Hey Guys!  New video is up on youtube.com/hungryinbrooklyn and also hungrynation.tv.  Here’s the recipe for Mussels Mariniere if you want to follow along! 

MUSSELS MARINIERE (adapted from Jeff Slagg of Sel De Mer)

INGREDIENTS: 

• 4 stalks celery (chopped)
• 3 shallots (sliced)
• 4 cloves (minced)
• olive oil
• 2 pounds mussels
• 1/2 cup white wine 
• 6 TBSP butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Coat the bottom of a pan with olive oil and heat it up.  When it starts to shimmer, add your celery and cook until it begins to caramelize.  Next add the shallots and garlic and saute until transluscent.  Quickly add your mussels, white wine, and butter.  Salt and pepper, cover and wait until the mussels have just opened, about 3-5 minutes. Serve with fries. 

I recently got rid of my microwave to make room for an ice cream machine and food processor.  I figured I would get a lot more use out of the latter two items, and well— I just don’t have the counter space for anything else.  So when Jeff Slagg of Sel De Mer told me I should have a deep-fryer to make the perfect french fries- my heart sank. There just isn’t room in my tiny kitchen, no matter how much I love fries.  Finally, he let me in on a little secret about how to get the perfect restaurant-style french fries in my oven. And they’re AMAZING.

OVEN ROASTED FRENCH FRIES:

• 3-4 Russet potatoes, sliced into fry shapes
• 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
• salt and pepper 
• 1 tsp rosemary, chopped
• 1 tsp thyme, chopped
• 1 tsp chives, chopped 

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Heat the oil to about 300 degrees in a sautee pan. Add the sliced potatoes and cook until they begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Spread them onto a sheet pan and allow to cool completely.  Top with the herbs, salt and pepper to taste, and pop them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until they’re golden brown and crispy.  

I bought a quart of plums at the McCarren Park Greenmarket other day - with only two people (and a dachshund) to eat them.  I know - that’s a lot of plums but they were so shiny and beautiful and in season, I couldn’t resist!  

Long story short, they sat on my counter for a few days.  I figured that before they started attracting fruit flies, I should make something delicious with them.  Time to break out the ice cream machine for the easiest and tastiest plum sorbet ever!

SHEA’S PLUM SORBET:

• 1 quart of plums, halved and pitted (once pureed it should yield about 3 cups)
• juice of 1 orange
• 1 cup sugar

Puree the plums in in the blender with the orange juice.  Strain through a sieve to remove the bits of skin.  Over medium heat in a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the pureed plums with the sugar until the sugar has dissolved.  Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.  

Freeze in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions.  Garnish with mint and you’ve got yourself a delicious dessert! 

even though the flesh of the plum is yellow, pureeing the plums with the skins on colors the puree a beautiful red 

plum sorbet, delicious and refreshing! 

I take Cuban food very seriously, and have been trying for the past six years to make the perfect picadillo. Picadillo is essentially Cuban peasant food - ground beef cooked slowly with sofrito, tomatoes and olives. A dash of cumin here, a pinch of oregano there, and you’re on your way to a picadillo party.  But no matter what recipe I tried, no matter what cuban ex-pat I asked, I simply could not duplicate the picadillo of Raphael’s grandmother. She did give me her recipe, but I’m convinced she left something out. Perhaps that ingredient was a grandmother’s love, or her 50 years of experience.  But I damn it, I have determination.  And that determination has led me to my own recipe that will rival any picadillo you find in South Florida, if I don’t say so myself.  

If you’re interested in authenticity, be wary of recipes that call for large cans of diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, or even fresh tomatoes.  While those dishes may taste good, they’re not picadillo. The key to a good picadillo is that it should have more of a ground beef brown color once it’s done.  It shouldn’t look like chili.  Tonya, I promised you I would perfect this: 

SHEA’S CUBAN PICADILLO

1 small green bell pepper, diced

1 small spanish onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 lb ground beef

2 tbsp cumin

2 tbsp chopped Cuban Oregano (or 1 tsp dried oregano) 

1 bay leaf

1 8-oz can tomato sauce 

6 large olives, chopped 

2 tbsp olive brine 

1/4 cup raisins (optional - I prefer it without but traditionally picadillo has raisins)

Salt to taste

On medium heat, warm the olive oil in a large saucepan.  Add the peppers, onions, garlic, and salt to taste, until the vegetables start to soften.  Add the tomato paste and cook until browned and caramelized.  Add the ground beef, cumin, Cuban oregano, and bay leaf.  Break up the beef as it cooks - once the beef has browned, add the tomato sauce, olives, brine, and raisins.  Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Salt to taste, and serve over rice.  

*Looking for something to do with your leftover picadillo?  Pick up some pizza dough and make beef empanadas.  You won’t be disappointed!

I have been on a mission for the past few years to perfect the Cuban dishes of Raphael’s hometown of Miami.  If you want to try real Cuban food, authentic Cuban food, Miami is the place to do it.  And if you want real authentic recipes, don’t count on getting a straight answer out of any Cuban grandma.  

Last month, Raphael and I had the privilege of boarding a plane from Miami to Havana, 50 years after his grandparents had made the reverse trip, never to return to their country.  In 1960, Miami was a new promised land - a land of opportunity and refuge, of modern conveniences and Campbell’s soup, of giant supermarkets and processed food.  This was the future of America, and therefore the Cuban-Americans.   

In 1960, the future of Cuba could not be predicted.  Now, 50 years later, it hasn’t changed much.  The promise of an autonomous country came and went, and the people struggle for the things we take for granted every day.  But there is no sadness - there is pride, celebration, and joy, and even when rations are low, the Cuban family will always gather around a table and enjoy a meal together.

Every farm is government-mandated organic, farmers use oxen to carry crops, and food is only consumed seasonally and locally- it is a place that is only seemingly trapped in a century gone by.  In some ways, the agricultural system is in fact more forward-thinking than the most productive of farms in the Western Hemisphere.  

I was so surprised that Cubans and Cuban-Americans, while only 90 miles away from one another, could have such different food philosophies.  In the US, all the Cuban delicacies can be found in a can, mango can be enjoyed year-round, and yuca is a peeled-and-ready white starch in your freezer section. And now I fear that one of the most defining ingredients of Cuban cooking has been lost in translation.  

When I started this post, I intended to tell you the difference between Oregano and Spanish Thyme, also called Cuban Oregano.  Spanish Thyme is the fuzzy, bushy, fresh herb used in all Cuban cooking.  I have a feeling that when the Cubans first came to the US, they picked up a bottle of McCormick’s Dried Oregano at Publix - not realizing that this new convenience simply shared a name with it’s fresh Caribbean counterpart. 

And so only when I made it to Cuba, and Raphael’s cousin was giving us a tour of her herb garden, did I realize that such an integral ingredient in Cuban cooking had been lost in translation, lost to convenience.  

Cuban Oregano is growing on my terrace right now.  It’s the only plant out there thriving in this heat, and will help me perfect the flavors of Cuban-American cooking while honoring the philosophies of their homeland.  

This has to be my favorite Hungry in Brooklyn dinner party to date.  New friends, old friends, close friends and faraway friends all gathered together to celebrate Sarah Brill’s birthday. Perfect weather, tasty food, one long table, and lots of pinot grigio marked the first HiB to hit the terrace. And there were even fireworks. 

THE COURSES: 

First: Chilled Carrot Soup - organic carrots, garden chives, hudson valley creme fraiche

Second: Arugula and Citrus Salad - organic grapefruit & avocado, house pickled red onions

Savory: Wild Shrimp and Organic Peppers - sustainable North Atlantic shrimp, pepper and mango skewers, organic coconut jasmine rice, chimichurri sauce 

Sweet: Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches - homemade organic chocolate chip cookies made with locally milled flour, homemade vanilla bean grass-fed ice cream 

TIP:  Roast your shrimp. 

I was concerned about how I was going to cook 90 shrimp at the same time and have them come out with the perfect consistency.   The best thing to do?  Roast them in the oven!  400 degrees, and they all came out exactly the same.  The gorgeous shrimp I picked up from The Lobster Place were rather large, so I roasted them for about 12 minutes- but make sure to adjust the cooking time depending on the size. 6 minutes should do it for the little guys. 

Check out the next two posts for photos! 

Brillo’s Birthday Bash - Photos Part II

When our friend Kevin asked me to plan a Hungry in Brooklyn surprise birthday for his girlfriend, Sara, I was thrilled.  And not just because he specifically requested my famous baked oysters (which have already made appearances at my dinners here and there), but also because Sara is a dear friend who deserved a sweet (and savory) surprise.  

The Courses: 

First: Oysters Rodriguez - baked fanny bays, shallots, criminis, white whine, touch of cream 

Second: Frisee au Lardons - poached egg, champagne shallot vinaigrette

Savory: Baked Whole Brook Trout - thyme and lemon, haricots verts

Sweet: Salted Caramel Glacee - grass-fed organic cream, burnt caramel, fleur de sel

The perfect compliment to this French-inspired meal were the delicious cocktails artfully prepared by Hotel Delmano’s Tim Monaghan.  He stuck with the “local” theme quite well- Tim whipped up the tastiest French 75’s I’ve ever had using the Philadelphia-made Bluecoat Gin. Getting drunk has never been so classy! 

Hungry in Brooklyn - Sara’s Surprise Party!