Elliot Boblitt

Christine Quinn's worst nightmare has become a reality. Mere days after she finally finished fighting off Anthony Weiner from her top spot in the polls, Bill de Blasio has come in and knocked her off the pedestal. [ more › ]

Less than two weeks ago, NYC's Department of City Planning removed the paywall from the PLUTO dataset (it used to cost $1,500 for the full set). The PLUTO (Primary Land Use Tax Lot Output) dataset contains land use and geographic data for tax lots across the five boroughs. It's a treasure trove of city data—and now thanks to Andrew Hill and the folks at CartoDB, you can look through all the maps in an orderly fashion here. [ more › ]

From Sweets

VIEW SLIDESHOW: Where to Eat Ice Cream in New York City

[Illustration: Robyn Lee]

Editor's Note: New York isn't short on places to get a scoop, but we've all had that moment when we're standing on the corner wondering where on earth to go. That's why we put together a list of all the places we like to satisfy our craving—from good, everyday ice cream to stand-out spots. Here are a few hints to using this guide: by ice cream we actually mean all kinds of frozen treats, including ice cream, soft serve, gelato, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. What we didn't include is any kind of ice pop, fruit pop, slushie, Italian ice, or the like. Listings are grouped by neighborhood; you can find a map with them all at the bottom of this post. And lastly, these are all places that either focus on ice cream or you can get your scoop to go. There are plenty of restaurants in New York doing great ice cream—so many, in fact, that it's a post for another day.

Know about something we missed? Tell us in the comments below, or send your tips to sweets@seriouseats.com—we'll update this post as we expand our restaurant coverage. Want to head straight to some food porn instead? Hit up the slideshow above.—C.V.

Manhattan

Chestnut honey, green tea, and grapefruit sorbet at Il Labratorio del Gelato [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Il Laboratorio del Gelato (East Village/LES): We've had pretty much constant success ordering here, so the challenge isn't what to get, but how to choose. The flavors range from simple (like caramel, actually made straight, no salt) to unique (tarragon pink pepper, beet). Our tip? First visit, plain gelato, second, make it a milkshake.

Melt Bakery (LES, High Line): Ice cream sandwiches that manage to nail interesting flavor combinations (think chili chocolate ice cream between curry coconut cookies) while keeping things balanced. What we love: the cookies range from crunchy to chewy to a Whoopie pie-like red velvet, so you can pick your preferred style.

Dominique Ansel (SoHo): Yes, this is home of the cronut, but the truth is this bakery is good at pretty much everything they do. That includes sorbets, which are dense and creamy and come in flavors like green apple and raspberry. Our tip? Top your scoop with baby meringues for a dollar extra.

Osteria Morini (SoHo): Not a surprise, but the gelato here is made in the true Italian style. That means big flavors which taste just like their ingredients. Get the apricot if you can. Pro tip: you can walk in, get gelato in a to-go cup, and walk right out, no meal required.

Soft serve at Big Gay Ice Cream [Photograph: Max Falkowitz]

Big Gay Ice Cream (East Village, West Village): We've liked BGIC since they were a one truck operation. At their two brick and mortar stores, you can get all their fantastically named treats, including the popular Salty Pimp (vanilla ice cream, dulce de leche, sea salt, chocolate dip). Our tip? Try the homemade soft serve. It beats the pants off Mr. Softee (does Mr. Softee wear pants?)

Nicoletta:(East Village): We'll take a pass on the pizza here, but the housemade soft serve, which you can order to go, is some good stuff, fresh and buttery.

Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria (East Village): Some of our favorite gelato in the city, the scoops here are more plush and fluffy than dense, with powerful flavors. The fan favorite is salted caramel, but if you're looking for a lighter sorbetti, they excel at those as well.

Sundaes & Cones (East Village): Best known for their Asian ice cream flavors, and for good reason; they're excellent. Try deep green matcha, red bean, lush taro, and deliciously intense black sesame seed ice cream.

Soft Serve Sundae at ChikaLicious Dessert Club [Photograph: Carey Jones]

Dessert Club Chikalicious (East Village): Famous for their vanilla bean soft serve, but feel free to indulge in the sundaes, which really take things up a notch.

Eataly (Flatiron): The gelato here is pricey but very generously portioned. Fluffy, buttery, and rich, it's bigger and bolder than most of New York's gelato, though also a little subdued in flavor. So stick to clean, simple flavors like fior di latte or the excellently creamy lemon sorbet for best results.

A. B. Biagi (Nolita): The ice cream, which is made on-site in a tiny kitchen in the back of the scoop shop, comes in classic flavors like pistachio and straciatella, but also less conventional spins like goat cheese-orange-and-anise or white chocolate-bergamot. They're all buttery and rich but still very clean—leaner than L'Arte's super-creamy gelato but denser than Il Laboratorio or Il Buco.

Victory Garden (West Village): Ever wanted to try goat milk soft serve? This is your place. We like it for its crisp, light texture and Eastern Mediterranean flavors (ex: the Malhlab-Mastic, which is made from sour cherry pits and mastic resin). Oh, and if they're serving Dondurma, get some. It's a chewy (and we really mean chewy) Turkish ice cream that's worth trying.

L'Arte del Gelato [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

L'arte del Gelato/Dolce Gelateria (Multiple Locations): The ultra-rich gelato here is incredible and shouldn't be missed. Our favorite flavors? Pistachio, panna cotta, ginger, rice pudding, or olive oil; we could go on, but there's no need as it seems they can do no wrong.

Grom (West Village): This Turin-based chain may have locations all over the world but they've kept the quality high. You'll find the gelato has bright, vivid flavors and a classically smooth and silky texture. Fans of Nutella will like the Bacio, which combines hazelnuts with Venezuelan "Ocumare" chocolate.

Amorino Gelato (West Village): This Paris-based chain serves good gelato, but we think their sorbetti might be even better. Get a couple of the fruit-forward flavors and ask for it in their trademark flower-petal shape.

Otto (West Village): We're not shy about sidling up to the bar and just ordering some gelato, or better yet, Meredith Kurtzman's olive oil coppetta, which takes a base of stunningly good olive oil gelato and adds fresh sorbet, citrus curd, candied fruit, and some cookies for a more adult take on a sundae. Also look for the Otto gelato cart, which parks itself in Washington Square Park.

Cones (West Village): With a lot of local competition, this Argentinian gelato shop isn't always at the top of our list. Still, the Argentinian flavors like yerba mate and dulce de leche are solid and the corn gelato is surprisingly awesome.

Cafe Cluny Ice Cream Cart (West Village): If you're out for a stroll near the corner of West 12th and West 4th Streets, this little cart is worth a stop. For its resemblance to banana pudding, the Banana-nilla wafer ice cream is our pick.

Blueberry and Ginger Ice Creams at Ronnybrook Milk Bar [Photograph: Max Falkowitz]

Ronnybrook Milk Bar (Chelsea) : This farm store in Chelsea Market has some of the most dairy-forward ice cream we've had in New York. It has an almost elastic chew like a lot of New England's frozen treats.

Shake Shack (Multiple Locations): With or without the hype and the lines, the frozen custard at Shake Shack is pretty awesome; thick, satisfying, and sweet. Flavors change monthly.

La Maison du Chocolat (Midtown East): There aren't a ton of options for frozen sweets in this part of town, but if you're there in the summer, you at least have La Maison du Chocolat. Their limited selection of ice cream and sorbets runs on the rich side, but it does the trick.

Je and Jo (Midtown West/Hell's Kitchen): A good choice for an otherwise ice-cream strapped neighborhood, this shop makes all its flavors in house. Their signature move is to tuck a piece of homemade, egg-free cookie dough in the center of every cup.

Emack and Bolio's (Multiple Locations): E&B's isn't doing anything remarkable, but it's holding it down as a typical suburban-style scoop shop. By that we mean nothing fancy, a lot of add-ins, and good for those times where what you're really interested in is the pure fun of getting a cone.

Brooklyn

Chorizo Caramel at Odd Fellows [Photograph: Max Falkowitz]

Odd Fellows (Williamsburg): Unique flavors like cornbread and chorizo caramel join conventional vanilla and chocolate at this retro ice cream parlor from Mohan and Holiday Kumar and wd~50 pastry vet Sam Mason.

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory (Dumbo): This waterfront scoop shop has a limited menu that features classics like chocolate, coffee, strawberry, and butter pecan. Our tip? Take a cone to go—the views from the Brooklyn promenade can't be beat.

Ample Hills Creamery (Prospect Heights): You could probably say we like this place, as evidenced by that time we ate all the ice cream they serve. The scoops have a good texture and the salty, smoky, bitter Salted Crack Caramel flavor is an SE favorite. Flavors rotate often, but luckily that's a mainstay on the menu.

Blue Marble (Prospect Heights, Cobble Hill): The high butterfat content of the scoops here ensures a super creamy texture, but the flavors stay bright. Our favorite scoop? Probably the strawberry (they use use nine pounds of real strawberries in every two-gallon tub). We also like that their soft serve comes in interesting flavors like Vietnamese cinnamon.

SkyIce Sweet & Savory (Park Slope): You might not expect great things from a place that doubles as a Thai restaurant slash ice cream parlor, but the frozen treats here are legitimate. They even manage to pull off flavors like Black sesame with seaweed, though the Thai Tea is hard to beat.

Culture (Park Slope): Low fat yogurt is pasteurized in-house to make this tart yet smooth frozen yogurt. Try topping your cup with the strawberry balsamic sauce.

Vanilla Chocolate Chunk Gelato on Brownies from Bierkraft [Photograph: Kathy YL Chan]

Bierkraft (Park Slope): Come for the beer (both by the bottle and on tap) but don't leave without the gelato sandwiches made from Il Laboratorio gelato and Bierkraft's own fudgy chocolate brownies.

Sweet Dynasty (Sunset Park): A specialist in Asian flavors like black sesame (great) and durian (caveat emptor). Perfect for post-dim sum refreshment.

Hinsch's (Bay Ridge): A favorite diner and soda fountain among locals, and a proud keeper of the old scoop shop flame.

Anopoli (Bay Ridge): Dark wood accents, stained glass, and cute tiled floors send us back to this soda fountain more than the ice cream itself. But it's a charming place to share a sundae with friends.

Queens

Sundae at Eddie's Sweet Shop [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Eddie's Sweet Shop(Forest Hills) : Incredibly charming soda fountain that hasn't changed in decades with a knack for great sundaes. The thick, gooey hot fudge and marshmallow sauces are essential to your order; milk shakes are great, too. The vintage decor and ambiance alone makes this place worth a visit.

Max and Mina's (Kew Gardens Hills): Crazy flavors like sweet corn and lox are what this scoop shop is known for, but the best ice creams are the sweeter, chunkier scoops like chocolate cookie dough.

Malu (Long Island City): While not best-in-class ice cream, Malu serves Long Island City with creative and conventional flavors. Sweet, chunky ice creams are your best bet here too.

Trucks

Coolhaus Truck [Photograph: Christine Fan]

Itizy: This truck focuses on Midtown during afternoon hours and hits a mix of downtown, Morningside Heights, Tribeca, and Williamsburg in the evenings. The ice cream is made in small batches with cream from Hudson Valley cooperatives and without stabilizers—which means it's fresh; and it tastes that way.

Coolhaus: Oversized ice cream sandwiches that manage to nail the texture of both the cookie (chewy yet soft) and the ice cream (fluffy but not melty). The list of flavor combinations is long, so check out their daily offerings on Twitter.

The cocktail resurgence has hit Paris big-time (and it’s hit me too), and the team who created Candelaria and Glass, two of my favorite places in Paris, have another hit on their hands with Le Mary Celeste. This corner bar in the Marais is named after a ship in the nineteenth century that left New York and was later found adrift and abandoned. No one ever found out what happened to the crew, who left all their personal belongings and valuables behind, but the boat was also found fully stocked with barrels of alcohol.

I don’t think many – or any – of those barrels landed in Paris, although there is no shortage of things to drink around here. Wine has historically been the drink of choice, although beer seems to have overtaken les vins in popularity judging from all the young people drinking pints in cafés. But gaining traction are cocktails of quality.

Continue Reading Le Mary Celeste...

Last night, at the invitation of the Rev. Al Sharpton, five Democrats running for mayor—Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Comptroller John Liu, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former Comptroller Bill Thompson and former Congressman Anthony Weiner—stayed in apartments at the Lincoln Houses, an upper Manhattan NYC Housing Authority complex. Welcomed to live beside residents, the candidates brought sleeping bags to sleep on couches or air mattress in homes with festering mold, no air conditioning, and partly gutted kitchens. They stayed with a host family, and took a tour of the complex to get a first-hand look at issues affecting lives of public housing residents, including mold on the ceiling and holes in the walls. When they emerged this morning, the candidates were aghast at the conditions. [ more › ]

Inspired by Japanese bento boxes and the usefulness of glass canning jars, BNTO (ben-toh) is a new food storage solution from the creators of Cuppow. Made from food-grade polypropylene, BNTO is designed to fit tightly under the standard metal lid of a wide mouth canning jar, dividing it into two compartments.

More

UPDATE: This story was originally published on July 17.

With constant talk of weekend getaways and city escapes, summer has us convinced that we’ve always been the outdoorsy type. Yes, seeing as though we’re substituting perpetual subway commutes with oxygen-nutrient saunters, demanding patio seating at our favorite lunch spots, and swearing by rooftop nightlife, we’re obviously terrestrial beings — right? All this delusion that we’re suddenly off the grid has us wondering if there’s any way to actually get in touch with Mama Nature...as New Yorkers, that is.

It goes without saying that hopelessly wandering the city for truly ventilated terrain can feel, well, hopeless. Central Park is to nature as kitten is to heel; it’s almost there, but not quite. But, lucky for us, right outside of Manhattan are some of the most awe-inspiring places to grab a breath of real fresh air. Understandably, not all of us are Mount Everest ready. So, we’ve tailored our sanctuary finds to fit the needs of the vegetating and the vagabond alike to guarantee that we can all get our enviro-fix before falling back into arctic hibernation.

Photo: Jerry L. Thompson; Courtesy of Storm King Art Center.

View the slideshow

A few days after I published the post about my magic sauce, I realized I had all the ingredients to try and reproduce the dish that inspired it in the first place: Haan Palcu-Chang's* roasted cauliflower served cool with cilantro, toasted hazelnuts, and a dressing similar to said magic sauce, a small plate I had at the fabulous Paris raw bar Le Mary Celeste, which, if you're curious, is named after a mysterious ghost ship.

It was so toe-curlingly good that I thought it merited a post all its own, to make certain nobody missed this game-changing way of serving and eating cauliflower. Back at Mary Celeste, I'd had to break the consensus rule to order it from the day's menu because Maxence isn't a cauliflower fan, yet even he had to admit it was stellar.

One quick note about roasting cauliflower. After quite a number of recent batches -- what can I say, I've been obsessed with roasted cauliflower -- I have found the trick is to push it to the point where the edges of the florets start to turn quite dark (see photo below).

The moment when you think "Uh oh, I think I've left it in for too long" is, in fact, the perfect moment to take it out. That's when the full range of flavors reveals itself, and when you get that satisfying mix of tender and crisp.

And while we're tuned in to the cauliflower advice channel, I recommend that you judge your head of cauliflower by the vitality of its outer ribs and leaves: not only is this an unmistakeable sign of freshness, but you can also chop those ribs and leaves finely to use in a stir-fry, and get an additional portion of vegetables for the exact! same! price!

I wrote "Serves 2 to 4" in the recipe because it's a fantastic picnic item and it would seem unreasonable for me to suggest you'll eat the entire batch for lunch, but you may want to taste it before you decide whether or not you want to share.

* Read a little more about the chef in this recent profile.

Continue reading "Roasted Cauliflower à la Mary Celeste"
View comments

Copyright Clotilde Dusoulier © 2003-2012. This feed is for personal enjoyment only, and not for republication.
If you are not reading this in a news aggregator, the site you are viewing is guilty of copyright infringement. Please alert Clotilde Dusoulier.

From Serious Eats: New York

[Photographs: Andrea Kang]

Among the recently renovated Chelsea Market's lunch options is the newcomer Los Tacos No. 1, a small stall owned by three friends looking to make real-deal tacos for New Yorkers. You may be skeptical about a Chelsea Market taco stand, and we were too, but after trying most of the menu (gulps of horchata included), you can color us impressed.

At Los Tacos No. 1 there is a two-line system: first pay, then submit your order to the cooks. While the first line moves fairly quickly, the busier second "line" takes some time—the "line" is really just a free-for-all where the pushier customers win. If there aren't many people, the wait is five to ten minutes; if there is a crowd, good luck. But once your order's in, you can customize your meal down to the type of tortilla—corn or flour. Also at the counter are stone bowls holding limes, grilled jalapeños and scallions, salsa verde, and other condiments.

The tacos ($2.50 to $3.50 depending on filling) and quesadillas ($3.50 to $4.50) come piping hot, and though small in size they're filled to the brim. Once we started digging in, it was obvious why the lines were so long. These guys do tacos right.

Hand-made tortillas have a large factor in this—here they have a delicate corn flavor, tender, fluffy texture and are just thick enough that they don't have to be double layered. The pico de gallo is fresh with a balanced touch of cilantro, and the salsa packs substantial heat. But the stall's signature is the smooth guacamole, light and creamy, as spreadable as the salsa.

From left to right: Nopal, carne asada, and pollo asado tacos.

The carne asada is tender and well-seasoned, but most importantly, the cooks leave it on the flat top long enough to develop real smoky char. The pollo asado, cut into small chunks, is juicy and flavorful. The nopal, or grilled cactus paddle is the weakest of the bunch, bland, a little slimy, and not much smoky flavor.

Adobada taco.

Our favorite is the bright cherry red adobada (marinated pork), which is nicely charred from its long turn on the spit, slightly sweet, and full of a gentle, vinegary heat.

Adobada quesadilla.

The quesadillas hold up well to the tacos. In our pork version there's a layer of crispy cheese lining one side, topped with smoky abodaba, melted cheese, fresh cilantro, pico de gallo, salsa, smooth guacamole, and slivers of juicy, sweet pineapple. It's a complex, balanced quesadilla, a far cry from gooey cheese-stuffed American attempts.

Guacamole and chips.

If you are looking for a more substantial meal, order the guac and chips as well. The corn chips come in wide triangles generously piled into a white wax paper bag. They are thin but sturdy with a great, satisfying crunch and corn flavor. The chips are salted and seasoned well, with a slight spice, and the guacamole is barely chunky with small chopped tomatoes and a little cilantro.

Horchata.

To finish off, order an ice-cold horchata. With a mild rice flavor and subtle cinnamon undertones, the drink is refreshing, creamy and not too sweet. The horchata here is thin, but not watery, and it finishes with a pleasant milkiness.

The only trouble is the wait. Go before or after peak lunch hours to avoid long lines, and park yourself by the windows to eat your meal right away—these tacos aren't made to wait long.

About the author: Andrea Kang is a rising senior magazine journalism student at Northwestern University. She is the editor in chief of Spoon Magazine, Northwestern's campus food publication, and loves to blog about her food adventures at The Sunny-Side Up Kitchen.

As WordPress would have me say, hello world! Chloe here, reporting to duty – refreshed, bronzed and ready to take on the blogosphere. I just returned from a fantastic journey down the 1 beginning in San Francisco and ending in San Diego, with plenty of scenic (and tasty) pit-stops along the way. Not only was I soaking in the sunny skies in Big Sur and hugging many-a-redwood, but I was traveling with two of my most spectacular girlfriends. Sometimes all you need is the winding road in front of you, laughter dancing in the wind, and the sand between your toes (or in the case of Marnie, all over your body). Here I share with you some film candids from my adventure. (Yes, I am rediscovering the beauty of film with my Canon Rebel 35mm.)

When thoughts of founding my own blog first surfaced, so did a desire to explore the art of film. Although I experimented shooting and developing in my younger years, I lost interest when drunken college candids took the stage. Don’t get me wrong. I love reminiscing my college days, and I love that such silly moments were captured (well, at least SOME of them). I was just rarely the one actually facilitating the photo; I became a subject, only. When Instagram was born, however, something switched inside of my head; I began once again noticing the details, the details that so often escape us. I felt excited to capture these fleeting moments – a pretty landscape, a reunion with good friends – even the seemingly mundane aspects of my everyday. Instagram has seen such success because it provides the photographer with the ability to manipulate photos, to apply filters that render images real and raw. The overall aesthetic of instagram filters and the candid nature of the app reminds me of film, and it has inspired me to reconnect with a good ol’ 35mm.

Bear with me (and my photos) as clickclackchloe kicks into full gear. This is all a learning process, and I look forward to sharing all of the nitty gritty details.

This blog will feature both film and digital photos. Let’s be real here – the immediate gratification of shooting digitally is unparalleled!

Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis says Gov. Rick Perry and other powerful state politicians have ignored real Texans for too long, but real Texans aren't afraid of a good fight.

From Serious Eats: New York

VIEW SLIDESHOW: Where to Eat Chinese Food in New York City

Editor's Note: There's never been a better time to eat Chinese food in New York, so here's our comprehensive-but-selective guide to it all: the good, the great, and the decent, all to help you find the best Chinese food across the boroughs. Listings are grouped by restaurant specialty and neighborhood; you can find a map with them all at the bottom of this post. Know about something we missed? Tell us in the comments below, or send your tips to nyeditor@seriouseats.com—we'll update this post as we expand our restaurant coverage. Want to head straight to some food porn instead? Hit up the slideshow above. — M.F.

Sit-Down Restaurants

Scallion pancakes at Legend. [Photograph: Max Falkowitz]

Legend (Chelsea): One of the best options for Sichuan food in Manhattan. The deeply flavorful dishes don't let up on the heat; we're big fans of the Tears in Eyes and Chonqing chicken.

Grand Sichuan (Chelsea and Elsewhere): Hardly the best Sichuan in New York, but it does in a pinch, and we'll admit it: we like our gloppy Chinese food every once in a while, and Grand Sichuan does it pretty well.

Shanghai Cafe (Chinatown): A standout ambassador for Cantonese in Chinatown, and understandably popular. Home to our favorite soup dumplings in Chinatown, and with plenty of other good eating, too.

Shanghai 456 (Chinatown): Tasty Shanghai-style cooking in a clean and bright space. The lunch specials are a particularly good deal.

Amazing 66 (Chinatown): You'll find all the Chinese classics here, mostly prepared well, but also some innovations like pastrami shrimp fried rice.

Great NY Noodletown (Chinatown): One of the few restaurants in Chinatown that's open late, and something of a neighborhood icon. On a good day it's in the running for best roast pork in the entire city. The noodle dishes aren't half bad, either.

Red Egg (Chinatown): Order your dim sum off a menu instead of from a cart at this squeaky clean joint. It's more expensive than the other dim sum spots here, but the food is much more fresh and full-flavored.

Rice cakes at Shanghai Asian Cuisine. [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Shanghai Asian Cuisine (Chinatown): A good lunch place in a sea of restaurants in Chinatown; the rice cakes are done particularly well.

Wild Ginger (Chinatown): A restaurant for vegans who aren't crazy about faux meat. Dishes like Moo-Shu Vegetables are satisfying and not too heavy.

Hot Kitchen (East Village): Not the best Sichuan in New York, but it's your best bet in the East Village. Shredded beef with spicy green peppers is one of the better options on the menu.

Grand Sichuan (East Village and Elsewhere): Hardly the best Sichuan in New York, but it does in a pinch, and we'll admit it: we like our gloppy Chinese food every once in a while, and Grand Sichuan does it pretty well.

Gu Shine (Flushing): A suitable ambassador for Taiwanese cooking in the heart of Flushing. Yup, they do stinky tofu, and they do it well.

Fu Run (Flushing): One of New York's best northern Chinese restaurant. The flagship dish, the braised, spice-crusted, battered, and deep fried Muslim Lamb Chop is a Flushing must.

Hunan House (Flushing): A real-deal Hunan restaurant that is not shy about offering fish stomach, offal, and pig ears.

Lao Cheng Du (Flushing): A home for spirited, seriously spicy Sichuan with a home cook's edge. The Diced Rabbit with Red Chili Sauce and Spicy Chicken with Hot Pepper are big hits, but so is most of the menu.

Biang! (Flushing): The flagship restaurant of the Xi'an Famous Foods empire, with all the spicy noodles and salads you know and love plus a range of other great dishes that show off the range of Xi'an's cooking. The menu tops out at $15, and the clean, modern design makes this one of Flushing's more interesting restaurants.

Little Pepper (Flushing): An iconic Sichuan spot off Flushing's main avenues over in College Point, but it's worth the hike, especially if you're into offal.

Braised beef rolls at Yunnan Kitchen. [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Yunnan Kitchen (Lower East Side): One of New York's only Yunnan restaurants, albeit with a modernized, Western spin. That means the flavors are a little toned down, but they still deliver.

Mission Chinese Food (Lower East Side): This San Francisco import is one of New York's most fascinating Chinese restaurants, in the full spirit of Sichuan cooking but gleefully inauthentic. The waits are long, and the space is cramped, but good service and dishes like kung pao pastrami speak for themselves.

Congee Village and Bowery (Lower East Side): Both restaurants offer a range of Chinese classics, but their specialty is congee, and that's what you should stick to. It's served in a ceramic casserole, creamy and soothing after a rough Lower East Side night.

Grand Sichuan (Midtown East and Elsewhere): Hardly the best Sichuan in New York, but it does in a pinch, and we'll admit it: we like our gloppy Chinese food every once in a while, and Grand Sichuan does it pretty well.

Café China (Midtown East): Our vote for the best Sichuan in midtown, and in the city, for that matter. The clean, well-designed space is several steps above your average New York Chinese restaurant.

Land of Plenty (Midtown East): Another good Sichuan spot, and a little upscale, but dishes like smoky wok-tossed diced chicken with thousand crispy chili and peanuts deliver on intense heat.

Grand Sichuan (Midtown West and Elsewhere): Hardly the best Sichuan in New York, but it does in a pinch, and we'll admit it: we like our gloppy Chinese food every once in a while, and Grand Sichuan does it pretty well.

Szechuan Gourmet (Midtown West): One of Midtown's (and Manhattan's) best Sichuan restaurants. Twice-cooked pork is nice here, as is the crispy lamb with cumin.

Grand Sichuan (Murray Hill and Elsewhere): Hardly the best Sichuan in New York, but it does in a pinch, and we'll admit it: we like our gloppy Chinese food every once in a while, and Grand Sichuan does it pretty well.

Legend (Upper West Side): This Sichuan restaurant isn't as good as the Chelsea original, but it's a boon to the neighborhood, and the subtler, less spicy dishes have plenty going for them.

Grand Sichuan (Upper West Side and Elsewhere): Hardly the best Sichuan in New York, but it does in a pinch, and we'll admit it: we like our gloppy Chinese food every once in a while, and Grand Sichuan does it pretty well.

RedFarm (West Village): This Hudson Street establishment provides Chinese-American deliciousness that is hard to come by in NYC. The Spicy Crispy Beef is a great example of what this place aims for.

Grand Sichuan (West Village and Elsewhere): Hardly the best Sichuan in New York, but it does in a pinch, and we'll admit it: we like our gloppy Chinese food every once in a while, and Grand Sichuan does it pretty well.

Dim Sum

Dim sum at 88 Palace. [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

88 Palace (Chinatown): Our favorite dim sum in Chinatown. It has plenty of variety, high quality, and bargain basement prices.

Jing Fong (Chinatown): A truly massive dim sum house, popular with tourists and brunchers. The food tends towards greasy, but it's satisfying all the same, and the scene can't be beat.

Nom Wah Tea Parlor (Chinatown): New York's oldest dim sum restaurant got a facelift some years ago, leading to much better food at very cheap prices. While the a la carte dim sum is mostly good, the steamed rice rolls are killer.

Vegetarian Dim Sum House (Chinatown): Not the best dim sum in town, but for vegetarians who dig faux meat, it's a more than satisfying recreation of the dim sum experience.

Stir fried turnip cake with duck at Reg Egg. [Photograph: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]

Red Egg (Chinatown): Order your dim sum off a menu instead of from a cart at this squeaky clean joint. It's more expensive than the other dim sum spots here, but the food is much more fresh and full-flavored.

Dim Sum Go Go (Chinatown): Another a la carte dim sum spot. The fried dishes are the way to go here.

Asian Jewels (Flushing):Also known as Ocean Jewel, this cavernous restaurant is very popular for brunch, so be prepared to line up at peak hours. The dim sum isn't as good as it used to be, it's still a decent option in Flushing.

Diverse Dim Sum (Flushing): Dim sum in a mall food court? Yup, and most of it's good. Small, intensely flavored soup dumplings are the star here.

East Ocean Palace (Forest Hills): Not just the best dim sum in Forest Hills (not much competition there), but some of the best in Queens. The menu boasts some unique dishes like fried rice balls stuffed with crab meat.

Pacificana (Sunset Park): Some of New York's best dim sum, a definite highlight of Sunset Park's Chinatown.

New Spring Garden (Sunset Park): The dim sum is inconsistent here, but delicious on its good days. Steamed rice rolls are the best of the offerings.

Dumplings

Fried pork dumplings from Tasty Dumpling. [Photograph: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]

Tasty Dumpling (Chinatown): Some of our favorite fried dumplings in Chinatown, $1.25 for five incredibly juicy potstickers that are usually fried to order.

Lam Zhou (Chinatown): This Fujianese hole in the wall makes especially juicy pork dumplings, some of Chinatown's best, though the hand-pulled noodles are a tad overcooked.

Super Taste (Chinatown): Another Fujianese restaurant, more of a noodle shop, but their steamed pork and chive dumplings don't disappoint, a good option if you want to avoid fried versions.

Yoz Shanghai (Flushing): This Golden Shopping Mall stall does a number of deadlines, most of them not very well. But their boiled pork and leek dumplings are worth seeking out: juicy, clean-tasting, and absolutely full of aromatic greenery.

My Sweet Home Dumpling (Flushing): The pork and chive dumplings here are always fresh, since they'll only start rolling dough for your batch once you order. The resulting skins are pleasantly chewy but thin, and the filling is fresh and clean-tasting.

Pork and fennel dumplings at Best North Dumpling. [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Best North Dumpling (Flushing): This small shop in a narrow mall offers chewy-skinned pork and dill dumplings (the menu calls it "fennel") that are full of bright, herbal flavors.

White Bear (Flushing): A Flushing legend for their wontons in hot oil, delicate pork wontons topped with a mild chili oil, roasted chilies, and preserved mustard root. Another Flushing must.

Sifu Chio (Flushing): This restaurant specializes in wontons and noodle soup; their wonton noodle soup combo is one of the best in New York. Their pork and shrimp wontons are fat, juicy, and well flavored.

Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao (Flushing): A soup dumpling specialist with some of the better xiao long bao in New York. The rest of the menu is mostly filler, though the cold appetizer counter has some good options.

Tianjin Dumpling House (Flushing): Possibly the best dumplings in New York, if for their hearty vegetarian and delicate, self-saucing lamb and green squash dumplings. Other dumpling offerings, like pork, shrimp, and chive, or beef and turnip, are also great, if not on the same transcendental level.

Chinese-Korean Noodles and Dumpling (Flushing): One of the best vendors left in the Flushing Mall; their thick, hearty boiled "three kinds dumpling" (pork, shrimp, and chive) in chili dipping sauce is the star.

Sliced Noodles (Flushing): This is a noodle shop in Flushing's glitzy New World Mall, but the real winner is the incredibly juicy pork and leek potstickers. Starch falls off the dumplings' skins during steaming and fries into a lacy, crisp sheet, which binds all the dumplings together on one plate.

Lao Wang Ji (Flushing): They don't speak much English at this Golden Shopping Mall stall, so be clear with your order: you want small wantons in soup, a Fujianese specialty of wispy pork wontons in a rich chicken broth.

Noodles

Noodles at Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles. [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles (Chinatown): One of our favorite hand-pulled noodle spots in Chinatown. You can order your noodles by thickness a nice customizable touch; we'd recommend getting them stir fried rather than in soup.

Spicy Village (Chinatown): Problem: the thick, bouncy hand-pulled noodles at this Henan shop are great, but most of the broths leave something to be desired. Solution: order them on top of the Big Tray of Chicken, a saucy, spicy stew of chicken wings and thighs with potatoes and star anise.

Xi'an Famous Foods (Chinatown and Elsewhere): Though the lamb and pork burgers are something special, the shop's uniquely thick hand-pulled noodles with lamb and a ton of cumin are a citywide favorite.

Sheng Wang (Chinatown): Hole in the wall Fujianese noodle shop that makes some of Chinatown's best hand-pulled noodles.

Roast duck noodles at New Hon Won. [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

New Hon Won (Chinatown): Rice noodles like chow fun are cheap and especially well done here. (The congee's good, too.)

Xi'an Famous Foods (East Village and Elsewhere): Though the lamb and pork burgers are something special, the shop's uniquely thick hand-pulled noodles with lamb and a ton of cumin are a citywide favorite.

Lao Bei Fang (Elmhurst): This hand-pulled noodle specialist has a bonus treat for offal lovers: a bowl of soup noodles with some enormous marrow bones.

Uncle Zhou (Elmhurst): This Elmhurst noodle shop is better suited to thicker knife-cut noodles.

Nutritious Lamb Noodles (Flushing): Another Henan noodle shop, this one in the Golden Shopping Mall. It specializes in gamey broth with tender lamb.

Xi'an Famous Foods (Flushing and Elsewhere): Though the lamb and pork burgers are something special, the shop's uniquely thick hand-pulled noodles with lamb and a ton of cumin are a citywide favorite.

Biang! (Flushing): Noodles in the same vein as Xi'an, but in a nicer setting. The flagship of the Xi'an Famous Foods empire.

Lan Zhou (Flushing): Hand-pulled noodle vendor in the Golden Shopping Mall. The cold noodles with cucumber are especially nice.

Xi'an Famous Foods (Midtown West and Elsewhere): Though the lamb and pork burgers are something special, the shop's uniquely thick hand-pulled noodles with lamb and a ton of cumin are a citywide favorite.

Yun Nan Flavor Snack (Sunset Park): New York's only traditional Yunnan restaurant, a small, cash-only shop with some great cheap finds, like rice noodles with crispy meat sauce.

Noodle Village(Chinatown): A small shop that does a serious wonton noodle soup. If you order it to go, the restaurant will pack the noodles separately so they don't get soggy.

Snacks and Misc. Specialties

Roast pork from Big Wong King. [Photograph: Max Falkowitz]

Big Wong King (Chinatown): Though the menu is spotty, the roast pork and roast duck are among the best in Chinatown.

Peking Duck House (Chinatown): A spot for, you guessed it, Peking duck that's worth the splurge.

Excellent Pork Chop House (Chinatown): Not surprisingly, pork chops are the name of the game, done quite well here.

Hua Ji Pork Chop Fast Food (Chinatown): Or get your pork chops Taiwanese-style.

Golden Steamer (Chinatown): Chinatown's best steamed buns. Pork and vegetable and char siu roast pork are highlights.

Sun Hing Lung Co (Chinatown): Excellent resh tofu available from the morning to 4 p.m. or so. It's especially vegetal and soy bean-y, as is the creamy soy milk. The small shop has a counter at the front that sells steamed rice rolls, which are some of the best you'll find in a stryofoam container.

New Beef King (Chinatown): Chinese-style Jerky that comes in thin leathery strips and larger, juicier chunks. Flavors range from sweet to spicy; we're fans of the curry beef chunks in particular.

212 Grand Food Corp (Chinatown): A jack of all trades shop that makes delightfully greasy crullers (you tiao) and a satisfying mess of greens.

Stir fried rice rolls from Mei LI Wah. [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Mei Li Wah (Chinatown): This bakery and cafe is best known for its roast pork buns, which we think have gone downhill. But the rice rolls and congee are still worth a visit.

Xin Jiang Prosperity Kebab (Chinatown): A standout kebab cart in Chinatown, with everything from chicken to squid on skewers. But it's the chili- and cumin-dusted lamb kebabs that draw the crowds here.

Vanessa's Dumpling House (Chinatown and Elsewhere): We're not crazy about their dumplings, but their crisp, almost doughnutty sesame pancake sandwiches may be the best in town.

Rice Roll Carts (Chinatown) Two rice roll carts occupy the northern corners of Elizabeth and Hester Streets in Chinatown. Both charge $1.25 for a freshly steamed rice roll, a great breakfast (or lunch).

Soy Bean Chen (Flushing): This florist has a window up front that sells creamy, custardy fresh tofu with your choice of sweet or spicy toppings. We prefer the latter.

Corner 28 (Flushing): Look for a small window near the front entrance of this mini food court. There you can find steaming-hot Peking duck buns, sold for a dollar each. They go a little heavy on the hoisin, but for crisp-skinned Peking duck it's a great deal, even by Flushing standards.

XSG Dumpling House (Sunset Park): Dumplings are in the name, but the real winner is the amply stuffed crisp sesame pancake.

Vanessa's Dumpling House (Williamsburg and Elsewhere): We're not crazy about their dumplings, but their crisp, almost doughnutty sesame pancake sandwiches may be the best in town.

Sweets and Tea

Mochi with black sesame paste at Yat Yat Sweet. [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Yat Yat Sweet (Bath Beach): A destination for Hong Kong-style tong sui desserts like black sesame paste, red bean rice balls, and warming sweet ginger soups.

Bread Talk (Chinatown): Chinese bakery that's home to our favorite egg custard tart in the neighborhood.

Kam Hing Coffee Shop (Chinatown): The coffee's whatever, but for 70 cents you get a perfect steamed sponge cake, light and fresh and warm. Go early before they sell out.

Sun's Organic Tea Shop (Chinatown): The best loose leaf tea shop in Chinatown with a focus on green, oolong, and herbal teas. They also do some healthy takes on bubble tea.

Teado (Chinatown): Some of the best milk and bubble tea around from a tiny shop. The high quality tea is brewed perfectly, and they let you fine-tune your sweetness levels before committing to a full cup. If you're looking for something more weighty, try a cup of herbal jelly with tapioca, a mix of beans and grass jelly that's not too sweet.

Golden Steamer (Chinatown): Chinatown's best steamed buns. The salted egg yolk and pumpkin buns) for 70 cents each are great.

Express Tea Shop (Golden Shopping Mall) (Flushing): Though they offer an array of interesting desserts, the osmanthus jelly wins out.

New Flushing Bakery (Flushing): While the bakery as a whole is just alright, the Portuguese egg custard tarts are incredible—light and creamy with deep vanilla flavor and a shatter-crisp crust.

Fang Gourmet Tea (Flushing): Hands-down the best source for Taiwanese tea in New York City. While the teas are expensive, a tea tasting ceremony costs just a few bucks. A can't-miss Flushing experience.

Hot Pot

Broth at Mister Hot Pot. [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Hou Yi (Chinatown): You pay a fixed rate for two hours of all you can eat hot pot with intensely flavored broths and plenty of dip-ins. Be careful with that spicy broth—it's not joking.

Little Sheep (Flushing): Sure, it's an international chain, but it gets all the essentials of hot pot right. We recommend ordering your broth half-spicy, half-mild.

Mister Hotpot (Sunset Park): Excellent hot pot in Brooklyn's Chinatown. The mild broth is a must-order, rich with marrow for something almost as creamy as ramen broth.

Shopping Mall Food Courts

Golden Shopping Mall. [Photograph: Max Falkowitz]

Golden Shopping Mall (Flushing): The city's must-visit Chinese food court destination, a cramped, frenetic two-floor space with vendors from all over China. Take a full tour here.

Flushing Mall (Flushing): This food court is fast emptying out, but it's still home to some standout vendors like Diverse Dim Sum and Chinese-Korean Noodles and Dumpling.

New World Mall (Flushing): Massive, energetic food court popular with Flushing's younger eaters. Stalls are more glitzy here, and while we don't love everything, a few stand out well, like Sliced Noodles.

From the Kitchn → How To Make a Pie from Start to Finish

More

From our door to Paris with one layover, we had about 14 hours of travel time. I'm a multiple mini-meals lady, so one cardboard box of vegetarian mush on the flight over wasn't going to cut it for the whole stretch. Per request, I wanted to share a typical travel snack pack. I keep a few things in mind when packing food for the road/air. Bear with the stream of consciousness.

First off, food will likely be at room temperature for a few hours so choose items that are alright to be out awhile. This covers most vegetarian options, but worth saying. Those foods should have a good constitution - greens that hold up dressed, like kale or a broccoli salad, rice or noodle bowls packed with vegetables and sauce, wraps or sandwiches with lots of crunchy items inside. I try to keep the choices lower in salt (planes keep you puffy as is). While I am all about reusuable containers on a normal basis, storing food in plastic bags or disposable containers (I steal these from salad bars and tuck them away for circumstances like this) are easiest here. Something you don't mind throwing away or recycling. Lastly, bring an empty reusable water bottle and fill it up past the security check. Sure you get water on the plane, but I like to drink more than that wimpy cupfull once or twice a flight. It's nice to have throughout the trip as well. I loved Sarah of My New Roots recent post about travel foods too. It reminded me that I forgot to make these peanut butter bites.

This likely sounds high maintenance to a few of you, but it is totally worth the few moments of planning ahead to have fresh, light food while traveling. I went to bed at 2am the night prior but at least I had good snacks! Hugh would never take the time to pack food, but appreciates it greatly when the pretzels and peanuts have worn their welcome. Minimal bit of time invested, big reward.

My backpack full of snacks:

kale salad: chopped lacinato kale, hard boiled eggs, parmesan, thinly sliced celery and lemon vinaigrette (extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, white of a scallion, honey, salt and pepper)

summer rolls: recipe to follow

"favorite things" trail mix: roasted/salted pistachios, montmorency dried cherries, dark chocolate chips, toasted coconut flakes

maple chocolate chip cookies: I'll post this recipe eventually, good heavens. A version of these.

good greens bars: these are the emergency snack. Most "energy bars" are full of lots of soy and crap. These have the most virtuous list I've seen. Not my first choice of whole foods focused snacks, but they don't take up a lot of space and plug up hunger when you've gone through your fresh items.

sturdy fruit: apples, bananas, oranges

SPICY LENTIL SUMMER ROLLS // Makes 6

I made these the late afternoon before leaving, and everything held up fine a full day later. I did not pack a dipping sauce. As you can see my snack bag was quite full as it was, and I have had sauce taken by security (what is my life?) but a peanut sauce would be so tasty if you aren't dining on an airplane.

I made used the end of my homemade sriracha, but the bottled sort works great too. Carrots and beets were the last vegetables in my fridge, a combination of sprouts, cucumber, lettuce or sweet peppers would be great here depending what you have.

 

• 6 rice paper wraps (you can typically find these in the asian section of well stocked markets)
• 1/2 cup cilantro sprigs
• 1 1/4 cup grated carrots
• 1 1/4 cup grated beets
• 1 large avocado
• 1 1/2 cups cooked lentils
• 1-2 Tbsp. sriracha (see note above)
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
• pinch of salt

 

Set up your roll workspace. You need a large bowl of warm water and a damp dish towel to work on. Set out your cilantro, carrots, beets, avocado and in a small mixing bowl, combine the cooked lentils with siracha, sesame oil and pinch of salt. Taste and adjust heat as desired. Remember this is what flavors the entire roll.

Working one roll at a time. Put the wrap flat into the large bowl of warm water, being careful to not let it curl up, until soft, about one minute. Lay the wrap down on the dish towel. Down the center, like a burrito, layer the cilantro, small handful of the carrots and beets, a few slices of avocado and a modest 1/4 cup of the lentils. Fold over the top and bottom ends over the filling, tuck the right flap over and then roll to close. Repeat with remaining wraps.

Enjoy or if traveling, store in plastic wrap for easy transport.

We ate our last lunch of a quick trip to NYC at Carnegie Deli. There was a line outside, which I'm guessing is due to an Anthony Bourdain or Seinfield episode because I know there is better food in New York. My dad, as you'll gather from a few headnotes in our cookbook and snippets here, likes his food straight forward (although, I did bring raw chia date brownies for plane snacks and he LIKED them! Heavens to Betsy). A few days in New York for this man necessitates pretzels, pizza and a hot pastrami sandwich.

My dad was my date to the James Beard dinner in town - an event I attended hesitantly seeing this month is more travel heavy than average. Thanks to a few friends coaxing me, I knew I would regret it if I didn't make it happen - something I may get to experience once in a lifetime. We shopped around to find me a new dress, he found a bagel, I found a salad bar (and a dress!), we communicated mostly in sarcasm and jest, as my family does, and the day was really nice. That evening, I sat around a table of collegues from my publishing house, amid a room full of cookbook and journalism professionals. I was taking it in, but mostly just nervous, my legs shaking in high shoes I couldn't walk far in. I knew my odds were quite slim, but when you are the small fish in a big pond, the magnitude of the pond itself is enough to make your legs wobbly. Regardless of what is even happening in said pond, but you just swim anyway. Winners gave a little speech, think of a food version of the Acadamy Awards. It crossed my mind for a split second, what would I say if I did win? Every underdog has their chance, right? The people who build me up: My husband who had slipped a homemade card in my purse reminding me, albeit humorously, how proud he was, my mom checking in all day wanting the details, my sister responding to my dozens of picture texts helping me choose a dress, my dad who had made the trip across the country to go with me, and a complimentary and supportive publisher. I had encouraging notes and emails from long time friends and blog friends alike. You know the phrase moms say about raising children, "it takes a village"? I felt like I had my village cheering me on. You must listen to the village. Your own voice will question and doubt and make your legs wobbly, but your village has pom poms and megaphones and big red finger sponges telling you you're great. I am so thankful for my village.

A friend and I were emailing about cookbook business and she mentioned "the ubiquity of blogger cookbooks." While there is certainly a trend to it, I find that I garner a ton of wisdom and inspiration, both personally and food wise, from blogs. It is such a pleasure to see personal work all bound up in a pretty package. I am excited to be cooking out of the new book from Green Kitchen Stories, Vegetarian Everyday. It is every bit as wonderful as their site. Filled with super gorgeous vegetarian recipes, many vegan and gluten free. I am going to try their cauliflower pizza crust and dark danish rye bread next, and the homemade vegetable chorizo sounds so unique. I really like how light these falafel taste and feel in your tum as opposed to a breadcrumb-heavy, deep fried alternative. So glad I have leftovers.

I know you worked your buns off for this, David and Luise, and the book is absolutely lovely. Many congratulations to you! 

BAKED HERB + PISTACHIO FALAFEL // Makes about 20

Recipe barely adapted from Vegetarian Everyday by David Frenkiel & Luise Vindahl

David and Luise suggest a simple cashew nut dressing in their book which is a blend of soaked cashews, oil, lemon juice, and salt. I had some tahini sauce to use up, so I went that route instead. Just use half the amount of water called for. A fresh tzatziki would be refreshing here too. The original recipe uses 2 cups pistachios, I scaled it down a bit due to preference which is why mine yields a bit less than thiers. Your call. Don't be shy with the herbs, these falafels can take it. 

• 12 sprigs of mint
• 12 sprigs of parsley or cilantro
• 1 cup shelled pistachio nuts
• 2 cups chickpeas, cooked or canned
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 small yellow onion
• 3 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 T. buckwheat flour (or another flour of choice)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• hearty pinch of salt 

• / tomato chili salsa /
• 2 cups diced tomatoes (I used baby tomatoes)
• 1/2 a small red chile, seeded and finely chopped (one jalepeno works)
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 T. fresh chopped oregano
• pinch of sea salt and fresh ground pepper

• collard leaves, cabbage or pita bread for serving
• fresh herbs for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375'. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or oiled foil. 

Pulse the herbs in a food processor. Add the pistachio nuts and pulse again to chop. Add the chickpeas, garlic, onion, oil, cumin, flour and baking soda and blend for thirty seconds, scraping down sides when necessary. You want the mixture a bit rough. 

Using your hands, form 20 small round falafels. Place them on the parchment lined baking sheet. Bake them for about 15 minutes, flipping halfway through, until browned. 

Stir all tomato chili salsa ingredients together in another bowl. Allow ingredients to sit for flavors to blend. 

Make your wraps with the collard, cabbage or pita with a generous spread of the sauce and the tomato chili salsa. Falafels will keep for about a week covered in the fridge. 

With all the traveling lately, I haven't really had the chance to get excited about the produce bounty as the warm weather rolls in. I think fresh produce is just incredible. The taste, nutrition, cullinary possibilities... it fascinates me. All the berries and cherries and asparagus and big leeks have me anxious to be in kitchen. Fruits and vegetables that are delicious on their own, make the quickest of meals with a few more little steps.

We ate arepas in New York last week at this awesome little spot called Caracas. Their dough was like this corn tortilla-pita-type thing, and I attempted to mimic it in a pizza crust. I wasn't going to replicate it exactly, as some things are best left wonderful in your memory, but it turns out cornmeal adds a nice little texture difference to your everyday pizza crust. The only suggestion I'll make based on experience, is roll the dough out as thin as you possibly can. The cornmeal makes for a denser crust (maybe better with corn four? haven't tried), so paper thin helps it from overpowering the toppings. If you are playing with spring/summer vegetables that pair well with sweet corn, it's worth a shot.

SOUTHWEST GOAT CHEESE PIZZA // Makes one pizza

I make half of this dough recipe. For this pizza, I replaced one of the cups of flour with a whole grain cornmeal. The corn taste is pretty mild, but it makes for little crunchy nibs in the dough. You could use your favorite recipe or purchase dough from your local pizza shop. Because corn is gluten free, don't swap out any more than 1/3 of the flour quantity to ensure elasticity. 

I'm giving amounts for topping one pizza, simply double it if you're making two. 

• 1/2 cup creme fraiche, room temperature
• sprinkle of smoked paprika
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 1 charred poblano pepper*
• 1 ear of corn, kernels removed
• 1 cup crumbled goat cheese
• 1 packed cup baby arugula
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
• juice of half a lime
• pinch of salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 500'. Prepare the dough according to instructions and set up your pizza stone or parchment line a baking sheet.

Collect all of your topppings together. Roll the dough out super thin, about 1/8'' (if you use corn meal, thin as you possibly can!). Transfer the dough to your parchment lined sheet.

Spread the creme fraiche across the top. Sprinkle a bit of smoked paprika on top (chipotle powder works too if you like it spicy). Distribute half the goat cheese, the poblanos, shallots, corn and the rest of the goat cheese. Bake in the upper third of the oven for 12-15 minutes until the top browns in parts. Turn the oven to broil and cook another minute.

Remove the pizza to cool. In a bowl, combine the baby arugula, cilantro, oil, lime juice, and pinch of salt and pepper. Toss gently to coat. Top the pizza with the greens and cut as you wish.

* To char the peppers, set them over an open flame on the stove, or a grill. Char all sides well. Remove the peppers to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow them to steam for at least ten minutes, this makes the skin easier to peel. Once they are cool enough to touch, rub off the charred skin. Discard the stem and seeds and chop into small pieces.

It’s arguable whether Paris is a “cutting edge” city. With a rich culinary tradition, change comes slowly (and sometimes requires a little coaxing), and the arrival of kale is no exception.

Although we can now get kale sporadically in Paris, thanks to The Kale Project, I was fortunate when a friend came to Paris bearing the fruits (or leaves) of crinkly denseness. In a “be careful what you wish for” moment, I’d overdosed on kale when it became available at my ruche, because I just couldn’t help myself from buying any and all of it, fearing I’d never see it again. Yet as much as I like it, it was a bit of a hard-sell with Parisian friends who weren’t as enthused about the tough, rugged greens sautéed in garlic and chili flakes, as I was.

Continue Reading Kale Chips...

Interestingly enough, one of the most popular recipes I've ever posted on Chocolate & Zucchini is not for a cake or a salad, but for a personal hygiene product: it's an easy-as-pie formula for homemade natural deodorant made with coconut oil, baking soda, and starch.

I myself have been using it for two years, and I am so happy with it I sing its praises to whomever will listen: just a couple of weeks ago, I converted the sales assistant at the store where I splurged on this cute dress.

I have tinkered with the formula a bit since that initial post, and thought I would now share the latest version.

The first modification I made was to add a few drops of palmarosa essential oil. Its rose-like smell is quite lovely, and because it has anti-bacterial properties (among many others*), it reinforces the action of the deodorant on your body, and ensures that said deodorant remains uncontaminated. In France, it is easily available wherever essential oils are sold -- at organic food stores, for instance, or online.

The second upgrade comes courtesy of Didier, a resourceful and generous reader who explained at the bottom of the French version of the post that he had modified the formula to include a small portion of beeswax**, which made the deodorant more temperature-stable. Indeed, the basic formula is mostly composed of coconut oil, which is solid at low room temperature, but turns to butter then oil when the temperature increases.

This isn't much of a problem if you're staying home: you can either keep the deodorant in the fridge, or embrace the creaminess and apply it like a lotion. But when you travel, it can get messy. Last summer, we were on vacation in the Basque country during a heatwave, and my deodorant split, leaving me with a liquid layer of coconut oil at the top, and a starchy sludge at the bottom. I survived, but vowed to find a more travel-friendly formula.

And this is most definitely it: since beeswax doesn't melt until 63°C (145°F), it keeps the deodorant nice and set even at a high room temperature (even if you vacation at Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley), and prevents it from splitting or leaking from the container, so you can use it whenever and wherever you like, all summer long.

What about you: do you make your own cosmetics? What's your favorite formula?

* I often use essential oils to cure various small ailments, and my go-to reference book is Danièle Festy's Ma Bible des huiles essentielles.

** The beeswax I used was special-ordered from the guy who sells honey at the Anvers greenmarket on Friday afternoons.

Continue reading "Homemade Natural Deodorant (Travel-Friendly)"
View comments

Copyright Clotilde Dusoulier © 2003-2012. This feed is for personal enjoyment only, and not for republication.
If you are not reading this in a news aggregator, the site you are viewing is guilty of copyright infringement. Please alert Clotilde Dusoulier.

I think of myself as a seasoned granola maker -- see my Basic Granola Formula, my Macadamia Maple Granola, my Raw Buckwheat Granola, and my Savory Granola -- but granola bars have long eluded me.

My various attempts over the years have invariably been disappointments, impossible to slice neatly and quickly reduced to a mess of randomly-sized granola clumps. So, for portable snacks, my go-to recipe was the delicious homemade lärabar.

But then some months ago I received a copy of Sara and Hugh Forte's inspiring Sprouted Kitchen cookbook (you know their blog, right?), and among the recipes I was quick to tag (the Honey Mustard Broccoli Salad, the Crunchy Curried Chickpeas, the Corn Cakes with Cherry Compote...) was Sara's formula for Granola Protein Bars, on page 154.

The recipe uses rice syrup, and indeed this sweetener serves as an efficient binder to keep the granola bars from crumbling. It also calls for puffed rice, as a clever way to add crunch to the oats' chew.

I have been making these regularly and with great enthusiasm, and I have altered the recipe slightly so I could share with my 14-month-old, who enjoys them at breakfast and can eat them independently: I omit the dried fruits and nuts, skip the protein powder (not a fan), and use half rice syrup and half apple or pear sauce as the sweetener.

And now that the summer travelling season has officially begun, you can't have too many on-the-go treats for road trips, train rides, and mountain hikes. What's your portable snack of choice?

Continue reading "Granola Bars"
View comments

Copyright Clotilde Dusoulier © 2003-2012. This feed is for personal enjoyment only, and not for republication.
If you are not reading this in a news aggregator, the site you are viewing is guilty of copyright infringement. Please alert Clotilde Dusoulier.

A reader writes:

Ok, more red-roofed buildings. What is this, like the fourth one in the last two months? I was thinking of the combo of more modern buildings with tin shacks to be China, again, but the area is more a feeling of somewhere else in Southeast Asia. I’m going out on a limb to think it’s in the Philippines, but I can’t find a single visual clue to pinpoint a city, so I’m just going with Manila. (It’s probably Burma, or Thailand, huh?)

Another:

The tropics somewhere, but there is something about the cream-colored walls and the red tin roofs that make me think of San Jose, Costa Rica!

Another:

Pretty sure that’s one of the favelas outside of Sao Paulo. Might be one outside of Rio.

Another gets on the right continent:

Kampala, Uganda? The hills, trees and architecture are consistent. As a guess I’d put the photo on the east side of the city near the Jinja/Kampala road, near Mbuya.

Another:

Kampala? This is an easy one for me simply because I am looking out on a very similar view from my window as I write this. Wonderful place by the way, despite all the negative press it receives back in the states. The weather is about as perfect as you could ask for and the people are very friendly.

Another:

I’d say that this is surely le pays de mille collines. In a big city, so we’ll say Kigali. From there, it’s hard to say.  The Serena Hotel has metal railings on the exterior-facing windows, so it’s a possible match. So: 3rd floor from the Serena Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda. I don’t have any stories from there, never having been, but I have taught English to many Rwandan immigrants here in Brussels.

Another nails the right city:

This picture reminds of the city I grew up in … Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Although I left the Ethiopia about 10 years ago, my best guess is the picture is taken from the Top View restaurant.

Our grand champion strikes again:

Normally when you find a view, you also find where the picture was taken from, such as a specific hotel or apartment building. But this week’s view is so far off the map that I’m left hoping the viewer will provide us details about their location. In any case, here goes:

This week’s view comes from Addis Ababa, the capitol of Ethiopia. The view was taken from a modest high rise building and looks south by southwest along a heading of 212 degrees. As I couldn’t find your viewer’s address, the best I can do is provide the approximate coordinates which are 8°59’7.74″N and 38°43’11.87″E. The neighborhood does contain quite a few orphanages, NGOs and Christian groups with links to the U.S., so if I had to guess I’d say your viewer might be involved with one of them. A marked bird’s eye view is attached.

(When I opened the original file’s metadata [the original file was subsequently swapped out] I saw an “8” for the longitude or latitude before looking away, so this response is partially a cheat, but I figured I’d send it in if you need the copy. Ironically, I thought the 8 was for longitude, which initially led me to exclude Addis Ababa when I found it using clues in the image.)

Thus, only one reader – the native Ethiopian – correctly guessed the window this week without any hidden help. From the reader who submitted the photo:

Here is a view from the top floor of our house in the Old Airport neighborhood as we pack up and leave this beautiful, if exasperating at times, country after three years.

The reader follows up:

Excited to see my VFYW submission as your contest this week. I’m not particularly tech savvy (and I moved two weeks ago, so I can’t snap any additional angles), but here is a Google Map to pinpoint the location:

I’m expecting that this will be one of the harder contests, since we lived in one of the outer neighborhoods without any noticeable landmarks looking south. And to be honest, there aren’t a whole lot of landmarks beyond obvious monuments and government buildings in all of Addis, so this should be a stiff test for even the diehards.

One of the interesting characteristics of Addis that sets it apart from other African capitals is the mix of classes in all neighborhoods. Although there are certainly rougher areas to avoid, there is no one place that serves as a rich or privileged enclave. Old Airport (the area where this picture was taken) tends to have a lot of ferenji (foreigners) due to close proximity of the African Union and the largest international school. Even so, there are a lot of simple homes and shanties mixed in as well. Houses tend to be on walled compounds that are a bit of overkill, since Addis has a low crime rate and violent crime is rare. We enjoyed walking to shops and the school although every time I went out for a jog I got a lot of bemused looks and cat calls of “Haile Gebreselassie”.

Ethiopia is a fascinatingly idiosyncratic country with its fair share of problems. Hopefully more of the benefits of its recent economic growth will start to flow down to the masses.

(Archive)

A trauma studies scholar who interviewed members of the Chukiren, a group of war criminals, describes the difficulties of his work:

I recently wrote a piece for CNN about a Syrian rebel who carved out a man’s heart and began to eat it. The editor had asked me to explain what could make a man do such a thing. I tried to explain, and many people were outraged by what I wrote. In one way or another, they were all saying: You think when you try to understand why men do evil things, you are going to learn something that might help prevent atrocities in the future. But really you are just excusing the perpetrators, justifying unjustifiable actions. The only thing you need to understand about evil is how to punish it.

Many of the Chukiren have died since I last spoke with them. The others are failing rapidly. I’m not sure I ever really came to understand them. But that is not because what they did is beyond understanding, not because evil is some kind of mystery. In some ways, it is all quite simple. If I had been a 19-year-old when my country entered into a genocidal war, I would have done the same thing everybody else did. That’s true for most of us. Making monsters is a straightforward process, and ­nation-states are expert at it.

Why the war criminals did what they did—in the end, that is not what I find hard to understand. What I find hard to understand is what must it be like to be the person who did those things. When we imagine getting perpetrators into our hands, the first thing we think about is punishment, what we as a society are going to do to them. But I think the real and final punishment is having to be the person you are.

[Photograph: London Permaculture]

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced plans to roll out a citywide composting plan in coming months. Bloomberg is known for his health policy initiatives, such as the city's new bike share program and his rather infamous "soda ban." The composting program would encourage and incentivize New Yorkers to separate their food scraps from landfill garbage, which Bloomberg claims would save the city millions of dollars annually. It will begin in 2014 for about 150,000 households across the city, and will likely become mandatory for New Yorkers by 2016.

Currently, New York puts about 1.2 million tons of food waste into landfills annually. Bloomberg aims to reduce this amount by expanding educational programming about composting and providing small composting bins for homes. Residents could then empty the small bins into larger brown bins, and compost would be picked up along with trash and recycling. Though Bloomberg will leave office at the end of this year, two promising mayoral candidates, Christine Quinn and Bill de Blasio, are enthusiastic about the program.

Other cities, including San Francisco and Seattle, already have strong citywide composting programs in place. San Francisco collects about 600 tons of compost each day. The system isn't perfect— experts estimate that about half of San Francisco's landfill trash could be further sorted into either recycling or compost bins— but residents of the city are proud to participate in lowering their environmental impact.

Many New Yorkers are hesitant about composting because they fear household compost could begin to smell before the next trash pick-up and attract animals. But a well-balanced compost shouldn't get too smelly. And some experts believe that composting could actually reduce the city's vermin problem. Bloomberg plans to continue testing smaller-scale composting solutions across the city to see how the program effects trash odors and the prevalence of rodents in residential neighborhoods.

Do any of you live in city's with composting programs? Are you optimistic about NYC's plan?

About the Author: A student in Providence, Rhode Island, Leah Douglas loves learning about, talking about, reading about, and consuming food. Her other work can be found at her website.

This past April, New York City widened its recycling program. An announcement made by Mayor Bloomberg indicated that that the Department of Sanitation now accepts rigid plastics (think ice coffee cups and yogurt containers). I recently had the opportunity to ask Christina Salvi, Assistant Director of the Office of Recycling Outreach and Education (OROE), about the new curbside recycling expansion, future plans for recycling things like food waste and single use tableware, and common recycling mistakes.

More

I stumbled on the idea of using tea tins for a mini container garden the other day when looking around for an attractive option that would fit on my windowsill. Perusing Pinterest later I found that plenty of people have had the same thought with great results. 

More

So, I didn’t really know how to tell you this earlier, but we’ve gone to roam. I mean, we are in Rome, here, for a week and a half. Why so long? Why Rome? Does it even matter? The itch for travel that was more than an overnight book trip to one city or another was intense, as I remember a time pre-kid when we used to go places all of the time, just following the promise of cheap airfare passable-enough hotels to Vienna and Prague and Paris, just because. But we were scared of travelling with a three year-old because I don’t want to wreck the reputation of the one that’s been assigned to us, but you see, as normal as this makes him, he doesn’t always listen. Sometimes he yells? He’s not so good at airplanes. Or fancy restaurants. But I knew there would be a point where the inconveniences incurred by travelling with a preschooler would feel less of a burden than spending another minute taking a serious family vacation somewhere we’ve always wanted to study up close, to linger in long enough that it might almost feel routine after a few days, and here we are. At last.

My obsession with travel, and finding a way to do more of it again, is more of a desire to do things that take me out of my comfort zone. I like studying the way people walk or talk, or even take their coffee, in other places, and I like trying to figure out why. I like learning that everything I thought I knew about something (currently: pizza; soon, hopefully: everything else) was wrong. And I like being far enough away from home that even figuring out small things, like where we might buy some milk, or what all those buttons on the washing machine do (just cross your fingers we did it right, okay?), requires full concentration and at least one furrowed brow. Because while I’m having my mind bent by maps with streets that have no name, or streets that have names but aren’t on maps, things that plagued my brain earlier are neglected, and when revisited, have found a way of readjusting themselves into really no longer a big deal. How could they be, in the bigger realm of things? How could they be, in a place with “alleys” so stunning?

... Read the rest of bowties with sugar snaps, lemon and ricotta on smittenkitchen.com

---

© smitten kitchen 2006-2012. | permalink to bowties with sugar snaps, lemon and ricotta | 289 comments to date | see more: Pasta, Peas, Photo, Spring, Travel, Vegetarian

From The Kitchn → It's Iced Coffee Season! 13 Tips, Recipes and Tutorials for a Better Brew

More

"Not all who wander are lost." (J.R.R. Tolkien.) Bliss, to me, is exploring new terrain on foot — a long meandering walk along the water, a quiet, pensive hike through a forest,  a break from the white noise. I can't think of a better way to spend the 4th of July weekend than traversing through some amber waves of grain. 

More