Scratch this one off the taco crawl list. Not that I want to eat tacos at a place where waitresses sell $2 dances to drunk locals.
February 2008 Archives
February 24, 2008
February 14, 2008
Or, as my friend Jeanne calls it, "Singles Awareness Day".
In case you missed my squeaky WNYC debut this morning:
And for the lovers:
[from La Doug.]
February 10, 2008
If you find yourself spending a Saturday checking out the Dia:Beacon and wondering what your life would be like if you became an ex-urbanite, you must head over to Homespun Foods on Beacon's brief Main Street.
Homespun's menu reminds me of Berkeley cafés, where butter, whole grains, vegans and charcuterie lovers can coexist harmoniously. The pastry case alone warrants a visit. City ex-pat Jessica Reisman and her crew craft the breads and delicate pastries for sale behind the counter, and everything I've had is amazing. The daily assortment is staggering, and can include mini apricot frangipane tarts, perfect blond chocolate chip cookies, spicy dark chocolate cookies sprinkled with crunchy sugar crystals, and a divine coffee cake that changes seasonally (the current incarnation is a cardamom pecan crumb-topped coffee cake that I will be dreaming of).
Don't miss the daily specials -- the ingenious vegetarian moussaka I tried yesterday is made of saucy, cinnamon-spiced wheatberries, layered with silky, thin slices of Asian eggplant, topped with a light layer of bechamel and served with an olive-topped Greek salad, all for $9.95. Protein-packed vegetarian meatloaf is made with nuts and cheeses and served with a creamy mushroom gravy -- my friend Julie's toddler loves it. The soups, salads and sandwiches on the regular menu, which leans heavily Mediterranean, are all whole and healthy with plenty of richness and flavor to keep the food from being boring. Colorful quiches and soups (I think there were four soups on the menu yesterday) rotate daily on the chalkboard menu. They cater to carnivores, too -- while we were there, we watched (and smelled) dinner's beef brisket being browned in its own fat behind the kitchen's open proscenium window.
Mismatched tables and chairs give the place a cheery nonchalance. Young local couples and their children (whom Jessica seems to know by name) wheel in and out of the place all day long, while arty types in stripes and Converse grab golden baguettes, olives and Coach Farm goat cheese logs from the small refrigerated case. In the summer, diners can even make an evening of dinner and a movie shown in Homespun's pretty garden patio. It's the kind of place I wish we had in Brooklyn. I'd happily eat there every day if I worked at the Dia.
Homespun Foods
232 Main St.
Beacon, NY 12508
February 8, 2008
Name: Adam Houghtaling
Occupation: Editorial Director, gourmet.com [Nice work on the relaunch! --Ed.]
Borough: Brooklyn
Relationship Status: SWM
What did you eat today?
Coffee. And a couple delicious bites from the test kitchen that I'm not really allowed to talk about. Mostly just the coffee though… but it is only 10:30 in the morning. [Lucky duck! --Ed.]
What do you never eat?
Shrimp
Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you can always find:
Six mustards, three beers and one bottle of prosecco.
What is your favorite kitchen item:
Hands down…the cutting board. It's understated and humble. Not irrationally needy like the knives or starved for attention like the crème brulee torch or the… uh… mango pitter.
Where do you eat out most frequently?
Mostly around my place in Fort Greene: Choice Market, Bonita, Pillow Café, Smoke Joint, Locanda, Luz, etc.
World ends tomorrow. What would you like for your last meal?
I would like the short ribs from Cafe Gray and a malted chocolate milkshake. And warm tortilla chips with guacamole. And also blueberry pancakes.
Is it too late to add a lobster roll…because, yes…lobster roll.
February 4, 2008
From the man himself. Voilà!
Chris Scott's Sweet Potato Fluff
Real simple...it's basically a sweet potato soufflé.
2 sweet potatoes
1 c. milk (warm)
1 stick of butter
[Wow, a stick of butter for two sweet potatoes! You don't mess around! --Ed.]
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. cloves
(all ground)
1/4 c brown sugar
6 egg whites
Peel, rough chop and boil potatoes. Drain water and put into a mixer. A bowl and a hand blender will do if you dont have a mixer. Add milk ,butter, spices, sugar and a couple pinches of salt. Blend till like mashed potatoes. Cool. Separately whip egg whites till firm, fold in with potato mixture. Place into a buttered soufflé dish and bake at 375 till puffy and done. ( when a skewer comes out dry). Garnish with marshmallow, or my new favorite -- eat it with spicy roast pork. [Yu-um. --Ed.]
February 1, 2008
What good is a blog if you can't advertise your own idiocy every once in a while?
I lost my keys. They have a green skull key cap and a purple skull key cap, as well as a skeleton key. I lost them somewhere between home (Sunset Park) and Murray Hill (work). Lord knows I didn't go anywhere else yesterday. I took the D train to work at about 8:45am and the N train home at about 9.
SMALL FOOD REWARD: I'll take you out to al di la or buy you $50 worth of cheese.
I know I've got an ice cube's chance in hell of getting my keys back this way, but I figure it's worth a shot.
Extra credit existential question: Would I have heard the keys drop out of my pocket if I wasn't listening to the iPod?
Extra credit grammatical question: Is it Would I have...wasn't listening or Would I have...weren't listening?
February 1, 2008
Name: Chris Scott
Occupation: Executive Chef at NYC's largest corporate dining firms
Borough: Park Slope, Brooklyn
Relationship status: Impatiently waiting for the right woman.
What did you eat today?
Four Story Hill Farm Chicken en Sous Vide, (actually, I'm cooking it as we speak), a light morning Hendricks gin martini, scrambled eggs with porcini mushrooms. And its only 11am.... so much more food to discover. [A light morning martini? I didn't know you could do that. --Ed.]
What do you never eat?
Probably nothing, I'm always open to tasting and exploring flavors.
Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you can always find:
Udon, and some broth I have concocted, milk, chicken and beef bones for stock. Recently, I've been on a chicken feet kick...they're in my fridge and in my freezer. Beer, tons of veggies, frozen broths, etc etc.
What is your favorite kitchen item?
Geez, too many to choose from. My Misono kitchen knife... first and foremost. My new toy... a dehydrator, where I make my own spice blends... such as black olive and garlic dust. Lobster roe and sea salt, Clementine powder, candied celery powder... to use on goat milk ice cream.
Where do you eat out most frequently?
I dig Artisanal, almost perfect wine selection. Momofuku, Degustation, and Franny's in the BK.
World ends tomorrow. What would you like for your last meal?
I think I would rather cook than to eat. Maybe alongside my grandmother, and make all the wonderful things she made for me as a child. Fried potatoes and onions with poached eggs, apple dumplings, sweet potato fluff, roast chicken with lemon and sage.
