Nov 18
With the holidays coming fast and furious, I had the uncharacteristically practical thought that it was time to make empanadas, an easy way to use leftovers. So sensible, but after a poor initial batch involving sirloin tips and too-buttery dough, I had to start from scratch. I was looking for something in a chicken, baked not fried, and maybe a little sweet. That’s when I found Anya Von Bremzen’s recipe for pastela moruna, Moorish chicken with dried fruits and Read more
I thought I left behind my Saturday cartoon habit in elementary school but realized it’d just morphed into my early Sunday morning movie ritual. I do try to sleep in like everyone else but it’s impossible to explain to my two yorkies why they should let me on this one day of the week (either they don’t want to learn or they can’t learn). Not that I mind too much since it’s the only day I don’t feel obligated to check the weather, headlines or facebook first thing. Cafe con leche and TCM is like cake for breakfast. It doesn’t even have to be particularly good, as long as it’s black and white and has that low crackle soundtrack of sizzling bacon. Maybe I never got Dorothy opening the the sepia door to Oz, but its become my own way to test the waters for the week ahead. A Thin Man movie, it’s going to be a good week. Destry Rides Again, could be trouble. Fred and Ginger, might be s’marvelous.
I’ve wanted to try this recipe for shrimp soup since the summer and decided it was the perfect cold, rainy day for it. The sky even look liked soup. Finding recipes in old cookbooks is always a mixed bag. I wish they had a little more detail, but at the same time, they’re liberating. I pay more attention to finding egg shaped potatoes and watching for what supposed to happen as opposed to the timer. A good way to pass a dreary fall day. Read more
As someone who was scolded by a deli owner for trying to buy a stick of butter out of a 4-pack, I loved reading about Judith Jones’ attempt to buy a single stalk of broccoli in Joe Yonan’s, “What an expert eye, and a game plan, can do for the single shopper,” in the Washington Post. Throwing away food is one of my all time pet peeves in the kitchen. I take every expired yogurt and pepper gone mushy as a personal failure so I was inspired by Ms. Jones determination. A few months ago I attended a reading of her memoir, The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food, she kindly advised me to follow my own muse in her dedication. For now, I’ll just follow her example and make every ingredient count.
I really miss apples when they’re gone. I try to follow the seasons, stay local, only buy what’s available at the farmer’s markets but have to admit that I cheat all the time when it comes to apples. Not that I have to these days – the markets are bursting with every variety. My great grandmother, who grew up on a farm in Asturias where they made their own cider, lived to be a very healthy and graceful 103. It could have been the apples or the Estée Lauder but its definitely worth a try. Having found a simple recipe for baked apples, I looked for variations with added butter, custard, almonds, or preserves. They all looked great, and I’ll Read more
Nov 8
The first time I went to Kiosk to see their Florida collection I was apprehensive. A curated collection of objects brought back from their travels, I worried that, taken out of context and back lit in their Soho space, the cans of Materva and La Cubanita guava bricks would be all hipster irony and no heart. When I finally went, I loved it and was excited to hear they were hitting Portugal next. I’d only been there once in college but it’s still my favorite vacation of all time. For three days we drove along the southern coast only stopping to eat, swim and sleep. Like previous exhibits, Portugal. What a Beautiful Place! is small collection of shelves set up with light box view of a trip you wish you’d been on. With Avril au Portugal still floating through my mind, I wasn’t expecting to find so many practical why-have-I-not seen-this-before items. Here are a few pictures of my trip to their trip: Read more
I’ve been wanting to try this second causa recipe, stuffed with chicken for awhile. I was finally got my hands on bottled ají amarillo, the Peruvian peppers that are key to so many recipes but are difficult to find in New York. Though usually served cold, roast chicken wrapped in yellow potatoes then slathered with cheese and lightly browned, seemed like the perfect early fall comfort food. I’m always a little skeptical that it’s going to work, but the pureed potatoes combined with oil and peppers become a perfect kind of molding clay so the only difficult part is stopping yourself from playing with it incessantly so it has time to chill.
Nov 3
I’ve been grazing in the same used book store for a few months now, becoming protective of the cookbook corner in the back that no one else seems to visit. It’s become a kind of oujia board, I’ll drop in on my way to Sahadi’s and take a quick look for something new or unusual that will take me in a different direction. I’m starting to believe that the books I’ve been finding come from the same collection since they all share a similar sensibility – New York circa Auntie Mame. Yesterday, I finally bought their copy of The Conspirators’ Cookbook published in 1967 under the pseudonym Century Downing. I was drawn to it’s a pleasantly misanthropic, pro-Europe cookery rants against the canned American sixties with chapters like “Mari’s Little Lamburger”, a list of Ten Commandments that includes “shoot anyone who asks for catsup,” and diatribe against “food fakery.” I’ve never been too interested in conspiracies, but I’ve always had a soft spot for curmudgeons ahead of their time. Read more
Nov 1
I first came across pan de muerto, or “bread of the dead” in the long stretch of Mexican bakeries and stores in Sunset Park. Placed on family altars for el Día de los Muertos (November 1 & 2) as an offering to their deceased loved ones, I asked everyone I knew how they’d celebrated in Mexico and whether they continued to do so in the States. Read more
I found these fairytale pumpkins at Trader Joe’s and had to take a picture. I actually didn’t know these existed. Happy Halloween!
Finalist for the 2015 James Beard Foundation Award in the International Cookbook Category for The Cuban Table
hungry sofia 