You Want Whoop Crame?

So the response always comes, my sister jokes, when she orders a coffee from the Dunkin' drive-thru. "You want whoop crame?.. Drive up."

She always declines on the whipped cream offer, but I have a stronger affinity for the cloud-like sweet stuff. Especially home whipped, with a little bit of vanilla extract added into the Kitchen Aid. 

But! I'm learning there are more flavors to experiment with, both sweet and salty.

So far my favorite has been the ginger whipped cream, with candied ginger chopped into tiny pieces and mixed in along with the residual sugar. Dollop that puppy on some warm apple pie and it brings on a new flavor dimension. I might add some on the pumpkin bars I made for Thanksgiving, with an awesome buttery hazelnut shortbread base. Check out the recipe here, but be sure to double the ingredients for the shortbread portion of the recipe only. The dough won't stretch enough for a normal 9x13 pan (believe me, I've tried). 

Last night I tried my first savory whipped cream. About a half a cup of heavy cream, two springs of chopped dill, and a generous dash of sea salt. Let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so to merge the flavors, then dollop generously on hot soup. I tried it with a cheesy roasted potato and cauliflower soup -- recipe for both the soup and accompanying whipped cream can be found here.

A Walking Tour of E. 7th St.

I like to see New York as my own personal food carnival, popping in for phenomenal snacks to munch on while walking to the next destination. The block of 7th St. from 1st Ave to Ave A is filled with lots of shops with quick eats that are conducive to the munch-and-continue-on lifestyle. Here's a little walking tour of the East Village block.

Start at Porchetta. Enter, inhale the smell of porky bliss. Order the porchetta sandwich (obviously). Eat it on the bench outside. The pork, roasted with savory herbs, is served on a ciabatta roll, with the porous holes great for catching and hugging the greasy fat of the meat. The best part of the sandwich is the super crispy skin, adding a little crunch to the otherwise soft and tender meaty sandwich. If you have someone (or a few someones) to share it with, get the roasted potatoes with burnt ends.

Take a deep breath. Cross the street and get a lobster roll at Luke's. I believe that their lobster roll is the best in the city all year-round, but in the summertime, when lobster meat from Maine is ridiculously cheap, you get a lot more bang for your buck. Cool lobster claws seasoned with a hint of tarragon, served on a warm roll with a shallow base of mayo. A summertime staple.

Head next door to Caracas. If you've had enough meat for the evening, a vegetarian arepa will do you well. Maybe La Del Gato, with guayanes cheese, fried sweet plantains and avocado slices. Or perhaps La Mulata with grilled white cheese, jalapenos, black beans, red peppers and plantains. Stringy cheese on a sweet corn base holds so much appeal to me.


Now, take a break before dessert. Walk around the block. Get a drink and settle in the back garden at DBA.


Ready to get back at it? If you're still full, you can grab a light People's Pops right at the corner of 7th. I've only tried the peach mint pop, which I wasn't crazy about, so I'd recommend pressing on. Head to the opposite side of 7th, closer to Ave A. Hop into Butter Lane and grab a cupcake for the line at Big Gay Ice Cream Shop. The line will look long, but it'll go fast. Get the Salty Pimp, vanilla soft serve on a cone with a drizzle of caramel-like dulce de leche, a few shakes of salt, and the whole thing dipped in chocolate. You'll have to eat it fast as the ice cream leaks out of the chocolate dip pretty quickly on hot evenings, but you're up for the challenge, right?

Next week, maybe a walking tour of East 8th St. is in order...

Porchetta

110 E 7th St


Luke's Lobster
93 E. 7th St

Caracas Arepa Bar
93 1/2 E. 7th St.

People's Pops
118  First Ave

Big Gay Ice Cream Shop
125 E. 7th St.

Jazz Fest Food: Freezes, Gelatos, Sorbets

Dessert was a great counterbalance to all the spicy food we ate in the Big Easy. Also, because most of it was cold and refreshing, we didn't feel bad indulging early in the day. And indulge we did! The one thing everyone kept coming back to was the mango freeze. A perfect scoop of creamy mango that tasted 100% like fresh ripe mango and nothing at all like ice. Super refreshing in the hot sun. Our last day at the festival, we lingered when everyone else headed out to savor their final mango freezes of the weekend.

The Louisiana Strawberry Ice was one of my personal favorites. It was a little heftier than the smooth mango, but packed the same fruit-powered punch without any iciness. So fruity and strong I swear it quenched my thirst.
 

The cannoli from the same Angelo Brocato's was maybe the best I've ever had. I like the frozen, ice creamy interior better than the typical room temp custard. Plus, it was spumoni flavored!

The gelatos we sampled were all rich, creamy and amazing. The standout was the affogato with chocolate azteca gelato. I'm used to affogatos with a single shot of espresso; this came with a heavy latte pour over spicy chocolate. It reminded me of the Mayan chocolate from Brooklyn Label. As my sister would say, "That's a pretty nice treat you have for yourself there, girlfren."

The white chocolate bread pudding was fantastic, if not a little overly sweet for me. The texture was absolutely perfect though. Enough to convince any bread pudding non-believer.

There were only a few desserts that didn't make the cut. The strawberries in the strawberry shortcake were fresh and firm, not soggy, but the "cake" was just a hardened piece of what... a shortbread cookie? Also, they had a bunch of these sitting out ready to go, which would be fine if 1) there was actually a line of people waiting and 2) they added the whipped cream at the last minute. I got food poisoning from whipped cream at a fair 8 years ago and it is not something you easily forget. So I ate around it.

  

 

Then the Sno cones. I remember them as being pretty special as a 7-year-old. Pictured is the King Cake flavor, which looks purple for some reason. It ended up being more of an enigma than anything else. "It looks like grape, but tastes like... ?" Someone finally nailed it down as an icy vanilla Coke.

Next year I have to remember to try the Roman chewing candy, cream puffs, pralines and the old fashioned hand made ice cream sandwiches. Ah, sweet regret!

Mango Freeze
WWOZ Community Radio
New Orleans, LA

Louisiana Strawberry Ice, Cannoli
Angelo Brocato’s Ice Cream & Confectionery Co
New Orleans, LA

Locally Made Artisan Gelato and Sorbetto
La Divina Gelateria
New Orleans, LA

White Chocolate Bread Pudding
Coffee Cottage
River Ridge, LA

Strawberry Shortcake
Cecelia Husing
New Orleans, LA

Sno-Balls
AJ’s Sno-Balls
Metairie, LA 

Ricotta Pie

An Italian Easter dessert, made by my mom.

Signature Desserts from EMP at ICE

A few weekends ago I had the honor of taking a baking class with the pastry chef from Eleven Madison Park, Angela Pinkerton!

She was so amazingly patient with everyone, from the woman who wanted to write down her every word to the girl that didn't speak English that well. I can only imagine that letting a bunch of amateurs loose in an industrial kitchen is not an easy thing to manage when you're used to such a high level of precision.

We broke into teams and each tackled a segment of a single dessert. There was cornbread pudding with buttermilk sorbet, summer stone fruits with ricotta and tarragon, a mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwich and pistachio sundae with green market grapes. I made the pistachio brittle in the sundae. The part that they crumble on top and no one even notices. The class made me realize the level of detail that high end restaurants really have to adhere to.

My Pistachio Brittle

The best part of class was the end, where wine was poured before we watched Angela plate all the dishes. It really is an art form. 

  
Then, of course, eating it all!

A pretty ideal Sunday if you ask me. :)

Grasshopper Token from Momofuku Milk

Last week, Rob went to Momofuku Milk Bar without me!

He's lucky he brought home a mint cheesecake with brownie filling and marshmallows to appease me :)

Van Leeuwen Steps Out of the Truck

Sometimes, when I take the L train to Bedford Ave, I'll treat myself to a cone from the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck. The flavors are basic but special: pistachio made exclusively from Sicilian nuts, hazelnut made from a special smoky and buttery Italian grade. They all have a clean, creamy appeal.

A few months ago, Van Leeuwen opened a shop in Greenpoint, down on Manhattan Ave. It was still chilly out when I decided to check them out for a first time sundae.

The shop is small and cute. Flowers on every table. The man behind the tiny counter scoops the ice cream and brews the coffee.


The menu contains the same flavors as the truck, plus a few sundae options. The coffee menu spans the basics: espresso, americano, cappuccino, etc.

A hand drawn image of the original Van Leeuwen truck pays homage to its roots.


Rob and I split a mint chip sundae with hot fudge, nuts, fresh whipped cream and a cherry that tasted like it was marinading in something alcoholic. A very adultlike sundae.

I have a feeling that this place will get very busy this summer!

Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream
632 Manhattan Ave
(718) 701-1630

Southern Food for the Soul -- Egg and The Redhead

This spring I had the pleasure of dining at two fairly hyped Southern cuisine spots with short cutesy names: Egg in Williamsburg and The Redhead in the East Village. While I did not indulge in any grits, black eyed peas or other super traditional south of the Mason-Dixon favorites, I must say that both experiences were pretty enjoyable.

Rob and I visted Egg both for breakfast and dinner over the past month, and as you probably guessed, its breakfast is much better. The OJ tastes like you're sucking on an orange still ripening on the tree, and the coffee is strong and comes in individual french presses. I am a big fan of this. I also like to draw palm trees on the white tabletops with crayons while I wait for my food. A few drawbacks though -- the wait for brunch on the weekends can be insane and the barren white wall decor leaves something to be desired. And no credit cards.

As for the brunch itself: Rob had the chorizo and salsa verde and it came with an insane amount of chorizo. I didn't think there was enough to offset all the spicy meat, but I don't really remember because I forgot my camera that morning. I had the biscuits in sausage gravy. I believe the biscuits had the right amount of stick-to-the-inside-of-your-mouth-ness to satisfy the craving, and the cream base was good and satisfying, if not a little heavy.

We headed back for dinner, when we knew it'd be quieter. I had the chorizo sandwich and I should have known, they sure like to give that chorizo away! It was impossible to pick up the sandwich because it was heavy and chorizo was falling out and the bun was sticking to the plate, so I had to eat it with a fork and knife -- not quite what you want to do when you just want to pick the thing up and take a bite. It was tasty and all, just the same chorizo from brunch on a roll. Yawn. Rob's duck breast and duck leg in "dirty rice" (which included duck heart) was pretty amazing though. Nice juicy meat that soaked into the rice for the perfect soppy bite... man, I should have ordered that. Next time. Maybe.

Egg

135 N 5th St

Brooklyn, NY 11211

(718) 302-5151

We headed over to The Redhead sometime during March Madness when our friends Sam and Virginia came to visit. There were two reasons we chose this place: 1) I've heard good things and 2) it was only a block away from Momofuku Milk Bar, which we had yet to try. I was underwhelmed with the bakery but very happy to have experienced The Redhead.

The place is cozy and warm without being pretentious -- brick walls, tv in the corner of the bar, family patrons of all ages. Also had a really hard time choosing something off the menu because I wanted to eat it all. We finally narrowed it down to a reasonable amount of apps, and The Redhead did not disappoint. I loved the bibb salad with hazelnuts, bacon and cheddar dressing. The perfect amount of salty and sweet to spice up a salad. The homemade waffle chips with homemade onion sauce was surprisingly addicting. Seared scallops were good, but standard -- no frills.

I would have thought that this was one of the places where the apps outshine the entrees, but then they placed the fried chicken in front of me and I knew I was wrong. I'm not normally a fried chicken person (well, I haven't been since sophomore year...) but this might be enough to turn me back. The friendly people next to us claimed they were fried chicken fanatics and that this was the best they'd ever had. Good enough for me. Super crunchy on the outside and extra juicy on the inside, salty all around. Fantastic. Rob got the grits with shrimp and andouille, which I thought was phenomenal. The grits were "gritty" in just the right way, and the cornbread had the perfect amount of butter baked into them.

Sam had the salmon, which he said he enjoyed. He gets salmon everywhere he goes, so he knows what he is talking about. Sorry I cut your eyes out of this picture, Sam. Virginia got the well-done burger which I did not take a picture of because it hurts me to see overdone meat. I am sorry for that, too.

The Redhead
349 E 13th St (between 1st Ave & 2nd Ave)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 533-6212

So we weren't really hungry for it but of course we had to check out Momofuku Milk. The complete opposite of what we had just experienced. The place was so overcrowded that Sam said it was more like a nightclub than a bakery. He was right. Kind of obnoxious when you just want something sweet and quick. Rob's chocolate chocolate chip cookie was too bitter for me and needed milk -- which we did not buy because it was so overpriced to begin with -- and my bavarian cream soft serve was unique and all, but not worth elbowing your way through an overdressed crowd to get to the surly counter people.

Momofuku Bakery/Milk Bar
207 2nd Ave (between 12th St & 13th St)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 254-3500

In summary: I think I'm turned on to Southern cuisine now and would like to try a more traditional, non-NYC-fusion spot next time. However, I'll be back to Egg to sample their famous Eggs Rothko, and I will definitely be back to the Redhead to have one of everything. I will probably skip dessert.