March 2010


 by

Ombudsman: Degrees of Cheating

SandraLee

Earlier this week, BS wrote the post, “Classy Cheating Confessions,” about foods that automatically turn an eh dish into an awesome dish. Endless Simmer defines cheating liberally, and allows for multiple variations and degrees of usage. Some of the commenters on that post chimmed in about their “classy cheating confessions,” as prompted by BS:

Have classy cheating confessions of your own? What stand-by ingredients do you rely on to save a dish?

Commenter Tim, however, disagreed with our calling anchovy paste, truffle oil and ajvar cheating ingredients:

I still don’t see eye to eye with you all on this (surprise!). I don’t think of any of these as cheating. They’re just ingredients. Buying pre-made garlic bread in the freezer section, now that’s cheating! Buying pre-made anything in the freezer section – cheating! But truffle oil, anchovy paste, and prepared horseradish are, in my view, legitimate, delicious ingredients. This is all very subjective, but I think you can give yourselves a break!

Tim makes a good point. Utterly fantastic ingredients are just that: utterly fantastic ingredients. But what takes an ingredient into cheating mode?

Read More›
in Rants & Raves 6 comments
 by

You Showed Us Yours – We’ll Show You Ours

Since all you ES readers were kind enough to send in your cute kid eating photos, we figured we’d join in the fun ourselves. The following entries are of course not eligible to win the contest, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t pose much of a threat to the leaders, anyway.

Baby gansie teaches grandma gansie how it’s done. Baby BS likes his ice cream; not so into his new eye patch.
gansie bs 340
Baby TVFF returns his mashed peas to sender.
TVFF
Little Liza is already proud of her cooking. We can only assume L’il Britannia is eating banoffee pie.
Liza eating russell 1

PS – With 1,600 ballots and counting, the cutest eater contest is open ’til Friday – keep voting!

in Personal / Photos 2 comments
 by

Good Bites: Hot Chocolate, Joel Robuchon and In-N-Out

joel

If you haven’t yet discovered Good Bite, then you’re missing out on one of our favorite new food sites. With contributions from folks like David Lebovitz, Steamy Kitchen and even our nemesis Sandra Lee, it’s quickly shot to the top of our must-read list. To make sure you don’t miss out, we’ll be bringing you a weekly round-up of their best posts. This week they’ve got:

– An interview with Joel Robuchon, who talks Top Chef, El Bulli and In-N-Out (Yes, In-N-Out, and their photo of Robuchon sitting down for an animal-style is pretty priceless).

– A dish-by-dish recap of dinner at Robuchon’s new Vegas restaurant (think truffles, lots of truffles).

– Plus, a gourmet hot chocolate taste test.

in Celebs / Drinks / TV 1 comments
 by

ES Local: New York Food Trucks Gone Stationary

VL

Much virtual ink has been spilled about New York’s food truck renaissance, but now there’s a new twist to the gourmet meals-on-wheels trend: no wheels. In the last month, two of the city’s most popular food trucks have put on the brakes and opened real brick-and-mortar restaurants.

First DessertTruck, one of the original establishments to ignite the food truck craze, ceased its rolling late last year. A few weeks back, it opened DessertTruck Works in a narrow storefront on the Lower East Side. The new menu features the same upscale snacks that made them famous — warm chocolate bread pudding with bacon custard sauce (!), vanilla creme brulee — along with Counter Culture coffee and some new, coffee-sized treats like mini chocolate-prailine cakes.

Now Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream (632 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn), the roving band of ice cream purveyors that put Mister Softee to shame with ingredients like imported Ceylon cinnamon and local red currants, have settled down with a flagship store of their own in Greenpoint. In addition to the cold stuff, they’ve added Intelligentsia Coffee and fresh baked goods like blood orange olive oil cake (damn!)

Truck to Shop — Is this the new restaurant industry business model?

More on Oyster Locals: New York gourmet dessert trucks gone stationary (plus recs on hotels-near-desserts on the LES and East Village).

(Photo: Global Voyager)

in Desserts / Trends 0 comments
 by

Duck, Duck, Duck…Peking

DSC03911

Last year I made a purchase which I consider to be the best investment my kitchen has seen: a slow cooker. This slow cooker wasn’t just any purchase, it was actually a birthday present for the BF. I’m smart like that.

I grew up eating a lot of meals from a crock pot. They weren’t incredibly creative meals, you know, the typical stew and vegetable type of dishes. This led me to be a little skeptical of what can be made from a slow cooker, but the BF had mentioned it recently so I figured it was worth a shot.

Over the months we’ve Deej has made some pretty impressive meals in that slow cooker: chicken korma, beef wellington and bolognese, to name a few. The best part being that these dishes are incredibly easy and there are always leftovers.

Being the real chef in the relationship, I’ve taken back the reins of the slow cooker. I’ve even recently joined a meat CSA. Yes, that’s right. A box full of meat.

A farmer, from the depths of PA, delivers meat frozen-fresh from his farm. I got a little carried away on my first purchase, ordering 19lbs of meat. Eeek.

One of the food items I ordered was duck breast. Not having cooked duck before, I wasn’t sure what to do. But after a little research it seemed that Peking style was the safest dish to try.

Read More›
in Fowl / Recipe 10 comments
 by

Wanted

food

Can you tell stories?

Can you swear?

Can you get pisted about things like lettuce served under buffalo wings?

Can you cook?

Can you dedicate some time to Endless Simmer?

If you’ve got something to say about food, drinks, food TV, food-like products, or really anything even remotely food-related, holler at us. We’re always looking to add some new voices to the ES stew. As you may have noticed, we’re doing this for the love, not the money, so unfortunately there’s no pay. But you do get the chance to put your words in front of thousands of hungry readers every day. Interested in joining the team? Shoot us an email (info@endlesssimmer.com) with your first post.

(Photo: The Hamster Factor)

in Personal 4 comments
« Previous
Next »