sauces and dressings | A Good Dish

Ray Bradley – Tomato Whisperer

August 24, 2016

Ray Bradley with heirloom tomatoes at 97th Street Greenmarket

Tomatoes are ripe and tomatoes are Ray Bradley’s specialty. According to Bradley, the New Paltz chef turned farmer who grows and sells many different vegetables throughout the year, heirloom tomatoes are his favorites. Bradley farms because he loves to eat and cook what he raises. As it turns out, tomatoes, with their short season, have become a primary cash crop.

One of the best things about shopping at a local Farmers’ market, besides all of the fresh, organic and flavorful vegetables, is talking with the people who grow that food. Each one has a back story, none more compelling and meandering through the food world than Ray Bradley. With a cooking background that ranges from Cape Cod, Shelter Island, Florida and Costa Rica and includes stints at Le Cirque, Montrachet and Bouley in Manhattan, he moved into farming in order to grow his own organic vegetables. The full bearded, hardworking Bradley drives from his upstate farm to the 97th Street Market in Manhattan on Fridays during the summer and fall and to the Grand Army Plaza Market, in Brooklyn, on Saturdays year round.

Ray (right) and his sales associate Hardeep Maharawal at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket in early spring — Ray (right) and his sales associate Hardeep Maharawal
at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket in early spring

The life of a farmer is fraught with difficulty and Bradley’s plight has been no different. He has had floods and droughts, pests and plant diseases but the good years seem to outweigh the bad, overall, he says. In order to bring in more income, Bradley has been an innovator with products – he makes and sells his own paprika and tomato juice – and events. His farm is now known for its on-site, guest chef cooked dinners, often with wine pairings, pizza or grill parties showcasing his farm products, including farm grown salads and his own pork, beer and spirit tastings featuring his own farmhouse ale, as well as a farm stand. Just last week, he hosted a BLT and beer afternoon to celebrate the tomato harvest and his just-smoked bacon. Currently, he is running a raffle to raise money to build an outdoor wood-burning oven to expand his on-farm cooking possibilities.

Bradley Farmhouse Ale from Pull Brewing — Bradley Farmhouse Ale
from Pull Brewing

Bradley grows and sells the usual vegetables – broccoli, lettuces, onions, zucchini, peas, beets, parsley, potatoes and cabbage – that you see at most farm stands, although with Bradley, the varieties are specific to his tastes. The only potato he grows, for example, is the Carola, a small yellow-fleshed type, because that is his favorite. But, perhaps as a result of his culinary experience, he also grows a wide variety of less ordinary crops – flat Italian pole beans, fennel replete with fronds, French gray shallots, haricot vert (those delicious skinny green beans), sweet delicata and buttercup squash, fava beans, bush basil (tiny, spicier leaves), sorrel and purslane, a small-leafed lemony green. But his best sellers, by far, are his heirloom tomatoes, which range in size from tiny and round to huge and rippled, and in color from pale green to orange to red to purple.

Whether oblong or circular, Bradley’s heirlooms are full of flavor. He credits this to both the quality of seeds and soil and the way he raises them. He plants the seeds he saved from the previous year’s crop (when he finds a particularly good tasting tomato, he dries and saves those seeds) in April. By May, once any chance of frost has passed, he is transplanting small seedlings into the ground to give them the best chance of putting down good roots. Besides starting with good seeds and amending what was good soil to start with, perhaps the main reason his tomatoes are so flavorful is that he doesn’t water them – he says that is what develops the intensity of flavor. Whatever the cause, the tomatoes are delicious – we’ve been eating lots of them with just a simple vinaigrette and sprinkle of fresh basil or oregano. Bradley eschews vinaigrette, preferring not to mask the taste of his tomatoes. When we eat his heirlooms mixed or side by side with other tomatoes, the difference in flavor is obvious and the Bradley’s win every time.

Besides heirlooms, Bradley grows more ordinary cooking, husk and cherry tomatoes. It’s hard to stop eating the small yellow/orange or red/green cherries from Bradley’s farm – they are sweet and addictive and I rarely get them into a salad because we devour them straight out of the paper bag. Bradley says he uses a tomato peeler with a serrated blade to peel the large tomatoes which he then freezes so he can make fresh sauce during the winter, although sometimes he just tosses them into the freezer whole. When the weather is cool enough, as it is this week, he can make sauce to use in cooking once the season has passed. That way, he can have fresh tomato flavor throughout the year. After all, the reason Bradley grows these gorgeous tomatoes in the first place is because he loves to eat them. Lucky for us!

Bradley drives his vegetables to markets in New York from New Paltz twice a week in the summer

RAY BRADLEY’S TOMATO SAUCE

Preheat your oven to 400F.

Score (cut an x) whole tomatoes with a sharp knife.

Place on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast until skin is peeling off.

Remove skins and put in a pot with some sautéed onions and garlic.

Simmer until they begin to break down.

Cool and put up in glass containers.

Ray suggests sautéing a little onion and garlic and adding the sauce to them to re-heat when ready to use.

Peeled roasted heirloom tomatoes photo by Iris Kimberg — Peeled roasted heirloom tomatoes
photo by Iris Kimberg

Onions, garlic and peeled roasted tomatoes simmering into sauce photo by Iris Kimberg — Onions, garlic and peeled roasted tomatoes simmering into sauce
photo by Iris Kimberg

Hummus on a hot day – the Mezze solution

August 18, 2016

Smoked paprika, roasted red pepper, cilantro & jalapeño and sesame hummus Porcelain bowls from Sara Japanese Pottery on Lexington Avenue — Smoked paprika, roasted red pepper, cilantro & jalapeño and sesame hummus
Porcelain bowls from Sara Japanese Pottery on Lexington Avenue

I am not going to turn on the oven or the stove – just not going to do it. With another week of over 90F and humid, with the heat index over 100, I am not going to add to the temperature in the kitchen. But we still need to eat, so I have to prepare meals without straining the groaning AC any more than I am already. And in this kind of weather, we all prefer a lighter meal.

In my mind, summer dinners should be fun, cooling and a bit hodgepodge. If you don’t have access to a grill, salads are a way to go. A few weeks ago, I shared the cucumber and pineapple salad with lime and mint that is fresh and zingy. And the tomato salads and variations (the caprese with mozzarella, the tomato and cuke with basil, the watermelon with feta, mint and lime) are another solution. Cold soup is one more direction, essentially being a liquid salad. Gazpacho, cold cucumber soup with yogurt or buttermilk or a fruit soup, like blueberry or melon are all light, cooling lunches or suppers. Or simply put out a cheese or charcuterie board with some fig jam or pepper jelly, nuts, cold grapes or sliced fruit and a green salad and be done.

One more idea, and one you probably already have in your fridge, is hummus. Boring, you are thinking? Doesn’t have to be. And doesn’t have to be served with pita or chips – carrots, celery, green and red pepper, cucumber, jicama and radishes all make excellent dipping vehicles and, when well arranged, make a lovely mezze platter. You can even start with store bought hummus and doctor it up, although homemade takes so very little time and effort it is really worth it – plus you know what is in it! Blend in avocado, pieces of black or green olives, jalapeños, roasted peppers, cooked beets or carrots, toasted walnuts, chopped chives, parsley or dill or, my favorite, smoked paprika. Pretty much anything goes. Lighten it all up by mixing in some plain yogurt or enrich it by drizzling with plain or chili infused olive oil. If you don’t eat legumes, make the recipe without the chickpeas only add a little less water and use it as a tahini dip.

The best hummus I ever ate was at Zahav, Michael Solomonov’s restaurant in Philadelphia. It was creamy, lemony and altogether full of sesame flavor. The recipe I have provided below is based on his, with a few modifications. If it were a cold weather month, I would cook my own chickpeas but with this heat, I am happy to use canned. Solomonov recommends Soom Tahini (sold on Amazon) but I’ve used a local brand (Sahadi from Brooklyn), Trader Joe’s (which happens to be organic) and several health food brands (all in glass, not a tin) with good results. Err on the side of more garlic, salt and lemon rather than too little and blend it all longer than you would think for super creaminess.

Plate your hummus in a beautiful shallow bowl (easier for dipping), drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with paprika or sesame seeds and surround it generously with all kinds of colorful vegetables on a large platter or wooden board. To make a mezze platter, serve it with or without some stuffed grape leaves (as easy as opening a can), small bowls of olives, cherry tomatoes, those yummy peppadew or cherry peppers, sliced melon, tabbouleh or a parsley salad and an accompanying bread – focaccia, ciabatta, baguette or pita, or your favorite gluten-free crackers (try the Mary’s pretzel-like sticks with the hummus – very crunchy) – add a cold beer or glass of wine and dinner is served.

Mezze platter, heavy on the vegetables My bowls and platter — Mezze platter, heavy on the vegetables
My bowls and platter

Homemade Hummus

1 can (15.5 oz.) organic chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup tahini
2-3 garlic cloves
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 heaping teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup water or more, as needed

Combine garlic, salt and cumin and pulse until minced well.
Add lemon juice and pulse, then add tahini and pulse until it seizes up.
Add water, more if needed, and blend until smooth.
Add chickpeas and pulse until completely smooth.
Taste for seasoning and add more salt if you think it needs it – probably will.
Hummus keeps well for days in the refrigerator.

Optional add-ins:
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds (reserve 1 tsp for sprinkling on top)
1-2 roasted red peppers (I use jarred)
2 green jalapeños and a big handful of cilantro with juice of 1/2 lime
1 roasted beet
1-2 TBs olive oil
1/2-1 cup plain yogurt
1/2-1 peeled and pitted avocado
1/2 cup black or green pitted olives
A handful of parsley and chives
1/2 cup sautéed onions or several cloves of roasted garlic
If you take out half of the hummus before putting in an add-in, you can make 2 flavors out of one recipe.
Whatever else you can imagine – hummus is a good vehicle for adding your favorite ingredient

Raffetto’s: 110 Years of Fresh Pasta and Still Innovating

June 22, 2016

Despite widespread gentrification and demolition, New York still has many old, unique food shops specializing in everything from cake-decorating supplies to Spanish imports. One of my favorites is Raffetto’s, a more than 100-year old Italian market on Houston Street near 6th Avenue. A charming, old-world type store with wood cabinetry and shelves stocked with all kinds of locally produced and imported Italian foods and ingredients. It is a place you need to visit for a taste of non-sarcastic “artisanal” food. Their pasta is simply delicious.

I first stumbled upon Raffetto’s in the mid-80s, when I was an art advisor and used to spend a lot of time combing the galleries of Soho (before they morphed into expensive boutiques and chain stores). Walking north across Houston Street, I would pass Raffetto’s on the way to get a coffee or hear music in the Village. When I finally stopped in, I was amazed at the other world behind its front door – a wall of different colors and shapes of dried pasta on one side and shelves full of grains, beans, soup mixes, oils, vinegars, a refrigerated case with fresh sauces, cheeses and more on the other. In the back, several women in white lab coats were packaging sauces and filled pasta in an open kitchen and were cutting fresh pasta to order, something I hadn’t seen before.

Kitchen and packing area in the back of the store

According to their website, and from the looks of it, Raffetto’s is still using the same pasta-rolling machine that their patriarch/founder bought when he opened the store in 1906. And the pasta “guillotine”, on which you have your fresh pasta cut to your choice of widths, dates from 1916. Don’t you wish more equipment was still made and maintained that well now? Three generations of the Raffetto family are working in and running the business, making the pasta and sauces and staffing the shop. But I’m getting lost in history: the real story is the food they produce.

Raffetto’s offers cut-to-order fresh pasta in traditional and non-traditional flavors Including tomato, parley-basil, whole wheat, lemon red pepper, rosemary, black squid-ink and, my favorite, black pepper. Sometimes you can get lucky and arrive when chestnut, lemon, saffron or even chocolate are available. Ravioli fillings range from the usual cheese or cheese and spinach to pesto, goat cheese, seafood and chicken with smoked mozzarella and the occasional special like arugula and ricotta, pumpkin or Gorgonzola and walnut. (My son says he doesn’t like mushrooms but he loves Raffetto’s mushroom ravioli. Go figure!) Tortellini and potato gnocchi are made and sold here in a range of fillings and flavors. Happily for all of us, many varieties of the ravioli are available at stores like Fairway and Citarella and the jumbo ravioli are available at Zabar’s. Both the fresh and filled pastas freeze well, although I wouldn’t keep them in the freezer for more than a few months.

In addition to the fresh and filled varieties, Raffetto’s stocks a selection of imported dried pastas, including spelt, farro and quinoa, and a huge assortment of shapes. If you aren’t a pasta eater, there are plenty of delicious red and green sauces, olives, anchovies, condiments and seasonings to buy for yourself or for a gift. Arriving with a bag full of groceries from Raffetto’s (easy to make dinner) would make you a dream house guest!

Raffetto’s was one of many Italian food stores in its West Village neighborhood and you can still find a few others open. Faicco’s Pork Store, dating from its first incarnation on Thompson Street in 1900, operates a couple blocks away on Bleecker Street, as does Pasticcerio Rocco, which opened in 1974, the youngster of the group. Caffe Reggio, claiming to have served the first cappuccino in New York, has offered espresso to generation after generation of NYU students and tourists since 1927 on MacDougal Street.

Unfortunately, other old establishments in this little “Little Italy” didn’t make it. Joe’s Dairy, across Houston Street, produced and sold the best smoked mozzarella I’ve ever tasted, but they moved to New Jersey where costs were less expensive. Balducci’s, which started in Brooklyn in 1900 and moved to the Village in 1946, had a large bustling market on 6th Avenue, about 10 blocks north, but it closed after being bought out by a big food company. (Incarnations have opened and closed and opened in various spots around the city). The charming Cafe Dante on MacDougal, with a case full of more than a dozen flavors of gelato before gelato was a household word, closed last year, a victim of surging rent, now replaced by an upscale restaurant of the same name.

Fortunately, Raffetto’s survives, possibly because it keeps up with what people want, continues to innovate, provides quality products and maintains a knowledgeable, efficient and friendly staff. In order to meet wholesale demands, they expanded by opening a small factory, first nearby and now located in New Jersey. It probably doesn’t hurt that they own their own building on Houston. But whatever the reasons for its success, I hope Raffetto’s continues producing delicious pastas and sauces far into the future.

Black pepper pasta with vegetables Earthenware dish by Ayumi Horie — Black pepper pasta with vegetables
Earthenware dish by Ayumi Horie

Black Pepper (or Rosemary, Whole Wheat or Parsley-Basil) Pasta with Vegetables

1/2 lb. fresh black pepper pasta, cut to your preference of width
1/2 package of frozen peas
2 or 3 handfuls of clean arugula or spinach
3 TBs olive oil
1 TB butter or ghee
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a big pinch of salt. Shake the cornmeal off the pasta and add to the boiling water, stirring immediately to break the starch bonds and avoid clumping.

Check for doneness after 2 minutes and again at 3. Just before the pasta is cooked to your liking, add the peas and greens and cook 30 seconds and then drain.

Heat the oil and butter or ghee in the now empty but still warm pan over medium heat and then add the garlic with a pinch of salt. As soon as the garlic is softened, about 1 minute, turn off the heat, add the drained pasta and vegetables and toss to mix. Add additional salt to taste. If you like, sprinkle with freshly grated cheese. Makes 4 starter or 2-3 main course servings.

Note: Preparing the fresh pasta or ravioli makes one of the easiest dinners ever. It cooks much faster than dried pasta so watch it carefully – a few minutes is really sufficient. To fortify, you can toss in some small pieces of broccoli or cauliflower and some cooked beans, with or without cheese. Alternatively, use a tomato sauce or pesto (the garlic scape pesto recipe from a few weeks ago would be delicious with the whole wheat pasta), add some cooked chicken or shrimp, sprinkle with fresh parsley or basil and you’ve amped up your main course to restaurant status.

Garlic Scapes: What They Are and How to Cook Them

June 9, 2016

I first saw garlic scapes in a tangled heap at a farmers’ market and wondered what they were. I soon found out plus how to use them by chatting with the farmer who grew them. I don’t remember seeing scapes before 10 or 12 years ago but now they seem much more common, even if only at a Greenmarket.

Garlic scapes are the above ground green shoots of the garlic plant, something like a bud of a flower. They appear in the spring with the leaves of the plant and farmers prune them off so that all of the energy of the plant can go to the growing bulb, not its shoots. Think of them as the vegetable part of the garlic plant – another tasty green thing to enliven our cooking!

Scapes can be used just like garlic – sliced, diced or minced – to add garlic flavor to all kinds of foods. They are a bit like dense, crunchier green beans that taste like milder garlic. I think scapes are especially good sautéed with other spring vegetables, like asparagus, bok choy, baby greens and radishes but can be cooked and mashed with potatoes, steamed with broccoli or used anywhere you would add green garlic. Scapes make delicious chartreuse-colored pesto, both as the main ingredient or just as the garlic part of a basil or other variety pesto. They can be blended into a vinaigrette or added to an omelet, frittata or stir fry. There are seemingly endless ways to use scapes and they keep for several weeks in a refrigerator drawer.

Fortunately for us, many farmers at our greenmarkets now sell garlic scapes. It is the beginning of their season so they are just appearing and should be available for a few weeks. If you make pesto out of them this month and put it in your freezer, you will be rewarded with an easy green vegetable to use come winter. Right now garlic scapes are a fragrant, savory green addition to our late spring meals.

Garlic Scape Pesto

2 cups cut garlic scapes, about 12-15 scapes cut in 1/4-1/2 inch pieces
1 cup chopped parsley, about one small bunch (optional but adds lots of nutrients)
1tsp salt
4 TBsps olive oil, or more
1/2 cup walnuts, or your choice of nut (optional)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan (optional)

Put cut up scapes and salt in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. If using nuts, parsley or cheese, add and pulse until completely ground. With the motor running, add oil until the pesto is the consistency you like.

Use right away or pack in small glass containers or jars with a very thin layer of olive oil on top (to keep it from oxidizing) and refrigerate or freeze for future use. We use about 1/2 – 3/4 cup for a pound of pasta or tofu – I also add a little more salt and some black pepper – just taste and see if you think it needs more. You can add a squeeze of lemon just before serving.

Quinoa and Brown Rice Pasta with Garlic Scape Pesto Plate by Lyn Evans — Quinoa and Brown Rice Pasta with Garlic Scape Pesto
Plate by Lyn Evans

Don’t forget that pesto is not just for pasta (although it is delicious that way): It is wonderful on baked fish, chicken, tofu, potatoes and summer squashes and also enlivens rice, quinoa and many vegetables.

Easy Homemade Horseradish

May 4, 2016

Spring may be the time when we need a potent jolt to wake us out of our winter nesting mode and fully recover from the shift to daylight savings time. Fortunately, spring is the time of year we can find horseradish roots for sale in markets. To me, the roots look like overdeveloped parsnips on steroids. It is the kind of crop one must plant judiciously because once it gets established, I’ve heard gardeners say, it spreads and takes over other plants. The same is true in recipes – a little goes a long way: too much causes you to gasp for breath but just the right amount tickles your tastebuds.

Horseradish turns ketchup into cocktail sauce and makes mustard zestier (1 part Dijon mustard to 1 part horseradish). It improves stewed or boiled meats, even making pot roast tolerable (for those of us who find it punishment). Horseradish is the body and soul of a Bloody or Virgin Mary, and using homemade gives your drink more intensity. If you want to give an immediately useful gift when you are a brunch guest, bring a jar of homemade horseradish with a good bottle of tomato juice and, if your hosts imbibe, your favorite vodka.

Store bought horseradish is useful as backup but it is anemic when compared to freshly homemade. Horseradish isn’t the first thing you might consider preparing at home but is surprisingly easy to make in this era of muscular blenders and food processors. The only challenge is paying attention to when the roots are available, since this is a small window. Be forewarned – don’t take a big sniff when you take off the lid after grinding: This will be some powerful sh%#!! My eyes tear up just getting it out of the blender into a jar, so please beware!

HORSERADISH SAUCE

Wash and peel one large horseradish root. Cut in 1″ chunks and put in your food processor. Grind the cut up root by pulsing until it is the desired texture and then add 1 cup of white distilled vinegar and a teaspoon of coarse salt. (If you like a touch of sweetness, add 1 teaspoon of sugar per root. If you want your horseradish pink, add a small cut-up beet). Pulse a few more times until the horseradish reaches the desired consistency. When using a Vitamix or similar blender, add the vinegar before grinding. If the machine stalls, turn it off, stir and add a little more vinegar. In either case, is better too wet than too dry, as the finished horseradish will continue to absorb liquid as it sits in the refrigerator. Please BE CAREFUL when you remove the lid – there will be strong fumes! Spoon into clean jars and refrigerate. Horseradish keeps well in the refrigerator for months but will lose potency over time.