Concord Grape Apple Pie

If I told you that this pie tastes exactly like the first cube of grape-flavored bubblegum you unfolded from waxy paper and stuffed in your grade school-sized mouth, barely able to contain its spill of citric acid and high fructose corn syrup "juices," would that go against every fresh, seasonal, farm-to-table objective that this blog (and this pie) strives to attain? Probably. But it sort of does. And when baked with an open-design top crust, it's bubblicious, too.

Coconut & Duck: Secrets to Chili Success

I don't have a recipe to share from this year's winner of the Brooklyn Underground Chili Extravaganza (BRUCE). But I have two words that could change your future chili-making extravaganzas for life: coconut milk and duck. These unlikely ingredients were paired by local (and contestant of past local chili cook-offs) Greg Erskine in a top-secret chili recipe that took the trophy at the event's fourth annual enactment at Barcade. I'll leave you (and me) to imagine the possibilities from there.

Lambsagna

Oops... I did it again. I forgot to take photos of this main course du jour, once it was all layered, baked and poised at its prettiest. It's a shame, this "lamb"sagna was really a treat. I spent a long time poring over what spices and add-ins to put in the sauce (eventually settling on a Moroccan theme, with fresh mint and raisins), what type of cheese to top it with, and if/how to make fresh pasta sheets for it. Whenever there are friends coming -- and this was the circumstance -- I try to go a few extra miles. Yet once my guests arrived, raring to nosh, the photo-taking session was all but thrown to the wayside. Again.

Brown Butter Sage Apple Pie (and Enid’s Apple Pie Bake-Off recap)

Things I like about fall: apples... sage... toasty, nutty flavors like browned butter... Oh wait, I guess I'm only referring to food I like in the fall. I have a one-track mind much of the time. Good thing there are occasions for such obsessiveness, one annual Brooklyn tradition being the apple pie contest at Enid's.

From pizza “d’oh!” to dough

Fairly good dough, that is. And good for you, too, since it's whole wheat. I have had many d'oh's when it came to pizza-making in the past. I've been a regular Homer Simpson at times. But I've gotten the hang of it, and when I put up this photo of a recent weekend lunch on my Flickr page, I got such a response from friends wanting to know more about it, especially the dough. So I thought it only right to comply.

Chai Ice Cream

There are many things that have confused me about chai over the years. How did the simple word for tea in India (and much of the world) come to denote this Christmasy spice-infused drink? Isn't it then redundant to say "chai tea"? Does it always need to be sweet (I never sweeten my teas)? What are the spices in it and is there a rigid formula of them? Should the "C" be capitalized? Why did the New York coffee shop I worked at between college semesters always purchase it pre-brewed in cartons (couldn't we be trusted to brew it like the rest of the loose-leaf blends?)? Why is it so damn special?

“If I Had A Pepper” Pork Chili

As with my other attempts at Chili Takedown championship, this was a very time-consuming process. In keeping with tradition, it also did not succeed in receiving first-place honors. However, this was no ordinary chili cook-off; I was competing against four other veteran Takedown contestants, hand-selected by our ringleader, Matt Timms. The bar was high, and the secret ingredient, à la Iron Chef-speak, was heat. At least, that's how I would describe my approach to this chili. You see, our special venue for the battle was the Brooklyn Botanical Garden's Chile Pepper Fiesta -- an annual, all-day celebration of the fiery capsicum featuring tasty demos, workshops, and a live performance by none other than Pete Seeger (now get the recipe name?).

Here’s Lookin’ at You Cook, Emily Farris

Look, I tried to make this interview not come off so cheesy. I tried to avoid the corny jokes and snafu of food puns that riddled my last in-depth profile. But seeing as cheese and corn are both main ingredients of Emily's signature "Seduction" Casserole, Mac and Corn 2.0, the conversation naturally veered off to the deliciously lighthearted. And that's not such a bad way of describing her just-published cookbook, Casserole Crazy: Hot Stuff for Your Oven!.

Announcing the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket Shopping Club & Tour Series

This fall, we're starting something new. An idea fledged by myself and Liz Carollo, Greenmarket Publicity Coordinator for the Council for the Environment of New York City (CENYC), the Shopping Club & Tour Series begins this Saturday, October 4th at Brooklyn's busy Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket. To kick it off, I'll be making an early-fall veggie risotto at the information stand at 12:00 noon beforehand, so I hope you can come for some freshly-made grub, and stick around for the first many weekly meet 'n greets.