The bread behind the iconic New York City Deli sandwich. It typically contains 20-30% rye flour, fermented with sourdough starter, giving it a subtle tang and malty rye notes, while the wheat flour lends a soft crust and tender, even crumb. Amazing stacked with pastrami, corned beef, or smoked whitefish.
Category: Lunch
The arrival of summer screams for the most classic of all backyard grillable foods – the burger! These buns are quick and easy (25 minutes) to make and keep well in the freezer. Golden brown on the outside, sweet and soft on the inside, these whole grain buns are the perfect base for a classic beef or bean burger, portabella mushroom or grilled chicken breast.
This type of roll was popularized by Italian American immigrants, who filled them with Italian-style cured meats, cheese and pickled vegetable antipasti (like giardinera). The original “Italian” sub inspired many variations that are now famous in their own right, like the Philly Cheesesteak (recipe below!).
Once you master the simple and ancient process of nixtamalization, it’s easy to whip up your own tacos, memelas (see recipe below!) sopes, tamales, or pozole. Warning, once you have the real deal, there’s no going back to the industrialized imitations found all over!
Not only can you make bagels at home; you can make your own lox too! In America, lox is synonymous with smoked salmon, but lox is actually just salt-cured salmon, which is easy to do in your fridge, no fancy equipment required.
Smoked Bluefish is a delicious alternative to cured salmon, and it’s easy to make at home. If you don’t have a smoker don’t worry; smoked salt and your oven make a perfectly good substitute! Tastes great on our ancient grain bagels with capers, onions and cream cheese.
For me, this is true decadence! I rarely deep fry food at home as it is messy and bad for the waistline, but you won’t find this on any menu in new england, so if you want to eat it you’ll have to get out the oil and batter!
Spring pancakes originated in northern China at least 1,500 years ago. Traditionally, they were eaten on the solstice to celebrate the beginning of spring. These chewy little wrappers are also filled and deep fried to make spring rolls.
Fresh milled buckwheat flour imbues these traditional French crepes with a rich, earthy flavor. I first discovered this dish in my early 20s and was immediately in love with the combination of mildly sweet leeks, nutty gruyère and grassy buckwheat.
The buckwheat crepe or “Galette” became common fare in the west of France (Brittany and surrounding areas) in the 14th century when depleted soils struggled to grow wheat (the name buckwheat is a misnomer; it’s actually a seed). Crepes are typically filled with sweet ingredients, but buckwheat’s grassy flavor lends itself particularly well to savory fillings. For something that looks and tastes so fancy, this is actually incredibly quick and simple to prepare.