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Brooklyn Supper

toast

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There’s something about toast on a snowy day. It can make even salad seem cozy. I enjoyed this meal on a quiet weekday afternoon and wanted to share it with you.

This recipe is inspired by the famous St. Helen/Cafe 1980 avocado toast, unfortunately they are now closed.

Avocado Toast with Apple and Red Onion Salad
(serves 1 or 2)

for the toast
1 avocado, perfectly ripe
2 slices toast (I like rye)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons freshly ground cumin
plenty of salt and pepper

Mash up the avocado, and add the cumin salt and pepper. Squeeze in most of the lemon juice and a bit of olive oil. Spread over toast and finish up with a squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of olive oil, and a little bit more cumin and salt.

for the salad
several handfuls salad greens of your choice
1/2 an apple thinly sliced
1/2 red onion diced
handful of raisins (the good kind) or other dried fruit
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
good dash of salt
pepper
parmesan shavings

To make the vinaigrette, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Soak onions in the vinaigrette for a few minutes. Toss the salad greens and apples. Drizzle vinaigrette and onions over salad, dressing with your hands. Top off with shaved parmesan and raisins.

lucky

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Everyone has their lucky New Year’s foods. For me and a group of friends, it has always been beans* and greens. This year it just didn’t work out. For days, we were too sick to cook.

Last night I decided to rectify the situation.

Though the pickings at the farmer’s market were slim on Saturday, Brian managed to pick up some beautiful mushrooms, shitake and oyster. The oyster mushrooms were the inspiration for this hearty (and lucky?) winter stew made with sweet italian sausage, leeks, pinto beans, and oyster mushrooms. What can I say about this soup? It just hits the spot. A perfect simple dinner for a January night. The sausage is the predominant flavor, but the leeks and mushrooms really help to round things out. I love broth. I have a hard time not drinking it all before the soup is ready. If you eat dinner at my house a lot, don’t worry, I only do this if i the soup’s just for me. This broth is warm and buttery, complex in flavor and homey. I think you’re going to like it.

There is a lot of room for experimentation here, and really, it would be hard to go wrong. Play with the broth; I used dry vermouth, but you might like white wine, sherry, or cider vinegar. You should also play with the ingredients; Cannelloni beans, black-eyed peas, chopped collards or kale, shallots, scallions, or several cloves of whole garlic would be delicious.

*Historically, and because of my allergies, we have eaten pinto beans, sometimes with black-eyed peas on the side, and collards or kale. I am severely allergic to all nuts and beans (except pinto beans, navy beans, coconuts, and pine nuts) and break out in hives if I eat eggplant or rhubarb.


New Year’s Stew
Sausage, Mushroom, and Leek Stew with Pinto Beans
(serves 2 or 3)

1 lb. sweet italian sausage, carefully sliced 1/4″ thick
1 leek thoroughly cleaned* and thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can of pinto beans, rinsed
1 1/2 cups oyster mushrooms, carefully cut free of large stem
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup dry vermouth
2 cups water
salt and pepper

In a large dutch oven or stockpot, brown sausage coins over medium heat, roughly 7 minutes. Then tilt the pot so excess fat can run to one end, carefully ladle it out. Throw in the leek and onion and saute until tender, add the garlic and stir. Increase heat to medium-high and pour in the vermouth, stir while it sizzles, roughly one minute. Add the stock, water, pepper, and beans; bring to a boil. When soup has reached a boil, stir and turn down to a simmer (look for a few delicate bubble streams, nothing more). Add the oyster mushrooms and continue to cook, uncovered, for at least an hour. After 45 minutes, check the soup and beans for saltiness and add to taste. Also check the liquid level and add water or stock as needed.

*As you may know, leeks are nearly impossible to clean. I usually pull the leaves down one by one and rinse the sand as I go. A more thorough option would be to the chop the leek and rinse in a colander.

Happy New Year.

lamb shanks and carrot soup

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Since we last spoke Brooklyn Supper has been busily making food. First, we were home for the holidays and made butter cookies (twice), a gingerbread house (from a mix, but at least I hand-rolled the ginger bread), a pork roast, cauliflower gratin, and apple pie. Then, we came home and made not-so-great baked beans with pretty good cornbread. Don’t worry, I am determined to get you the perfect baked bean recipe in time for the Superbowl.

A couple days after the baked bean debacle, we stopped by a new butcher shop in our neighborhood, Marlow and Daughters, brought to us by the Diner guys. A butcher shop with a focus on happily raised, natural meats has been something sorely missing in Williamsburg, and we are glad to have an alternative to the farmer’s market. Sadly, they kind of ruined Brian’s long standing butcher shop idea. He was even planning on calling his totally hypothetical shop “Campbell and Daughters.” Now he will have to find some other post-office dream job. We thought they were going to be really expensive so we went there expecting to browse only. It turns out they have good meat and great prices (slightly lower than at the McCarren Park farmer’s market). So far we have purchased and enjoyed rosemary and red wine sausage, lamb shanks, a hunk of gruyere destined for mac and cheese, and a whole chicken. They have a small grocery and a few seasonal vegetables. We sampled some kale and it was surprisingly tender for this time of year.

Back to the lamb shanks. We were a little late in starting dinner since we had decided to braise, but really, we eat dinner at 10pm pretty regularly. I think I would be at home in Spain where 10pm seems to be the official dining hour. The shanks turned out well and would have been even better if we had given them an earlier start. We used turkey broth (frozen from thanksgiving) and red wine for the braising liquid. The shanks had an earthy, glad-to-be-home flavor. In addition, I had roasted some carrots in order to make this simple and delicious carrot soup. This led to a two bowl meal, with the shanks in a big bowl and the soup in a small bowl. This is not ideal from a presentation point of view, but who we are trying to impress? Except you, of course.


Braised Lamb Shanks with Kale
(2 generous servings)

2 decent sized lamb shanks
2 cups of broth (we keep various broths in the freezer for this purpose)
1-2 cups wine (red, in this case)
1 medium sized red onion, diced
1 bay leaf
fresh herbs of your choice (thyme is always a winner)
1-2 cups kale, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
drizzle of olive oil

In a large saucier or small dutch oven, drizzle the olive oil and cook lamb shanks over medium-high heat, turning them to brown on each side. Cook time for browning should be around ten minutes. Set them aside. Saute the onions over medium heat until they are translucent and just starting to brown. When onions are almost done, throw in the kale and stir. Leave everything in the pot and add the shanks, broth, wine, herbs, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Make sure the liquid is covering the shanks; if not, add broth, wine, or water. Bring everything to boil, then turn heat to the lowest low and cover. Simmer for three or so hours until the meat has shrunk up and is starting to fall away from the bone.

If you are pressed for time, cook on low for an hour and then turn heat up to medium low (look for bubbles, but not a full simmer), tilt the lid to allow the steam escape, and cook for another hour. Of course, the secret to a good braise is time, so any time compromised will lead to slightly tougher meat.

a cup of kindness

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We had a few friends over this weekend for a small holiday party. Here’s the menu:

mulled cider
spiked egg nog
roasted garlic spread
tapenade
caramelized onion dip
sweedish meatballs
roasted mushrooms
roasted asparagus
stuffed eggs
chocolate chip cookies (recipe courtesy of the NY Times)


Everything was pretty good, but the dip and roasted vegetables were real standouts. Both of these dishes are incredibly easy to make, so I thought I’d provide you with the recipes.

The onion dip had a fantastic and rich onion flavor. Because the onions were cooked, the flavor was subtle and not at all overwhelming. The really thick sour cream meant the dip was really rich and creamy, just the way you want dip to be. I think the kind of sour cream I used starts with an “A”–it’s the one with the stylized flour on it.

The roasted vegetables were as easy as can be, and they lent wonderful color and flavor to the holiday table. Miss Manners says you can eat asparagus with your fingers. The mushrooms were not as easy to package for eating, though stacking a few slices on a toothpick turned out to be a fine solution.

Brooklyn Supper is going to be taking a holiday break, but we wish you and yours all the best for a safe and happy holiday season. We’ll talk again before the new year.

Caramelized Onion Dip

2-3 large onions, finely diced
2 tablespoons butter
7-8 oz. thick sour cream
kosher salt
pepper
chopped parsley

Heat butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat. When butter is foamy and fragrant, add the onions and a liberal amount of salt (1 tablespoon or so). Cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently. Then turn the heat to low and cook onions for an additional 20-50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Onions should be quite soft and golden.

Place cooked onions into a strainer and allow any liquid and fat to drain off.

Stir onions into sour cream, season to taste and allow to sit, covered and in the refrigerator, at least overnight. When you are ready to serve, check seasoning, and stir in a bit of parsley either for flavor or color. Serve with good potato chips and carrot sticks.


Roasted Mushrooms and Asparagus

1 lb. mushrooms (crimini are fine, though shitakes would be wonderful), cleaned, stems removed, and thickly sliced
2 bunches fresh asparagus, woody ends broken off and lightly peeled
1 lemon
soy sauce
kosher salt
pepper
olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil rimmed cookie sheets. Lay out the asparagus on one, and scatter the mushrooms on the other. Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper, drizzle a bit of olive oil on top and shake. Sprinkle the asparagus with lemon zest, and drizzle 1 or 2 tablespoons of soy sauce onto the mushrooms.

Place both trays into the oven and cook for 20 – 25 minutes or more (depends on how thick the asparagus is), until the asparagus start to brown and the edges of the mushrooms start to crisp (just slightly).

Remove vegetables from the oven and finish each tray with a generous squeeze of lemon juice. Serve immediately.

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