Belly Blabber

Stopping Belly Blabber and Starting Something New

2010-01-30T15:56:00.000-05:00

I've decided to stop updating Belly Blabber and focus on a new project that I've been wanting to do. Please visit my new blog if you have the time. It can be accessed through the link below. Thanks!

Gotsta Haves It (http://gotstahavesit.tumblr.com/)

Thanksgiving Showdown

2009-12-09T15:37:00.002-05:00

Class have been drawing to a close and things have been getting busy, so It's been a while since I've posted something. I'll try and catch up with some things I noted over the past few weeks as soon as I can. To start things off, here's quick look at what was on my Thanksgiving menu this year.

To start the day, I popped open my cans of foie gras and duck rillette. I had bought these on a goose/duck farm when I was in France this summer and had been saving them for a special occasion. I also tried to keep it simple since I had a whole dinner to worry about as well. I served them with melba toast and topped the rillette with some cornichons. Everything was great - rich, fatty, and very ducky...

I've heard so much about Turducken (a chicken, inside a duck, inside a turkey) that I needed to try it just once. Combining all those meats into one could only lead to ultimate poultry bliss. Being in New York though, Turduckens weren't available at your local grocery store. Luckily, I had found CajunGrocer.com, which sells and ships frozen Turduckens directly to your door. The website was featured on Food Network and the Wall Street Journal. Turduckens they have come in two sizes of pure awesomeness - 15 lbs and 4 lbs (this one is just a turkey breast with duck and chicken meat stuffed inside). Of course, we got the 15 lbs bird(s).

After 7 hours of cooking, the bird was ready and we were ready to eat. The skin had an amazing brown color to it and was extremely savory. The meat was very tasty, but I'm not sure if I really would classify it as a giant improvement over normal roast turkey. At least I can say I've had it and next year I can just go back to normal turkey to make things easier. Other menu items included a sausage dressing (seen above), truffle mashed potatoes and green beans with country ham. Overall, a very satisfying meal with a mountain of leftovers (just as it should be).

For dessert, the easy way out would have been to just buy a pumpkin pie. This year I tried to challenge myself to make everything (from scratch too). Also, I thought why have pumpkin pie when you can have pumpkin cheesecake. The recipe I used was a variation of a Paula Deen recipe (found here) in that I substituted the graham cracker crust for a crust made with ginger cookies (see my earlier post on ginger cookies for the recipe). This by far I think was the star of the night. The filling came out creamy and light; the crust was sweet and crispy. It was a great dessert full of fall flavors (if I do say so myself) and a perfect way to end a great meal.

The Evolution of Coke

2009-11-23T01:37:00.002-05:00

I stumbled across this image on Buzzfeed showing the history of the Coke bottle. I just thought that it was really interesting to see how the bottle shapes and Coke logos have changed throughout the years. As you can see, the first Coke bottle doesn't even have any of the signature Coke red on it.

The History of Coke Bottles (Buzzfeed)

Deep Fried Fish Still Alive

2009-11-19T15:03:00.000-05:00

This is just crazy. Apparently in China, they can deep fry a fish and serve it all while keeping it alive and kicking. In the video, the person repeatedly pokes the fish with his chopsticks to show that it is still alive. He then proceeds to take a couple of bites from the fish's body. I'm no vegetarian or advocate for animal rights, but I don't know if I could ever bring myself to eat something like this.

Top Ads of the Decade

2009-11-17T16:13:00.002-05:00

AdWeekMedia has released their top choices for best commercials of the decade. Nominees include iconic spots like the Nike "Freestyle" and the Budweiser "Wassup" ads. Part of the Best of the 2000s feature, AdWeekMedia will be selecting the best marketing, advertising and media performances over the last ten years. While the winners will be announced in December still, you can go vote for your favorite commercial (as well as a slew of other categories) at Bestofthe2000s.com.

Naturally, some of the nominees include commercials from some of the biggest names in the food industry - Coke, Pepsi, Skittles, Cadbury and so on. From the list, I've chosen my own personal top 3 food and beverage related ads (funny though that all my choices ended up being for beverages). What do you guys think? Is there another food-realted ad nominated that deserves to be in the top 3 or are there any other food-related ads that you think got snubbed from the list of nominations?

As an honorable mention, I wanted to include this Coke ad in the top 3 but I figured that I stick to one ad per advertiser. Just goes to show how awesome some of the Coke ads were these past ten years.

See all nominees for Commercial of the Decade (Non-Superbowl) here.
See all nominees for Superbowl Spot of the Decade here.

Eating In: Ginger Cookies

2009-11-12T10:22:00.002-05:00

The holidays are right around the corner, so that means it's time to bake up some holiday goodness as well. My favorite holiday baked good recipe is for Ginger Cookies. I use a Paula Deen recipe, but I substitute the shortening for butter (because butter is always better). I like the recipe because it produces an extremely chewy cookie, but not in a way that makes it seem like the cookie is old and stale. Also, the molasses gives it a saltiness while still having the sweetness everyone wants.

The recipe can be accessed through the Food Network website.

On a side note, I recently purchased a pair of Silpat non-stick baking mats (seen in the picture above). I must say that these things are great. Not only do you not have to butter/PAM/wax paper your baking trays but the mats also seem to reduce the chances of burning the bottoms of your cookies. Because of that, it's easier to get nice thin cookies without getting them too crispy.

Street Meat: Biryani Cart

2009-10-30T01:32:00.002-04:00

Another 2009 Vendy Award finalist and winner of the People's choice Vendy Award in 2008, Biryani Cart was definitely on my list for street vendors to try. Located on 46th and 6th, it's surrounded by a lot of competition in the immediate area (Jamiacan Dutchy, 53rd and 6th Halal, Kim's Aunt, etc). I went just after lunch and there was basically no line so no trouble getting my food.

My lunch that day was their Kati Rolls. They're made in 4 different styles, each one available with chicken or lamb and wrapped in chapati, an Indian bread that is chewy and and crisp at the same time. I sampled the King Koti Roll - a spicy chicken tikka marinated in yogurt and spices, and the Channai roll - a sweet and tangy roll made with a spicy Thai style chili sauce. You can get any two rolls for $6, which is a pretty good deal. While I must say that they were quite good, I'm not sure if it has won me over to being a repeat visitor. I still think I would choose Halal food over a Kati roll, but I guess that depends on my mood. In any case, you won't be disappointed if you decide to drop by.

Pamplona

2009-10-23T00:54:00.000-04:00

A couple of weekends ago, I ate at Pamplona, a Spanish restaurant in the Flatiron district. To start, we had the Pan con Tomate with Jamon (pictured below). The bread was toasted nicely and the richness of the tomato combined with the ham reminded me of how good simple things really can be. As my main course, I had the Cochinillo (pictured above), which was confit of suckling pig with green leaf lettuce, shiitake mushrooms and an apple puree. Pork-anything is definitely my weakness and this pork dish was exceptional. The combination of the sweetness of the apple with the saltiness of the pork (especially the skin!) made the dish satisfying down to the last piece. My only qualm was that there wasn't enough sauce on the plate. My girlfriend had a Mahi-Mahi dish (the last picture below) that was good in its own right (I forget what exactly was in it since it was a special that night) - a good mixture of sour and salty, but I think the pork won that night. Simply put, I would order the pork again, but maybe not the Mahi-Mahi.

Overall, I would say that the experience was satisfying, but the service could have used a bit of improvement as there were times when we had to wait for a noticeable amount of time between courses and when trying to reach the attention of the waiters. With that said, I would still recommend going to Pamplona, but just remember to schedule more time for dinner.

Eating In: Thai Basil Chicken with Cashews

2009-10-15T13:46:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend, I decided to make my mom's recipe for Thai Basil Chicken. Whenever I cook I like to make things that have lots of sauce and can easily be scaled up to a large amount so that I have leftovers for the rest of the week. This is my first attempt at writing a recipe, so I'm sure there are going to be some things that need work. Ingredients needed are as follows:

1 pound minced chicken thighs / ground chicken
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons vegetable / canola oil
1/3 cup unsalted roasted cashews
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
basil (about a small handful of leaves)
black pepper

1. Start by heating 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a wok on medium heat.
2. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken. You can use either chicken thighs that have been minced or ground chicken if you want to save time. Chicken thighs will produce better flavor, but having to chop them up adds time to the process.
3. Cook the chicken until all of it appears to be cooked through.
4. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Also, keep any juices that collect in the pan as a result of cooking and set aside in a separate dish.
5. In the same pan on medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and the garlic.
6. Cook the garlic until it starts to brown, then add the oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar and lime juice and stir to mix all the components.
7. Depending on how saucy you want the dish to be, add some of the chicken juice set aside earlier to the pan (about 1-3 tablespoons should be fine). Water can be used as well.
8. Once the sauce starts to caramelize (gets thicker and starts to bubble), add the chicken and the cashews, and stir to coat with the sauce.
9. Add pepper to taste and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
10. Remove from heat. Add the basil and stir to combine.
11. Serve with steamed white rice.

Street Meat: Halal Food at 53rd & 6th

2009-10-08T21:37:00.004-04:00

Probably the current most popular New York street food vendors at the moment, Halal food carts can be found all over the city. The most famous of which can be found on the corner of 53rd St and 6th Ave across from the Hilton and is aptly named 53rd and 6th. The cart is open from 7:30 - 4:00 AM each day, but there is an unaffiliated vendor (pictured below) there that is there during the day that is quite good as well. Every night the line for 53rd and 6th can easily stretch to over 20 people. In terms of food choices, I always get lamb over rice - lamb meat with lettuce and tomato over yellow rice generously covered in "white sauce".

Baoguette

2009-10-01T14:24:00.003-04:00

Since my class schedule is primarily at night, I usually make it a point to grab some takeout on my way home for dinner. Last night, I was in the Cooper Union area since so I decided to pass by Baoguette Cafe, the sister restaurant to Michael Huynh's Baoguette in Murray Hill (pictured below), for some banh mi action. (For some reason, Baoguette Cafe and Baoguette have different websites, with the latter only listing the Murray location while the former listing both as well as a West Village location. Also, the Baoguette website allows for online orders, while the Cafe website doesn't. Very strange and confusing to say the least.)

I had the standard Baoguette (pictured above) - pork terrine, pate, pulled pork and fresh herbs all in a crisp baguette. As usual, it was extremely satisfying, a great mixture of savory, sweet, spicy and sour. You can't quite beat a mixture of three kinds of pork in a sandwich, especially for $5. I also had an order of Shrimp and Green Papaya Salad (pictured below). The papaya salad was basically the greens they had put in the Baoguette, but it was still light and refreshing as a compliment to my sandwich.

Fish dinner at Aquagrill in Soho

2009-09-24T11:13:00.003-04:00

My girlfriend had a craving for some fish the other night, so we decided to try out Aquagrill. I had one of the specials of the night, Halibut with sun dried tomato gnocchi and a roasted garlic emulsion (pictured below). My girlfriend had the Miso-glazed Chilean sea bass with kimchi and wasabi-miso sauce (Pictured above). Both dishes were extremely flavorful but I would have to say that the sea bass was the winner, as the tartness of the kimchi balanced out the dish well.

Street Meat: The Jamaican Dutchy

2009-09-16T15:03:00.004-04:00

I truly believe some of the best food you can get is on the street. Good street food should be satisfying (in way that you know is probably not good for you), but most of all it should be cheap.

I heard about The Jamaican Dutchy (corner of 51st and 7th ave) through its Vendy Award nomination this year and decided to give it a try. I got the Jerk Chicken Mini Meal (which I think is more than enough food for lunch) which cost $6.50. Although I think the plantain and rice that came with it wasn't that great, the chicken itself was extremely flavorful and spicy. More pictures below...

Bo Ssam at Momofuku

2009-09-09T14:38:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, I celebrated my friend Mark's birthday at Momofuku Ssam Bar. The main purpose of going to Ssam Bar was to order the Bo Ssam - whole roasted pork butt, oysters, bibb lettuce, two kinds of kimchi and two sauces combined in any manner that pleases your taste buds.

I can't say I've been convinced that pork and oysters go well together, but the meal was simply amazing. More pics below...

Back From the Grave

2009-09-03T16:13:00.004-04:00

I haven't updated this thing in ages, partly because I've been lazy and partly because I've been trying to figure out what the best format/perspective I should take for this blog. After some thought, I think that my writing is neither exceptionally eloquent or interesting for that matter, and I've decided to continue posting to the blog with much more images and much less text. I also just came from Europe so I have wealth of mouth watering pictures to share with everyone.

To start things off, here is a picture of the first meal I had on my trip to Europe, Mussels cooked in White Wine (which apparently should be Muscadet) and Creme Fraiche. Gotta love French cooking... a touch of butter or creme fraiche at the end makes everything taste beter.

The Red Bull Dog

2009-05-25T20:16:00.005-04:00

What's the best way to get your fair share of beer, wine and liquor? How about a Red Bull Dog at Blockheads Mexican Diner. The drink basically consists of the following: Get a frozen margarita, add some sangria, then stick a Corona in it. The best part is that the entire thing only cost $7.50.

Philippines Tops Bourdain's Hierarchy of Pork

2009-02-16T22:54:00.004-05:00

In tonight's episode of No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain makes a stop in my home country of the Philippines. He'll be visiting Manila, Pampanga and Cebu through his travels and will be meeting with travel author Claude Tayag and runner-up for the No Reservations FAN-atic Special casting call, Augusto Elefano. While this in itself is exciting, as I can attest that my homeland has some of the best food in the world, what really caught my eye was his blog posting on tonight's episode.

In his post, Bourdain states that "of all the whole roasted pigs I've had all over the world, the slow roasted lechon I had on Cebu was the best," ranking it above Bali and Puerto Rico respectively. He also talks about Sisig (by far the one thing I miss most from the all the food back home) describing it as a "divine mosaic of pig parts, chopped and served sizzling and crisp on one side on a screaming hot platter." Let's just say if there's anything Filipinos are good at, it's eating pork. Click on the link below to access the full post.

Go Philippines!

Hierarchy of Pork (Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations)

Skittles Shots

2009-02-11T23:53:00.003-05:00

If you're growing tired of scarfing down Jell-O Shots, here's a new way to get your sweet fix while getting inebriated. Mix That Drink has a step-by-step tutorial, including pictures, on how to make Skittles-infused vodka. Aside from having some super sugary vodka on hand, I think the brightly colored bottles would be a visually interesting component for any bar. I would be careful though as drinking too much will probably make you not just taste, but see the rainbow as well.

Skittles Vodka Tutorial (Mix That Drink)

Alice's Tea Cup

2008-12-05T01:15:00.006-05:00

Brunch is great thing and any excuse to have breakfast food at a meal other than breakfast is OK by me.

One of my favorite places in the city to have brunch is Alice's Tea Cup. The name and decor of the restaurant is inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland with Alice-inspired art and quotes lining the walls. Dishes and tea are served on what I would describe as "mismatched" china, but I feel this only adds to the restaurant's overall charm. With 3 locations in Manhattan, Alice's is best known for its lengthy tea list and freshly baked scones. Scone flavors rotate daily, but once you try their pumpkin scone (pictured above), you'll never order any other flavor. If you are in the mood for a serious meal, the brunch menu offers a tasty selection of breakfast goodies - eggs, crepes, pancakes and such. My personal favorite is Poached Eggs with Smoked Salmon on a Buttermilk Scone.

More pictures below...

Caracas Arepa Bar

2008-12-02T22:55:00.007-05:00

It's been quite some time since I've posted anything and what can I say but I just haven't gotten around to it. I've been saving up some things I've wanted to post about and now that I have much more free time on my hands, I'll see if I can just get them all out on a regular basis over the next week or so.

Anyhoo... a couple weeks ago, I had dinner with a friend of mine at Caracas Arepa Bar in the Lower East Side. The place dishes up freshly made arepas, which are made-to-order and are hot and toasty when they get to your table. As you can see, it's tiny and we had to wait about an hour for a table, but it was worth it for some delicious delcious beef and chorizo in our bellies. If you're not in the mood to wait for a table, they have a "To Go" version a couple of stores down. However, arepas are still made-to-order so don't expect fastfood-like speed.

More pictures below...

Election Day Cake

2008-11-06T21:06:00.011-05:00

CNN may have holograms, giant plasma TVs and fancy touch screens, but do they have an edible electoral map?

The cake was made for an Election Night party I attended and I thought it was simply awesome. I can't really think of a better way for foodies to celebrate the new president elect. map of the United States was drawn free-hand (I asked the host and he said he just had the map on a computer screen and copied it using a plastic bag attached to the tip of a squeeze bottle). Also, we had red and blue colored icing, and would fill in the winner of each state as they were declared either Obama or McCain. We weren't able to finish filling in all the states though. Some people got a little too impatient.

Muffin Web Cartoons

2008-10-14T21:56:00.005-04:00

I recently discovered Muffin Films, a project created by by Amy Winfrey for her MFA thesis project at the UCLA Animation Workshop. The site includes 12 animated shorts where muffins sing, dance and promote general muffin love and awareness. Some of the films are a little bit on the weirder side, but I personally like "Pssst..." and "Muffinale".

Geek Art Through Food

2008-10-09T17:29:00.004-04:00

Witness the power of this fully armed and operational melon!

The Kitchn is reporting that Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories has created a Death Star-like cantaloupe, and everyone's inner dork just can't enough of it. Looks like dork culture touches just about everything in our lives even the food we eat. And let's face it, you took one look at the picture and knew exactly what the melon was supposed to be.

That's No Melon (Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories)

Save About 2 Minutes For Each Bottle of Wine

2008-10-03T12:05:00.004-04:00

Following up on my post about alternative ways to open a wine bottle, Gary Vayenrchuk, wine expert for Eat, Drink or Die, has a quick tip that will save you 1:43 minutes (at least according to him - not really sure where he got this number though) every time you open a bottle of wine. Coined the "Slide Rechnique", instead of cutting open the wrapper that normally surround the top of the wine bottle, he simply twists the entire thing off the bottle. I'm not really sure if this really "blows my mind" or "changes my wine life" like the video suggests, but hey... it's kinda cool the first time to see it.

Ithaca Apple Festival

2008-10-02T23:18:00.005-04:00

I was in Ithaca over the weekend and it happened to be the annual Apple Festival. Four years at Cornell and I had never actually gone, so I figured this would probably be my last chance. My one goal was to find a good old fashioned candied apple circa Disneyland (and as you can see from the picture that was a success). I haven't had one of these since I was 8 years old maybe, but I recommend them to anyone who wants to feel like a kid again. although it will never compare to New York City, as my girlfriend mentioned over the weekend, it's events like the Apple Festival that makes Ithaca so special and

More pictures below...

Meet the Top Chef Cheftestants

2008-10-01T15:51:00.007-04:00

The date is set! Bravo has finally announced that Top Chef Season 5 will be premiering this November 12th. I'm sure everyone has been starved for another generous helping of weekly Quickfire challenges (at least I know I have) and now the wait is only a little over a month away. For this season, the chefs will be battling in New York City, and previous reports/rumors have them living in Williamsburg for the duration of their stay. You can learn more about the 17 new cheftestants on the Top Chef home page on the Bravo TV web site.

In addition, this season Top Chef staple Ted Allen will not be returning as a judge and will be replaced by Toby Young, British food critic and author of the book How to Lose Friends And Alienate People (yes, the book that the movie of the same title that is coming out soon is based on). Not really sure what prompted Allen's departure, but I believe no show could could hurt from a splash of British humor. Special guests that have been announced include Martha Stewart, the Foo Fighters, Jean-Georges, Eric Ripert, Rocco DiSpirito, Wylie Dufresne, Jean-Christophe Novelli, and Natasha Richardson.

How to Open A Wine Bottle Without A Corkscrew

2008-09-30T10:15:00.004-04:00

If you've ever been caught with a bottle of wine and no corkscrew, or you're just too cheap to buy one, Wired has a How-To article showing how to open a bottle without the handy device. All of the necessary tools can readily be found in most homes (hammer, screwdriver, etc.) and it's sure to wow a few guests if you ever decided to try it. Click below for the full article.

Open A Wine Bottle Without A Corkscrew (Wired)

The Cupcake Fad in NYC

2008-09-23T11:31:00.008-04:00

(Image: Joyce Dopkeen/The New York Times)
The New York Times had a feature a couple weeks back on the current cupcake trend among New York City foodies, asking if the fad was nearing an end. The article mentions that perhaps the nostalgia for the childhood treat is finally wearing off, and that the rapid growth of boutique cupcake bakeries may actually be harming the trend more than helping.

The Kitchn recently expanded on the New York Times article by looking into other possible sweet trends that may hit New York soon.

Click on the articles below to get the full story.

Will Cupcakes Be the Next Krispy Kreme? (New York Times)
Trend Watch: Is the Cupcake Fad Nearing An End? (The Kitchn)

Cleaning with Spam and Pantyhose

2008-09-22T10:23:00.006-04:00

On the stranger side of things, Apartment Therapy has a post about bizarre household cleaning tricks. The example they talk about involves combining a can of Spam and some old pantyhose to buff wooden furniture in your home. I'm not doubting that it works, but I don't know if my love for Spam extends to my furniture smelling like the ever-so-famous "spiced" meat. Click on the link below to get the full story, as well as other unique household cleaning tricks in the comments section, like using used coffee grounds to remove lingering smells from your hands after preparing food.

What's Your Most Bizarre Household/Cleaning Secret? (Apartment Therapy)

Neo-Japanese Cuisine at Ono

2008-09-20T23:12:00.012-04:00

Last night, I had dinner with my uncle and cousin at Ono, a neo-Japanase restaurant located in the Hotel Gansevoort in the Meatpacking District. My uncle is visiting New York this weekend and he was in the mood for some good Japanese and was fine spending a pretty penny to get some (needless to say, I couldn't get a table at Morimoto on such late notice). Although definitely not for the budget conscious, Ono delivered a memorable meal which I would be more than happy to have again.

The concept of the restaurant is "family-style" eating with dishes placed in the center of the table for diners to share. I personally enjoy eating this way more as you get to try a lot more dishes, and as we were taught when we were little - everyone has more fun when you share. Highlights of the meal included Spicy Crab Pizza with avocado, radish sprouts and red miso, Duck and Lychee Robata (basically pieces of duck breast and lychee skewered and grilled - the combination of the saltiness from the duck and intense sweetness from the lychee was surprisingly satisfying), and Garlic Rubbed Whole Sea bass with black beans and peppercress. However, the definite star of the meal was the Togarashi-crusted Rib Eye, a 28 oz dry aged piece of Wagyu (Kobe) beef served with a red wine teryaki sauce (seen above - yes, you can start drooling if you already haven't).

More pictures below...

Bruce Lee as Fast Food Chain Mascot

2008-09-16T16:44:00.010-04:00

It's settled. I've found the single greatest corporate mascot of all time. Fast Food Critic is reporting that a fast food chain in China called Kung Fu uses Bruce Lee as it mascot. Let's just say, Ronald McDonald should find a good hiding place to avoid getting his ass kicked. Check out the articles below for more pictures and the story.

Kung Fu Fast Food, with Bruce Lee? (Fast Food Critic)
'Kung Fu' Fast Food Chain Has Bruce Lee as Mascot (Serious Eats)
Kung Fu Fast Food (When Eating A Wolf)

Using Statistics to Beat the Shake Shack Line

2008-09-12T17:40:00.011-04:00

Blogger Vinicius Vacanti has taken a unique approach to beating the long lines at the Shake Shack. He took line lengths reported by Twitter users over the last four months and graphed the average wait time throughout the day. I especially like his comment about the 60-minute or "third tree" long wait that some of us (who don't have interns to line up for us) have had to endure. Still, it always seems worth it once you dive into your Shackburger and cheese fries. Click on the link below to continue to the article.

Shake Shack Without The Wait (Vinicius Vacanti)

New Alton Brown Special on Food Network

2008-09-09T09:50:00.010-04:00

Feasting on Waves, the new Alton Brown (Good Eats & Iron Chef America) special series premiered last Sunday night on Food Network, and let's face it - we all can't get enough Alton to satisfy our culinary curiosity. The show: part cooking demo, part history lesson and part travel show - is a spin off from his popular show Feasting on Asphalt. Like Asphalt, the show follows Alton and his film crew as they travel in search for authentic culinary dishes and history of the region; however, instead of riding around Middle America on motorcycle, the crew sails around the Caribbean on a 50-foot catamaran in search for true island cuisine. I personally like the new show more than its predecessor as I find the filming locations much more interesting. And as always, the show is much better in HD...

On a side note, Gizmodo has a great interview with Alton about the various technology used while filming the show.

Food Network's Alton Brown Talks to Giz: Caribbean Adventuring With A Garmin, an iPhone and a Shload of Cameras (Gizmodo)

Flushing's answer to the New York burger craze

2008-09-07T22:26:00.014-04:00

A friend of mine, George (who will probably be helping me with the design of this blog), told me that I had to go to this burger place that he loves in Flushing and talk about it on Belly Blabber. So we decided to head to Flushing tonight and grab some dinner at Joe's Best Burger.

What makes Joe's different from your normal fast food burger joint is that they use FRESH ingredients (or so says their website) and the burgers are cooked to order, which kind of makes it sound like the East Coast equivalent of In-N-Out Burger. I'm not saying that the burgers are as good as In-N-Out (or Shake Shack for that matter), but they were pretty tasty. My only complaint was that the burger was cooked through a little bit more than I would have liked. Also, Joe's serves its fresh cut fries with special "gourmet" sauces like Chipotle BBQ, Roasted Garlic and Mango Chutney. I tried Chipotle BBQ, and I did enjoy it. But I have to say - although the combination was interesting, I still prefer ketchup with my fries. In terms of fast food burgers, Joe's is a definite step up from Mcdonald's or Wendy's, and worth a stop if you're already in the area.

More pictures below...

A Visit to Ithaca

2008-09-02T14:34:00.029-04:00

Over the Labor Day weekend, I took a trip back to my old campus in Ithaca, New York to visit my girlfriend. While most of my college life was spent eating like a poor student (There was that one semester where my roommates and I basically alternated between Chinese food and Subway each meal), I think I was able to sample a fair amount of Ithaca's offerings in terms of food fare. With the Ithaca area reportedly having a higher restaurant per capita ratio than New York City, it isn't too much of a surprise that there are quite a few really good places.

Here is a short list of my favorite Ithaca eateries.

Maxie's Supper Club

I think the main reason I love this place so much is because of my love for barbecue and Southern food, and Maxie's allows me to enjoy both. Personal favorites are the Fried Green Tomatoes, Cajun Fries and the Pulled Pork Plate (and if you order all of that, I recommend sharing it with at least one other person). However, the best option is definitely the raw bar, which you can get half off from 4-6 PM everyday for happy hour. Fresh shucked oysters (usually 2 or 3 varieties) with some drinks are definitely the way to go when making a visit. It can get pretty busy at times so a reservation is recommended, especially if you are going in a big group (5+ people).

Wings Over Ithaca

There is nothing quite as satisfying as having a big order of Wings Over Ithaca in the middle of the night, or even better after a long workout. However, you haven't had Wings until you've eaten it in the actual restaurant. The fries, onion rings and wings are crispy and fresh as they haven't been steaming in a covered delivery package for 20 minutes or so. Aside from the standard Buffalo, Garlic Parmesan is a personal favorite, but Cajun Teryaki and Honey Mustard are quite good as well. In addition, I strongly suggest ordering bone-in wings as they are juicier and tend to have more flavor. However, if you are in a rush, your order will get to you MUCH quicker if you order boneless. Till this day, its the one thing I have to have whenever I visit Ithaca.

Kilpatrick's Publick House

My roommates and I discovered Kilpatrick's pretty late in our stay at Cornell. From the outside, this Irish pub looks like any other, but in fact it boasts a very decent menu. Also, if you can get one of the booths in the back, you get your own mini-TV (with cable!) that you can program to any channel. The burgers are quite good - juicy and HUGE, and the Irish Fries pretty much describe themselves (Beer battered fries smothered in smoked bacon, green onions and pepper jack cheese). My personal favorite is the Hen of the Woods burger, which is topped with Swiss cheese, sauteed wild mushrooms, bacon, sweet onions, lettuce, tomato and herb mayonnaise. I think what sealed the deal was the Ithaca Bakery cheese bread that they served us (for free), the first time we were there. However, the other times we've gone, we were just served normal rolls, so you may not be quite as lucky when you make your visit.

Belly Blabber Begins

2008-08-25T11:13:00.007-04:00

I've been playing around with the idea of starting a blog for some time, but I just couldn't think of anything that I really wanted to talk about on a regular basis. Then I figured I might as well write about one thing that I love talking about... FOOD! Also, it gives me a perfectly good reason to eat out and try new places more often.

Let's make one thing clear though... The main reason I am starting Belly Blabber is for fun. I don't pretend to be a serious food critic, nor have I had any culinary training. If you want a more serious or profound interpretation of the food happenings in New York, my two favorite blogs are Serious Eats and New York Magazine's Grub Street. If you just want to hear what a normal guy living in New York City, a year or so out of college and working with limited funds has to say, then hopefully you will enjoy my ramblings. I am not sure how often I'll be able to update, but my goal is to have something interesting to say at least once a week. Let me know if there is anything you would like to suggest in terms of topics. Happy eating!