Warm up with Pumpkin Muffins and the Best of 2017
Hi friends,
Welcome to This Needs Hot Sauce (And Other Food Thoughts), a newsletter sharing something to cook, somewhere to eat out, and something to read. I'm a native New Yorker who spends far too much time thinking and reading about food. I love helping people find better things to eat and solving problems, so let me know how I can help. Let's dive in. This week is totally strange, full of empty subway cars, sub-freezing temperatures and lots of cozy family time. It's a great time to reflect and hopefully bake something delicious.
Something to cook:
This Saturday was rainy and gross, perfect for baking. In a stroke of good fortune, all the ingredients for these muffins were already in our apartment. Julia recommended the recipe and wow they are great: very moist, not too sweet (100% breakfast appropriate) and they have chocolate. One note on muffins: don't overmix the batter or they get tough. Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately and then stir until just combined.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Wet ingredients:2 eggs
1 can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1 tablespoon of water (or milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry ingredients:
1 3/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Bonus fun ingredient:1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 375 and line or spray your muffin tin. Combine the dry ingredients with a whisk in a large bowl. Combine the wet ingredients in a smaller bowl and add to the dry ingredient. Stir until combined and add in 1 cup of chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins and bake for 22-24 minutes (it took 23 for us). Try to let them cool a bit and then enjoy!
One other cooking note:
I make eggs for dinner a lot. Usually, it's a fried egg on top of a giant saute of vegetables that are starting to wilt in the fridge. I'll add hot sauce, avocado or feta cheese if I have it and feel pretty content. If you make eggs for dinner, what are your favorite add-ins? It's a choose your own adventure game.
The method is usually to saute all the veggies, put them on the plate and then fry the egg in the same, now empty pan. When I fry eggs, I go for a crispy bottom a la Deb. Use high heat! I always put salt, pepper, and a little paprika on the egg as it's frying.
Toppings:
Fried egg over frozen peas, edamame, sesame seeds, drizzled with a bit of sesame oil and sriracha
Fried egg over charred broccoli and red pepper flakes and a lemon squeeze
Fried egg over red onion, spinach and nutmeg, harissa, and feta (this works with frozen spinach too)
Fried egg over sauteed greens and red onion topped with salsa and avocado (cholula or valentina is the preferred pairing here)
Something to order:
I tried Casa Publica in Williamsburg last week and really enjoyed it. We arrived, very cold, to mini mugs of ponche, a warm hibiscus punch that I remember from Guatemala. True to the season, I tried their vegetarian tamale, which was great, and the flor de calabaza tacos. They have an excellent drink list here, with tons of mezcal options and everyone was really nice. It's in Williamsburg but not a super crowded part so there's space between the tables and lots of room to hang with a group of friends. Would definitely go back.
I'm a new fan of Larry Lawrence bar, a super cozy place at the end of a long hallway. Our bartender was a Mexican Jew and it felt like the perfect place to hang at the end of December. The Koffler sisters and Julia approve.
Wafa's Express is near and dear to my heart. Wafa is a Lebanese cook who used to have a restaurant in Forest Hills (the New York Times is a fan). Her food was a mainstay at Casa Koffler and we were so sad when she closed a few years ago. Happily, she opened a new restaurant in East Williamsburg and I can enjoy her mujadara, hummus, and grape leaves again. This is a mostly takeout place, perfect for delivery. If you dine in, you'll see her cooking away with her children. Note: the hot sauce is great and really spicy.
Something to read:
What makes foods go viral? This investigation is great, especially the videos.
The History of Puppy Chow. I made this all the time at my day camp cooking class.
If you love her instagram, you'll enjoy Mari Andrew's Grub Street Diet.
If Pannetone is Italian challah with mixins, this is the logical next step, an even more decadent version of challah french toast.
Post-prison, this New Jersey man opens a restaurant
Kenji behind The Food Lab is opening a restaurant in Silicon Valley. Love a good profile.
This picture and this controversial tweet made me seriously crave Sqirl. An ode to its breakfast bowl. Now, without further ado, I'm proud to present The Best of 2017! Thanks to everyone who wrote in with thoughts. This is by new means exhaustive but hopefully, it's a reminder that gathering over food can make bad years better and good years great.
Favorite meals:
Supra in DC
Barano after a breakup
Every time I've eaten at Win Son.
Whenever I got Mister Softee this summer
Dim sum and natural wine in Amsterdam
Tapas with Celine and Nicole on our last Paris
Oysters, anytime (it was the summer of bivalves)
Cooking with my BBG girls
Vientiane with Nicole
Rosetta and La Nacional and Huset Cocina de Campo in Mexico City
Lighthouse Brooklyn on the day of the Charlottesville riots when everything was terrible
The three wonderful times I went to Lilia (seriously that pink peppercorn mafaldine)
Latkes and Vodkas
Reader favorites:
Rubirosa (tie die pizza) - Zoe (Need to try this in 2018)
Dinner at the bar at Pondicherri after SoulCycle - Neil (my dad)
The chili dog at Jagerklause in Berlin: Jagerklause (a biergarten that feels like you're at a barbecue in a magic fairy garden) is home to one of the best meals I had there — a "chili dog," which was really just a giant bratwurst sandwich smothered in gouda, pickles, jalapenos, and sauce. - Julia
The burger at Emily - Zoe
Chocolate babka from Russ and Daughters, the size of my face and the perfect afternoon coffee treat - Nicole
The rainbow cookie at Empire Cake in Chelsea - Zoe
Dinner with 10 Kofflers at Arroya Vino in Santa Fe - Dad
5th & Taylor with Leah and Olivia "when we were described as “extra” “chill”" - Dad
The full pasta menu at Lilia (yup, yup, yup) - Nicole and Dad agree
This amazing fish soup in LA from this szechuan place in a strip mall in san gabriel valley. It had those peppercorns that make your tongue numb. It was so delicious that you kept eating even though you couldn't feel anything. It just brings me joy every time I think about it. - Frida
Thanksgiving and the after-party - Dad, I agree
Zucchini and ricotta galette: My first foray into savory pastries and it was a huge crowd pleaser. Very therapeutic to arrange the zucchini slices and shape the crust. - Nicole (how gorgeous is this?)
Dumpling udon at Ennju: I'm hesitant to blow up my spot on this one, but Ennju is the best-kept secret in Union Square. The no-frills, order-at-the-counter Japanese place has fresh and cheap sushi...but nothing beats their dumpling udon, which is full of noodles, fish cake, and TWO kinds of dumplings. - Julia
Friendsgiving - Julianne (hell yea)
I'll be back in 2018 with lots more. Thank you for reading and responding to This Needs Hot Sauce and as always, let me know how I can help.
Got food resolutions? Need to get out of a cooking rut? Dinner with a difficult human coming up? Did you, too, just start watching Riverdale? Get at me.
Happy New Year and happy eating. Thanks for reading.
xo,
Abigail