120 replies to this topic

[Nina C.]

Good morning! I'm so excited to be your next food blogger, as I have long been an avid – though often lurking – reader.

I'm Nina Callaway, a freelance writer who lives in Brooklyn, NY. Now, I know what you're thinking: We've had a lot of New York City food blogs. But, most of them have been very Manhattan focused, and while I like Manhattan, I'm in love with Brooklyn. This amazing borough is at once big city cool and small town heart. While most of the world's eyes are pointed at Manhattan, Brooklyn isn't some groveling parasite – it's the largest of all of the five boroughs. At approx. 2.5 million residents, if Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the 4th largest city in the US. It boasts the 3rd largest business district in the city (first 2 are midtown and lower Manhattan), a vibrant independent arts scene, awesome restaurants and, most importantly, some of the friendliest and most interesting people in the city.

(A quick vocabulary/geography lesson: New York City is divided into 5 boroughs – similar to counties. Brooklyn was its own city until 1898, when its residents voted to become part of the new New York City, along with Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx.)

I'm just finishing up an assignment for Fodor's, writing the chapters of "Brooklyn" and "The Bronx/Queens/Staten Island" for the general New York City guidebook. With limited space, it necessarily covers the neighborhoods closest to Manhattan, for easy jaunts, as well as Prospect Park and Coney Island – essentially places that readers have already heard of, and want to know more about. As it's organized into neighborhoods, its hard to include some of the really interesting sites farther afield. But the process of writing this chapter made me think about what I'd write if I were only writing for myself.

And so the title of this food blog: Around the World in Just One Borough. My plan for the week is to visit just a few of Brooklyn's neighborhoods. I'm hoping to show you my nabe of Clinton Hill, as well as Polish Greenpoint, Middle Eastern Atlantic Avenue, Latin American and Chinese Sunset Park, and Russian/Asian Brighton Beach. (Hey I'm a freelance writer. It's all research!)

But that's not all that's going on. I'm working on my Pieathon! – a fundraising project that had its start here on eG. And on Sunday, many of my friends are coming over for brunch. Today is going to be a baking day, rather than a show-you-around Brooklyn day. But, I've just returned from a short vacation through Massachusetts and Vermont, where we spent a day visiting small cheese farmers. So I thought I'd recap some of that for you to hold you over. (A little city mouse, country mouse action.)

I'm off to the gym now. When I get back, breakfast.

Edited by Nina C., 29 October 2007 - 04:51 AM.

[MarketStEl]

Welcome to the wonderful world of foodblogging, Nina!

As Brooklyn has suffered more than its share of indignities over the decades since 1957, it's nice to hear that you're going to give the city's biggest borough its due.

This reader in "the sixth borough" is looking forward to your trek. It will be my first "visit" to Brooklyn since the Pizza Club down here traveled there to eat the only 90-mile pies we've ever had back in early '05.

[markemorse]

yippeehooha, Nina C...looking forward to seeing why I seem to keep meeting more and more people who have moved to Brooklyn lately....

blog on!
mark

[Peter the eater]

Welcome Nina C! I am looking forward to learning more about Brooklyn. I have only been there once, I don't know much beyond Spike Lee, Welcome Back Kotter, Coney Island, and my copy of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from May 8th 1945 (VE Day) that I have in an archival folder upstairs. Such a big and diverse place must have some fascinating food traditions.

You're not really 100 years old are you?

[Peter Green]

Nina, this should be a lot of fun. You're in the perfect place, like you say, to show us the world!

Cheers,

Peter

[lucylou95816]

Nina, looking forward to your blog......Have fun.

[Nina C.]

You know what they say about the road to hell being paved with good intentions. The gym didn't happen. My sweetheart wasn't feeling well, so I took care of him, then went for a walk around the neighborhood to pick up one thing at the store. Perhaps I'll do the sweating-thing later tonight. Perhaps I'll just eat bon bons instead. It's almost the same thing, right? Doing something that makes your body happy?

Thanks all for the responses. Peter that's a good starting point for knowing about Brooklyn. In fact Spike lived and worked for many years in the neighborhood next to mine, Fort Greene, and many of his films were set in Bed-Stuy, the neighborhood on the other side of mine.



This is my street, which looks like many other leafy brownstone streets in Brooklyn. Although gentrification has hit the neighborhood, the majority of people on my block have lived here for over 25 years. My 95-year-old next-door neighbor has lived here for over 60 years, and has 5 neighbors who check on her daily in spite of her old-age orneriness.

At the corner is the restaurant Locanda Vini e Olii.
(The drug store sign used to be the original one from the previous occupant, but it cracked and fell down earlier this year. The restaurant made a new Lewis Drug Store sign!) Run by a husband and wife team, this Umbrian restaurant does nice simple food in a friendly and warm atmosphere. It's a little overpriced for the nabe, so it's usually a mix of a few local people and Manhattanites/other Brooklynites who have made the trip. They do an amazing pappa al pomodoro - a rich tomato and bread "soup" so thick you don't need a bowl. It's served warm, sprinkled with basil and drizzled with olive oil, and is intensely comforting.

Most restaurants in my neighborhood are West African. 2 blocks away is Kush Café, which serves fantastic French-African food, yet it always feels a bit like a ghost town. The fish from my teaser pics came from Kush:
It was rubbed with harissa and grilled, then served with peppers and cilantro and a rich broth.

The grocery store here is pathetic. This is the entirety of the produce:
Yup, one half of one short aisle. Most of the veggies have been shrink-wrapped half-to-death:
God help you if you only want a few jalapenos. You're going to have to buy 30. Corn is only available pre-shucked and in sets of 3. And forget wanting to pick out your own vegetables individually. Even the ones that aren't shrink-wrapped are of dubious quality:
They used to sell pocky, but I couldn't find it this trip. They do have a good selection of international foods and even some fancy chocolates and cheeses. Fortunately, all I needed was some brown sugar.

Then it was time for breakfast:
Fage yogurt, June Taylor peach butter, a few pecans, and some straight-from-the-farm raw milk. This came from Neighborly farms in Vermont, and survived the journey home in a cooler with an ice pack. It's so good and earthy, although it's not quite as tasty as it was when drunk by the side of the road, still frothy and warm.

Edited by Nina C., 29 October 2007 - 09:03 AM.

[Nina C.]

You're not really 100 years old are you?

I was trying to figure out what you meant by this! I finally realized that when filling out my profile I had simply filled in month and date, without the year. I fixed it now.

[gini]

My dearest cousins live in the same part of Brooklyn as you! Really looking forward to this blog - maybe I can give them a few recommendations.

[Jen Keenan]

BK represent! This Boerum Hill gal is already enjoying your blog. Do you ever venture across (the) Atlantic? Brooklyn is so overwhelmingly huge; I'm looking forward to getting to know another area I know so little about, despite living so close.

[SuzySushi]

Having grown up in Brooklyn (Ocean Parkway near Kings Highway) I am so looking forward to this! It'll be fun to read what changes have taken place (or not. . .) since the last time I visited.

[docsconz]

I love the Mets bowl! I am also excited to see the borough of my birth through your eyes and mouth.

[Nina C.]

Sorry for the long delay - I had a very exciting nibble on something I pitched, so had to drop everything to get them more information. I won't say what it is, as I don't want to jinx it. Such is the life of the freelance writer.

When we last left off, it was breakfast, now it's well past lunch:

Leftovers! A little garlicy steak sliced thin, with horseradish sauce on sourdough. The israeli couscous has a little bit of harissa stirred in to give it an underlying heat. This was all part of last nights dinner. I find that now that I work from home I actually use my leftovers instead of letting them go to waste.

I also made my pie crusts, but didn't get much further than that. The idea is to do a photoshoot for pieathon, to accompany press releases. I'll also give the pies to editors I know, in hopes they'll mention it in the papers. Doing a fundraiser all by yourself is a lot of work!

(edited to add lunch picture! Sorry for my shadow in it - no pretty morning light anymore!)

Edited by Nina C., 29 October 2007 - 02:12 PM.

[Nina C.]

I love the Mets bowl! I am also excited to see the borough of my birth through your eyes and mouth.

I reached for it without thinking, but then realized how appropriate it is! Not only am I doing this foodblog, but I'm also currently writing about the new Mets and Yankees stadiums which will open in 2009. It will be a special call-out box inside my Bronx/Queens/Staten Island chapter.

If you were/are a Dodgers fan, the new Mets stadium honors their history. Oh, and there are rumors that there will be a Shake Shack stand inside the stadium. These are unconfirmed, but at least it brings my foodblog back to food!

[Nina C.]

Having grown up in Brooklyn (Ocean Parkway near Kings Highway) I am so looking forward to this! It'll be fun to read what changes have taken place (or not. . .) since the last time I visited.

When I met my sweetheart, he was living down there and I was in Williamsburg. It seemed hours away! At least it's not too far from DiFara's pizza.

[Nina C.]

BK represent!  This Boerum Hill gal is already enjoying your blog.  Do you ever venture across (the) Atlantic?  Brooklyn is so overwhelmingly huge; I'm looking forward to getting to know another area I know so little about, despite living so close.

I actually used to work in Boerum Hill. Until this past summer, I also worked for a theater company writing grants and marketing materials. Our offices were in the old Sarah J. Hale High School which is now The Brooklyn High School for the Arts. Around there, you either had falafel for lunch or brought your own. But Boerum Hill is so pretty.

I find it hard to know this entire borough - there are too many parts! This blog gives me the opportunity to venture to some places that I don't get to that frequently.

[Nina C.]

Following the Cheese Trail

We had a limited amount of time to take a short vacation. My sweetheart had an appointment on Thursday afternoon in Springfield, Mass, and we needed to be back in Brooklyn by Saturday evening for the NYC reception of friends who got married 2 weeks ago. So Wednesday morning we picked up a rental car, and spent Wednesday and Thursday morning driving around MA, going to Bash Bish Falls and Mass MoCA, and spending the night in Northampton. Meals were catch-as-catch can – simple sandwiches, dinner at a bar/restaurant where we could watch the baseball game. Northampton has some decent restaurants, but as folks of not-unlimited means, we feel that many of them are too expensive. For the same money we could get a phenomenal meal in NYC.

Friday morning, we drove up to Vermont. When we first conceived of this trip, we were both so busy we really didn't have any time to plan – just a vague idea of seeing the last of fall leaves and getting some time together. I kept asking him, "What are we doing in Vermont, again?" to which he would reply, "Um, the Blue Benn Diner, and leaves, and umm, there's a Grandma Moses exhibition." Finally a few days before we left, I thought of Vermont cheese, wondering if it were possible for us to visit a farm. Little did I know that a simple google search would bring me to the Nirvana that is The Vermont Cheese Trail: http://vtcheese.com/cheesetrail.htm

Unfortunately, we had already booked our hotel for Friday night in Bennington. (I think my sweetie really wanted to make sure that we had breakfast at the Blue Benn Diner!) So we did more driving than one would need to do, and weren't able to go too far north. That will have to wait for another trip.

Another thing to note is to bring both the map and a cell phone. You'll want to call ahead to make sure that farms actually want to have visitors that afternoon. With so little time to plan, we didn't get to see any cheese making in process, but it would be easy to do so. Skeptics will note that you can probably get all of the cheese we bought in NYC. But SHHHHHH. It ruins the romance of the thing.

Our first stop was Vermont Butter and Cheese, a cheese maker with no farm, and the largest of the places we'd visit. They were supposed to be making cheese, but there had been a mechanical failure of some kind and so were instead washing down the plant. Fortunately, there was someone to help us, tell us about their cheese-making process, give us the all-important samples and sell us some cheese.

We bought Bijou

and Coupole cheeses, interesting because though they are made from the same recipe, the coupole has an extra day of maturation/coagulation, and a layer of ash on the top. Each has its own distinct flavor.

Edited by Nina C., 29 October 2007 - 03:49 PM.

[Nina C.]

Next was Bragg Farm – a maple sugarhouse. We were invited to join a tour, which turned out to be primarily a video. If you've ever seen Best in Show, and remember Harlan Pepper saying "Peanut. Hazelnut. Cashew nut. Pistachio nut. Red pistachio nut. Natural, all natural white pistachio nut," then you have an idea of the cadence and energy of the narrator of this video. Still it was interesting to learn about the maple sugaring process even if it was 25 minutes of my life that I'll never get back.
For about six weeks a year, when the temperature is exactly right, farmers drive taps into maple trees, collect the sap in buckets, and then boil the sap for about 15 hours to get maple syrup. That’s a simple way of stating a long and arduous process.

The maple sugar buckets, lined up against the wall:

Some of the taps they use:

The sap boiler:

You can sample the four grades of syrup:


More important than any of that, the Maple Creamee – maple-syrup flavored soft serve:


And a few maple-flavored treats that I couldn't resist. I probably should have, as they were fine, but not outstanding. I haven't tried the maple pepper yet, but it sounded intriguing, especially on fish.

[docsconz]

Nina, your blog is not only about where I used to live, but also my current backyard!

[Nina C.]

The woman at Vermont Butter and Cheese encouraged us to go to Three Shepherds. This little family farm used to be a sheep farm whose flock was imported from Belgium especially for their prodigious milk production. Unfortunately, the USDA decided the sheep were a risk for Mad Cow disease and seized and slaughtered them. So today, the Fallaices make cheese from other local farms' milk and run a small store. A young couple farms the land, growing vegetables that are for sale in the store, along with other local products.

The Three Shepherds cheese was my favorite from the trip: A soft and creamy raw sheep's milk cheese that I can't wait to spread on crackers, and enjoy with a good glass of red wine. It's a cheese you can relax into, in spite of the subtleties. (I thought I had a picture of the cheese in the store, but I can't find it now.)

When they first started making cheese, 16-year-old daughter Jackie was trained by a master Belgian cheesemaker. They built this "cave" made from bales of straw covered in plaster. The man in the picture is the farmer, adding on a vegetable root cellar.


Next door, you can peer into their cheesemaking facility, where two feta cheeses are aging in the window, next to the rustic peasant's cheese in the baskets. The press is used when they make a gouda-style cheese.



Three Shepherds offers cheesemaking weekend classes that sound very tempting. We'll have to wait for the 2008 schedule.

[Nina C.]

Nina, your blog is not only about where I used to live, but also my current backyard!

Funny how it works that way! New England can be a small place. Where in upstate are you located exactly? I used to live in Cherry Valley, NY (nearish Cooperstown).

[Nina C.]

Time to make dinner. I'll resume the cheese trail recap later!

[markemorse]

You can sample the four grades of syrup....

Wow, as a chronic maple syrup addict, I'm wondering: was there a huge flavor difference between grades (assuming you did some sampling)?

Edited by markemorse, 29 October 2007 - 11:10 PM.

[Domestic Goddess]

Nice blog! I'm looking forward to more (pics and postings). :)

[docsconz]

Nina, your blog is not only about where I used to live, but also my current backyard!

Funny how it works that way! New England can be a small place. Where in upstate are you located exactly? I used to live in Cherry Valley, NY (nearish Cooperstown).

I live between Saratoga Springs and Lake George. Cherry Valley is a beautiful area as well. Next time you think of a cheese tour, try eastern NY. I don't think you will be disappointed.

[Nina C.]

Is any foodblog really honest? Do people really do a full mise en place every night, cook four course meals, and eat it by a setting sun? You know they clean out the fridge right before taking pictures, and maybe even hide the marshmallow fluff where no one can see it. Some of those adorable children and pets might even be rented. Think about it.

Well, I'm not a highly organized perfectionist kind of cook. To put things plainly, I'm more an "Oh Sh*t" cook. I want to set up a mise, but then the water is boiling or the oil is smoking and I start throwing things in. I plan a meal, change course midway through, and end up with something that tastes good, even if it wasn't exactly what I intended. And did I mention I burn myself?

Phew. Now I feel better. I don't have to make up any stories about my camera eating the pictures of perfect ¼" diced vegetables, or try to pretend that what I made was an old family recipe.

Tonight's dinner was a lamb stew. I don't know what on earth possessed me to make lamb right before I'm about to post pictures of adorable lambs at farms. But that's what I purchased, and raw meat waits for no sad hearts.

I don't think you'll find this rocket science. I browned the meat. I cut up an onion, some ginger, and a few cloves of garlic and let them soften. Then I added a few tablespoons of flour, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, black pepper, garam masala, and probably a few other spices. A few seconds later, I added a couple cups of chicken stock, brought it to a simmer, added the meat back and covered it, lowering the heat. In the meantime, I peeled and cut up two sweet potatoes, and searched the freezer for some frozen peas. They were not to be found, so instead I pulled out some frozen asparagus.. The vegetables got seasoned and steamed until they were tender, then set aside. At the end, it all went in the pot, along with some milk and more salt and pepper.

Oh, and at some point along the way I made popovers. These come together very easily. You just stir together an egg, ½ cup of milk, ½ cup flour and a pinch of salt until smooth. Let it sit 30 minutes, then pour into popover tins and bake at 450 for 20 minutes and at 350 until done. Voila. Popover Magic.

The end result:

I'm falling asleep at the computer, so it's time to say goodnight and do the rest of my work tomorrow.

Edited by Nina C., 29 October 2007 - 09:11 PM.

[mizducky]

Nina, your blog is not only about where I used to live, but also my current backyard!

Hi Nina--I too relate both to your current hometown and your travel location. I made numerous trips with my family to visit my mother's sister and her brood, who lived not too far from the Kings Plaza shopping center. And during all the years I lived in Boston I made my share of visits to the beauteous Pioneer Valley.

Looking forward to what-all else you plan to show us this week. Blog on!

[Nina C.]

First up, breakfast.

I like these little containers because when there's a huge jar of nutella in the house, I find myself asleep on the couch, the ending credits of a movie running, chocolate smeared all over my face, and the jar completely empty. No idea how it happens! I blame the gremlins.

or perhaps I should blame my cats. I can't believe you all have let me get this far in a foodblog without requesting the standard pets/fridge shots.

Here are Alice


and Jackson


Alice is firmly MY cat, and follows me around the house. She sits as close as possible to me - currently I'm on the couch and she's wrapped around my head on the pillow behind me purring. When it gets to be around 11:30, she wants to get in bed, and so starts mewing "bedtime!" not stopping until I get in bed too. Usually she knows her name and will come when I call her. Jackson's a big love - You probably can't tell here but he's about twice the size of Alice. He's more Mickey's cat, and especially likes to sit and watch baseball games with him. (How does the cat know it's a baseball game? He looks at the tv, silly.) Their food habits are not that interesting - except that Jackson will eat human food while Alice generally won't.

And the fridge:

It's more full than it looks. Condiments/jarred goods on the left, dairy on the right.
Condiments used to live on the bottom shelf, but I recently moved them to eye level so we'll stop buying so many! I have way too many kinds of jam in there, as well as a few kinds of pickles, and some beers. The all important siracha is front and center, easily accesible.

The bottom shelf and the one above it are almost empty, waiting for pies.

The bottom shelf has some bags of nuts - pistachio and marcona almond I believe, some miso paste, and a chicken.

The fridge door:


More condiments. You'll see that we have two open jars of ketchup, which is indicitive of the reasons we have so many condiments.

Peeking out from the lower door shelf are ready-to-go packs of jello. My sweetie is a pudding/jello freak and he likes having these handy for low-cal snacks. I generally don't touch them as they taste like chemicals to me, but there are those moments of weakness.

Edited by Nina C., 30 October 2007 - 09:47 AM.

[Nina C.]

The nutella reminded me that I forgot to post my "dessert" from last night.

This is my chocolate stash box:

The Max Brenner stuff was press swag, whose convenient box I use to keep my chocolates in.

There are some Dolfin squares, a Chocolove ginger bar, a Spanish chocolate almond turron called ludomar, a scharfenberger little nibby bar, and a scharffenberger Kumasi Sambirano - a limited edition 68% cacao. It's got a nice light citrusy touch to the chocolate which I like.

I had some of the ludomar:

[kbjesq]

You can sample the four grades of syrup....

Wow, as a chronic maple syrup addict, I'm wondering: was there a huge flavor difference between grades (assuming you did some sampling)?

I'm not Nina C., but I did grow up in NH and we made our own syrup. Yes, there is a big difference in grades. "Grade A Fancy" or "Grade A Light Amber" is usually what you will find available for sale at most retail outlets and it is usually the highest priced. There are a few other grades of "A" but for my money, the best taste is in the "Grade B". Unfortunately, it is hard to find a retail supplier of Grade B (although if you can find it, it is usually less expensive than the same amount of "Grade A").

Grade B has a much more assertive maple taste and it is much darker in color. If you like maple syrup, by all means see if you can locate some Grade B. It makes the best sugar on snow!

I'm looking forward to hearing more about the cheese trail!