Live from Nargila! – Part 2

This past Wednesday, The Kosher Scene Radio Show did a live broadcast from Nargila Grill (1599 York Avenue – between E. 84 and E. 85th Street – New York 10028; Tel: 212.535.3700).

From left to right: Esti Berkowitz (Primetime Parenting), Alessandra Rovati (Dinner in Venice), Marlene Mamiye (The Kosher Hostess), Yours Truly, at the controls (The Kosher Scene), Kim Amzallag (Mishpacha/Kosher Inspired Magazine); Suzannah Raff (The Kosher Shopaholic), not pictured - as she spoke to us on the phone - Amy Channa (The Gluten Free Maven) PHOTO BY: Irving Schild

Nargila Grill is a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean type restaurant, the decor authentic Middle Eastern, with softly piped in music to match.

Getting ready to order. PHOTO BY: Irving Schild

After the show we all enjoyed an incredibly delicious meal consisting of assorted Mediterranean salads, beef, lamb, and chicken kabobs. Each type of meat was done in a variety of styles and came on multiple skewers, each more succulent than the other!)

We are going back next Wednesday, to do another live show and to enjoy the owner’s mother’s Bukharian cooking. She comes in once a month to prepare some real delicacies. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Why don’t you join us at: Nargila Grill (1599 York Avenue – between E. 84 and E. 85th Street – New York 10028; Tel: 212.535.3700), next Wednesday evening? We’d love to meet you and we know you’ll love the food! We’ll leave the light on for ya. May we have the pleasure of seeing you there?

CS

Thanksgiving Specials

Are you planning a Thanksgiving meal? Why patchke in the kitchen for hours? Here are some restaurants with Thanksgiving Specials!

240 E. 81ST STREET
NEW YORK, NY 10028
TEL: 212.517.2400 — FAX:212.517.2401
www.eighteenrestaurant.com
(Please call to make reservations)

EIGHTEEN THANKSGIVING DINNER MENU

Adults $35.99 per person and kids $29.99 per person. ( we will be serving family style on the table)

APPETIZERS:

Choice of:

ISRAELI SALAD

or

CHICKEN SOUP with Noodles

MAIN COURSE:

*TURKEY with Gravy

STUFFING

SWEET POTATO

MASHED POTATO

CRANBERRY DELIGHT

ASSORTED GRILLED VEGETABLES

*Salmon can be substituted for Turkey

DESSERT:

Choice of

PUMPKIN PIE

or

PECAN PIE

BEVERAGE:

Choice of one

SODA

COFFEE

TEA

–)x0x(–

Photo credit: Great Kosher Restaurants Magazine -2006 Cover-

Abigael’s on Broadway

Tel: 212-575-1407 — Fax: 212-869-0666
Web: www.abigaels.com

Thanksgiving – November 25, 2010

APPETIZER

Butternut Squash Bisque —  7.50
Autumn spices

Smoked Beef Flanken Soup — 8.50
with vegetables, potatoes and herbs

Guacamole — 13.50
avocado with plum tomatoes, red onions and chiles,
with fresh squeezed lime juice and house made corn chips

Award Winning Chili — 14.50
slowly smoked with hickory; blended with onions, tomatoes, spices and beans

Wild Mushroom Polenta — 13.50
slow simmered soft polenta, topped with sautéed wild mushrooms
and fresh herbs, drizzled with white truffle oil

Popcorn Chicken — 14.50
fried golden, tossed with herbs, lemon and cayenne drizzle

SALAD

Caesar Salad — 10.50
the classic dressing with a hint of anchovy and toasted croutons

Abigael’s House Salad — 10.50
Autumn greens tossed with local harvest tomatoes, cucumbers, chickpeas,
roasted garlic, currants, slivered almonds and a balsamic vinaigrette

Autumn Harvest Salad — 10.50
strawberries, cranberries, wild rice and candied pecans
with Autumn greens and honey-citrus vinaigrette

MAIN COURSE

Cider Roasted Turkey — 28.50
The American Classic…
apple and sweet fennel sausage stuffing, herbed gravy, onion-sage whipped potatoes
and cranberry-orange relish
~ dark meat served upon request ~

Chicken Dijon — 26.50
a petite ballantine with sausage and sweet pepper stuffing paired
with a pan seared boneless breast in a light sauce of Dijon mustard and white wine

Aged Rib Eye Steak — 36.50
chargrilled and served with steak fries and caramelized onions

Cedar Plank Salmon — 26.50
oven roasted and served with scallion whipped potatoes,
string beans and barbecue vinaigrette

Prime Rib of Beef — 36.50
pepper & rosemary crusted, served with natural pan gravy
and onion-sage whipped potatoes

Additional Children’s, Sushi, Wine and Dessert menus will also be available.
Vegetarian selections will also be offered.
Children’s Menu for 12 years old and younger.
For parties of 8 or more, an 18% service fee will be added to your check.

–)x0x(–

T Fusion Steakhouse
3223 Quentin Road (Corner of East 33rd Street)
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11234
718-62-STEAK

Thanksgiving Menu

First Course- Choice of One

• Tuscan Bean and Turkey Soup (8)
• Minestrone Soup (7)
• Roasted Butternut Squash Salad (15)
  Mixed Mescaline Greens, Candied Walnuts, Slivered Red Onions, Apples, Avocado, Butternut Squash, and Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Second Course- Choice of One / 4 Course Menu Option Only

• BBQ Pulled Turkey Sliders (12)
  Served on a Brioche Mini Bun, accompanied by House Fries
• Wild Mushroom and Butternut Squash Risotto (11)
  Mixed Wild Mushroom Medley, Roasted Butternut Squash and Creamy
  Arborio Rice
• Swedish Veal Meatballs (16)
  Served with a Cranberry and Corn Succotash, and a Sweet Tomato Sauce

Third Course- Choice of One

• Sage and Cider Glazed Turkey (28)
  Choice of Dark Meat or White Meat
  Served with Cranberry Chutney, Challah bread Stuffing, and Sautéed Green beans with candied walnuts
• Turkey and Apricot Meatloaf (27)
  Served with Thyme and Honey Roasted Sweet Potato Mash, Cranberry
  Chutney, and Roasted Root Vegetables

Fourth Course- Choice of One

• Warm Apple and Cranberry Crumble (9)
  Served with Parve Vanilla Ice Cream
• Three Tier Chocolate Mouse Cake (8)

(Choice of 3 Course Menu $35.95 Or 4 Course Menu $45.95)

Please note:

• Prix fixe menu cannot be changed.
• Each item can be ordered separately accompanying our regular menu

Cooking with Lévana – Part 1

Every Monday evening at Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan (200 Amsterdam Ave – at 69th Street – New York, NY 10023), Lévana Kirschenbaum holds a cooking class, dubbed by most as “Dinner and a Show.” CS and I were privileged to attend last night’s special Yom Haatzmaut demo: Beyond Milk & Honey: Israeli Street Foods.

The menu for the evening was: Spicy Bean Soup, Chraimi Fish, Minted Lamb Kebobs, Spicy Eggplant Salad, Hummus-Tehina, Israeli Salad, and Makrod (a semolina/date pastry); all made and served up, to 25 people, in the space of two and a half hours. Experiencing Lévana’s cooking class means experiencing Lévana.  One doesn’t need to ask her about her particular philosophy of good cooking; the woman walks the talk of it!

While preparing the Spicy Bean Soup made with large lima beans, cilantro and cayenne pepper (which on principle sounded unappealing to me; wooow, was I in for a surprise!!), someone asked about the pot she was using, and someone else mentioned the use of garlic powder. Lévana recommended 18-10 stainless steel pots and pans, stating that her pot was made in China, quipping “there’s no room for politics in cooking!” Regarding garlic, she told us about someone who asked if they ran out of garlic powder could they use real garlic? ” Never settle for powder when you can get the real thing”, she replied, as she whacked a clove using the edge of her palm against the flat of her knife, demonstrating how easy it was to prepare a clove. “When should one look for a substitute?  Only when the real ingredient is unavailable. You can find garlic anytime anywhere  in the world. We’ve got so many choices, garlic in oil, minced, bottled, etc. Just because something is there doesn’t mean it’s good…..ersatz (artificial or inferior substitute or imitation) is so plentiful in so many forms, we think the imitation is real!”

Hot, steamy, aromatic!

Truth be told, the rich aromatic scent of  fresh herbs on her cooking table awaiting deployment, enhanced every dish Lévana prepared. Her use of market fresh healthy ingredients along with her quick prep techniques, easy humor, mastery of her trade and generous spirit of sharing her knowledge with others, made the evening delightful. Preparing the eggplants for grilling, she opted to lightly spray the eggplant slices top and bottom with oil . “Remember you’re the boss. Don’t let the eggplants boss you around. Don’t be afraid of them.”  Yet, she insisted on a full half cup of oil for the soup. “If there’s no oil, there’s no emulsion.”  Considering, however, that the pot yielded 25 decent sized portions, that was a very small amount of oil. A true creative chemist in the kitchen, Lévana cooks her magical eupeptic dishes mixing  wit, instincts, ingenuity,  inventiveness, along with her many years of experience. It’s almost like the ingredients bend to her will, bringing out their tastiest characteristics to serve the Queen of masterful combinations.  The soup by the way was incredible. The combined ingredients illuminated by the addition of home made pickled lemon, lit my palate with its explosion of  fresh tangy tastes, The lima beans, tomatoes, onions, cilantro and fresh garlic all combined for a delicious harmony of flavors.

We can’t cover all of the dishes in the space of this post, but here are few further highlights. Lévana included some standard and not so standard ingredients for her Israeli Salad, creatively using the pulse feature of her food processor as a  time saver –  combining the celery, cucumbers, scallions, radishes and parsley; she hand chopped the tomatoes and lettuces, one could never tell in the finished product that any short cuts were taken.

Preparing the sauce for the Chraimi fish

Cooking the sauce with two layers of fish on top.

I’m not a big fish lover, but that Chraimi Fish was savory delicious.One of the regular attendees told us she loves it so much that she makes a fresh batch every week… CS, a carnivore to the core, will tell you that as far he is concerned, the Minted Lamb Kebob (recipe to follow) was the evening’s real pièce de résistance. The exotic flavoring of the extra lean ground lamb was delicious and went perfectly with the Sliced Grilled Eggplant. The Chummus was nothing short of spectacular. Write us if you want Lévana’s recipe.

Sliced grilled eggplant

Levana describes herself as a a reverse chic kind of a person.  Her food is earthy and terrific, prepared simply- as low tech as possible.  But the woman herself is an articulate worldly person, well informed,  generous and a techie twitterer to boot.  Her days are filled with cooking for others and countless good deeds, so we heard from her devoted groupies.  They are a  tight loving group who acquired a love of cooking through experiencing Lévana’s warmth, good humor, talented free-reign creative fun cooking style and healing psychology delivered through the medium of food. Group regulars find the class absolutely addictive, having missed important meetings to be there each and every week.  It’s their fun night out, as they learn that cooking can indeed be a fun experience and not a drudgery. Many feel more empowered in the kitchen and love Lévana’s uncomplicated style and generous funny nature.  They’ve all learned to cook healthier recipes (with faster prep!) packed with fresh healthy ingredients, eager to replicate the recipes at home and experiment with variations.

All in all it was a fun evening spent with a really nice group of people. Considering the upcoming courses, we will certainly be back for sure …you know, she is kind of addictive…

SYR

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Lévana’s Recipe

Olympic Pita in Manhattan

Olympic Pita(58 West 38th Street; New York, NY 10018; Telephone: 212.869.7482), provides proof positive that a restaurant in Manhattan can provide good, wholesome, food without being expensive.

Olympic Pita, at its Manhattan location

I was there on a recent Sunday and the presentation was simple, the taste very good, the atmosphere warm and inviting.

I started the meal with a very unusual sushi roll, Sabich… It consists of hard boiled egg, pickled cucumbers and eggplant. No fish of any kind! Very tasty and imaginative adaptation of a traditional Iraqi dish.

I also had their 5 Sampler Mezze, it included israeli salad, fried eggplant, tabouli, Moroccan carrot and matbuha. Each of these was excellent.

I followed with a Beef Eye Steak.

Beef Eye Steak

It was tender, juicy, somewhat smoky and absolutely delectable. I also had their Shawarma, which comes wrapped in rice and paper to look like a pair of exotic flowers. These two were succulent.

I also had an Iraqi Style Beef skewer.

Iraqi Style Beef skewer

A very aromatic ground spiced beef, nice tasting, tender and juicy.

I also had the in-house Lafa (an oversized, thin pita) which I managed to photograph while baking.

My Lafa being baked

There, on the left side wall is mine. I got it piping hot! Those middle easterners know what’s good! I washed it all down with a glass of very good red house wine.

Though it is located in midtown Manhattan, the prices are very Brooklyn. The food was unpretentious, but the quality, the taste, went far above their price range. No fancy French or Italian names here, merely standard Mediterranean and Middle Eastern fare. I will most definitely be back.

CS