/2 C quick cooking oats.  Many of the crumble toppings I found online use brown sugar and more flour and butter...which probably makes more sense in retrospect.  But I guess it all depends on how much crumb topping you want in proportion to your berries.  I was using a little bread pan so this was perfect.

Then you just bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (or until it's all nice and bubbly) and you're done! Mine did come out a little soupy, which I didn't mind because I had planned on eating it with vanilla ice cream. 

The wonderful thing about summer berries is that they're great as they are; no need to dip in powdered sugar or chocolate.  But their incredible ripe flavor really comes through in recipes like this, which offers you the satisfaction of baking without all the fuss.

Consider the Lobster Roll

Lobsters occupy an interesting chapter in food history.  In colonial America they were considered trash fish; and servants negotiated agreements so they wouldn't be forced to eat lobster more than twice a week (I imagine it went something like, "We can handle the grueling hours and lack of compensation; just please don't make us eat those lobsters!")

 When you think about it, this picture is actually pretty disturbing.

Then people decided, hey, these don't taste so bad after all (or that lobsters made for a great excuse to lap up melted butter); so naturally lobsters were overfished, which led to lower supplies and higher prices, i.e. the makings of the ultimate status symbol.

Now, they're coming full circle.  NY Magazine tell us that these curious crustaceans are once again in abundance and relatively inexpensive thanks to a variety of factors, including the overfishing of cod (the largest group of natural predators of young lobsters), Maine's surprisingly successful sustainability measures, and the financial meltdown of Icelandic banks (which, I know, sounds random; but for the sake of brevity, I will not go into. Check out page 2 of the article for full details).

So basically, you don't have to be an indentured servant or a Wall Street financier to eat lobsters anymore, at least in NYC.  The city is experiencing a sort of lobster revival.  Places like The Red Hook Lobster Pound drive up to Maine several times a week to get fresh lobsters, offering them at various vendors throughout the city.  Lobster rolls are popping up all over for $14-$15.  And undoubtedly the best story that's come out of this phenomenon (or perhaps, the trigger that set it off), is Dr. Claw.

That's right.  In case you haven't read about him yet, Dr. Claw is not the latest Spiderman villain but a Massachusetts native who makes lobster rolls out of his Greenpoint apartment, taking orders by text message and  (to the bewilderment of his elderly neighbors) hand delivering them in brown paper bags. (The get-up is his way of "preserving his identity." I just want to know where he found that necklace.)

So what is a lobster roll anyway? NY Magazine describes Dr. Claw's process as follows:  "Toasting a buttered, top-sliced bun, carefully selecting 'the perfect combination' of claw, knuckle, and tail meat dressed in a secret preparation, and brushing the whole thing with garlicky butter."

Oh, now I get it. I've never had a lobster roll, but it's definitely on my to-try list this summer.  Maybe I'll even make make a special trip to Greenpoint!

Art meets Cooking

Just came across this really cool site: They Draw and Cook, Recipe Renderings by Artists, Illustrators, and Designers.  Seeing how amazing and creative these are, it's surprising you don't see this type of stuff more often in the form of cookbooks.  I can see it making a good gift.  Anyway, here are a few cool ones, but definitely check out the site and click through more!

The perfect summer restaurant

Don't you love coming across unique, tucked away spots in the city when you don't deliberately set out to do it?  My parents came into the city for a Saturday visit, and they found the perfect little summer restaurant: Palma. 

Palma sits on Cornelia St. in the West Village, but the airy dining room transports you to Tuscany: Stucco walls, exposed wooden beams, glasses jars of fresh flowers and fruit, it even has the requisite homage to the Blessed Mother in the upper left corner of the front wall.  The restaurant opens to a beautiful outdoor garden in the back, complete with potted plants, white rickety patio furniture, and ivy covered walls: A perfect, quiet spot for an afternoon lunch.

And speaking of food, it was pretty euphoric.  The weekend menu courteously offers brunch and a regular lunch menu--a nice selection of appetizers, handmade pastas, and seafood dishes.  Here's what we had (click for the full menu):

Appetizers

• Carciofi Croccanti: The fried artichokes were fresh, crispy, and dusted with parmigiano cheese and parsley. 
• Mozzarella di Bufala: It could've been from Italy.  The mozzarella melted in your mouth, perfectly paired with fresh, ripe tomatoes.  (Palma gets their produce locally.) 

Entrées (Sadly I forgot to take pictures, I was probably too excited when they set the plates down.)

• Linguine Vongole: Linguini with fresh clams, olive oil and white wine.  Light and flavorful, perfect with a glass of white. (Mom)
• Malfatti: Homemade dumplings with spinach and buffalo ricotta in a butter and sage sauce.  Really delectable, the dumplings were small and soft, like little pillows. (Dad)
• Agnolotti di Spinaci: Homemade pasta filled with spinach and buffalo ricotta in tomato sauce, sprinkled with parmigiano and basil.  These had that homemade feel.  Very flavorful and not too cheesy, in a nicely balanced tomato sauce. (Gus)
• Fettuccine Ai Funghi: Homemade fettuccine pasta with mixed mushrooms and truffles.  Everyone agreed this was probably the best dish.  The earthy, sensuous pairing is always hard one to beat when done well.  (Guess who)

Given our instantaneous love of this place, I was surprised to see it didn't garner a Critic's Park on NY Magazine, usually my trusted, go-to source.   The review is short and sweet but gives you the feeling maybe the writer didn't actually visit the place.  Many of the reader reviews complain of the staff/service, which is interesting because our waiter looked and sounded like Clive Owen and was perfectly willing to take our picture.  Look how happy we are.

Historical tidbit: Bordering the garden is a carriage house--apparently, the only one left standing in New York City.  The chef filled us in on its history: After making a home out of it, the restaurant owners realized its obscurity was perfectly suited to host exclusive private parties for the fashion industry.  Now, they offer cooking classes, tours, and private dining parties in the two-story building.  He also mentioned an underground tunnel that runs beneath the carriage house to 6th Ave!!