VittlesVamp

Northern Exposed

I have returned from the land up north. New Scotland they call it. (Nova Scotia to those in-the-know and to those with a penchant for fine smoked salmon.)

It was much like I imagined. Beautiful, windswept beachfronts abounded, each more serene than the next.

Fried fish and seafood was the meal du jour, every jour.

The above platter, laden with batter-encased haddock, crispy fried local clams, seared fresh scallops and a heaping portion of golden brown fries was certainly a sight to behold - even if I wasn't woman enough to scarf down the whole thing. God bless the lack of portion control at the MicMac Bar and Grill.

And how could I not be enchanted by an evening of carousing with genuine maritimers at the Halifax Mooseheads ice hockey game, downing a couple of Alexander Keith's Red Amber Ales while natives belted out odd seafaring chants at the top of their lungs?

Then there was the sweet, sticky goodness of authentic Nova Scotia maple syrup.

A solid drizzle or two of this stuff and even a tire could qualify as brunch material.

Then there was the picture-perfect lighthouse.

Pretty, ain't it? Supposedly, this vista - Peggy's Cove - is the most photographed spot in all of Canada.

Hmmm. Well, it is mighty spectacular. But after spending time in Halifax, I've come to know one thing about Canadians. Peggy's Cove may be the most picturesque location in the country, but nothing truly says "Canada" more than the scene below...

God bless Tim Horton's, Canada's answer to Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts all rolled into one. (And let me just say that the Maple-Glazed Donut was yummy!)

Word On The Street

Buzzing has gotten so loud that I can hear it all the way up here in Halifax!

Word on Smith Street is that Flatiron Lounge cocktail maven Julie Reiner is planning on opening up a new mixology hot spot in the hipster heart of Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.

Is it merely a real estate rumor or will Kings County soon be home to a new cocktail lounge extraordinaire?

Stay tuned...

Northern Exposure

Heading up to Nova Scotia to visit my recently-hitched pal Stacy for the weekend. I've been told to expect rainy weather, pretty lighthouses, burly ice hockey players, delicious maple syrup, authentic maritimers and a welcoming beer or two.

Sounds like a great getaway to me! Promise to report back...

And I Thought Coffee Heath Bar Crunch Was A Problem

I want to start a campaign; a campaign to stop Ms. Leslie Zoerb of Buffalo, New York from creating any more flavors of ice cream.

Ms. Zoerb and her spoon-licking good Carmelized Pear and Toasted Pecan Ice Cream won a Haagen Daz flavor contest sponsored by Gourmet Magazine. Now, this addictive frozen confection has hit supermarket shelves and it's a problem. It's a pint-sized problem filled with rich, sweet, nutty autumnal vice, beckoning me from my local bodega's frozen foods section.

Anyone who wants to join me in getting some legislation in place to stop Ms. Zoerb and her diabolical dessert ways, drop me a line. We'll start the picketing tomorrow -- right after I've laid waste to the pint in my freezer.

Kiddie Cookbook Kerfuffle

The news has been everywhere. Jessica Seinfeld's new hot cookbook "Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food" may end up putting the celeb wife and mom in hot water. The buzz is that her book and its recipes bear a striking similarity to "The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals" by Missy Chase Lapine.

The main difference? Ms. Lepine isn't married to comedian Jerry Seinfeld and didn't score a segment on Oprah.

Plagiarism? According to a recent Associated Press story, apparently not:

Seinfeld said she has never seen or read "The Sneaky Chef."

"My book came from years of trying to get my own children to eat healthy foods — my own trial and error in my own kitchen," she said in a statement. "The idea of pureeing vegetables has been around for decades."

Seinfeld's agent, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh from William Morris Agency, said she and Seinfeld began discussing the idea in 2005. She said the book was already being bound when "The Sneaky Chef" came out.

Lapine said she is not accusing anyone of anything. But she said it does "hurt" to see someone else given credit for her method.

Still, this public cookbook controversy gave me an excuse to use the word kerfuffle.

A Taste of London In New York

I didn't jump up and down with excitement when I heard that "Hell's Kitchen" super chef Gordon Ramsay (pictured above) was going to cross the pond and open up an outpost in New York earlier this year. I figured, let the Ramsay groupies make their way to Gordon Ramsay at The London first and let the kitchen work out the kinks on die-hard fans.

Good thing too. Initial reviews were tepid to say the least.

Still, between Ramsay's celeb allure and the fact that the restaurant has now had several months to get things in order, it seemed high time to pay call - and my friend Keke's business trip to NYC seemed an ideal excuse to reserve a table.

We opted for dinner at London's more low-key dining room Maze, and were greeted by a hip, icy, uber-designed atmosphere that proved a sharp counterpoint to the staff's warm hospitality. We were also greeted by a menu of intriguing small plate dinner options, each one sounding more palate-pleasing than the next.

We ordered up a few each, sat back with a couple of strong cocktails and awaited a cavalcade of gourmet delights.

And delighted we were...My first course of Roasted Sea Scallops was itty bitty, but packed a wallop in terms of flavor and texture. I couldn't help but ooh and ahh as I dipped the delicate, carmelized white meat into a golden raisin purée. That said, the dish's accompanying cauliflower beignets were so miniscule they were hardly worth the bother. The sideline smidgen of crunch only made me ache for more.

Luckily, the small plates kept coming.

Keke was in heaven tucking into a precious bowl of Wild Mushroom Risotto topped with a frothy emulsion made of Parmesan cheese. I was equally enthralled with a plate of tender Glazed Veal Cheeks, doused with whole grain mustard, served alongside a copper pot filled with lightly toasted Sweetbreads and Spätzle Fricassée.

By the time I got around to dessert, a decadent riff on a PBJ - ethereal peanut butter mousse sandwiched between thin slivers of sweet-salty brittle and topped with a luscious quenelle of cherry sorbet - I had officially taken my place among the legions of Ramsay devotees.

Mind you, that does not mean that yours truly will be auditioning to be on the next season of "Hell's Kitchen." Nor will I be buying a ticket to the U.K. to taste test Ramsay's original restaurants. (Besides, the exchange rate right now is ridiculous!) But a taste of London in New York? As the Brits say - brilliant!

Popping Over To The Harvard Club

It's been a while since I went to college. (Not that I'm old, mind you!) The keggers and cafeteria cuisine aside, I have to admit there are times that I miss the hallowed halls, campus strolls and the stale, academic aroma of the stacks at my university library.

So, I was pleased to accept an invitation the other night to meet a smarty pants gent at the swank Midtown Manhattan Harvard Club for a smart cocktail.

The surroundings were most definitely a step up from my freshman dorm. It instantly put me in a quandry: What is the appropriate drink to order while sitting in an antique leather club chair under a stuffed elephant head?

He ordered Scotch on the rocks. I countered with a bracing Negroni. Then he upped the ante and requested a bowl of bar nuts from the waiter. (Peanuts in an homage to the elephant?) Happily, the waiter upped the ante. He brought us a most unexpected and exciting treat - a basket of freshly baked popovers. Apparently, they are a trademark dish at the Harvard Club. Quite a tasty trademark at that.

My companion was nervous that I might reveal the Ivy League insider popover penchant in my blog. He was so earnest in his concern that I almost gave in and avoided a popover posting altogether.

Then I conducted a wee Internet search and discovered that the Harvard Club's Chef Angelo Ljubicic is so proud of the recipe that he actually posted it on the club's Web site.

Needless to say, I'm glad I did the Web search. Gosh, I'm such a smarty pants!

And here's the recipe, in case you want to bring a little of the Harvard Club home. (I don't think they'll be parting with the elephant head, so hopefully this'll do.)

Harvard Club Popovers

4 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups bread flour
2-3/4 cups milk (divided)
2 Tablespoons shortening to grease muffin pans

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a bowl, mix the eggs, salt and flour. Stir in 1/2 cup of the milk and mix until smooth, then add the rest of the milk a little at a time to avoid lumps. Strain the mixture through a sieve and fill 2-3/4 inch diameter greased muffin pans 1-1/2 inches deep. Place in preheated oven and bake for 35 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F. and bake another 35 minutes.

Yield: 12 Popovers.

Healthy Beer?

Apparently, even beer producers are trying to capitalize on America's health craze. A new Forbes article recently enlightened me about Stampede Light, a brew that claims to offer an extra boost of vitamins and nutrients:

Many of the 2,500 runners who completed the race between Dallas and Fort Worth at the annual Texas Stampede for Children's Medical Center Dallas last November were surprised to get a cold beer at the finish line. The pitch: "It's a beer with added vitamins--to help you recover faster." At that event entrepreneur Lawrence Schwartz and his helpers passed out 240 bottles of Stampede Light, his vitamin-fortified brew.

Beer with vitamins? The race was one of 21 events Schwartz will hit in Texas, Florida and Wisconsin this year to market Stampede Light, enhanced with thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine and folate. Stampede is sold in 1,000 stores, including Whole Foods, where it is also offered up for shoppers to sample. "We're going to groups that find a benefit in the product--people like us," says Schwartz, a nutrition-and-fitness buff who heads Stampede Brewing Co. in Dallas.

Puh-leeze. Hop-heads know that all beer is actually chocked full of vitamins.

So next time you down a pint - Stampede Light or not - remember: It's delicious and nutritious.

Genius Headline Makes Me Hungry For More

It's hard to resist the tongue-in-cheek appeal of the New York Post - especially when it proffers tabloid headlines like this:

Pizza Man Makes Own Dough

Click on the hyperlink. I dare you to deny the headline's poetic brilliance. I can't. And now I want a pepperoni slice to boot!

Drinking Buddies

The big brewsky news today is the proposed merger between Miller Brewing's parent company and Molson Coors Brewing. But the big question is whether or not this spirited marriage would mean a poorer selection of beer for the American consumer and/or higher prices at the taps.

According to the Los Angeles Times:

The two brewers know they have a major challenge ahead.

Although domestic beer still outsells wine and distilled spirits by a large margin, it is steadily losing ground to wine, distilled spirits and specialty drafts, even among older drinkers, who have been among the most loyal customers.

"I'll rarely drink a Miller or a Coors," said Jeff Drobman, a 59-year-old software engineer from Agoura. "I like to drink good-tasting beers, local microbrews, a hefeweizen or something made with a special ingredient."

Drobman said most of the large brewery offerings were so bland that they were like drinking water.

"We're seeing the declining per capita of beer consumption, increasing cost pressures, consolidation of distributors and retailers, and continued growth in the wine and spirits business" as well as stiff competition from craft and import beer brands, said Leo Kiely, chief executive of Molson Coors...

Although it is too soon to tell, the transaction might raise U.S. beer prices, experts said. It would leave just two companies -- Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors -- in control of 80% of the domestic beer market, paving the way for the type of tacit price increases that alarm regulators, he said...

...Smaller brewers also would be at risk, said Susan Johnson, outside counsel for Pyramid Breweries Inc., a Seattle craft brewer known for its unfiltered wheat beers such as Hefe Weizen.

Distributors, which by post-Prohibition alcoholic beverage regulatory laws control much of the domestic beer market, "will have so much money tied up in marketing the brands of just two companies that it will be hard for the small folks to get their products distributed in a wide variety of outlets," Johnson said.

All I can say is that if my beer options end up being limited to insipid (and potentially soon-to-be-overpriced) brews like Miller and Coors Lite, I'll be looking elsewhere for my boozing pleasure.