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From: linda
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2014 1:01 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: Metropolitan Cupcakes
In my area of Queens (Whitestone, NY) we had a German Bakery that has been here before I was – and that is a long time!!
Our area is changing to Asian and we are losing many of the unique restaurants, delis and bakeries that we loved. One
such bakery was “Stork’s” – they were renowned for their cakes and for their chocolate, and were written up numerous
times by the NY Times. I couldn’t believe they closed (they said to come visit their Austrian store!!!). Anyway,
they had a cupcake they sold that was called the “Metropolitan” – it was a white cupcake that was dipped in raspberry
syrup/frosting (thin) and had flacked coconut all over the outside. The top had a cream circle. We all loved these –
and I can’t find this delicacy in other bakeries and am hoping you can find a recipe for it.
Thank you so much! Linda
Hi Linda,
I found lots of mentions of Stork’s Pastry Shop in Whiteside, NY. However, I did not find any mention of this bakery
that said anything about “Metropolitan Cupcakes.” There are photos of many of Stork’s products here, but no cupcake like that: Stork's Pastry, NYC
Maybe those cupcakes were seasonal. Stork’s used to have a website, but it has been taken down.
Their Facebook page is still in existence. I found several mentions of Stork’s as a “German Bakery”,
but their Facebook page advertises them as a ”French Restaurant - Bakery - New American Restaurant”.
See: Stork's Pastry Facebook Page
Taking the route of looking for the cupcakes themselves, I found very few mentions of “Metropolitan cupcakes.”
If they were as popular as you seem to say, it seems odd to find so few mentions of them. One of the few mentions
that I found allowed that they were more common in Canada than in the U.S. . One of the mentions that I found of
them was this on a menu: Metropolitan Cupcakes : Yellow Cake with Raspberry, Coconut and Butter Cream.
Other than the cake being yellow rather than white, this sounds close to your description. This mention was on a
menu for a French Food Festival in Richmond, Virginia: French Food Festival
I had no success finding a recipe of any sort until I found the one below in the “Ottawa Citizen”, Oct 28, 1949 edition.
With the mention saying that these are more popular in Canada, plus the “French Restaurant” connection for
Stork’s Pastry Shop, plus the “Metropolitan cupcakes” being found on a French food festival menu, and finally,
with the only recipe that I could find being in a Canadian newspaper, then I am led to speculate that these
cupcakes might be French in origin rather than German, in spite of Stork’s being characterized as a German bakery.
Perhaps Stork’s sold both German Baked Goods and French Pastries, amd perhaps these cupcakes are sold under another
name in French pastry shops.
If you start with the below recipe and tweak it to your memory of the Stork’s product, you may come close.
You can add the cream circle and use the white cake recipe of your choice.
Phaed
Metropolitan Cup Cakes
(Makes 12)
Set oven at 350°. Grease and flour muffin pans for 12 portions.
Sift cake flour and measure 2 2/4 cups. Sift measured flour with 1 1/2 cups sugar, 3 teaspoons double action
baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Put dry ingredients into mixing bowl.
Add 1/2 cup vegetable shortening at room temperature. Be sure shortening is not chilled.
Add 3/4 cup milk. Beat in a mixing machine at slow speed for 2 minutes or about 300 strokes by hand.
Add 1/4 cup milk and 2 unbeaten eggs. Beat 2 minutes more. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Do not fill more than 2/3 full. Bake 20 – 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean
and cakes have shrunk slightly from sides of pans. Remove cakes to rack. Cool thoroughly.
Beat 1 cup currant or raspberry jelly until smooth. Turn cakes so that smooth bottom is on top.
Spread with jelly on tops and sides. Sprinkle with jelly on tops and sides/ Sprinkle with a can
of moist shredded coconut. Top with whipped cream if desired.
---------------------------------------------------------------
You are sooo marvelous – I can’t thank you enough!!!!!
Had no idea they had a website, going to go look now – and am not on facebook, will ask my sister to look there.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
From: Lisa
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 12:32 PM
To: Phaedrus
Subject: Chops
Hi,
I got to wondering today about chops. You have pork chops, lamb chops and mutton chops
but the beef variety aren't called chops. Porterhouse cuts come from a restaurant (I think),
chops come from chop houses. Why are the beef versions called t-bones?
Happy August which starts the beautiful sunset season here in the USVI.
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Wow! Beautiful sunset!
The question about chops and steaks is a good one. I have found that the first thing I had to
understand about food is that there is not much consistency in the use of food terms. If someone
likes a term, they will use it with disregard for the original definition of the term. They may
also apply a term indiscriminately by how something looks rather than by what it’s made of.
I see recipes called “filé gumbo” that contain no okra, which is what “gumbo” originally meant,
and no “filé powder,” (powdered sassafras). I guess some people want to make okra stew with
sassafras and leave out the okra and sassafras, but still call it “filé gumbo,” which means
“okra stew with sassafras.” Perhaps they think “gumbo” means “rice”, which usually accompanies
the dish?
The word “chop” came from London “Chophouses”, which served individual portions of meat cut or
“chopped” from the animal, be it beef or pork or veal or lamb or mutton. It’s a cut of meat cut
perpendicularly to the animal’s spine, and usually containing a rib or riblet and served as an
individual portion. If a chop is cut from the upper portion, it may be called a “rib chop,” and
if it is from the lower, loin portion, it may be called a “loin chop.” If one cuts the meat from
the bone, then he may have a “boneless chop”, which is also sometimes referred to as a “cutlet,”
as in a “veal cutlet” or “pork cutlet.” And then of course, there have come to be turkey cutlets
and chicken cutlets, so this has essentially come to mean “boneless.”
The word “steak” came from the Old Norse word “steik”, which meant “roastbeef.” It is generally
a cut of beef sliced perpendicular to the muscle fibers, or of fish cut perpendicular to the spine.
“Steak,” therefore, originally applied to a beef cut. However, you will see something in your
supermarket called “pork steaks”, which are generally cut from the shoulder of a pig, but they may
be cut from the loin or leg. The term steak may also be applied to other meats, but usually the
kind of meat is placed in front of the term, like “venison steak” or “elk steak” or “moose steak.”
The real confusion here came when someone decided to market thick, boneless pieces of fish like
tuna or swordfish cut perpendicular to the spine as “steaks.”
Getting down to T-Bone steaks and Porterhouses, these are essentially loin chops with a piece of
tenderloin still attached to the back side. I don’t know who first called a “T-Bone” by that name,
but it’s certainly due to the shape of the bone. A "Porterhouse" was just a T-bone with extra tenderloin
before the name "Porterhouse" was popularized by the Manhattan steakhouse of that name. A boneless T-Bone
or a “New York Strip” is basically a “boneless beef loin chop.” Of course, so is a “tenderloin steak” -
the two are just from opposite sides of the bone. We also see “veal T-Bones” these days, which is
perfectly fine since veal is just young beef. It could also be called a “veal loin chop.”
A “rib-eye steak” is essentially a “rib chop” if it’s bone-in (aka “rib steak”), and is a boneless
rib chop or boneless "rib-eye" if the bone is removed.
For more:
Meat Chops
Pork Steaks
Steak
Phaed
From: Ashley
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2014 4:55 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: Chicken pot pie New York New York
I just ate the best chicken pot pie I've ever put in my mouth. It was from Nine Fine Irishmen at
New York New York Casino in Las Vegas. I've used Google and the only recipe I can locate from the
restaurant is the shepherds pie. The chicken pot pie had a cheese/queso base instead of the usual
gravy. It was so delicious, I want to make it for my girls for our Sunday Family dinner. They are
so picky, but I know they would love this. If you can be of assistance, it would be very much appreciated!
Thank you,
Ashley
Hi Ashley,
Well, according to their menu at: Nine Fine Irishmen Menu,
the base is a creamy tomato broth. I could not find any description of the chicken pot pie at Nine Fine Irishmen
that said it contained cheese or queso. Here is the menu description:
Chicken Pot Pie:
Chicken Breast, Potatoes, Carrots, Onions, Peas, Creamy Tomato Broth, Flakey Crust
I read a dozen or so reviews of the Nine Fine Irishmen chicken pot pie on TripAdvisor and other
review boards, and none said anything about cheese being in it – just a tomato soup-like base.
Nine Fine Irishmen does have cheese dishes that are served as side orders, I find no mention of
cheese in the pot pie itself, not even a mention that the “creamy tomato broth” tasted of cheese.
There’s a photo of the pot pie here: Nine Fine Irishmen Chicken Pot Pie
Sorry, I had no success finding a recipe or a copycat for this. I saw a few other requests for
the recipe on various message boards, and no one seems to have a recipe for this.
You might try posting a request on Las Vegas Weekly’s Facebook Page: Las Vegas Weekly’s Facebook Page
Their website, with a few recipes from Las Vegas restaurants, is here: Las Vegas Weekly Website Recipes
There are three Nine Fine Irishmen recipes here: Food Network
Phaed
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