Forking Tasty

French Food vs Snowtober

Are you kidding me?

For those of you not in NYC, it snowed today. It’s not January. Not even December. Barely November. It’s just not right. Rather than harp on the disastrous outdoor weather, I combated it with a little hibernation vaccination. Nothing cures the abnormally bitter, cold, slush filled street chaos better than a big pot of beef bubbling on the stove all day. That’s right, the french classic beef bourguignon. It warmed my house all day and then warmed my soul all night. Talk about turning a negative into a positive. Stay warm and dry NYC tomorrow is bound to be better.

Just Before I Head Back To The States

Before I left Greece I wanted to try a dish I had seen many times but never tried. The above is called Moussaka and when I saw it on other peoples plates I thought it was lasagna. It’s close to lasagna, but not exactly. Moussaka is a casserole made by layering eggplant with a spiced meat filling then topping off with a creamy bechamel sauce that is baked. It is perhaps the most widely recognized of all Greek dishes. If your ever in Greece you have to get one. After I ordered my Moussaka I asked the waiter to put a little Greek Tirokafteri (Spicy Cheese Dip) on the side of the plate. I had some in Santorini and fell in love with this cheese. It’s like nothing I have ever had before. They tell me that each restaurant makes it differently but it is mainly a mixture of feta and ricotta. These are two Greek treats I’ll have to recreated back home in New York.

RECAP-REEL TASTY: The Three Amigos

photo credit: Kun Kim

Ariba! Ole! and Amigos!

The season 3 finally of REEL TASTY went off better than we could have ever expected. Again we bit off a little more than we could chew. In the end the Mexican fiesta, with our favorite three amigos, was a pinata smash hit.  Although we didn’t have an actual pinata we did have everything else very well represented form pork to beans to tequila.

For those who are unfamiliar with our dinners, Reel Tasty is Forking Tasty’s summer supper club where Aimee, my co-chef/host, and I screen a movie on a 2 story building while our guests sample some of our latest and tastiest gourmet creations. As many of you who follow know, we had a few run in’s with the weather this season. For our final dinner on the deck, mother nature gave us…

What to gift a food guy

…on his birthday.

Arguably it’s tough to buy gifts for people once they pass the age in which they can buy stuff for themselves. Some of us give up and go for the standards; A tie, a meal or the all encompassing gift certificate. I dedicate this post not to the day I was born but to the person who knows how I live best. Aside from the normal gift giving difficulties I am notoriously picky when it comes to presents. I want to be surprised but I also want the gift to be so amazingly useful that I feel I could never live without the treasure.

One of the first things my wife ever said to me, which has been mentioned in this blog several times , was one of the most simple and true statements I’ve ever heard. These are the things that make you fall in love but that’s a post best suited for February. When asked what is her greatest possession she replied…

Dinner for 88 VIP’s

The past two weeks I’ve been a bit busy to say the least. Those of you eagerly awaiting the REEL TASTY season finally recap, I promise it will be up next week. The delay is not without good excuse. Another example of how my Manifold world overlaps with my food world, I was called out to Vegas by LinkedIn to orchestrate 10 super high end experiences with a gastronomic twist for their top VIP clients. These days Las Vegas is a new Mecca for amazing dining experiences. It’s not just the TV chefs that have restaurants popping up either. International chef’s like Pierre Gagnaire and Joel Robuchon have built beautiful restaurants tucked into some discrete corners of the biggest casinos on the strip.

To create these incredible, unique and delicious dinners we…

Well Off The Diet

…. Not that I am on a diet but I typically will not eat like this all at once. It was the southerners and my last night in Barcelona. The night before be had a massive dinner in Barcelona (post coming soon) and I think it expanded our stomachs creating this void that needed to be filled. What else but to fill that void with food that really tastes good but is really bad for you. We didn’t want to have a sit down dinner but to walk around and sample food here and there.

Fried Chicken Breakfast

Not exactly. I just couldn’t bring myself to whack down a chicken and waffles plate at 9am on a Thursday. Although the rainy New York morning gave me a good excuse, the Bikram Yoga class planned for tonight won the short synapse battle. There could be nothing worse than trying to sweat out molasses and waffle while in standing-head-to-knee pose. What I opted for instead was more of a breakfast than the aforementioned dinner-breakie mash up. Above is the Eggs Armadillo, a poached egg on top of a buttermilk biscuit, covered in sausage gravy. It’s not exactly the morning fuel Slim Goodbody preached to me as a kid but pretty damn satisfying. It’s been a very quiet secret that I’ve been holding lunch meetings and late night snack fixes at the 50′s style tables of Hill Country Chicken for the last 5 months. So, I am no stranger to the finer, fattier side of their menu. When they announced breakfast a few months ago I instantly started looking for the opportunity to blow up the morning with some of their delights. The menu fills out well with fatty pastries, donuts and a set of sides that could outshine your main event. Take a peek and schedule a visit. I’ll most likely be at the back table holding a leg.

Mid-Week Morsel

It’s been hectic this week to say the least. Between ramping up for this Saturday’s REEL TASTY and next weeks special Vegas dinners there has not been much time to breath let alone eat. Before I jump back into the fray I wanted to share a little home cooked goodness I prepared 2 weeks ago just before the task waves started crashing against my backyard. I came across this tasty gem as I was flipping between MS Word and Photoshop this morning. It’s not my Mother-in-law’s recipe but quite delicious. It reminded me of a quieter time where home cooked delicious food has that ability to mellow you out and focus you on the moment, the bite and the company. If you’re to-do list isn’t 2 miles long maybe it’s a good night to whip something up instead of order in. If you can, I envy you. For now.