The Friday Night Fish Fry

I’m not exactly sure how it became such a staple of Western New York’s regional cuisine, but every Friday night, all over this part of the Empire State, countless hundreds of restaurants feature what’s simply called a “fish fry.”

It’s a boneless fillet of haddock, usually dipped in some type of beer batter and served humbly with tartar sauce, fries, baked potato, or as you see here, mashed potatoes. I enjoyed this fine example at Countryside Family Restaurant, a few miles from my mom’s home, and it was awesome.

I really want to do a demo for this recipe, especially since I’ve had hundreds of requests for “fish and chips,” which I assume this is a direct descendant of, but to do it properly you really should use a nice big deep-fryer. I may get a turkey fryer in anticipation of the holiday season, and could break it in with this fabulous fish dish. If you have any “fish fry” memories, please feel free to share!

IFBC and Be Seen

Photo courtesy of Robin Ove, from
the blog, What About the Food

Michele and I just returned from a wonderful long weekend in Portland, where we attended the 2012 International Food Bloggers Conference. It was our first visit to “Stumptown,” and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay (although, I never did see even one stump).

People were very friendly, and the local food scene was as vibrant and interesting as I’d heard it would be, but the highlight was the photography workshop I got to participate in with my friend, and celebrated NY Times food photographer/writer, Andrew Scrivani.

Despite a few minor glitches, we somehow managed to fool the large audience into thinking we’d put on an informative and highly entertaining show. My theory is that they were so hung over from the night before that they weren’t fully aware what was going on, but nevertheless, the reviews on Twitter were embarrassingly positive.

In case you missed it, here’s a video that my friends at Jenn-Airshot, showing some highlights from the session. I’d like to thank them for sponsoring the event, along with Anolon, Wüsthof, OXO, and Ninja. Also, a huge thank you to Sheri, Barnaby, and the rest of the Foodista/Zephyr Adventures’ team for inviting me to participate, and for putting on such a fun event. See you next year in Seattle!

For additional coverage of the event, I invite you to check out Andrew’s IFBC post, as well as my new friend Paola Thomas’ entertaining recap here. Enjoy!

A Few Random Post-IFBC Thoughts:

Saying Goodbye to Social Media

It’s over. The social media bubble is just about to burst, and anyone who is unfortunate enough to be standing underneath it when it does is going to get soaked with scalding hot irony. That’s right, the very food bloggers whose unbridled enthusiasm for social self-promotion helped build this cheesy soufflé, are now tiring of the pungent scent, and openly rooting for its collapse. Shame on us. I’d do a Facebook poll to see what you think, but by the time I figure out how to set it up, the site will probably be down.

Instagram, FTW

One app immune to this social media fatigue is Instagram. It seems as though food bloggers love it just as much as the food in their pictures. It’s no wonder. Thanks to Instagram’s filters, those forgettable cell phone shots we used to post are now brilliant works of art…every one of them…brilliant. What used to be a blurry eggplant is now transformed into a scene so poignant, Joseph Pulitzer would weep. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to set up a shot of my cat sipping on a cappuccino.

Portland Has Great Food

Michele and I had one great meal after another during our stay. We enjoyed the uniquely delicious cuisine of Le Pigeon, got our smoke on at Ox, and dined al fresco at Departure, where we experienced a view as spectacular as Chef Gregory Gourdet’s food. And, don’t even get me started on the amazing local beer and cocktails. I look forward to a return trip soon, so we can check out all the places we missed. Thanks again to everyone to chimed in with recommendations!

Heading to Portland for IFBC!

Michele and I are on our way to Portland for the 2012 InternationalFood Blogger Conference. I’m going to be doing a cooking demo as part of a food photography workshop led by acclaimed New York Times' food photographer, Andrew Scrivani.

As usual, you can follow my exploits on Twitter, where I’ll be posting pictures of all the deliciousness we experience along the way. By the way, this is our first time to The City of Roses, so if you have any hot tips, let me know. Thanks!

The Truth Hurts

Speaking of food bloggers, this iPhone parody video by Adam Sacks is one of the funnier things I’ve seen in a while, and would probably have most IFBC attendees laughing and weeping at the same time. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Julia!

Today would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday. As I recounted in the post "A Chicken for Julia," she was a great influence on me and my career, so if you haven't read the post or seen the delicious roast chicken recipe I dedicated to her, you can do so here. Enjoy!

Happy National Rice Pudding Day

Can you believe it's already National Rice Pudding Day? Man, time flies. Anyway, someone somewhere decided that August 9th should be Rice Pudding Day, so I thought I'd use that as an excuse to repost this Coconut Milk Rice Pudding with Fresh Mango recipe we ran back in March. Click here for the ingredient amounts and to read the original post. Enjoy!

Eating Chicago

If you were following our trip to Chicago via Twitter and/or Instagram, you may have seen these pictures already, but I wanted to do a quick post with links to all the great places we dined at while in the Windy (and very delicious) City. By the way, all these were taken with a cell phone, usually in very poor light, so apologies for the quality. Enjoy!

Our home for the week was the very hip and happening, Public Chicago. The staff was beyond helpful, and the accommodations top notch. How cool was our hotel? World famous DJ Paul Oakenfold dropped by one night to spin tunes in the bar, that’s how cool. 

Still not convinced? Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow were spied walking through the lobby. Also, there were rumors about a celebrity chef from YouTube partying like a rock star on the 14th floor, but that could not be independently confirmed.

When I first get into a new town after traveling a long journey, I don’t necessarily want to run right out for a fancy meal. I’m always hoping there’s a nice, casual restaurant near the hotel where I can get some simple comfort food to help me settle in. 

We found that at PJ Clarke's. A near-perfect BLT was loaded with smoky, crisp bacon; but the star of the plate was the freakishly large baked potato. It was like getting a "welcome to Chicago" bear hug.

Of course we HAD to try a Chicago style hot dog, which we experienced at Five Faces Ice Cream Shop. I basically like any hot dog, and this was no different. 

While I’m more of a plain mustard guy, it did make me feel good knowing that, contrary to what you hear, the people of Chicago were getting some vegetables in their diet.

We also had to get some deep-dish pizza, since that’s a City ordinance for all tourists visiting longer than 3 days. Failing to do so results in a $1500 ticket or having to watch a Cubs game (most people just pay the fine). 

We did a sausage pie from Pizano’s Pizza & Pasta, and enjoyed it very much. By the way, the thin crust vs. deep-dish debate is just about the stupidest thing ever, as these are two completely different foods – both genius in their own way.

For my birthday dinner, Michele took me to Boka. We enjoyed a wonderful tasting menu, which reminded me of Commonwealth in style and attitude. Lots of very interesting food, done very well, served by people that enjoy what they’re doing. 

My favorite was probably this skate wing with huitlacoche purée. They also get bonus points for pairing the chocolate dessert with beer.

Finding a decent breakfast joint near your hotel is always a great joy, but The Original Pancake House was so far beyond decent that we are still talking about it. 

Perfect spinach and feta omelets, amazing potato pancakes, and something called a Dutch Baby. This oven-puffed pancake takes 20 minutes to cook, and is served simply with lemon wedges and powdered sugar, but it alone is worth a trip to Chicago.

I know I already posed a recap of the fabulous rehersal dinner at The Bristol, planned and presented by my cousin Tony Quartaro, but for my money you just can’t look at too many pictures of gnocchi. 

These were made with ricotta cheese and garnished with zucchini and mint. They were pure awesomeness.

What’s better than spicy pork rinds? Free spicy pork rinds! That’s right, when The Publican found out (and by “found out” I mean that I told them) that Chef John from Food Wishes was in the house, these warm, crispy gifts from the Gods suddenly appeared. 

If you’re a fan of Best Thing I Ever Ate you may have seen these, and they were incredible, as was the rest of the meal.

This place is known for its meaty fare, but the most interesting plate we tried was this grilled octopus with barley, fresh garbanzos, and watermelon. It was really, really good. 

After I posted the picture online, someone commented that certain things should never be served together. What an idiot.

Since I’m 25% Polish, I was very much looking forward to trying some of Chicago’s famous Eastern-European cuisine. This isn’t something we have a lot of in San Francisco, and I was not disappointed. 

We found this little hole-in-the-wall called Pierogi Heaven, and it was. Perfect little potato and farmer’s cheese dumplings, topped with bacon and fried onions. Come on, San Francisco restaurant industry; please open a few of these here!

We celebrated Bastille Day where everyone should celebrate Bastille Day, in an authentic Bistro. At Bistrot Zinc, we looked at nude art, ate frisée salads with poached eggs on top, and of course, slurped French onion soup in all its caramelized gruyere glory. 

I poke a lot of fun at the French, mostly because they deserve it, but all kidding aside, they know how to eat.

We finished our eating adventures at David Burke's Primehouse. I’ve been fortunate enough to eat some world-class beef in my day, but this was right up there with anything I’ve ever had. They age the prime meat in the basement, and the back wall is actually made from blocks of pink salt.

It was too dark to get any decent shots of the steaks, but I had the 35-day Kansas City Strip, and Michele went for the even funkier 55-day old Ribeye. The amazing depth of beefy flavor and buttery texture made meat memories that will not soon fade. 

The side dishes were great, the service was excellent (a reoccurring theme during our stay), and all was accompanied by these gorgeous popovers. They’ve been haunting my dreams, and as soon as I figure out how they did them, I will share in a video.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this very brief glimpse into our culinary adventures in “Chi-Town” (I had the good sense to not use that while I was there). Thanks to everyone who so generously offered their personal tips and recommendations. We simply didn’t have enough time to eat everywhere we wanted, but we will be back for sure!  Thank you, Chicago!

On the California Zephyr to Chicago

California Zephyr Train Photo (c) Flickr user Loco Steve

Michele and I are on a train to Chicago! We have a family wedding to attend, and it’s my birthday tomorrow, so we’ll be celebrating by eating and drinking our way across the Windy City. If you follow me on Twitterand/or Instagram, I’ll be sharing photos of all the deliciousness as it happens. It’s our first trip to Chicago, so if you have any “must try” spots, feel free to share!

The wedding we’re attending joins our cousin (and future James Beard Award winner) Tony and his beautiful fiance Nora. You may remember them from such epic 24-course meals as the one shown in the 3-part video below. You can see the lovely couple at the beginning of Part 1 (do not miss Nora’s slow-mo caviar tasting reaction shot!). I’ve only posted the videos, so if you want to read a detailed account of this historic meal, check out the original post here. Enjoy!

Squash Birds of a Feather

© Irvin Lin, Eat the Love

Those of you familiar with competitive yellow squash carving know how intense these contests can get, and an event I recently co-hosted with Allrecipes in Seattle was no different. The tension was so thick, you could've cut it with a swag-bag paring knife.

This battle royal took place at the conclusion of BlogHerFood weekend, and an exclusive group of foodies were invited based on their blogging experience, passion for edible art, and to a much greater extent, their availability.

The theme of the day was centered on my mascot and lifelong friend, the squash bird. After regaling them with the strange and mostly true story of how it came to be, and demonstrating how I make the bird, our honored attendees set to work creating their own renditions for fun and fabulous prizes.

Despite bottomless Mimosas, I thought the birds  these “gordiators” produced were extraordinary. Here are a few of the highlights. 

© Irvin Lin, Eat the Love

I only had my cell phone to take pictures with, so the blurry shots are mine. Thankfully my friend Irvin at Eat the Love was there, and graciously shared some of the pictures he took.

The winning bird was from Michael Procopio, the blogger/food writer behind the always entertaining Food for the Thoughtless. The classic combination of huge beak and fabulous hat proved irresistible to the judges. More subtle was the upright posture, which gave the bird an almost regal stance.

In addition to being a squash bird boss, the hilarious Mr. Procopio also gives good Twitter, so be sure to check him out there. By the way, be prepared to look stuff up on Wikipedia.

Speaking of fabulous, the inimitable Linda Nicholson, aka Salty Seattle, was also in attendance. As you can see, she was clearly trying to distract the competition with her choice of footwear, which mimicked the bird’s bright orange feet. Did it work? Not really, but who cares? Look at those boots!

© Irvin Lin, Eat the Love

Her squash birds were almost as striking. The saline siren attempted an ambition scene consisting of what appears to be two squash birds trying to land on the same rock. 

Unfortunately, during the lunch break, some mayo from her sandwich must have fallen on the birds, and she was disqualified for violating Chapter 3, Section 7 of the official rules, which covers inappropriate use of condiments.

Many attendees utilized "hair" and other eye-catching accessories to make an impression. Sean Timberlake from Hedonia tried to pull off the rarely seen cock’s comb/toupee combo; and DPaul Brown from dpaulbrown.com's follic affectations not only dressed up his entry, but also helped indicate what kind of cigarette was in the beak.

© Irvin Lin, Eat the Love

Another favorite was this submission from Andrew Wilder at Eating Rules. I thought it was a smart approach to make the bird look like it was bending over feeding. 

We assumed Andrew was trying to show movement, although he did spend a lot of time making sure everyone saw just how anatomically correct the tail end of his creation was, so there may have been ulterior motives.

Anyway, we really did have a great time, and I want to thank everyone who participated. Also, a huge thanks to my friends at Allrecipes for hosting and organizing such a fun event! 

If you want to learn how to make your very own squash bird, check out this video, and as always, enjoy!

Life Is Like a Bowl of Mussels

On Saturday, I attended a photography workshop led by acclaimed New York Times' food photographer, Andrew Scrivani. I thoroughly enjoyed the class, and left enthused to show off my new skills. That was until I remembered my next post was a mussels recipe.

So what? Well, during the class intro, Andrew did a slide show to illustrate various keys concepts and strategies, and the bowl of mussels you see below was used to demonstrate how a simple, eye-catching prop, like a vintage fork, could help draw the viewer’s attention away from less-than-attractive shellfish.

Andrew Scrivani/NYT

A brilliant ploy, and one I would have implemented, except that my silverware drawer contains exactly zero fancy shellfish forks. So, I decided instead to use the inside of a mussel shell, as an attempt at some nacreous misdirection. Did it work? You be the judge. 

Anyway, I’d like to extend a big thanks to Andrew and the other attendees for a very enjoyable afternoon. Also to Contigo, a wonderful Spanish joint here in San Francisco, for being such great hosts. 

Here's a handful of my favorite pictures from the workshop. I hope you enjoy!

I love this shot of Andrew showing my friend, Annelies, how to use a screen to adjust for the bright light reflecting off bald people’s heads. This is a technique that will serve me very well going forward.

If I ever specialized in one specific food photography niche, it would be meatballs. Why? I really like meatballs.

Does your eye go to the world's most beautiful ice cube, or to that horribly discolored radish? Was this a bold attempt at textural juxtaposition,
or did I simply forget to turn the radish over? I think we all know the answer to that question.

This probably best encapsulates all the key elements we discussed during the workshop; details, light direction, props, movement, and telling a story. My only regret is not having a little drip of water coming off the tip of the root. Maybe if I have time later, I'll Photoshop one on. I'm sure Mr. Scrivani would have no problem with that.

This photo provided my proudest moment of the workshop. It was one of the few shots I composed, as I thought it'd be interesting to use the lines of the garlic skin to play off the grain of the wood.

When the photo was shown later, my blogger buddy, Irvin, from Eat the Love, said he liked the shot because of how the garlic skin lines played off the grain of the wood. I just smiled appreciatively, but inside I was like, "Yes! Yes! In your face, other attendees that didn't get similar comments!" Hey, at least I was outwardly classy.

This almost sexy octopus skewer photo is alright, but what I really love, is how if you look closely enough, you can see the entire universe in that drop of oil. I find that very relaxing.

If you want to see more of Andrew's fine work, you can check out his blog, Making Sunday Sauce, or his photography website, Andrewscrivani.com, as well as follow him on Twitter. If you have a chance to attend one of his workshops (like the one we are doing together at this summer's IFBC in Portland), I highly recommend it!

Next Up: Drunken Mussels

Instant Ice Cream?

I received an email the other day from someone wanting to know how they can make ice cream without the machine I demonstrated in our vanilla ice cream video. I replied that you really can’t, since it’s the churning of the mixture while it freezes that gives you the desired texture.

Then, the very next day, I saw this video from my friend Johnathan Lynch, showing how to make a berry ice cream with no ice cream machine. Technically it’s frozen yogurt, but still. You do need to find a food processor, but if you can, this trick does work very well, and as you can see, it's very fast and easy. 

By the way, yes, that is Fabio Viviani making a cameo appearance! Thanks to Johnathan for sharing, and I invite you to check out his YouTube channel for more. Enjoy!

Next Up: Dark Chocolate Macarons

Happy Mother's Day!

A happiest of happy Mother's Day to all the moms, and mom-like followers of this blog. I've posted this clip before, but it never fails to make me chuckle, so here you go again. Have a wonderful day, and as always, enjoy!

Next Up: The World's Fastest Meatballs

Under Construction...Literally!

Finally, an appropriate use of the Plastic Wrap filter in Photoshop! Or maybe not. Anyway, we're on Day 1 of a little kitchen remolding project, so if I get a bit quiet on the blog over the next few days, that will be the very good reason. Regardless, the show must go on, and I should still have a brand new video for you sometime tomorrow. Wish us luck, and stay tuned!

Next Up: Mother's Day Quiche Lorraine

Next Up: "Pad Thai" Popcorn

Our 2012 Passport to Dry Creek Menu

As promised, here's the menu we served at the gorgeous Frick Winery for this weekend's "Passport to Dry Creek Valley." We got rave reviews, and a great time was had by all. I'd like to extend an extra special thank you to Edward and Karen from Dehesa Foods, who not only created three of the proteins you'll see below, but also worked alongside us the whole weekend. Just some amazing food by some very talented, passionate people!

By the way, if you're into Rhone varietals, be sure to check out the Frick Winery website. In our humble opinion, Bill produces some of the most exquisite wines in Northern California. A sincere thanks to everyone there for again hosting such an amazing event. Enjoy!

Dehesa's Local Rabbit Pate with Pistachios on Toasted Brioche topped with
Castelvetrano Olive Tapenade and Carrot “Threads.”
Paired with Grenache Blanc and Viognier.

Ripe Cambozola Cheese on Fig Bread with Fresh Strawberries.
Paired with Cinsaut and Cinsaut Rosé.

Wild Mushroom and San Marzano Tomato Spread on Croccantini
topped with Grilled Beef Tenderloin and Baby Italian Herbs.
Paired with Counoise and Grenache.

Dehesa's Duck Breast Pastrami on Savory Pecan, Raisin, Rosemary Toasts
topped with Micro Mustard Greens.
Paired with Syrah and Carignane.

“Tonno del Dry Creek” – Dehesa’s “Tonno del Chianti” (Pork Confit)
with Pickled Red Onions and “Hearts of Fire” Greens on Baguette.
Paired with C3 and Cotes du Dry Creek.

Heading Home!

Michele and I are heading back to San Francisco after a fantastic 2012 Passport to Dry Creek Valley! I forgot to bring that wire that lets me download the photos I took, but hopefully tomorrow I can show you what we served. 

Pictured here is a iPhone shot of our "Tonno del Dry Creek," which was some incredible pork confit from Dehesa (you'll be hearing a lot more about them soon), topped with picked onions, and "hearts on fire" greens. 

By the way, I will be posting a brand new video later this evening featuring an odd, but very delicious ham, asparagus, and ricotta pizza, so stay tuned!

Hello From Healdsburg!

Michele and I are in Sonoma for the 2012 “Passport to Dry Creek Valley.” If you've been following this blog for awhile, I'm sure you've read about this event before, but if not, here's a little taste from last year.

We'll be doing the food at the gorgeous Frick Winery for the 16th consecutive year! Despite all the hard work, it's a lot of fun and we look forward to this every spring. I'll be back Monday with a new video, and hopefully some decent photos of this year's offerings. Stay tuned!