I heart ice cream. Good, thick, heart stopping ice cream. And if you toss in some interesting flavors and organic ingredients you get extra points and a revisit. It is the goal with the ice cream I make and should be the end result of anyone that makes ice cream (at least in my overly opinionated opinion).

When we were in NYC in May we came across the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck in Soho. Unfortunately, he was done serving and moving to another location, but informed us there was another truck over near the Soho Apple Store. And off we ran.

We had a scoop of ginger and a scoop of a special vanilla they were running. Both were amazing. Creamy, amazing flavor, felt great in your mouth.

So when we went back for our NYC food tour (aka Meat Coma 2010), we made a point to get back to the truck. This time we had Cinnamon and Strawberry.

The cinnamon was much more floral than the cinnamon ice cream I make. I like my cinnamon ice cream spicy. Mind you the ice cream was great, I just wanted a bit of bite.

The strawberry ice cream was like eating a creamy strawberry right off the vine. Great, super, wonderful, and any other word like that. This was by far, the best strawberry ice cream I had ever tasted.

So find that truck. The locations for the store (in Greenpoint, Brooklyn) and all of their trucks are listed on their completely mobile hostile website. A treat you must have.

54 Prince Street
New York, NY 10012-3309
(212) 226-8877
macbar.net

I was raised on the Mac and Cheese in the blue box. Let me tell you, it isn’t the cheesiest.

So when we decided to do BBQ, I was assigned the sides and knew I had to have mac and cheese as a side and it had to be a whole lot better than the blue box variety. I started going through recipes and found one I loved. Five cheeses…quite expensive, time consuming and really too much for a BBQ joint. It was great stuff, but just unrealistic. So the journey continued.

I came across a really great recipe that included some onions and corn and used smoked cheese. I have never been a fan of smoked cheese, always seems a bit chemically to me, but I loved the idea of incorporating some veggies in the dish. So I made the recipe, then played with the recipe, then added some peppers and garlic too. But that smoke was missing, so one evening, we tossed the pan of mac and cheese on the Weber grill with some wood chips. Heaven. Now all our mac and cheese goes into the smoker.

And I believe the best Mac and Cheese comes from a lot of experimentation and finding that recipe that just works. Getting the right consistency with the right flavor. And it appears a lot of people agree with me as there has been a Mac and Cheese explosion in NYC and many other places around the country. But as NYC was where we were headed, I noted 2 of the Mac and Cheese only places below 14th street. Unfortunately, we ate a lot, so we only made one of the places and that was MacBar in Soho.

The place is as clean as their website and much easier to use. White and Yellow dominate the decor and the they have coolest takeaway utensils ever. MacBar offers Twelve different kinds of Mac and Cheese. As we are only two people and the smalls aren’t really all that small, we only tried two of these.

The Four Cheese was a delight. It was gooey, tasty, heavenly and I am envious of the taste. I ate as much of this as I possibly could and would do it again in a heartbeat (despite the fact that this is so high in fat that I probably slowed my heart a bit by eating it). The cheeses were queso blanco, fontina, gouda, and emmental. None dominated, all worked well together. I highly recommend this option.

The second Mac and Cheese we tried was the Cheeseburger Mac. Ground Angus Beef, Cheddar and American Cheese. The Cheddar and Angus were mixed with the macaroni and the dish was topped with the American Cheese which was melted. This was not as strong a contender. The Angus was too small to really be relevant. I feel they should have incorporated more of a mini meat ball with the beef so that it has a presence and you could actually taste it in the mixture. But the biggest problem was the American Cheese. It gave the dish a slightly metallic taste. Maybe it is my aversion to yellow American Cheese, but it always tastes a bit waxy, no matter the quality. This was not a recommend and won’t be repeated.

I look forward to going back and really wish they did a “flight” service. Small 2 ounce or so cups of 4 or 5 of these Macs so I could taste them all. I know I repeat myself, but the smalls aren’t small. They were a value though. Each of the above dishes were $7. A very healthy amount of mac for an after bar late night treat. And I didn’t feel heavy after eating them that late or the next morning. Which was nice.

So next time I am there I think I am going to try the Carbonara, Primavera, or the Quack. But I also have to get to S’Mac. They got a Cajun Mac I MUST have.

The Hog Pit Barbecue
37 W. 26th St.
New York, NY 10010
(212) 213-4871

Stumbling out of Hill Country in a meat coma induced haze & back into the sweltering NYC August heat – I looked across the street to see the banner for Hog Pit Barbecue. This joint was originally in the Meatpacking a couple blocks over from Hogs & Heifers . Three years ago, it replaced by a somewhat over hyped burger place Bill’s Bar & Burger. I had figured – like many places in the old Meatpacking district – I had missed my opportunity to visit the Hog Pit for their Q.

So – though completely packed from a Hill Country feast – I convinced Cherie to drop into Hog Pit for a beer. My reasoning was we had not drank at Hill Country (so we would not be drinking like lushes) & it would give us a chance to digest our feast before walking in the heat. I don;t think she needed much convincing beyond “beer”.

Hog Pit is basically a Southern bar in NYC. Plain decoration in a not quite dive-y but could topple that way in minute style. The menu is a mix of Southern comfort food & BBQ. Beer selection is pretty much the generic mix of Bud Miller Coors (BMC) & a couple “imports” (like Guinness & Labatt Blue). Country & classic rock on the sound system.

I mentioned to the bartender I was glad to see they had not gone out of business, but was surprised to see they opened across from Hill Country. She said she had never been there but a lot of their staff come over to drink after their shifts.

“Is it good?” she asks.
“Best in NY State.” I reply.

She’s surprised & this does not bode well for the Q at Hog Pit. Generally I feel the best Q joints have employees who care & know about Q. Then again – perhaps she knew a encyclopedia worth of where to drink cheap in NYC. I did not ask.

After looking the menu over for a bit & deciding we should eat SOME Q here as that was the point of the trip (to sample as much NYC BBQ as possible), we chose to share the pulled pork slider appetizer. We felt we could manage one slider each & not completely pass out from Meat O.D.

The sliders come two to a serving on traditional slider buns, unsauced & served with a bowl of house sauce. If this pork has ever seen the inside of a smoker, I’ll eat my Backwoods Fatboy. Absolutely no smokiness or bark to be found. The pull – or more accurately shred – was a bit too fine for my taste but at least did not devolve into pork foam. The taste was pretty nice for roasted & shredded pork with a bit of a stocky flavor. I think they might be heating & holding in pork or chicken stock (or a combo of both). The house sauce was a thick rich ketchup sauce with a nice spicy kick. It worked nicely to punch up the pork.

Definitely not bad sliders though I’m not too sure I’d call them “BBQ” or “pulled pork.” Definitely makes me wonder what their “BBQ’s beef brisket” is like – especially considering their proximity to Hill Country. I’d call this more “Bar BBQ” than ” real BBQ” – something vaguely in the Q realm to eat while drinking – & there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.

Hill Country Texas Barbecue Market
30 West 26th Street
New York, NY 10010-2062
(212) 255-4544

This is my church
This is where I heal my hurts
For tonight
God is a Pitmaster

(with apologies to my friends in the dance music community & Faithless)

Hill Country is my church.

It is – in my opinion – the single best BBQ joint in all of New York State. No use debating with me. I’m a zealot – a fanatic – one of the truly devoted. I feel guilty if I go to NYC without making the pilgrimage. I aspire to be 1/10 the BBQ cook this place is.

The reason for my zealotry?

Brisket

Not just any brisket – but the BEST brisket anywhere in New York State. What the Hill Country pitmasters do with a whole brisket, kosher salt, Butcher Block Black Pepper, cayenne & slow smoking proves there is something divine in the universe.

(Yes – I know this is all a bit twee & gushy – but damn is this GREAT brisket!)

We chose to make Hill Country our first stop on the 2010 NYC Food Tour (what we would later rename Meat Coma 2010) & that was both a good & bad thing. Good because we did not have to spend hours or days waiting for our chance to pray to the Gods of Brisket. Bad because we realized we might have been starting the tour with no where to go but down. Luckily, we did discover other great meals while on the tour.

Though nothing came close to the brilliance of Hill Country. This is a market style joint. You get a meal ticket at the door & order everything by the pound. We chose to completely skip the sides – Cherie made a pass for research but saw nothing interesting – & stick with a pure meat orgy. Straight to the meat counter for:

1/2 lb moist brisket
(from the deckle or point end of the brisket. This is the yummy fatty part. It’s our preferred cut.)

1/3 lb lean brisket
(from the brisket flat)

a bit of brisket burnt end
(the crispy first cut from each end of a whole brisket Our carver gave us the end from the point. MMMMMMM)

1 regular Kreuz sausage
(shipped in from Texas)

1 beef back rib
(plus the carver gave us one of the end bones to “gnaw on”)

All together I’d say we picked up about 2 pounds of meat. Plus – we were given about 1/2 a loaf of white bread. Made our way to a table & got a lemonade & ice tea & got ready to worship…

OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN…

Truly I started weeping a bit about this brisket. I want MY brisket to be this amazingly tender, moist & full of flavor. Three ingredients in the rub, great beef & perfect smoking come together in way I never thought possible. Cherie sums it up nicely (if not a bit insultingly after 23 years of marriage) with “This is the best thing I’ve ever had in my mouth.” I definitely prefer the moist brisket here. Wonderful juicy fatty goodness. Always remember this: FAT IS FLAVOR! The lean was also delicious, but I still wish we had gotten more moist.

The Kreuz sausage is a classic example of smoked sausage. Great smoky beefy flavor with a snappy skin & good spice. The beef rib had a great crust & juicy meat but ultimately suffered the same problem every back & spare rib does for me. It’s a rib. I just do not get the rib obsession. (Now short ribs are something I completely understand!) Cherie pretty much left the rib to me in exchange for more of the moist brisket for her.

One thing to note – eating like this at Hill Country is not cheap. Moist brisket runs $22.25 per pound. Lean is $19.75. A 1/2 pound sausage will set you back $6. It can all add up quite quickly especially as the euphoria of food this good seizes you.

The way I look at it is it is MUCH cheaper than a trip to Texas…