Amateur Foodie Adventures

Breaking news........

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 15:18:00 +0000

Hey folks - this is my last post here because my new website is live today!

Same great food events. Kickin' new website.

www.foodeventfiend.com

My New Site Launches This Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:33:00 +0000

Fearless readers,

My new site launches this weekend and I've got great new posts ready to share.

If there are any unexpected redirect issues, you can find me at www.foodeventfiend.com

Thanks for reading!

Under Construction

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 03:15:00 +0000

Fearless Readers......I'm in the midst of a complete website overhaul.

Stay tuned for the launch of my new site very soon!

How Many Sliders Can You Eat in 5 minutes?

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:05:00 +0000

24 sliders in 5 minutes

Four brave souls stepped up to the plate (literally) for The Burger Bowl - a gut busting slider eating competition - held at The Burger Bistro in Bay Ridge.

Hosted by the League of Amateur Competitive Eaters (LACE), this event catered to amateurs and first timers only.

Each competitor stared down a platter of 24 two oz. sliders with buns. Crucial competitive eating lubricants on hand included large bottles of tap water with bowls of ketchup and BBQ sauce on the side.

Judge and semi-pro eater, Will “The Champ” Millender, schooled the amateur eaters on the finer points of competitive eating. Will’s recommendation – lots of chewing. Avoid swallowing whole chunks.

After the enthusiastic crowd countdown, the iPad timer started and feasting began. Three minutes in, the men grimaced in pain while chewing and swallowing.

Johnny Bilancini (left) and Rob Blatt (right) chow down

L to R: Rob Blatt, Will True, and Matt Robicelli

Nearing the finish

Matt Robicelli (center) won the contest

Matt Robicelli, of Robicelli’s Cupcakes fame, won the competition by inhaling 13 sliders and Rob Blatt (Commissioner of LACE) took second place with 10. The two skinny guys - Will True and Johnny Bilancini - both downed 8 sliders forcing a tie for third place. Gift certificates and prizes were handed to the competitors and the festive crowd gobbled down the leftover untouched sliders.

Despite this being a smaller food event, blogger coverage was extensive on site as were the number of high end digital SLR’s endlessly flashing. Cheers to LACE and The Burger Bistro for drumming up good publicity.

Arancini Bros. Has Bushwick by the Balls

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:44:00 +0000

Bushwick just got a whole lot more Sicilian with the February 1^st opening of Arancini Bros. -- New York’s first and only Sicilian rice ball eatery.

Arancini means “little oranges” in Italian, which is exactly how these hearty rice balls look after a dunk in the deep fryer. Breaking a rice ball open reveals creamy aborio rice and a variety of fillings from the Arancini Bros. menu including:

Meat Ragu with saffron, peas and mozzarella

Mushroom with Taleggio

Shrimp with parsley, cream and shallots

Broccoli Beschamel with gruyere

Spinach and Ricotta

Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

Broccoli rabe with sausage

Meat Ragu with saffron, peas, and mozzarella

Dave Campaniello and Will Levatino are the champions behind Arancini Bros. and their memorable slogan “We’ve Got Balls.” The two became fast friends while touring as sound engineers in the music industry. Their transition into restaurants (Dave at Noodle Pudding and Will at Roberta’s), sparked their entrepreneurial spirit and they soon embarked on a 2 year arancini conceptualization process.

Will Levatino admires his balls

After much experimentation, and an excursion to Sicily to learn from true arancini masters, the duo successfully tested out their balls at the Hester Street Fair and the 9^th Avenue International Food Festival. They scored a primo spot at the epic Grub Street Food Festival where they sold a whopping 400 rice balls. Dave and Will knew they had to set up shop and take their business to the next level. Since food truck permits are difficult to obtain, (unless you go through the black market) the fellas opted for a brick and mortar storefront.

Dave admits making rice balls is very labor intensive and time consuming. A batch of 75 balls takes a staggering four hours to make. The final step - frying them to crisp, chewy goodness - takes only 4-5 minutes.

Dave forms a batch of broccoli beschamel with gruyere rice balls

After breading, the balls get deep fried for 4-5 minutes

Ready to serve

Rice Balls are $3.00 each

Storefront at night

One new rice ball will rotate onto the menu every 2-3 weeks allowing for endless variety.

Arancini Bros.

Opens around 4pm

940 Flushing Ave (next to Wreck Room Bar)

L Train - Morgan Stop

Chilifest 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:32:00 +0000

Two thousand people herded into Chelsea Market on Sunday for Chilifest 2011, a gluttonous orgy of chili and beer brought to you by Dickson’s Farmstand Meats and The Cleaver Company.

24 restaurants and chefs vied for the $2,000 grand prize and ladled out sometimes spicy (but always meaty) chili into novelty mugs attendees carried from table to table. Three bands jammed and an unlimited amount of Brooklyn Brewery’s beer flowed.

Nick Suarez and Theo Peck of The Food Experiments

Nick and Theo's Chili featured 42 ingredients topped with

fried jalapeno chips and cilantro garlic aioli

Restaurants on site included Vinegar Hill House, who topped their slow cooked guajillo chili with pickled peppers and shredded cheddar cheese. Brooklyn favorite, The Commodore, served up cinnamon laced “Prison Chili” though the story behind the title wasn’t terribly exciting.

The Commodore's Chili Wranglers

Since kimchi rears it’s head at every single cook off competition this past year, Tolache kept the pickled flame alive by serving up Korean chili with jalapeno kimchi and mezcal crema. And sonofabitch, the cool crunch on top of meaty chili worked like gangbusters.

Kimchi in my chili

Teen Battle Chefs (a teen culinary competition group) served up vegan chili topped with sliced avocado or shaved chocolate bastardizing the dish to being only vegetarian. I nearly bypassed the table in a fit of carnivorous snobbery, but got a taste and was blown away. I’d have gone back for another serving if I wasn’t on my way to get my only second helping of the day from Food Network Test Kitchen.

I heart Food Network Kitchen's “Dr. Chili.” This chili scored big points in my book for it’s clean and balanced flavor. The chefs used an 80/20 ground beef mixture reduced with some Dr. Pepper (hence the “Dr. Chili” name). Toppings included shredded cheddar cheese, diced peppers and a squirt of cream.

The fine folks from Food Network Kitchen

Gettin' seconds of Dr. Chili

Northern Spy Food Co.'s chili won the big cash prize and the coveted Golden Chili Mug. Sad thing is, I somehow missed this table (along with about 4 other tables) in the chaotic crowd.

Proceeds from Chilifest 2011 went to Food Systems Network, whom I volunteered with onsite in exchange for the chance to eat my weight in free chili.

Beer Table's chili. The only chili I threw out.

Unattended chili during set up from Jimmy's No 43

24 Hour Restaurant Battle Taping

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 18:39:00 +0000

To blog or not to blog, that is the $750,000.00 question.

I scored a chance to be a taste tester for a taping of Season 2 of 24 Hour Restaurant Battle on Food Network. The show is a spin off of Top Chef's infamous Restaurant Wars episodes. On this show, two teams of amateur cooks/restauranteurs have 24 hours to open a restaurant for one night.

Celebrity judges critique the food and choose the $10,000 winner while a crowd of enthusiastic diners (like me) enjoy the restaurant's food and drink free booze in exchange for the slightly awkward experience of eating and talking about the food with cameras pointed at you.

While singing the multi page non disclosure agreement, I see the staggering amount I can be sued for if I talk about the show - $750,000.00.

Gadzooks that's a lot of money!

So I can't really say anything about what I saw or what I ate. Though I could go on for hours....

I can say that I accidently stumbled into the celebrity judges in the hallway. A hulking man in a grey suit was completely blocking the hallway. I said very loudly "Excuse me, can we get through?"

The man turns and it's none other than the show's host -- famed chef and restauranteur Scott Conant. My eyes open wide and I stand dazed, taking in his handsome face and perfectly manicured beard. He flashes a big smile and and steps aside. PR queen Alison Brod, also a judge, stands against the wall looking perfectly glamorous for TV.

I just happened to be passing through the hallway moments before the judges were cued to come out on set.

So to avoid being sued, I'm going to have to abruptly stop blogging here and leave you with a clip from Season 1 of 24 Hour Restaurant Battle. Season 2 will air in the Spring.

The Next Big Small Brand

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 01:18:00 +0000

I declare this the best concept food event ever!

The Next Big Small Brand contest, presented by Rooster Design Group, featured small food start ups that haven’t hit it big yet.

A sell out crowd packed the front room at Brooklyn Winery to meet the contests' five finalists and taste samples of their artisan products. The audience casted their vote for a People’s Choice award and a judges panel crowned a winner.

Liddabit Sweets sells caramel corn, brittle, lollipops,

caramels and candy bars

Here’s why you need to know about this remarkable contest -- instead of winning cash or cookware, the winner received 3 months free PR services from First Press Public Relations, branding and design services from Rooster Design Group, along with a 1 month prime vendor spot at the ultra hip Brooklyn Flea.

Beats winning another Le Creuset now doesn't it?

Bombay Emerald Chutney Company's five spicy chutneys

Pickled celery root brings big crunch and flavor to

Brooklyn Cure's country pate (on right)

Despite the excitement, a common problem tainted the event --- the sell out crowd caused a crippling bottleneck at each of the five finalist’s tables.

Bottlenecking happens at popular food events though it was especially trying on one's patience here. Each finalist’s table has room for 4 people to stand in front of it shoulder to shoulder, but you have a full capacity crowd vying for one of those coveted spots. When someone finally squeezed through to get in front of the table.....well you know what happens next. That person grazed through each and every sample and asked about 10 minutes worth of questions while the natives behind got restless.

Beats my Easy Bake Oven

Dark Double Fudge Brownie's make the wait worth it.

Despite the perils of constant bottlenecks, each finalist offered outstanding products which you can learn more about by heading over to Liza de Guia's videoblog Food Curated.

Brooklyn Cured - artisan charcuterie

Sweet Loren’s - ‘good for you’ cookie and brownie dough

La New Yorkina - Mexican ice pops

Liddabit Sweets - artisan candy makers

Bombay Emerald Chutney Company - authentic Indian chutney

Loren Brill of Sweet Loren’s won both the audience and judges awards last night so double congrats to her.

Hong Kong Supermarket and the Scary Meat Counter

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 14:20:00 +0000

Nightfall at Hong Kong Supermarket

Cheap prices, sketchy meat, and more bizarre Chinese canned goods than you can shake a chopstick at.

It’s just a typical Saturday afternoon inside the bustling Hong Kong Supermarket located on 8th Avenue and 81st street in Sunset Park -- the heart of Brooklyn’s Chinatown.

Oh yes, I smell a bargain. No....wait a minute.

That’s the overwhelming stench coming from the seafood and meat counters. It didn’t smell like fresh fish at all. This smell was something altogether evil and sinister.

To quote from the movie Anchorman, you could say...”It smells like Big Foot’s Dick!”

Bigger frogs than in Manhattan's Chinatown

Unidentifiable Seafood Items

More horrifying than the smell, is the sight of raw meat sitting out at the meat counter. A fly buzzes over what seemed to be ground pork and I stare quizzically at a bucket of meat on the floor with a knife handle sticking out. Is it stew meat or miscellaneous bits to use for stock? Or is it left here by mistake?

Is this ground meat 49 cents a pound since it's unrefrigerated?

Trimming the fat off of room temperature ribs

I nearly stroked out from seeing a display of raw chicken legs sitting in a plastic container that may or may not have ice hidden underneath it. A small bucket catches a dripping liquid that runs out of the side of the plastic container. Got salmonella?

Scene of the Crime -- Raw Chicken Legs

Patrons poke the raw chicken with tongs and pull select legs out to place into plastic bags.

Then it happens.

A woman accidentally drops a chicken leg on the floor.

Get ready for it.

She picks the chicken leg off the floor and puts it right back in with the chicken and selects another leg.

Mysterious Meat Bucket

Despite the frightening meat department, the rest of the Hong Kong Supermarket is relatively clean and expiration dates on packages, bottles and cans are all dated well into 2012 or 2013.

For food enthusiasts, I recommend allowing allowing about an hour to wander the aisles and read labels. Don't forget to grab a basket on your way in, because you'll undoubtedly get fired up to cook something wild and new, and with Chinatown prices, you can buy several specialized ingredients for about $10.00

Here is a little photo montage showing some particularly memorable items in the store.

Vegetarian Mock Abalone

Spicy Sriracha Peas

Cooked Salted Duck Egg Yolks

Ex-Ginseng Lover's Tea for Men and Women

Nuff said

Boy Scout Brand Shrimp Paste. Great for the campfire?

Dumbest product name and slogan

Happy 2nd Anniversary to Me!

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 11:48:00 +0000

Flushing Queens and Those Damn Beef Tendons...

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 16:46:00 +0000

Welcome to Flushing

Your mission should you choose to accept it -- eat your way through China via Flushing Queens.

Golden Mall

Flushing Foodie Hot Spot #1

Golden Mall - it's dingy and no frills, but oh so tasty

Adventurous eaters and Flushing locals know to hit this two floor “mall” of hole in the wall eateries serving the good and the offal. Some of you also know the Golden Mall from Anthony Bourdain’s visit on the Outer Boroughs episode of No Reservations.

But wait - didn’t you just say offal? Bring on the tripe and tender beef tendons!! [$3.00 per serving]

Chopping up our beef tendon

Bowl of half tripe and half tendons

Left - Beef tendon. Right - Spicy Tripe

Spicy, chewy tripe and the slightly gelatinous, but very tender beef tendons triggered an immediate unsettling of my nerves and stomach. It wasn’t the flavor but the texture that caused me to almost puke up the dan dan noodles I ate 10 minutes before. This was a case of my eyes being more adventurous than my stomach. But I still regret not trying the pig ears....

Pig Ears

What can I do to settle my stomach? Eat something Anthony Bourdain approved.

Xi'an Famous Food's counter

Anthony Bourdain approved Lamb Cumin Burger

We walked 3 feet over to Xi’an Famous Foods where I happily devoured one of their signature dishes - the Lamb Cumin Burger [$4.00]. It’s meaty, heavy handed with cumin and peppers, and drips spicy goodness all down your wrist. It was #2 on my top three eats of the day.

More importantly, my stomach was back on track and I was ready for more.

Flushing Mall

Flushing Foodie Hot Spot #2

Cafeteria style eating at the Flushing Mall

Skip the retail portion of the mall and follow your nose downstairs to the food court where your next adventure awaits you.

The shouting comes from here - Ay Chung Food

With close to ten cafeteria style restaurants, it’s hard to know where to begin. It’s a mass of Chinese eating sizzling meat skillets, slurping noodle soup, and chowing on spare ribs and rice. It smells wonderful but it’s hard to think with the staff at Ay Chung Food shouting in Chinese over the P.A. system that your number is ready. At least I think that’s what they are shouting....

Couldn't resist taking this gorgeous photo of the Prawn Soup

The food coming out of Ay Chung Food is beautiful and we notice the most popular dishes include the Salt and Pepper Chicken and the Prawn Soup. An English speaking local suggested we try the chicken and oh boy were we happy campers.

Salt and Pepper Chicken (we declined the rice side dish)

That's a tasty dipping sauce

Moist on the inside and crunchy fried with Chinese five spice on the outside, the chicken nugget type dish [$6.00 with rice on side] was very tasty. Adding the slightly sweet dipping sauce added another layer of flavor that made it my favorite item of the day.

Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao

Flushing Foodie Hot Spot #3

New Xiang's store front located at 38-12 Prince Street

Here it’s all about the soup dumplings. An older Chinese man sitting next to us gives us the low down.

He says the soup dumplings here are thinner skinned than Joe’s Shanghai which explains why they rip so easily when we pick them up with tongs out of the bamboo steamer. He really can’t recommend anything else to us on the menu, not even his own noodle soup dish. The soup dumplings are what people come here for and the restaurant has a staff of three feverishly cranking them out.

Use the tongs to pick up the top of your dumplings

Step 1: Bite dumpling top
Step 2: slurp soup out
Step 3: eat it all up

The English sign for New Xiang Xio is impossible to see from street level, so just look for the address over the door to find this place. On the menu - the dumplings are called Steamed Pork Buns [6 for $5.50]

That brings us to the bizarre and just plain weird items of the day.

The bizzare -- Red Bean Jelly for $ 1.50
Top layer is a slightly sweet red bean paste with whole red beans
over a flavorless J-ELLO type bottom

The weird -- Curry Cake for $1.25

Inside, it tasted like a dense sugary curry paste.

We didn't use the bathroom at this place

Christmas in Chinatown

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 22:16:00 +0000

Lo Mein with Pork and Pickled Cabbage

Ahh Christmas in Chinatown.

Men spitting in the streets.

Being jostled and bumped into every five seconds by locals.

A hunched over old Chinese woman angrily waves her cane so people get out of her way as she walks.

Whites and Chinese yell in different languages over who is next in line for pork buns.

Sing along with me.....”It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”

It’s actually pretty hilarious as Bev and I wander Chinatown negotiating the abrupt cultural differences and language barriers throughout our six hour eating extravaganza.

Excellent Pork Chop House

Guess what their specialty is?

A side of pork chop with our lo mein. And yes, Styrofoam cups for your tea
and water is a sign you're at a good hole in the wall place.

Taiwanese dumplings with spicy oil which wasn't very spicy at all.

Nice One Bakery

A random walk into another world.

Inside the nondescript Nice One Bakery, it's shockingly large and at full capacity. About 50 Chinese men, women and children are sitting at tables, sipping coffee from pink paper coffee cups. It's pretty quiet and we really stand out.

No one is eating inside this bakery which we find really odd. Why is everyone just sitting here? What are they waiting for? Whatever the reason, it's perfectly OK to order a $1 cup of coffee and sit taking up every last chair.

The counter at Nice One Bakery

Labels inside the bakery case are in Chinese only which means we are in the right kind of place to broaden our horizons. After a couple futile attempts to ask questions, we order two greasy fried items which they were almost sold out of. We gambled that the items must be popular and hopefully good.

Cracking open our fried rice ball reveals Chinese sausage,
mushrooms and a small quail egg which I mistook for an eyeball.

This fried scallion pancake type item tasted mostly like grease.

Nice One Bakery, which also goes by the name Very Good Bakery on the canopy signage outside, is not a place foodies go to. It's completely off the grid.

The ladies behind the counter are perplexed as we snap photos of our food and try to find good lighting in a dim lit bakery.

One lady yelled to us holding up a tray of freshly baked treats. She gestured for us to photograph it, which we happily took full advantage of. Then she walked away laughing and talking to other ladies. Somehow I don't think she knows what a food blogger is.....

Bev blotted off some of the grease on our pancake. Yikes!

I have no idea what these are.

Me Li Wah Bakery

Everyone inside was as angry looking as this woman.

It's survival of the fittest inside Mei Li Wah Bakery. The line doesn't move and locals have large orders making those of us in the back ordering one or two items highly irritated.

More Chinese patrons come in the door and immediately cut the non moving line causing chaos. The older White man ahead of us starts yelling about people cutting the line. The staff yelled back in Chinese and Broken English, the Chinese in line yelled and then more White people yelled.

I just laugh and shake my head in disbelief. Bev strong armed some pork buns after getting yelled at by an employee near the cash register. We keep laughing at the absurdity of it all and shout Merry Christmas to everyone on the way out the door. Here's what we scored --

One of Mei La Wah's signature small roast pork buns -
My favorite item of the day.

Large steamed pork bun with pork, chicken and scrambled egg inside.

East Corner Wonton

Duck and Pork over rice.

At East Corner Wonton, our waiter speaks good English and he cracks us up by not wanting to recommend any menu item to us at first. He shakes his head and holds up his hands in protest. After some prodding, he adamantly tells us to avoid the squid dish we wanted to order. So we opt for standard fare instead.

Dumpling soup

Grand China Bakery

My first and last encounter with Mochi

At the time, ordering neon green balls for dessert seems a good idea inside Grand China Bakery. We are told that "bean" was inside them. Imagine my shock as I pull it apart and see what's inside....it's black goo!

The green exterior is mochi, a Japanese glutinous rice cake pounded into paste, then formed into this hollow ball. The filling is sweet black bean with peanuts which tasted like peanuts rolled in a sugar paste. However, the gummy texture and bland taste of the exterior mochi is too revolting for me to handle.

We search on for better desserts and are temporarily thrown off course by an unexpectedly horrid Chinese Spice Cookie at Natalie Bakery. But we find success at our last stop of the day....

New Wing Wah Bakery

Success! We find a simple yet wonderfully named Crispy Custard

Inside is a firm custard filling that is a mildly sweet - the perfect ending.

Casting Call - Cultural History Through Cooking

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:41:00 +0000

CASTING CALL
Deadline for submissions is January 7th.

Now Casting Familys that Celebrate their Cultural History through Cooking!

Do you enjoy blending your family's "Old World" recipes with American Cuisine? Do you come up with inventive ways to bring your culture's cooking traditions into your kitchen?

If so, **Left/Right TV, an award-winning television production company wants to hear from you!

We are working on a new television show about families who reinvent traditional dishes to reflect their unique cultural backgrounds & their love of American cuisine. Most importantly, we are looking for family stories that revolve around food (e.g. did your Persian rice survive the Iranian Revolution? Did your kugel come over with your bubby? Do you still serve your abuela’s mole?). Whether you have a new take on latkes, a bold approach to burritos, or have invented an entirely new dish that combines your family’s two cultures, we want to hear from you!
To be considered—or to nominate others—please write to us at culturaldishescasting@gmail.com with the following information:

· Names, ages & occupations of everyone in your household. Please include a few [non-returnable] photographs, if possible.

· City and state of residence. Tell us about your hometown.

· Brief family bio, including the different cultures and traditions upheld in your household.

· Brief description of your family’s passion for cooking. Please also mention any dishes that you enjoy cooking together—specifically, any which draw upon your family’s unique cultural background(s).

· Interesting stories or facts about your family that relate to food (e.g. stories about how a certain dish helped your family to get through a difficult time, recipes that have been in the family for generations, inventive ways of gathering ingredients, unique ways food is used and/or served in your family, etc.).

· Your best contact phone number(s), e-mails, etc.

Thank you, and we look forward to hearing from you!

**Left/Right is a nonfiction television production that specializes in telling real stories about extraordinary people. Our series run the gamut from the Emmy-winning documentary series This American Life, to VH1’s formidable competition show I Want to Work for Diddy, to historical documentaries for HISTORY. If you are interested in learning more about Left/Right, we encourage you to visit our website: www.leftright.tv/.

Upcoming Event: The Brooklyn Holiday Experiment

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:57:00 +0000

The Holiday Food Experiment

Sunday December 5th, 2010 4-7pm

Bell House

149 7th St. Brooklyn, NY 11215

Tickets On Sale Now! Purchase here!

Waitlist for Competition Spots!

Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 day of event

Scotch Whisky After party in front lounge immediately following event

Cookoff pros Theo Peck and Nick Suarez present NYC's premier culinary competition, the Holiday Food Experiment. New York's top home chefs will prepare their favorite holiday inspired dishes ranging from sweet to savory! We'll see a bevy of belt loosening, family bickering, nap inducing recipes that have been passed down through the generations. You'll see spiked egg nog, giblet gravy shots or even a whole holiday goose! You the audience, along with esteemed culinary judges will select NYC's next cookoff king or queen.

Tons of Cash and Prizes for the Cookoff Winners!

JUDGES

Andrew Knolton, restaurant editor at Bon Appétit magazine

Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery

More TBA...

A portion of ticket sales will help support Ovarian Cancer Research

Please visit http://www.thefoodexperiments.com/ for more information.

Contact Email: thefoodexperiments@gmail.com

WHO ARE WE?

Nick Suarez and Theo Peck are NYC's top cookoff competitors. They now host their own cooking competition series, the wildly popular Food Experiments. We have held six cookoffs involving beer, cheese, chocolate, tacos, brunch and Brooklyn Roots. Serious Eats blog has dubbed us the NYC cookoff kings! Nick and Theo were recently challenged by none other than Bobby Flay in a hot dog Throwdown on the Food Network and won! Tune in and watch here!

RECENT NEWS

2011 - Brooklyn Brewery Sponsored National Tour including Miami, Austin, Boston, DC, Philly and Brooklyn! More info soon...

-Watch a short video about the Food Experiments at http://vimeo.com/7529495

-Theo and I are also available to cater your next party. Any time. Any place. More info here.

-Sponsors include Brooklyn Brewery, Le Creuset, Whisk, Food52, Brooklyn Slate, Diner Journal and Crif Dogs!

The Business of Baking at Melt Bakery

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 18:22:00 +0000

You’ve heard me gush about Melt Bakery’s fried apple and pumpkin pie. I tweeted about it. I Facebooked about it. So it’s no surprise that I chased the owners down like a 14 year old girl after Justin Beiber so I could talk shop with the men behind the pie.

Julian Plyter (an experienced pastry chef) and Kareem Hamady (an idea guy interested in food and skilled in business) launched Melt Bakery in June by slinging their ice cream and cookie sandwiches at the Hester Street Fair. Six months later, the duo has their sites set on occupying a neighborhood storefront to grow their Lower East Side roots.

I met Julian and Kareem in East Broadway’s kitchen, the space they currently occupy to plan their world domination and make some righteously good cookies.

Julian loves the creativity his work provides along with customers’ overwhelmingly positive response. But don’t let his free spirited nature fool you. Julian documents variables on everything, from oven temperatures to the spacing of cookies on trays. He also admits he totally dorks out and makes spreadsheets breaking down recipe costs that rival the complexity of Kareem’s financial spreadsheets. Don’t believe me? Just ask Julian how much it costs for ¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar.

Kareem Hamady loves the tangible aspect of Melt Bakery. It’s much easier to analyze what works and doesn’t work in a cookie than in buying and fixing businesses. At the end of a day, he can successfully analyze his product and say if the cookies are too crunchy or soft and fix it. Problem solved.

Melt Bakery’s business savvy stuns me and makes it a standout food startup. Kareem emphasizes they aren’t flying by the seat of their pants. They have plans for every iteration of what their business does and they consistently evaluate efficiency, cost, margins, and growth.

They take this same business acumen and apply it to the baking classes they offer, especially the wildly popular three hour Food Startup course.

The Food Startup class targets people who are either just starting out or are a few months behind Melt Bakery. Kareem and Julian have just gone through the grueling process of starting up and everything is fresh in their memory ready to pass on to willing students. The class has a kitchen perspective focusing on equipment, production, licensing, and purveyors along with a crucial business perspective delving into debt equity, analytics, technology and corporate structure.

But leave your delusions at the front door when you take this class. Think baking a lot of muffins at home qualifies you to open a bakery shop? No way Jose. Julian and Kareem will give you a reality check like your no nonsense grandmother.

Food Startup students are encouraged to follow up with Julian and Kareem with their many questions. They’ve also welcomed students to help out in the kitchen or volunteer at Melt Bakery's stand at the Hester Street Fair. That's good business karma. Combining that with Julian and Kareem's business intensity helps ensure that Melt Bakery will thrive in the future.

Melt Bakery is busy wholesaling and catering for the fall and winter. Head over to their website and show Julian and Kareem some love.

Coffee for Purists - Stumptown Coffee Roasters

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:57:00 +0000

Real Mugs for real coffee drinkers

Will New Yorkers travel to an out of the way neighborhood, wait twenty minutes in line, and pay $3 or $4 for a cup of coffee?

They will at Stumptown Coffee Roasters in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

As a non coffee drinker, I was perplexed about what compelled people to wait so long for coffee. I knew Stumptown’s coffee had to be remarkable, but a remarkable product on its own just doesn’t cut it these days.

There has to be a hook.

The hook at Stumptown is the experience of being in the "Tasting Room." It’s quiet, it’s calm. For a coffee venue, that’s pretty unusual.

No one shouts

No one pounds away on laptops

No one yammers away on cellphones

No one eats scones, croissants or biscotti (only coffee is served)

No one reads

No one lingers long

Behind the counter

The pour over brewing method

Costa Rican beans inside

More bags of coffee beans

Stumptown keeps it pure. Removing the distractions allows you to focus on enjoying your sublime coffee. You sit, savor it, and relax at the large communal table for a short time.

Despite Flaming Lips playing from the back room, this is a serious place. I’m trying to hide the fact that I haven’t had a cup of coffee since 1995.

While my coffee junkie friend Bev waits in line, I get a closer look at the immense chalkboard menu and it seems to be written in hieroglyphics. I can’t pronounce the names of coffee...only the country of origin - Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, Ethiopia.

Six different brewing methods listed sound like chemistry experiments - hario v60, pour over, aeropress, vacuum pot, french press, chemex.

I'm overwhelmed and hang back while Bev orders a cup of Holler Mountain brewed as a pour over. It takes several minutes to freshly brew each cup, but everyone in line waits patiently.

I sipped some and it tasted like......coffee, but lacking the usual aftertaste. Sure it tasted good, but I wouldn't really know good coffee if Juan Valdez himself was handing me a cup.

What I do know, is that if you are serious about coffee, you must head over to Stumptown's Red Hook location at 219 Van Brunt Street. They are open weekends from 10:00 - 3:00 pm.

Vintage signage

First coffee I've had since 1995

24 Hour Restaurant Battle: NY Casting Call

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 22:31:00 +0000

Have you always dreamed of running your own restaurant?

Who should apply:

Two person teams with pre-existing relationships. Husband/wife, ex-husband/wife, father/daughter, mother/son, newlyweds, brothers, sisters, twins, cousins, best friends etc.

Those with the skills to run a restaurant. Applicants may have lots restaurant experience, no restaurant experience, or some combination of them both. One member of the team will run the “back of the house” and one member will run the “front of the house”. As a team you must have the skills to open and run a restaurant!

Those with lots of personality. Teams must be charismatic and outgoing! Must have lots of energy!

New York casting call information:

date: 11/14/2010

time: 12pm - 3 pm

location: Hilton Long Island Huntington

598 Broadhollow Rd. Melville, NY 11747

Please go to www.24hourrestaurantbattle.com to download two applications (one for you, one for your partner). Please bring completed applications along with recent photos to the casting call.

E-mail casting24li@gmail.com with any questions.

Bev's Food Tour: Red Hook, SoHo, Chinatown

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 20:28:00 +0000

Bev likes to laugh at the fact that I write a food blog, yet I've never been to many of the great food places she's been to. What can I say....I focus on food events and don't have much time or money to hit the bazillion latest and greatest foodie hot spots. But this past Saturday, I had the time. Bev came to my rescue and lead me on an impromptu cheap eats adventure.

We started off in Red Hook, Brooklyn.....

"Sweet & Salty" cupcake from Baked in Red Hook

Dark chocolate cake infused with a salty caramel, caramel chocolate ganache

$2.00

Portland's Stumptown Coffee has been open in Red Hook for 6 weeks.

Only for hardcore coffee fanatics. Weekends only 10 am - 3 pm

Separate blog post to follow this week...

Choose from 6 brewing methods - this is the pour over

$3.00

It's the infamous Red Hook Vendors!

This is the El Olomega Salvadorian Pupusa Truck

Cookin' up pupusas to order

The Pupusa platter with 1 sausage/cheese and 1 pork/cheese pupusa

$5.00

Then we crossed over into SoHo....

At Raffetto's on Houston. Watching this machine cut my fresh rosemary pasta tagliatelle style

$1.73 for 3/4 lb

Meet the Vendy Award's 2010 Rookie of the Year -- Souvlaki GR Truck

You guessed right.....it's Greek

Thanks to twitter (@souvlakitruck) we found them at Spring & Mercer in SoHo

Grilled Pork Souvlaki pita with red onion, tzatziki, tomato

$3.50

Then into Chinatown!

Chinatown's Golden Steamer Bakery on Mott Street

Their Pumpkin Buns were featured in Serious Eats

Package of 6 for $3.75

Another Chinese bun from another Chinese bakery (I forget which kind)

$1.00

Vanessa's Sesame Pancake with Peking Duck

$2.25

Damn, that's a lot of food for not a lot of money and I didn't even include our brief stops at Joe's Dairy, Parisi Bakery, Pino's Meat Market Meats and Prosperity Dumplings (5 for $1).

Bev - Thanks for tour guiding!

Space Food: It’s More Than Just Tang & Astronaut Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 16:23:00 +0000

Since the late 1990s, Taco Bell brand tortillas have been aboard every space mission as a bread option because of their extended shelf life lasting one full year.

Now that’s some Jeopardy trivia for you.

I learned this bit o’ space trivia at a lecture and tasting promoting the launch of The Astronaut’s Cookbook: Tales, Recipes, and More held at the American Museum of Natural History as part of their Adventures in the Global Kitchen series.

Early space food and packaging

Authors Charles T. Bourland and Gregory L. Vogt tag teamed the geeked out audience with stories, photos, facts, and a microgravity experiment before we adjourned to taste 3 recipes featured in the book.

Some questions NASA wrangled with since the early 1960s Apollo missions are:

• How can you drink in space if you can’t pour liquids due to microgravity?

• Can dressing keep cucumber and tomato slices from floating off of your salad?

• Can a gelatin coating on sandwiches prevent bread crumbs from flying around the space shuttle?

• And the inevitable.....if astronauts are eating food, how will they go to the bathroom?

Space food constantly evolved due to countless experiments and engineering. In the early 1960s, astronauts ate food -- like applesauce -- out of packaging resembling toothpaste tubes.

Gradually, NASA created solid food options such as Beef with Vegetables which astronauts rehydrated with hot water. More experimentation lead to using early microwave ovens and heaters built inside food trays to properly heat up food creating appetizing meals that astronauts wanted to eat.

Today’s astronauts stay at the International Space Station for several months at a time and feast on a wide range of options including Emeril Lagasee’s crab cakes.

Paula Hall's Super Lemon Bars

Small samples of Garbanzo Bean Burgers

The recipes we tasted were freshly cooked by Restaurant Associates. Understandably, we didn’t get the full space food experience since the food wasn't freeze dried and we weren't weightless in orbit. However, the food was above average and I gave two space thumbs up to the Garbanzo Bean Burgers and Paula Hall’s Super Lemon Bars. Thankfully those recipes were surprisingly straight forward and didn’t contain any Clearjel instant starch (whew!)

10th Annual Pickle Day

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:12:00 +0000

Is it possible to throw an entire festival in honor of pickles?

Of course it is....especially in the Lower East Side where the historically Jewish neighborhood was home to many Jewish pushcarts and storefronts selling bialys, smoked fish, rughelach, knish, and pickles in the early twentieth century.

All things pickled made an appearance today from whiskey sour pickles to smoked pickled okra to the increasingly ubiquitous kimchi.

Jars and jars of pickled food for sale

Pickled garlic scapes tasted really great

Newton Farm's spread of pickled goodness

The three most unusual pickle themed foods were:

Peanut Butter and Co.'s pickle and peanut butter sandwiches - this combo did NOT work

Pickle and Chorizo pizza

I didn’t try the pickle and chorizo pizza, but the man standing next to me said it actually worked.

Perhaps because the pickle was chopped so small it wasn’t overwhelming.

Pickle Truffles by Roni Sue’s Chocolates

Created for today's festival, I tried a piece and didn’t taste much pickle flavor which was a good thing.

The remaining foods available for sampling were traditional pickled items. Well known local pickle producers Guss’ Pickles, McClure's Pickes, Rick’s Picks and Brooklyn Brine were all on the scene. McClure’s Pickles won my vote for best pickle with their straightforward garlic dill pickles.

Brooklyn Brine handed out whole Whiskey Sour Pickles

Handing out samples for the kiddies

McClure's served up garlic dill pickles on the left and spicy on the right

Rick's Picks handed out whole pickles and samples of smoked okra

Guss' pickles and pickled peppers

Some neighborhood food vendors (of the non pickle variety) included An Choi restaurant, Saxelby Cheesemongers, Russ and Daughters, and Roasting Plant coffee.

Good turnout and happy faces ensures that next year will be just as good as this one. But I have to say this was the first food festival where I left without feeling full. Have to say you just can't pack away pickles like you can pork.

Phat Beets from Rick's Picks'

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 23:25:00 +0000

Souvenir from Rick's Picks' stand at the Pickle Festival

named after their top selling aromatic pickled beets

Note: Serious Eats' own Ed Levine has the same t shirt.

Courtesy of Lingbo Li at her blog lingboli.com

Grub Street Food Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 20:11:00 +0000

The menu on the Mexicue Food Truck

Hosted by New York Magazine and the Hester Street Fair, the Grub Street Food Festival stunned Manhattan’s Lower East Side with food from 40+ vendors including Waffles n’ Dinges, Mile End Deli, Pies ‘n Thighs, Mexique Truck, and Pako Taco. It was the place to be on Saturday and I joined fellow food blogger Kathy Blake from The Experimental Gourmand and friends extra early to gorge before the crowd became an impenetrable wall.

Just a few people showed up....

Smile Restaurant's Grilled Cheese with Tomato Jam and Pickled Red Onions

Arancini Bros scored a primo table right up front selling four varieties of their wondrous fried Sicilian rice balls: Escarole and White Bean Puree, Tuna and Capers, Pumpkin and Mascarpone Cream, and Meat Ragu with Mozzarella. My first bite of the day was the escarole and white bean arancini. Fresh out of the frier, with a rich and creamy center, it was the perfect start to the fried foods that soon followed. As a new business, Arancini Bros sell periodically at the Hester Street Fair since they don’t have a shop or truck just yet. I highly recommend you check them out since they make a really great product. Find them on twitter @arancinibros

Arancini Alla Scarola e Fagioli: sauteed escarole, white beans, and stracchino cheese

Aracini Bros tweeted that they completely sold out by 2:15pm.

Progressing down the narrow aisle of vendors, we found Melt Bakery selling ice cream sandwiches and fried pies. What’s that you say? Fried pie? Santa came early for me this year and he happens to be a pastry chef named Julian Plyter. While Kathy honed in on the molasses cookie and pumpkin pie ice cream sandwich, I faced the difficult decision between fried apple pie and fried pumpkin pie. I wisely chose both and gained the distinction of being the 4th person in NYC to try the fried pumpkin pie with graham cracker crust and ginger sugar mix.

Plyter and business partner Kareem Hamady just got this upstart business off the ground. They’ve developed 25 different ice cream sandwiches and are trying them out weekends at the Hester Street Fair. Ingenious work fellas. You have one happy customer who will spread the word.

Pastry Chef Julian Plyter ready to fry pie

The Kareem (pistachio ice cream sandwich on the upper right) is named after business partner Kareem Hamady

All I want for Christmas is fried pie.

The Fried Apple Pie smells wonderful with ground clove in the sugar mix.

Filipino BBQ Pork Spare rib Adobo. The sight of these ribs caused me to get stopped five times by awestruck folks while snaking my way through the undulating crowd of foodies. I directed them all to Purple Yam’s tent in the back corner with the enormously long line. Hailing from Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, Purple Yam also sold BBQ chicken adobo and steamed pork belly buns.

BBQ Pork Spare rib adobo with rice and cucumber salad

Purple Yam is cookin' up some Filipino grub

I want to give a special shout out to Greenpoint’s own BaconMarmalade who was on the scene. I’ve been keeping an eye on Chef Ross Hutchinson since last Winter when he became a buzzworthy fixture in my old neighborhood for his sweet, salty, tasty bacon spread. They debuted their new spicy bacon marmalade at the festival. Visit his website to find out where you can get some yourself.

Spicy BaconMarmalade debuts on the left. Original BaconMarmalade on the right.

Here are some additional photos for your viewing pleasure

Mexicue Truck vendor writing up the daily specials

Nijiya Market's taiyaki was supposed to have sausage inside the Japanese fish shaped cake.

But, it turned out to be plain old hot dog.

Il Buco's Panna Cotta all’ Aceto Balsamico: “cooked cream” drizzled with ten-year-aged balsamic vinegar

Cranberry Pecan bread from Pain D'Avignon

Mackin' on a pastrami sandwich from Mile End Deli

Pig Island

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 23:55:00 +0000

Grillin' up pork with fresh herbs

Got Pork?

As part of Eat Drink Local week, Governor’s Island was transformed into a pork lover’s paradise on Saturday for Pig Island - a local food and beer festival featuring 20 chefs and cooks from NY establishments. Locally brewed Sixpoint Craft Ales and New York State wines were also on hand to wash down all the grub.

Participants worked with locally sourced ingredients including pigs from Flying Pigs Farms, The Piggery and Violet Hill Farm.

The scene was 100% chill backyard BBQ party. Folks wore novelty pork t shirts, plastic pig snouts were handed out, beer was free flowing, and some happily laid out in the grass soaking up the sun while digesting obscene amounts of pork.

Festival organizer, Jimmy Carbone of Jimmy’s No 43, served up an apple mead-brined Grilled Pork with Red Jacket Plums. I’d expect perfect pork from Jimmy since I ate some fabulous pork belly and pork shoulder at his restaurant in the past. He delivered to a tee with perfectly moist pork.

Apple mead brinded pork with plum

Mary Cleaver of The Green Table in Chelsea Market served up a pulled pork stew with corn that packed big flavor. I was glad to encounter her dish early in the afternoon because I could easily polish off the entire portion. I found Emily Peterson cooking up a storm with Mary. It’s always good to see talented chefs you know working on your food. You can read more about Emily's culinary career here.

Mary Cleaver's Pork Stew

Nick Suarez and Theo Peck of The Food Experiments made a knock ‘em dead pulled pork with braised fennel stuffed porcine with chimichurri aoli. The flavor was complex and rich and like many others, Nick & Theo ran out at the end of the day which goes to show that their pork-in-pork dish makes many people happy.

Nick & Theo's Pulled Pork with Chimichurri Aoli

A special shout out goes to Heather Carlucci of Print restaurant for her outrageous Maple Bacon Sticky Buns. As the only sweet dish, she needed to deliver big and boy did she. Heather was the only participant I intentionally went back to for seconds (and I don’t even like sweets much). Alas, Heather ran out and I wanted to drop to my knees and throw my hands in the air much like Willem Dafoe when he dies at the end of Platoon.

Heather Carlucci working her magic

Maple Bacon Sticky Buns that make life worth living.

What? No more sticky buns?!?!

A small army of volunteers, including myself, were on hand all day helping with ticketing, greeting, and even a few poor souls were assigned trash detail. A couple of volunteer coordinators were poorly organized at the onset causing extensive delays getting volunteers deployed. But once we got to work, everything went smoothly and everyone was able to partake in the festivities.

Joe Dobias (right) of JoeDoe served slow cooked pork with a homemade lard biscuit

Sammy Barbieri of the Fuhgeddaboutit BBQ Team and Waterfront Ale House

Pig Island was a big hit with an appropriately sized crowd and outdoor location that kept lines short and gave attendees ample time to talk with chefs. Between making new friends, running into familiar faces all while eating great food and sipping beers all day is precisely the reason why I live in NYC. God bless you Jimmy for putting together Pig Island. We all salute you.

Atlantic Antic

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 18:10:00 +0000

The curb is the only place to sit and rest at the Atlanic Antic

The Atlantic Antic is the mother of all street fairs held annually on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, NY. The fair stretches a full mile from 4th Avenue west towards Hicks Street. Street vendors, live music, food stands, beer stands, bikini clad women dancing in go go boots, and entertainment for kids draws over one million people which is more people concentrated in one location than I’ve seen in my entire life.

Planning what and where to eat is a task almost as difficult as navigating the slow, snaking crowd.

Uncle Oscar's Island Cuisine Jerk Center is on the scene

Caribbean Pot Restaurant offered goat, chicken, beef, or vegetable roti

Yes, this is what the densely packed crowd looked like for one full mile

The food stands represent Brooklyn’s diversity. You can sample a wide array of Caribbean food including salt and bake, roti, escovitch, curry crab, jerk pork, peanut punch and sorrel drink. You can eat at Lebanese or Yemeni restaurants or at Bedouin Tent, my favorite falafel place in Brooklyn.

Atlantic Avenue churches serve up traditional Soul Food from fried chicken to mac ‘n cheese to collards and corn bread cooked in their own kitchens. Most restaurants along the way set up tables serving various sandwiches, snacks and a surprising amount of oysters and clams.

Jolie restaurant sold hefty roast pork sandwiches with onions and horseradish mayo

Salvatore Bklyn's amazingly sweet, but not sugary, fresh ricotta cannoli

The House of the Lord Pentecostal Church has a long line and a no nonsense woman frying chicken to order in two large cast iron pans. The full menu offers peas & rice, mac ‘n cheese, fish cakes, corn bread, collards, and fried or baked chicken. Honestly though, I never saw any baked chicken. Later that afternoon, the church choir, complete with guitar and drums, got their groove on the church front steps singing about who else? The mighty JC.

Two pots for frying chicken to order

Fried chicken, collard greens and cornbread

The New York Transit Museum hosts their annual vintage bus festival in tandem with the Atlantic Antic. I couldn’t help but notice how narrow the aisles, doors and seats are on vintage MTA buses. Packed during rush hour, Bus #2969 in 1948 must have truly been hell on wheels.

Bus # 2969, 1948

Famous for being the the bus Jackie Gleason posed in for The Honeymooner's publicity photos

Air conditioning wasn't installed on transit buses until 1956

Four boys posing for photos out the window

1958 bus fitted with fiberglass seats

The Last Supper Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Amateur Foodie) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:15:00 +0000

Check out the intricate bones inside the fish

Art. New Media. Food. Music. Put them together and you have a multi-sensory experience known as The Last Supper Festival, held at 3rd Ward, the premier creative design center in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The festival’s overarching concept explores complex issues of consumption.

The Last Supper had something for everyone. A “sacrificial lamb” fed the masses, a DJ spun tunes out back, a blindfolded woman sifted grain beside three chickens, digital projections showed tiny people inside glass bottles getting "defensive" upon closer examination. Family crests for the disenfranchised hung on the wall. And then there was the gallery that I spent the most time in - the food art gallery.

Taking in some art

The unusual “Bread Bed” by Glenda Reed explored the idea of bread as comfort food and invited audience members to lie down and eat from the edible bed of freshly baked bread. Located in the center of the gallery, most people sat down or stretched out on the bread, rather than taking a bite. Why? I’m guessing many were too creeped out to eat bread that was just under someone’s ass.

What remains of "The Bread Bed"

Two women relaxing on The Bread Bed

Chefs Jan Habraken and Alissia Melka-Teichroew used a professional laser cutter to laser cut food into stunning and precise edible art. The “Amuse Piglet” consisted of laser cut boiled ham on dark German Rye bread. “Alphabet Soup” was a clear poultry consumme with Helvetica pasta and vegetables. These pieces were the most professional looking works in the food gallery. But then again, having a laser cutter as your instrument pretty much guarantees precision now doesn’t it?

Alphabet Soup

Amuse Piglet

Shelly Sabel’s “Bloody Mary” Jell-O appealed to the recovering Catholic inside me since the Jell-O formed the likeness of the blessed Virgin Mary herself. Hallelujiah! Sabel created a complete shrine complete with mini Tabasco sauce bottles in honor of the Bloody Mary mix that infused her heavenly tomato aspic.

Virgin Mary Jell-O infused with Bloody Mary Mix

Picnic Tables out back for those to get their grub on

Tear off a piece of different lettuces from Slippery Slope Farm

and dip it in the dressing provided

Parked outside 3rd Ward, was the still underground and very buzzworthy food truck - Jen ‘n Outlaw’s Fish Fry. With American flag a-waving in the breeze, this kitchy dynamic duo serve up catfish po’ boys, boiled crawfish, and crispy fried pickles out of a food truck they bought off of Craigslist and retrofitted with it’s own hydraulic seating area. Outlaw may be dressed like he stepped out of the movie Deliverance, but he’s legit and so is their down and dirty cooking. Check 'em out on twitter @jenandoutlaws.

Jen 'n Outlaw's down 'n dirty fish fry truck

Outlaw is keeping it real

The crispiest fried pickles ever complete with dill sauce