The Long Way Around

One Year of This Needs Hot Sauce, plus Halloween Candy and Bushwick's Best Pizza

Hi friends,

Welcome to This Needs Hot Sauce, a newsletter by Abigail Koffler about cooking, dining out, and making the most of it. I sent out the first issue of This Needs Hot Sauce a year ago today (read it here, if you want) and am so excited we’re all still here. We had a little party to celebrate last week and you can check it out on Instagram Stories under the Birthday Party highlight. Thank you so much for coming and reading and following and cooking along with me!

My first issue featured one of many shoutouts to diner coffee, a Win Son mention, and of course, party nuts. At least I’m consistent.

Let’s dive in.

Something to Cook:

I barely cooked last week (oops) but I was really glad to have this carrot lentil salad in the fridge.

Another thing I “cooked”: cinnamon apples. Simply chop up an apple and heat in a dry skillet with cinnamon, ground ginger, and a pinch of salt. I didn’t want them too soft, so I heated them (on medium) for under 10 minutes and used to top oatmeal. A peanut butter drizzle was the perfect finishing touch.

One more oatmeal concept: I often use tahini instead of peanut butter as a special topping and today I accidentally squeezed half a lemon on top as well (pre coffee breakfast ofc). It was delicious, which isn’t shocking since acid brightens up everything and I’m inspired to try it again.

For our birthday party, I brought pumpkin chocolate chip muffins which keep very well in the freezer. Make a batch and improve breakfasts (or late night snacks, as Dale and I can attest) for weeks to come.

I also made popcorn in the microwave and tossed in some pretzel m+ms for a seasonal crunch. Microwave popcorn is so much fresher tasting than pre popped popcorn in the bag and the Newman’s own brand doesn’t have any toxic chemicals (hopefully).

I’m definitely trying to eat more vegetables this week so I’m planning to make this ginger soba noodle salad with roasted cauliflower. I’ll probably throw in some kale as well (#Abikale).

Other great meal ideas: this thai quinoa crunch salad is a reader favorite and the peanut dressing is so good and the leftovers of this eggplant dish will change how you think about eggplant.

Next week, I’ll be sharing a full friendsgiving/thanksgiving recipe round up so reply to this email if you have special requests/dishes you’re looking to master.

Something to Order:

There’s a new Gotan in Chelsea and their shakshuka is incredible. Like the other Gotans, there’s wifi and lots of space to work. I try to schedule my visits around meals because the menu is always tempting. This shakshuka included chimichuri sauce and was topped with tahini, pine nuts, mint and parsley. The best part: the manager gave it to me after they shot it for instagram so I got to reduce food waste and have a free fancy breakfast. Shakshuka is easy to make at home and this is my favorite recipe.

The Bushwick Daily Crew (sign up for our newsletters!) met at Bunna which is such a good spot for groups. It’s all vegan (but not in an annoying way) and so flavorful. Get more details here.

Duck Duck is the bar where I celebrated my real birthday and also my newsletter’s birthday. And it really can be both a dance spot on Saturday nights and a chill neighborhood bar with a killer happy hour on weeknights. Plus, they give you cheese puffs. If you haven’t been, grab some cash and head over.

Brooklyn Public House has a great happy hour in Fort Greene. Emma and I caught up over $5 wine in the middle of some very aggressive Halloween decorations. All their appetizers are half priced during happy hour as well.

Leah and I had a rough experience trying to get a table at a newly opened restaurant in LIC and after getting quite hangry, we decided to head to LIC Market, which I always love. It was her first time and we have a new fan. LIC Market is a bit like the Lighthouse of Long Island City.

It has a seasonal menu and natural wines and everyone who works there is so nice. They saw how hungry we are and made sure we got bread (grilled with olive oil) before appetizers came out. We split the romaine salad, the pasta with mushrooms and brussels (they always have a great vegetable pasta, I remember the tomato corn one from the summer) and a risotto with arugula and fontina. Ask for their jalapeño hot sauce and try their fries, which they classily call “house potatoes.” Did I mention it’s right by the subway?

I was honored to be part of Lizzi’s first visit to Ops, a pizzeria and natural wine spot in Bushwick. We had a delicious orange wine from Catalonia, their seasonal salad, and two pizzas, the classic margherita and one with broccoli rabe. I love that tip is already included in the prices and the pizza is made with a sourdough starter and it’s definitely better than Roberta’s. It’s walk in only but the wait is usually less than a half hour.

Coffeeshop of the Week: City of Saints

City of Saints has a few locations in Manhattan and one in Hoboken (the East Village one is lovely) but I most often visit the roastery and cafe in Bushwick. It’s a garage with a mural and some tables and it always smells good. I also buy their coffee by the bag, which is well priced for the quality and very fresh. I look for anything Guatemalan and am a fan of their Denizen blend or the straight up Guatemala one. There’s wifi here (I’m writing this on it) but no bathrooms, so plan ahead.

Something to Read:

Yikes: Antoni’s restaurant in the West Village serves “sad bowls of food.”

Really want to try this Bushwick restaurant serving the food of the Ivory Coast.

Love this very honest look from Ovenly’s CEO at how to fund a food business

My awesome friend Angely wrote about how sexual harassment at her first job shaped her expectations for the workplace.

From a great newsletter: What’s the difference between button mushrooms and portabello mushrooms?

Angela Dimayuga of the Standard on self care. Always love to see people talking about therapy.

Please save my writing career by clicking to read this ranking of halloween candy.

I finished Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat and enjoyed this podcast with Samin on how the show came together. She’s changing who gets to eat on television and it’s so much fun to watch.

Marriage advice from Ina and Jeffrey in honor of their 50th anniversary. Dying at this: “When we’re not together, I’ll send her five or six texts per day,” says Jeffrey. “I love looking at her schedule. I can envision where she is and what she’s doing, and it doesn’t feel like we’re apart. If I could be with her seven days a week, 24 hours a day, that would be my ideal.”

In more Ina news, her assistant Lidey Heuck shares her morning routine (and dog pictures).

Omnivore Books in San Francisco celebrates 10 years in business. I visit whenever I’m in town.

I wrote about a local ghost tour run by two exes! Spooky.

In honor of Halloween, I’m sharing your favorite candies:

Isa giving us Mexican candy envy: Even though Halloween isn't really a holiday in Mexico (though it has become more popular), we did used to go trick or treating in my neighborhood and I'm a sucker for anything Tamarindo or covered in chamoy. Would give my kingdom for a pelon pelo rico or a "gusano" (chamoy or tamarind in a little squeeze bottle) that I would then squeeze into the concave side of the sweettarts our gringo neighbors would give out. 

Also, I'd argue that better than any halloween candy is a slice of fresh pan de muertos with some hot chocolate on the side. (Ed note: She’s not wrong).

From Jessica: My favorite Halloween candy is Nestle Crunch. Something about the rice crispies cutting the richness of the chocolate just makes it perfect as far as fun-sized trick or treat options go. 

From my Dad: My favorite is a Heath Bar but those are rare finds.  When trading, I’d always be happy to get something with caramel and/or peanuts and wanted to get rid of hard candies, plain milk chocolate or gummy/chewie stuff.  Getting a good assortment of Snickers, Milky Way, Three Musketeers to freeze was a goal. (Ed note: Frozen candy is the best candy.)

This week, I’m thinking ahead to Thanksgiving! Reply to this email with favorite family recipes, any traditions you’d like to share, or your burning questions. I love an excuse to cook for friends and family and want to help you have a delicious meal.

Happy eating and thanks for reading.

xo, Abigail

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