Forking Tasty

Homecoming Tradition

After 5 months at sea and with over 12 new countries under his belt (and in his belly), Ant returned home yesterday. Home for only a short 2 months before he heads out again, we made sure to start the eating immediately. My parents picked Ant up from his inbound flight, dropped his bags in Manhattan and then made their way to my place in Brooklyn for a traditional Anello homecoming meal.

Something that has not made nearly enough press on this blog is…

BBQ At The Mall

Burney Brothers Bellevue Seattle from Anthony Anello on Vimeo.

Diabetic Blood Sugar Count
Pre-meal: 116 | Post-meal (1 hour): 94 | Insulin: 5 Units

I finally made it back to America but I am not home in New York just yet. I had to make a pit stop in Redmond Washington to attend our yearly Techspert Summit at Microsoft. We had a night off to go out and grab some grub. A few of us ended up at a mall food court, which had a ton of different types of restaurants. It had been a really long time since I had BBQ so I went for it at Burney Brothers. I was very skeptical because I was at a mall food court but check the video and you will see how it was…

Biriyani Redemption

There has been something bothering me for a long time now. Months to be exact. I have been around the world eating. I have ate in the dirtiest, weirdest, darkest, hottest, slowest, fastest, spiciest, freshest, coldest, strangest places I could find. I have ate on the street everywhere. Everywhere except, India. India frightened me. To be more accurate my friends, the locals and the restaurant proprietors all warned me of the horrible sickness I would suffer with just a nibble of the street food I so desperately craved.

I left India having NOT touched one morsel from a cart, stall or street peddler. The defeat sat dormant in me for a month after returning home. I thought I had forgotten about my disappointment when one day that defeat roared back to life. I felt it suddenly coursing through my body the same way I was told the gastro-intestinal hell raising bacteria would if I did not heed the words of the, presumably, smarter. It grew stronger, itchier and madder each day. It attacked my brain, my nervous system and my appetite, flooding my body with tasty thoughts of goodness reaped only from a hot street cart down a dusty ally.

I couldn’t take it any more. I had to do something. I was not heading back to India anytime soon so, I did the next best thing for a shot of redemption. The above video was my shot to stifle and kill this now uncontrollable feeling inside me that I MISSED something wonderful.

Want to make this yourself? Make the jump to see the a How-To-Video and recipe.

Pancakes on the Rocks Part II and III

Pancakes On The Rocks was so good and I talked it up so much that the day I got off the ship a bunch of us went for brunch. With more people we could try more Pancakes. This time we got the ultimate pancake for the table. We also had the bananarama, apricot, and chocolate. Wow, what a throw down. They had to role us out of the restaurant…

Improved rice krispies?

Really? Did we need to try and improve on this staple food item. Would this mean Snap, Crackle and POP are on steroids? So, it tastes terrible. I was almost excited for the lager krispie but I was totally disappointed when it hit my taste buds…

REEL TASTY: Goodfellas Intro

Fiji Water In Fiji

First Landing Resort Lautoka, Fiji from Anthony Anello on Vimeo.

I finally made it to Fiji. This was one of the ports I was really looking forward to when I got on the Volendam. I have seen pictures of how beautiful Fiji is and was looking forward to an absolute paradise. We ended up going to the First Landing Resort that day. Nothing to special about the beach, water or the food! There has got to be a better part of Fiji. Oh well, next time….

Best Chicken Curry EVER.

What a great day we had in Port Vila. In the morning we swam and climbed a waterfall. It was picture perfect. We had a nice big group of people with us. In the afternoon we ended up taking a ferry to Hideaway Island. By this time we were starved. I walked right up to the Hideaway Beach Bar and asked what is the most local dish they serve. She immediately said the curry. I got the chicken curry and my friend got the fish. I saw the menu had bottles of New Zealand Oyster Bay wine so I got a bottle of that also. As we waited for our food, two of our friends decided to take an intro to scuba lesson and the rest of us decided to relax in the sun and wait for the food. It was so relaxing sipping on good white wine and chit chatting it up. When the food came, my eyes opened wide and mouth started to salivate…

Ostrich Looks Like Steak

We entered New Caledonia in Noumea. It was overcast and more of a city than a beach town. We were all excited to get to a beach after hitting a lot of ports that had cooler temperature. We were starting to get board and frustrated with the town because there was nothing to do. We found a restaurant by the marina and decided to grab a bit. It started to rain at that point anyway so it was good timing. Everyone had ice cream sundays for lunch, which was interesting but I decided to keep with the non traditional meals that I have been eating on my journey and got…

P.I.E. WITH Joe Schram and Chris Palminteri

Joe and I decided on an old watering haunt of his for a quick and overdue holiday meetup. Joe is an old college friend from SUNY Albany. The adventures that were logged over the years are far too many to list. On the top of that list has to be hiking the Sawteeth peaks in the Adirondacks, Halloween with him dressed like “The Crow” and a Philly run down to the Ruby Lounge in which he wore a shirt that indirectly ridiculed Seth’s girlfriend. In more recent years Joe sits at the photo editor desk for the WSJ, not a bad gig. When the whistle blows he heads back to a small town in Jersey that has somehow turned into the mecca for ex-Albany photojournalists. Joe and I are mistaken as brothers often. Needless to say we hold similar behavior, humor and, apparently looks. Joe is always good for that clever and well timed laugh. He puts me in stitches most times I am in his company and for that, I thank him.

Chris also has some history at the pub we were visiting. Cheezie, as those in the lnow call him, was a good friend of Joe’s wife, then of Joe’s and now of mine. As a real estate broker in NYC he has it tough these days. But according to him things are looking up. I believe him. Chris always adds to the humor when throwing back the cold ones with us. Being a guest in Dublin, their bar, is like visiting a friend on thanksgiving. You know nobody, they know everybody. More jokes fly and more beers get poured. My kinda night. Thanks guys.

What we ate
Steak salad
Burger
I forget what Chris got but he had never, ever had it before