jQuery(“document”).ready(function(){jQuery(‘#ngg-gallery-55-435′).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’});});Carrots are so very very underrated. The great thing about carrots is that they’re never out of season,they’re cheap,and they’re super good for you! That’s not to say that this carrot cake is good for you,though it’s mighty tasty Because we had so many carrots on hand we doubled this Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Icing recipe and split it into two springform pans,one 9″and one 11″. The cooking times on the 11″was almost an hour,while the 9″one took almost 1.5 hrs! If you find that the center of your cake is still wet,cover it with foil and cut a hole in the foil around the wet part:this will shield the outer rim of the cake from getting overcooked while still allowing the oven to cook the center.
jQuery(“document”).ready(function(){jQuery(‘#ngg-gallery-28-214′).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’});});One of our recent guilty pleasures involves watching The Best Thing I Ever Ate on Food Network on Tuesdays,and then Wednesday night going out to one of the places recommended on the show So far it’s been a hit and a great way to try new places! Stand Burger was recommended by Iron Chef Michael Symon and his favorite “sugar rush”was the Toasted Marshmallow Shake. He actually finished off three of them during the show! Needless to say,we were drooooling. So the next day we went there,right below Union Square at 12th St and University Pl. We ordered burgers,fries and shakes but I must say that the burgers were small and expensive. The small (not really) fries for $3 was a good deal,which were served in a simple paper cone,hot and fresh. Our group ordered the Chocolate Malted,Apple Pie,and Toasted Marshmallow shakes and each of them were delicious. The Apple Pie was very cinnamon-y but I couldn’t get much of the crisp apple flavor –if there were real apples in there,it would’ve been better. EDIT:Robo and I went back with friends and tried the the Pumpkin and Chocolate Malted. The Pumpkin was a cute pastel orange color and tasted like a fresh pumpkin,so there really wasn’t much sugar in here. I was sort of expecting it to taste like a pumpkin pie,like the Clocktower Pumpkin Shake (which AndrewT graciously reminded me of!) at the Cornell Dairy Bar,which is dark and thick,super sweet,cinnamon-y,and absolutely delicious. Needless to say,the Pumpkin was a let-down. The Chocolate Malted was waaay too sweet,even sweeter than the Toasted Marshmallow. The malted flavor was definitely there,as the shake tasted almost exactly like Whopper balls. It was good but you will need a glass of water to go with it. But hands down,the Toasted Marshmallow was the best out of all the items we ordered. It comes out in a tall retro milkshake glass topped with a giant serving of whipped cream and two jumbo toasted marshmallows. It just tastes like pure marshmallow:vanilla-y,very sweet,creamy,a little frothy near the end. My favorite were the two perfectly toasted marshmallows. So props to Chef Michael Symon –we’ll be eagerly awaiting his next NYC “best thing I ever ate”=) jQuery(“document”).ready(function(){jQuery(‘#ngg-gallery-25-188′).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’});});We got a little lazy with the posts so here’s another one! This diner was introduced to us by David and it’s called the Coach House Diner in North Bergen,NJ at the intersection of Kennedy Blvd and 10th St. The interior doesn’t feel like a diner at all;it’s more plush,roomy,with dark wood booths,featuring a long bar with flat-screen TVs but it still feels like a family restaurant. What we usually try to make it to is the 3 to 6:30pm Early Bird Special:any entree that you order comes with their unlimited salad bar,a glass of their house wine (red or white),and a dessert. Now the salad bar is good but nothing special. They have freshly made croutons,some potato and pasta salads,leafy vegetables,stuffed grape leaves,pickled vegetables,etc. Half of the appeal is just that it comes free with the meal. For the entrees,you can choose from steaks,seafood,roasts,pasta…what you would typically expect at a diner. From the two times we’ve went there (in groups),we’ve ordered:Hamburger,Fish and Chips,Hamburger Steak,Pork Chops, Yankee Pot Roast –all were huge portions,well-cooked but frustratingly under-seasoned (to our palates at least). So with that said,the best choice is to order the pastas. They come in absolutely enormous portions and are delicious –but be warned they are usually very oily. Finally,the BEST part of the meal:the dessert. They have cheesecakes,pies,tiramisu,pastries,and more –plus these also come in huuuge portions (yay!). When we’ve gone,we’ve had their Strawberry Cheesecake,Blueberry Cheesecake,Apple Pie,Tiramisu,and Chocolate Cake. The Apple Pie was okay:apples were the right texture,good crust,not too sweet,but was sort of flat (Amanda’s Mom makes an apple pie that is packed with apples and is probably twice the height of this one!) The Tiramisu and the cheesecakes were excellent,but the Chocolate Cake is to die for:chocolatey,fudgey,chocolate frosting,and oh-so-good;you will need water or coffee to consume this one! Overall,the Coach House Diner serves up big portions but leaves a little something to be desired. This place is also well-known for their breakfast,namely pancakes,so one day we will write up a review on their breakfast! Egg and Oyster Omelette Egg and Oyster Omelette Clams Fried Stinky Tofu “Dragon Whiskers”–stir-fried sea plants “San Bei Ji”–three cup chicken:soy sauce,sesame oil,wine,sugar,basil,ginger “Bao Bing”–taiwanese shaved ice toppings:mung bean,red bean,kidney beans,lychee,tapioca,taro,grass jelly sweetened condensed milk on top jQuery(“document”).ready(function(){jQuery(‘#ngg-gallery-23-170′).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’});});(May I just add that these photos were taken with our brand spankin’new iPhone 3G Ss…I don’t know how you would plural-ize that. -Rob) For Father’s Day weekend,Robo and I went home to celebrate with our dads. We took them to Bob’s Noodle 66 which is a great Taiwanese-Chinese restaurant off of 355. Be warned though:this place is always packed,doesn’t take credit cards,and offers stinky tofu (the smells of which will inevitably waft to your table if some other table orders it). Other than that,this place is awesome! We started with the hot and sour soup,which was served in a huge bowl;delicious and slightly glutinous. Next we had the oyster and egg omelette which was a thick,fluffy egg omelette with whole oyseters (no shell) over a bed of vegetables and covered with an oyster/soy sauce mix. Then we had the clams,“dragon whiskers”(stir-fried sea plants with chicken),and fried stinky tofu with spicy cabbage. For the dragon whiskers,I’m not sure what type of sea plant it was but it was sort of aesthetically displeasing…the veggies themselves reminded me of squishy dark green tubes,but the dish tasted ok and was seasoned very well. And then talk about displeasing:stinky tofu has this distinctly odious smell that is ruinous to your appetite. That being said,if you can overcome the smell,stinky tofu (from what Robo tells me) tastes great. The cabbage served on the side was spicy hothothot! After that we had the hot plate shrimp with onions (not pictured) which were big fresh shrimp,de-shelled and deveined (score no mess!),served on a bed of onions with lots of pepper. Same style as pepper steak,but with shrimp! And then my favorite:sanbeiji,aka three cup chicken. The legend behind the dish is that to make it,you need a cup of each of soy sauce,wine,and sesame oil. However,we couldn’t taste a whole lot of sesame so we think that here at Bob’s they use one cup each of soy sauce,wine,and sugar,along with some vegetable/canola cooking oil. This dish also incorporates looots of basil (love it!) and big slices of ginger. For the chicken they chop up chicken quarters (we think) into hearty chunks. I think if we try to make it ourselves,we’ll use chicken thighs,which has more meat per bone ratio. For dessert,you must have the bao bing,taiwanese shaved ice. It’s very simple to make (if you have an ice shaving machine):take a mound of shaved ice,pour over sugar syrup and (sweetened?) condensed milk,and then top with sweet mung beans,red beans,lychee,taro,peanuts,and kidney beans. They also gave us a bowl of tapioca pearls and grass jelly. This dessert is super sweet and a great summertime dish,even though we’ve ordered it in the dead of winter before. The one pictured is the largest size and we split it among our party of 7 easily  |  | |
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