by BS
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by Miss K
I am not a sucker for gimmicks. Some years ago, I paid big bucks to go to a certain very fancy restaurant, wherein I was served a dish that was “a play on chicken Parmesan.” It consisted of a one-inch piece of pressed chicken, some Parmesan noodles, and a handful of little frozen tomato sauce balls, a la Dippin” Dots. And after consuming the one bite that was this dish, I remember thinking, “I wish I had a plate of chicken Parmesan.” Because I am hungry, and five Dippin” dots do not a meal make.
So, when I was invited to for a preview of their summer ice cream festival, where one of the featured items was a tableside preparation of “guacamole ice cream.” I was skeptical. Not one to resist the charms of frozen desserts, though, I tried to go in with an open mind.
For this particular concoction, avocado ice cream was hand-blended with raspberries, mint, white chocolate and something crunchy. It was done in a frozen stone bowl (think upscale Coldstone). The result looked like guacamole and tasted, well, delicioso. Cinnamon-coated fried tortillas were the perfect thing for dipping into the “guacamole.” The presentation was cool (heh) but it was the end result that really delivered. It was enough to at least partially obliterate my memories of those tiny frozen tomato balls.
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by Katt Kasper
It’s baaaaack!! On July 15th, the iconic crème-filed sponge cake of my youth returned just in time to get a new generation hooked on its neon yellow yummy-ness. Yeah, this ain’t yer grandpa’s version— this is Twinkie 2.0 baby! It has double the shelf life of the original (which was rumored to last longer than the pyramids!) I don’t know how they’re making this new model, but I’ll never forget the ingredients of the first…(insert harp music here);
‘Enriched wheat flour, sugar, corn syrup, niacin, water, high fructose corn syrup, vegetable shortening – containing one or more of the following: partially hydrogenated soybean oil, cottonseed oil, canola oil and beef fat, dextrose, whole eggs, modified corn starch, cellulose gum, whey, leavenings (sodium acid pyrophosphate, baking soda, monocalcium phosphate), salt, cornstarch, corn flour, corn syrup solids, mono and diglycerides, soy lecithin, polysorbate 60, dextrin, calcium caseinate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, wheat gluten, calcium sulphate, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, yellow # 5, red # 40’.
Ahhhh,….”caramel color, yellow # 5 and red # 40”. Have you ever heard three more beautiful color additives in your life? I’m tearing up just thinking about it…(sniff).
Anyway, now that I’m older it’s time to celebrate the comeback like an adult—by adding booze of course! Kids get excited because they’re innocent and hopeful but their parents require alcohol and dammit, I’m not gonna let them down!
I know that traditional crème brulee has a torched sugar top but hey – this ain’t traditional! And I don’t want to hear from you purists about not using a real vanilla bean in this process. Did you read the list of garbage that goes into a Twinkie? Fuhgeddaboudit!
Katt’s Caramelized Vanilla-Vodka-Twinkie-Creme Brulee Thingy
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by BS
Remember when coffee was just some hot brown stuff that helped you get the eff out of bed? Yeah, I hardly can either. Nowaways it”s a carefully crafted, minutely measured, thermal-flowed, pour-overed hot mess of a trendy, delicious beverage. And obviously, we love it. This week on Narratively .
Check out my interview, plus the rest of Narratively”s coffee-centric week here:
– The Coffee Chronicler: New York’s foremost java expert explains how we got to $5 single-brews and $75-a-pound beans, and just where the heck we’re going next.
– An Ode to Beautiful Brown Sludge: In an age of pour-over pretention and venti half-caf caramel macchiatos, a love letter to the mind-jolting, tongue-burning, time-killing power of a regular old cuppa joe.
– Everyman for Himself: Meet two New Yorkers named Sam with a plan to radically alter your coffeehouse experience.
– Tales from Baristas: New York’s professional coffee connoisseurs say what they really think about pouring, pricing, and waking up with the roosters to keep you cool, calm and caffeinated.
– From the Bowels of a Beast: In the foggy hills of the northern Philippines, committed and courageous harvesters reach into the unlikeliest of places to produce some of the world’s most coveted coffee.
