Holiday Blogger Love

Happy Christmas, everyone, as my British friends would say.  I hope you're all having a wonderful day celebrating in the way that feels right to you.

Dan and I are heading out to see our brother and sister-in-law and family soon, but before I go on my merry way to eat myself silly, I wanted to leave you off by paying homage to some of my fellow food blogger friends.  Let's see the fun ways you guys are spending this holiday season...

Just took two Christmas stollens out of the oven. They look great and smell amazing! http://t.co/4ltUWZwUgL
— harmoniousbelly (@harmoniousbelly) December 25, 2013

Aren't these the cutest Christmas mice ever?! http://t.co/p82BWdlx00
— Connie Chong (@UrbanBakes) December 24, 2013

My year of living and eating in Western #Queens - http://t.co/UPWE1mnbY0
— tastoriaqueens (@tastoriaqueens) December 25, 2013

Pre browning my leg of lamb with a blow torch might not make the tastiest roast but it sure is fun. http://t.co/Ufbo30KRn0
— Tyson Ho (@ArrogantSwine) December 25, 2013

Makin' chocolate-covered bacon over at @AaignerChocolate Aigner Chocolates in Forest Hills. pic.twitter.com/XGLq96fYcC
— Anne Shisler-Hughes (@theglobalgrocer) December 20, 2013

Happy Holidays, everyone! 

Stand-Outs at Queens Tech Bash – Arrogant Swine, Bear, Ice and Vice

Last week, Meg and I attended the Queens Tech Bash, a fabulous event at MOMA PS1, which was organized by the Coalition for Queens. Holding a mission to “foster the Queens tech ecosystem,” I learned a great deal about the amazing tech companies springing up right in LIC and about the talented people behind them.

Loving the creative setting of this event, which was held in the MOMA PS1 performance dome, I was happy to see a few of Queens’ culinary influencers there—serving up delicious food and drink to the participants and honorees. Amongst them were hogmaster, Tyson Ho of the Arrogant Swine; Natasha and Alex of Bear Restaurant; Lisa and Alex of LIC Market; Paul and Ken of Ice and Vice as well as the awesome guys behind the Korilla BBQ truck.

I enjoyed everything I ate that night, and appreciated the diversity in cuisine. 

Arrogant Swine – Indulging in whole hog BBQ just about a month ago at my friend Adam’s pig soiree, I couldn’t wait to do it all over again with Tyson’s version. The beauty of Tyson’s offering is that he makes use of the whole hog and mixes all the different cuts into one plate. The result is a rich, moist plate of pork goodness that just coats your insides with love.

Bear – Since the amazing press Bear has been getting lately (Chef Natasha was featured on Food Network’s Chopped, the NY Daily News, Village Voice, Edible Queens, the Fancy Food Show and more!), it was fun to see these guys in action. Offering a little bite of Ukrainian flavor, Chef Natasha composed a pretty plate of deviled eggs, cured meat and a toasted dark bread cracker.

LIC Market – Loving the healthy spin Lisa and Alex brought with their heirloom radish salad, it was nice to see some local freshness on a plate. Thinly sliced, colorful pieces of radish adorned each plate and were bound together with a creamy, smoked trout dressing.

Korilla BBQ – Really excited to find out these guys were here, I immediately went to find the truck and get myself a Korean taco. Since I’ve already had several meat variations of this dish, I opted for the spicy tofu instead and wasn’t sorry. The tofu held its own and was strongly supported by the spicy hot sauce, crunchy veggies such as carrots, cilantro and squash. It was the most substantial plate of the night and made me pleasantly full.

Ice and Vice – We couldn’t resist capping the night off with something sweet and moseyed on over to the Ice and Vice cart, which is a charming little push cart filled with creamy goodness. Featuring three ice cream flavors, including the pumpkin seed, Coffeed, and goat cheese ice cream, I tried a sampling of each one. The goat cheese and the Coffeed were my faves (in that order), the former having a little bit of tang but not in an overpowering way.

We had a great time at this event, and it was awesome to see the many talented people of LIC collaborating and celebrating each other. I look forward to supporting the Coalition for Queens and its tech community efforts in the future. A big congrats to all the honorees that night including Elias Roman from Songza, Marleen Vogelaar from Shapeways, and Dion Ridley from CreativeWorx.

4 Random Creative Croissants

Just because I've been spotting some randomly cool food things around Astoria, I thought I'd round them up here for a little quickie inspiration.  A mixture of food deals, special menu items, contests and more, I hope you enjoy these creative croissants.

So fun! SingleCut Beersmiths is running a caption contest on their site.  You'll notice their mascot, Rulpsen popping up on their homepage, so why not give him something to say?  Submit your caption directly on their site or through Facebook or Twitter and you can win a 64 oz growlrrr filled with your favorite brew.

Have you checked (or downloaded) the awesome Scoutmob app? I've gotten tons of great deals out of it in Astoria, including a discount at Crave Astoria, Winegasm, the Mad Donkey, and now the latest discounts for Saffron Indian Cuisine, Ovelia, Latin Cabana, Astoria Bier & Cheese and more.  Remember that these are 100% free coupons that don't require a pre-payment.  Bottom line - they're awesome!

Did you know that 5 Napkin Burger is featuring a special Oktoberfest inspired burger? I've never had a German-style burger, but this one sounds pretty unique, as it's packed with lots of hearty ingredients such as ground beef infused with Knockwurst spices, munster cheese, smoky bacon, mustard, onions all enveloped in a pretzel roll. Sounds pretty awesome, especially when paired with a fall pumpkin ale.  35-01 36th Street, Astoria.  718.433.2727

Oh and how can I forget that my fellow foodie comrade, Tyson Ho, the hogmaster behind Arrogant Swine is in a great Arby's commercial.  See him giving expertise about the almighty pig, specifically Carolina style BBQ.

Gettin' Piggy with It at the Hog Days of Summer

Saturday proved to be a most memorable night, as Dan and I attended the Hog Days of Summer event hosted by Tyson Ho, aka The Arrogant Swine.  First hearing about Tyson's BBQ adventures a few months ago, he was our esteemed guest on We Heart Astoria, and it didn't take me long to be fascinated with his craft.  Meaning to check out his summer events for quite a while, Dan and I finally made it out this past Saturday night, and had ourselves a porktacular time.  

About Hog Days of Summer:
Paying homage to the whole hog, Hog Days is a celebration of meaty deliciousness.  The setting--a spacious LIC lot--is friendly, casual and collaborative, as Tyson and his comrades invite you into the process of smoking an entire hog, cutting it up, serving it and of course enjoying it, together.

I love that the setting is communal, with a live Bluegrass band that helps to put everyone in the mood for all this finger-lickin' goodness.  It's not uncommon to find people chatting with new friends they've just met and to also bust out a few moves, as the music takes them.

About The Arrogant Swine:
Even before I get into the food, I wanted to mention a few words about Tyson, the head pit-master and the originator of Hog Days.  A devout disciple of Eastern North Carolina BBQ, Tyson is also the Resident Whole Hog Expert at John Brown's Smokehouse in LIC.  I love that his background and passion lies in preserving and spreading the North Carolina style of BBQ and really honoring the entire hog, as opposed to just the most commonly used parts such as the belly, loin, spare rib and so forth.  I was happy to see the entire pig used in some shape or form, from the skin to the ears and feet - it all went to good use.

The Feast:
Besides the wonderful atmosphere that was so inclusive and hospitable, the food was of course the highlight.  I loved watching the hog preparation and then the festive ritual of serving it up to eager guests.  It was fun to watch Tyson and his pitmasters enjoying the drama of it all, as they offered up guests various parts of the hog, and even threw a few pieces directly into people's mouths.  Dan was one such lucky recipient.

Pork Cracklings - We started with a plate of pork cracklings to get our juices flowing so to speak.  Creating the perfect snack, they were crispy, a little smoky and made us oh so excited for the main event.  It was fun to wash these down with a spicy Founders Brewery Mango Magnifico.

The Hog! - At last, we got to sample the pork, which far surpassed expectations.  As I already mentioned, the meat consisted of a variety of different cuts, including one of my favorites, which is the pork shoulder (aka Boston Butt).  Not only was it super moist, it sort of melted in your mouth and created the most amazing nirvana of flavors including smoky, salty and buttery touches.  Since the pork was quite rich, it was nice to pair it with a summery slaw with large pieces of apples that added that welcome freshness.  Two giant hush puppies were also on the plate, which were far from light, but who am I to complain?  Bring on the fried goodness, I say!

Service and Cost:
Everyone at Hog Days was very cool and clearly had a big passion for BBQ.  It was truly enjoyable to witness the pride and enthusiasm that Tyson and his team infused into the evening and I'd highly recommend it to for BBQ enthusiasts and novices alike.

A ticket to hog days will set you back roughly $45 but includes all you can eat food and drinks for four delicious hours.

There are three events left for this season, starting with this weekend.  Hope you get to check it out.  

arrogantswine.com