December, 2008 -

by BS

Dip It, Dip It Good

When gansie and I first started cooking, one of the things we both made the most was dip. I’m not sure why, but I think one of the reasons is that dips are so easy to fool around with. Dips are the anti-baking. You can start with a recipe, but then keep adding a little bit of this, a little bit of that, until you get what you want. Most times when I make a dip I end up with about a gallon of it, because I make it too spicy, and have to bland it down with more base, or make it too sweet and have to keep adding things. But it’s great, because you can always keep going until you get it just right. And if that doesn’t work, you can just top it with a thick layer of cheese and everyone will still think you’re a genius.

So throughout all these years of artichoke dip, sun dried tomato dip, hummus, pesto, and all the rest of it, I had somehow never considered a red pepper dip. I don’t know why, because roasted red peppers are one of my absolute favorite things in the world, and I put them on/in everything. But i never thought to just grind them up and make them the whole base of the dip. So when I saw this recipe in Bon App for Syrian-style Muhammara, it was like lighting struck.

Me Sick

So I have the flu. And just like how Sam Jones demanded that Carrie concoct her a drink of Fanta grape soda and cough syrup that her mom used to make for her, we all look to past fixes and future remedies to make us feel better. And that’s where my ES buds come in. Sure, I have an Rx for some antibiotics and cough meds and all that crap, but I’m also a believer that food has a lot to do with health. Please send me your secrets for feeling better. DYING.

by gansie

Fartsy Photo of the Day

Ladies Room, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC

Who Cooked it Better? The Beer Shake

I know this is the time of year when a lot of you start breaking out the Irish coffees, the hot toddies, and the bourbon hot chocolate, but to be honest, those hot drinks just put me to sleep. When you really want a winter pick-me-up, it’s time get cozy by the fire and whip up the most efficient combination of god’s two greatest creations: The Beer Shake. This winter I’m on a search for the best beer shake out there. Which one do you guys think looks tastiest? Or if you know of a better one, holler in the comments.

The first pic is the Rogue Beer Float from Little Red Bike Cafe in Portland, Oregon.This one starts with an appropriately rich beer (Rogue’s chocolate stout), mixes it with vanilla ice cream, and spikes it off with espresso. I imagine the choco-vanilla combo tastes something like a black-and-white milkshake, only with caffeine and alcohol as well. Hey, if I can get my caffeine buzz, my drunk on, and my dessert in one jar, I’ve just tripled my productivity.

Moving down the West Coast a little bit, San Francisco’s Sauce restaurant serves up another black-and-white original. This one (top right) starts with Guinness, mixes it with vanilla ice cream, then tops it off with fresh cream and white chocolate. (Photo: Sevenworlds16)

Our third entry, from blogger South Hollow, starts with a beautiful beer, Mother’s Milk from Kingston, New York’s Keegan Ales, and gets points for creating two options–a blended shake made from chocolate ice cream, or a simple float: a pint of beer topped with vanilla.

The last entry is from Harry’s at Water Taxi Beach in Queens, which means it’s only available in the summer, but it is so simple-genius that we just had to include it. The Klondike Beer Shake takes two chocolate-covered Klondike Bars and blends them up with a Dogfish Head World Wide Stout, for a bitter-sweet-rich glass of amazing-ness.

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in Desserts / Drinks 16 comments

by gansie

Finding Comfort in Butter

I totally love this time of year. No, really I do. Not only is it the season of massive amounts of eating and family time, but also the season of SICKNESS. For the past two days I’ve had a crazy high temperature, a severely aching body and long bouts of chills and sweat spells. Totally awesome.

Now I’m not sure how it goes – feed a flu? starve a cold? But what I do – eat a begal. It’s not just that the thick, doughy bread is satisfying to chew. And it’s not just the sensation of when you bite into a pocket of butter and it glides around your mouth like ice cream. It’s the memory of my Oma, helping to prop me up on the husband pillow, bringing me a tray of food: a buttered plain, toasted begal, an inch stack of Pringles, some ice water (crushed) and ginger ale with a straw.

The comforts of family and butter.

Photo: Flick user iirraa

in Personal 5 comments

by BS

Dreaming of a Tasty Christmas

Chrismakkah is right around the corner, and for the foodies on your list *sellout alert* out sponsors have two titles worth wrapping up.

First there’s The Comfort Table, a new cookbook from Katie Lee Joel, who you might remember as the first incarnation of Padma Lakshmi on Top Chef season one. For those of you who are more into pictures than words, The Autumn Lake Cookbook is a comic book-style, family-friendly New England recipe collection. Click on the ads on the right to check out either of these books, or visit the ES Book Club for more ideas.

Oh, and in non-sponsor news, Jason over at Mr. Bacon Pants has compiled a very comprehensive Bacon Lovers Gift Guide. I’ll take one of everything, in case anyone’s wondering.

in Bacon / Holiday 0 comments

December 2008