Recipes & Cooking: April 2004 Archives

This is the friend, Rebecca, who baked that yummy caramel apple pie last fall. Now she's baking bread! My two kitchen fears (I'm a bit jealous). She also tells about an asparagus salad she made for Easter:

A friend invited us to her apartment for Easter. Easter is one of my favorite holidays (then again, I love just about any holiday that celebrates eating). I decided to make two recipes that are part of my family's Easter tradition. Asparagus and red peppers in mustard vinaigrette really tastes like spring--and this time of year, you can get delicious asparagus even at your local supermarket.  Steam the asparagus until it's barely tender--there should still be a
little crunch to it. Blanch it in cold water. Make a vinaigrette with 2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar, 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, and 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme.  Add some fresh tarragon if you're lucky enough to have some, and a splash of Tabasco if you like a little spice.  Whisk in 1/2 cup olive oil.  Arrange the asparagus on a platter, top with julienned roasted red peppers (I use jarred peppers--everyone says roasting peppers is easy, but I have a 10 month old baby and don't have the patience!), and drizzle with the vinaigrette.

My mother has made Easter braid for as long as I can remember, and although I crave it every Easter since I moved to New York, I've never been brave enough to make it myself.  The recipe itself is not hard, but it's easy to be intimidated by yeast (not to mention the kneading and the braiding).  It's a soft white dough made with milk, butter and eggs. For sweetness there's lemon peel, raisins, and a dash of mace.  It has to be kneaded for 10 minutes, and it rises once before it's braided and once after.  It baked beautifully, and I knew the glaze was delicious because I licked the spoon (it's a simple sugar glaze, with confectioner's sugar, water, and a little butter, and my mom always adds almond extract), but I was a little nervous until we actually ate the bread.  It was almost as good as my mom's, and I'll definitely be making it next year.

The last time I was on the Fresh Direct web site, they no longer had YS knishes available, but one of my coworkers, Julie, recently went to the bakery and says that experience far improves upon a warmed-over knish. Here's what she says:

I grew up in New York City, and have had a few Yonah Schimmel knishes over the years, but I had never eaten at the bakery before. My husband, David, and I decided to stop by for a quick dinner a few weeks ago before heading to a movie at the Sunshine theater next door. I’m so glad we did, because eating a freshly baked knish runs circles around picking one up at a deli and eating it reheated. I ordered a sweet potato knish, which at first I thought sounded strangely unorthodox, but the waitress convinced me by telling me it was her favorite. My husband ordered the cheddar cheese knish. We also shared a bowl of split pea soup, and, of course, a Dr. Brown’s black cherry soda. The soup was yummy, thick and satisfying. But the star of the experience was the sweet potato knish. It arrived piping hot, with a sprinkling of cinnamon on top. It was so tender...and was sweet and savory at the same time, made with both sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. And onions.

Since eating at Yonah Schimmel’s (which I recommend as a New York experience even if you don’t order a knish, as it’s been there since 1910 and looks that way), I have thought about the sweet potato knish now and then, so when Kim came into work and handed me the container from Fresh Direct, I was excited but also sad she wasn’t feeling well enough to eat it. Kim, I’m thrilled you’re feeling a bit better now, and when I place my first order with Fresh Direct (we live in the same neighborhood and have been anticipating its arrival together), I’ll order a Yonah Schimmel’s sweet potato knish and bring it to work for you.

Since I haven't been feeling well, one of my coworkers, Meghann, agreed to contribute this review:

Working one office down from Kim, and a regular lunch buddy, I get to hear about her culinary adventures on a regular basis. I love to cook myself, but since I live with two other girls and share a tiny kitchen, most of my food experiences are in restaurants around the city. I'll make my own crême brulées one day, but for now my sweet tooth is getting quite a fix from a few soul/southern food restaurants that I'm reviewing as a freelance assignment.

At Kitchenette Uptown, the Harlem outpost (up-post?) of the TriBeCa restaurant, our coworker Robb and I got to celebrate his 30th birthday with three sweet courses in a row. He had potato pancakes with crunchy apple compote and sour cream, buttermilk-soaked honey glazed fried chicken, and tart cherry pie for dessert. My goat-cheese, beet, walnut and apple salad wasn't overly fancy, and tasted as if the South had appropriated the dish, upping the sweetness of the vinaigrette and throwing in extra walnuts for good measure. For a main dish, I had roast chicken with apple stuffing, buttery wilted swiss chard and mac and cheese, and then went for the peanut-butter chocolate pie. I wouldn't normally order this much food, but I had to order a variety of things on the menu for the review. I'm glad I had an excuse, though, because this was definitely a case of eyes bigger than stomach. Luckily the restaurant sat at the bottom of a hill that I had to walk up to get to the subway at 125th street, a bit of exercise after a big, wonderful meal.

Thanks Meghann.