GUIDO GIRLS DINNER #3 - in Queens!

In a worried tone Nonna asks when I go to Manhattan, "Jane you gotta go to New York?" I always find this funny, but then again I myself call it "the city," as if there aren't 4 other boroughs in New York City besides Manhattan. Most of my friends think visiting me in Queens is like traveling to another planet.

So when I proposed an Eyetalian Girls Dinner in my new Queens place, Meredith basically said, "Thanks for the offer, why don't we have it at my place?" (which is in Brooklyn). I held my ground, which is not easy with strong brained crazy Sicilian broads, and everyone made it here without a problem. Enter the new "awesome" phase of our friendships, because anyone willing to visit me in Queens from another borough is automatically an awesome friend.

Markus started off everyone's unique Queens dining experience with some professional Old Fashioned Cocktails he made with the Tuthilltown Manhattan Rye Whiskey we brought back from our "wine" tasting along the Shawangunk Wine Trail. If you haven't gone wine tasting along this trail, go! It was so much fun. But beware, after a few tastings you will get loose with your credit card and come home with an obscene amount of wine.

Markus takes his cocktail making very seriously and even watched an instructional video on how to make a proper Old Fashioned, the cocktail so named because people would ask for a whiskey cocktail made the "old fashioned" way. That day he put me on the hunt for oranges with oily skin, which I thought were appropriate for a greasy Italian dinner party. The cocktails were perfect, strong, enough but not too sweet with a nice citrus hint.

For appetizers I made local Sunchoke Bruschetta and served it alongside some Sicilian cheese, olives and sun dried tomatoes.

For the pasta course, I made a Creamy Mushroom Sage Sauce over Campanelle. This is such an easy sauce, perfect for company and in my opinion there is not a better flavor combination than shallots, mushrooms and sage. I also made an vegan version for my special Sicilian vegan guest that stood up to the creamy version. It had more of a mushroom flavor.

For the main course I served Panelle, which are chick pea fritters, with Italian bread, Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Brocolli Rabe. This was my best panelle effort yet.

On our way to Ikea Rocco and I had stopped at Ferdinando's in Red Hook, which is one of the only places in the city where you can find panelle. I asked the panelle guy for some advice. He just said chick pea flour and water, with a little salt and fry them in canola oil. And at Ikea I found this great pan to use as a panelle form for $6. I followed his advice and didn't use lemon juice or parsley, I salted the paste well and I deep fried the panelle in Gemma oil, which is a vegetable oil about 10% olive oil. I was very satisfied with the results.

Melissa Love, of Crema Fatale, our favorite Vegan Pastry Chef brought over an unbelievable Salted Caramel Chocolate Mousse Martini with Almond Praline. It was so delicious we practically licked the salt rimmed martini glasses clean. The almond praline was outstanding, so crunchy and chewy. The chocolate mouse was so smooth and there was a nice soft caramel surprise waiting on the bottom. The sea salt with the sweet was perfection and I don't do justice in this photo of the remarkable presentation. The dessert along with some really nice Cava, a white spanish sparkling wine that Meredith brought over was the perfect ending to our Crazy Eyetalian Girl's Dinner #3.

Thanks for coming to Queens my awesome Eyetalian friends!

Recipes from Eyetalian Girl's Dinner #3:

Old Fashioned Cocktail

To a cocktail glass add:

2 oz. rye whiskey

2-3 spoonfuls of simple syrup (For simple syrup dissolve 1 C. sugar in 1 C. water and cool)

2-3 dashes of Angostura Bitters

Ice

oily orange peel, twisted to express the oils and used as garnish

maraschino cherry (optional)

Sunchoke Bruschetta

1lb of Sunchokes or Jerusalem Artichokes

Olive Oil and/or butter

Salt and Pepper

1/2 loaf Italian Bread, sliced

1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 whole clove of garlic

Preheat oven to 450.

Wash and peel the sunchokes and chopped into small pieces. Drizzle olive oil and salt and pepper on top and roast for about 15-20 minutes until they are soft.

Chop 1-2 pieces of garlic. Roast the chopped garlic with the sunchokes during the last 5 minutes of roasting.

Remove sunchokes from the oven and melt a few pats of butter on top (optional). Season to taste with salt and pepper and additional olive oil.

Toast sliced Italian bread. Upon removing from the toaster rub each slice with a clove of garlic.

Top each slice of toasted bread with the roasted sunchokes and serve.

Creamy Mushroom Sage Sauce with Campanelle Pasta

2 packages of fresh mushrooms (baby portobello, crimini or shiitaki), sliced

2 shallots, chopped

bunch of fresh sage, chopped

olive oil and butter

salt and pepper

about 1/2 C. cream or regular milk or soy milk

about 1 C. vegetable or chicken broth

1/2 lb. pasta, campanelle or penne

Sautee shallots and sage in butter and olive oil until softened. Add sliced mushrooms.

Once soft, season with salt and pepper. Add vegetable broth. Reduce for 5 minutes. Add cream of soy milk. Reduce until thickened about 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste and add a few pats of butter. Serve over campanelle pasta.

Panelle Revised

1 lb. chick pea flour

4 C. water or 1 Liter of Water

Salt

Oil for Frying

Boil the water. Add the chick pea flour slowly stirring constantly. Lower the heat if it starts to boil over. Keep boiling until its thick. Keep stirring. Once it pulls from the side of the pot, season with salt. Pour the paste into a greased mold. Cooking spray works best.

Let the panelle paste cool for a few hours in the fridge. Once its cool remove it from the mold and cut into thin 1/8 in. slices. Fry in canola or gemma oil and season with sea salt. Serve with Italian bread.

Brocolli Rabe

1 bunch broccoli rabe

1 clove of garlic

1/2 tsp peperoncino (red pepper flakes)

extra virin olive oil

salt and pepper

In a large pan with a lid, sautee garlic and peperoncino in olive oil. Before the garlic browns add the broccoli rabe season with salt and pepper and put the lid on so it can steam. Stir after a few minutes so the greens on the bottom don't burn. Cook until the greens are softened. Serve with Italian bread.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

1lb. Brussels Sprout

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash and cut bottoms off the brussels sprouts. Cut each brussels sprout in half. In a baking dish season with a generous amount of olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake about 20 minutes until tender and the outer edges of the leaves are browned and caramelized.

The Other Brooklyn

     I am from Queens, (let this be clear) but when my grandparents came here from Sicily, they first settled in Brooklyn, in Bushwick to be exact. And Rocco went to Bushwick High School when it wasn't cool to live in Bushwick. Very not cool. I remember this awesome orange Bushwick HS Reunion T Shirt he used to have. Beacon's Closet would pay big bucks for that one these days.

    Back in the day there was a funny phrase that distinguished two different areas of Brooklyn. If you lived in the northern area, where Knickerbocker Avenue is, where a lot of Italian immigrants lived, you lived in "Brooklyn." Then there was, "The Other Brooklyn," way over in the South part of the borough, which referred to Italian neighborhoods like Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge. Nonna still says, "He lives in l'altro Brukulino." On the other hand, if you lived in Bensonhurst, you considered that to be "Brooklyn" and you called Bushwick, "The Other Brooklyn." Its all a matter of one's perspective.

    Like when I was a kid on the block in Queens I had a friend named Jen. I called her "Jennifer Down the Block," to distinguish her from myself who was "Jennifer Up the Block." When I called her "Jennifer Down the Block" one day she said, "No, you are Jennifer Down the Block!"

We  still have not resolved that one.

OYSTERS AT LONDON LENNIES

     Since before I can remember London Lennies has been the ONLY place to go for an outstanding seafood meal in all of New York City. Its considered the "hidden gem of Queens," but Jeff the executive chef was on Iron Chef last week, so maybe not for long. 

     After one of the most gorgeous beach days I've had in a long time at Rockaway Beach (don't knock it; its a beautiful beach), Claire and I headed over to London Lennies, which is a 1 minute walk from my place, to extend our ocean experience. What better way to get in touch with the ocean than eating fresh raw oysters? The disgrace is I am 27 years old and this is the very first time I have ever tried oysters. Good thing I was with a trusted pal and experienced oyster connoisseur. Not only has Claire been sucking down oysters since she's a kid with her pops, she works at London Lennies and is a seafood and wine pairing expert. 

     Cocktails to start! But when the oysters showed up Claire insisted we have them with a Muscadet wine. This French wine was light, crisp and dry and has a certain "minerality" created by limestone. The oysters, oh the oysters! were called Well Fleet Osyters from Massachusetts. They were served with a sides of horseradish, minuette, which is red wine shallots and cracked pepper, cocktail sauce and a delicious cucumber salsa, perfectly prepared by Oyster Expert Rudy. 

     So there we were, doubling fisting cocktails and wine, with a tray of oysters in front of us. Claire showed me the proper way to eat an oyster. We were both a little worried I may not like them, but I jumped right in sucked one down and it was like a whole new world was opening up to me. The ocean. It tasted like the ocean. Not in a stinky fish way, but in that fresh clean delicious salty majestic way. I was hooked and began imagining myself sitting in the corner of London Lennie's everyday hoarding gigantic trays of oysters like an oyster feign. 

    Rudy also let me try a raw Little Neck Clam and a Kumamoto Oyster from Washington state. I have to say my oyster palate is not yet refined. Claire has a distaste for the Kumamoto, but I liked it and honestly couldn't really taste a difference. In due time, I guess.

    Just as we finished slurping down the last oyster, the tuna tartare arrived. I hate to be crude and I strive for professionalism in my writing, but Claire and I decided that this dish was, "fucking awesome!" Fresh tuna minced with ginger and soy and served with red and yellow peppers, wasabi mayo and crispy wontons. I can taste it now and WILL be going back to London Lennies for my birthday just for this dish.

You can't eat at London Lennie's without trying their famous fresh cole slaw.

   We also ordered some New Zealand Green Mussels that were prepared in a sauce of chorizo, leeks, plum tomatoes, white wine and garlic. The sauce was perfection and so delicious slurped up with London Lennies' delicious baked bread. The mussels themselves were a little mealy, not very appealing actually, but thats the risk you take with mussels. Claire explained that it depends on what the mussels were eating themselves. These mussels were fresh but were pigging out on something that had a bad texture. Stupid mussels.

   But just as soon as we were complaining about the mussels our Whole Branzini stuffed with fresh herbs came out! What a feast for the eyes. My friend Yui, who is Japanese and whose father eats fish from head to toe, helped me over my fear of eating a whole fish served staring at me. Thanks Yui! 

    The Branzini was unbelievable, so light and flakey, and it really picked up the fresh oregano and rosemary flavors. I was just finished drinking my wine-mojito combo when Claire announced we must drink the Vouvray, another French white from the Louire Valley with the Branzini. And an entire bottle at that! I was food drunk and maybe drink drunk and in no position to say no. The wine went incredibly well with the fish. What a meal this turned out to be. Delicious fish, great wine and my favorite person in the world to share it with: my dear Clarina.  And Yui's dad would be so proud of the way massacred that fish.

 Dessert? No thanks. Backyard mojitos please. And the rest of the evening is a story not fit for this blog...

Who says you can't find nature in Queens?

    My one requirement for moving from Middle Village to Rego Park (I know I am sellout!) was a backyard. The yard in the new place is really nice, and I have a lot of edible plants and herbs growing, a few that were adoptions from the Rooftop Farm. The rain has kept me inside, but has made my garden very happy. Now that it has stopped raining finally (as I write this dark clouds are descending), we can enjoy some dining al fresco. 

The first outdoor dining experience was the Farm Fresh Local Breakfast, which featured all local CSA and Farmer's Market food, but that didn't last very long because by the time we finished the last of the bacon we were blistering in the sun. So I just got an umbrella and we had our first special guests Mo and Yelena over for a mostly local impromptu al fresco dinner. I made some couscous seasoned with turmeric, cumin, fresh basil, parsley and pignola nuts. The kale, from the Woodside CSA and the star of the show, was sauteed in butter (that'll do it), fresh garlic, peperoncino and toasted pignola nuts. The round zucchini, which I got at the Unfancy Food Show from the Queen's Farm stand, was made the old fashioned Stewed Zucchini way, and the chicken sausage was from Trader Joe's. (I the sausage is not local and probably not humane, but Yelena is with child and I felt it was only right to give her some protein.)

   For dessert I whipped up a variation on Strawberry Shortcake, inspired by Jennie's Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes. I cut up some local strawberries and marinated them in sugar, fresh mint from the yard and lemon juice. Then I made whipped cream with sugar and some lemon zest and I used a store bought Angel's Food Cake (from Trader Joe's) as the shortcake. 

   While we were dining a gigantic raccoon ran over the garage roofs in the back! It was bigger than "C" my twenty pound cat. He is getting vaccinated for rabies this week. We also saw a few field mice scurry in the plants. (there are no rats in Queens!) Field mice are so little and cute. 

    And while tending to my parsley I bumped into this gorgeous caterpillar. I should be mad at him because he is single handedly eating all my greens, but he looks too much like a cartoon character. Who says you can't find nature in Queens? Maybe my dream to be a wildlife photographer will pan out afterall. (Wait, I just had a flash back of the Wild Turkey Attack, so I will just keep food blogging!)

WAFA'S MEDITERRANEAN KITCHEN

     One of my all time favorite lunch spots in Queens is Wafa's Mediterranean Kitchen. When you walk into the warm inviting shop right off of Metropolitan Ave in Forest Hills, you literally walk into a kitchen with a tiny dining area and you feel right at home. Wafa, who is the owner and authentic Lebanese chef could not be more friendly, gracious and accommodating. She opened up the shop within the past year, but from the flavors you can tell she has been making these dishes for a long time. Wafa came to the United States thirty years ago and has been cooking these delicious dishes she learned from growing up in her mother's kitchen for just as long. Finally, convinced by her friends whom she had been cooking for all that time who saw her potential and promised their support, she opened up her own shop right in her own neighborhood. Everyone who walks in is a friend, and Wafa knows everyone by name. Every time we sit at the windows eating our lunch, there is always a friendly face walking by waving in to Wafa. 

     Everything is so irresistably good at Wafa's from the Hummus to the Rosewater Baklava. I have tried just about everything on the menu. Today I got the Lamb Shawerma, which is fragrantly spiced lamb in a pita, with hummus, pickled vegetables, lettuce and tomatoes. I can never go to Wafa's without having a side of her Mousabaha, a flavorful eggplant stew, with chickpeas, garlic and pomegranate juice. I always look forward to what Mike orders because its just more for me to eat. 

     He ordered the Chicken Shawerma served with Rice and Lentils. Other favorite dishes are a special of Tilapia marinated in a garlic cilantro pistachio sauce, the meat pies, the spinach pies and the cheese pies. The split pea soup is really warm and hearty and the falafel is some of the best in the whole city. And we have never left without having the Baklava or taking some home because we are usually stuffed in a good way. Wafa's Baklava is like no other I have ever had. Its a crunchy yet smooth walnut Baklava flavored with rosewater and orange blossom. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Today we double-desserted and got Wafa's rice pudding, also with rose water and orange blossom and it was delightful. I always leave Wafa's with a smile on my face and a satisfied feeling in my belly, like I just ate a home cooked meal. And thats because I did. 

Wafa's

96-08 72nd Ave

Forest Hills, NY 11375

(718) 263-2757