Spicy Banana Bread

In the pan and on the plate.

Spicy Banana Bread
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Grease and flour a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Soften butter to room temperature. Sift flour with baking soda, salt and spices. Cream butter and gradually add sugar, beating until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with mashed bananas and orange juice, stirring only to blend. Fold in nuts and vanilla. Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake one hour. Let cool 30 mins. in pan.

---

When Carolyn, my oldest friend, told me she had a recipe for "Spicy Banana Bread," I thought it might be another example of fusion desserts. Like wasabi infused chocolate, or chipotle spiked ice cream, I expected a heavy dose of chili pepper.

Yeah...I was wrong.

This quick bread is spicy, but not in a pepper or mustard way. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves are deepen the bread’s flavor, complementing the gentle sweetness of the banana and sugar. I'm a real spice fan, so next time I'll increase the amount of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and see how things turn out.

Carolyn also suggested using older bananas, and she’s absolutely right. Don’t make this banana bread, or any other, with those barely ripe bananas you get at the store. Wait until they’ve got lots of brown freckles on them – that’s when they’re sweetest. In fact, a banana that’s too brown to eat straight (simply from an aesthetic perspective) is perfect for banana bread. But if you’ve only got one too-brown banana, just toss it in the freezer. The peel will get very dark but the banana inside will be fine. When you’re ready to make bread, just pop the banana out of the deep freeze and thaw.

Making the batter was simple – smooth sailing all the way. Baking it up was a little different. I was worried my oven was still running too hot, so I took a peek after 45 minutes. The bread looked done but the toothpick test revealed a batter-y inside. Uh-oh. I reduced the temperature to 330-degrees and baked for another 10 minutes. No darker but a bit less wet. Then, I moved the temperature back to 350 and baked for another 16 minutes. Done! This time, the bread was cooked throughout and perfectly browned with a nice centered peak. (Plus, the house was filled with the spicy scent of baked goods.) Lesson learned: the oven’s thermostat has been recalibrated – no need to bake at a lower temp.

Very tasty, and the flavors seem to intensify as the bread cools. A great accompaniment to a well-brewed cup of tea. I can't wait to toast a slice and smear it with butter.

Grade: A

Tags:cooking, baking, banana bread, recipe, dessert, spicy banana bread, snack

Cardamom Banana Bread

As long as I've known Shane (coming up on six years), he's wanted to go on a camping trip.

My idea of camping is staying at a hotel that doesn't leave a mint on the pillow. (HEY-O! I'll be here all week!)

So we've never been. Oh, Shane has tossed out the idea of buying a tent, snuggling in sleeping bags and finding a wild spot near a waterfall -- but it's never come to anything. And, I certainly did nothing to encourage it.

Until this year -- sort of. Last week, we headed down to the Hayowentha cabin in Onanda Park, a former YMCA camp turned public park on the shores of Canandaigua lake. (I made sure to get the only cabin with an indoor bathroom.) We cooked on a grill outside, or used the propane fueled Coleman stove Shane bought for the occasion.

Just before we left, though, I used some nearly over-ripe bananas to bake up loaf a Cardamom Banana bread. I increased the amount of ground cardamom (to one teaspoon) but still couldn't detect it in the final product (sigh). Still, the bread was delicious: it had a fresh banana flavor that I haven't tasted in banana breads before and it was wonderfully moist. The bread was a wonderful quick breakfast or afternoon snack at the camp ground.

Cardamom Banana Bread (adapted)

2 cups cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 teaspoon ground cardamom (or more)

Preheat oven to 350-degrees and coat a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place sugars and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, sour cream, and cardamom; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in pistachios. Spoon batter into loaf pan and bake for an hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool bread completely on wire rack.

(Low-Fat) Banana Bread

I can't believe that the tastiest banana bread I've had in a long, long time -- possibly ever -- is low in fat.

But it is. It's moist, it's sweet, it's packed with banana flavor. It's wonderful!

Low-Fat Banana Bread (adapted)

2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup smashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
1/3 cup fat free milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Lightly grease 8 1/2x4 1/2x2 1/2-inch pan and dust with flour.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat eggs and sugar in large bowl until thick and light, about 5 minutes. Mix in smashed bananas, milk, oil and vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt over mixture and mix until just blended.

Transfer batter to prepared pan and bake until golden brown on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Turn bread out onto rack and cool.

Cinnamon Walnut Banana Bread

I know June isn't synonymous with banana bread but, as I reached to grab some sherbet from the freezer last night, several bananas-on-ice stared back at me, asking, "When are you going to use us up?"

Well, fine: ask and ye shall receive.

I've baked this recipe before, with fantastic results, but I wanted to play around a tiny bit. Cinnamon and walnuts (toasted to enhance the flavor) are a lovely addition, but there's no reason you couldn't play more. If I'd had pecans on hand, I would have used them. What about swapping the cinnamon and walnuts out for cardamom and pistachios? Mmmm, that would be tasty.

As it is, though, I'm very happy with my Cinnamon Walnut Banana loaf. I can hear the bananas calling again: "Don't you think it's time for another slice?"

Why, yes. Yes, I do.

Cinnamon Walnut Banana Bread
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup smashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
1/3 cup fat free milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted

Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Lightly grease 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 1/2-inch pan and dust with flour.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat eggs and sugar in large bowl until thick and light, about 5 minutes. Mix in smashed bananas, milk, oil and vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon over mixture and mix until just blended. Stir in nuts.

Transfer batter to prepared pan and bake until golden brown on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Turn bread out onto rack and cool.

Sugar Spot Banana Muffins

This is my second submission to Weekend Breakfast Blogging and it's another banana recipe. What can I say? I like bananas. And the name of the recipe -- "sugar spot" in reference to the little brown dots bananas get when they're sweet and ripe -- I couldn't resist.

I was hoping for something reminiscent of banana bread and that flavor is there, but this muffin has more of a healthy/hearty quality from the wheat germ than what you'd fine in a typical quick bread. Perhaps that's because I substituted regular wheat germ for the honey-crunch variety the recipe calls for. (I'm still surprised we even had wheat germ in the house, but I guess it's leftover from Martha's oatmeal cookies.)

The recipe is definately something I want to add to: here, I sprinkled a teaspoon of mini chocolate chips on half of the muffins before baking, but tossing in some flaked coconut would be nice too, I think. (I prefer the chocolate topped muffins to the naked ones -- big surprise.) Or, instead of chocolate or coconut, perhaps vanilla, cinnamon, and chopped pecans?


Sugar Spot Banana Muffins
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3/4 cup mashed ripe banana
1/3 cup fat-free milk
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (6 ounces)
2/3 cup honey-crunch wheat germ
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add banana and milk; beat well.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add to sugar mixture; beat just until moist.

Spoon batter evenly into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake for 22 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Place muffins on wire rack. Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 muffin)

Grade: B+

New Banana Cake with Chocolate Butter Frosting

“A Butter icing is like a favorite cotton dress…simple and easy to put on…cooked white frosting like a perky street ensemble…and the extra touches of tinted coconut, toasted nuts, or allegretti are the gay accessories that make a costume ‘special.’ Your family will enjoy your ‘dressed-up’ cakes the more because they look so pretty.”

– Betty Crocker, "Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book" page 161

I had some very spotted bananas I planned to make spicy banana bread with, but I was missing a key ingrediant (orange juice), so that was out. After some digging, I came across the “New Banana Cake” recipe from Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book, first published in 1950. If you haven’t seen this, take a look –- it is a faithful reproduction, down to its sexist take of cooking and gallery of regrettable food-like pictures.

The cake was very easy to make. Having said that, the recipe was difficult to follow (at least to 2006 sensibilities), so I typed it out before proceeding (that’s what you see below).

To go with the cake, I chose the book’s Chocolate Butter Icing, which doesn’t use butter but shortening.

Essentially, sweetened Crisco.

I used butter.

I wound up substituting a lot of ingredients, which may be the reason the cake isn’t that great. I was out of sugar, so I used Splenda, there was only 1 ½ cups of cake flour left in the canister, so I added ¾ cup of all purpose flour, and – perhaps most egregious – I replaced the frosting’s cream with non-fat, non-dairy vanilla creamer.

After writing that, I’m surprised this thing was edible at all.

But it was edible, though nothing to write home about. The cake had a strong banana flavor but could have been sweeter; whether that’s the Splenda’s fault is up in the air. The nuts could have been chopped finer, as well. As for the frosting, it’s pleasant with a light cocoa flavor. I used the 99% cacao Scharffen Berger again and now wonder if the reason I can eat straight is because it’s not as intense as it could/should be. You would think it would result in a dark chocolate flavored confection but, in this and the fudge before it, it’s much lighter.

I don’t know that I’ll make this again. If I’m going to go to the time and effort to bake from scratch, the result should be fantastic, and this isn’t.

But buy the book: if not for the food, for the fun.

New Banana Cake

2-1/2 cups cake four, sifted
1-2/3 c. sugar
1-1/4 tsp. baking powder
1-1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
2/3 c. soft shortening
2/3 c. buttermilk
1-1/4 c. ripe bananas (about 3)
2 large eggs
2/3 c. chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
Grease & flour 2 9-inch pans or one 13x9 pan (I use 9-inch pans and lined them with parchment). Sift together four, sugar, soda, and salt. Add shortening, buttermilk & half of the bananas, mix to combine. Add the eggs and rest of the bananas, mix to combine. Fold in nuts & pour into pans. Bake 30 – 45 minutes, depending upon pan size. (Mine were done in 30 minutes.)


Chocolate Butter Icing

3 c. confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/3 c. butter, softened
3 Tbs. cream
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted

Blend sugar with butter. Add cream, melted chocolate and vanilla, stirring until smooth.


Grade: Cake, B-; Frosting, B

Tags: cooking,baking, Banana Cake, chocolate frosting, cake, frosting, recipe, dessert

Eating Around NY, Part 3: A Nosh Here, A Nosh There

My production class is at DCTV (pictured above) so I've been checking out a few things in the Chinatown area, with detours to Astor Place and 14th St. It's an easy trip from my parents' apartment on the Upper East Side to DCTV riding the 6 line, and just as easy to hop on and off the train to explore different neighborhoods.

One of the first places I visited was Nha Trang Centre, a Vietnamese restaurant just around the corner from DCTV. The food wasn't anything special, but I did order a durian fruit milkshake. The durian is reknown for its stench -- it even it made Andrew Zimmern retch -- so I was pretty interested in seeing how they were going to serve this thing.

There it is. And, boy was it bland -- icy with a vaguely tropical flavor -- which made me think there wasn't much durian in this durian milkshake. But after drinking half, the waitress came over and asked, "You like it?"

"Yes," I said. "I've never had durian before, so I thought I'd try this. Do you like durian?"

"Oh yes!" she exclaimed. "But Americans usually can't stand the smell." And she flitted off.

The milkshake had only a vague green banana scent. I think I'm going to have to eat an actual durian to know exactly what she's talking about.

***

Before going to class the following night, I grabbed a quick drink and snack at the Egg Custard King Cafe.

Pictured is a banana egg custard and a Taro bubble tea with chewy black tapioca pearls. The custard was very rich, and I think I'd get a plain egg custard next time as the banana flavoring tasted artificial. The crust was very flaky and mild in flavor; I'm guessing it uses plenty of shortening, not butter. The tea had a watery flavor -- a bigger taro punch would have been nice -- but the pearls were fantastic: sweet and vaguely almondy.

After class, I strolled around St. Marks Place and Astor Place. There was a huge crowd at St. Marks around the Dessert Truck.

I wasn't hungry so I didn't get anything, but there were many, many people happily scarfing down milk chocolate mousse, coconut tapioca, lemongrass soup with fresh strawberries, and other tantalizing goodies.

I did stop at Beard Papa, which wound up being a bit of a trip down sad-sack lane (and looking back, why did I get a stupid cream puff instead of a gourmet dessert at the Dessert Truck?). Beard Papa was nearing closing time and its employees were camped out at the door, selling hawking the day's pastries to passers-by.

"Cream puffs! One dollar! One dollar cream puffs!" they called out, plaintively.

I almost didn't buy one. There is something sad and desperate about selling -- and buying -- discount pastry. But then I rationalized that it was still the *same* puff I'd come to check out (after reading so much about them), and I'd just gotten lucky that they were on sale.

So I stopped being a food snob and got a vanilla. I liked the choux better than the, but again, I wasn't hungry and that may have thrown my perception off. (That, and I'm not the biggest cream puff fan. So, again -- WHY did I eschew the Dessert Truck for Beard Papa?)

***

Last night, I picked up another pre-class snack at the Canal Cafe Bakery; taro bubble tea with black pearls again, plus mini black bean moon cakes.

The taro tea was fantastic: sweet with perfectly chewy pearls. I wish I could describe the flavor of taro for you, but I'm at a loss. Just go have a taro bubble tea and taste for yourself.

The moon cakes were also very good, reminiscent of a fig newton. The filling is mildly sweet with a slightly sesame flavor. And look a the pretty design on the top of each cake! Again, go to Chinatown and taste it for yourself.

***

At some point, I stopped at Papaya King to eat their kick-ass hot dogs.

Ohhh, Papaya King. How I love your snappy dogs and banana daiquiris! (I know everyone goes crazy for their eponymous papaya drink, but I've always preferred the banana.)

Alas, they'd run out of banana, so I opted for pina colada instead -- delicious. And the dog, loaded with kraut and spicy mustard, did not disappoint, either; it fabulous as usual.

***

I have no pics of this but after stopping at the Morgan Library & Museum to look at not one, not two, but THREE Gutenberg Bibles (here's the signifcance) and an advertising exhibition at the NYPL ,I stopped at Tiffin Wallah for their lunch buffet. The food is terrific. Nothing was labelled, however, so I'm trying to remember exactly what was available: Palak Paneer, I think, a lentil curry, and a delicious hot entree featuring beats, plus two types of breads, two types of rices, various condiments, salad, and gulab jamun.

And here's the kicker -- access to this buffet is only SIX DOLLARS. The downside is that the space is small and, at lunch time, the restaurant is busy, so it's not the place for a leisurely meal.

But, six bucks! For lunch! In Manhattan!

It's weird, but that was the same day that a giant bumblebee found its way into the packed subway car I was riding in, plus a man actually moved over so that I could sit down, so maybe it's miracle time in NYC.

***

Next up: dining in high fashion with the Goddess of Bread.

Pork Chops with Country Gravy

I love, love, loooooooooove comfort food. Homemade mac-and-cheese, lasagna, meatloaf, mashed po-taters, apple cake, PB brownies, banana bread; the list goes on.

I lurve them all.

So pork chops with country gravy are right up my alley. Here, boneless pork chops are lightly coated in seasoned flour, pan-seared until golden brown, and then topped herbed gravy. I served them up with oven-roasted corn on the cob and freshly-baked dinner rolls.

Could things be more delicious? Or simple? Or wonderful? It's even a Cooking Light recipe. But the beauty is that it tastes like it came from the depths of Paula Deen's butter-rich kitchen.

Pork Chops with Country Gravy
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (about 1 ounce)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops (about 3/4 inch thick)
1 tablespoon butter
Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk (I used skim without a problem)


Place flour, salt, dried marjoram, dried thyme, and dried rubbed sage in a shallow dish. Dredge pork in flour mixture, turning to coat; shake off excess. Reserve remaining flour mixture.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add pork to pan; cook on each side until browned, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat, and cook for 10 minutes or until done, turning pork once. Remove pork from pan; keep warm.

Combine reserved flour mixture and milk in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended. Add milk mixture to pan; place over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Reduce heat, and simmer 2 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Serve with chops.

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 chop and 1/2 cup gravy)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 252(34% from fat); FAT 9.6g (sat 4.4g,mono 3.6g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 28.9g; CHOLESTEROL 83mg; CALCIUM 142mg; SODIUM 584mg; FIBER 0.3g; IRON 1.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 10.6g

Lorrie Hulston Corvin , Cooking Light, JUNE 2006

Crock-pot Pulled Pork

Another Saturday, another dinner party! Last night, we had Carolyn (not the banana bread Carolyn; a different one) and her family (sans teenage daughter, whose band was invited to play in Disney World) over for what turned out to be a smorgasbord:

Pulled pork sandwiches, shells and cheese, homemade apple sauce, hand-picked and home-frozen corn (we thawed it before eating), sparkling grape juice, salad, icebox cake, coffee, fudge and sugar cookies (plus cheddar cheese, wheat crackers, pepperoni, and Asian-flavored rice snacks for hors devours).

Needless to say, my jeans are a bit tight today.

I love making pulled pork; it’s effortless and delicious. Plus, it fills the house with a wonderful smell while it’s cooking.

Crock-pot Pulled Pork

1 Pork Shoulder "Butt," preferably boneless*
1 19oz. bottle of Dinosaur Barbeque’s Sensuous Slathering Sauce,** plus another for serving

Rinse and pat the pork butt dry. Place a thin layer of BBQ sauce in the bottom of your crock-pot. Place the pork, fatty side up, into the crock-pot and slather with the rest of the BBQ sauce in the bottle. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

When finished, the meat will be extremely tender; a steak knife will easily poke through. To shred, cut chunks from the butt and pull apart with two forks. Serve with the liquid in the crock-pot (run the liquid through a fat separator) and additional BBQ sauce, if desired. It’s great on a bun, mixed with rice, or all by itself.

Grade: A

*aka, Boston Butt. Ask your butcher for help in determining a good serving size for your needs.

**or your favorite brand of BBQ sauce

Tags: cooking, pulled pork, bbq, crockpot, recipe, pork, entree, dinner

Food Destinations: Seneca Lake, New York State

We interrupt this regularly scheduled recipe blog for the following restaurant rundown. Maki over at I was just really very hungry is hosting a Food Destinations carnival and the following is my entry.

The Finger Lakes are booming. We’ve got the lakes, wineries, forests, waterfalls, farms, arts, crafts venues, and culture, attracting more and more tourists each year. (Really, you haven’t lived until you’ve spent a spring day sailing on one of the lakes, a summer morning swimming beneath a waterfall, or a crisp fall afternoon sipping wine and taking in the color. The winters, however, you should spend in Florida.)

As more and more people visit the region, more and more restaurants are popping up. Some you’ve heard of – the Moosewood Restaurant ring any bells? – but I’d like to highlight some of spots that aren’t as renown; spots that I love. The follwong four spots are all situated around Seneca Lake, the "heart of the Finger Lakes."*


Moving from New York City to a rural area was not easy, but one restaurant got me through those nights of missing great NYC food: Ports Café. With an emphasis on using local ingrediants, Ports is a popular destination featuring entrees ranging from a shrimp boil to smoked spare ribs to a bacon cheddar burger. Not only do they have an extensive menu but each night features numerous (five to ten, I’d guess) additional specials to choose from -- bacon wrapped filet mignon and apple and cheddar topped pork chops make frequent appearances.

I almost always order the Winter Night Salad to start – a combination of mixed greens, apples, dried cranberries, glazed walnuts, and gorgonzola crumbles tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette. Delicious. Two years ago , however, I was fortunate to taste their blueberry red wine (cold) soup, finished with a bit of crème fresh and lemon zest. It was so good that, two years later, I’m still thinking about it. (I’m sure it will be back on the menu, I just haven’t been there when blueberries are in season.)

The one thing Ports doesn’t do so well is desserts. It’s not that they’re bad, but spend your calories elsewhere. In the summer, you won’t have to go far. Adjacent to the restaurant is a burger shack also owned by Ports. They serve great hard and soft ice cream – I recommend the soft-serve vanilla root beer float. (You can get great grilled sandwiches and French fries at the shack, too).

Fox Run Vineyards is home to a wonderful café run by chef Frank Caravita (a very nice acquaintance of ours). The café is a great lunch spot. You can choose from a number of gourmet sandwiches at their deli counter and eat them cold or grilled. Those can be accompanied by a number of Fox Run wines or something lighter: a soda, French lemonade, a fruit spritzer. Add some kettle cooked chips or a cookie (baked daily by Frank – who knew a plain sugar cookie could be so good?) and enjoy your meal inside or, on a nice day, on the deck, overlooking Seneca Lake.

Kyo Asian Bistro recently changed owners and, by all accounts, that’s for the better. The “new” Kyo has a full bar which packs people in but the food and atmosphere keep it from becoming just a watering hole. Girl-drink consumer that I am, I like the KyOto Sake Martini, made of Sake, raspberry wine, peach wine, pineapple and cranberry juice. Kyo recently introduced a “small plates” menu, similar to tapas – a number of choices (Phad Thai noodles, spring rolls, Miso, etc) in tiny, tiny portions to either whet your appetite or create a mini buffet. The big plates are very good as well, especially the Kyo Drunken duck rubbed with “Chinese 5 spices” and served in plum sake sauce with sesame-crusted rice cakes. Their Maki Rolls, sushi and sashimi are also very good. For dessert, I usually order the Banana-Walnut Spring Rolls, which are filled with walnuts, banana and toffee bits, fried, and served with caramel-run sauce and banana ice cream.

My new favorite is Dano’s Heuriger on Seneca. A Heuriger (HOI-rigger) is sort of an upscale Vienneise pub, though it’s not at all formal or stuffy (you can wear blue jeans and a clean polo shirt and fit right in). The space is somehow both elegant and comfortable. Chef Dano Hutnik, his family, and staff work hard to make you feel that you’re their guest whom they want to see satisfied. The kitchen is completely open; when walking in from the parking lot, you can see Dano and his staff buzzing around their immaculate kitchen. As for the wait staff, they’re impeccable. Not only do they cater to your every need, they do so with an easygoing air and smile. Between orders, Dano will come out into the restaurant and say hello to each table, perhaps sharing a joke with his honored guests.

But let’s face it: we’re here for the food. And Dano’s does not disappoint. I have yet to taste anything that wasn’t superb. There are so many wonderful things to eat that I can’t possibly do them all justice here. Shane’s favorite is the weiner schnitzel: tender veal pounded thin, breaded and fried to perfection. All it needs is a squirt of lemon juice and it’s ready to devour. I’m crazy for the red cabbage, horseradish beat salad, and the pork shank. The pork is so tender and succulent that it falls off the bone. It will be gone before you know it. We both love the liptaur, a zippy, salty cheese spread that tastes great on everything, especially the freshly made bread. For dessert, there are many choices but you can’t go wrong with the fruit struedel (the flavors change frequently) or – my personal favorite – the linzer torte, made with a hazelnut crust and vibrantly flavorful raspberry preserves. The pastries are created by Karen Gilman, Dano’s wife, and if you’re bored (though between the food and the gorgeous view of Seneca Lake, I doubt you’ll have time to let your mind wander) you can debate who does a better job in the kitchen.

Dano's Heuriger on Seneca.

If all this sounds good, book yourself into one of the many B&Bs, scout the wine trail and make sure you stop and eat at Ports, Fox Run, Kyo, and Dano's (especially Dano's). Enjoy, and bon appetite.

*Almost everything here calls itself the "heart of the Finger Lakes," so take that with a grain of salt.

Many thanks to Maki for hosting this event!

Eating around NY, part 1

I flew into JFK late Saturday afternoon, met my Dad who was picking me up at the airport, and we drove into Manhattan where he works & lives. Since 1994, he's been the building manager of an upper-east side 5th avenue apartment building that overlooks Central Park. A huge perk -- and, at the same time, problem -- of the job is that he and my mom live in the building; so while they live rent free in one of the nicest building in NY, my dad is always on call for any big (or ridiculously small) problem.

There are stories. Many, many stories -- which I will not divulge here.

In any event, we had pizza from Little Vincent's on Saturday night. Little Vincent's will never be a pizza mecca but LV's is the type of pizza I ate growing up on Long Island, and it's still pretty good. We ordered half-regular, half-meatball and the meatball was just as I like it: round, thin slices about 2-inches in diameter polka-dotting the surface of the pie.

On Sunday, I headed to Brooklyn to visit my cousin Matt, his wife Catherine, and their 18 month old daughter, Fiona, who were such gracious hosts and completely indulged my foodie wants! We hung out at their apartment a bit, sipping bloody marys and noshing on prosciutto, figs, and local strawberries (tough life, huh?) before venturing out into the Smith Street Fest.

It was pleasantly crowded, with lots of local eateries setting up shop on the street and selling their wares.

This meringue was too pretty not to buy, but I can’t say they packed with flavor.

Matt was much smarter and bought grilled lamb sausage with a thin smear of mustard, all on a good hunk of baguette. It was fabulous: the lamb’s flavor shone through, enhanced by char from the grill. It was a bit oily --but in a good way -- and the juices trickled into the bread.

We wandered past the fair and around the corner to check out several other places. The first stop was F. Monteleone & Cammareri Bros. bakery. The shop was packed with Italian pastries (and smelled like the Italian (-American) bakery by which I judge all others, La Guli) but Matt recommended the chocolate chip. I can see the appeal, but their not my favorite. They’re dry and sandy (made with shortening? And definitely only white sugar) but are studded with discs of dark chocolate.

We also stopped in next door at D’amico Coffee Roasters , rated the number one coffee roasters in NY by the Zagat Survey (watch WNBC story here ). Not surprisingly, D’amico smells divine. Matt bought me a pound of the Jamaican Blue Mountain and I’m looking forward to trying it when I get back home.


Next stop was Sweet Melissa’s Patisserie . My goal was to get their butterscotch pudding, of which Ed Levine says is “the best butterscotch pudding [he's] ever had in New York City."

Butterscotch pudding always strikes me as sickly sweet, but if Levine was raving about it, it had to be good.

The verdict: it tastes nothing like butterscotch but like caramel, one with burnt sugar notes. And it’s creamier yet firmer than a pudding. I’m not saying it’s bad – I had no trouble polishing it off – but I don’t think it’s a must taste.

Our final stop was One Girl Cookies . It’s a very pretty space, and the cookies are daintily displayed behind a glass case in a fashion similar to the way fine chocolates might be shown off. By this point, however, I was too full for cookies.



I did have a few spoonfuls of the gelato Matt purchased there: a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of banana which I think came Il Laboratorio de Gelato. If so, the every good thing said about Il Laboratorio de Gelato is completely justified. The chocolate gelato tasted like a rich, decadent chocolate truffle and the banana (a greatly underused flavor in ice creams and gelatos, if you ask me!) was fresh yet lush.


Catherine, Matt, Fiona and I strolled back towards the street festival, and ambled through a little bit, stopping to look at a confectionery oddity Catherine spotted: gummy bacon. I should have checked to see if it tasted like bacon, or was just shaped like it.

I headed back into the city around 3:30pm (Matt and Catherine decided to take Fiona to the park and, maybe the heat – or the vodka-spiked bloody mary I’d drank earlier on an empty stomach, the one which I’d suggested needed *more* vodka -- was getting to me, but I wasn’t feeling so hot). I hopped on the F train and enjoyed the coolness of the air condition. A few stops later, I was at the Delancey St. station and, though I was still feeling kind of ill, the insistent foodie in me made me get up off the train and walk a couple of blocks to (wait for it) the Doughnut Plant.
A low slung building with a small public space on Grand St., the Doughnut Plant was bustling with customers. Still, I only had a short wait to place my order, and I took home a sampling of what was in stock. At Matt’s earlier recommendation (“get whatever they’re brewing in the jug”), I also grabbed a strawberry lemonade, handed over $22 (it’s $1.75 to $2.00 per donut; the guys next to me bought three boxes, and paid the cashier a crisp $100 bill but, yes, they got change back) and made my way back to the subway station.

At this point, I was pretty hot, tired and sore (why I thought wearing cork wedge sandals around town would be a good idea is beyond me, though, they’re the only shoes I brought that matched my dress).
I'm pretty cranky at this point. But the strawberry lemonade – oh, delicious strawberry lemonade – was the perfect refresher.

It took me a while to get back to the apartment and I crashed for a long while before even thinking about the doughnuts. And then I descended upon them.

Unfortunately, these were not the doughnut nirvana I was hoping they’d be. The flavors -- tres leches (cake), blackout (cake), raspberry glazed (cake), key lime glazed (cake), coconut glazed, coconut cream (yeast), peanut butter glazed, strawberry jelly (yeast), vanilla bean glazed, strawberry jelly, and Valhrona chocolate – are by all means inventive, use quality ingredients, and taste really great.

But the doughnuts themselves – the cake and yeast doughnut bases – are meh. With the exception of the blackout doughnut (definitely the best cake doughnut) each basic doughnut appears repurposed for different flavors; i.e., the difference between a raspberry and key lime doughnut is only the glaze you top it with. These could have been *so much better* if the fruit flavors were incorporated into the batter.

As for the yeast doughnuts, they’re chewier and more hearty than a traditional version. Are they made with whole wheat flour? It doesn’t work for me as a dessert (though it was kind of effective in the peanut butter and jelly version as the doughnut recalls bread).

I do really like the coconut doughnut’s glaze, but thought the coconut cream filling could have been, well, more coconutty – and then there’s that issue again with the texture.



My mom basically thought they were evil (“I hope you debunk the myth on these”) but my dad was quietly kinder: a few doughnuts that were in the box last night had disappeared by this morning.

Verdict on the Doughnut Plant: like Matt said, grab a glass of whatever they’re brewing in the glass jug, pick up a doughnut if you must, but don’t blow any significant cash on their stuff.

Next up: Pinkberry vs. Red Mango.

Back from NY

Breakfast on the run (balanced on my leg) from Amy's Bread.

It's been quite a week. We visited the Empire State Building, American Girl Place, Build-a-Bear, Cole Haan, Toys R Us, the Liberty Science Center (sailing past the Statue of Liberty on the way), the NY Hall of Science, the old World's Fair grounds, Coney Island, the Bronx Zoo, and MoMA with plenty of trips to the nearby Central Park. (We also visited Ground Zero, which I had not been to since September 2001, when I covered it for the magazine I worked for at that time. )

We got back about four hours ago and have spent those last 240 minutes doing laundry and packing for our impending move before collapsing on the couch. We are exhausted.

I ordered pizza for dinner, as I am not a masochist (though the laundry and packing suggest otherwise).

Normal, recipe-testing posts should resume on Thursday. In the meantime, here's a rundown of some of the great food we ate on our trip:

Homemade Granola at EJ’s Lunchonette -- Third Ave. at 73rd St.

Banana Walnut pancakes and ginger scones at the Boerum Hill Food Company--
143 Smith St., Brooklyn

Scallion pancakes, twice cooked pork, and some sort of house special with pork and orange peel that I can’t remember the name of (Shredded Pork with Szechuan Pickled Vegetables?) at Pig Heaven -- 1540 Second Ave. near 80th St.

Margherita pizza with fresh basil at Totonno’s -- 1544 Second Avenue betweeen 80th and 81st St.

Hot dogs with sweet onions or kraut and spicy mustard at Nathan's on the Coney Island boardwalk

A very filling caramel rice pudding at Rice to Riches -- 37 Spring St. between Mott and Mulberry St

The world's best cannolis at Veniero's --342 East 11th St. between First and Second Aves. (the cafe service leaves something to be desired)

Curried chicken salad, "brunette" praline spread, and sweet waffles at Le Pain Quotidien -- 77th Street between Second and Third Aves.

Zucchini muffins and iced coffee at Amy's Bread -- 672 Ninth Avenue between 46th & 47th Sts.

Tags: dining, New York