Bagel by the brownstones

The strongest memory I have of New York brownstones is from seeing one on the Cosby Show as a child. At the time it didn’t occur to me where it was, but then when I saw them on grown up shows like Sex and the City, I started to identify them with New York. During our stay with Chloe in Brooklyn we strolled up and down the brownstone streets and it felt as if we were somewhere memorable and iconic.And what else could be more iconic in New York than a bagel? Scallion cream cheese is something I have always wanted to order. Of course it would be easy to make at home, just chop some spring onions (scallions) and stir them into some luscious cream cheese. But how New York it would be to order it in a bagel? I managed to spoil it though by causing confusion with my final choice of bagel filling. When I am making sandwiches or ordering a free combination of fillings from a menu I tend to overdo it with the flavours I choose to compete with each other, and this occasion was no exception. If I was to follow convention I would have ordered a cream cheese and lox (smoked salmon) bagel, or a scallion cream cheese bagel, but I wanted both of those flavours, so I went for scallion cream cheese and lox – on an onion bagel – and got some puzzled looks.

 But when I sat down on a park bench opposite the bagel shop and bit into the tasty bagel as the bright spring sun shone down on me, I knew I had made the right decision. The sweet onion bagel and smoked salmon combined with sharp scallions and creamy cream cheese to make the perfect taste! So next time you’re in a bagel or sandwich shop, don’t be afraid to go off list!

© Katheryn Rice 2008 

Blue Ribbon Bar and Sushi, Brooklyn, NY

So we met up with Chloe and her friends at the Blue Ribbon Bar and Sushi and we ended up with this  superb platter of california rolls, sashimi and sushi, and a couple of lucky dip items. I’m not sure why, but ‘going for sushi’ seemed like a new experience in New York, even though there is a sushi bar at the top of my road in North London.

The platter looked superb, and tasted great, but it was pretty standard for sushi. Having said that there was a new one for me – eel. It just happened to be part of the selection but I’m glad it was. For some reason I thought eel would be tough and chewy but it was quite the opposite – soft, succulent and with a delicate flavour with just a hint of salt.

But the best thing about this meal was the company. We got our own little booth, which was almost like being in our very own sushi box, but very cosy and perfect for a night of chit chat with the girls, during which we explained the actual meaning of ‘snogging’ (it doesn’t mean the same as ‘shagging’) and introduced our American friends to that very British phrase, ‘love-rat’. And the anecdote in which this term came up involved a Northerner describing someone in that way, so by the end of the evening, the yanks were saying it as ‘loove rat’, which was even more endearing and funny.

© Katheryn Rice 2008  

Bar Tabac, Smith Street , Brooklyn, New York

My first trip to New York was full on Manhattan tourism – all the obligatory sights; Battery Park, Empire State, Central Park, shopping, the East Village etc, but this time our trip was less wide-eyed green tourists, and more hanging out in the right places with the locals (kind of).

We couldn’t come to the US of A without doing brunch, and our lovely host Chloe made sure we did it in style. Venues don’t come much hipper than Bar Tabac in Brooklyn, which was rammed on Sunday brunchtime. We squeezed our way through the crowds in the front bar section, past the New Orleans swing band, complete with tuba, and to the front of the throng waiting to be seated.

We’d had lively night on Grey Goose Martinis, so hair of the dog was in order in the form of a spicy Bloody Mary. I definitely needed a pick-me-up but the Bar Tabac Bloody Mary had a hell of a kick, thanks to the special dose of fresh horseradish – ouch! 

The eclectic crowd ranged from young families to middle aged men to the trendy Brooklyn crowd, but the most popular dish by far was the Bar Tabac special – Ratatouille topped with eggs, so that was my brunch of choice – when in Rome and all that…

The perfectly fried eggs had warm, melty yolks and the ratatouille was tangy and tomatoey with diced, sauted potatoes for a bit of extra body – a filling, satisfying brunch.

© Katheryn Rice 2008 

Big Apple breakfast

A long weekend in New York with two special girl friends was a very well-timed getaway, made all the more interesting thanks to one of the friends being a native New Yorker, Brooklyn to be specific. 

It’s a cliched image, but one I wanted to share. Shame about the traffic cones though – put there to protect skaters from the melting ice.

As soon as we boarded the plane to New York we had been fantasising about an American breakfast; pancakes, bacon, maple syrup and so on, so that was our first stop in Manhattan. The Waverley Restaurant is the quintessential diner; customers seated at the bar and in booths, and others waiting to be seated as the super-efficient waiters take orders for the breakfast staples – coffees, hash browns, pancakes, bacon and all manner of eggs. 

 

 After a quick translation by our host for the weekend, we ordered two rounds of ‘Silver Dollars’ (the small, manageable-looking pancakes), hash browns, sausages, bacon and scrambled eggs. As we salivated with anticipation, we gave little consideration to the huge portion-size America is famous for. So when the food arrived, we had unwittingly ordered enough for five or six people. Each plate of Silver Dollars was piled high with 10 of the little blighters. I had been expecting two or three… Cue lots of seasoned customers smiling kindly at the green British tourists with too much food!

 

Having said that, this breakfast was exactly what we had been dreaming about. We spent a delicious half an hour tucking into our maple syrup-drenched brunch. Although after we’d eaten as much as we could, with no regard for our modesty, our sight-seeing took on a slower pace as we were all markedly heavier, but well satisfied. 

© Katheryn Rice 2008 

Swede, kale and potato cakes

In Mr Rice’s absence I found myself with a vegetable surplus. I made soup with the leeks and potatoes, and pasta sauce with the peppers and tomatoes, but I was still left with kale, an onion, some small potatoes and a swede. I toyed with the idea of more soup, but we now have something of a soup mountain in the freezer so I decided to think more creatively.I used to love potato cakes when I was a child – made from leftover mashed potato with a little flour added and fried, then slathered in butter – the ultimate comfort food. So, on a gloomy sunday afternoon I decided to recreate this with the vegetables I had left. It worked really well, although it took a while, the final result was exactly what I had hoped for. 

 Recipe for Swede, kale and potato cakes

500g potatoes
1 swede
1 medium onion
2 tbsps golden caster sugar
4 kale sprigs
1 egg yolk
100g hard cheese, grated
25g butter
splash of olive oil
2 pinches of sea salt
25g wholemeal flour

Wash or peel the potatoes (I don’t peel potatoes much these days, I like to keep the fibre of the skins), then peel the swede and slice into chip-size pieces and steam for 20-25 minutes, or until they are soft and come apart easily in your fingers.

Meanwhile, heat up half the butter and a splash of olive oil in a frying pan and dice the onions, then slowly fry them until soft and translucent. Then add the sugar and stir well, then turn the heat down and cover, to let them caramelise. About five minutes before the potatoes and swede are cooked put the kale on to steam and remove the cover from the onions. It’s important that the onions are caramelised but don’t have any excess moisture as this will cause the cakes to be less firm, and therefore more difficult to fry.

When the potatoes and swede are cooked, drain them well and heat them up in a pan to get rid of any excess moisture. Start to mash them and then add the onions and the steamed, drained and chopped kale. Mash and combine the mixture well, then add salt and pepper to your taste, remove from the heat and add the grated cheese, and finally the egg yolk.

Dust your hands with a bit of the flour then shape the mixture into 8-10 cakes, put them on a plate and then chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Then heat the remaining butter and another splash of olive oil and gently fry the cakes until browned on both sides. Be very careful when turning them over as they can be fragile!

Serve immediately with salad and houmous.

Make sure you when you fry the cakes that you leave plenty of space in the pan so you can turn them easily.

© Katheryn Rice 2008

Table service on the Trang-Bangkok sleeper

This is a special one from the Thailand archive for Mr Rice, who is currently relaxing with his chum Mr Bawcombe on Palolim beach in Goa.  On our most recent trip, we had three weeks in Thailand, which allowed to spend a little longer on the road, rather than flying to each destination. So Mr Rice finally got to show me the Bangkok sleeper train he’s so fond of.

A week or so before we boarded the Trang to Bangkok sleeper, we had jumped aboard the midnight train from Hua Hin to Surat Thani only a couple of days before New Year’s Eve. It wasn’t just Mrs and Mr Rice who were trying to get south for the festivities, so the train was jam packed – consequently we had settled for ‘second class air con’ seats, which basically meant old-fashioned plastic bus-style seats with minimal recline. ‘Air con’ was simply a wide open window that allowed the cold night air to rush through the carriage – all night. And worst of all, Mrs and Mr Rice were sitting next to each other, but with the pesky aisle separating us, so we couldn’t even cuddle up to keep warm. Ho hum, eight hours later we arrived, having had very little sleep and groggily resolved to travel sleeper all the way in future.

Sitting down happily in our ‘second class sleeper’ carriage after we boarded the train at Trang, I remembered the less than comfortable journey in second class air con, and I was as happy as if we’d sat in Business Class. Sometimes the most romantic moments are in the most unexpected places, and as we settled back in our seats, watching the sun set over the Thai countryside, our evening was perfected by the lovely waitress who brought us dinner and two cold bottles of Chang!

It was a simple but tasty meal of sweet and sour chicken with rice and salad, served on a stow-away table by a persistent lady who kept bringing us two Changs instead of one.As night fell, the carriage grew quiet as the bed man walked through the car, converting each double seat into an upper and lower bunk. Mr Rice chivalrously took the lower bunk, meaning I could climb the little ladder up to my cosy little cabin. I closed the curtains, snuggled up in the blanket and had a great night’s sleep.

Our friendly waitress returned the next morning with breakfast: ‘toast’, butter and marmalade with fresh pineapple, orange juice and a nice cup of tea for Mr Rice. The toast was in fact bread, but there’s no need to split hairs. It was a charming way to start our day and limber up for a day travelling through and from Bangkok.

So, remember – sleeper trains should only be done in sleeper carriages, and I hope you have as memorable a journey as Mrs and Mr Rice did.

© Katheryn Rice 2008 

Warm salad Nicoise with tuna steak

It’s sometimes quick and easy to make yourself a tuna Nicoise with tinned tuna, and often a half decent meal out will even offer the same, but the best kind of tuna Nicoise involves fresh, meaty tuna, preferably from a renewable source.*

Mr Rice loves his Nicoise salads, so I thought it only fair to treat him to a special version to remind him how much I appreciate his husband skills. This recipe is based on Simon Rimmer’s version – the dressing and vegetables are warm, as well as the freshly griddled tuna, so it’s perfect for a chilly day.

Recipe for warm salad Nicoise with tuna steak
100g green beans
100g new potatoes
12 cherry tomatoes
2 eggs
2 fresh tuna steaks
1 tbsp olive oil
Dressing
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
30ml white wine vinegar
150ml olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper

Scrub the new potatoes and halve if necessary, to make them all bite-size, then put them on to boil for about ten minutes. Put the two eggs onto boil for ten minutes.Then trim the green beans and steam for 7-8 minutes. Meanwhile, for the dressing, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

When the dressing is mixed, transfer it to a frying pan and warm over a low heat. Drain the potatoes and them, the steamed beans, potatoes and tomatoes and toss them in the warm dressing. Remove from the heat.

Brush the tuna steaks with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook the tuna steaks on a hot griddle pan for about 30 seconds on each side. To serve, pile up the dressed vegetables and place the tuna steak on top, with the halved hard boiled egg on the side.

*The salad can also work with tinned tuna. Just drain it and add to the vegetables and dressing at the last minute. 

© Katheryn Rice 2008