A Day in Brooklyn (Part 1)

Ever since seeing Anthony Bourdain’s and Andrew Zimmern’s Travel Channel trip to the Red Hook Ball Fields, I’ve been drooling to check out whether the eating’s are really as good as they looked!

So, with an open calendar on Saturday, we decided to take a pilgrimage to Brooklyn, which is a foreign country for me, although it is my “place of birth”.  Our plan included two stops, one in Red Hook, and a second in Williamsburg to check the neighborhoods, and to see whether all the foodie hype is warranted.  This blog is on the Red Hook experience, the Williamsburg portion of the trip will be shared later in the week.

For those outside of the city, getting to Red Hook is likely to require a visit to Google Maps; our trip included a drive over the Whitestone Bridge, heading West on the LIE, and taking the BQE over the Kosciuszko (pronounced kahs-kee-OSS-ko—don’t you love this name) Bridge exiting at Hamilton Avenue in Brooklyn.  Of course, if you live in or around the city, there’s probably an easier way to get there by subway….

Anyway, the ball fields are very close to the highway exit, and we had no trouble finding both the park and a nearby parking spot (free!) We arrived just after noon, hungry for lunch!

Our first observation was that the food area is actually a lot smaller than it looked on the food channel show.  About 10-12 trucks and stalls are spread around the perimeter of one corner of a city block. 

Second, we were both pleased and a bit skeptical that the vendors did not seem busy, and most of the picnic tables that are located in the parks interior adjacent the food area were relatively empty.  So, we headed over for Pupusa’s which are fried Ecuadorian corn cakes filled you’re your choice of meat, cheese, and vegetables. 

The owner said the pork pupusa’s were the way to go—so we had a spicy pork and a pork with cheese pupusa, a deal @ 2 large filled corn cakes for $5.  The pupusa’s are served with a spicy pickled pink cabbage relish, and homemade hot sauce.  We also had fried plantain chips on the side, and a sweet drink called horchato, which is made with rice, morro seeds, and other spices including cinnamon. Although perhaps a bit too sweet, it helped to cut the heat from the delicious spicy pupusa’s!  We also had a delicious fresh watermelon drink from one of the vendors specializing in unique beverages and fresh fruits.

Everything was fantastic, and although we wanted more, we saved room for Mexican food and a seviche.

By this time it was about 12:30, and the lines were starting to build.  Everyone we met on the lines and at the picnic tables were very relaxed, friendly, and excited to taste all the great street foods (including the large group of local firemen)!

We scrambled to get on line for the Mexican food, and ordered 2 tacos, a fried pork and a chorizo.  These were also excellent, made corn tacos, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, onions, jalapeno’s and cheese.  We added the homemade green salsa, and than feasted.  We had a split vote on whether the taco or pupusa was better, but you wouldn’t go wrong with either.

Finally, we headed over to the seviche cart, and had the shrimp seviche. This was my favorite for the day, as the mix of fresh lime juice, red onion, cilantro and shrimp was delicious, and adding in the spicy green hot sauce to the container was the key.  We ate and drank every last drop!

Well sated, we were unable to try to empanadas, the corn on the cob slathered with butter, cayenne, and queso (cheese), but this will be on the itinerary for our next trip.  Do keep in mind that you definitely want to be here no later than noon, because if you are there after 12:30, plan for some serious lines!  And, if you’re taking pictures, make sure to snap them before you get too excited so that you don’t end up with several photos with half eaten plates of food!

Before leaving the neighborhood, we did stop at nearby Sixpoint Craft Beer Brewery hoping to purchase some of this highly rated beer, but as they only sell by the keg—this wasn’t in the cards.  We did stop at the cool bar next door, Rocky Sullivan’s and have a pint of the pale ale (excellent) and were on our way. 

BTW- if you need, IKEA and a Fairway market are right in the area.  And we did see a sign for Steve’s Key Lime Pie’s which are supposed to be the best in the city, but as we were headed to Williamsburg and forgot to bring the cooler, this will need to be part of our next visit. 

Best Thai: Sripraphai

The availability of thai food in the NYC area has exploded over the past few years— and overall, this is a very nice development.  Once concern is that this proliferation may also be linked to a broader move towards “Asian Fusion” restaurants, which strike me as a homogenized, Americanized version of the unique flavors from each country and area.  This trend ultimately drives a loss of the specialness of different cuisines, and increased prices for less authentic food.  When you observe the proliferation of asian chain restaurants like the Kona Grill (to pick on a chain that is really not too bad), you worry that we are headed down a path of no return.

Fortunately, there are areas in and around major cities where the unique food cultures are still preserved.  In the NYC vicinity, areas like Flushing, Jackson Heights, and Astoria still offer very authentic cuisines of each culture.

Last night, after picking up my wife at LGA, we headed to our favorite thai restaurant, Sripraphai, http://www.sripraphairestaurant.com/, in Woodside Queens (note: a new Sripraphai has recently opened in Williston Park, LI).

We started with the terrific crispy thai watercress salad with seafood and chicken.  This amazing salad has a terrific combination of seafood and shrimp cooked and marinated in a sauce which contains cilantro, fish sauce, and lime juice, coupled with the lightly fried watercress.  Delicious!

After wolfing down a few curry puffs, and having the tom yum shrimp soup (shrimp with thai hot and sour soup), we moved on the several excellent main courses:

• Sauteed crispy pork with chili, garlic and thai basil
• Green curry with chicken
• Shrimp with drunken noodles S

All the dishes were well spiced, but Sripraphia will spice to your liking, so don’t be scared.  And, accompanied with some delicious brown and coconut rice, and some thai iced tea with tapioca balls…  it was a terrific way to celebrate my wife’s return, and my return from a nasty two week virus.

Of course, the fact that we have a few leftovers is not a bad thing..  of course, they’ll be gone by the end of the day!

Fluffy Matzoh Balls

Well too much time on the beach has driven a strange reaction from my body (got a flu—no not the Mexican Swine Flu # ah1 n1—who thinks of these names anyway—we should go with the hurricane name approach!  So, just call this one Porky!)

While sick, I haven’t had the appetite to enjoy too much food, but decided to follow-on from a 2^nd consecutive year of great Passover matzoh ball soup, to take advantage of the inevitable leftover matzoh meal.

Historically, I’ve been matzoh ball challenged, producing dense golf balls that were nearly impossible to eat… However, over the past couple of years—I discovered the secret… Seltzer!

That’s right, just a half cup of Seltzer, and a half day or more of leaving the batter covered in the refrigerator, makes all the difference.  So here’s the recipe:

Fluffy Matzoh Balls

Ingredients

4       Eggs, beaten

.25    Cups oil 

1        Tsp salt 

.5       Cups Seltzer

          Pepper to taste 

1        Cup Matzoh meal

Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  After ingredients are well mixed, add in matzoh meal and mix again till stiff. (note: you can also add in a bit of chopped scallions, garlic, parsley if you like.)

Put in refrigerator, covered, for 3 or more hours—or the day before. 

Boil a large pot of water. 

Remove matzoh batter from the fridge, and mold into balls (note they will expand to at least 2 to 3X original size), and place balls into boiling water. (you can either use your hands—gets a bit messy, or if you’re not overly worried about shape—just use a soup spoon.)

Partially cover the pot after it’s filled with the balls, letting them cook for about 30 minutes, then remove from the pot!

Depending on how big you make them, this recipe should yield about 20+ balls.

They are now ready to place into your favorite chicken or vegetable broth, or any soup you enjoy!  Or, they’ll stay fine refrigerated for a few days… use when you like!