Two lovely occurrences in my life.

Two things have entered my life that I’ve just got to write about on b4b.  The first is a treat from abroad, and the second is a product of the good old USA.

1) Speculoos spread.

This stuff is almost as addictive as nutella.  Speculoos are cookies from Belgium, and the spread has been featured at the Wafels and Dinges trucks in NYC.  The cookies are brown sugar based, and they are the type of treat that would normally be served with a side of some proper tea.  BG and I picked some of this up in the Bon Marché when we were in Paris, where this stuff grows on trees and is as plentiful as the wind.

Try it. And if you can find it here in NYC, tell me where!

2) Ronnybrook Farm Eggnog!

At the farmer’s market today, uberchef spotted a little bottle of magic deliciousness.  He knows of my obsession with the nog, and immediately pointed it out to me.  And now, here I am, ready to indulge in my favorite cold-weather treat.  Mixed with a little dark rum… delicious.

Fall has arrived.

The weather has turned slightly cooler, and the air is crisp.  Fall has arrived, and it’s time to enjoy all of the splendor of the fall fruits and vegetables popping up at the farmer’s markets.  Of course the root vegetables are coming out in full force, but all sorts of cabbage and squash are making their appearances, and apple season is officially upon us.

At the market yesterday, I picked up some Ronnybrook yogurts (duh), and a few apples from the Terhune Orchards (jona mac and gala).  Next to the Ronnybrook stand has been the Sun Fed beef people, and they’ve been selling hard.  Uberchef and I went in halfsies on a couple of pounds of ground beef, which is going to be used in the bloggingforburgers ground beef taste test, to be scheduled for later this fall.  Their beef is grass fed and grain finished, depending on if it’s a heifer or a steer, and I’ve got high hopes.

I also picked up some sun gold tomatoes.  I’ve been obsessed with these things lately.  They are the sweetest tomatoes that you will ever find, and they are perfectly firm yet with a tender skin that pops in your mouth like a ripe grape.  I’ve been simply splitting them in half with a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil and a splash of balsamic.  Maybe a few rough-chopped leaves of basil and you’re golden.  Like a sun gold tomato, yuck yuck.

I also picked up some brussel sprouts from the Rexcroft Farm, since they’ve been staring me in the face for two weeks now.  They are sold fresh onthe branch (is that a branch, is it a root?).  I’m looking forward to roasting these guys with some oil/s/p and calling it a day.  Gotta love the fall.

My other purchases were not very exciting, so not worth getting into details.  I have decided that my second bo bo chicken (the silky chicken) will be finding its way into a braised dish at some point in the near future, so keep an eye out for him.

Uberchef also made a unique purchase o fa scarlett rose apple, drawn mostly by the “PINK FLESH!” sign that was positioned behind the bin of them.  Apparently it tasted like an apple, but it looked crazy!  It’s like a Dr. Suess apple.

Other than that, I’m getting ready to ship off to gay Paris in a couple of weeks.  I’ve already got my scarves and skinny jeans out, so I’m ready to go.

I’ll have the chilean sea bass, or maybe just a sandwich.

Uberchef and I hit up the farmer’s market, and fall is in full swing over there!  More to come on that later.

After filling up on some Ronnybrook Lowfat Yogurt drink (which I had never had before, got the honey vanilla flavor, and it was awesome.  And the price was right– free), we were starving.  We were going to hit up a ME standby, lenny’s, but uberchef remembered that a buddy of his had told him about Barros Luco, a new Chilean spot on 52nd street named after the famous south american sandwich and Chilean president.

I had a few doubts before walking in.  First of all, the space is one of those cursed restauarant locations that needs to just become a double-decker McDonald’s if it wants to become something that will last for more than a year.  Let’s remember back to Zip Burger and 99 miles to philly for a moment…

Now that that nightmare is over, let’s live in the now, and take a trip down to South America.  The menu is simple enough– for the sandwiches, which come on freshly baked chilean bread, you can get a traditional barros luco with either steak or chicken, with melted cheese.  If you are feeling adventurous, you can go for something a bit more difficult to pronounce, and get other accoutrements.  Or, you can get vienesas, which are basically chillean hot dogs.  They also have some other sides, including empanadas and string beans, and sweet potato fries.

Uber-c and I decided to split a couple of sandwiches, and nothing else, since we were both coming down from a milkfat high.  We went with a steak chacarero, which has some pounded steak, string beans, pickled peppers, and tomato, and a chicken italiano.  We started out with the steak, taking our first bite in synch so as to avoid any judgment tampering.  We both agreed that the string beans were flavorful, and I thought it was pretty good steak for something that is basically fast food.  I had picked up some fresh basil at the market, and I think that it added a nice herbal touch that was otherwise missing.  Uberchef was missing peppers, so I think that there were some consistency issues across our two halves.  Overall, it was satisfying, but a larger portion would have been appreciated.

We then moved on to the chicken italiano.  At first glance, I didn’t have high hopes for it, and the flavor, or lack thereof, was pretty consistent with my expecations.  The color was kinda blah, the avocado was blah, the tomato was blah.  It didn’t have any kick or anything.  It just tasted like a grilled chicken sandwich from a deli.  In the words of Uberchef, “this tastes like a diet.”

Anyway, check out Barros Luco if you are in the mood for something different.  Just do yourself a favor and stick with the steak.

Barros Luco

52nd st at 2nd ave

3.5 out of 7 cows (isteak alone would have been 4.5)

It’s time to go to burger school.

Self-taught burger school that is.  I consider it to be like my GED.  I have no formal training in the art of hamburger making, but I read about them a lot and I enjoy eating them even more.

I was inspired by this post on AHT, which, by the way, is the first post to show up on Google if you google “Minetta Tavern Burger.”  Those guys are good.  Damned good.  I want their SEO agency to work for b4b.

So I decided that I was going to do my own photojournal of me making a burger.  Sounds simple enough, but it’s actually kind of a PITA.  Making sure the lighting is right, getting the camera all set up, prepping, cooking, focusing, pushing the button, making sure my hair looks good even though my head is nowhere near any of the shots, the list goes on forever.

So, without further adieu, I present the bloggingforburgers photojournal, dated September 27th, 2009.  I know, the post is being written on September 29th.  Sue me.

The Day prior: Union Squre

Burgergal and I had to hit up the Union Square Farmer’s market to gather the essential supplies.  And take some pretty pictures.

Oooh, pretty.

Also pretty

You guessed it– pretty!

Pretty and cool. They look like little watermelons but taste nothing like a big watermelon.  They are little cucumbers.  And magic.

Come to think of it, I didn’t take any pictures of the supplies that I needed for the burgers.  This is probably mostly because I didn’t need them from the farmer’s market.  I just wanted to show off how sensitive and artsy I am through the camera lens.  I know what you’re thinking.

Yes, I am perfect.

Oh, but guess who I finally got to see again!!  Yeah, my boys from the Ronnybrook Farm.  Whatup!

RONNYBROOK IN DA HOUSE!

Walked over to Ottomanelli to get some fresh ground chuck.  I know that bloggers in the ole blogosphere have mixed thoughts about Ottomanelli, but I am a fan.  They always do right by me when I head over there.  I got about a pound, so that BG and I could rock a couple of half-pound burgers, just like Minetta does.  Yes, I do have a weird obsession and want to do everything just like Minetta Tavern.

BG walked over and picked up a bag of brioche buns for the beefy perfection that I was going to be cooking up on the griddle.

I made two patties, loosely packed, and generously seasoned them with salt and pepper.

Then i threw them on the griddle, which I think is the best place for burgers to be cooked– otherwise, you don’t get an of that crispy exterior and you don’t get any of that sizzlin’ action.  Speaking of…

Minetta uses clarified butter- I used just the regular kind.  It worked pretty well.  I overcooked the burgers a touch, but they were still solid.

Don’t they look fake?

By the way, got wind of a potential trip to Minetta in my future (two weeks, actually).  You KNOW what I’m getting.

Ronnybrook Farm lady, where are you?

It’s Wednesday, and that means it’s farmer’s market day.  Selection at the market has been lacking, since all the rain this summer has really f-ed things up.  Tomatoes are still around, and some root vegetables are starting to pop up here and there.  My favorite ground cherries are still around, but the price is going up like oil after an OPEC conference.

I only picked up a few things, since I am not sure when I’m going to be eating at home this week.  I got a few bianca rosa eggplants, some baby arugula, okra, and some baby garlic.  I don’t usually make okra, so that will be an adventure in the kitchen for me.

Having finished off the stuff I got from Ronnybrook last week, I meandered down towards 1st avenue at the market, expecting to see Ronnybrook there.  BUT THEY WEREN’T.  WTF?  Where are they?  Does anyone know?

Also, if any of y’all want to see the burgerboy in action this weekend, I’ll be at the Seaport farmer’s market at 5.30am, helpeing set up.

Didn’t think so.