Crave It Giveaway! Burn Cream MD (for your owies)

To Win:  Leave a comment about how you've burned yourself.  And follow me while you're at it.  

After having been in some professional kitchens, it is easy to see why you would keep Burn Cream MD around.  Leaning once on a hot burner taught me to be a bit more careful.  And left a funny ring shaped burn on my palm.  Roasting marshmallows and then plunging my fingers into the sticky, hot mess.  Also, very, very painful.  I pretty much burn myself regularly. 

Let's be honest, freebies rock. Even more so when it's free stuff worth over a buck. (although, honestly, I could get excited about a free chicken burrito from Taco Bell).  In this case it's more in the realm of $29.99.  And Emeril Lagasse and Mario Batali both keep it in their kitchens!  Burn Cream MD was developed for use in the kitchen or wherever you might burn yourself.  It has lidocaine to take the sting away.  I could have used this a few times in my past.  Like when the flaming marshmallows would not shake off of my fingers no matter what I did.

Courtesy of Healing Skin, I am giving away your choice of Burn Cream MD in lotion form or handy wipe form.   The New York small world thing?  This awesome cream was developed by my old boss, Dr. Diane Madfes, spokesperson for Garnier Nutritioniste and dermatologist extraordinaire.

    

So, friends, if you would like to win this celebrity endorsed, dermatologist created burn cream, please leave a comment about a kitchen burn (or whatever you want to comment on - let's be honest - we're free flowing here) and become a follower of the blog.  Entries will close at 5:00 pm MST next Monday.  I'll announce the winner soon after.  After all, we all need something to ease the burn of "a case of the Mondays." 

Good Luck!

Heaven in a Pita: Taïm

Today I fell in love. I didn't mean to, it just happened.

You'd think that after a long day of eating 48 different types of ice cream, a red velvet cake from Amy's Bread (also freaking awesome), and having a full Schezuan lunch that I might be averse to another meal.
But that's where you'd be wrong.

I stopped at Taïm on my way home from work. Granted, it was a little out of the way from my apartment but in the vicinity of Joe's Pizza on Carmine where I'd been commanded to pick up a pie for my husband, who was patiently waiting in Salt Lake City for a New York slice. Today, karma won. I did something nice for my husband so karma did something nice for me.

It took me a second to find, as they are located on the west side of 7th ave and I apparently was brain dead. (In my defense, it was a Friday after work.) Taïm is located on Waverly Place next to residential buildings. The tip off that you're walking to the right place is in the bench outside and people hovering around with satiated smiles on their faces. I walked in the small shop front and analyzed the menu. As I was only there for something portable and walking friendly (and classic) I decided to go after the Falafel sandwich.

Don't worry - I still shook things up as I happen to enjoy doing. The "Harissa" which employs Tunisian spices sounded right up my alley. It was described as mildly spicy (which I don't actually believe nor does my heartburn) which I knew would be balanced by the soft pita, Israeli salad, hummus, and white cabbage. This equated to heartburn friendly.

All I can say is, this could potentially qualify to be my last bite on earth. The impossibly creamy hummus made my heart skip a beat and the Israeli salad added just the right level of fresh crunch. My Falafel balls were perfectly crisp and brown. And the Harissa spices were so elegantly flavored in a lower level "boom" but not "bam" in your mouth kind of way.

Once again, as with many good street foods in New York, I dripped my handheld treat onto my shoes. But I didn't care. I changed my stance to free falling falafel mode and continued the impolite chow down on 7th Ave without any concern of appearances.

Yum. The End.

Life Changing Salted Caramel Sauce

Freaking Awesome Salted Caramel Sauce Swimming Atop Ice Cream from Guerrilla Ice Cream

Holy freaking crap.  I can't help it.  This sauce is that freaking good.  My palate is blown - in a really, really good way.

Tomorrow at the SE office we are conducting a microwave popcorn taste test.  We put feelers out to our community about their thoughts and tomorrow we will take yet another one for the team and subject ourselves to a ridiculous amount of food in a short period of time.  As often is the case, we have an extra person or two that comes in on these marathon taste tests.  This time it is someone bringing ice cream.

Naturally, I googled popcorn ice cream as soon as I heard.  And this is what popped up.  I knew what I had to do.

I stopped at Whole Foods on my way home and picked up the ingredients which was a sacrifice in itself.  The Whole Foods @ Union Square if freakin' nuts.  Seriously people?  It's not that amazing of a store.  Please, disperse to your own local stores.  Thank you!

Let the cooking commence!

Here's what you'll need:

2 c sugar
1 2/3 c heavy cream
2 tbsp salted butter
1/4 tsp fleur de sel or coarse sea salt

I want to say this isn't difficult to make - which is true.  But if you're timid in the kitchen this may not be for you.

Step 1:

Add sugar to heavy cast iron pan.  I only have one temperature setting on my stove in New York, so high heat it was.  The point is to melt your sugar - so it's all good.

When it begins to brown (see above)  gently move the sugar around so that the unmelted sugar gets its chance to melt too.  You'll have some chunks but if you're patient, they'll melt.  Stir gently.

The directions said the caramel would smoke and not to worry.  I may have heeded that advice a little too closely.  Fortunately, the smoke alarm did not go off and my apartment aired out fairly quickly.

Take two on the sugar.  (at least it was something I had extra of)

Step 2:

So, pretending that my caramel was perfect (which it was the second time around), once it has a smooth and even texture, remove it from the heat.  Add about a quarter of the cream while whisking quickly.  It'll bubble up pretty good so you may get a splash or two.  Just be very, very careful.  I'm pretty sure this would hurt like the dickens if you got it on yourself.

Continue to incorporate the cream until the 1 2/3 c measure is all added.  Then go ahead and stir in the delicious makers - butter and salt.

Step 3:  (the eating part)

And this is what you get!  I used a spoon for tasting and then I fell to the ground in a delicious coma.  AM-freaking-AZING.  Seriously, it's that good.  You really should make this.  And if you don't want to, try to con someone else around you to do it for you.  Because now that you've read this, you cannot live life the same as before.  

New York Wins: Ciao for Now

On the way home from the amazing 4th of July fireworks event in New York City, I had one of those funny "only in New York City" moments.  My husband was out visiting and we had earlier seen a friend   and former coworker post on Facebook that he was also visiting the city.  We'd been at the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog eating contest that morning so didn't see his post until 5:00 p.m.  Figuring it was too late to catch him we continued on with our plans.  So, what happened?  We randomly run into him while exiting the L at 1st Ave and 14th Street.  Crazy, right?  Out of 8.3 million people we ran into the one we knew.

I swear there's a reason to this story.  As we continued our conversation on how crazy it was, the odds, and also updates on how life was, we discovered that he was visiting his girlfriend who happened to only be living blocks from my apartment.  Since it was late and we were all hot (muggy, humid subway) we concluded that we should have brunch the following morning.  A call around 11ish was arranged (hey, we're not all morning people.)

Insert mention of Ciao for Now.  Ciao for Now happens to be across the street from our friend's place so it became our meeting spot.  Even though it was a Monday, Ciao for Now was kind enough to offer their Brunch Menu (it was after all, a "holiday," sort of).  I ordered the Hungbuster.

 Hand grated potato, rosti style with two sunnyside up eggs on top. Add pork, chicken or veggie sausage or bacon — $2

What did I think?  The eggs were phenomenal.  The bacon exceeded my expectations.  I love bacon but I find that so many places can't seem to get it right - at least, what I deem to be right.  It was perfectly chewy and crispy all at once and thick cut.  I'd return just for that.  I can't say as many positive things about the potato.  We had a discussion over at Serious Eats about hash browns vs. home fries.  The conclusion from our site and discussion was that we preferred home fries when done right but ordered hash browns at places that hadn't mastered home fries.

Sadly, Ciao for Now has not mastered their version of "hash browns."  They were mushy and honestly had an odd flavor.  Sad.

I still give Ciao for Now a thumbs up.  I visited their cute little shop this morning to pick up some cupcakes for a tasting and while their hand grated potatoes were a fail I have a hard time not loving this place.  They are ever so friendly and I can tell the owners take pride in their food.  The cupcakes weren't too shabby either.  The cream cheese frosting on the red velvet cupcake was actually close to perfection.

New York Wins: Di Fara Pizza and Sweet Revenge Bakery

Living in New York can be tough.  Mostly because there are oh so many meals that are worthy of being shared.  Either because they are truly that fantastic or not worth your time in a town filled with saliva inducing dishes.

Dom, Pizza artist

Last week I had the opportunity to experience what is considered to be one of New York's best pizzerias, Di Fara's.  I was not let down.  It was truly delicious.  In the blog world there are many harsh critics.  Maybe for the simple fact alone that it's easy to be critical or throw out judgments when it's not face to face.  Also, pizza eaters can be quite fanatical and passionate about the beloved subject.

Anyway, here is a write up from Serious Eats (including my own two cents.)  I highly recommend going if you have not had a chance.

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/07/di-fara-pizza-new-semi-dried-cherry-tomato-pizza-topping.html

I've also been doing some cupcake eating as of late.  I tasted a Dulce de Leche cupcake from Sweet Revenge which led me to the decision that I needed to venture to the bakery myself to try more.  The frosting was rather creamy and amazing, the cake flavorful but dry.  I wanted to know if this was a fluke or the norm so I ambled over to The Village to check it out.  Service was not phenomenal but I guess the upside was that I had ample time to decide what to order.

I landed on the Sweet Revenge (Peanut Butter Cake, Ganache Filling with Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting 3.50) and the Pure (Mexican Vanilla Cake with Mexican Vanilla Buttercream 3.50.) A guy sitting at the bar swore by the Pure which is what led me to order it. I was actually leaning towards the Dirty (Valrhona Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Truffle 3.50) or the Crimson & Cream (Raspberry Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting 3.50) prior to his offered opinion. Sorry bar guy, flavor failure. His palate obviously sucks.

Very Pirates of the Caribbean, no?

I had help with these babies but the conclusion was the same as before.  Sweet Revenge makes an excellent cupcake BUT their cake is dry.  I don't get this.  Can someone explain to me how a bakery can successfully make a cupcake that has great flavor and creamy frosting (harder to do then you'd think) but can't seem to pull their cupcakes out of the oven in time?  Come on people, seriously.  Not rocket science.  


I may however have to try just one more time...

Fat Witch Brownies: Worth Getting Fat?

I first became aware of this bakery when my husband and I booked our trip to visit New York for our anniversary and my interview at Serious Eats.  We were booked at Gild Hall and had a screaming deal thanks to Priceline.  I was a little uneasy about the hotel as it had antlers as decor which is not so much my style.  But I felt better about it as I read the reviews on Trip Advisor.  Being the eater that I am, I was especially excited at the thought of having brownies left on my pillow in place of chocolates.  Which led me to Fat Witch.  Apparently Gild Hall gave up this practice a few years ago but when they did leave brownies they were Fat Witch's.  I loved the unique idea used by Thompson Hotels but also loved that they were supporting a local business.

But I digress.   Since I had been disappointed in April by not receiving my Fat Witch brownie "pillow mint" I had to remedy the situation.  Fortunately, I work in Chelsea and the Chelsea Market is relatively close by.  

I ended up with two brownies (do I ever buy food for one person?  Answer, always no.)

Taste results?  Original Fat Witch: check no.  While moist, the brownie was devoid of any real brownie texture and overly buttery without the necessary fudginess to make it a brownie.  I'm the type of girl who appreciates MORE chocolate added to brownies (in the form of chunks, chips, Hershey's kisses, etc.)  

Caramel Fat Witch:  check yes.  Maybe it was a fluke on this one but it actually had some crustiness to the brownie which added the needed texture the original Fat Witch lacked.  It still wasn't my ideal brownie but the caramel added to it and made it a bit more interesting.  The original just lacked any pizazz that would lead me to return.  

Verdict?  Great packaging and name.  I'll consider giving it another go but I suspect this is a meh in the brownie world.  

Mistakes I've Made: Ben's Pizza on MacDougal

Ben's Pizzeria on MacDougal

I realize I'm opening myself up here by entitling this post, "Mistakes I've Made," but it just fits.

Pizza Box, Ben's Pizza, 123 MacDougal Street

When I lived in New York before I spent most of my time in Greenwich Village.  I settled on Joe's as my favorite place for a NY slice and didn't continue my search.  This time out here I have a list (which grows by the day) of places I must try.  Ben's Pizza on MacDougal was on this list.  As some consider Ben's a rival of Joe's I had some expectations.  When I walked past Washington Square and arrived I had a deja vu moment.  I realized I had eaten here before.  That pretty much summed it up right there.  Not memorable.

I ordered a plain slice and a white slice.  Here they are...

Ben's Pizza on MacDougal White Slice and Plain Slice

They look decent from afar albeit the crust looks a little flat.

I'm not going to say they were horrible but if you're living in New York City and have pizza that actually qualifies as good then it kind of makes you want to stop eating.  The cheese was far too thick on both slices.  The ricotta on the white pie was ridiculous.  While they had heated both slices before handing them to me (which is key to having a good crisp, gooey slice) they cheese was still lukewarm.  I'm sorry to say as a sometimes cheap person that I threw the pizza away after trying it.  I thought about finding someone to give it to - but anyone in New York would have known better than to take these slices off my hands.

I'm told that this is good pizza when you're drunk.  I guess I'll never know...

New York Travels: Artichoke, Canal Seafood Restaurant, and Duane Reade Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know the reason you're reading this.  You're dying to know how amazing Duane Reade's chocolate chip cookies are, right?  I mean, who hasn't heard of this wonder and wished that they could only be so fortunate as to live near a Duane Reade.  Well, my friends, I am here to save the day.  But first, I just have to get the other minor reviews out of the way.

I have officially begun my internship at Serious Eats and will be assisting them in their community relations and social media marketing efforts.  I am extremely blessed and can't imagine a better job than to make a living eating and talking about eating.  My temporary home is near Gramercy Park which is conveniently situated smack dab in the middle of happy taste bud town.

Case in point.  I was walking to the local CVS and then on to the Verizon Store (so I could get ripped off) when I happened upon Artichoke.  I remembered seeing positive reviews on  Slice and I was hungry (when am I not?) so I decided to step in.  Don't ask me why I thought burning hot pizza sounded good when it was 97 degrees and 99% humidity.  Other people in New York were doing this...

Anyway, I strolled into Artichoke and looked at the menu which consisted of four items:  Margherita, Clam, Artichoke, Sicilian.  I went with the Margherita.  Classic and hard to screw up (although it's possible.)

Here's what it looked like when they handed it to me.

You can tell by the ooziness of the cheese that it's really, really hot.  And indeed, it was.  I burnt my poor tongue and roof of my mouth when I tested the tip to see if I could dive in.  Darnit, I hate having to wait for it to cool when I know it's good!  In the meantime, here was the pizza upskirt.

And then the eating began.  I was really impatient.  The small, volcanically hot bite I had was too much to resist for much longer.  I dove in as carefully as I possibly could.  Mmmmm.  The sauce is fantastic.  It tastes incredibly fresh and is neither too sweet nor too savory as some can be.  And the cheese, well it was fantastico.  It looks a little different - you can see it breaking up in this pictures after I'd had a few...

You know, posting to blogs can be really painful sometimes.  I'm looking at these pictures and now I really need to walk down my five flights of stairs (did I mention I moved into a 5th floor walk up?  I decided I needed it to balance the eating), and then walk a few more blocks over to Artichoke.  The cheese also lived up to its fame.  Salty, chewy, and softly stringy.  And the fresh basil?  Well, that just put it over the top for me.  Sauce, cheese, and basil - win, win, and win.  Unfortunately, the crust was a fail.  It was exceptionally crisp which I wouldn't say is a bad thing.  However, I being a crust person, did not even eat my crust.  It was too thick, too dense, and overcooked.  Maybe a fluke.  I'll have to test it out to see.  Even if it's not I'd still return for the three wins.

So today after work, I decided to take a jaunt down to Chinatown.  It only made sense that I get some Chinese food while I was down there, right?  Especially because I needed to be fed in order to make it home.  So I wandered around and looked for a spot that looked like it was filled with Chinese people.  This place seemed to fit the bill:

And actually, the fact that this was hanging in the window helped convince me.

They also had roasted pig heads and duck heads inside that were popular items.  I decided to spare you the picture in case you have a delicate constitution.  The menu and signs in the restaurant were pretty much all in Chinese which is lovely in terms of decor but unhelpful if you are ignorant in this language.  Fortunately, they also had an English menu.

Not wanting to hold the line up, I ordered based off of the pictures I'd seen outside.  Boring, I know.  Sesame chicken, pork dumplings, and a Diet Coke.  After ten minutes of waiting and head chopping viewing, I picked up my order, hopped on the subway, and then hoofed it up to the 5th floor.  Why did I think the 5th floor walk up was a good idea again?

Here are my unwrapped goods:

I'm not even going to go into detail.  It was not good.  I should have walked the three extra blocks to a restaurant I knew was good.  Ten bucks down the toilet.  Well, actually, in the garbage.  I'll give them a little wiggle room for the fact that I had to schlep it back to my place before eating.  But I'm pretty sure that doesn't fully cover them.

Looks arent' everything.  

Looks can be deceiving.  This chicken looks good, right?  Nope.  It wasn't crispy but a bit gooey.  It required more sesame seeds in my opinion.  And as much as it pains me to say this, Panda Express makes better food than this.

As for my beautiful dumplings?  I've never truly had a dumpling I wouldn't eat.  Until today.  They were thick, dry, and just not good.  I'm so sad.  How do you screw this up?  I couldn't figure it out.  I tried to taste different ones at least in hopes that I'd figure out what went wrong.  I guess I'd have to watch their process.  Either way, they went in the trash.

And now for the piece de resistance - and what you really came here for.

'cause grandma's stuck in traffic

I'll be honest.  I bought these mostly for the packaging.  I thought the quote was hilarious, "cause grandma's stuck in traffic."  Also, the coloring looked such that maybe they really would taste buttery, chewy, and homemade.  My grandma didn't bake chocolate chip cookies so I had to rely on my assumptions here.  

The cookies were indeed soft and chewy.

But, ehhhh (insert buzzer noise) on the grandma reference.  These cookies tasted in no way homemade.  Less chemically than Nabisco's Chewy Chips Ahoy but other than that pretty similar.

I didn't care tonight.  After the Chinatown upset, I needed chocolate.

There's always tomorrow.  Which reminds me, where do you think I should eat?