Weekend Reading: Pi Day Edition

Super apple pie

If you follow me on Twitter and Instagram, you probably noticed that I was down in San Antonio and Austin this past week, stuffing my face with BBQ, tacos and ridiculously cheap avocados (58 cents!). I have a ton of reading and blogging to catch up on, so I'll keep this week's post short, sweet and dedicated to — what else — Pi Day.

Celebrate this once-a-year convergence of math and dessert with a slice at one of NYC's top pie shops. The leader of that bunch — Gowanus' beloved Four & Twenty Blackbirdsopened a second cafe at the Brooklyn Public Library's Grand Army Plaza HQ today.

Hankering for a specific type 'o pie? My former NYDN colleagues Jake and Amanda tracked down the cream of the crop for the now-retired Best of New York column. Here's where to go for the very best of applepumpkin and key lime.

If you rather make your own, Food 52 rounded up 14 recipes that may suit your dough-rolling fancy, while Food & Wine gathers technique tips from experts.

Finally, Brooklyn Daily sits down with pie maven Allison Kave — one half of boozy baking team Butter & Scotch — to chat about her new book, First Prize Pies.

P.S. The slice you see above? My take on Alton Brown's Super Apple Pie (and yes, it's quite super).

Weekend Reading + A Look at Leske's

Chocolate cake at Leske's Bakery

This week on Eater, Robert Sietsema shared his favorite eats in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. One of his picks was Leske's Bakery, a 51-year-old sweets shop doling out everything from jelly doughnuts to traditional Danish kringles (a flaky pastry filled with ground almonds and raisins) and that decadent chocolate cake you see above. I took these photos for the Daily News when Leske's opened a Park Slope outpost early last year. That location has since shuttered, but you can still find the pastries at their original shop — if you're a fan of old-school sweets (not to mention super affordable prices), you won't be disappointed.

A few more Friday links, the some extra snaps from Leske's:

NPR's Planet Money crunched a ton of numbers and came up with the price of pizza in 237 U.S. neighborhoods, including the ones in Manhattan.

Check out FIrst We Feast's second annual nacho battle which pits home cook DJ DIeselboy against four of NYC's top chefs. Which cheesy platter will reign supreme?

Potataffle... Rice Krispancake... BuzzFeed rounds up 23 comfort food mash-ups that were meant to be. I have my eye on those banana split eclairs.

Finally, the Wall Street Journal gives us a glimpse into the daily life of sushi maestro — and Jiro Dreams of Sushi apprentice — Daisuke Nakazawa.

Have a good one!

Kringle at Leske's Bakery

Doughnuts at Leske's Bakery

Cookie case at Leske's Bakery

Leske's Bakery, 7612 FIfth Ave. between 76th and 77th Sts., Brooklyn (718-680-2323)

Weekend Reading

Soy milk dashi ramen at Mamezen

And here we thought — with temperatures hitting the 40s and all — that the end of winter was finally in sight. But the weather gods don't seem to agree and they plan on hitting the East Coast with yet another round of chilly weather next week. On the bright (albeit cold) side, that means it's still prime hot pot season, which makes my friend Elyse's handy guide to Japanese shabu shabu all the more useful.

Stay warm out there!

"Something appealingly unexceptional can provide a great deal of pleasure." That's Grub Street on Junior's iconic cheesecake. News broke this week that the Brooklyn standby is selling its flagship building to... a condo developer.

Time magazine picks the Kit Kat as the most influential candy bar of all time. Do you agree? (Japan seems to.)

Ever wonder what happens at the end of a restaurant shift? Edible Manhattan pops into Louro after-hours.

If you haven't already, check out the Piglet, Food52's annual cookbook face-off. The latest installment, written by Cherry Bombe EIC Kerry Diamond (she also co-owns Seersucker and Nightingale 9 restaurants), is fun and more importantly, pro-cupcake.

Finally, That Food Cray put together a list of her must-try Kyoto eats. I also loved the soy milk doughnuts at Nishiki Market and the soy milk dashi ramen at Mamezen (above). Sense a theme? Find more Japan photos here.

Ladurée Soho

Religieuse pistache at Ladurée Soho

Being the sweets-addicted fool I am, I made a trip to Ladurée's new Soho location last Friday — yes, Valentine's Day — to pick up some treats. There was, of course, a line of shoppers picking up what I presume were last-minute gifts and for a brief moment, I considered jumping on the subway back to Brooklyn, dessert-less. But the glistening pastry case and macaron trees already had me under their spell, so I stuck around and — with much self-control — left with a pistachio religieuse and only two macarons.

Rose petal and orange blossom macarons at Ladurée Soho

I went with the floral flavors — orange blossom and rose petal — and both were top-notch, with thin, crisp shells and a silky, lightly perfumed ganache. But the main purpose of my visit was to check out the pastries, available for the first time in New York City. By the time I got there, they were already out of the Valentine's Day-appropriate rose St. Honoré, but the pistachio religieuse was a delicious consolation prize — nutty and beautifully put together, it left me wishing that I got the caramel version, too.

Ladurée Soho

Ladurée Soho, 398 West Broadway between Broome and Spring Sts. (646-392-7868)

Meatless Mondays

Eggplant stacks

I started writing for Cooking Channel's blog recently, taking over the Meatless Monday column that goes up at the beginning of each week. While I've been known to consume my fair share of meat (see: barbecue and burgers), this was a welcomed opportunity to make dishes that carnivores may deem dull sound delicious (after all, vegetables are so hot right now).

As someone who grew up in a household where there was always a protein or two on the dinner table — except on Chinese New Year, when my family was Buddhist and vegetarian for a day — I've been surprised at how often I'm bookmarking these recipes to try at home. I tore away from this weekend's House of Cards marathon to make my own version of the eggplant stacks featured last Monday, sticking to a handful of ingredients — eggplant, tomatoes, mozzarella, spinach and pesto — and baking the rounds instead of frying them. They were filling, but not too heavy and will definitely be making regular appearances on my dinner rotation.

Here are my posts so far, plus a gallery of vegetarian recipes that I edited. Enjoy!

Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi

Eggplant Parm Stacks

Sochi-Inspired Beet Salad

Cauliflower Lentil Tacos