I just learned about something called fry sauce, which is, at the heart of it, a sauce in which one dips fries. No, it’s not ketchup, nor is it mayonnaise; it is a combination of the two…and just about anything else that you might want on hand as a dip. You can add barbeque sauce, mustard, sweet and sour sauce, honey, garlic and lemon.
Apparently this fry sauce is widely used in Utah and, at most fast food chains in the area, it’s available there along with the straight ketchup. I have no doubt that the restaurant fry sauces are fantastic, but the best one I’ve had recently was a homemade version in which I added Worchestershire sauce. The result was a punchy flavor, resulting from the fermented nature of the sauce. Experiment at home and don’t limit its use to fries.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Ali’s P2 White Chocolate Cookies
My friend Ali is a very coveted young lady. In fact, lately, it seems that the majority of my boy friends are developing crushes on her. I don’t blame them: she’s a high-spirited, low-maintenance, smart, funny, beautiful girl. And, after googling her, I discovered that, at the tender age of fourteen, she submitted a fantastic recipe for cookies to a website where, twelve years later, the recipe is still receiving five out of five stars, with heavy traffic.
Not that she needs the extra boost, but Ali’s recipe for Pumpkin Pecan White Chocolate Cookies is tasty enough to make any man swoon.
2¼ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1½ cups dark brown sugar
1 cup solid pack pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 ounces white chocolate
½ cup pecan halves
1.Preheat the oven to 300°. Chop the white
chocolate into chunks.
2.In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs and the vanilla then stir in the pumpkin puree until well blended.
3.In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice. Stir the dry mixture into the wet one.
4.Fold in the white chocolate chunks and the pecans. You might want to toast the pecans for a nuttier flavor.
5.Grease a cookie sheet and drop heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets, at least two inches apart.
6.Bake for 20-22 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheets before removing and cooling on a wire rack.
The recipe yields about 36 cookies and the cookies are still great if frozen and then thawed within a month.
Not that she needs the extra boost, but Ali’s recipe for Pumpkin Pecan White Chocolate Cookies is tasty enough to make any man swoon.
2¼ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1½ cups dark brown sugar
1 cup solid pack pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 ounces white chocolate
½ cup pecan halves
1.Preheat the oven to 300°. Chop the white
chocolate into chunks.
2.In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs and the vanilla then stir in the pumpkin puree until well blended.
3.In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice. Stir the dry mixture into the wet one.
4.Fold in the white chocolate chunks and the pecans. You might want to toast the pecans for a nuttier flavor.
5.Grease a cookie sheet and drop heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets, at least two inches apart.
6.Bake for 20-22 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheets before removing and cooling on a wire rack.
The recipe yields about 36 cookies and the cookies are still great if frozen and then thawed within a month.
Izakaya 10
I’d like to suggest the spicy cod shrimp at Izakaya Ten in Chelsea. Three butterflied shrimp come per order smothered in a thick blanket of cod roe. Though the shrimp are served in their shells, they’ve been sautéed out of them with wasabi, minced onions, and a slew of other tasty bits that get packed back into the shrimp shell.
The result is a one-bite wonder that easily peels out of its case and into a soon-to-be delighted gullet. Be sure to have a Sapporo or some sake ready; these nibbles can get spicy if you get a bite with a lot of wasabi.
The restaurant is a perfect place to pop into while gallery hopping or just to tide one over with a little snack before a proper dinner. These shrimp were my favorite, but pan-fried dumplings were a close second.
The result is a one-bite wonder that easily peels out of its case and into a soon-to-be delighted gullet. Be sure to have a Sapporo or some sake ready; these nibbles can get spicy if you get a bite with a lot of wasabi.
The restaurant is a perfect place to pop into while gallery hopping or just to tide one over with a little snack before a proper dinner. These shrimp were my favorite, but pan-fried dumplings were a close second.
Black Forest, Cleared
I love Black Forest Cake. In fact, anything combining chocolate and cherries gets an A+ in my book. So, it was to my great surprise when, last week, someone inquired about the origins of the Black Forest Cake and I had not a clue.
A quick look in Wikipedia did the trick and I discovered that the name comes from the German roots of the cake, originally called Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte, literally meaning Black Forest Cherry Cake (kirsch = cherry!). The cake comes from the Black Forest region of Germany and dates back to the 16th century. The area is widely known for its sour cherries and cherry brandy (called kirschwasser).
Originally, the Black Forest confection wasn’t a cake, but simply a mix of cherries, cream, and chocolate. Only later did an entire layer cake get the moniker of Black Forest. Also later, as the global popularity of the dessert picked up, the kirschwasser, which was traditionally added to the dessert, was dropped.
A quick look in Wikipedia did the trick and I discovered that the name comes from the German roots of the cake, originally called Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte, literally meaning Black Forest Cherry Cake (kirsch = cherry!). The cake comes from the Black Forest region of Germany and dates back to the 16th century. The area is widely known for its sour cherries and cherry brandy (called kirschwasser).
Originally, the Black Forest confection wasn’t a cake, but simply a mix of cherries, cream, and chocolate. Only later did an entire layer cake get the moniker of Black Forest. Also later, as the global popularity of the dessert picked up, the kirschwasser, which was traditionally added to the dessert, was dropped.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
One Very Special Chocolate Square
I got a very special box of chocolates this Valentines Day. They were special for a number of reasons, including that, though I’d had this chocolatiers hot cocoa, I’d never actually indulged in a square of her truffles (something new!!). They were also made special by the unique and darling one-woman scenes painted onto each square... A lady hang gliding, deciding on a pair of shoes, checking herself out in a mirror, enamored by her boyfriend in the window.
Impress your girl any time of year with MarieBelle Chocolates. I was giddy with delight when I opened the box and went uncharacteristically to the provided guide in order to decide on which one to chow down first.
I went for the cinnamon which ended up being a favorite, but once we’d nibbled the corners of one (these are to be cherished slowly and thoughtfully), I felt compelled to test a few more. Caramel, white kona bean, and dulce de leche were fast favorites.
Trying as best as we could to savor these wonderful bursts, we nibbled at them slowly for a week. We could identify all of them until we got to the last one, of course, my favorite. The guide only helped so much, since it was for the generic 16-piece box and not the hand-selected version with which I’d been presented.
A few days post-chocolate consumption, I visited the MarieBelle website and a few New York-centric food blogs to try to get to the bottom of the mystery square. I was hoping for a fuller guide, done either by the company or by some fanatic chocolate blogger. I didn’t find a picture guide but I did find a lot of writings on the topic of MarieBelle in general.
After a few hours of searching, I came to a site entitled The Chocolate Review. In it, the goal of the choclossieur is to provide an extensive guide of every available chocolate so that we don’t have to waste our time with mediocre pieces. I liked this site. I came to the MarieBelle descriptions, which were so clear; I could practically relive our short-lived box. The writer described an elusive square that had been labeled as “spices,” calling it a most complex piece of chocolate and referencing cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, and chili as major players. The mystery was solved. This is my favorite piece.
Impress your girl any time of year with MarieBelle Chocolates. I was giddy with delight when I opened the box and went uncharacteristically to the provided guide in order to decide on which one to chow down first.
I went for the cinnamon which ended up being a favorite, but once we’d nibbled the corners of one (these are to be cherished slowly and thoughtfully), I felt compelled to test a few more. Caramel, white kona bean, and dulce de leche were fast favorites.
Trying as best as we could to savor these wonderful bursts, we nibbled at them slowly for a week. We could identify all of them until we got to the last one, of course, my favorite. The guide only helped so much, since it was for the generic 16-piece box and not the hand-selected version with which I’d been presented.
A few days post-chocolate consumption, I visited the MarieBelle website and a few New York-centric food blogs to try to get to the bottom of the mystery square. I was hoping for a fuller guide, done either by the company or by some fanatic chocolate blogger. I didn’t find a picture guide but I did find a lot of writings on the topic of MarieBelle in general.
After a few hours of searching, I came to a site entitled The Chocolate Review. In it, the goal of the choclossieur is to provide an extensive guide of every available chocolate so that we don’t have to waste our time with mediocre pieces. I liked this site. I came to the MarieBelle descriptions, which were so clear; I could practically relive our short-lived box. The writer described an elusive square that had been labeled as “spices,” calling it a most complex piece of chocolate and referencing cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, and chili as major players. The mystery was solved. This is my favorite piece.
Grill Marks
I know it’s still not warm enough to fire up the grill, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make believe. To get revved up for summertime, I suggest purchasing a simple grill pan and taking a moment to learn how to make perfect grill marks.
First things first, heat up your grill pan and brush it with a little oil—any kind will do. Next, place your meat/ poultry/fish/sliced vegetable of choice on the pan, preferably all lined up. Leave the food on the grill for a few minutes; do not move the pieces around or fuss with them.
Then, carefully using tongs, turn the food a quarter turn—this is the key! This results in that fantastic crisscross affect that will make you look like a pro and remind you of an outdoor BBQ. Remember to flip the food and repeat the process on the other side.
First things first, heat up your grill pan and brush it with a little oil—any kind will do. Next, place your meat/ poultry/fish/sliced vegetable of choice on the pan, preferably all lined up. Leave the food on the grill for a few minutes; do not move the pieces around or fuss with them.
Then, carefully using tongs, turn the food a quarter turn—this is the key! This results in that fantastic crisscross affect that will make you look like a pro and remind you of an outdoor BBQ. Remember to flip the food and repeat the process on the other side.
Green Market Scones
There is a lady at the Union Square Greenmarket on Wednesdays and Fridays, and when she has scones, her booth is a mob scene. I’d gotten good intel about her and her fodder from several reputable sources, including my Culinistas and a few trusted home cooks.
Finally, one day last week, I wandered over to the market. I had no idea the name of her booth/farm/scone commissary, but I figured if she were so special, I’d see the crowds. I was right! Her stand was barely visible through the scone-frenzied throng, people shouting for “four chocolate, two corn-cran, six currant!”
I settled on trying one chocolate chip and one corn-cran. Both were fantastic! I preferred the corn-cran. I certainly have a new go-to for scones now, and I suggest you check it out. But go early; when I returned a few days later in the afternoon, she’d long run out of her goods.
Finally, one day last week, I wandered over to the market. I had no idea the name of her booth/farm/scone commissary, but I figured if she were so special, I’d see the crowds. I was right! Her stand was barely visible through the scone-frenzied throng, people shouting for “four chocolate, two corn-cran, six currant!”
I settled on trying one chocolate chip and one corn-cran. Both were fantastic! I preferred the corn-cran. I certainly have a new go-to for scones now, and I suggest you check it out. But go early; when I returned a few days later in the afternoon, she’d long run out of her goods.
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