GASTRONORMOUS

You know I love Mark Bittman’s Bitten. I say so all the time. But, really–I’m not just saying this–you MUST watch the video for this Minimalist column. It is about a fried rice recipe by Jean-Georges Vongerichten. It looks like a great (and simple) recipe, and I will definitely try it next time I have leftover rice from takeout. But the real reason to click the link is to watch video in which the role of the spirit of JGV is played by Bittman himself. The best part is the accent MB uses, which sounds not French at all, but like a combination of German and Japanese, and yet somehow completely endearing. I love that MB is not afraid to act as if he has a split personality and the other half represents two of the three axis powers. [photo via Bitten/NYT]

Hello, Eat It!, old friend! I see that while I have been gone you have had many a memorable dining adventure. Most recently, Tacos Matamoros was reviewed. It was apparently good enough, and incredibly cheap, which, now that I have a spendy baby, is the foremost factor in my choosing a restaurant!

I am probably not going to watch the Super Bowl (when is it, again?), but don’t think that will stop me from making Cajun Caramel Corn! Thanks, Serious Eats!

Finally!! A half-decent Thai restaurant is coming to my neighborhood, Brownstoner reports. The last time we ordered Thai food, three of the four dishes we ordered tasted seriously funky, as in ingredients in them had gone bad.  We threw the menu out or I’d tell you the name. It was one of the places on Myrtle. Awful. Some say that Joya, which is opening a Fort Greene branch, has done down hill, but considering the current choices in the neighborhood, I’ll take it. I wonder if they will deliver on opening day??

Gasp! The founder of Midtown Lunch is leaving the site! Well, at least until he starts Midtown Lunch: Los Angeles. New York will miss you, Zach!

Some people are apparently furious about TGIFridays moving into the old Zen Palate space on Union Square. While not a particular fan of Friday’s cuisine, I might be more up in arms about the opening if it weren’t located right next door to the giant Baby’s R Us (formerly Toys R Us), which ruined the east side of the park ages ago. The Gothamist post also mentions that TGI Fridays began on the Upper East Side, so we have only ourselves to blame.

This year’s Vendy Award finalists have been announced. Two in the dessert entries I have never heard of: the Cupcake Stop and the Big, Gay, Ice Cream Truck, which is obviously worth seeking out. Complete list of finalists here. [via Midtown Lunch]

Serious Eats reports on the First Annual Vermont Cheesemakers Festival. 50 cheese makers! (Not to mention 20 wineries/breweries and 14 artisan food producers.) It sounds like it was dairy heaven! If the Second Annual VCF comes to pass, I might just have to take a trip up to Burlington. I hope while there I can hug a baby goat, as demonstrated on the VCF website homepage. So cute!

It looks like the new Upper West Side Whole Foods offers many ammenities that other NYC locations do not, including compostable packaging, a gelato bar, and wine store! It isn’t enough that UWS’ers get Zabars and a Fairway, now they have to have the best Whole Foods too? What’s up with that? And where is the love for Brooklyn, WF? Maybe I’ll join the boycott. [via The Kitchn]

Frank Bruni hasn’t quit reviewing altogether. Nightline convinced him to review the Choco-Taco, and Serious Eats has the video. Frank Bruni is not what I expected. I sort of imagined him to be an older man with a huge pot belly and a thick thatch of salt and pepper locks (Don’t ask me why I thought he had thick hair; perhaps I imagined him to be like an Italianate Jeffrey Steingarten). He is actually svelte and relatively young, but just as witty and pithy as you want him to be. By the way, Choco-Taco: zero stars. Maybe you should try making your own. Serious Eats showed us how earlier this year. [photo via icecreamusa.com]

Speaking of tacos, I had been hoping to go to the permanent outpost of Calexico, the celebrated taco cart, post-haste, post-pregnancy, but after seeing Eat It: Brooklyn’s disappointed review, I might just skip it.

After finally reading the Amateur Gourmet’s entertaining-as-usual post on eating at El Bulli, I definitely don’t want to skip the most famous Spanish restaurant. Now if only I could get a reservation…and a trip to Spain. You must read his review, just to get a sense of what a meal at El Bulli is like. It looks like an amazing experience.

I love the idea of a Cambodian version of mayonnaise-smothered mexican corn, made with siracha and coconut, over at Food Mayhem. I would definitely grill my corn rather than microwave it, though–I think the charriness really adds to the flavor. This is even something I can try during my gestational-diabetes debilitated pregnancy–I ate a farm fresh ear of corn last night and my blood sugar was fine afterward! Starchy summer bliss!

Ever heard of caramelized white chocolate? Neither had I, but now I am longing to try it. David Lebovitz gives you the recipe, and then makes it into an ice cream. Ya killing me!! This is yet another wait-for-mid-September must-try recipe.

I am not normally a fan of mayonaise-based dips, but this one over at Half-Assed Kitchen has both curry and horseradish to redeem it. [photo via Half-Assed Kitchen]

I only like granola when it is mostly clusters. I have never made my own granola, in fact, because most homemade granolas I have had are completely sans clusters. Why is that?, I have always wondered. If you are in the same granola boat, the Kitchn has some help (a kind commenter posted a clustery recipe, too!).

In case you need an excuse not to go to a hot dog street cart: Here’s one that has admitted to charging based on looks! Yikes. [via Midtown Lunch]

As we slog through the New York heat and humidity that seems finally to have arrived this Summer, the Amateur Gourmet departs for Spain. To go eat at El Bulli, no less. I eagerly anticipate the report on his experience there! Lucky perro.

There is something odious to me about serving scrambled eggs in a martini glass, but I must admit this recipe for creamy scrambled eggs with mushrooms and herbs featured over at the Kitchn sounds totally delish.

Eat It: Brooklyn gives a more or less negative review of Alma, where I have had mixed experiences, too. I have had enchiladas wading in a pool of cheese-oil there more than once. Sometimes their food leaves me cold, but some lucky nights it is spot-on. The guacamole is reliably good, and their brunch can be amazing, depending on what you order. EIB has some enchiladas that she rightly complains look unappetizing. I think I can explain the iceberg-lettuce topping, though: My husband makes muy excellente New Mexican enchiladas, and always tops them with iceberg and onions, so I guess is is a southwestern thing. That isn’t how we do it in California, but I sort of like the bit of freshness and crunch it adds.

The Epicurious blog reports on the new COMPOSTABLE cups and plates that you can use at your next picnic. Interestingly, they are made by Solo, makers of the ubiquitous red or blue plastic tumblers. Good for them, for not contributing more to the Pacific Ocean island of plastic.

Years ago, I had my friend Eddy over for some baked beans and corn bread I made, and pretty much every single time I have seen him since then, he has mentioned how delicious those beans were, and he wished I would make them again. Thing is, I seem to have lost the recipe. I cannot find it in my recipe file, and I am pretty sure I did not get it from a cook book. Well, I might just have to try this recipe from the Amateur Gourmet, as he pronounces these “the best beans of your life.”

Growing up in a, shall we say, non-cosmopolitan central California town, you can imagine that the buffet restaurant called Smorga Bob’s (I swear) was a big hit. And it was, for a while. It is long gone, but I still remember they had swedish meatballs in deference to the titular reference to a smorgasboard, but otherwise, the menu was a free-for-all, pan-nation collection of meat, grease, and starch. Well, you can certainly get much closer to what a true smorgasboard tonight at the Swedish Midsummer Festival in Battery Park City. This, and other weekend food event are listed over at Serious Eats: NY.

Ain’t this pie a beaut’? The photo accompanies a story on the Bitten blog about a pizza made with Vermont-made Ricotta di buffala and fresh, local asparagus. Yum! The ricotta sounds a lot better than the Polly-O variety, light a fluffy, rather than dense and curdy. Asparagus is on of my favorite vegetables, and (good) pizza is one of my favorite meals. If ever I am inspired to make my own pizza dough, I will just have to give this combination of flavors a try.

I have never eaten at the Shake Shack at Madison Square Park, though have always wanted to go (mostly for the sundaes, which I saw a picture of in a magazine story after the place first opened, and I have been dreaming of since). Every time I stop by the lines are horrendously long enough to discourage me from staying, but Artichoke Heart reports that there is a Shake Shack outlet at the new Citi Field and though the line can be long, it moves quickly and offers a view of the game. I am not a baseball fan, though I do occassionally enjoy a live game. It might just be the time to take me out to the Shake Shack, er, ball game.

This olive oil and herb tart crust from Chocolate & Zucchini looks like a divine way to start a summer vegetable tart: say, one made with tomato and basil, zucchini and goat cheese, or, dare I say, asparagus and ricotta di buffala? I can also see the tart made with less salt, a bit of sugar, and either thyme or basil, with a sweet lemon filling (I love sweet lemon with those herbs). Now, if only I had a tart pan…

In case you have been saving parmesan rinds because Lidia Bastianich told you to, but have no idea how you actually might use them, why not give this delicious-looking soup from over at Cook, Eat, Fret a try? I love simple, homey soups like this one. It doesn’t exactly scream “summer,” but is nonetheless appealing.

Eat It: Brooklyn had a good lookin’ meal over at the BKLYN YARD last weekend; a meal featuring my favorite pizza from the entirety of 2008, which I enjoyed siting on an Atlantic Avenue curb last fall. Pizza Moto (f/k/a Lunetta’s pizza truck) is at the YARD, along with some of the seemingly omnipresent Red Hook ball fields vendors, a juice purveyor that whips up some intruiging concoctions, and! the Van Leeuwen Artisanal Ice Cream Truck, which I have been itching to seek out. (What I want to know is, though, are the food vendors there every Saturday and Sunday? And what are the hours? Neither of these pieces on information are on the poorly designed website for the YARD. Harumpf.)

Ooh! Just in time for springtime brunches on the veranda (you have one of those, right?): Asparagus-Parmesan Pain Perdu (that’s french toast) with Tomato Jam! Sounds très bon, don’t it? The technique seems a bit tricky–I am not sure how well dipping bread topped with multiple aspargus slices into egg batter would work out–but I think I’ll have to make this some time very soon! Hopefully I will get asparagus from my CSA starting next month! [via Serious Eats]

Note to the Hubs: I am not expecting anything for Mother’s Day on account of the fact that I am not yet a mother, but if you wanted to get something for me (twisting toe into ground), I wouldn’t be upset at all if it were one of these Bouchon Bakery Strawberry Patties. Just sayin’. The Kitchn features a recipe, but why make these complicated confections when you can run over to Bouchon Bakery and buy one?

Clotilde’s homemade date-nut bars seem like a great (and healthy!) way to use the cacao nibs that the Predicate kindly brought back from Panama for me (directly from the plantation where the cacao was grown!). But who am I kidding, those suckers are going into some cookies at some point, too.

I have never made tortillas, though I have often heard that they are quite easy to make. But Half-Assed Kitchen actually writing out the recipe makes me see how east it really is. I don’t have a tortilla press, and I possess a serious aversion to rolling out dough, but still, if someone who admits to being half-assed can make them, I guess I should give it a try too. They do look much better in their imperfectness than the store-bought variety.

Technically not about food, this NYP article features the word “wiener” and mentions this pooch’s diet (chicken and whole wheat pasta), so I’ll give it a pass. At 21 years old, Chanel is the Guinness-certified World’s Oldest Dog. How could you not love a dog who wears sunglasses (to protect her catarachts) and one bootie? So mid-career-M.J.-enigmatic! [photo via NY Post, Dennis Clark]

Artichoke Heart reports that the pizza at Anselmo’s is both saucy and spicy, which happens to be just how I love pizza (I prefer a goodly amount of red on my pie). AH also mentions that the brick-oven-produced pie was not too charred, which is a problem I have encountered at other ballyhooed pizza places in Brooklyn, notably Lucali. Saucy+not charred=Gastronormous must try!

Cook, Eat, Fret actually made the Bittman broccoli rabe pasta dish I mentioned two weeks ago, and declares it “perfect.” Ok, I really must try it already.

It never occurred to me that some might view juicy tomatoes to be an insurmountable obstacle in the creation of a good sandwich–in fact, I would think that a juicy tomato would be preferred. Silly me. Genetic mutators in Holland have developed something they call a “non-leaking” tomato, which will leach only 2% of its juices onto the bread of a sandwich (as opposed to 12% with regular, leaky, tomatoes). Really? We have a disastrous worldwide recession going on, and this is what some see fit to spend money on developing? Egad. [via The Food Section]

I am glad Eat It: Brooklyn had a good experience at Paninotecca 275. for years, it was one of my favorite places in the Carroll Gardens, but the last couples times I went the food was lackluster. The menu looked different, the stafff was different, and the whole place just seemed off. I hope they have returned to their former glory. I still think about the last brunch I had there involving soft baked eggs with gorgonzola; two things I can’t have while pregnant. I think a trip to brunch at Paninotecca might be due shortly after I am!

According to Eater, the next season of Top Chef will take place in Las Vegas. Can’t you just see a $4-all-you-can-eat-casino-buffet challenge?

Apricot Beignets with White Chocolate Apricot Sauce. No other words are needed, are they? [from Food Mayhem]

Is it possible the Manhattan ramps season is earlier than the Brooklyn one? I posted about my experience cooking with ramps in late May last year, but ramps’ short season as apparently already begun at the Union Square farmers market (and in a good looking pasta at Franny’s), as reported by the Amateur Gourmet.

The Food Section features an article about another Spring alum: green garlic. Yum!

Just in time for Cinco de Mayo: Grilled Tomatillo Salsa [over at Serious Eats]. Grilling the NOT-tomatoes is an intriguing twist on a classic Mexican condiment. I might just have to break out the (stove-top) grill to try it!

Hello people. You might have been wondering why I haven’t been posting much of late. I do apologize. There are many reasons: I lost momentum being away for the holidays, got really busy with work, and lost the thingy that downloads pictures from my camera’s mini-disc to the computer. But the number one reason is: I am pregnant! The Hubs and I are very excited about it (can’t speak for the pooch, who currently enjoys being the center of our worlds). The downside as far as this blog is concerned is, or shall I say, was, that for a good three months I had absolutely no interest in eating food, let alone writing about it. Just thinking about most food made me want to collapse on the divan like a good Gothic romance heroine. But I am feeling much better these days. I must say that the trip to the Ethiopian restaurant was a real test of my fortitude (gustatorial as well as mental), one that I passed with flying colors. So, now, no excuses!

Ruhlman sure does make it look easy. One really simple-looking vanilla sauce that can be made into pastry cream, ice cream, or creme brulee! I might just pour the sauce into a shot glass and drink it straight up. (Unfortunately, he gives directions for the sauce only, not the other preparations–though the how to turn this into ice cream is pretty straightforward, assuming you have an ice-cream maker.)

Speaking of Ruhlman, Serious Eats pointed me to his new cookbook called Ratio, which gives the proper ratios for proper doughs, sauces, etc. (including sausages?). This looks like the perfect book for someone like me, who has a hard time resisting the urge to tweak recipes. Said tweaking sometimes results in recipe implosion, but having a book like this just might help me from fouling things up to the point of inedibility.

Speaking of buns in the oven, Smitten Kitchen has both literal and figural buns in her oven. She is preganant too. Plus, she made some awesome-looking cinnamon buns. The recipe calls for a stand mixer, which I don’t have (would that I had the room for one!). I know people made cinnamon buns before the invention of the Kitchen Aid. Any advice on a more rustic method?

I love broccoli rabe. We usually blanch it, then sautee it in a little olive oil, add a splash of balsamic, a few dashes of red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt. It is a really simple, healthy, and delicious side dish. Mark Bittman’s Minimalist column this week features my favored greens, in a pasta dish with crispy garlic and bread crumbs. Looks like a must-try week night meal to me.