Posted by Jamie Stahl

Share A Meal

11906253_710944369048954_763988509_nThe Holiday Season is coming up quickly.  This time of year represents a lot of different things to different people.  One of the most important themes celebrated during the holidays is food.  Between Thanksgiving and New Years, the amount of food that we eat at holiday parties must be record breaking.  Unfortunately, the amount of food wasted is record breaking too.

One in five children in the U.S are struggling with hunger on a daily basis.  As important as it is to celebrate this time of year with friends, family, and food, it’s also important to remember those less fortunate.  In order to help end childhood hunger, I have joined Unilever USA to spread awareness of their Share A Meal campaign.  Share A Meal is a social media campaign through Instagram.  For the number of “likes” and “comments” I receive on my Share A Meal picture, Unilever USA will donate a meal to a child in need.  Click here to connect to my Instagram photo.

If you are interested in learning more about how you can help, you can click on the two links below.

http://www.feedingamerica.org/?referrer=https://www.google.com/

https://www.unileverusa.com/

Truthful Tuesdays Volume Twenty-Three

IMG_3979This Week’s Truthful Tuesday:  Mass Plating

I’m sure everyone who is reading this has attended some kind of event where there has been “mass plating.”  What I mean by that is, there are a significant number of people being served a meal from the kitchen at the same time.  Usually this type of service occurs at a wedding or a Bar/Bat Mitzvah or an award ceremony or a fancy gala.  Typically, there are 2-4 meal options for all of the guests which for me, is like playing Russian Roulette.  I just have to go into the event completely blind, hoping that there is some entree that I am willing to eat.

Let’s say I get lucky and am given a menu option that I like.  For example, this past weekend, at a friend’s wedding, one of the choices was Short Ribs with Mashed Potatoes.  I love that!  Great!  Well, now there is another issue to contend with, the actual concept of the “mass plating.”  The chance of serving a catering hall or event space full of over a hundred people a dish at a decently warm temperature is pretty slim.  It happens all of the time.  No matter where I go or what I order.  The food comes out cold.

I’ve watched my fair share of cooking competition shows to know that it is no small feat to cook for a large venue of people.  It’s really crazy watching these chefs plate dozens upon dozens of creations to be served.  I can barely time my own dinner to be heated at the same time, let alone multiple people.  I honestly give them a lot of credit!  But, it’s 2015 and these kinds of events have been going on for a while now.  Shouldn’t some kind of system be in place at this point that doesn’t cause my meal to be placed in front of me at ice cold temperatures?

Do you want to know what I find interesting?  The cocktail hour food is almost always perfect.  Everyone loves the food at the cocktail hour.  It’s always the right temperature and there is so much of it!  I don’t understand how I can stand on a line for 5 minutes waiting for a piece of Corned Beef to be sliced and it be some of the best Corned Beef I’ve ever tasted.  Approximately the same number of people are eating the food during the cocktail hour and the main event.  But, somehow the buffet style during the cocktail hour seems to keep food tasting better than the sit down service.

After many experiences with “mass plating” events, I have developed some techniques that allow me to enjoy the majority of the food being served at a temperature that is appropriate.  I like to call this, stuffing my face during the cocktail hour.  Basically, if you eat as much food as you possibly can during this time, you will be so full that you won’t really want to eat the main course and it won’t matter how cold it is.  There could be tiny icicles hanging off the side of my plate and I’ll be okay, because I just ate ten mini hotdogs, six mozzarella sticks, a cup of fruit, a plate of cheese, three meatballs, and two spoonfuls of penne.

National Food Holidays

11881749_1644544889151469_1301922872_nLast week was a pretty busy week.  Aside from the fact that I was a Bridesmaid in one of my best friend’s weddings, I had a lot of other stuff to do.  Of course, this stuff was 99% food related and about 1% other parts of life.

It was a very important week for those of us who are observant of the great National Food Holidays.  I’ve mentioned these holidays before and discussed various foods that have been celebrated.  But, up until now, I had not encountered so many consecutive food holidays in a row.  On one hand, it takes some of the pressure off of deciding what to eat for a given meal.  On the other hand, you need to make sure you are able to purchase the food being recognized on that particular day.  Some of this requires a bit of strategic advanced planning.  Here is a summary of how I spent last week celebrating the different National Food Holidays.

12145305_478667722319401_94824109_nTuesday November 3, 2015:  National Sandwich Day

For National Sandwich Day, I decided to make a trip down to SoHo for brunch.  I had been wanting to try a new restaurant that had opened, Sadelle’s and knew that I could get a bagel there.  In order to celebrate this specific holiday, I ordered the House Salmon.  This came with 2 bagels, cream cheese, capers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions.  Everything was amazing, but there was no way I could finish it all.  I recommend sharing this platter, unless you’re absolutely starving and think you can eat 2 full sized bagel sandwiches in one sitting.

11939271_1124901227537793_2124218904_nWednesday November 4, 2015:  National Candy Day

In order to celebrate National Candy Day, I felt like I needed to incorporate candy into a yummy dessert dish.  I was visiting my parents that day and decided to bring with me all of the candy I had in my apartment.  Between what I brought and the leftover Halloween candy that my parents had, I could basically provide a small country with a years worth supply.  Using Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie dough, I baked a cookie cake for about half the amount of time.  Then I took it out, and covered most of the top with various types of candies.  I used Swedish Fish, Gobstoppers, Sour Patch Kids, Skittles, Nerds, Gummy Bears, Lifesaver Gummy’s, and more.  Once the cake was decorated, I put it back into the oven to finish baking.  By doing this, the candy on top didn’t melt or burn because it wasn’t in the oven for that long of a time.

11410767_189762448030196_462508245_nThursday November 5, 2015:  National Doughnut/Donut Day

There was a National Doughnut/Donut day back in June, which was a little confusing, I have to admit.  Then I thought about it and realized that there really wasn’t anything to be confused about because I love doughnuts/donuts and it didn’t matter.  In anticipation of Thursday’s holiday, I had purchased some doughnuts/donuts the day before.  I knew I’d be busy all day with packing for the wedding I was going to over the weekend, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss out on the celebration.  On my way out of the city on Wednesday, I decided to make a stop at Underwest Donuts.  I had never been before, but had been wanting to go for a while.  It’s located on the West Side Highway at 47th street inside of the giant car wash.  I found a parking spot on 11th avenue and walked over.  Although I knew Underwest Donuts was inside of the car wash, I didn’t actually believe it was really inside until I got there.  It’s completely inside of the car wash, like where you stand and wait for your car to be ready.  Underwest Donuts is a really cool place!  Oh, and the food is great too!  I picked up 5 in total, The Carwash (their take on basic glaze), an Old-Fashioned, A Coco-Raspberry Sugar, An Espresso Bean Sugar, and a Cinnamon Sugar.

11906283_1502487450078302_2019341624_nFriday November 6, 2015:  National Nachos Day

Friday was the day I was heading out to Long Island for my friend’s wedding, so I knew eating nachos was probably not something that was going to happen that day.  Instead, I planned ahead and ordered nachos for dinner on Thursday night.  I figured it was close enough to Friday that it counted as me celebrating!  I wasn’t sure where I wanted to order dinner in from and I was doing a little internet research when I came across Pig N Whistle.  I’d never been inside, though I had walked past it before.  I knew it was an Irish Pub of sorts and when I saw nachos on the menu, I was curious.  It turns out, Pig N Whistle makes Irish Nachos, which are probably one of the greatest inventions of all time.  It’s like a combination of Nachos and Cheese Fries.  The main difference is the use of sliced potatoes instead of corn chips.  They are topped with cheese, scallions, sour cream, and Irish bacon.  I can’t believe in my 29 years, I never came across Irish Nachos before.  They were so delicious!

Mac ‘N Cheese Recipe

IMG_2972I am a huge Mac ‘N Cheese lover.  I like the fancy kind you can get at a restaurant with truffles and bacon and I like the stuff you can make in the microwave with fake powdered cheese.  It makes a good snack, meal, or side dish.  When I’m not in the mood to really cook a whole production, but I also don’t feel like getting take-out, Mac ‘N Cheese is my back up plan.  Even if I don’t have a box of the pre-packaged kind, I always have the ingredients at home to make my own.

This recipe for Mac ‘N Cheese is far from exact in terms of measurements.  I pretty much eyeball everything, so if you plan on making my Mac ‘N Cheese, keep in mind, some ingredient amounts may need to be adjusted based on your personal taste.

Jamie’s Mac ‘N Cheese Recipe

Ingredients

1 serving of macaroni pasta (can also use fusilli, penne, rotini, cavatelli, etc)

1 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 cup shredded cheese (Cheddar, Italian blend, Mexican blend, etc)

Directions

  • Cook pasta as directed on packaging.  Generally you’d be bringing water to a boil before emptying pasta into pot and cook it for about 6-8 minutes.

  • Drain the pasta once it is cooked and leave it in the strainer/colander off to the side.  It’s usually a good idea to put a plate underneath incase any excess water drips out of the bottom.

  • In the pot you used to cook the pasta, add the butter, milk, and shredded cheese.  Turn the stove on low heat and using a wooden spoon, mix the ingredients together until the cheese has melted and everything has blended into a thick liquid.

  • Reduce heat to a simmer and pour the pasta back into the pot with the cheese sauce.  Mix the cheese and pasta together until all pieces are evenly coated.

  • Remove from heat, place into a serving dish, and Bon Appetit!

*To take the Mac ‘N Cheese a bit further, you can also bake it in the oven.  Pre-heat the over to 350 degrees while the water is boiling.  After the final step, place the pasta into a pan and cover the top with an additional layer of shredded cheese.  You can also add bread crumbs.  Bake in oven until crispy, about 12 minutes.

**I find that Ronzoni‘s Perfect Pasta Portions are most helpful in determining how much pasta to make per serving.

Truthful Tuesdays Volume Twenty-Two

IMG_1194This Week’s Truthful Tuesday: Here’s An Idea, Be Nice

If you work in a restaurant or a food stand or in a food truck, do you think it’s in your best interested to be nice to people?  Ignoring the obvious “tipping” factor, what good could come out of being rude to customers?  Ideally it’s a cyclical business.  I buy your food and I’m happy with your product and your service so I come back.  I doubt anyone opens a food stand thinking, “I want people to buy my food once, not be happy with the service and never come back, so that there aren’t any repeat customers.”

Now, I totally understand that everyone is human and sometimes someone is just having a bad day and they didn’t mean to take it out on you or what you perceived as rude is actually just this person’s personality.  But, explain to me how it works when you go to a food market and speak to multiple people from various vendors, all of whom have a serious attitude problem.

I love that the food market, Broadway Bites is literally just outside of my apartment building.  It’s really convenient and has a lot of options for a ton of different vendors.  I wish that it was open all year round!  This past Sunday, October 25th, 2015 I decided to pick up my dinner from there.

I walked through the market and stopped near Arancini Bros to see what kind of rice balls they had available.  In order to see the “today’s flavors” sign, you literally have to walk up to the counter which makes things awkward to begin with because if you don’t like anything, you just have to walk away like “your food sucks today, sorry.”  The guy working that night seemed pretty friendly at first, asking me if he could help.  I really didn’t like what they had left because they were sold out of 3 flavors.  There must be over 30 various rice balls Arancini Bros makes, so only having 2 options left wasn’t exactly promising for my picky eating.  In a nice way I said, “I’m not in love with the flavors you have left, maybe I’ll come back tomorrow earlier in the day.”  I didn’t think that was super weird but, he didn’t seem to like that answer because he actually rolled his eyes, turned around, and sat back down on his chair without saying a single word in response to me.

Next stop was Doughnuttery.  I love their mini doughnuts!  I went right up to the counter, said “hi” with a smile, was completely ignored because the man was tending to his precious doughnuts, and grabbed a menu.  I knew from past experiences that at the market, they didn’t generally have all of the items listed on the menu so I asked him about it.  Continuing to fidget with the machine and inspect each doughnut coming out, he told me which flavors they did not have.  I then confirmed that they had my favorite flavor, the vanilla glazed, since he did not list that one.  He looked up at me and said, “no, we don’t have any of the glazed either,” and then went back to his doughnuts.  I stood there being ignored for another 15 seconds or so until I decided it wasn’t worth any more of my time and I walked away.

I had no issues at Hill Country, other than the fact that they were sold out of brisket, the one thing I wanted.  Bar Suzette was perfectly fine also.  I ordered french fries from them.

The last stop I had made was the Red Hook Lobster Pound counter.  I wanted Mac N Cheese, cole slaw, and a lemonade from there to complete my meal of french fries.  There was a man towards the back preparing food and a woman at the front near the register.   She was also having a conversation with the guy from the booth next-door and apparently felt that it was more important for them to finish than for me to place my order.  She looked at me without smiling or saying a word, as if I was supposed to know that their conversation ended and now she was ready for me.  Feeling awkward, I said, “Hi can I place an order for Mac N Cheese?”  The woman started to type it into the computer and I assumed that meant I should keep going so I added in the rest of my order.  I took the receipt from her and waited for the rest of my food to be ready.

Honestly, all I wanted was to sit down at home and eat my greasy dinner without having to interact with any other human beings for the rest of the night.  I was very happy with my french fries and lemonade, once I got settled in.  The Mac N Cheese was okay.  It looked a lot better than it tasted.  The cole slaw was  completely inedible.  I put it in my mouth and had to spit it out in the garbage because I thought there was something wrong with it.  Maybe it went sour or it was mixed with Comet bathroom cleaner?  All I know is that ninety percent of my Sunday night dinner experience was unpleasant and I’m kind of over Broadway Bites right now.