The Magnificent McGriddle

If you've never had a McGriddle, you've been living a sad existence. Do yourself a favor and stop by your neighborhood McDonald's tomorrow and devour one. You'll be happy you did. If you've never even heard of a McGriddle (I think you're on the wrong website), the following will explain everything:

The concept of a McGriddle is so simple, yet so incredibly brilliant. It's simplicity lies in it's brevity: only 4 main components. Eggs, cheese and breakfast meat of your choice (my go-to is sausage), sanwiched between the pièces de résistance - syrup infused griddle cakes. It combines the very best that breakfast has to offer into one handheld package bursting with flavor from every direction. A true marvel of modern culinary ingenuity and excess, the McGriddle is in a league of its own (perhaps rivaled only by the KFC Double Down).

But the McGriddle does have its cons. They are on the small side, their structural composition can vary depending on the elementary school drop-out who crafts yours, and who knows whats going on with that gelatinous disc they call an egg...Obviously, they're still delicious, but the concept definitely has room for improvement.

As a huge fan of breakfast sandwiches in general, I know how good they can be when they're hot off the pan and made with real ingredients. A McGriddle-style sandwich is no exception. As delicious as pancakes are, they rarely come to mind when I'm thinking about making my own breakfast at home. I can count on one hand the number of times I've personally made pancakes in my life...But as someone who loves making my own breakfast feasts, I have always thought about crafting my own McGriddle. So when I was in New Orleans last month I came across something that looked too good to pass up. While visiting Southern CandyMakers on Decateur St. and filling up a huge bag with chocolate-covered everything, I noticed a bag of Bruce's sweet potato pancake mix...normally I would have just walked right past it, but for some reason it caught my eye: These would be perfect for making a McGriddle! So I bought the bag of mix, brought it home and it just sat on my kitchen counter for a couple of weeks waiting for it's moment to shine.

Then a few Saturday's ago, I found myself at Fiacco's Pork Store in Greenwich Village (260 Bleecker Street btw. Cornelia & Jones). If you've never been there you should definitely stop by if you're ever in the neighborhood. Full butcher shop, deli, pre-made Italian dishes, cheeses, fresh baked bread...you name it. But the real reason I went was for the roast beef. For my money, it's the best homemade roast beef in NYC - Rare and juicy throughout and they craft a flawless sandwich with it. But I digress...While I was waiting in line, I noticed some amazing freshly ground sweet Italian sausage patties. So I bought a few in anticipation of a Sunday breakfast feast the next morning.

Right before watching the Giants reprise their weekly role as the NFL's version of Rodney King at 1pm Sunday, I fired up my electric griddle, which remains to be one of the best $20 puchases I've ever made. I threw the sausage patties on, and while those started to cook through I mixed the batter with water and infused it with Aunt Jemima Butter Lite syrup (the best) and started to make sandwich-sized pancakes on the other side of the griddle. I stacked those up on a plate and started craking a bunch of eggs on the griddle, topped them with American cheese and started to assemble the McGriddles. Bottom pancake > Sausage patty > Egg > Cheese > (some Crystal hot sauce - optional for you, required for me) > Top pancake. It was that simple, but holy shit were those fucking things amazing. Here's the finished platter:

As I anticipated, it all came down to the ingredients: top quality authentic sweet Italian sausage, fresh eggs (made with slightly runny yolks), and sweet potato pancake book-ends which had an incredible, sweet cinnamon flavor melded with the butter lite flavor in the background. If Autumn had a flavor, it would taste like these pancakes. Of course, there are many other variations that can be made on this sandwich: Bacon, Ham, different types of sausage, different varieties of cheeses, etc...but this was a pretty promising inaugural effort. These McGriddles also differed from the real thing in the other way I expected: they were LARGE...they were basically breakfast cheeseburgers. You can see how thick they were:

Ever seen a yolk like that on your McGriddle?

So I ended up eating 1 3/4 of these breakfast behemoths and then I wasn't able to move off the couch for at least an hour...which turned out to be a curse considering the miserable Giants were on TV and the images of opposing running backs running for 13 yards a carry all afternoon were burned into my retinas.

Unlike my Big Mac re-creation, which turned out great, but not as good as the real deal...this McGriddle remake was undoubtedly more delicious than the McDonald's version with far more complex flavors...and I didn't even have to put pants on to leave the house on Sunday. If you don't believe me, then come on over and join me on a lazy Sunday...you'll be sold before long.

Ápizz & The Orchard

Last night, after a failed attempt at Freeman's (2 hour wait), we finally heeded a long-standing recommendation from Chardo to check out Ápizz. Ápizz sits it the middle of a random, sketchy block - 217 Eldridge, between Stanton & Rivington - and you'd never guess what the interior looks like based on the exterior view (but isn't that the case with some of the best NYC restaurants). Anyway, let me get straight to the point: the place is awesome. It has a rustic feel inside with an open kitchen, exposed brick walls, and dark wood. But it also has a modern, warm orange glow, which we thought seemed pretty reminiscent of the Orchard (162 Orchard between Stanton & Rivington)...and I'll be godamnned if we weren't spot on.
As I discovered today, they're both owned by the same guy, John LaFemina, and I have nothing but rave reviews for this guy. He even has a book out called, A Man And His Meatballs.

I've been to the Orchard a couple of times and I was a pretty big fan. Their flatbread apps are basically cracker-thin pizza crusts topped with amazing combinations...so when we got the chorizo pizza to start at Ápizz, it was very similar in style and really delicious. They have 3 other pizzas on the menu that all looked like winners. On another note, their table bread is served with marinara sauce and ricotta cheese...a nice touch. A restaurant is only as good as the bread it puts on the table.

The entrees definitely did not disappoint either...at our table we had the Gnocchi con Ragu di Carne (homemade gnocchi topped with honey-braised prime beef short ribs in a tomato ragu sauce), the signature Polpette e Pomodori (2 huge veal/pork/beef meatballs with ricotta in a tomato gravy), grilled shrimp in a lemon/butter/white wine/fresh herb "broth", and of course, my fat ass got the most buttery, cheesy, indulgent item on the menu...the Ravioli con Zucca (open ravioli with ricotta, mascarpone, caramelized butternut squash, in a brown butter and sage sauce)...check out the full menu on their website. If those don't get you hungry, you're probably a Communist and you should get yourself checked out. And you know what, the debilitating food coma I was expecting, really never set in...maybe my body has just adapted to massive fat and carb intake over the years like a champ. Or maybe I'll have a heart attack before 30...only time will tell.

Overall, a really solid meal, great atmosphere, and I'd defnitely go back. Put it on your list.

Wasted Woman Face Plants On Subway Track

It's amazing this drunk bitch survived...but since she did, now we can all laugh about it. Gotta love people who can't hold their liquor....and then decide to hang out on the very edge of train platforms. Good times.



Train conductors in Boston are so compassionate...I'm not sure a New York City train would have stopped.

The Real Big Mac

I can't think of a better way to begin than with a little story about the perfect sandwich:

2 All Beef Patties
Special Sauce
Lettuce
Cheese
Pickles
Onions
On A Sesame Seed Bun

The Big Mac...One of mankind's greatest culinary achievements, it tastes phenomenal, and you can get it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week...but let's be honest, sometimes one doesn't even fill you up. Our good friends at MacDonald's don't exactly pile on the beef (and I won't even get started on the content and origin of that indescribable mystery meat).


So while sitting on the couch last Sunday watching the GMEN stomp out the worst team in the NFL (the Chiefs), I had a stroke of genius...Being the proud American that I am, I thought to myself: I can make it bigger (and maybe, just maybe, I can make it better). After quick run to the store, 7 simple ingredients and a couple of flips on the grill, I had crafted a 9 inch-tall tower of burger brilliance...







After I devoured this monstrosity and washed it down with a couple of Budweisers, I realized two things: 1) I am a fat fuck and 2) Although my Mac dwarfed the real thing (and tasted pretty damn good), there truly is no substitute for an authentic Big Mac. God Bless you Ray Kroc.


I then digested until halftime and went for a short walk to get some ice cream (see "fat fuck" realization)...All in all, a pretty nice fall Sunday in America.