frites & fries

If you live in New York City, you can also pick up a free bag of...

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

If you live in New York City, you can also pick up a free bag of potato chips at select locations. Most importantly, today is also Pi Day!

Link Casserole

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:09:00 -0500

I’m glad I’m missing the New York rainy/windy weather. My current problem: learning how to fall asleep at night because no one is blaring out “Empire State of Mind” from their car. I live close enough to the Empire State Building that people find it appropriate to blast the song because they’re going to pass it. Here are some interesting things I wanted to share today:

Want: this cute strawberry fruit bowl from I Feel Smug
The world’s oldest single malt whiskey has been aging since 1938. Luxist informs us that one of the taste testers calls it “…fresh, vital…” What I want to know is, what do they mean by “vital”?
Marital Bliss bars…har har? (via Sociological Images)
T he Guardian’s David Kessler on obesity: ”Sugar, fat and salt make a food compelling. They stimulate neurons, cells that trigger the brain’s reward system and release dopamine, a chemical that motivates our behaviour and makes us want to eat more. Many of us have what’s called a ‘bliss point’, at which we get the greatest pleasure from sugar, fat or salt. Combined in the right way, they make a product indulgent, high in ‘hedonic value’.”

(a big thanks to Serious Eats today)

Friday, 4:30pm. Minneapolis suburbs, Minnesota. $1 off of rice...

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:19:16 -0500

Friday, 4:30pm. Minneapolis suburbs, Minnesota. $1 off of rice if you pay with cash! Bargains!

Doughnut Dots

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:17:37 -0500

The first thing I did in Minnesota (besides eating lunch) was make doughnuts!

Why do doughnut holes have to be holes and not dots like polka dots? Regardless, I’m calling them dots.

For two dozen doughnut dots:

2 1/2 tsp. package active dry yeast
2 tbsp. warm water
3 1/4 c. flour
1 c. milk
1/4 c. unsalted butter, softened
3 egg yolks
2 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. coffee extract
vegetable oil
3 c. powdered sugar

Stir together yeast and warm water in a small bowl until yeast is dissolved. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Mix together flour, milk, butter, yolks, sugar, salt, extract, and yeast mixture in mixer at low speed until a soft dough forms. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for a few more minutes. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let dough rise in a warm place until it doubles, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out two dozen balls about 1 1/2” to 2” in diameter; transfer doughnuts to a lightly floured large baking sheet. Cover doughnuts with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for about 30 more minutes. Heat the vegetable oil to 350F in a deep heavy pot or fryer. Fry doughnuts, turning occasionally with a wire or mesh skimmer until puffed and golden brown.

Let the doughnuts cool in a paper towel. In a shallow dish or wide bowl, fill it with the powdered sugar. Once the doughnuts have cooled, roll the doughnuts in the dish full of sugar before serving.

Saturday, 4:30pm. Hopkins, Minnesota. Today, I went to the Asian...

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:16:00 -0500

Saturday, 4:30pm. Hopkins, Minnesota. Today, I went to the Asian grocery store with my sister and dad. I learned that “Gourmet Powder” is really just MSG in a fancy tin.

Spring Break Travels

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:00:00 -0500

I’m visiting my parents for the next several days and my sister will be home from college too! I found some wonderful suitcase pictures from Yvette Inufio’s Flickr page just for this occasion:

Relationships: Things to Feed a Chef

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:24:00 -0500

When I travel, I make a bunch of stuff (usually sandwiches) for Chef to eat. Even though he works at a restaurant, you think that he could just make something for themselves. Many chefs don’t really like cooking at home because the kitchens are always so much smaller than the restaurant kitchens and restaurant kitchens have all the awesome gadgets and tools. Even though they’re less willing to cook for themselves, chefs are easily pleased with simple home cooking specifically made for them or…fast food. I don’t usually make meals at home for myself so we usually don’t have any awesome groceries for cooking, thus a lack of food (although we have awesome baking supplies courtesy of yours truly). Chef uses the lack of food at home as an excuse to eat fast food. This problem is worsened because there is a restaurant opening so he could blame it on the fact that he was so busy trying to get the place to open that he couldn’t make anything for himself. I’ve prepared myself so prevent these kind of comments:”I had to go to Burger King. I was hungry!” ”There’s nothing at home to eat” “I was so busy!”

You see, some chefs are like teenage boys: they’re into instant gratification and they pretty much eat almost everything. Maybe that’s why they like fast food so much: It’s fast, it’s tasty, it’s greasy, and readily available by walking distance in Manhattan. A question that I get a lot: “Aren’t you intimidated to cook for him?”

Well, no duh.

I’m still trying to tell when the meat is overcooked, undercooked, or just right. I’m actually pretty good at it though. I have an idea of what things pair well together, but as a baking person, it’s kind of difficult for me to understand the pairings of savory foods. When I eat savory foods, I don’t like just plain salty. I want at least three other sensations, whether it’s spicy, umami, bitter, or sweet. If I made it, I don’t know if the combination of tastes would make whoever I cook for gag, throw-up or clap their hands in glee. This is why I’m kind of scared to take a risk sometimes.

Being the science type, I have this weird notion in the back of my head that perhaps — just maybe — one of the two food combinations I used could produce a powerful chemical reaction that I would essentially, kill someone. Accidently. Maybe I am a bit of a wuss, but you never know! I feel safe with my science: baking in the kitchen with precise measurements and temperatures. You bake by the books, with chemistry to back you up. Your scientific knowledge hugs you and says, “It’s okay, you won’t explode anything in the kitchen today because we know that there’s no dangerous reaction between chocolate and milk.”

Even though I’m scared to cook for Chef (in fear of killing him), I’m also afraid to cook in front of him. He’s cringed many times at my knife techniques because to him, it’s like a little kid falling off a bike. I’m going to get over this, practice cooking, and cook for him. Only because I don’t want him to gain a million pounds because he went to KFC* so much (and contribute to environmental devastation). Is that so wrong?

[Note: on that note, we should really be eating healthy and be aware of our food choices instead of gorging ourselves]

Hello Darling

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:48:42 -0500

Say “Hello” to The Hello Project, an online art collaboration.

Link Casserole

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:34:00 -0500

One minute ciabatta! I think a warm bowl of soup, a few slices of ciabatta, and a good book is how I’m spending my night [plus I have to get up at like, 5am to go to the airport — no crazy partying for me]
Does eating locally kill innovation? This is something that I’ve thought about lately. I’d like to interview Chef about this…(darling, are you listening?)
Le Whif, the inhalable chocolate: at only one calorie per whiff, it comes in four flavors: pure chocolate, raspberry chocolate, mint chocolate and coffee. So…would you get high on chocolate?
Pretty paper goods from Wren & Chickadee

(picnic photo from Tanja Borgschulte)

It’s rainy, gloomy, generally gross day in New York City....

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:06:08 -0500

It’s rainy, gloomy, generally gross day in New York City. You know what they say, “~~April~~ March showers, brings ~~May~~ April flowers.”

I feel like today is a photography project day…I’m working on a photo series called “Hailing Cabs” — more later!

I ♥ Coffee

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:34:30 -0500

Things that need coffee/espresso drinks to function:

Any device connected to this coffee table (something that I’ve mentioned before)
This car
This Oatmeal comic wouldn’t work without coffee
This cat
This dog (sort of)
Me

from Christopher Nieman: Google Map Art!

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:50:00 -0500

from Christopher Nieman: Google Map Art!

Caramel Date Pie [Because Pi is Circumference over Diameter]

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:27:03 -0500

Sorry guys, I’m full of math nerdisms lately. Celebrate Pi Day with me and make a candied date pie! You don’t need to put all those dorky things on the pie like I did though.

For a 9” pie:

Filling:

1 c. chopped dates
1 1/2 c. light brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. evaporated milk
2 eggs, separated

Crust:

2 1/2 c. flour
1 c. cold butter, cut into 1/2” pieces
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 c. water (plus additional if necessary)

Prepare the crust; mix together the ingredients except the water. Gently mix the dough with your hands and gradually add the water a tablespoon at a time so that the dough is mealy. Roll it out on a floured surface and line a 9” pie pan with the dough. Trim the edges if necessary and refrigerate while you prepare the filling. Preheat the oven to 375F. Mix together the dates, flour, salt, sugar and flower. Add in the extract, evaporated milk and gradually blend in the egg yolk. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until peaks form. Fold in the fluffy egg whites into the batter. Take the pastry-lined pie pan out of the fridge and gently pour the filling in with a spatula. Bake in the oven for about an hour or until the center of the pie is slightly firm to the touch. Let it cool before serving.

I ♥ Breakfast

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0500

Lunch is my biggest meal but breakfast is my favorite meal. I love eggs and I love things that are sweet, like waffles! On my way to work, I always grab my breakfast and eat it at my desk: everyday, I have the scooped-out everything bagel with my gigantic cup of coffee. Sometimes I go crazy and buy a cinnamon raisin bagel instead — whoa!

A great breakfast site (which I’ve mentioned before) called Simply Breakfast, is essentially a photo blog of a blogger’s breakfast (see above picture). I’ve also always been interested to see what people in other parts of the world eat though. Recently Design Boom showed some photos of breakfasts around the world by Oliver Schwarzwald for a magazine called Feld Homme. Several sites have covered the different breakfasts around the world too like this site and this article from Saveur; I want to try the Swedish filmjölk out of curiosity.

What do I eat for breakfast?

When I was in Italy, I had a latte with cornetti di pasta sfoglia (a chocolate filled pastry) every morning for an entire month. When I visit my grandma in Taiwan, I always have sweet soy milk and fan tuan — which are like stuffed rice balls. Growing up in Minnesota, it was all about the milk and cereal. We have family friends that are food scientists at Pillsbury so I remember eating a ton of strange “test” foods growing up.

What do you typically eat for breakfast?

I’d like to know.

Link Casserole

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Interesting links I found today:

A peanut butter and jelly wallet
Something I’m going to buy once I find it: an Everything Bagel Spice. I would use it season everything. I love bagels. (via)
The Gadling lists the 20 greatest cities for “foodies”. I really hate that term and my conclusion: the list sucks. If you’re going to mention Chicago, at least mention some of the great molecular gastronomy restaurants. Lastly, you can’t have a complete food city list without naming Paris and New York.
An interactive map from the New York Times showing the best coffee places in New York City.
It’s European Waste Reduction Week. We should take a cue from our European friends and pick food products that have less mess and fuss, aka less packaging (via Eat Me Daily)

(From L-R: bacon & dark chocolate, milk chocolate & pink...

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:17:19 -0500

(From L-R: bacon & dark chocolate, milk chocolate & pink salt, peanut butter & pink salt & Maldon salt & milk chocolate, and pecans & caramel & milk chocolate)

If you live in New York, Chicago or Las Vegas, drop by your nearest Vosges boutique for these decadent chocolate Easter eggs. Even if you don’t celebrate Easter, their chocolates are just really delicious and worth the price.

Tabletop Thursday

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:14:03 -0500

Pulling a tablecloth with a motorcycle: Can it be done? Click on the picture to see the video (via Boing Boing)

[Previous Tabletop Thursday]

Link Casserole

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:29:57 -0500

Neat triangular packaging for spices (via NotCot.org)
Learn how to fold your dinner napkin like a kimono [Fancy dinner parties!]
Bakelab Bakery has an Alice in Wonderland theme for their baked goods. You can order them online! (via)
Bravo is working on a new show called Around the World in 80 Plates. The premise is that the contestants will work in some of the most famous restaurants. I can’t really see Thomas Keller participating, so…I would not watch it. Plus, I don’t have cable. (via)

Now that fashion week in Paris is ending…

I’m looking forward to winter clothes for next year. But I’m looking forward to: spring, getting rid of bulky coats, warm weather, strolling on the cobblestone roads in the West Village, and being able to wear dresses and flats. Don’t get me wrong though — I only dress very girl and I like baking which could be considered very feminine (but keep in mind that some of the best pastry chefs in the world are men). The rest of me just wants soccer to start already, to a lesser extent, baseball, because there’s no more hockey to watch. You can take the girl out of Minnesota but you can’t take Minnesota out of her. On that note, I’ll be traveling this weekend!

Link Casserole

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:40:22 -0500

Not So Humble Pie: science + baking. She’s like my match in blogging heaven. She made atom cookies!
Custom made chocolates: You could make an Annie (toffee, coffee, peppermint, and sea salt)
Bacon Jam exists. I started browsing a great food marketplace online called Foodzie. Think of it as the Etsy of food or a gigantic online farmer’s market (sans produce). I also found beer and pretzel caramels that I really want to buy.
Dan Barber, the executive chef at Blue Hill (a restaurant that I’m still dying to go to), examines sustainable fishing practices at a TED event.

I found this amazing cocktail on Liqurious: a solid Bloody Mary...

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:52:00 -0500

I found this amazing cocktail on Liqurious: a solid Bloody Mary from Grant Achatz, the executive chef at Alinea. I’ve written about Alinea in a previous post and I’m dying to go there. I think molecular gastronomy is amazing. I’m wondering, what other cocktails would be great in a solid form? a fizzy Bellini? a classic Manhattan?