On the way to the ferry, I noticed there was a little farm set up in Battery Park. Looks pretty cool. Dare you to eat a carrot grown there!

Once we got to the island, it was still about 20 minutes before the 11 am VIP start. I ended up talking to the person next to me in line whose friend went on Sunday. Apparently there was some confusion about serving beer before noon on a Sunday so the VIP preview ended up being a bust. The free food also turned out to be a “taste” from each of the trucks. Considering it was AYCE, I didn’t think it was a big deal that we wouldn’t being getting full portions. As the clock struck 11, the hundred or so of us got free reign of the fairground. The first ferry of the day was at 10 then 11 then every half hour after that, so it was a little while before more people came across the river. That was well worth the sacrifice of sleeping in on Memorial Day.

CT says: I was pretty disappointed to find out it was a “tasting” and that most trucks weren’t offering a choice from their menu. But looking back, I shouldn’t have been surprised given the AYCE aspect.

Since we had a bunch of friends with us, we planned our attack while waiting for the gates to open. Priority number one was securing an umbrella covered picnic table. It wasn’t actually an issue since we were one of the first groups in line and we ended up keeping the table for the entire day. For anyone in the NYC area, you knew how brutally hot it was over the long weekend. Although there were plenty of trees offering shade on the perimeter, it was nice to have some shade smack dab in the middle of things.

The brewers in “Brewers PicNyc” turned out to be Brooklyn Brewery, Sixpoint, and Goose Island. They were strategically placed around the fairground, so as to minimize congestion for the thirsty masses. We were all impressed that Sixpoint’s offering included full cans of their Crisp lager for the VIPs. The Crisp made for a great summertime beer. Each of the breweries had a handful of offerings. We were all quite happy with the selections and the ease of getting a fresh and free beer. This definitely accounted for making the most out of the $55 admission.

One of the first trucks to form a long line, and a line that kept getting longer and longer, was the Kimchi Taco Truck. Their sample of was two pieces of rice cake. I took a picture of DY’s portion. Once I saw what the sample was and the length of the line, I passed on trying it myself. Unfortunately some of the vendors went super cheap on the samples. All of the samples were for people who paid for VIPs, and sometimes also for those who bought individual “meal” tickets, so I think they could have splurged a little more. The cheap vendors only cared about selling off their full menu at regular price.

CT says: I was really excited to try the Kimchi truck and incredibly disappointed at their offering. However, as disappointed as I was, after seeing their full meal offerings I’ll still be trying them when I catch them in the neighborhood.

I saw there was no line at Pizza Moto, so I headed over there first. They had small slices of fresh pizza. I was impressed to see the fresh mozzarella and basil. The sauce was nice and tangy, while the crust had some nice char.

When CT did some scouting around earlier, she saw that the brand new Luke’s Lobster truck was there. Of course, she ran over there first since she had enjoyed Luke’s before. Their sample ended up being a small shrimp roll. Some people were disappointed it wasn’t a small lobster roll, but I was ok with it. They would have gone through a TON of lobster. The shrimp was good as before on top of a butter bomb roll.

CT says: My initial disappointment here was quickly fixed after tasting the shrimp – so fresh and delicious! And the servers were kind enough to give me an extra for TT as it was his turn to hold down the table.

Next up was Asia Dog who shall now be known as the LAMEST VENDOR EVER! We weren’t impressed with their offerings at Mad. Sq. Eats, but still wanted to try their sample to maybe change our minds. Their sample was wasabi potato salad. WTF? Your name isn’t Asia Potato. Would it have been too hard to cut up a hotdog into 4 pieces and top it with one of your slaws? That would have been 100x better. The staff was also not very friendly when we asked if there would be any hot dog samples. I will never be patronizing Asia Dog again and I recommend you do the same.

CT says: MASSIVE FAIL.

The event was hosted by Jimmy Carbone of Jimmy’s No. 43. He had five or six tents setup offering a variety of small bites. While they might have been the trendiest foods on the island, they ended up being the most filling for most of the group. The first hour or two these tents had no line, so it was a great way to load up.

Coleslaw

Simple green salad

Smoked kielbasa with sauerkraut and mustard on a slice of bread. This was my favorite of the bunch. The sausage was tasty and hearty.

“Banh mi” That’s what they called it, but as you can see it wasn’t. Not a big deal since it was also a substantial bite and seasoned well. I think it was ground pork, not sure.

Pulled pork taco

Grilled cheese. It was pretty standard, but still 2x larger and better than the sample that Gorilla Cheese gave out.

CT says: I was very impressed by the spread of food option they provided! Sponsor or not, they gave a lot of food and it was all pretty good! Until now, they were definitely the food winners! I had some trouble starches – the bread and tortilla both seemed a little stale, but the kielbasa and pork more than made up for them.

I heard about the Camera Tequila truck briefly on Midtown Lunch. The tequila brand hired the chef from Suenos to provide the food on this truck to promote their brand. They actually offered five or six choices. We got the BBQ Beef Taco with charred corn pico de gallo and queso fresco and the Camarena Chicken and Chihuahua Cheese Taquitos with guacamole and radish. The guy doing the expediting was especially friendly and helpful and gave us an extra portion for our friends back at the table. Not only was the food the best looking, it was also the best tasting. Super flavorful with a variety of high quality ingredients. I really enjoyed the taco and hope the truck finds its way near my office soon.

CT says: PicNyc WINNER! 1) They were giving their full menu as options! That right there made it a winner…. but then 2) The food was so flavorful and fantastic! 3) the guy snuck me an extra taco for our friends holding down the table and 4) VIP only (ok, that one might have pissed off a few people, but I liked it!) I’ll definitely be stalking this on facebook and you should too… right now!

Cupcake Stop was offering slices of your choice five different flavors. CT got the chocolate oreo(right) and I got the vanilla chocolate(left). Although the icings started to melt pretty much immediately, it was a good bite. The cake was light and moist. We felt sad for them since they were one of the only trucks that never had a line. I guess it really wasn’t a cupcake kind of day.

CT says: I was very happy with my slice! It was chocolatey delicious and really just the right amount!

The Bistro Truck had gotten mixed reviews in the past. They offered veggies or chicken over couscous. Surprisingly, no one was really interested in the veggies, but MS took one for the team and pleased the server by taking one. It looked pretty boring to me, but I think she said it was good for what it was. The chicken was surprisingly very good. Most likely some thigh meat that was moist and flavorful. The couscous was very light and fluffy, which was impressive for what had to have been a HUGE batch.

CT says: Much more moist and flavorful than I would’ve expected! I’ve been wanting to try this truck for awhile, so I was glad with the outcome.

The festival was busy, but not completely overloaded with people.

The Desi Truck arrived on the island at the same time as us along with a few other trucks, but took FOREVER to open up. They served up a disappointing watery daal(lentils stew) over some basmati rice. It was also super hot from the stove, not really something you would want to eat on a hot day. Chalk it up to another truck just looking to sell food a la carte.

CT says: Sad, sad looking daal. Flavors were there, but lentils were missing.

There was another Indian truck serving a veggie stew with a piece of naan. It had a lot of good flavor from the various spices, but again, not really appropriate for the weather.

The other dessert option was from The Joyride Truck with fro-yo. They gave out pretty large servings with a choice of topping. I am not a fan of fro-yo, but CT got hers with raspberries on top. Everyone was pretty happy with it and thought it was the perfect end to the day.

CT says: I was incredibly surprised and delighted with the sample size they were giving. It was a full “small” cup, generous filled and topped. The fro-yo is the tart “real yogurt” type, not the sweet ice-cream-wannabe, which I really enjoy and was very refreshing on a hot summer’s day. The raspberries were fresh and sweet too. Other topping choices were cereals, oreos, chocolate crunchies and other fruits – pretty sweet!

We also ran into some of CT’s Sister’s closest friends. They purchased their tickets last minute, so went for the 3-food, 3-beer tickets option for $45. Some of the trucks offered them the same samples for one ticket, while others offered anything from the full menu – so it was a bit of a hit and miss for them too; however they got some tasty looking meals from Luke’s and Kimchi Taco.

CT says: I was a little jealous of their delicious-looking Kimchi Taco platter, but I thoroughly enjoyed my unlimited beers – especially since at times they got warm before I could finish, so I could just dump it and get another free cold one.

All in all, everyone was pretty happy with the day. As long as you get there early and have a game plan, a good time can be had by all. It was a shame that some of the vendors were pretty lame with their offerings, but others more than made up for it. Governors Island is a great place to visit even if there isn’t a festival going on. CT and I have promised ourselves to go there at some point over the summer to enjoy the other activities available (i.e. bike rides) and relax with a great view of Manhattan and The Statue of Liberty.

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: beer, food trucks, Governors Island, Thrillist

Due to some health concerns, super spicy food is now forbidden from my diet, so jalapeños had to bow out of this recipe and I substituted mild banana peppers instead.  I knew I wanted to include sharp Cheddar (really, is there even a point to mild Cheddar cheese’s existence?), whole corn kernels, and  I knew from that long-ago recipe I lost that I wanted to include cumin to add a little warmth.

Ingredients for my Southwestern Corn Muffins; the fluted red cups contained garlic powder, cumin, red chili powder, and flour.  The cups are actually silicone muffin cups that double as pinch bowls!

Julienne of red bell pepper that I finely diced

Diced banana peppers

Dry ingredients whisked together

Quick word about those silicone muffin cups: they’re made by Le Creuset and I got them gratis through my day job (and no, I did not get a five-finger discount!).  This was my first time baking with them, and while I liked them well enough, they made weirdly shaped top-heavy muffins, which you’ll see later.  They’re more useful as pinch bowls, which are great for condiments or mise en place of small amounts of ingredients, like the spices in the above picture.  I can also see myself using these cups for tiny deep-dish quiches, pies or maybe even flan.

Drained corn niblets tossed with flour

Years ago, I read a recipe for blueberry muffins that solved the issue of the berries falling to the bottom of the pan while baking; toss them in flour.  I thought that was brilliant and applied the same concept to the corn niblets.  And yes, I read cookbooks the way some people read trashy novels…with avid gusto!

Muffin pans filled 3/4 of the way

Put a DSLR camera in my hands and I begin having delusions of artistic grandeur!

I chose to top the muffins with both sharp Cheddar and shredded, well-aged Parmigiano-Reggiano because  I really liked the contrast between the sweet Yankee-style cornbread and tang of the cheeses.  I wanted this muffin to explode with different flavors.

Look at that golden cheesy crust!

Looks like the silicone cups held up perfectly

See what I meant about the funny shape of the silicone cups?  They might be great for cupcakes (more surface area for frosting) and I had no problem unmolding them, but overall, I was just not won over by the aesthetics of the finished product.

Bottom of the silicone-baked muffin

An army of muffins

Look at that cheesy, corny interior!

These muffins tasted pretty good considering I was making it up as I went along.  What I most regret is the lack of height; this Southwestern Corn Muffin was a little squat.  I’m going to omit the fresh red bell pepper next time; its flavor was too subtle and I suspect the extra moisture it exuded was a major contributor to the muffin’s squatness.   I will also increase the green onion/scallion as well as the spices.  The recipe that follows is still a work in progress.  Feel free to make your own tweaks and let me know how it goes- I’d love to hear about your oventastic adventures!

Southwestern Corn Muffins

2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp cumin
1 small can corn niblets, very well drained
2 TBS flour
1 jalapeño, ribs and seeds removed (you can also use jarred and very well drained peppers of your choice), finely chopped
2 green onions, chopped
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Grease muffin pan.  Whisk the cornbread mix and dried spices together. In a small bowl, toss drained corn niblets in flour.  Stir corn, jalapeño, green onion, eggs and milk into dry ingredients. Don’t try to smooth out the lumps; lumpy corn bread batter is okay.  Fold in half of each cheese, let the batter rest for five minutes and evenly distribute among the muffin cups.  Top each with remaining cheeses.  Bake for ten to fifteen minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  This would be interesting as part of a southwestern style eggs Benedict or alongside a hearty chili, or slathered with butter.  Makes about 18 muffins.

© The Blind Baker NYC for The Feisty Foodie, 2010. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: corn muffins, Southwestern

Terrible photos, but fish tacos!  E-dee-licious, my yoga buddy, mentioned one night that she was going to make fish tacos.  Sounded so yummy and when she told me the method, they were SO easy, I had to make them right away! 

I used flour tortillas because I don’t like corn tortillas, but you can use whichever you prefer. 

E-dee-licious said she uses tilapia, but I used dover sole cuz it’s cheap and easy to find everywhere.  (I guess tilapia fits those qualifications as well, but when I went to the store, I found dover sole for like $3.99/lb.)  It’s a lil fishy (dover sole), but the other flavors masked it well – just not for those who hate fishy-fish. 

What I did vs. what she told me to do, below…

White fish (cod, haddock, tilapia, dover sole, orange roughy… they all should work)
A bit of flour
Knorr’s Chipotle spice cube (E-dee-licious told me to use a Chipotle in Adobo, but I don’t keep those on hand)
Shredded cabbage or shred your own
A lil mayo
Flour tortillas
Lime
Old Bay seasoning (I didn’t have this – stop laughing*!)
Cilantro (optional)

Break up half to one whole Chipotle spice cube into a little bit of mayo in the bottom of a non-reactive bowl.  Squeeze lime juice into the mixture if it’s too ‘tight’.  Mix shredded cabbage into the mixture, salt&pepper to taste and set aside in refrigerator. 
Break half or one whole Chipotle spice cube into the flour, mixing with salt/pepper. 
Dredge fish in the seasoned flour, then fry in a bit of oil, a few minutes on each side until cooked through and crispy exterior.  Drain on paper towels. 
Heat up tortillas – I like to blister mine a bit – then spoon some fish onto tortilla, top with shredded cabbage and cilantro.  EAT & enjoy!!!

(E-dee-licious chopped up a chipotle and mixed that into the shredded cabbage, using the Old Bay in the flour instead.)

*I used to work at a crab bar; we served crabs steamed then tossed with Old Bay or Cajun seasoning.  I do not stock Old Bay because if you work around that stuff, the smell… the stains… oh the smell… just stays in your skin forEVER!!!  Hahaha…)

Happy eating!!!

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: fish

The Arizona Biltmore boasts a few restaurants to its name.  Unfortunately, we were unable to sample the high end restaurant they boast: Wright’s at the Biltmore (named thusly after Frank Lloyd Wright, who had a hand in designing the resort).  We did, however, get to eat at the Cabana Club and the Biltmore Grill (pictured above: the Cabana Club, located on Paradise Pool).

the waterfall/water slide that faces the Cabana Club
(I was sitting in those chaises in the right of the picture when I took the picture of the Cabana Club)

I ordered what basically boils down to a soft fish taco.  I really liked this dish (I actually had it twice)- the fish was crisply fried, the remoulade on the side was delicious with a hint of a spicy kick, and overall it was very tasty.  I would definitely order this a third time were I to stay at the Biltmore again.

At the Biltmore Grill, where we had our last meal before leaving for the airport, indoors looked like a kitschy-retro diner, but the weather was so beautiful, we opted to sit outdoors, where the birds circled us, waiting for scraps.  In fact, the menu even said specifically not to feed the birds, that they were aggressive and very bold/friendly.

We started off with what the menu labeled as “Southwestern Eggrolls.”  I’m not even really sure what an eggroll is anymore, but these were pretty good- the filling was, I believe, chicken, but not too dry nor overcooked, and the dipping sauces were tasty accompaniments.  The outer shell of the eggrolls were very crunchy, the way they should be.

The tomato/mozzarella salad was decent, though not the best I’ve ever had – good cheese is very hard to find.  The tomatoes were sliced nice and thick, a bonus, but something just was missing and didn’t wow me.  Perhaps they could have added the traditional basil accompaniment, I’m not sure.

I didn’t sample my dining/travel companion’s crab louis salad, but she mentioned that the crab was good, not canned, and the shrimp were fairly sized.  I believe she was pretty happy with her choice, as she ate her plate clean.

Having read about this Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce, I opted for the buffalo meatloaf glazed with Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce.  The French fries were good, but lacked salt.  As for the buffalo meatloaf… well, buffalo meat is known to be dry (or at least the few times I’ve had it, it was desert dry), so I wasn’t expecting too much.  The glaze over it was tangy, with an effervescent taste to it- like many things that you cook with sodas- and pretty nice, but I had to request extra sauce to mask just how dry the meatloaf was.  When I dipped it into more sauce, the sauce was basically BBQ sauce with an effercesvent tingle to it but not much else that made it stand out.  I wouldn’t order this again, but I might attempt to copy and improve the BBQ sauce with soda (I’d use root beer because I love root beer!).

We also ordered two sandwiches to go- a grilled chicken sandwich and a Biltmore burger- for the plane ride.  I really enjoyed my half of the chicken sandwich, but the burger was only so-so, a regular burger with some stuff slapped on top.  (No pictures, sorry.)

Overall, the food at the Biltmore was decent to good- a few hit and miss items really.  If I were in Phoenix again, I’d like to try Wright’s, but I don’t think I’d want to stay at the Biltmore again.  The facility was beautiful, but I felt there wasn’t enough attention paid to detail, which is important to me.  Small things that aren’t that big of a deal by themselves, but when you add them all up, the result is the feeling that too much is put into an overall impression rather than actually making you feel like it was a worthy experience.

Yvo says: If you’re staying at the Biltmore, no fear, there is definitely food to be found that will sate nearly any palate.  If not, I wouldn’t bother to go out of your way to eat at these two restaurants.  OH, there is also Afternoon Tea at the Biltmore, which was booked up when we tried to go, much to my great disappointment.  It’s on the pricy side- $32/person- but many women were dressed up, with hats even, to have tea, so it looked like it might be fun to try if you live in the area or if you’re just really that into tea.  (I’ve paid that much for tea- Lady Mendl’s- but I find it generally not worth that much, when I can get good tea for much cheaper at Alice’s Tea Cup or even Podunk.)  In any case, I say pass unless you’re staying at the resort, which I wouldn’t stay at again (unless it were for free).  The spa was only so-so, not as well kept as I’d have liked, and though there were 9 pools all over the resort, it seemed like most people hung out at the Paradise Pool (pictured above).
middle of the road

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2006. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
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As it was both my companion and my first time in Phoenix, we wanted to try something local.  Something really specific to this part of the country.  Of course, I had no idea what kind of cuisine it was- Southwestern, yes, but I’d always heard that description used interchangeably with Tex-Mex.  I hesitated to do that in front of anyone lest they be offended (as I’d be a bit annoyed if someone said Chinese/Korean interchangeably, or Chinese/Thai, what have you), but our concierge suggested this place after I told him price was no object and we didn’t care if it was upscale or casual, as long as the food was good and very much cuisine local to the area.

When he suggested Richardson’s, I have to say I was wary.  I’d seen the name a few times in various magazines and on websites that it was good food, but his description was so kitschy, so touristy sounding that I worried.  “Loud rock & roll music, large portions” really put me off.  But then I said f* it, let’s go and see how things are.

And when we pulled up, I wanted to tell the driver to keep going.  It was in the middle of NOWHERE (you may scoff that isn’t everything in Phoenix in the middle of nowhere, but I mean, this was really nowhere, not even in a strip mall or near a bunch of stores; I was almost scared because Richardson’s itself looked a bit ghetto, almost like a biker bar in fact!).  But I got out of the car and decided, well, let’s see where this goes.

The first thing is how dark and loud it is inside.  They were playing a lot of 80s tunes, to my companion’s delight, namely an entire album of The Cure (I want you to want me… blah blah blah).  We had to shout to hear each other, but it was a fun vibe, very casual and laidback.  We also had to hold candles over our food to see it; the flash from my camera also helped out.

Also, the prices were really cheap- we ordered way too much food and our bill was $100.  In fact, the servers kept commenting on “Are you sure you want to order that?” and we were just like, we’re REALLY hungry.  But even our famine wasn’t enough for the food they plied on us!  Portions are HUGE, so order accordingly!

After we placed our orders, they immediately brought us both a plate of salad.  We were hungry so.. .we ate most of the salad.  The lettuce was so fresh that as I forked a piece, it squirted a stream of water right into my eye.

Roasted Garlic Toast platter (appetizer, sort of)
You can’t exactly tell, but the entire right side is a head of garlic.  It’d been roasted and the waitress explained that what we were to do was pull on the garlic skin-tops that were poking out, and the garlic bulbs would slip right out so we could spread them LIKE BUTTER onto the toast and layer some of the center mixture over it.  I can’t tell you what was in it (their website is down), but I would guess asiago cheese, tomato sauce, onion perhaps?, it doesn’t matter but this was so freaking good, that when we didn’t finish, despite both of us having a 5 hour flight home the next day, my dining companion opted to take the leftovers, suggesting she might attempt to deconstruct it and make it for herself at home.  Yes, that good.  (But of course, you must like garlic for this to be good.)

red chili soup
We were originally both going to order chilis but the waiter said that we’d already ordered way too much soup.  Being nice, my dining companion offered to share the one I’d wanted with me, since the waiter said her choice, the green chili soup, was much spicier.  I am so glad I didn’t insist on being even nicer and getting the green one, because even this one was way too spicy for both of us (I’m not a spicy food person, but I can take a bit of heat, and my dining companion likes spicy foods).  We could barely eat more than a few spoonfuls each before personally I was glugging back my Sprite and ignoring it to eat more of the garlic toast.  I couldn’t tell you if it was good because it was too spicy for me to determine, but I note that it was thinner than I’d hoped it’d be.

grilled skewers – beef tenderloin, chicken and shrimp with four dipping sauces
The beef tenderloin was really tender, soft and flavorful.  I was surprised at how good it was, but very pleased.  The shrimp was good, and the chicken was decent as well, but what stands out in my mind is the beef.  It melted in my mouth.  The sauces were delicious too but I couldn’t tell what anything was, none were spicy, one was sweet.  The rice was cooked perfectly- fluffy the way I like it, and had its own taste, mixed with the sauces was even better.  But I didn’t eat too much rice because I had realized at this point that we had ordered way too much food.

trio of fish, veggies, and the famous “green chile potato” (I forget the exact wording, but underneath the restaurant’s name on the menu, it said they were the creators of the original green chile potato.)
Unfortunately, my dining companion noted that her fish was only alright, nowhere near as good as our appetizers had been.  It was very hard to see, so she wasn’t sure which fish was which (one of them was mahi mahi, but I don’t recall the others currently) nor what sauce was what.  The vegetables were a bit bland, though the potato looked most interesting; thankfully it wasn’t too spicy but just very good mashed potatoes.  I think you’re meant to cut into the pepper to eat with the potatoes, but neither of us tried that.

partales: halibut over angel hair pasta with red chili pepper cream sauce
I was really disappointed as the fish was only so-so, a bit hard.  But the hugest disappointment was the pasta- this was not pasta.  This was more like short lo mein noodles (they were dark brown, as well), about 2-3 inches in length and really gummy/chewy.  The sauce was barely there, and overall I was hugely disappointed with that aspect of the dish.  I think perhaps my dining companion and I just ordered poorly though, as these were both specials on the blackboard while the regular menu had many interesting items as well (we tried to order them but the waiter practically refused, telling us we had ordered a lot of food already).

At this point, we’d boxed up two of the appetizers (the chili that we didn’t touch, and the garlic toast) and wound up boxing my dining companion’s entree as well.  The overall feeling was a great, fun and laidback, casual atmosphere, good food and good times.

Yvo says: I would definitely go back to try more stuff.  I think I like Southwestern cuisine; it was very filling, cheap, and overall just tasty.  The prices were good, though the menu is a bit confusing as there’s no real appetizer section and we had to kind of guess what was or wasn’t appetizer portions until the waiter came by to tell us we’d guessed incorrectly on a few of them.  The flavor is tinged with Mexican influences, deliciously so.
definitely recommended

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2006. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beef, Cheap Eats, Seafood