Potato Salad with Cornichons and Capers

Wow, I haven't posted in awhile. My life has become a whirlwind of school, job search, and wedding. But here's a little somethin' somethin'.

This potato salad rocked. It's made with a vinaigrette instead of mayo, so it's great for outdoor events (my event happened in front of the TV, but whatev). The local grocery store didn't have cornichons so I used gherkins (the two are not synonymous, you know). I've also never been a big fan of capers, but the key is really just to rinse those suckers off before you use them so they're not overly salty. I heart Martha Stewart.

2 pounds small red and Yukon gold potatoes, halved or quartered (I used red)
2 tablespoons + 1 1/2tsp salt
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon style mustard
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
5 cornichons rinses, sliced (1/4 cup) (again, I used gherkins)
1 small red onion thin slice (1/4 cup)
2 tablespoons capers rinsed, coarse chop (how the hell do you chop capers?)
2 tablespoons coarse chop flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Cover potatoes with water in a medium saucepan. Add 2 tablespoons salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer until tender, 7 to 9 minutes. Drain potatoes, reserving 1 tablespoon cooking water. Let potatoes cool slightly.

Make the vinaigrette:
Whisk together vinegar, mustard, and reserved cooking water in a small bowl. Gradually add oil, whisking until emulsified. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl, and drizzle with vinaigrette. Add onion, cornichons, capers, parsley, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper. Using a large spatula, gently stir to combine.

Grade: A

Cranberry Pecan Orange Bread Pudding

I'd never made bread pudding before, so Christmas seemed like the perfect time to try my hand. Bread pudding is one of those things that is either great or horrible and you never know which until it's too late. This wasn't my favorite thing ever. The bread sort of fused into one giant bread mass instead of staying light and fluffy. Oh, and I'm pretty sure pecans have no business in bread pudding. The recipe is from Martha Stewart Living.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter soft, plus more for baking dish
12 ounces brioche or challah bread cut into 1-in cubes
2 cups milk
3 cups heavy cream
4 lg. eggs + 1 lg. egg yolk
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup raisins

3/4 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup orange juice

2 tablespoon orange zest

3/4 cup toasted pecans
1 cup boiling water, plus more for pan

Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish; set aside. Put bread in a large bowl; set aside. Heat milk and cream in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until just about to simmer; remove from heat.

Whisk eggs, yolk, sugar, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Whisking constantly, pour cream mixture in a slow, steady stream into egg mixture. Pour over bread; fold to combine. Let stand 3O minutes, tossing and pressing occasionally to submerge bread.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Meanwhile, soak raisins in 1 cup boiling water for 30 minutes. Simmer 3/4 cup dried cranberries in 3/4 cup orange juice until plump, 3 to 5 minutes.

Drain; stir raisins and cranberries into bread mixture. Add zest and pecans. With a slotted spoon, transfer bread to buttered dish; pour liquid in bowl over top. Using spoon, turn top layer of bread crust side up.

Set dish in a roasting pan; transfer to oven. Pour boiling water into pan to reach about halfway up sides of dish. Bake until golden brown, about 50 minutes. Let dish cool on a rack 10 to 20 minutes.

Grade: B-

Claim Jumper

12384 Carmel Mountain Road
San Diego, CA 92128
858.485.8370

Snowman's birthday dinner took a few turns. The first restaurant he pooh-poohed. The second one was out of veggie burgers, so I pooh-poohed. The third one had too much of everything so that's where we ate! We went with our friends, The Neighobrinos. I made a video. Check it!

Food: Decent. Oversize portions rarely mean excellence. The brownie at the end was pretty decadent.
Service: Really friendly. It was actually our waiter's birthday as well! Snowman didn't believe him so he called his mom and she confirmed it.
Decor: Pretty Nice. Lodge-esque. Warm and cozy!

Grade: B

New Twists On Old Favorites...Spicy!

I love trying new food. Some of it's gross, but some of it is awesome. I think it's worth all the gross stuff to get to the awesome stuff. Here are two new things I've tried recently:

I love Tabasco Sauce. It's great on anything bland, but I particularly like it on mac n' cheese and pizza. I've tried some Tabasco-flavored products, like Fritos, but those tend to be "hot" without any actual flavor. But when a Whole Foods cashier suggested Chipotle Tabasco, I was game.

It's soooo good. It's better than the original, and you know that's not something I say very often! It's not as hot as original, but the smokiness from the chipotles substitutes the hot with flavor. My mac n' cheese is super happy!

As some of you know, um, I love Funyuns. I don't buy them very often because they really have no nutritional value whatsoever (awesomeness value is off the charts, though). The last few times I've been to the grocery store, Wasabi Funyuns have been staring me in the face, whispering, whispering, "Buy me, Michellephant. You're Asian. It's your duty."

I'm not a huge fan of wasabi (I generally dislike horseradish in all forms), but I finally listened. These are a truly bizarre snack. They're decent; they're hot; they clear out your sinuses. They're NOT as good as the original.

Both are worth trying.

Chipotle Tabasco: A+
Wasabi Funyuns: B

Bud's Louisiana Food Shoppe

2034 Kettner Blvd. #12
San Diego, CA 92101
619.239.4210

Snowman and I decided to visit with two former Louisianians from What We're Eating. They know Creole, right? We were all skeptical. With good reason. While nothing downright sucked, there wasn't much to sing about either. I mean, it takes a really skilled chef to make fried catfish...bland. I don't think any of us will be heading back anytime soon. Besides, I think there's better etouffe in WWE's kitchen anyway!

Food: Meh. My shrimp po' boy, WWE's etouffe, Snowman's jambalaya...all meh. The only high point was the bread pudding, which is apparently "famous." I'm glad I ordered it, because it was definitely the best thing anyone ordered the whole night.
Service: Unremarkable but adequate.
Decor: Vinyl tablecloths, ya dig?

Grade: B-

Chipotle-Seared Scallops with Butter Bean Salsa

It was Snowman's birthday yesterday, and in honor of my coal-eyed friend, I'm posting a dish he cooked from many moons ago. It was during my blog hiatus, and Snowman pleaded, "Please, please, please, bring your blog back for one night! Post these damn scallops, you stubborn elephant!" I swore that if the blog came back, the scallops would go up, so here they are:


This meal was so long ago, it's actually hard to remember all of the specifics. I know the salsa was a riff on the salsa Chef whipped up during a cooking class, but the scallops were all Snowman's own invention. It was all really tasty. The scallops were cooked just right (so easy to over cook those things!) and the salsa was yummy. I have no memory of the rice, but I'm pretty sure it came out of bag.

Grade: B+

Jasmine

4609 Convoy Street
San Diego, CA 92111
858.268.0888

Foiled again by that crappy period in between lunch and dinner! We just barely missed the much-talked about dim sum lunch, so we had to settle for the dinner menu. Turns out, it was actually really delicious. Unfortunately, because they assumed I would be sharing in Snowman's appetizers of short ribs and chicken lettuce wraps, I watched Snowman eat his lunch, and then he watched me eat mine. Watch out: the portions are huge!

Food: Excellent. My eggplant with garlic was delicious. Very spicy. I don't get how some people don't like eggplant!
Service: Capable.
Decor: Typical Chinese ballroom. A huge space, where they probably have a lot of weddings and new year's parties.

Grade: A-

Nine-Ten

910 Prospect St.
La Jolla, CA 92037
858.964.5400

It's pretty hard to find non-fast food at about 3:30 in the afternoon, that horrible time in between lunch and dinner. Snowman and I actually wanted to eat here because we are considering staying in the adjoining Grande Colonial for our wedding and might have our after-wedding dinner at Nine-Ten. Unfortunately, they were only serving a bar menu, so our sampling of their cuisine was limited. But quite delightful nonetheless.

Food: My mushroom panini was decent, but the real story here were the truffled French fries with grated Parmesan. How to make a fry more decadent...this is the answer! They were so rich and delicious. Snowman liked his flank steak, and we both liked our hibiscus-scented iced teas.
Service: Friendly and attentive, though the bartender would disappear for ten minutes at a time. A fellow patron, itching for vodka, said to him upon his return, "I thought you went on vacation!"
Decor: Sleek and modern without feeling cold or antiseptic.

Grade: A

Pacifica Del Mar

1555 Camino Del Mar
Del Mar, CA 92014
858.792.0476

Snowman and I spent a lovely afternoon in Del Mar looking at possible wedding sites and hotels. We finished off with lunch at Pacifica Del Mar. We both really enjoyed our meals. In fact, my only complaint is that we were sitting on the patio which was glassed-in. This probably protects diners from the winds and errant birds, but it traps in the sunlight, so we were kind of roasting ourselves.

Food: I had a most delicious squash bisque with creme fraiche and chunks of apple. I also had a green salad with bleu cheese, candied walnuts and cranberries. A little too much bleu cheese for me, but otherwise quite enjoyable. Snowman enjoyed his turkey burger and we both enjoyed his fries.
Service: Very friendly.
Decor: Casual and beach-like. We had wooden fish for napkin rings. I made them kiss a little.

Grade: B+

Carrot Ginger Soup with Roasted Coconut Shrimp

I love soup. I love eating it and I love cooking it. Soups are usually very easy to make and the long simmer helps meld all the flavors together wonderfully. I think this may actually be the best thing I've cooked. Ever. Spicy, warm, healthy--everyone at dinner LOVED this. The only thing that didn't quite fly was the shrimp. I only had baby shrimps on hand, but you really need the big guys to get the roasting right. This recipe comes from Food & Wine.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, coarse chop
4 carrots, chopped
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 cups chicken broth [I used vegetable broth]
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 cup milk
1/4 cup coconut milk
Salt and pepper
16 large shrimp shelled
1 1/2 tablespoons flaked coconut
Pinch cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 425°. In a large saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the carrots, ginger and crushed red pepper and cook for 6 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil, then simmer until the carrots are very tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, peanut butter and sesame oil.

In a blender, puree the soup until smooth. Return it to the saucepan and stir in the skim milk and coconut milk. Season the soup with salt and pepper and keep warm.

Toss the shrimp with the coconut, cayenne and remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Spread the shrimp on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for 8 minutes, or until pink. Ladle the carrot-ginger soup into warmed bowls and garnish with the coconut shrimp.

Grade: A

Pumpkin Chocolate Tart

I'm bringing bloggin' back/Them other bloggers don't know how to act...

I missed you guys! But I'm back. Just not as much as before. And by "before" I mean over the summer when I was blogging every day, not "before" as in the last four months when I wasn't blogging at all.

So let's get to it! This here's a tart I made for my first San Diego Thanksgiving. It was a big hit with Snowman and the other guests, but I didn't love it. It was good, but lacking somehow. I actually attribute this to the fact that I didn't have any creme fraiche, so I jerry-rigged some with sour cream and buttermilk. I'm a big fan of the store-bought pie crust, but this one I actually made fresh. To me, the best part, by far, was the homemade spiced whipped cream. I added a pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves to echo all the flavors in the tart. It's such an easy way to elevate your whipped topping! This recipe comes from Martha Stewart Living. Long may she live!

FOR THE TART SHELL:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup + 1tbsp sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup unsalted butter pieced
1 egg
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Add butter; mix on low speed until butter is the size of small peas, about 5 minutes. Add egg; mix until ingredients come together to form a dough.

Preheat oven to 350". On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to just thicker than 1/8 inch. Brush off excess flour; transfer dough to a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press dough into bottom and up sides of pan; trim excess flush with edge. Lightly prick bottom of dough all over with a fork. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes. [I am an absolute moron when it comes to rolling out pie crust, so I didn't really roll this one out. I just pressed it into the shell with my hands. This worked out fine, just be sure you really press it fully up the sides, or the filling will overflow and burn.]

Bake shell until firm, about 15 minutes. Immediately sprinkle chocolate over bottom of shell; smooth with a spatula.

FOR THE FILLING:
15 ounces pumpkin puree
3/4 cup firm pack light brown sugar
8 ounces creme fraiche [As mentioned, I made my own. I do not recommend this method!]
3 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 ounces semisweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350". In a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, creme fraiche, egg, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and cloves until smooth. Pass mixture through a fine sieve set over a clean bowl; discard solids. Pour filling into prepared into prepared crust.

Bake until filling is set, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let at least 30 minutes.

Set a heatproof bowl, or the top of a double boiler, over a pan of barely simmering water. Melt chocolate in bowl, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Dip a spoon in melted chocolate, drizzle chocolate over tart, forming decorative stripes. Refrigerate until well at least 1 hour and up to 1 day. [If you do not have a plastic squeeze bottle (like you see at BBQs for sauce), you really should get one! It makes drizzling anything so easy and very artistic.]

Grade: B

#71 Bistec de Costilla de Res, Por Favor

Now that we live in the suburbs we get pennysavers in our mailbox. In New York, they were basically thrown into the hallway, where one might have kicked them aside to open the door, but never, ever to actually read. We're pretty bored here at the moment, so the pennysaver is actually great cause for celebration.

We have a pretty healthy Hispanic population here, so it turns out our local food market prints Spanish subtitles for the food it advertises. So, in my own humble effort to bridge the cultural divide in America, here are some bilingual yum-yums for you to peruse (it's fun to say the translations out loud):


bistec de cordero: lamb shoulder steaks
cebollas amarillas: yellow onions
jicama: jicama
limones verdes en Bolsa: key limes
lechuga: lettuce
fresas: strawberries
mollejas de pollo: chicken gizzards
chuletas de puerco: sirloin end pork chops
bistec de costilla de res: rib eye steaks

Buen Provecho!: Enjoy Your Meal!

#70 Miguel's Cocina

2912 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106
619-224-2401

Looking for some cheap Mexican, Snowman and I drove out to Point Loma to this place. We were immediately served a big bowl of tortilla chips with salsa, an addictive white queso dip, and really delish pickled veggies (carrots, onions, peppers). Unfortunately, that's where the good stuff ends. My vegetarian cheese enchilada was terrifically bland and Snowman wasn't overly impressed with his pollo asada either. So my recommendation is to sit at the bar, toss back a margarita, and lick up the queso dip.

Grade: C-

#69 Andiamo!

5950 Santo Road
San Diego, CA 92124
858-277-3501

Ah, my first San Diego restaurant review! Snowman and I have been having hit-and-miss success with eating out in SD. This place was a definite hit. We sat on the patio where they had a jazz band playing. It made talking a little difficult, but the music was good and made the atmosphere low-key, but still special.

We started with an olive and cheese plate, which was fine. I hate a walnut and gorgonzola salad which was quite tasty. They added pineapple to it, which really gave it a nice sweetness. Snowman had an amazing mushroom ravioli, which may actually be the best ravioli I've ever had.

Grade: B+

#68 Who Was That 5'11" Masked Man?

Snowman and I were eating dinner at Jack In the Box last night (all the while, secretly swearing to myself that I would stop eating so much fast food), when he noticed a peculiar thing. All the doors have tape along the sides of them that indicate 4 feet, 5 feet, 6 feet. Why? So when someone robs you, you can say, "He was 5'11"" instead of guessing. This is actually perfect for me, because I am really bad with estimating things like height, weight and age. If only the thiefs could be made to step on a scale as they exited too!

#67 Open Letter

Dear Tinsel Teeth,

I am currently addicted to Starbucks' iced chai. I know you suffered a similar addiction yourself. Please help.

Sincerely,
Michellephant

#66 Rubio's Ruse

The good news is Snowman and I have found an apartment. The better news is that hopefully, inside of a week, I'll be able to pick up with my regular posting. In the meantime, here's another short one:

We're renting an apartment in Mission Valley and there is a Rubio's Mexican Grill nearby. Snowman and I had never heard of Rubio's because, well, we're from New York. We were both super excited about the fish tacos at Rubio's, as fish tacos seem like the unofficial food of San Diego.

Today we're in line and after we ordered they asked Snowman's name [you know how they like to ask your name so they can say "Georgie, your order is ready"]. He says Dakota. This isn't his real name, but he throws it out once in awhile when he's feeling saucy. Then he pays with his credit card, which, um, has his real name on it.

This made me giggle really hard. And because it's the neighborhood Rubio's, for as long as we keep going back, he has to be known as Dakota.

He he he he.

PS-Blackened mahi mahi tacos...goooood.

#65 Short and Sweet

Okay, I'm officially in San Diego...but somewhat homeless and discombobulated. I'll post my road trip food journal once we've moved into an apartment (not that we have one yet...I mean I'm writing this in the Days Inn for God's sake!), but for now, chew on this:

We all know BMW stands for Bavarian Motor Works, but it's also a handy acronym for dinner time.

How many times have you sat at a circular table when this happens: the waiter starts pouring water and handing out bread. But you're not sure if you grab the bread and water to your right or left. Well there is etiquette about such things, and you certainly don't want to commit any faux pas while dining at Jean Georges, so next time remember this:

BMW stands for Bread, Meal, Water. This means you take the bread to your left and the water (or wine) to your right (while the meal is in front of you).

Now aren't you refined?

PS-It's also a handy acronym for remembering the order of the bridges in Manhattan. From the south, they go Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg.

#64 Out To Lunch

Okay, kiddies, I'm heading out West. I have no idea what my internet access will be like over the next two weeks, so let's just consider this a vacation. I will still, of course, be thinking of food constantly! I plan on keeping a picture food journal on our travels, so you can expect a super long post when I hit San Diego. Stay tuned and eat well!

#63 Tuna Nicoise Sandwiches

I've made these before and Snowman and I both love them. Fresh ingredients and no mayonnaise makes for a yummy twist on an old standby. Ciabatta bread is a must for this. The recipe comes from Martha Stewart Living.


1/2 white onion thin slice
1/2 red onion thin slice
1/4 cup + 4 tsp extra virign olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
14 ounces tuna
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 ciabatta rolls, split horizontally
2 heads bibb lettuce (I like to use baby spinach)
1/2 cup nicoise olives pitted
4 hard boiled egg peel, thin slice

Because tuna is the star ingredient in this sandwich, it's worth buying oil-packed tuna in a jar, which has a higher quality and finer flavor than the canned variety.

Put onions, 1/4 cup oil, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl; season with pepper. Toss to combine. Let stand 10 minutes.

Add tuna and its oil to onion mixture. Add lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt; season with pepper. Gently toss to combine.

Cover bottom halves of rolls with lettuce. Top with olives, eggs, and tuna mixture, dividing evenly. Drizzle each with 1 tsp oil. Cover with top halves of rolls.

Grade: A-

#62 Sundae on Sunday

My cousin and I have a ritual that involves getting sundaes from Friendly's. Basically the ritual goes like this: we go to Friendly's and get sundaes.

I went on and on about how I couldn't wait to have a Snicker's sundae and you know what? They don't effin make them anymore! That's right! They DON'T make them! So I had a caramel cone sundae, which was actually really good, but I still kept thinking back fondly on the Snicker's sundae of yesteryear.

Well it turns out that Friendly's is having a Build Your Own Sundae Contest and I entered and tried to make the sundae as close to the Snicker's sundae I loved so much as I could. You have to choose from a preset selection of ingredients. Here's what I picked:

butter crunch ice cream
nuts over caramel ice cream
chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream
marshmallow cream
caramel sauce
walnuts
dark chocolate chunks

How does that sound? I named it "Are You Nuts? Crunchy Caramel Sundae" after my cousin's daughter, who likes to ask everyone if they're nuts.

#61 8 Degrees of Drunkeness

From Schott's Food & Drink Miscellany and credited to Thomas Nash in 1592:

The Ape-drunk, who leaps and sings and hollers
The Lion-drunk, who is quarrelsome and rude
The Swine-drunk, who is sleepy and lumpish
The Sheep-drunk, wise in his own conceit, but unable to speak
The Maudlin-drunk, who declares he loves all mankind
The Martin-drunk, who drinks himself sober again
The Goat-drunk, who is lascivious
The Fox-drunk, who is crafty, like the Dutch who bargain when drunk

So, which one are you?

#60 I ______ Milk

1 Gallon of Tuscan Whole Milk
+ 1 Mammoth e-commerce site
+ 619 product reviews
____________________________
= HI JINKS!

Check out what everyone has to saw about the world's most ubiquitous dairy product on the world's most ubiquitous e-commerce website here.

#59 A Smooth, Smooth Summer

As some of you may know, I fell in love with smoothies this summer. It started with the berry heaven at Cup Diner, continued with the berry fulfilling at Jamba Juice, and ended with me finally using my Waring blender regularly. Here's a quick list of my favorite summer smoothies:

• the aforementioned berry heaven from Cup Diner


• the aforementioned berry fulfilling from Jamba Juice


• homemade acai smoothie with banana, strawberry, and apple juice

(the following are all from The Big Book of Juices and Smoothies)

• coconutty 'nana: banana, pineapple, coconut milk, pineapple juice


• tropical deluxe: mango, banana, lime juice, guava juice


• papaya salad: papaya, pineapple, banana, pineapple juice, watermelon (I use raspberries instead)


• summer sunset: peaches, strawberries, guava juice

And here are a few things I learned about making smoothies:

• rehydrating dried fruit means soaking overnight, not for fifteen minutes


• if you need to redistribute fruit in a blender, wait until the motor has stopped running before sticking a fork in it


• frozen fruits makes for cold and thick smoothies, so I pretty much like to freeze it all, even the fresh stuff


• adding Greens+ powder makes your smoothie taste like seaweed


• most importantly, smoothies are so delicious, a great way to load up on fruit, and a good substitute for pretty much any meal

The blender is coming in the car in the drive out west. There's no telling when I'll crave a papaya salad!

#58 I Am Pretty Wisdomous

Since I'm leaving my job (three days, people!) and will be without health insurance for _______, decided to get my wisdom teeth taken out. They weren't really bothering me, but they were basically just little traps collecting food that was difficult to remove. I also wanted to weigh less.

My oral surgeon is amazing. He's friendly, knowledgeable, has a good sense of humor, and is very comforting. I had very minimal pain with each of the three extractions. If anyone needs to get any oral surgery, I know a guy in Park Slope...

When your teeth are getting drilled, it smells like tortilla chips.

Anyway, as those of you who have been reading my blog know, I love x-rays. Here is one of my mouth (those two outer teeth (#1 & 17, I believe) on the bottom are gone now):

#57 New Food: Litchi

Some people spell it lychee. I have no idea which is more correct, but litchi is more aesthetically pleasing to me, so that's what I go with.

This may not be a new food for some of you. There is, after all, litchi juice and litchi sorbet. But perhaps you've never bought fresh litchi? They can be a little intimidating, but they're sweet and unusual. It's also rather inexpensive to buy a handful, so it's worth experimenting if you've never had them. Very prevalent in Chinatown, but also available at ye olde Whole Foods.

Spiky!

Soft, sweet, translucent flesh.

Shiny, smooth nut inside!

#56 Lady M Confections

41 East 78th Street
NY, NY 10021
212-452-2222

Listy-Loo and I both saw this place featured on the Food Network show Sugar Rush and knew we had to go. So after a rather dreamy trip to Blue scoping out wedding dresses, we, along with Tinsel Teeth, made the trek uptown. It's a very small space with no decor other than a giant vase of white hydrangea on the counter. I had a delicious cup of hot English breakfast tea, sweetened with rock candy sugar. I also had a smoked salmon sandwich, which was fine, but tasted a little too "corner deli" to be worth $8.50. All three of us had various cakes. I had their famous mille crepes, which was light and creamy and the carmelized sugary crepes were delicious. Listy-Loo had the miroir caramel, which tasted deliciously caramel-y, but was of the oddest consistency. The bottom was chocolate cake, the middle was some sort of mousse texture, and the top was a slightly gelatinous caramel. Tinsel Teeth has the chocolat arc-en-ciel (rainbow?), which I thought was quite good. Intensely chocolate and very decadent.

Overall, a lovely way to spend an afternoon with my girls. I even bought a few chocolates for Snowman.

Grade: B+

#55 Popover Cafe

551 Amsterdam
NY, NY 10024
212-595-8555

I've been hearing about this place for years, so finally the opportunity presented itself to actually eat there. The service is super friendly and the decor is cute (sit in a window booth and you get to play with some teddy bears!). Three of us had various kinds of veggie sandwiches with melted cheese, served on--what else?--a popover. Snowman had a chicken salad, which came with a popover on the side. Super airy, buttery, flaky pastry filled with air inside, these popovers arrive in gigantic proportion (though again, the inside is all air, so don't get overwhelmed). My sandwich was filled with delicious vegetables, though it could have used some salt and/or pepper. My Arnold Palmer (that's half iced tea/half lemonade, for those of you that have never had one) was particularly tasty. Overall, a very fine place for a casual meal.

Grade: B

#54 Dimple

11 West 30th Street
NY, NY 10001
212-643-9464

You may remember some weeks ago Smalls and I were on the hunt for dosa and ended up eating pho. Well this time we went for dosa and we actually ate dosa! And it was a family affair with Mrs. Smalls and Smalls Jr., who was too cute wearing a little froggy bracelet.

There is no decor at Dimple (is it just me, or is that an odd name for an Indian vegetarian restaurant?) and the air conditioning only seemed to have a moderate effect on the temperature. We ordered a mixed appetizer plate, which was literally described as "mixed appetizer," so although it was good, I couldn't tell you what was in anything. The dosa were really delicious. Crispy, air, salty chick pea crepes filled with curried potatoes and onions. Cheap and filling. The dosa would be just as delicious with no filling at all.

But beware: all dosa are not alike. If it looks limp, old, or too crepe-like (our dosa was filled with waffled-patterned holes), you should pass. Luckily, at Dimples, that was not the case.

Grade: B

#53 Island Burgers & Shakes

766 9th Avenue
NY, NY 10019
212-307-7934

I've worked in the same part of town for the last seven years and Island Burgers has always been on my "to eat" list. Now that my time in New York is drawing to a close, I decided I'd better hot foot it over there. I went with my friend, Socram. It's a teeny-tiny little joint, but we had no problem getting a seat. Service was efficient and terrifically friendly. I had the Marco's burger [pesto, ranch, bacon, parmesan on ciabatta] and a side of dirty sour cream and onion chips. Why chips? Because they don't serve French fries. THAT'S RIGHT: no fries! But trust me, you won't miss them. The chips are good, but the burgers are the star. Mine was cooked medium and delicious [Socram got his well-done and I thought, that doesn't even taste like beef...it just tastes...like a grill]. I only wish I had more time to go back and try the other twenty varieties they offer!

Grade: A

#52 Frozen Bananas

First things first: this is not what my frozen bananas looked like that I made for Bananarama. The ones I made did not look very good. The chocolate was ultra-gloopy and the Reese's Pieces I rolled them in were rather a mess. However, I will say, they were delicious.

I love these things, but I need to rethink the dipping process. I've been melting chocolate and butter over a double boiler, but I always find that about halfway through the process, the chocolate hardens into a most unappetizing mess. I either need to work in smaller batches, or else I may try a ganache (the additional cream ought to keep it smooth enough). I also find the dipper process a little difficult, because the candies don't really want to stick, but if you force them on, they look like they're stuck in the mud, instead of artfully speckled. I might also try just dumping the candies into the melted ganache next time.

That being said, this is a great summer treat and very customizable. You can use any kind of chocolate and any topping from candies to cookies to nuts. The Reese's Pieces worked really well with the banana and chocolate. And it really, really was yummy even if it didn't look like it.

Grade: B+ (docked for the less than beautiful appearance)

#51 Samuel Johnson Says:

Some people have a foolish way of not minding, or pretending not to mind, what they eat. For my part, I mind my belly very studiously...for I look upon it that he who does not mind his belly, will hardly mind anything else.

#50 Mmm...Rolls...

My second foodie blogroll is for Is My Blog Burning? It's sort of like a central meeting spot for food bloggers, like a bulletin board. The fun thing is that they have lots of food "events," like "make bruscetta" or "wine blogging" which you make and post onto your own blog. I haven't done any events yet, as my life is in a state of chaos until we move, but I'm looking forward to it.

Chefs say you're either a burner or a cutter. I'm definitely a burner.