To Try

Black Pepper & Manchego Cheese Puffs

Technically called gougères, these French cheese puffs are normally made by folding lots of Gruyère into choux pastry dough for fluffy, light, cheesy bites. We changed it up by using aged Manchego, Parmesan, and a bit of black pepper, for addictive bites that will be a hit at your next cocktail party.

Game plan: The cheese puffs can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored at room temperature.

This recipe was featured as part of both our Academy Awards Cocktail Party menu and ourBar Snacks photo gallery.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups whole milk
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
5 large eggs
1 cup shredded aged (3 to 6 months) Manchego cheese (about 3 ounces)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 ounce)

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat the oven to 375°F and arrange racks in the upper and lower third. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
Combine milk, butter, salt, and pepper in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, add flour all at once, and stir vigorously until well incorporated. Cook, stirring constantly, until dough feels dry to the touch and is no longer sticking to the bottom of the pan, about 3 to 5 minutes. (The dough will form one large ball.)
Transfer dough to a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat in eggs one at a time on medium-low speed, letting the first one completely incorporate before adding the next. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the shredded Manchego cheese. Add remaining Manchego and Parmesan cheese to dough and mix on low until incorporated.
Drop tablespoon-size rounds of dough on the prepared baking sheets, about 1/2 inch apart. Evenly sprinkle reserved Manchego cheese over top. Bake, rotating halfway through baking time, until puffed and golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Grand Sichuan House

From NYMag.com:

Incongruously located behind Bay Ridge’s Century 21, Grand Sichuan House serves up trademark peppercorns and chiles in a compact interior with butcher paper-lined tables, bold-patterned lamp shades, and red-and-gold paper lanterns. There’s no reason to delve into the American-Chinese classics that dominate the take out menu; instead, look to the picture menu for authenticity. Start with tongue-searing dan dan noodles, a cold appetizer that looks like an innocent pile of thick wheat noodles until the pool of crimson chile oil at the bottom of the small bowl gets mixed in. The spicy yet familiar pasta is the perfect gateway to funkier items like tongue, tripe and jellyfish prepared in the same style. Slices of fresh pork, essentially uncured bacon, are stir-fried with garlic chives until the oniony greens turn sweet and an irresistible smokiness permeates the simple dish. Chong Qing chicken looks like nothing more than a plate of glossy dried chiles, the crispy sugar cube-sized chunks of meat are buried inside waiting to be plucked out with chopsticks. Despite the intimating quantity of red hot pods, the overall effect isn’t painfully fiery; it’s the barely perceptible Sichuan peppercorns that pack a tingly wallop. — Krista Garcia

Recommended Dishes

Dan dan noodle, $3.95; fresh sliced pork with garlic chives, $9.95; dry sautéed string bean with minced pork, $8.50; chong qing spicy chicken, $11.95

Grand Sichuan House

8701 Fifth Ave, near 87th Street

Hours:

Mon-Thu, 11am-10:30pm

Fri-Sat, 11am-11pm

Sun, noon-10pm

Pomme de Terre

From NYMag.com:

When the Farm on Adderley opened in the culinary wasteland of Ditmas Park in 2006, the neighborhood rejoiced. Things are looking even brighter on the food front now that the Farm’s owners, Gary Jonas and his wife, Allison, have teamed up with Brooklyn gastropreneur Jim Mamary on their second venture, an unassuming French bistro named Pomme de Terre. The unswervingly Gallic menu, designed by Farm on Adderley chef Tom Kearney, sticks to standards like duck confit, skate in brown butter, tarte Tatin, and a croque monsieur. “Pretty straight- forward stuff,” says Kearney. Still, churning your own butter, making your own ketchup, and dry-aging your own beef speak to something a little more ambitious. And if the twice-cooked fries are as crisp and delicious as they are at the Farm, Pomme de Terre will do its name proud

Specials:

Mondays - Rabbit Papparedelle Night

Tuesdays - Crawfish Boil Night

Menu

Pomme de Terre

1301 Newkirk Avenue, corner of Argyle Road

Truffled Fingerling Smashed Potatoes

TIME/SERVINGS
Total Time: 1 hr
Active Time: 10 mins
Makes: 10 to 12 servings

INGREDIENTS
5 pounds fingerling potatoes
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup white truffle oil
4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Place potatoes in a large pot, add water to cover the potatoes by 2 inches, salt well (the water should taste like seawater), and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer potatoes until fork tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Drain potatoes, return to the pot along with butter, and cook over low heat until butter is melted. Using a hand-held potato masher, smash potatoes until butter is incorporated, leaving some lumps. Add cream, truffle oil, salt, and pepper and fold together. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.

via Chow.com

Tipsy Parson

Southern comfort food temple by the owners of Little Giant. An outdoor area to boot!

Highlights: Rappahannock River Oysters, mint julep slushie machine, The Fry Up (a basket of cornmeal battered vegetables with Old Bay Aioli & smoky tomato relish), Braised Pork Shank with Stoneground Grits and Apple Butter Glaze, Strip Steak With Mushroom-Cornbread Stuffed Vidalia Onion, Bourbon-Glazed Sweet Potato Beignets

Tipsy Parson
156 Ninth Avenue (between 19th & 20th Streets), Chelsea
(212) 620-4545 | tipsyparson.com

via CityStyle

General Greene

After ending the Le Fooding event on Friday with tasty Vanilla Bourbon ice cream from General Greene, I had to look into this restaurant further to learn more about Julie Farias. Hailing from Beer Table, Chef Farias has recently taken over the kitchen at GG and specializes in tapas style servings of hearty foods for the soul. I’d like to try some of the following dishes recommended by Serious Eats:

Chorizo Salad - $12

Salt & Pepper Ribs - $13

8 oz. Grilled Steak - $13

Salty Caramel Sundae - $7

Seasonal Fruit Cobbler - $9

Kolache Mama

Like an Asian bread bakery, Kolache Mama will feature Czech-inspired sweet breads filled with protein/vegetables such as breakfast sandwiches, italian sausages and vegetable mixes. Opening on September 30th.

45 E 45th St, at Vanderbilt; Midtown East

Kolache Mama Menu

Brooklyn Dim Sum

Now that fall weather has taken over, I cannot think of a better way to begin the season than to test out the dim sum scene in Brooklyn. As a recent Manhattanite, I barely went to dim sum in Chinatown but after reading the Brooklyn Paper’s dim sum guide this past summer, there was nothing I’ve wanted to eat more. Below are the recommended restaurants that I will be going to one by one.

Pacificana

813 55th Street, at 8th Avenue

Sunset Park