photo courtesy of Amelia at Marination In continuation of my partially slanted, incomplete task of describing the NYC Food Film Festival a couple of weeks ago on this blog, last weekend I did my homework and got the scoop on the first-ever fest for The Reeler.
It’s such an easy feat sometimes to find a combination that’s just miraculous — it hit your tastebuds perfectly, it quelled your bad mood dutifully, and it spaced you out for an hour after eating it as you thought about it again and again. By this point, we’ve all had it drilled in our heads that the best food is often made with the most simply prepared, fresh ingredients. Which in part makes your life simple, too, and when it … Read More
Look at what I found the other day: It isn’t a paddle to play any sport.
Fresh-mint infused ice cream flavors have grown up quickly from the esoteric awe they might have once induced. Now that Ciao Bella even makes a fresh mint chip ice cream, it’s no longer the domain of chefs and home cooks, either. Fresh mint leaves are a world of difference from the minty mint chip flavor we grew up with (read: peppermint oil); it’s kind of one of those delightful twists on a flavor that you didn’t even know needed improving. … Read More
If pork belly is the cut craze of the moment, then I nominate Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches as its most appetizing summer application. I’ve been hearing about pork belly all over the food world lately: 23% of the chefs polled in this month’s Food & Wine magazine thought of it as the ingredient more home cooks should try. And in the New York Times, Frank Bruni drools all over it, along with other fatty cuts of “fat, glorious fat.” It … Read More
the closest I’ve gotten to Napa The excitement I had yesterday afternoon. I had just taken some napa cabbage slaw leftovers from Sunday’s picnic out of tupperware from the fridge to snack on, gone back for some tangy sriracha sauce just to kick it up because leftovers, as good as its predecessor may have been, are never quite as exciting as they were when you were first exploring its flavors, and returned to my desk — when lo and behold! … Read More
the cheese blintzes recipe test-drive: practicing and making perfect so that you (hopefully) won’t have to I’m ecstatic to pick the brain of veteran food critic, cookbook author and food history maven, Arthur Schwartz in this installment of Here’s Lookin’ at You Cook. The Brooklyn-born, bred and based author is not short on answers to all inquiries food-related, having authored books like, “What To Cook When You Think There’s Nothing in the House To Eat” and, most recently, “New York … Read More
me (not Steve) grating zest into a not-so-authentic crust Don’t get me wrong: I’ve nothing against the venerable institution that is Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies. There is no contest — key lime pie greatness has been said for, and I couldn’t tell you of a better way to spend an afternoon than to go down to the waterfront in Red Hook and sit on the picnic table outside the old warehouse where the key lime pie magic happens and … Read More
the tasting frenzy at Mo Pitkin’s left no chili standing For those of you who weren’t sweating over styrofoam cups of chili at the Manhattan Chili Takedown 2007 yesterday, I was there; and I survive to tell you of the glory that went down.
Okay, so you won’t get any points from the 100-mile diet club with this recipe, since okra is grown in the South and the shrimp I got in Chinatown was caught or farmed probably in… the South. But you will have enjoyed a classic southern combination while satisfying your craving for spicy Thai basil stir-fry. Which is a gastronomic feat of very trifling importance bordering on nonsense. It’s Friday…