Originals

Posted on May 3, 2013 by marigold

Dianna Vreeland

Dianna Vreeland

A flamboyant, ugly duckling who managed to steal the thunder from many a swan and is credited with inventing the profession of fashion, Dianna Vreeland was entirely her own creation.  She began her career as a columnist for Harper’s Bazaar where her ‘Why Don’t You’ column was much talked about (largely  because it outrageous, i.e., suggesting women wash their hair in dead Champagne or dress their children like Marie Antoinette.) Later, she joined Vogue. Vreeland’s final career move was transforming the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute from stodgy into fabulous, organizing blockbuster shows including tributes to Balenciaga and Yves St. Laurent.

Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel, is a fascinating documentary that opens in her famously very red New York apartment.

The Vreeland digs

The Vreeland digs

If you use Netflix or can get it from your library, give it a shot.

Elaine Stritch, the celebrated entertainer noted for her gravelly voice, voluminous white shirts and  great legs,  recently decamped from her apartment in New York’s Carlyle Hotel to return home to Bloomfield, MI. (Bets are being taken as to whether or not she’ll return to the Big Apple.)

Elain Stritch

Elain Stritch

I saw Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me, at the Tribeca Film Festival and have seen the genuine article on stage several times. Another real original, she’s now eighty-seven and still a force. This film is especially moving as Stritch permitted, (according to the director, encouraged), filming in highly vulnerable situations including several hospitalizations for diabetes.  Hats off, ladies.

For an original recipe, here is something my mother sometimes whipped up to serve with drinks. (Remember, this was a woman who almost never entered a kitchen but managed to orchestrate terrific food.)

Hors d’oeuvre a là Natalie  

Equal parts smooth peanut butter and catsup (Yes, it sounds revolting but where is your sense of adventure?)

Crackers—your choice although my mother served it on original Ritz. (Don’t select a cracker with an assertive taste.)

Optional: cooked, crisp crumbled bacon

 How to: In a small bowl, mix peanut butter and catsup together. Mound a generous dollop attractively on each cracker. If you like, top with the bacon.  Honestly, it’s delicious and the perfect complement to your cocktail.

 Ritz

 

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Chinese Old School Tie

Posted on April 23, 2013 by marigold

Asia LionThe current exhibition at the Asia Society  is The Artful Recluse, which I visited with some Vassar classmates.  It was way beyond an ordinary viewing as one classmate owns several items in the exhibit and provided a very informative commentary on all the material. The items on view include hanging and hand scrolls, a few breathtaking pots, and poems written in exquisite calligraphy

Being a recluse in seventeenth century China wasn’t simple.

A recluse in the wilds

A recluse in the wilds

Many factors, including weird weather, uprisings, highly corrupt eunuchs at court and threats to the national border led to the collapse of the Ming dynasty. (Is it only me who finds  echoes of our society minus the eunuchs?)  Then came the nasty Manchus who established the Qing dynasty.  As a result of the upheaval, many of China’s highly educated elite, known as the literati, highly accomplished poets, calligraphers and painters, felt threatened.  As a result, some took –literally—to the hills.  One painter/recluse went to such extremes that during the twenty years when his family was dying of starvation he refused to leave his house.

I would have made a terrible recluse as the very idea of living alone in the mountains gives me a panic attack.  True, the recluses described in the exhibition were often surrounded by family and/or servants so their every need was met. I am simply not that good a loner.

Afterwards, we had lunch in the Asia Society’s lovely Garden Court Café where the food is as mannered as the works of art and each plate is beautifully composed. asia resto  Even the tea, be it hot or iced, is a far cry from English Breakfast (or, my house blend, Lipton.)  If you need a dash of retail therapy, the Asia Store has gorgeous jackets and scarves, terrific jewelry and an impressive array of books.

This recipe is a million miles from anything at the Garden Court Café, as it’s closer

to what’s served in an average Chinese restaurant. However, it’s easy and very

forgiving, allowing you to use any veggies you like. Even if you stick to broccoli

and carrots the end game will be delicious. And you don’t have to eat it alone,

recluse-style.

 stirfryjpg

Vegetable Stir Fry

 

Serves 6

 

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 1/2 cloves garlic, crushed (or use a garlic press for a more subtle taste)

2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger root,

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 small head broccoli, cut into florets

1/2 cup snow peas cut in halves

3/4 cups julienned carrots

1/2 cup halved green beans

2 T soy sauce (use light soy if you prefer)

2 1/2 T water

1/4 finely chopped onion

1/4 T salt (taste before serving and add more if needed)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  In  a large bowl, blend cornstarch, garlic, 1 teaspoon ginger, and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil until cornstarch is dissolved. Mix in broccoli, snow peas, carrots, and green beans, tossing to lightly coat.

           

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Cook vegetables in oil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Stir in soy sauce and water. Mix in onion, salt, and remaining 1 teaspoon ginger. Cook until vegetables are tender but still crisp.

 

 

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Dingle Town

Posted on April 5, 2013 by marigold

 

Gallarus Oratory near Dingle (look ma, no mortar!)

Gallarus Oratory near Dingle (look ma, no mortar!)

Dear Readers:

This is sort of a bonus post.  The editor of an article I wrote asked me to link to it via my blog. It’s about the town of Dingle that is on the famed–and obscenely gorgeous–Dingle Peninsula in southwestern Ireland.

Here’s the link:

http://www.cheaphotels.org/travelogues/2013/04/dingle-a-jewel-of-the-dingle-peninsula/

Hope you enjoy it.  No recipe so you can simply salivate for next time.

 

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Sicily: Mt. Aetna and Perfect Arancini

Posted on March 29, 2013 by marigold

Mt Aetna Mt. Aetna on a nice day

A few years ago visiting Sicily, we took a bus from Taormina south to Mt. Aetna. We left wearing tee shirts and shorts;  en route, we layered on sweatshirts, sweaters and long pants, forewarned about wintry temperatures on the mountain.  At the base of the volcano, in addition to tickets for the Funivia, a cable car, we were offered and accepted parkas–a good move.

Who put the fun in Funivia?

Who put the fun in Funivia?

The Funivia lifted us up and over mountains and dropped us where four-wheel vehicles were waiting to drive over a moonscape of craters and black, nubby lava.  Then we hiked about a half-mile in snow.  (I had on sneakers unlike some climbers with only clogs or sandals and cold feet.)

A few hundred feet from the summit, steam poured out of vents in the rocks, proof of Aetna’s internal activity. The heat on my hand held over a hole felt like water from a boiling kettle.

On the return Funivia ride I met a teen-aged boy and his mother going to rendezvous with her Sicilian family. Tom, the son, had a personal mission:  a search for the best arancini, the ubiquitous Sicilian snack made of rice, wrapped around a little meat with a few peas and crisply fried. (Arancini means little oranges but most I’ve eaten were far smaller.)

Tom confessed he sampled arancini every chance he got, sometimes eating at six or seven places a day. (Teen-aged boys don’t obsess about weight.) When I asked which ones he’d most enjoyed,  Tom leaned towards me and lowered his voice. This was top secret info.

“Are you going to Cefalu?”

“Absolutely.”

“Try the arancini they sell at the square in front of the cathedral. They’re fabulous, “he said. “My mother thinks that her mother’s version is the best in Sicily but I don’t want to start a family war.”

A week later, in the windy square in Cefalu, Cefalucathedralwe gorged on arancini. Tom was right; they were terrific, crisp and greaseless outside with a delicious filling.

To experience Sicilian food in New York, drop into Nica Trattoria on East 84th Street. A few caveats:  it’s not inexpensive and it’s cash-only. However, the welcome is exuberant, the food fabulous and everything is made to order. The chef/owner, delightful Giuseppe Nicolosi, Nico at Nica

gave me a recipe for fresh sardines a Beccafico (this translates as Warbler, as in the bird. Nothing birdlike about what he served.) However,  his handwritten recipe in Italian flummoxed even a fluent friend. Thus, we have a recipe for Arancini a la Siciliana (which our chef points out is strictly a peasant food.)

 

 

Arancini a la Siciliana

Arancini a la Siciliana

1 ½ cups long grain rice

¼ cup butter

2 T Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Scant ½ cup ground beef (my guess is this is less than ½ pound)

Scant ½ cup white wine

2 T tomato paste

3 1/3 oz mozzarella, diced

2 eggs

½ cup flour

Vegetable oil for frying

Cook rice in boiling, salted water 15-18 minutes or until tender. Drain, put into a bowl and stir in half the butter and the Parmesan—then spread rice out on counter and let it cool.

Melt remaining butter in large pan, add beef and cook, stirring often, until meat is fully browned. Sprinkle in the wine and cook (about a minute) until it evaporates.

Stir in tomato paste, cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Season with salt and remove from heat.

Shape cooled rice into little balls (roughly golf ball size) and hollow out the centers. Fill with a little meat sauce, 1-2 cubes of mozzarella and seal with more rice.

In shallow dish beat eggs with a pinch of salt . Put flour in another shallow dish and dip arancini first into beaten eggs, then into flour. Shake off any excess. Heat oil in a large pot and test –it’s hot enough when a cube of bread browns in thirty seconds. Fry arancini in oil until golden brown all over. Drain on paper towels and serve.

Full disclosure: I haven’t made these due to fear of frying. I do order them in restaurants!

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Not Wearing the Green But Baking the Bread

Posted on March 19, 2013 by marigold

The day before the big green day, I went to the exhibition W W II in NYC at the brilliantly- renovated New York Historical Society.  Thanks to a friend’s generosity, I was part of a Barnard College Club group so I benefited  from a particularly knowledgeable, fun and funny docent.  We toured the exhibit, learning that Maidenform Bras almost didn’t exist during wartime because the War Production Board tried rationing materials until the outcry grew too great.

No lace, no style but a WWII Maidenform bra.

Part of the cyclotron that was used in the Manhattan Project is on view, looking ancient and in need of a polish. Visitors at this exhibit see and hear and see a host of artifacts ranging from a Philco radio broadcasting Edward R. Murrow to ship silhouettes in the New York Harbor to a fascinating film by a wartime cameraman who not only shot images of D-Day but also memorialized his visits to Picasso in Paris. It’s a great exhibit and well worth the time.

As part of the NYHS’s new look, it has a delightful new restaurant, Storico, serving lunch, brunch, “later afternoon,” (I interpret this as teatime), and dinner. My bresaola (air dried beef) panini with arugula and horseradish was served on wonderful, chewy bread;

another woman at my table said her eggs with pancetta and tomato sauce with more of that bread, toasted, was also terrific. Prices are reasonable and the setting, with  many different china patterns displayed in sleek, white cabinets set high into the walls and windows overlooking Central Park West, is lovely.

During lunch it began to snow. That, combined with the famed parade, snarled traffic but it’s all part of St. Patrick’s Day in the Big Apple.

The next day, actual St. P Day, I baked Irish Soda Bread Buns, inspired by a recipe from The New York Times. My parents had an Irish housekeeper who often made soda bread. I used to sneak into the kitchen and slice off a hunk –this recipe brought a lot of memories back. And, it’s easy. Herewith:

My Irish Soda Bread Buns

Soda Bread Buns (Melissa Clark, New York Times)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed, more for greasing pan

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour  (more as needed to flour surface)

¾ cup whole wheat flour

¼ cup grams sugar

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

¾  tsp baking soda

2/3 cup buttermilk, more for brushing (No buttermilk? Google proportions of vinegar put into regular milk—works just fine.)

1 large egg

2/3 cups dried currants (I used a little over ½ cup)

1 ½ tsp. caraway seeds

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a large rimmed baking sheet. (I used butter)

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers,  work in butter until mixture forms coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg. Stir wet mixture into dry one until they just form a moist dough.  With your hands, mix in currants and caraway seeds .

3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into a 7-inch round about 1-inch thick. Cut into 8 wedges. I Ieft mine wedge shaped so they look more like scones. Melissa Clark does it this way: Using lightly floured hands, roll each wedge into a ball and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.

Using kitchen shears, snip a small “x” into the top of each bun. (You can also use a knife—I did.) Brush tops with a little buttermilk, and dust lightly with flour.

4. Transfer baking sheet to oven. Bake until buns are golden brown and firm, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Mine were done in 20 minutes. The crosses sort of disappeared but served with butter they make a great snack or breakfast. Slainte, “slan-cha”) as the Irish say.

 

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Brit Bonanza

Posted on March 7, 2013 by marigold

Having reached the end of Season Three of Downton Abbey, I’ve been mesmerized by Parade’s End, another series about Brits in the dying days of the Edwardian period.  As the NY Times said, PE tells of a bad marriage set in the midst of a rotting civilization and stars Benedict Cumberbach, a convincing, understated actor.  No one in Europe other than Cumberbach’s character thinks war is about to explode.  Parade’s End isn’t as easy to deal with as Downton but it’s deeper and very revealing. Not as many gorgeous gowns but more complex camera work,  worth every minute.

For years, I have been a pretty rabid Anglophile although  I did not get up in the middle of the night to watch Dianna and Charles wed, nor did I hang onto every detail of William and Kate’s nuptials but I know a lot more about these people than I do about American starlets and stars.  Furthermore, I have a grudging admiration for the Queen , (always called the “Q” in our house),

not because she’s had the misfortune to have all her children turn out incredibly badly nor because the institution she heads is sort of a joke. I commend her because she sucks it up and soldiers on. Sure, I hate her awful hats and handbags but they suit her as they—like their wearer—are anachronistic. I once wrote an article about a desire to be the Q because it would free me of having to tote briefcase, large bag and purse to work on the subway each day, as well as being the way to escape from carrying money, a MetroCard

and all the other detritus that has always confused my purse. Bad idea; in retrospect, I’d much rather be me. The idea of having my life scrutinized by others horrifies me and, if you’re a Royal, you live in a glass house.

In keeping with things British, here is a recipe for sticky toffee pudding. I’ve had it before, (initially in Taormina, hardly a British outpost) but this version was brought by good friends as the conclusion to a simple but fabulous meal when we were last in Vermont. Both the husband and wife of the dinner team are excellent cooks; this offering was from the husband, a kind, sensitive guy who also bakes fabulous pies.  It’s not at all hard to make and feeds a lot of people.

Herewith:

Sticky Toffee Pudding from Oprah via Jim Carter 

Sticky Toffee Pudding, Toffee Sauce and Whipped Cream

8 servings

1 cup boiling water

1 container (10 ounces) pitted dates

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter at room temperature

5 tablespoons sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 pint heavy cream

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter

Whipped cream for topping (optional)

To make pudding: Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a high-sided 9-inch round baking pan; line bottom with waxed paper. In a medium bowl, pour water over dates; stir in baking soda, and let stand until dates soften, about 5 minutes. In another medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until almost smooth. With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture until just combined; add date mixture and vanilla until blended.

Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until top feels firm, 30 to 33 minutes. (mine was done in under 30 minutes.)

While pudding bakes, make toffee sauce: In a medium saucepan, bring heavy cream and light brown sugar to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add butter, and boil 3 minutes.

Remove pudding from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Place waxed paper over top of pudding, and unmold by inverting pudding onto a plate; invert again onto a serving plate, top side up. Using a fork, poke holes in surface of pudding so toffee sauce will seep in evenly. Spoon 6 Tablespoons sauce, one at a time, over top. Serve remaining sauce alongside warm pudding, with a bowl of whipped cream, if desired.

Note: I made it two days ahead and kept in, covered with foil raised by toothpicks in fridge. I also made sauce and kept it. Took pudding out about an hour before serving and warmed sauce in microwave.

Second note: This is my 100th post! Perhaps a drumroll is in order?

 

 

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Don’t Play With Your Food

Posted on February 18, 2013 by marigold

Maybe once in a great while mother doesn’t always know best. For Valentine’s Day,  we went to an entertainment that was, literally, “playing with food.”  Food Acts is  a series of short stories, quotations, and observations by famous people all involving food on NYC’s Little Theater Row.

We were greeted by two women wearing toques and aprons who presented us each with a Menu, aka, the program. 

 

Inside, food-related music filled the air, mostly oldies of the Animal Crackers in My Soup, If I Knew You Were Coming I’d Have Baked a Cake and Rum and Coca Cola variety. Eight actors got up as chefs spoke or enacted bits ranging from Dorothy Parker to Homer to Anthony Bourdain, some funny, some slightly icky (one about hog slaughter and another about rat cookery in restaurants in China.) Overall, the entertainment could have been a little shorter and had more musical numbers but we enjoyed it.

Then to Vermont where we were joined by some kids and grandkids. Over the weekend went a Fireman’s Breakfast (brunch for us) in West Pawlet to eat pancakes plain and/or with cranberries, blueberries or chocolate chips, waffles, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs and home fries with juice and coffee. (Oh yes, someone offered us a piece of birthday cake and there were chocolate-covered cookies on the way out.)

At $7 an adult pop, the price was right and the atmosphere straight out of Norman Rockwell. In the afternoon, some of went skating and others to a Clawhammer banjo and fiddle concert featuring John Specker in a artesan’s gallery in Londonderry.

 

John Specker playing Clawhammer Banjo

(follow link to hear him on banjo– if it works) http://youtu.be/-V-9rE005a4http

In keeping with the high cholesterol theme of the day, for dinner that night we had fried chicken. Years ago, my family was looked after by Margaret Pruden who was our housekeeper-cum-babysitter. She also made the best fried chicken in the world. This isn’t exactly Margaret’s recipe but as close as I can come as she never revealed her secret.

Fried Chicken (slightly tweaked from Martha Stewart)

2 cups buttermilk (which you can make by adding 2 Tbls. white vinegar to just under two cups milk and letting it sit for five minutes.)

Kosher salt

3 teaspoons cayenne pepper

2 whole chickens (2 1/2 to 3 pounds each), each cut into 10 serving pieces (wings, thighs, drumsticks, and 4 breast pieces)

3 cups all-purpose flour

4 cups vegetable oil

In each of two 1-gallon resealable plastic bags, combine 1 cup buttermilk, 1/2 tablespoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, and half the chicken pieces. Shake to coat, refrigerate up to 2 days. (Or an hour or so.)

In a large shallow bowl, whisk flour with 2 tablespoons salt and remaining 2 teaspoons cayenne. Dredge chicken pieces one at a time in mixture, shaking off excess.

In a 12-inch cast-iron skillet heat oil to until a pinch of flour sizzles when dropped into it. This means oil is roughly 350 degrees.

Carefully add 1/2 of the chicken. Cook 10 minutes: turn chicken with tongs. Cook until golden brown and juices run clear, about 10 minutes more. Transfer to a paper towel draped rack to drain.

Return oil temperature to 350 degrees. Repeat with remaining chicken. Season with more salt if you wish. Serve, whistling Dixie.

 

 

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I’m Not Called Little Buttercup

Posted on January 21, 2013 by marigold

New York City Gilbert & Sullivan Players

My father and his brother were huge Gilbert and Sullivan fans and started me off young at performances at the Jan Hus House (still there.) I learned the music and was thrilled that my camp always put on a G &S operetta. Some years I was in the chorus; other summers I  had a part and once– oh rapture! — played Mabel in Pirates of Penzance.  I passed the G&S torch to my older daughter whose enthusiasm infected her daughter, my granddaughter. It didn’t hurt that her  school taught the  seventh grade I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General. Last weekend that seventh grader and I saw  H.M.S. Pinafore at City Center, performed by the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players. It was brilliant—possibly the best production I’ve ever seen and I’ve probably seen Pinafore fifty times, maybe more.  As a bonus, we were treated to a pre-show talk by the company’s director and a post-show backstage tour with cast members where we walked on the set and saw what the auditorium looks like from the stage.

Onstage at City Center

 

The pre-show talk was a revelation of G & S factoids. I knew that Victorian-era sailors were called “tars” because they picked up the substance from climbing the  ship’s riggings, smeared with tar  to keep the ropes from disintegrating in the sea air.  What I didn’t know was that the classic tar salute is with an open palm turned away to show their officer that they had washed their hands!  I also never understood that the last names of the sailors like Deadeye (as in Dick) and Rackstraw (as in Ralph—pronounced ‘Rafe’), are parts of a ship. Worse, the irony of naming a  navy ship after a dainty pinafore had missed me. One more:  the real-life model for Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B. (Knight Commander of the Bath) who was made First Lord of the Admiralty, was a bookseller who had indeed stuck close to his desk and never gone to sea. Instead of being insulted by the song, he loved it and went about humming the tune.

                                             Sir William Schwenck Gilbert who had difficult, cold, parents was the librettist; Sir Arthur Sullivan, who never married but had serious relationships with many women, wrote the music. Both wrote prodigiously apart from each other but neither received the fame separately that was generated by their fourteen collaborations. If you’ve never seen Mike Leigh’s film, Topsy Turvey, about the G&S collaboration, do yourself a favor and rent it. I’m sure it’s not entirely historically accurate but it’s lots of fun even if you’re not an ardent Savoyard.

Sir Arthur Sullivan

 

In keeping with the Victorian nature of the above, here is a recipe for The Victorian Cucumber Sandwich—the perfect item to serve at high tea!

 

 

 

1 large cucumber, peeled
Salt
1 T. olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice

Scant tsp. sugar
Freshly ground white pepper

About 3 T creamed, unsalted butter

Thin sliced brown or white bread, crusts removed

Cut the cucumber as thin as you can with a mandolin if possible (watch those fingers!) Salt the slices lightly and let them drain in a colander weighted with a plate for about two hours, pressing from time to time to get rid of the juices.

Combine the sliced, drained cucumber with the oil, lemon juice, sugar and the fresh-ground pepper—no more salt. Spread thin slices of brown or white bread with creamed butter and, at the last minute, fill with the cucumbers. Serve immediately so the sandwiches don’t get soggy. Each sandwich should be no more than two bites. Victorian ladies were very delicate.  Hum Three Little Maids from School or another G&S favorite while you enjoy your tea.

 

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Round and Square

Posted on January 9, 2013 by marigold

Central Park Arsenal (right at the entrance to the Zoo)

I have lived in New York my entire life and only recently found out about the Arsenal Gallery.  It’s in the old, brick building in front as you enter the Central Park Zoo, now devoid of large animals but still home to the seals, penguins and some other holdouts. The building itself, built between 1847 and 1851, predates the park and began life as a munitions storehouse. The “atrium” lobby has 1930s WPA murals of historic scenes of the 19th century including what look like Civil War soldiers in formation. Each holiday season the gallery mounts a wreath exhibit (that could use better publicity.)  This year’s show had forty-one entries, many made of unusual materials ranging from old bicycle tires to Chinese food containers.

Wreath made of Chinese food containers

One is made of whole almond shells collected from a family farm in Greece. Another is the work of a native American, judging by his name, that includes wind charms, feathers and shells described as “wampum.”

Recycling nut shells

 

Walking back uptown through Central Park, most people weren’t speaking English.  We New Yorkers should be very glad tourists visit, stay in our hotels, go to our theaters and museums, eat in our restaurants and do their bit for the city’s economy.

 

The American Museum of Natural History currently has a show called Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture, that’s interesting but could be more so. Obviously works of art need dim lighting to preserve them but why does a display of modern artifacts or reproductions need to be so dark and why have display notes in white print against a dark ground making them hard to read? The items to smell in the test kitchen are in bins that require Paul Bunyan to open. (Cranky visitor here, sorry.)

The part of the exhibit I most enjoyed were vignettes showcasing food from the eras of famous people. Jane Austin presence is recalled via ice cream, served in a fancy mold to the gentry she wrote about.

Austin ice cream mold

An ancient Roman’s “h’ors doeuvres” are on view.  Elsewhere, there are (replicated) square watermelons as grown in Japan inside special glass containers that set their shape. A recreated Aztec marketplace is full of model foods including crickets for nibbling but, having been to real markets in modern Peru, it’s hard to equate shiny, clean-appearing foodstuffs to the real thing that is far more chaotic and a lot dirtier. I did learn that potatoes were poisonous until peoples in the Andes transformed them into edible crops some 7,000 to 10,000 years ago.

Recreated spotless Aztec marketplace

 

I adore potatoes so in this spirit, here is a recipe for a potato side dish that’s delicious and a cinch to make.

 

 

Oven “Fried” Potatoes

 Serves 4

4 russet (baking) potatoes, peeled and sliced diagonally 1/8 inch thick (technically, use a mandolin to slice. You can also do the job with a sharp knife.)

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) of butter, melted

Coarse salt to taste

Pat the potatoes dry between paper towels and arrange them in one layer in 2 buttered cookie sheets; if you have a non-stick cooking spray, this works fine for greasing the pans. Brush the potatoes with the butter, bake them in a preheated 500°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Sprinkle them with the salt.

P.S.  NYC Foodie alert: if you like tapas as in the real deal, take yourself to Txilkito (“chekeeto”) in Chelsea at 240 Ninth Avenue. They take reservations for parties of three or more and the food is fabulous.  We had something resembling a Basque “cookie” with a slightly spicy mushroom filling inside two pieces of grilled bread (four in a serving); ultra thin-sliced pork plated with a puree of fava beans and a hot dish of white beans with mussels. And more. All divine.

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‘Twas the Afternoon Before…

Posted on December 26, 2012 by marigold

Not quite Rudolph

As we have done for the last three years on Christmas Eve afternoon, some members of my family and I went to see the gingerbread creations at NYCs Parker Meriden hotel. My older daughter and her daughter wore their reindeer antlers the entire time including on the bus downtown and back on the “everybody here is from out of town and who cares anyway? theory.  They got a lot of smiles and approving nods.

At the hotel, only six creations were on display, most terrific. My personal fave was the Sphinx with crumbling nose (as in the real one)

 

with a chariot lying in the sand nearby, a little baker’s creative license.  Mexico’s Chichen  Itzh, one of the “new” seven wonders of the world,  was also brilliantly conceived although it didn’t make the climb up to the top even remotely as terrifying as my recollection of doing it years ago.The Lincoln Memorial, in white fondant with blue earmuffs and mittens, was fabulous. 

 

The windows at Bergdorf Goodman were fun but not to be compared with those of 2011 in which each featured a different material like paper or stone– far more creative than this year’s tribute to the Jazz Age.

 

Before our outing we had a wonderful lunch of Chinese Frittata, recipe below. Lasagna and salad dealt with Christmas Eve; Christmas Day was filled with family consuming  oceans of Prosecco, gravlax and sauce with black bread, goat cheese, flatbread, edamame, sliced flank steak marinated in teriyaki, babaganosh, pita chips and pizza squares followed by bread pudding with whiskey sauce and ice cream for the younger set (the ice cream, not the whiskey sauce.)

Last week also marked the memorial for Isiah Sheffer, founder of Symphony Space and creator of many programs including Selected Shorts.

Isiah Sheffer

The event, by ticket only, was terrific and very in keeping with Isaiah’s personality—funny and erudite.  There were clips of Isaiah singing a song about arugula and another about his dislike of  NY Times writer Paul Krugman, talks by his wife, daughter and numerous friends/business compatriots and colleagues. After two hours at seven PM, I tore myself away as the end was not in sight and I wanted to get home.

 

Now comes the doldrums period between Christmas and New Year’s. I feel a bit cooked out but will undoubtedly find that feeling has passed before long and embark on a new cycle.

Chinese Frittata

Serves 5-6 ( to serve more increase number of eggs, milk, butter and amount of leftovers)

8 eggs

Milk (about 1/4 cup)

3 generous T butter

Leftover Chinese food –don’t be fussy, just use anything you have be it vegetable or animal, the more the better, including rice.  Cut meat and veggies into thin strips.

Shredded Parmesan

Beat eggs with milk. Add salt and pepper unless your leftovers have a lot of soy in them making the end result sufficiently salty.

Use a large pan that can go into your oven. Heat oven to 350 and put the pan into  the oven with the butter in it. Pay attention—you want the butter to melt but not brown. When melted, pour in half the egg mixture and return to oven. After about eight minutes, add the Chinese leftovers and Parmesan. A minute later, pour the remaining egg mixture over the top. Bake another ten minutes or so.

To serve, cut into wedges. Serve with a hearty green salad and bread if you wish.  Bundle up and enjoy a pre-Christmas walk.  Happy 2013 to all!

 

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