Before I start I should acknowledge that my photo heavy and link-tastic post is directly inspired from noted blogger Ira Kaplan.
I was originally going to write about one of my true loves: record stores. I met my wife in a record store and my life still revolves around them, but this year there was a bigger theme than records in my life.
Going places and being with the people you love.
My wife’s family is from Butler, PA and we spent two weeks there this summer doing a whole lot of nothing. It was great. We went to a Bluesox game, we went to the drive in (Photo from noted Bulter native CongoEels flickr.) We went to Moraine state park to ride bikes, swim and have a picnic. It all ruled.
Some other places I went:
Columbus, Ohio. I finally saw the Gibson Bros and it was fantastic.
The Adirondacks
I love a good wedding and this was one of the best in recent memory, must have something to do with the day. The whole weekend was all so beautiful. We went swimming in this lake.
It was cold and awesome.
Scituate, MA
I grew up nowhere near the ocean so a clambake was nothing more than an Elvis joke. In real life it is so much more
The Lost Weekend
I’d never been to Las Vegas, I’m far to scared to actually gamble (too many records I want to buy with that money.) Everything related to the weekend wasz fantastic, but I never expected to be so taken with the surroundings.
My final trip of the year is going to be the best one yet, but it is supposed to be a surprise so if you see my parents don’t tell them.
Shanghai hairy crabs are available live from vending machines in China (I don’t know whether this is as cool as the gold bullion vending machines in Abu Dhabi):
Bitter melon (or karela if you’re from Orissa) is one of the most reviled and possibly one of the strangest looking vegetables. It’s always fascinated me and I was determined to try it, especially since I found this recipe on the rather odd (but very interesting) Mahanandi blog, written by an Indian cook from Houston.
The recipe combines sweet, sour and bitter flavors via jaggery, tamarind and karela. It’s one of those Bengali sorts of recipes that involves steaming the vegetables in a deglazed pan of flavored oil, then adding the other ingredients and spices to finish it off to a sort of vegetable stew.
Karela is covered with zillions of strange little wart-like bumps. I was relieved to learn that you peel these off (along with the skin) before slicing it into bite-sized pieces.
The caramel-ish sweetness of the unrefined jaggery combines wonderfully with the sour tamarind (though I wish the tamarind I get was sourer) and the karela, which is not as bitter as most people say (or maybe I like bitter).
It’s too hot to cook. It was 96 degrees F today in New York City! Here are a couple of non-labor-intensive dishes. Above is a pre-made, but very fresh, salad mix from a purveyor at the Union Square Greenmarket whose name escapes at the moment. It includes snow pea leaves, a variety of bitter greens, and flowers. I tried to do as little damage as possible with a small amount of good olive oil and red wine vinegar.
The illustration below shows Ruth Rogers’s very simple carbonara from her River Cafe cookbook. It uses 3 egg yolks beaten into 60 ml double cream, and emerges flawless every time – much lighter and creamier than Marcella Hazan’s version. I enlivened it with some freshly shelled peas – boiled, drained and sprinkled on top at the end.
I posted some time ago about Marcella Hazan‘s extremely simple (and not particularly Italian) roast chicken recipe. I make this all the time and have refined the procedure a bit. The result is absolute perfection these days.
Here’s the modified recipe – the key is to observe the ratio of weight to cooking time to the letter, to really loosen and puncture the lemons (whose purpose I now understand better), and to follow the trussing instructions to a tee. The addition of good paprika adds a really nice color and a smoky undertone. The higher temperature at the end leaves you with a really golden-brown, crackly skin – just be sure to disable the smoke detector before that part.
one 2.85 – 3.85 lb whole chicken (preferably Murray’s)
two small lemons
good, fresh Hungarian semi-sharp paprika (e.g. from The Spice House)
coarse sea salt or kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
butcher twine
trussing needle
Preheat oven to 350 F. Remove giblets and neck, pat chicken completely dry with paper towels, both inside and out. Put two tablespoons salt in a mortar, add a generous dump of the semi-sharp paprika, and a good amount of freshly ground black pepper. Grind with pestle. Season chicken thoroughly all over, inside and out. (You don’t need to use all the seasoning – it may get too salty – just make sure you have covered with a thin layer.)
Wash and dry lemons, then loosen their insides by rolling them with both hands pressed firmly on top until you can feel that the juice is flowing. Pierce them deeply all over at least 20 times each with the trussing needle. Insert into cavity of chicken.
Sew chicken closed with 18″ twine. If lemons don’t quite fit, use skin flaps and the pope’s nose to close the gap (I never remove any fat). Sew tightly. Truss legs tightly together so that they are pressed firmly against the breast (you may need the help of someone’s finger to get the knot right).
Place chicken upside-down (legs facing DOWN) in a glass baking dish and put in oven. Cook for 30 minutes at 350.
Remove chicken from oven and rapidly turn over (legs facing UP). Return to oven and cook for an additional 30 minutes (for a 3-3.85 lb chicken) or for an additional 25 minutes (for an under-3 lb chicken).
Now turn heat up to 450. Cook for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and carve. Save the juices that run onto the carving board and pour them over the chicken (and over the white rice, which I strongly recommend serving with this dish) – they are “perfectly delicious,” to quote Marcella.
Note: No basting is needed! Again, to quote Marcella, “This bird is self-basting.”
I’m not certain why this recipe is always such a success, but I think it’s due to the following:
- The salt opens the pores inside the cavity
- The punctured lemons inside the trussed-up cavity baste the upside-down breast in the first phase, keeping it moist
- The trussed legs protect the breast from drying out on the other side
- Because the breast is both moist and protected, it’s possible to cook the dark meat to the degree required for doneness
- The paprika lends the skin an appetizing reddish-brown color – appearance is a huge part of what makes things tasty!
Summer means hot dog season. I happened to be travelling around Western Mass., which is a hotbed for certain kinds of dogs (where New England intersects with the upstate New York types), so I stopped by a few well-known shacks.
In the Pioneer Valley, the foot-long dog rules, served of course in top-loaded New England style buns. Tom’s Hot Dogs in Whately, Mass. offers a steamed-foot-long, as shown above. I had one with yellow mustard and onion, one with ketchup and relish. Their homemade baked beans are also superb, redolent of molasses and flecked with pork and spices.
Not far away, in Leeds, Mass., is Scotti’s, housed in a long, twin-peaked roadside building. Scotti’s serves the same steamed franks (what brand are these?), but the recommended toppings here are chili and cheese:
The cheese is just very slightly melted from contact with the hot dog and the hot chili. The bun is not heated, grilled or steamed at all (very different from what you’d find in coastal New England). It’s absolutely delicious, the dog’s natural casing bursting with a crisp snap, and the aromatic chili and cheese just folding right in.
About an hour away, across the hills into the Berkshires, you can find the highly idiosyncratic Teo’s Hotdog Restaurant. Located off the highway in a difficult-to-find, nondescript strip mall, Teo’s is actually a super-real blue collar bar that also serves hot dogs. MINI-hot dogs:
It’s normal to order 6-8 of these, and wash them down with an ice-cold Bud served in a chilled goblet. All the other diners gave every impression of having eaten there every Thursday for the past 20 years. The dogs came in top-loaded buns (which surprised me this close to New York State) with a fine, bitter chili and onion topping.
When I returned to the city I found myself possessed with the desire to make hot dogs. For some reason I bought top-loaded buns (which I do love) but Sabrett’s hot dogs. Sabrett’s are classic NYC all-beef wieners, the kind you get from stands around the city. When I first moved to New York in the ’80s, Gerard, who had been living here for a couple of years, had become a hot dog connoisseur, and explained to me that the stands mainly sold two brands: Sabrett’s and Golden “D”. He preferred Sabrett’s, as do I, and told me that the brand on the stand’s umbrella could be misleading: you need to look at the brand on the sticker on the side of the stand. I’m not sure whether this rule still holds. In fact, I’m not sure that Golden “D” hot dogs are still made. I still love Sabrett’s dogs, and unlike most of my friends and co-workers, am happy to get a “grey-water dog” from a stand around town, loaded up with brown mustard and sauerkraut and served on a steamed side-loading bun.
ANYWAY, I decided to grill the buns in butter like we do in Eastern Mass. and in Maine. Loaded ‘em up with the Sabrett’s dogs, which you cook by dropping into boiling water, bringing back to a boil, covering, and letting sit off the heat for 7 minutes. The first toppings I used were French’s yellow mustard, ketchup and sweet relish, plus a side of bread and butter pickles:
Although the St. Peter’s ale washed them down just fine, there was something schizophrenic about having a salty, garlicky all-beef New York hot dog with yellow mustard, ketchup and relish in a buttery, grilled New England roll!
Even the best hot dogs are really condiment delivery systems, so I pulled out everything I had in the fridge, including an extra large sack of super-adulterated, heavily flavored Sabrett’s sauerkraut:
(Actually I forebore from pulling out European mustards, including two superb Irish ones that Fiona gave me – just seemed the wrong place for them.)
The magical combination for these dogs turned out to be the Sabrett’s sauerkraut with Mr. Mustard’s HOT mustard:
Love the design of that Mr. Mustard label. And of course, I steamed the buns this time – simply by putting them into a steaming steamer for about 45 seconds and then removing them with a pair of tongs.
This has been a brief survey of just a couple types of Northeastern hot dogs. There are of course many, many varieties nationwide, from Coney Islands to Michigans to char polishes. Serious Eats is doing a nationwide survey of them. I’m just going to name and link some of my favorite places:
Boston: First place mention has to go to the legendary Speed’s Hot Dogs. But I’m also a huge fan of The Wieners Circle on North Clark. It even has its own Wikipedia entry now. Just heaven (and basically an entire salad) on a roll – one that magically holds together with perfect proportions and explosions of flavor.
Los Angeles: California dogs are wonderful. My favorite in SoCal was Tail o’ the Pup, located in a building actually shaped like a hot dog. With typical lack of respect for their cultural heritage, the Californians have actually evicted the place. The structure has been put in storage for now. WTF? It’s not like they don’t have enough space down there. Not that New York is much better about this kind of thing (see: Gino’s Italian Cuisine closing… to be replaced by a cupcake place called Sprinkles???!?! O tempora, o mores…)
Seems slightly paradoxical, but in many cultures around the world, a hot spicy soup is the cure for those who are particularly averse to these stifling summer days. As the streets around Matador’s office become more and more steamy, providence informed that I post my take on a classic heirloom recipe that I discovered several months agone in Eric Hites’ essential ‘Everybody Loves Ramen: Recipes, Stories, Games, & Fun Facts About the Noodles You Love’. The publishers do not exaggerate, in this, “The Perfect Gift for The Graduate” the harmony you’ll find with instant ramen, between affordability and exquisiteness is elegant, and indeed, perfect.
Taking a slight left turn from Hines’ procedure, I find that Nissin’s “Cup Noodles” are superior to the standard brick-shaped “Top Ramen” packets. It’s easier to monitor the noodles, keeping them slightly al dente to enhance their natural nuttiness. The cups also feature much lusher dehydrated vegetables — sweeter corn, crunchier carrots, crispier peas. The broth fresher, more savory. While many prefer the chicken and beef flavors, I’ve taken a certain fondness toward the shrimp variety. It’s a classic and it came as no surprise to learn that in Japan, the shrimp flavor is simply termed “Plain” (though, the complexity in flavor is far from it). The more nouveau permutations of these favorings (Salsa Picante, Spicy Chile, etc) should stay on the shelf.
I find that there is a simple, yet delicate procedures that take a little bit of practice to get the perfect noodles.
I’ve taken a slightly unique approach to flavoring the soup. Add 3-5 dashes of classic Tobasco sauce — more if you’re feeling a little adventurous. I had to venture over to Williamsburg Brooklyn’s C-Town to find this variety as it’s become rarer and rarer to find in certain stores. But trust me, the trek was worth it: the combination of the slight sweet vinegary-bite (derived from the Tobasco company’s aging process) and the relatively moderate Scoville scale rating do not only contribute a slight tang, but I’ve found it draws out the natural umami flavors from the broth powder and baby shrimp. I’ve tried other hot sauces (Tapatio, Crystal, Frank’s, Sriracha, etc) which often yield interesting results, but I suggest that novices start with the “original”.
It is essential that you apply the Tobasco PRIOR to adding the boiling water so as to allow it to coat the noodles throughout the cup, otherwise, you’ll encounter an irregular bite. I’ve found that letting the hot sauce-soaked noodles marinate for a few minutes increases the evenness in flavor.
Bring several cups of water to a slow, rolling boil in a tea kettle or small sauce pan. As soon as the water begins to boil, turn the burner off and let the water cool to about 85-90 °C
Follow the directions closely on the packaging (lift portion of lid, fill water to line and let sit for 3-5 minutes). I’ve found the perfect time to be about 3 minutes and 23 seconds.
I paired my noodles with a 2008 Touraine La Tesniere. Wooden or ivory chopsticks are the preferred eating implements, but I’ve also found that using a plastic fork can also add to the traditional experience of enjoying your noodles. Sip the broth directly from the styrophone cup, as it rolls across your palate, the epiphany in flavor can be described as nothing short of nirvana.
This recipe is really easy and obscenely tasty. It is adapted from Madhur Jaffrey’s An Invitation to Indian Cooking. The original recipe specifies very fresh whole pea pods, to be eaten like artichoke leaves (pull between your teeth, so that you eat not just the peas but the fleshy part of the pod as well). I found that it worked very well with green beans (to be eaten whole, as normally), which I happened to have on hand.
3/4 pound green beans
1 tbs ghee
1/8 tsp ground asafoetida (hing powder)
1/4 tsp whole cumin seeds
1/2 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp garam masala (plus addition 1/2 tsp garam masala at end) (see note*)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tbs warm water
Clean and snap off the ends of the green beans.
Heat the ghee over moderately high heat in a 10″ skillet. When hot, add the asafoetida and cumin seeds and stir once. When the cumin seeds change color (10-20 seconds), add the green beans and stir for 1 minute. Add lemon juice, the first 1/2 tsp garam masala, salt and pepper. Stir, add the warm water, bring to a boil, turn heat to very low, cover, and cook gently for about 20 minutes, until tender (Jaffrey specifies 20-30 minutes for the pea pods, but I found the beans were done in just under 20). Stir once or twice during cooking.
Serve in a warm dish, sprinkled with the addiitonal garam masala.
* Note: there are many different varieties of garam masala. For this recipe, I used one from Julie Sahni’s Classic Indian Cooking:
3 tbs black cardamom pods
3 cinnamon sticks, about 2-3 inches long
1 tbs whole black cloves
1/4 cup black peppercorns
1/2 cup cumin seeds
1/2 cup coriander seeds
Break open cardamom pods, remove seeds and reserve; discard skin. Crush the cinnamon with a kitchen mallet to break it into small pieces. Combine all the spices including the cardamom seeds and roast them in a thick-bottomed pan, stirring frequently, until they darken slightly and become richly aromatic. Allow to cool, grind in a spice grinder, and then store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. Recipe may be cut in half.
The incomparable John Thorne provided this American with an introduction to champ, an Irish mashed potato dish made with greens cooked in milk. The recipe can be found in Pot on the Fire, which I recommend for general reading about food and food history.
This came out fantastic the first time around, and it’s very simple to make. Take 3 “all-purpose” potatoes (I used Yukon Gold), peel them and put them in a pot with a tight-fitting lid. Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon sea salt in 1/2 cup water and pour that over the potatoes. Cover, bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes or until the water is gone and the potatoes cooked through. This is not simple (Thorne writes that it will take several tries until you figure out the right proportion of water to potato) – in my case, I ended up raising the heat, cooking for an extra 10 minutes, then adding another 1/4 cup water, boiling again, and cooking for another 4-5 minutes. Much depends on the size of the potato.
Remove from heat and crush potatoes in your fingers until fully mashed and all lumps are gone. Return to pot and cover.
Meanwhile mince 4 scallions – the whole thing including all of the green stalk that isn’t wilted – sprinkle lightly with salt, pour boiling water on top, and drain. Add minced scallions to 1/2 cup milk and gently bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes so that the milk has absorbed the scallion flavor.
Now put the flame to low under the potato pot, and gradually add the scallion milk, beating with a wooden paddle until luscious and creamy. Add more milk if necessary (I added a splash), as well as generous amounts of salt and freshly ground pepper.
Serve immediately with butter at the table. Can be a main course or side.
Now that I’ve finally figured out how to make them, I can’t get enough of tamales. And neither should you.
After a Zipcar expedition to Linden, New Jersey for sliders at White Rose System, I happened to drive back through the Mexican neighborhood in Port Richmond, Staten Island. The main drag is lined with Mexican groceries, and I thought (correctly, as it turned out) that they might be superior to what’s available in Manhattan. At the first place, they were totally confused when I asked for lard, and I couldn’t remember the Spanish word (pork fat! you know, the kind you use to make tamales!), but at the second place, my memory revived – it’s manteca. The guy was delighted that we were making tamales and insisted that we buy Oaxacan string cheese for a Oaxacan version. The next time we came, he promised, he’d give us directions for sweet dessert tamales.
In the event, I ended up preparing Diana Kennedy‘s chicken tamales for a second time (link at the top of this post), as well Oaxacan cheese ones (main contents: Oaxacan cheese and jalapenos) and a marinated skirt steak tamale recipe that I found online. Unfortunately I can’t find the recipe any longer – post yours.
Serve with limes and copious quantities of different kinds of El Yucateco hot sauce.
P.S. I need to do this with fresh masa sometime… available from Tortilleria Nixtamal in Corona. See this excellent article on where to buy Mexican ingredients in NYC (Port Richmond, sadly, is overlooked).
I thought I’d posted about Marcella Hazan‘s pasta with tuna before, but apparently I haven’t. It’s very simple indeed and requires the best ingredients – imported Italian tuna in olive oil, superb olive oil of your own, San Marzana tomatoes and good butter:
4 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic chopped very fine
1 1/2 cups canned San Marzano tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
12 ounces imported Italian tuna packed in olive oil
Salt
Black pepper ground fresh from the mill
1 tbs butter
1 1 1/2 pounds pasta
3 tbs chopped parsley
In a saucepan heat the olive oil, add the garlic and cook until it becomes colored a pale yellow. Add the cut up tomatoes with their juice, stir to coat them well, and cook at a gentle but steady simmer for 25 minutes, or until the tomatoes float free of their juices.
Drain the tuna and crumble it thoroughly with a fork. Turn off the heat under the tomatoes, add the tuna, and mix well. Taste, and if necessary, correct for salt. Add a few grindings of pepper, the 1 tbs of butter, and mix well again. Toss with drained cooked pasta with a few more drops of olive oil. Add the chopped parsley, toss again, and serve immediately.
This is great so far as it goes, and it absolutely requires the best ingredients. But what if you don’t have those around – you just have Chicken of the Sea, your olive oil is a few months old, or you feel like you need something with a bit more kick?
The following changes retain the spirit of the recipe but make it more complex and, to my mind, more satisfying:
- Chop 1 jalapeno finely along with 8 sage leaves, and sauté these along with the garlic
- Discard the tomato juice in the can, and using your hands, squeeze most of the juice out of each of the tomatoes
The result is highly concentrated. I recommend spaghetti for this dish.
By the way, don’t forget the butter at the end. It’s essential for knitting the flavors together. I use Lurpak or President.
Fucked Up‘s frontman, Pink Eyes/Damian Abraham is taking advantage of a brief break from tour to participate in two community-based events.
Tonight (April 8), at the Toronto Reference Library, as part of Keep Toronto Reading Festival 2010: Book Exchange. Damian will speak on a panel with Pasha Malla author of The Withdrawal Method and Zoe Wittall author of Holding Still for as Long as Possible , wherein each panelist will bring his or her favorite books to discuss and exchange with audience members in an effort to promote literacy as well as what’s bound to be some pretty great reading.
April 8,
Doors at 6:00; event ends around 8:30
Appel Salon, 2nd floor
Toronto Reference Library
789 Yonge St, Toronto
MORE INFORMATION
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Meanwhile, Damian is involved in a program called Do The Math, run by a food program called The Stop — an initiative seeking to demonstrate the limits of social assistance. Damian will be subsisting solely off a standard food hamper provided by a local food bank for as long as possible.
In the program’s words:
On April 6, 2010, ten high-profile Torontonians (and their families, if they’re joining them) will pick up a standard food bank hamper at The Stop. These hampers—which include an array of non-perishable food, as well as a little bit of fresh produce—typically last a person three or four days, though many folks stretch this to a week or ten days. Our participants will live exclusively off the contents of the hamper for as long as they can. They will not eat out or accept free food or drink (though they are encouraged to eat at least two meals at a drop-in). They will be allowed to use up to five standard pantry ingredients—oil, flour, salt, coffee, etc.—but are asked to keep track of the quantity of these items used.
