Eat First

The real deal: Syracuse Real Food Co-Op

It’s not Wegmans or Price Chopper or Tops or Aldi. 

It’s small – not the size of a football field – with creaky wooden floors and narrow aisles. If you’re browsing one of those aisles with your cart and someone’s stocking the shelves and another shopper pushing a cart comes along – well, three is a crowd. 

What this store may lack in floor space it makes up for in content, personality and personable service. 

Welcome to the Syracuse Real Food Co-Op. 

The co-op, located in a residential area two blocks off Westcott Street, in the outer Syracuse University neighborhood, is a largely organic and locally focused grocery store owned by its members. It’s committed to community and community buying power. “Owners” make a one-time investment of $100, and the public is invited to shop there, as well. 

I hadn’t been to the Co-Op in more than a year, but a recent LivingSocial deal (pay $10 for $20 worth of groceries/merchandise) provided the motivation I needed to get over there. 

I happily wandered the aisles and went away impressed by the produce department (which included some local items, like Oswego County onions, even in the dead of winter), the selection of local breads (great selection featuring Heidelberg Bakery, Pasta’s Daily Bread and Patisserie, among others) and local/regional cheeses (Macadam, Cooperstown Cheese Co., Cabot, etc.) 

The prepared foods area includes soups, sandwiches and some packaged entrees, and it would be easy to go to town in the bulk foods department, which stretches across the back section of the store and contains everything from grains and nuts to Mu Mu Muesli (an all-natural cereal made in Sharon Springs, Schoharie County). 

Breathe in the intoxicating aroma of a shelf fully loaded with bags of local coffee (from Recess, Cafe Kubal and others). Ahhhhhh! 

The Syracuse Real Food Co-Op made the news in 2010 when its hoped-for move to bigger digs on East Genesee Street was turned down by the Syracuse Board of Zoning Appeals. 

We wish the Co-Op continued success on Kensington Road – its home since 1973 – until such time a move/expansion is possible. I’m determined to get there more often and encourage you to put it on your local food radar. It’s is a refreshingly real and honest shopping experience. 

Don’t forget your re-usable shopping bag! 

The Syracuse Real Food Co-Op is at 618 Kensington Road, off Westcott Street, in Syracuse. Hours are 8 a.m. 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. Info: 315-472-1385.

 

A tale of two CNY spicy tomato oils

Central New Yorkers are truly food-blessed. We live in the land of the salt potato, claim bragging rights to the original Dinosaur Bar-B-Q and have not one but two locally made tomato garlic oils for dunking our bread and tossing with pasta. 

First came Pasta’s Spicy Hot Tomato Oil. It’s a classic. If you’ve dined at Pastabilities in Armory Square, you might have dipped some Pasta’s stretch bread (habit forming) in a bowl of glistening red oil before dinner – and liked it so much you ordered it as an entree, too.

Yes, it’s that good. 

Newer to the scene is Cheeky Monkey Tomato Garlic Dipping Oil. You might have seen it at the Regional Market in Syracuse, where samples are offered with slices of stretch bread from Patisserie, a bakery in Skaneateles. It originated at Syra-Juice, a small takeout restaurant in Marshall Square Mall near Syracuse University, and is sold there. 

Taste is subjective, so we wouldn’t presume to pick a  “best of the CNY tomato garlic oils.” We’ll just tell you a bit more about each of these fine products made in our own backyard.

Pasta’s Spicy Hot Tomato Oil: The name pretty much says it all. It’s spicy, but not ripping hot, with a slight sweetness in the background. It’s not thin and it’s not thick; it’s somewhere in between, just right for coating your pasta of choice.

Pastabilities owner Karyn Korteling and her late husband, Pat, sampled and fell in love with a spicy tomato oil on a trip to Italy and were inspired to create their own version at Pastabilities. It contains oil, San Marzano tomatoes and garlic – lots of garlic, slivers of it floating in the oil.  We can't go to Armory Square without picking up a container of it. 

Cheeky Monkey Tomato Garlic Dipping Oil: This one comes in two varieties – regular and extra spicy. We’ve sampled the extra spicy oil on several occasions now and find it to be super-duper garlicky with a noticeable sweetness. It’s sold in soft-sided containers with a pour spout, which allows it to be shaken – clever packaging, as the oil and tomatoes tend to separate. 

The spicy tomato oils are versatile. We use them as a dipper, a pasta sauce and pizza base. They’re also dynamite in paninis – spread bread generously with spicy oil before piling on your other ingredients. The oils can also be stirred into soups and salad dressings to add a bit of zip, and drizzled on eggs and omelets. 

Pasta’s Spicy Hot Tomato Oil can be purchased at Pasta’s Daily Bread, 308 S. Franklin St., Syracuse. A small container (7 ounces) costs $3.50. Cheeky Monkey Tomato Garlic Dipping Oil is available at Syra-Juice, Green Hills Farms, Syracuse Real Food Co-Op and other locations in Central New York. A container costs $7.60.

Take one – or both -- home soon and put them to creative, delicious use.

 

Soup’s on, Central New York!

Stir up the Campbell’s? Nope.

Chicken Soup for the Soul? Sure, that’s fine. But truth is, in winter, any kind of soup is good for the soul – especially if it’s homemade.

So far this winter, we’ve stirred up pots of Black Bean Soup With Cumin, My Favorite Lentil Soup and Curried Cream-less Broccoli soup, all from “Jane Brody’s Good Food Book’’; Kale and Potato Soup from Alice Waters’ “The Art of Simple Food’’; Beef Minestrone Soup from Wegmans Menu magazine; Vegetarian Minestrone Soup from “St. Basil’s Celebration of California’s Cuisines’’; and Pasta e Fagiole a la Mary Anne Esposito, to name a few.

Mary Kiernan, a chef and instructor at Syracuse University, shared with me her recipe for Chorba Ras el Hanout, a hearty vegetable soup made with the Moroccan spice blend ras el hanout, for a feature that will appear in the March-April issue of Central New York (The Good Life) Magazine. March will still be soup season. I can’t wait to try it.

Why soup? It’s warming, satisfying and comforting, and fills the kitchen with savory aromas. It can take a lot of chop-chop, but once you get into the rhythm of it, it’s no chore.

Soup is inexpensive to make, often uses what you already have on hand and provides multiple servings. Leftovers make a great lunch – or lunches.

Way better than Campbell’s or Progresso. Mmmm Mmmm good! And good for you.

Curried Cream-less Broccoli Soup

Adapted from “Jane Brody’s Good Food Book’’

You will need:

1 tablespoon butter or olive oil (or a combination)

1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

2 cloves garlic, chopped (about 2 teaspoons)

1 teaspoon curry powder

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 2/3 cups vegetable broth

1 cup water

1 bunch broccoli, including the stems, cut into flowerets and ½- inch slices (about 1 pound) 

1 large potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch slices

1 cup milk

Preparation:

In a large saucepan, heat oil/melt butter. Saute onion for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook briefly. Add the curry and pepper and stir. Add the broth and water to the pan, bringing the soup to a boil. Add the broccoli and potato.  When the mixture returns to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer until all the vegetable are tender (about 20 minutes).

Puree the soup using with a stick blender (or in a food processor or blender. Return puree to pan, stir in milk, and cook over low heat until hot.  Do not boil soup once milk has been added.

Makes 6 servings. The recipe doubles easily. You might want to make it ahead, to allow the flavors to meld.