For me, Brooklyn was a time as well as a place. The Brooklyn I knew, growing up, was Pee Wee and Jackie, Gil Hodges and the Duke, corned beef or pastrami on rye, reubens, Nova and sturgeon from a host of appetizing stores, cheese blintzes, knishes, Blackout cakes from Ebbinger's, French baked delights from Sutter's, fresh fish caught at Sheepshead Bay, gaslight dinners at Gage and Tolner, seafood at Lundy's, hot dogs at Nathan's, the best Italian and chinese food, and chocolate egg creams. Many of these no longer exist. The Dodgers are gone; the large Jewish, Italian, and Irish immigrant populations are gone. A new multiracial middle class is emerging and gentrified areas are giving the borough a rebirth with new restaurants galore. But the old ethnic Brooklyn and its wonderful tastes are gone. in the following posts, I will show some of the dishes and drinks that were popular in Brooklyn and New York City in general in the fifty's and sixty's of my youth.
The Chocolate Egg Cream was a fixture in every corner luncheonette. This fizzy chocolate drink has no eggs and no cream, just milk, seltzer and Fox's U-Bet chocolate syrup. No other chocolate syrup works here. I recently bought Egg creams in a shop in Manhattan and a shop in Pittsboro, NC. They tried, but their effors failed because they did not use Fox's U-Bet. Here's how to make an great Egg Cream:
2 to 3 ounces Fox's U-Bet (Available in many supermarkets)
4 ounces very cold milk
Cold seltzer (great from a soda fountain, can also work from a soda bottle.)
1. Pour about 1 inch of chocolate syrup in a tall soda glass
2. Stir in the milk
3. Tilt the glass and squirt in seltzer aimed at a long handled spoon. This willl cause a white foam on top. Mix everything with the spoon and drink immediately.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Paella
Here's another dish that's a WOW. Paella is a beloved specialty in Spain. It is traditionally cooked in a low sided steel Paella pan, but if you do not own one, a large skillet will suffice. There is a marvelous book called "Paella" by Penelope Casas who used to be my downstairs neighbor in New York. She writes "paella, the vibrant Spanish rice dish loved the world over. Paella marries the robust Mediterranean flavors of olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, and peppers with rice, broth and meat, fish, or vegetables to create a healthy grain-based meal that will gratify the senses and be the centerpiece for exciting entertaining." The folliwing recipe is not from Penny's book.
Spice mixture for the chicken:
1 T. smoked paprika
2 tsp. dried oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 chicken cut into 8 to 10 pieces or chicken thighs
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 chorizo sausages (preferably from Spain and not from Mexico)
(Chorizo and other Spanish food items can be purchased on line from La Tienda)
1/2 Spanish onion, diced
4 garlic gloves crushed
Bunch Italian (flat leaf) parsley, chopped. Reserve some for garnish
1 can whole tomatoes, drain and crush by hand
1 1/2 cups aborio rice for a small paella pan
3-4 cups aborio rice for a large paella pan
3-6 cups chicken broth
1 oz. saffron threads
1 oz. littleneck clams
1/2-1 lb. large shrimps, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup sweet peas, frozen and thawed
roasted peppers
lemon wedges for garnish
1. Rub spice mixture all over chicken and marinate for 1 hour in the refrigerator
2. In a large skillet, heat the broth and saffron, smoked paprika and 1 whole onion. Cover the pan and simmer 15 minutes. Remove the onion.
3. Heat olive oil in the paella pan over medium heat. Saute the chorizo until browned; remove the chorizo and reserve. Add chicken, skin side down and brown on all sides, turning with tongs. Add salt and papper to taste. Cook chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees. Remove from pan and reserve the chicken. The chicken will continue to cook when transfrerred to the rice and will be cooked through when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
4. In the same pan, make a sofrito by sauteeing minced onion, garlic and parsley. Cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
5. Fold in the rice and stir to coat the grains. Pour in hot chicken broth and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Maintaining low heat, add the reserved chicken and chorizo.
7. Add clams.Cook peas according to package directions.
8. After 15 minutes, add shrimps. Shrimps are cooked after 2-3 minutes as they turn pink. Add a little broth if needed.
9. Remove clams as they open; If they do not open, discard them. Remove shrimp, remove chicken and reserve.
10. Paella is cooked when rice looks fluffy and moist. Turn up the heat for the last 40 seconds until you smaell the rice toast on the bottom.
11. Remove from heat and garnish with cooked peas, parsley, roasted red peppers or pimientos and lemon wedges.
Spice mixture for the chicken:
1 T. smoked paprika
2 tsp. dried oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 chicken cut into 8 to 10 pieces or chicken thighs
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 chorizo sausages (preferably from Spain and not from Mexico)
(Chorizo and other Spanish food items can be purchased on line from La Tienda)
1/2 Spanish onion, diced
4 garlic gloves crushed
Bunch Italian (flat leaf) parsley, chopped. Reserve some for garnish
1 can whole tomatoes, drain and crush by hand
1 1/2 cups aborio rice for a small paella pan
3-4 cups aborio rice for a large paella pan
3-6 cups chicken broth
1 oz. saffron threads
1 oz. littleneck clams
1/2-1 lb. large shrimps, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup sweet peas, frozen and thawed
roasted peppers
lemon wedges for garnish
1. Rub spice mixture all over chicken and marinate for 1 hour in the refrigerator
2. In a large skillet, heat the broth and saffron, smoked paprika and 1 whole onion. Cover the pan and simmer 15 minutes. Remove the onion.
3. Heat olive oil in the paella pan over medium heat. Saute the chorizo until browned; remove the chorizo and reserve. Add chicken, skin side down and brown on all sides, turning with tongs. Add salt and papper to taste. Cook chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees. Remove from pan and reserve the chicken. The chicken will continue to cook when transfrerred to the rice and will be cooked through when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
4. In the same pan, make a sofrito by sauteeing minced onion, garlic and parsley. Cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
5. Fold in the rice and stir to coat the grains. Pour in hot chicken broth and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Maintaining low heat, add the reserved chicken and chorizo.
7. Add clams.Cook peas according to package directions.
8. After 15 minutes, add shrimps. Shrimps are cooked after 2-3 minutes as they turn pink. Add a little broth if needed.
9. Remove clams as they open; If they do not open, discard them. Remove shrimp, remove chicken and reserve.
10. Paella is cooked when rice looks fluffy and moist. Turn up the heat for the last 40 seconds until you smaell the rice toast on the bottom.
11. Remove from heat and garnish with cooked peas, parsley, roasted red peppers or pimientos and lemon wedges.
Arroz Con Pollo
This as an adaptation of a recipe that I read in the New York Times about 35 years ago. It never fails to garner positive comments from my friends; And my Puerto Rican and Cuban friends loved this version.
1 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 to 4 gloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 green pepper, seeded, chopped
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 cup frozen peas
1 4 3/4 0z. jar green olives with pimientos
1 T. vino seco (a salty white wine available in the supermarket)
3 cups saffron yellow rice (mahatma, brand name)
4 pimientos
1 T. kosher salt
1 3 to 4 pound chicken cut into 8 pieces
1. Heat olive oil in a large heavy skillet. Add chicken parts and onions in one layer. Cook slowly without browning for about 10 minutes.
2. Mash the salt and garlic together on the cutting board or in a mortar and pestle until they form a paste. Add the salt/garlic mixture to the chicken. Add enough water or chicken broth to cover the chicken.
3. Add the carrots, green pepper, tomato sauce, peas, olives and vino seco. Bring the liquid to a boil; lower the temperature and simmer for about 10 minutes to meld the flavors.
4. Add the saffron rice, return to a boil, lower the temperature and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until water is absorbed and the chicken is tender. The internal temperature of the chicken when tested with an instant read thermometer should be about 165 degrees.
5. Add pimientos as a garnish.
1 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 to 4 gloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 green pepper, seeded, chopped
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 cup frozen peas
1 4 3/4 0z. jar green olives with pimientos
1 T. vino seco (a salty white wine available in the supermarket)
3 cups saffron yellow rice (mahatma, brand name)
4 pimientos
1 T. kosher salt
1 3 to 4 pound chicken cut into 8 pieces
1. Heat olive oil in a large heavy skillet. Add chicken parts and onions in one layer. Cook slowly without browning for about 10 minutes.
2. Mash the salt and garlic together on the cutting board or in a mortar and pestle until they form a paste. Add the salt/garlic mixture to the chicken. Add enough water or chicken broth to cover the chicken.
3. Add the carrots, green pepper, tomato sauce, peas, olives and vino seco. Bring the liquid to a boil; lower the temperature and simmer for about 10 minutes to meld the flavors.
4. Add the saffron rice, return to a boil, lower the temperature and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until water is absorbed and the chicken is tender. The internal temperature of the chicken when tested with an instant read thermometer should be about 165 degrees.
5. Add pimientos as a garnish.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Hummus
Hummus is a very popular appetizer in the Middle East; in the Arab countries, in Israel, in Greece and Turkey. You can serve hummus with an assortment of lemon wedges, kalamata olives, vegetables, and pita triangles. In the Middle East it is traditional to make a small well in the top of the hummus and pour in a bit of fruity olive oil to give it a silky texture.
1 15 1/2 oz. can chickpeas, drained (reserve 1/3 cup liquid)(reserve a few whole chickpeas for garnish)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
3 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 T. sesame tahini
1 T. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 T. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 roasted red pepper (from a jar)
2 scallions, finely sliced
Pinch of ground cummin
Raw vegetables (optional)
pita triangles
1. Place chickpeas in a food processor or blender. Add the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, tahini, sesame oil, salt and pepper to taste, cilantro, red pepper, scallions and process until smooth. Add the reserved chickpea liquid to modulate the desired consistency (thick for a spread, slightly thiner for a dip.)
2. Transfer the Hummus to a large plate or shallow serving bowl, sprinkle with sesame seeds or parsley, cummin, and a few whole chickpeas; surround with pita triangles.
1 15 1/2 oz. can chickpeas, drained (reserve 1/3 cup liquid)(reserve a few whole chickpeas for garnish)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
3 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 T. sesame tahini
1 T. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 T. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 roasted red pepper (from a jar)
2 scallions, finely sliced
Pinch of ground cummin
Raw vegetables (optional)
pita triangles
1. Place chickpeas in a food processor or blender. Add the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, tahini, sesame oil, salt and pepper to taste, cilantro, red pepper, scallions and process until smooth. Add the reserved chickpea liquid to modulate the desired consistency (thick for a spread, slightly thiner for a dip.)
2. Transfer the Hummus to a large plate or shallow serving bowl, sprinkle with sesame seeds or parsley, cummin, and a few whole chickpeas; surround with pita triangles.
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