Tag Archives: David Sax

New Tastes

Experience and creativity have created the following to learn from taste memories and make my own.

I’ve a beef carbonnade I make on the fly, that’s seared bacon, seared beef cubes, caramelized onions (once you take the beef out) then add some thyme, salt and pepper and 1.5 bottles of beer. Even though this is a French dish I get an English Brown Ale. So sue me. But not ’til after you simmer it on the stove for a minimum of 1.5 hours or place it in the oven at 325. Purchase or make your own egg noodles, I prefer pappardelle, and serve. I like something fresh and green on the side.

You can get my Chicken Saltimbocca recipe on this site.

Lady Bird Johnson was a lady and I hope to do justice to her chili recipe from 1962 when the Vice President and Lady Bird served Texas chili to 5,000 guests including President JFK. The recipe was the most sought White House document for a year.

I had to re-do this recipe as it is comfort food and the recipe is vague so I have to add my own meats and spices and grind the meat Texas-style. Yes, I choose my own cuts and break them down and grind them myself. Perhaps I’ll have to write a book about it and then give you a recipe. There is no recipe. If you look at the original, available to download at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin TX you’ll see it calls for “chili meat” and “chili powder.” I’ve my own mix and serve it with lime, sour cream, cheddar cheese for individual tastes add homemade cornbread and a salad. While I never had this as comfort food as a child, I did live in Texas for years and created my own.

There’s a Swedish neighbor who wants to teach me how to make meatballs and his special sauce which my husband and I were lucky to eat at his place next door. Since we’ve had dinner here and there, he will teach me meatballs and I will teach him Texas chili. We’ve an agreement. No, there are no beans in Texas chili. Don’t bother to argue.

As part of my family came from Montreal I would like to try to make poutine, which I never wanted to taste but is french fries with beef gravy and cheese curds. One of my first AHA moments was eating a smoked meat sandwich on rye at Ben’s in Montreal. Thank you David Sax for Save the Deli, sorry you took me off your blogroll. I bought another copy after a waiter stole the first copy from me as they grossly insulted pastrami and bread with what they served.

Perhaps the local holier than thou market will agree to make a poutine. They have potatoes, beef and cheese curds. What better marketing ploy can I grant? Dee

 

 

 

Speaking of Piglet

Save the deli. I lent the book to a waiter who left town and never got it back. This one I’ll send back to David Sax and ask him to sign it for me and make me promise to never lend it out again.

The waiter’s chef had placed a pastrami sandwich on my plate that even mustard would not remedy. I spent my childhood going to Jewish delis in Montreal and NYC, and this was awful so I lent him the book.

OK, I’m a wanna-be sometimes Jew, for pastrami, smoked meat, and latkes, I’ve gone out for a latke breakfast twice in the past month, probably a sin for a lapsed Catholic married to a lapsed Protestant for over a decade. Matzoh balls and chicken soup. No wonder its called penicillin.

Challah turned into bread pudding. Montreal smoked meat on rye with a beer. Ah, that’s life. Since the waiter took my book forever I just ordered another, a used copy. Save The Deli by David Sax will now be part of my reference collection of cookbooks, of which there are a few select tomes by none other than Julia Child, James Beard, Simca Beck, Edna Lewis, Barbara Kafka, just check my cookbook series and see….. Dee

Dear Jewish Grandmothers

We are in need for a special recipe for Matzo Ball Soup. I know you know special secrets. I never knew a grandmother until my husband’s, ten years ago.

I talked to David Sax (“Save The Deli”) about it and he doesn’t have a recipe either. There was one in the NY Times probably in the 1970’s or 80’s that called for a bit of seltzer and vodka. I now now seltzer is for lightness and vodka instead of water to prevent development of gluten.

May a bubeleh arise and answer this request of a shiksa who grew up loving Montreal smoked meat (family history at the former Ben’s) and now is learning to make latkes and my husband loves matzo ball soup.

Oh, if you have it, please send it to David, too. Just so if we make mistakes, we can fix them over email and make a good meal for our spouses. A dank, Dee

Turning the Tables

Yesterday I served lunch to my young butcher. One day I bought a cut of meat and he asked what I was going to do with it. I told him whatever my thoughts were for the day. He replied that he’d let me know how his ramen turned out.

Recently I started marinating beef flap/skirt steak  in olive oil with seasonings. I decided to do what Tuscans do to ribbollita and pasta a fagiole and add a “fillip” but at the beginning, not the end.

So, the other day I put a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a small skillet and added fresh herbs I had leftover from Thanksgiving, some rosemary, thyme and sage. Also a few peeled garlic cloves. I brought the oil up to a simmer for a few minutes then turned it off and let it cool to room temperature. Then I poured it over the meat in a plastic bag and let it sit at room temperature for an hour or two. I peppered the meat well before marinating and salted it well before grilling.

It was excellent and I’d promised a taste to two of my butchers so made a salad with a few grapes and topped it with a few slices of rare steak. Hopefully they liked it.

Last night it was very cold outside (teens) and I made matzoh ball soup (from a mix, never more) with chicken stock and grated carrot. Served with good Italian bread and a salad. Next time I’ll even make my own matzo meal. The NYTimes had a great recipe about 20 years ago with vodka and seltzer water in it. I now know that bubbles make them lighter, and a bit of vodka, rather than water, cuts down on gluten formation so also makes the balls lighter.

Many years ago my mother made soup with farina balls (I’ve never had that as an adult) and my sister insisted she was saving all the “treasures” on the bottom. The flat, heavy farina balls didn’t fit her aesthetic sense. Oh well, we get older and learn.

Oh, and to make a matzo ball soup palatable to the meat eater, I made a second broth with one whole chicken breast, cooked just until tender. I cooled it, shredded it and placed a few shreds in the bowl before adding the matzo balls and broth.

Perhaps David Sax, author of “Save The Deli” has a failsafe recipe for matzo balls he can share with us sometime. Hope all is well in Smoked Meat-ville, David! Best wishes and cheers to y’all this holiday season. Stay warm! Dee

Save The Deli/Last Meal #3

In honor of David Sax, I have to offer Last Meal #3.

Let’s start out with some dill pickles and perhaps an iced tea. Then comes the most beautiful hot pastrami on rye/even better Montreal smoked meat on rye with Gulden’s mustard. That’s not enough. I need one latke with sour cream and applesauce. Heaven.

And I’m not Jewish….

Favorites: Lunch

I have to give David Sax a pat on the back for putting some of my favorite things in print in “Save The Deli.”

My real favorite lunch is a smoked meat sandwich on rye with a little Gulden’s mustard, a latke with applesauce AND sour cream, and a Molsen Golden at Ben’s, which no longer exists in Montreal, Canada.

Substitute Katz’ Deli and make it a hot pastrami on rye with a little deli mustard, one latke, and a Diet Coke and that’s my meal. Never mind I’ve not been able to get one for nearly 1 1/2 years.

Yes, I can make a grilled cheese at home, or a tuna sandwich, which I do most days. I have to go out for these meals, and now I have to go to Toronto for the first, and NYC for the second so these are some very special dishes. Bravo to the counter-men (and women!) and thanks for making lunch something I look forward to. I have to look forward to it, at least four weeks in advance for flights! Cheers, Dee

Can The Deli Be Saved?

Ask David Sax. He’ll tell you. A gripping read (for me, anyway), Save The Deli is a well-written and informative book about deli in NYC and the US, Canada and Europe.

Ten months ago my husband and I packed up two cars, a dog and left our life in storage to drive across the country to Utah, where there is no deli. Upon reading Mr. Sax’ book I realized I’m hooked on NY Deli! Give me a hot pastrami on rye with a little brown mustard, just one perfect latke, and a couple of pickles and I’m in heaven. Not so much Dr. Brown’s soda, I usually get a Diet Coke (sorry David). Every month in TX I’d go to Katz’ for the above and it was like a little dream come true.

I didn’t grow up on NY deli, but in a very Protestant/Catholic white slice of America, western NY. The interesting part is that Manischewitz was at the end of the small street I grew up on, because I was weaned on Concord grapes. Perhaps that led me to the deli? No. I didn’t taste a pastrami sandwich until after college when I was commuting to NYC for work.

So what started this fascination with foods that had nothing to do with my culture or locale? Smoked meat. My mother was born in Montreal. We went there at least twice a year and as a child I was introduced to Ben’s, in downtown Montreal. It shrank to a shell of its yellow formica and aluminum self many years ago and went by the wayside, sadly. Given the exodus of English-speaking Quebeqois in the 70’s, my Aunt Joan would always have the aroma of smoked meat in her kitchen. After reading this book, I realize since they were in the northern environs of Toronto, it was probably from Pickle Barrel before it got big. It was always a treat and even beat out a Coffee Crisp bar, still my favorite and only “candy.” Luckily I can’t find it in the States!

I have to go to Toronto to eat smoked meat, and didn’t have any on our last visit there three years ago, OR a Coffee Crisp! I was with husband and in-laws on a whirlwind trip through the Northeast. My mother is gone now, Aunt Joan preceded her, and my last remaining Aunt can’t import smoked meat to the US so that’s that. We’ll have to go back.

* * * Oh, Mr. Sax, a year ago we had a family reunion in LA and went to Nate & Al’s for lunch. My husband said it was “nothing special” and a lot like Denny’s. If I can become a deli lover and advocate for its future, is there any hope for a country boy who drove the church bus in NE Texas? More important, is there another place to go in Salt Lake City? Urban Spoon advocates the new Kosher On The Go in Sugar House. Just read about it so will have to check it out next time I’m down the mountain. Better yet, a real deli in Park City??? I may have to arrange a visit to the new Temple Har Shalom to get that info. * * *

If you’ve never had great deli food, try to find a good one around you. Get “Save The Deli” by David Sax. Next time I’m in NYC my brother and I are going to 2nd Ave. Deli. We went to the Stage last time. Yes, we’re leaving my dear husband behind at work or the hotel. No one will call these historical treasures “like Denny’s.” Honey, there’s a hot dog cart on the corner that does not serve Kosher dogs. Drown it in yellow mustard while we eat our corned beef and pastrami sandwiches with BaaTampte or Guldens spicy….

Packages, Deli, Music and Cars

It’s always a treat to get packages in the mail, especially when it usually contains bills. That said, I can’t wait to open up “Save The Deli” by David Sax. It is supposed to contain information on the best delis nearly everywhere, and I’ve missed Katz’ so much, their hot pastrami and latkes. For Christmas I asked Jim to get me something little, and he couldn’t come up with anything so I suggested Rise Up Singing, that also came in today and I look forward to perusing.

I didn’t have time to look at any of those or the Volvo manual sent by the dealer, that Jim is thankful to receive. We’re selling our Honda, Jim’s Honda that he bought two years before we met and he picked me up in for our first date. He spent an hour this evening cleaning it out because it will be sold tomorrow. I spent this morning downtown buying dog food and having lunch with Jim, then spent the afternoon running errands and looking up all the paperwork we need to sell a car (sale, insurance, etc) and will spend the morning getting it detailed so the new owners will be happy owning this mainstay to our lives for over eight years. She’s a great car, and will be missed.

It finally occurred to me that I’ve never sold a car privately. Now I’d never list online and have strangers coming to the house. But I’ve a litany of failures. My parents gave me a ten year-old car for college graduation, a station wagon. When I cracked the block on that one (I followed expert advice) I asked an old boyfriend to help me find a car and ended up with a real dud, a pea-green VW bug with rustoleum, semi-automatic transmission and fuel injection. A recipe for disaster, and that it was. I went out for an hour on New Years’ Eve, drove home, parked on the street and ten cars on that street were damaged by a drunk driver that night but mine, with no collision, was totaled, wheel sheared off the axle and other collateral damage. The wagon was towed away. I did see someone driving it a couple of weeks later. The bug was towed as an abandoned vehicle, and shouldn’t have been.

So I bought my mother’s Honda Accord, a car I would become comfortable with over many years. In the snow, with salt and sand the front end rusted out and I gave that one to charity. Then for a while I had nothing. I borrowed a scooter and made do. Then I bought my only new car, a Jeep. Red and shiny. I kept it for ten years and sold it to pay our way across the country, to a dealer.

Over the past year we’ve bought two used cars, both AWD for the snow and ice, both from other locales. For mine, we traveled to Austin TX. For Jim’s, which arrived two weeks ago, we had it shipped from Minnesota. There are very few cars that fit him, he’s very tall, and even fewer that have AWD and other safety features for snowy weather. So we’re selling our “first date” car, when he opened my door and took my hand and never let go. He’s the physicist and I’m the artsy, emotional one but this sale might hurt him as much as it does me, as he’s overly analytical on the outside but a really good guy inside.

Farewell, Silver Cloud. Serve your new family well. Dee, Jim and Zoe