Swavory does the Holiday Food Experiment

HELLO!
It's been a while, over three months actually :( So sorry for the lack of posts, but I'm going to make up for it, starting right now by sharing some BIG news and a recipe!
>>BIG news
Swavory made its public debut last weekend at the Holiday Food Experiment!!
The Food Experiments held at the Bell House in Brooklyn, NY is supposedly NYC's "premiere culinary competition" (ooh-la-la). Not only was it the first time I ever competed in a culinary competition, but it was also the time first time I've ever even attended a legitimate competition. It was more work and stress than I could have ever imagined but also loads of fun. Thanks to everyone who came out to support swavoryswagger - you guys are the best.
For the competition we decided to take a spin on a classic cheesecake and give it a holiday swave factor.
Presenting... Cheecake lollipops dipped in salted caramel and candy cane
A creamy cheescake bite lightly coated in a decadent salted caramel sauce and candy cane kisses.
Sweet, salty, and a bit of peppermint leaving the palette clean and fresh and wanting more.

These little bad boys were no piece of cake (har-har). My friend Julianne and I, baked well into night in order to prepare 300 for the competition. The cheesecake itself and sauce are simple but forming and dipping each lollipop is time intensive. Freezing and transporting the lollipops is a big issue, we did it by sticking them in styrofoam sheets and cones to prevent the lollis from sticking to each other. If you're planning on bringing these to a holiday party, I'd recommend bringing a nice friend with steady hands who can hold the lollipops while you drive like a grandma or just baking a cheesecake topped with the caramel candy cane sauce.

>> Now, as promised the recipe. Enjoy!
Cheesecake Lollipops
Ingredients
3 8oz. packages of cream cheese (room temp)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2tbsp heavy cream

Directions
1. Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth
2. Beat in eggs and egg yolk one at a time
3. Beat in vanilla and cream
4. Pour batter into a greased 8x8 inch baking pan
5. Bake in a preheated 325F oven until cheesecake is a light golden brown
6. Let cheesecake cool
7. Chill cheesecake in refrigerator for 2 hrs to overnight
8. Cut cheesecake into 1 inch pieces
9. Scoop pieces out and form into a ball or square
10. Insert a lollipop stick into the cheescake ball, place on styrofoam or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
11. Freeze for 2 hours to overnight
Salted Caramel Candy Cane Coating
Ingredients
2/3 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup granulate sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/8 tsp salt
21/2 tbsp butter
3/4 tsp vanilla extract combined with 1 tbsp water
6 Hershey candy cane kisses

Directions
1. Combine cream, sugars, corn syrup, and salt in a pot
2. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon
3. Add kisses one at a time and continue to stir
4. Cook for 10 minutes until mixture starts to thicken
5. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla-water mixture
6. Dip cheesecake lollipop into mixture
7. Refrigerate until ready to eat

Yields 64 lollipops

Bacon, the swaviest of them all

Like most sane people, I'm an avid bacon fan. I love the classic BLT and BEC and have tried everything from chocolate covered bacon to bacon cupcakes. As long there's bacon in a meal, I've never been disappointed.

Two new amazing bacon discoveries this weekend: Bacon Doughnuts and Bacon Sushi!
Bacon Doughnuts, dulce de leche, coffee ice cream from Traif in Williamsburg, one of the best brunch spots I've ever been to (more to come on Traif next post). The combination of flavors and textures was amazing. Sweet, salty, savory, soft, crispy, crunchy, hot, cold. Somewhow it all came together to form a beautiful harmony. 4.5/5 I only wish the doughnut was filled with a little bit of salted caramel on the inside. Imagine already being seduced by the first layer of flavors and then finding a gooey center, the effect would be mindblowing.

Popeye Roll: bacon, spinach, cream cheese, avocado from Geido in Prospect Heights. I was a little doubtful about this one, but I was pleasantly surprised. The bacon was steamed so the texture almost resembled that of fish. The steaming also eliminated most of the grease, I felt almost healthy eating it. The cured saltiness of the bacon replaced the need for soy sauce, I dipped it in a bit of terriyaki, for an extra swave factor. 4/5 which confirms the fact that bacon pairs well with everything.

Bacon, I'm sorry, I will never doubt you again.

Is Jean Georges Swavory?

I lost my Jean Georges virginity last weekend at Nougatine and have been wanting to blog about it since. The only thing stopping me was that I wasn't sure if any of the dishes I had were considered swavory, which got me thinking about exactly what constitutes swavory.

Swavory, simply defined, is a combination of savory or umami and sweet. Meats, cheeses, mushrooms and seafood are some common products that are considered savory.

When I think about swavory foods, prosciutto wrapped dates or chocolate covered bacon are examples that come to mind. But what about more run of the mill, less gourmet foods. Is a hawaiian pizza (ham+pineapple) swavory? chicken terriyaki? Jimmy Dean maple sausage? How have swavory foods evolved? Is there a difference between classic swavory versus noveau swavory? Does it exist in all cuisines? So many questions to explore!

Until we've determined the answers, let's say yes to hawaiian pizza, chicken terriyaki, Jimmy Deam maple sausage, and most important of all Jean Georges so I can share my experience with you.


Kirby's lunch on the left:
Tuna Tartare, Avocado, Spicy Radish, Ginger Marinade
Pan Seared Beef Tenderloin, Pesto and Roasted Carrots
Poached Peach, Curried Pistachio... and sauce?! (they changed the menu online, so i couldn't find the description. rookie mistake, next time I must remember to take a picture of the menu)

My lunch on the right:
Fried Calamari with Basil Salt, Citrus Chili Dip - 2/5 It tasted like shrimps chips, the colorful kind you buy at an Asian market and fry at home. Basil taste was lost in the batter.
Roasted Red Snapper, Fingerling Potatoes, Corn and Olives - 4/5 Lovely combination, marinated olives on top added a nice zing to a buttery dish. Snapper was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
Warm Chocolate Cake and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream - 5/5 Delicious, but then again, how could you go wrong?

The only dish with a swave factor would be the Tuna Tartare and the Poached Peach, which were both average. The flavor of the tuna was lost on the heavy ginger marinade, and the peach and pistachio combo was interesting, but not something to remember.

Overall: Lunch Prixe Fixe for $26 is a good deal and makes for an enjoyable meal, but I'm not eager to come back and pay dinner prices for a slightly above average and not very creative nor swavory meal.

porkapalooza

Hey Swavory readers, aka the charming and dapper Matthew. Sorry for the delay in posts, I've been jamming out in Chicago the past few days at Lollapalooza. I had bookmarked a massive list of restaurant to try in Chicago but I got distracted by the music and made it out to only one - Rick Bayless' Xoco. I ventured out for the tortas and was pleasantly surprised when i saw their dessert menu.Guess which one I ordered?
The Maple-pecan-bacon streusel with salted caramel sauce of course!
Not the most beautiful presentation, (though it did come in a compostable cup) nor the most delicious combination of ingredients, but it was tasty. A 2.5/5. It tasted like normal soft serve with caramel and granola, the maple, pecan and bacon flavors were overpowered by the dairy. I'd recreate it with bigger chunks of bacon, candied pecans and the salted caramel and toppings whipped in, mcflurry style.

The dairy came in handy when we ordered our tortas. My friend Char ordered the Cochinita Pibil, wood roasted suckling pig with achiote, black beans and pickled onions. The torta came with a side of habanero sauce which the waiter warned was spicy upon delivery. Being the extremley competitve person Char is she challenged the waiter and proceeded to drink the habanero sauce all in one gulp.

The waiter was so impressed he brought us a free sandwich, an Ahogada - golden pork carnitas, black beans, tomato broth, spicy arbol chile sauce, and pickled onions. Char then proceeded to slurp all of the soft serve, down an iced coffee and a glass of milk and then spent the next 20 minutes in the bathroom.
A fiery start to a fiery night with Gaga rising to the occassion with her sparkler bra.
Next time I'm in Chicago. Urban Belly and Belly Shack for Urban Belly Ramen and Bacon Chocolate Chip Soft Serve.

"I'm taking this home and doing it"

Checkout the cupcakes we entered for Ogilvy's inaugural cupcake contest. Among the fourteen cupcakes entered were The burning sensation, a jalapeno cupcake with mango cream cheese frosting, The urban lumberjack, a breakfast cupcake with bacon, french toast and maple syrup, and Sweet and salty, a triple caramel threat garnished with a salted caramel halo.

My friends and I baked Sweet, summer s'mores: a chocolate cupcake filled with marshmallow buttercream, topped with chocolate buttercream frosting and sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs. The funny thing is I don't like marshmallows, graham crackers or hershey's milk chocolate individually, but all together this cupcake transported me to summer camp bliss.

Sandra Lee from the Food Network announced the winners today. I'm proud to say our cupcake won an honorable mention, but the best part was Sandra's colorful commentary afterwards when we met her. Sandra Lee on our s'mores cupcake "Oh my god, when I bit into it, I was like I'm taking this home and doing it".

sweet + savory, the only way to do brunch

Brunch is a meal best enjoyed with friends and in particular with friends who have an appreciation for both sweet and savory items. Beverly and I went to brunch at Buttermilk Channel in Brooklyn a few weeks ago after falling in love with their darling and immaculately designed website.

Upon looking at their menu, we knew that there was only one way to satisfy our cravings, by ordering one sweet dish and one savory option. For sweet we opted for the pecan pie french toast and for savory the ABC (apple, bacon and cheddar) grilled cheese.

The pecan pie french toast was to die for, the bourbon added a nice touch without being too sweet and the pecans were toasted to a crisp.

The ABC grilled cheese was good, but the bread was a slightly too hard. I like my grilled cheese to be crispy, chewy, and gooey all at the same time. The salad accompanying it was great and tossed in a perfect vinaigrette.

Overall, we were charmed by the Buttermilk Channel and can't wait to go back for dinner. (3 course dinner on Mondays for $25!)