Food: Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Last night I made these Carrot Cake cupcakes, and realized two things:
1) Ina Garten sure can cook.
2) Most cream cheese icing recipes call for way too much powdered sugar.
I was skeptical of this recipe – everything about it seemed off. I thought it called for too many carrots, the batter seemed way too dry, and I wasn’t pleased that I had to use vegetable oil. But I have to hand it to Ina, she knows what she’s talking about. These were fragrant and tender – the moisture in the carrots really did the trick.
I did deviate from Ina’s icing recipe, as you might gather from Point #2. Here’s the ratio I like: 1 package cream cheese to 1/2 stick unsalted butter to 3/4 cup powdered sugar. More than that is just too sweet for me.
Voila.
Frame: Next Food Network Star, Jyll’s Fynal Faylure
Moments before tonight’s installment of Next Food Network Star, I mentioned that Jyll would probably make a really good Next Public Access Network Star. And now, unencumbered by Bob Tuschman, Bobby Flay, and Susie Fogelson, Jyll can make that dream a reality.
Bon voyage, Jyll. The world is looking forward to more of your meatloaf pie via Wisconsin Local Cable.
Feast (NH): Yankee Smokehouse
At the Yankee Smokehouse, they eat no swine before its time.
Feast (NYC): Cornelia Street Cafe
watching food come up from the Cornelia's window
Cornelia Street Cafe masquerades (at least to me, a non-local) as a low key hole in the wall, but is in fact the winner of many food awards, including “Best of New York Food” and “Inspired Cuisine.” Sitting just a block from Murrays‘ in the West Village, you’ll always know the cheese on your burger will be excellent.
We had brunch at Cornelia’s last weekend on a brief trip into the city, and walked right in at 12:30 on Saturday afternoon. While the prix fix menu looked like a deal, we chose Morrocan Hummus with Pomegranate Reduction and Bistro Burgers with bacon instead. The hummus was thick and rustic, not as smooth as store-bought, and the touch of sweetness from the reduction was genius. The burger was served on a grilled English Muffin (something I used to think was unique to Massachusetts), and the fries, though a little thicker than most bistro frites, were perfectly greasy, crispy, and not mealy. I particularly appreciated that the plate came with salad as well – a good side salad always makes me feel better about consuming copious amounts of beef and potatoes.
One more note – the mimosa I ordered was one of the best I’ve ever had. The ratio of juice to champagne was spot on, just enough booze to feel the fizz, just enough juice to temper the buzz. Good thing too, I wanted to have my wits about me when I saw Chris Rock‘s Broadway show – something else I highly recommend – a few hours later.
Feast (NYC): Magnolia Bakery
Magnolia Bakery, specializing in cupcakes and featured years ago on Sex and the City, is celebrating its 15th anniversary. In a food culture where bakeries, cafes, and faddish shops (a restaurant that serves only BLTs?) come and go in just one season, that’s an impressive milestone. And after risking diabetic coma for yet another cupcake from their shelves, I’m not surpised that Magnolia has been around for so long.
The shop is tiny, but I’m sure the rent isn’t cheap for its West Village space. At 8pm on a Saturday night, the line snakes out the door and customers have to dance around each other, picking their cupcake from the window box display and impatiently licking at the icing while they wait to pay. You can also get birthday cakes, mini-cheesecakes, whoopie pies, tshirts, aprons, and coffee, but a reliable source tells me the lattes takes forever and aren’t that good. Eh, it’s probably better to have two hands to savor your dessert, anyway.
Feast (NYC): Centro Vinoteca
It’s kind of a downer to waste a dinner in New York City on a sub-par restaurant, so I would suggest that if you’re only in town for a few hours, you skip Centro Vinoteca. Started by Chef Anne Burrell, the restaurant is just a few blocks from tons of delicious divey restaurants in the West Village, most of which are probably more worthwhile.
Ok, that was harsh – Centro Vinoteca wasn’t bad, it was actually quite good. It just wasn’t great, and I wanted outstanding. I wanted Prune, I wanted Babbo, I wanted to be impressed. We started with duck breast prosciutto (great), truffled deviled eggs (good) and saffron arancini (blah). Main courses were black tagliatelle with clams, mussels, shrimp, and squid (good) and the special, house-made pappardelle with mushrooms and truffle butter. This last was the unabashed winner, and I was happy to clean my plate. The pasta was fresh and perfectly cooked, and the sauce was well seasoned – not completely overwhelmed with truffle, but earthy and complex.
I also enjoyed the thoughtfully constructed wine list, and the fact that Centro serves its wine by the “quartino,” a unit of measurement about equal to a glass and a half. My quartino of Valpolicella made the truffled pasta even better.
The net result of an evening at Centro Vinoteca is positive, but not spectacular. If you live in New York, I’d say give it a try. But if you’re only there for the day, pick one of the dives down the street instead.
Feast: Acitron – Good Mexican and Spiteful Salsa
I’m going to say it: you just can’t get good Mexican food in Boston. I can say this because I lived in San Francisco for two years, a qualification that also allows me to make sweeping generalizations about the quality of fresh produce (you just can’t get good avocados in Boston), the temperament of New Englanders (you just can’t get good humor in Boston), and the weather (you just can’t get good weather in Boston).
So, when Dave suggested that we branch out into Arlington Center for Mexican food this weekend, I thought longingly of burritos in the Mission and Nick’s Crispy Tacos on Nob Hill, knowing there was no way the East Coast could compare. This review did little to quell my fears – frequently a restaurant that brags about not being traditional is just looking for an excuse. As in, “That quesadilla with American cheese was SUPPOSED to be disgusting, it’s not traditional!”
Fortunately, Acitron not only restored my faith in Boston-style Mexican, it left me wondering what other gems Arlington Center might be hiding (aside from Not Your Average Joes).
We started with the Aguacate Frito (fried avocado) with cilantro-jalapeno sour cream. The batter was just thick enough, with just the right amount of grease, and the sour cream was so good I made our server leave the bowl on the table so I could dip my food in it throughout the night. The avocado itself was tender and creamy, warm but not uncomfortably hot.
The Sopas Surtidos, three corn tortillas topped with potato and chorizo, shredded chicken, and cactus salad with cotija cheese, were next. Cactus, in case you haven’t had it, tastes like a mild pepper with a slightly thicker texture, and mixed with the cheese it was my favorite combination. Next in line was the potato and chorizo, spicy with a nice blend of textures. The shredded chicken was good as well, just not as interesting as the other two.
For my entrée I tried the Chiles En Nogada, poblano peppers stuffed with ground beef and topped with a cream sauce. If you choose this, be prepared – the beef and sauce have a sweet note, and there are nuts and raisins in the mixture. It was technically well prepared and tasted good, but if you aren’t in the mood for sweet, you may be disappointed. For my side dishes I chose Mexican “home fries” with chipotle aioli and sautéed mushrooms. The potatoes were well seasoned and perfectly cooked, and the mushrooms were good, if nothing special. Dave ordered the winner of the evening – Chiles Ancho de Camaron, a shrimp stuffed ancho chile. The shrimp could only be described as luscious – juicy, tender, and lightly bathed in a mild yet flavorful chipotle and goat cheese sauce.
The atmosphere was casual and had the potential to be lively, but at 7pm on a Saturday it wasn’t even half full. Acitron just opened last spring, but I hope the good word spreads and it is more crowded at my next visit – perhaps if diners felt more lucky to secure a table, they’d be a little less cranky. As it was, the couple at the next table had a fit when our server mistakenly gave us their extra salsa. I’d suggest a few margaritas and a Xanax to the Arlington woman who interrupted our conversation with a sour “did you even ORDER salsa?”
Nope, we didn’t, but we ate it anyway, out of spite. It turns out you can get good spite salsa in Boston, and at Acitron, you can get good Mexican, too.
Frame: Next Food Network Bad Idea
I don’t even want to acknowledge last week’s episode of NFNS, but I do need to say this:
Balls on the Roll?
jeff, whitney, and suzie
I bet if Susie Fogelson had been judging on Sunday, all three of the above nitwits would have been voted off, just for entertaining the notion that “Balls on the Roll” could be a legitimate idea for a food truck. But no, it was a Giada week, and they sent Orchid home instead.
I’ve decided I’m throwing all my support to Vic Vegas. He’s a true underdog – he looks like a convict, he couldn’t cook at all the first few weeks, and he’s so gymed up he can barely put his arms down by his sides. If he wins this thing it will be a serious Food Network overthrow. Now I just hope he doesn’t come out with some kind of Steroids on a Rope idea for next week’s episode.
Food: Beware the Jalapeno (Thai Lettuce Cups)
I made this dish last night, looking for an easy dinner that would require a minimum amount of time over heat/in the kitchen. The finished product was delicious – full of fragrant, cooling ginger and lime – but the preparation proved slightly dangerous. Let me make it clear: when you seed the jalapeno, immediately throw out the seeds, wash your knife, and wash your hands. Don’t take the chance of contaminating your peach with heat, or your eyes with a burning sensation. Not that either of those things happened to me.
This is, again, a recipe to which you can add or subtract ingredients to your personal preference. You may want to include fish sauce as part of the soy/sugar/lime mixture – if you have it, go ahead and add a teaspoon. You may want to add cilantro, chopped mushrooms, peanuts, or sprouts – all of these would be great additions. You could substitute the peach I used with a nectarine, apricots, rainier cherries, or nothing. I added water chesnuts because I like the crunch, but you could use extra carrots or bamboo shoots. Finally, my recipe calls for white meat ground turkey, but dark meat turkey or any type of ground chicken would work just as well.
Thai Lettuce Cups
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 lime, cut in half
1 shallot
1 clove garlic
1 small (1 inch) piece ginger, peeled
1 small jalapeno or serrano pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1 lb ground turkey (white meat)
1/2 bunch scallions, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 cup water chesnuts, diced
1 peach, diced
Bibb or Boston Lettuce
Combine soy sauce, juice of half of the lime, and sugar in a small bowl, stir, set aside. Put shallot, ginger, jalapeno, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Saute shallot mixture (use olive oil, chicken broth, or vegetable oil) in a large pan over low-medium heat until fragrant. Add water chesnuts, carrots, scallions, and ground turkey, cook until turkey is browned, continuously breaking up meat with a spoon. Add soy sauce mixture, stir. Finish with juice from other half of lime. Serve in Bibb lettuce (or just in a bowl, or on top of rice, or in pita bread), top with diced peaches. Voila.
Feast: Birthday BoSB’s Burger
BosB goes for Number 4
Today, in honor of my brother’s 26th birthday, I’d like to share some lessons he’s learned after 4 years of eating the famous 1 pound burger, The Pounder, at Cheeburger Cheeburger.
1. If you’re going to eat that much beef, get some exercise the morning before. It’s better to at least start out hungry.
2. Do NOT get distracted by fries or onion rings. These things will only fill you up and slow you down. Technically there is no time pressure when eating one of these burgers, but toward the end you just want it to be over.
3. If you start to get the meat sweats, see above and just keep going. Don’t prolong the agony.
4. Do not attempt this in any place that doesn’t advertise “100% All Natural Angus,” with a weird blue ribbon seal that isn’t endorsed by any governmental agency.
5. Cheese is helpful. So is ketchup and mustard. Together, they make everything slide down a little more easily.
6. When you finish and someone brings over a big stuffed burger and a camera, just smile and try not to look as nauseous as you feel.
7. Wait at least a year before attempting this feat of intestinal strength again.
Happy Birthday Mike, here’s to 126 more years of eating burgers together.
Food: Caramel Ice Cream Sandwiches
When you announce to guests that you’ve made ice cream sandwiches for dessert, they are pretty enthusiastic. But when you explain to them that these sandwiches are made from caramel, generic Ritz crackers, and vanilla ice cream, the responses range from, “Huh, really?” (boyfriend) to “That sounds like something I will hate” (best friend).
Fortunately, I can tell you that after tasting, all parties agreed that these were delicious. Voila.
Food: Flag Cake
Just about every recipe for “Flag Cake” reads like this:
Ingredients:
1 box cake mix, prepared
1 tub Cool Whip
Blueberries
Strawberries
Directions: Assemble ingredients into something resembling a flag.
And what could be more American than that?
Food: Foods for the Fourth
For the Fourth of July I really wanted to make this cake. But if my baking qualifies as barely passable then my spatial reasoning is downright bad (don’t ask about my sense of direction). So instead of taking a class on architecture to build a dessert, I’m going the traditional route instead. That’s right, stars and stripes forever.
Once I make my cake I’ll post a picture of the finished product, which may or may not resemble Ina Garten’s example.
photo from Foodnetwork.com
Also included in this post: two recipes for easy and (relatively) healthy summer sides for any backyard parties you may be having this year. Happy Independence Day!
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You can use whatever mix of vegetables you want with this pasta salad, you just want a good texture balance between crunchy and chewy.
Vegetable Pasta Salad with Vinaigrette
1 lb fusilli pasta cooked, drained, cooled
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 fresh tomato, chopped
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, or oven roasted tomatoes, chopped
1 cup small mozzarella balls (bocconcini), sliced in half
1 cup asparagus, blanched and chopped into bite sized pieces
Vinaigrette
zest and juice from one lemon
1/4 cup basil, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small shallot, minced
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
Prepare vinaigrette by mixing together mustard, shallot, lemon juice, basil, and garlic, then slowing streaming in olive oil, while whisking all ingredients together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour half of the dressing into the bottom of a large bowl, add in cooled pasta and chopped vegetables and cheese. Top with remaining dressing, toss. Chill for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
Butter beans are a healthy alternative to potato salad, plus they are creamy and satisfying. I posted this recipe once before, as an accompaniment to Chicken Scallopine.
Butter Bean Salad
3 cans Butter Beans (also known as Gigandes) 1 bunch basil, chopped
Juice of two lemons plus zest of one
2 tbsps olive oil
1 tomato, chopped
1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, 1 yellow pepper, finely chopped
2 cups mache or arugula
Salt and pepper to taste
Rinse and drain the beans, put into a large mixing bowl. Add olive oil, lemon juice and zest (it seems like a lot but it makes the canned beans taste really fresh), tomato, peppers, salt and pepper. Mix well. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours- this gives the flavors a chance to marry and marinate in the lemon juice. Just before serving, fold in the greens, then taste and adjust the salt/pepper seasoning if needed.
The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread 