The 4 Best Things I Ate In Costa Rica

My father was a commercial pilot, so I have had the fantastic fortune of being able to travel all over the world for cheap.  My most recent excursion took me to the incredibly beautiful Manuel Antonio area of Costa Rica over a long weekend.  Located along the country’s central Pacific coast, the region is known for its small but stunning national park and magnificent sightlines along the coast.  While my girlfriend and I went for some beach themed R&R, we really wanted to get a taste of the Tico culture, and the best way to learn about a new place is through their food (pun, absolutely intended).

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do” has become a travel mantra of mine as I seek out the local delicacies anywhere I am, and Costa Rica was no different.  Over my short stay, we thoroughly enjoyed everything we ate, but only 4 made the list of the absolute best things I ate in Costa Rica.

Check it all out after the jump.

Simple and healthy: Seared Diver Scallops, Butternut Squash Puree, and Sauteed Swiss Chard

So as mid-February approaches most people are either giving up on their New Year's resolutions or finally getting around to them.  Well here is a meal that surely can't hurt and will definitely impress (to offset that embarrassing belly fat that is still inexplicably hanging around).  Check out the rest of the pics and some basic instructions after the jump.

What I Cooked During Sandy

First of all, I apologize for the hiatus.  A change of residences, coupled with the holidays, added to some sneaking laziness has kept me from putting together a post for a while.  So bare with me as I play catch-up, but I promise to start pumping these out with a little more regularity.

Let me start off by saying that we were some of the lucky ones.  Hurricane Sandy devastated the state of New Jersey and her wrath will be felt for years to come.  However, since this blog is about food, we'll stick to that.

In between the aforementioned moves, I was shacked up at my parents house in suburban Northwest NJ, far from the reaches of the lurching ocean or any other swelling bodies of water.  So things were pretty normal for a while besides a few missing shingles and down trees, but I knew it could get worse, so I decided to throw a big pork shoulder in the slow cooker with the plans of having plenty of leftovers.  The result was some delicious pulled pork that I topped with a quick bbq sauce of tomato paste and the pork stock, and a spicy green sauce with a cilantro and jalapeno base, modeled after Peruvian Aji.

I awoke the next morning and the wind was still whipping, but the power was still on.  Taking advantage of the situation, I decided to make a frittata studded with some of the left over pulled pork, sauteed onions, green onions, and cheddar cheese.

Thennnnn...the lights went out.  For the next 8 days, we were relegated to cooking on the grill on the deck or  the camping grill that my dad had picked up while traveling through the Blue Mountains a couple weeks prior.

Blue Mountains courtesy of the Captain

Lucky for me, not only did my dad pick up the camping grill, but he also had some nice ribeye steaks from Costco.  Salt, pepper, and a basic salad and I was ready to go.

The next day, I decided to breakout the colossal crab meat that Lisa's dad had been kind enough to donate to us from his warehouse at OceanLine Seafood.  I went with a fillerless crab cake that was all crab all the time.  I pan seared them on the camping grill and topped it with some of the left over Aji sauce from the pulled pork.

Finally, after exhausting all of my fancy treats, I kept it as simple as possible - a buger with American cheese on a toasted bun (on the camping grill).

Wingfest NYC - Wings, Beer, Whiskey

Wingfest NYC was held this past Saturday at a loft space in Chelsea.  For your $55 ticket, you got three hours of all you could eat wings, and almost all you could drink whiskey and beer (they started to run out at the end).  Check out the rest of the debauchery after the jump.

Vendy's 2012 - The Year's Single Greatest Collection of NYC Street Food

So once a year, the best street food vendors from New York City, as nominated by the people, congregate for a day of feasting, imbibing, and general foodie merriment.  The festival takes place on the beautiful Governors Island, which is just a 5 minute, complimentary ferry ride off the southern tip of Manhattan.  Food trucks, carts, and street vendors set up in an open field and represent nearly every corner of the globe.  This was the biggest Vendy Awards yet, and there were over 20 vendor's on site.  Check out the pictures of almost everything we ate (and we ate almost everything) after the jump.

Food Trucks at the Jets Game

Not only did the New York Jets host their first home game of the '12-'13 season on Saturday, but they also debuted their newest edition to gameday fare at Metlife Stadium.  They're calling it Food Truck City and it's a collection of some of New York City's favorite food trucks.  The trucks in attendance included Kelvin Natural Slush, Nuchas Empandas, and Rickshaw Dumpling (other favorites like Mexicue and Schnitzel and Things are planning on making appearances in the future).  Check it out after the jump.

Eating Australia Part 2: Brisbane, The Gold Coast, and a Final Meal in Sydney

Brisbane

So after about 5 days exploring Sydney, we hopped on a plane and rode about an hour north up the seaboard to the Gold Coast.  This was where my brother was studying and where we would spend the next 5 days.  The Gold Coast is about an hour train ride south of Brisbane and despite being surrounded by beautiful beaches, my brother wanted to take us to Australia's 3rd most populated city.  First of all, the city was beautiful.  The architecture and infrastructural layout was marvelous.  Anyways, we were headed to the Brisbane Farmers Market that my brother had been to before, and after a few wrong turns we stumbled across a sea of canopies set up in the central business district.  This market had more fresh produce than prepared food, but there were still plenty of options for eating.  Check it all out after the jump.

Eating Australia Part 1: Sydney Street Food & The Fish Market

The Sydney Opera House

So it's been a long freaking time since I've updated BWAM, so let me start off by apologizing to you for not keeping up with the food porn pictures since I know that's really the only thing getting you here anyways.  Now that I have that out of the way, let's get to the good stuff!

My brother is studying abroad this semester in Gold Coast, Australia - it's about an hour outside of Brisbane.  So besides being on my travel bucket list, I had another reason to visit Australia, so my dad I went for about 10 days with our first stop in Sydney.  We ate some fantastic meals along the way and you can check it all out after the jump.

(Almost) Healthy Anniversary Banana Pancakes w/Cinnamon Infused Syruputter

Late last month the girlfriend and I frighteningly joyously celebrated our 3rd anniversary so a special meal was definitely expected.  I spared her and the other diners around us from breaking out the camera at a cozy little French restaurant in downtown NYC called La Sirene (which was delicious and BYO) - a place recommended to us by our friends Logan and Julia.  So the order of the day on Saturday morning...banana pancakes of course.  It's a pretty simple (almost) scratch recipe (are we sensing a theme here?) and really isn't bad for you until you get to the syrup/butter combo.  Check out the steps to this stack after the jump.

Mitsuwa - A Buzzing Japanese Food Court/Supermarket

One of the many gems inside Mitsuwa - the Shrimp Tempura Combo (~ $8.50)

With this 50 degree May February weather rolling through this weekend a couple buddies and I decided that Saturday was a perfect day to go spray some golf balls around at the driving range in Edgwater, NJ.  The driving range looks directly over the Hudson River and across to NYC, but the real treat is the Japanese Super Market next door that doubles as a food court.  A couple of my coworkers tipped me off to Mitsuwa - "the jam packed parking lot next to the driving range."  People from all over the tri-state area venture to Mitsuwa for its authentic Japanese offerings and we found out why.  Check out all of the things we tried after the jump.

Stuffed Chicken Breast Wrapped in Prosciutto at Emily C.'s

So this past Sunday we found ourselves dining at our friends Emily and RJ's house and on the menu was stuffed chicken breast to be washed down with a couple bottles of wine.  Since I didn't really do anything besides eat and drink, I thought it was only fair to let Emily talk about the food herself.  Enjoy.

I’ve known Jason for over 10 years, and it’s always been my lifelong dream to cook him and his girlfriend
dinner so he can steal credit for his own blogging glory. Okay so half of that is true, but given the fact
that I’m lucky to live near some of my oldest and closest friends, I’ve tried to make a conscious effort to
see them more (at least outside of the bar).

And what better way to do that than to share my own love of cooking. So on a nice Sunday evening,
Jason and Lisa ventured to West New York (with 2 bottles of wine!) to spend a long overdue meal
catching up and trying out one of my fan-favorite dishes- Chicken stuffed with Basil, Mozzarella, and
wrapped in Prosciutto. The fresh basil leaves combined with melty cheese and the crispy prosciutto
do all the right things together. And when paired with a balanced red wine, fresh spinach salad with
balsamic and some warm roasted garlic bread, do I really need to sell you on this more? See how it’s
done after the jump.

The House To Yourself Burger with Mango Glazed Pork Belly

Mango glazed pork belly - indulge much?

One recent Sunday, I found myself mildly hungover (one of the good kinds of hangovers, not the bad nauseating kinds) and my roommate, whom I usually share a bed with, was off to visit her parents.  Let's all just take a moment to breathe and recognize what a wonderful time this was in my life...ahhhh.  After a few glasses of water and a couple games of NBA2K12 on Xbox, I became painstakingly hungry.  You know, to the point where your stomach feels like it is scourging through your intestines searching for any reminiscence of nutrients and despite being a middle-class yuppie, you have zero reservations about exclaiming "I'm starving," despite never missing a meal in your life.  So I ventured off to the super market and did what they tell you to never do - go shopping while you're hungry.  Thirty minutes later I was back in my kitchen with 1 lb. of cube steak (mistake - pun somewhat intended), 1.5 lbs. of pork belly (opposite of a mistake), an avocado, a red onion, cilantro, and a sesame seed roll.  Like Captain Planet, the combined powers of all the ingredients created a wonderful, nearly super-hero like synergy that was only held back by the stupid cube steak - check out the results after the jump.

Tacos and Sushi Meet in Malibu - Howdy's Taqueria

This past holiday weekend we were in southern California for the Bar and Bat Mitzvah of my twin cousins.  Since it was the girlfriend's first time seeing the Pacific Ocean, we decided to rent a convertible (Ford Mustang - go America!) and head straight for the beach.  We explored the Santa Monica Pier and then rented A SINGLE bike - no misprint there, we rented one tandem bike due to her inexcusable fear of riding a bike by herself - and rode down to Venice Beach to wander amongst the colorful locals.  The beach - scratch one of the two essential items on our SoCal bucket list.  Item numero dos - tacos.  For authentic Mexican, I would commit treacherous acts, against even my own family, but LA county has plenty to offer, so there was no need to harm anyone.  Fast forward through a windy scenic drive up the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu and we happened upon Howdy's Taqueria.  Check out the food and pics after the jump.

The Cottage - Dining at Lake Placid's Finest View

Mirror Lake (considered downtown Lake Placid) is the view from The Cottage - albeit about 30 ft. lower

So I must admit that The Cottage is a place that I've been before - just not with a camera, or my family.  However, the results were still the same...good drinks, good view, better company, and an even better view.  The restaurant/bar sits on the edge of downtown Lake Placid and even closer to the edge of Mirror Lake (for those not familiar with the geography of North Elba, NY, the actual Lake Placid is much larger than the body of water pictured above, however, the landscape lent itself to building the downtown area here instead of on the namesake lake).  Anyways, we knew it was a local hotspot so the kids went down early to get our names on the list and post up at the bar for a noontime drink while the old folk slowly collected themselves and got ready for the rest of the day.  Check out their famous bloody mary's and what they do to a middle-aged mother after the jump.

A Portuguese Christmas - You've Never Seen So Much Seafood

A Christmas spread - and that was just the appetizers!

I figured that I'm already pushing the boundaries of Christmas being relevant, so I better get this post up ASAP.  Laid before your eyes is the Christmas appetizer spread that my girlfriend's family had laid out on 24th of December.  While the focal point at this festive time for American families tends to be a nice big ham (which we would have on this night), Europeans tend to highlight fish in honor of St. Nick.  There was enough fish at this table that I was burping up salt water for the next 48 hours (not even close to kidding).  Of course, being the gluttonous time of year it is, it would seem foolish to limit ourselves to fin friendly delectables, so various other salty and fatty items were sent to adorn this table in copious amounts.  The table above (somewhat from top to bottom) includes baked scallops, Spanish tortilla, jumbo cocktail shrimp, King Crab legs, pasteis de bacalhau (cod fritters), rissois de camarao (breaded and fried pockets of dough with shrimp and cream sauce in the middle), cocktail crab claws, prosciutto stuffed cherry peppers, fresh mozzarella, brie, thick cut fresh prosciutto, and smoked salmon (oh boy, I'm starting to get hungry again).  We haven't even made it to the main course yet!  Check detailed pictures and dessert after the jump.

Tailgating At The Battle For NY

Wait for it, wait for it...FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE!

So last Sunday was obviously a huge game for both the Jets and the Giants.  Not only was it the battle for NY, but there were huge playoff implications.  So it only seemed fitting that we set up a big tailgate for the pre-party.  Check out the rest of the tailgate and pictures after the jump.

Bolo Pretu - Caribbean Black "Christmas" Cake

Bolo Pretu - a moist and dense, labor intensive cake, made for very special occasions in the Caribbean

Last week a couple of friends had us over for dinner, which we scarfed down like starving hyenas, and a little bit of dessert.  One of these said friends happens to be a native of Curacao (for the geographically uniformed, it's a small island off the northern coast of Venezuela) and was toting along what she called Bolo Pretu or Black Cake.  This a popular cake around this time of year all across the Caribbean and it makes appearances at other special occasions.  Black Cake is deeply flavorful and emanating alcohol at every bite.  Essentially, dried fruit is soaked in various liquors for up to a year, and it is then combined with nuts, flour, sweet and savory spices, and the ingredient responsible for the namesake, burnt sugar syrup.  Once the batter is formed, the cake is baked for a couple of hours, only to be brushed with more liquor after it has cooled.  The final product is nutty, plumby. subtly sweet, mildly savory, and a little buzz-inducing.     

Zafra: Authentic Pan-Latin Cusine in Hoboken

The small space, tucked in at the corner of 3rd & Willow in Hoboken, offers a vibrant atmosphere away from the commotion of Washington Street.

Over the years, my little sister's bedroom has been the place where small rodents go to die.  Countless hamsters, gerbils, and guinea pigs have called a small corner in her room home, only to realize their final resting place would be a small corner of the back yard, next to their ill fated brethren.  Luckily for Latika (I know, what a name for a rodent), my sister's latest and hopefully final guinea pig, was spared a similar finale because my mom was sick of the house smelling like a petting zoo.  Fast forward a week and my parents found a willing new owner by way of a Hoboken cop.  Since they were in town, they might as well take me out to lunch right?  The venue - Zafra, a Cuban/Pan-Latino restaurant that I've been to about 3 or 4 times in the past year.  Check out what we ate after the jump.

The Greatest Holiday of the Year: Thanksgiving Eats

Thanksgiving...the meal where all health concerns are given a blind eye and an unofficial competition to use the most butter and heavy cream breaks out between dishes.  For the past 3 years I've been handling the biggest family meal of the year in my parents' house.  Besides being an excuse to continue my buzz from the night before, I enjoy being able to leave my fingerprints over this highly anticipated feast.  Now there's only 5 of us total, so it's not the biggest meal you've ever seen, but no dinner has more pressure than the one on the fourth Thursday of each November.  This year was no different, but I did feel more at ease when cooking this year...maybe that was just the hangover.  Either way, this was the smoothest Thanksgiving yet.  This year's menu consisted of a few variations on typical Thanksgiving fare, but I stayed pretty true to the classic Thanksgiving flavors.  Find the rest of the pictures and dishes after the jump.

Piggin' Out In Portugal - Part 2

View from back porch of the family restaurant

 So the feasting in Portugal continued the very next day where we went to visit Lisa's uncle who owned a small restaurant with his family near Vigo, Spain, for lunch.  Lisa's parents are from one of the northernmost towns in Portugal, and the Galician region of Spain was so close you could actually throw a stone there.  After a 30 minute drive up and down some curvy mountainside roads, we made it to the quaint restaurant that sits amongst a few countryside houses.  I didn't know it at the time, but this was about to be my favorite meal of the trip.