Put it on the Pizza: Part III

Putting it on the pizza is always a good time, whether you're surrounded by friends or just spending a lovely summer evening in solitude. I found myself in the latter of those situations this weekend, and putting it on the pizza seemed like perfect way to further enjoy my already sublime summer day. After all, a day of lying in the sun, reading, and swimming can really take a lot out of a girl.

But what to put on the pizza? I had two ideas, so I decided to just split the pizza into two different toppings. On one side I mixed together tomato sauce with Sirracha and spread a thin layer of the dough (store-bought, if you're wondering. I was going to make my own dough but got lazy). Then I topped it with mozzarella, provolone, and veggie-sausage that I'd found in the fridge.

The other side of the pizza got a liberal helping of fresh basil and garlic pesto, covered in sliced mushrooms, grilled chicken, green peppers, red onions, tomato slices, feta, mozz, and kalamata olives.

When I placed the pizza on the grill I cracked an egg on top of the side with the Sirracha sauce. Beautiful.

Unfortunately by the time the egg was cooked the dough had burnt a bit, but otherwise it was delicious. The yolk on the Sirracha side was perfectly cooked (or not cooked, rather), and it oozed out delicately over the sauce, cheese, and dough. The other side with pesto and chicken was also delightful--nice, garlicky, and satisfying without being overly heavy. 

I sat down, enjoyed some pizza, finished re-reading Hemingway's The Garden of Eden, sipped a glass of red wine, and soaked in the late summer evening. Then the doorbell rang.


I'd been cupcaked. (To be continued...)

Brian Boru

If District has the best burgers in Portland, Maine, then I've got to say that Brian Boru has the best wings. This Irish pub, located at 57 Center Street, is an excellent place to throw back some beers, enjoy live music, and sample their superb wings.

These spicy wings are juicy on the inside, have a crispy exterior coated with garlic sambal sauce, and are served with a side of creamy Gorgonzola dip. I'd been craving super spicy delicious wings, but the ones I'd recently tried in Jersey hadn't curbed my desire. Right before heading to Maine I came across some quality wings in Western New York, but the spiciness just wasn't there. The sambal wings at Brian Boru, however, hit the spot. 

I had to look up what exactly sambal is, and it turns out that it's a Southeast Asian condiment made with a variety of chili peppers. You can pick up a jar of Sambal Oelek if you want to try out this condiment at home.

But I'll warn you, these wings can be pretty fiery. It's a pleasant fire, in my opinion, but if you're not big on spicy food they might not be for you. Although you can always just load them up with the cool and creamy Gorgonzola dip and sip on a Guinness of a Black and Tan if the heat is too much. 

Having a plate of hand-cut, think fries doused in garlic, sea salt, and parsley butter is also an excellent idea.

In addition to serving up these delicious wings, fries, and beers, Brian Boru has live music Thursdays through Sundays, so it's a great place to hang out. And there's never any cover for the music. I was just checking out their website, and apparently they are currently having free BBQ every Thursday from 5-7. I want to go to there. Now.  

Home-Made Double Downs

Earlier this year my friends and I made the decision that we had to experience Double Downs. If you're thinking "that's what she said," then get your mind out of the gutter--it's a sandwich!

Well, it's sort of a sandwich. Double Downs are a product of KFC where they place bacon, cheese, and sauce in between two fried chicken fillets. Whaaaatt? Now, we're all a little bit too pretentious to actually go to KFC, so instead we decided to make them from scratch.

My friend Billy was put in charge of creating the Double Downs. Not everyone can be lucky enough to have a friend from the south like Billy who knows how to make amazing fried chicken. Seriously...it's ridiculous. And the chicken is obviously a key aspect to the perfect Double Down experience, so we had to put that job in the hands of an expert. 

He started off by pounding the meat. Hard. After pounding the chicken into cutlets he rubbed them with salt, white pepper, paprika, and cayenne. Next the chicken was dipped into an egg wash and battered with flour. Then he fried them to perfection in vegetable oil.

With the fried chicken "bread" ready to go, bacon, pepperjack cheese, and this cilantro mayonnaise I had made earlier were sandwiched between the fillets and placed in the oven for about ten to fifteen minutes so the cheese could melt and meld all the ingredients together. 

I had actually made the mayo as a dipping sauce for shrimp earlier in the day, but there was a lot leftover and it seemed perfect for the Double Downs. Basically it was a combination of mayonnaise, olive oil, lemon juice, cilantro, crushed red pepper, and sea salt, all blended together. I bet horseradish, pesto, or red pepper mayo would also work really well with this recipe.

I was so excited when the Double Downs were finally ready. I don't even know if I can describe how ridiculously amazing they were. First you've got the crispiness of fried chicken, which knows no match. You know what I'm talking about--that beautifully crispy exterior that gives way to juicy meat on the inside. And not just one piece of fried chicken, but two! Talk about over the top. Next you've got the bacon, and you all know how wonderful bacon is. Combined with the fried chicken it's a double dose of decadence. But then the pepperjack cheese melts all over the sandwich, adding yet another rich quality to the already divine flavors. And mayonnaise! Come on, you know it's the perfect comfort food. What else could you want to put you in a food coma?

These are a perfect late-night snack when all you want to do is get the itis and lie around watching movies. I wish the photos came out better, so you can see just how delicious they were, but I think that at least the picture of me with the Double Down conveys how much happiness these little fried chicken-bacon-cheese "sandwiches" can create. As much as I'm not a fan of KFC, I've got to admit they came up with a great idea with the Double Downs. My recommendation--make them at home and experience one of the most amazing, crispy, and gooey things you can put in your mouth. Enjoy!

 

New World Birthday Brunch

On a recent visit to Albany, brunch with one of my friends quickly turned into brunch with eight of my friends. The more the merrier! We met up on a Sunday afternoon to enjoy a birthday brunch at New World Bistro Bar. Their brunch is phenomenal. If you hit it up then you definitely need to try their bloody mary's. Amazing.

We ordered a variety of dishes, including Cage Salmon Bennies, DelawaTalian Eggs, and Lardon and Eggs Salad. As per usual, everything tasted great. Of course we couldn't pass up on dessert, and I enjoyed a ridiculously delicious orange and chamomile creme brulee complete with a birthday candle. 

If you haven't indulged in a New World brunch yet, do it. Do it now. Or Sunday, rather.

 Kickass Bloody Mary: 

NWBB House Recipe with Olives, Cucumber, and Lemon

Cage Salmon Bennie:

Blackened Organic Salmon with Green Onions and Bernaise

 Lardon and Eggs Salad:

Frisse, Crispy Bacon Chunks, Apples, and Two Poached Eggs

This salad is definitely saying, "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful...and tasty."

 Vegan Tofu Scramble with

Sundried Tomatoes, Pesto, and Olive Tapenade

Jerk Chicken Waffle

Pulled and Spicy Chicken 
with a Poached Egg, Pineapple, and Scallions

  

 Randy loves her Basque Case pizza pie!

Chorizo, Manchego, Roasted Peppers, and Herbs.

Spaghetti for breakfast? Yes, please.

DelawaTalian Eggs:

Sausage, Peppers, Onions, Mushrooms, Chunky Tomato Sauce, and Spaghetti, Topped with Two Fried Eggs and Asiago

Seriously contemplating my birthday wish.

Orange and Chamomile Creme Brulee

Ice-Cream Sandwich 

Be sure to check out my other posts on New World Bistro Bar:

New World Bistro Bar

New World Oysters

Thanksgiving Eve at New World

Thalamus Anyone?

Land Thai Kitchen

Looking for some good Thai delivery in the city? Land Thai Kitchen has an awesome prix fixe lunch with a ton of tasty options. For eight bucks you get a choice of appetizer and entree. On the West Side they deliver from Central Park West to Riverside Drive and West 69th Street to West 96th Street; on the East Side they deliver from East End Avenue to Fifth Avenue and East 56th Street to East 98th Street.

Here's a sampling of the delicious lunch we had delivered from Land Thai Kitchen:

Steamed Chicken Dumplings with Green Peas, Water Chestnuts, Ginger, and Chili Soy Sauce

 

Root Vegetable Spring Rolls

with Parsnip, Carrot, Beet, Lotus Root, Glass Noodles, and Plum Sauce

Spicy Beef Salad:

Grilled Skirt Steak, Watercress, Green Apple, Dried Chili, Toasted Rice, and Lime Juice

 Pea Tendrils:

Stir-Fried Snow Pea Shoots and Roasted Garlic Sauce

 Shrimp Lemongrass Soup

with Shrimp-Lemongrass Broth, Kaffir Lime Leaf, and Wild Mushrooms

 Wok Basil with Beef:

Long Bean, Long Hot Chili, Onion, Chili-Garlic Puree, and Thai Basil Sauce

Drunken Noodle with Chicken:

Wheat Noodle, Tomato, Thai Basil, Snow Peas, Water Chestnut, Bok Choy, and Chili Puree

Pad Thai Noodle with Shrimp:

Thin Rice Noodle, Egg, Bean Sprout, Scallion, Tofu, Chopped Peanut, and Tamarind Sauce

Village Yokocho

The Wolfpack (aka the Rook sisters and Pat) were on a mission for Japanese tapas, so the only action to take was to head to Village Yokocho is the East Village. This Japanese joint has a seriously extensive menu--pages and pages long--that is filled with all sorts of delicious dishes.

Of course we started off the meal with some sake. We went with a chilled bottle of Momokawa Organic Gingo Sake, which is described as being “fruit forward and lush with a delicate rice aroma and a clean finish.” I obviously like anything lush, and Momokawa is one of my favorite brands of sake--the flavors were nice, crisp, and clean. 

We also ordered some cabbage kim chi and cucumber kim chi. I'm not the biggest kim chi fan, but I thought the classic cabbage one was done pretty well. I preferred the cucumber kim chi, which still had a nice spice to it but wasn't overloaded with vinegar. The crispness of the cucumber was also very refreshing.

Next up was baked batter octopus balls with bonito flakes and dried seaweed. I have been waiting to try octopus balls ever since I saw Anthony Bourdain indulge in them on his Japanese episode of No Reservations. They were awesome. When they arrived the bonito flakes were dancing around like little gauzy flags on a windy day, enticing us to pop those tasty little balls in our mouth.

Chicken skin yakitoro is a must at Village Yokocho. The skin is one of the best parts of the chicken, so who wouldn't love lots of pieces of chicken skin on a stick? Seriously. It's crispy, fatty, and just plain delicious. We also ordered chicken with scallions yakitoro--the tender pieces of chicken and charred scallions were a nice contrast to the decadent chicken skin.

In an effort to be experimental we decided to try the lightly grilled sting ray fin and dried squid. I preferred the sting ray fin (seen in the center of the photo below), which was a little crispy and chewy with light sea flavors. The dried squid was interesting, but super salty and fishy. The texture of the squid was very chewy, and it struck me as being like beef jerky of the sea.

More squid was on the way--this time it was deep-fried squid legs. Essentially, it was a lightly battered and fried calamari, but all we got was the tentacles. Score. The tentacles are my favorite part of the squid, so I was pretty happy about that. Just look at those delicately spiraling tentacles--beautiful.

For our second round of yakitori we opted for quail egg, chicken tail (aka chicken ass), and beef tongue. The quail eggs appeared to have been hard cooked and then placed on the skewers and lightly grilled. The ratio of yolk to egg white was perfect as we popped these little quail eggs like candy. 

Now for the chicken tail--this shit is serious. It's also called chicken ass, the pope's nose, and the pygostyle. Essentially it's the place on the chicken where the tail feathers attach. It's fatty, crispy, and just a beautiful piece of, well, ass. 

Another adventurous order was the beef tongue. Pat was pretty wary of the tongue, but I could tell he enjoyed it. After my recent first experience with beef tongue I knew it would be delicious--it was gone in seconds.  

The broiled miso flavored cod fish was awesome. The fish was light and flaky and coated with a nice glaze of miso. It was also accompanied with some tasty black seaweed.

When I spotted the grilled thick-cut Berkshire pork with Yuzu pepper flavor I knew we had to order it. The pork was nice and tender and just melted in the mouth. I loved the Yuzu pepper as well. Yuzu is a citrus fruit from Asia, and as an accompaniment to the pork it offered a refreshing, peppery burst of flavor.

We also decided to order another round of kim chi, this time opting for radish. It arrived with nice, big chunks of radish coated in the spicy seasoning. 

To finish off the meal we ordered every type of dumpling on the menu. First up was the steamed pork dumplings with wasabi flavored wrappers. Next came the steamed crab, shrimp, and vegetables dumplings, followed by deep fried spinach and vegetables dumplings. And our final bites of the meal were pan fried shrimp and vegetables dumplings. All the dumplings were great, but my favorite was the steamed pork dumplings with wasabi. 

Village Yokocho was a seriously phenomenal meal. We left satisfied, satiated, and spinning from lots of sake. It's a great place to hit up with friends so you can try out a variety of dishes. You definitely don't want to miss out on this awesome East Village joint.