VittlesVamp

Street Fairs Take Over New York

It was an embarrassment of riches - street fair riches. I was torn in two yesterday, debating between events in Queens and Brooklyn. The Taste of Jackson Heights beckoned, as did the DUMBO Arts Festival and Cranberry Street Fair.

It was soon decided. A bi-borough street fair adventure was a "go."

Luckily for me, my street festival lovin' pal Ron offered the use of his convertible to shuttle us from fair to fair to fair. First on the list - Taste of Jackson Heights, where we joined Queen Celeste and her brood to indulge in ethnic goodies that ranged from searingly spicy vegetable samosas to Argentinian flaming sausages, doused in a sweet, seductive sauce of cognac and saffron oil.

After lapping up those delectable tidbits and more, Ron and I knew we had to hold on to a few precious food tickets. The organizers had secured a culinary coup, convincing Vendy Award-winning Pakastani food vendor Sammy's Halal to appear at the event. This was a "must-do."

The aromas that wafted off of Sammy's cart made our mouths water with anticipation. As we made our way to the head of the line, Sammy asked for our order. "Whatever you suggest," we replied. He winked and quickly scooped up a mound of fragrant rice, topping it with perfectly seared lamb and chicken, a bit of crisp lettuce, and then squirted a series of three mysterious sauces atop.

What the heck do you call this colorful mishmash? I had no idea. All I knew was that the juicy meats soaked up the spices and the grains of soft, tender rice gave my tongue intermittant relief from the sinus-clearing heat of Sammy's red hot sauce.

Yum!

Ron and I could see why taxi drivers double and triple-park to get a plate of Sammy's gold-standard halal.

Floating on a halal high, we suddenly remembered that we had two more festivals to hit, so we bid Queen Celeste and her gang adieu, passed the requisite sea of strollers at the festival's exit...

...put the top down on the car, and zipped back to Brooklyn for a taste of DUMBO's delights.

But DUMBO wasn't as delightful as year's past. Yes, there were a few pieces of notable art...

...but all in all, the festival seemed to lack energy and enthusiasm. Where were the outdoor food stalls, entertainingly original performance art installations and hipster throngs that I had come to know and love?

That said, the festival organizers did offer up a bizzare family attraction, in keeping with the district's Disney-fied name.

Yes, that's an elephant. Her name is Dondi. She drew oohs and aahs from the crowd as she used her massive trunk to paint modernist pictures. Apparently, she trained at the Elephant Art Academy. (No joke.)

After witnessing pacyderm painting, the wee Cranberry Street Fair paled in comparison. I couldn't even bring myself to snap a photo or two.

Maybe it was simply a case of street fair overload.

But, as the ever-wise Scarlett once said: "Tomorrow is another day!"

That "tomorrow" is today, and today plays host to the grand-daddy of Brooklyn street fairs, The Atlantic Antic. So, I will grab my camera, tastebuds and sense of adventure -- and report back shortly on how the fair fares.

Kugel Secrets Revealed

Well, VittlesVamp has just begun its fourth year and I thought the occasion required some fanfare.

Curiously enough, I had some trouble getting the necessary city permits in order to throw a ticker tape parade, so I opted to go in another direction. A big direction. A monumental direction.

I decided to share with my loyal readers one of the most closely-guarded culinary secrets of all time.

Namely, my Noodle Kugel recipe.

As you can see from the golden, crispy casserole pictured above, my kugel is the real deal - sweet and creamy, studded with nuggets of dried fruit and topped with a buttery, cinnamon cornflake crunch.

So, without further ado:

Noodle Kugel
(serves 6)

8 oz. medium noodles, cooked
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt & pepper to taste
6 TBSP butter
1/2 cup dried fruit of choice, cut into small bits (my fave is snipping up dried apricots)
1/3 cup crushed cornflakes
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Melt 3 TBSP of butter in a baking dish. In a large bowl beat eggs well and combine with sour cream, cottage cheese, sugar, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Fold in cooked noodles and dried fruit. Pour into buttered baking dish and spread evenly. Melt remaining 3 TBSP of butter and combine with crushed cornflakes and cinnamon. Sprinkle over noodles. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Next day uncover and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. Let cool for 15 minutes before cutting into the kugel.

Happy 4th Birthday!

This is one heck of a day: I am free of last year's sins. It's the autumnal equinox. And, most importantly, it's VittlesVamp's 4th birthday!

The Feast Before The Fast

It's less than an hour before my annual Yom Kippur fast begins at sundown. And how does the Vamp fuel up before the fast?

You've seen the picture above. I know what you're thinking. But, no, I did not partake of the Zeppoles, Sausage & Peppers Heroes, Calzones, Pizza and Funnel Cakes at the San Gennaro Festival. I walked past all of that heartburn-inducing fare and went for the kind of Italian food that wouldn't require industrial-strength Tums.

I went to Lupa.

And considering that my upcoming fast is meant to cleanse and allow me to atone for a full year of sins, I figured why not sin away? I went for pure vice: a few glasses of fragrant Goldmuskateller wine and a bowl of Bucatini all'Amatriciana, the sauce decadently graced with decidedly un-Kosher chunks of smoked pork cheeks known as Guanciale.

Can't wait to atone, so I can have a clean plate - and start all over again!

The Other, Other White Meat?

Here's a newspaper headline that's hard to resist:

Why Hunt Squirrels? Because They Are Tastier Than Supermarket Chicken, Beef or Pork

To think, we New Yorkers thought the meat selection at our local Whole Foods was pretty darn good! But, according to The Detroit Free Press, we are shamefully out of the gourmet loop.

They even provide a sidebar recipe for authentic Brunswick Stew, calling for - among other ingredients - four squirrels, skinned and cut up.

Hafta admit that the stew sounds kind of tasty. Might just break out my shotgun, head over to Central Park and kill me some fluffy-tailed varmints for dinner.

Sunny Sunday in Provence

To be correct, it was actually a sunny Sunday at Provence. And, no, not the one in France. The one in Soho.

The longtime, downtown French stalwart had always appealed to me from the outside: a wall of shiny windows, nestled in bright blue wooden trelliswork, doors flung open onto a busy tree-lined street, allowing passersby to spy into the warm, honey-yellow dining room. Seemingly the perfect Provencal oasis to escape from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan.

With new management at the helm -- the folks behind Five Points and Cookshop -- it was clearly time to give into Provence's evocative exterior, go inside and grab a table.

That said, I had done my homework. The new kitchen team wasn't exactly winning kudos. But how could they possibly ruin brunch? And, what an ideal setting for a breezy Sunday afternoon meal!

Well, the setting was magical indeed. The food, not so much. My brunch-mate's Baked Cheese Crepes were yummy - but a bit gummy too. And, my Croissant Sandwich stuffed with Scrambled Eggs and Smoked Trout was disappointing. I could hardly taste the smoky fish. Our shared dessert of Beignets filled with Apples, Berries and Ricotta were more like mini McDonald's fruit pies than the beignets of my New Orlean's dreams.

Still, it was a gorgeous room. Worthy of a return trip - at the very least, a trip to Provence's bar. Hopefully, their barkeep can do better than their chef.

When Is An Omelette Not An Omelette?

The answer to the question is: When it's Pad Thai!

Huh?!?

As the photo above illustrates, it seems that my local Thai restaurant - Lantern - has decided to go all "Top Chef"-mad and try out a newfangled presentation for an old standby.

Can't decide whether I love it or hate it. Leaning towards hate.

Cinnamon Rolls, Pepsi & Other Economic Indicators

According to business reporters, recession warning signs can be found everywhere.

You don't need to turn on CNBC or hear a Bloomberg Radio report about the failure of sub-prime mortgages to spot the approaching market downturn.

Forget about Wall Street.

Instead, just take a look at Main Street.

In fact, today's New York Times suggests that you can forecast the economic outlook by analyzing beverage and dessert orders at your local diner:

When Annie Cox is unsure if the economy is headed south — a question on the minds of many on Wall Street and Main Street these days — she keeps an eye on the orders for beverages at the diner she runs in Oklahoma City.

In recent weeks, Ms. Cox said she had seen a slight drop-off, leading her to believe that business could slow in coming months. “When they start ordering water instead of tea or Pepsi, that means they’re cutting back,” said Ms. Cox, who runs the 1950s-style restaurant, Sherri’s Diner, that is named after her mother...

...“There are essentially two consumer economies right now, and they parallel the split between the very rich and everybody else,” said J. Walker Smith, president of Yankelovich, the consumer research firm based in Norwalk, Conn. “There is one part of the consumer economy that is unlikely to be affected at all by the recent events in the financial markets. Those are the people making the loans. The people taking the loans, however, are the people who are affected.”...

...In much of the country, Americans cannot change their driving habits easily or in the short term. But consumer behavior experts say gas prices could force people who may already be stretched thin by debts to cut back. Families facing a higher house payment or the loss of a job will probably go out less, buy fewer clothes or spend less on entertainment...

...Mr. Smith of Yankelovich echoed the sentiments of Ms. Cox in Oklahoma City in highlighting how consumers may change their spending: “Some of our restaurant clients joke that they know when the economy is starting to head down by dessert sales,” he said.

Consumers always start by eliminating the purchases they see as unnecessary. “They begin to eat out differently. They eat out less. Often they trade down to lower-priced restaurants. And they quit buying all the extras like dessert.”

For her part, Ms. Cox is confident that her business will survive even if customers stop buying dessert. After all, she’s seen worse.

“We made it through the last two recessions just fine,” she said. “You just have to be resourceful.”

Ms. Cox and her diner's cinnamon rolls are pictured above. Look yummy, don't they?

Question: If I go out to Oklahoma City and buy up all of those gorgeous cinnamon rolls and drink Sherri's Diner out of Pepsi, will the U.S. markets improve?

Well, just in case, I recommend we all do our part. So this weekend, visit your local diner and buy a dessert or beverage in the name of a strong American economy!

Happy New Year

So close and yet so far. I was only a few short blocks away from the Hassidic community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn last night and yet I opted to forgo celebrating Rosh Hashanah with "my people." (Not that I'm Hassidic mind you. Then again, you probably guessed that considering all of the traif I've featured on this site!)

Instead, I dined at Dressler and consumed an amazing meal, toasting the Jewish New Year with my pal Ben.

You may recall that Ben was the genius soul who created the restaurant concept of "Glutton" after we shared a meat coma inducing meal at a Brazilian churrascaria.

A brilliant man and a good eater, I've known Ben for a long time. He usually doesn't like to leave Billysburg, so Dressler seemed to be a winner pick. Meat lover that he is though, I did worry that he'd spend the night simply pining for a table at the restaurant across the street - Peter Luger's.

But, guided to a prime table in the elegantly attired Dressler dining room (pictured above) and offered a menu that featured mouthwatering options like Veal Ragout with Hand Rolled Pasta, Fava Beans & Fresh Ricotta and Grilled Center Cut Pork Rib with Berkshire “Fresh Bacon,” Broccoli Rabe & Black Mission Figs, I realized I had nothing to worry about. Ben was smiling.

Good Jews that we are, we agreed not to delve into the Pork Rib, no matter how tempting it sounded.

Even so, we had no problem splitting an appetizer of Pan Roasted Quail with Falls Mill Stoneground Grits, Wild Mushrooms - and Crisp Country Ham. After all, it wasn't the dish's main ingredient! Besides, it was heavenly. In my book, food that delicious just can't be a sin.

Our entrees of Braised Short Rib and Roasted Duck were equally sublime, but didn't include pork or shellfish in the mix. We could swoon over them without Judaic hesitation.

And swoon we did.

And then we swooned some more over dessert: honey-sweet Oven Roasted Peaches with a Warm Brown Butter Cake & Black Pepper Ice Milk.

Just like my Bubby used to make.

NOT!

Not long after a moment of contented silence Ben and I agreed that our Rosh Hashanah was so successful that Yom Kippur was a must-do follow-up.

I can't wait to find out where he decides we should have our last meal before the fast. Maybe it'll be a return trip to Dressler.

If so, I might as well order that Pork Rib. I'd hardly have time to digest the lil' piggy before I'd be atoning for it. It's what I like to call a quick "sin-and-out" situation.

Can I Have That Recipe?

I should've known.

I put together not one, not two, not even three, but FIVE different bruschetta for a circle of friends. They enjoyed them alright. The one with juicy wedges of sweet greenmarket nectarines and thin slices of proscuitto was a hit, as was the classic version topped with diced red tomato, bright green bits of basil and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

But it was the cake that stole the show. (Pictured above.)

It was a dense chocolate orange number, dusted with confectioner's sugar and accompanied by a cloud of fresh whipped cream. After just one bite, guests were oohing, aahing and begging for the recipe.

It's deceptively simple. Simple and glorious. (And, it's a riff on a recipe from Nigella - unsurprisingly!)

Chocolate-Orange Cake

1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
1 1/3 cup thin-cut orange marmalade
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup flour
2 TBSP confectioner's sugar (optional - for decoration)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Microwave butter until melted. Add chocolate and microwave a bit more until that's melted enough that you can combine them into a smooth mixture. Add marmalade, eggs and sugar. Stir until well combined. Add salt. Mix. Sprinkle baking powder over the mixture and combine. Add flour a little bit at a time and beat it in until it's well amalgamated. Place in a pre buttered/floured 8-inch springform pan or a non-stick 9-inch silicone cake pan. Bake for 40 - 50 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then turn it out and let cool completely. Decorate with a dusting of confectioner's sugar.