September « 2009 « blogging for burgers

Monthly Archive for September, 2009

Page 5 of 5

Oh mein gut!

Published on in Greenmarkets and lunch spots. Closed

Das schnitzel has taken over my belly like a blitzkrieg.  BG told me the schnitzel truck was in my ‘hood so I had to get some pounded out fried goodness.  Being that i’m on a health kick, after reading about Wylie Dufresne’s self-restraint, I decided to go with some chicken schnitzel with sides of Austrian potato salad and sauerkraut.

The platter arrives like this:

Schitzel truck lunch at my desk

mmm, schnitzelly

It’s pretty simple, like all good austrian gut-busting food should be.  I didn’t see any lingonberry jam, but I won’t hold it against them.  Did you know that in Austria, the term “wiener schnitzel” is protected by law and has to be made of veal to be called that?

Anyway, it’s the best thing i’ve gotten from a truck in a few weeks, except for myflat screen tv that fell off the back of  a truck.  Check it out.

Schnitzel Truck
Moves around-  find their location on twitter
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There's more to life than burgers… sorta.

Published on in Burgeruminations, cooking and Greenmarkets. Closed

I’ve been fielding some complaints about the fact that I have expanded my purview to include food items beyond hamburgers.  There are a few reasons for this disgression on my part:

1) Hamburgers are a great, but not so great during the summer months, when the burgerboy has to hang out in swimming trunks on occasion.  No one wants to see my hamburger buns spilling over the top of my speedo.

2) My food passion has shifted slightly from hamburgers to local sustainable food over the years.  I’ve been hitting the farmers market like a fiend for about 2 years now, and I’ve been englightened to the ways of the local farm.

3) My time at the French Culinary Institute taught me a lot of things about the restaurant and food business, sowhy limit myself to burgers?

4) My paranoia tells me that my cholesterol is through the roof.

5) Pizza and hot dogs are also really good.  And mac and cheese.  And heirloom tomatoes.  And ramps.  And garlic scapes.  And shishito peppers.  And the list goes on…

But, do not give up hope.  I’ve still got burgers on my mind.

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DBGB: Like CBGB in three letters alone.

Published on in burger spots. Closed

So burgergal and I went to DBGB a few weeks back, just because we had a hankering for some sausage and some burgers.  The spot had recently opened, so my GF the BG had called DBGB ASAP and got us a TFT (table for two).

We went on a sweltering evening in July (july 16th if you are curious or were there and saw us).  It was really hot.  Hot enough that I had to stop into Whole Foods to take a breather.  (Side note, the A/C in Whole Foods is quite refreshing.  I’m not sure how green it is to have a 200,000 sq ft grocery store with high ceilings cooled down to 65 degrees Fahrenheit, but I like it anyway).

Anyway, we walked into DBGB ready to pig out.  I was actually sweating like a pig, so it all fit.  (Another side note.  I realize that these visual images may make you think that I am either a) very out of shape or b) exceptionally heavy-set from eating a lot of hamburgers.  I am in fact neither of those things).  We sat down to a nice table next to a couple of fellow foodies (i heard them talking about markets and momofuku and places in queens i’ve never even heard of), and across from a group of Japanese businessmen.  These guys were classic; they all went out between each course to go smoke cigarettes, and they all ordered the same exact thing.  It was great to watch.

So, we started out with a couple of sausages, because, why not?  We had the boudin, which BG did not eat because of an understandable aversion to sausages that have the consistency of brownies and are made with blood.  We also had the beaujolais sausage, which was delicious.

After fooling around with tubular meats, we went in for the kill: one Yankee burger (a good old american cheeseburger) and one Frenchie (a fancy-pants daniel boulud burger with braised pork belly on it).  Each was different and unqiue, but I’ve gotta give it to the Yankee.  It was a straightforward and simple product that tasted delicious and was well cooked, as a good burger should be.  The Frenchie was just a little too much for me– the pork belly had a slightly oily taste and it just made me feel like I was back in the sweltering heat of the day.

Then BG and I had a sundae for dessert.  It was fatty.  I actually didn’t feel SO bad until I read the below on Grubstreet about Wylie Dufresne and his wife:

“9:50 p.m. We started eating at DBGB, just the two of us. We had the Beaujolais sausage and the blood sausage with mashed potatoes and scallions, which I think has got to be one of the best things I’ve had in a while. They have three burgers. My wife is a fan of the Piggy, but we went for the Yankee because we had some sausage to start.

10:42 p.m. We had dessert. I had a coffee-caramel sundae that was delicious. That being Monday and having had a fairly large dinner, I did not work out that night. Went to bed.”

Now, it seems that Wylie is on some sort of kick to lose weight or something.  But, they “had some sausage to start” and decided to forgo a second burger because of it.  BG and I had sausages to start and continued to order two burgers AND eat dessert.  This makes me feel badly about myself.

But I digress.

The food at DBGB was great.  And it’s not too expensive for a nice weeknight dinner.

DBGB
299 Bowery (at 1st St)
5 out of 7 cows.
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A shout-out to Ronnybrook Farm

Published on in Greenmarkets. 1 Comment

I’m sitting here in my apartment, wishing really for nothing more than another pint of Ronnybrook farm’s blueberry ice cream.  I managed to snag the last pint of the day a couple of weeks’ back at the Union Square Farmer’s Market and I’ve been hooked ever since.  I managed to get another pint at the market at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (from my girl who knows I love me the coconut yogurt, too), but much to my chagrin haven’t had it since.

To say that the ice cream is far superior to any other ice cream product is a stretch, but it is pretty frigging good.  Any good New York foodie knows that the Ronnybrook secret is the quality of the life of their cows.  I mean, these cows have a better life than I do.  They are way beyond organic there, and I dig everything that they are doing.  Check out their website for more information here.

Anyway, I feel bad for any of you who can’t buy the stuff.  And at the same time, I don’t.  I actually enjoy the fact that if I plug in a California address into the “Store Locator,” the closest location is Balducci’s in Chelsea.  And I want more ice cream for myself.

The ice cream is up there with hamburgers in terms of my love for it.  First of all, it’s only available when blueberries are in season, which happens to have been over the last couple of months.  Second, it incorporates the best damned heavy cream that you’ve ever tasted.  Third, it has a fair amount of sugar, which always helps 🙂

The ice cream is rich without being heavy, and the flavor of blueberries permeates in your mouth.  What’s that, you bit down on an ice chunk?  Oh, wait, that was a whole fresh blueberry!  This stuff is legit.  I wish I had some right now.  Since I’m going to be away from the market for a couple of weeks, it’s not looking good.

I’ll have to move on to their fall seasonal flavors soon.  Like… figs?

Speaking of, where the hell are the figs this year?  I love those things.

Ronnybrook Farm
Available at Greenmarkets around NYC
7 out of 7 cows (pun intended).


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