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Posts Tagged ‘indulging’

Will You Be My… Soufflé?

Posted in Holiday, Recipes, tagged , , , , , on February 15, 2011 | 4 Comments »

I know it’s a little late in the game for a Valentine’s Day recipe, but I just couldn’t resist posting this one. I must have been good this year, because I was lucky enough to recieve a sweet Valentine’s surprise in the form of this delicious indulgence this February 14th. Did I mention that Chocolate Soufflé is hands-down my absolute favorite dessert in the entire world? It’s enough to convert any non-chocolate fan into a full fledged chocoholic, and once you’ve had a good one, it’s bound to make into your top five dessert list (Tiramisu is totally losing that number 1 spot). For me, that happy moment was about a year ago in a little cafe in Astoria, Queens, called Mundo. Yes, that was good…

But this was better:

If for some strange reason, you still can’t imagine why Chocolate Soufflé is my favorite dessert, let me offer you Exhibit B:

Yes, there’s something about Chocolate Souffle that just seems inherently romantic, and sure, that made it particularly appropriate for the holiday that just passed. But guess what the best part is about telling (or better yet, showing) someone that you love them? It’s totally appropriate and 100% appreciated all year round, not just mid-February. So if you were having trouble thinking about what particular excuse you’d need to whip one of these babies up, search no further – because the truth is, you really don’t need an excuse!

In fact, all you need are some eggs, a nice rich bag of chocolate chip morsels, and a hand-blender (or one hell-of-a strong arm) and you’re pretty much set. Don’t believe me? The five-ingredient long list is below. So spend 10 bucks, take 30 minutes, and show someone just how important they are to you. Trust me, it’s totally worth scrubbing the chocolate off your kitchen floor the next morning.

Mini Chocolate Soufflés with Chocolate Sauce - Makes 4 6-oz Soufflés

For the Soufflé:

  • 2 tsp unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 8 ounces of semisweet chocolate, fine chopped (chips work too)
  • 4 large egg whites
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup of a flavored liquour (we used Pomegrate Liquour)

To start, preheat the oven to 400 F. Grease each of the 4 individual ramekins extremely well, and sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon of sugar.

Then, set up your double boiler, or if you don’t have one, a pot filled with about 1 inch of simmering water, topped with a glass or metal bowl. Add the chocolate to the bowl, and slowly melt, whisking consistently and adjusting the heat as needed to prevent scalding. Once the chocolate is smooth and melted, turn off the flame.

Next, in a mixing bowl which the egg whites with 1/4 cup of sugar until they are stiff and glossy. If you’ve ever made a merengue before, the expression is “stiff peaks” – essentially, you want the egg whites to be foamy, and hold their form in little peaks when you pull the beaters out of them. They should look like snow-capped mountains :) Once your egg whites have peaked, set them aside.

Back to the chocolate – add your egg yolks to the melted chocolate one at a time, whisking to combine. Then add your liquour, and whisk in the remaining sugar.

Now, the part that requires a little skill and patience. You want to very gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate. The important part is to do this slowly, and carefully, using a wide spatula to lift the chocolate sauce from the bottom of the bowl, over the egg whites, to maintain as much air as possible. After each fold, rotate the bowl 90 degrees. Under no circumstance should you whisk or stir this mixture – that is, unless you want it to be ruined. A soufflé will only rise if the air bubbles from the stiff egg whites is preserved, so fold gently, and carefully, until you have an evenly brown, airy, jiggly mixture.

After that, you’re pretty much golden! Pour the chocolate mixture into the ramekins, place the ramekins on a baking sheet, and bake them until they are puffed and somewhat firm, beginning to crack on top – about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, and serve immediately with chocolate sauce and powdered sugar. And enjoy the thanks you will surely receive.

Before…

and after…

It really doesn’t get better than that…

For the Chocolate Sauce:

  • Leftover semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • Half and Half
  • Butter

To be honest, we were big-time winging it here, but I will say this – start by melting about 4 ounces of semi sweet chips. Once they are melted add a tsp of butter and a dash of half and half, whisking to combine, and taste it. Depending on your own preference, continue to add half and half until the sauce has reached your desired consistency – and this can range from Hershey’s-syrup-thin, to extremely thick and luscious. You get to eat it, so you get to decide. Just whatever you do, don’t forget the sauce.

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Luger Lovin’ – An Annual Peter Luger Pilgrimage

Posted in Dining Out, New York Antics, tagged , , , , , on February 1, 2011 | 3 Comments »

In the world of Manhattan dining bests – best pizza, best food truck, best on-trend-cupcake – no genre of restaurant chomps on the bit quite so fiercely, nor has so much at stake (pun intended) as that of the New York City Steakhouse. With a selection that includes Benjamins, BLT, Del Frisco’s, and Wolfgang’s, few cities can serve up a medium-rare masterpiece like The City That Never Sleeps….

And of the best, none do their thing better than Peter Luger’s. The top rated steakhouse in New York for over two decades, few can deny that Luger has earned its rightful place in this spot, and I rest with the majority; an annual trip to the Peter Luger’s of Great Neck has been part of my family’s tradition for the past five years. And for the past five years, we all wait for weeks, with mouth-watering anticipation, until the date of the Luger reservation arrived, upon which time we would all feast to our hearts content, leave with stretched waist bands, and already the itching anticipation of another year-long wait.

But what, you might ask, makes Luger’s steaks not only special, but among the best in the country? Well, Peter Luger’s has been around for over 120 years, which is plenty of time to perfect their steak-selection process. Members of the Luger clan frequent the wholesale meat markets daily to scour for the best fresh cuts of Midwestern beef. Their criteria are stringent, and unwavering: only the short loin (a very tender and highly desirable portion of the porterhouse section of meat) can be used; the meat must come from cattle graded “PRIME” by the USDA; the meat must be a fresh pink color, with an even marbling of fat throughout.

 Yet again, proof that if you use the best quality ingredients, the masses will come.

If a cut of short loin is lucky enough to be selected, the folks at Luger’s bring it back to the restaurant and dry-age it in-house, in a temperature-controlled room where cool air circulates around the meat.

Now, upon first instinct, dry-aging might sound, well, kind of gross. Letting meat sit out in the open air is one of the first “no-no’s” most cooks learn. But in a temperature and circulation controlled environment, the process of aging can occur relatively risk free, working its magic. And by magic, I mean science. Here’s how it works (according to Wikipedia):

With a recommended aging time of four weeks, dry-aging enhances beef by two means:  First, moisture is evaporated from the muscle, creating a greater concentration of beef flavor and taste. Second, the beef’s natural enzymes break down the connective tissue in the muscle, which leads to more tender beef.

And the result?

This is what Peter Luger’s is all about.

The restaurant itself is the perfect backdrop for these aged porterhouses. The rustic, Germanesque interior is laid out across several cozy rooms, in which broad tables are lined with white linens, which will inevitably be stained by the ravenous eating which ensues as soon as the steak is set down.

As soon as you are seated, a waiter instantly appears with a large basket of crusty, homemade rolls (the onion rolls are by far the best), sweet, creamy butter, and tureens full of Luger’s house steak sauce. Let it be known that their steak needs absolutely zero sauce, which is perhaps why the sauce is brought out with the rolls – the bread provides a mild, understated base to this delicious, horseradishy, tomatoey sauce. This sauce is actually rather surprising upon first taste, as it immediately tastes like a cocktail sauce from the inclusion of horseradish – but the traditional steak sauce notes can be detected upon further sampling, as the Worcestershire, tomato, and molasses flavors come through. Finger lickin’ good!

The waiters must be highly trained, because they also immediately take your drink order, all in one swoop. We had started out at the bar with the dirtiest dirty martini (and by that, I mean the best) I’d ever had. Obviously, the next logical step was a full bodied red, a rich Cabernet from Chile.

The Porterhouses are served family style – you can order the steak for two, three, four, or a steak for one, or the prime rib. We went for the Porterhouse for four, seared to medium-rare perfection, and the result was magnificent.

This steak tastes as though it were marinated in butter before cooked – so tender and smooth is the texture of the meat. It’s ridiculously flavorful, with tangy savory juices that ooze from each slice, a testament to the success of dry aging. Alongside, we had an order of creamed spinach – officially the best way ever to eat green vegetables – as well as hashed brown potatoes, and onion rings. All the sides are delicious, but with a show stopper like this steak, they were easily an afterthought.

And just when you thought eating several pounds of red meat was enough, enter Schlag. Schlag is essentially a German homemade whipped cream, but while the menu says “whipped cream,” what it really means is “churned-just-short-of-butter cream.” We all immediately doled huge scoops of this into our coffees, forgoing the normal sugar and cream.

We capped off the meal with a trio of desserts, all of which got an ample heap of Schlag - first, a rich, refreshing cheesecake, which even my brother, who is a cheesecake maven, couldn’t finish; a dense chocolate mousse cake that had a crisp chocolate crust I would liken to an oreo cookie. And my favorite, the traditional Apple Strudel, with tender, cinnamon-sugar slivers of apple wrapped in layer upon layer of crisp puffy pastry, topped with a light dusting of confectioner’s sugar. Does this seem a bit over the top, perhaps a bit too much food for just one person?

What some call gluttony, I call opportunity…

So there you have it, friends - an evening at Peter Luger’s, in a nut-shell. So what’s the flip side? Well, this place is certainly not cheap. It’s a special occasion sort of place – where you go to celebrate an important birthday, or a new job, or a new baby. But when you think about it, really, what better way is there to celebrate life? Take the Luger Porterhouse Challenge – and get back to me!

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Flash in the Pan: Banana-Nutella Crepes

Posted in Fun Activity, Recipes, tagged , , on January 17, 2011 | 4 Comments »

This weekend, a sacred act took place in my apartment. That’s right: in my tiny, low-ceilinged kitchen, a sauté pan was lit aflame by blue flames that erupted from its brandy-coated contents. Bananas and sugar caramelized under nine inches of dancing fire as everyone in the room looked on in wonderment. Once the smoke from this challenging new culinary victory cleared, a decadent, sumptuous dessert emerged, victorious, reminiscent of Paris, standing alone as our reward for the long, hard week passed.

Sadly, I was not the Master of Flambé at this ceremony. Still, I’m glad that I got to witness the technique firsthand in my own apartment; let’s just say my reaction was not Culinary School-appropriate, and my hardcore reputation would have been forevermore tarnished as I backed into a corner, shouting, “It’s getting bigger!” and shielding my face from the flames.

But enough about that. What follows are the recipes for sweet, light, fluffy, perfect crêpes; ones that will make you feel like you’re standing on a frosty Parisian street corner, staring up at Notre Dame in wonder as you clasp your hands around a soft, powdered-sugar dusted pastry wrapped in paper and stuffed full of joy. The recipe for joy, in the form of an intuitive bananas foster filling, is also included.

Perfect Crêpes

For these crêpes, you’ll need:

  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons of melted butter
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Additional butter for coating the pan
  • A large, flat-bottomed saute pan

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until extremely smooth; this can also be done quickly in a blender. Ideally, it’s good to refrigerate the batter for about an hour before using, so the bubbles can settle, but we used it right away and had no issues with the crêpes tearing. Note that this batter will keep in the fridge for 48 hours!

Heat your sauté pan over medium heat, and use a stick of butter to grease the pan. Pour in about 1 ounce of batter, or enough to coat the bottom of the pan in a thin layer, and gently shake the pan to ensure even distribution of the batter. Cook for about 30 seconds to a minute, until the edges of the crêpe look firm and are beginning to pull away from the pan. Then, gently flip the crêpe. Most of us aren’t skilled enough to do this with a flick of the wrist, so a good trick is to slide the crêpe onto a flat plate, cooked side down, and then use the plate to flip the crêpe back onto the pan.

Finish cooking the crêpe for about another 30 seconds to a minute, or until lightly golden and cooked through. Lay the crêpe flat so it can cool, and then spread a thin layer of Nutella across it, and add your Bananas Foster filling…

Bananas Foster Filling

Bananas Foster seemed the most obvious filling once the idea for crêpes was finalized. Few things go better with sweet crêpes than Nutella, and Nutella, for those who didn’t know, is soul mates with bananas. Since bananas foster is basically bananas all dressed up for a night out on the town, making these crêpes with a Bananas-Foster and Nutella filling was not only a slightly impressive dessert show to put on for friends, but utterly fitting. Here’s how the Bananas Foster filling was whipped up, on-the-fly.

Gather your ingredients – 3 bananas, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1 stick of butter, and 1/4 cup of brandy (note that traditional bananas foster uses cinnamon, which we opted against since the Nutella added additional layers to the dessert). Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat, and add the butter. As the butter begins to melt, slice the bananas into quarter-inch slices, and add those to the pan as well. As the bananas begin to soften, add in the brown sugar and stir, continuously, until the brown sugar has dissolved completely in the butter and the sauce begins to thicken.

Then add the brandy. Depending on your level of flambé expertise, you can attempt to catch the brandy alight with the stove top flame, or the safer, preferable method – use a grill lighter or a very long match. Hold the pan off the heat and away from your body and face as you do this, as the contents of the pan will ignite very quickly, and large flames will rise up. Gently swirl the contents of the pan and allow the flames to slowly subside. Once the flambé has diminished, you can finish the Bananas Foster on the stove, until the sauce and bananas have reached the desired consistency; for us, this was a thick, syrupy sauce and very soft bananas.

Add the bananas to the crepe atop the Nutella, and gently fold the crepe over so you have a half-moon shape. Top with a bit more of the banana sauce, and dust with powdered sugar. One crepe is perfect to be shared as a light dessert for two, but one is also more than enough to make any evening fantastic if enjoyed all to one’s self.

So next time you’re looking for a very quick, easy, and sophisticated meal or dessert – look no further than crepes. They take practically no time at all to make, can be filled with virtually anything, and will have you reminiscing about European street food in no time. That is, if you’re into that sort of thing ;)

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Food Truck Hunting: Van Leeuwen’s Ice Cream

Posted in Dining Out, Fun Activity, tagged , , , , on October 13, 2010 | 2 Comments »

The elusive Van Leeuwen’s Ice Cream truck has been evading me for months (nearly all of summer 2010, actually), like a temptress, always appearing after I’ve already enjoyed a long lunch or on one of the frequent occasions when I have no cash on hand. When I first spotted it, some months ago, parked on a SoHo corner on a hot summer day, the list of flavors and artful sketches of the organic ingredients naturally sparked my interest, but I kept on walking. I’m not a huge ice cream lover; that is to say, I always enjoy it, but I don’t “have to have it” when I see it. When it comes to ice cream, I am usually able to resist temptation, a rare triumph in the world of desserts.

But then, a few weeks ago, Van Leeuwen’s appeared to me again, more glamorous than ever in a Cooking Channel special on the sweet treats of New York. Officially hailing as “Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream,” this migrating ice cream stand offers a variety of hand-crafted flavors, from specialties like pistachio and espresso to classics like vanilla bean, chocolate, and mint chip. Every ingredient for each flavor is selected with great detail, using only the finest and highest quality products to create their ice cream masterpieces.

The ice cream king has recently opened a permanent outpost in Greenpoint, Brooklyn – a nod to its growing popularity and even cult-like following. With the ice cream company’s employees and patrons alike offering praise and devotional words to the sweet scoops VL serves up, at first only through word-of-mouth and bloggings, but now on broadcast television, I realized that I had to see what this food truck had to offer.

But of course, like most things in life, the more you want something, the less likely it is to appear before you. It’s the old “a watched pot never boils” conundrum. And as I hoped to spot Van Leewen’s every time I took a stroll on an empty stomach, the famous ice cream truck stayed far away from me.

Then, finally, late last week as I was rounding a corner near work, there it was – the VL truck! But wait – it was in motion. The driver was slowly backing up and pulling away from the curb on Sullivan Street. I quickly snapped a photo of it as a reminder to more actively scout out its location, watching sadly as the sign for Pumpkin Pie ice cream disappeared into the distance.

But then, this past weekend, as if by fate, I was strolling through the West Village when suddenly – there it was! The pale yellow truck was set up across the street, fully open for business

I made an immediate beeline for the truck, with my heart set on some pumpkin ice cream. While pumpkin just about anything will spur my appetite this time of year, I was particularly intent on trying VL’s pumpkin ice cream because of what I’ve heard about the process the company uses to make its delicious scoops. Van Leeuwen’s uses only the finest ingredients, starting with local, hormone free milk and cream from New York farmers, to which they add fresh egg yolks and pure cane sugar – no preservatives, no stabilizers, no nonsense. In my ice cream fantasy, this particular flavor was made with lots of cinnamon and fresh pumpkin puree from yet another New York farm, and I couldn’t wait to give it a try.

Unfortunately, being late in the afternoon as it was, the truck was already sold out of this popular autumn flavor. The Cooking Channel special had warned about this – each VL truck is loaded up with only so much of each decadent flavor, and once that flavor is gone, that’s it for the day. Favorites like classic Strawberry and Chocolate, made with Michel Cluizel artisan french chocolates, often sell out first, forcing die-hard ice cream fans to make use of Van Leeuwen’s Twitter feed to follow the truck and find it early on in the day, before all the good stuff is gone.

Lucky for me, there was another seasonal flavor on the menu – Egg Nog Ice Cream. The woman inside the truck was kind enough to let me sample the flavor, and I was sold. I ordered a small (yeah, right) cone – pictured below – and proceeded to devour it. Even for someone who’s not much of an ice cream fanatic, this cone did NOT disappoint. The ice cream itself was thick, sweet, and almost buttery, coating your palate but not making your mouth feel weighed down like some ice creams can do. The egg nog flavor, while not necessarily completely reminiscent of the holiday drink, was definitely a flavor of fall, with undercurrents of nutmeg and vanilla running through every lick. One of my fellow diners opted for the Ginger ice cream, which was extremely refreshing and, I was happy to taste, not at all overwhelming in ginger flavor, which can be very potent. All in all, Van Leeuwen’s definitely rounds out the top of my list of favorite ice creams, and I definitely recommend surrendering self-control and ordering a heavenly cone if you ever cross paths with this yellow truck.

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