Entries tagged with 'Mixed Review'
Page 1 of 5
"Paula's face smiled up at me from the packaging, her familiar gray bob frozen into place, her lips shellacked with frosted pink gloss." [Photographs: Lucy Baker] Last week, in Ed's Brooklyn Star review, Ed deemed chef Joaquin Baca's biscuits "probably the best in newly biscuit-crazed New York." This so-called biscuit craze isn't limited to the Big Apple: all over the country people are harkening back to a time when food was simple, unfussy, and honest. Out with the fusion and small plates, in with the fried chicken and family-style menus. It's no wonder then that the humble biscuit is having a renaissance. Is there a more modest, straightforward food out there? I don't think so. Of course, biscuits are a...
Continue reading »
[Photographs: Lucy Baker] The country's gone mad for fried chicken and so far I've kept my mouth shut. Truth be told, I'm a bit of a hater. It all began back in third grade when my class had a family recipe day. I cast my vote for chocolate donut cake (so named because it was baked in a tube pan), but my mother insisted on making the fried chicken she grew up with in Virginia. I remember shaking the raw chicken pieces in a brown paper bag filled with breadcrumbs, and watching safely from across the kitchen as my mom dropped each breast and drumstick into a hissing pot of hot oil. The next day I carried a platter...
Continue reading »
"A perfect glass-of-milk kind of snacking cake." [Photographs: Lucy Baker] Many would argue that gluten-free is the new cholesterol-free, fat-free, or carb-free. That is to say, it's the latest diet trend. Maybe gluten-free products are currently having their glitter moment, but there is no denying the facts: as many as three million Americans have celiac disease, and the number of gluten-intolerant people is even greater—about one in 133. That means they cannot comfortably digest gluten, the main protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. Can you imagine a life without pasta? Or warm crusty bread? Cereal? Fortunately you don't have to. Right now, markets are stocked with gluten-free versions of many favorite foods, including waffles, pizza, and even beer. Out...
Continue reading »
[Photographs: Lucy Baker] As I've learned over the past month, you can make a pumpkin version of just about anything, including beer, whoopie pies, and chili. But what really compares to a perfect pumpkin muffin? Especially one that is warm and spicy and slathered with cream cheese? There are plenty of pumpkin muffin mixes on the market, as well as a host of mixes for pumpkin quick breads that can easily be baked in a muffin pan. But most of them leave me disappointed. Too often, they are one-dimensional in flavor—all pumpkin puree with no substance to back it up. I wanted a more satisfying muffin, one vaguely reminiscent of bran versions, with the nutty taste of whole-wheat and...
Continue reading »
"Even the dot was delicious!" Sprinkles, the wildly popular cupcake bakery that started in Beverly Hills, has been touted by many celebrities including Jon Stewart, Bobby Flay, and Oprah, and featured in countless publications (like Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, and the Los Angeles Times.) While other cupcakeries, such as New York's Magnolia, stick to classic flavors like vanilla and devil's food, Sprinkles offers up more than twenty inventive varieties including chai latte, coconut marshmallow, and ginger lemon. Distinguished by their signature dots, these sweet little confections are arguably the most famous dessert in Hollywood. Recently, Williams-Sonoma paired up with Sprinkles to create a line of cupcake mixes, so even if you don't live in 90210 territory you can still...
Continue reading »
[Photographs: Lucy Baker] Two weeks ago, I reviewed Maggie & Mary's Creamy Pumpkin Soup. It was so spicy and warming, I still thought about it long after slurping up the last spoonful. Squash-based soups make wonderful winter weeknight meals. Not only are they quick, satisfying, and healthy, they also chase the chill out of your bones faster than my mother chases my brother out of the kitchen on Thanksgiving morning. Last week I found myself unable to resist another batch of pumpkin soup. This time, I opted for Crate & Barrel's Pumpkin Chowder ($6.95). Unlike Maggie & Mary's soup (smooth and evenly textured) this one incorporates rice and chunks of vegetables....
Continue reading »
Mary Lake-Thompson Pumpkin Latte Harborside Bakery Harvest Pumpkin Quick Bread [Flickr: KnaPix] [Photographs: Lucy Baker, unless otherwise noted] Coffee aficionados come in all shapes and sizes—from those who slurp only the finest Sumatran blends, to those who will settle for nothing less than a perfect dry cappuccino with a creamy cloud of foam. My boyfriend stocks our freezer with trays of coffee ice cubes (to avoid the dreaded watered-down effect). There are also those java connoisseurs who turn up their noses at specialty coffee drinks. Let me say right now: I am not one of them. I grew up in Massachusetts, birthplace of the Dunkin' Donuts Coffee Coolatta. My very first date involved a mocha Frappuccino. I have a sweet...
Continue reading »
"Pumpkin pie in soup form? Should I sprinkle it with graham cracker crumbs instead of croutons?" [Photographs: Lucy Baker] Forget candy corn, fun-size Snickers bars, and caramel apples. What I really look forward to every October is the pumpkin. As soon as the leaves start turning, it seems like every coffee shop, craft brewery, and gourmet purveyor goes gourd-happy, offering up everything from lattes and ales to bundt cakes and whoopie pies flavored with the sunset-hued squash. Happily, for the next month I will be reviewing a host of festive foods that are easy to prepare at home using the season's best pumpkin mixes. Maggie & Mary's, a Minnesota-based specialty food company, has an inviting website, dotted with black-and-white snapshots...
Continue reading »
The ice cream, but in cake form. [Photographs: Lucy Baker] I've expounded in the past about my love for all things cookies and cream. Just as shaved black truffles always improve savory dishes, crumbled chocolate sandwich cookies never fail to elevate desserts to new heights. On a recent shopping trip to Williams-Sonoma, as I browsed the company's ever-expanding line of baking mixes, I came across a cookies and cream loaf cake ($10.50). Like most Williams-Sonoma products, it was expensive. But top-quality food is worth a splurge, and the box promised "real cream flavor" and "the aroma of an old-fashioned ice cream parlor." Sure, making a loaf cake from scratch and dumping in some crushed-up Oreos would be easy. Nonetheless, I...
Continue reading »
"I put the bottle of Belvedere—oh alright, it was Smirnoff—back in the liquor cabinet." [Photographs: Lucy Baker] I made vodka sauce once for a date. No, it wasn't Rachael Ray's "You Won't Be Single For Long Vodka Cream Sauce." I'm not that sappy. It was Sara Perry's recipe for linguine with bacon and vodka sauce from her book Everything Tastes Better with Bacon. It was a memorable night and while the gentleman and I have long since parted ways, from time to time I think fondly of the irresistible contrast of smoky bacon and fragrant basil, the kick of red pepper flakes, and the hint of spice that was so hard to name (dried fennel seeds). Gutsy and flavorful as...
Continue reading »
