The Best of 2018
Wrapping up a delicious year with your favorites and mine
Hi friends,
This year started with breakfast tacos on a cold January morning and will end in a crowded apartment full of sparkling wine and lots of snacks (it’s my apartment, and it’s going to be tight). It’s been a crazy one and I’m really glad to have a brief rest to digest it all.
Welcome to This Needs Hot Sauce, a weekly newsletter about cooking, dining out, and making the most of it.
Let’s dive in.
Something to Cook:
I made this olive oil shortbread with rosemary and chocolate for the Cojolya sale yesterday and it’s such a winner. There’s no butter or egg (except for a little egg wash for shine) and the dough comes together very easily. The hardest part is taking them off the baking sheet and cutting them but the crumbly scraps are delicious pre party snacks. The rosemary is very festive making this a great one bowl holiday dessert option.
As I walked home from pilates this week, I saw this Bon Appetit instagram and got a sudden craving for cucumbers with scrambled eggs. I stopped at the store and a few hours later, I had this for lunch. Adding a little soy sauce and grated ginger to the eggs makes a huge difference and this method is definitely going on repeat. Sorry for how gross this photo is, but it was pretty IRL.
I was also influenced this week by an Of a Kind podcast featuring the sisters behind the fabulous Soom Tahini and topped a bowl of greek yogurt with tahini, granola, almonds, honey and flaky salt. Truly a powerful start to the day.
I’m bringing these squash toasts to a potluck next weekend and cannot wait. I make them once a year and they’re such a treat. Plus, they travel well pre assembled and are a great excuse to eat more ricotta.
A bunch of you made the Stew and had similar reactions: it’s a good stew, but what is the hype? If you’re making it, definitely add more greens and some lime and check out my #TheStew highlight on Instagram. Sophia paired it with brown rice, plain yogurt, parsley, pickled red onions and avocado. She said, “Yum! But also don’t totally understand the hype?” Ellie also covered viral foods like these in Eater’s newsletter.
Something to Order:
I had some great meals last week, especially a long awaited one at Adda in Queens. I tried to walk in a few months ago and they were booked solid but with a reservation, we were all good. So book a table, be prepared for a 10+ minute walk from the subway, BYOB and order everything. Some must trys are the chili paneer, the kale pakoda (thanks to Noor for the suggestions), the butter chicken if you eat meat, and the cheese naan, which has a slice of cheese in between the flakey layers. It’s a casual atmosphere that lets the Indian street food shine and everything has a nice kick. Make plans to go soon.
Julia and I consider ourselves oyster happy hour connoisseurs and we tried somewhere new last week, with the help of twitter.
Goodnight Sonny is a cute bar, sure, but they serve really great oysters. The happy hour had 3 different kinds for a dollar and very tasty $7 wine. It goes till 7 and it’s worth running down First Avenue for.
We followed up our oysters with pizza, as one does, at Emmy Squared. It was my second time having the Detroit Style pizza and it’s really so good. Get the Emmy with green ranch and pickled pepper. They also do a great broccoli salad with miso peanut dressing.
The neighborhood crew had our last Win Son of 2018 and it was great as always. The meat eaters tried the sloppy bao for the first time and Ian says they go on the must order list. Remember, you should order scallion pancakes and wine at the bar if there’s a wait.
I tried the dip soba at Cocoron and really enjoyed it. It’s a bit like a hot pot for one with fresh soba noodles you cook in a flavorful stew. They give you some starchy noodle water at the end to make your broth a soup. I loved the vegan mera mera and the fresh tofu appetizer. It’s cash only and definitely gets crowded, so go in a small group.
Something to read:
Eating alone at a restaurant is a power move.
A video that will make you want to book a plane ticket or eat some khachapuri, all about winemaking in Georgia.
Anxiety baking is on the rise. I’m guilty of this for sure, but I prefer baking with an occasion in mind which makes it fun and is a great excuse to try new stuff.
How small batch spirits fit into the cocktails we know and love.
Recipes and stories from a Jamaican Christmas on Long Island.
A hard thing about the holidays.
Not food related, but I read a lot this year (let’s be goodreads friends) and just finished this and this. Much love to the Brooklyn Public Library.
Stuff I wrote:
A whole thread of some of my favorite stories of the year.
A visit to Hartbreakers, a new vegan restaurant in Bushwick. They make a great salad and great fries.
A behind the scenes look at Fine & Raw Chocolates. This was a pretty fun interview and the chocolate is delicious.
Don’t forget to purchase your Passport to Bushwick! For $25, you’ll get free drinks at 19 local bars anytime throughout 2019. Use code BROKE for a discount and get one for the whole friendgroup. It will make planning so much easier if you all have a free first round.
Now without further ado…The Best of 2018!
Thanks to everyone who wrote in, from all across the country. You’re a talented bunch with great taste, but I already knew that.
What was the best thing you ate (at a restaurant) in 2018?
Alicia: Dan and I went to Gaia Italian Cafe and their dinner for two, which is a plate of antipasto, bruschetta, the pasta of the day and a little dessert, is phenomenal and SO CHEAP. I also have to stan the guacamole at El Kucho in Bushwick.
Hilary: I'm not kidding when I say that the best/most memorable restaurant food I've had this year was the house made hot sauce (!!) at Red O in San Diego, which was actually, surprisingly, crazy spicy but had flavor too. Even though it was a fancy business dinner, I dipped everything I could into it!
Bethany: the Kao Tod Nam Klook at Ugly Baby—it's an absurdly flavorful combo of curried rice, crispy pork skin, peanuts and ginger served with lettuce and herbs so you can build your own wraps. This dish singlehandedly inspired a months-long personal obsession with Thai food that's showing no signs of slowing down. It somehow took me a long time to get into Thai, potentially thanks to many not-so great-BYOs at Banana Leaf.
Clare: Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen (Sonoma, CA) - buttermilk fried chicken. Please see photo attached. Sadly this restaurant is now closed.
Maryse: Best thing I ate was the deliciously buttery garlic bread at Vic's in NoHo. So basic. So so good.
Neil (my dad): Best thing I ate in a restaurant was, amongst other contenders, the Thai Fried Rice in a stone pot at KYU in Miami.
Hayley: My favorite appetizer were the Blue Crab Beignets from La Petit Grocery in New Orleans. They were gooey and super crabby, so basically a dream for seafood lovers. The best entree I had was a garlic noodle bowl with pulled pork, egg, Parmesan and sriracha at Pink Bellies in Charleston. I seriously think about this dish once a week and would go out of my way to Charleston to get it again. Best breakfast was lemon ricotta pancakes at Paladar 511 in New Orleans.
Julia: The best thing I ate in a restaurant has to go to the smoked radiatore carbonara at Rose Cafe in Venice, CA. The super texture-y pasta perfectly held the creamy, peppery sauce and pancetta and it was so good I practically gasped at the first bite. I had no idea carbonara could taste like this and I miss this meal every day.
Karen (my mom): I have been traveling to LA regularly since 1985. This summer was the first time Dad and I walked along the Venice Canals. It was a gorgeous weekday, the narrow sidewalks were empty and the views were so pretty. We walked over to nearby Abbot Kinney to get some lunch and were lucky enough to get a table at Gjelina. The chickpea stew was amazing. I know - it's chickpeas (just like the viral thing happening now), how special could it be? But seriously, it was delicious. After lunch, we strolled the retail opportunities on the Ave and inside an upscale athletic wear store, I saw the Gjelina cookbook - no internal consistency, but what did I care? I was on my way to recreating my lunch. I surreptitiously took photos and felt triumphant.
What was the best thing you made (in a kitchen) in 2018?
Alicia: This recipe
Hilary: My top 2 homemade favorites were cast iron skillet charred kale with garlic, and Stella Parks' pineapple ice cream.
Bethany: Butternut squash ravioli in lemon butter broth. I go to Saraghina all the time, but have never sprung for the homemade pasta before. I cooked the ravioli al dente in chicken broth that I'd made a few days earlier, removed it from the pot, and added butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper to make a creamy broth/sauce hybrid, then poured that back over the pasta. Finally, a socially acceptable way to eat a bowl of melted butter!
Clare: 1000000% this chicken - from Nancy Silverton. You leave the thighs uncovered in the fridge over night and bake at a high temp. It makes the skin so crispy and perfect and the onions are soft and sweet. The chicken tastes like it's fried though it isn't.
Maryse: Best thing I made was an Aussie classic - Sticky Date Pudding. Solid recipe here. My (American) housemates were bowled over. It's foolproof because you positively drench it in butterscotch sauce. Hot tip - more sauce never goes wasted.
Neil: Best thing I made was (this is a bit of a cop out since I make them every year, sometimes more than once) grilled Soft Shell Crabs with old bay served over arugula with a black bean-fresh corn salsa and a lemon parsley vinaigrette.
Hayley: Homemade caramels that our family friend Joan gave me for my birthday. It was an enormous bag and consumed too quickly.
Julia: The best thing I made in 2018 I actually made three times. Yep, it's these molasses ginger cookies. Are you shocked? Anyone want me to make them again?
Karen: I make the Gjelina Chickpea Stew this summer the night Leah returned from Vanderbilt with Jason. It was still delicious.
And my answers (which I’ve been thinking about for so long):
My favorite restaurant item was the original Tahini milkshake at Goldie in Philadelphia. If I could hop on a train now and have one for lunch with their stellar falafel salad, all would be right in the world. It’s creamy and sweet and vegan, making it the only kind of milkshake I can enjoy without a stomachache.
Runners up: The pupusa at Republique we had on Nicole’s birthday, focaccia with green garlic butter at Lilia for Dale’s birthday, Rubirosa’s tie dye pizza, the garlic caesar at Roberta’s.
My favorite thing I cooked would be the blueberry muffins I made over the summer. I even brought some of them to the beach. I can’t wait till berries are back in season to make them again. Full of berries and topped with a little sugar in the raw crunch, it’s a perfect summer breakfast or snack.
Runners up: Greek yogurt cake with preserves, which is SO easy and travels well, an insanely good broccoli salad, party nuts (this year I started adding pretzels and sesame sticks and I’ll never go back), and the annual fig and olive oil challah.
Reply to this email with something food related you’d like to try in 2019. It can be a restaurant, a recipe or anything else. I want to try and make bread, or at least buy a loaf pan.
I’m taking next week off for a little rest and celebration and can’t wait to talk to you in 2019.
Happy eating and thanks for reading.
xo, Abigail
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