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Last week, Pam and I met up for some nibbles and happy hour at Red Egg.The food--and the company--were excellent. We ordered a selection of finger foods and dumplings from the dim sum-inspired menu.
1) Steamed pork buns. 2) Crispy shrimp rolls. 3) Sui mai--shrimp, pork, and mushroom dumplings. 4) Beef balls.
Sorry some of these pics are blurry. All the steam fogged up my lens!
In-Young and I met up with our old work buddy Liz for some cheap eats in the East Village Tuesday night. The original plan was to try some shabu shabu, which I've never had. I was really looking forward to something new. But, alas, the shabu shabu place was out of business.
This isn't the first time a Grub Club destination had closed before we could try it. About a month or so ago, In-Young, Pam, and I thought we were going to have our burger jones cured with a stop at Sassy's Sliders. Not so fast, buckaroos. Sassy's was shuttered.
So...What do you do when your dinner destination disappears? Go to your old standby. And for me--and the rest of the Grub Club--that means Village Yokocho.
Longtime readers are probably tired of seeing these dishes over and over, but I just can't get enough! 1) Spicy tuna. 2) Fried octopus balls.
On Monday, Pam and I finished off the long weekend with a walk and, of course, some vittles.
First stop: Schiller's for brunch. 1) Scrambled eggs with lox for Pam. 2) Plain old scrambled eggs for me.
Then to Economy Candy for some sweets. You can find anything here--including candy cigarettes. I picked up a big box of one of my favorites: Lemonheads.
While I was staying with my brother and sister-in-law in Boston over the weekend, we made a batch of homemade soft-serve ice cream. Hmmm...perhaps "mock-serve" would be a better name for it. The secret to that soft-serve flavor and texture is the pudding and Cool Whip.
Mix together the milk, sugar, pudding, and Cool Whip until everything is smooth and clumpless.
Scoop the mixture into an ice cream maker. Sit back, relax, and wait for the mixture to solidify. This was an incredibly close approximation of real soft-serve. Who needs Dairy Queen?
Pam and I traded one city for another this weekend. On Friday, we took the bus from New York to Boston to spend time with our respective families. Sometimes a change of scenery is just what the doctor orders.
Lucky for me, the doctor also orders you to eat, and Pam came through with some pork buns to nibble during the ride.Thanks, Pam!
I stayed with my brother and sister-in-law in Boston, so I didn't make it down to Mumma's during this trip. But the next time I do, I'm totally bringing back some linguica rolls to share with the Grub Club.
Sweetie, a reader and real-life recipe user, wrote in to say she wanted to make my Cranberry Crunch Cookies but didn't have my favorite graham crackers:
hi there, i'm going to give these a try next week. in your product placement post on graham crackers, you showed the cinnamon honey maid crackers. if i use plain honey maid crackers in the recipe, should i increase the cinnamon added later on in the recipe? do you ever use the plain graham crackers for your other recipes?
Thanks for writing in, Sweetie! If you don't have the Honey Maid cinnamon graham crackers, that's OK. Go ahead and use whatever brand of graham crackers you have on hand or that you can find easily at your grocery store. To more closely replicate the flavor of the cinnamon grahams, add another 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients. I tend to use the cinnamon grahams in my recipes that call for ground graham crackers, but there have been a few times when I used another brand because that's all my grocery store had. Feel free to experiment! Another reader even used chocolate graham crackers to make a choco-version of my Golden Girls recipe.
My neighbor Laura is a reader and real-life cookie taster. Every week, I leave a baggie of fresh-from-the-oven cookies downstairs for her to pick up from the doorman. It turns out she's a big fan of my (Dark) Chocolate Lemon in the Coconut Cookies:
Greg, when I go to Heaven (where I am reasonably sure I will be going if there is one) lots of charity, inherently good, etc, etc this is what will be served at every meal. Not dessert, the meal. Dark Chocolate Lemon in the Coconut Cookies will be my reward for being a good and kind person here on Earth. I will be able to eat as many as I want, I will never gain an ounce. Naturally you will be the gatekeeper handing out bags of cookies on the way in.
Thank you so much, these are AMAZING!!!!!
Awww, shucks. Thank you, Laura!
For this week's Grub Club outing, Pam, In-Young, and I stopped by 'Wichcraft and took full advantage of a 2-for-$0 coupon Pam had. Yes. You read that right: two dishes and two drinks for free. It ended up costing $6.50 for the three of us. Talk about a recession special!
1) Smoked ham and gruyere with bechamele and mustard. 2) Marinated eggplant with goat cheese and olive tapanade. 3) Meatballs with garlic bread.
We supplemented our dinner with some leftover (Dark) Chocolate Lemon in the Coconut Cookies I had in the freezer and a bottle of wine we enjoyed on the roof. Good (cheap) times!
My "In the Coconut" cookies are among my most popular. To mark the addition of the eighth recipe to this series, I've collected them all here in this mini-list. I've done two versions of the lime, orange, and lemon cookies. The first includes white chocolate chips, and the second includes dark chocolate chips. And for a non-citrus twist, I've also done versions with raspberries and cranberries. Try one...or try them all!
1) Lime in the Coconut. 2) (Dark) Chocolate Lime in the Coconut. 3) Orange in the Coconut. 4) (Dark) Chocolate Orange in the Coconut.
5) Raspberry in the Coconut. 6) Cranberry in the Coconut. 7) Lemon in the Coconut. 8) (Dark) Chocolate Lemon in the Coconut.
Here's the recipe for my (Dark) Chocolate Lemon in the Coconut Cookies in process.
Cream the creamables. Butter and dark brown sugar.
Combine the wet ingredients and add to the creambles. I used leftover cream of coconut that I froze.
Add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients.
Scoop and bake. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the compliments.
Introducing another member of the "In the Coconut" recipe series: (Dark) Chocolate Lemon in the Coconut Cookies! Because citrus, coconut and dark chocolate were made to go together.
The cookies in this series are among my most popular. They're light, flavorful, and have the perfect chewy/crunchy texture. They also make awesome ice cream sandwiches. (Hmmm. Note to self...)
With the warm weather coming, coconut and citrus are an obvious pairing. Throw dark chocolate into the mix, and you've got yourself something for .
The lemon is fresh and bright and adds a slight tartness. The coconut is rich and textural. The dark chocolate is silky and both bitter and sweet. These cookies are de-yummy!
Makes 4 dozen cookies. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing [Dark] Chocolate Lemon in the Coconut Cookies.)
Creamables |
2 sticks butter 2 cups dark brown sugar |
Wet Ingredients |
1 egg 1/4 cup cream of coconut 1/4 cup lemon juice 2 tablespoons lemon extract 2 tablespoons lemon zest 1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon coconut extract |
Dry Ingredients |
3 1/2 cups oatmeal 2 1/2 cups toasted coconut 1 cup flour 1 cup dark chocolate chips 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt |
Linda, a reader and real-life recipe user, made my cheesecake-stuffed Golden Girls Cookies and loved them. But she had a question about shipping these safely, as they have a cream cheese-based center:
I love these, and so did everyone at work! I'm always looking for good cookies to send to my son in college. Can these be mailed, or do they need to be refrigerated?
Thanks for writing in, Linda. The Food Safety and Inspection Service, a department within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, states that cream cheese (and, by extension, cream cheese-filled products) should be shipped refrigerated and kept cold. Check out the mail order food safety chart (cream cheese is about halfway down).
In addition, FoodSafety.gov's info for food safety during power outages states that you should discard any cheesecake that has been above 40º F for more than four hours. I'd say those conditions would would apply to cookies en route to your son.
So, for safety's sake, I don't think you should ship these guys. Here's an idea: You should talk these cookies up to your son so that he has no choice but to come home in order to try them!
For the second Friday in a row, Jon and I had dinner at Scuderia, a brand new Italian restaurant on 6th between Downing and Bedford Streets. I think I see a pattern forming here...
1) Fried stuffed zucchini blossoms. 2) Bronzino with olives and roasted cherry tomatoes. 3) Fresh pasta with peas, sausage, and cream sauce.
The zucchini blossoms were good, but the portion was a tad small to share as an appetizer. We both loved our entrees, but I needed a little help finishing my pasta. On second thought, the appetizer wasn't too small after all.
DPLK, a reader, real-life recipe user, and fellow food blogger tried out a batch of my Samoa-inspired cookies called The Girl Scouts Are Gonna Be Jealous. Here's what she had to say:
I think some people declared that they liked it more than the actual Samoas! Definitely everyone who tried it loved them, and I got many requests for the recipe. I think people liked the chewy oatmeal component to it that isn't present in the real Samoas.
Favorite feedback I got: "What did you put in these things? They're like girl scout cookies on crack!"
Wow. Thanks, DPLK! These cookies are good, but the Girl Scouts are very, very steep competition. I tore through my two boxes of genuine Samoas in no time!
For dinner on Wednesday, Jon and I set out for B Bar. This time we found it! After a tasty meal of fish tacos and grilled salmon, we headed up to Momofuku for some dessert. Because you've got to balance the healthy with the junky.
1) Fish tacos. 2) Grilled salmon with tomatillo salsa and roasted corn on the cob. 3) Candy bar pie, strawberry milk, and a doughnut ice cream/cereal milk shake.
Here's the recipe for my Lemon in the Coconut Cookies in process.
Cream the creamables. Butter and dark brown sugar.
Combine the wet ingredients and add to the creambles. I used leftover cream of coconut that I froze.
Add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients.
Scoop and bake. These cookies will fill your house with coconut-lemony goodness.
Introducing the newest member of the "In the Coconut" recipe series: Lemon in the Coconut Cookies!
The cookies in this series are among my most popular. They're light, flavorful, and have the perfect chewy/crunchy texture. They also make awesome ice cream sandwiches. (Hmmm. Note to self...)
With the warm weather coming, coconut and citrus are an obvious pairing. Throw white chocolate into the mix, and you've got yourself a tropical fantasy.
The lemon is fresh and bright and adds a slight tartness. The coconut is rich and textural. The white chocolate ties everything together with just the right touch of sweetness. This cookie is the lovechild of a macaroon and a lemon bar.
Makes 4 dozen cookies. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Lemon in the Coconut Cookies.)
Creamables |
2 sticks butter 2 cups dark brown sugar |
Wet Ingredients |
1 egg 1/4 cup cream of coconut 1/4 cup lemon juice 2 tablespoons lemon extract 2 tablespoons lemon zest 1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon coconut extract |
Dry Ingredients |
3 1/2 cups oatmeal 2 1/2 cups toasted coconut 1 cup flour 1 cup white chocolate chips 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt |
I forgot Mumma's birthday last year, so I had to make up for that with a special Mother's Day gift: a shipment of her favorite Lime in the Coconut Cookies.
This year, I remembered Mumma's birthday, and I sent her a Mother's Day card...on time. And because I'm a good son, I even sent her a box of my new Lemon in the Coconut Cookies.
With the help of FedEx or the U.S. Postal Service, you can have a fresh batch of homemade cookies on your mother's doorstep just in time for her special day. The flipside, of course, is that you don't have an excuse not to send a batch of cookies to your mother.
After a week of cold, rainy days, Friday was a bright and shiny welcomed sight. To celebrate the sunlight, Jon and I had a light dinner at Scuderia, a new Italian restaurant just a short walk away in the Village.
1) Baccala (salted cod) spread and toast points. 2) Arancini (fried risotto balls) with beef ragu. 3) White pizza with black truffles.
The Grub Club convened this week at Seoul Garden in Koreatown. This was my first Korean meal, so In-Young really helped me navigate the menu. I like spicy, but did I want spicy? Well, maybe not too spicy.
This was also my first time trying kimchi, or spicy pickled cabbage, the national dish of Korea. Pam and In-Young watched closely as I took my first bite. I kind of felt like Mikey from that old Life cereal commercial, but guess what? I liked kimchi! I really liked it and the rest of my meal. I was so full that I had pass up dessert. (There just wasn't any room left for tangomonium fro-yo from the Red Mango across the street.) I think Grub Club will definitely be coming back here for more!
1) Pre-dinner nibbles/Korean tapas: elbow macaroni salad, kimchi, beans, vegetables, bean sprouts, and fish cakes. 2) Beef spareribs.
4) In-young breaking an egg into her bowl of boiling-hot soup. 5) Pam's pot of beef, vegetables, and noodles topped with an egg. 5) My spicy beef soup with vegetables and noodles.
Melissa tried my XXX Strawberry Cookies and had this to say:
I made these last night as test batch for a Mother's Day present... I brought them into work to pass them around.
The girl in the office across from me rolled her chair back and moaned that they were the most amazing cookies ever in such a way as to be slightly obscene; my boss told me I had missed my calling as a baker; and the accountant told me they were the best cookies she'd ever had and then called her mom and told her about them.
So yeah - these are quite tasty. :o) Thanks for the recipe! It's delicious.
Thanks, Melissa! Judging by the reaction of the girl in the office across the hall from you, I guess I named these cookies correctly. ;^)
If white chocolate isn't your thing, give my Neapolitan Cookies a try. It's the same recipe but with dark chocolate chips instead of white chocolate chips.
Gothamist posted a story this morning with not one but two links to the Oatmeal CookieBlog. Huzzah!
Who knew my Copycat Momofuku Compost Cookies would get so much attention...
Jayna tried my Fluffernutter Cookies (peanut butter cookies stuffed with Marshmallow Fluff) and had this to say:
These were delicious! I made them twice last week (don't worry I shared). The second time, I didn't have quite enough PB chips, so I added some chocolate chips as well. I think I liked the PB only version best, but the second batch was a nice variation.
Anyway just wanted to say thank you. You are so inventive!
Hi, Jayna! Thanks for writing in. Wow...you must have really liked these guys to have made them twice in one week. Your use of some chocolate chips was a great idea. I might have to try that next time. :-)
This is a twist my XXX Strawberry Cookies. The twist is that I swapped the white chocolate chips for dark chocolate chips. Ingenious, ain't I?
Just like Neapolitan ice cream, this cookie combines three perfectly complementary flavors: strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate. (And who doesn't like chocolate-covered strawberries or chocolate fondue?)
The strawberries cooked with lemon juice and zest have a fresh, bright flavor that's the perfect background for the sweetness of the fresh and dehydrated strawberries. The dark chocolate chips provide richness and that little something extra--something exotic--to elevate these above the everyday. The ground-up Nilla Wafers lend a light vanilla-y note. A final roll in turbinado sugar before baking gives the cookies a crunchy exterior that contrasts the moist, chewy interior.
Makes 3 dozen cookies. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Neapolitan Cookies.)
Creamables |
1 stick butter 1 cup light brown sugar |
Wet Ingredients |
1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries 3 tablespoons milk 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon white sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 1 teaspoon lemon zest |
Dry Ingredients |
2 cups oatmeal 1 cup finely ground Nilla Wafer cookies 3/4 cup flour 3/4 cup dehydrated strawberries 1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt |
Topping |
turbinado sugar |
In my previous life as a college English textbook editor, I worked with Paul and Al, two fantastic authors. Al emailed me last week to let me know that Paul was going to have knee surgery. To wish them good luck on their latest book revision, and to speed Paul's recovery, I sent them both cookie care packages filled with my XXX Strawberry Cookies. Never underestimate the healing power of cookies. (But don't tell anyone...I think I might have forgotten the vanilla. Oops!)
Sometimes all you need to cure a case of the Sunday Blahs is a short walk and some snacks, but it gets a little more complicated when the weather stinks. On Sunday, Jon and I donned our raincoats, went for a longish walk, and had a hot, filling lunch at Risotteria that also doubled as dinner. The risotto was among the best I've tasted. Perfectly cooked--not too al dente, not too mushy--and very flavorful. Blahs be banished!
The neato part? Pretty much everything on the menu is gluten free. And you can get vegetarian versions (vegetable stock instead of chicken stock in the risotto, for example) of pretty much everything...well, except for the meatballs.
1) Meatballs and sauce. 2) Risotto with mozzarella, mushrooms, and truffle oil. 3) Marinara and mozzarella pizza.
Here's the recipe for my Neapolitan Cookies (strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate) in process.
Combine the wet ingredients. Cook the strawberries, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and sugar over medium high heat. Smoosh everything around until it forms a red pulp. Add the vanilla extract after the mixture has cooled a little.
Cream the creamables. Butter and light brown sugar.
Add the wet ingredients to the creamables.
Grind the Nilla Wafers (grind first, then measure) and measure the dehydrated strawberries.
Combine the dry ingredients--including the sliced fresh strawberries--and add to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Mix.
Scoop, sugar, and bake the cookies. Come and get 'em!
On Friday, Jon and I went a few blocks north to El Cocotero for a South American dinner. I've noticed a few Venezuelan restaurants recently, fueled by the popularity of arepas, I'm sure. The food was very tasty and very filling for the price. Save the chicha de arroz, a liquefied rice pudding drink, for dessert. That thing is sweet!
1 and 2) The "degustacion" appetizer: fried plantains, yucca, and mini arepas with bowls of spicy chicken, guacamole chicken, black beans, and stewed beef. 3 and 4) Sandwiches made with fried plantain chips as the bread.
