Roasted root vegtables

This is it! The one thing I can suggest to anyone and they are happy with. The best thing is that I can get them all year. They are root vegetables. For myself on Long Island I like to go to Citarellas in Bridgehampton since they have such a great variety. When I started out I would love to drive to Early Girl in Moriches to get some beets or fresh leeks or drive out to Sang Lee for some red carrots and such, but hey! Gas is approaching 5 bucks a gallon now. Swallow your pride and buy them anywhere you can, the funnier looking the vegetable the tastier they are. Roasted root veggies are local grown and delicious with olive oil salt and pepper. I like to place my roasting pan in the oven at 400 F and just let it heat up while I rough chop my veggies, then when I am ready to roast them  I will toss them in some olive oil, kosher salt,fresh herbs,fresh ground white pepper and some aged balsamic and them hit them into the pan and let carmelize right away. My regular mix is beets,shallots quartered,baby carrots skin on,parsnips,celery root,turnip and cauliflower. Give it a shot, you wont regret it! 

Crem Brulee — to go

Maybe this could be the perfect picnic item. A few weeks ago after visiting the Clinton Street Bakeshop on the LES, I found this little dessert truck shop offering the classic crem brulee in a custard foil. It took me a couple of weeks to track the containers down but here is my version. 

Greek Salad

The Kennedy Compound: Where Food meets Politics

By Marnely Rodriguez

 

Cape Cod and the lslands (Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard) have been known to be summer retreats for US Presidents and their families and one of the most notable and distinguished families on the Cape are The Kennedys. The Kennedy Compound is the waterfront property on Cape Cod that was once home to Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., Rose Fitzgerald and their sons U.S President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy. JFK used the compound as “a base for his successful 1960 U.S. Presidential campaign and later as his summer White House and retreat”.

 

And with such personalities all home for a summer-long vacation, the food had to be outstanding while still being comfortable and summery. Chef Neil Connolly was the Kennedy family’s personal chef for 12 years between 1980-1990. He has now a new cookbook called “In the Kennedy Kitchen”, which recounts summer memories, family recipes and loaded with Kennedy family photos. Overseen by Senator Kennedy, this book is full of great New England recipes, perfect for summer picnics, family gatherings and quick meals!

 

Below is a favorite of Senator Kennedy and it is a quick and delicious Lobster Stew recipe from “In The Kennedy Kitchen” by Chef Neil Connolly.

Recipe from:  http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com

 

Kennedy Lobster Stew

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
4 tablespoons butter
1 to 1-1/3 pounds cooked lobster meat, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/4 cup Sherry wine, preferably medium-dry, preferably Amontillado
1/4 cup lobster stock, optional, but desirable
1 1/4 cups light cream or half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons minced fresh chives

 

Method:

1. Melt butter and cook onions over medium heat until translucent.
2. Add cooked lobster meat and drizzle in sherry. Bring to a boil and add lobster stock.
3. Reduce this liquid by half and add cream, paprika, salt and pepper (seasoning to taste).
4. Serve and garnish with chopped chives.

 

Purchase the book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kennedy-Kitchen-Recipes-Recollections-American/dp/0756626420

The new owner of Katrinka’s, in no rookie to this business

 

Peter and Alan when chef at the Green Door

 

It seems as though that Alan was made to be in the deli business; his mother and father owned delis when he was growing up, and he worked alongside them throughout his childhood. But as I sit across from him in the back room of his new “baby,” Katrinka’s Deli in Hampton Bays, when I ask if he always wanted to work in the business, he responds with an emphatic, “No!”

 

“I didn’t much care for it,” he chuckles, strange, considering how much love and affection he’s put into delis over the course of his lifetime. While he went to school to be an architectural drafter, he soon realized he missed the interaction with customers that deli works provides, and he missed cooking. At 19, he opened his first store, Country Heroes, in Westhampton Beach.

 

“I built it up real quick and then sold it,” he says, moving on to other things, including his second store, Village Deli in Riverhead. He eventually became the manager of the Green Door Deli in Hampton Bays, a high end store where he got to know the local people. “I got to love this community,” he says. “The local people are very devoted and hardworking.”

 

After Green Door, he finally made his way to the landmark Katrinka’s, also in Hampton Bays, where he brought his experience and love of cooking to this mainstay of the community.

 

“Five percent of people don’t want anything changed,” he says, “But 95 percent are happy.” It’s cleaner than the old Katrinka’s, with an expanded menu including vegan and vegetarian choices, a new addition to the Katrinka’s repertoire, and one that he says he was happy to offer. “They’re my customers. If I can’t handle it, they’re going to go somewhere else.”

 

All in all, the changes have been positive, if non-traditional. “It’s more upscale and health conscious,” he says. “A traditional deli was a style 20 years ago (…) You still need to excite the palate.”

 

Work experience at German delis like Sunset and Otto’s as well as his family background in delis has helped him to expand and change the menu at Katrinka’s. “My mom is German,” he says. “Germans are frugal – you can use everything.”

 

Indeed, limitations or restrictions such as these are often fuel for inspiration in cooking, and for Alan, this is certainly the case. “I got into creating my own recipes,” he says, noting that one recipe in the deli is different every week. He took a year and a half to write his own cookbook after numerous requests from customers for recipes for salads and other deli options, though he doesn’t advertise it directly.

 

“I like them to get to know me, taste my food first,” he says. “I want them to ask for it. People take it personal. They want to know, ‘Is it going to taste as good as the last time?’”

 

Alan re-opened Katrinka’s on January 5^th of this year, the perfect time for him to get to know the locals and the community. “They’re my best advertising,” he says, and it is for them that he creates the sort of environment that he himself would enjoy.

 

“We’re keeping the name because it’s a landmark,” he says. “I want to pay honor to the name.” It’s clear, though, that the old Katrinka’s has changed. There are tables and chairs to provide a place to stop and eat, and there are no cigarettes or beer available. “It’s not me,” he says.
One thing that certainly hasn’t changed is the value, something that Katrinka’s has always been known for. “Creating business today in this economy is hard enough,” he says. “We’re in the Hamptons, but these aren’t Hamptons prices. We’re here for the locals.”

 

He looked for six years for a location with locals he could get along with, locals who shared his vision for a deli that was both traditional and modern. “It’s a well-balanced area,” he says. “The ma and pa image wasn’t that important in Riverhead.” Here, on the other hand, he reaches out to the different and distinct groups of patrons, offering free samples of rice pudding to older people and creating vegan recipes for those who request them; the January opening worked to his advantage, giving him the time “to feel the locals out.”

 

“Locals are right in your face, honest. If it’s a nickel too much, they tell you.”

 

It’s obvious from the way that Alan tells his story, recalling particular anecdotes with a smile on his face, that he loves his work. Still, when it comes to starting work in the industry, he says “the best recommendation is don’t.”

 

He glows with pride and glee as he describes Sunday mornings with his daughter Sarah, peeling eggs together early in the morning and setting up a cot for her to nap on in his office as he preps at four in the morning. Still, the “family business” will stop with him, according to Alan.

 

“I love what I do,” he says, but it’s nothing like in his parents’ day. “In the 60s and 70s, you made a lot of money. In 1967, heroes were 60 cents. Now we’re working so much harder and making less. I do it cause I really love what I do… you gotta do what you really love.”

 

In 15 years, he plans to retire. “Hopefully this will be the homerun,” he says, referring to Katrinka’s. “Because of my maturity and experience.” But as he plans for future days without the deli counter in his life, I can’t help but notice how much a part of him it seems to be.

 

“Seeing a satisfied customer pull you out of the kitchen to tell you it’s the best salad they’ve ever had…” he trails off and smiles… he doesn’t need to finish his sentence for me to understand exactly what he means.

An indepth interview with just one of the many caring hands around the children at Westhampton Beach Learning Center

Michael Giusto command's the kitchen at WHBLC

Michael Giusto: An Ordinary Man with the Heart of a Hero

Like many American men, Michel Giusto’s time is divided between his job, his home, and his family, but at the end of the day, his family is his number one priority.

Giusto began his career in food at the age of 16. Looking for a part time job, Giusto was encouraged to apply as a cashier at a local supermarket, but Giusto was more interested in the deli than the cash register. After learning that employees must be 18 to work in the deli, Giusto lied about his age, and he got the job.

Giusto worked at the deli throughout college. After school, he took a short break to experiment with other career possibilities. In the meantime, he got married and started a family. Unfortunately, Giusto’s first child was diagnosed with autism at the age of two. This devastating news made Giusto reevaluate his career choices.

“I needed a job that was practical,” says Giusto. “I basically needed a job that allowed me to be a       stay-at-home dad.”

After hours of job searching online, Giusto decided to check Craig’s List. There, he found the job listing for food service manager at Westhampton Beach Learning Center, a New York school for the disabled. The job was perfect.

“I love the hours. I leave early in the morning, so my wife, who is a nurse, gets the kids ready for school. I am home by 1:00 in the afternoon, so I am there when the kids get home,” says Giusto of his current position at the Westhampton Beach Learning Center.

At the school, Giusto prepares breakfast and lunch for approximately 120-130 students and 15-25 staff members. The menu consists of hot and cold dishes. According to Giusto, the biggest challenges are getting the food ready on time and serving a balanced meal while accommodating dietary concerns such as food allergies.

“My son has several food allergies, and he is a picky eater. For instance, he hates hamburgers, but he loves shrimp and broccoli. On the other hand, he loves French fries and chips; he would eat them all day if we let him,” states Giusto.

Because of his son, Giusto understands the diverse needs of the students at Westhampton Beach Learning Center; food allergies and other dietary concerns are common among the students.

“I don’t really work with the kids, except when students help with getting juice and things. However, I do see the students with the other staff. It is very comforting to see them working with the kids. As a parent, one of my biggest concerns is whether there are enough trained professionals working with my son,” Giusto reveals.

While Giusto loves working in the school, he also loves being home. In his free time, he works on his house and spends time with his family. He is also a NY sports fanatic. Basically, he is an ordinary guy who loves his job and loves his family, but his work at the school makes him unique. His job allows him to be a great father, and it gives him the opportunity to help other children like his son. Now, that is extraordinary.

Stacy Dermont of Dan’s Papers helps spread the word!

Recently I was greeted with an enthusiastic ear from none other Stacy Dermont the legendary foodie from Dan’s Papers. Her and Bob Edelman have been all about helping HCS come together with her full page feature in this weeks (Sept 24,2010) issue, “Hampton’s Chefs Unite”. It was an honor to be featured and will be more of honor to welcome Stacy here at HCS as a contributor. Thank you Stacy!

The Article

http://www.danshamptons.com/content/danspapers/issue27_2010/22.html