48 Hours in New York City

Posted on August 5, 2012 by bayareafoodie


We headed to NYC for the premiere of Mike’s latest documentary “Gringos at the Gate.” If you are into soccer especially the US -Mexico rivalry check it out (shamless plug). Anyways, I went mainly for the food. I had each day planned out weeks before we left. Here was our itinerary…

DAY 1

Our flight arrived at JFK at 8am and by 9:30am we were waiting in line for a table at Clinton St. Baking Company – yes, there was a 30 minute wait on a Tuesday. But it was voted best pancakes in NY by New York magazine and Martha (Stewart) is on their website homepage so I knew it had to be good. I ordered the eggs benedict -poached eggs, maple cured ham, classic hollandaise,over a toasted buttermilk biscuit. Awesome. Loved the biscuit and the chopped onion/ bell peppers on top gave it a zesty kick. Mike chose the famous wild maine blueberry pancakes with warm maple butter. Super light and fluffy. Worth the wait. CASH ONLY! This held us over till dinner.

I had to hit at least one of Mario Batali’s NY restaurants and we chose LUPA OSTERIA ROMANA which is a casual spot specializing in Roman trattoria fare. This was our best meal of the trip. Everything tasted superb. We had some great wine and service. Prices were reasonable but make sure you order a couple courses per person or you will leave hungry.

Apps: Seasonal salad with asparagus and peas

and

Roasted Mushrooms w/ Cavolo Nero & Ricotta Salata

Mains: *Special of the day* Fresh pasta with braised pork
and
Ricotta Gnocchi with Sausage & Fennel

We skipped dessert and walked to Puddin’ a sweet shop that serves up different flavors of pudding. I know, brilliant idea! We ordered some of the signature (pre-made) minis so we could sample a bunch.

My favorite was the Caramel Macchiato (coffee /chocolate puddings, brownie pieces, salted caramel sauce) followed by Banana Cream Dream (banana pudding, graham cracker crumbs, banana cake,whipped cream). Before arriving I would have bet that my fav would have been the Coconut Cruise (coconut pudding, pineapple, coconut-soaked lime cake, graham cracker crumbs) but it had a weirdly thick consistency that didn’t move me.

DAY 2

With all that eating I had to schedule some sort of exercise. We had never been to Central Park and after some research many said the best way to see it all (since it is 843 acres) is by bike. We took a guided 2-hour  Bike Tour and had a beautiful ride. Look for coupons …they are out there. I found one for $10 off each person!

We finished up around noon so we walked to Shake Shack for lunch. This is NYC’s version of In-N-Out.

2 burgers and fries

We added a Fair Shake to our burger order -vanilla shake featuring 100% certified organic Arabica Fair Trade coffee. Yum! Something different for a fast food joint …they serve beer & wine too.
I was worried about eating a burger in the middle of the day since we were having dinner early but it was miniature…more like a slider. It was a very fresh and tasty burger. Did it put I-N-O to shame? I think not. Both do things well so I’m gonna leave it as a tie.

cereal milk soft serve with corn flakes – tasted best when it was all melted.

Next stop momofuku milk bar to pick up some treats for the plane ride home. Cookies and crack pie. I tried to make this pie at home a couple years ago. Mine came out good but this was mind blowing. Made the flight much more enjoyable : )

I couldn’t pass this soft serve up since it was really HOT out. I needed the energy to walk back to the hotel. Sooo much walking in the city!

Our final dinner was at The dutch. I had heard tons of good press about this place especially for the lunch/brunch. We were in a hurry because we arrived late and had to get to the premiere so we didn’t get to experience all it has to offer (namely THE PIE) but what we did have let’s just say I was not impressed. The food was just so-so and really expensive for what you got. Oh well, you can’t win ’em all!
I still ♥ NY

Note: The next morning before we jumped on our plane back to CALI we took a walking food tour of Greenwich village. Check it out here

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Garlic-Pesto, Brie & Onion Burger

Posted on August 30, 2011 by bayareafoodie


We love burgers…this time it was made with beef from our grass-fed beef club. The meat was fantastic. This recipe is from the burger queen herself, Miss Ray. Tasty…but not good for a first date.

Recipe link
Rachael Ray

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Skillet Bacon Jam

Posted on December 29, 2010 by bayareafoodie

A small sample of skillet bacon jam arrived on my doorstep just before the holidays. What is bacon jam you ask? It’s a gooey mixture of niman ranch bacon, onions, balsamic and brown sugar. Some recommended uses: as a salad dressing base, a substitute in a blt, or with cheese or fish. The product was much sweeter than I expected. You lose some of the saltiness you find in straight bacon but it’s tasty just the same. I decided to spread the bacony goodness on a grilled cheese sandwich. Mike’s response…Rockin’ Grilled Cheese. I think that says it all.

I look forward to slathering it on a burger.

Website: http://skilletstreetfood.com/

Note: I received the product mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com.

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BBQ Patty Melt

Posted on November 5, 2010 by bayareafoodie


I was inspired by a recent article Serious Eats wrote called: How to Make The Ultimate Patty Melt. My favorite burger is a patty melt. Always has been, always will be. Forget about lettuce, tomatoes, fancy mustard’s, aioli’s and chipotle ketchup’s. For a perfect burger all you need is quality bread, meat, cheese and onions.

I was drooling as I read the article but I didn’t feel like stinking up the house by frying so I decided to challenge Mike to make the darn things on the grill. He happily accepted.

We headed out to the market to pick up the ingredients:

  • Jewish Rye bread (I never new there were so many choices)
  • Aged Swiss
  • Kraft American cheese
  • Large Sweet onion
  • 1 lb 80/20 ground beef (made 3 patties)
  • butter

When we returned we fired up the grill.

Mike made the patties kinda in the shape of the bread and added salt & pepper. I sliced up the onions and buttered one side of each piece of bread. Then we moved outdoors. Mike began to grill the meat and I started the onions on the grill’s burner (following the Serious Eats directions works well). When the meat was coming close to medium we placed some cheese on top and put the bread on the grill butter side down. Then we topped the bread with more cheese and the caramelized onions. Once everything was melty we sandwiched it all together and chowed down.

I don’t think I’ll ever make a Patty Melt on the stove again. This came out fantastic and not all greasy like it usually is. The meat was tender, the cheese gooey and the onions sweet. Perfection!

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Obama Burgers

Posted on October 28, 2008 by bayareafoodie


To get in the election spirit we made Obama Pizza burgers. This was an online bonus recipe in the new Food Network magazine.

It’s a burger in between two pieces of garlic bread…what’s not to like?

Recipe link

Mike and I have already mailed in our ballets. Get out and vote Nov 4th!

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Grilled Mozzarella Burger with Sundried Tomato and Arugula Pesto

Posted on October 15, 2008 by bayareafoodie


Mike picked this recipe because we had a bunch of arugula and mozzarella to use up. This was our first attempt at a stuffed burger. I was a bit worried that the pesto would ooze out all over the grill but it remained in tact. The pesto did not use a lot of oil so the consistency was more like a paste. We chose to nix the buns and go with naan since we already had it in the fridge. I fell in love with naan ever since we made lamb burgers. It makes the meal much less heavy.

We both found the burgers to be marvelous. They were j-u-i-c-y and flavorful. Looking at those photos makes me want to fire up the grill. You must try this.

Recipe link

Tasty Tip: a blue or swiss cheese would probably also go nicely.

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Cheddar Burger with Balsamic Onions and Chipotle Ketchup

Posted on July 25, 2008 by bayareafoodie

So which burger looks better? On the left you have the cover model of the July 08 bon appetit mag and on the right you have our version. We made a couple substitutions to the ingredients. First, we didn’t have cheddar so we used swiss. Next, instead of searching for canned chipotles we mixed in a ground chili chipotle spice to the ketchup that we had on hand. Finally, I wasn’t in the mood for an english muffin so we used soft, fresh ciabatta. They said they used a muffin but that sure looks like a bun. If you ask me the bon appetit burger had some work done and some retouching.

Either way you look at it, it was a bangin’ burger. The ketchup had a spicy kick and the onions were sweet. Variations of this burger will grace our table for years to come… gotta add some bacon and maybe avocado or shrooms next time!

Recipe link

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Curried Lamb Burgers

Posted on July 14, 2008 by bayareafoodie

So did the h-u-g-e burger on the July cover of bon appétit call to you as you stood at the checkout in the grocery store? That burger looked so darn good I had to have it. The cover story gave recipes for a variety of burgers. The 1st burger Mike chose to recreate was the Curried Lamb Burger with Grilled Vegetables and Mint Raita.

I found the texture of the lamb patty to be wonderful and it was super juicy. Much nicer than regular beef. The sauce was minty fresh, and I will use that naan more often. It is a nice alternative to a bun. The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was the curry flavor. I have never been a fan. It was cool to be adventurous and try something new but I think I’ll stick to my royale with cheese.

Recipe link

Next on the list: Cheddar Burger with Balsamic Onions and Chipotle Ketchup. The bon appétit covers have been really enticing this year, so much that I just ordered a subscription. It’s much cheaper than buying the individual issues.

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The Counter

Posted on April 11, 2008 by bayareafoodie

the counterIf you’re at Santana Row in San Jose and you want a slammin’ burger, stop by the Counter. The beef/chicken is tender and always tastes extremely fresh. Be warned a little goes a long way. I always leave feeling stuffed. This is the only burger I usually end up eating with a fork and knife. It’s a tasty mess.

How it works: it’s a build your own burger or chicken sandwich shop. After you are seated you are given a clip board and a pencil and you choose your meat and toppings. I went with a burger with grilled onions, lettuce, tomato and gruyere cheese. I kept things classic but they have more interesting options like herb goat cheese, grilled pineapple, roasted corn and black bean salsa or a fried egg.

  

Sorry about the blurry photos. First attempt at using images from my cellphone.

Don’t forget to try the onion strings and sweet potato fries. One order can feed 4 people. They come with 3 dipping sauces…good stuff. The shakes are yum too.

Website: http://www.thecounterburger.com/

Counter Santana Row on Urbanspoon

Filed under: San Jose, Silicon Valley (all cities) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

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