The Local PLate Series...Part Two

So as not to utterly bore those among us that eat vegetables reluctantly if at all (you shall be converted to the dark side, my meat loving brothers,) I figured I had better send out a Local Plate with a bit of grilled meat porn:


The pork chop is courtesy of Aberdeen Hill Farm from Upstate New York, which we purchased at Sang Lee.

Grilled with salt and cracked black pepper it harkened back to the pork chops I remember as a kid from Sal’s Quality Market in Schenectady, NY, not just juicy but with an amazing, sweet, succulent PORK flavor.

Hmmmm...let me see now, pork that tastes like...PORK...and not some flavorless chicken scented “other white meat” marketing ploy? Revolutionary I say!

As Agnes said, “If this is what a pork chop really tastes like, I wouldn’t hate eating them.” That friends...is a huge endorsement!

So that our chops wouldn’t feel lonely, our favorite little farm stand, Wowak Farms in Laurel, provided the asparagus which was lightly coated with olive oil, salt and pepper and then grilled alongside the chops.

We love to stop at Wowak, they’re the throwback stand, selling only what they grow on the farm (instead of trucking something in from God knows what part of Jersey or Florida) and doing so at very fair prices: the aforementioned asparagus was only $3.00 for a fist sized bunch.

Aside from the asparagus, we’re especially fond of Wowak’s sugar snap peas (more on these tasty little demons another time,) their green beans and this past weekend we had a superlative quart of large juicy strawberries which I sliced over a mixed green salad and later served as dessert tossed with just a bit of honey....delicious simplicity that!

Yes...the rice pilaf is a Near East boxed mix. Shoot me. As I figure it, shortcuts aren’t illegal if they constitute less than half of your meal. O sweet prevarication!

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The Local Plate Series...Part One

Given that:

1. The Sandwich Series has been temporarily put to bed. Amen...rest well brother, for now,
2. I need a new series to keep myself motivated and posting new items to Steve Eats, a terrible lassitude envelopes me if I don’t have something specific to guide the wild mind tangle,
3. We drive the farm country of the eastern Long Island virtually every weekend during the Spring and Summer, looking for the best things growing,

I figured the best idea is the most obvious, The Local Plate Series.

The title is mostly self explanatory, but in case you hit the Memorial Day beer, wine or retro cocktail cooler a bit too often this weekend and require a wee slice of clarity, we’ll be sharing some of our best discoveries, maybe a recipe or three and a rough guide the chaotic world of the East End farmstand scene where the Disney-esque, six story American flag waving crane of agri-tourism sidles up next to simple, unmanned, cash only, front yard tables offering the overflow from backyard gardens, hen houses and berry patches.

Without further delay then here’s The Local Plate: Part One:

I am of the mind that every good meal should (but not MUST) start with a good salad and this is certainly the time of year for lettuce:


We owe the bounty of this salad to Sang Lee Farms, North Road, Peconic: iceberg (yes folks...iceberg!) and red leaf lettuces, LI Hydroponic Greenhouses heirloom cherry tomatoes and French radish.

The salad was dressed with an heirloom tomato, honey, scallion vinaigrette. A great way to use up some leftover heirloom tomato salad from lunch, the dressing provided a subtle backing chorus that let the freshness of the salad sing loud and proud.

A recently added stop on our weekend tour, Sang Lee has an amazing variety of organic and hothouse vegetables including a wide, remarkable selection of Asian greens. More on the Asian greens in another Plate.

On the flip side, some might find their prices a bit high, especially for VEGETABLES and I agree to some extent, but as I see it and have proven to my own and Agnes’ chagrin, you can very easily spend $60 on a crappy, high calorie, deep fried lunch/dinner at a fake neighborhood pub grub joint, so is $30 or $40 for delectable, outrageously fresh, can’t buy them in any grocery store vegetables really all that high? I think not.

Besides, if you want value to offset the cost of your vegetables, buy a couple of their amazing roast pork buns. For $1.75 and 20 seconds in the microwave, you get a perfect sweet bun filled with just enough delicious, saucy roast pork.

Nirvana for less than $2.00, that is real value folks!

I eagerly await following the seasons of 2010 just to see what else they will bring to our table.

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Don't Forget the Vegetable Leftovers...

So, if you’re like me, you always tell the waiter never mind saving the leftover vegetable and starches on your plate and including them in the doggie bag. I mean what’s to be done with that stuff anyway? It’s not going to re-heat and taste right, there’s not enough leftovers to make a new dish, the dogs won’t eat it and more than likely it’s only going to take up valuable refrigerator space, slowly get pushed to the back of said fridge, end up some green, yellow and black science experiment that you will use to gross out your significant other prior to throwing it in the trash.

And while there is some value and laughs to be had shocking folks with spoiled food, ultimately, they may as well just throw the stuff out at the source, save the time expended and leave plenty of room in your fridge for chilling a case of Guinness or dry aging a couple of porterhouses. Right?

Right…so I surely mumbled aloud, “What is she doing asking the waiter to save the leftover spinach and sweet potatoes?” when Agnes requested that our waiter at Pace’s Steakhouse in Port Jefferson include said leftovers with my remaining rib eye in our take away container and I immediately doomed the veg to future science experimentation, “Oh well, I’ll just throw it out when it grows hair.”

And then…something happened. When I woke up that weekend to make the usual Saturday morning breakfast of eggs, breakfast meat du jour and home fries, I recalled that the spinach and sweet potatoes were still sitting in their takeaway container with my rib eye and maybe I could do something with them rather than waiting for hair growth.

The sweet potatoes were easy, diced into bite size pieces they made perfect yam home fries, beautifully caramelized and a perfect side dish for the main event: a spinach omelet. The spinach, originally sautéed in garlic and olive oil, provided a great spicy, bitter note when contrasted with the richness of the eggs of the omelet and the sweetness of the butter it was cooked in.

So remember, don’t leave the vegetable leftovers. Take them home, get creative. And if you forget to include them in your breakfast omelet, at least you’ll have a fall back position, you can always scare the spouse with the results.

PS: The leftover rib eye was delicious. I like to thinly slice it and include it in my Korean noodle bowl. The boiling water/steam cooks the meat while re-hydrating the noodles, the grilled meat adds a wonderful smoky note to the soup and it turns a snack into a meal.

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The Sandwich List...The Final Chapter (Well...for now.)

OK...so before I move on to the four hundred different post ideas that are currently meandering, scurrying, waddling or otherwise perambulating through my head, we need to finish the Sandwich List, so this last installment will cover two sandwiches:

- Beef on Weck, Schwabl's, West Seneca (Buffalo,) NY

This was reviewed in the first Buffalo installment (speaking of finishing something before moving on to the next idea. Doh!), see December 2009 for details and delicious food porn photos.

A fresh aside, I had told one of my co-workers, RA55, about the sundry joys of Beef on Weck including the near hallucinatory effect of consuming rare roast beef ensconced in a hard roll coated in rock salt, (I call it the Sweet Sodium Haze Mellow,) and he took it upon himself to solicit the transport of six Beef on Wecks from West Seneca to Wading River, NY a journey of approximately 10 hours depending on which way the wind blows and whether everyone behaves on the Long Island Expressway, no guarantee there people!

Anyway, this gave me another opportunity to enjoy the Beef on Weck experience and share it with a few lucky people. So that was cool!

But honestly, I can’t say that these sandwiches travel well (the rolls definitely suffered the desiccating effects of sitting for 24 hours in a brown bag with three pounds (OK an exaggeration) of salt,) but I can say that the beef, horseradish, slaw, pickled beets and German potato salad was more than enough to transport me back to West Seneca, to an awesome meal shared with family and it doesn’t get any better than that!

So thanks again RA55. Next time, the sandwiches stay in West Seneca, we’ll travel! We re-hydrate more effectively.

- Uncle Al's egg sandwich, the Kramer residence, Riverhead, NY

When I was young, my late Uncle Al introduced me to the wonders of fried egg sandwiches as the perfect before bed, afternoon, late morning, early evening, OK anytime you want to eat something, but are seeking to exert the minimal effort for maximal result snack. Al leaned toward hard fried eggs with plenty of ketchup on dry toast. To each man his own desire!

My version involves one egg, over light, yolk broken seasoned lightly with salt and celery seed. The yolk should be soft, but not too runny. Topped with slice of American cheese. You know the drill, cover frying pan, take off flame and melt cheese with residual heat. Served on buttered, lightly toasted white bread. It's like eating a slice of growing up:


Advice? If you're making one, make two. The second one will find a home, trust me.

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A culinary day in the life: Slider Saturday

I am still not sure how it’s possible to walk this earth for the years I have and to have never partaken of a famous (What other burger joint has 2 recent movies on its resume eh?) and infamous (I’m sure everyone has heard the gastrointestinal horror stories of the real reason they are called sliders, oy!) White Castle hamburger.

Seeing how everyone and their third son is now offering a version of sliders, crab cake, grilled salmon, Kobe beef, gourmet, mundane and otherwise, we finally figured it was time to visit the source:

I have to say, what took me so long? These bad boys are like a burger version of crack: small nuggets of meaty deliciousness, individually packaged AND highly freaking addictive.

The questions confronting you as you order:

1. To cheese or not to cheese? I favor not to cheese. While certainly good, the cheese covered up the steam grilled burger and onion flavor. The result, sort of a mini grilled cheese bun with a slight burgery essence and it’s an additional 15 cents to make that happen. Save your 15 cent children and check out the toys you can buy instead! See below for details!
2. How many is too many? Agnes and I handled the 10 burger sack meal pretty easily, especially since the grill man was short two fingers on his left hand from a cleaver accident and only gave us eight and I hate to hassle people. Oops! The 20 burger sack meal meant we had plenty leftover for a second indulgence later in the weekend and damn son! these little beasts re-heat perfectly, nearly approaching the fresh off the grill flavor from the day before. The 30 burger Crave Case, I’ll leave for Harold and Kumar. The 60 burger case, well that’s just madness or a partay. I best be invited!
3. Eat in or take out? Not that any fast food joint is a version of beauty, but damn White Castle you have some UGLY, cavernous, cold, cafeteria style buildings in some less than pristine parts of the world:


Your call on this, but I have to say there is something RIGHT about eating sliders in an UGLY, cavernous, cold, cafeteria style building with traffic whipping by at 60 mph, sandblasting the front window with grit and a Bail Bond or other excessively neon advertised establishment across the street.

The only thing missing? Bruce Springsteen. They should have him put together a sound track to accompany the dining experience. AWESOME!

Final words:

1. As I said before, save your cheese money for toys children. They have some of the best whacked out, old school vending machines dispensing tons of weirdness for 50 cents: facial hair, skull rings and round half dollar sized spheres of cherry bubblegum:


Perfect for your new career in private investigations, an extra on the Beastie Boy’s video “Sabotage”


or as a wedding ring offering for Wendy before you blast the hell our of Jersey forever.
2. I loved the ripple cut fries. Perfect little ketchup vehicles, each bite ends up properly dosed with tomato-ey condiment goodness.
3. Don’t wait 41 years like Steve. Jackass!

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The Sandwich List...Installment #6

- Cajun Chicken Sandwich, Phil's Restaurant, Wading River, NY

Real Cajun spice in more than sufficient (ie. non-wimpy) quantity, grilled to juicy perfection (ie. not dry like shoe leather or that new chicken jerky they make for the dogs) and served on a toasted poppy seeded roll. I'm partial to slathering a generous amount of mayonnaise on the roll prior to indulging and having sweet potato fries on the side, much like this:


Just don't eat that damned maple flavored dipping sauce every restaurant seems to want to send out with yam fries. Disgusting! That muck is a sin against good food if there ever was one.

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The Sandwich List...Installment #5

- Primanti Brother’s Sandwiches, Pittsburgh, PA

Their sandwiches have graced virtually every FoodTV and Travel Channel road show. They have a boatload of locations in and around The Burgh. They have a devoted, committed following ready to bring the Primanti gospel across the land, so it’s not like they need little old Steve to sing their praises, but this is an equal opportunity blog, so here they be.

If you’re not familiar with the Primanti drill, they take your choice of sandwich meat, cheese or egg, pile on a wide handful of french fries, add a liberal scoop of cole slaw, top with tomato slices, and compress the thick deliciousness between two pieces of Italian bread.

During my visit to The Burgh, I tried the Kolbassi and cheese which was indeed very good. The cole slaw providing tart accent to the rich sausage and hot fries. That being said, after seeing others in my party tear into the Pitts-Burgher Cheese Steak, I had to wonder if I made the right choice and the photo below from Krystin and Matt, Primanti mob members in good standing, solidified my choice next time I find myself in The Burgh:


A quick and final aside, by the time we arrived at the Primanti location nearest our hotel and had a few rounds to celebrate of course, the kitchen had somehow closed. Amazingly, after a short discussion indicating that our group had come all the way from New York to eat a sandwich, the chef opened up shop and made sandwiches for our entire by now somewhat staggering crew of lumber industry luminaries.

And he would not accept a cash incentive for his exceptional above the call of duty effort. Toto, we weren’t in Kansas anymore.

Speaking of Dorothy, I wish I had a pair of those damned shoes, I have photographic evidence of two Primanti sandwiches and four large beers purchased for $20.00 US. Are you freaking kidding me?

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The Sandwich List...Installment #4

- Banh Mi, Vietnamese Submarine Sandwiches, Pho 777, North York, Ontario, Canada

A recent discovery when Alex and Grace brought down a whole mess (mess is defined as, more than two, less than ten) of these sandwiches:


Banh Mi are the seemingly unlikely, yet exceedingly successful melding of French (baguette, homemade mayonnaise, pate) and Vietnamese (cilantro, roasted/preserved/rotisserie meats, pickled vegetables) flavors.

Even better, these sandwiches are an amazing value, setting you back only $2.00 to $3.00 each. So they’re an inexpensive meal OR you can buy up a mess and have a full blown tasting extravaganza. Who doesn’t love a good old fashioned extravaganza?

These sandwiches are indeed transcendent, but VERY aromatic. So beware overnight storage in the refrigerator, best to eat them, all of them, all of them for me and none for you, I'll never share, keep you're grubby hands of off my Banh Mi! Sorry, I get selfish around Banh Mi.

Thanks again to Grace and Alex for scoring, sharing these treasures and sending along the photo of amazing goodness. I'm not worthy!

Just giving you guys a heads up, we’ll be back in the GTA in June and I have an extravaganza in mind! Buy 10 get one free! Oh yeah!

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The Sandwich List...Installment #3

- Polish cold cut open faced sandwiches, Makar residence, Stoney Creek, Ontario

Not every perfect sandwich needs be purchased complete and ready to eat, some of the best are made by skilled hands at home.

Witness: fresh ham, pork and turkey cold cuts from either Staropolskie Deli (Hamilton) or Starsky (Mississauga,) Norway cheese, kielbasa, hard boiled egg, fresh tomatoes, snipped chives, sliced homemade dill pickles assembled in sundry combination artfully arranged by Mom Makar on buttered, rye, sunflower and/or pumpkin seed breads.

A platter of these sandwiches reminds me of sushi, they're edible art and tasty beyond measure. Let's just say, you won't believe you ate the whole damned platter...yourself. Best consumed with a tall glass of cold fruit kompot or oranzada (more on these beverages another time.)

I’ll be sure to take and post a photo the next time we sit down for a platter of these bad boys. Yes...I wish to make you jealous, very jealous indeed!

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The Sandwich List...Installment #2

- Cold Cut Submarine Sandwiches, Capri Imports, Schenectady, NY

This one is a childhood favorite. My brother and I used to walk to Capri on Saturday mornings, score sandwiches and head off to Little League practice.

These submarines are comprised of 1/2 loaf of Capri's fresh baked Italian bread and what surely approaches one pound of fresh cold cuts. If you think I jest, check out the photo below of the Italian mixed cold cut (baked ham, capicola, salami and provolone) version of this monster. The picture is courtesy of my friend and fellow food dude, Kevin M. You gotta love people in the lumber business, they're always on the look out for great food and somehow, we always have a tape measure at hand for emergency measuring:


In addition to the bread, Capri bakes it's own turkey, ham and roast beef sliced right onto the bread, so there's never any doubt your sandwich will be completely fresh. Along that line, note the complete lack of limp iceberg lettuce, under ripe or over ripe tomatoes or any other unsavory, poorly executed vegetable accompaniments that might steal the fresh bread and meat thunder.

For most humans, this is a two meal deal for around $6.00, value, volume and tastes great. What more can you ask for? Dessert? Well they make raisin studded fried dough every Saturday just in case you need something sweet after your sandwich.

Capri is a must stop every time I head home to the Capital District, right after Perecca's Bakery for small rounds and pizza. Happy days my friends, happy days.

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The Sandwich List...Installment #1

Awhile ago, Mike, one of the soon to be famous Food Dudes asked about my list of favorite sandwiches. The following posts will be in no particular order. I am willing to wager my head might explode attempting to rank these in any order of preference. Suffice it to say, there's a perfect time and place for each of these sandwiches and at that point in life, it's the number one sandwich.

- Big H, Hero Inn, Riverhead, NY

A moment of silence for the passing of a beloved brother. I haven't had a Big H since the Hero Inn went out of business a few years back. I am infinitely poorer for it.

The Big H was a simple mixed cold cut hero transformed into legend by the substitution of crisp, sweet, shredded green cabbage for the tame,lame assed threads of flavorless iceberg lettuce (Riverhead, NY is Polishtown USA, so they're BIG on cabbage here!) and seasoned with truly sublime Italian style vinaigrette that invariably worked its way through both the sandwich paper around the hero and the paper bag such that it was necessary to transport the bag of sandwiches on a rubber floor mat in the truck or risk deep stains to the upholstery.

The best part? The last bite, when all of the vinaigrette had accumulated and absorbed into the now mushy with deliciousness heel of the sandwich. O my!

Word was that on top of being a damned great sandwich, it was also a serviceable cure for hangovers all sorts. Not that I would know anything about that...ahem.

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