The Transportable Kitchen

On Tuesday, November 6th, Kitchen, la cuisine transportable, a performance project by artists Thorsten Baensch and Christine Dupuis, will be shown at the Mid-Manhattan Library. The "kitchen" is made of cardboard and filled with recipes and notes. Visitors are invited to share their own recipes with the artists in exchange for soup, tea, and other snacks. There is more information on the project's website, but I have a feeling one just has to experience it oneself.

Tuesday, November 6th at 5:00pm. Mid-Manhattan Library, corner of 40th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Candy

In today's New York Times Julia Moskin interviewed chefs to see what kinds of Halloween goodies they'll be giving away at their eateries, and which candies they enjoyed eating as kids. Most of the chefs are offering home-made candies and treats, even though the candy they enjoyed most as kids was hardly artisanal. If you're in the mood to impress your trick-or-treaters, you too can opt to make your own candies. If you hurry, you could rush over to the Library to get some recipes from our selection of confectionery cookbooks, and still have time to make them for the early crowd.

My stand-by faves were always Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Snickers or Milky Way (even better frozen - just watch your teeth), or the best of all: 100 Grand Bars. Today I think I'd opt for some Almond Joys.

Speaking of Almonds, if you haven't read Steve Almond's Candy Freak, we have it at the Library and I highly recommend it. He cites 5 Star Bars as being some of his favorite gourmet candy bars. They're sold at Whole Foods and they are delicious. Best of all, you won't break any teeth on them...just the bank.

Chana Masala

If you're the kind of person who makes Chana Masala then you probably have a favorite recipe already. I understand. I've had a lot of favorite recipes, from Madhur Jaffrey to Lord Krishna to Orangette. Recently, however, I've discovered what may now be my favorite recipe of the them all. It's from Vij's Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine which comes from Vij's Restaurant in Vancouver, Canada. It's wonderfully rich, extremely easy, and very flexible. I've made it as is, and I've also added fried eggplant which was amazing.* Other worthwhile dishes in this book include the Lamb in Buttermilk Curry and the Seared Striped Bass in Sour Cream Curry, but I plan to try them all. Unfortunately the Library does not own this cookbook...yet. Rest assured, the order has been placed.

Simple Masala
(adapted from Vij's Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine) Serves 2-3.

1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions (about 2 medium)
2T. chopped garlic
1 1/2c. chopped tomatoes (I've used canned and fresh. Both work well, but my preference is the fresh).
1/2t. turmeric
2t. ground cumin
1 1/2t. salt
1/2t. cayenne pepper
1 can chickpeas or kidney beans, rinsed and drained.
1 to 2 cups water

Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pot on medium high heat. Add onions and sauté until golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until browned, about 3 more minutes. Stir in tomatoes, then add turmeric, cumin, coriander, salt and cayenne. Turn down the heat to medium and sauté, stirring regularly, until the oil separates from this Masala mixture. This means the spices are cooked through and the "stock" for your curry is made.

So that you don't waste this Masala, add the chickpeas (or kidney beans) and enough water to make a curry with a consistency you prefer. (Adding all the water will make a soupy curry.) Stir well, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes. Your basic curry is ready to eat.

*The authors also note that you can add any vegetable to this Masala, except for broccoli. "Broccoli is the one non-Indian vegetable whose flavours, in our view, don't match Indian spices. Not all Indians share this view."

Desert Island Cookbook

Jason Hernandez-Rosenblatt
Restaurant Reviewer, NY Daily News
Brooklyn, NY

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig

WHY DO YOU LIKE IT? More than just a cookbook, Nourishing Traditions is a philosophy of food. The 700 or so recipes contained within are based on fundamental human dietary principles that are universally consistent throughout history all over the world since the beginning of time.

Gleaning from diets ranging from the Masai to the Maori, Laura Ingalls Wilder to the Lakota, Incas to Indonesians, Nourishing Traditions challenges modern and new-fangled (what author Sally Fallon refers to as “politically correct…nutritionally incorrect”) ideas about food in favor of traditional and ancient methods of preparing and preserving.

Fallon is profoundly influenced by the writings of Weston A. Price, a renowned Alfred Kinsey-esque figure in early twentieth century American Dentistry who published a series of ethnographic nutrition studies across a vast and diverse spectrum of indigenous cultures. He found that those who stuck to “traditional” diets, relying on fermented grains, raw milk, organ meats and animal fats maintained almost perfect teeth, bone structures, and physiques while often reaching the century mark free of disease. Those that switched over to “Western” diets based on bleached grains, pasteurized milk, processed foods and an emphasis on low fat became, within a generation, in Price’s words “punier”, “sickly”, “weak” , “malformed”, and devastated by a host of diseases and ailments that their ancestors had never experienced.

For added kicks, each page also features sidebars presenting recipe-related culinary literary excerpts.

Here’s a pair of go-to recipes (using ingredients found on any self-respecting desert island) I’ll share with three of the mermaids that can often be found basking on my desert island.
-- Jason Hernandez-Rosenblatt

MARINATED FISH IN COCONUT CREAM
(recipes adapted from Nourishing Traditions)
1 pound whitefish, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ cup lime juice
1 tablespoon whey
¾ cup coconut milk
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped (optional)
1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)
Boston lettuce leaves
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

Mix salt with lime juice and whey. Toss with fish and marinate at least 4 hours in the refrigerator. Drain the fish. Add coconut milk, scallions and optional tomato and garlic. Serve on Boston lettuce leaves and garnish with sesame seeds.

Note: I usually use 3 or 4 cloves of garlic and skip the lettuce and tomato. Serves 4.

FRIED BANANAS
4 very ripe large plantain bananas
or 8 small red bananas
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil or lard
¼ cup of honey
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
Piima cream or crème fraiche for garnish

Peel bananas and cut lengthwise. Saute in batches in olive oil or lard, transferring with a slotted spoon to an oblong Pyrex dish. Make a mixture of orange juice, honey and cinnamon. Pour over bananas and bake at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes. Serve in bowls with a dollop of cultured cream. Serves 4.

Libra Cocktails

I was in the mood for a throwback cocktail. Something unique, something perhaps campier than the usual fare at bars and lounges. I was feeling nostalgic for a time when eggs made regular appearances in highball glasses. I began searching through CATNYP for some cocktail books from the 1940s and '50s and I found just what I was looking for: Zodiac Cocktails by Stanley S. MacNiel (1940). Organized by astrological sign, bound by wood panels and held together with leather straps, Mr. MacNiel isn't your typical Mr. Boston, and I, for one, am thankful for it.

So raise a glass to all those birthday-celebrating Libras, as I present to you some cocktails.

(Adapted from Zodiac Cocktails, 1940)

Libra: Its natives are just, detached, impersonal, pleasure-loving, intellectual, suave, aesthetic, amorous, and easily thrown off balance.

Libra Cocktail:
1 glass rye whiskey
Dissolve 1 piece of Rock Candy in it. The juice of 1 lemon can be added, if desired.

South Pole Cocktail:
The juice of 1/2 lemon
3 dashes of Curacao
1/2 Benedictine
1/2 Apple Brandy (or Calvados)

Shake well and strain into glass.

Venus Cocktail:
1 egg
1/2 glass rum
1T. powdered sugar
1 glass brandy

Beat up yolk and white of egg separately. Then mix the yoke and white together. Use stem glass or ching mug, adding the spirits, then fill with boiling water, grating nutmeg on top.

Snow Fizz:
The juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2T. powdered sugar
1 glass gin

Shake well, strain into medium size glass and fill with soda water. Add 2 sprigs fresh mint.

Julia Child in America

Tomorrow night, Wednesday, October 10th, the Library is hosting a panel discussion on Julia Child in America with Laura Shapiro, David Kamp, Molly O'Neill, Dan Barber, and moderated by Melanie Rehak. The event will be held in the South Court Auditorium at 7:00pm. Tickets are $15.00.

For more information, please call (212) 930-9213 or email csw@nypl.org

Lidia Bastianich

Lidia Bastianich is the Grand Marshal of this year's Columbus Day parade in New York. To celebrate Lidia's culinary legacy check out some of her cookbooks and her vast catalog of online recipes. If you've got i soldi, Lidia's restaurants (Felidia, Becco, and Del Posto) are supposed to be fantastic.

Lidia and I have a date nearly every Sunday*. She's part of the Sunday PBS line-up of cooking shows. The line-up has varied over the years (where is America's Test Kitchen?) but Lidia remains a reliable presence in the 5:30PM slot. Among the things Lidia has taught me: buy a spider skimmer, always toss cheese off the heat, and if the base of your sauce is made with butter, add more butter before serving. If it's made with olive oil, add enough olive oil to make the dish "smile".

I saw Lidia make this dish on her show years ago and I fell for it hard. As a big fan of any type of fish stew, fish sauce, or fish soup, this recipe fits the bill completely. And although it sounds complicated, it's actually quite easy.

Tutti a tavola a mangiare...ching, ching.

Capellini Cooked in Red-Mullet Stew
(adapted from Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen)

5T. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 small leek, white and light green parts only, trimmed, cleaned, and sliced thin
1/3 cup finely chopped celery with leaves
1lb. skin-on red mullet or red snapper fillets
2 cups peeled, seeded, and chopped fresh tomatoes (In the past I have used canned)
2 whole dried peperoncini (I've also used larger amounts of crushed)
1 qt. hot water
1lb. capellini
1/3c. shredded basil
Salt

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a wide 4-quart braising pan over medium heat. Stir in shallots, leek, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, about 2 minutes. Push the vegetables to the sides of the pan to make room for the fillets. Slip the fillets into the pan, skin side down, and cook until the skin changes color, about 2 minutes. Flip the fillets over, cook 2 minutes, then stir in the tomatoes and peperoncini. Bring to a quick boil, stirring, and pour in 3 cups of the hot water.

Add the capellini to the pan gradually, stirring them constantly to separate them. (This will become easier as they soften and start to bend.) Don't worry if you break up the fillets as you stir the pasta. Add the remaining water a little at a time as the capellini begin to absorb the liquid in the pan. The goal is to end up with just enough sauce to coat the pasta generously - not a soupy dish - so be careful to add liquid very gradually. Cook, stirring almost constantly to keep the pasta from sticking together, until the pasta is done and glides easily in a creamy sauce, about 5 to 7 minutes. A minute or two before the end of cooking, stir in the basil and the remaining 2T. olive oil. Check the seasoning, adding salt if necessary. Remove the peperoncini peppers and serve the pasta immediately in warm bowls.




* PBS pledge drives are the exceptions.

Copia

In the summer of 2003 I visited Northern California for the first time. It was both an eye-opening and mouth-watering experience: Mission burritos, lunch at Chez Panisse, dinner at Piperade, and best of all, an afternoon at Copia.

Copia is a cultural arts center devoted to food and wine. One can easily spend the day wandering through their edible garden, stopping for a wine tasting, taking in an art exhibit or cooking class, and staying for a film. Copia also boasts Julia's Kitchen, a restaurant named after Guess Who. On that afternoon in 2003 I had the pleasure of taking a class called World O' Melons taught by Brigid Callinan. The melon and chile salad I learned that day has secured a place in my permanent cooking repertoire.

Last month I went back to Copia. My friend and I attended a Taste of Copia event which includes a garden-fresh, three-course meal and cooking lesson. The instructors - chef, garden expert, and wine educator - demonstrate how to make the dishes and pair them with wine. We started with an Arugula and Beet salad served with Ricotta Salata and a Lemon Verbena vinaigrette. Next was Capellini with Ahi Tuna, Tomato, Summer Squash, Olives and Basil. Desert was a Lemon Cream frozen sandwich. One of our wines, a deliciously dry Riesling from Washington State, was immediately purchased at Cornocopia to take back to NYC.

Although I've yet to eat at Julia's Kitchen, Copia was nice enough to send the Library some menus to be included in our Menu Collection. They'll be entered into the database shortly and will be available for researchers to peruse now and in years to come.

Now if only they would open a Copia East.

Garden Melon Salad

(adapted from Copia's World O' Melons)

2 medium-sized ripe melons, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 limes, juice only (to taste)
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 ripe red chile, seeded and very thinly sliced (I use jalapeno sometimes)
1T honey, to taste
Extra virgin olive oil, to taste
Salt, to taste

Place melons in a large bowl and sprinkle with lime juice, honey, and salt. Allow melon to sit until salt is dissolved, then toss in shallots and chiles. Taste melon and adjust sweetness, then drizzle salad with olive oil to taste.

Frozen Lemon Cream Sandwiches
(From The 150 Best American Recipes by Fran McCullough and Molly Stevens)
One 7-oz. container cold crème fraîche
1/4 c. lemon curd
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
12 crisp butter waffle cookies
1/4 c. finely chopped unsalted pistachios (or almonds)

Line a small baking sheet with waxed paper. Use an electric mixer to beat crème fraîche, lemon curd and lemon zest in a chilled bowl until firm peaks form. Arrange half the cookies on a baking sheet and spoon the lemon cream on the centers, letting it ooze gently to the edges. Top with remaining cookies, pressing down gently. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and freeze until the sandwiches are firm, at least 4 hours.

Spread the nuts on a plate and rolls the edges of the sandwiches in them. Serve at once.