eat my words
There are few things in life I love more than a donut, so when I got this invite to a pal’s going away soiree, I totally lost it. Donut font?!?! Made by her friend with REAL Dunkin’ Donuts?? Mind blown. I think it’s even more awesome that she spelled au revoir exactly how it sounds, Pee-Wee style. Though I am curious to know how she woulda pulled off an “e”. Most delicious font ever? I think so.
Bag it up!
We always love gifts, giving them, receiving them, and if its something to eat, even better! When I went down to Richmond and Asheville I wanted to take something I could give to the people who were nice enough to host us. So I baked up some of Souther’s mom’s famous granola and made these tiny feed bags to put it in. The bags are easy to make and you can fill them with homemade cookies, candy, popcorn, or whatever else you can think of.
hola ceviche!
Remember when I stuffed my face at Good Beer and vowed to spend the rest of the summer trying to recreate Rose Water’s ceviche? Well, thankfully I’ve been doing things besides that, but I have managed to get in a couple rounds of trial and error (though this isn’t quite accurate since you can’t really go wrong with ceviche in my book). And while this version isn’t the same (I mean, c’mon, those were some pretty high standards!), it is delish and will serve you well at all the end of summer bbqs and potlucks that are filling your weekends. And if you just want to make it for yourself and scarf it down with a big bowl of salty tortilla chips and a six-pack of Corona, well, it will taste just as good. Maybe even better. So read on for a muy delicioso take on a super summer staple.
Continue reading hola ceviche!…
Richmond and a little bit of Asheville
As mentioned in my previous entry, I went on a little trip down to Richmond, VA, and Asheville, NC. And what’s a vacation without eating like you’re on a vacation? So EAT I DID. I was told by several people that eating is what you do in the South and I couldn’t argue with that. So here are my (sometimes poorly) documented food adventures.
At The Black Sheep, the menu warns that their sandwiches “aren’t subs, they’re battleships” and boy, were they right. These battleships are about 2 1/2 feet long. Joel and I shared one and still had leftovers! (Which I happily munched away on for 3 days.) We chose the CSS Shenadoah with grilled tuna, shaved fennel, basil, and lemon aioli on a french baguette. Dear lord, this battleship won its battle with me as I still dream of it, numnumnum. (By the way, that menu was designed by Joel and that logo was drawn by Garrett Morin. Awes.)
Continue reading Richmond and a little bit of Asheville…
Away we go
Who hasn’t romanticized train rides; wandering through box cars, sleeping in bunks on the sleeper cars, being served your silver domed covered dish in the dining car, finding out there’s a jewel thief on the same train as you. Okay, maybe not the last part but everything else, yes! Alas, those days are long gone, but that didn’t stop me from making my own specialty packed lunch for a recent train ride down to Richmond, VA. With a little preparation you’ve got yourself an excellent meal and its way better than eating a microwaved hot dog or burger.
All you need is a small box to fit your goods, a couple of ball jars to hold your drinks (no spillage!), and a large enough piece of fabric to wrap your box. Here’s a really great diagram of different ways of using Furoshiki, from here.
bon appetit!
I spent Friday afternoon watching Julie and Julia and oh man, did I love it. If you haven’t seen it yet, head to the theater now, especially if you have any sort of love for food (and I mean, who doesn’t? You like to eat, right?). Meryl Streep is absolutely captivating as the effervescent Julia and the plotline based on Child’s memoir, My Life in France, is so compelling, you won’t even mind the less intriguing modern-day story inspired by slightly annoying, blogger/pity partier-turned-writer Julie Powell. The scenes set in Paris simply sparkle and watching Julia come into her own as a chef who would forever change the culinary face of America is inspiring (and hilarious and heartwarming and delicious-looking). Jane Lynch, whose awesomeness knows no bounds, makes an appearance as Julia’s sister and Stanley Tucci, who plays Child’s husband, Paul, is equally wonderful. I kinda wanna see it again. Like, tomorrow. I also want to tackle a recipe or two from Child’s defining tome, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Though anything close to steaming a lobster, deboning a duck, or attempting to make beef bourguignon is somewhat terrifying. An omelet though, an omelet I could probably handle.
lean, green salsa-makin’ machine
When Kelly came over for brunch a couple weeks ago, she left us with a little jar of tomatillo salsa that we polished off faster than you can say holy jalapeno. Since chips + salsa are our go-to summer snack (I mean really, does anything go better with a frozen mojito??), Caroline took it upon herself to replenish our supply. And a mighty tasty reinforcement it turned out to be. I don’t know about the rest of the world, but in New York tomatillos are a hot ticket at the Farmer’s market right now so see if you can pick some up locally then get to blending. You won’t be sorry! Read on for the recipe.
Continue reading lean, green salsa-makin’ machine…
good beer? good times!
Last week Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan hosted Good Beer, and you can better believe we were there to sample our faces off. The celebration of all things tasty employed the buddy system in the best possible way: each mouth-watering restaurant served small “suds-inspired” bites and paired up with a local brewery which poured a specially selected beer to go with. Match made in heaven? You betcha.
When we rolled up to BAM (delicious AND convenient!) we were met by the Wicked Delicate Truck Farm: a mobile garden made from a combo of green roof technology, heirloom seeds, and organic compost. It’s a case study for the new documentary being filmed by the same dudes behind King Corn, so I’m sure it’ll have a lot to say about food and the way we grow it and eat it. Speaking of the way we eat it…on to the pairings!
Schnitzel & Things served up wiener schnitzel (my only prior knowledge of which was embarrassingly based on a terrible fast food chain that takes its namesake from a dish it doesn’t even serve?!) with cucumber and potato salad paired with Brooklyn Homebrew Supply‘s Proprietary Wheat Ale (which was light and lemony and tasted just like summer…photographic proof further down).
Pizzeria Co. served up some seriously scrumptious pies and we were lucky enough to snag slices of their Flambé, a melty mess of béchamel, parmesan, buffalo mozzarella, caramelized onions, and lardons (ridiculously tasty pork belly). We were supposed to be drinking Southhampton‘s IPA with it, but we were both a little tossed by this point and their Doublewitte was calling my name. Since Caroline has an ongoing love affair with all things bacon-related, this shot to her top 3 while her mouth was still full.
The beer-poached shrimp from No. 7 was gone by the time we got there but that didn’t stop us from sampling the Sly Fox Saison Vos that went with it. (When I’m out, I tend to order beers by the design of their label or the awesomeness of their name so anything from Sly Fox gets my approval). Ici‘s sage-stuffed corn bread was a decent noshing substitute.
I’m not even sure what the nibbles Salvatore Brooklyn was serving up were supposed to be paired with but I couldn’t be bothered to find out once that little mouthful of heaven hit my lips. Who knew ricotta, olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt on bread could bring a grown woman to tears?
There was a constant line at the Palo Santo stop, so we KNEW it must be good. And we were not disappointed. Spicy-as-shit curried duck served with warm, flaky roti that had been hand rolled while we watched! It was paired with Brooklyn Brewery‘s Special Reserve which was absolutely neccessary for the post-scarf cool down.
Basis Farm to Chef put together the cutest little mini meatball subs we’d ever seen (and offered a breakdown of every ingredient’s source) which paired superbly the Smuttynose IPA (another fun-to-order brew!).
Red Hook’s Good Fork offered the hands-down winner of the evening: pork dumplings with just the right amount of crisp and a splash of dippin’ sauce (ok, ok, we MAY have gone back for seconds. Twice.). And the Blue Point Toasted Lager was the perfect way to wash it down.
I will spend the rest of my summer trying to replicate the geuze-fluke ceviche Park Slope’s Rose Water dished out. I’m pretty sure I sampled the Ommegang Rouge it was paired with but my memory of it’s been eclipsed by that ceviche of the gods (or the myriad other beers I sampled before it…who’s to say?).
I never met an ice cream I didn’t like and the ones being scooped by The Bent Spoon were no exception. There was never a better argument for the redemption of New Jersey than their Golden Honey Monkey, made with beer and honey from the Garden state itself. Combined with the rich chocolate and cherries of Dark Philosophy, I could do nothing but wish that this tiny bowl was bottomless (and that Princeton was within walking distance of my apartment).
Jaw-dropping cheddar cheese, fava bean bruschetta, and totally addictive ginger snaps were also part of an evening I desperately wish I could relive. Good Beer? Good night!
hey, laaaaadies!
So, last weekend we had a couple gals over for Sunday brunch. There’s nothing like a summer morning of iced coffee, good company, and a tummy stuffed with comfort food. We have almost as much fun planning the thing as we do eating the fruits of our labor (er, mostly the fruits of Caroline’s labor…though I will take credit for cold-pressing our delicious Gorilla grounds). Wanna host a brunch of your own? Feel free to bite our tried-and-true menu, your friends will thank you (in between mouthfuls)! (Click through for the recipes.)
Menu
Buttermilk biscuits with berry jam from the farmer’s market
Onion, cheddar, and potato scramble
Belgian waffles with blueberry maple sauce
Seasonal fruit salad with créme fraiche whipped cream with mint
Cold-pressed coffee (with diamond-shaped ice cubes!)
Orange juice and mango juice
We like to send the ladies home with a little treat, you know, something to remember us by when the last bite of waffle is gone. Our friend Souther‘s mom has a killer granola recipe (sorry, that one’s a secret!), so we whipped up a batch, and gave a bag to everyone on their way out the door. I hope they ate it with a big scoop of Greek yogurt, drizzled with honey cause that’s my favorite, but I’ve also been known to eat it straight outta the container by the handful.
Continue reading hey, laaaaadies!…