Sweet Chick

Tags

brooklyn, brunch, Chicken and waffles, fried chicken, lunch, waffles, Williamsburg

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a very happy and healthy holiday surrounded by loved ones. My sister in law came to visit all the way from London and it was fun to play tourists in NY. We went to Coney Island in the freezing cold to show her a NY beach and then grabbed lemonades the size of our torsos at Nathan’s and had hot dogs. We went to the old fashioned ice cream parlor, Eddie’s Ice Cream Shop in Forest Hills and NY Style Pubs. Lots of walking and lots of eating.

Brent got an Echo for Christmas so we took advantage of our Amazon Music to have a house party on New Years Eve. I cannot believe its 2017.

While this platform is not intended to be political, I just want to express that I am embracing Love and Compassion. If you are here, and you are reading, I appreciate you and I cherish you. Thank you for being part of my life after all of these years. I hope to continue to be here to share stories of deliciousness and most importantly- JOY.

I was promoted in October so work is even more hectic than it was before and if that weren’t enough, I decided Grad School was a good idea. So, starting January 30, I will officially be a Grad Student pursuing a degree in Criminal Justice.

Now that we have caught up, I recently took a trip to a well-known and very hyped location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Sweet Chick.

My friend Danielle and I left work early on a Friday and hit up this restaurant known for their Chicken and Waffles. They don’t just do Chicken and Waffles though. They have a wide variety of waffles- from sweet to savory. Bacon and Cheddar Waffles. Buttermilk. Mushroom. Dried Cherry. etc. You can even choose the way you want your chicken. Buffalo, parmesan, etc.

I decided the best bet was trying the classic buttermilk waffle with fried chicken.

Nice presentation. It even came with 3 flavored butters and syrup. But in all honesty, this was way overpriced. For 1 waffle and 2 small pieces of chicken, the plate set me back $17. Perhaps a chicken wing would have made me happier.

But also the chicken was just okay. It was good but not something I would wait in line for hours to eat.

Danielle decided to have the shrimp and grits. I must say, THIS was actually delicious. When we dine, we usually discuss two dishes we would both like to try and then split our choices; the best of both worlds, really. The bowl of shrimp and grits was $17, as well.

We both agreed the Shrimp and Grits was far more superior and much more satisfying- even the half portion we both had.

So, would I return.

Yes. But if, and only if, there is no wait. Especially with all the other options on Bedford Street in Williamsburg with great food.

Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease.

Slow cooker black bean soup

Now that its officially Fall, I think the weather has made up its mind and brought the chill for good. Wish I would have gotten that memo when I decided to wear a dress today with sandals sans tights. Brr! Hopefully it will warm up a teensy bit by lunch time. But now that the weather is finally requiring those fashionable neck scarves and sexy blazers, I thought I would dust off the old crock pot for some good, hearty, and steaming hot soup. Without much time to shop, I pretty much just decided to clear out the pantry and make a soup of whatever I had on hand.

Those are my favorite!

I decided to make a black bean soup with rustic chunks of carrots and turkey bacon for some smoky flavors.

Ingredients:

1 lb turkey bacon (cut into bite size pieces)

1 medium red onion (chopped)

2 carrots (peeled and rough chopped)

1lb dry black beans (rinsed)

5 cups of water

1 T salt (more or less according to your preference)

I started by cooking up the turkey bacon to get it crisp. ( I would later learn this was a dumb move on my part. Next time I will be mincing the bacon and then cooking it before adding it to the soup, or just adding it after- but it adds such a delightful smokiness to the soup that I dont want to omit it.)

When it was browned and crisped to my liking, I added it to my 6 qt slow cooker- drippings and all. YUM! (you say FAT, i say FLAVOR)

To the crockpot, i added the carrots,

The very fragrant red onions,

the beans, and all the water. I covered it and let it cook on high for 4 hours (or on low for 8). I checked in on it every so often to make sure it was seasoned to my liking. Thats when i added the salt. Personally, i like salt so if you like a milder soup, you might not even need the salt at all!

My roommate and I could not wait to dig into this hearty and comforting soup! We noticed that the turkey bacon turned black cooking with the beans for so long- the flavor was great but black bacon is not that attractive. By itself, the soup is great but to really make it amazing add this garnish:

Garnish

1/2   small red onion (finely chopped)

1 bunch of fresh cilantro (cleaned and roughly chopped)

Non Fat Plain Greek Yogurt

We sprinkled the garnish liberally on the soup. The cold freshly chopped onions gave it a fresh burst of flavor and the addition of cilantro really tied this all together. Such an easy meal to put together on a lazy sunday!

Terri

You know those days that are just so crazy that nothing seems to go right?

I woke up late.

My train got delayed.

I left my lunch on the kitchen counter.

…with my debit card.

What a great freakin day.

But then I stop, take a moment to breathe and realize that my obsession with deal sites was finally going to pay off. I perused my deals. I had quite a few. But a lot of them were for dinner. And I needed lunch.

Cue Yelp Deal Alert.

I spied a new yelp deal and remembered the dusty one in my account since OCTOBER. (yeah, those deals are good for one whole year!) And thought it was perfect for lunch.

Terri. Located in Chelsea/Flatiron district, this vegetarian Organic hole in the wall makes a big fuss on review sites. Everything on the menu is vegetarian and delicious. I, a carnivore, am very enthusiastic about this place- my experience was amazing.

I set out on my journey from Chinatown and after 20 minutes was at Terri. I felt like i had to hurry and make a decision so i ordered the first thing I saw, the Thai Chicken Wrap. Handed over the Yelp deal and paid a whopping $2 extra… thanks to the chump change in my wallet! score.

The wrap is huge. It was $7.61 and came out rather quickly. i also ordered a side dish.

Roasted Sweet potatoes.

I grabbed my heavy lunch and headed back to the office. I sunk my teeth into the best veggie wrap i have had to date. The thing that blew my mind was the “chicken” covered in their light thai peanut sauce. It was not the nasty fake meat that I was expecting… I was quite pleased! The wrap was packed with peppers and onions and lettuce… quite delish.

Despite the hike to get there, i can definitely see myself trekking uptown for lunch. It was the perfect solution to the day from hell.

The sweet potatoes did not travel well. They were soggy when i got back to work… but they were okay. I wouldnt order them again. I hear the potato salad is great- might have to go back to try that!

On my list of “must try” for the next trip: Hummus and Avocado wrap with smoked tofu, lettuce and tomato. or the buffalo “chicken” vegan mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion, and celery.

Oh la la!

Calexico

I might have Spring fever. Not like an actual fever, though I am suffering terribly with allergies, but like this lovely feeling of wanting to be outside basking in the warmth of the sun and bla bla bla. It was supposed to rain something AWFUL last week and before lunch i talked my coworker into walking with me to SoHo to try something new for lunch. Spring just makes me want to try new things and spend money i dont have…

It was warm out. My allergies were kicking my ass something terrible. But I ignored the sniffles and went outside with my sheer blouse (no jacket), ignored the black clouds overhead, and was about 7 blocks from the office when the skies opened up and rained on my ass. Big drops of cold rain showed no mercy on me or my blouse. I was around the corned from the Calexico Cart where I was trying to have lunch. To think that i was so close and had endured so much to find that they weren’t there. Soaked and Hungry I turned around and headed back to the office to dry…

The following day was a much nicer day. My coworker, still scared from getting caught in the rain, opted out while I, armed with a handful of tissues marched to the Calexico Cart. My allergies were so bad that day. I was a sneezy, sniffly, runny nosed mess!

But alas!

I found the cart!

First of all, upon approach you are hit with the fragrance of grilled meat. It was quite nice. Second, you will notice a bunch of people just standing around. Kinda like organized chaos. I asked several people if they ordered yet and they had- they were just waiting for the goods.

As soon as i got to the line my order was taken immediately. This having been my first time here, i wanted to make sure I did this right. So i excited ordered a steak burrito bowl, some chips and salsa, and an array of sauces…

I tend to overorder when im hungry… and I also enjoy spending money…

I prepared myself for a long wait as i hear the food can take up to 45 minutes but i was elated when i only waited 15 minutes.

It was a short wait but considering that i was still sneezing and itching all over, i was counting the minutes anxiously so i could run back to my desk and replenish my tissues.

When i got back to my desk, i unwrapped my chips first. Blue corn chips.

Nice touch. The salsa was good but i really wanted to tear into my extra sauces.

Crema (sour cream, Guac, and CRACK SAUCE (chipotle cream sauce). The crema was standard sour cream. Nothing to go ape shit over. The guac was chunky and hearty but was a little too citrusy for my taste.

Now, the CRACK SAUCE is just that. Appropriately named and i wanted that crack sauce on everything! I had to put the corn chips aside because it was now time for me to dig into the monstrosity that they called an innocent little bowl.

For $9 this “bowl” came neatly assembled, unlike most mexican spots (cough* Chipotle * Cough) that just plop everything into a container like some sort of feeding trough and send you packing.

Each element of the bowl was placed in its own little spot allowing you to go at it however you want. I carefully placed crack sauce on the meat and veggies, a little guacamole on the beans and rice and a touch of sour cream in the center. I picked up my fork…

and mixed it all up till it looked disgusting.

Then i took greedy mouthfuls of spicy skirt steak with rice, beans and crack sauce! I loved every bite of it and hated myself for not being able to stop. My stomach was full yet my fork kept making it way into my mouth. I cursed the evil bowl as i sat with a swollen gut and then proceeded to hate myself for not stalking Calexico sooner.

Had they been there the day it was pouring, it would have been worth standing in the rain for, without a jacket or umbrella.

But keeping in mind that i trekked to the cart two days in a row, the trip was totally worth it!

Chicken and White bean Stuffed Peppers

Hiya Kiddos!

Just want to take a moment to wish a congratulations to the 5 winners of the crackers giveaway! You will have received an email from me. Please pardon my lateness. I am blogging from my phone today so please excuse the lack of names.

I have had quite the weekend! I met up with some Yelpers for beer and sausage then went to Long Island where I was tricked into driving.. for those that dont know- i am a 27 year old non-driver. I got into the car and courtney pulled into a parking lot and told me i was going to drive. I drove in circles with complete confidence and then got tricked into driving to her house. I did so and managed to do it safely. I only confused the gas and brake pedals twice.

Before i went to Long Island, I placed an order with fresh direct on some peppers. They were on sale. And I was thinking stuffed peppers for sure. The peppers were about $1 per lb and i ordered 5 peppers…. when the delivery arrived there was a note on the receipt saying there was a price adjustment on the peppers… which were so huge they cost me $15. Gee-sus!

Look at these HUGE Ass Peppers!

Ingredients:

5 bell peppers split in half, core and seeds removed

1 tsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 lb chicken breast

15 oz of canellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup of brown rice, cooked

1/2 cup cheddar cheese (+ 1/2 cup for the topping)

salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven 400*. Arrange the peppers in a baking dish. I began by sauteeing the onions in olive oil over a medium flame. When they were translucent (after 7 minutes or so), i transferred them to a dish and added the chicken breast to the already hot pan. I pan-fried the chicken breasts over medium for about 6 minutes per side. When it was done, i chopped it up into bite size pieces.

I returned the cooked onions, chicken, beans, rice, and cheese to the pan and tossed to heat through. Seasoned with salt and pepper according to my preference.

Then, filled up the peppers with the yummy filling. The peppers were on the large side, so i was lucky to have enough filling for them. If you’re peppers are on the large side, you can always add more veggies or rice to the filling.

Sprinkle liberally with cheese. yum. I added a bit of water to the pan and covered it with foil for some steam action. I cooked on 400* for 35 minutes.

Behold. Rice, beans, and chicken in a huge and fresh bell pepper. This was awesome. You can even freeze them (but note that the pepper will be softer when you defrost and reheat) and makes a great lunch or dinner (2 halves for dinner in my house LOL)

I love how versatile stuffed peppers are!

What do you stuff into your peppers?? (or would like to?)

MacBar

My friend Alyssa called me a few weeks ago and asked me if i had ever been to MacBar. The answer was NO but that I had been wanting to try it out for a while. I didn’t get to go when she was checking it out but she was so kind to bring me back a menu when she returned. I placed the menu on my desk where it stared at me for weeks. I kept saying “tomorrow” and when “tomorrow” came, i still wasnt ready.

Yesterday, Karen came to my desk to talk shop (aka, my recent horror story of a date) and saw the MacBar menu. She gasped. Snatched it off my desk. Stood up in front of me point her finger. “How long has this been here and why havent you invited me?”

I assured her not that long (lies) and told her i was waiting for the moment to hit me.

“honey, the moment is NOW. I need this (points to Mac Lobsta) in my belly now!”

So, we gathered up a few more hungry peeps and walked to MacBar in SoHo.

Its cute and cozy inside. Claustrophics beware… there are like 4 tables in here the size of quarters (okay, im exaggerating- Half Dollars) and a tiny counter to order and one to pick up. I placed my order for the medium Mac Lobsta… because they were conveniently sold out of SMALL. Waited about 10 minutes and received a huge macaroni container.

Kitschy. But Cute. No wonder my mac and cheese costed me $15.

I walked back to work with my mac attack and took in the aroma. Elbow macaroni with chunks of lobster in cognac, tarragon, fontina and marscapone cheese. Hello richness.

The mac looked enormous. And the large soy cafe au lait i purchased at Dean and DeLuca had filled me up quite a bit so i had a feeling i was going to have leftovers. Everyone at work kept stopping by my desk to say “Oh My, that looks incredible”. and I shoved large forkfulls into my mouth and nodded in agreement with them. I felt that if spoke, they would take it as an invite to speak more… but i needed to be alone with my mac crack.

If you look closely you will see there CHUNKS of lobster in the forkfull and you know what? There were chunks of lobster in every single bite.

This was a rich lunch. I savored it throughout the afternoon fearing that if i put half of it away to reheat later, i would destroy the integrity of the lobster.

I definitely enjoyed my lobster mac and cheeese but when it comes to comfort, i think i prefer S’Mac over Mac Bar. The level of richness at MacBar is through the roof and should be saved for those special moments where you want to indulge on your mac. To me, this is a slightly more fancy take on comfort food. But it was a little greasy. And I dont think id be able to finish an entire order.

Ben’s Best Kosher Delicatessen

While spending a night in (for a change) I caught a Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives Marathon. And say what you wish about Guy Fieri, but sometimes he goes places that really make my mouth water. I get especially excited when he visits places in NYC! Because then i get to taste firsthand what all the fuss is about. And when people say,”How did you hear about this place?” I can be all, “Oh, from Guy Fieri”. Its gonna impress people one of these days.

One one particular day, Guy Fieri was standing in QUEENS! and Now that Queens is my borough of residence, I got all excited when he visited a delicatessen that was a few train stops away from my apartment. I made a note to self to visit the location in the near future.

Fast Forward 1 Week.

I spent some time with my parents and they wanted to have a good and hearty lunch. Mom was craving a thick deli sandwich from Katz Deli (which I still have not tried). But while mom was getting excited, she mentioned wishing Katz wasnt so expensive.

LIGHTBULB. Guy Fieri came to mind. It was then i suggested we all go to Ben’s Best Delicatessen in Rego Park, Queens.

(source)

Mom was definitely game. We hopped in the car and drove to Rego Park (actually, dad drove, cuz i dont have a license yet), had a ridiculous time finding parking on Queens Boulevard, finally found a spot 3 blocks away and made our way to Ben’s Best.

Having been a New Yorker my whole life, i have been to this part of Queens often and never once noticed the small deli sandwiched between a dollar store and a lot less. But thanks to the many hours I dedicate watching Food Network researching, i was led to this tiny little wonder.

We got there just in time as a table had opened up. Its a small place with about 12 tables. As soon as we were seated we were given menus, a platter with coleslaw and two types of pickles. Just then, several people came in and had to wait for a table to open up. But service is quick so if you wait, 10 minutes wait time might be in order. But it can be well spent by perusing the wall of awesome articles, awards and photographs (especially the one with Guy Fieri).

After we placed our orders, the owner (whom i recognized from tv) came and replenished our pickle and cole slaw plate because we “looked like [we] really enjoyed that… or eat everything that is put in from of [us]”. We had a good laugh because we basically ate it because it was in front of us. It was tasty so it wasnt a chore or anything… But having the owner come out to the table was really awesome. Throughout our visit, he was observing the diners and making sure all was well. I really liked that- he cares about his customers and how the service goes. Even taking time to replenish our coleslaw was awesome. I wanted to give him a high five. (i didnt though)

This huge homemade knish was brought out with our sandwiches. It was pretty amazing! and FILLING!

I ordered the homemade pastrami on homemade rye. The pastrami was warm and juicy. It made for a delicious experience- bite after delicious bite. We also shared an order of handcut fries.

Our total for 3 sandwiches and an order of fries: $39. Insanely good deal. They also take credit cards (take THAT Katz!) and their menu is HUGE!

So, if you are in the area, willing to travel to Queens, or just looking to save some money on a great deli experience head over to Katz. I am def going back…. they have a gorgeous Matzo ball soup that i spied Several people devouring!