Meatballs in a spicy meat sauce and family jewels (fried egg) jQuery(“document”).ready(function(){jQuery(‘#ngg-gallery-136-1687′).galleryView({panel_width:600,panel_height:400,frame_width:40,frame_height:40,transition_interval:0,overlay_color:‘#222′,overlay_text_color:‘white’,caption_text_color:‘#222′,background_color:‘transparent’,border:‘none’,nav_theme:‘dark’,easing:‘easeInOutQuad’});});Second stop of the Fatty Food Tour was The Meatball Shop. Amanda and I heard about this place from Unique Eats,our new favorite show on the Cooking Channel. After hearing all the raves,we figured we had to check it out. I mean,who doesn’t like a good meatball,right? We showed up about 10-15 minutes before the place opened and there was already a line…always a good sign. The menu is a fifth graders dream,with sections like “naked balls”,toppings like “family jewels”,and more ball puns than you can shake a stick at. Options range from naked balls,which are just the meatballs and sauce,to balls in heroes,sliders,or salads. You can also get side pastas and veggies which come nestled under your balls or on the side . We kept it simple and got the naked balls –classic beef meatballs in a spicy meat sauce –topped with a fried egg. The balls were nice and tender (teehee) and the sauce had a nice kick and was meaty enough to eat on its own. The egg was completely unnecessary but it did add some creamy-ness and helped to balance some of the spice. An order of naked balls also comes with a crispy piece of focaccia bread to help you sop up the extra sauce and egg. This is an easy recommendation for me to make. The Meatball Shop takes a childhood favorite and really puts their own stamp on it. The variety of balls and sauces will definitely keep me coming back for more. And before you comment on my maturity,try ordering the naked balls with family jewels without a silly grin…then we’ll talk.
Monster-sized biscuit with delicious raspberry jam Blueberry muffin jQuery(“document”).ready(function(){jQuery(‘#ngg-gallery-134-1680′).galleryView({panel_width:600,panel_height:400,frame_width:40,frame_height:40,transition_interval:0,overlay_color:‘#222′,overlay_text_color:‘white’,caption_text_color:‘#222′,background_color:‘transparent’,border:‘none’,nav_theme:‘dark’,easing:‘easeInOutQuad’});});This past weekend,Amanda helped organize what would turn out to be an epic food tour. The tour,appropriately named “Fatty Food Tour”,started in the Lower East Side at the Doughnut Plant and ended with dinner at 5 Napkin burger in the Upper West Side. We stopped at nine restaurants consisting of old favorites and new buzz-worthy places. The first new spot on the tour was the Clinton St. Baking Company. Amanda and I first heard about this place while watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay where they nearly beat Bobby with their famous blueberry pancakes. Unfortunately they have notoriously long brunch waits so we did the smart thing and got some baked goods for take-out to munch on. We purchased one their famous biscuits and jam,a mixed berry scone,and a blueberry muffin. The biscuit was twice the size of your average buttery biscuit. I kid you not when I say that it was the size of my fist. The jam is sweetly tart with fresh raspberries and it was so good I could’ve taken a spoon to it,sans biscuit. The mixed berry scone was packed with tiny blueberries and cranberries and still warm and moist in the center. The blueberry muffin was pretty good also but paled in comparison with the biscuits and jam combo. The muffin top was nice and crusty like it should be,but the rest of the muffin was dense and cornbread-like both in taste and texture. It worked in this case though because this allows the blueberries to shine. If you’re willing to tough out the wait,I’d recommend this place. And if you order them,tell us how the blueberry pancakes are! But if you’re in a rush,do yourself a favor and pick up a biscuit or two to go The main dish…beef noodle soup. The ingredients. The beef shanks. Bone marrow! Toast…best way to eat bone marrow. jQuery(“document”).ready(function(){jQuery(‘#ngg-gallery-132-1660′).galleryView({panel_width:600,panel_height:400,frame_width:40,frame_height:40,transition_interval:0,overlay_color:‘#222′,overlay_text_color:‘white’,caption_text_color:‘#222′,background_color:‘transparent’,border:‘none’,nav_theme:‘dark’,easing:‘easeInOutQuad’});});Though I often profess my love for pork belly and prime rib,my favorite cut of meat is actually the beef shank. I’ve grown up eating a lot of beef shank and nothing quite matches the chewy toothsome-ness or the deep flavors from the long braise. Beef shanks can be prepared pretty simply like with Lu Niu Rou,which I wrote about previously,and it tastes great on its own. When I’m feeling a bit more adventurous,I like to make a it into a Sichuan style beef noodle soup via a really good recipe in Bon Appetit. The recipe calls for boneless beef shank,but I got the bone-in beef shank for a reason. After stripping the meat,we took the bones and roasted them in the oven and had the marrow with with some toasted french bread and lemony herb garnish. Unexpected (and delicious) surprise! Read after the break for a reprint of the recipe. Sweet potato hash with mushrooms,spinach,and topped with a poached egg. jQuery(“document”).ready(function(){jQuery(‘#ngg-gallery-131-1647′).galleryView({panel_width:600,panel_height:400,frame_width:40,frame_height:40,transition_interval:0,overlay_color:‘#222′,overlay_text_color:‘white’,caption_text_color:‘#222′,background_color:‘transparent’,border:‘none’,nav_theme:‘dark’,easing:‘easeInOutQuad’});});Amanda and I have recently been trying to turn over a new leaf and eat healthy. Yeah,it might not seem obvious from our previous posts,but in my defense,most of those were a from a stash of back logged reviews that we meant to get to sooner. Honest. What we made here was inspired by the uova at Morandi and by a freakin’big sweet potato that until a couple hours ago had been staring me in the face. We tried to make the hash a bit more healthy by oven roasting the sweet potatoes first instead of just cooking them with loads of grease in a cast iron. We also used the sweet potato instead of a regular potato because it provides just a bit more in terms of vitamins and nutrients. The recipe is extremely easy…we basically followed this recipe to prepare everything. When the sweet potatoes were finished,we took about half a cup of the sweet potatoes and some finely diced sautéed onions and mashed them just slightly to form a small patty. The patties were seasoned with some salt and pepper and seared very quickly on either side in the cast iron and then topped with the mushrooms and spinach and finally topped with a poached egg.  |  | |
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