Fat Kid Friday: Italian-Greek Empanadas + S'mores Galore

It's my favorite day of the week - Fat Kid Fridays!! It's been a helluva week so carbs, cheese and chocolate were much needed.

Italian-Greek Empanadas

I initially planned on making spanakopita, but my local Key Food was sadly lacking in phyllo. Inspired by my mother's spinach-feta-tomato croissants, I decided to do an Italian-Greek take on empanadas (or is it more of a calzone - what is the difference, technically?). It didn't seem too blasphemous given the large Italian immigration to Argentina...and maybe some Greeks snuck in there, too? Yes? No? Whatever, I like feta.

Ingredients:

refrigerated pie crust

1/4 pound of ricotta cheese

1/2 cup of feta cheese

1 can artichoke hearts

1 box frozen spinach

pinch of dill

pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon of powdered garlic

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix ricotta, feta, defrosted and drained spinach, broken up artichoke hearts, dill, pepper and garlic together.

Unroll pie crust onto lightly floured . Using a cookie cutter (or the top of glass, in my case) cut out circles of crust, re-gathering and re-rolling dough as needed.

Place each circle on a non-stick baking dish. Fill each circle with approximately a teaspoon of filling. Fold over one side of dough and gently seal using fingers. Go around the edges with a fork to further close.

Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly golden.

S'mores, s'mores, s'mores, s'mores....s'mores I do adore!

Micro-s'mores - officially the best (and worst) invention known to mankind.

I recently rediscovered s'mores thanks to my friend Nyjia. As I told her earlier, I don't know whether to say "thank you" or "f**k you."

Assembling peanut butter cup s'more:

Key lime pie :

(roll wet marshmallow in lime jello mix)

My pancreas has strong hate for me right now.

Supermarket Sweep

A little background on me - before moving to Brooklyn, I lived on Roosevelt Island. Sure, it was a tad creepy and isolated, but my building was beautiful and I loved living there. The biggest drawback of Roosevelt Island, to me, was its lack of a decent grocery store. There was a Mega Gristedes that I believe was voted one of the dirtiest in all of New York...that's it. All of this is to say that I'm not spoiled when it comes to NYC grocery stores. I'm not a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's snob. I don't demand Italian specialties from Agata & Valentina. All I ask is that it be clean, that there be an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables and that there is a reasonable assortment of "ethnic" foods and products.

Naturally, one of the first things I did upon arrival to BK was stake out a decent grocery store, as any voracious eater/wanna-be chef would. At first, my journey took me more towards Prospect Heights because the hipster/young locavore family/only eats organic quotient seemed high. A few trips spent lugging mediocre groceries in 90-degree heat quickly put an end to that. I occasionally used Fresh Direct while on the Island and have done that here, but it's costly and their selection isn't amazing, either. Plus - you can't run to Fresh Direct on your way home to pick up marshmallows for an impromptu smore-fest. So I sucked it up and checked out the stores closest to my abode, despite all warnings.

First, up - Fisher's on Franklin & Lincoln.

OMG! Run by my, like, favorite family EVER. Why is the produce either on, or damn near, the floor? I have a feeling that if I went digging through the potatoes, I would probably find Ben and his family. And folks - what you see in the picture is pretty much it in the way of produce, save for a few hearty eggplants and green salad bags in the dairy section in the back. Fisher's wins points for being the only grocery store around here that carries Galvanina Italian sodas and for that reason, I may have to patronize them in the summer so that I can make my traditional Shandy-like concoctions with their lemon flavor and Peroni. And of course, every thing was overpriced - packaged, pre-shredded cheese excluded, which was cheap but probably cheese-product and not real cheese.

Nam's (Franklin & St. John's)

Just a few blocks down we find Nam's, which is half-way between a bodega and grocery store. The selection of organic, all-natural and vegetarian foods, both fresh and frozen, is amazing. There is no meat or real deli department, as everything is vegetarian (I think - maybe some organic frozen chicken products are hiding in there). It is very pricey, however, and because it's such small space, it doesn't have everything you would find in a normal grocery store. I don't shop there often, but it is definitely worth stopping into every once in a while for a treat (ginger chews!!!). And take a look at the produce section - even through plastic paneling, it kicks Fisher's ass.

Bravo (Nostrand & Fulton)

My first experience with Bravo market was in Astoria. I was overwhelmed, overjoyed (over love....okay, I'll turn off the Stevie) by the selection of Middle Eastern, Greek and Brazilian goodies. When I realized there was an outpost around here, I got excited - could I really find haloumi in this 'hood? Sadly, no. What I didn't take into consideration is that the Bravo in Astoria carries those products because they serve populations that demand it. Duh. Still, I figured this Bravo would carry all sorts of amazing West Indian/Caribbean products. Instead, all I can find is Goya. Drats. The produce section is passable, although not very appetizing (for once, my photo made something look better than it is). The price points are very reasonable.

Key Food (Nostrand & St. Marks)

Kumquats!! Tart-tastic kumquats! Can you believe it? Key Food was the last grocery store I visited because I've had several questionable encounters with other locations, namely the one on Classon and Eastern Parkway (?) when my bf lived in Prospect Heights. This Key Foods pleasantly surprised me. No, you're not going to be able to find grape leaves, or prosciutto, but you will find fresh fruits and vegetables beyond just bananas and onions. My only complaint is that the frozen food section often seems empty - except for ice cream. There are two ice cream freezers (yay!?!?!). The products are affordable and basics (milk, eggs, etc.) are almost always on sale. They also are currently selling six-packs of ginger beer (non alcoholic, of course!) for $1.19. Key Foods wins.

Whew. That was a lot of shopping. Who wants to carry my bags home?

Dreary Day Dinner - Cheddar Corn Chowder

There are few better things to eat on a cold, dreary day than chowder. I actually made this last night, but the left-overs are perfect for today.

As always, please forgive my poor photography skills.

The recipe, as adapted from All Recipes:

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 large red potato, skin on and diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
• 3 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a large saucepan over medium high heat, melt the butter and stir in the onion, potato, bay leaf, cumin, and sage. Saute about 5 minutes, until the onion is tender. Mix in the flour, coating the onion and potato. Pour in the chicken stock and half and half. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly until smooth. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until the potato is tender.
2. Mix the corn, parsley and water into the saucepan, and cook about 5 minutes, until heated through. Remove the bay leaf, and stir in the Cheddar cheese until melted and blended. Season with pepper.

Six servings.

Some notable changes I made to the recipe: the use of half and half instead of milk (because it's the only real dairy I had in the house), decreasing onion (not a huge fan), omission of chives (didn't have them), red potato instead of white and keeping the skin on (I like the color), whole wheat flour instead of white and using water instead of wine in the final steps. I did have white wine around but I think people put too much salt in their food, preventing them from tasting the other flavors. Between the stock, the cheese and the butter, this dish had more than enough sodium and it benefited from a little watering down. I also decreased the amount of cheese from two cups down to one - holy lactose intolerance, Batman!

Sooooo comforting. Happy eating, Brooklyn.

Where can a b!@#& get a cup of coffee around here?

Some of you may be familiar with this article that ran in the NY Times late last year, chronicling the Franklin Avenue coffee wars. As someone who fiends for crack...I mean, coffee every morning at around 9:30am, a war of shops seems like a dream to me. Yes! Compete for my business!

Not so much.

The Pulp & The Bean was the first coffee shop I visited. I wanted to be seduced by exotic lattes, perhaps something to feed my well-documented pumpkin dependancy/obsession. Instead, I got overpriced coffee with too much milk and not enough flavor. On that day, they were advertising an "Apple Cider Latte" outside, but the girl at the counter informed me that what they actually meant was that they had both apple cider and lattes. Boring. She was friendly, but I did notice the tone shift when someone who looked a little more "threatening" than me (although I like to think I'm terrifying) walked into the shop. Interesting, especially considering how down Mr. Fisher acts. Although he down-played it for the Times, Mr. Fisher seems to feel territorial about Franklin Avenue because his family owned the grocery store next door (Fisher's) in a time when:

"the area was so dangerous, you had to “duck and run” through the street.

“We used to have to replace the glass on our windows in the grocery store, maybe twice a month, from bullet holes,”

Am I supposed to admire him for his allegiance to this hood because, pre-gentrification, his family sold (and still sells) disgusting, horrible-quality, overpriced groceries to poor people who had no other options? He leaves a bad taste in my mouth. So does his coffee. P.S. I'm doing a grocery store round-up later this week, you'll see what I mean about Fisher's.

So then I was all gung-ho about Breukelen. Organic? Awesome. The barista/owner(?) behind the counter was as sweet as could be and model-gorgeous...not that it matters, but who doesn't like to look at pretty things? They were a touch more expensive than ol' Pulpy across the way, but I justified it because they're organic, natural, magical, yada yada. I want to hang out and be friends with the people who own it, work there and patronize. The problem - the coffee sucks given the price point, particularly in this neighborhood. If you're paying almost $4 for coffee here, it better be good - because the Yemeni deli coffee doesn't taste much different and they only charge 50 cents. Also, the window says they take credit cards (you can see it in the pic above) and they don't - that's a problem. Still, I'm pulling for Breukelen. C'mon, get better so you can take my money!!

There are two Dunkin' Donuts in the area, too - a really inferior one on Eastern Parkway and Bedford (it's attached to a gas station) and a better one on Eastern Parkway and Nostrand - but they're out of the way for most people dashing to get to the train in the morning.

For the sake of my sanity and productivity, I really need someone to step up their caffeine game!

Brunchin'

Can't go wrong with a frittata for brunch.

Spinach, roasted red peppers, dill, salt, pepper, cayenne, half & half and a little mozzarella, mascarpone and parmesan. Start on the stove, finish in the oven. Served with hearty whole grain bread on the side.

Sometimes I do brunch elsewhere in the 'hood, but I figured after Fat Kid Friday, it would be good to defer to semi-healthy. Steven Duarte joined me for this particular feast.

Fat Kid Friday: Eggplant Parm and Roasted Red Pepper Pizza

Every Friday, the former fat kid in me comes out to play. Today she made Eggplant Parmesan & Roasted Red Pepper Pizza.

Yes, that is breaded eggplant right on the pizza. Relatively thin crust except for the edges. A little zesty, a little sweet (mmmm...basil), a lot of diet disaster.

Yeah, I definitely added a layer of chub tonight. It was totally worth it.

Eat in BK, help Haiti

Per the NY Times Diner's Journal, one of the owners of Kombit on Flatbush Ave and Park Place has gone missing after the earthquake. Tonight (Friday), the restaurant will have a Haitian band, serve food, pray and ask diners to donate to relief efforts.