Superbowl cooking with Nick

We had the pleasure of having Nick (Gus's brother) cook for us on Superbowl Sunday.  The menu? No wings were to be found at Trader Joe's, so drumsticks and nachos it was.  Nick made two different sauces for the chicken: traditional hot wing sauce and a peanut soy sauce. Both were ah-maze-ing.  The chicken was baked, making it juicy and tender and slightly crispy on the outside. The hot wing sauce had a lip-smacking bite; and adding slurry gave it the perfect consistency. The peanut soy sauce was incredibly savory and by far my favorite.  I literally licked the entire bowl.  And the nachos were nachos, the perfect accompaniment.  See below for the recipes and more pictures.

Creamy Artichoke Dip

Happy Superbowl Sunday! Despite my limited interest and comprehension in the sport, I've always appreciated the game-watching event for the shared social experience - and for the excuse it offers to make slightly naughty finger foods and appetizers.

And so I bring you a favorite standby - a classic recipe for creamy artichoke dip. There are innumerable recipes for artichoke dip; some getting unnecessarily complicated, involving sautéed ingredients or eggs or chicken stock.  This recipe, slightly adapted from Bon Appétit, keeps it simple and tasty. I substituted sour cream with Greek yogurt and cream cheese with the reduced guilt alternative Neufchatel.  You can make more substitutions by using low-calorie mayonnaise or part-skim mozzarella; but let's be honest, this recipe is meant to be a little glutinous.

Roasted Red Pepper Pita Pizzas

Don't you just love when you come across a recipe that's quick and easy and actually turns out to be quite delicious the first time you give it a go? I came across this recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Pita Pizzas (how's that for alliteration?) in the latest issue of Vegetarian Times, and I've already made it twice it's that good.

The recipe requires four ingredients and takes about 15 minutes to make from start to finish.  The only equipment you'll need is a food processor (I did this in my Magic Bullet), a spatula, and an oven.  It's a recipe any college student could handle and any pizza enthusiast would commend.

5 Recipes From NYC's Best Chefs

Sometimes, when I'm feeling uninspired or bored with my go-to recipes, I think to myself "What would I order if I were at a restaurant right now?" It seems like a simple concept yet I don't do it often enough. And while I usually don't come close to replicating that desired meal when I try, this method serves as a nice starting point for searching amidst the glut of recipes out there.

Refinery29, what is slowly becoming one of my favorite newsletters, reminded me of this with their daily slideshow on Monday. As they preface, these recipes are "relatively" easy to replicate. I'd like to give the Spicy Chicken Breast With Lemongrass a try. Click here for some (hopefully inspiring) recipes from NYC's top chefs.

Image via Indochine: Stories, Shaken and Stirred, Rizzoli 2009.

"Italian Cornbread"

On my last visit to Eataly I was intrigued by what looked like a rustic, circular loaf of Italian bread with a yellowish hue, dusted in cornmeal.  The woman working the bread counter (who was Italian) admitted she had never tried it, but that it was like cornbread only very light.

I ended up being treated to the said loaf (thank you Doreen!) and was so incredibly thankful to have tried it, because this bread is simply amazing.  Unlike traditional cornbread, which can often be dense and dry or overly rich, this bread struck the perfect balance between texture and flavor. The outer rind, a classic Italian crust, gives way to a fluffy, chewy middle with a subtle corn flavor and a little grit. The loaf stayed fresh for about a week and I ate a slice every morning with a pad of butter.  When the bread started to dry out a little, I found that popping it in the microwave instantly revived its soft, fresh texture.

Breakfast smoothie

January flew by in a whirlwind of post-holiday sickness, long days at work, and snow, lots of snow.  But I'm now ready to emerge from my brief period of blogger hibernation with pent-up recipes to share and some New Year's resolutions to follow through on. One of my resolutions? To add more variety to my diet. After eating bowls upon bowls of oatmeal for breakfast, I decided to change up my morning routine today with a fruit smoothie.  Smoothies are really fantastic, like eating a dessert you can actually feel good about. And the combinations are endless.  Here's one I threw together in a matter of minutes in my Magic Bullet.

Christmas Cookies!

Nothing gets me in the mood for the holidays more than listening to some god-awful Christmas music and baking. This year, I wanted to make lots of cookies to hand out to people I rarely have the opportunity to show my appreciation for: the doormen who greet me everyday (or at least some days) in my work building, the guys who clean all three steep stories in our apartment building, our lovely neighbor who never complains about our music or the many obstructions we put in our shared hallway.  I'd like to think that a little homemade pouch of assorted cookies can go a long way, as far as making people feel special or loved.

So I (perhaps unknowingly) embarked on a baking expedition of Herculean effort yesterday, churning out three different kinds of cookies: oatmeal cookies with cranberry and chocolate, chocolate crinkles, and of course, the classic chocolate chip. (I intended to maintain a semblance of variety, but it seems as though chocolate made its way into all three recipes.) And speaking of choosing, I got the first two recipes from a Serious Eats annual cookie swap (because I love the idea); and the last one from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion - a comprehensive cookie cookbook with helpful tips, pointers, variations, and lovely hand renderings of instructions.

Food-inspired holiday windows at Barneys

Some Food Network personalities and top chefs made their way into Barneys holiday windows this year. I wonder how Mario Batali felt about his depiction.

Location: 660 Madison Avenue (nr 61st)

Photos from Refinery29 and VandM.com's DesigninTell

Cranberry Shortbread Bars

I've had a bag of fresh cranberries sitting in my fridge since before Thanksgiving, causing me great anxiety (luckily, they have a long shelf life); so I whipped up some cranberry shortbread bars for a Christmas party I was attending last night.

This recipe comes from, you guessed it, The Joy of Baking. The base of the bar - and the topping - is a basic shortbread recipe, with the slight variation of adding cornstarch and using brown sugar in place of white. (I also substituted whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour - more out of necessity than a deliberate choice - which produced a more crumbly, rustic-looking crust.)

Toffee Bars

 

I think I fell in love with bars & squares when I made my first magic bars back in high school (or was it middle school?) And while I like to entertain the thought that I've grown more sophisticated in my baking abilities since then, I often fall back on these recipes whenever I'm in a time crunch because they're easy, reliable, and always delicious.

This category of baking seems especially suited for holiday desserts.  Not quite a cookie and not quite a candy bar - or brownie, or pie, depending on what kind we're talking about - these heavenly layered treats have great range and versatility. Many classic desserts can be augmented to the compact size of a bar or square, from cheesecake to pecan pie to lemon tart, which not only puts a new spin on old favorites, it also makes the process of baking, transporting, and storage much easier.  And simplicity is something anyone can appreciate during these busy, blustery days.

Rubirosa: New pizza joint in Nolita

Image from NYMag

I just signed up for a NYC newsletter by Refinery29 - a fashion/beauty/shopping website.  But today's edition focused on, what do you know, a newly opened Italian eatery in Nolita - right next to Lombardi's!

The place is called Rubirosa. Description from Refinery 29 follows: 

Brought to you by father-and-son team Angelo (an alum of Esca and Osteria del Circo) and Giuseppe (of much-loved Staten Island pizza joint Pat & Joe's) Pappalardo, along with none other than infamous Beatrice Inn doorman Angelo Bianchi, and former Olana chef Al Di Meglio, Rubirosa attracts an exhalation of the club-hopping, hipster crowd from just-round-the-corner Kenmare, plus a steady stream of Beatrice expats who long for the glory days.

Pizza Fridays #1: Lombardi's, where it all began

To kick off the Pizza Fridays series, I figured it would only be appropriate to go right to the beginning, where it all began.  To the first pizzeria, not only in New York City - or even the state- but the entire country: Lombardi's.

The story goes, in the late 1800s, an Italian immigrant named Gennaro Lombardi began selling tomato pies to the work lunch crowd out of his grocery store located at 53 1/2 Spring St.  In 1905 he obtained a mercantile license from the state of New York, officially branding Lombardi's as the first licensed pizzeria in America.

Image from kitchenproject.com

Mom's Apple PIe

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This year was exciting for me because I helped my mom bake the pies.  Every Thanksgiving, she makes two apple and two pumpkin pies - my mom's apple pie being one of my all-time favorite desserts.

Making pies from scratch has always intimidated me really because of the crust.  It seems like it would be difficult to nail the right texture, that buttery flakiness that's firm enough to hold together, while making it look aesthetically pleasing. Yet baking with my mom taught me that with a little patience and practice, it's actually quite doable and more than worth the effort.

Green Bean Casserole and Butternut Squash

Good lord, is it really almost Thanksgiving? I don't know what it is about this time of year, but October and November always end in a blur. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing for me, because Thanksgiving has gradually become my favorite holiday. What's not to love? It's all about feasting and togetherness and giving thanks (or, more aptly, that's only what it's about).

Inspired by the coming feast, I attempted a green bean casserole - a casserole being a category of food I've not only never cooked, but never even eaten.  At least not that I remember.  It was never one of those foods that seemed particularly alluring; in fact, a brief conversation initiated by a fellow shopper at the Giant supermarket in Brodheadsville this morning reminded me why:

"Excuse me, do you ladies happen to know where the fried onions are?"  He needed them for the green bean casserole. 

When my mom said she wasn't sure, that we actually don't make it for Thanksgiving, he guffawed in disbelief,

Introducing a new series: Pizza Fridays

About a year ago Gus and I started a little tradition called "Pizza Fridays." The concept is simple, if not self-explanatory: Basically, every Friday night we set out to try a different pizza in NYC.  We keep track of where we went, what slices we sampled, the overall experience, and a mental rating scale of our favorites, which we continually need to reevaluate after each new visit.

A few forces prompted this. First and foremost, Gus is a pizza fanatic (and I a zealous convert).  Secondly, New York Magazine had excellent pizza coverage in their 2009 Cheap Eats issue, which served as inspiration and a fantastic guide.  But perhaps the strongest factor was our first visit to one pizza place in particular that made us realize that pizza in New York City could literally rival what you would find in Italy.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I initially set out to do a basic "best of" list on my blog to recount our experiences, but I've now realized that a simplistic 1-10 rating scale wouldn't really be the most suitable format. For more than anything, our quest has taught me that, despite its few ingredients, pizza is actually quite multifaceted; and one must take into consideration other factors - the environment and energy of the establishment, and one's own tastes and preferences - to properly evaluate the overall experience. 

Instead I will devote an individual post to each pizza place we try, describing the ingredients and tastes to the best of my ability, and making comparisons where appropriate.  Because in addition to having an excuse to record our tradition, I'd like this to serve as a way for others to find their favorite NYC pizza.

Please stay tuned for the first post. And in the meantime, some items that might be of interest:

The NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene lists 1,186 restaurants that contain the word "pizza" in their name. MenuPages lists 385 restaurants - 165 of which are in Brooklyn.

Slice, an affiliate of Serious Eats, is comprehensive pizza blog that offers "pizza maps," recipes, and reviews of notable pizzerias in NYC and all over the country.

New York Magazine's pizza coverage includes, among others:

• An entertaining timeline covering 104 years of pizza in NYC 
• A great slideshow on the evolution of New York pizza styles, 1905 to 2009
• A taxonomy of pizza ovens  
• The 100-Pizza-Eaters Poll on NYC's best slice (though I like it more for the literal pie chart than the results, which actually include Pizza Hut and Little Caesars)

* “Angelo’s. I like my crust crispy.” “Joe and Pat’s on Staten Island. I’ve been going there since I was little.” “Papa John’s. It’s inexpensive!” “Liberty Pizza.” “Nick’s. The crust-cheese-sauce ratio is ideal.” “Two Boots.” “Little Caesars.” “Pizza Hut.” “Little Italy Pizza—43rd and Madison.” “Fornino in Brooklyn.” “Rosa’s.” “John’s in Astoria.”

Thank you Jean!

Before even reading my post about Tick Tock, Gus's mom sent these home with him. Coffee just tastes better.

The Diner: New Jersey's Saving Grace

Ok, ok, the title of this post is a little harsh. Dating a New Jerseyan (ite?) has made me warm up to the nation's so-called "armpit"; I'll give it credit where credit is due: Good tomatoes, gleaming malls, some great restaurants, Montclair.  But perhaps New Jersey's greatest treasure is the diner.

I grew up in a place where "diner" meant grimy plastic booths, aging waitresses, and greasy eggs.  Where the patrons were either truck drivers or senior citizens.  Where you ate if you didn't mind a film of stale cigarette smoke coating your utensils and coffee cup.  It would never cross my mind to eat anything other than breakfast at a diner, and even then, a fast food joint might seem more attractive an option.

So when I was first introduced to a New Jersey diner, my jaw nearly dropped to the floor; I felt like a little kid who just discovered the fallacy behind the shopping mall Santa. The diner has more manifestations than the one I had always known.

Gus took me to Six Brothers Diner a couple years ago, and I can still remember the awe I felt as I stepped inside it's enormous, shiny interior.  In fact, everything in it was enormous and shiny.  An endless menu; two-person portions meant for one; glossy booths; gleaming countertops.  Everything felt new and alive.  Customers of all ages crowded around tables, gregariously devouring their meals.  The service was friendly and efficient. My eyes nearly bugged out of my head when I learned there was a bar.  But what truly struck me was the quality of the food.  It was actually really, really good.  My chicken souvlaki wrap was perfectly prepared: the grilled chicken was hot and tender, the sauce well-seasoned.

How I had been kept in the dark all of these years, I'm not so sure.  Sure, I had seen a few episodes of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, but I figured those places were few and far between, and only in random locations in the Midwest or California.  Little did I know Guy Fieri visited one just an hour from my house in the Poconos.

Yup, it's motto is "Eat Heavy"

 Yes, Guy visited Tick Tock Diner, located off Route 3 in Clifton, as part of his New Jersey Diner Tour (Warning: the site has obnoxious music).  You can watch the clip on Tick Tock's site, bottom right-hand corner, and what you see may surprise you. The executive chef is British, and in addition to grilled cheese and matzoh ball soup, he serves dishes you'd expect to find in classy restaurants.  Perhaps the secret to Tick Tock's success is that it's seasoned but open to change, so long as it suits customer tastes: According to its site, Tick Tock first opened in 1948, but has since expanded its menu with offerings "accented with Italian, Greek and Tex-Mex influences." (It also opened a location in midtown Manhattan in 1997.)

Gus and I made a late night trip to Tick Tock a couple weekends ago, and I was completely taken by this place.  At 10PM it was humming with high school students, solo diners, young couples, old couples.  The bartender, a man in his late 50s decked out in a vest and lightly tinted sunglasses, was completely in his element, churning out fancy cocktails like he was dealing tables in Vegas. It felt like I stepped off the quiet suburban streets onto another planet. 

This photo was taken by Gus on a different visit; I did not have a chance to try those cheese fries! But the regular ones were great.

Despite the array of choice, we stuck to an American classic: a tuna melt (to share, thank god, because I would have eaten the entire thing). And it was comfort food at its best. The tuna melt is presented sort of like an Americanized tartine, though it's probably blasphemous to make such a comparison: It's served open-faced on two pieces of perfectly toasted rye bread, a mound of tender, moist tuna salad and a slice of sweet tomato enveloped by melted muenster cheese on each slice.  Naturally, we washed down our meal with a chocolate shake, one straw, 1950s style.  My stomach may have disagreed with me the next morning, but it was well worth it.

Perhaps part of my love for the New Jersey diner stems from a pseudo nostalgia: I would have loved a diner like this growing up, a place to meet up with friends and order practically anything at any hour.  I realize my enthusiasm and awe may strike some as a bit odd - especially coming from someone who now lives in the hub of the foodworld.  But the diner has a special place in my heart.  And if you're ever visiting or passing through New Jersey, you should treat yourself.  Give New Jersey a chance to redeem itself. And if you're already there; well, I'm just preaching to the choir.

Martha Stewart unveils cookie app for iPad

Martha has answered the dreams of technologically savvy baking enthusiasts today with her new app for the iPad, "Martha Stewart Makes Cookies."

Created in conjunction with Callaway Digital Arts, the app was made specifically for the iPad and is available for $7.99 from the App Store on iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore. 

From the short demo on MarthaStewart.com the app looks gorgeous and smartly designed: Its innovative "search cookie wheel," for instance, allows you to "mix and match types and flavors until you find just the right cookie."  The app contains other nifty time-saving tools and tips, including how-to videos featuring Martha.  And needless to say there are plenty of tempting photographs of cookies.  See below for full feature set.

I suppose my only gripe is that I can't test it out because I don't have an iPad or iPhone, but I completely understand why this would be an iPad specific app: It wouldn't be proper to view these cookies on anything less than a 9.7-inch display.

Features of the app include:

• A "cookie runway" that allows users to search through all of the app's 50+ recipes
• An innovative roulette-wheel-style recipe finder that lets users search by type and flavor 
• Shopping lists that can be emailed 
• Ability to share favorite cookies via email, Facebook, or Twitter
• Sumptuous photographs of all kinds of cookies
• Timers, tips and techniques 
• 11 easy-to-follow "how-to" videos
• A glossary of tools for mixing, baking and decorating
• Links directly to macys.com, where users can purchase necessary equipment and more

Read full press release here.

H-A-Double L-O...

My oh my where did the time go? It seems like Fall has only just begun and now Halloween is just a couple days away!

Though I love to bake, I've never been much of a Halloween baker.  This type of holiday baking is a category all its own, a special craft with an emphasis on creativity, patience, and detail.  I'm usually too busy throwing together a last-minute costume to even begin to think about breaking out my oven mitts...unless it's part of my costume.

But like a good costume, I very much enjoy seeing what fanciful and festive treats people invent. Below is a round-up of some adorable, some amusing, some just plain strange, Halloween recipes I've come across.

Zombie Marshmallows from the decorated cookie

Ogre Eyes Hot Cocoa from TasteofHome

Cheese Ball Goblin by (who else?) Paula Dean

Wicked Witch Cupcakes from Martha Stewart

Spiderweb Cookies from Martha Stewart

Bizarre Brain Pate from Britta's Halloween Recipes

Spiderweb Brie En Croute, also from Britta

Monster Mouths from BHG

Spooky Witches Fingers from All Recipes

Cupcake Graveyard from All Recipes

Mummy Meatloaf from Family Corner

Mummy Rolls from Unfurled

A very impressive Melting Head Cake from Do It Myself

 Creme Brulee P-Eye from Hungry Halloween

Frankenstein on Spinach Artichoke Dip, also from Hungry Halloween

And last but certainly not least...the Thorax Cake

Vinitaly Day at Eataly

Image from ChefsBlade.com

 I just walked over to Eataly on my lunch break to grab some bread and I found myself in the middle of a full-blown wine tasting event, "Vinitaly Day."

Eataly was bustling, as always, but this time the crowd was noticeably suave and stylish, congregating around the long tables with bottles upon bottles and Italian breads and crackers.  Apparently the tasting featured 200 wines from 50 Italian wine producers. Though the set-up facilitated easy movement for the most part, a couple tables were blocking the store goods, and I actually saw a patron asking one of the wine servers about the type of cheese she was blocking.

I was there for the trade tasting, which takes place today from 2PM – 6PM. The consumer tasting follows from 6PM – 9PM.  Tickets are $55 - a good price considering the selection.  And because 100% of the proceeds goes to The American Cancer Society.

After poking around on the internet I learned the event is part of a series sponsored by Vinitaly, the Ambassador organization of Italian wine and the largest wine fair in the world - host to 4,500 producers and 150,000+ visitors every April in Verona.

The Eataly event is part of Vinitaly Tour, a series of events in major cities throughout the world "to facilitate the collaboration and communication between Italian wine producers, key players of the wine sector and retail consumers," according to the website.

The best part about this? I came within a few feet of one of the proprietors, Lidia Bastianich; in fact I'm pretty sure I was captured in the background of a photo with her.  It's only a matter of time before I see Mario.