Eat First

Fresh: Seasons Cafe at the Red Barn

A new season is here. It's spring, and on Thursday and Friday, with bright sunshine and temperatures in the 60s or better, it could feel like summer in Central New York. If you're out and about, cruising with the windows down and sunroof open, set the GPS for 6456 Collamer Road (Route 298), East Syracuse, and have a bite of lunch at Seasons Cafe at the Red Barn.

Rejoice in spring -- and a new lunch destination. As its name suggests, the menu at Seasons changes seasonally. Winter's hearty soups, stews and chilis have given way to lighter fare like salads, sandwiches and wraps (though the vegetable soup on a recent visit was far from light, with huge chunks of beef in a rich, savory broth). Spring is a tricky season, menu-wise, in these parts: Crocuses, snowdrops and daffodils are up, but nothing much in the way of produce is growing or ready yet.

So the spring menu at Seasons is spring-y pretty much in mood only. There's a baked ham and asparagus sandwich, asparagus, prosciutto and Mandarin orange salad, a turkey Cobb salad and turkey Cobb sandwich, etc. Soup is homemade and changes daily, and you can get a "half and half special'' -- half a sandwich or half a salad plus cup of soup for $7.
My Curried Chicken Salad ($8) with diced, roasted chicken breast, sweet yellow curry, almonds and dried cranberries, was served on mixed greens and topped with a ginger-soy vinaigrette. My sister had the same chicken salad as a sandwich, on rustic honey wheat bread, with a cup of soup. Salads are served with sweet bread, and on the day we visited it was a dark chocolate "bread'' dotted with chocolate chips -- more like a small piece of cake, really.
That's OK -- skip dessert and have the sweet bread with cup of coffee.

Desserts include carrot cake and strawberry shortcake and the seasonal pie was blueberry. I'm sure they'll switch over to fresh, local berries as soon as they're available. Seasons Cafe serves lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to Friday and also serves brunch starting at 10 a.m. Sundays. The cafe is comfortable and homey, housed in a 200-year-old barn that isn't showing its age one bit. Works by local artists are displayed and sold, and there's a gift gallery up a flight of stairs, in the barn rafters, with new and vintage home wares and decor.

For more information on Seasons Cafe, call 315-438-3199.

Kashmir Groceries: An enlightening place to shop

Your travels around Syracuse have no doubt taken you by Kashmir Groceries and Imports many times. It's perched above Erie Boulevard, on Seeley Road, behind the McDonald's that anchors one corner of that busy intersection. But have you ever been in there to have a look around? If you like Indian food -- or even if you don't like Indian food, but make regular use of spices like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, cumin, coriander, chiles and curry in your cooking -- Kashmir is a great place to have on your list of local food shopping destinations.
The store has fresh produce, including such Indian essentials as garlic, ginger and karela, also known as bitter gourd, shown at the top of this post.

There's a vast selection of basmati and other rices, herbs, spices and seeds, flours, lentils, chutneys and other condiments, prepared/convenience foods, yogurts, Halal meats and more.
And the shelves are jam-packed with Bollywood titles, in case you need some entertainment besides cooking.
I went to Kashmir for two necessary ingredients for chai, black loose leaf tea and green cardamom pods, and left an hour later with the tea and cardamom plus a tea strainer, a couple of limes and a big gnarly knot of fresh ginger. The young man behind the cash register was friendly, attentive, informative and a good salesman. Kashmir is at 118 Seeley Road, in Syracuse. It's open 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily. Reach them at 251-2571. 

 

Happy Belated Birthday to Eat First!

This blog, Eat First, quietly hit the one-year mark last week.

To mark the occasion, I decided to make a few changes, giving it a fresh, new look and a banner at the top that can change with the seasons -- and my whims.

I hope you like the makeover and, of course, the content. If there is something you would like to see here, let me know.

 

Here's a quick link to my first post, "Orange Comfort in a Bowl,'' published March 18, 2009. It's timely once again, with the Syracuse University Orangemen in the running for hoops glory. And carrot soup is much better for us than pizza and chicken wings. ...

Thanks for reading Eat First. Visit often!

How to achieve 'six-pack abs' in no time flat

  I have "six-pack'' abs, but not the toned, rippled kind you're thinking. To get those, I'd have to swear off beer and work out a lot more. And I like my beer. I'm not a Guinness kind of gal, but I do like crisp, full-bodied Irish lagers and ales. The grocery store had Harp, a traditional favorite, but only in 12-packs. So I decided on a six-pack of Saranac Irish Red Ale for our St. Patrick's Day refreshment -- and wee bit of mid-week fun. Irish Reds get their garnet color from malts that are specially kilned to develop their sugars and then roasted to boost their flavor and color. Reviewers at the Beer Advocate give Saranac Irish Red good grades, toasting the ale's rich color, caramel and toffee notes and drinkability. It's local to boot, brewed in "the foothills of the Adirondacks.'' That would be at the F.X. Matt Brewing Co., in Utica.

As they say in Ireland: Slainte! Or, cheers to good health. And "six-pack'' abs.

Sometimes, homemade chai suits me to a tea

When I invited a group of ladies for tea and sweets last month, I wanted to serve something for those who think they don't care for basic brewed tea.

So I decided to make chai, an Asian beverage made with black tea, steeped with spices and blended with milk and sugar. If your only exposure to chai is the coffee bar version, prepared as a latte using a concentrate poured out of a box, you're in for a surprise. The homemade version is thinner, and not nearly as sweet. My other's sister, Roxanne Gupta, an Indian scholar who makes an amazing chai, was out of the country at the time, so I did the next best thing and consulted her son, Kapil, a world traveler himself who works for the State Department and currently resides in Washington, D.C.
He shared general guidelines without revealing his specific ingredients. "Indian cooking is like jazz -- it's all about technique, the rest is improvisation,'' he explained.

Using his suggestions and my own experience, here's a chai "recipe" to try at home:
Add 6 cups cold water to a pot and heat it over medium heat. As the water heats, add 6 green cardamom pods (slit), 10 whole cloves, 2 or 3 cinnamon sticks, broken up, a 2-inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced in thin rounds, 1 whole vanilla bean and 2 teaspoons black peppercorns.

Once the water is a dark brownish color (could take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour), remove the vanilla bean (slit it open and scrape the black seeds into the liquid) and add 2 cups whole milk and a quarter cup brown sugar (packed; or more to taste). Don't boil; bring to just under a boil and keep stirring to avoid scalding the mix. Add 6 tablespoons loose black tea, cover pot with a lid and let sit for at least 10 minutes.
Kapil says: "Strain the witches brew into a tea pot. Take all the residual mixture, add more water and put back on the stove ... thats the "leftover" course, just in case folks want more after finishing the first batch. Effectiveness of the second round is a function of how much spices you used, etc.'' Add milk, and start again. Variations: "Nutmeg? Soy milk? Cocoa powder? Have fun!,'' Kapil says. Kapil notes that he "held back on one small additional spice' that makes my chai unique.'' I can tell you my version of Kapil's chai was good to the last drop -- no leftovers. I did have leftover whole milk in the fridge and made another batch of chai the next day. It keeps well in a glass jar for a couple of days, and is tasty poured over ice, in a tall glass, too. Note: If you've never had chai before and want to try some before making some, go to Roji Tea Lounge, at 108 E. Washington St., in downtown Syracuse, and order some chai. They brew loose black tea and steep it with spices while you wait. It takes a while, so bring a book or magazine, relax and enjoy the soothing East-meets-West atmosphere.

Next: I'll tell you about the Indian specialty store, Kashmir Imports, in Syracuse, where I purchased black tea to make chai.

Staycations 2010: Red and White Cafe, DeRuyter

What do you mean you've never been to DeRuyter and you have no reason to go there? There's a lovely little lake nearby, and the Tioughnioga River runs through town. There's a furniture store with new and previously used pieces and an old-fashioned hardware store, the kind that stocks everything from plumbing supplies to pure maple syrup. Best of all, to our way of thinking, there's the Red and White Cafe.

The restaurant is in a completely charming, unique and nostalgic setting: the former Red and White grocery store, smack dab in the center of town.

Signage in the dining room.

The store enjoyed a 40-year run, from the 1940s to the 1980s, and is enjoying new life as a bakery, restaurant and community meeting place, courtesy of owners Christine and Jeffrey Glave.

The menu is extensive, offering everything from hot dogs to hotcakes. Where to begin? That's easy. Start with a cup of coffee. Definitely not your average cup of diner dishwater coffee. The Red and White uses coffee from Coffee Mania in Homer, and also serves all your must-have coffee drinks: espresso, cappuccino, lattes, macchiatos, etc. In the mood for ice cream? That's premium, too, from Kimberly's Ice Cream, in Manlius.

Breakfast is served all day, and lunch includes homemade soups, sandwiches, salads, burgers and daily specials. Have another coffee, stay as long as you like and even check your e-mail. Your map or GPS might lead you to think you're in the middle of nowhere, and you essentially are, but they've got WiFi.
Did I mention the baked goods made on the premises? The baking elves must stay late or arrive well before the sun is up, because you'll find an amazing assortment of things made with butter, flour and sugar: brownies, muffins, scones, biscotti, cakes, pies, cookies. Plus at least six kinds of homemade bread.
My French toast ($5.95) was made with thick slices of house-made cinnamon raisin bread and served with butter, real-deal maple syrup and a hand-formed sausage patty.

The bakery and store section of the Red and White Cafe has penny candy, jewelry from local artisans and other merchandise, like goat's milk soaps, lotions and salves from Frosty Morning Farm, in Truxton.

 
The Red and White Cafe is at 1692 Albany St., DeRuyter, between Cazenovia and Cortland and not far from New Woodstock. It's open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Check the Web site and calendar for special events, like live music. An easy way to get there: Pick up Route 13 south in Cazenovia and travel about 15 miles to DeRuyter. And write down this phone number just in case: 315-852-2016.‎

 

Today's Tipp: Check out the Tipp Hill Cafe

Yellow cupcakes with Irish accents, at the Tipp Hill Cafe.

Usually I go to Tipp Hill to get my Irish on over a pint (or two) at Coleman's, Nibsy's Pub or the Blarney Stone. At my advanced age, pub crawls are pretty much a thing of the past, But I do like the spirit and close-knit neighborhood vibe of this Irish-flavored part of town, so on occasion you'll find me parked on a stool at the Tipp Hill Cafe. The cafe is at 126 Milton Ave., corner of Ulster Street, on the first floor of a building called the Dublin Arms. It's open for breakfast, lunch and early suppers, and offers a simple menu of homemade soups, cold sandwiches, grilled sandwiches and breakfast fare, like egg sandwiches, muffins and bagels. And of course, coffee.
On a recent visit, I had a cup of cream of broccoli soup and half a roast beef panini, with provolone cheese, red onion and horseradish, made with "stretch bread'' from Pasta's Daily Bread. The half sandwich was HUGE. You'd have to be on a high-carb diet, coming off a four-day fast or just REALLY, REALLY hungry to eat a whole one.
The dessert case holds all kinds of baked goods, like biscotti, cookies and cupcakes, and there's homemade granola bars, should you want something relatively healthy to grab-and-go with your coffee. And the place does a brisk trade in ice cream when the weather is warmer and neighborhood kids are out and about.
The owners are extremely friendly, and the place is homey, spic-and-span and decorated with Irish-themed bric-a-brac. The cafe has WiFi, and no one seems to mind if you and your laptop linger for a while after lunch. Speaking of after lunch: Make sure you leave time for a stroll around the neighborhood. Check out the famous green-on-top traffic light at Milton and Tompkins and learn how that colorful piece of Syracuse history came to be at the nearby "Stone Throwers" Park and monument. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

For more info on the Tipp Hill Cafe, call 476-8637.

 

And the award for Outstanding Performance by a Kitchen Appliance goes to: My KitchenAid Classic stand mixer

I couldn't get by each day without our hard-working refrigerator-freezer and basic but reliable coffeemaker. But the award for Outstanding Performance by a Kitchen Appliance in a Leading Role goes to: my trusty KitchenAid Classic Plus stand mixer.
I've had her for going on 20 years now and she occupies a choice corner of our limited, old-house counter space -- unlike lesser-used and lesser-loved appliances that are relegated to the basement shelves for storage.

She's made countless cakes and loaves of bread, hundreds of batches of cookie dough and turns out a bowl fluffy whipped cream in a snap. My "other" isn't as much into baking as I am, but he, too, has come to appreciate the stand mixer's speed, efficiency and ease of operation.
I saw a lot of KitchenAid mixer attachments leave the store during my holiday stint at Williams-Sonoma, including the meat grinder and various pasta attachments, but I've never used anything other than the tools that come with it: the flat/paddle beater, wire whip and dough hook.

I did buy an attachment called a Side Swipe blade, which is not made by KitchenAid.  The gizmo, which cost about $25, has little silicone "fins'' that act like a spatula, scraping the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl -- no need to stop and do that by hand.

The tool comes in handy when making, say, chocolate chip cookie dough: The bowl gets "scraped'' and the chocolate chips and nuts don't get crushed.

 

Several years ago, my other got me a second stainless steel bowl for my mixer, which is very useful during marathon baking sessions -- no need to stop and wash the bowl between cookie batches.

And with the sun out and spring and summer on the way, I'm daydreaming about the $99 ice cream bowl attachment I spotted at the KitchenAid Web site. I'd use it just to make fat-free fruit sorbets, right?!? The KitchenAid stand mixer comes in several models now (Artisan series, Pro, etc.) and lots of cool colors, like kiwi green, candy apple red and carnation pink, but the Classic Plus, in basic white, meets my needs and aesthetics just fine. I think I paid $159 for it way back when and it paid for itself in use and enjoyment a long time ago.
The thing has been with me through thick (cheesecake and lemon extract cake batters; mashed potatoes) and thin (devil's food cake batter) and has never once failed to start or get the job done. Even when I've doubled a recipe and pushed the bowl and the machine to its limits, and even at Christmastime, when it's in use almost daily.

They call it KitchenAid, but I call it KitchenWarrior. And KitchenFriend.

Soup sustains us -- and others in CNY

Winter is soup season.

So far we've enjoyed Roasted Squash Soup, Black Bean Soup, Kale and Potato Soup, My Favorite Lentil Soup (a favorite from "Jane Brody's Good Food Book''), Anthony Bourdain's easy and delicious Mushroom Soup with a hint of sherry, Sweet Potato Soup... The list goes on. Soup is comforting, nurturing and good for the soul. It sustains us in all seasons, even summer, when we like to make gazpacho.
Soup-making can involve a lot of chop-chop action, but not always. A simple-to-make soup we enjoyed several weeks ago came out of a package: June's Spicy Split Pea Soup. The soup and others are packaged and sold by Healthy Sisters' Soup and Bean Works, a program of the Catholic Family Center's Restart Substance Abuse Services in Rochester. The program serves Upstate women who "come from backgrounds of chronic unemployment" and gives them sustenance: a job and job skills, a regular paycheck, a boost of self-confidence. To learn more, visit the Healthy Sisters Web site.
In addition to June's Spicy Split Pea, several chili and bean soups mixes wearing the Healthy Sisters label are available, including Six-Bean Organic Bean Soup, Ragin' Cajun Bean Soup and Tuscan Bean Soup.

The split pea soup has a nice kick to it, from cayenne, curry and other spices. Add some chopped onion, broth, water to what's in the package and you're good to go.
Note: All soup tastes better in the mug my sister Martha gave me when I was in college. It's probably considered "vintage'' by now.

Healthy Sisters soups are available in the Nature's Marketplace section of most Wegmans stores, and at Smith Housewares and Restaurant Supply in Syracuse. They cost $6.

 

Table for one: No cereal or ramen noodles for me

What do I eat when no one is looking?

My other would tell you that I dive in to the box of assorted Gertrude Hawk chocolates in my chocolate drawer (yes, I have a not-so-secret stash... doesn't everyone?).

And he would be right. But not for dinner!

On the third Thursday of every month, while he's at Th3 events in and around downtown Syracuse, I make dinner just for me. Sometimes, it's an omelet or "leftovers melange'' -- whatever is in the fridge. Often, it's spiral pasta topped with Spicy Hot Tomato Oil from Pastabilties and Pasta's Daily Bread.

I'm not really sure how Spicy Hot Tomato Oil has become my favorite dining solo feast, except that A) it's really convenient B) it's versatile (dip Pasta's stretch bread in it if you don't feel like eating pasta; add it to your sauce when making homemade pizza)  and C) it is so darn savory and delicious I could eat the entire container.

But I don't. A six-ounce container of the oil costs $3.50 and is enough for about four servings of pasta, depending on how much pasta you eat and how saucy you like it. At the restaurant, homemade pasta with Spicy Hot Tomato oil is served with a sprinkling of shredded locatelli cheese. At home, I use shredded or grated Parmesan, whatever we have on hand.

Pick up some Spicy Hot Tomato Oil at Pasta's Daily Bread, 308 S. Franklin St. But make sure you leave some for me. Another Third Thursday is coming up and I'll be alone in the kitchen once again.

What do you eat when no one else is around?

Come clean on Eat First and send a picture of your food of choice, if you have one.