Fowl - - Page 13

by Russell Warnick

Duck, Duck, Duck…Peking

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.

NYC Tour De Poutine

It was during a visit to Montreal some eight years ago that I first discovered the glory that is poutine. This French Canadian specialty is a heart-stopping, gut-busting treat that somehow manages to out-America American food, topping crispy French fries with mounds of fresh cheese curds and thick brown gravy. Delicious. Frightening. Genius.

The dish is so popular Up North that it’s even served at McDonald’s in Montreal. Now it’s quickly proliferating New York restaurant menus and appears set to become the next Bahn Mi/Fried Chicken/obsessive over-the-top comfort food trend. So I set out to explore every New York restaurant currently serving poutine. With a little (OK, a lot) of help from some friends, I’m delighted to share this exhaustive report, along with the news that my internal organs appear to still be intact…for now.

Drunken Poutine: T Poutine

The first NYC shop to make poutine the focus of their menu, this Lower East Side newcomer sees Canada’s challenge and raises it, offering artery-clogging options like the steakhouse poutine (topped with caramelized onions, blue cheese and thinly sliced steak) and the morning glory poutine (applewood smoked bacon and sunnyside up egg). The gravy (which also comes in a veggie version) is nothing to write home about, but this party-area spot, which is BYOB and open til 5am on weekends, is more about the alcohol-soaking extras. You can ramp your poutines up even further with add-ons like Essex pickles and panko fried cheese curds. 168 Ludlow Street, $7.25 – $9.50

Update: T Poutine has sadly closed

Everything Poutine: Corner Burger

After returning from an eye-opening holiday trip to Montreal, the owners of this Park Slope burger and sandwich shop have updated their menu with an astounding 13 varieties of poutine. The Americanized takes—pepperoni, mozzarella and marinara make up the “pizza poutine”—are in our opinion unnecessary, but Corner Burger hits a home run with the hearty classic versions, such as “poutine galvaude,” a popular Quebecois take that adds shredded chicken and peas to the standard dish, which features a delicious housemade chicken gravy. 381 5th Avenue, Brooklyn. $6 – $7.50

Extra Cheese Poutine: Dive Bar

This long-standing Upper West Side establishment has been serving poutine for years, and there’s nothing fancy or inventive about their take. (The bartender found it hilarious/adorable that I wanted to take a photo.) The possibly canned gravy is mediocre, but as you can see that’s not really the emphasis here. Dive Bar wins the most-cheese-curds-for-your-dollar award by a long shot, and gets extra props for the fact that the extra-crispy fries hold up well under all that weight. 732 Amsterdam Avenue, $8.

Next: The poutine only gets crazier…

by BS

Talking With Our Mouths Full: Introducing the ES Podcast

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Long-time readers know the ES crew won’t be satisfied until we control the entire food media world, and on that note, today’s a big day in the annals of Endless Simmer history, as this post officially goes where no ES post has gone before: the world of sound. That’s right — in addition to learning what we eat every night through our words and photos, you can now get all up in our heads and actually hear what’s going on inside these hungry, hungry minds.

On Talking With Our Mouths Full: The Endless Simmer Podcast, we’ll bring you food stories from around the globe, interview some of your favorite food personalities, and share our every edible thought, all via the magical medium of Internet radio. Given the time of year, today’s debut episode is all about — what else? — turkey! Those of you looking to mix it up a bit this Thanksgiving are in luck, as four of our favorite food personalities have graciously taken the time to tell us about a few alternative ways you can cook that big bird this year. Hit the play button above and take a listen!

Featured Guests in this Episode:

Fabio Viviani, the fan favorite from season five of Top Chef, is also the star of the upcoming Food Network series Fabio: A Catered Affair, the chef at brand new LA eatery Firenze Osteria, and a roving ambassador for Santa Margherita wines. Somehow, he found the time to talk to us about turkey.

Elizabeth Karmel is widely recognized as one of America’s foremost BBQ and grilling experts. The executive chef at New York’s Hill Country Barbecue and Market (an Al Roker favorite!), Elizabeth is also the founder of GirlsAtTheGrill.com, where, among other goodies, you’ll find a mean recipe for grilled turkey.

Mike Bober (a.k.a. JoeHoya) along with his wife Elizabeth, writes the Washington, D.C. food blog Capital Spice. When he’s not busy smoking out his entire neighborhood, he drops enough knowledge around ES to earn himself a place in the Endless Eater Hall of Fame.

Clint Cantwell is a member of award-winning competition barbecue and grilling team Smoke In Da Eye. If you’re gonna try frying up your bird this year, please, please read Clint’s Ten Tips to a Perfect (and Safe) Deep-Fried Turkey.

After you’ve listened to the turkey talk podcast above, be sure to share your own turkey cooking tips in the comments below, and cast your vote:

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Talking With Our Mouths Full is produced by Adam Pogoff of Boutique Radio. For all your podcasting and audio production needs, visit Boutique Radio on the web.

in Celebs / Fowl / Holiday 12 comments

by BS

The Ultimate NYC Hot Dog Crawl

Wherever you live, you’re surely familiar with the lure of The New York Hot Dog. And if you consume any kind of food media, you’re also probably aware that there’s no longer any reason to limit your NYC hot dog intake to those slimy wieners sold from carts in Central Park – or even to the recession special at Gray’s Papaya. Hot dogs are this year’s comfort food gone gourmet, and every hot NYC chef seems to be adding the once humble frankfurter to their repertoire, usually topping it with something new and more outrageous than the last guy.

Over at Oyster Local this week, I took a look at four of the best new high-end hot-dog shops in Greenwich Village, which inspired me to dig a little deeper and come up with this list of NYC’s best new gourmet hot dogs (along with a few classic stops) for the ultimate, 20-link New York Hot Dog Crawl. No, I have not actually completed this crawl, at least not all in one day, but if anyone’s up for the challenge I think I have a few free Sundays coming up. Let’s all just make sure our health insurance is up-to-date first.

1. Nathan’s Famous

Duh! The basic classic, just for starters. 1310 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn (Photo: Meg Zimbeck)

2. Willie’s Dawgs

Park Slope gets a little crazy with Niman Ranch beef dogs (or tofu ones — this is Park Slope, after all) stuffed in challah or rye rolls and finished with some inspired toppings like baked beans and salsa. 351 Fifth Ave., Brooklyn (Photo: Stumptown Panda)

3. Bark Hot Dogs

Gourmet hot dogs get the brownstone Brooklyn treatment, sourced from locally-raised meats, doused in a classed-up cheese sauce, served in an eco-friendly environ, and paired with Six Point ales. 474 Bergen St., Brooklyn (Photo: Cherrypatter)

4. Smoke Joint

Fort Greene’s favorite BBQ spot brings the hot meat-on-meat action by topping a Black Angus dog with pulled pork, beef or chicken (and some homemade coleslaw). I know you can’t see much of the dog, but trust me, it’s worth the mouth-work to get there. 87 S. Eliott Place, Brooklyn (Photo: Senorjerome)

5. Asia Dog

New York’s hippest hot doggery is, of course, not one restaurant but a rotating curated party for those in the know. These bahn mi dogs are found at Williamsburg’s Trophy Bar, but only on Tuesday nights. They also pop up elsewhere in Brooklyn and LES throughout the week. 351 Broadway, Brooklyn, On Tuesdays. (Photo: LadyDucayne)

6. San Antonio Bakery 2

Slip into Queens for the Chilean take on hot dogs: slathered with avocado puree, mayo, onions, tomato, and just a little bit of hot salsa, on a crusty homemade bun. 3620 Astoria Blvd., Queens (Photo: Pabo76)

7. Frankie’s Franks

Like the marathon, we’ll dip into the Bronx for a moment just to say we did. At FF’s, you get two fried hot dogs stuffed in one roll, topped with onions, peppers, AND potatoes. They actually call this a Jersey-style dog; I’m not sure if that’s authentic Jerz, but that’s a whole ‘nother post!) 2330 Arthur Ave., The Bronx (Photo: Kay::Snyder)

8. Fatty Crab

Hotshot chef Zak Pelaccio makes the case for the $13 hot dog: homemade pork sausage topped with pickled chilies, cucumber, radish and cilantro, then laced with a spicy Asian aioli and stuffed in a toasted potato bun. 2170 Broadway (Photo: Scaredy_kat)

9. Brooklyn Diner

When size matters, it’s hard to beat the foot-plus-long frank served at this midtown Manhattan (confusingly, not Brooklyn) institution. The 15-inch dawg comes on a comically small but beautifully buttery bun, along with onion rings, relish, mustard and kraut. 212 W. 57th St. (Photo: Jeffery and Rachel Vanneste)

Continue Reading: the next ten hot dogs

in Bacon / Cheese / Eggs / Featured / Fowl / Pig / Red Meat / Restaurants 14 comments

by BS

November Madness: Jalen Rose’s Fab Five Food Finds

Woo-hoo for November 9th! In case you don’t know, this week marks the tip-off of Endless Simmer’s favorite sport, drunk college food-off, er…NCAA college basketball season!

To make the occasion, we asked Jalen Rose, member of the University of Michigan’s legendary Fab Five team, to put on his restaurant critic hat and share a few of his favorite food finds from around the nation. The 13-year NBA veteran is now an ESPN/ABC studio analyst, and in his free time he can be found blogging, tweeting, Facebooking and YouTube-ing. Take it away, Jalen!

I wouldn’t consider myself a food critic, but during my years as a professional basketball player, I was lucky to travel the country and eat in many fine establishments. Below is a list of my Fab Five Foods and where you can find them. All of these dishes are original — I haven’t found another restaurant that prepares these items in the same way. If you get a chance to check them out, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do:

1. Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse (Chicago, IL) – Double Baked Potato… so good its bang is worth every buck – this is one big spud!

2. Philippe (Upper East Side New York, NY) – Maine Lobster Satay… lobster is my favorite dish and this is my favorite lobster on a stick… not only is the satay great, the peanut sauce is so good that you can almost drink it by itself!

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

Thanksgiving may be more than a month away, but the ES commenters have already begun planning for their turkey prep . The consensus is that brining the bird is the way to go. And the benefits of that salty bath go beyond juicy meat, according to Summer:

Brined turkeys don’t simply yield the most succulent, delicious meat — they make awesome gravy, too. Just remember that the drippings will be salty, so don’t add any extra salt, and use plain water rather than broth. All it will need is a little bit of fresh-ground pepper. I make gravy right in the roasting pan, just whisking in flour and warm water.

Republican Congressmen aren’t the only ones imagining that “Muslim spies” are infiltrating our most cherished national institutions. Jeb pointed out some suspicious looking characters among the creepy Halloween foods:

I thought, at first glance, the Mummy Dogs were Taliban Dogs…is that weird?

It seems that our very own Brittania has some strong feelings about the relative quality of the glossy cooking magazines:

We lost he likes of Gourmet and the potential downsizing of Bon Appetit for the likes of FN Magazine- Food Magazine for Dummies.

(Photo: emotionaltoothpaste)

in Fowl / Holiday / Politics 0 comments

by Lyndsey

The Turkey Torch Has Been Passed

My mother, growing increasingly vegetarian, and increasingly averse to preparing animals of any kind, made it clear to us that last year would be the final Thanksgiving where she would make the turkey.

My brother and his girlfriend, being vegetarians themselves, could not take over the reins of the turkey-makers in the family, and so the duty now falls to my husband and me. In preparation, I have begun compiling and reading all of the turkey recipes I can get my hands on. I am amazed at the wide variety of recipes I am finding. How can it be that there are so many turkey recipes out there?