eat make read

One of the many reasons I love going to the farmers’ market is there’s always something to discover and someone to explain it. I saw these little pods this weekend and was instantly curious. I asked the vendor what they were and she said husk cherries. She then picked one up, peeled back the husk and handed it to me. Delicious! The flavor is fairly mild and slightly pineappley, the texture is similar to tomatoes but there’s no seed or pit. I asked what she recommended doing with them and she said you can just eat them as is or they’re excellent dipped in chocolate. Whoa. I walked away with a basket and about half were gone by the time we got home. So if you see husk cherries (or ground cherries or cape gooseberries) pick them up and enjoy!

A few weeks ago Aaron and I made a trip up to Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a restaurant, farm and research center started by Dan, David and Laureen Barber. If you’re unfamiliar, Dan Barber is at the forefront of the locavore movement. This year he was named one of Time magazines most 100 influential people and won the Outstanding Chef Award by the James Beard Foundation. Basically he’s awesome and after visiting Blue Hill at Stone Barns, I’m ready for him to adopt me.

Blue Hill is a working farm, with trails and paths wound throughout the property, allowing visitors to view the gardens, animals and incredible scenery. We stayed pretty close to the barns, but saw baby turkeys, garlic being dried, sheep, a few farmers, bees and a whole lot of chickens among other things. It was a dreamy day, even with a quick rain shower. Beyond wandering the property, we were really there for the food, specifically an unforgettable dinner. Oh boy did we get one.

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Today’s happy hour is extra special. It’s not the usual cocktail, but more a recipe for how to eat yourself silly in San Fracisco. On our recent trip out west I fell in love with San Francisco. The food, the coffee, the people… I just loved everything about it. I’ve compiled a little recap of some of the highlights of this awesome city.

Chez Panisse
As soon as we booked our flight to San Francisco I knew we had to make reservations at Chez Panisse. I dutifully called the restaurant exactly one month before the day we wanted to dine and secured a reservation. We arrived in Berkeley early and wandered the quaint streets, even happening upon a little farmer’s market.

The restaurant is small and comfortable, intimate without being intimidating. Everyone was extremely nice and helpful. The menu changes daily and there aren’t any choices, you simply get what the kitchen is making that evening. Each course that came out was simple, yet full of flavor and each topped the next. From the most amazing, fava bean, fennel and spinach soups to a pork entreé topped peas and turnips to a mouth-watering meyer lemon and passionfruit ice cream dessert, I was in a happy, happy place.

To top things off, if you ask your waiter, you can tour the kitchen and meet the people who make your food. It was definitely a dreamy place and most certainly worth a trip to Berkeley.

Chez Panisse
1517 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, California 94709
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I visited the Brooklyn Flea and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. The food section has expanded since last year which makes me very happy. I made sure to arrive with an empty stomach so I could enjoy some of the delicious offerings. After waiting in line for what seemed like forever I was rewarded with that tasty beauty above, a pupusa filled with pork and cheese and topped with pickled cabbage, hot peppers and hot sauce. Totally worth the wait.

As if papusas weren’t enough Rick’s Pick’s was there and gave me some hot tips on how to use some pickled jalepenos I’d picked up at the market earlier. Right next to them I stopped by Miss Amy’s booth and bought the most delicious Strawberry Jam made from local strawberries and fresh ground peanut butter. Man I love this city!

Aaaahhhh, the life. We visited Mast Brothers Chocolate factory this weekend in Williamsburg. It made me happy. And hungry. It’s small but bustling and really good smelling. You should visit.

105A North 3rd Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211

This is where I live. It makes me happy.

photos from New York Times

I got an email recently from reader and fellow blogger, Shaheen asking for foodie places to visit when she comes to New York City. Hmmm, I thought. Excellent idea… There are way more places to visit than I even know about, but that’s what’s so great about this city. It’s always an adventure.

So here it is. A little collection of some of my favorite little gourmet shops, bakeries, cookbook stores and other gems. I’ve even created a handy google map for you, just click here.

Food Shops:
Murray’s Cheese
Oh sweet goodness! If I could move in I would. I love Murray’s because they have so much cheese and everyone knows everything about it. As an added bonus, you can also take classes and tours.

Despana
A cute little Spanish food shop full of specialty meats, cheeses and oils. They also serve tasty salads and sandwiches.

Dean & Deluca
I always try to stop in grocery store when I’m visiting a new place. I think it’s fun to see how different regions display their food and the different specialties they have. Dean & Deluca is the fanciest grocery store I’ve ever visited and is just pretty to look at. They carry many treats from the best bakeries and chocolaties in the city.

Essex Street Market
I have to admit, I haven’t spent nearly enough time here. It’s the home of Saxelby Cheesemongers, a cheese shop specializing in American cheeses and Shopsin’s. With food like that, it’s got to be good.

Union Square Greenmarket
There are Greenmarkets (Farmer’s Market) all over the city, but Union Square is the best one. It’s huge and you can find everything from local honey, flowers, tons of fresh fruits and vegetables to hand-spun yarn. It just makes me happy. Try to go on a Saturday as that’s the biggest day.

Chelsea Market
Housed in a converted factory building, Chelsea Market is home to the delicious bakery Amy’s Bread and one of my favorite local dairy’s, Ronneybrook Milk Bar. There’s lots of other shops to peruse and dream about new recipes to make.

Bakeries:
City Bakery
Anyone who thinks up a pretzel croissant is good in my book. Tack on a month of hot chocolate experiments and you’re golden.

Magnolia Bakery
They gained fame by being featured on Sex & the City, but they earned it. Their cupcakes are mouthwateringly delicious.

sugar Sweet sunshine
Really, you can never have too many cupcakes. Started by former bakers at Magnolia, sugar Sweet sunshine serves a mean cupcake.

The Doughnut Plant
Fresh doughnuts made with unexpected ingredients like pistachio and or peanut butter glaze with blackberry jelly. Sign me up.

Tuck Shop
It’s a tiny place, but what it lacks in space it makes up for in flavor. Savory pies with filled with pure goodness like the Thai Green Chook Curry Pie or a Lamb Shank and Vege Pie. Yum and more yum!

Sweets (other than bakeries):
Il Laboratorio del Gelato
Deeelicious handmade gelato that often comes in crazy flavors like honey lavender and green apple.

Pinkberry
Frozen Yogurt’s all the rage and Pinkberry seems to be leading the way. Customers wait in long lines to enjoy a cup of tangy frozen yogurt topped with fresh fruit.

Papabubble
Watch them make hard candy in crazy bright colors right in front of you.

Vosges
A few years ago they came out the the bacon chocolate bar. Ummm yeah. The shop is beautiful and is a welcome treat after a long day of shopping in Soho.

Coffee:
La Colombe
Their coffee is full of flavor and super delicious. They don’t have a menu and just serve the basics, no crazy mint mocha frappacino stuff.  Their iced coffee in the summer makes my day.

Joe the Art of Coffee
This place is not messing around. Attend cuppings or other classes about coffee. Of course you’ll get a perfect cup of joe if you stop by.

Cookbook Heaven:
Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks
This is a tiny shop filled with random and wacky old cookbooks and a few utensils. Call before you go to make sure she’s open.

Kitchen Arts & Letters
I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t been here yet, but it’s definitely a destination. The largest store in America featuring only books about cooking and wine. So dreamy!

I hope you enjoyed the list and please feel free to add your favorite nyc food destinations in the comment section.

This weekend we finally made it to the restaurant James. It got a lot of good press when it first opened about a month or two ago and it immediately went on our list of new restaurants to visit. After eating there, both Aaron and I agreed that the good press was well deserved.

There was a small wait when we arrived around nine on a Saturday, so we took a seat at the bar and perused the drink list. The cocktail list was quite lovely, with about 10 cocktails and they also had a selection of beer and wine. I went with the Ginger Fizz and Aaron chose the James Revenge (which is kind of like a Brooklyn). Both were good stuff.

Our table opened up in about five minutes, so we took our seat beneath their beautiful modern chandelier. The waiter took a while to visit us, but when he did we liked what he had to say. All the specials sounded delicious, but one stood out and I had to have it for dinner. Roast pork served with bacon and pear with a pork jous, I mean come on, how could I not get it. Aaron also picked a pretty dreamy sounding choice, pine nut and rosemary crusted loin of lamb with a summer bean stew. The thing is, just about everything on their menu sounded really, really good. That just doesn’t always happen at a restaurant, especially because, as much as I hate to admit it, I still have a little bit of a picky streak that runs through me.

Our entrees arrived and we were both more than ready to taste them. My pork was super tender and juicy, with tons of flavor. The bacon and pear weren’t quite what I expected because they were cut into small pieces and scarcely scattered around the plate. That being said, when I did get a piece of bacon or pear on my fork, it was so good. I actually couldn’t believe how much flavor a little piece of bacon could have. We switched meals half way through (this is something we almost always do at dinner… super nerdy and a little uncooth, but it adds excitement to every meal) and I couldn’t wait to taste his choice. Oh boy… I was not prepared for the goodness that entered my mouth with that first bite. I guess I hadn’t had that much experience with eating lamb, and it’s not that it tasted like I was eating something out of the ordinary, but it was just so flavorful. It was kind of like flavor squared, it took the normal flavor senses to a new level. Really, the meat had such good, rich flavor and then since it was topped off with rosemary and pine nuts it had a great textural thing going on. Yummmm.

Before we started the meal we decided to skip the small plate and save some room for dessert instead, so once our plates were cleared we were eager to try something sweet. We opted to go for one of the specials, a lemon curd tart topped with fresh blueberries from the market (bonus points) and a berry compote. When it arrived we both had to stop our drooling for a second to admire the beauty of the dish. But then we got over that and stuck our forks in. It was just as good as it looked. The crust was super buttery and delicous and gave a nice contrast to the tart lemon curd. The blueberries and compote brought in a lovely sweetness that topped everything off.

I was expecting good things when we went to James and it really exceeded our expectations. Everything is really fresh and flavorful with a few surprises lurking around to keep things interesting. I highly recommend a trip if you haven’t already been.

One of the things I was looking forward to most about our vacation was cheese. I just love the stuff and when I realized we’d be traveling through the dairy state, I knew we’d have to visit a few creameries. Just like the luck I had with Anchor Bar & Grill, I happened to read an article in Gourmet about the area we were visiting. It gave a lovely list of restaurants and cheese resources, so I mapped them out and we set out to try some cheese.

The first two places we stopped were a little disappointing. It’s not that they didn’t have good cheese, it’s just that they were cheese factories rather than a single person who was super passionate about cheese. Then we pulled up to the Nelson Cheese and Creamery and it was like we stepped out of rural Wisconsin and onto the Swiss countryside. When I walked in the shop, I knew we were in for a treat. While it’s no longer a working creamery, it has been in the same family for over 100 years. They started out making cheese and butter, then they opened their doors to the public in the 70’s and it got so busy that they decided to stop making their own cheese and source out the best cheeses they could find.

Oh man do they have good cheese. We took a seat on the pet-friendly patio (major bonus points) and chose from a fair selection of local microbrews. We decided on a couple sandwiches from the hefty sandwich menu as well as a cheese plate. The owner brought out a selection of five cheeses and described them all and answered our questions. Then because there was so much cheese, she told us she held our sandwich order because she thought we might have second thoughts about ordering two sandwiches… she was totally right. After sipping our beer and snacking on cheese for awhile, we realized one sandwich would be more than enough.

But let’s get back to the cheese… so good! All of them were really tasty, but one really stood out. It was a cheese called Marieke Gouda with Foenegreek Spice and it’s unlike any cheese I’ve ever tasted. It’s the second from the back in the picture above. The best way to describe it is butter pecan ice cream in the form of cheese. It was a little less sweet than ice cream with a just the slightest bit of tang to it. Could life get any better? I’m not sure if it’s widely distributed, but it’s certainly worth asking your local cheesemonger.

The people were so friendly and helpful, the range of products was fantastic and the views made me want to camp out on the patio. If we hadn’t already made reservations 200 miles away, I think we would have stayed all night.

One of our favorite restaurants of the vacation was the most serendipitous. Before we left I loaded my ipod with a ton of podcasts, one of which was the Splendid Table. I wasn’t super familiar with the show, but I figured it was about food and aired on NPR, so it had to be up my alley. I was so right… I couldn’t get enough! If you haven’t listened, check it out here.

Each program begins with a segment called “Where we eat” by Jane and Michael Stern. Basically they travel the country and hit up random, but extra tasty restaurants and then tell lucky listeners about it. What do you know they mentioned a place called the Anchor Bar and Grill in Superior, Wisconsin which was right on our way. I couldn’t believe our luck, so I looked up directions on my fancy new phone and we made plans to stop by on our way back from Minnesota.

As we drove down the exit ramp I got a little nervous that the directions were wrong. The landscape looked a little desolate, with big patches of grass situated between sad looking buildings. We drove a little further and then we saw that awesome blue awning that read “Anchor Bar & Grill”. We parked the car and made our way in.

The darkness was blinding. We had to stop ourselves for a minute while our eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, but alas, we found a seat and perused the menu that sat waiting on the table. As we were trying decide whether to go for the cheese and cashew burger, or just stick with a good old cheeseburger, our waitress arrived. I looked up to see a t-shirt that read “All stressed out and no one to choke”. Awesome. I mean, I really couldn’t imagine this experience getting any better. We both decided to be boring and ordered a cheeseburger and fries. A mere five minutes after the order left our mouths, a paper plate piled high with fresh cut french fries and a juicy burger was plopped in front of us. I think Aaron’s fries were gone in seconds, they were that good. And the burger didn’t take much longer to go down. It was hands-down top notch bar food. For dessert we got to watch our waitress smoke a cig and watch her soaps.

Find a reason to go down my the water in Superior, Wisconsin and hit up the little hole in the wall called Anchor Bar and Grill. You won’t be disappointed.