for good soup, call lindy

Having recently returned from excursions around Haiti (for a wedding) and Puerto Rico (visiting folks), I walked around for about a week with a healthy glow and fixed, beaming smile on my face.  No one could have prepared me for the sights of Port-au-Prince, not to mention the the small village of Desab where Nate and Kim’s wedding took place.  This wholehearted embrace of the Haitian community and my fellow Americans was to say the least— a mind blowing experience.

Next, we moved on to Vieques.  Small, secluded island off the east coast of Puerto Rico, accessible only via ferry, or more excitingly, in a 4 seater piper cub.  Talk about tiny- Ben’s head easily grazed the ceiling and I’m pretty sure any turbulence could be traced back to one of us burping.  Three days of riding around in the back of my dad’s bronco, a breathtaking tour of the bioluminescent bay in a paddle boat and 2 gasolina-mojito-mix induced hangovers later, we hopped the ferry to head to the mainland.  We drove in our “mom car” to spots in Punta Santiago, Fajardo, and finally up to San Juan for the remaining days of our trip; stopping at beaches along the way despite torrential downpours that persisted for about two days.  The Puerto Rican radio stations served as an authentic, yet persistent soundtrack…it still continues…

Reminiscing about the culinary aspect of this trip, I remember fondly the fresh, squeezed grapefruit juice and nutty, Haitian coffee that was served in the dining habana at Wahoo Beach.  I think of creole style goat, simmered in a light tomato sauce with onions, that I sneakily stole bites of from Ben’s plate since 9 times out of 10 I preferred to order the conch or whole fish fillet or fried shrimp.  (I have been on a seafood kick ever since we’ve come home).  The spread in Puerto Rico was somewhat different- get ready for rich, meaty, and fried.  I can appreciate samplings of this, but I’m a bit of a wuss when it comes to most things prepared this way.  However this crispy arepa filled with freshly chilled shrimp and octopus was something I literally inhaled and continued to seek out again at every opportunity.

  Ben was partial to the traditional Puerto Rican Mofongo (which I think is actually originally Dominican?) Mashed, savory plantains and crispy bits of fried pork chunks, doused with a thin, red, hot sauce.  This is one of four photos of lusted after mofongo…and we were only there three days.  Porky.  Starchy.  Yum.

I guess it’s not surprising that once we landed in New York again, all I wanted was to stuff my face with dark, leafy greens and crunchy cucumber.  My body was craving vegetables like never before and the thought of a fresh romaine salad made with homemade caesar dressing of lemon and anchovy made me greedily salivate.

Here is a delicious springtime recipe for a classic beet salad that I was excited to prepare for one of our Wednesday night suppers.There are many variations on this dish from the type of lettuce used to the type of cheese thrown in to whether or not nuts are added.  Beets are pretty versatile and contribute nice texture and a hearty bite.  Some people have a particular distaste for them, but for those who like them, they LOVE them.  Last summer I roasted a few bejeweled golden and ruby beets I bought from the farmers market and rubbed them only with olive oil and salt. 

For good measure, I asked Ben to cook up a couple of eggs to top the crusty baguette I reheated in the oven.  Wouldn’t you know it, he whips up the most correct sunny side up eggs I’ve ever seen, sprinkling a bit of Old Bay seasoning on the transparent whites before they slowly turned opaque.  Genius.

Spinach & Beet salad with a Sunny Side up Egg on a Tartine

1 bunch of fresh spinach

2 ruby red beets (freshly roasted or a quality vacuum packed brand such as Love Beets)

3 Tbsp. goat cheese (I like mine relatively firm)

1 juicy orange, peeled and thinly sliced halved rounds

1/2 red onion, cut in thin slivers

1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts (or pine nuts are also very tasty)

Dressing suggestion (I almost always add mustard because I love it, but follow your heart) :

1 squeezed lemon

1 cup olive oil

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (optional)

1 tsp capers (optional) 

Salt

Black Pepper

Wednesday Night Home Cooking becomes a tradition this week as I barged through the door at 1221 last night with my bags, having taken a leisurely lunch in order to shop for my menu.  I’ve been wanting to make sausage and peppers for weeks now, waiting until I could get my hands on some quality product.  Nothing compares to the juicy, flavor-packed links made by Flying Pig, but I was really happy to discover that Whole Foods makes their sausages in house.  I will 9 times out of 10 opt for the spicy Italian sausage, (unless there are any merguez sausages to be had…then there’s no contest).  Nostalgia takes me back to those sloppy hoagies from the Oktober festival in little ole’ Germantown in upstate New York - red and green peppers, onions rolled around in grease, all stuffed into a soft roll that quickly becomes a bit soggy due to the flowing juices.  Wrapped in  tin foil, you would have to tackle this sandwich bending over so as not to get it all down your front.  I selected a white baguette for this meal hoping the crust would keep it all together.  Something light on the side - Cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and feta drizzled with lemon, olive oil and balsamic is the perfect, refreshing salad to accompany the spicy sausages.  Top it all off with 4 beers, and you’re good for the night.

**Good sausages are not the only key to this County Fair staple, rather the onion and pepper preparation has more to do with it than you think.  Cook the onions until they are sweetly caramelized and deglaze the pan with beer when they start to stick.  A smear of mustard on the baguettes as they come out of the oven along with a little drizzle of the salad marinade gives another great acid contrast.  Little makes me happier.

Makes 3 servings..and then some.

3 sausages (Spicy Italian pork sausages are great for this)

1 very large yellow onion or sweet white onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 bell peppers (a red and a green) cut into strips

olive oil

beer

Slice the onion in long, thin strips instead of mincing.  Sautee these with a bit of olive oil.  I always add a bit of soy sauce to start the caramelization process (again, soy sauce ends up in everything I cook).  Add the garlic and the peppers over medium heat.  These really need to cook down a bit before you add your sausages.  Add a few tablespoons of beer to deglaze the pan whenever the onions looks like they’re beginning to stick or burn.  Add the sausages and cover.  If these have not been par- boiled, it will take longer than you think to cook them through.  Also I made the mistake of slicing one open to see if it was still pink inside, which is a shame because then all the juices flow out….keep it sealed if you can.  Throw the bread in the oven after you’ve portioned it out for three sandwiches and sliced one end open lengthwise.  Give it a good spread of mustard or vinegar before adding the sausage and peppers mixture.

Feta salad

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1 cucumber

Feta cheese- as much as you like.  I just tried barrel aged goat/sheep’s milk feta and it was great

1 lemon

olive oil

salt 

pepper

Dice it all up, throw it all together.  Give it a few minutes to marinate in its own juices for best results.

I have this funny little habit of taking over in other people’s kitchens.  It starts with a daydream…a little fantasy to occupy my deflated brain that refuses to stay engaged with any other task once 5:00p hits.  I’m about as useless as a doorknob at that point - I may as well just go home.  A recipe idea can come from a variety of sources, but mostly it starts with some brainstorming of inexpensive ingredients that I will undoubtedly need to purchase in order to make any plan happen.  The express A train cannot get me back to Brooklyn fast enough.  Once I finally do arrive, another good 15-20 min are spent perusing either the Caribbean marketplace or the more traditional grocery store across the street.  Chances are that even after the long train ride with a game plan in mind, a glance at something else on the shelf will immediately distract me from my original idea.  A few minutes later I’m home and with barely a kiss for my darling boyfriend, I begin to unload my purchases, beaming gratefully at the clean up job Ben has already done in the kitchen before my arrival.  Last night, my recipe inspiration came from my love of eggs.  I eat them basically every day, more or less.  Breakfast eggs usually consist of a fried egg on a rice cake, spread thickly with hummus and pesto, topped with sirracha.  Dinner eggs have recently been scrambled and mixed into a spinach and onion salad with dijon vinaigrette.  Traditional omelettes are fun, frittatas hearty, but slightly time consuming, egg pizza is awesome but requires a sheet pan. Seeing as I’ve had a recent hankerin’ for tomatoes and pizza in general, I began to think about egg and tomatoes as being highly underrated.  When my friend threw me the link for a clever egg preparation webpage and I found the recipe for shakshuka, this Wednesday night dinner plan was a no brainer.  

Shakshuka is a staple in Tunisian, Algerian, Moroccan, Egyptian and Libyan cuisines.  Minimal prep and cook time and inexpensive ingredients makes this a wonderful egg dish.  Do not let a little runny yolk deter you, shakshuka is basically eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce.  You can get as creative as you like, but my first stab was pretty traditional:

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 or 2 jalepenos, diced

1 large can whole, peeled plum tomatoes

1 tbsp sour cream

cumin

paprika

5 or 6 eggs

chopped parsley

feta cheese

pita bread

Sautee the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil until the onions become translucent.  Sprinkle in some paprika and cumin with the diced jalepenos.  Allow to sautee about 6 minutes.  Crush the tomatoes in a separate bowl with the juice and add to the onion mixture.  Sprinkle in a touch of sugar and balsamic vinegar, for an added kick along with that dollop of sour cream to help mellow out the acid.  Allow the sauce to cook down until most of the water has evaporated.  In the meantime, preheat your oven and throw in those pita breads to get them nice and warm.

When the sauce has been properly salted and seasoned, crack your eggs on top, making sure they’re as separated as possible.  Cover the whites with a bit of sauce, but allow the yolks to remain undisturbed.  I highly encourage preparing this in a sautee pan that has a lid so you can trap the heat, thus helping to cook the eggs from the top.  I didn’t have a lid, so I was forced to wedge a few plates in there and stand by my eggs’ side to monitor.  Takes dedication.  When the whites have fully cooked, remove from heat and sprinkle the chopped parsley and feta cheese on top.  I was so proud to dish this out on warm pita bread and serve to boyfriend and hungry roommate.  Always most fulfilling to cook for such an appreciative audience.

Today I sent this cute little guy in a text to a few dear friends of mine fromthe office.  Sweet, caring, lovely ladies abound- offering support and tender appreciation 365 days of the working year.

Below are some of the responses I got to this fuzzy photo from the employees of the company that produced this twisted video: “A Krampus Carol”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p1JYvV178E

Choz:  Omg. Love.

Kitty:  <3

Bertha:  Mmmm!

Yeong-A:  Very sweet…but why aren’t you giving me the real deal?!

BBro:  What. The. Eff.

Suffice it to say that growing up with a Culinary graduate for a mother, I was never much inspired to assume any responsibility in the kitchen- creatively cooking or otherwise.  Sure, we pitched in with the occasional batch of chocolate chip walnut cookies or would readily stick our fingers into a pot of cheesy bechamel on it’s way to blanketing some tender rotelli noodles  (mm, mama’s mac and cheese…) but cooking for myself was out of the question.  For many years, Mama Reg operated out of our tiny kitchen and turned out masterful, unique and scrumptious layer cakes for all occasions; wedding cakes being her specialty.  How she successfully did this is a mystery to me, especially with 3 little kids on her tail, chasing after the empty bowls of butter cream and competing to be the one to lick the whisk.

When I was 11, my parents opened a small cafe in Clermont, NY called Scheff’s Kitchen- the most darling establishment you would ever cross on Rte 9 headed north.  Black and white checkered tiles on the floor, green and white on the tables, this is where fortunate locals would head for any one of her fresh baked goods; cinnamon buns, almond twists, raspberry linzer tarts, genache coated brownies, hot poppy seed rolls, sweet blueberry scones and oatmeal raisin cookies the size of a baseball glove.  Reggie would be out and about in the wee hours of the morning, setting the yeasty doughs to rise long before any of her little ones had to be awake for elementary school.  Homemade soups changed daily; Pasta Fagouli with rosemary, Vegetarian Chili, New England Clam Chowder, and Potato Leek would be scrawled across the large center blackboard in her elegant script.  Turkey clubs and BLTs would be served on fresh Challah bread or 7 grain loaf with generous schmears of mustard and mayo. 

Beverages were more my dad’s domain.  Particular about many things  (Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, Heinz ketchup, and Chunky Skippy peanut butter) my father was very strict when it came to coffee.  His preferred roasters located in the next town over even came up with a blend especially for Scheff’s Kitchen- dark, roasty and low acid.  I remember being shown how to make a proper brew on more than one occasion.  The cafe cooler was help yourself, stocked regularly with cans of coke and Mango Madness Snapple.

Scheff’s Kitchen was more than just a rich, local eatery.  Ma and Pa were also gifted musicians. Reggie had classical training on the violin and Dad had learned how to play guitar, banjo, accordion, harmonica and various brass instruments from God knows where.  My parents certainly shared a love for classic bluegrass, Irish and Canadian folk music.  Occasionally they hosted live music events at the cafe,  St. Patty’s day being a big one.  Drum circles would form and the aromas of soda bread and cabbage would fill the air late into the night. 

One Sunday, after a three year stint, Scheff’s kitchen closed.  They shut down without much warning at all.  Customers, who by now had become close friends, turned up for their much anticipated egg sandwich or tuna melt and had confused meltdowns of their own when they found the doors locked.  My parents insisted the location; though quaint, did not bring enough traffic.  Who knows the real reason…

During the life of the cozy cafe, I eventually began to regret my parents for operating such a business.  I missed seeing Reggie in the morning as much as I missed coming home from school to see her standing in our kitchen, cooking up a big pot of barley soup.  Over time, she stopped cooking at home altogether and meals were brought home from the store.  Mac and cheese that was at one point considered a favorite meal became too commonplace, cinnamon buns that she only ever made for special occasions would make their way home several times a week in plastic bags.  I acted out by refusing to eat any more food from their store.  Turning my nose up at her home cooked meals, I would settle for frozen cheese ravioli with a jar of sauce from Aldi’s grocery store.  Holy Cow Ice Cream cakes at birthdays became a favorite, replacing the spectacular peach and strawberry Italian sponge cake my mother would have crafted  (What can I say, I was 11).  Understanding my mourning for a lost pizza tradition, I came home one day to find that she had made pizza in our own oven the way she always had pre cafe years- round tray as opposed to square and cornmeal sprinkled on the bottom instead of just olive oil.  I was ecstatic.  I preferred the gritty cornmeal and the crispier crust it yielded.  Though, not all would agree.  A much sought after good at Scheff’s Kitchen was Reggie’s infamous breakfast pizza.  Layers of homefries, onions, crumbled bacon, tomato and scrambled egg topped generously with cheese would be baked fresh every morning and was equally delicious when reheated in the pizza oven.  I never ate much of this when I was younger due to my Scheff’s Kitchen baked good boycott, which is why I was tickled this morning when all I could think of was making a breakfast pizza.

The recipe I came up with is a bit less labor intensive- I’m too lazy to make my own dough, which is a shame, but is for the same reason that most other people wouldn’t want to make their own either.  Trader Joe’s sells a wonderful whole wheat pizza dough that needs no prep at all, just spread it out on a cookie sheet or as I do in the bottom of a roasting pan, and you’re ready for any topping.  That said, from now on, I’m committed to making my own dough (I’m sure Uncle Ruhlman has an easy enough method for pizza dough in his book, Ratio).

(Linden) Scheff’s Kitchen Breakfast Pizza

1 large onion

clove garlic

olive oil

dash of soy sauce (I will never change..)

2 small, thinly sliced red potaotes

1/2 orange bell pepper, sliced vertically

3 sliced baby portabello mushrooms

4 eggs, scrambled

*I spread a little pesto and sirracha on the bottom of my crust.  Also, I stirred in some chunky olive tapenade into the eggs for extra zest.  (I know, I’m all over the place)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a skillet, heat a bit of olive oil and add the onions, garlic, soy sauce and sliced potato until caramelized.  Throw in the peppers and mushrooms and cook until soft.  Scramble the four eggs in a separate skillet.  Then load up that pizza crust with your onions and things, distribute the scrambled eggs on of that, sprinkle some red pepper flakes and finish off we a little grated Comte cheese if you desire!  Bake until the top starts to bubble and the crust seems slightly firm.  This will take about 15-20 min. 

(Please note:  this does not at all resemble my mother’s breakfast pizza.  I will post that recipe here soon…)

I forgot to ask if he had a big enough bowl…that’s ok, this skull and crossbones trick-or-treat bucket will do fine!

As I walked down 6th avenue and passed in front of Trader Joe’s (my favorite grocery store for price and quality…except for maybe the produce can be hit or miss) I held my breath as I looked in the window only to find that the cashier line wrapped around the dairy section, through the frozen foods and ended near the baby carrots in the very front of the store.  Forget it.  The last thing I had in mind was to shimmy down narrow aisles crammed against a bunch of hungry, bargain seeking New Yorkers.  Any other night, I probably could have been sure there would be something at home to improvise with in my cabinets.  But tonight I was headed to my boyfriend’s apartment. While they seem to have an endless supply of black beans and eggs, there is little else that I could whip up that wouldn’t resemble yet another chili. 

Exhausting my ideas for omelettes and bean spread, I sent a text:

“Do you have any of the following in your kitchen: spaghetti, olive oil, peanut butter, soy sauce, honey?”

I get the response:

“And black beans. And eggs. And white bread.  And koolaid.  And brown liquor.  And cheap beer.” 

Perfect.  That’s all I need for peanut butter noodles.

Headed toward Crown Heights, I popped into one of those amazingly eclectic Caribbean market places that have every kind of fish sauce, coconut oil, and African spice you could ever want- and all very reasonably priced.

When you’re preparing to clean out your cabinets and start throwing a bunch of random ingredients together with the hope that enough salt will make just about any combination taste ok, it’s important to keep a few things in mind.  I’ll use peanut butter noodles as an example.  

While chances are good that most people have a box of spaghetti and a jar of Skippy laying around, it might be necessary to buy a few key items to balance out any oddities.  Remember that sweet and salty is always popular.  Throw a little honey and soy sauce in some simmering peanut butter to get your sauce going.  Peanut butter is thick and honey is coyingly sweet, so the best thing to balance that combo is some acid.  Squeeze a little lime juice into your sauce and it will make a world of difference.  If you happen to have any funky fish sauce that you managed to swipe from the office (!), add a few drops for a more authentic take on pad thai as opposed to just ‘peanut butter noodles’.  Texture is equally important- spaghetti is soft and slippery so adding a few bean sprouts, some shaved cabbage, and fresh cilantro can help alleviate the density of peanut butter soaked pasta by giving it a more crisp crunch.

All in all, this is a really easy dish to make and other than maybe stopping to pick up some lime, bean sprouts, fresh cilantro and fish sauce (if you dare!), you probably have most of the ingredients already in your kitchen.  If you wanna get really crazy, sprinkle some hot pepper flakes, crushed peanuts or scramble up an egg in the same skillet as the sauce!  (I never would have thought of that…)

1/2 lb thin spaghetti or rice noodles

3 tbsp peanut butter

3 tbsp olive or sesame oil

4 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp fish sauce

2 tsp honey

1 pint bean sprouts

1 julienne red pepper

1 bunch fresh cilantro

1/2 c. shredded carrots or cabbage

5 limes

3 eggs (optional)

red pepper flakes

This is served great hot or cold!  Don’t forget to take a swig of that other endless supply of brown liquor…