Archive | June, 2009

Cafe Charbon

30 Jun

I’m not overly familiar with the LES. Up until a few years ago, I had hardly ventured lower than 14th Street and streets with “names” always concerned me. A voyage into the LES, however, so my sister and I could get tattoos as a memorial for my Grandfather left us with a need for dinner.

I asked one of my trusty LES coworkers and he recommended we try Cafe Charbon. He said the brunch was great, but dinner was good too and very casual. We arrived and sat outside. Our waiter was very attentive and we received our food very quickly when we told him we had a bit of a time crunch.

My friend recommended the steak tartare, but I didn’t want to risk my stomach with raw food when I was already filled with butterflies, so I opted for the steak frites. The frites were quite good… crispy yet still tasted like potato. The shallot sauce was great and the steak had great flavor, but was a bit on the tough side.

Mike decided to go with the burger (which was of no surprise… he certainly loves his burgers!) and it was very good. Nice bun with a burger that tasted like burger.

My sister, Stacey, made the winning selection, however. She went with the Poulet Fermier Bio which consisted of roasted organic chicken served with fries and salad.  She exchanged the fries for the mashed potatoes (which were delish) but the chicken may  have been one of the best roasted chickens I have ever had.  Great texture and flavor to the sauce. 

While most of the meal was average, this deserved a full extra Nom Point just for the chicken alone.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

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“O” Cookies

28 Jun

We had a family picnic last week and I decided to bake my famous cookies.  They are referred to by many names, but the name that stuck is “O” Cookies since they make people that love them say “OH! These are great!” or something similar.  If you like the combination of chocolate and almond and especially coffee, these cookies are for you.  They’re very easy, but there is just one requirement… you MUST use your hands.

Something about how the ingredients blend is just never the same when you use a spoon/fork and don’t even bother with the electric mixer unless you want the texture to be ALL wrong. (Plus… the dough is so delicious that it’s hard to not link your own hands when you’re done.) The texture is halfway between candy and cookies… I think they are best a little crunchier, but if you like them softer, just put them in a smaller pan so they’re thicker… I use a bigger pan than the recipe calls for and bake them for only 9-12 minutes.

The almond sprinkling on top is very important.  They toast up and makes the texture perfect.

The final product.  Always looks a little different from regular cookies and they taste OH SO GOOD.

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“O” Cookies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 cup sugar
2 cups sifted flour
2 tbl. instant coffee granules (or instant espresso)
1/2 tsp. salt (only use w/unsalted butter)
6 oz. mini chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped regular almonds or more to taste (not blanched)
Powdered Sugar

  • Blend butter and almost extract
  • Gradually add sugar, sifted flour, coffee granules, and salt (if using) then blend until creamy. (I usually wind up doing this literally with my hands as I add more of the dry ingredients.  It blends better.)
  • Blend in 6 oz. of mini chocolate chips
  • Put mixture in a 15 1/4” x 10 1/4” x 1/4” pan (ungreased)
  • Sprinkle almonds on top
  • Bake 13-15 minutes at 375 degrees.  (It may bubble, but it cools into an even cookie.  These are the only cookies I know of that taste better when they’re cool and a day old!)
  • Cut into squares while still hot with heavy knife
  • Dust with confectioners sugar when warm
  • Eat them in the morning for a quick picker-upper.  Don’t eat them at night unless you need a good buzz!

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Brats, Sweet Potato Caserole, and Asparagus

26 Jun

A trip to the Grand Central Market with my favorite foodie, Noa, included a trip to her favorite place for sausages: Koglin Royal Hams.  I bought the Frankonian Veal Bratwurst at her recommendation and Mike and I decided to pair it with a sweet potato caserole and asparagus in a a balsamic sauce.  These sweet potatoes were incredible, but they tasted WAY too good to be anything close to healthy.  I probably would have added nutmeg or more cinnamon to the potatoes themselves but the topping tasted like a moist pecan pie.  We made a few mistakes on the recipes, however, everything still remained delicious.

Mistake #1: Baking the potatoes takes too long.  We wound up microwaving them to get them soft enough to mash.  In the past I’ve boiled them and they tasted just as good.

Mistake #2: Peel potatoes before cooking!  We followed the recipe exactly and the peeling was one of the most laughably difficult things we’ve done

Mistake #3: Bratwurst needs to be boiled very specifically… you have to bring the water to a boil then TURN IT OFF and put the sausages in, then let them cook for ~8-12 minutes.  I made the mistake of keeping the heat on and they exploded.  Still full of flavor, they surely did NOT look pretty.



For dessert I was craving berries and schlag (aka whipped cream).  I used the leftover heavy cream to whip up some schlag and added some Bristol Cream Sherry to give it an adult kick.


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Gourmet Sweet Potato Classic

(recipe was found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Gourmet-Sweet-Potato-Classic/Detail.aspx)

Ingredients

  • 5 sweet potatoes
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.
  2. Bake sweet potatoes 35 minutes on a pan in the preheated oven, or until they begin to soften. Cool slightly, peel, and mash. (Refer to note above: I recommend peeling then boiling)
  3. In a large bowl, mix the mashed sweet potatoes, salt, 1/4 cup butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sugar, and heavy cream. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
  4. In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup butter, flour, brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Mix with a pastry blender or your fingers to the consistency of course meal. Sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture.
  5. Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until topping is crisp and lightly browned.

Happy Nomming!

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