eat me drink me

Today New York Times writer Manny Fernandez wrote about the 99-cent pizza craze that has been spreading across Manhattan.  But, he isn’t the first one to note cheap, $1 and under food.  About a year ago, I did a round up for Serious Eats that included pork buns, noodles, and sticks of meat from Flushing, Queens’ Chinatown; $1 falafel sandwiches; cheap sushi; and 39 cents an ounce frozen yogurt.  Josh Bernstein has also been rounding up cheap eats by neighborhood for Metromix.  He recently stumbled on the Hell’s Kitchen area and talked about the same pizza Fernandez did in his article.

What’s up with this craze?  Is 99-cent pizza worth it?  Adam Kuban of Slice didn’t say in his cheap pizza battle last year, but he also didn’t say he really liked either pie.  Some things I think work well as $1 items, like ices on the street in the summer, hot dogs, and French fries.  But overall, I would rather pay $2 for a really good slice, then bother with a kind of gross one for less.

Can I just tell you that I love coffee? Love, love, LOVE the stuff, and, because I drink it black, it totally makes my day when I stumble across a really good cup.  At RBC NYC in Tribeca, they have gone all out there. Enter, the Slayer. This variable pressure machine is the only one on the East Coast, and one of 20 in the entire WORLD. Wow. Handcrafted in Seattle, I can see why this beast is so special.  The three level system (which I am writing about for the New York Press right now, so more later), draws out a perfectly smooth, buttery shot of espresso.  I was buzzing so hard core after going there.  Of course, I also sampled a cup of drip Sumatra. Yum.  It’s no wonder the New York Times included it in their great coffee shop round up.  But there was a downfall, all that coffee and no bathroom.

I don’t know when sushi shaped like cats, or cats eating cute pieces of sushi became a popular image, but I am glad it did. What could be cuter then a salmon roll with a smiling cartoon cathead on it? Or a game where you play a round blue feline who eats sushi? Either way, sushi and cats, what a perfect combo.

One thing you should know, I think Starbucks is brilliant.  Well, more I think the people behind the brand are brilliant.  Not only have they made coffee into a luxury and necessary item, but they have trained us to ask for it by funny names like caramel macchiato, or crave a skinny vanilla latte, or even worse, use a benign size system.  Tall?  What does that mean?  I worked in a cafe for over 5 years and nothing was more annoying then someone asking for a grande macchiato when really they meant a medium (I think) latte.

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Last night I had the pleasure of attending a party at the Brazilian Consulate in honor of Leticia Moreinos Schwartz’s new cookbook, The Brazilian Kitchen.  The small room was packed with Schwartz’s family, friends, publisher, and other food-oriented people mulling about the makeshift bar and sipping fresh made Cabana sponsored caipirinhas.  As we downed the dangerously delicious cocktails, plates of finger food created from recipes in Schwartz’s book made the rounds.  From delicate puffs of hot cheese bread (page 16), to the heavy and fried beef croquettes (page 23) and black-eyed pea fritters (page 31), and to the rich caipirinha flavored bonbons (page 166), the samplings of the evening barely brushed the contents of her book.

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One recent Friday afternoon, I found myself with an hour to kill and was conveniently located near Union Square and its fabulous greenmarket.  Normally I just rush about, wanting and craving everything I see, but either I have no cash, or don’t want to carry my bounty around town.  This time, while the fresh veggies, eggs, and meat tempted me, what really pulled me in was the goat stand.  For about 20 years, Ellie Hushour has owned and operated the Patches of Star Dairy in Nazareth, PA, and her goaty goods are found every week at the green market.  She sells goat milk, yogurt, and cheese, all packaged fresh, with no preservatives, and at reasonable prices.

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photo by Randy Mayor (from Cooking Light)

Man, so about a month ago I took on the task of rounding up the best all-you-can-eat joints in the city.  My results? You can now see them HERE in this week’s Time Out New York! My all time favorite one was Cabrito, mostly because the staff was so nice and their tacos-AMAZING.  Of course, from fried chicken, to piles of meat, to delicate mussels, all these places are good, I tried each one in less then a week.  Still not sure how I did it, I mean, that is a lot of food.  Lucky me, it seems I was born with a second stomach.

Does anyone have a good all-you-can-eat place that I missed? Always looking for more places to gorge.

Tacos at Cascabel

Hey kids, I figure you have noticed I have been slooooooow at posting. I guess the more you write about the food the harder it is to keep up the blog. The good news is, there are tons of reviews for you to read! I have also started writing for Edible Brooklyn, which is pretty exciting.  Anyway, all these restaurants are Mexican themed, my favorite. Click the link to read full review.

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I love Rick’s Picks, especially their Smokra‘, a delightfully spicy, paprika spiked pickled okra.  But what, pray tell, do you do with the wonderful brine leftover after you finish these addictive beauties?  The other day I was faced with such a conundrum, I didn’t want to throw it out, but saving it, really?  Well my answer was right on the jar: use as a meat marinate.  Yum.

So, I stopped by Whole Foods and bought a thick cut pork chop ($6.30) from the meat counter and brought it home.  There, I cut the piece of meat into six large chunks and plopped them into the jar.  Nothing could have been easier.  I let the pork sit for a couple days before I cooked it up in a frying pan.  No oil, no spice, just some heat to cook the meat.  After it browned in the juices on medium heat, I drained it and added some quartered Brussels sprouts.  That’s it, an easy, no mess meal.  When the meat was done, the spice of the brine shone through with a peppery tang.  Because it had sat in the marinate for so long, the pork was super moist.  Next time, I might try to put two pork chops in the jar and share, but I guess that means I need a new jar of Smokra’…oh darn.

Yesterday I hit up Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene to hear Louisa Shafia talk about her book, Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life.  Well, let’s be a little more candid, I mainly went to try the food she whipped up from recipes in this stunning cookbook.  On the table, she had a briny, crisp red cabbage, apple, and dulse salad (page 86),  a fluffy, fresh tortilla Espanola (page 36), and the bittersweet, flourless chocolate cake with prune puree and hazelnuts (page 65).  Um, yum?!  Each hor’dourves sized bite had a unique, refreshing flavor, but the best part, Shafia had gotten all her ingredients from the Fort Greene Farmer’s Market.

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