Mushrooms and Noodles, Eataly and The Bronx

Eataly, in New York City, is ugly beautiful. Cuccinaglam is distracting, but, don't let the TV Food Network energy ruin it for you. Eataly is a serious market. It’s a great place to spend a few hours wandering, eating and shopping and if you'd like, drinking. Resist the glitz, the precious packaging; and remember that you can buy many of these items at small, independent, family owned and operated grocery stores. You remember before Obama became a Republican, he kept talking about the moms and pops, about "Main Street"? (The ones who got him elected?) Barack's golfing with Boehner, but let's keep shopping on Main Street. We promised, so that makes one of us.

Outer Boro suggestion: Arthur Avenue in the Bronx:

Calabria Pork Store, Arthur Ave., The Bronx
(Walk with Pride)

Teitel Brothers, Borgatti’s and Casa della Mozzarella. Half Moon Pizza. The indoor market! The Calabria Pork Store. Oh … go eat at Roberto’s – but try to go during the week if you don't want to wait. It's so good, but bring money.

For some, the Bronx is a whole other situation. I love it.

Pour yourself a glass of wine and spend 10 minutes with this:

Back to Eataly:
I was lucky to get a cook's tour of Eataly from a friend who loves everything about food. From his small NYC kitchen, Rick regularly prepares sit-down dinners for 30. He’s taught me that you don’t need many ingredients to make great eats. In a recent letter to me, making fun of paraphrasing my personal email signature, he closed with: Care, live well, work for peace and when there's nothing to make in the house throw a little pancetta from the freezer into a sauté pan with some oil, boil up some pasta, throw a bunch of rosemary sprigs in at the end and call it dinner.

When you go to Eataly, even if you’re not going to buy anything, grab a shopping cart. They’re fun to push, well designed and they're made of recycled plastic bottles. These are the Ferrari Smart Cars of shopping carts. (Uh, Whole Foods, attenzione.) 

Okay: northwest corner for dried pasta and if you hit the jackpot, you’ll meet Nick Coleman, the market’s own olive oil guru. He guided us through an interesting tasting. 

Go to: fresh fish, butchered meat, and produce. 

photo Rick Bernstein
liver makes me gag, but these veal shanks look pretty sharp

In produce I found: mushroom varieties of high quality, great prices and both made me a happy shopper.

There are pretty packages and very beautiful bottles to admire but why get 'em when you can snap a picture?  

photo Rick Bernstein

The book shop stop (near the bathrooms!) is a good idea – it’s always fun to look before you go to Amazon.  Next time, I want to visit the newly opened beer garden on the roof. 

Here’s what you don’t want: Italian beer for $49, an entire department of Alessi gadgets I know they’re sponsors, but these housewares make it feel more like Ikeataly – so, Mario, why not kick it up a notch? Pepper grinders with ears aren't fun anymore.

I wanted the breads to be over the top, but they looked just “ very good” – (which isn’t so bad).

Truth is, I can’t wait to go back. 

Eataly

200 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 (map)
newyork.eataly.it

Mushrooms and Mushroom Noodles

Mushrooms and Mushroom Noodles
Blue Heron Kitchen

A recipe for a MEvening, inspired by a trip to NYC’s Eataly, noodles and cheese from the Bronx, and the brilliant coping strategy, as modeled by my beautiful daughter, Captain Kitchen

Mushrooms from Eataly and noodles from Borgatti’s on Arthur Ave. in the Bronx. I’m devoted to this store.

Borgatti's is about as far from Eataly as you can get. Beyond distance, it's simple, unpretentious and inexpensive. Open the door and walk in: the smell of the store is worth the visit. Go.

Noodles, not pasta. Noodles are personal.

Ingredients:

Sliced, mixed mushrooms (I used Maitake, Shitake, Cremini and plain, old, White Buttons)

Grilled Asparagus (if you feel like it and I did)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Excellent quality anchovy fillets (don’t tell me you don’t like anchovies.)

Fresh garlic

Freshly chopped rosemary

Freshly chopped sage

Freshly chopped parsley (for serving)

Red wine

Parmigiano Reggiano, grated, to taste

Coarse salt and grated black pepper, to taste

Procedure:

Pour yourself a glass of wine.

If you’re adding asparagus, grill them chop them up and set them aside.

Slice the mushrooms.

Chop together: anchovies, garlic, rosemary, sage

chopped anchovies, garlic, sage and rosemary (scratch and sniff)

Have some water coming up to a boil for your noodles. You’ve cooked noodles before, so you can do this. Make sure to put loads of salt in the water. Don’t overcook the noodles. You didn’t plan a GRievening.

Have the Parmigiano and ready to Microplane Zest (grate), or, if you’re a mis-en-place-r (no judgment), you can pre-grate.

Put some olive oil in a sauté pan and warm it.

Add the chopped anchovy/herb mixture and sauté for a few minutes. (the aroma is Creed-worthy)

Dump in the sliced mushrooms and turn heat to medium high, stirring until mushrooms

   begin to lose liquid. Keep heat at medium/high.

Add some red wine (to the pan and to your glass) and continue to cook.

Throw in chopped asparagus.

Keep it hot and high, cuoco fantastico.

Remove from heat when you like how it smells, looks, feels and tastes. Don't let your stufato di funghi go zoppicare. (try google translate)

By now, your noodles are cooked and waiting.

Add (generous amounts of) grated Parmigiano and lots of twists of freshly grated black pepper and coarse salt.

Garnish with some freshly chopped parsley.

And finally, if you haven't already spent an hour and half reading this and aren't completely annoyed, here's a little opera from a gorgeous market: Mercado Central de Valencia in Italy.
peace, love, noodles and music ... tutti in buona salute,

jane

Corn Muffins with Sage, Jalapeno and Cheese (or not)

Corn Muffins (or mini loaves) with Sage, Jalapeno and Cheese
Adapted from Martha Rose Shulman by Blue Heron Kitchen

This is the time of year when corn is all over your life. 


Sage is becoming one of my favorite herbs. I have a handsome pineapple sage plant with luscious foliage. Don’t wait until Thanksgiving, when neither corn nor sage is in season on the east coast. If your fridge is bursting with too much corn (mine was) double this recipe (I did.)  Alternatively, go to "search this blog", type in "corn". "Corn chowder" will get you out of this mess.

In a recent conversation with my mother about some Greek walnut rusks that I'd made with whole wheat flour (they were vile), she advised me that whole wheat flour makes everything dry. I don’t entirely agree with her. The way I see it, I am sentenced devoted to incorporating whole grains, the more the better, into my diet. At the same time, I’m genuinely devoted to and always learn from my mother. So, I’ve gone halfsies with whole wheat and all-purpose flour to moisten the situation and hopefully smooth out any rough edges between Mom and me. Love you, Mom.


Sugar? Although this recipe is not sugar-free, it’s just not that sweet. Reduce or increase the honey to your liking – your call. I'm kind of generous with my tablespoons. Nobody dives in for sour muffins.


Ingredients:
1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably organic stone-ground
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
½ cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. finely chopped fresh sage or 1/2 tsp. dried rubbed sage
2 eggs, size large, room temperature
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, organic, fat free if you can find it
1/4 cup Canola or other vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. honey
1 cup corn kernels (about 1-2 ear of corn – you can be generous)
2 Tbsp. minced jalapeño (1 medium)
Optional: 1/2 cup (1 oz.) grated, aged cheddar (Grafton is a good choice), or other cheese that will stand up and round out the pepper/corn situation. I used Greek Manouri cheese, which is a sheep’s milk, ricotta-like cheese.


Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven to 400º F. with the rack positioned in the upper third. Paper cups, oil or butter muffin or mini loaf tins.
2. In a large bowl, sift together cornmeal, flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Whisk together.
3. In a large (1 qt.) liquid measure, measure the buttermilk, then the oil, add eggs and honey and whisk together.

4. With a wooden spoon or spatula, stir or fold the liquid mixture into the dry mixture, mixing until just incorporated.
5. Dump in the corn kernels, minced jalapeño, sage and (optional) cheese and fold into batter. Don't (ever) overmix.

corn, sage, jalapeno and (not joking), Manouri cheese

dump and fold

(a double recipe fills a half sheet)

6. Spoon into prepared tins or cups, filling them to just below the top (about 4/5 full).


7. Bake approximately 15 to 25 minutes, depending upon size, until risen and lightly browned.


Yield: One batch should yield about a dozen human-sized muffins. You take it from there. I always double recipes – same effort, yield: two for you, one for me, six for the freezer and a few for the space you freed up in the fridge from using the corn.


Storage: These keep for a couple of days out of the refrigerator, a few more days in the fridge, and for a few months in the freezer.


Serve with: a drizzle of honey, strawberry or other fruity butter, confiture du jour: peach, fig, citrus or try them warm from the oven, with nothing at all. 


Mom, this one's for you (always look on the bright side of life)
peace and love always,
jane

Whole Wheat Passover Mandel Bread

The seders are over and you've had it with those canned Goodman's macaroons (or have you?) This year, whole wheat (spelt too!) matzo is proud on those doilies in the Passover aisles. This product, Aviv's Whole Wheat Organic Matzo Cake Meal, may be a harder to find. I found it in Whole Foods (and can't seem to find it anywhere else). But, if you're looking for organic and whole grain this week, pick up a box. It's about $.50 more than the 'other' cake meal. 

This is a 'classic' Passover recipe and my mother always made it with Nestle's chocolate chips. This year, my 81 year old mother braved major surgery to repair 'her aching back'. She could barely walk. Nothing stops my mom. She's the bravest person I know. She even baked her Passover Mandel Bread before she went into the hospital!

Mom in her kitchen.

On my next visit, I'll bring some of these and see if they meet with her approval. 

This recipe is dedicated to my mother.

I am the most beautiful box of cement matzo in the world.

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Whole Wheat Passover “Mandel Bread”

adapted from and dedicated to my mother

by Blue Heron Kitchen

Preheat oven to 350º F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.

CREAM:                                2 cups granulated white sugar

                                              ½ pound butter (83% European style – “Plugra” is

                                              made by Hotel Bar, and it's really good.)

                  1 tsp. pure orange oil ( or grated orange zest from

                  1 large orange)

ADD:          6 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg

            

SIFT TOGETHER:    2 ¾ c. whole wheat matzo cake meal 

                                  (Aviv brand found at Whole Foods

                                  Markets.)   

                                  ½ tsp. kosher salt

                                  ¾ c. potato starch

                                  1 tsp. ground cinnamon

FOLD:                                   dry ingredients into egg, butter, sugar mixture

ADD:                                     1 cup chopped toasted and cooled pecans 

                                               8 oz.  dried currants

FORM: into 4 - 2” wide [about ½-3/4” high] loaves [two loaves per cookie sheet – width, not length] and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mix. [for w.w. version, sprinkle with raw can sugar (coarse, raw, sanding sugar)]

BAKE: in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes, rotating cookie sheets half way through the bake, top to bottom and front to back.

COOL:  loaves on racks for about half an hour.

SLICE:  into 1/2” pieces and finish cooling on racks. Store in airtight container. May be frozen.

N.B.:   These cookies are not baked twice (though I’ve spoken to women who do bake them twice. I don’t know much about cement. One of my husbands was part Italian, but his family knew more about throwing epithets than about pouring cement. You don’t have to be a paisano to know that if you’re pouring cement, it should start out moist.

            Zei gezunt.

            p.s. At the end of the week, you may wanna go to: “Tabula Rasa Bran Muffins”.  

A couple of loaves

Gingered Bourban Pecan Biscotti and We Are One Day of Action

Last week, I scored some out of this world organic sugared ginger while marketing with my daughter, Captain Kitchen, at Fairway in Red Hook. This ginger is so good that we triple-tied the bag and made a bee line for the popped riced cake machine.

Whether you're getting out the feather and clearing out the chametz before Passover, looking for something to fill in for the chocolate you gave up for Lent; or if you're like me and you're going out on your 467th first date and despite going to the gym, vacuuming and changing the linens, you still have more energy than you know what to do with, bake these. 

You might also want to bake them because they just may be about the best recipe I've ever published. No kidding. 

And happy spring (that's a photo from the orchid show in the Bronx ... pretty cool, isn't it?)

peace and love,

jane

Ginger Bourbon Pecan Biscotti

Blue Heron Kitchen

Ingredients:

3/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 c. whole wheat flour

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. kosher salt

½ c. whole wheat graham flour (Bob’s Red Mill)

4 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature (83% butterfat, European style is best)

3/4 c. granulated sugar

1/4 c. dark brown sugar 

2 eggs, size large, room temperature

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

¾ tsp. ground ginger

¾ c. pecans, toasted, cooled and chopped
3-4 oz. sugared (candied, but not in syrup) organic ginger

1 ½  tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 ½ tsp. bourbon (I use Maker's Mark for baking.)

1 egg white at room temperature

Coarse sanding sugar

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350º F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or Silpat.

In a small bowl, measure the sugars and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk both flours, baking powder, salt, graham flour, cinnamon and ground ginger together.  Set aside.

In a Kitchen Aid mixer or with a hand held mixer, cream butter and sugars until very smooth.

Add eggs, and continue to beat, scraping down bowl as needed.  (With your silicone beater blade, you'll be able to just about skip this tedious job.) Beat until light, smooth and creamy.  Then, beat in extract and liquor (if you don’t have bourbon or if you're on the wagon, double the vanilla extract).

Dump in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed, until just incorporated. 

Add the chopped pecans and chopped candied ginger, and mix just to blend. Finish it up by hand.

Form two rough logs, 12”-14” long and about 11/2“ – 2” wide each. Use your hands and don’t handle them too much. Don’t pat them too much or they’ll be too ‘dense’.  Just be sure they aren’t too flat because they'll spread.

Whisk the egg white with a little bit of room temperature water (just a dash), until a little foamy. Brush on top of logs and sprinkle with the coarse sanding sugar.

Bake in the center of your preheated oven for about 15 to 20 minutes or until they logs are golden, turning the sheet around, half way through the first bake. The loaves should be slightly soft and springy to the touch.

Transfer to a rack and cool for about 15 minutes to 30 minutes. (The longer you cool them, the easier it will be to slice them for the second bake.) A serrated knife works best.

If you've turned off the oven, bring it back to 350º.

Transfer the logs to a large cutting surface (use a big spatula) and slice them on a slight angle, about 3/4” thick. Lay them on the sheets and bake them for about 10 more minutes. Once they start to turn ‘golden’, remove them from the oven and cool on racks.   

Store in airtight container and hide (them, silly).

Yield: 3 to 3 1/2 dozen

Sablés (Sandies) and Losing Our Way

I'm sharing Bob Herbert's final column, printed in the NY Times, the 26th of March, 2011. It's brilliant, correct; and it's important that you read it. 

Then, bake.

Peace (really) and love, jane

Losing Our Way

By BOB HERBERT

So here we are pouring shiploads of cash into yet another war, this time in Libya, while simultaneously demolishing school budgets, closing libraries, laying off teachers and police officers, and generally letting the bottom fall out of the quality of life here at home.

Welcome to America in the second decade of the 21st century. An army of long-term unemployed workers is spread across the land, the human fallout from the Great Recession and long years of misguided economic policies. Optimism is in short supply. The few jobs now being created too often pay a pittance, not nearly enough to pry open the doors to a middle-class standard of living.

Arthur Miller, echoing the poet Archibald MacLeish, liked to say that the essence of America was its promises. That was a long time ago. Limitless greed, unrestrained corporate power and a ferocious addiction to foreign oil have led us to an era of perpetual war and economic decline. Young people today are staring at a future in which they will be less well off than their elders, a reversal of fortune that should send a shudder through everyone.

The U.S. has not just misplaced its priorities. When the most powerful country ever to inhabit the earth finds it so easy to plunge into the horror of warfare but almost impossible to find adequate work for its people or to properly educate its young, it has lost its way entirely.

Nearly 14 million Americans are jobless and the outlook for many of them is grim. Since there is just one job available for every five individuals looking for work, four of the five are out of luck. Instead of a land of opportunity, the U.S. is increasingly becoming a place of limited expectations. A college professor in Washington told me this week that graduates from his program were finding jobs, but they were not making very much money, certainly not enough to think about raising a family.

There is plenty of economic activity in the U.S., and plenty of wealth. But like greedy children, the folks at the top are seizing virtually all the marbles. Income and wealth inequality in the U.S. have reached stages that would make the third world blush. As the Economic Policy Institute has reported, the richest 10 percent of Americans received an unconscionable 100 percent of the average income growth in the years 2000 to 2007, the most recent extended period of economic expansion.

Americans behave as if this is somehow normal or acceptable. It shouldn’t be, and didn’t used to be. Through much of the post-World War II era, income distribution was far more equitable, with the top 10 percent of families accounting for just a third of average income growth, and the bottom 90 percent receiving two-thirds. That seems like ancient history now.

The current maldistribution of wealth is also scandalous. In 2009, the richest 5 percent claimed 63.5 percent of the nation’s wealth. The overwhelming majority, the bottom 80 percent, collectively held just 12.8 percent.

This inequality, in which an enormous segment of the population struggles while the fortunate few ride the gravy train, is a world-class recipe for social unrest. Downward mobility is an ever-shortening fuse leading to profound consequences.

A stark example of the fundamental unfairness that is now so widespread was in The New York Times on Friday under the headline: “G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether.” Despite profits of $14.2 billion — $5.1 billion from its operations in the United States — General Electric did not have to pay any U.S. taxes last year.

As The Times’s David Kocieniewski reported, “Its extraordinary success is based on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore.”

G.E. is the nation’s largest corporation. Its chief executive, Jeffrey Immelt, is the leader of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. You can understand how ordinary workers might look at this cozy corporate-government arrangement and conclude that it is not fully committed to the best interests of working people.

Overwhelming imbalances in wealth and income inevitably result in enormous imbalances of political power. So the corporations and the very wealthy continue to do well. The employment crisis never gets addressed. The wars never end. And nation-building never gets a foothold here at home.

New ideas and new leadership have seldom been more urgently needed.

•

This is my last column for The New York Times after an exhilarating, nearly 18-year run. I’m off to write a book and expand my efforts on behalf of working people, the poor and others who are struggling in our society. My thanks to all the readers who have been so kind to me over the years. I can be reached going forward at bobherbert88@gmail.com.

Sablés

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan by Blue Heron Kitchen        

Americans tout chocolate chip cookies.

The French started it with sablés.

Nobody will object to sitting down to a plate of these with a glass of milk.

Sablé means ‘sand’, and when you bite into one of these sand cookies, it crumbles, a buttery empire, collapsing and exploding, simultaneously releasing flavor and texture. (Up for it?)

Forget pecan sandies. Those are childhood memory cookies that are so filled with ingredients that include numerals and that don’t come close to anything resembling this authentic ‘sandie’ experience. 

The recipe couldn’t be simpler, and once you have the technique down, you may opt for these as your new ‘go to’ for clean, simple, easy-bake, always on hand (you can keep rolls of them in the freezer for ‘slice and bake’) cookies. They’re simple and straight forward enough for young children and elegant enough to serve as a petit four at a champagne celebration or at the end of an elegant dinner party. (Remember those?)

Provided you use the best and freshest ingredients and 83% butter (either American produced, such as “Plugra” made by Hotel Bar) or the real stuff from France, you’ll be astounded at how much like a French bakery your home will smell and you’ll wonder how you ever thought pecan sandies were what a ‘sand cookie’ was supposed to be.

The basic recipe is below and there are two variations, one with nuts and the other with chocolate ‘chips’. You can play around with citrus rinds (I omit the citrus when I use chocolate chips and nuts), and Dorie’s recipe has other variations for ‘spice’ sablés (add 1 ½ tsp. cinnamon, ½ tsp. ground ginger and ¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg into the flour), as well as a savory one with parmesan cheese, omitting both sugars and adding 2 ¼ oz. very finely grated parmesan cheese to the beaten butter (don’t coat the logs with sugar with the savory variation – you can, however, sprinkle the logs with finely chopped nuts or fleur de sel.)

Ingredients:

8 oz. unsalted butter, (83% butterfat such as Plugra brand or imported butter from France is recommended), at room temperature

½ c. granulated sugar

grated zest from one lemon, preferably organic

¾ c. confectioner’s sugar (be sure to sift first, then measure)

½ tsp. kosher salt

2 large egg yolks, room temperature*

1 egg, room temperature (optional, if you’re coating the roll)

2 c. all-purpose flour (unbleached, scoop and level to measure)

sanding sugar, optional

finely chopped, toasted almonds, optional

INGREDIENTS for two VARIATIONS:

NUTS: substitute ½ cup of the flour with ½ cup finely ground almond (or other nut) flour (Bob’s Red Mill is a great American brand.) Whisk together with the flour and set aside.

CHOCOLATE “CHIPS”: finely chop 2 ½ oz. excellent quality (Valhrona dark chocolate) and mix into batter, by hand, as the final step.

Procedure:


Sift and measure 10X (confectioner's sugar) and whisk together with granulated sugar in a small bowl. If you are using citrus zest, using your fingers, incorporate the zest into the sugars and set aside. You might want to do this while you are bringing the butter and eggs to room temperature. It's a useful truc to have in your repertoire. The citrus oils have an opportunity to combine with the sugars.

In the bowl of a Kitchen Aid or other electric mixer, using a paddle attachment (have you bought your beater blade yet?) Beat butter at medium speed until smooth and very creamy.

Add both sugars and salt and beat until blended. Important: This mixture should be smooth, but not fluffy.

Reduce speed to low and beat in egg yolks until combined.

Turn off mixer and pour in flour (or flour/ground nut mixture). Pulse several times (you can put a towel over the mixer so you don’t look like Lucy in the ‘make up!’ episode) until just incorporated. Continue, uncovered until the flour just disappears into the dough. The dough isn’t going to come away from the sides of the bowl. It’s not going to come into a ball.  Work the dough as little as possible. It’s going to look and feel moist and as Dorie says, like Play-Doh.

Scrape onto a clean and smooth surface, divide into three or four balls, whatever size you’re most comfortable working with, and shape each into a log. Diameter is up to you, but I like about one inch. It’s easy to do this on plastic wrap (I’m still looking for non-BPA – if you find it, please write to me and tell me.) and then roll it, and swing it into a roll, holding the two ends. (It’s fun.)

Refrigerate at least 3 hours. Longer is better. You can keep it in the fridge up to three days or you can freeze these logs up to 2 months.

Baking the sablés:

Preheat oven to 350º F. and center the oven rack. You’re going to back just one sheet at a time. (sorry) Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

Remove one log at a time from fridge. If you’re going to coat the outside of the log, whisk the egg and using a pastry brush, coat the outside of the log with the egg and sprinkle the log with sanding sugar or chopped nuts (or a combination of the two!), or if you’re making the savory sablés, some fleur de sel, and then with a sharp knife and a swift cut, slice the cookies about 1/3” -1/2” thickness, your call. Leave an inch between the cookies.

Bake one sheet at a time for about 15 minutes, give or take, until they are browned on the bottom, lightly golden around the edges and pale on top. They will be tender and crumble when they come out of the oven. Let them rest before transferring them to a rack with a wide metal spatula to cool to room temperature.