Dining in New York, August 2019, Part 1

Mr Minx wanted to see an exhibition of old Batman comic art at the Society of Illustrators in New York, so we made a long weekend out of it. Blessed with magically cool late-August weather, we enjoyed our wanderings even more than usual.

Our first trip after dumping our luggage at our hotel was to Rip's Malt Shop. Some of you may know that I am a graphic designer, but you probably don't know that I designed Rip's logo and menu. Their original Brooklyn location is a bit of a palaver to get to, but their new Manhattan location is a short subway ride away from our regular Midtown base camp. After I snapped some pics of their snazzy neon sign, we sat down to enjoy some vegan comfort food. I had the Chicago dog, topped with tomato, neon green relish, sport peppers, diced onion, celery salt, mustard, and a pickle spear (with another on the side). It was a pretty reasonable facsimile of a meat hot dog.

Mr Minx had the Rip's Burger, a vegan patty topped with chili, cheese, bacon, special sauce, and cole slaw. It, too, was tasty, but not as convincing a replica to my taste buds. I'm not crazy about meat substitutes, and never sought them out in my brief time as a vegetarian. YMMV, of course.

After Rip's, we wandered up to Dough for some giant-ass doughnuts. We tried the Cafe au Lait, "inspired by a classic coffee cake made with a roasted coffee glaze and crunchy pecan topping," and a blueberry one with an oaty crumb topping. They were pretty good, but maybe too big? If there's such a thing as a donut that is too large, that is. And they were super fluffy as well, more the texture of coffee cake than a donut. The flavors of the glazes could have had more oomph, too. I dunno. I wanted to be more impressed than I was.

After dinner at NoNoNo (post coming soon), we hit up the Spot Dessert Bar in K-town for dessert. The Milky Puff sounded best to us: warm puff pastry, brulee bananas, white chocolate honey comb, corn flakes, and condensed milk ice cream. It was pretty good. The puff pastry was cooked nicely, and the chocolate honeycomb was a fun novelty that we had seen made on a recent episode of the Food Network's Worst Bakers in America. (The trick is to spread melted chocolate over bubble wrap. When it hardens and is peeled off, the result looks a bit like honeycomb. Cool, huh?) I wanted more bananas though, and didn't see the need for cornflakes when the puff pastry had a similar texture.

I know my reactions to these items are pretty meh, but they failed to excite me. We did eat a lot more on our trip, and much of it tasted great, so stay tuned. In the meantime, check out these sites.

Rip's Malt Shop
48 Greenwich Ave
New York, NY 10012
https://www.ripsmaltshop.com/

Dough
14 W 19th Street @ 5th Ave
New York, NY 10011
https://www.doughdoughnuts.com/

Spot Dessert Bar
11 W 32nd St, 2nd floor
New York, NY 10001
https://www.spotdessertbar.com

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Maple Bacon Baked Donuts

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on April 28, 2014.

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A few months back, I received a cookbook to review. It was full of gluten-free donut recipes, and I wanted to try at least one before I said anything about the book. But each recipe called for several ingredients that we didn't normally have on hand, and it took a while to compile them all. Eventually, everything was in the larder and we were eager to eat some delicious, home-made donuts.

I whipped up a batch for breakfast one day. They looked really pretty, but they were horrible. Dry and flavorless, despite the insane amount of vanilla in them. What a disappointment. (Celiacs, you have my sincere sympathy.)

So now we had these special donut pans that were taking up precious room in the one small cabinet that we use for baking sheets and muffin and cake pans. I had to use them again (and again), but this time, we were going to skip the gluten-free business and going straight for the good stuff: wheat flour. Real sugar. Butter. Forget the applesauce (every damn recipe in that book had a minuscule amount of applesauce in it). An Internet search revealed a recipe for relatively plain baked donuts flavored with nutmeg and I decided to use it as my base. The nutmeg is key in this recipe--it's what makes the donuts taste like donuts. And since we had a few slices of bacon left over from dinner the night before, I sprinkled them on top, with a layer of maple syrup-flavored glaze in between.

Oh so good!

Ok, so while baked donuts aren't exactly like the fried kind, they are pretty damn delicious. The texture is somewhere between a honey dip and a madeleine. Spongy, but not spongecake. Not at all like a cupcake. I'd love to find a recipe for a denser, cake-donut-type baked donut, but I'm pretty happy to eat these until I find one.

Maple Bacon Baked Donuts (adapted from Joy the Baker)

For donuts:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla

For frosting:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Splash vanilla
1-2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 slices bacon, chopped

To make donuts: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 6-well doughnut pans and set aside. (I use this one by Wilton.)

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and sugar. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk egg, buttermilk, and vanilla together. Add melted butter and whisk again. Pour wet ingredients over dry and stir together just until everything is combined and no flour bits remain.

Spoon batter into a small zip-top bag, Squeeze out as much air as possible without squeezing the bag too much and seal. Use scissors to cut off one of the bottom corners of the bag. Pipe batter into as many donut wells as you can fill halfway. If you're using the Wilton pan linked above, you should be able to fill all twelve. Don't overfill, otherwise the donuts will rise too much and the holes will close.

Place pans in the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pans to a rack and allow to cool completely before unmolding donuts.

While the doughnuts cool, make the glaze.

To make the glaze, in a medium bowl whisk together powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and cream until smooth.

Once the doughnuts are cool, dip top-side-down into the glaze. Return to the wire rack and sprinkle with bacon. Eat immediately, or, if you want to put a couple away, wait until the glaze has set and wrap each donut separately in plastic wrap. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Foodie Gifts by theminx

If you're still stumped for holiday gifts for your foodie friends, please check out my RedBubble shop: https://www.redbubble.com/people/theminx1 The image above shows food-related patterns, all designed by me. They're not only available on dresses and leggings, t-shirts and miniskirts, but also scarves and household items like pillows, duvet covers, mugs, clocks, and more.

There are also several floral designs available in my shop--roses, daisies, waterlilies, mums, and more--if your giftee isn't into food so much.

Today is December 5th. If you order in the next couple of days, you'll definitely get things in time for Christmas. If you order today, you can get something for Hanukkah, but don't wait too long as that holiday is pretty early (12/12) this year.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Maple Bacon Baked Donuts

A few months back, I received a cookbook to review. It was full of gluten-free donut recipes, and I wanted to try at least one before I said anything about the book. But each recipe called for several ingredients that we didn't normally have on hand, and it took a while to compile them all. Eventually, everything was in the larder and we were eager to eat some delicious, home-made donuts.

I whipped up a batch for breakfast one day. They looked really pretty, but they were horrible. Dry and flavorless, despite the insane amount of vanilla in them. What a disappointment. (Celiacs, you have my sincere sympathy.)

So now we had these special donut pans that were taking up precious room in the one small cabinet that we use for baking sheets and muffin and cake pans. I had to use them again (and again), but this time, we were going to skip the gluten-free business and going straight for the good stuff: wheat flour. Real sugar. Butter. Forget the applesauce (every damn recipe in that book had a minuscule amount of applesauce in it). An Internet search revealed a recipe for relatively plain baked donuts flavored with nutmeg and I decided to use it as my base. The nutmeg is key in this recipe--it's what makes the donuts taste like donuts. And since we had a few slices of bacon left over from dinner the night before, I sprinkled them on top, with a layer of maple syrup-flavored glaze in between.

Oh so good!

Ok, so while baked donuts aren't exactly like the fried kind, they are pretty damn delicious. The texture is somewhere between a honey dip and a madeleine. Spongy, but not spongecake. Not at all like a cupcake. I'd love to find a recipe for a denser, cake-donut-type baked donut, but I'm pretty happy to eat these until I find one.

Maple Bacon Baked Donuts (adapted from Joy the Baker)

For donuts:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla

For frosting:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Splash vanilla
1-2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 slices bacon, chopped

To make donuts: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 6-well doughnut pans and set aside. (I use this one by Wilton.)

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and sugar. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk egg, buttermilk, and vanilla together. Add melted butter and whisk again. Pour wet ingredients over dry and stir together just until everything is combined and no flour bits remain.

Spoon batter into a small zip-top bag, Squeeze out as much air as possible without squeezing the bag too much and seal. Use scissors to cut off one of the bottom corners of the bag. Pipe batter into as many donut wells as you can fill halfway. If you're using the Wilton pan linked above, you should be able to fill all twelve. Don't overfill, otherwise the donuts will rise too much and the holes will close.

Place pans in the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pans to a rack and allow to cool completely before unmolding donuts.

While the doughnuts cool, make the glaze.

To make the glaze, in a medium bowl whisk together powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and cream until smooth.

Once the doughnuts are cool, dip top-side-down into the glaze. Return to the wire rack and sprinkle with bacon. Eat immediately, or, if you want to put a couple away, wait until the glaze has set and wrap each donut separately in plastic wrap. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

NY Eats

When I go to NY, I try to poke my head into as many food-related shops as possible. For educational purposes, of course. I have my favorites that I visit every time I'm in the city, but I'm always on the lookout for something new and exciting. Here are some places I visited on my most recent trip.

(Photo credit: Midtown Lunch)

Flex Donuts For the time being, this pop-up spin-off of Flex Mussels (by pastry chef and Top Chef Just Desserts season 1 cheftestant Zac Young) is sharing space with Zócalo in Grand Central Station. Stop by and snag a couple three salted caramel donuts and maybe some of the maple bourbon bacon as well. Pure, delicious, evil.

Dylan's Candy Bar Dylan's is primarily a shop for the kiddies, as it's chock full of gummy this and sour that, but there's also a nice collection of nostalgic regional candies like the Big Hunk, Valomilk, and Idaho Spud bars. It's the perfect destination for those, who, like me, have read Steve Almond's Candy Freak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America and want to know exactly what he's going on about.

David's Teas Canadian tea company, David's, has two shops in the US so far, both in New York: at 275 Bleecker Street and at 1124 3rd Avenue. Their selection of black, green, rooibos, herbal, pu'erh, etc., is comprehensive and includes both familiar and exotic flavors, from an organic English breakfast to Coffee Pu'erh (both of which I purchased).

Rocco's Pasticceria A trip to Rocco's on Bleecker has long been a Minx Family tradition. While I'm a big fan of their nutty biscotti (which are chewy when fresh), Mr Minx prefers anything chocolate, including the chocolate shortbreads. I'm also partial to their baba rum. They have gelato, too.

While you're on Bleecker, you should also check out Amy's Bread at Leroy St. and Murray's Cheese, right next door. Delicious sandwiches may ensue.

Posted on Minxeats.com.