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the-coconut-asado · 6 years

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HOW I GET INTO BARS IN MANHATTAN

I am going to tell a story about good and bad service and it’s going to take me a few paragraphs before you get to the recipes. Buckle up and pour yourself a cocktail.

Back in eighties New York no smart restaurant or bar staff line-up was complete without a generous dollop of sass. I liked the honesty of the ‘take it or fuck you’ service culture, often accompanied by a smile and a shrug. Now, on a bad day, (and most days in New York are good), you get a thin veil of courtesy, dipped in the nail polish of smug contempt.

Now, I have been to some great bars in Manhattan with sizzlingly good service. Dan the mixologist at Attaboy for example, a speakeasy in Chinatown, left me schoolgirl-dizzy with delight from what in retrospect were a few vaudeville tricks delivered with precision-charm. First there is the theatre of the entrance: a bashed-up door to an old tenement building on the edge of Chinatown, leading to a tiny corridor of a bar. Dan glided over and asked me what kind of things I liked to drink, what I wanted from life and if I watched The Crown on Netflix (I may have imagined at least two thirds of that). He then decided that a Kingsman Negroni would set my world alight. Damn! he was right, and I was almost teary when we had to leave to make our dinner booking.

Some other bar experiences have not been so serendipidous. Take the rooftop bar at a new budget-yet-hipster-with-no-coffee-in-your-room boutique on the Lower East Side. Staying there last summer, I tried to book myself and a friend in for a drink on my first evening. I got sizzlingly good booking service (see above) by way of reply: “Absolutely no need for you to book Mrs Bentley! As a guest you get automatic access with a plus one!”

If you thought this was sorted, then you would be wrong.

My mate Mel and I rocked up to the rooftop pretty early on that stiflingly hot summer evening. The bouncer at the door had that combination of faultless good manners and computer-says-no attitude that sets your teeth on auto-grind. Yes, he said, we were free to go to the back indoor bar, but the outside bar (let’s face it the ONLY bar anyone wanted to go to) was full.

We squinted through the doorway. It really didn’t look that full.

“We want our guests to experience the pleasant ambience in the bar, so we like to keep numbers down” he whispered. I forgot to mention he was a soft talker, straight out of the Seinfeld playbook.

While he held us at bay with his lullaby tones, the fedora-topped host was pretending to ignore us, using the same body language as the Beverly Hills sourface in Pretty Woman.

I fixed a smile on my face and continued: “If we go into the back bar, will you tell us when space comes free?’

“I’m afraid I can’t do that” the bouncer whispered in downsized Matt Damon-like tones: ‘We let people in on a first come first served basis. Unless you booked’.

‘I tried to book, I was told that I didn’t need to as I am a guest.’

‘If you haven’t booked you need to wait in the back bar.’

‘In that case we’ll wait here”, Mel chipped in.

‘I’m afraid you can’t wait here ladies, you’re blocking the walkway’ – ah! the host had finally decided to notice us.

“I think we will wait though’ I replied, still smiling winningly, with an only faintly discernible tick in my cheek.

This was a dance and we decided to settle into the rhythm. The host went back to studying her fingernails and the bouncer intensified the low voice so that we could only hear every third word. He seemed to be saying " You do have entry to the bar, but not if it is full.”

“But it’s not full!!”

“It’s our policy and there’s nothing I can do. I am triste for you.”

I could have sworn he said triste, or he may have said ‘piste’ which is what Mel and I should have been by now. And the French flavour of superiority he had adopted made me angry. Don't worry mate, I thought, I can play this game till les vaches come home.

The stand-off continued. The two of us refusing to move, the gatekeepers refusing to meet our gaze. And all the while we could glimpse the seductive but disappearing sunset on the terrace. Then, quite suddenly, balance of power shifted in our favour. Three socialites – a good two decades younger and well hipper than us, I’ll leave it there - swanned past us. They had clearly booked. And they were clearly the right demographic. I sashayed over to the host.

“I’m confused. I see those ladies booked and you let them in. And yet no one has left the outside bar. Should I have gone medieval with the booking service when they said I could bowl up as a hotel guest,and insist they should make a reservation for me? Or maybe I should just be younger?’

Busted. For a split second her insouciant mask slipped and she grimaced. And then she let us in. And the sunset, the view, and the heady aroma of NYC jeunesse d'ore was worth it - for a couple of hours at least. I haven’t been back.

But before you get ‘triste’ that the world really is only for the young, the hip and the restless, then leave the bars and head for the food and drink festivals – where even my 92 year old auntie pictured here (who by the way is hip enough to use Whatsapp to great sarcastic advantage) gets great service.

The artisanal food markets around the City such as the weekend Smorgasburg – which I have followed from Brooklyn Bridge to a Williamsburg car park to its most recent leafily affluent home in Prospect Park – give you great views (mostly), superiority-free service and delicious food and drink. It also gave me the inspiration for my Gingerbread Ice cream Sandwich, which I am sharing for you here.

The best bars also serve amazing bar food. And while, Kingsman Negroni aside, I have rarely remembered a good cocktail, I can snap-recall great food I have eaten with it. Here are a couple of food combinations I love in a bar-snackable format. Chin-chin.

Freaky Beets

If Kale is the food currency of New York, then beetroot is the bitcoin, i.e it’s both alternative and hyped. If you want clean food that is also unctuous and delicious then whip this up the next time you need a superfood boost to carbon-neutralise your alcohol intake. Small plates are also the perfect bar food. This one is a mash up of some Ottolenghi inspiration and a great little recipe I spied in Olive Magazine. Serves 4 as an appetizer.

Ingredients:

Four red raw beetroot and 2 raw golden beets, topped, peeled and cut into chunks (use non latex gloves to stop you getting your hands stained);

2 tsp. chilli flakes

2 large carrots, cut into chunks

Tblspn cumin

2 tbpn. Olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper

2 tbsp. sherry vinegar

1 tsp honey.

3 tsp hazelnuts

3 tbsp. greek yoghurt.

Juice of ½ a lemon.

1 250g pouch ready to eat freekah.

A few basil leaves.

How to make

Heat the oven to 200C (or 190C Fan).

Pop the hazelnuts onto a baking sheet and roast for 5-10 mins until they are slightly browned and the skins peel off easily by rubbing a little. Chop and set aside.

Toss the chunks of beetroot and carrot with the chilli flakes, cumin, oil and seasoning, spread out in a shallow baking pan and roast for 40 mins.

Take the beets out and toss in the sherry and honey, then return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.

Mix the Greek yoghurt with the lemon juice, then season to taste.Warm the freekah through with a little water in a small saucepan.

Toss the warm beets and carrots with the freekeh in a serving bowl. Drizzle over the yoghurt dressing, then scatter with the hazelnuts and torn basil. Season again and drizzle with a little more oil, then serve.

Chilli fried squid with smashed borlotti beans

This takes literally 20 minutes from start to finish. To be eaten lingering over a glass of wine with a special someone that you don’t want to be seen stuffing your face in front of. Serves 2

`ingredients

1 400g can borlotti beans

A few leaves of sage, chopped finely

1 sprig rosemary. Needles chopped finely

1 long red chilli

1 tsp red wine vinegar

Generous glug of olive oil.

½ tsp chilli flakes

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 anchovy fillets, chopped

Extra virgin olive oil

6 small squid, cleaned, trimmed, flattened and scored, and suckers separated

Parsely to serve.

How to make:

Prepare the squid, rub some oil over it, season, and leave to one side on a plate.

Put the olive oil into a sturdy pot on a low heat, add the garlic and cook very slowly for five minutes. Add the sage, rosemary, chopped chilli, vinegar and anchovy fillets. Stir for a minute or two to combine, then add the borlotti beans and the chopped tomatoes. Continue to cook on a low heat for about 15-20 mins until the flavor combine and you have a thick consistency. Mash the beans a bit with a fork (but not too much, you stil want discernible beans on display in the finished dish).

Heat a frying pan, and when searing hot throw in the squid and chilli flakes and fry for 30 seconds to a minute until you have browned charred bits of squid but not yet overcooked or rubbery.

Fill a couple of pasta bowls with the beans, add the quid on top and garnish with chopped parsley. Drizzle a little olive oil over the squid and season again before serving.

Gingerbread ice cream sandwich

I had one of these on a scorchio day at the Smorgasboard in Prospect Park. Been wanting to recreate it ever since. My recipe leans heavily on The Violet Bakery for their chewy, treacly ginger nut, coupled with a non-churn ridiculously easy and foolproof ice cream inspired by the legend that is Mary Berry. Makes 6-8 sandwiches.

Ingredients:

For the ginger nuts:

210g plain flour

11/2 tsp ground cinnamon

11/2 tsp. ground ginger

¼ tsp ground cardamom

¼ tso. Ground coriander

1 tsp bicarbonate soda

125g unsalted butter

100g dark muscovado sugar

100g treacle11/2 tsp boiling water

Caster sugar for dusting

For the ice cream:

4 large eggs, separated

100g caster sugar

300ml double cream

100g stem ginger, chopped into small pieces

2 tbsp syrup from the jar

30g chopped crystallized ginger

How to make

First, make the ice cream.

Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff peaks form.Slowly whisk in the caster sugar, and continue to whisk until the mixture is stiff ang glossy.

Whisk the cream in a separate bowl until you have soft peaks. Fold the cream,egg yolks, and the stem ginger, syrup and crystallised ginger into the meringue mixture until well combined (don’t be heavy handed with this stage). Pour into a plastic container and freeze for two hours.

While the ice cream is freezing, make the ginger snaps.

Preheat the oven to 180C (170C fan). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Measure all the dry ingredients (except for the muscovado sugar) into a bowl and mix well.

Beat the butter, brown sugar and treacle with an nelectric whisk until light and fluffy. Add the boiling water, then the dry ingredients and mix until combined.

Put some caster sugar in a small bowl. Scoop small spoons of mix, roll into a ball and then roll in the caster sugar, then place on the baking sheet and press slightly in the middle (these biscuits will spread a lot so don’t press down too hard). Repeat with the rest of the mix.

Pop into the oven and bake for 15 mins. The biscuits will still be softish when you take them out of the oven but they will harden as they cool down.

When the ginger nuts are completely cold and the ice cream firm but scoopable, Sandwich a scoop of ice cream between two ginger nuts and wrap in baking parchment before putting upright into a loaf tin. Repeat with you other biscuits, so they all fit snigly into the tin, then return to the freezer until you are ready to eat them. You can also serve this up as scoops of ice cream, on its own with ginger snaps on the side.

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hottytoddynews · 6 years

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SOUTHERNISM OF THE WEEK

Sweet as pie: A descriptive term referring to a person with a pleasant nature. A high compliment when conferred by a Southerner, for we all love pie, and all good pie must contain its weight in sugar.

A cold wind swept through Oxford this past weekend. It had nothing to do with chilled political relationships or tepid sports endeavors.

Literally, the temperature dropped from balmy spring-like stickiness to a brisk autumnal dance of the falling leaves.

It was about time.

At last, the weather is season-appropriate and the clock has fallen back to its natural state. Just in time for the holiday season, a person can rightfully turn one’s thoughts to hot toddies, pumpkin-spiced everything and picturesque fires.

The weather change inspired me to start hustling for the holidays. And while compiling my belated list of dishes to make for Thanksgiving, I chuckled over a recent email exchange with my Canadian buddy Fern. Poor Fernie—all her family cookbooks were boxed for a move, and she needed my versions of several obligatory Thanksgiving “molded salads” (a.k.a. congealed gelatin-based salads). From past experience, she knew our Southern recipes were identical to her Canadian mom’s and auntie’s, albeit known by different names.

That started my own wheels turning as I contemplated the increasing globalization of food culture and how it reflects who our people are, where we came from, and where we seem to be going. It’s the sort of thing our Southern Foodways Alliance colleagues contemplate with every written or oral word seeping out of the Ole Miss Center for the Study of Southern Culture.

Foodways have merged so much that a person could experience related flavors whether dining in Marrakech or Manhattan, El Paso or Copenhagen.

Take, for instance, cauliflower, one of the trending foods of 2017.

More specifically, let’s talk about cauliflower soup, made from roasted, steamed or boiled cauliflower puréed with seasonings of salt, butter and, in most instances, first-rate chicken stock. Depending on personal taste, the soup may contain cream and other ingredients such as sautéed and puréed onions. Seasonings in the soup are tweaked according to cultural preference.

In March in San Francisco, Hubby and I, along with Fern and her hubby, Graham, dined on a lip-smacking chicken stock-based cauliflower soup prepared by a personal chef. Trained in culinary school and apprenticed for years under an Indian master chef, he embellished the San Francisco cauliflower soup with cauliflower florets sautéed in browned butter and vadouvan spice, a subtle Franco-Indian seasoning.

On a cold November day in Stockholm’s Old Town, we dined on a vegetarian version of cauliflower soup. This equally rib-sticking variation contained coconut milk and apple cider vinegar instead of chicken broth. Delicately flavorful, the Stockholm version omitted the curry usually added to coconut milk-enhanced Thai and Indian offerings.

We skipped the cauliflower in Copenhagen but devoured the nightly smorgasbord-style hors d’oeuvres prepared in our hotel for peckish travelers. One of my favorites was a Danish interpretation of every red-blooded American’s favorite party dip—Mexican guacamole. The Copenhagen version was piped as a swirled paste atop 1 1/2-inch blini rounds and topped with Italian-style roasted red pepper strips.

In fact, wherever we ate in London, Berlin, Copenhagen and Stockholm during our recent fall trip, we noticed a confluence of Mexican, Italian, Greek and Middle Eastern cuisine. Fusion food was offered alongside “American” staples of nachos, burgers and wraps.

Desserts were another matter. There’s a reason why we Americans have appropriated French macarons, Franco-Catalan crème brûlèe, Italian tiramisu, Danish pastry and strudel. Even in Berlin, I experienced déjà vu over a raw apple “cake” dessert remarkably similar to my Appalachian kinfolks’ fresh apple cake.

Travel provides a wonderful lens through which to reflect upon one’s roots and, in the case of Hubby and me, be thankful for what we have and where we live. As fun as it was, I returned home from this latest trip just in time for Thanksgiving, grateful to be an American. I’m doubly grateful for the fusion of the many foodways brought here by our immigrant ancestors, who most definitely were not from around here.

The recipes listed below reflect a few of our recent global food fusions. Why not try them at this year’s holiday gatherings?

As my friend Fernie says, “It’s time to tweak tradition, eh?”

SAN FRANCISCO CAULIFLOWER SOUP

Ingredients Unsalted butter 1 yellow onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, sliced thin 1 medium head of cauliflower, sliced thin; reserve a handful of florets 3 medium sunchokes, peeled and sliced thin White pepper Kosher salt 1 to 1 1/2 c. white wine Chicken stock 1 c. crème fraiche or heavy cream Canola oil 2 T. salted butter *Vadouvan spice

Directions: Melt unsalted butter in a skillet and add onions. Simmer until transparent. Add remaining vegetables, seasonings and wine. Simmer on medium-low heat until mixture reduces.

Add chicken stock to almost cover mixture. Bring mixture to a boil and cover, simmering 10-15 minutes.

Stir in crème fraiche or heavy cream and remove from burner. Purée mixture with immersion blender until smooth. Keep warm.

Heat canola or grapeseed oil in skillet until oil dances. Add reserved cauliflower florets and toss. Add salted butter and heat until butter turns brown, tossing florets. Add vadouvan seasoning and continue tossing in browned butter. Add a splash of water to browned mixture to foam it up. Remove from heat and reserve. Plate the soup into cream soup bowls and sprinkle with brown-butter florets. Top with a sprinkling of minced fresh chives.

*Vadouvan: You can make this seasoning with 1 T. powdered garlic and curry, 1 tsp. powdered cumin, cardamom, turmeric and mustard, 1/2 tsp. each red pepper flakes and nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp. ground cloves. (Ground fenugreek seeds are optional, but desirable.)

STOCKHOLM VEGETARIAN CAULIFLOWER SHOOTERS Ingredients 1 T. olive oil 2 medium yellow onions, diced 1 bay leaf 1 1/4 tsp. ground cumin 1 tsp. kosher salt 1 tsp. ground turmeric 1/2 tsp. ground coriander 1/8 tsp. ground cardamom, optional Dash of ground black pepper 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes 4 garlic cloves, minced 32 oz. carton (4 c.) vegetable stock 1/2 c. water 1 large head cauliflower, chopped 1 c. canned coconut milk 1 T. apple cider vinegar Fresh dill, optional Fresh ground black pepper

Directions: Heat the olive oil in larger stock pot on medium-low. Add onions and next eight ingredients. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until onions become transparent, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic; sauté another few minutes.

Add broth and cauliflower; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook 15-25 minutes until cauliflower is tender.

Remove from heat and puree, using immersion blender until silky smooth. Add coconut milk and vinegar. Bring back to simmer but do not boil. Serve hot, topped with fresh dill and ground black pepper.

GUACAMOLE CORN BLINI BITES

Feel free to make mini pancakes, but these corn muffin cakes pair really well with the guacamole.

Ingredients: 8.5 oz. box of corn muffin mix 1/2 c. whole milk 1 large egg, beaten Extra light olive oil for shallow frying Guacamole (omit the chopped tomatoes) Roasted red bell peppers, cut into strips Chives

Directions: Whisk the muffin mix, milk and egg until smooth. Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in skillet on medium heat until oil shimmers. Carefully drop batter by the teaspoon onto skillet, separating each by about 2 inches. Flip when bubbles appear on tops and bottoms are golden—about 2 minutes. Cook about 1 additional minute.

Remove carefully to serving platter. Continue making the corn blini, adding oil to hot skillet as needed. Pipe guacamole onto each. Top with two crossed strips of roasted red pepper and chives.

FRESH APPLE SHEET CAKE

Use a 9 x 13 inch baking pan, ungreased. This is an Americanized easy interpretation of German raw apple cake.

Ingredients: 15.25 oz. box of yellow cake mix 1 stick (1/2 c.) salted butter, softened 1/4 c. light brown sugar 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 6-7 apples (I use a bag of 7 Sweet Tango apples) 1 c. sour cream (low-fat is ok) 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 large egg 1/2 c. golden raisins, optional 1 c. chopped pecans or walnuts, optional

Directions: Heat oven to 350˚F. Combine cake mix, softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl until crumbly. It makes about 3 to 3 1/2 cups. Reserve 2 cups. Spread remaining crumble into bottom of pan and press lightly.

Peel apples and shred on large hole side of box grater. Pick out any stray apple seeds. Combine with optional raisins and pecans if desired. Spread apples evenly in pan over crumbled base.

Beat sour cream and egg together until blended. Spread evenly over the apples. Sprinkle evenly with reserved crumble mixture. Bake 25-35 minutes, until topping is light golden-brown. Remove from oven to cool before slicing. Feel free to cover when cooled and refrigerate up to 2 days. Serve topped with whipped cream and mint leaves. Feel free to drizzle with berry liqueur such as Chambord (raspberry). Yields 16 servings. Freezes well.

Laurie Triplette is a writer, historian and accredited appraiser of fine arts, dedicated to preserving Southern culture and foodways. Author of the award-winning community family cookbook GIMME SOME SUGAR, DARLIN’, and editor of ZEBRA TALES (Tailgating Recipes from the Ladies of the NFLRA), Triplette is a member of the Association of Food Journalists, Southern Foodways Alliance and the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. Check out the GIMME SOME SUGAR, DARLIN’ website and follow Laurie’s food adventures on Facebook and Twitter.

The post On Southern Cooking: Let’s Celebrate Our Foreign Food Roots appeared first on HottyToddy.com.

#hottytoddy #olemiss #oxfordms #oxford ms #mississippi #university of mississippi #the grove

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