STIR THE POTS

Tony eats Istanbul!

Yes, finally Anthony Bourdain does Istanbul!

Torta de yuca

 

When it's as cold and windy as this weekend, it's time for some comfort food. Sure, eggs, bacon, and pancakes are fine. But why not indulge in a griddled starchy tropical tuber filled with mozzarella and scallions instead? Yuca, manioc, cassava... the funny waxed and woody thing found amongst the other odd tubers and fruits in the Latin section of your mega supermarket or local bodega.

It's white flesh is usually sweet, though at times it has a kind of bitter aftertaste, the latter less welcome. It's a indigenous to the Americas and is one of the foods carried by colonial trades across the oceans from Africa to Southeast Asia.

I first had this particular preparation from my wife. This morning she asked me to show her how to shape smaller tortas, as her's were mammoth, not a bad thing if you're hungry!

This is a no-recipe recipe. Basically, find a nice tuber, firm, check for black spots or mushy specimens. Peel the yuca of its waxed skin, then split and cut into two halves. Make smaller pieces about an inch or two, try removing the center vein, as you can't chew on that.

Place into a pot and cover with water, and add a couple pinches of salt. Cook till tender and mash with the back of a fork. Have some grated mozzarella and chopped scallions around. To make a flattened cake of mashed yuca, place a good bit of cheese and onions in the center, fold over the yuca on to itself and flatten to a round sort of pancake. I used a black skillet with about a tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Cook till golden brown and flip over and crisp the other side. Serve hot with some coffee, maybe some  chicharrón would be nice too.

Thanksgiving, façon de le familie Shapiro

 

 

 

Have a healthy and happy one!

Hmmmmmm

 
First, I'm busy. Busy off the charts and that brought me off my blog.

Second, I love meeting bloggers. Excuse me while I shout out to one right now - helloooo, Shuna. Where was I? Oh, yeah, about bloggers. Especially cooking and baking bloggers. Those I have met are always completely different then me. Thank goodness! Yet they all have that love of movement;  levain-tation, yeasty things, measuring, in metric or oz's. Now where am I going? I'm not sure. Oh, yeah, here. It's almost the holidays and I'm sooo soooo busy at work. Maxing out, yet I still want to blog. So what makes writers write and chefs want to be writers????

Third, I want to raise a toast to blogs, blogging and bloggers. This weekend I met another blogger. She's this amazing lady who conjures loaves, dissects methods of bread fabrication, meets and greets all bakers,and she knows so much. It's our first meeting and yet she already met my mom! It's a Francophonic bread meeting, so exciting. We ended up meeting at a resto (aka restaurant, when I'm more patient) who's chef/manager first indoctrinated me with lessons to be learned over the years in kitchens and also lessons of life. What a great thing. Go meet a blogger, yourself. Celebrate.

Fourth, not only is a good time to meet bloggers but it's a great time of year. Maybe this is where I was going at my first point.  My favorite holiday is around the corner. Namely Thanksgiving, a late harvest and a family holiday before the winters freeze and the ho-ho merry whatever you want to celebrate, happens!

Yeah, this is a long toast masquerading as something between a rant and a post. But here goes. As I toil in my workplace galley, and dream of my future place, my nook somewhere, I hope for all the best for all my fellow bloggers and blog readers. I also send out a big hug to my fellow veterans, soldiers, sailors and airmen doing god knows what and where and hope they all return home soon. I am going to be busy and infrequent this next month, but if your interested, stay tuned, and please leave comments and suggestions.

And as Jacques Pepin say's "Happy cooking"

What makes this Alsatian?(tarte aux quetsche)

"What makes this tart Alsatian?"

That's a question posed to me after they sampled my dessert for a dinner party. Hmmm? Quetsche or plums, it reminds me of late summer early fall; almonds, pate sucree a hint of sugar and cinnamon. More specifically, it brings back memories of my childhood in Alsace. We lived in a  town called Wissembourg until my family emigrated to America. Years later serving in the U.S. Army, I traveled to the the border regions of Germany and Switzerland, where similar confections appear in bakeries and in homes. The difference is sometimes they add custard to the plums, or the dough is called murbteig rather then pate sucree. But these are close cousins of quetsches and zwetschge, depending on what part of the Rhine you're standing. Regardless, I love their simplicity, a crust filled with the sweet, sour, and pleasing taste of plums and the delight it gives me when I eat a slice, or two, hmmm or three!

 

 

 

 

Turkish breakfast

Funny thing about breakfast in Turkey; it's like a meal that you could eat all day. Fresh cut tomatoes, cucumbers, yogurt, bread, and the list goes on...and on. It's just delicious and healthy.

Every year you hear that this diet or that diet is good. I think a large part of healthy eating is moderation. That can be hard, especially in Turkey, because once you have tasted what it offers then you desire more!

What with suçuk, a spiced sausage, or fresh feta cheese along side oil covered olives.

Of course you can have coffee, but why not chai, the official all day beverage, something I found myself asking for more repeatedly. This chai is a ceremonial part of Turkish culture and life. No need for a coffee, unless your having your fortune read. That is another story entirely onto it's own!

 

I would be remiss for not picking up the subject of bread. Turks love bread. It goes with all meals, and there are so many variations,to my dismay though, I believe some modernization has brought in bleached white flour and commercial yeast. I wonder if in the Anatolian interior whether natural leavening is still being used?  From each restaurant or table you find a variation and shape, as well as flavor. The names and shapes are varied too, from Lavash, Pogača, gözleme, to name just a few.

 

There is the  traditional simit, often compared to a bagel or even croissant. It's a yeasted and twisted dough ring washed with pekmez (a molasses) and sesame seeds. You can find red simit carts on most streets. Whether eaten plain, with cheese like Dilara did, or grilled with cheese and tomatoes (my featured breakfast sandwich) it's delightful. I will offer a version in sourdough form soon.

Here are some of my favorite breakfasts I enjoyed in Turkey. They were so delicious. I am sure I will start adding some elements of each into my own breakfast back here at home.

Çig kofte fried for breakfast

 

An omelette of suçuk, peppers, tomatoes, pide, and radish simply dressed.

I'm on a rampage!

Nothing like spring feeling like winter. It's April I know, but....puleeeeeeeez! The only positive thing out of all this lousy weather is the fact that ramps, those lucious, odoriferous jewels from the woods all up and down this glorious Eastern sea coast are here at last! I got some slightly battered specimens at work the other day, then married them with some morels and fish. Simple tasty and not one bit sexy!

But tonight I had to pull out my own stash which I picked up Saturday at the Union Square Farmer's Market. These were some perfect clean and fresh picked ramps. I almost sacrificed them in a bread formula, aptly called Münchener Bierkipf, a savory bread moistened with beer, flecked with leeks, (or ramps if you're me), along with barley and wheat. Hardy! This batch were going with a pan roasted rib eye steak, potatoes and a salad. The season for this delicacy is short, but as many times as possible I will endeavor to devour them with relish and total abandon!

Shock of the new,(Understanding Ferran Adria)

The other night I caught this interesting Charlie Rose interview with Ferran Adria, who sometimes is misunderstood for his approach to cooking. In this interview, he makes quite clear his passion for food and interest in asking  the quintessential question, why!  Note: This video captures the entire Charlie Rose episode, which includes several other interviews. Ferran comes at the end, although the discussion about Picasso is interesting, as well.

Roast beast samwich!

Back in elementary school, I had a job bagging groceries at Peter's Bridge market in Westport Ct. Next to a dock where some of the last commercial fishing boats near New York City unloaded catch, it was a small local market selling steaks, beer, some lettuces, basically the products of a family run grocery store.

Among the folks shopping for steak there was sportscaster Jim McCay, whose Mercedes convertible caused me some envy, as well as the thought the thought that he was awfully short. Anyway, they also had a deli counter for custom made sandwiches. That's where I first learned about the American sandwich repertoire, BLT, Ham and cheese and, of course, one of my favorites, roast beef served with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise.

 

Now sandwiches are a favorite palette for me to paint on, so to speak. What I mean is there are so many combination's. Anything between two slice of bread or a roll. Heck why not a pretzel too! It's all good! 

 
So tonight rather than cook dinner, I made my nostalgic favorite from Peter's Bridge Market. Roast Beast Samwich! Okay, the spelling's wrong but you get the emotion. Pure kid delight.  Mind you I have grown up and my tastes have graduated from the kaiser rolls, iceberg lettuce and Hellmans mayo. No this baby was a knock out of flavors, slices of juicy roasted ribeye steak, on homemade sourdough bread, organic mayonnaise, dijon mustard, mache, sliced tomatoes and the coups de grace, some sliced cornichon's! Heaven on earth!

Turkey! (no Not the country, the bird.)