Category Archives: Breakfast/Brunch

Smorgasburg Labor Day Weekend

Finally made it back to Smorgasburg in Williamsburg for the first time since the beginning of the summer. I love that the vendors keep changing and there is always something new to see there as well as the usual suspects and favorites. New to the fold, that caught my eye was Brooklyn Piggies and Honcho’s Tacos, both of which have much more inviting “tent-fronts” than a majority of the other vendors. Not that there food is bad, but presentation is just as important as having amazing food. Dough also executes this nicely. Yuji Ramen was different and inventive. And Hash Bar brings breakfast food to Smorg – Love it. Sunday Gravy is stepping it up by offering cute little Brushetta’s while Brooklyn Oyster Party shucks fresh oysters in the sun. The award for most beautifully styled storefront goes to Brooklyn Grange – thanks for bringing a little mini farmers market to Smorg (although, there used to be a farmers market there anyways, if I remember correctly from last summer). Photos below

Dough Doughnuts

Sugar Doughnuts

Hibiscus Dougnuts

Veggie Dog from Asia Dog

Hash From Hash Bar

Hash from Hash Bar

Jersey Cow – 100% grass-fed, grass-finished braised chuck roast with Milton Creamery Prairie Breeze white cheddar from Home By the Range

Bruschettas from Sunday Gravy

The Sunday Gravy from Sunday Gravy

Bacon & Eggs Ramen from Yuji Ramen

Oyster Sandwiches from Brooklyn Oyster Party

Shucking fresh oysters at Brooklyn Oyster Party

Brooklyn Grange Produce Stand

Victor’s Famous Empanadas

Empanadas at Victor’s Famous Empanadas

Chonchos Tacos

Fish tacos at Chonchos Tacos

Brooklyn Piggies

Pigs in a Blanket at Brooklyn Piggies

Egg Muffins and Lifestyle changes (A 4 hour body recipe)

Today I end my love affair with sugar.

Let me back up a bit. It actually ended about 2 months ago after a brief phone call with my doctor in which he told me, “You have the liver of an alcoholic”. You could say I was a bit devastated. I should have known that after a lifetime of poor diet choices that it would lead to something but I never thought it would be my liver. This is a potentially serious condition that, at this point, is completely reversible. The time to act is now.

A few months before, I had started reading The 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss. I had quickly lost interest before I even got to the diet part of the book, which was like chapter 3. (Yeah, I lose interest that quick—I blame the ADD.) After I got the news, I picked the book back up immediately and reread the entire diet section. I skipped the sex machine part of the book, for obvious reasons

After reading that book, I jumped over to a recommendation from a 4HB friend called Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It by Gary Taubes. This is the definitive book on why carbs, specifically simple carbs like sugar and starch are so bad for our bodies. But it’s even more specific on why fat and protein are NOT bad for you, even in large amounts. I say fat first, because realistically, when looking at the calorie to gram ratio, fat is more than twice as large.

I now follow the 4HB diet as a lifestyle change, not as a diet. I make a point to pack in protein and complex carbs from beans and lentils into every meal. But more importantly, my fat content, especially the fat content from animal fat, is even higher than it ever was. I don’t go out of my way to find animal fat, I’m just not as scared of it any more.

That said, my girlfriend is a vegetarian, which means no animal fat for her. The protein sources are limited when you factor out the occasional soy product, which really isn’t good for anyone, let alone women. I think coping with that, has made life a little more difficult for her. Even more difficult is packing in 30 grams of protein a day for breakfast. I doubt either of us came anywhere near that in the morning. For her busy full time schedule, it makes it even more challenging so I’ve developed a recipe to make it a little easier on her, which is below.

I don’t want to make a huge deal out this change and the science behind it, but as I’m sure everyone I’ve come into contact with over the last two months can attest to, I do make it a bit of the centerpiece of my social life. I apologize for that. Instead I’m going to try to interject it into this blog, which will effectively change the format for the future. Ok, so maybe it’s kind of a big deal for those of you who came to this blog to see extremely beautiful but crazily unhealthy foods. The lack of sugar and starch can be a bit humdrum, I know. Unfortunately no matter how you slice it fruit is sugar, dairy is sugar, and alcohol is sugar. But fear not…

Did I mention that once a week we eat whatever the hell we want? Since we don’t want to bring the crap foods into our kitchen anymore we mostly eat those meals out, which will become the focus to the naughtier parts of this blog, the fun and crazy stuff. This diet, in its simplest form, is kind of boring, I have to admit. It calls for consuming large amounts of protein, vegetables and lentils or beans. That, in itself, is very easy to do but after time can get boring. Reverend Ferriss (as I’ve come to lovingly call him) is all about the boring for the sake of ease. “Are you really going to go through major prep for every meal?” For most people, the answer is no. But for people like me, who are already there, the answer is resoundingly, “Yes.” So if you find yourself on a low/slow/no carb diet or just want to try something new and healthy, this blog might just be for you.

Believe it or not, I actually had a TL:DR version of this blog post, one that reflected most of the points of the diet. I decided it would be better to slowly reveal that information and tie it into the subject of each blog post. That is where we start with this recipe – one of many 4 hour body recipes that will be featured on this site. It’s one of the rules of the diet — 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up.

Egg Muffins
Makes: 12 protein rich muffins
Serving size: 3 muffins
Protein: +/- 30 grams
Fat: Who cares? (I’ll explain this at another time)

12 Eggs
4 cups of spinach, finely chopped, then wilted
3 cups of lentils, cooked
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a cupcake tray with nonstick spray or grease with oil. Add eggs to a large bowl, mix with a whisk, then add spinach, lentils, and spices. Using a half cup measure, pour mixture into cupcake tins. I like to additionally mix it around with the measuring cup before scooping and pouring as the lentils tend to sink to the bottom. It’s important to keep a good mix of egg and lentils. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until completely set in the center. Remove from oven, let cool. This is important for having a clean pan when you take them out of the tray. If you try to remove them still hot, they will crumble. As the cool they shrink enough that they pop out with ease, leaving nothing behind, as long as you’ve coated the pan with enough oil. Enjoy

I’ve also recently played around with different protein sources other than lentils. I did chickpeas and black beans recently and I found that I actually loved them more than the lentils. But the lentils are smaller and denser so you can pack in more protein per square inch. When you are eating these every day for breakfast, it’s best to mix it up every once in a while.

Langers – Los Angeles, Ca

I stopped by Langers on a Sunday at about 7pm, having not checked their hours beforehand and was sadly disappointed that they weren’t open and also that they close at 4pm when they are open. At 7pm the light cascading in the place was absolutely beautiful. Why I didn’t take a picture then, who knows. But it would have been perfect for this little story. Langers, please stay open later! While it is also a tourist destination it is completely different then the Katz experience in NYC (and dare I say Langer’s pastrami is better). They are different in their own right and I’d never turn down the pastrami at Katz’s either. Langers goes to the top of my list for places to visit in LA. Pastrami with a little mustard is all you need. I’m not eating diary right now, or I would have gone with the Pastrami and Swiss. It looked so good. A basic pastrami was all I got and its a good test as to the quality of the sandwich, much in the same way that a plain cheese pizza is a good barometer of how good NYC pizza is.

Langers Delicatessen
704 South Alvarado Street
Los Angeles, CA 90057
(213) 483-8050

Pastrami on Rye

Behind the Scenes and The Extra Mooga Experience at The Great Googa Mooga

Was Googa Mooga a bust? Was Extra Mooga worth it? Was this whole thing overhyped and did it under-deliver? Well, the internets tell us conflicting stories, and I guess its up to the individual to decide. Here’s a blow by blow of my experiences, and especially of the Extra Mooga.

GM was massive – bigger than I thought it was going to be and probably bigger than even the organizers or vendors expected considering the first day hurdles that the organizers seemed to try to quickly remedy. The first day was very difficult because there wasn’t much clear about where to go and what to do and I had missed the press event that probably clarified a lot of those questions for me. But eventually I figured out how to get around and avoid the crowds and was able to get to shooting. I had EM tickets for Sunday, thanks to the awesome folks at Rubenstein, so I had to get the majority of the vendor shooting done on Saturday. My goal was to shoot every vendor, but seeing as it was only 3pm and vendors were running out of food, I had to pick and choose. I particularly frown upon the vendors that run out of food, most of them should know how these things go at this point and be well prepared, nah, over prepared. But yeah, whatever, there were so many vendors that there were still an incredible selection available. My biggest point of contention was that there was a serious lack of vegetarian options – everyone was doing meat, meat, meat, but there was no representation for the herbivores and omnivores among us – it would have been less of a deal if I wasn’t keeping the company of a vegetarian. Still though, it must be said, these vendors did such an amazing job keeping up. Here’s a look behind the scenes at what these guys did to keep the food coming.

cocktail preparation at the boathouse

not sure what they were, perhaps gin, lemonade, sea salt – amazing, whatever they were.

cooks preparing cranking out the Pat LaFrieda Burgers

You can’t eat just one

Pat LaFrieda – perhaps the most important butcher in NYC. His meat is amazing (let the jokes begin).

I dare you to not love Pat LaFrieda’s burgers!

LaFrieda slow cooked a cow overnight

LaFrieda slow cooked a cow overnight, here he’s cutting up the cow for Extra Mooga guests

Chef James Tracey working the grill cooking pork belly for Colicchio and Son’s.

Pork Belly at Colicchio and Son’s

The lines at El Olomega

This lady has been making pupusa’s for 20 years. El Olomega, you can find them out at Red Hook Ball Fields on the weekends and the lines aren’t nearly as long.

M. Wells – While a few might be put off by the fact that these guys are serving horse meat, they cannot be accused of offering mediocre cuisine. M. Wells has always been very inspiring with their menu. Can’t wait till they get a new spot!

Making a massive batch of Paella.

Paella

Extra Mooga Events and Entertainment
The big sell on the Extra Mooga is perhaps the events. I found that with the amazing lineup, it would be well worth the cost. I wasn’t there for the Saturday debacle, but it seemed like most of the problems were resolved come Sunday. My only complaint is that there was obviously time to stagger these events so I could attend more. I found it hard to get from one to the other in enough time. I really wanted to cover the John Dorey Oyster Shucking but by the time I got there, they were out of oysters. The final event, The Big Gay Ice Cream Disco was absolutely amazing. Patton Oswald, Tom Colicchio, and Eddie Huang were hilarious, and I always love seeing Bourdain!

The Extra Mooga Experience (with some extras)- The Great Googa Mooga - Brooklyn, NYC

John Dory Oyster Bar at The Boathouse

Entertainment during Kristen Shaal’s Hot Tub

John Oliver does standup

Liquid Brunch talk in the Spiegel Tent where we learned how to make brunch time cocktails from Julie Reiner of Clover Club and Allen Katz of The NY Distilling Company

cocktails in the Speigel Tent

Silent Disco

The Big Gay Ice Cream Disco

Smorgasburg 2012 – Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NYC

I headed down to Smorgasburg on Saturday for the first time of this season and it’s even better than last season. In addition to some of the previous vendors there is a whole new list of vendors. It’s pretty clear that the people who run Smorg are pretty selective as everything seems to be the best of the best. Up this post is food from DuMont, Danny Macaroons, Morris Kitchen, Home By The Range, Schnitz, Takumi Taco, Shorty Tang & Sons, Dough, Mighty Quinn, Tiny Eats Kitchen, Bite Sized Kitchen, Asia Dog.

There is so much at Smorgasburg and I’d love to cover it all, but there is no way I can do it all in one day, so I’ll be back again soon with my camera to discover more of what they have. Until then, I offer you these.

Smorgasburg 2012 - Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NYC

Macaroons from Danny Macaroon

Chocolate Caramel Macaroon from Danny Macaroon

Hibiscus Macaroon from Danny Macaroons

Morris Kitchen

Syrups from Morris Kitchen

Jersey Cow – 100% grass-fed, grass-finished braised chuck roast with Milton Creamery Prairie Breeze white cheddar from Home By The Range

80/20 Slider with Pico De Gallo from Home By The Range

Burgers on the grill from DuMont

Schnitzel from Schnitz

Takumi Taco

Short Rib Taco from Takumi taco

Spicy Tuna Taco from Takumi Taco

Hot Dogs from Asia Dog

VINH: Vietnamese banh-mi style: aioli + pate + cucumbers + pickled carrot and daikon + cilantro + jalapeno from Asia Dog

WANGDING: Chinese BBQ pork belly + onions from Asia Dog

Blood Orange Doughnut from Dough

Cocunut Doughnut from Dough Brooklyn

Pork Bun from Bite Size Kitchen

Pork Belly Bun from Bite Size Kitchen

Cold Sesame Noodles from Shorty Tang and Sons

Mighty Quinn

Ribs from Mighty Quinn

A Creperie in Park Slope: Crespella

On top of having really inventive crepe options, including some great sweet ones, they have a super friendly staff and their cappuccino’s aren’t bad at all. I’m kind of craving one right now as I write these. I could go into detail about how awesome crepe’s are, but I think i’d rather let Ricky Bobby explain:

Jean Girard: I will let you go, Ricky. But first, I want you to say…”I… love… crepes.”
Cal Naughton, Jr.: Don’t you say it, Ricky. These colors don’t run.
Ricky Bobby: I’m not gonna say it.
Cal Naughton, Jr.: Good.
Ricky Bobby: Hey, look, Frenchy, I thought about it. So why don’t you go ahead and break my arm?
Jean Girard: I do not want to break your arm, Monsieur Bobby, but I am a man of my word.
Ricky Bobby: Here’s the deal. He’s not gonna break it because I’m gonna slip out of it right now. Houdini!
Jean Girard: Whoa! Get down, you little pancake.
Ricky Bobby: Someone might as well get me a beer while I’m down here.
Jean Girard: But you have forced me to do this. You are now mocking me and making me look ridiculous. Just say, “I love crepes.”
Cal Naughton, Jr.: You know, just to put this in there, I had a whole mess of crepes this morning. They’re just like pancakes, maybe even better.
Ricky Bobby: Wait, are they the really thin pancakes?
Cal Naughton, Jr.: Yeah.
Jean Girard: Yes they are. They are the really thin pancakes. It’s just a French word for them.
Ricky Bobby: Oh, my god, I love those.
Cal Naughton, Jr.: Put any syrups you want on them. I’m just saying, think about it.
Ricky Bobby: They come with cheese sometimes?
Jean Girard: Yes, of course, a fromage-crepe.
Ricky Bobby: Well, why didn’t someone yell that right-right away?
Jean Girard: Do you know what’s in the crepe suzette?
Ricky Bobby: Oh, I love the crepe suzette.
Jean Girard: With the sugar and lemon juice…
Ricky Bobby: Yeah, the sugar and the lemon juice. Sure.
Jean Girard: Grand Marnier.
Ricky Bobby: I wo – I wish I could crawl into one of those right now. I’d eat my way out from the inside.

Crespella
321 7th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 788-2980

No. 13 – Proscuitto, Roasted Asparagus, Mozzarella & Balsamico

No. 1 – Nutella Classic with Strawberries

Cappuccino

Camelia Grill – New Orleans, Louisiana

I posted this on yelp the night it happened. Seriously the most amusing evening in the French Quarter:

Two pair of old geezers dressed in tuxedos, walk into the restaurant about 5 minutes after I sat down in the evening on St. Patty’s Day. They were told as I was told that they only had hamburgers and omelets left. I was a little pissed about this, but at 12:30 in the Quarter, after running around all day, dodging parade traffic, tired as hell, I couldn’t be too picky.

The geezers weren’t happy about this, their wives were indifferent and complacent, probably much in the same way as they are about their marriages to these guys. They all order burgers. The last one in the group wants bacon. So their server says, “sorry, out of bacon”. The geezer goes apeshit. Evidently he owned a restaurant for two years in New Orleans and they never ran out of anything, except, obviously, business.

Will, the cook.

The cook, Will, got up in his face about his irrational behavior and the two went at it. I’m laughing the whole time and realized, at this moment, I was truly in New Orleans. The men storm out yelling “This is ridiculous! You don’t run out of f*cking bacon”, the women compliantly follow. The server at this point says “There is no reason for obscenities” To which the geezer replies “F*ck you”. Two seconds after they walk out the place screeches to a halt. Will says with a middle finger raised, “You know what, “F*ck Him!” The entire restaurant cheers. I’m still laughing hysterically.

Gumbo

Cheeseburger dressed with fries

This isn’t a typical milkshake – its called a freeze. It is milk, ice and ice cream. The ice is that really soft crunchy kind. The kind you get at hospitals when all you can eat is ice. It is my favorite kind of ice.

My meal was about as good as any greasy diner. I rate the place based on what it is. I’m not going into the place looking at it like a 5 star restaurant with a sophisticated menu. I’d say the food was about 4 stars but I knock it an extra star up for experience. It’s sometimes more important than the food. When I am entertained AND fed, I’m very happy.

Kevin, the coolest waiter ever!

The men work hard, aim to please and they are all cool as sh*t. My server even gave me a free slice of pecan pie as a welcome to New Orleans. Everyone was super friendly from the chef all the way down to the bussers. I even got a fist-bump here and there. I’m a fan of the fist-bump personally.

A few minutes after the altercation the server apologizes to the entire restaurant, “I’d like to apologize folks, unfortunately we do have assholes in New Orleans”

Yes, that is true, but they aren’t on the working side of the counter.

Cafe Du Monde – New Orleans, Louisiana

After that light lunch at MRB, I decided to check out the well oiled operation at Cafe DuMonde. I think the thing that makes it very easy to serve and DuMonde is the very small menu, which includes only beignets to eat and only a few things to drink. Of course, a powdery, sugary mess comes out after you order but it’s a good powdery, sugary mess. It is pretty clear that Cafe DuMonde was a very touristy place, but aside from that a great place to get a quick coffee and pastry in the morning. I especially like the operation of this place, servers basically run the show. They take your order, powder your beignet, get your drinks and finally act as your cashier. Of course lines can stretch really long throughout the day but they move very fast. There is no one hostess, you’ll just need to hunt for an open table and seat yourself. Someone will be along shortly to clean your table and get your order.

Cafe Du Monde
800 Decatur Street
New Orleans, LA 70116

The Chicory coffee is a new orleans thing. Here is a plate of beignets with a cafe au lait.

Cooking like Heston: Scotch Eggs

I’ve been inspired by a new British series, How to Cook Like Heston. Each episode focuses on a key ingredient: Beef, Eggs, Chocolate, etc done by Heston Blumenthal, chef/owner of the 3-Michelin star Fat Duck in London. This latest episode I saw was all about eggs, so i’ve done his scotch eggs. Later this week I’m hoping to do a few other egg dishes, but for now, I give you Heston’s scotch eggs – soft boiled eggs, wrapped in sausage and coated with bread crumb – which as you will note by the photograph, still have a somewhat runny yolk. Hard to imagine for an egg that has been boiled, deep-fried and then baked. The key is cooking at the right temperature. You soft boil the egg by getting the egg and water right to boiling, cover the pot and let sit for 3 minutes, then stop the cooking with an ice bath. Deep fry at 190c(375F) until just golden brown and then bake for 10 minutes at 190c(375F). My yolk is a little hard, which I think must have happened in the boiling process considering that the other two temperatures were spot on.

Heston’s recipe can be found here. I’ve reprinted it below with the conversions (damn metric system!!)

Scotch Eggs
Serves 8

INGREDIENTS
10 medium eggs
450g (1lb) good-quality sausages, skins removed
½ tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp cornflour
45g (3/8 cup) French’s mustard
Salt and black pepper
Plain flour
50g (1/4 cup) whole milk
125g (5/8 cup) breadcrumbs (If you use coarse breadcrumbs, blitz them in a food processor for approximately 5 seconds to create a coarse powder so the crumbs don’t absorb too much fat during frying.)
Groundnut oil, for deep-frying
Method

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/gas mark 5 (375F). Put 8 of the eggs into a pan in which they fit in a single layer. Add enough cold water to cover the eggs by 3cm and cover with a lid then place the pan over a high heat.

Once the water comes to a boil, remove the pan from the heat and allow to stand for 3 minutes. In the meantime, fill a bowl with ice and cold water and after the 3 minutes, transfer the eggs to the iced water. Leave to cool for 10–15 minutes.

Place the sausage meat in a food processor with the smoked paprika, cornflour, mustard, and a splash of cold water. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and blitz together. Divide into eight balls, approximately 55g (about 3tbsp) per portion.

Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, carefully peel off the shells using a teaspoon.

Flatten each portion of sausage meat between two sheets of clingfilm into a circle, then remove the top layer of clingfilm. Place an egg in the centre of each sausage meat circle. Wrap the sausage meat around the egg, by bringing all of the edges together and twist the top of the clingfilm. Press the edges to seal but don’t press too hard. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, put some plain flour into a small bowl and season it with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Beat the remaining eggs in a second small bowl and stir in the milk. Put the breadcrumbs into a third bowl. Roll each coated egg in the flour, gently tapping off any excess, then dip it in the beaten egg. Finally, roll it in the breadcrumbs, making sure that all sides are coated. Place the eggs in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Heat a deep fat fryer to 190ºC (375F) or place a deep saucepan of oil over a high heat until it reaches this temperature.

Fry the Scotch eggs two at a time for 2 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and place on a cooling rack over a baking tray. When all the eggs have been fried, place the tray in the oven for an additional 10 minutes. Serve immediately while the yolks are still runny

Brunch Time: Yellow Squash and Eggs

Eggs get boring, especially if you eat them for breakfast a lot, like myself. Scrambled, fried, poached, etc. Luckily I can mix it up by coming up with cool little concoctions in a cast iron skillet, which always looks so pretty when a little personalized one comes to my table at just about any NYC brunch spot. I don’t have little personal cast iron skillets so I make mine in one big one. The main ingredient, aside from eggs, is tomatoes. But you can throw just about anything in there to reinvent the breakfast classic.

Yellow Squash and Eggs
2 large yellow squash
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp of sunflower oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 Large Tomatoes, chopped
1/4 basil, chopped
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
4 eggs
salt + pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375F

Cut the ends off the squash and grate using a box grater (larger holes). Combine with the kosher salt in a colander and let drain in the sink for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, squeeze out all excess water and let sit.

In a cast iron, or other oven proof skillet heat sunflower oil until hot on medium heat, combine shallots and garlic and saute for 2 minutes, stirring continuously ensuring that it doesn’t burn add the squash and tomatoes and cook, stirring intermittently for about 10 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in cheese and almost all of the basil. Leave a little for garnish at the end.

Create four wells, evenly spaced in the sauce and carefully add the eggs, one in each well. top with salt and pepper. Cook in oven for 10 minutes. The whites should be set and the yolks still runny. Top with basil. Serve hot.