What Will They Think of Next: BBQ Ice Cream

Now this is a new one to me. I haven't tried it yet, so I don't know what "BBQ flavor" is. If it's smoke flavor or BBQ sauce, you'll have to find out. You guys are going to have to try this on your own. For some reason, the thought of this repulses me.

BBQ ICE CREAM
Getting Corny at Momofuku Milk

Having a favorite ice cream flavor is a risky proposition with the soft-serve alchemists at Momofuku Milk Bar conjuring things like the new BBQ flavor, which you should feel free to scoop up with potato chips. There’s also a new creamed corn flavor. Because the only way to improve ice cream is more cream.

BBQ Events: Nike 1 Love All Borough Block Party

This Saturday, Nike is closing down the streets of lower Manhattan to host the Nike Sportswear @ 21 Mercer Street block takeover for "1 Love" all borough block party. This all ages event from 6pm-8pm is free, open to the public and features live performances, giveaways and food from Hill Country Barbeque.

That's right. FREE BBQ FROM HILL COUNTRY! Sounds like a great place to be. Mercer Street between Grand and Howard from 6pm to 8pm. Something tells me the food will be going fast.

Just do it.

Cooking Whole Hog

I'm at a loss as what to write about this event. Cooking a whole animal requires, no demands some respect, but why that is not the case when cooking parts leaves me in a quandary. More later.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

This Skeeves Me

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Joe York Rules The World And Calms My Nerves

I found this over at Slow Food Rebellion and frankly, I am out right stealing it. Monty stole the video too, so I don't feel so bad. Please go to his blog and read his entire post "Joe York Rules The World," but here's how he starts it off..

"Sometimes when I forget why I started BBQing with extreme prejudice - when I worry more about how to impress KCBS judges rather than my family and neighbors - I'm thrown a bone from a Good Samaritan and I am able to call to mind what a true blessing BBQ is to me and my culture. That bone often comes in the form of a Joe York documentary."

As I'm sweating working out how I'm going to do my pig roast for tomorrow this wonderful video and post made me stop, reassess and relax.

It's only barbecue folks. It's supposed to be fun and simple.

Thank you Monty. Thank you Joe York.

CUT/CHOP/COOK from UM Media Documentary Projects on Vimeo.

The Mind Kitchen

Playing on The Mind Kitchen tonight. Listen in and look at the cute dog.

http://www.heritageradionetwork.com/programs/42-Mind-Kitchen
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

BBQ Equipment: Wilmington Grills.

Since I was so verbose yesterday, I'll keep it short and sweet today. Here is a picture of the Ed Mitchell designed and constructed by Wilmington Grills pig cooker that will be used on Saturday. Look at the size of this beast! I can't wait.

BBQ Thoughts: Pig Roasting in the Big City

Everything is in motion. There's no turning back now. Last night Kevin Lincoln of the New York BBQ Lover's Meetup Group and Ned Berke of Sheepshead Bites and I your humble blogger drove up to Norwalk Connecticut and borrowed an Ed Wilson Ed Mitchell designed, not to be confused, as I had just done, with the esteemed Connecticut based pitmaster Ed Wilson, constructed by Wilmington Grills pig roaster from Nancee and Greg of Purple Turtle Catering Company, one of Connecticut's best catering companies and award winning barbecue chefs, in order prepare for the bacchanalian orgy of food and drink that will be served this Saturday in a private yard in Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn.

Scott Smith, pitmaster extraordinaire of New York City's premiere barbecue joint RUB has ordered the 60lb or so sacrifice of pork for me that will be roasted and smoked by us and I'll be picking it up Friday.

Now the work falls on my shoulders. How will I prepare said hog? Will it be injected? Rubbed? Cooked skin up or down? Butterflied? Stupefied? Testified? Will we be doing a pig picking where all you need is a beer in one hand and a fork in the other? Or will the pig be removed from its fiery grates and its body parts carved up into more, shall we say "acceptable" presentation serving pieces for the less squeamish?

I got some thinking to do as this will be my first pig cooking done solo. Well, not really solo as I will be turning to the ever talented Kevin Lincoln for assistance and RUB's Matt Fisher for his chefly advice and counsel.

Pray for good weather. Pray for sanity. Pray for properly cooked swine. As the bible says...

"There were burnt offerings in abundance, together with the fat of the fellowship offerings and the drink offerings that accompanied the burnt offerings. So the service of the temple of the LORD was reestablished."

Now I don't know about re-establishing the temple, but a good time is guaranteed for all.

Photo of the pig roast above courtesy of A Brooklyn Life, whom I've never met and from whom I stole this picture and whose blog I enjoy even if it is so focused on the hipster side of the borough ignoring its heart, but am inviting to this pig roast nonetheless.

PS. Do you think I got enough links into one post?

Restaurant Review: A First Look at Pizzeria del Corso

There's been some buzz on one of my favorite local websites Sheepshead Bites, about a new sheriff for one of the local pizza joints, Del Corso. The new owner Nino Coniglio, 24, is reviving the tradition of pizza tossing by allegedly attracting customers with his acrobatic dough spinning. It’s a sport he knows well as Coniglio was a triathlon-winning member of the U.S. Pizza Team.

I've been to the restaurant twice, but didn't see any pizza tossing at either visit. Am I missing something? I didn't really care about the show - how is the food?

On my first visit a couple of months ago, a companion and I entered just as Del Corso was closing for the night. They graciously opened up the back dining room and served us a great pizza. Allthou the dough can use some salt, I was intrigued and pleased enough by the tastes to plan a repeat visit.

My wife, daughter and I went there on a recent Saturday night for dinner. We didn't have pizza, as my daughter had pizza for lunch that day, but choose to focus on the main menu by sharing the various appetizers.

We had the Fritto Misto, lightly fried calamari and baby shrimp, which was outstandingly light and grease free allowing the flavor of the fish to shine. This was served with an very garlicky tomato dipping sauce. Lovely.

Then we had the Meatball Al Sugo which was an incredible dish of flavorful lightly seasoned meatballs of multiple sizes in a completely different tomato sauce with large pieces of fresh basil. I don't usually like restaurant meatballs. I find them to be completely under seasoned and tough. Here, they were just like mama used to make except there was no consistency to size. Some meatballs were the size of golf balls, others like dimes.

Next up was an eggplant dish of which I can't remember the name, it's not on the internet menu but is on the regular menu at the restaurant, that consisted of layered slices of un-breaded and un-fried eggplant, tomato sauce and store made mozzarella. I'd love to describe the taste of this dish, but we inhaled it. It was that good.

This was followed by one of the specials of the day - a handmade gnocchi with arugula and an Italian "meat sauce". This was simply outstanding. Tender gnocchi, fall apart meat and mushrooms in a wine enriched gravy. It was rich, thick and surprising light. This needs to be on the menu every night.

The plates went back to the kitchen looking as if we licked them clean.

We finished the meal with a dessert of fresh zeppolies topped with warm nutella and powered sugar. Need I say more?

While the food was outstanding, the front of the house service was a bit lacking. We arrived around 8:30 on Saturday night and the back dining room was almost empty with only two tables occupied. A cute Russian hostess greeted us and told us to sit anywhere. We chose a table in the back which was set with four plates but no silverware.

As we settled in a waiter, who had an accent I couldn't place, came and filled our water glasses and dropped off the menus. I asked if there were any specials and he said, "He's going to tell you," pointing to a man in a stained t-shirt and jeans drinking wine and laughing with a group of friends at the next table.

A few minutes later the man came over and leaned on the wall next us and began to rattle off the specials. He didn't introduce himself or explain why he was telling us the specials instead of the waiter. He returned to the table where he was sitting while we made our choices.

As we were deciding, a basket of warm bread was dropped on the table with a bowl of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping. In a few minutes, the man returned and took our food order.

The food came very quickly, but I was disappointed to see that none of the dishes included any serving utensils as we made it clear to the man that we sharing every dish. We also had to request our own forks and knifes as none were delivered with the food.

Later while we were eating the hostess asked if everything was alright, I didn't understand her and she was clearly annoyed that I asked her to repeat herself. I then asked for some grated cheese and she returned with a large bowl of cheese, clearly too large for a single person, again without any sort of serving utensil.

At one point in the meal the hostess, the waiter and the until now unseen bus boy came and asked if everything was OK, all within 10 seconds of each other. While I'm glad to see the staff looking out for us, the timing of this made the service appear clumsy and untrained.

As the plates were taken away, the man, who by now I recognized as the chef from his appearance on the video above, came and asked if we enjoyed the food. We told him we did and I asked about the meat in the gnocchi dish. When he revealed it was oxtail my wife was stunned that she loved it. I have eaten oxtail since I was a child, but it was one of those foods, like liver, kidney, tripe, etc that my wife would never try due to some squeamishness on her part. The chef laughed and said that was why he described the dish as having an Italian "meat" sauce. Too many folks are oxtail phobic until they try it.

Pizzeria del Corso easily has some of the best Italian food I've had in a long long time, but it needs to step up on the little things to become great. The front of the house service needs to pay attention to the details that could make Pizzeria del Corso a dining destination. On the tables were small votive candles, which remained unlit, as did the candle in the men's room. There is a tile missing on the men's room floor that was missing on my last visit over a month ago. The chef, needs to introduce himself to the customers and needs either a chefs coat or an apron. The stained t-shirt just doesn't cut it.

And finally, if Nino Coniglio's claim to fame is being a triathlon-winning member of the U.S. Pizza Team, he needs to be attracting customers with his acrobatic dough spinning! Don't loose the focus on the food, but put on the show! An empty dining room on Saturday night is not a good sign.

Even with these growing pains I'll be back and I'm recommending this place to my friends and to all of you here on the blog, because after all, you are all my friends!

A big thanks to Ned Berke over at Sheepshead Bites for the video.

Pig Roast

I'm off to Norwalk CT, tonight to borrow one of these bad boys to cook a 60lb pig for a friend's birthday this weekend. Come out to Brooklyn on Saturday!

CT Pizza

A visit to Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napolentana in Fairfield, CT
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

A Sunday Stroll

Life can be pretty tough here in Brooklyn. No mercy. No forgiveness. A little view of what happens down on the docks at Sheepshead Bay.

BBQ Recipes: Jerk Chicken Skewers with Honey-Lime Cream

Here's another great recipe by Jamie Purviance from his cookbook, Weber's Way to Grill. Try this out. It was really really good.

Jerk Chicken Skewers with Honey-Lime Cream

Paste
1 habanero or Scotch bonnet chile pepper
1 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 scallions (white and light green parts only), roughly chopped
6 medium garlic cloves
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon ground allspice
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, 6 to 8 ounces each

Sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. To avoid burning your skin, wear rubber or plastic gloves when you handle the chile. After handling the chile, do not touch your face or any other part of your body, as that might cause a burning sensation. Remove and discard the stem of the chile, then cut away and discard the hot whitish veins and seeds. Put the rest of the chile in the bowl of a food processor. Add the remaining paste ingredients and process until smooth.

2. Trim the chicken of any fat and remove the tenders. Cut the chicken lengthwise into even strips, 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick.

3. Place the chicken strips and tenders into a large, resealable plastic bag and spoon in the paste. Work the paste into the chicken, press out the air in the bag, and seal tightly. Place in the refrigerator and let marinate for 2 to 3 hours.

4. In a small bowl whisk the sauce ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let the sauce stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving. Prepare the grill for direct cooking over high heat (450° to 550°F).

5. Wearing rubber or plastic gloves, thread the chicken strips onto the skewers, being sure to keep each skewer well within the flesh of the chicken. If you don’t have rubber gloves, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after this step.

6. Brush the cooking grates clean. Grill the skewers over direct high heat, with the lid closed as much as possible, until the meat is firm and the juices run clear, 6 to 8 minutes, turning once or twice. Serve warm with the sauce.