Monday, December 27, 2010

The 3 P's


Pizza, Pommes Frites, and Peanut Butter: delicious!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've been pining for some duck fat french fries for a long time now. Unfortunately I was informed that Pommes Frites, the most notorious french fry shop in the city, uses vegetable and canola oil, not duck fat. This was a very dissappointing discovery, but I soon forgot my sadness once I took a bite of these hot, crispy potato wedges.









The fries themselves were cooked to perfection and the gourmet sauces were mouthwateringly flavorful. My favorite was the garlic and rosemary mayo, but the truffle mayo, mango chutney, and pineapple vietnamese sauce were close contenders!





As if we weren't already full enough, my cousins and I climbed through the heaps of snow to find our next food destination: Peanut Butter and Co. This specialty food restaurant has been on my tummy to-do list for a while.




As a peanut butter enthusiast, I was intrigued when I first learned of this delightful sandwich shop. Among their many peanut butter creations are luscious desserts and sweet and savory sandwiches.


















As usual, my eyes lit up when I saw the word Bacon grace the blue and white menu. As I read the title of the sandwich which included my favorite pig product, I realized it was in fact an Elvis! Growing up in Vegas, Elvis was always a personal hero of mine and I heard many stories as a child about his famous Peanut Butter, Banana, Honey, and Bacon grilled sandwich. Of course I could not pass up this opportunity to try this interesting combo, and I was not disappointed in the least! I get the feeling this is going to become one of my go to quick meals.

For desert I indulged in a bite of my cousins' incredibly sugary, gooey "Peanut Butter Cup Sandwich." A nice simple combo of crunchy Peanut Butter and Nutella, it's just one of those things that makes you say "mmmmmmmmmmmmm."


I am proud to say that nothing could stop me from reaching my taste-bud goals today, even
with the biggest blizzard since the 1940's (at least according to my grandma). Tomorrow I have my sights set on some serious West African food, hopefully they won't be snowed in!



Peanut Butter & Co on Urbanspoon
Pommes Frites on Urbanspoon

Blizzard Breakfast of Champions


With over a foot of snow stopping us from hunting down duck fat french fries, we made the best of our situation by getting a nice greasy nutritious meal delivered right to our door. You guessed it, pizza! Ordinarily when I eat pizza for breakfast it's a cold slice from the Boot leftover from the night before. This on the other hand was according to my cousins "New York's finest pizza." I don't know how it compares to other pie establishments, but La Traviata was quite good. Salty and savory, with a nice thin crust, a great start to my day.






Time to convince my cousins to go sledding with me in Central Park!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Tasty Travels


As a resident of New Orleans I have an endless supply of delicious food to choose from. However, variety is not the name of the game. The South is not exactly known for its' availability of say Cuban or Vegan food, although we do have some great Vietnamese food on the West Bank of the Mississippi River; but if you like spicy food you are well taken care of!

Since we have a somewhat limited supply of ethnic cuisine, I get extremely excited to come home to LA for winter break and explore all types of new dishes. I was lucky enough to not only go out West but also go to New York this year. I just got to Manhattan last night but I've already had three delicious meals. I have a to-do list of various specialty restaurants in the city that I MUST try before I leave, and my cousins are fully prepared to be dragged all over town (even with the blizzard) to try strange concoctions and new cuisines. I came fully prepared with tums and pepto.

But before I get into all the new food adventures I am about to embark on in New York, let me first share with you some photos of delectable treats I stumbled upon in LA.



Indonesian Food from IndoCafe. Sooooo Goooooood!!!!!! It was fully packed with every kind of protein imaginable (except fish). This incredible dish consisted of Rice, Tempeh, Tofu, Beef, Indonesian Fried Chicken, Egg, Green Beans, Baby Corn, and two delicious spicy pepper sauces all wrapped in a giant Banana Leaf! Absolutely Ravishing!!!!!


My poor nice Jewish parents had to watch me eat this deliciously unkosher breakfast of a pineapple chicken sausage and applewood smoked bacon omelet stuffed inside a buttery croissant... glorious!!!! Thank you Cafe Laurent.




A strange snack a sweet little Chinese woman gave me on the airplane to NYC. I'm not sure if it was candied figs or some other strange chinese fruit. Whatever it was it wasn't very good, the lady spoke no English and I didn't want to offend her so I dug right in to my handful of mystery wormy looking munchies. I was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't dried fish, which was my first guess, but I struggled to get through more than one of these strange treats.


Since I introduced my 14 year old cousin to thisiswhyyourefat.com, he's been my partner in crime in disgusting food concoctions. After sufficiently frosting my uncles birthday cake this evening (and eating half the frosting) we decided to get a little creative...






We tried frosting dipped Marshmallows, Starburst, and even cape cod potato chips!

Michael, the sugar fiend in the family, tried the sweets, but I attempted the chip-frosting combo with him, and it was actually pretty good! It tasted just like a yogurt covered pretzel... yummy.

Time to rest up for my big day tomorrow trudging through the 14-20 inches of snow tomorrow to complete my quest for duck fat french fries at Pommes Frites! Merry Munching!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Bacon Loving BuJew

For those of you who don't already know, a BuJew is a confused or rebellious Jew that has veered slightly off the path of menorahs and dreidels towards the alluring spirituality of Buddhism. I once thought of myself as a BuJew, but have recently come to question that title. I come from a long line of mildly to extremely religious Jews that don't exactly sympathize with my interest in the Dalai Lama.

Growing up, my family kept kosher; which meant that I never had the joy of ordering a kid's meal at McDonalds, getting a pepperoni pizza at Domino's, or even eating skittles or gummi worms. By the time I was 16 I had already developed a somewhat rebellious interest in buddhism and Eastern religions, and as if my palette was not already restricted enough, I decided to become a vegetarian. This lasted for four years, until I had an epiphany just 6 months ago.


While mildly tipsy at my neighborhood bar I was struck by a sudden urge to try Bacon. For as long as I can remember, this delectable pig product has been number one on my list of un-kosher, non-vegetarian treats that I would REALLY like to try.

Without hesitation I took a nice big bite out of a chewy, crispy, delicious piece of bacon, and have never looked back. For the past 6 months and 7 days I have been on a never-ending palate adventure; trying all kinds of foods that I never knew existed. From the McRibb to Foie Gras, I am constantly on the search for new and exciting things to try.

Living in New Orleans makes this task quite easy, as strange delicacies such as pickled pig ears and alligator sausage are common place. Plus, I also happen to waitress at one of the fanciest, most delicious contemporary French restaurants in the city.... so this blog will feature a diverse conglomeration of cheap eats from dirty poboy shops and exquisite rare game meats from my lovely restaurant.

Aside from my love of food, traveling truly tickles fancy. Of course, the best part of traveling is tasting new and interesting cuisine! I unfortunately have not been out of the country since May, but I'm sure smatterings of my foreign food knowledge will leak onto the page at some point during this blogging.

This blog will follow my journey into the world of un-kosher deliciousness and decadence, both in food, cocktails, and much much more. But be forewarned, this blog is not for the faint of heart; I am willing to eat almost anything and everything... and that goes for drinks too! Enjoy!