Prime Meats Delicat-Essen and Provisions in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Photo by Travis Kauffman

Among the many reasons I love living in New York City is the amazing abundance of food shops: spice stores like Kalustyans, cheese shops like Murray’s, Italian stores like DiPalo’s and then unique markets like DeKalb and New Amsterdam.

I’ve turned my love of these stores into an App named iFoodShop: A Food Lover’s Guide to Shopping in NYC,

The app includes stores all over New York City, and as I’ve been working on it I’ve been inspired to make all sorts of dishes, which you’ll hear about when the iFoodShop launches.

Whether you live in New York or you’re visiting, this comprehensive list of specialty stores and markets will include the details you’ll need to shop and bring home lots of goodies, from fresh made mozzarella to Greek olives, from fresh pita bread to unique spices—ingredients for home cooked meals.

Each entry will include the address (with a map), web site, photos and an overview of the food and ingredients you’ll find at each store.

Although it’s been like writing a book, the App is definitely more fun because it contains links to videos and links to other stores within the app (to help you say, make a complete dinner).

I’d love to know some of your favorite specialty food stores in NYC, so feel free to leave a comment with stores you love. And I hope you sign up over to the right so I can let you know when the App launches.

XO
Tracey

Chocolates are probably one of the most popular items to buy your loved one on Valentine’s Day and I have a few favorite shops you may want to consider when buying a box. When it comes to chocolates, I definitely prefer ones with unique flavors, like balsamic, kaffir lime and honey saffron (photo below), which is why Kee’s is probably my most favorite of all. And some of the shops have seats where you can sit and nibble chocolates and/or hot chocolate with your loved ones. You might have your favorite places where you buy chocolates, but trust me, these are worth a visit, whether for Valentine’s Day or any occasion.

Kee Chocolates/80 Thompson St in Soho/212-334-3284
This is my all-time favorite chocolate shop in NYC. The owner, King Ling Tong, makes all the chocolates herself, and she uses all fresh ingredients. With flavors like crème brûlée, Earl Grey, elderflower, kaffir lime, thai chili and mirabelle plum, your taste buds will be pleasantly surprised. Her macarons are also incredible (my daughter is a big fan of them).

Michel Cluizel/584 5th Avenue/646-415-9126
This mid-town shop has seats where you can enjoy a dessert-only dining experience complete with chocolate cocktails. You can read more about it in my interview with Jacques Dahan of Michel Cluizel in Haute Living.

Marie Belle/484 Broome St/212-925-6999
This Soho shop is so pretty I love stopping in to look at Marie Belle’s gorgeous chocolates that look as if they’ve been hand-painted. There is also a Cacao Bar in the back where you can linger over a hot chocolate, including the Spicy, Aztec and my favorite, Milk and Hazelnut.

Jacques Torres Chocolates/various locations around the city/212-414-2462
Jacques Torres has a few shops around the city, in the West Village, Chelsea Market, and Upper West Side, but my favorite location is in Dumbo. Not only does he sell outstanding chocolates, but he also sells chocolate chips for baking and cookie mixes. His Valentine’s Day offerings range from racy (raspberry caramel body paint) to adorable (an “I Love You” chocolate puzzle).

I’d love to hear about your favorite places to buy chocolates.

My stash of plums arrived from Fresh Direct (they have a new delivery service of local produce). So I decided to make a crumble and include raspberries, too. The recipe is courtesy of The Barefoot Contessa, one of my go-to chefs, especially for baked goods. I’m thinking about going to il laboratorio del gelato for some creme fraiche gelato to serve with the crumble. A tangy gelato with a tart and sweet crumble—doesn’t that sound like a good combination? It’s truly so great to be in walking distance of such treats.

Plum raspberry crumble

Ingredients
2 pounds red plums, cut in 1/2, pitted, and cut in 1-inch wedges
2/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 pint fresh raspberries
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds, plus extra for sprinkling

Make the crumble
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the sliced plums, 1/3 cup of the granulated sugar, 1/4 cup of the flour, and the orange juice and toss well. Add the raspberries and toss lightly. Pour into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch baking dish.

For the topping, place the remaining 1 cup of flour, the remaining 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, and the salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Pour the mixture into a bowl, add the oats, and work it with your hands until it’s in large crumbles. Add 1/2 cup of the almonds and mix well.

Spread the topping evenly over the plums, making sure the fruit is covered. Sprinkle with some extra almonds. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the fruit is tender and bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

If you can, serve with some gelato from:
il laboratoria del gelato/95 Orchard St/212-343-9922

Have you ever walked into a bakery and were unable to decide what to order? Well you won’t have that problem at Steve’s Key Lime Pie.

It’s easy to admire someone who’s perfected one thing and then built a business out of it. Such is the case with Steve. His key lime pies, a perfect balance of tart and sweet, are absolutely amazing—and that is all he sells in his Red Hook “waterfront bakery” housed in an old factory along the Gowanus Bay. He uses real, fresh squeezed key limes (yes, it’s true, some bakers don’t), real butter (why use anything else?) in the Graham cracker crust—all fresh ingredients.

When you go to Steve’s, the only choice you have to make is: 4-inch tart, 8-inch pie or 10-inch pie. Ah, if decisions could often be that simple.

Visit Steve’s site for more information.

P.S. After getting your key lime pie, check out the garden center on the far end of the building—it’s like walking into a beautiful jungle.

Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pie/204 Van Dyke St/Brooklyn/718-858-5333

To find your way to Key Lime Pie nirvana, this map is very helpful.

This strange looking root resembles ginger in appearance.

Have you ever cooked with galangal? I’d love to hear what you’ve made. I added a few slices of it to this Thai-inspired soup. The galangal, combined with some of the key ingredients—lime, coconut, lemongrass—gave the soup a tangy, fragrant flavor.

Check out my chicken galangal coconut soup recipe in Dean & Deluca.

Creamy, tangy miso dressing

Normally Sundays mean eggs, pancakes, croissants and pots of tea to sip. But not last Sunday. I’d overindulged and was craving salad with one of my favorite dressings: miso. Fortunately I live near Hong Kong Supermarket where there are so many types of fermented soybean paste it’s not easy to choose! And the ginger! I bought a large piece that looked like a lobster claw.

If you were like me and once upon a time didn’t know how to make miso dressing, don’t fret: it’s really quite easy, and such a great dressing to have on hand. It’s also tasty on steamed vegetables.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons miso, red or white (this soybean paste can be found at Asian supermarkets)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger (peeled, of course)
1 scallion, minced

Make the dressing
In a bowl combine miso and mustard. Add water and lemon juice, whisking until mixed in. Add oil in a stream, whisking until emulsified. Lastly, add gingerroot and scallion.

Hong Kong Supermarket/157 Hester St at Elizabeth/212-966-4943

You can find olives and other goodies here.

Tapenade is one of those items I love having in my refrigerator for snack time. Because I work at home, it just makes sense to have dips and things around for quick lunches. And it’s so incredibly easy to make. What’s funny is that years ago I detested olives. That is until I tasted tapenade. So I guess my love of olives happened backwards.

I add some red pepper flakes to my version because I love a bit of spice.

Ingredients
20 pitted Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp rinsed, drained, and chopped capers
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp anchovy paste
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Freshly-ground black pepper

Make tapenade
In a small bowl, mix olives, capers, lemon juice, olive oil, anchovy paste, and pepper. Mix well. Refrigerate and eat within a week or so. Serve with crackers, bread or as a spread on sandwiches.

One of my favorite New York stores for olives (and cheese and pistachios, and lots of other goodies):
Sahadi Importing Company/187 Atlantic Ave/Brooklyn/718-624-4550

Homemade flatbread with nigella seeds and two dips: tzatziki and sweet potato/chickpea

What a joy to have warm, homemade flatbread (dusted with with nigella seeds, an unusual spice) to enjoy with two of my favorite dips: tzatziki and sweet potato/chickpea (both pictured above). Although it takes some time for the dough to rise, flatbread is otherwise very simple to make. Also great plain (or with a dab of butter), just off the grill, with soup or stew.

Read more about my recipe for flatbread with nigella seeds on The Gourmet Food Blog at Dean & DeLuca.

Tangy tzatziki: one of my favorite dips

Titan Foods in Astoria is one of my favorite shops for Greek goodies, but I can’t believe I used to drive all the way there to buy tzatziki when it’s so incredibly easy to make. (But please do visit the store for other things, like the large variety of feta cheese and olives). I even drained regular yogurt so that it would have the thick consistency of its Greek cousin. Chop up some garlic. Slice half a cucumber. Combine olive oil and lemon juice. Add yogurt. The creamy and tangy dip with only five ingredients is ready in minutes…it’s that simple.

Tzatziki

Ingredients
2 cups thick Greek yogurt
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup diced cucumber
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Make the tzatziki
Chop garlic and dice cucumber. Mix oil and lemon in a medium-sized bowl. Fold in yogurt to mix completely with oil. Add garlic and cucumber. Mix to combine. Serve chilled with flatbread.

For olives, feta cheese, peppers and more food to go along with dips and flatbread, I highly suggest visiting:

Titan Foods/2556 31st St/Queens, NY/718-626-7771

Use your imagination when making a tagine

What do to with the tagine I bought at Sur La Table that’s been sitting in my cabinet for way too long? Make the eponymous dish of course. What I love most about tagines is that you can easily get creative making them. For example, I hate raisins, and though a lot of tagine recipes call for them, I never include them. (But you can add 1/4 cup if you like.) Also, I used pistachios instead of the usual almonds found in many tagine dishes. It’s my personal preference. So get whatever protein you like, what ingredients you love and what spices you fancy—and get creative at dinnertime.

Moroccan chicken tagine with couscous

Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped pistachios (2 oz.)
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 lb. chicken breast, cut into medium-sized pieces
1 large Vidalia or other sweet onion, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. paprika
1 cup chicken broth
2 Tbs. honey
Juice and grated peel of 1 lemon

Couscous ingredients
1/4 cups chicken broth
1 1/4 cups uncooked couscous
1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
3 Tbs. minced fresh parsley
3 Tbs. minced fresh mint
Juice and grated peel of 1 lemon

Make chicken
In small dry skillet, cook pistachios over medium heat until fragrant, shaking pan occasionally, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.

In large skillet, heat 1-tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and stir-fry until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Remove to another plate.

In same large skillet, heat remaining 1-tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and stir-fry 5 minutes. Add ginger, cinnamon, cumin and paprika and stir-fry 1 minute. Return chicken to skillet. Stir in broth, honey and lemon juice and peel and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer until chicken has absorbed flavors, about 15 minutes.

Remove chicken and place on plate; cover with foil to keep warm. Add pistachios almonds to liquid remaining in skillet and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until liquid is slightly syrupy, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Set aside.

Make couscous
In medium saucepan, bring broth to a boil over high heat. Stir in couscous, cranberries and apricots, cover and remove from heat. Let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Fluff couscous mixture with a fork, stirring in parsley, mint and lemon juice and peel. Season with salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste. Serve and drizzle with honey-almond sauce and serve at once.

Visit Sur La Table to purchase a tagine.

Or visit:
Sur La Table/75 Spring St at Crosby/212-966-3375