The Gentlemen of the Todt Hill Rod & Reel Fishing Club

“There comes a time in every man’s life when he is either going to fish Or do something far worse.”    When A Lady Undresses- Havilah Babcock THE GENTLEMEN OF THE TODT HILL ROD AND REEL FISHING CLUB Excerpt from “Hook It & Cook It- Fishing, Dishing and Reminiscing with an Urban Angler” CLICK HERE TOContinueContinue reading “The Gentlemen of the Todt Hill Rod & Reel Fishing Club”

ErinGoScratch Recipe- Five Spice Green Tea Chicken

Love good BBQ chicken and want to add a little exotic flavor? Want yardbird you can be proud of and impress your family and friends? Live in the city and can’t grill like you want to but still want that summer flavor? This simple recipe will help you achieve that great BBQ grilled  flavor without theContinueContinue reading “ErinGoScratch Recipe- Five Spice Green Tea Chicken”

ErinGoScratch Recipe- NJ Style Garlic Crabs

Some people like the schmutz, some do not. I do love a big table of fresh #1 Cheasepeake Jimmy Blue Crabs steamed in Old Bay Seasoning and beer, butter on the side. The tradition of negotiating through the crab guts to locate the different compartments of a crab to find a sweet morsel of meat isContinueContinue reading “ErinGoScratch Recipe- NJ Style Garlic Crabs”

NYC Hot Dog Countdown- Number 5 DOMINICK’s HOT DOG TRUCK, Queens

DOMINICK’s HOT DOG TRUCK Woodhaven Blvd. at 65th or 67th Aves. (Right next to St. John`s Cemetary), Rego Park Cash Only Hours: Mon-Fri: 11am-5pm   No phone Get off the LIE and head to the Rockaways via Woodhaven Boulevard and, if you are a hot dog lover, you will see a very intriguing claim on aContinueContinue reading “NYC Hot Dog Countdown- Number 5 DOMINICK’s HOT DOG TRUCK, Queens”

The Chinatown Chronicles- Volume One

I love Chinatown in NYC.  All three of them- Sunset Park in Brooklyn, Flushing in Queens and the original in downtown Manhattan. I hope this series provides you with some tips that will help you discover some true culinary treasures of your own in your Chinatown. My high school friends and I started coming intoContinueContinue reading “The Chinatown Chronicles- Volume One”

The East Village That Remains

The East Village of my romantic youth when I moved to 7th Street in 1986- beat characters writing in tattered notebooks in sad cafés,  punk rockers jamming to reggae with Rastafarians in grungy Tompkins Square Park, worn out tenement buildings teaming with ethnic food smells, and true rebels on St Mark’s Place is nearly gone. All gone butContinueContinue reading “The East Village That Remains”

So This is Your Ocean

While Grandma sparked my love of cooking, Grandpa Willie Duffy lead me to my another great passion- the ocean. I saw Brighton Beach for the first time on a gray early spring Saturday. Grandpa picked me up and we walked the few blocks to the subway through the waking neighborhood. The B train runs aboveContinueContinue reading “So This is Your Ocean”

Hungry man.☘️ Tiny kitchen.🍽 Big city.🗽

Hi. My name is Jim Shaffer.  I’m  an Irish American, native New Yorker and creative home cook. I know my way around NYC and I have a sense of adventure that has lead me to nearly every neighborhood of the five boroughs and beyond in search of authentic delicacies and culinary delights. ErinGoScratch strives toContinueContinue reading “Hungry man.☘️ Tiny kitchen.🍽 Big city.🗽”