A couple of blocks from my house is a frozen yogurt shop that sells its non-fat soft-serve by the cup or cone, along with a few dozen varieties of yogurt toppings. On my last visit, I ordered the plain yogurt (which is very tangy, by the way), topped with fresh blueberries and graham cracker crumbs. It reminded me of cheesecake, without all the guilt. Although I don’t really know if my new treat is all that healthier that cheesecake, but I figured it must because it’s yogurt, right?!

I grew up in an area of Chicago that neighbored a predominantly Korean-occupied commercial district.  As I child, I remember browsing its grocery stores and marveling at all of its wonders.  It was in these stores that I was introduced to many snack foods that I grew to love—snack foods that most American kids would never dream of eating, like dried cuttle fish and lychee jelly candies.

Last week, while wandering the streets of NYC’s Chinatown neighborhood, I found myself thinking about those treats and realized that when I have a hankering for some of those things, they may be but a 15-minute subway ride away.  Or better yet, maybe I can try some new Chinese snacks foods (shrimp chips being number one on my list so far) to replace my older stand-bys…

I love all things celery.  Celery salt, celery seeds, celery stalks, even celery soda!  So when I saw a celery seed crusted oyster salad on the brunch menu I was holding yesterday morning, I did not have to look twice before ordering.

The salad was a lightly bacon vinaigrette dressed bed of baby spinach, upon which sat five plump pan-fried oysters.  The oysters were definitely gulf oysters, which were fried in a cornmeal crust that was nicely seasoned with salt, pepper and whole celery seeds.

Because I loved this salad so much, I figure one of two things are going to have to happen.  One, I will be eating brunch there every Sunday morning until they take the salad off the menu; or two, I could try and make it myself at home.  I’m not a seasoned oyster fryer (shucker, yes; fryer, no), so I found a recipe on our website to tweak.  Feel free to test it along with me.  Instead of seasoning the cornmeal dredge with Emeril’s Rustic Rub, I am going to replace the spice mix with a tablespoon of celery seeds, salt and pepper to taste, and maybe a pinch of cayenne.

While wandering this afternoon away, I passed Rice to Riches, a storefront in NYC’s Lower East Side that is dedicated to serving nothing but a vast array or rice pudding.  I’ve passed this storefront hundreds of times and each time I’ve considered entering.  I love rice pudding, and today I decided I was not going to pass this opportunity again!

I ordered a duo of Tiramisu flavored pudding and Cinnamon-Raisin flavored pudding, both topped with toasted coconut. The tiramisu had just enough chocolate and espresso flavor to indicate its title without overpowering the creamy rice within; and the cinnamon-raisin was like eating a breakfast Danish turned custard.  The toasted coconut added a nice crunchy texture and made the indulgence far worth the excessive amount of calories! Yum!

Café Bustelo and I go way back. As a child, my best friend’s mother, Reina (born and raised in Cuba), used to make Ali and I café con leche for breakfast, served alongside buttered saltines. So when I came across “Bustelo Cool,” a canned café con leche—espresso, milk and a bit of sugar. I had to give it a try.

It’s quite tasty and makes for a nice coffee on the go (especially when you don’t have time to wait in line at your local coffeeshop). However, it doesn’t quite replace my childhood Sunday morning breakfasts…

I never would have imagined that this “Fudgie the Whale” ice cream cake I received on my birthday was well known enough to have its very own wikipedia entry.  I guess it goes to show that, although I am a pastry chef who knows lots about obscure desserts, I certainly have not seen it all!

And if you have children, please be sure to celebrate at least one birthday with this frozen treat.  After eating mine this year, I realized I missed out on 28 other opportunities to have eaten a Fudgie the Whale…

While browsing a few of the many beachfront souvenir shops on the Isle of Palms, I came upon a bag of “shrimp poop.” Of course, I had to buy it. But not too worry; it was just a bag of chocolate-panned peanuts labeled “certified fresh from the producer…”

Instead of a traditional bread basket served while waiting for dinner, at a small Charleston seafood joint, we were given a bowl of boiled peanuts to munch on.  They were delicious!  And after reading the recipe for boiled peanuts on our website, I’ve decided to make them at home myself!

Just this past Saturday I arrived in Charleston, South Carolina for a weekend visit. After an entire afternoon of sunbathing on the sandy beaches of the Isle of Palm, I decided a local seafood dinner would be fitting. As I looked over the menu at Hyman’s Seafood—a well-known seafood joint located downtown—I found myself unable to decide what to get. So, I decided to order with gusto and get everything I thought sounded good (after all, I am on vacation…)! Thus, my seafood extravaganza at Hyman’s Seafood began.

Dinner included “she-crab” soup, hush puppies, fried green tomatoes, alligator sausage, buffalo fried oysters, crab cake stuffed mahi mahi, shrimp and grits, and red rice (luckily they forgot to bring my order of mac n’ cheese or I would have needed a wheel barrel to get me out of the restaurant!).

Although the entire meal was good, the she-crab soup was top-notch. It is a soup that is quite famous here in Charleston, and I now understand why. It is a rich cream based soup, made with lump crabmeat, seasoned with mace, black pepper and dry sherry, and finished with crab roe (otherwise known as eggs, which is why it is called “she” crab soup). If you’ve never had the soup before, it is reason enough to visit this charming little town.

With rents being sky high in New York City, it’s no wonder food served from carts, booths, stalls and trucks are parking themselves on neighborhood street corners all over the city!

One of my favorites is Calexico, located in SoHo, which serves California-Mexican style tacos for a few dollars each. The tacos are made with fresh ingredients, and cooked-to-order by the cart’s owners—a couple of guys from southern California. But, the best perk is the view. Once you have your tacos in hand, and park yourself on a storefront stoop, the people watching cannot be beat. My idea of a perfect lunch for under $10 in NYC!