Eat First

In a New York (food map) State of mind

Where do we live?

North of Spiedies. South of Thousand Island Dressing and Croghan Bologna. East of  Beef on Weck, Chicken Wings, Garbage Plate and White Hots. West of  Peppermint Pig, Chicken Riggies, Tomato Pie and Utica Greens.

We live in the land of Salt Potatoes and Dinosaur BBQ. We are firmly planted in soda country, well east of the Empire State’s Soda vs. Pop line.

If you love food and love to discover local and regional favorites, none of this is breaking news. But New York’s diverse food terrain is officially noted on an appetizing and entertaining map, “New York State by Food Regions,’’ created by Shannon Glazer, a Geographic Information Services specialist with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

“Inspired by my visits to all corners of New York State, I recently decided to map different food regions in the state,’’ Glazer notes on the New York State Food Map Facebook page. The map has been “shared” more than 2,500 times. 

“After the first version of my map spread like wildfire, I decided to edit the map based on some of the comments I received. … 

“I'm starting this page to continue the conversation! Post your thoughts on local food here...Check out the "likes" on the page for more info about some of the restaurants and foods on the map!’’

My editor at Central New York: The Good Life Magazine turned me on to Glazer’s accomplishment. The May/June issue features a story on the treasure-filled foodie map, as well stories on Upstate travel destinations in all directions of Syracuse.

I can live without Michigans (a Plattsburgh specialty; hotdogs piled with onions and smothered in mustard and meat sauce) but I am bound and determined (translation: hellbent!) to get to Brooks Chicken BBQ country (Oneonta), possibly on the way to Mozzarella Sticks with Raspberry Sauce (Albany/Capital Region).

Thanks, Shannon. Happy food trails!

Syracuse resident wins ticket to the Pride of NY Harvest Festival!

Update to Tuesday's post: Tracy Tillapaugh, of Syracuse, is the winner of the ticket to this weekend's Pride of New York Harvest Festival at the state fairgrounds -- and not just because she is so excited to attend! There were just three entries. Thanks to Maureen and Ryan for entering as well.  And stay tuned. You never know when there might be another giveaway here!

It’s that time of year again: Time to be thankful for and celebrate the harvest. 

And time to celebrate New York’s farm, field and artisan food producer bounty at the Pride of New York Harvest Festival.

This year’s Harvest Festival runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday (November 5) and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday (November 6) at the state fairgrounds, in Geddes.

There will be an array of homegrown and homemade NYS foods to tempt your taste buds: cheeses, spreads, toppings, sauces sweet and savory, cookies, mustards, muesli – you name it. There will also be wines from all corners of the state to sample.

I’m looking forward to trying/taking home and baking with locally produced, sweet cream Meadow Butter from Kriemhild Dairy Farms and picking up some of the “java-licious” dry rubs from Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters – to single out just two of the many food vendors who will be there.

Tickets to the Pride of NY Harvest Fest are $20 in advance or $25 at the door.

I have in my possession one admission ticket to give away to a reader.

TO ENTER TO WIN: Leave a short and sweet comment below telling me why you’re looking forward to the fest OR how you like to eat/buy local. The giveaway is open to Central New York residents only and IMPORTANT NOTE you will need to pick up your ticket in person.

The deadline to enter is 9 a.m. Thursday and a winner will be selected at random. Good luck!

 

Destination NYWCC: FLX/NY food, wine and fun

 Life's short. Eat dessert first?

Woo-hoo! Another weekend is upon us. But we’re still savoring the soul-satisfying day trip and leisurely lunch we had last weekend in the Finger Lakes.

For Christmas, we received a gift certificate to the New York Wine and Culinary Center in Canandaigua. As happens with gift certificates sometimes, its expiration date was nearing.

We visited the website and considered signing up for a culinary class or kitchen skills workshop. There are plenty of them, including pie making, bread baking and farm-to-table outing and meal prep in the center’s state-of-the-art kitchen.

In the end, we decided to make a reservation at the Taste of New York restaurant. The restaurant had just introduced its early fall menu, which still features many summer flavors.

Among the things we enjoyed:  

Wine flight ($12; choose three) with Anthony Road dry Riesling, Long Point Ciera (semi-dry rose) and Dr. Frank Old Vine Pinot Noir. I would be happy to have a bottle of each of these wines in our cellar. Robert’s beer flight ($8; choose four) featured a couple pale ales and an interesting fruit ale (blueberry) from Long Island.

Cold smoked salmon with capers, red onion, radishes and arugula salad ($11).

White pizza with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, caramelized onion, pepper Flakes and garlic oil ($11).

Chilled gazpacho with basil, cilantro, avocado and heirloom tomato, swirled with spiced sour cream ($8).

Butternut squash ‘flan’ on a thin layer of spice cake, garnished with what appeared to be browned bits of candied ginger. A dessert made to match the changing seasons.

Canandaigua is a great walking town on a nice day (don’t miss the historic boat houses at the city pier), and we intentionally parked a distance from the NYWCC, in the shopping distance on South Main Street, knowing a walk after lunch would be in order.

It wasn’t our first trip to the New York Wine and Culinary Center, and it definitely won’t be our last. Thank you, Eileen and Dave, for a great day!

The New York Wine and Culinary Center is at 800 S. Main St., Canandaigua, overlooking the pier. Information: 585-394-7070.

 

Cuba cheese, please! It's a Western New York favorite

Some people come home from Cuba with cigars and rum.

We come home from Cuba with cheese.

I’m talking cheese from Cuba, NY, a village in southwestern New York State, about 15 miles east of Olean (my mother’s hometown and my college town) and 75 miles southeast of Buffalo.

The Cuba Cheese Shoppe is best known for its own award-winning white cheddar cheese and cheese products, like Old York cheese spreads. For more than a century, Cuba cheese was available only to wholesale and select mail order customers.

The retail shop in downtown Cuba opened in 1976 and has expanded over the years to welcome hundreds of domestic and imported cheeses, like Manchego from Spain, Ricotta Salata from Italy and Stilton from England. We’ve been going there since childhood, and always pack a cooler when our travels take us to that corner of New York State.

In addition to a world of cheeses, you’ll find cheese boards, slicers and spreaders and shelves-full of crackers to complement selections. The shop also stocks oodles of gourmet foodstuff: jams, jellies, mustards, barbecue sauces, spice rubs and more. There’s also syrup and other maple products from local favorite Sprague’s Maple Farms (and restaurant) in Portville.

On a recent visit, we came home with a brick of Cuba reserve cheddar (aged two years), a slab of Palatine Valley Dairy tomato, basil and garlic cheddar (from the Mohawk Valley), a container of Cuba cheese curds (a form of cheddar; slightly chewy and squeaky and a great snack) and a tub of Old York sharp cheddar spread – a souvenir for my sister.

Cuba cheese, please!

Cuba Cheese Shoppe is at 53 Genesee St., Cuba. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.  The online shoppe is open 24/7.

The Cuba Cheese Museum chronicles Cuba’s (and the region’s) rich cheese-making heritage. Click here to find out more.

(From a postcard image)

 

Glug-glug: A brown jug of Syracuse’s Middle Ages beer

The empty brown jug sitting on the basement landing finally made me do it: go straight to the source for a refill “growler’’ of pale ale from Middle Ages Brewery.

I’ve enjoyed many a pint of Middle Ages beer at our favorite Central New York taverns, and at the Middle Ages anniversary party held each year at Syracuse’s Leavenworth Park.

But I had never visited the brewery on the near west side of Syracuse until last Saturday. I arrived in the mid-afternoon to find a full house in the tasting room and gift shop and a lively, happy hour vibe.

The brewery, owned by Marc and Mary Rubenstein, is known for its small-batch, hand-crafted British-style ales with names like Wailing Wench, Dragonslayer and Druid Fluid to match the medieval theme.

Step in the entrance and down a stone-lined hallway, past a knight’s armor, into the tasting room and gift shop.

You’ll find about six beers on tap to sample. Start with something mild, like Apricot Ale or Swallow Wit (a wheat beer), then work your way down the list to the more full-flavored (higher alcohol content) varieties like Old Marcus (extra special bitter), ImPaled Ale (Middle Ages’ version of India pale ale) and Duke of Winship (a rich, dark porter).

At 4:40, the young woman pouring samples yelled “last call,’’ and there was a surge to the counter to get growlers (half-gallon brown bottles) filled.

We received a growler of Middle Ages Pale Ale for Christmas, and it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Empty it, wash it and visit the brewery to filler ‘er up.

A refill of Middle Ages Pale Ale cost $9 plus change. That’s good bang for the buck, when you consider that you’ll spend about $7 for a couple of pints at a bar. And the beer will stay fresh for about a week.

Which reminds me… I refilled that growler almost a week ago. Better head home and crack that puppy open. It’s Friday and getting on beer o’clock!

Middle Ages Brewery is at 120 Wilkinson St., Syracuse. The tasting room and gift shop are open 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday and 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Information: 315-476-4250.

Full of Greens: Utica Greens!

Greens Morelle, Dominique's Chesterfield Restaurant, Utica

Many local foods have a place in the hearts -- and stomachs -- of Utica residents: Chicken riggies, tomato pie, Half Moon cookies, pusties (better known as pasticiotti here in Syracuse). 

And let's not forget Utica greens. 

This staple of restaurant chefs and home cooks owes its existence to Utica's Italian-American community and takes escarole, a common salad green, in a whole other direction. It's chopped, blanched, sauteed in olive oil, then tossed with prosciutto (usually), cherry peppers, Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs and piled on a plate. 

Voila! That's how escarole becomes Utica Greens, an appetizer to share or a complete meal, depending on how you want to eat it -- and how much you want to eat. 

Our travels took us to Rome and Utica recently, and we weren't about to leave the Mohawk Valley until we were full of greens.

First stop was Dominque's Chesterfield Restaurant, on Bleecker Street on Utica's east side. The restaurant is well-known for its Greens Morelle, named for chef Joe Morelle, who added the dish to the menu at Dominque's many years back, according to our bartender/waiter. 

The generous portion of greens ($8.99) was savory and well-seasoned, rich and filling thanks to prosciutto, Romano cheese and breadcrumbs and slightly zippy, courtesy of the thinly sliced cherry peppers that dotted the dish. The greens were served with crusty Italian bread and dipping oil, and a single serving was plenty for two of us.

Greens Giorgio, Giorgio's Village Cafe, New Hartford

Second stop was Giorgio's Village Cafe in New Hartford. The menu offers several takes on greens, including Greens Giorgio ($8.50), which combines escarole with Romano cheese, salami, hot cherry peppers, roasted potatoes and seasoned bread crumbs.

They were tasty, to be sure, but the presence of the potatoes in the greens made us think of fretta (a popular breakfast scramble here in Central New York) and made the dish seem heavy.

If we were to go back to Utica for greens, and it seems inevitable we will, we'll go back to Dominque's Chesterfield.

Apple Pusties, a seasonal treat at Florentine Pastry Shop, Utica

Besides the lure of its greens, the restaurant is conveniently located within walking distance of several of Utica's Italian bakeries, including the Florentine Pastry Shop, also on Bleecker Street, where we picked up a couple pusties (single-serving pastries filled with chocolate, vanilla or lemon custard) and some Italian cookies for the road. 

Do you have a favorite place in Utica or Syracuse or anywhere in between you like to go for greens? Let's get a dialogue going -- leave a comment below! 

 Photo courtesy of Stef Noble

Want to try your hand at Utica Greens at home? The following recipe is from an old newspaper ad for Chanatry's Market in Utica. 

Utica Greens

1 large escarole (or 2 small heads)

4 slices prosciutto, thin slices, chopped

1 to 2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 long Italian hot peppers, seeded and julienned

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

1 cup chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste

Clean and rinse escarole twice; chop in large pieces.

Boil down for 5 or 6 minutes so it’s tender and wilted.

Place olive oil in a saute pan and heat.

Add chopped garlic and prosciutto and render for 2 or 3 minutes. Do not burn garlic.

Add seeded peppers and cook another minute or so.

Add the escarole and all the other ingredients in the pan.

Gradually add the breadcrumbs and grated cheese, tossing gently until blended.

Taste for final salt and pepper seasoning.

Place in a casserole; sprinkle a little of the breadcrumbs and place under a broiler for 3 to 4 minutes. Serve hot.

 

Meet some of our locally raised meats

The desire to eat meats raised in our own part of the world is a natural extension of the desire to eat locally grown produce and use locally sourced ingredients in our cooking.

Want to learn more about the variety of meats raised close to home?

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oswego County is holding a Local Meats Education and Tasting Fair 1 to 4 p.m. Nov. 20 at Central Square Middle School, 248 State Route 11.

Organizers expect 10 local vendors to be on hand to talk up farm-raised pork, poultry, lamb and goat. And you will be able to taste their products: Janet Wells, of Farm House Catering Co., Sackets Harbor, will demonstrate the use of local meats in a variety of food samples.

Admission is $5 at the door. To learn more, visit the Cooperative Extension website.

Pastured meats from small, family farms are more flavorful than the meats found at grocery stores. Meat, eggs and dairy products from pasture-raised animals are also lower in fat and contain no hormones and antibiotics.

For more information on the health benefits of pasture-raised meats and a statewide directory of farms, visit Eat Wild.

 

Swimming in Thousand Island dressing

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

You probably know that Thousand Island dressing has roots in -- where else? -- the Thousand Islands region straddling New York and Ontario, Canada.

But do you know the story behind the tangy, slightly sweet condiment that adds color (pale pink or pale orange) and flavor to salads and sandwiches?

I didn't, until I suggested a story on the region's signature foodstuff to my editors at The Good Life Central New York Magazine, a bi-monthly publication of The Post-Standard. My piece on the dressing, along with a spread on Thousand Island cottages, is featured in the July-August issue of the magazine, available on newsstands now.

In the course of sinking my teeth into this story, I learned more than anyone really needs to know about Thousand Island dressing. Some of the highlights:

1. Thousand Island dressing is the only salad dressing named for a region of the United States. It's not as popular as Italian, Ranch and Caesar dressings, but it's an American favorite all the same.

2. At the Thousand Islands Inn, in Clayton, owners Allen and Susan Benas make, bottle, label, sell and serve what they proudly call “the original’’ Thousand Island dressing. It sells for $6.95 at the inn and at local stores, like the River Rat Cheese shop in Clayton.

Allen and Susan inherited the "secret recipe" for the dressing when they bought the inn in 1972, and trace its origins to the shore dinners served at the turn of the century by fishing guide George LaLonde. His dinners included a tossed salad and special dressing made by his wife, Sophia.

Photo of Sophia LaLonde courtesy of Allen Benas, Thousand Islands Inn

On one fishing outing, according to Allen Benas, George LaLonde served Sophia's dressing to stage and silent screen actress May Irwin, a frequent visitor to the region. Sophia LaLonde shared her recipe with Irwin, who is believed to have given it the name “Thousand Island,’’ and with Ella Bertrand, whose family owned the Herald Hotel in Clayton (now the Thousand Islands Inn).

It is said that Irwin gave the recipe to fellow Thousand Islands regular George Boldt, owner of New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel, who put the dressing on the Waldorf's menu, giving it national and international exposure.

3. A dressing dispute:  Up the road in Alexandria Bay, you might not hear the same story. A souvenir postcard of the Thousand Islands includes the “secret” recipe for Thousand Island dressing and a blurb crediting George Boldt with its creation:

“This dressing was first served aboard a yacht to George Boldt, owner of the Waldorf Astoria and Boldt Castle. He began serving it in his hotels and named it in honor of the area.’’ Bottles of Thousand Island dressing, made in Canada, are available for purchase at Boldt Castle, on Heart Island.

4. Dressing ingredients vary depending on who's making it, but usually include oil and/or mayonnaise, eggs, vinegar, lemon juice, tomatoes (or catsup), cucumbers, red pepper, onions, horseradish, garlic powder and sometimes a bit of sugar.

5. I am not a big fan of Thousand Island dressing, so I was pleasantly surprised by the "original'' dressing at the Thousand Island Inn. It's creamy and pale orange and not very thick, with chopped eggs adding texture and bits of chopped pickles adding flecks of green. The dressing has a fresh, homemade taste, with a noticeable but not overwhelming zing from horseradish.

If your travels take you to Clayton this summer, pick up a bottle of "original" Thousand Island dressing and see for yourself.

And pick up a copy of The Good Life Central New York Magazine. Included with my story is a recipe for Thousand Island dressing created by chef Gerry Brinkman as an homage to his summer home. Brinkman serves the dressing with house salads at  The Wellesley Hotel, on Wellesley Island, which he owns and operates with his wife.