We've Gone Nuts!

It's been a damp, cool weekend here, so we decided to go nuts and make some sweet and spicy pecans. These are easy to make and make great, unique hor d'oeuvres for cocktail parties. We enjoyed snacking on them with a nice martini and olives.

Below is the recipe and you can add the seasoning to taste. We like ours with a nice kick, so we use the full amount of cayenne and Tabasco, but you can certainly reduce those if you want it less spicy.

1 extra large egg white
1/2 cup sugar
2 T sweet paprika
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
2 tsp cayenne pepper (if you don't like it too spicy cut in half)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 1/2 cups raw pecan halves

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a bowl whisk the egg white until it is frothy. Then whisk in the sugar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce,  Tabasco, cayenne pepper and salt. Add the pecans and gently toss, coating them completely.

3. Place on parchment paper and arrange into a single layer. Place in the oven and cook. Since Worcestershire sauce has a tendency to burn, stir the nuts every 20 minutes. Cook for approximately 1 hour until the nuts are dried out.

4. Remove from the oven and loosen the nuts. Set aside to cool. Note: Let nuts completely cool before placing them in a container or covering them. You do not want the humidity from the heat to build up in the container and make the nuts soft.

Enjoy!

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Food Paparazzi

I love photography. I love taking photographs. I adore going to museums to see great photographs. Since I was young I've been taking pictures of just about anything in front of me. Sometimes with success. Most times not. Well now, since starting this blog, I've been taking pictures of nearly everything I eat, and I've also noticed that the tables next to me are doing the same thing. The LA Times has referred to us as the "Food Paparazzi". And it is a growing phenomenon. 

The waiter delivers the plate and immediately cameras are taken out and flashes are popping. Often people get up to photograph the chefs in the kitchen as well. Not only is an open kitchen performance art, it's also become a photo shoot.

In New York, foodies have always been alive and well, but why the new fascination with photographing our food? We don't have lightboxes set up that allow these pictures to look amazing. Most of mine are taken with an iPhone. The lighting is what the lighting is. And often it isn't conducive to beautiful food photography.

I love the Payard croissants and had them often until they closed their New York location. When I was in Las Vegas I was ecstatic to find a Payard outpost and had an almond croissant almost every day. For as delicious as the croissant was (and as patient as I could be before devouring it), I never mastered the shot. Always taken on the sly, too, in the middle of a casino where cameras are not exactly welcome.

I try to take photos for this blog. Many times the meal (and the photo) are unremarkable and never get their day in the sun. For others their photos are reminders of good meals (although you take the photo before you know how good or bad it is.) Fascinated by food and photos, I will continue to make the best out of my iPhone. I am hoping practice makes perfect, because as you can see, I have a long way to go. Perhaps I will get pointers from the table next to me. The table with four diners snapping away. Flashes popping. Shutters clicking.

Please share some of your food photos. Good food is good art. Click away.

All this talk of Burgers

Today in New York GO Burger (from the fine folks at the BLT empire) opened a food truck bringing gourmet burgers to various NYC neighborhoods. For the lucky few who got there in time (we are glad to be included in this group), today they gave away free burgers. You have to love "practice runs". Under a perfect, warm spring sun, we ate our burgers, and they were delicious. Perfectly cooked and topped with onions, lettuce and sweet pickles. We look forward to being able to add fries and a vanilla shake to the order.

So with all this talk of burgers, it made us wonder who has the best burger? In New York you have the Shake Shack lovers who swear the 45 minute line is worth it. The perennial favorite is always the Corner Bistro, although besides the good location that love affair completely escapes us. Do the new outposts in town like Market Table & Little Owl outperform the old standards like JG Melon and PJ Clarke's?

It seems it's been a good year for burgers for us. For such a "lowbrow" meal, it has packed a lot of flavor. When we were in Las Vegas we had a late night burger at Bradley Ogden, and we are convinced it could make a vegetarian eat meat again. We have a friendly debate among ourselves, but some are convinced that Bradley Ogden has provided the best tasting burger ever. A spicy mustard, a tasty bun just add to the perfection that is the deliciously seasoned meat. There is an argument in favor of The Grape in Dallas. Another for JG Melon in New York City. 

Where is your favorite burger? And what made it the best?

One thing we do know is that with the weather getting better, we are excited about new outdoor burger joints even if we do have to chase a truck.