August 04, 2008
A Landmark East Harlem Institution Celebrates its 75th Anniversary
Patsy's 75 years and counting!
Grilled 12 ounce New York cut steak, 90 cents? Grilled Salmon filet served with fresh lemon, 90 cents? Original coal oven pizza, 60 cents? Soda, ice tea, bottled water, 10 cents? Yes, unbelievable but true. Patsy's Restaurant a landmark East Harlem institution will be celebrating its 75th Anniversary by rolling back to the 1930s.
Patsy's first opened its New York City location at 2287-91 1st Avenue in 1933, having been the dream of a pair of Italian Immigrant newlyweds, Patsy and Carmella Lancieri. Patsy's established itself as a family style" old fashion type" neighborhood restaurant immediately. Positioning itself in the neighborhood, Patsy's catered to the growing population of Italian immigrants who longed for the cuisine of their fatherland in a casual family style atmosphere.
As a result, almost immediately, Patsy's atmosphere, style and cuisine began attracting many popular famous personalities. Actors and singers such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin and others became regulars. Famous New York Yankees, Phil Rizzutto, Joe Dimaggio and Yogi Berra made it a convenient stop. Elected Officials to include Rudy Guliani, Mike Bloomberg, Spiro Agnew and others visited after a day of vigorous campaigning.
Patsy's will be celebrating this momentous occasion by rolling back all its prices on its menu. Proclamations will be presented by the office of, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Congress Member Charlie Rangel, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito among others. We will enjoy music, food and yes, the traditional cutting of the cake. Happy Birthday Patsy's!
Date: Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Time: Press Conference begins at 11:30 AM
Event begins at 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Location: 2287 First Avenue, New York
(117 - 118 Street 1st Avenue)
Posted by mslaybau at 07:27 AM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2008
Caribbean Coffee
We still haven't gotten the kitchen entirely in order and I've been relying on the jar of instant coffee we got when we were living in the hotel for a week.
I hadn't had instant coffee for years, since I was in Europe, where instant coffee isn't scorned the way it is in the U.S. In fact, after trying it again, I much preferred it to anything I could get at a gas station or similar place where coffee sits for hours on a warming tray.
But, the coffee is not great and I've been searching for ways to enhance the flavor. I normally drink coffee black, but I tried adding other ingredients until I came up with a recipe that I had to share.
Caribbean Coffee
- 1 cup coffee (any quality will do, since the other ingredients would only obscure the subtleties in a high-quality brew)
- 1/4 cup milk (I used skim, but you could use full-fat milk for a richer flavor)
- 1 TBSP brown sugar (more or less to taste. You could also use molasses for a much stronger flavor)
- 1 tsp salt (this is critical, and it sounds odd to put salt in your coffee, but it's necessary as it really brings out the flavor of everything else)
- 1/4 cup coconut milk (this is great to have around if you like making curries, and is absolutely delicious in any form in my opinion)
- Optionally, add cinnamon or nutmeg. These spices don't dissolve well, so they are best used as garnish.
You'll need a large mug to hold all this, since you now have about a cup and a half of liquid. Mix it all up in any order and enjoy. The brown sugar, coffee, and coconut milk are the key flavors, and you may want to experiment with the precise amounts of these so that no one of them overwhelms the others. And don't forget the salt.
Posted by mslaybau at 02:03 PM | Comments (0)
July 17, 2008
Grits
I took a walk through the local cemetery (the Vanderbilt plot has a lovely view) and on the other side was a Kroger's grocery. Some people here seem to have opinions about which is better, Kroger or Publix (northern chains don't exist here) but they seem pretty much the same. You can sell wine in grocery stores in Georgia, which is a big improvement over New York or Delaware.
Something I had never seen up north was this:
What surprised me first was that the Quaker Oats man had branched out into other grains. What surprised me second was that you could have bacon or ham (there was a ham one) in a food product that's packaged only in paper and cardboard - no plastic or metal.
Naturally, I got it and tried the bacon one first. It wasn't bad - essentially salty cream of wheat. There was nothing particularly corn-tasting about it. The mild flavor of grits is perfect for breakfast.
Soon after I had moved to New York City, more than 10 years ago, I was sitting at a booth in a diner near Penn Station when a tall guy in jeans and a cowboy hat took a seat at the counter. He ordered grits and the lady wrote it down and brought them out a few minutes later in a bowl. The guy didn't touch them and said, "Grits don't come in a bowl. Grits comes on a plate." The lady looked at him for a second or two then took them away into the kitchen. And several minutes later came out with a plate. The guy took one bite, then put down his fork. Put some money on the counter and left.
I admired the man's perfectionism in his quest for an excellent example of a favored food, but I laughed at the Quixotic effort to get grits in Manhattan. It's similar to my initial frustration to get a decent bagel or pizza here. It's not worth it - there's plenty of other good things to eat and enjoy. Mangoes for instance.
Posted by mslaybau at 09:33 AM | Comments (0)
November 05, 2004
White Flour, White Rice
I just realized a possible reason why Asian cultures historically separated out the bran and germ from rice, and why Europeans did the same with their wheat.
It wasn't for flavor or appearance (though those are the reasons now) but because bran has fat in it, which turns rancid after a few weeks, precluding the possibility of storing the grain without refrigeration.
Posted by mslaybau at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)
Chocolate-Orange Beverage
Chocolate and Orange is one of the less-appreciated yet more delicious flavor combinations.
Many agree on its gustatory appeal, but other than a few brands of orange-flavored chocolate candies, there is very little on the market to excite my tongue the way I wish it to be.
Ever eager to experiment, I wondered the following:
"What happens when you mix hot chocolate with Tang?"
I could have mixed Tang with chocolate milk, but from experience I know that mixing acidic beverages with milk often curdles it, leaving it unpalatable and gross.
So, I opted for a hot beverage and put a spoonful of store-brand hot chocolate powder in a mug, along with a spoonful of Tang powder (regular kind, not the new tropical fruit kind) and added hot water.
The Tang disolved right away, leaving a hunk of poo-looking chocolate crud at the bottom that had to be smashed and stirred in. The final color was rather reddish, like apple cider.
I let it cool and took a sip, which was surprisingly good, and definitely of the taste I had sought. It was too sweet, but that's because I added half the amount of water I would have added had I been making a mug each of hot Tang and hot chocolate.
The only error I made was in mixing equal parts orange and chocolate. One must think about balance in flavor mixtures. Which is the base? Which is the accent?
With peanut butter-jelly, an equal mix is appropriate.
With apple-cinnamon, apple is clearly the base, with cinnamon as the accent.
With chocolate-mint, the mint accents.
With chocolate-peanut butter, all sorts of mixtures seem to work, with either party dominating - like a good marriage.
Chocolate-orange, however, is not like that. Orange must be the accent.
So in my next cup of chocolate Tang, I'll only use half as much orange.
Posted by mslaybau at 10:12 PM | Comments (3)
December 31, 2003
Conspiracy Laid to Rest
I did something today.
I made coffee from previously-used grounds.
Experts say this would yield sour, bitter, terrible coffee.
In fact it was fine. It was weak, but not bad.
The idea came to me from having used a French press for my coffee for a long time. Often I leave the grounds swimming in water for up to 15 minutes before I depress the plunger.
Drip-coffee is based on the premise that coffee should have as little contact with water as possible.
Many flavors are filtered out of the coffee using the drip method, some bad and some good.
I think drip coffee may be better for lighter roasts, but I prefer to give the gruonds a good soaking when it's a dark roast.
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Posted by mslaybau at 04:30 AM | Comments (1)
December 29, 2003
Macadamia Miso
Much of invention involves combining two or more existing ideas.
I took a packet of instant miso soup, added hot water, and dropped in a bunch of macadamia nut halves. Sir MacAdam might protest, but at least I saved the whole ones for normal standard regular munching.
The result of this was an odd admixture of textures, one that in fact I doubt I'll care to repeat.
Last week's food invention was 'pan-fried fish sticks served with liberal amounts of Japanese mayonnaise (saltier and more pudding-like in consistency than Hellmann's).
It was a success.
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Posted by mslaybau at 03:23 AM | Comments (0)
December 23, 2003
Hound of Chow
Cooking can be fun, but I'm wary whenever I see recipes that include steps such as "pat dry" or "mince finely" or "let sit for 45 minutes".
I don't mind stirring until well-mixed or chop into large chunks - coarse violence is fine, I just don't like steps that require precision.
My favorite recipes include the word 'dump', as in, "Open can. Dump contents into bowl."
Or better yet, "Dump contents into mouth."
'Pouring' suggests some amount of care, while 'dump' means it doesn't matter if some falls on the floor, if you leave some in the can to eat later with a spatula.
Posted by mslaybau at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)
December 15, 2003
Axis of Flavor
Flavor combinations, just like human relationships, require a 'top' and a 'bottom' or a 'sail' and an 'anchor' or a 'dominant' and a 'submissive'.
For example, when chocolate is paired with mint, chocolate is the base. Whereas when chocolate is paired with peanut butter, chocolate becomes the accent.
But not all flavors, just like not all human pairings, go together well. For example, while mint and peanut butter both play well with chocolate, they do not play together at all well.
And, some flavors, such as chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and to a degree, apple, seem to play well with most other flavors, while other flavors, such as pineapple or coconut, are much more discriminating.
To demonstrate this, I put together a java applet to demonstrate the relationships between and among flavors. I limited it to sweets, since savories is a much more complex set.
You can see how the 'fundamental' flavors are in the middle, while the 'specialized' flavors are in the periphery.
The java code comes from one of Sun's tutorials from the mid-1990s. It's simple but allows a pretty good representation of relationships among many objects.
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Posted by mslaybau at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)
December 10, 2003
Cooking Oil Smoke Points
I've burned cooking oil too often before the food itself is finished.
Cooking oil smoke points
| Solids | |
|---|---|
| Butter | 350° |
| Shortening | 356-370° |
| Lards | 361 to 401° |
| Nuts and Seeds | |
| Olive | 374° |
| Sesame | 419° |
| Grapeseed | 446° |
| Peanut | 448° |
| Avocado | 520° |
| Vegetable | |
| Corn | 457° |
| Canola | 460° |
| Soybean | 466° |
| Sunflower | 475° |
| Safflower | 509° |
Posted by mslaybau at 11:36 AM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2003
I Heart Coffee
I love coffee.
If coffee were a woman, I would marry her.
We would lie in bed in the morning - she would be wearing a white mug, one of those thick diner-style mugs with the handle only big enough for one finger to fit through.
I would hold her for a long time, then I would get up, and coffee would say, "Come back to bed. It's warm. We can snuggle all day."
And I would say, "But baby, I have work to do."
Some days I would give in and lie in bed with my coffee for another hour or so.
But she would eventually turn cold, and I would get up.
Looking down at my coffee waiting for me, I would say, "All right, you can come."
She would change into steel travel-wear and we would go out.
I would hold her close to me, sheltering her against the wind and cold.
After a while I would notice my coffee was gone, leaving her mug behind.
I would look for her, usually finding her behind the counter of some deli.
I would ask her whether she felt in a 'regular' mood, or maybe something sweet.
Usually she would say, "Just black."
I would pay my dollar and we would go, her dark skin wrapped in a paper cup.
She preferred styrofoam, but that can be hard to find these days.
We would spend the day together (although we often parted in the early evening) and when I got home she would be waiting for me.
Many times my coffee keeps me up all night.
But after I finally get to sleep and then wake a few hours later, groggy and disoriented, the first thing I reach for is my coffee to start my day again.
Posted by mslaybau at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)