MicroRecipes in 140 Characters.

MicroRecipe Chicken: SoakChickenDrums in 1cupMilk1TbspVinegar(makes buttermilk)overnight, Dredge in ParmCheeseGarlic/OnionPowder Bake350~1Hr


This makes a tender, moist piece of chicken with a nice crust. Sometimes I spoon a tablespoon of melted butter and garlic over each piece before baking.

Battle of the Food Shows!
UnFancy Vs. Fancy


I shot some great interviews with the wonderful foodies at the UnFancy Food Show out of Brooklyn today. Tomorrow I shoot at The Fancy Food Show at the Javits Center in Manhattan.

Folks I enjoyed talking to-

Salvatore Brooklyn Ricotta: I hate to admit it, but I've NEVER liked ricotta. This fresh, wonderful, creamy stuff has turned me not only into a convert, but into an evangelist. It is good, it is fresh, it is not the ricotta you might buy in the grocery store with a slightly off smell. This is the real deal.

Scott Gold author of The Shameless Carnivore: It's true, he is a complete degenerate when it comes to how much he enjoys meat products, and that is why he is wonderful. His book is terrific and you should all go buy two copies; one for you and one for your brother's vegetarian girlfriend.

Recipes in 140 Characters or less.

Garlic Spinach: Saute MedHeat1mincedgarlicclove 1TbsnPeanutOil toss in washedFreshSpinach, stir til softened stir in S&P toTaste

Bad Brunch, Bad

If I’m eating at your restaurant and the tastiest item on my plate is the ketchup, you have a serious problem.

When I eat out I have this crazy voice in my head saying things like, “Under seasoned, overcooked, this came out of a can/bag/box, this chef doesn’t give a shit!” I just like thoughtful cooking, it doesn’t need to be great, I just want the chef to have put in a modicum of effort. This past Sunday morning my internal monologue went into overdrive at brunch at Elementi on 7^th Ave in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I ordered the Eggs Benedict and a side of spicy sausages made in-house.

Here are just a few of the problems:

The Poached Eggs: Overcooked. Sad. Congealed yolk. (If you click the photo above you can see it up close in all it's poorly cooked glory.)

The English Muffin: It wasn’t toasted, it was mushy, and a little butter would have been nice.

The Sauce: The only thing the chef got right in this hollandaise sauce is the color. Bland, no flavor, no salt, no seasoning, no acid. Clearly nobody tasted this before sending it out of the kitchen. Really godaweful.

The Potatoes: Insipid and limp. They'd only been browned on one side and hadn’t been seasoned with salt and pepper properly. If they'd been crisp at one point, they weren't by the time they'd gotten to my table. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d sat around for awhile in the kitchen waiting for me to order them. The menu called them hashbrowns. Fail.

The Greens: Clearly bagged bitter greens, which I have absolutely no problem with, if properly dressed. The balsamic vinaigrette's acid, oil, salt, pepper ratio was off, off, off.

The Sausage: Homemade and tasted very good. Nice seasoning, I liked them…. Except for how they looked. As you can see in the photo, there is definitely something turd-like in the appearance. For $3 I got three tiny 2-3 inch by 1/4 inch sausages, for plating 2 larger would have looked more appetizing. In the video below I'd already eaten 2 before it occurring to me I should video it.

Unlimited Drinks for $7: That would be great if my Bloody Mary tasted like more than canned tomato puree with lots of horseradish. Didn't anyone taste that drink mix before sending it out to customers? Doubt it.

Really disappointing.

Elementi ** out of 5
Italian

140 7th Ave, Brooklyn 11215
Btwn Carroll St & Garfield Pl

Recipes in 140 characters: Grilled Peaches

Halve v. ripe peaches, remove pit, brush with equal amounts molasses and lime juice, freshly ground pepper and toss on the grill til charred.

Asian Un-Dumplings

I’m not really a fan of the outside of a dumpling, so here’s my take on tastiest part. It's similar to a Shanghai dish called Lion's Head. Next time I'll add in 4 dried shitake mushroom ( soaked, rinsed and finely chopped ) and 3 canned water chestnuts for more crunch.

1lb Ground Pork

1 Egg

1 cupMincedScallion

3 tablespoon Kikkoman Soy Sauce (La Choy is absolutely the worst soy sauce, bad taste and worse smell)

2 tablespoon Sesame Oil

1 tablespoon each minced fresh Ginger & Garlic

1 tablespoon Dry Sherry or Rice Wine Vinegar

2 tablespoons of freshly ground Black Pepper

Mix together really well, then add in:

2 cups shredded Nappa Cabbage

Roll in walnut size balls and bake about 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Keep your hands damp to reduce its sticking to you. Cut one open to make sure they are cooked through. Next time I may try steaming them.

Serve with equal parts soy sauce and rice wine vinegar.

Recipes in 140 Characters or Less!

Goi Du Du (Thai Green Papaya Salad) 1lbShreddedGreenPapaya, 2clovegarlic 2tspsugar 1/4cupWhiteVinegar 1TbspSriracha FishSaucetotaste

My coverage of The Webby Awards for Viral on Veoh.

The highlights: Tay Zonday serenading me, asking Dir. Michel Gondry(Dir. of Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind) who he'd put his money on if David Byrne and Steven Colbert got in a bare knuckles fist fight, and meeting the adorable Alex Albrecht. I was lucky enough to be shot by Adam Quirk of WreckandSalvage, who came up with some great whacked out red carpet questions to ask. My favorite was, "What are you wearing, under what you're wearing?". Unfortunately, it didn't make it off the cutting room floor.


Online Videos by Veoh.com

More winners who rocked my world, but didn't make it into the video. Veoh edited the show, but Sunny is sending me back the tapes. I may take a stab at my own take on the footage.

• Meeting the awesomely funny David Wain of Wainy Days . When your done watching all my videos you should go watch all of his. I also told him he should move to my neighborhood in Brooklyn, and he told me the other douche press had not seen his show, but I did!
  
• Asking one of the creators of The West Side Adam's question, "What are you wearing under what you're wearing?" He was a good sport and his web series rocks. It's an urban western that has great acting, script, and shot and edited beyond pro. These guys are the real deal and doing amazing work
  

My Twitter Cookbook

I’ve been experimenting with using Twitter as a way of microblogging recipes that I cook in my everyday life. If you aren’t familiar with Twitter.com it’s a social media site that lets you stay in with friends, acquaintances and in some cases total strangers in 140 character posts. Here is the best explanation I’ve seen made by CommonCraft in the form of a fun video. My twitter name is my name with no spaces @gracepiper. If you want me to follow you after you've signed up use @gracepiper in a Twitter and ask me to add you back in.

Twitter Recipe One (This on took two tweets)

Best Baba Ghanoush Halve 2Eggplants rubwithEVOO RoastCutSideDown 400degrees tilSoft chopwithskinON Processwith 1/4cupTahini Juice1Lemon 2mincedGarlic

Cloves 1TbspCumin Add more of any of these &S/P to taste.