MINEST, classic Brooklyn-Italian winter soup of greens

Photograph of fresh Greens via Wikipedia under GNU Free Documentation License

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Minest: It's unlikely that you will find this recipe in a cookbook or even on-line.  It's classic Brooklyn-Italian, great winter comfort food, a soup lush with mixed greens and rich with flavor.  If your kids generally don't like to eat greens, there's a good chance they will eat them this way. 

Serve the minest with warm slices of a quality gluten-free bread that you have made or purchased at Whole Foods.

A salad of fresh herbs, grape tomatoes, and cubes of fresh mozzarella. Dress the salad with a savory vinaigrette. You can substitute extra-firm tofu for mozzarella if you are vegan. Just cube and marinate the tofu for about an hour in some vinaigrette first. 

Follow the soup and salad with a light dessert such as fresh orange sections drizzled with Amaretto and topped with a sprinkle of chopped almonds or shredded coconut. Wind it all up with a cup of smokey, black China tea like Russian Caravan Tea from Peet's.  

Traditionally minest was made by first boiling a prosciutto bone in water for a broth and then adding the other ingredients after several hours.  I always used to make the broth and then refrigerate it so that I could skim the fat and proceed after that. I have not included it here for a few reasons: 1.) Given the times, it just won't be budget-wise for many folks.  It used to be you could get a prosciutto bone from the Italian Pork Store for nothing.  I'm sure they come dear these days.  2.) I don't know if they are gluten-free. 3.) Many of us are cutting back on or forgoing meat for reasons of health, and/or ethics, and/or compassion.  I don't think the recipe suffers from this modification.  I have enriched the veggie broth with a base of sauted minced vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, and the addition of pesto (for those who have no nut or cheese allergies) or pistou for those who do.  Although some folks add cheese to pistou, the traditional version does not include it. 

If you must have meat and can't afford or don't have access to prosciutto, you could substitute smoked turkey legs or a hunk of gluten-free American ham. Whatever you use, check the packages or contact the manufacturer to be sure that whatever you buy is gluten-free.  Other variations:  you could add polpetti (tiny meatballs) or take a page out of the French cookbook and top each serving of minest with a fried egg.

This post includes recipes for minest, pesto, pistou, and vinaigrette salad dressing. 

GLUTEN-FREE MINEST

The Recipe

Serves six as a main course

1 large onion, peeled and minced

6 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

1 carrot, shredded

1 celery stalk, minced

1/2 green bell pepper, minced

4 mushrooms, minced

Olive Oil (doesn't have to be first press)

1 small head of savoy cabbage, washed, cored and cut into wedges

1 bunch of escarole, washed and torn into small pieces

1 bunch of swiss chard, washed and torn into small pieces

1 - 32 ounce container of  Imagine gluten-free vegetable broth

1 cup of cold, filtered water

1/2 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, the best you can afford

Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Saute the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, bell pepper, and mushroom in the olive oil in a pot large enough to accommodate all the greens. When they are lightly browned and beginning to soften, add the both to the pot and follow with the greens.  Simmer until the greens are tender.  Add the extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir.

After you dish out the soup, pass around the pesto or the pistou so that each person can add what they would like to flavor their own bowl of soup.

Pesto: Process the following in your food processor, everything but the basil leaves at first.  Once the rest is processed, add the basil.

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
• 1/2 cup freshly grated sheep's milk pecorino romano
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, best you can afford
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pistou: Process the following in your food processor, everything but the basil leaves at first. Once the rest is processed, add the basil.

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
• 6 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 4 to 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, best you can afford
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

GLUTEN-FREE VINAIGRETTE, adapted from Charles Virion's French Country Cookbook
The recipe
Makes 1 1/2 cups
3 tablespoons wine vinegar
9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, best you can afford
1 tablespoon Annie's Gluten-free Dijon Mustard
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fresh parsley, minced
1/2 teaspoon fresh chives, minced or 3/4 teaspoon dried chives
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Place all the ingredients except any fresh herbs into a mixing bowl and beat vigorously with a wire whisk until well mixed.  Add fresh herbs just before dressing the salad.

Actual product ingredients may be other than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read package labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product. 

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE with cinnamon-streusel topping

On some Thanksgivings through the years, we would make Pumpkin Cheesecake instead of Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving.  A nice change of pace, and we New Yorkers love our cheesecake. This one combines the best of cheesecake with the best of pumpkin pie.  Be prepared though, making cheese cake is expensive and bit labor intensive. Plan ahead. You can't make it at the last minute. You must do it at least a day ahead of when you want it.

Streusel-topped Pumpkin Cheesecake

Twelve Servings

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

The Ginger-Pecan Crust:

• 1 1/4 c crushed Mi-Del Ginger Snaps
• 1/4 c granulated sugar
• ½ c finely chopped pecans
• 4 T unsalted butter, melted

Mix all four ingredients well and pour into the bottom of a nine-inch, non-stick spring-form pan.  Using the back of a tablespoon, pat the crust down firmly.  Bake for ten minutes. Remove the pan and place it on a cookie tray.  Leave the oven on.

The Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling:

• 4 pkgs. 8oz. Philadelphia cream cheese, leave out of the refrigerator to soften
• 1 1/4 c granulated sugar
• 3 T Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all purpose flour
• 1 c canned pumpkin puree
• ½ t each ground nutmeg
 and ground cinnamon
• ¼  t each ground cloves and powdered ginger
• 1 T gluten-free vanilla extract
• ½ t salt
• 4 large omega-3 eggs at room temperature

Beat the cream cheese and sugar on the lowest setting of an electric mixer until the mixture is smooth.  Slowly incorporate the flour being careful not to over do it.  Add the puree, spices, vanilla and salt and mix gently until smooth.  Incorporate the eggs one at a time.

Pour the cheesecake mixture into the pan on top of the crust.  Place in the center of the oven on the cookie tray and reduce the heat to 300 degrees after you close the oven door.  Do not open the oven after this until the cheesecake is done.  Bake for 45 minutes at 300 degrees and then turn off the oven, leaving the cake in it for two hours. Again, be sure not to open the oven.

After two hours, remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow it to cool complete.  When it is completely cool, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least four-to-five hours, but overnight is best. When ready to serve prepare the streusel.

The Streusel Topping:

• 1 ½ c finely chopped pecans
• 6 T ice cold butter
• ¼ t each cinnamon and powdered ginger

Put the sugar and butter in a bowl and with a fork mash it working it until it looks like meal.  Add the pecans and toss.  Add the cinnamon and ginger and toss.  To serve, remove the outer ring of the spring-from the cheesecake.  Gently spread the streusel over the top.

Optional:  Create a decorative edge with home-made whipped cream and, about an inch apart on the outer circumfrance of the cake, place pecan halves, plain or sugared. 


Gluten-free Mi-Del Ginger Snaps:

The Mi-Del company has a line of gluten-free cookies. The only ones we've tried are the ginger snaps. They're pretty flavorful, and nice and crispy. They make for a pleasant snack and are dunkable. We crush them for cookie crusts in a number of dessert recipes.  Among the advantages are that they are dairy free.  They are not, however, free of potato flour nor are they processed in a dedicated facility. They are not organic.

Actual product ingredients may be other than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read package labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product. 

CILANTRO HAPPINESS, Moroccan Carrot Salad with Cilantro and Cilantro Pisto

We love cilantro.  We find it refreshing and often use it where we once might have used parsley.  Here we've added it to good effect to an otherwise traditional recipe for Moroccan Carrot Salad.  We've also used it for a Cilantro Pistou, a nice change-of-pace from basil and a good alternative for those who don't particularly care for basil.


Moroccan Carrot Salad with Cilantro
This is based on a recipe in Paula Wofert's Couscous and Other Good Foods from Morocco.

Serves four as a side
The recipe

• 1/2 pound fresh carrots, grated large
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, from Meyer lemons if you can get them
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, best quality you can afford
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely minced
• Orange Flower Water, to taste
• 1 1/2 teaspoons organic sugar
• sea salt, to taste

Place all the ingredients in a bowl except the carrots and mix well.  Taste and adjust seasonings. Add carrots and mix them in well.  Chill before serving.
Tip: If you purchase flower waters - Orange and/or Rose - at ethnic groceries, you will find they are considerably less expensive there than the regular grocery or  gourmet food specialty shops.


Gluten-free Cilantro Pistou
Use on sandwiches, pasta, or to flavor soups.
The recipe
Process the following in your food processor, everything but the basil leaves at first. Once the rest is processed, add the cilantro.

• 2 cups fresh cilantro leaves, washed and dried
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
• 6 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 4 to 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, best you can afford
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Actual product ingredients may be other than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read package labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product. 

POMEGRANATES, Starting to show up in stores and national pomegranate month coming up

Illustration from Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, 1885, Gera, Germany courtesy of Wikipedia.

When we eat pomegranates, we eat food fit for a goddess. In Greek mythology Persephone, daughter of Zeus and Demeter, was abducted and taken to the underworld by Hades. Zeus demanded that she be returned to earth. Hades had to relent, but Persephone ate four pomegranate seeds and for that she was doomed to return to the underworld for several months (winter time when fields and trees are dormant) each year. 

We, on the other hand, eat pomegranates and are "doomed" to good health. High in antioxidants and ellagic acid, they are believed to mitigate cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and potential for various cancers including breast and prostate. Pomegrantes are, however, contraindicated for those taking certain medications.  So, if you are on cholesterol lowering or blood pressure lowering medications, it's best to check with your doctor or pharmacist before indulging.

Persians put out big bowls of pomegranates at weddings for fortunate and fruitful marriages. In Persian (Iranian) cuisine - a largely undiscovered wonder in the U.S. - it is used in many delicious ways including their tantalizing walnut, bell pepper, and pomegranate dip, muhamarra.  It's quite easy to prepare: In a blender combine

• two large red peppers, seeded and cut in chunks
• 1/2 cups of raw walnuts
• 3 teaspoons of fresh pomegranate juice
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon of Aleppo pepper
• sea salt to taste
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, best quality you can afford

Blend well.  Taste and adjust salt, lemon and olive oil and give it another whirl in the blender.  Pour into a bowl and serve with crudités.  (Great dish for raw foodists.)

Among modern-day Greeks on New Year's Day, pomegranates are taken outside the house and smashed on the ground to disperse the seeds for good luck. The further the seeds travel, the better the luck. More practically speaking, the pomegranates are used in drinks, salad dressings, fruit salads, and just by itself. To get at the seeds, cut the pomegranate in half.  Hold the halves over a bowl of cold water and tap the shell.  The seed and the pith will fall into the water. The seeds will float to the bottom and the pith to the top, making it easy to separate them.  Drain off the water and pith and eat the whole seed.  The flavor is in the juicy outer part, but the fiber is in the inner kernel, so eat the whole thing for maximum delight and health benefit.

Pomegranate molasses can be combined with the seeds and juice of the fruit to make a delicious Greek salad:

• 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, best you can afford
• 2 teaspoons Annie's Dijon mustard (gluten-free)
• Freshly ground sea salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 10 cups of mesclun salad mix
• 1 apple, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup of crumbled feta
• 1 cup of pomegranate seeds

For the vinaigrette, combine the juice, molasses, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk.  To make the salad, combine the greens and the apple in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with half of the vinaigrette and mix.  Divide the dressed greens among eight salad dishes. Top with the crumbled feta and the pomegranate seeds.  Spoon some more of the vinaigrette over each portion, and you're ready to go.
In Lebanese cuisine pomegranate seeds are sprinkled on bowls of leban (yogurt) and on hummus bi tahini, chickpeas with sesame seed paste, and baba ghanouz, tahini with eggplant. There is also a popular pomegrante drink - Americans would call it a "mocktail."  Combine the following ingredients in a pitcher and serve over ice:

• 2 1/2 cups fresh pomegranate juice
• 1/2 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice, Meyers preferred when you can get them
• 1 teaspoon orange-blossom water*
• honey or sugar to taste
• 4 cups mineral water

* Orange blossom water and rose-water are used frequently in Middle Eastern cooking.  It may be a bit of an acquired taste.  Hard for me to tell since I grew up with it.  However, we can give you a good budget tip.  If you have a Mediterranean or Indian grocer near you, these waters will be half or even one-third the price of the same product in other stores.  And, a beauty tip: rose-water makes a great and very soothing toner for mature skin.


For the holidays, drop a few pomegranate seeds in glasses of champagne for the grown-ups and sparkling apple juice for the kids and watch with delight as the lovely garnet gems dance.  Or for the kids a soda with grenadine. Grenadine is a sweet syrup made from pomegranates and something with which most people are familiar since it is often used in mixed drinks. Most of  my generation got introduced to it as kids in Shirley Temple and Roy Rodger drinks, ginger ale and grenadine on ice.  They might be fun drinks for your kids during holiday season, but probably need to be renamed.  Maybe Hanna Montana and Spider Man, or something like that.

Enjoy fresh pomegranate now. The season will pass quickly.

PUTTING THE NY SPIN ON BROWNIES

PDphoto.org

There are few things more New York than coffee and a cannoli . . . so forget dinner . . . How about a good, hot Cafe Americano and a luscious gluten-free chocolate brownie topped with snow-white cannoli cream and slivers of red-ripe strawberries macerated in golden rum?  Are you smiling yet? Drooling? Making gluten-free cannoli shells is a bit of a project and doesn't lend itself to spontaneity. I've taken to topping brownies or filling figs with cannoli cream and that does it for me.


Cafe Americano
1 espresso added to six ounces of hot water

Chocolate Brownie with Cannoli Cream and Macerated Strawberries
BROWNIE RECIPE - Note: The brownie recipe is adapted from the highly recommended The Gluten-Free Kitchen by Roben Ryberg.


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit

• 1 1/3 cups of organic granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup gluten-free, trans-fat free shortening, Spectrum
• 3 omega-3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon Singing Dog Organic Vanilla Extract
• 1 tablespoon white rum
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 3/4 cup cornstarch
• 3/4 cup Dagoba Organic Chocolate, pure cacao powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons guar gum
• 1 cup Unsweetened Chocolate Almond Milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Grease a 9" x 13" glass baking pan with some Spectrum and dust with Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free All-purpose Flour

Cream the sugar and Spectrum together.  Lightly beat the eggs and add along with the vanilla and rum to the creamed sugar mixture. Mix well and add the remaining ingredients.  Make sure the batter is lump-free.  An old-fashioned hand-held mixer or an immersion blender work well for this. Bake 18 - 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the pan comes out clean. Allow the brownies to cool on a rack before cutting and removing to serving dishes.

Top each serving with Cannoli Cream and Macerated Strawberries (below).  Serve with a hot Cafe Americano.

Cannoli Cream
When I found out I had Celiac Disease and would have to make wheat-and-gluten-free cannoli shells from scratch all the time, I realized that the outside of the cannoli wasn't as important to me as the cannoli cream filling.  I found other ways to use the filling when there is not enough time or energy to make the shells.

Traditionally, cannoli cream is made with goat's milk ricotta cheese, which is not readily available. Some clever person came up with the idea of adding goat's milk cheese to the ricotta for a more authentic taste.  Should you prefer to do without the goat's milk cheese, it is optional. The result will still be delicious.  Just add a bit more ricotta.  I have left out the candied fruits and cinnamon since in this dessert the Cream is pared with fruit and brownies, quite rich enough without those additions. This is a favorite at my house.  I'm sure it will be at yours as well.

CANNOLI CREAM RECIPE:

• 1 pound fresh whole-milk ricotta
• 2 ounces soft and mild goat's milk cheese
• 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Combine all ingredients in one bowl and mix well.

MACERATED STRAWBERRIES
You can prepare these while the brownies are baking so that they can macerated at room temperature for a while before you serve them.

• 2 small baskets of strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced thin
• 3 tablespoons organic granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons white rum

Combine in one bowl and mix well.

Actual product ingredients may be other than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read package labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product. 

CHILAQUILES, Mexican Egg, Corn Tortilla, and Green Chili Dish

PD Photo.org.

Eggs are always welcome as a nutritious and frugal source of proteint. As for chilaquiles, this is another flexible and forgiving dish. You can make chilaquiles with stale tortillas and/or you can fry or bake quartered tortillas before assembling the dish.  You can even use a couple of handfuls of tortilla chips in place of the tortillas. 


You can use any type of fresh or canned peppers - even bells - that appeal to you or that you have on hand. Chilaquiles may be served for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.  Meal additions can include fresh, warm tortillas and a butter or spread, refried beans, pickled jalapeños, and a fresh fruit salad.
The recipe
Serves four

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup yellow onions, minced
• 1 pickled jalapeñ0, minced
• 1 8-oz. can of diced green chilies
• 1 fresh sereno chilli, chard over an open flame or under the broiler, skinned, and diced
• 4 day-old corn tortillas, cut in quarters
• 8 large omega-3 eggs, beaten with two teaspoons of water
• 1 cup of grated cheese (cheddar or jack or a combination of both)
• Sea-salt and freshly grated black pepper to taste
• Fresh parsley or cilantro, minced

Sauté the onion in the olive oil.  When the onion is tender add the peppers and stir and cook for about a minute or two. Add the tortillas and stir and then add the eggs and cheese.  Cook over low heat, stirring frequently to scramble the eggs.  When the eggs are cooked season with salt and pepper to taste and top with minced parsley or cilantro. Serve hot.

The name chilaquiles is derived from the Nahuatl word chil-a-quilitl which means "herbs or greens in chile broth".


Actual product ingredients may differ from than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product. 

GF FROM P.F. CHANG'S, Eat-in or Take-out

What would Brooklyn be without its ubiquitous Chinese restaurants?  It just wouldn’t be the same. Once it seemed most of our Chinese immigrants came from Guangdong Province, so our Chinese food was generally Cantonese. It was always filling, sweet and spicy, and served with hot, hot oolong tea. There was egg drop soup or wonton, fried egg rolls, barbecued spare ribs, lobster Cantonese, chicken chow mein with crispy noodles, and white and pork-fried rice. 

Dinner was generally followed by a small bowl of lychee's or kumquats in syrup, a diminutive almond cookie, more tea, and a fortune cookie. It was all wonderful and memorable. Unfortunately, if you have Celiac disease, eating out in a Chinese restaurant is a thing of the past. Virtually everything Chinese is made with soy sauce, which has wheat in it. There are wheat-free soys or tamari but, with one exception, their use is not an adaption that is commonly made by restaurants. The one exception is the American restaurant chain: P.F. Chang’s.

P.F. Chang’s is the only Chinese restaurant that I know of that offers a gluten-free menu.  The restaurant is clean and nicely decorated. The food is fresh, delicately seasoned, fragrant, and presented beautifully. The wait-staff is just about as good as you can get. And -okay this is my own hang-up maybe - the restrooms are clean. Yesterday, in  recognition of Celiac Awareness Day, the company announced an expanded gluten-free menu of twenty-nine choices and a new gluten-free dessert, Triple Chocolate Mousse Mini Dessert. Link to their site for locations, menu, gluten-free recipes, and a Warrior Card. No kidding! Sign up for the Warrior Card for 10% off all year at P.F. Chang's. Such a deal! 


Actual product ingredients may differ from than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product. 

LASAGNA, BEST BROOKLYN MEMORY

Photograph by PD Photo.org

I have such an unrelenting food-trivia tracker, that I don't know how I missed National Lasagna Day . . . or Month . . . your choice . . . in July.  It finally crossed my radar while I was checking my favorite Brooklyn picture blogs. I haven't found any official source of information.  Well, after all, what industries could claim it?.  So many . . . pasta makers, tomato growers, cheese manufactures, purveyors of frozen foods, spice growers, and the restaurant industry.  Perhaps there are too many players for any one to lay a claim. The articles and postings I've found are inconsistent with regard to length.  Is it a one-day celebration or a month-long celebration?  I guess it depends on the depth of your devotion. At any rate, I doubt that Brooklyn needs an official day to celebrate this wonderful ethnic dish.

I'm surprised that whomever started this tradition, scheduled it in July.  Too hot!  A good, properly made lasagna takes hours to prepare.  Although there are shortcuts. One innovation layers ravioli for what is certainly a quick - and probably a tasty - alternative.
I used to make a "mock lasagna" in the summer time. I would gather together some of my own frozen tomato sauce or some prepared sauce,  full-fat ricotta, hard mozzarella, Ronzoni ochi de lupo (a wonderful, large macaroni), and various spices. I'd chop the cheese, cook the pasta, and warm the sauce.  Then I'd put all the ingredients together in a large pot on a medium gas, stirring well until the mozzarella was melted and the lasagna was hot.  Not particularly attractive, but the flavor was right. Add a green salad, some vino for the husband du jour, and we were set to go. It was quick.  The kitchen remained bearable.  I never had any complaints.

As I look back, I don't think I've ever encountered a lasagna I didn't like; but, quality ingredients and a good, classic, homemade meat-sauce, produces the best product. This means using homemade or artisan noodles, fresh high-quality cheeses, fresh herbs and spices, a variety of meats, good extra-virgin olive oil, and your own garden tomatoes or canned Italian plum tomatoes with basil. A superior lasagna requires a willingness to invest considerable time and money for something that will be immensely enjoyed, but pretty quickly polished off by family and guests, not to mention you.

My childhood and youth were rich in good cooks. A significant number of them were from Italy or were first generation Americans of Italian decent.  My schoolmate, Fran V., and her mom made trays of lasagna on a regular basis and brought them from their home in Rego Park, Queens to our convent school in Brentwood, Long Island on Sunday afternoons. Mrs. V. would use imported noodles, which had a wonderful bite.  Her sauce and her lasagna included a lot of delicious pork sausage with fennel seed.  Mrs. D., another friend's mother, lived near the Russian embassy in Glen Cove, Long Island.  She would always stud a large white onion with cloves and put that in her sauce as it simmered, removing it before serving. Nice flavor.
Everyone did something that made their sauce uniquely theirs.  Some used wine. Mrs. D. felt there should be some heat and added dried red pepper.  My high school sweetheart's mom didn't agree.  She added a pinch of sugar to her sauce. One family added cinnamon, which strikes me as quite a Greek thing.  Most added nutmeg to their ricotta. I knew women who thickened their sauce through long-hours of simmering.  Other's speeded the process by adding a can of tomato paste.  I think the latter makes for a highly acid sauce.  I have found through time that the addition of meatballs with their breadcrumbs serves well as a thickening. Everyone used Locatelli brand Romano. No dry, tasteless cheese from little, round, green containers.

My Aunt Mildred (see also the post on Roman Egg Drop Soup) was the best of the Brooklyn cooks.  She was a first-generation Italian-American. She used chicken in her sauce along with the other meats.  The meats included a small tenderloin of pork, Italian pork sausages (sweet and hot) and braciole (top round, sliced thin and pounded, rolled around a savory filling, and tied with cotton string).  Meatballs were standard additions to everyone's meat sauce, and my Aunt Mildred's were the gold standard. They were made from beef, sometimes from a combination of beef, pork, and veal. Generally eggs, seasoned Italian breadcrumbs, generous amounts of fresh, minced parsley,and grated Romano were incorporated into the ground meat, which was then formed into balls and browned in a fry pan before going into the sauce to simmer.

When assembling the lasagna, these wonderful old-world cooks would crumble meatballs and sausages and layer the crumbled meats in the lasagna along with the noodles, cheeses, and the sauce.  Most of the time, the sauce and the lasagna would be made a day or more ahead.  When this dinner was finally served, usually on Sunday, it started with a voluptuous vegetable salad with plenty of salty, oily olives . There was wine for the adults and water for the children. The meats were set out in a side dish. Extra sauce was served in a gravy boat. Big chunks of Locatelli Romano would be passed around the table along with a Muli grater, enabling each of us to have freshly grated cheese on our noodles. There were always dense, fragrant slices of Italian bread fresh from small, local, family-run bakeries. Sopping up extra meat sauce with the bread was a must and a delight. Dessert might be a selection of pastries, or fresh fruit that had been macerated or simmered in wine, or Amoretti cookies. There was espresso coffee too, often with grappa or a slice of lemon peel.

Lasagna Day or Lasagna Month, it's an interesting concept, but in the Brooklyn of my childhood, we didn't need an event. Many, many Sundays were lasagna day. It was quite a regular thing. I think it has probably become more and more difficult for people to come up with the time and money for such memorable civilities.

Actual product ingredients may differ from than that which is shown or suggested on this blog. Please remember that you should not rely solely on the information presented here or anywhere online and that you always read labels, warnings, and directions before purchasing and consuming a product. 

NEW YORK HOT DOG WITH CLASSIC SABRETT ONION SAUCE

Jackie Robinson broke the color-barrier when he began to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers in April 1957. This is a photograph from Look Magazine. It is now in the Library of Congress collection, LC Reproduction Number: LC-L9-54-3566-O, #7.

"A hot dog at the ballpark is better than a steak at the Ritz." Humphrey Bogart

Reproduction of a 1908 postcard picturing Surf Avenue, Coney Island, New York via Wikipedia.

"The true New Yorker secretly believes that anyone living anywhere else has got to be, in some sense, kidding." John Updike

For most people who came of age in Brooklyn of the 40s and 50s, there are probably three stand-out memories of New York hot dogs - hot dogs at the ballpark, hot dogs at Coney Island, and hot dogs from a Sabrett street cart.  Part of the memory is Sabrett's tangy, tantalizing and spicy orange-red sauce.

Sabrett products from their website.

Sabrett and Hebrew National hot dogs were and probably still are the most favored. Sabrett's, according to their website, is wheat-and-gluten free. I have found reference saying that Hebrew National hot dogs are as well. If you have celiac disease, be sure to do your own homework.
This homemade version of the onion sauce so beloved by New Yorkers is naturally wheat-and-gluten free.

New York Style (Sabrett's) Onion Sauce
This recipe
Will top about six hot dogs

• 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil, the light variety
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon corn syrup
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup white vinegar

In a large pan over a low-to-medium heat, brown the onions in oil until they are tender and light golden, not brown. Lower the heat. Desolve the cornstarch in the water, whisking to blend well.  Add the cornstarch and water mixture to the onions, mixing well. Add the rest of the ingredients except the vinegar and mix gently. Bring the onion mixture to a boil, then lower the heat. Simmer for about twenty-five minutes to thickened and reduce the sauce. Add the vinegar and simmer for another ten minutes.

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