Ikea Meatball Stroganoff

Ikea recently opened its doors on the waterfront in Red Hook, Brooklyn. While there are some downsides, namely, the view of the Statue of Liberty from Sunset Park is now obstructed by a giant, blue and yellow, admittedly well-designed billboard, and no press has covered this eyesore collateral damage, overall, it is a well-received addition to the neighborhood.

Here’s the big upside for me: 2.5lb bags of frozen Swedish meatballs. 

I’m getting up the chutzpah to defrost the meat and do something more adventurous than, say, Swedish meatballs for dinner. But they’re just so easy. Perfect little bite-sized rounds, bake ’til done, boil some potatoes and violà! A dinner a Swedish-by-heritage husband can enjoy.

Tonight I got a bit more adventurous:

Swedish Stroganoff*:

Enough frozen Ikea meatballs for the number of people you’re serving. The package recommends 6 per person. I do eight.

a packet of Ikea Food Brand Gråddsås (Cream sauce mix) made to packet instructions

1 bag extra broad egg noodles

1 bag frozen peas and carrots

Bake the meatballs. Boil the noodles. Make the cream sauce in a pan large enough to hold noodles, veg and meatballs. When the sauce is done, according to packet directions, add the noodles, veg and balls. Mix well and serve.

The perfect Wednesday night, husband has final test, kind of meal.

*I’ve never actually had Beef Stroganoff. My mom hated it so she never made it at home, and I haven’t had the first hand pleasure, so this is my approximation. Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t tell me I’m slumming. On a Wednesday, slumming is just fine by me.

Alchemy Restaurant

What?! A restaurant review? Okay, so the truth is I was a little traumatized by my last attempt at a restaurant review and promise to, from this point forward, name the place, even if the review is less than flattering.

This however, is not one of those reviews. This is an appraisal at Park Slope’s best restaurant – of course that is only my opinion, but having eaten at many, this place is it.

 The Gourmand & I were reluctant to go for years. We are a little jaded of the “Brooklyn Restaurant Scene” and a gastropub sounded more like “can’t figure out our business plan” than our new go-to eatery.

Our first dinner there was accidental. The carnivores among you can attest to that moment (or moments) in your life when you need steak. Its probably something primal, like an iron dip, but whatever the cause, you know: I need steak.

Home from my day job, the Gourmand searched “Brooklyn Steak” and paged through Google, passed that other joint we can’t afford, and found a review of Alchemy. 

We arrived on a hot night, and I asked the woman who sat us for a glass of rosé. She said, cheerfully “I’ll send your server right over!” In most places this means “tell her.” Here, the server came with the glass of wine. Small details set a place apart from its neighboring competition and scream professionalism. 

The Gourmand ordered the fish & chips, I had the steak served with kale and, without issue, substituted brussel sprouts for the potatoes. When the server asked how I’d like my steak, I deferred to the chef, as this is really their place to judge. 

Now, you should know this meal was a bit back in time, maybe the end of April or May. We’ve been back several times since and every time is amazing. But the steak is the stuff of dreams. I cannot describe it any other way than to say, it was the tenderness of a baby’s thigh. No, I don’t dine on the flesh of babes, but I have had the opportunity to pinch a few loved ones and this steak was that: supple, pink, succulent… I could go on, but someone might call CPS.

The fish & chips was fluffy and beer battered with a deft hand. No pasty, undercooked batter here. And hand cut fries. Yum.

The kale is of note as well. Tiny leaves, perfectly presented, standing up on the plate, brightly steamed? blanched? green and perfect compliment to my baby thigh…um…steak!

Last night we returned to toast the engagement of one of our best friends in the world. I had salmon with pineapple salsa, haricots verts (or green beans) and roasted potatoes. The men both had a medium rare burger with bacon and bleu cheese. Just perfect. Perfectly cooked, perfectly priced and perfectly paired with an array of wines and local beers (2-for-1 before 7!)

I could go on. I could also list a large handful of places in Park Slope to avoid if you know what’s good for you. Alchemy, I promise, will not disappoint… unless you bring a baby.

Recipes for Success

Thank you to everyone who came out last night and made our guest chefery a success! We felt the love and hoped you did too. I celebrated a little too hardy and so the recipes are a bit late going up, and not all at once, but be kind to me! I haven’t stayed up past 10pm in a real long time and last night, we hit the pillow at 2am! 

Here’s the first installment:

Venison Sliders with Maple Mustard BBQ Sauce
Makes 8 sliders or 8 full size burgers 

For the Sliders
1 lb ground venison meat (or beef, pork, veal, turkey or a combination) 
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 T worcestershire sauce (did you know this is made from the tamarind fruit? I just learned that!)
1 T dijon mustard
1 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp kosher salt
Cheese (we used smoked gouda)
Rolls

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl using your hands. Mix until the onions and parsley are evenly distributed, but don’t go too crazy – the meat will start to toughen. Form meat into patties. Grill (preferably) or pan-fry on hot heat four minutes on first side, flip, turn heat down to medium and cook to desired doneness. If you’re adding cheese, do it now.

For The BBQ Sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup whole grain mustard
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/8 cup Bragg’s apple cider vinegar (its the only brand to buy)

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a whisk until the sauce starts to simmer. Turn heat down to low and stir occasionally for 15 minutes. 

Spoon over burgers and enjoy!

 

 

Tonight’s Menu

For those of you making it out to the Gourmand & the Peasant’s organic beer dinner at Barrette, here’s what you’ll be getting:

First Course
Amuse Bouche x 3
Organic Egg Salad
Mustard Seed Cheddar Cheese
Spring Sprout Salad
Beer: Amber Ale 

 

Second Course
Barley Salad with Asparagus, Peas and Edible Spring Flowers
Beer: Pale Ale 

 

Third Course
Venison Slider with Smoked Gouda Cheese and Maple Mustard BBQ Sauce
Beer: Maple Oat Ale 

 

Fourth Course
Amaretto and Coffee Cookie
Beer: Nut Brown Ale

All Beer is from Peak Organic Brewery. Yum!

 

Thomas Beisl & Paul Simon

This post will be mostly a review of Thomas Beisl, Austrian restaurant in Fort Greene, Brooklyn across the street from BAM. However, I have to give a nod to what brought us there last night. Eight of us, The Gourmand & the Peasant and parts of each of our families, descended on the place to fill up before heading across the street to the Brooklyn Academy of Music to watch a sold out performance of Paul Simon’s Under African Skies. It was awesome, despite some rule-breaking dancers breaking the rules of some stuffy ushers, the house was energized, especially when David Byrne stole the show. A shock of white hair, Mr. Rogers-meets-punk-rock wardrobe and dance moves, the man is brilliant and, with his cover of “You Can Call Me Al,” he had the entire audience on their feet, singing along and dancing, before turning the show back to an aging Mr. Simon, and an assortment of other guest singers and musicians including the venerable Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Ok, back to dinner. As former members of restaurant business, the phrase “table of eight” can recall some anxieties. Get the food out at the same time. Keep the glasses filled and the bread coming. Not easy, but handled with grace at Thomas Beisl. We ordered appetizers to be eaten family-style. An arugula salad with a curled slice of parmesan cheese dressed lightly in olive oil, two endive salads, served with grapes and walnuts, two orders of herring in sour cream, an order of chicken liver terrine and a large plate of steak tartare, which came with french fries.

The steak tartare was met with squeals from the more squeamish members of our dinner party. Yes it really is raw meat, and yes, it is a dining luxury you will never again lack for craving once you’ve decided that you could actually (gasp!) like expertly prepared filet mignon, albeit without the fire. The heat in Thomas’ tartare comes from a unique addition of chili, so what it lacks in warmth, it makes up for in capsicum. 

For dinner, I had Wiener schnitzel, a veal cutlet pounded thin, breaded and fried to a crisp golden brown and served with a generous wedge of lemon.

To drink, bottles of Schlumberger sparkling flowed, followed by a dry Riesling and Blaufrankish, a little known red grape varietal from the shores of the Danube in the Austro-Hungarian empire. The Riesling and the Blaufrankish were perfectly paired with our food courses and all three were under $35 a bottle. Not cheap, but for the convenience of being on the steps of an internationally recognized performing arts house, comparably affordable. I passed on a 2006 rosé – a shame its still being served to saps who don’t know that a new flock of 2007s have hit the shores and store shelves and far outshine the dusty, tired remnants of last spring.

There were desserts, and hopefully my familial readers will comment about them. I, however, am 13 days away from bikini, so I demurred.

All said and done, a delicious evening of song and feast for all the senses. Delightfully made memories of family togetherness, food and culture in my mind are in the making to recall over dinners to come.

Thomas Beisl
25 Lafayette Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
718-222-5800 

Sometimes you have to make two dinners

When you are cooking, there are some basic rules of thumb.

 

1: Don’t let the gas run if the burner isn’t lit.

2: If in doubt, throw it out.

3: Marinading should be done for at least 24 hours.

Practicing #1 and #3, we got a great recipe for Beef Bulgogi from our friend’s Asian-scholar father and he tells us it will be much better if the beef can marinate for at least 24 hours.  Just preparing the marinade made me, The Gourmand, exited for tomorrow’s dinner.

So The Peasant & I made a simple pasta dish to hold us over.  I have been experimenting with frozen vegetables until farmer’s market season.  So simple pasta primavera, no cream involved, as per the request of The Peasant:
1 pound spaghetti

1 box or small bag frozen mixed veg

3 scallions sliced (left over from the bulgogi marinade)

4 cloves of garlic chopped

good olive oil (I used unfiltered extra virgin)

grated cheese*

lots of black pepper

Set the pasta to boil according to package directions. In a hot pan, sautée the garlic in some of the olive oil, then add the frozen veg and cook until the veg begins to dry and the colors are bright.  Drain the spaghetti and mix with the contents of the pan.  Add more olive oil at this point for the uncooked flavor of the olives. Grate a hefty amount of black pepper and stir.  Serve with grated cheese heaped on top.

Stay tuned for the results of the Bulgogi.

*As much as we hate to admit it, we know that you expect honesty. So, in this recipe, by “grated cheese” we mean Ronzoni Parmesan Grated Cheese, which we affectionally refer to as “Shakey Cheese.” We know it isn’t asiago, or grana padano, BUT is cheap, salty, and the ingredients cite parmesan cheese as number one ingredient of four. So we aren’t apologizing. Hope you still love us! Confess in the comments if you too have a dirty little culinary secret.  

Restaurants That Close on Mondays are Annoying

I was all excited last night to go out the Sidecar in Brooklyn with The Gourmand and our close friends. I had this hunch that  I’d better just call and make sure that they are open and, sure enough: Closed Mondays.

I suppose that everyone is entitled to a night off, but, well, I don’t have a better solution. I guess that Monday is the most obvious choice.

Instead, we had:

Modified Arroz con Pollo

Ingredients:
1 leftover bone-in roasted chicken breast
1 cup (give or take) left over wild rice from roasted chicken dinner
half an onion, finely chopped
1 lb frozen mixed vegetables
3/4 tsp saffron, bloomed in hot water
hot sauce (I used siracha) to taste
splash of white wine
splash of fruit juice
sea salt 

1 avocado, chopped 
1 lime 

How To:
Remove the chicken from the bone and chop fine. In a bowl, mix the chicken, rice, onion, frozen veg, saffron with the water, hot sauce, wine, juice and a generous seasoning of sea salt. Transfer to an appropriately-sized, over-proof dish. Bake, covered with foil, at 350 about an hour, until hot all the way through. The liquids should have all been absorbed by the rice.

Serve with chopped avocado, extra hot sauce, and a squeeze of lime juice.

Reschedule Sidecar for Wednesday and stay tuned for a review!

$6 Goulash

Hungry for a recession special? If not, awesome. If you are, or you just like good cheap food, Monday nights at Cafe Steinhoff in Brooklyn offers a bowl of Goulash for six bucks. You can sit at a table next to a dad with his kids or an old couple, or share the bar with a morose couple of single dudes. Either way, great people watching.

Goulash is a hearty and warm tomato-based beef stew. If you are lucky, your serving will include a red potato that’s been cooking since the previous night. Given the recent March goes out like a lion weather in Brooklyn, its just what a hungry soul needs. When you come through the door, the staff makes sure you know its goulash night. (They also have a trout dish, but I’ve never had any reason to order it.)  The kitchen is closed so that’s it for entrees, and for dessert, there’s apple bread pudding, but I didn’t order that.

You get rolls to finish up your gravy, but they leave some to be desired in the taste and texture category. They work just great as gravy sponges.

A selection of tap beers includes my favorite! Gaffel Kölsch from Germany. Very hard to find on tap, so I’m thrilled when I stumble across it.

For $27, including a five-dollar tip, we left warm, full and happy.

Cafe Steinhoff
422 7th Ave
Park Slope, Brooklyn

Applewood for Restaurant Week

Applewood restaurant is amazing. Not the most journalistic way to describe a restaurant, for sure, but the truth. In its prior incarnation, 501 11th Street in Park Slope was a bar, the Blah Blah lounge, and I was a bartender there. We were known for cold cocktails mixed as the Sex in the City girls were making them famous, a great wine list and for great burgers. Now, Applewood restaurant continues the food and drink high standard, even if the ceiling-mounted projector and love-letter filled glass bar have been removed.

If you don’t know, this is restaurant week in Brooklyn. A number of restaurants throw open their doors for prixe-fixe lunches and/or dinners and show off their themes. At Applewood, the theme is fresh, local, nose-to-tail gastronomy and the menu, at $23 shows off the deft hand of the chef and his staff.

M & I went to Applewood last night without reservations. The answering machine at the restaurant had informed us earlier in the week that they were book, which wasn’t completely unexpected as they tend to be booked most nights anyway, without the advertising push of Marty Markowitz.

We were joined by two friends, one of which is a professional chef herself, and waited for about a half hour for a table. The same voicemail that said they were booked also said that there would be a small number of tables available for walk-in customers.

The full-price menu was available but the four of us opted for the restaurant week prixe-fixe. I started with the salad, (which when the waiter read my order back to me, he referred to as ‘lettuce’) which was crisp and fresh lettuce greens dressed with pesto and toasted pistachio nuts. M got the soup – creamy butternut finished with a swirl of maple syrup.

The main course offerings were mushroom risotto (which no one ordered), a seared duck breast that our chef-friend ordered and was cooked to a tender rare temperature and, having been given a taste, turned me around for that moment on my feelings about duck.

The final offering was a sea bass, cooked very rare and served with broccoli rabe and tiny pink shrimp in a seafood broth. (‘Nage’ was the name on the menu for the broth – a new addition to my food lexicon!) The fish tasted swimming-before-you-got-here-and-ordered-me fresh. M confirmed with the other two of us that his wasn’t the only piece cooked sashimi-style and I wondered if it would be warm all the way through. It was, and it was heavenly. The flavor of the broth, salty and lobstery-sweet melted the fish. The little shrimp were delicious and adorable, but I couldn’t quite figure out how to eat them. With a bite of fish? On their own? Before I could figure it out, they were gone and I was satisfied.

The dessert course was a choice of sour cherry and marscapone rice pudding topped with pistacio nuts, or quince and apple tart with bacon strudel and vanilla ice cream. Our table ordered both and couldn’t decide which was better – or more unique.

We shared a bottle of Nero d’Avola wine for $23, a perfectly balanced accompaniment to the fish and the duck. Fruity and earthy but mellow enough to let the food be the star at the table, as it should be.

I f you don’t have plans tonight, go and stand in line. There is a small courtyard in the front where you can bring a beer ordered at the bar and contemplate your dining memories that are in the making.

Applewood
501 11th street
Brooklyn, NY 11215
718.788.1014

Nasturtium Flowers and Meyer Lemons

Yesterday was Easter Sunday, and although I haven’t attended church in years, I still keep the tradition of a big spring flavor-themed meal and yesterday was no different. M & I started on Saturday at the Grand Army Plaza Green Market, just starting to come back to life after the winter dormancy.

We helped ourselves to a bag full of beautiful young shoots – pea, sunflower, arugula – all crisp and fresh and peppery. Next to the greens on the the table was one remaining box of nasturtium flowers, which I had never actually eaten. The flowers were brilliant orange and red and stood out from the cold morning and came home with us.

If you’ve never eaten a nasturtium flower, I hope that you will someday. The petals are light as air and stick to your tongue a little, almost as if they are melting. There’s a certain sensuousness to eating a flower. I felt like a Greek goddess, eating these spicy colors. At the base of each set of petals, there is a tiny drop of nectar that is so sweet, but you have to pay attention or you might miss it hidden in the pepper.

Next we went to Fairway Market in Red Hook and right inside the front door was a huge pile of Meyer Lemons. These lemons are actually (according to Wikipedia) a hybrid of a regular lemon and a tangerine so they are sour-orange and lemon flavored. M & I bought one and hoped that for $1.50 per lemon (!) it would be worth it. We bought leeks, asparagus, a fennel bulb and tarragon for what was intended to be a strata, but ended up a bread-free fritata due to inadequate soaking time. This required cheese, so we bought aged gouda and for a side dish, barley, cilantro, a yellow bell pepper and shelled soy beans.

Following are the recipes, and I hope you’ll feel free to experiment and share you culinary explorations! After all, the joy of cooking is all in the making.

Peace and peas.