Today’s Special:  Totto Spicy Ramen, Totto Ramen, New York

So you know that ramen is a big deal, right? Especially here in New York. Like, almost as big a deal as pizza. Wellllll maybe at this exact culinary moment in time, perhaps bigger than pizza. With ramen burgers causing crazy lines and ramen master Ivan Orkin opening up some slurp shops, everyone wants broth-stained shirts.

Even me. It’s taken a while, but I’m into it. Especially the styles with lighter broths. Or without any broth! (Future post in the works…) I don’t shy away from fat (More butter, please?), but I do shy away from tonkotsu style ramen, which is probably the most popular. Tonkotsu broth is known for its creamy richness; richness that can only come when you simmer bones for a long long time, and they render out all their fatty, collagen, gelatinous goodness. For me, it’s too much, but for the vast majority of ramen lovers, it’s heaven.

Transcendent ramen for me has been the rich chicken broth of Totto Ramen. The bird just produces a slightly leaner broth than the pig, and I’m down with that. And I like mine spicy, with the additions of a nitamago egg, some corn, and seasoned avocado. You can’t see the springy noodles in this shot, but believe me, they are there, soaking up the magical broth and waiting for me to dig around and lift so that I can slurp, slurp, slurp. Just talk to my silk blouse. She’s not very happy.

Oh, and for those of you who only know ramen from instant packages? Get off that bus and try to find the real thing!

Oh oh:  Cream and Sugar turns five today! FIVE. Thank you for reading.

Totto Ramen
366 West 52nd St or 464 West 51st St, New York

I think we can safely say that baking weather has begun. Maybe some of you in cooler climates or some of you with central A/C can bake year round, but this apartment dweller in hot and sweaty New York cannot. Pretty much from May until October, the warmth from making toast is the only heat I let my kitchen generate beyond that which comes from Mother Nature. But now as my pasty white legs get covered for the next six months and hibernation mode sets in, it is time to turn on the oven and add a little winter padding to my frame.

The lack of blogging has been half laziness and half lack of material. I cook and bake a lot less here for a lot of different reasons: space, culture, time, money, people. I know that I also forget to tell you about meals out. They’re happening still, and they’re enjoyable, so don’t worry about me only eating oatmeal and toast every night. This might be the first and last post for a while, but it’s a good one. Because it involves cookie butter.

Do you have a jar in your cupboard yet? I bought my first at Trader Joe’s last year and have not bought another since because I fear I might eat it all in one sitting. (The reason I never have ice cream in the freezer.) Biscoff/Speculoos cookie butter is a spread made of crushed up Biscoff/Speculoos cookies. Yes, crushed up cookies. Kind of a gingerbread, gingersnap, and oatmeal cookie mash-up. The best possible cookie mash-up. I think you’re supposed to put it on bread or use it for a fruit dip, but I can’t really see a better use than on a spoon and then in my mouth. But, as I’ve vowed not to engage in such behaviour, I went looking for recipes that employed it. I found a little doozy that is like the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookie you’ve ever had. The cookie butter enhances all of that classic’s best qualities and doesn’t take it over. This isn’t a recipe to make you bonkers for cookie butter. Like I said, that recipe only requires a spoon and open jar. This is to have everyone ask you for the recipe because they can’t quite figure out why your oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are the best.

Happy fall. Get baking.

P.s. Another way to use cookie butter? A couple of tablespoons whisked into heavy cream and then whipped. It’s Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend. I just told you how to top your pumpkin pie and have everyone fall in love with you.

Oatmeal chocolate-chip cookie butter cookies

Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup plus two tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Biscoff/Speculoos spread (cookie butter)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup chocolate chips (I used a mix of milk and semi-sweet.)
Fleur de sel (Because I rarely top a cookie these days without it.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter, cookie butter spread, sugar, and brown sugar and beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extra and beat until smooth, ideally around 5 minutes. (Or beat well by hand if you don’t have a stand mixer.)

Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips, beating only until blended. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator – the longer the better. I usually do overnight. Let the dough warm up about 15 minutes before scooping (you need to preheat the oven anyway). You can also pre-scoop your cookies to avoid the hassles of too-cold dough the next day. All you have to do is scoop onto a parchment-lined plate (the balls can be close together) and cover with plastic wrap. I also pre-scoop and freeze dough balls. Just put the plate into the freezer until the dough balls are firm, then place in a freezer-safe bag or container.

Form the cookie dough into rounded tablespoons and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. (Or place chilled or frozen dough balls on sheet.) Bake for 7-9 minutes or until cookies are *just* golden and firm around the edges. Bake an extra minute or two if your cookies came out of the freezer. Pull out of oven and sprinkle cookies immediately with fleur de sel. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then remove with a spatula onto a cooling rack.

Fried eggplant

Eat your vegetables. How many times has that phrase been overused? Both as a voice in your head reminding you to be healthy and as the nagging refrain that so many children try to ignore. Thankfully, I think we’ve reached a point where “our vegetables” are no longer snoozers such as steamed broccoli or carrot sticks, and they can even induce excitement. Hello, Brussels sprouts trend. Vegetarians and vegans also are not limited to a solitary choice of rotini with tomato sauce (except maybe on airplanes) when out of the house. In fact, some of the most creative dishes I’ve had of late in restaurants are the veg-heavy ones. Vegetables are having their moment, especially with Mediterranean cuisines being touted for their health benefits, and deservedly so.

Having only spent about six hours in Montreal, I have no opinion of Montreal smoked meat and how great it must be for New Yorkers that it is now available care of Mile End Delicatessen in Brooklyn and Mile End Sandwich in Manhattan. With a much larger sandwich menu (and an easy pit stop on a Sunday afternoon in the city), I have frequented the newer sandwich shop more often and always find myself attracted not to the Montreal specialty but to vegetarian offerings. Fried eggplant. Fried green tomato. Hardly health food, but by battering and frying the bounty of the earth, I will surely eat my vegetables.

What could be better than a warm, thick slab of eggplant that rewards your mouth with the always adored soft-crispy texture? Certainly not piles of meat. Especially not when you get that thick slab alongside salty halloumi cheese, roasted peppers, and grilled spring onions. Maybe a hefty fried tomato that’s as juicy as any burger would tempt me away.

Now, of course, I want to make my way through the flesh offerings on the Mile End menu, but I’m not in any rush. I’ll happily enjoy the fruits of the fryer rather than the smoker for the time being. And I mean, aren’t we supposed to be moving toward a more plant-heavy diet, anyway? Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman would approve.

Fried green tomato

Mile End Sandwich
53 Bond St, New York City 

I cannot for the life of me remember the last time I ate a bowl of corn flakes. Who ever pledged their morning cereal love to boring old corn flakes? I mean, perhaps you only ate them when they were the most attractive item on a Super 8’s continental breakfast spread. Because clearly they were more exciting than the mini box of Raisin Bran. Despite trying to argue that I’ve never poured myself a bowl, I know exactly what they taste like. You never come right out and say, “corn” because it seems too obvious, but… that’s exactly what they taste like. So, when Christina Tosi of the Momofuku clan turned the world upside down with her cereal milk soft-serve ice cream, we all went weak at the knees for the nostalgia of that boring bowl of corn flakes. Every time I have it, I can’t help but smile. Again, despite not ever remembering favouring that box with the rooster, it reminds me of Saturday mornings watching the Smurfs.

Because we don’t all have easy access to a Milk Bar for the soft serve, Tosi’s corn cookies are the perfect substitute for when you want to be reminded of how good corn can taste when it’s not on the cob and liberally sweetened. And forget cornbread. Yes, it’s delicious and can burst with sunshine-y corn flavour, but these corn cookies are on a whole different level: crisp edges, chewy middles, and that crave-inducing mix of salty and sweet. Corn’s easy lean to savoury means they could be dipped in sriracha (seriously) as easily as milk. Tosi even makes grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with them!

Getting the ingredients is not easy, and they’ll be a workout to make if you don’t have a stand mixer, but believe me when I tell you that the effort will be worth it. And if it’s not, I’ll walk down the block to my local Milk Bar and pick one up for you. Just don’t let Azrael steal it away!

Corn Cookies

• You can find the recipe here.
• Living in New York, I can easily go to a Momofuku Milk Bar location and buy the required corn powder that they so nicely prepare. You might have to take the extra step of going online to order freeze-dried corn and then turning it into a powder in your food processor.
• In addition to the corn powder, you also have to use corn flour. And note that corn flour is different than cornmeal. Bob’s Red Mill makes some.
• As per the recipe, do beat the sugar, butter, and egg for 7-8 minutes as directed. Tosi states in the cookbook that this is an important step.
• Get used to refrigerating your dough for flavour and texture. You should be doing it for all your cookies. For at least 24 hours. (Although the nerds over at America’s Test Kitchen think you only need 10 minutes.) I like resting the dough because it makes the task of baking less onerous. One day, I mix and clean all the bowls. The next day, I bake.
• I’m now in the serious habit of freezing a portion of the dough from a cookie recipe to save and bake for later. So, instead of putting all my little scooped doughs in the fridge, I put many of them on a parchment paper-lined plate in the freezer. After about 30 minutes, they’re hard. Pop them in a freezer bag, and you’re good to go for small-batch baking. Friend coming over for coffee? In 10 minutes, you can serve freshly baked cookies. Living alone, I find this especially handy. Instead of always taking baking to work the next day, I can slowly make my way through a haul myself!

Does more really need to be said beyond “pretzel croissant”? I mean, really. This is ridiculous. French pastry revamped to represent new digs in New York City. Butter, flour, and salt (and some sesame seeds) deftly put together to yield one of the best things you could ever put in your mouth. Usually, I pass on croissants because I’m not a fan of the crispy-flaky outer texture. But with this beauty, I’m all about  being covered in flaky shards to get to the soft, chewy middle. I’m not quite sure why they use sesame seeds instead of rock salt, but it tastes good all the same. Oh, and don’t think because there’s no rock salt, the “pretzel” adjective is incorrect. It’s plenty salty. From the butter in the dough, maybe? Who cares, it’s not like I’m going to bother attempting this at home. Salty treats like this require moderation, as they leave you sad and slightly crazed when there’s nothing left on the plate. Water on the side is always helpful, but as a pastry, a strong coffee partner is always appropriate. Did I mention that you’ll often find them served still warm? And not “warm” like from street pretzel vendors (ahem, reheated from frozen).

This is a must-add to your list of NYC food adventures. Bringing friends would be a good idea, as I’ve heard that City Bakery’s hot chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, and baker’s muffins are also fantastic. When you go, don’t mind me in the corner with my coffee and half-eaten croissant, flakes on my face, chest, and lap—I’m in heaven.

City Bakery
3 West 18th St, New York

I’m a fan of Dorie Greenspan. I’ll never forget the first time I heard her speak on NPR. The energy and love she had for baking oozed from my speakers, and I was completely smitten. So, I was really excited to hear that her and her son were taking their pop-up cookie shop, Beurre & Sel, and translating it into not one, but two, bricks and mortar locations here in New York. Dorie Greenspan cookies available all the time? Sign me up!

But, uh, this happened last year, and I… just went. To a week-long specialty pop-up. That signing up part didn’t really happen I’m ashamed to say. The point is, I made it to the pop-up (read: It was a two-minute walk from the office), and I bought some cookies. FROM DORIE GREENSPAN HERSELF. I’ve had some awesome celebrity sightings this past year (Woody Allen, Ricky Gervais, Michael Caine), but having the chance to speak to one of my baking idols for a few minutes really made my week.

And then I went back to the office, removed my classic jammer from its plastic bag, and ate one of the best cookies of recent memory. I’m not a crispy cookie girl, and I was a little bit afraid that each bite would bring a downpour of crumbs. Not even close. The cookie yielded softly to my bite, filling my mouth with butter, sugar, and salt. It was magical.

The cherry on the top for you is that this is not solely a New Yorker treat. Dorie Greenspan goodness is within your reach through the power of mail order! I recently took some tubes of the sesame sea salt and sables to California, and based on the groans of pleasure from my Californians, they do just fine after a plane ride. The only dilemma is if you should order one of each kind, or two.

Beurre & Sel

Today’s Special: Pea, burrata, and mint crostini, Gjelina, Los Angeles

Like everyone else and their brother, I’m really ready for spring to arrive. I know that March is never an enjoyable month (spring forward, winter’s strong grip, the Ides), but this March seems particularly awful. Perhaps it’s because this year is the first time I’ve had to deal with the doldrums wholeheartedly. Last year, I was overcome with excitement and nerves and stress with my big move to U.S. The year before that, I was planning a trip to Turkey. And the year before that, I was still in awe of my first winter (in Vancouver) without snow on the ground or Arctic temperatures. Vancouver also always has green grass, so even when you haven’t seen the sun for (what feels like) months, the green of Vancouver can be powerful. Here in New York, it’s a lot of… grey. The concrete jungle of the Big Apple loses a bit of its sparkle in the winter, and by March we are gagging for the green and sun and mild weather of a new season.

The past few weeks I’ve been looking at this picture of a dish I had in Los Angeles last month and trying to harness all my mental power toward forcing the green to sprout. The sweet peas and pea tendrils, the luscious burrata, and the pop of mint have you daydreaming about running barefoot in a meadow wearing some sort of loose cotton ensemble. Like a laundry detergent commercial. You can’t help but feel the sun on your face and smell all the buds in bloom. Add that you partake of these crostini in the dreamy beachy hood of Venice and your daydream is upgraded to a spread in a swank fashion or lifestyle magazine.

And one of my favourite things about this plate of spring? I don’t have to pop an antihistamine to enjoy it.

Gjelina
1429 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA

OMG. It’s been so long since I wrote a blog post that I’ve almost forgotten how to do it. All these buttons and choices and photo sizes that need to be dealt with. No wonder it’s been so long! Well, sorry. Life gets in the way, sometimes. And even with a penchant for quiet evenings at home, life (television, sleep, eating, reading) gets in the way. With little time left before it gets much too hot in my kitchen to bake, I have resolved to gas up the oven to have some material to share. Expect lots of cookies. For now, a cake.

Can you hardly believe it? I, the cake hater, chose to bake a cake for New Year’s Eve. And, double OMG, I loved it. If you scroll to the bottom, you’ll see me making my way through my second piece. Full and tipsy after a cozy celebration at home with some good friends, I plated a large piece of this moist cake, sat myself down, and avoided doing the dishes.

Casual elegance defines this cake. The tatin top takes some time and demonstrates to your guests that you have a bit more skill than simply using a small appliance and turning on the oven. But, given that beyond making the caramel you only need to beat and bake, it’s perfect for when you want something pretty but don’t have all day(s) to make something extravagant. The magic of this cake is the grated pear and star anise in the batter. The grated fruit adds a tremendous amount of moisture, and the spice is unexpected and warming.

Unfortunately, I gave my guests the leftovers, so could not make my way through a third piece. I dream of the January 1 that wasn’t, where I was enjoying a cold piece of this cake for breakfast with a cup of strong coffee. There’s always 2014…

Pear Tatin Cake

Don’t ask me when I found the recipe, but I know that I came across it at some point reading The Globe and Mail. So, I’m a feeling a little bit patriotic that I turned to and am now sharing a recipe by a great Canadian food writer, Lucy Waverman. My cake didn’t turn out as perfect as I’d hoped; my pears browned a bit too much, my caramel bubbled over while baking, and some bits stuck to the pan, but all in all, it was totally fine. I’m eager to try this with other fruit and then varying the spice. I’m thinking apples, maybe strawberries, and even bananas.

I served my cake with a vanilla creme anglaise, but it would pair just as well with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Biggest piece of advice: put a pan under your cake while baking to catch any dribbles.

You can find the recipe here.

Today’s Special: Baked leftover pastry scraps

Hold it right there, buster. I better not see you re-rolling your pastry scraps. In a cold kitchen, with cold hands, you toiled to ensure that your butter was not overworked. You can’t negate that effort by re-rolling and watching your tender dough go from flaky to tough. I also better not see you throwing them out. That’s a bellyload of flaky pastry that should be celebrated!

Grab your kitchen shears and chop up your scraps into chip-like shapes. Load them onto a parchment lined baking pan and stick them in a 350-degree oven for around 15 minutes or so. Just until golden. Wait! I better see you dressing them up a bit before putting them in the oven. Sea salt and turbinado sugar. Maybe some cinnamon? Ohhhh… how about fleur de sel and black pepper to have you dreaming of a pot pie? Get creative. Lose the guilt for eating butter-laden chips by reminding yourself you didn’t waste a scrap.

Sandy. What a bitch. She really did a number on my part of the world, and two weeks later, the effects are still being felt by many in and around New York City. She was my first hurricane, though, so I’ll never forget her and how my world went topsy-turvy for a week. With requests to stay indoors and away from windows, I don’t have any visual memories beyond the pictures that I saw the next day. Howling winds and swaying trees were my only drama, thankfully. Power and water never left. I became a lucky one.

But before she hit, no one really knew what to expect, and so on the fateful Monday when transit was offline and most people were home from work, you quickly learned that cooking folk were cooking (up a storm, literally) before the lights were set to go out. Instagram was full of images of low-and-slow flesh, long-simmered stews, and all sorts of baked creations. Because I knew I had the time, I gave myself the task of practicing pie/pastry dough.  Yes, I have made a pie before, but it was under the watch of a master. The only other time I made a pie crust after that was an utter failure. But considering how much I love pie, I felt I must try again.  At least try with little handpies to get a feel of good dough. And if this attempt was also an utter failure, I’m sure there would have been a way for me to blame Sandy.

Success. Success! I rolled out dough and could see the little specks of butter. I baked pies and those specks of butter created pockets that created flakes. FLAKES. There was not a bite of leaden crust to be had. All bites caused major flake trauma on my shirt, the plate, and the floor.

I’m ready for a real pie now. Take that, Sandy.

Apple Hand Pies
Adapted from The Fauxmartha

I didn’t really make any substantial changes to this great recipe from The Fauxmartha. I used all Granny Smith and added two tablespoons of brown butter to the apple mixture.  Because I don’t see anything wrong with trying to get brown butter into as much as possible. I also just substituted my handy pumpkin pie spice for all the individual ones. And no egg wash, just a water wash for the sugar; I was taught that you don’t add anything on top of the dough that didn’t go into the dough. (My crust is extra golden because I had to use a little bit of white whole wheat flour, which was out of necessity, not choice.)

Her pie crust recipe worked like a dream for me. I watched the video at least five times, however, and bought all the equipment I didn’t have. Like everyone says, KEEP EVERYTHING COLD. If the crust gets warm, put it back in the fridge. Cold cold cold.  I put the shaggy dough in the fridge and thought it would be a mess when I started to roll it. I forgot that it’s all butter. A few pushes of the rolling pin and the butter softens. Fast. Hence, cold cold cold.

If I can do it, you can do it.