NYC - Where Food and People Watching Reach A Whole New Level

Meagan, Harry and I on the Staten Island Ferry. Lady
Liberty in the background. 

     Meagan is great at including fun things in her life. I often go day to day just trying to get through it and don't have events that I generally look forward to. Well... that makes me sound lame and pathetic. But between rowing, work and trying to pack everything to do it all again the next day, it's hard. However, it works for me, but it's nice to have someone to remind you to enjoy things and stop to smell the roses once in a while.
     Either way, for the long MLK weekend we decided to book a trip to New York City. Since Harrison lives on Long Island and bus tickets are pretty cheap, we figured all we'd need to pay for is transportation and food. There are far too many stories from this weekend that are fit for the big screen, and I'm not about to go into them all. So instead, I'll drool a little more over the foods we ate. I must preface this with the fact that I've got a weigh-in coming up, and I didn't want to do my body damage this weekend, so I tried to not go crazy.

Stella's Pizzeria & Restaurant- Bellmore, NY 
http://www.stellaspizzany.com/

   

The best cheese pizza I've ever had. I know
it doesn't look like much, but just trust me. 

      Whenever you hear about the food in New York, you hear about their pizza and bagels. Apparently it's all in the water. Something about the water makes these things better than anywhere else. I won't lie... I had a hard time believing this. The first place we went as soon as Harrison picked us up from the bus station was a pizza place called Stella's PIzzeria. It's his favorite and apparently has the best pizza. Now, I'm not generally a fan of cheese pizza. I like much more excitement on my pizza. I'm also not generally a fan of thin crust pizza. It's thin and flimsy and gets soggy way too easily. However, the thin crust cheese pizza I've had before doesn't come near this thing crust cheese pizza from Stella's. It was perfect! Yes, the crust was thin, but it was crisp on the bottom in a way I've never seen before. Somehow the very bottom layer of the crust was browned and harder so it held the pizza together. Yet there was a thin layer of crust just above that outer shell that was still soft like a standard pizza crust. And the cheese ... oooooooh the cheese was so gooey, chewy and not overly greasy. Even the sauce was great. There wasn't so much that it was pouring out, and it was perfectly sweet but didn't dominate in flavor over the cheese. I totally forgot about the whole "fold the pizza as you eat it" method until I was nearly done, so clearly that means a return trip is in order. I also ordered a slice of their big thick chicken and broccoli pizza and a delicious garlic knot. The pizza was absolutely loaded with huge pieces of chicken, large garlic cloves and tons of broccoli. I don't think this was traditional New York style pizza, but it was delicious none the less.

John Moore's Deli - Bellmore, NY

Pastrami, Egg and Cheese 

http://johnmooresdeli.net/

     The next place we went for food was John Moore's deli off Merrick St. by Harrison's house. They had
everything! Tons of meats and interesting sandwich combinations. It was just this tiny little deli with tons of customers shuffling in and out. I got a pastrami, egg and cheese on a hoagie roll with poppy seeds. It was perfect. I absolutely love pastrami, and it was sliced nice and thin just like I like it. The eggs were light and fluffy, and although the cheese was american cheese, I felt like it was all part of the experience. Yea, I probably would've liked some other kind of unprocessed cheese better, but it's like getting tacos at some restaurant in the hills of Tuscany. You just don't do it.  The roll was super soft and fluffy and everything was warm. Perfect on a chilly morning on the coast.




Katz's Delicatessen - New York, NY
http://katzsdelicatessen.com/

Katz's Reuben with Corned Beef, Matzo Ball Soup and Pickles. Mmmm!

     The week before we went to New York, I was watching the Food Network on my lunch break at work and Adam Richmond from Man vs Food went to Katz's Delicatessen in New York's lower east side (this clip right here). Katz's has been open since 1888 and considers itself New York's oldest deli. It was the description of their briskets and their corned beef sandwich that convinced me that I needed to find this place during our trip. 10,000 pounds of meat in a week? I'm in. As an iconic Jewish deli, everything is served cafeteria style just the way it was years ago.

Just look how beautiful she is (the sandwich).

     One of my favorite things about this place were their "samples." Well... I guess it wasn't really a sample considering you get it after you order, but when you're waiting at the counter and the master sandwich maker is building your sandwich, they cut off a couple pieces of steaming meat and put it on a plate on the counter for you to eat as you wait. The perfect cure to my overwhelming anticipation. I ordered the Reuben with corned beef. They stack rye bread with an outrageous amount of corned beef, swiss cheese, sauerkraut and homemade russian dressing. Where do I even begin?
     Well, I have literally never had better tasting corned beef in my life. This meat melted in my mouth and practically fell apart it was so tender. But it didn't fall apart in a too-dry, overcooked way. It was plenty moist and flavorful with little to not fat. Sometimes corned beef can be extra fatty (in a bad and greasy way), but this wasn't even close. I'm not sure if they use homemade sauerkraut, but it had an awesome crunch. It wasn't too pungent or sour, but it had a light vinegary taste that aided in the flavor and didn't overpower the sandwich as a whole. And I can't say I've ever really had russian dressing that I liked, but this was beyond anything I've had before. It was way less creamy and goopy like what comes out of the bottle. It seemed more like chunks of who knows what (onions?) in a thinner, less unhealthy sauce. It still offered a creamy texture and flavor that went perfectly with the sourness and crunch of the kraut, the warm melty swiss and heaven's salty meat. Ugh I'm salivating just reliving this moment.

He was just too fast.

   
     We also ordered some of their pickles which I believe were homemade too. They had two different flavors (sour and the half sour) that were the perfect finish to the meal. There is no other option but to go back and next time try their pastrami. Or combine the corned beef and pastrami. Oh the possibilities! You should really watch that video I posted above.






Mustang Harry's - New York, NY
http://www.mustangharrys.com/

     After a late late lunch at Katz's, we stopped at Mustang Harry's (funny because we were with Harry) for
dinner before heading home. Mustang Harry's is a sports bar close to Times Square and therefore pretty expensive, so Meagan and I split this beautiful salad. It was a rotisserie chicken salad with mixed greens, sweet corn, baby tomatoes, avocado, and feta cheese in a cilantro lime vinaigrette. I was absolutely in love with the vinaigrette. So light and fresh. Mix that with the sweet corn, avocado and feta and it was all just a genius blend of flavors. I know... not my standard restaurant meal choice, but like I said... I was trying to be careful. Until the next morning...







Town Bagel - Bellmore, NY
http://www.kpsearch.com/df/townbagel/all.asp

    On our last morning in New York, Harry wanted to take us to get bagels. Heck, we wanted Harry to take us to get bagels. I wanted to taste test these bagels and really see what all the hype was about. We went to Town Bagel to get breakfast and maybe a couple bagels to take home. When I walked in, I didn't think I'd be leaving with 14 bagels. Boy was I in for a surprise. They had a bunch of different kinds and a deal that was "buy 12 get 6 free," so I got 12, and Meagan got the other 6. If I recall correctly, I went with cinnamon raisin, pumpernickel, pumpernickel everything, egg everything, whole wheat everything, whole wheat, poppy seed, sesame seed, and plain. But then of course I saw the blueberry after I had already chosen my 12... so I got one more... in addition to my 12 and the whole wheat everything one I got toasted with cream cheese. First of all, I've never had someone put so much cream cheese on a bagel, and I couldn't have been happier. By the time I got to it on the train, the bagel was still plenty warm and crisp and the cream cheese was so soft and warm.
     The star of the show, however, wasn't the toasted bagel with cream cheese. It was the plain bagel. Plain bagels to me are like cheese pizza. Meh. I want more happening. At least that's what I thought until I had this plain bagel. We had to wait because they were just about to come out of the oven (a small price to pay for the magic I was about to experience). I kid you not... I watched the man go into the oven with his big ole spatula thing and pull out our 5 piping hot plain bagels and toss them in our bags. When we got to the car, it was what I went for first because it was so warm, and I didn't want to miss this moment. Man oh man... this plain bagel was the best bagel I have ever had in my entire life. I don't know if it's because I've never had a fresh hot bagel like this before or what, but it blew my mind. The outside had a thin, tough layer with that slightly sticky texture, kind of like a soft pretzel (or a bagel done right). It wasn't too tough, but just a perfect firmness encasing the soft, hot and fluffy center of the bagel. My first bite squished it a little because it was still so fresh,  but it didn't matter. The bottom of the bagel was lightly browned with a touch of corn meal on it and was just a bit thicker with a little more crispness than the other sides of the bagel. I was in disbelief. Yes, that's the word. Utter disbelief. I couldn't believe a) how good a hot bagel was, b) how soft the inside was, c) how perfect the outside layer was, and d) that I felt this way about a plain bagel. It was literally a life changing experience. Never will I ever look at a bagel the same again. Thanks for such a great, short trip Harry!


Chicken Poblano Soup - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

     So I do have one recipe of my own in here I'd like to write about. I love pablano peppers but haven't had them in eons. Marc and I used to cook with them a lot, but I forgot just how good they are. I've had this Pinterest recipe for a long time for Chicken Poblano Soup and decided to make it one chilly weekend for meals for the following week. I found this on an awesome blog called The Fit Cook. It's such a great
resource. This soup definitely turned out a little bit more spicy than I expected, and I'm not sure if I'd make it again, but it's still great. I love the cilantro and poblano flavors together. It's really nice to mix in a little bit more yogurt when you serve it, to a) make it a little creamier and b) tone down the spice a tad.

Chicken Poblano Soup

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound poblano peppers, seeded and chopped
2 small yellow onions, rough chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup fresh cilantro plus more for garnish
8 ounces plain, nonfat Greek yogurt, divided
4 cups Chicken stock

1) Cook the chicken breast in a large pot of salted boiling water or chicken stock for about 10 minutes. When the chicken is cooked through, transfer it to a cutting board and use two forks to pull apart the meat. Set aside.
2) Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large, nonstick soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the peppers, onions, and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes, or until lightly browned.
3) Add 3 cups of your boiling water or stock to the pot and season with extra salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the peppers and onions are cooked through.
4) Using a blender or hand held blender, blend until the soup reaches a smooth, creamy consistency. Add in the yogurt and blend again. Finally, mix in the shredded chicken.
5) When serving, garnish with another dollop of yogurt and garnish with extra cilantro.

I Don't Always Herdy Dur Mur Flerpty Floopin...

Area Four - Cambridge, MA

http://areafour.com/

The beautiful Carnivore Pizza

     I have heard so much about Area Four but have never been, so when my cousin Shannon mentioned she wanted to come in town with her kids and have lunch with me, I thought this might be a great place to go. Area Four, right in the heart of Kendall Square, apparently has great pizza and mac and cheese, and I figured you couldn't get more kid friendly fare. I can't say I've ever been to a restaurant like this before. It was a different (but awesome and unique) mix of modern and rustic, hipster and GQ. Everything was very clean and simple, clear and uncluttered. Water was served in tall, clear glass bottles, there was a bowl of 30+ eggs on the counter, and stacks of wood beneath the counter around their open kitchen. Their wood fired oven was in plain view in this portion of the kitchen and filled the air with delicious pizza smells.
   
     We ordered their Carnivore pizza with sopressata, sausage and bacon on it. Apparently sopressata is this great Italian dry salami that is incredible on pizza. Either that or Area Four just knows what their doing. Perhaps it's both. For their crust, they use a 12 year starter with no oil or sugar and over 30 hours of fermentation. This recipe + a wood fired oven made the crust bubble in a way I'd never seen before. It kind of looked like a dalmatian. Ha. It was perfectly simple, and the crust on the bottom held up flawlessly. It always bums me out when pizza crust gets all soggy and difficult to hold. Anyway, the sopressata, bacon and sausage on this pizza was amazing. Each different meat had its own unique flavor - some peppery, some spicy, some herby. The sopressata was cut into these super wide slices and their edges curled up as they cooked, almost making them like a saucer. The bacon wasn't your standard thin bacon. It was more like the "bacon pieces" most people never think to buy but are more delicious. These meats together had so much flavor. I could've easily eaten the whole pizza.

Oven Home Fries

     We also got a few other dishes to share and try since there were 5 of us. I tried their mac and cheese which they served in a small cast iron dish. It was perfect. They made it with that pasta in the shape of little shells, and you could tell it was their homemade cheese sauce. Not overly cheesy, but not too thin and unflavorful. And they topped it all with some toasted breadcrumbs. I tried a couple of their wood oven home fries which were more like potato chunks, also served in a cast iron dish. They were super soft inside, had browned and crispy edges, and were infused with parmesan and parsley flavors... at least that's what I'm guessing. They were to die for. Those crispy edges get me every time. 

To balance it all out, we tried two of their salads. One of them was their Kitchen Sink salad which, rightfully named, had everything but the kitchen sink in it. It had romaine, radicchio, salame, fontina cheese, mushrooms, green olives, banana peppers, chickpeas, roasted onions and lemon-roasted garlic vinaigrette. Like I said... everything. I mean... I like all of these ingredients, and I thought I would've liked it (which I did), but I didn't love it. Maybe it was the olives? I'm not sure. There was just a ton going on. The other salad however, was one of the most delicious salads I've ever

Brussel Sprout Salad

eaten. When I read "brussel sprout salad," I assumed I was going to get whole brussel sprouts roasted or something and tossed with some other things. Wrong. These sprouts were actually shredded and mixed with shredded kale, red onion, roasted hazelnuts, pecorino cheese and a lemon vinaigrette. The roasted hazelnuts added an awesome crunch to a rather delicate salad. The pecorino cheese was mixed in the salad in shavings and added a deliciously salty, nutty and powerful cheese flavor. Together with the lemon vinaigrette, these flavors combined to make something fabulous. I'd really like to experiment with this and try to make it on my own. All in all, such a great and unique culinary experience.


Cheddar, Beer and Mustard Pull-Apart Bread - The Chabala's Kitchen, Milford, MI

Quite possibly the most beautiful bread ever seen

     For our annual "Classy Christmas" event this year, I decided I was going to make this Cheddar, Beer and Mustard Pull-Apart Bread I found on Smitten Kitchen. The woman is a genius so I knew anything she was whipping up in her kitchen was going to knock my socks off. This bread went through multiple phases. I whipped up the sauce at my mom's house, made the dough at my dad's and assembled and baked it all at the Chabala's with the help of Dan and his mom. If you're looking for a quick bread recipe, it's definitely not this one, BUT I still highly recommend it. It was best straight out of the oven with a little butter spread and melted on it. Plus, look how pretty it is! Kind of like the pull and peel twizzlers. I really liked the combination of the cheeses and mustard together. I went with a whole ground mustard because it's my favorite and has the flavor I was looking for. I also added some green onions which I think was a great idea (to toot my own horn a little bit). Although, I wasn't too fond of the beer flavor. It could've been because I used Miller Lite in the dough. Yea yea... go ahead and laugh. I was running out of time, realized I didn't have the kind of beer she suggested, so I just went with what we had. I bet it would've been great with a darker beer. The only other difference between what she did and what I did was that I mixed all the spices in with the sauce and brushed it on the bread dough as opposed to tossing it with the cheese. This was all an accident. Completely a delicious accident.

Cheddar, Beer and Mustard Pull Apart Bread

Bread
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup beer, preferably dark but really, use whatever you like to drink
2 1/2 cups  all-purpose flour, divided
1/3 cup rye flour (I just used all-purpose flour)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) instant yeast
1 teaspoon table salt

2 large eggs, at room temperature

Filling
3 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon Dijon or a mustard of your choice
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Dash of hot sauce
1 teaspoon  mustard powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Several grinds black pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar

1) Make dough: In a small saucepan, heat the 4 tablespoons butter and 1/4 cup of beer, just until the butter has melted. Remove from heat and add the remaining 1/3 cup beer. Set aside to cool down slightly. You want the mixture warm but not steaming hot.

2) Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together 2 cups of the all-purpose flour, sugar, yeast and table salt. With the mixer on low, pour in the butter-beer mixture, mixing only until the flour is moistened. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until combined. The batter will look lumpy, but will become smooth in a moment. Add the remaining 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and all of the rye flour, mixing until just combined. Replace paddle with a dough hook and let the machine knead the dough for 3 to 4 minutes on low.

3) Oil a medium/large bowl and transfer dough to it. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set aside for

50 to 60 minutes, until doubled. Meanwhile, prepare fillings.You can also rest the dough in the fridge overnight -- wrapped tightly with plastic. The next day, let it rest at room temperature for an hour before rolling out.

4) Make fillings: Melt the 3 tablespoons butter. Remove from heat and whisk in mustard, Worcestershire and hot sauce until smooth. Set aside.

5) In the bottom of a medium bowl, stir together mustard powder, paprika, table salt and several grinds of black pepper. Add shredded cheddar and toss until grated strands are evenly coated with spices.

6) Assemble bread: Either coat a 9-by-5 loaf pan lightly with butter or a nonstick spray and set aside.

7) Turn dough out onto a well-floured counter and roll the dough into a 20-by-12-inch rectangle, making sure it doesn’t stick to the counter by lifting sections and re-flouring the counter as needed. Brush the butter-mustard-Worcestershire mixture evenly over the whole surface, right up to the edges. Cut the dough crosswise into 5 strips; each should be 12-by-4 inches. Don't worry if they're not perfect rectangles. Everything will rise and mush together as it's baking. Sprinkle the first one evenly with a heaping 1/4 cup of the grated cheese. Place another strip on top of it, coat it with another heaping 1/4 cup of cheese, and repeat with remaining strips until they are stacked 5-high and all of the cheese is used.

8) With your very sharpest serrated knife, cut your stack into 6 to 7 2-inch segments (each stacked segment should be 4-by-2 inches).

9) Arrange stacks of dough down the length of your prepared loaf pan as if filling a card catalog drawer. It's easier if you stand up your loaf pan up on its short end.

10) Loosely cover the pan with more plastic wrap and set it aside to rise again for 30 to 45 more minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

11) Bake loaf for 25 to 35 minutes, until puffed and brown. Transfer it to a wire rack and let it cool for 5 minutes before flipping it out onto a serving plate/cutting board. Serve warm with butter!

New York Pizza - Boston, MA

http://www.newyorkpizzaboston.com/index.htm

   

Another meaty pizza :]

     Unfortunately, it was Rachel's last day as a co-op at work, but fortunately she ordered us all pizza! I know... it seems a little backwards, but my boss tried to convince her otherwise. Either way, she ordered a bunch of pizzas from New York Pizza down on Tremont St. This little place is a family run pizza joint rooted in NYC, but transplanted in Boston to serve up famous New York style pizza. I love supporting families and entrepreneurs like this. Makes me all warm inside... especially when they deliver me delicious goods.

     It's been forever since I've had pizza delivered to me, but it was absolutely amazing. OH gosh. So she got a couple different specialty pizzas and a bunch of cheese pizzas. Naturally, I had to try them all, so I cut all the pieces in half :] The slices were HUGE. One slice could definitely be an entire meal. Their "traditional crust" was great and had the cornmeal on the bottom. Relatively thin on bottom, but the crust around the edges was thick and fluffy. The cheese was the chewy kind of cheese and well... I just can't ask for anything better than that. Normally I'm not a big fan of cheese pizza just because I want more action, but I'd be completely fine eating this cheese pizza. The second pizza I tried was barbecue chicken. It was great because the whole piece didn't taste like it was covered in barbecue sauce (like many bbq chicken pizzas come). Just the chicken thrown on it was bbq. The next slice I tried was a veggie pizza with green peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, onions, olives and these big thick slices of mushrooms. I know I've blabbed before about my theory of the status of pizza places based on their mushroom selection, but in my opinion, this place has "arrived" because they do their mushrooms right. Big, fresh, thick slices. No canned nonsense. The next slice was the Meat Lovers. I bet you can't guess which was my favorite. It had hamburger, pepperoni, sausage, and ham. The hamburger was awesome. Although, I definitely thought it was just sausage until I looked up the menu just now.

French Onion Soup Potstickers - My Mom's Kitchen, White Lake, MI

Photo credits to Hailee Dion :]

     When we were younger, our get togethers always seemed to involve things like sledding, work out

videos, rollerblading, dancing, etc. Now? We sit around and eat food. It seems like that’s what we center all of our gatherings around, and I’m 100% ok with it. Hailee, Mallory and I (Jaime was in Florida.. boo) decided to have a Pinterest night where we all made a Pinterest recipe we’ve been meaning to try. Hailee made an amazing (low cal… ha) loaded potato casserole with chicken, bacon, cheese and potatoes. There’s no possible way you could’ve made those ingredients taste bad together. Mallory made a spaghetti squash mac and cheese with broccoli in it. It was so good! I really have to try making spaghetti squash more often.

    I wanted to try something out of my normal style of cooking. I made these French Onion Soup potstickers that I found on Iowa Girl Eats. I’m not even so sure I’ve ever had real potstickers before this. Either way, it was fun to try something new, and it was even more fun to eat them. They're pretty delicate, so putting them together was tough for me. I wanted to stuff them with the beefy sauteed onions and cheese, but the wonton wrappers wouldn't close, so I had to cut back a little. There were a lot of modifications that I had to make along the way. The process of cooking them was interesting too. First you put them butt down in a hot skillet with some oil and browned the bottoms. Then you threw in some water, covered them, let them steam for a bit, took the lid off and let them crisp up again. Crisp them up, only to make them soggy and then crisp again. Hmm. Anyway, they were delicious! Hailee, Mallory and my Mom loved them. I loved the way the bottoms turned a golden brown, the tops were soft and the insides tender. The onions were perfectly soft and the cheese was melted just like in a cup of French Onion soup. Mallory and I really liked dipping them in some cool sour cream to contrast the hot savory insides. They may have been a little bit of work, but they're fun to make and super tasty. Also, I didn't make the Au Jus dipping sauce that she did, but I'm sure that'd be good too. Here's the recipe!

French Onion Soup Potstickers

2 jumbo sweet onions, cut into quarters then sliced thin
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 small dried bay leaves (or 1 big one)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup finely shredded mozzarella cheese
20 wonton wrappers
vegetable oil

1) Heat butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion slices and season with salt and pepper, then add Worcestershire sauce, dried thyme, bay leaves, sugar, and beef broth to the skillet and stir well. Turn heat up to high, bring broth to a boil, then turn back down to medium heat.

2) Cook onions, stirring occasionally, until very tender and dark brown. About 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and cool the onions completely, then place into a bowl and mix with mozzarella cheese.

3) Lay wonton wrappers out on a clean, dry surface, then place 1 Tablespoon onion mixture into the center of each wrapper. Wet all four sides with a pastry brush or your finger, then fold the bottom right-hand corner up the top left-hand corner and seal the edges, being careful to remove all air pockets. 

4) Heat 1 teaspoon vegetable oil in a medium-sized skillet. Place potstickers, being careful not to crowd, into the skillet, getting oil on the bottom of each potsticker. Cook until golden brown on the bottom, then add enough water to come 1/3 of the way up the potstickers. Place a lid on top and let the potstickers steam for 2-3 minutes.

5) When there is just a couple Tablespoons water left in the skillet, remove the lid and allow the water to cook out and the potsticker bottoms to crisp back up. Use a spatula to gently unstick the wrappers from the skillet and serve with Au Jus dipping sauce or sour cream. Mmmm!