The Lexington Donut Challenge

by Erin



About a week ago, Xani blogged about National Donut Day (or rather, it's mysterious reappearance after we already celebrated it back in June?), and a reader named Kalee commented with a simple question: "May I ask if you know of good places to get donuts here in Baltimore?"

I began to reply to Kalee but realized that there were only two donut places in all of Baltimore that I could even think of for donuts: the old favorite Dunkin' Donuts, and the MD chain called Fractured Prune, which I associate with the beach since that's where it got started, but apparently they are now located all over Maryland (and elsewhere).

Then, I remembered one of the fondest memories of law school: exam snacks. In the midst of stress, lack of sleep, too much coffee, and the elements of second degree murder swimming through our first-year heads, the Maryland Law Alumni Association always provided snacks for students on exam days. Afternoon and evening snacks were just lame packaged crackers and cookies, but morning exam-takers got the best of the best: coffee and some of the best donuts I've ever had! And these donuts were from the famous Lexington Market, just up the street from the law school.

With this memory recalled, my co-workers and I got to researching the bakeries at the Lex to see if we could find the one that had provided our exam donuts. Unfortunately, there were FIVE bakeries in the Lex that sold donuts - how would we ever determine who had those great donuts?! There was only one way: a donut tasting. (Recall that this was not my first donut tasting; we had a glorious donut tasting experience in NYC with Doughnut Plant donuts....mmm square donuts...).



A reminder of the Doughnut Plant tasting of '08

Early the next morning, co-workers Ray and Bianca joined me on the quick trip to the Lex where we planned on buying donuts from several bakeries to bring back to the office for a blind taste test. We ended up getting donuts from Harbor City Bakery, Donut Delite, and the Berger Bakery (maker of those irresistable, classicly Baltimore cookies: Berger Cookies).



We tried to get similar flavors from each bakery for better comparison. We also compared prices. Here was the breakdown:

Harbor City Bakery: $2.25/doz ($.19/donut)
Donut Delite: $1.90/half doz ($.32/donut)
Berger Bakery: $3.25/half doz ($.54/donut)

So clearly, there is a price discrepancy. But how did they taste?? We set up the conference room table in a grid formation, where each column was a different bakery (they were anonymously labeled A, B, and C), and then the rows were the different flavors of donuts. As you can see, we didn't have a perfect flavor match-up between the three bakeries. Ah well.





Flavors included a chocolate-glazed cake, a glazed raised, a pumpkin spice, double chocolate, boston creme, and sour cream (sometimes called sour dough - any thoughts on this discrepancy?). Everyone from the office came to try a taste of each kind.



Surprisingly, many people loved Donut Delite, but lots of folks also preferred the Berger donuts. I personally thought Berger blew everyone else out of the water - the sour cream was phenomenal, and the chocolate glazed cake was extra special because it had a regular glaze on it in addition to the chocolate glaze. A-mazing. As a donut connoisseur, I can tell you these were outstanding donuts, to rival even the fanciest donut shops.



Doubly-glazed Berger chocolate-glazed cake donut...drooling now...



Sour cream donut, ready for taste-testing



Glazed donut, ready for taste-testing



Chocolate-glazed cake donut

Another hot topic of conversation was the boston creme donut: the group was seriously split about which was the best, partially because there are so many components to analyze: dough, creme, and frosting. The group never quite came to a decision on which was better, but Donut Delite and Berger were the two everyone was talking about. Sorry Harbor City...



Berger Bakery Boston Creme donut



Donut carnage

By the end of it, we were all in a sugar coma and trying to kill time until the afternoon when several of us in the office were to receive our highly-anticipated bar exam results. I'm happy to report that later in the day, I found out that I PASSED!!! Thanks to all my friends and especially the BCD family for helping me and putting up with me during the bar - I truly couldn't have done it without you. And to say thanks, donuts for everyone!! :)

Thanks to Ray, Bianca, and Dave for helping me with the Lexington Donut Challenge, and thanks Kalee for your comment - it turned into a delicious experiment! And, to answer your question, I recommend the Berger Bakery donuts in the Lex. Soooo good...

Happy donut tasting,
EP

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New menu at RA Sushi!

by Erin



Tomorrow Xani and I are excited to attend a special dinner at RA Sushi (in Harbor East) where the chef will be introducing new dishes that promise to please both sushi traditionalists (we are def in that category) and those who love a hot new Japanese fusion dish. Here is the press release and a sampling of the new menu:

RA Sushi debuts a new menu today (Oct. 22)! Executive Chef Tai Obata included a broad selection of traditional sashimi options for sushi purists, and also created some surprising Japanese fusion entrées. Here is just a sampling of the new dishes you will enjoy...in addition to some exciting new cocktails:

• RA Chips & Salsa: spicy tuna tartare mixed with cucumber, avocado and fresh salsa; served with wonton chips


• RA”llipop: tuna, salmon, yellowtail, spicy tuna mix, lettuce, asparagus and cucumber, wrapped in lobok [Asian radish]; served skewered with a garlic ponzu sauce


• Kaisen Ceviche: Japanese-style ceviche with cooked shrimp, scallops and squid, chilled and mixed with fresh tomato, avocado and salsa; served in a spring roll shell


• Sweet Onion Salmon: thinly sliced salmon sashimi with marinated onions and sweet onion dressing; served with organic micro greens


• Banana Split Maki: fried banana maki topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit; drizzled with raspberry and chocolate sauces

We'll be trying something new with this event, Dear Reader: LIVE TWEETING! Follow me (@e_pod) or Xani (@x_factor) on Twitter and read what we think as we are thinking it! Er...how about whenever we get a second to put down our chopsticks :)

Happy sushi-tasting,
EP

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OMG- National Donut Day, AGAIN??

Didn't we celebrate National Donut Day back on June 5? Well, according to the good folks on Twitter, today is National Donut Day Part Two. Who knew such a thing existed?? I'm not one to turn down any excuse to eat a donut, so bring it on! Thanks to the internets for bringing this to our attention. Now we'll be sure to celebrate this important (?) holiday (?) with a tasty, fried donut! You should too!!

Happy National Donut Day!

X & EP

P.S. Can't get away from work for a donut fix? Live vicariously and check out these donut-related posts

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Reuben Sandwich + Latkes = Deliciousness in Denver

by Guest Blogger Cezar

Recently I visited Denver to visit a dear friend when, while en route, I received an email from EP. She had forwarded me an issue of Tasting Table (the daily e-newsletter about food in NYC and elsewhere) about Jewish delis and how they are a dying breed, which included a plug for Zaidy’s Deli in Denver: “This cozy living room of a deli is known for its Latke Reuben: A mess of corned beef covered in melted Swiss and sauerkraut sandwiched between two big, thin, crisp potato latkes.” Her message was brief; she said, “You must go here and eat this so we can live vicariously through you!!”

When Xani & Erin give you a food tip, you listen. So I did.

I was especially excited about completing this mission for Xani and Erin because I have a particular fondness for sandwiches. This love is rooted in a story from my childhood: when I was in elementary school, my mummy often sent me to school with leftovers from dinner the night before. I can still remember one day when I had rice and canned sardines for lunch (still a favorite of mine). For those of you who know me now, you’d probably be surprised to know that people picked on me when I was younger. Well, it was true that day and my elementary school colleagues passed my lunch around the cafeteria table like a collection plate at Sunday Mass. Sandwiches, to me, represented the simplest meal, and certainly one that would not weird out your classmates. To this day, as a growing 30-year old boy, I try to eat sandwiches of all kinds as often as I am able, to make up for missed opportunities.

Back to the issue at hand: the Latke Reuben. After perusing the menu at Zaidy’s, I first ordered the Potato Latke Sandwich, which included corned beef, pastrami or brisket served between two potato latkes. The waitress, however, gently suggested that I upgrade to the Latke Reuben, which consisted of corned beef or pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing between two potato latkes. For only $1.00 more, it seemed like a good deal, so I went with the Latke Reuben with pastrami.

I was very pleased with my selection – the waitress did not steer me wrong. The pastrami was very tender and the potato latkes held the meal together. This was a knife-and-fork kind of sandwich. Disaster might have struck had I tried to pick up the sandwich which was larger than two of my open palms. My favorite thing about the sandwich as a whole was how all the ingredients—the pastrami, the sauerkraut, the cheese, and the dressing—mixed together.

The latkes themselves were memorable. I’m slightly embarrassed to say that this was the first time I can remember eating a latke. The exterior was fried to golden brown. The crunch of the latkes seemed a perfect complement to the melting and merging sandwich ingredients. Perhaps I now need to eat latkes more often to make up for this newly realized missed opportunity.

Along with my sandwich, the restaurant served complimentary pickles and sauerkraut. The pickles had very bold flavors, the sour pickle saltier than the half-sour one.

I do believe that food says something about you. What I liked so much about Zaidy’s Latke Reuben —beyond its deliciousness—is that it was a beautiful blend of Jewish and American cuisine. That makes me think: perhaps I should invent rice and fish sandwich that will be both Filipino and American? I’m sure the BCD sisters will blog about it should I invent it.


Sincerely,
Cezar

P.S. Thank you to XP & EP for the tip to check out Zaidy’s and for allowing me to contribute to BCD. And thanks for KKD for venturing to Zaidy’s twice in one day and hosting me in Denver.

Thanks for fulfilling our latke reuben dreams, Cezar!! We'll be sending you on future foodie missions, don't you worry ;)

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Cover girls!

by Erin

Wow, it's been a long time since we've talked. How have you been, Dear Reader? Xani and I have been busy with work and play (including slaughtering 80 oysters and 15 lbs of lobster last weekend for BCD Dad's birthday -- and note that there were only 2 lobsters!) and are working on some posts that will be coming soon - we promise!!

Today I write because our second article for the Federal Hill South Free News (our neighborhood newsletter) came out last night! And guess what else: we're on the front page!

See the PDFs here and here for our article about fun tips for Halloween. We wrote about our old favorites like Haunted Gingerbread Houses and Caramel Apple Ghosts, and also added an idea to have a pumpkin-carving party at home or at a local park.

We hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather and is gearing up for Halloween! Happy Halloween everyone!

Cheers,

EP

ps. For those of you who haven't heard, we unfortunately did not win the title for Best Foodie Blog in the Mobbies :( But, we were in 1st or 2nd place the whole time thanks to the overwhelming response from all of our wonderful fans! Thanks everyone for your support!!

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BCD takes NYC: "Fabulous in Fall" Edition -- Day 2

by Erin




First of all, we want to extend a gigantic THANK YOU to everyone who voted for us for the Mobbies in these last few weeks! Bear hugs for everyone!

And now back to business: a very belated NYC post chronicling yet another day of wonderful eats. Like the day before, we hit a lot of great places to eat!

We had originally planned to go to Barney Greengrass, a deli on the Upper West Side for some good ol' deli food. We wanted corned beef, chopped liver, matzo ball soup, latkes, blintzes....[drooling]. But alas, they were CLOSED for Rosh Hashana. Damn! So, instead we went to The Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien Hotel, a destination that is always on our list but for one reason or the other, gets nixed every time.


I loved the Burger Joint for so many reasons, but one of the main reasons is because of its hidden, underground vibe - like only a select few know of it, and I'm one of them! (This is the second time secrets + burgers = awesome - check out my post about the secret language at In 'n Out burger here.)

The lobby of Le Parker Meridien is cozy but open and sunshine-y, with marble floors and big pieces of modern art on the walls. But if you know where to look, you end up in a dark hallway with black curtains, and just this to guide you:



And then you turn the corner and you feel like you are in the middle of a rec room in Texas. Wood paneled walls covered in writing, movie posters on the walls, and the menu is literally written on cardboard with markers. A-mazing. They only sell burgers, fries, and shakes, and we gladly partook.



All of us ordered burgers except Lauren, who got the cheesiest grilled cheese ever. The burgers were great - juicy and cooked to medium rare, per our request. The fries were pretty good - they reminded me of the fries at McDonald's or In 'n Out. My only criticism was the size of the sodas - call me a stupid American, but 12 oz of soda is not enough when you have a gigantic burger and a bag of fries to get through.







We hung out at the Burger Joint for quite some time, talking, laughing, and appreciating the awesomeness of the place. I love secret burger places!!

After lunch we decided to head down to The High Line, an elevated park created from now-defunct railroad tracks used to transport cattle to the slaughterhouses in the meatpacking district. The High Line is beautiful - the pathway is lined with wildflowers, there is a beautiful view of the city, and a there are a few benches to sit and have a picnic if you are smart enough to plan ahead. We strolled down the High Line and enjoyed the sunshine. We came back down to street-level and, like magic, there was an ice cream truck (called Van Leeuwen) waiting for us!



We couldn't resist - not only was it ice cream (my fave) but they used local milk and eggs, and flavorings from small producers abroad (e.g., vanilla, chocolate, ginger, pistachio). I got espresso and Xani got vanilla - both were great but the vanilla was absolutely, heart-breakingly good.



After our ice cream treat, we went to the Chelsea Market, which was so fun. I love a good market so I was in heaven. After our day o' fun, we separated from Ann and Steven and headed back to Brooklyn to rest up before heading out to dinner in Park Slope at Franny's, for what would become the best meal of the trip.

We had been looking foward to Franny's for quite some time. Xani's friend from high school, Dave, said he was "friends with the chef" and we should go there and tell them "Dave sent us." We weren't sure if this would work - surely the chef would be busy, and what if he had met our connection, Dave, like twice? We would be mortified. While figuring out our game plan (and killing time waaiting for a table - they don't take reservations), we had a few drinks.

Franny's serves local Brooklyn-brewed beers, so Xani, John (Lauren's beau), and I enjoyed those, while Lauren sipped some Prosecco. We waited in the outdoor courtyard and enjoyed the shockingly good weather. (Long-time readers will recall that we have terrible weather karma when visiting NYC: heat like the surface of the sun, or constant slushy precipitation. We were thrilled that the weather cooperated for our visit!)

Once we were seated in the bustling but small restaurant, we were greeted by our friendly and very knowledgeable waiter. Turns out he's getting his PhD in economics at NYU - smart AND friendly! Swoon. Ahem, anyway...we had an AMAZING meal at Franny's! (However, our pictures truly sucked so they are minimal for this meal...sorry!)



We started with 5-6 antipasti, including roasted broccoli with garlic and pecorino cheese, a crostino with tomatoes and lots of olive oil, another crostino with house-cured proscuitto, amazing roasted potatoes with some sort of cheese, and an heirloom tomato salad with ricotta cheese. Everything was so good, it's hard to describe the joy we experienced with each bite.

For the second course, we enjoyed a pasta dish, penne with eggplant, raisins, and pine nuts. I loved this dish - the pasta was cooked very al dente, and the sauce was light but delicious. And I don't even like eggplant!

Finally, we got two pizzas - a classic tomato and buffalo mozzarella pizza, and a pizza with clams, chiles, and parsley. The former was great and classic; the latter blew our minds! The clam pizza was spicy, garlicky, and of course, had lots of delicious clams and clam flavoring throughout the sauce. It reminded me of BCD Dad's pasta alla vongole (clam sauce) and it made us all very happy.






At the end of the meal, Chef Danny came out to visit with us! Turns out our connection, Dave, really IS a good friend of his (they were roommates for several years, in fact)! It was great talking to Chef Danny, and especially nice to compliment the chef directly - as I mentioned, this was the best meal of our whole trip, all thanks to Chef Danny. It was a pleasure meeting him and we will DEF be back!



Okay, enough for now - Day 3 coming soon!


Happy NYC eats,

EP

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I Feel Spooky-Coziness in the Air....

by Xani

Regular readers, or anyone who has ever met EP or myself, know that Halloween is our favorite holiday. No question. Even the slight chill of fall, a rust-colored leaf, or writing a "10" in front of the date on a check gets me in the Halloween mood. So if you are anything like us, you're starting to feel that itch to get your Halloween on. I thought I'd go through the archives and dig up some of our old seasonal posts to start getting things all kinds of spooky up in here!

Going waaay back into the x-files, here's a post about a fabulous party where we invited our guests to make their own Haunted Gingerbread Houses! Making that much gingerbread was a terrifying ordeal but the party was a blast!

We made a LOT of gingerbread

Spook-tacular!

Another scaaaary Halloween memory was the caramel lady-apple ghosts we made as seasonal treats for our friends and co-workers. Things really got ominous when we almost burned down Mom and Dad's house with a caramel boil-over. Luckily the spirits took pity on us and the apples came out great!

Almost boil over-- the horror!

Boo!

Finally, we remember back to last year, when we threw a truly over-the-top Seven Deadly Sins Halloween Soiree. The costumes were fierce, the decorations were creepy, and the food was out of this world. The only thing scarier than the costume fashion show was the giant mess to clean up the next day-- but it was worth it!

Clementine all spooked-out

Halloween isn't complete without costumes

Themed food? Sounds like us...

So what do those crazy BCD girls have in store for THIS Halloween?? Only one way to find out, keep reading! And don't forget to vote for BCD in the Mobbies, everyday through Oct 9. We need your help!

Keep it scary,

X

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BCD takes NYC: "Fabulous in Fall" Edition -- Day 1

by Erin and Xani



While a normal report of one's vacation would include highlights, including culinary ones, we do it a little differently around BCD. You see, when we go on vacation, especially our trips to NYC, we put in literally months of research to determine where we should eat. Thus, everywhere we go is a highlight :) That's why it takes us 3 posts to write about one weekend, because every restaurant was hand-picked and highly anticipated.


So, let's start with Day 1 (of 3)! Actually, we should start with day -1 (??) because before we got to NYC, we spent some time in Philadelphia. Xani had been in Philly for work for the week, and then EP and friends Matt and Smulson drove up from Baltimore on Thursday night to see the much-awaited It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia LIVE show! For those who don't know, It's Always Sunny is a TV show on FX that recently went on tour, so to speak. We are huge fans of this television show and our friend Andy not only hooked us up with great tickets, but also was one of the driving forces behind the show's existence! Thanks Andy - we love you! The show was, in a word: awesome.





"Are you chewing gum??" (And yes, that's Danny DeVito!)



"Day Man!"

Of course, while we were in the City of Brotherly Love, we had to have cheesesteaks! We went to Jim's before the show and got a classic cheesesteak with provolone (not cheez wiz - can't bring ourselves to eat that!) and an Italian cold cut sub. Both were good, neither blew our minds. I hope we don't get threatening emails over that last sentence like the Magnolia Cupcake incident of '08.





The following morning, we took the trusty Bolt Bus to NYC!! Two hours later we arrived at Madison Square Garden and got a cab to BFF Lauren's place of work, where we dropped our bags. Thanks LP! Then, excitingly, Xani and I were off on our own in NYC. We had a game plan, and it had alliteration: Prune, Porchetta, Pinkberry.

We took a cab down to the Lower East Side and started at Prune. We'd been to Prune before in February for Xani's birthday, and were eager to get back for some snacks and cocktails. Daytime drinking is classy when you do it at Prune ;)

For our drinks, we got their famous Bloody Mary and also a Ghost of Mary, which Xani had the last time we were there. The Bloody Mary was very fresh-tasting and definitely homemade, with a good amount of fresh horseradish. The Ghost of Mary was much lighter and very refreshing, due in part to their using tomato water (they strain their Bloody Mary mix to make a consumme of tomato, of sorts) and lemon vodka. Yum!



While drinking our drinks, we were noshing on the various garnishes (house-pickled, of course) and we ate what appeared to be a pickled green grape and it was so delicious! We asked the waitress for more of them (greedy for garnishes, we are) and she informed us that they were pickled, unripe (green) grape tomatoes! Called "tom-olives" in the biz. She told us we could buy them at Zabars, so we did!



She brought us extra tomolives!

Then we got two little snackers to go with our cocktails and garnishes. Again, one was a repeat and one was new. The repeat was "Cold Spicy Eggplant, Fried Salt Cod, Hard Boiled Egg" which was just as delicious and interesting as we remembered. As described, it was spicy, smoky, salty and a wee bit fishy from the cod, but then it had a beautifully cooked egg and some creme fraiche on top. These were served with grilled bread with black and white sesame seeds, and the whole thing was very satisfying.



We also got the Sous Chef Salad, which had lovely greens, boiled potato, cheddar cheese, radishes, fresh corn, walnuts, and a vinaigrette made with walnut oil. Yum!



After our visit at Prune, we headed to our next stop just a few blocks away: Porchetta (pronounced por-KET-ah). (And on our way we saw a MOVIE STAR!! Bryan Greenberg! Swoon!) We've had our eye on Porchetta since we strolled by it on our way to Butter Lane last February, and were almost carried away by the scent of roasted pork, like in the cartoons.



Porchetta has approximately 2 things on its menu: roasted pork, and potatoes cooked in the pork fat with the "burnt ends" of the pork (crispy pieces of porky goodness). We got both, natch. We ordered the pork in sandwich form and it was SO. GOOD. It was super-flavorful from the herbs rubbed on it, and it had a contrast in texture between the meat and the crispy skin - when's the last time you got delicious crispy pork skin in the US, much less on a sandwich in the middle of NYC?! The potatoes were, as predicted, incredible. Potatoes + pork fat + burnt ends = magic.





Last stop of the afternoon was Pinkberry, the frozen yogurt craze that is sweeping the nation. Xani had had Pinkberry before but EP had only had one of the knock-offs in Baltimore, so we were excited to get a sweet treat at the original yogurt shop. The verdict? Pinkberry actually IS better than the knock-offs! Xani insisted there was a difference but EP wasn't convinced until that moment. We got the regular "tangy" flavor with kiwi and strawberry, and then a coconut-flavored yogurt plus chocolate-covered crisps on top. It was sweet but not too sweet, and a great (light) dessert after our multi-stop lunch in the East Village.





We then walked all the way back to Lauren's office in Tribeca (and worked off approximately one bite of pork), and changed for dinner. (I swear, there were many hours between Pinkberry and dinner!!) For dinner we gathered cousins Ann and Steven, cousin Brian, friend Melody, and of course BFF Lauren at a wonderful Peruvian place called Yerba Buena. Since we had a large group, we ordered MANY things to share. Some of the highlights were the taquitos (so tiny!), the fish tacos, both ceviches (one was flounder and one was ribeye with sea urchin!), the guacamole, the empanadas, the croquetes, and of course, the cocktails! As is often the case when we get this crew together, much of our energy is focused on catching up with our dining companions, so the food is (for once) not our main focus.



Awesomely spicy guacamole



Empanadas with Peruvian corn (it was gigantic!)



Croquetes of manchego cheese - TDF!



Rib-eye ceviche with sea urchin (uni) and more Peruvian corn



Taquitos - so tiny; see lime for scale!



Churros - a great end to the meal

Whew - what a day! A couple more NYC posts comin' atcha in the coming days!

We'd like to send a big THANK YOU to everyone who has been voting for us as the best Foodie blog in Maryland on the Baltimore Sun's Outstanding Blog awards, the Mobbies! Keep up the great work! Remember you can vote once a day, every day, until October 9th!

Happy voting,

EP & X



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