Eat First

Shooka Sauce: a delicious meal in minutes

Shakshuka (pronounced shock-shoo-kuh) is a savory dish of eggs poached in a deep red sauce made with tomatoes, bell peppers, onion and garlic. It gets a flavor boost from warming spices, including cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper, and is commonly served in Mediterranean countries, the Middle East and North Africa. Sometimes it’s eaten directly from the pan, with fresh herbs like parsley or basil sprinkled on top, and crusty bread on the side for soaking up the sauce.

Some people eat shakshuka for supper and others eat it for breakfast. It’s not hard to make this any-time meal and I made it a couple times after writing a feature about a home cook whose regular rotation of easy weeknight suppers includes shakshuka.

A local entrepreneur has introduced a sauce in a jar that literally makes shakshuka a meal in minutes. Natasha Brao loves to cook, eat and inspire others with food – especially healthy food. She earned master’s degrees in business administration and entrepreneurship from Syracuse University’s Whitman School this year and is channeling her love for food, design and branding into Shooka Sauce.

Brao, a native of Los Angeles, developed the recipe for Shooka Sauce in her own kitchen and is working with a co-packer to produce the product and bring it to market. The sauce, made with produce grown in upstate New York, is slightly chunky and slightly spicy. If you don’t want to eat it with eggs, you can add sausage, ground beef, chickpeas, eggplant or feta cheese. If you have an avocado on hand, slice it and serve it on the side. Or you can do as Brao did recently: Skip the eggs and serve Shooka Sauce with meatballs and yellow squash. She also uses it to make flatbread pizza.

On a busy weekday when I was thinking about what I could prepare quickly for supper, I remembered I had a couple jars of Shooka Sauce in the pantry. I pulled one out, dumped it in a skillet, heated it over medium heat until it was bubbling gently, reduced the heat and added a couple eggs, using a wooden spoon to make wells in the sauce.

The tricky part of shakshuka for me is getting the eggs how I like them – cooked through but with a runny yolk. Practice makes perfect. Cover the skillet and check on the eggs every minute or two. 

Depending on how much shakshuka you want to eat, a jar will make two servings or four small servings. Pick up a couple jars to have on hand for when you want something quick, easy, healthy and delicious for supper. And don’t forget to pick up crusty bread and/or other add-ons.

Shooka Sauce is available at Metro Home Style and Epicuse in Syracuse, H. Grey Supply Co., in Cazenovia, and on the Shooka Sauce website. Price is about $14.

Caz Tortilla Company, Syracuse

Have you ever tried a food that rocked your world? I'm talking just-brewed, locally roasted coffee. Squeaky cheese curds fresh from a dairy farm. Sourdough bread made by master bakers. It’s the little things.

One local food that recently rocked my world – and makes me want to eat a breakfast taco every day – is the tortillas made by Caz Tortilla Company.

Caz Tortilla is owned by the husband-and-wife team of Casey and Katie Masters. Despite its name, the company is based in Syracuse.

The Masters’ served in the U.S. Air Force and moved to Central New York from the White Sands area of New Mexico. They found they missed the tortilleria in their local grocery store, where they purchased tortillas that were “never more than an hour old,’’ according to Casey. They started making tortillas at home in Cazenovia, and before long they decided to turn their home project into a business. They hoped to find a production space in or near Cazenovia, Casey said, but instead set up shop in Syracuse. The small tortilla production facility is on Burnet Avenue, between Kilian Manufacturing and Visual Technologies.

Casey Masters and Operations Manager Drew Merkel weren’t making tortillas when I visited on a recent weekday, but gave me a quick tour of the place. It features a storage room for ingredients like masa, flour, baking powder and salt, a mixing room, and a production room with separate lines for pressing out and baking corn and flour tortillas. With a handful of employees, they produce thousands of five- and six-inch tortillas weekly.

To see the production process, watch this report by Emily Kenny, who covers food production and agriculture for Spectrum News.

If your only experience with tortillas is grocery store tortillas, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. The local tortillas taste fresh, contain no sugar or artificial ingredients and have more “heft” to them than flimsy (and tear-prone) mass-produced tortillas. I’ve mainly used them for breakfast tacos, heating one tortilla at a time over the slots of my toaster and filling them with pan-roasted pepper and onion, scrambled eggs, cheese and salsa for a weekend breakfast of champions. One of these days I’ll get more adventurous and use them in an enchilada casserole with roasted vegetables.

I purchased my tortillas (10 for $3) at the Central New York Regional Market in Syracuse, and love knowing they were produced the day before a couple miles away. Check the Caz Tortilla Company Facebook or Instagram page to see if they’ll be at the market on a given Saturday.

Want to taste tortillas from Caz Tortilla Company? Restaurants that use them include Alto Cinco, Decir Algo, Steve’s Cantina and Mamacitas in Syracuse, Madison County Distillery in Cazenovia and Mad Taco in Nelson. Retail locations include The Curd Nerd, Syracuse Cooperative Market, Thanos Market and Green Hills Farms, Syracuse; Natur-Tyme, DeWitt; and 20/East and Heartstone Artisan Bakery, Cazenovia.

Last but not least, you can purchase tortillas directly at Caz Tortilla Company HQ, 1622 Burnet Ave., Syracuse. Hours (approximate) are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. If you see the sandwich board out front, they’re open. The front entry has an honor box and a rack holding packages of tortillas. Bring cash.

The Curd Nerd, Syracuse

Here’s some grate news: The Eastwood neighborhood of Syracuse now has a cheese shop. That cheese shop is The Curd Nerd.

For months, Sarah Starace and her fiance, Matthew Simiele, have been renovating the wedge-shaped storefront at the corner of James Street and Collingwood Avenue into a bright and welcoming space. The walls are painted a buttery yellow and the space is filled with greenery from Found Things Co., a plant shop that has taken root a couple doors down Collingwood. 

One of Sarah’s goals with her shop is to stock as many local cheeses as possible and support local cheesemaking. That makes me happy on so many levels. 

The shop is in the “soft open’’ stage, with a grand opening planned for later in the month. Early offerings include chevre, feta and other goat cheeses from Lively Run Goat Dairy and cheddars and blue cheese from Muranda Cheese Company, both in the Finger Lakes.

Do you like spreadable cheeses? Then Sarah recommends the everything bagel-seasoned Quark cheese from Shults Family Farm in the Mohawk Valley. Quark is a soft farmers cheese that’s perfect for schmearing on crackers, toast and bagels and used as a dip for vegetables. Another soft cheese Sarah recommends is the Harbison from Jasper Hill Creamery in Vermont. It’s an oozy, bloomy-rind cheese that’s wrapped in spruce bark, which gives the cheese an earthy flavor. You might want a baguette to go with this cheese.

Other local/regional cheeses include Jake’s original gouda and Jake’s smoked gouda from Oneida County, Alpine-style cheeses from East Hill Creamery in Perry, and offerings from Old Chatham Creamery, which started out in the Hudson Valley and is now based in Groton. Selections in the case will change regularly, as Sarah figures out what her customers want.

Why cheese? Why Eastwood? And why now?

Sarah is a native of Queens who started out at Binghamton University on a pre-med track thinking she would become a doctor. For fun, she helped to establish the Binghamton University Cheese Club, a group of students who sampled different cheeses every week and spread their love for cheese on campus through activities and events. Sarah ended up getting a degree in cell and molecular biology and told her family and friends she planned to become a cheesemonger. She considers cheese her calling and is working to become a Certified Cheese Professional through the American Cheese Society.

Sarah met Matthew at Binghamton and they moved to Syracuse after graduation (he’s an electrical engineer). She worked at Wegmans for a time and considered working as a farmhand to learn more about the dairy industry. Then the pandemic happened. They bought a house in Eastwood and eventually met Realtor Stephen Skinner, who connected them to their space. A year later, they took down the paper covering the front of the shop and quietly opened for business.     

Sarah sees The Curd Nerd as a specialty grocery store as much as a cheese shop. You’ll find locally sourced bread, yogurt, honey, salad greens, mushrooms, apples, Clean Slate Farm oils and vinegars, salts from Syracuse Salt Company and everything that partners with cheese: crackers, dried fruits, nuts, olives, cured meats and more.

In a nod to the lactose intolerant, the shop sells packs of lactase, an enzyme that aids in the digestion of lactose. I hope I never become lactose intolerant. I love cheese too much.

I left The Curd Nerd with a fat wedge of Muranda Blue from Muranda Cheese Company, a container of feta (my new favorite cheese to have on hand) from Lively Run and a personal cheese box ($6; shown below) curated by Sarah. It contained slices of Shire (a cow’s milk cheese collaboration between Lively Run and Hopshire Farm and Brewery), a wedge of Nancy’s Camembert from Old Chatham, two kinds of crackers, dried apricots, strawberries, HoBe Honey, marcona almonds and toasted corn nuts. It was the perfect lunch – not too big, not too small, just right.

All cheese/charcuterie boxes, boards and trays are made to order. Visit the website, call 315-299-7006 or email [email protected] for more information.

The Curd Nerd is at 2800 James St. Hours (subject to change) are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Visit their website and social media for more information.

All photos © Margaret McCormick

What's for dinner? Almost-instant ramen from Kasai Ramen

Staying in for dinner tonight -- and most every night? Join the club. The pandemic has caused major, lasting changes in how we eat. More people than ever are cooking at home. And an estimated 70% of American adults are now more likely to order takeout from restaurants than they were prior to the pandemic, according to the National Restaurant Association. We're not talking just the usual suspects, like pizza, wings and subs (not that there's anything wrong with those things). We're talking more "elevated'' restaurant food.

Kasai Ramen, a fusion restaurant in Syracuse's Armory Square known for its ramen bowls, kimchi salt potatoes, steam buns and other Japanese-influenced fare, has always offered ramen for takeout and delivery. With the Omicron variant of COVID-19 surging and dining at home on the upswing, the restaurant has started offering take-home ramen kits. Again.

What are ramen kits and how are they different from a takeout order of ramen? The kits include all the ingredients and toppings for a delicious bowl, but assembly is required. If you're a DIYer in the kitchen, you'll have fun putting your meal together.

I ordered a shoyu ramen kit ($13.35 plus tip) on a recent weekday when I knew I'd be dining solo and wouldn't want to bother with cooking for myself. I called ahead and my order was ready in 15 minutes. A brown bag was packed with several containers: pork and chicken broth, a nest of homemade noodles, braised pork, six-minute egg, enoki mushrooms, bok choy and scallions. I set a place at the table, boiled unsalted water for the noodles, heated the broth on the stove and warmed the pork in the microwave. I had already left the six-minute egg and vegetable toppings on the counter to take the chill off them.

In a matter of minutes, I sat down to a warming, comforting and filling bowl that was almost too pretty to eat. The kit included chopsticks, which I used along with a spoon and fork to get every bit and drop. 

Note: Instructions are supposed to come with the ramen kits (in this case they were omitted), but if you've had ramen bowls before, cooking the noodles, heating the broth and garnishing the bowl is pretty self explanatory. I overcooked the noodles somewhat. Next time I'll know they need just 30 seconds to a minute in boiling water.

Kasai Ramen is at 218 Walton St., Syracuse. Information: 315-310-8500

Main photo courtesy of Kasai Ramen

Finished bowl photo: Margaret McCormick

 

Got zucchini? Make zucchini butter

It's that time of year: The zucchini in your garden seems to multiply overnight. Or someone shows up at the office with a shopping bag full of zucchini and says, "here -- take some home.''

 

Had your fill of zucchini bread and zucchini boats? Try something different -- zucchini butter. It takes about an hour to cook a couple pounds of zucchini down into a soft, buttery paste that can be tossed with pasta, spread on grilled bread or used in place of sauce on a pizza. Or, spread it on toast and top it with a poached egg -- one of my favorite work-from-home lunches.

 

I went with a recipe from one of my favorite cookbook authors and food bloggers, Marissa McClellan, tweaking it slightly to add a bit of heat. I cooked the zucchini down for a full hour, leaving it slightly chunky but soft enough to spread -- not total mush. 

 

Zucchini Butter

Adapted from "Preserving by the Pint,'' by Marissa McClellan

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
4 plump garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
Big pinch of crushed red pepper (optional)

2 pounds zucchini or a combination of zucchini and yellow squash, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 5 to 6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped off stems)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Place a large skillet over medium heat and melt the butter and olive oil together. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper (if using) to the pan and cook for a minute. Add the zucchini cubes.

Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the zucchini has begun to soften. Add salt, pepper and thyme at this point. Reduce the heat and continue to cook the zucchini, stirring often. The goal is to cook the moisture out of the zucchini and create a soft, flavorful paste. If the zucchini starts to brown and stick to the pan, add a splash of white wine or some vegetable broth and reduce the heat a bit more.

 
Total cooking time should be about an hour. I left the zucchini butter a bit chunky, but soft enough to spread. 

 

When done, cool the zucchini butter and store it in half-pint jars in the refrigerator. It will keep up to 2 weeks in the fridge or a year in the freezer.

 

Note: Serve the zucchini butter with pasta, on crusty grilled bread or on pizza. 

 

                 Early stage of cooking the zucchini down

 

                 Linguine with zucchini butter

 

 

All photos by Margaret McCormick unless otherwise noted

 

 

 

Cooking at home with Sara Tong-Ngork

Sarinthra (Sara) Tong-Ngork has logged more than 20 years in local restaurants. Her resume includes stints at Lemon Grass, Bangkok Thai, Alfa Bar and Dining Room, the Century Club and Bellevue Country Club, among others.  Come fall, she will venture out on her own as one of eight merchants at Salt City Market, the food hall scheduled to open at 484 Salina St., across from the Marriott Syracuse Downtown. 

 

Sara's stand, Firecracker Thai Kitchen, will feature Bangkok-style "street food:" soups, curries, noodle dishes, salads and more. Her menu is in development and she has been going through the steps of writing a business plan.

 

Sara, 45, grew up in Syracuse and attended local schools, including SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. After college, she decided to pursue cooking as a profession. "I started in 1997 at Lemon Grass as a prep cook and never looked back,'' she says.  She has worked with and learned from some of the best chefs and cooks in Central New York, including chef Eamon Lee, her boss and mentor at The Century Club. "I leaned from him for over a decade. ... Better than any culinary school education I could have gotten.''

 

Sara's parents are from Thailand and she has spent much of her coronavirus-mandated stay home time cooking with them and for them.  She's looking forward to life resuming a sense of normalcy and to feeding CNY's "Thai tribe'' at Salt City Market.

 

How did you learn how to cook? I’ve been cooking since I was a little kid, maybe 7. My sisters and I would come home from school and I’d make us a snack while we waited for our parents to come home. Eventually I’d help my parents with dinner. They were both excellent cooks and I think that’s why I love food so much. 

 

How would you describe your style of cooking: I gravitate towards simplicity and letting the natural flavors shine. I like to highlight freshness and balance sweet, salty, sour and spicy, which is the key to Thai cooking. I don’t like to measure and I don’t like a dish with a million ingredients. It's pretty rare for me to spend more than an hour making something, unless it’s simmering or braising away.

Do you have a signature dish? My signature dish is Spicy Chicken and Thai Basil. It was a dish the cooks would make for family meal (the staff meal before service) at Lemon Grass. After almost four years of working there, it was the only dish I could still eat every day.  My version is different, not quite as bright, but equally crave worthy. I’ve run some version of it everywhere I’ve cooked.

Favorite cookbook or cooking show? My favorite cookbook is one that Eamon (Lee) introduced me to, "The Best Recipe" (America's Test Kitchen). I love how it incorporates food science and tells you the "why" of a recipe. TV show -- I was a huge fan of "Ready...Set...Cook!" back in the infant years of the Food Network. After school, other kids would be playing outside and I’d run downstairs to catch that and "Great Chefs." 

What have you been cooking during "stay at home life”? I’m quarantined with my parents. We’ve been cooking a lot of Thai comfort food --  noodles, soups and Thai-style congee are family favorites. We had to keep it pretty simple for a while because we couldn’t get Asian ingredients as most of the Asian grocers buy stock from New York City.
 
Favorite place to shop: My favorite place to shop is the Central New York Regional Market and I wish I could get there more often than I do.  That food has been taken care of. Someone took the time and energy to nurture those ingredients. You can taste that in the product. A misshapen, locally grown donut peach with a blemish, enjoyed mid-summer at peak ripeness, will always taste better than the biggest, most perfect looking one from the grocery store. With a lot of produce,  just because something is available year-round, doesn’t mean it’s good year-round.

 

Any advice for people who are new to cooking? Invest in proper tools - you don’t need to spend a lot. I use a sharp knife I got from Amazon for $20.

• Start simple: Make scrambled eggs and figure out how much salt and pepper to add to them to make them taste good. This will help you learn how to season food.

• Don’t give up. Even the most talented chefs have cooked something only to throw it right in the trash.

 

 

Thai Omelet

From Sara Tong-Ngork

 

Sara says: The omelet is often served alongside other Thai dishes, as Thai food is almost always family style. It’s also found at many food stalls and almost every restaurant. For me, it’s comfort food. This recipe serves two as an entrée and four as a side dish to quell any spicy dishes. The optional condiment adds a little extra salt, spice and brightness to the dish.

 

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1/4 cup onion, 1⁄4-inch slices or diced

2 tablespoons scallion, rough chop

1 tablespoon cilantro, rough chop (optional)

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic (garlic powder)

1 1/4 teaspoon fish sauce or 1 teaspoon soy sauce (to keep it vegetarian)

Freshly cracked white or black pepper (3 to 4 twists of the pepper mill)

2 tablespoons rice bran or grapeseed oil (high smoke point)

Cooked jasmine rice (2 to 4 servings)

For the optional condiment:

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

1 garlic clove, minced

1 Thai chili pepper, minced

 

In a bowl, beat eggs, onion, scallions, cilantro, garlic powder, fish sauce/soy sauce and pepper  together until mixed. Heat up a non-stick skillet on medium- high heat. Wait until the pan is hot, then add the oil. Gently pour egg mixture into pan and

reduce heat to medium. As the egg cooks, pull the sides of the omelet towards the center and allow the uncooked egg to run underneath it. Do this all around the omelet until there’s no more runny liquid (the top will still be uncooked). Check underneath the omelet for a golden brown color, then carefully flip it, using plates if necessary. Continue cooking until the bottom is golden brown as well. You may need to add a few more drops of oil if it becomes too dry or it will burn.

 

Serve the omelet immediately with hot jasmine rice and optional condiment. Makes 2 to 4 servings.

 

Optional condiment: Combine all ingredients and serve with omelet.

 

 

 

Cooking at home with Shelly Bornemann

Shelly Bornemann has been cooking most of her life, but her food philosophy and priorities took a turn in 2006, when she visited an animal sanctuary in Maryland with a close friend. 

 

"What impacted me the most that day was when we visited the pig barn,'' Bornemann recalls. "I was surprised to see how expressive their eyes were,  just like human eyes. One of the pigs was roaming freely around the grounds and followed me like a faithful dog and it made a huge impact on me. My experience that day was the catalyst to my vegan journey.''

 

Bornemann became a vegetarian first and then a vegan. A decade later, she says, it feels right and natural to live a life completely free of animal products. She has become more adventurous and experimental with her cooking and more committed to animal rights activism and sharing her experiences as a vegan with others.

 

Bornemann, 49, lives in Baldwinsville with her fiancé, Dave, and is an underwriter for Empower Federal Credit Union. She is also one of the organizers for the Syracuse Vegan Living Program, a five-week free mentorship program that began in Baltimore in 2011 and has since expanded to other cities.

 

The education program takes a personal approach, pairing vegan coaches with pledges who want to learn about the practical side of veganism, like nutrition, cooking and menu planning, as well as the ethical considerations. "Each week we have guest speakers that discuss various topics such as health, fitness, the environment, etc.,'' Bornemann says. "We also provide samples of delicious vegan food, set up a private tour at Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen and have a graduation ceremony and potluck celebration where everybody brings a vegan dish to share.''

 

To date, more than 1,200 pledges nationwide have completed the program. 

 

How long have you been cooking? I started cooking relatively early on in life. I loved helping my mom in the kitchen and was fascinated by how methodical and quick she was. She’s a phenomenal baker and as a child she spoiled us weekly with homemade breads, cinnamon rolls, cookies, etc. I learned to cook not only at home, but also by trial and error. If I had something at a restaurant that I loved, I tried breaking it down and making it myself at home.

 

How would you describe your style of cooking? I love using fresh ingredients and of course I love simple, one-pot meals. My fiance would probably disagree with me using just one pot. Though I strive for simplicity a lot of times I end up using several pots, several cutting boards and several gadgets like a garlic press, the lemon juicer, a blender, zester, etc... but I’m a perfectionist and want everything to taste and look amazing.

Do you have a signature dish? I love making Tuscan bean stew, which is my "go-to” when I have dinner guests because it’s simple and sophisticated. It consists of cannellini beans, mushrooms, spinach, vegan pesto and wine. I love pairing it with fresh garlic bread and a dry wine. It’s heavenly. 

Favorite cookbook or cooking show? "The Joy of Vegan Baking" by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau has been my go-to for over a decade. The pages are falling out and as much as vegan cooking and baking has evolved, it’s still the best. 

What have you been cooking during stay-at-home life? I’ve been using this time to cook healthy, comforting food. I’ve been experimenting a lot with making “fish.'' For example, I made "scallops" using king oyster mushrooms (shown at left), smoked lox using shaved carrots and mock tuna salad using chickpeas.  

Favorite place to shop: Wegmans, Trader Joe's and Green Planet Grocery. We have a subscription to Misfits Market that delivers discounted organic produce. There’s a lot of food waste because most grocery stores want only perfect looking produce. Fortunately Misfits Market’s business model helps reduce that waste. For me, it doesn’t matter if I get an apple or an eggplant that’s bruised.

Any advice for people who are new to vegan cooking? Experiment, be open-minded and have fun. I love “veganizing” dishes and will look at various recipes online and in books for ideas. Don’t expect your dishes to taste just like an animal product, but experience it for what it is. You may find it’s even more delicious than what you’re accustomed to.

 

Creamy Dairy-Free Cheese Sauce

From Shelly Bornemann

 

16 ounces Yukon Gold potatoes (about 3 medium)

2 to 3 large carrots

1/4 of a small to medium onion

1/2 cup water (used to boil potatoes)

1/3 cup nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon brown mustard

1/8 teaspoon turmeric (optional; creates nice golden color)

 

Wash and peel potatoes and carrots and chop into uniform pieces. Dice the onion. Boil the vegetables for 10 to 15 minutes and reserve half a cup of the vegetable water. Vegetables are done when you can pierce them easily with a fork.

 

Using a slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to a blender. Add a quarter cup of vegetable/potato water to the blender. Pulse to mix, slowly adding more water until the sauce is of your desired consistency. Add remaining ingredients and adjust accordingly.

 

Notes:  The sauce can be used several ways. Stir some salsa or diced tomatoes and green chilies into the sauce. Pour in a bowl and serve with tortilla chips. The sauce can also be used to make vegan macaroni and cheese. You will need about a pound of cooked elbow macaroni (or other pasta). Stir cooked pasta into sauce.

 

Photos courtesy of Shelly Bornemann

 

Social, from a Distance: A Virtual In-Home Dining Experience

When Gov. Cuomo ordered restaurants across the state to limit their operations to takeout and delivery last month in an effort to help reduce the spread of coronavirus, the mandate left restaurants reeling – and scrambling to adapt and survive. It also left many people cooking at home like never before and wondering what they can do to help keep chefs and restaurants afloat.

To remind people that it’s possible to come to the table -- without sitting next to or across from each other -- four Central/Upstate New York chefs pooled their energy and creativity to collaborate on "Social, from a Distance -- a Virtual In-Home Dining Experience.'' In doing so, they showed some love to local farmers and producers and brought nearly 300 people from across the region together, virtually, to celebrate food and community.

"Social, from a Distance'' was held on Friday, April 3 and a second event spotlighting restaurants in the region is in the works. It's scheduled for April 24.

The logistics of the project were "intense," according to chef Sarah Hassler, of Syracuse-based Hassler Hospitality Group, one of the event organizers. Hassler partnered with Luke Houghton of Pure Catering and Events, Auburn, Tim Hardiman of The Tailor & the Cook, Utica, Michael Lanahan of The Cellar Modern Fusion Restaurant, Corning, and food photographer and social media marketing specialist Chris Johnson of We Eat CNY (who served as emcee) to put the event together in a two weeks.

The event sold out and some guests attended the show only (no food) via Zoom and live stream on YouTube. Hassler's brother, Chad, managed all the technology aspects of the night, which went so far as to seat guests at "tables'' together in private chat rooms. Everything went off smoothly, with few glitches.

Tickets cost $35 (or $5 for virtual access only, no food) and meals, meticulously packaged for reheating at home, were picked up the afternoon of the event at designated locations in each city (or delivered, for an extra charge). The chefs planned each course virtually and prepared them remotely. Courses prepared in Auburn were delivered to Corning and Utica -- and vice versa.

We picked up our dinner box (shown above) outside The Sweet Praxis in downtown Syracuse and opened it up to find about a dozen plastic containers and a helpful explainer sheet for all the various ingredients. Most of the items required just refrigeration, reheating, plating and garnishing.

Michael Lanahan's black bean soup was a tasty starter. The soup had a hint of spicy heat on the finish and polenta croutons and lime cabbage slaw added some interesting texture.

Hassler's dish, "Running Hot and Cold'' put braised potatoes and chilled celery root salad on the same plate with delicious results. The salad was cool and crunchy, with a light lemon vinaigrette. The potatoes, finished in the oven, were crispy on the outside and topped with a slightly spicy remoulade sauce.

The main courses by Luke Houghton were long on flavor: cauliflower and mushroom curry (above) and fork-tender braised beef short ribs (below) with kale on the side. Both were served with creamy polenta prepared with coconut milk.

I'm still thinking about Tim Hardiman's "Layers of Flavors" trifle, which combined blueberries, sweet potato custard, gluten-free sponge cake, milk jam and whipped cream, topped with a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds.

Hardiman said he had been thinking for a long time about a dessert that included blueberries and sweet potato, and when The Tailor & the Cook closed its doors in March he had eight gallons of milk on hand to put to use. That inspired the milk jam, a mix of caramelized milk and sugar that is cooked over low heat for hours. It's similar to dulce de leche.

The dessert was the only dish we enjoyed straight from the container, in order to preserve the multiple layers of the trifle. The photo below by Chris Johnson of We Eat CNY shows the beautiful presentation it would receive under normal restaurant circumstances.

A Finger Lakes Riesling and Long Island Cabernet Franc were available as add-ons for $20 per bottle. Each meal box contained a small jar of artisan flake salt from Syracuse Salt Company. Hassler suggested adding a pinch or two of it to the celery root salad and Hardiman suggested adding a sprinkle of it to his dessert.

Chef Luke Houghton demonstrates making polenta

Technology allowed guests to interact with and ask questions of the chefs: Hassler from her home kitchen in Syracuse, Houghton at Pure Market & Café in Auburn, Hardiman at home near Utica and Lanahan in his kitchen at The Cellar, where he was in the midst of Friday night takeout dinner service. It also allowed guests to send messages to each other and the chefs.

This comment, from a guest who lives in Utica, sums up the experience: "What you guys did tonight was amazing. ... Thank you so much for organizing this and please do this again and again -- even after all the restaurants are back up and running.''

To learn more about future "Social, from a Distance'' events, follow chef Sarah Hassler on Instagram and Facebook or visit the Dining Inside Out website.

 

Cooking at home with Julie Platt-Opanhoske

Julie Platt-Opanhoske is used to cooking for a crowd. At home in Sennett, near Auburn, she cooks for her husband, Chris, and four kids (ages 10, 16, 18 and 20). And as owner of Carriage House Catering, she cooks for gatherings of 50 to 100 or more.

Opanhoske (pronounced Ah-PEN-ah-ski), 43, has been cooking all of her life. Her grandfather DeMassi was a cook in the Army and he and her grandmother, "Nana Rose,'' cooked Italian-American specialties and regularly hosted family dinners with adults and kids crowded around the table. "I think that's where I get my 'cook for an Army mentality,''' she says. Prior to launching her catering business, Opanhoske worked alongside Culinary Institute of America-trained chef Chris Lego at The Restaurant at Elderberry Pond, where she "soaked up as much knowledge as I could to refine my skills.''

For Opanhoske, life in the time of coronavirus is an opportunity to cook comforting food for her family and to plan the next level of her business, which will include a learning kitchen and interactive dining. She plans to offer cooking and baking instruction as well as brunches and dinners with herself, guest chefs and others in the Central New York hospitality industry.

How long have you been cooking?  I have been cooking my entire life. My grandpa DeMassi and Nana Rose were always cooking something and it was usually straight from the garden. Zucchini fritters with the flowers, broccoli raab drowning in olive oil and garlic and pots and pots of tomato sauce and meatballs. Between my Italian grandparents and my Irish grandmother, I developed a love for not only cooking but for feeding people. My Irish grandmother, Mary, always had a knack for creative cooking. She would start one day with a soup, then the next it was a casserole just by adding a few other ingredients. I suppose she learned that from raising eight children. It didn't matter which grandparents house I was at cooking and feeding people always brought me incredible joy. 

How would you describe your style of cooking? I would describe my style of cooking as "simple." I like food to taste like it is intended without too much manipulation from its original state. 

Do you have a signature dish? I would say any kind of soup, but to be more specific, "Pasta Fagioli" (pasta and beans) -- at least this was the consensus after asking my friends and family. I learned from my grandpa and Nana Rose many years ago. I have probably put my own spin on it through the years but I can say that every time I make it, the smell alone brings me back to the good old days and I'm right back in the tiny kitchen on Garrow Street in Auburn, sitting around a cramped table, elbow-to-elbow with all my cousins, indulging in grandpa's Pasta Fagioli and sipping on mini glasses of wine.

Favorite cookbook or cooking show? I would say my favorite cooking show would be "Lidia's Kitchen.'' I love her simple way of cooking easy recipes. Cooking should be fun and simple.

What have you been cooking during "quarantine life"?  I have been cooking everything. Last week I made Bolognese sauce and pasta, roasted pork with rosemary and thyme served with butter potatoes, Pigs In a Blanket soup and last night I made a creamy Cajun sausage pasta. I have lots of kids here to feed, so I'm doing my best to keep them satisfied with comforting food. Oh, and the baking: carrot cake cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, cheddar garlic bread and banana muffins on the menu for today.

Favorite place to shop: I try to shop local and organic as much as possible. Living in New York, that's hard to do this time of year. I buy all my meat from Indelicato's Market in Auburn. They are wonderful people who've run a successful, high-quality market for over 100 years. When she's open for business, I source all my vegetables from Jacqui McCarthy at The Produce Station in Elbridge. She does a beautiful job growing local, organic produce for the community.

Any advice for people who are new to cooking: Keep it simple and use the best ingredients you can get. When you start good you end good. Whenever I try something new, I follow the recipe to a T, then I change what I need to to fit my taste. A lot of cookbooks and cooking shows can be overwhelming. I would suggest "Lidia's Kitchen" and "Barefoot Contessa." I have used many of their recipes and they are very easy and always good.

Photos courtesy of Julie Platt-Opanhoske

Pasta Fagioli
From Julie Platt-Opanhoske

2 pounds dried Great Northern Beans (preferably Goya)
1 smoked picnic ham with bone (approximately 12 pounds)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
6 to 8 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch celery, chopped (including leaves)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1/2 cup white wine or dry sherry (optional)
2 14.5 ounce cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes
4 or 5 bay leaves
1 pound ditalini pasta

Prepare beans: Place beans in a bowl and soak in cold water overnight in the refrigerator. Make sure beans are covered by a few inches. The next day, drain beans, rinse, and set aside.

Prepare ham: Cut off any excess fat and cut remainder into large chunks but small enough to stir in the pot, including the bone.

Prepare soup: In a 12-quart stock pot, heat olive oil on high. Add onions and celery, cook about 10 minutes then add garlic. Cook five more minutes then add tomato paste and let it toast on high heat until it begins to caramelize. Add 1/2 cup white wine or dry sherry to deglaze the pan. This step is optional but does add some dimension to the flavor. Add the fire-roasted tomatoes, beans and ham chunks (don't forget to use the bone) and fill with water to the bottom of the handle rivets. Toss in the bay leaves, bring to boil and reduce to a simmer.

It usually takes about four to five hours to really cook the beans down and make the ham tender. You may need to add more water as the beans absorb it.  When the ham is tender, remove all the large chunks (including the bone) and let cool for a few minutes while you put water on for the pasta. Cut the ham into bite-size chunks and add back to the soup.

Cook pasta al dente then add to the pot. Serve the Pasta Fagioli with a topping of Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Mangia! Makes about 24 two-cup servings.

Notes:

• Recipe can be cut in half.
• Soup will keep for about a week in refrigerator.
• If you plan to freeze soup for later use, portion it off before adding pasta.

 

A charcuterie spread for one of Julie's catering events

 

Cooking at home with Chad Miller

Chad Miller presents a platter of Chicken Yakitori. See recipe, below.

Chad Miller has a passion for music, photography and art. So, it’s no surprise that he also likes to express his creativity in the kitchen.

Miller, 43, grew up in the Oneida County village of Holland Patent and took early note of his mother’s skills in the kitchen and appreciation of good food. He has since branched off in his own exploratory, global-influenced direction. He’s not afraid to experiment and being an artist, he’s all about presentation, too.

Miller says cooking at home in the time of coronavirus isn’t much different than cooking any other time. He uses his charcoal grill year-round, invites his girlfriend and son to join him in the kitchen and sees dinnertime as “a spiritual gathering’’ with plenty of talk and no tech (no phones at the table).

I met Chad more than a decade ago, when we both worked for The Post-Standard, in Syracuse. The food photos he posts on Facebook always make me hungry. He’s a driver for Uber and Lyft and lives on Onondaga Hill with his girlfriend, Brenda Latella. His son, Gavin, is a frequent visitor.  

How long have you been cooking? It all started with a kids’ cookbook my Mum picked up for me when I was nine. My Mum is an exquisite cook and I was always interested in her process of food preparation. She got me started with an Italian red sauce which actually turned out pretty stellar.

How would you describe your style of cooking? It’s an international mixed bag of exploration and experimentation. I also do quite a few southern Cajun dishes, like a Bangin’ Gumbo and Rippin’ Vidalia Onion Pie.

Do you have a signature dish? German Beef Stroganoff. I’ve got this recipe down to a science. Passed down from my German ancestors who owned a bistro in Frankfort, Germany around the late 1800s. It’s the best with a smoked grilled steak.

Favorite cookbook or cooking show? Favorite cookbook when I first started was “Cooking with Soup: a Campbell Cookbook.” As far as cooking/travel shows: Any show Anthony Bourdain has ever filmed and Mary Ann Esposito with “Ciao Italia.” I also love the creativity and art design of Thomas Keller’s culinary skills. Check this guy out.

Favorite place to shop? Either Wegmans or Green Hills Farms. Wegmans offers me everything I need to dress up a dish for presentation. The hard-to-find ingredients are always fresh and available. I tend to explore the Asian and ethnic sections in any grocery store looking for new ideas.

Any advice for people who are new to cooking? Start with the basics, perfect those with simple ingredients. When you’re comfortable in some of the staples, experiment with new spices, flavors and ethnic dishes. My girlfriend’s mother travels abroad quite often and sends us exotic spices from around the world. These have been a source of inspiration. Find a local international market to spice up your culinary arts. Garlic is king! Food is art and art is delicious.

Photos courtesy of Chad Miller

 

Chicken Yakitori on the grill

Chicken Yakitori
Recipe from Chad Miller

Yakitori literally means grilled chicken and also refers to skewered food in general. Yakitori is commonly made with bite-sized pieces of chicken meat, chicken offal or other meats and vegetables skewered on a bamboo stick and grilled over charcoal.

You will need:
Bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes, or metal skewers

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil


1 teaspoon sesame oil


2/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white wine

2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1
clove garlic, minced
Sea salt and black pepper, as needed for seasoning

2 pounds chicken breast (boneless and skinless), cut into 1-inch-wide strips

Chopped parsley and scallions for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

Make marinade: Combine the oils, soy sauce, water, white wine, mirin, rice vinegar, brown sugar, ginger and garlic in a bowl. Add chicken and marinate for 24 hours before cooking.

Getting ready to cook: Miller uses a charcoal grill but says a gas grill will work, too. When ready to cook, remove chicken from marinade and thread it on skewers.

Prep the grill: Start by placing mesquite chips around the heat source and heat your grill. On charcoal grill: You want the coals to be hot. Cook for 30 minutes "off heat,'' to the side of any flames, flipping the skewers half-way through. Arrange chicken skewers on platter and garnish with parsley, scallions or hot sauce, if using. Makes 4 to 6 servings. 

Note: Serve the chicken yakitori as an appetizer or as a main course, with rice on the side.