food – StewsCat

Many years ago now on an episode of No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain was in Italy visiting and ended up having Sunday dinner at one of their local minder’s (or cameraman) grandma’s house. Very commonly they make a Sunday gravy or Ragu that is cooked all day. At the end of it, you have a wonderfully deep ragu sauce along with a plate of meat (that is used to flavor the sauce as it cooks). From what I remember, you have the ragu sauce on some pasta and then can eat the meat separately. There isn’t a specific recipe and many people have basically just put together the ingredients by watching the episode closely. I think I first made this dish back in 2011 for D’s birthday. Since then I probably try to make it at least once a year.

Since there isn’t a specific recipe that I follow, I just kind of go with my gut in terms of amounts. Also I have done variations depending on the availability of products (usually the types of meat that I can find). Here’s a rough outline of what I do and what I put in it (again these recipes are usually for me to reference in the future rather than trying to find where I originally used a recipe).

Tomato Puree (1 jar)
Crushed/diced/whole canned tomato (28 oz)
Garlic (1-4 cloves)
Onion (yellow, sweet)
Beef stock / chicken broth / water (have done all of these before)
Pine nuts
Raisins
Rind of parmigiana Reggiano
Fresh basil
Sweet Italian Sausage (2-4)
Beef ribs / cap of beef rib / veal / Braciola
Bay leaf
Dried Oregano
Salt/pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Brown meats in large stock pot, then remove
Sauté onion (diced), then add garlic (sliced)
Add tomato puree and other tomato products, add bay leaves
Wrap pine nuts, raisins, rind of parmigiana in cheese cloth and tie with string and add to pot
Add in chopped basil
Add meat back into pot with the stock/water (and oregano)
Bring to boil then reduce heat until occasional burbling happens
Remove fat that rises to surface
Cook for as long as desired (minimum probably 2-3 hours but could go much longer) – I cooked mine mostly uncovered, stirring intermittently.
Remove meat and cheesecloth and bay leaves
Add Italian parsley
Add pasta water and combine with pasta and top with freshly grated parmigiana Reggiano

This meal we paired it with some pasta and then also roasted some baby broccoli to go with the meat.

-StewsCat

The whole idea that started this trip was a simple conversation from a year ago with my cousin on joining her for a dinner. She mentioned that she’s in NYC every year for her husband’s work function and always thought of skipping out on a boring work-related dinner where all the people did was talk shop and enjoy a delectable meal. As this year’s work event got closer, D and I checked in with the cousin and she said that dinner was a go if we wanted. So we booked our flights and hotel stay for NYC for October. We actually went in October of last year for my friend’s business grand opening.

This time we flew out of LAX and took a direct JetBlue flight to Newark. We landed around 7:30 pm and caught a cab into the city, which took about an hour. After dropping our bags at our hotel in Midtown East at the Intercontinental New York Barclay, we walked over to PJ Clarke’s for a much deserved drink and late dinner. This bar/restaurant opened in 1884 and is particularly known for having a good burger. D had the burger and fries while I had classic fish and chips. To drink I had a Smoky Old Fashioned while D had the 1930 (Elijah craig small batch bourbon, lime juice, st. elizabeth allspice dram, simple syrup, angostura bitters, orange peel).

We stopped for a night cap at the hotel bar (we had a $30 credit for each day of our stay).

The following morning I woke up and headed to get bagels for us while D got ready for the day. I went to our normal spot, Ess-a-Bagel, (that we went to the last 2 times) as it was just up the street. By the time I got there (around 10am?) the line was out the door. Luckily it moved relatively smoothly and I got our bagels and a coffee for D (I had a coffee with the hotel room’s Keurig).

This time it was a bit of a disappointment. The bagels themselves and their crumb didn’t seem as chewy as normal (maybe a little dense). I kind of wonder if they’ve grown too much that quality control isn’t as good because they’re so busy.

We wanted to check out Harlem and Sylvia’s (one of the oldest classic southern fare food in the area). To get there, we walked down to Grand Central Station and hopped on a subway to head up to 125th street. I’ve found that every neighborhood in NY has their own feel, from midtown to LES to Chelsea to Brooklyn.

Harlem was very musical – lots of music just everywhere. The two places we had looked up were Sylvia’s but also Red Rooster (Marcus Samuellson’s place that he opened up in 2010). They were actually just down the street from one another. We settled on Sylvia’s and had some yummy food. I had the lunch special which was a fried chicken leg with some collard greens and D had the chicken and waffles. Both were very good.