Guajillo Chile Vanilla Barbecue Sauce

A slow and steady burn of dried chilies, the perfumed aroma of whole vanilla beans, a savory background of tomatoes and vinegar. Achievable. Incredible. 

It's all possible when you make your own BBQ sauce. Long gone are the days that condiments are mandated to come from a squeeze bottle.

Just looking at the ingredients on the back of a store-bought BBQ sauce will cause you to reconsider the convenience of them. The first three ingredients are usually corn syrup, sugar, and tomato paste. 

Shameful.

Making your own BBQ sauce not only allows you to control the sugar content, it allows you to create a depth of flavor that store bought squeeze sugar can't compare too.

There are many different recipes and combinations for barbecue sauce. Depending on the region you are from, you may be more prone to a vinegar heavy sauce or maybe even a mustard based sauce. I'm not here to tell you which one is the most authentic, I'm just here to offer you the best recipe available - this one.

It's the perfect summer-autumn transition. Loathe to let go of summer, but embracing of the cool crunchy weather of fall, this BBQ sauce will caress you like your favorite hoodie, comforting your sunburnt mind as it readies itself for cooler nights and a serious lack of beach. Pretend it's not September while you make cedar plank salmon slathered with this sauce from the gods. 

There are a lot of ingredients in this sauce because we are creating LAYERS of flavor. As a matter of fact, it's DEPTH AND AWESOMENESS that you're tasting here. It's a savory vanilla sauce that will make people love you. It's practically begging to be added to a Bloody Mary.

Here you are. Set yourself free.

Guajillo Vanilla Barbecue Sauce

makes approx 2 - 3 cups

3 Guajillo Chiles

1 Vanilla Bean

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbls. tomato paste

1/2 cup crushed tomatoes

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp yellow mustard seeds

1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

3 cloves garlic chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup boiling water

1 tbls. butter

Salt to taste

1. Set the water to boil and take the stems out of your chilies. Steep the chilies in a bowl in the boiling water, covered, for 15 minutes.

2. In a large saucepan, melt the butter, and add the garlic and onions. Cook until soft and translucent - about 5 - 7 minutes.

3. If your spices aren't already ground, go ahead and do that while the onions cook. Add them to the onion mixture and let cook about 1 minute. Smells awesome so far right?

4. Add everything except the vanilla and the chilies to the pan. Add about 1 tsp. salt. Stir.

5. Cut the vanilla bean in half and slit it down the sides so that you can see the seeds inside. Scrape them directly into the sauce. Add all that jazz into the saucepan.

6. Put all the chilies and their liquid into a blender, and blend on high for 1 minute. Add this to the sauce pan.

7. Bring to a boil, then turn down to low, and let it simmer for about 45 minutes.

8. Squeeze whatever you can from the vanilla beans and then throw them out. Pour the sauce into the blender and blend on high for 2 minutes.

9. Strain through a coarse strainer - really, you're just getting rid of the larger bits of Guajillo seeds. They are edible, but unpleasant to chew. (It's BBQ sauce, not chunky ragu)

That's it. You've made the best condiment in your fridge. You're halfway to perfect pulled pork. You're one step closer to BBQ bliss. You're the star of your own show.

Food52 and Beyond

Because I haven't been posting on ETI, but I have been creating content through Food52, I just want to share all the things I've written for them so far.

You can look for me by username: William Widmaier and click follow!
You'll need to sign up to follow, but it's free and then you'll become a member of Food52!

Here are a lot of the articles I've authored so far:

These are the three most recent, and they were also shared through Yahoo Shine.

Dinner Tonight: Grill-Roasted Meatloaf + Horseradish Dill Potato Salad
Dinner Tonight: Patty Melts + Grilled Swiss Chard Stems
Dinner Tonight: Herb-Crusted Pork Chops + Potato Salad with Arugula

This next one I really liked, and I really wanted people to make it because it just sounds so good. It's a great way to use a lot of greens!

Dinner Tonight: Ginger Fried Rice + Wok-Fired Squid & Greens

Photo by James Ransom

This is the photo that made me really want to eat this. James is a great photographer, and it's been a pleasure working with him during my internship. I've had a chance to add my input for shots, watch the process of shooting and editing, as well as pick his brain about food photography.

Anyway, back to the links!

Dinner Tonight: Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dogs + Roasted Fries

Quick Pickling 101

How to Clean Squid


There are more, but these are some of the best.

I'm going to continue to pitch stories and articles to Food52, so keep a lookout for more!

Either way, I'm happy to update, as I haven't posted anything in quite a while.

Let me know what you guys think in the comments!

Social Media

Hello Internet world,

I have been very busy recently. Not only do I work two jobs, I recently became the new Editorial Intern for Food52. (Yay me!)

What this means. I work seven days a week, and I have had almost no time for proper food adventures.

Yes I am still eating food.

No I haven't been taking any pictures of it.

I'm sorry that this blog, and all of you, have to suffer.

Really.

Anyway, the good news is, that you can follow Eat The Internet (aka ETI) on Facebook. This is a place that I will still post things, whether they are just cool things I've found, or food that I'm eating.

Eat The Internet of Facebook!

Also, keep a lookout for William Widmaier on Food 52.

I have been in charge of Recipe of the Day, as well as pitching story ideas and recipe roundups (menu ideas). What are those you ask? Check out the site and see for yourself!

My most recent article is about Ovens. Exciting, I know! 

Thank you all, and when I have some time, I will begin posting actual pictures and posts.

Sincerely,
William

Choc-a-lot

Valentines day brings chocolate to stores everywhere (thank god that's over). Subjected to terrible heart shaped chocolates (the kind that hurt your teeth) and a forewarning of terrible Easter bunnies to come, it is an overindulgence of sweets that most of us don't really need.

But chocolate is so good, we cannot simply ignore it!

In fact, chocolate should be, and is, celebrated. (In NYC Feb. 4th through the 13th is Chocolate Week, sorry you missed it)

Now I don't mean Milky Ways and Hershey Kisses, but rather the more savory side of chocolate.

Savory chocolate like a Mexican style mole of slow simmered chocolate and cinnamon and about a million other ingredients.
Savory dishes like the chili recipe with a healthy dose of bittersweet swirled in for richness and depth. The double chocolate porter or oatmeal stout you use for your signature beef stew recipe that creates a silky background and a malty sweetness.

I'm talking chocolate with chilies and salt. I'm talking chocolate! (This is also an excuse to use up all the chocolate laying around the house you're trying to avoid.)

The bitterness of unsweetened chocolate pairs very well with deep-flavored, complex dishes. Stew, chili, and braises, all gain a familiar, but hard to place, unctuous quality when chocolate is added.

Once you start using chocolate in recipes, you'll start using it more and more.

Mole style chocolate is up first. In order to learn all you need about Mole, I suggest the wiki on it.

I suggest using Mexican style chocolate for all your mole dishes. Taza, a brand from Mass., has quite a few different flavors that would be conducive to cooking, including a salt and pepper flavor, as well as almond, serrano, orange, the list goes on. They have so many flavors. 

Most Mole adaptations are based on the poblano style. A rich sauce of chilies and chocolate, finished with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds. The number of ingredients and amount of each, varies depending on who is making it, but the basic principle is vegetables (tomato, onion), dried chilies, chocolate, spices and nuts. Everything together is very flavorful. You don't need a lot of each ingredient to make a lot of sauce.

Some Mole recipes here, and here are a great start to making actual mole and enjoying a flavorful sauce that's great anytime of the year. This next recipe is especially nice on a cold day (oven) or in the summer heat (smoker/outside).  I wish I had taken these pictures...

Intense Mole Ribs - You can make these in your oven instead of a smoker, so it's a good excuse to get your house warm with the wonderful aroma of meat! It is a relatively easy recipe but requires a little bit of work. It's totally worth it.

So we get the point that chocolate is awesome, right? Okay, here is a list of recipes worth trying.

Lamb rub with chocolate and cloves - I love the way this recipe combines cloves with chocolate. I find cloves to be a very in-your-face flavor that is generally forgotten except in baked ham or mulled cider.

Chocolate Stout Chili - Great excuse to go buy some awesome chocolate stouts (a great beer!). This recipe has the added bonus of using both bittersweet chocolate and a chocolate stout. I like Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, and also Rogue Chocolate Stout (22oz. bottle means you get some too).

Steak with Chocolate Stout pan sauce? - Why yes, yes I would like a steak.

Give these a try, and you might just start using more chocolate around the house.

What are some of your favorite recipes for chocolate?

Poetry Corner

This poem, titled Mmmmm, was written for the satisfaction of it.

Mmmmm

Meat Man Mentions Me,
Making Movements;
Material Mastication.
Morbid Motions.

Oven Lovin'

It's oven season.

Cold days and warm ovens go together like hot chocolate and marshmallows; and any excuse to use your oven is usually a good one.

Stews and baked goods are at a peak right now, and with a big snowfall coming to the east coast, it's going to get pretty cozy. (It's probably pretty cozy right now!) Refueling is a must after a solid romp in the snow and you could use some projects to stay busy. Especially projects that produce awesome food.

The aromas wafting towards your nose are reason enough to utilize the powerful workhorse that is an oven. Some of the best smells come from a full oven: cookies baking, chicken roasting, banana bread - the list goes on.

Anyway, lots of snacking is in order. You're already using your oven for a hearty chicken tagine or ratatouille, you may as well keep going while it's hot!

Yes, this post is about snacking; and ovens. Great, right?

Cans of chickpeas hiding in your pantry behind half a bag of pancake mix have more potential than just hummus. I suggest this zippy appetizer.

Zesty Spiced Oven-Roasted Chickpeas
2 cans chickpeas (about 15 ounces each, but feel free to make from scratch)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (less if you're heat sensitive, wimp)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
zest from one lemon (organic)

Heat the oven 400°F.
Pour the chickpeas into a colander, drain and rinse very well under running water.
Pat dry. Don't put them in the oven until they are dry - trust me.
Toss the chickpeas with the olive oil and spread out on a large cookie sheet (you may need to do two batches; perfect excuse to make two flavors)
Roast for 30-40 minutes or until brown and crispy. If you place them on the middle rack in the middle of your oven, they shouldn't burn, but you'll want to check them every 15 minutes or so. (Give them a good shake)
Take out and toss with salt, zest and spices to taste while they are still hot! (It's easy to add more spices, but it's hard to take them out)


Excellent crunchy spicy snacks to get your palate ready and your mouth watering for the main event, which should be:
Moroccan Chicken Tajine.

I suggest using a little bit of red pepper flakes with this recipe, although your tongue may still be tingling from the chickpeas!

And that, my friends, is how you get the most of your oven. Now check out the next recipe, which I imagine will become a new addiction.

Two words: Garlic Confit

Pretty much just poaching garlic in oil, and basically making garlic butter. AKA the food of the gods.
I love that this recipe calls for 65 cloves of garlic. Incredible.
This is when you shamelessly buy peeled garlic by the half-gallon.

Saveur suggests using the cloves in mashed potatoes, which I am inclined to think is a fantastic idea. Because you're going to need a side dish for the roast chicken you just made.

Don't even roast a whole chicken, just get a big pack of thighs or leg quarters and make some garlic mashed potatoes with it. Spread the garlic on toast. Mash the garlic with a fork and then just straight eat it. You know you want to.

And while we're at it, you should make some kale chips. Yeah I said kale chips.

Look, I'm not going to post a recipe for kale chips. They are ridiculously easy to make, and any basic search is going to give you 100+ recipes. But seriously, they're super easy, you don't even have to cut the stems out. You can just rip them up with your hands. And to be honest, they don't last long enough to ponder anything about them except why you didn't buy more kale.

So without a recipe, I can only give you a suggestion. Instead of olive oil, use spicy sesame oil (thanks Sheri!) or try Old Bay or curry powder, which are probably all of the easiest flavors to use except sea salt.

All in all, just don't forget to give your oven some lovin'.

Roots and Tubers and Squash, Oh My!

Root vegetables. Ahh, yes.
Let's include squash too, because as much as it's not a root vegetable, it is almost 100 percent root vegetable.

As delicious as stews full of starchy love are, and as much as you like roasted sweet potato and carrot soup, it's time to re-imagine these lovely tubers and roots.

It's time to branch out to new tubers and unfamiliar things that you don't even know taste good!

First up, sunchokes. Yeah these knobbly little roots are excellent. They may not be on your radar, but chefs are snatching them up and using them for all sorts of things. Smoking them over hay, making them into sauerkraut, crisping them in cubes to make 'croutons.'

Sunchokes are decidedly better mid-January after cold weather has officially set in.

Check out this post by Leda Meredith to learn all you need to know about sunchokes and get a great pickled sunchoke and mushroom recipe. Pickle! Mushroom! Yeah, you know I had to share that one.

Creamy Sunchoke soup with Chevril Oil and Sunchoke Crisps - this one is worth it just for the sunchoke crisps! Seriously. You might need to make those all the time.

Carmalized Sunchokes with Beet Confit - Much simpler than the name may imply. Added bonus of using the oven which with make your place warm and toasty, smelling of sweet beets and sunchokes.

Sunchoke, Apple and Fennel Salad - this is for those that like something crisp, refreshing, sweet and winter-y!

Alright, so you went to the farmer's market and got sunchokes and ate them to your hearts content. You discovered something delicious with minimal prodding from me. Excellent. Now it's time to move on to the roots in the supermarket that you only see old Hispanic ladies buying.

Yuca AKA cassava AKA manioc AKA tapioca is a starchy tuber you should be more familiar with. Maybe you've had it deep fried like fries at your favorite Spanish restaurant, or maybe you've had some awesome bubble tea with tapioca balls in it. A versatile tuber that a lot of people reading this post have never made themselves. (Or maybe not! Tell me if you've cooked it before!)

There is so much to say about this widely eaten root, I think it would be more appropriate to give you recipes and some general direction.

How to prepare! Seems pretty self explanatory, but this slide show will help you out if you're having some troubles.


Puchero - This pork, beef, and chicken soup is the kind of hearty love child you want to have with your kitchen.

Fried Yuca! - Straight up delicious. Follow the recipe for the spicy mayo as well.

Cassava with Garlic and Citrus - This preparation is fantastic and easy. Citrus is in season right now, so go out an try a few different kinds. Excellent side dish for roast meats!

So pretty much, you've got nothing to lose - except those bourgeois potatoes you keep in some dark corner of your pantry or fridge.

Here are two easy recipes for roots and tubers you may see during your starch investigation.

Roasted Batata with lime-cumin butter - check this one out if you find batata!

Yautia - Boiled with ancho chilies.

Now granted, your neighborhood market may not look like the ones in these pictures. But chances are that they have quite a few starchy things you may normally pass over.

Reach out and try one. Most of them are super cheap anyway. Take one home. Boil it until tender and give it a taste. You'll have a better understanding of the flavor profile.

These pictures are from local Caribbean markets near my house. These particular markets on Flatbush avenue, especially near Church Ave.

You won't know you like them until you try them.
Worst comes to worst, everything tastes good with butter and garlic on top.

The Will Special

I work at a smoked fish and specialty shop called Shelsky's Smoked Fish in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

I have a great time slicing salmon and sable by hand, making whitefish salad and mixing scallions into cream cheese. I help make bagels and suggest spreads for people that are in need of appetizing advice. I generally have a good time and things are swell.

It's an old-school style Jewish Appetizing store. There are not many left in the city, and Peter Shelsky (my boss!) is making a comeback and quite a splash (pun intended) in the city as a whole, let alone Brooklyn.

With the option of everything in the store for my breakfast/lunch it can be daunting to choose fatty Nova over earthy sturgeon, egg salad over whitefish. bagels or rye bread; the list goes on.

But about three out of every four days, I eat the Will Special.

Behold.

A toasted sesame bagel with butter, Gravlax, red onions and capers.  (just before a giant bite is taken out of it)

The bagel must be toasted so that most of the butter melts into the bread. It is acceptable to get this on a different bagel, although I do not suggest it (unless you like plain bagels). There should also be plenty of onion and plenty of capers. Double what you may normally get on a sandwich. These are not optional.

I love this sandwich. It is incredible.

We cure the gravlax in house and get the bagels from Mill Basin Bagel Cafe. These I feel, are important measures in this being a fantastic sandwich. The bagels are chewy and dense, with an excellent crunch from the crust. They are slightly sweeter than other bagels. No soft, pillowy bagels for me. I do not want a roll. If I wanted a roll, I would get a roll. I want a bagel.

The salmon is very smooth from the curing process. It tastes of dill and magic; not in an overwhelming way, but in an I'm-going-to-eat-an-entire-pound-of-this way. The cure (mostly salt and sugar) lends itself nicely to the salmon without making it too salty or too sweet. It has an almost raw mouth feel, and if we've learned anything from sushi, raw salmon can be sexy.

This all being said. Maybe Shelsky's is out of the question for you. Maybe you don't live in New York.

You can still have this sandwich.

Following the next picture there will be some links to curing your own gravlax. It is much easier than you can imagine, and you can play around with the flavors just as well. Or you can come to Shelsky's and buy some of ours which we make really well and is really amazing.

Isn't this what it's all about!?

Here are some basic Gravlax recipes that can be easily looked over and written down.

Gravlax How-To from Food52 This an excellent tutorial of curing your own fish. I would use about thirty times more dill than they show in the pictures (actually use an entire bunch or two). Also, if you don't have Aquavit, use a nice gin. At least you'll drink the gin afterwards! Try this gin called DH Krahn which is very citrus forward and slightly sweet.

Gravlax How-To from About.com This tutorial has some other ideas in it like using dill seeds and cutting the fillets down a little. It's okay to use just a little bit of salmon if you don't want to buy a whole fillet. Also, don't worry about all this freezing business; just buy fresh fish.

Step two of the Will Special? Buy a red onion and a small jar of capers in brine.
Put it all on a bagel, and send me some fan mail!

Winter Stews

It's no secret that stews are freaking awesome.

Stews can be incredibly complex or wonderfully simple: stretching ingredients or reducing them down; layering flavors or creating single notes.

In addition, stews are generally one-pot meals and crowd-pleasers.  Approachable to all walks of life, and a member of low-brow, high-brow and everything in-between, they make your house smell good, and can bring everyone back to Earth.

So, here is a collection of some recipes that I think are wonderful for the cold winter months. December is behind us, and with it, recollections of candy-canes and pine trees, latkes and menorahs. The wreaths and trees of most peoples' festive holiday are in the street, waiting for the chipper to turn them to mulch.

But we don't have to forget that it's still freaking cold, and we can sit around watching Netflix, drinking hot chocolate and making stew to warm our souls and fill our stomachs.

I'm going to skip more traditional stews and offer only the really cool, or mind-blowingly amazing ones.

First up, a stew that most people have never had: Mafe.
A stew of African origin, it can be as simple or complex as your cupboard. A strong base of tomatoes, chilies, meat and peanuts, it makes for a wonderful meal and a great introduction to more ethnic stews.

These three recipes are essentially the same. I will point out their differences so you can more easily choose the one you like. Or read them all and decide for yourself.


Mafe - food network: This recipe is a great introduction to Mafe. It is super easy, without a ton of ingredients. It will give you a feel for the stew and has plenty of room to improvise. For instance, if you don't have carrots, use another root vegetable or squash. Often times farmers markets will have a discount section or grab-bag of roots and such that you can get cheap and are perfect for this application.

Mafe - senegal: I like this recipe because it uses a lot of winter vegetables like squash and 'roots and tubers' and cabbage. However, it is lacking in the tomato department. If you don't have lamb, lean beef will work too. if you don't have beef you can use chicken etc. etc.

Peanut stew - nytimes: Now that you're familiar with Mafe, step it up a notch and make this version which includes whole chopped tomatoes and okra (I love okra). Perfect food for a cold winter night with rice or fat, thick egg noodles. (this page also has a bonus fish stew recipe)


So you've got the African stew down, or maybe you're allergic to peanuts. Either way, here is another stew with loads of flavor that is pretty wonderful with nice Italian bread, a nice Southern Cornbread (corn and mushrooms go really well together), or simply on its own with a bowl and spoon.

Pork and Mushroom Ragout - Food and Wine: This recipe brings out some really amazing earthy flavors. Mushrooms are one of my favorite ingredients for anything, and the meaty, umami-rich flavor they impart really pairs well with slow cooked stews.

Also, really simply stewed mushrooms are one of my favorite things to make. Pretty much just butter, mushrooms, fresh herbs and a little stock go a long way in terms of flavor.

Maybe your house doesn't see enough curry. Or maybe you don't make enough fish at home.
Here is a recipe with fantastic results and minimal heavy-fish odors. Anytime you mix curry and coconut milk, you're hard-pressed not to produce a winner.

Groan Curried Fish Stew: Make this stew. It's awesome. I know you don't make a lot of fish curry. I know it. Like they say, make a lot of rice to serve this with. Or, make lots of rice noodles or glass noodles and serve piping hot.

Here are some other fantastic stews to try when you're ready for some "adventurous" eating (ie. bored of the regular stuff and want to try these other cool stews)

Kimchi Stew: This bad-boy right here includes 3lbs of skinless pork belly. If spicy amazing kimchi isn't reason enough to try it, the pork belly should put you over the edge. If you really need a starch to eat this with, do I even need to mention what? Yeah, rice. Not a fan of rice? Try it with boiled Yucca (cassava) or big red potatoes; or just eat it as is, because it's awesome.

Red Chile and Pork Stew: This Carne Adobada is crazy good. Use Guajillo chilies if you can't find the New Mexico ones, or use a mix and follow the general recipe. It will be good. I promise. This stew doesn't need rice, but serve it with corn tortillas (not flour). It makes a difference, trust me.

Like something more involved? How about making Meatballs! Yeahhh meatballs!

T'fina Pkaila - Tunisian beef rib and meatball stew: This stew right here! Yes it is more involved. Yes it has more steps. Yes it is delicious. A little bit of spinach, some white beans, meat. It's got all the stew parts you want in your life. All of them. Cilantro. Beef ribs!

So there you have it folks. Various stews from around the world to keep you busy and full in the winter months.

When your house smells this delicious, you can be sure that your neighbors will "pop-in" to borrow something, only to fawn over the wonderful smells (and would you share!)

Food Sing 88 Corp.

Besides having an almost perfect name, Food Sing 88 Corp. is an almost perfect spot for the mid-winter blues. The only problem is that it is not on my corner.

How many of these brisk mornings do you wake and crave a big noodle-y, meat filled bowl of broth and flavor?  For me, it's about 2 of every 3 days.

So, with hand-pulled noodles swimming in my brain from my encounter with a little place in Bensonhurst, I set out to get more.

Enter Food Sing 88 Corp.

Located at 2 East Broadway, right near the Chatam Square statue, this hand-pulled noodle spot is full of charm.

Clean looking and alive with the sound of slurping eaters, the service was fast and the effect immediate. I barely told our waitress what I wanted and she already had it ready. I joked that she was holding it behind her back when I ordered and just pulled it out and gave it to me on demand.

The soup was delicious.

That's my bowl of "han-pulled noodle with pork chop." Yes, han-pulled. Yes.

For $5.50 there is plenty of pork chop and noodle, some little spinach leaves (you know, cause vegetables are important) and little sour bits of pickled vegetable. It's a great deal and an excellent lunch/snack/meal. Call it what you will; just call it.

For another 50 cents you can get some lamb parts in your soup instead of pork chops. Also, the broth is slightly different, with the addition of star anise and other spices (mainly star anise).

This is what my friend Matt got during our lunch date. Yeah lunch date. Yeah you're jealous. I know it.

I must note that his soup looked a little more cloudy than mine. I do not necessarily know why, but I had a few spoonfuls here and there and it was also delicious. The addition of star anise was an excellent touch considering the lamb (complete with chewy skin parts!)

Real quick, Pros recap:
Fast service
Overall satisfying and delicious
Inexpensive and filling
Clean and inviting
Also, the bathroom was nice. Always a plus, but not how I judge a restaurant.

I need to discuss the noodles for a minute.

As a hand-pulled noodle spot, undoubtedly they take pride in their noodles.
With great texture and consistency, as well as ample amount, I was overall pleased with the noodles and would eat here again. The noodles were filling, they were not gummy nor did they have a starchy, sticky texture or mouth feel.
The noodles needed a little time to hang out in the broth. They needed to soak a little of that porky flavor and to mellow out in the symphony that was this soup. Upon first bite, the noodles lacked the serious noodle-y flavor I was searching out. They did not disappoint however. After about 3 full minutes, they were as fantastic as a hand pulled noodle joint ought to be.

Go here and eat food. Do it.

I went here again today because it's delicious, and I must say that the pork chop and the first beef item on the Hand Pulled Noodle list are probably the best. The broth for the lamb was great, but the pieces are a little funky, albeit satisfying (ie. order lamb if you really like lamb and don't mind skin.)

The short rib hand pulled noodle is not as good as the regular beef. Also, the noodles were just as good today as last time, and I had no problems with noodle-y flavors (full flavor).

While I was eating today, a man next to me had ordered a non-soup item that looked pretty tasty. I suppose this means the rest of the menu is good as well.

Bytes and Sites: Yuletide

With Chanukah days behind us and Christmas on the rise, it's about time to start thinking about the Yuletide. (the period from Dec. 24th through Jan. 6th)

Not only is the internet full of awesome presents and great party/entertaining ideas, but there will be all manner of sales during this period of holiday magic.

Maybe you don't have time to make Christmas cookies, and maybe you're tired of eating latkes already (pshh, not likely) but many of these recipes taste good even when it's not a holiday.

One of my favorite times of year is when hams go on sale. In college one of my favorite meals to bring for lunch and to eat at home was (and still is) ham with white rice and sweet icebox pickles.

Check out Saveur's recipe for a honey and clove fresh ham. The stuff of legend.

Seriously I ate it for five days in a row pretty often. Salty, fatty ham is an excellent counterpoint to sweet, vinegary pickled peppers and onions - balanced out by warm, fluffy, starchy rice. Perfect!

I would make the pickles as soon as I knew hams were about to go on sale so that when the time came, all my pickles would be ready for me. Then all I needed was one day to make a ham and a bunch of rice, and viola!

Anyway, here's a bytes and sites mash-up of all the great Yuletide things now and to come.

For the Adult-Kid in all of us, here are some boozy hot chocolate recipes:

This is to replace egg-nog at all times. Please do not serve me egg-nog. Please serve me hot chocolate with booze in it. Sure, you can put Baileys instead of milk, but that doesn't necessarily make it good. Follow these few recipes and you'll have some hot chocolate to be proud of. Not some dorm-room Swiss Miss with marshmallow vodka.

Nutella Hot Chocolate : Nutella all the time. Best served straight from the jar, preferably on a finger, but I will also accept this hot drink with hazelnut liqueur. Just be sure to use all of the liqueur. Seriously, what are you going to do with leftover hazelnut liqueur? (the answer is coffee)

Cinnamon, Mezcal, and Chili Hot Chocolate : Serious Mexican flavors from Seriouseats.com. I want this more spicy and less ingredients. Really, it's got one hundred percent more ingredients that Saveur's choco-concoction but worth every step.

Bittersweet Chocolate with Red Wine : Because you need to make good with someone's mom. And we all know moms love chocolate and wine. And we all know there is always a mom to impress.

Don't go crazy drinking all these alcoholic things, maybe make them for friends. We all know that you're getting enough calories just from the phrase "holiday time." So take it easy on the liquid chocolate, Santa.

Gift Season!

Here are a lot of gift ideas. Get me some. It's cool, I like gifts, and I've read all these gift compilations so I'll know how much you spent.

Bon Appetit Holiday Gift Guide : Full of great ideas like an ENTIRE JAMON SERRANO LEG (wink, wink rich friends) it also has lots of small and/or practical gifts like retro candy and Almdudler Limonade cans.

Saveur's Holiday Gift Guide 2012 : Check out the Edible gift guide, some of them are great, like single varietal honeys, Olympic Provisions sausages, and travelling bitters set. Some are not so great, like the hexagon spice kit, and the foil wrapped chocolate ornament (just make them boozy hot chocolate.) But all are better than just straight candy-canes.

Also, This, because I think these are awesome if impractical.

If you've read this entire post, I applaud you, because frankly, after the ham and the Nutella Hot Chocolate, I stopped paying attention myself and just started eating Nutella straight from the jar again.

Poetry Corner

Bringing back poetry corner.

Trying to bring back regular posting as well.

If you'd like to see all the poems I've written so far, click the 'poem' tag in the labels section on the right of the screen.

This next poem is part of the Bacon series.


Nose

The visual world is nothing
compared to the nasal heaven
that comes from crisping bacon.
A sight to die for,
let alone a smell.

Cheese Me! Please Me!

It is no secret that I love cheese. I work in a cheese shop. Yes I eat awesome artisan American cheeses. I also still love Polly-O string cheese. String cheese forever.

A friend of mine, we shall call him Andrew to protect his identity (his real name is Andrew), also works at a cheese shop.

I went to visit him on my day off. Because what could be better on a day off from my cheese shop but to visit a different cheese shop?!

He works for Saxelby Cheesemongers at the Essex Street market. For those that haven't been to the Essex Market recently, it's a great place to visit if you like to look at a lot of old Hispanic folks, need to get some Heritage Meats, or generally enjoy markets.

There are several awesome things about this market.

One of which is Saxelby. They have great cheese. They did not pay me to endorse them.

Their shtick is only stocking cheese from the North East of AMERICA. Yeah that's right, suck it European cheese. (except Parmesan, you sir, can stay)

Anyway I got this frickin' grilled cheese and it was awesome.

Yeah, you see that?
Yes. This is three pictures of the same grilled cheese sandwich.

That's how good it was to eat. You should see the pictures I took that didn't make the cut. Naughty stuff.

 

In general, Saxelby is a great place to get great cheese. You're going to pay for it. It will not be cheap. But it will be better than any other cheese. This sandwich costs seven dollars and is worth it.

 Now I'm off to make my own grilled cheese with Kraft American singles and Campbell's tomato soup. Cause what could be better after a grilled cheese, but more grilled cheese.

Hand Pull Noodles and Dumpling House

I needed to get my grub on.

I met up with a friend, and his dad suggested Hand Pull Noodle and Dumpling House.

Great suggestion.

So the three of us made the move over to Bensonhurst, pointing out old favorites and worthy newcomers. Old Italian specialties and the new Asian crowd.

We pulled up to the dive-y looking noodle and dumpling joint ready to feast.
Upon entering I noticed the chef prepping, slapping noodles on the counter in back only to fold them on themselves and set them aside for later. 

A real mom-and-pop joint, complete with little kids and grandma nannies, the service was casual and forgetful, but most of all sincere.

Appetizers and entrees came out as they were ready, in no particular order.

We ordered Hot and Spicy Bok Choy, thinking we'd get a fried dish.
It was Bok Choy kim-chi.
Cold, spicy and fermented - we nibbled a little. I added it to my soup later on and it was a fine addition. Not a repeat buy, nor a worthy picture. It really just made me want to make my own kim-chi. 

Dumplings were absolutely necessary as they are part of the namesake.

They delivered the goods! The dumplings were delicious.

The kind of place I could go and get a few orders of dumplings for lunch and be totally satisfied. 

Steamed dumplings filled with flavorful pork and spices. Wonderfully pleated and steamed, needing little accompaniment.

No plates.
Grab a little dish near the chopsticks and add some sauce. Or eat your dumpling as-is because they're really freakin' good.

Next up is meat sauce over hand pulled noodles. Served with steamed bok choy.
This is awesome sauce.

Although this was not my dish, we all had the spirit of sharing. It certainly was delicious. I would definitely order this next time as there is something about fresh noodles and saucy, fatty meat that really speaks to me.
I really wish I lived across the street from this place.

My food came out next.
Fresh Shrimp Wonton with hand pulled noodles in soup.
This was really good.

Wontons with full, fresh shrimp in addition to regular ground pork and noodles with great consistency and flavor.
This is the kind of dish you would expect at a noodle and dumpling house.
The broth was lightly porky and flavored with star anise - flavorful enough to stand on it's own, but simple enough to welcome additions.
So, I added some vinegar, hot chilies and soy sauce to pick it all up.

My friend Ezra got this next dish.
Rib Tips over fried noodle.

The rib tips were deep fried and crispy, slicked with a sweet and tangy sauce that fit really well with the rest of the food. The kind of saucy meat you want to wrap a bunch of noodles around. I ate a few of these bad boys. The noodles were lightly stir fried.

And now, as a bonus, here is a picture of my soup after the additions.
I'm holding up the noodles because the first picture doesn't look like there are so many noodles. Believe me, there are plenty.

If you look in the very top right corner of this picture you will see some food that I have not talked about.

The fried buns.

Similar to dumplings in composition, these buns had a great wrapper and crisp edge, but the filling was lacking and made me wish we had more steamed dumplings.

Also, fyi, dumplings are available to buy frozen, 50 at a time.

Bytes and Sites: T-Giving

Every dining section, food blog, website and more are stuck in a full-on nose dive towards Thanksgiving.

We can't help it. 

It's the food holiday above all others. 

Sure, some of us still talk about what we are thankful for, and probably more so after this Sandy debacle, but for the most part, people just want somewhere to eat the meal they look forward to all year.

Here are some resources to make this all easier.

This little gem is from the NY Times' archives from 2009. It should also be said that this doesn't have to just be Thanksgiving ideas. A lot of these would be really easy and delicious for everyday life. Make some. Try it.

101 Head Starts on the Day

Bittman has a good point; most of the issues are from not enough space on the stove. 

So plan ahead peoples.

Here is a good way to plan ahead:

Saveur's 9 Complete Menu Ideas

It includes some pretty useful ideas, like Thanksgiving for Two and Vegetarian Thanksgiving, as well as some pretty awesome menus like Elegant French and Chesapeake Bay Thanksgiving.

Maybe you just want to read through some of these for ideas.

Please read this article from Bon Appetit. Please read this. Please.

How to Carve a Turkey

Because whether you're doing it or not, everyone should know how to carve a bird. A turkey is just a large chicken anyway.

Now, I just need to say:

We're having goose this year.

I'm excited.

For The Love of Meat

Meat! For the love of Meat!
Smoked meat.
Cured meat.
Sliced meat.

You don't have to go to Greenpoint for awesome Polish deli's full of smoked sausages you've never heard of. If you've been to a Polish deli without a translator present, you know what I mean. Too many szc and kw combos to even try and pronounce. Point to things. It's probably your best option. If something looks really dark, it's probably double smoked. If it's thin, it's probably dry. If it's available, get it. Invite some friends. Tell them to bring mustard.

Jubilat Provisions, at 608 5th ave (and 17th st), provides those of us in the middle of Brooklyn with the kielbasa and double smoked pork that fulfill our desire for smoked meat and homemade stuffed cabbage, head cheese, dense bread and pickles galore.

Thank you Jubilat for making this kind of spread available.

I make trips to this little deli when I get the hankering for cheap awesome pork. I've talked about it before, when fish was available, but recently it's been all meat and stuffed cabbage, polish donuts and Lithuanian bread. (Awwwesome.)

I love this place. I want this place to continue on. I don't see enough people in here and I want to change that. I want people to go here for great sandwich meat; out-of-the-ordinary amazing meat. I want people to go here and buy a big fat kielbasa and make sauerkraut and sausage at their house. Start a new tradition. Get meat from someone who smoked it themselves.

Go out and get some. FYI this is smoked, rib-in pork belly that is deep fried and then sliced for your convenience. I ate it with mustard, blanched string beans and thick rye bread.

PB&America

This article immediately caught my attention, and judging from its place at the top of the "most emailed" list, it seems it caught many other people's attention as well. I need to share.

Because Peanut Butter and Pickle sandwiches exist.

I definitely have had bacon parties before, constructing the ubiquitous Elvis as part of the fun. But now it seems it's time for a Peanut Butter party.

(I've had pickle parties before too!)

I'm going to make a Peanut Butter Party. You can be sure of it. I'll announce it too. And you can RSVP to it. And bring a friend.

Bytes and Sites

First, Halloween is closing in on us, and with it, tons of candy. Trust me, even adults are getting in on the candy. No one is safe. We may not be eating a pillowcase full, but we're going to be eating some.

I for one, will not be eating candy corn. And apparently neither is this guy:

"I'm Sick of Candy Corn"

Way to go dude. I would have written that article for bon appetit years ago. Also your pictures make me gag.

Also, bon appetit wins a lot of awards from me today because of their Snoop Dogg (double g!) Hot Pocket Video Repost.

Pocket Like it's Hot

This video is amazing, especially if you remember the original with Pharrell. This has the added bonus of Andy Milonakis. I can't believe he's still alive.

"I gotta heat it up to eat it up," says Snoop.

Thank you bon appetit for the junk food.

The Times today (ny) had two great articles in the Dining & Wine section. It comes out every Wednesday, but a lot of times they release some articles a day or so early on their website. So this first one I didn't catch earlier in the week, which I guess makes it more fun to open the paper come Wednesday.

The Snail Wrangler This lady is a boss. She also loves snails. I don't blame her. I love snails too, just not the way she does. You can tell she's about one step away from making snail porn. I would love to eat some of her snails and snail caviar, but I think it's highly unlikely.

Burmese Cooking (Currently Myanmar) has flavor profiles that are very familiar for me. After I read this article early yesterday morning, it was nice to see it so prominently displayed today.

A Burmese friend of mine, and culinary companion, gives me some pointers and suggestions when I want to make Burmese food. 

Most recently she said, "You already got everything but try to add some greens. A ton of fish sauce ruin salad."

And this is why I love her.

Also, I want the book that this lady wrote called Japanese Farm Food.

Check out her blog for some great pictures and a look into what you might expect from her book (or living in Japan for that matter)

For those of you that need a little food porn in your life, I give you Saveur's prime article for today:

Poutine That picture is slutty.

This should keep you busy for an hour.

Fennel Haters Need Not Apply

Under-appreciated by licorice haters everywhere, fennel gets a bad rep.  It's an incredibly versatile vegetable that can be eaten raw, roasted, braised, grilled, sauteed, stewed - the list goes on.

Seriously, the raw bulb is crunchy and slightly spiced, perfect for fall salads with apples and walnuts or any combination of fruit, nut, vegetable. They'll be a few salad suggestions to follow.


Roasted fennel takes on a sweetness that cuts the licorice edge that so many haters hate on.

In fact, I roasted some fennel and cipollini onions with coriander and lemon. Here is a picture. I'll eat it with grilled pork chops, or leftover roast lamb, or oily, full-flavored fish. Or whatever, it's awesome, you get the point right? (Actually I'm having it with merguez sausage, dbj.)

I've enjoyed the compilation posts thus far (blueberry, tomato) and I think I'll continue with another fantastic ingredient, and one that seldom gets the recognition it deserves.

Fennel!

First up, soups and salads, appetizers and such.

Fennel Apple Spritzer - Because we're adults and this doesn't have to be nonalcoholic. I suggest clear Rum, but by all means experiment. Applejack, whiskey, tequila?

Carrot and Fennel Soup - A great intro for those that can't take the full fennel plunge. The sweetness of the carrots helps curb the fennel's bite.

Pickled Fennel - Because it wouldn't be my blog unless something was pickled

Quinoa, Fennel, Pomegranate salad - This is for the ladies (come on, quinoa/pomegranate) and the vegans, and the people that make a shitload of one thing and eat it for lunch for a week and want others to be jealous. Lunch people should poach chicken or fry sausage patties in addition.

Fennel, Sunchoke, Apple salad - Wait, salad? Oh yeah, throw some pork on this, and serve it at a fancy dinner party. People won't believe that you know what sunchokes are. (Oh you don't? Here's some info)

Alright, so you've met my friend fennel, and you're ready to invite him to some parties. Cause, you know, he's such a cool guy.

Corn and Fennel Ragu - Comfort food style, you know. Just the word Ragu sounds good. Serve this with hot smoked salmon (aka kippered) and maybe some polenta cakes.

Cornish Game Hens - Everybody loves little chickens. Also Meyer lemons which have just come into season make this especially good.

Roasted Squash and Fennel - Sometimes you need to know the basics, this will help you build the dishes that will wow yourself and those lucky enough to join you. And because you want to make an awesome side dish for your lamb, or those frisky vegetarians that are making baked artichokes.

Flavorful Tomato sauce - This is for fun pasta shapes like fusilli, orrechiette, and farfalle. Kid shapes and grown-up sauce.

Alright so you wanna get real on these people. You want to wow them in ways that they didn't even know were possible.


Monkfish with Fennel and Garlic - Because Monkfish is delicious and seldom used by home cooks. Don't be afraid. Embrace.

Octopus with fennel - Fennel and seafood pair so wonderfully, and nobody ever cooks octopus. This will make you feel sophisticated and Mediterranean. Your friends will ask if you learned this in Europe, and you can lie about visiting Crete. Only for the truly badass.

Grilled Fresh Sardines with Fennel and Preserved Lemon - Yeah that's right. You're probably already salivating.

Anyone still have room for dessert?

Apple and Caramelized Fennel Tart - It's a perfect fall/winter dessert.

Bonus Recipe!

Roasted Fennel with Cipollini onions.

One Large fennel bulb
about six cipollini onions
1 tsp. coriander seeds
juice of 1/2 a lemon
zest from 1/2 a lemon
olive oil (to coat)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Cut the fennel in half vertically. Take out most of the core. Cut into strips, try and keep them attached, you want them to be relatively thick. Save some fronds for garnish.

Cut the cipollini's in half so that each half has a little bit of the root end. Take off the skin, but leave the root so that they stay connected.

Toss fennel, onions, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and coriander together until everything is coated.

Place on a foil lined cookie sheet and roast for 30-40 minutes or until soft and colorful.
Garnish with zest and reserved fronds.

Serve with pork chops or oily fish (mackerel, sardines, etc.)

Later Haters!

Himalayan High's

Top Cafe Tibet sits tucked away between a train station and a bodega in the heart of Brooklyn.

Even though it is less that one block from my house and next to my train station, it still feels like a remote location, channeling the faraway, impossibly high Himalayas.

But on a drab rainy day, you'll want to brave the elements to find this homey, tiny restaurant.

Make the trek and you'll be rewarded with foods that seem both familiar and exotic. Something hauntingly intimate about this small restaurant and it's delicious foods will keep you coming back.

Tapping into the comfort receptors in your brain, their Tsam-Thuk soup will bring you back to life and make you sleepy. One bowl induces groans of pleasure and nap-time related drowsiness .

 Tsam-Thuk is a Tibetan soup that uses roasted barely, or Tsampa, to thicken the broth and provide a roasted, earthy flavor that embraces your taste buds, giving them a hug and telling you everything is going to be okay. It's laced with shredded carrots and daikon, sprinkled with fresh spinach. Tiny "shredded" beef cubes are studded throughout the ridiculously silky broth if you order the meat version. The soup is also available without meat for a vegan experience.

It's got a I've-been-eating-this-my-whole-life feel to it that is very soul-soothing.

I imagine the most authentic would be yak meat, but that may be one thing Brooklyn does not have. Or maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

Soup is certainly not all they do here. They've got plenty of Tibetan specialties and are well known for their momo's, or Tibetan dumplings.

I managed to grab a side of Chana-Khatsa; mixed chickpeas with ginger, garlic, lemon and hot sauce. Sprinkled with cilantro. Everything should be sprinkled with cilantro. All the time.

 

This side is delicious in it's own right, but for me, was even better as an addition to my soup! Every few bites I dropped a few tiny chickpeas into the rich broth, adding just a hint of the creamy hot sauce each time. The hot sauce was incredibly thick, but not overly spicy. It had just enough kick to let you know it was there. It also looks like melted Velveta.

Let Top Cafe Tibet be your Sherpa into the culinary Himalayas.