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Big Apple BBQ in Madison Square Park NYC

Posted by roodonfood on June 8, 2012 in Uncategorized

The 10th Annual Big Apple BBQ is happening in Madision Square Park, NYC on Saturday June 9th- Sunday, June 10th, 2012. It runs from 11am-6pm. I’ve never been. After hearing that it’s only $8 a plate I’m going to check it out. I haven’t had much barbeque since moving from Tennessee so I’m quite excited.

You have to be selective at these events. Does anyone have any stands to suggest? Depending on the line, I was considering check out Martin’s BBQ Joint which is doing whole hog style. Alternately, I love pork shoulder and several people including Tommy Houston of Checkered Pig will be selling that.  I’m saddened by the fact that I, unlike a cow only have one stomach to enjoy this food.

Here by the way is a list of BBQ places in New York in case you miss the event: via Arrogant Swine

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New York Public Library Exhibit: Lunch Hour NYC

Posted by roodonfood on June 8, 2012 in Uncategorized

The New York Public Library has an interesting exhibit on the evolution of lunch in New York over time. It features visuals on everything from cafeteria lunches, the famous automats and of course food carts.

Drawing on materials from throughout the Library, the exhibition explores the ways in which New York City—work-obsessed, time-obsessed, and in love with ingenious new ways to make money—reinvented lunch in its own image.

The exhibit is taking place at the Stephen Schwarzman Building on 42nd and 5th avenue. It runs from June 22, 2012 – February 17, 2013.

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The Power of the Kale Lobby

Posted by roodonfood on June 7, 2012 in gluten free, Uncategorized, vegan

In the last few years kale has been everywhere. Every TV Doctor, every magazine, every online publisher are beating us over the head about how nutritious this leafy green is. One quick sampling from WebMD shows just how good it is:

One cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 15% of the daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 40% of magnesium, 180% of vitamin A, 200% of vitamin C, and 1,020% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus.

I’ve given in. I now eat it in regular rotation My favorite method is very straightforward:

1/2 bunch of kale (remove leaves from stems)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/3 onion chopped
2 ounces corn (for color)
1  teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon vinegar
Pinch of salt and pepper

Directions: Add a little oil to a pan. Add in your onions. Cook for around 5 minutes or so. Add in your garlic. Allow to cook with it for 1-2 minutes. Now throw in the kale, corn, seasonings and just enough water to tenderize (start off conservative, then add as needed). Put a lid on it. Cook for around 15 minutes.

I realize that some of the nutrients are lost with the cook time but it’s much more amazing when tender. In it’s raw form I enjoy the occasional green smoothie (This link from Kris Carr was my introduction but I’m perfectly fine with a version using just kale leaves, a few cucumber slices, ice cubes, a squirt of lemon and a touch of agave).

One form that I cannot stand are kale chips. Really? You want me to eat leafy greens and pretend they’re as good as potato chips? I can’t do that. Nutrition people please don’t insult us. Check out this list from NPR who I normally love. They don’t even try to be slick. They have kale chips at the very beginning. Anyways I’ll have another sip of this kale smoothie because apparently it lowers your blood pressure too.

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Breakfast Food Ideas: Arepas

Posted by roodonfood on June 6, 2012 in gluten free, Recipes

On most mornings I’ll eat one of four things for breakfast: cereal, yogurt, waffles or maybe oatmeal. Tasty things to be sure but it’s easy to get burned out with the repetition. I like American staples like eggs and pancakes but variety is key. Thankfully after some amazing arepas at Bogota Latin Bistro during Brooklyn Restaurant Week earlier in the year I was inspired to pick up some premade arepas at the local grocery store to have for breakfast.

La Fe Arepas de Choclo are sold in packs of four ($3.49, but prices vary). They’re the sweet yellow corn variety which I think is preferable to white corn. They’re circular, flat and have a similar thickness as a pancake. Perhaps because they’re made with milk powder they stay nice and moist. The flavor is in the vicinity of a really good corn muffin but less crumbly. These are basically sweet corncakes.

Per the instructions on the package you can actually throw these in the toaster or the oven. I prefer the stovetop because the sweet smell spreads throughout the kitchen. All you have to do is add a little oil to the pan, heat to medium and throw on the arepas. Cook each side 5-7 minutes. If you rush it they can turn out a little grainy. You eat them in several ways. Today I improvised some salsa to eat with it.

Arepas on the pan.

Arepa with improvised salsa

For the salsa: While the arepa is cooking, chop ½ a medium tomato, 1 tablespoon red onion, a pinch of salt, a shake of black pepper, a pinch of cumin (optional), a shake of chili powder and a touch of lime juice.  Throw them all into a bowl and mash up slightly.  Note: If you have tomatillo and cilantro you’ll want to add of a little of each of these in as well and make it decidedly more tasty.

Other serving suggestions that I like:
-butter or butter and jam
-ham and/or cheese
-guacamole

How do you like to eat them?

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RoodonFood and the Most Interesting Man in the World Recommend: Sweets from Foods of India (Sinha Trading Company)

Posted by roodonfood on June 5, 2012 in indian

I previously mentioned my love of Curry Express in the Murray Hill (Curry Hill) neighborhood in Manhattan. I’ve just added another stop to that for their excellent Indian Sweets: Foods of Sinha.

RoodonFood and the Most Interesting Man in the World Recommend: Sweets from Foods of India (Sinha Trading Company)

I like getting sweets at Foods of Sinha because the store is an unassuming walkdown and not overrun with people like Kalustyan’s can be. The owners are very helpful. The store has all your standard Indian items with generally lower prices than some of the other stores. I can also pick up some of my favorite snack mixes at reasonable prices there.

Pictured are Motechoor Ladoos and Almond Burfees. The almond burfee is rich with a nice cross between moist and grainy. The motechoor had a great consistency though some may find it to be a little too sweet. Since I have ladoos once a year or so I’m okay with it. Like any sweet, they’re fantastic with a warm cup of coffee or tea.  The aforementioned don’t contain gluten but are made in a facility that processes wheat.

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Ode to Bodega Fruit Cups

Posted by roodonfood on June 4, 2012 in Uncategorized

In New York it’s fruit cup season. Well to be honest, they’re sold year round, but you only really notice the awesomeness during the warmer months. We’ve just gotten our first warm patch so I’ve taken note. Fruit cups are available at most every Mom and Pop Bodega. They are usually sold in a couple of varieties: watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe or mixed fruit ($1.50-$4).

Watermelon is generally my favorite because by purchasing it you acknowledge that yes it’s hot out but you can refresh yourself with its sweetness and high water content. In the mixed fruit packs you’ll usually get some combination of pineapple, honeydew, cantaloupe, and watermelon (big 4) with the other elements varying.

They like to include two pieces of kiwi and one piece of orange oftentimes. Getting excited about those is a rookie error. Kiwi fruit is really cool to look at but for some reason the pieces are always too tart. The slice of orange is not terribly good either. The flavors of the honeydew, watermelon and cantaloupe are the stars here. I always appreciate that the juice from the pineapple basically marinates all the other fruit. In the cup pictured since we’re nearing summer the fruit cup we bought included blueberries and strawberries! It’s a fitting dessert for humid and hot days.

RoodonFood Tip: It’s important to pick up the fruit cup you’re considering purchasing and give it the 360 degree once-over. Occasionally they’ll sneak in water melon that either isn’t quite ripe or is lighter in color because it’s nearer to the rind. Look for a medium red.

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Britannia Nice Time Biscuits

Posted by roodonfood on June 3, 2012 in indian, New York City, queens, Snacks, Sweet Beat

Britannia Nice Time Biscuits are my favorite Indian biscuit. Not because of taste alone but because of association. It always makes me think of visiting family in Kolkata. At tea time we’d almost always have these biscuits. I love the sprinkled sugar and faint coconut flavor. They also have a fun rectangular shape and crinkled edges which clearly denotes fancypants. They feel lighter than other biscuits.

Britannia is none to modest about it either:

Britannia Nice Time was the pioneer of sugar sprinkled biscuits in India. This unique product managed to create such a strong consumer pull that soon there was a rush of pretender products in the market, clearly indicative of the success of the concept. Today, Nice Time has a fan base spread across India, and, particularly, East India, where its consumers have grown up with the brand.

I was overjoyed to spot them at Patel Brothers in Jackson Heights, Queens. They come in a modest size 100g packet and rarely cost more than $1. They also go great with coffee. Other recommended biscuits include: Good Day Cashew and Good Day Butter Cookies (Britannia), Hide and Seek (Parle),

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Wine Reviews: Thierry & Guy Fat Bastard Rose (2009)

Posted by roodonfood on June 1, 2012 in Beer and Wine Reviews, Uncategorized

We’re starting to get hot weather which means it’s time to switch from the red wines of winter and fall to whites wines of summer and spring. I went to the local wine store with the intention of getting a wine from their fridge. To the right of dozens of bottles of chardonnay, sauvignon blancs and pinot grigios a lone rose caught my eye.

I don’t know roses well at all. During a visit to Greenport, Long Island, a town with tons of wineries, I tried my first rose at Croteaux. That very week they were written up in the New York Times. It was an amazing blend of light and sweet for not in your face. It’s from that high bar that I’m judging the rose from the liquor store: Thierry & Guy Fat Bastard Rose (2009, $8.99). It is a budget wine which always makes things taste better.

Day One

I’ve been having this wine over two days. I had the first few sips without food yesterday to get a sense for the flavor. The initial taste almost didn’t exist, and then I got a slight tart crispness and the faintest of sweet. This is not a “fruit forward” wine at all. There is a nice lightness and brightness. I had a chicken sandwich with the wine. (I didn’t plan to have another sandwich), but it just worked out that way. After several bites, I was able to tease out a little more of the wine’s sweetness.

Day Two

Tonight I’m having another glass (no sandwiches today). It’s much, much more enjoyable. As with many wines, Fat Bastard Rose’s flavor opened up much more on the second day. The lightness and brightness are there today along with a more pleasing level of sweetness. This is very much a sipping wine.

I would consider getting Fat Bastard Rose again but would be tempted to open it, skip drinking it the first day and drink it all the second day. I didn’t notice this before but this is an Old World, French wine. That would explain it being not so fruit-centric. Cheers to second day wine drinkers. You know who you are.

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Update: Voskos Greek Yogurt: Honey

Posted by roodonfood on June 1, 2012 in Uncategorized

I was a little harsh on Voskos last time and a mixed review the time before. Then again, it was the Voskos Greek Exotic Fig flavor. What was I thinking? As a token of forgiveness I tried their honey flavor today. It was fantastic. The sweetness is there but doesn’t beat you over the head the way other honey flavored yogurts do. It was creamier than many Greek yogurts and worked well with my favorite addition to yogurt, Rice Krispies. 10/10. I’ll get it again once on sale.

Voskos Greek Yogurt: Honey

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Delponte’s Bakery in Bradley Beach, New Jersey – Gluten Free Cookies and All of the Good Things

Posted by roodonfood on May 31, 2012 in gluten free, Snacks, Uncategorized

Delponte’s is THE bakery of Bradley Beach. Seriously. It’s the only one (not counting a Cupcake place). Thankfully though, it’s a really good one. You walk inside and it’s wall to wall baked goods. Over the course of a couple of weeks I tried many items. (Tasty baked goods are a vice of mine).

My favorites include the fresh pecan sticky buns, donuts, cheese danishs and my favorite, the mini vanilla custard. One unique offering are the entire shelf of gluten free cookies they offer. The best of these are the cannoli crème filled and the raspberry filled. The flavor is so good you wouldn’t guess they’re gluten free.

Most items are less than $2.50. The other nice thing is that they’re just 4 blocks from the beach so you can bring your snack with you to the boardwalk. Time to go to the gym now for 8 consecutive days.

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