Columbus Foodie

I moved to Ohio from New Jersey in 1995, but part of me will always consider Jersey home – the whole South Jersey area holds so many memories, and it’s sad to see the landscape change (for the worse, with lots of big box stores replacing Mom & Pop indies) – I used to go back because the area drew me there, but now when I go back, it’s to reunite with friends and family.

Tony and I have been friends since 1991 or so – in the time since I’ve moved, we’ve communicated occasionally. I remember going back to visit him when his dad was still alive, shortly after I got married. Still, it seemed if time and distance had taken us in two separate directions.

That is, until we met up again in person on my last visit back to New Jersey over Thanksgiving 2010. It was as if no time had passed at all, and our friendship picked up where it had left off. We talked for hours, caught up and filled in the blanks. We reminisced about old times. We confided in each other, knowing that each one of us had the other’s back. It was also the weekend of my 20 year high school reunion (more about that and the rest of my trip to NJ later – meant to write about it much, much sooner but ended up getting sick before I could)

It seemed as though I was going to spend Thanksgiving alone – I had made plans to meet up with family, but (no surprise to me) I wasn’t invited to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. I shrugged it off as if I didn’t care, but I felt hurt and alone. Tony and his partner John included both me and my sister Amanda in their holiday celebration. They fed us and welcomed us with open arms and made us feel like family. My family is really dysfunctional – more often than not I’ve been estranged from my parents. But I think that biology shouldn’t dictate family, relationships built on mutual love and trust and inclusion and communication and actions that speak louder than words should. He and his family were there for me in a way that my own family often is not, and for that reason alone, Tony will be always dear to my heart.

This is one of the recipes that he made that day. It’s a little bit different than any other version of deviled eggs I’ve had, but in a good way. These would be great for a spread at any family function, including the upcoming Super Bowl Sunday. I wish I could get him out here to Ohio to celebrate with us – reliving this day to write this entry has me missing him like crazy.

Tony’s Deviled Eggs

12 eggs, hard boiled
4 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 tsp. brown mustard
3 tbsp. relish
1 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
4 tbsp. bacon bits
1 tsp. basil

Separate yolks into a separate bowel, and mash. Add remaining ingredients and spoon or pipe yolk mixture into egg whites. Refrigerate and serve.

I love my sister Maurya’s potato salad (more about that in an upcoming entry) – really, I do. So much so that I will make her recipe 80% of the time we’re having it. However, there’s something about Thurn’s garlic knockers that call out for my Oma’s potato salad. It’s the simplest recipe ever, and everyone who has tasted it has loved it. I’ve remembered it all these years simply because it is so easy and so good. Hopefully, you will love it as well. It uses ingredients that one normally has on hand, and can be whipped up in no time flat.

Oma’s Potato Salad

3 lbs. small yellow potatoes (such as Yukon Golds)
1 small to medium white onion, chopped
Cider vinegar, to taste
Mayonnaise, to taste
Salt, to taste

Place unpeeled potatoes in a pot of boiling water, and allow to boil until just tender but still firm (about 10-15 minutes). When done, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process, and then lay the potatoes on a paper towel to cool down. When cool enough to touch, peel and slice the potatoes into a large bowl. After each pound of potatoes is sliced and layered in the bowl, sprinkle liberally with cider vinegar, one third of the onions, and salt. Add mayo to bowl – you want it to be just enough mayo to hold the salad together, so be careful not to add too much. Check one more time for taste, and add vinegar, salt or mayo as needed to achieve the flavor that you like best. Can be served cold or warm, is great both ways!

There are certain ingredients that tend to show up time and time again in my recipes while they are in season, and one of my favorite ingredients that we use in autumn and winter are apples. Made even better with local Golden Delicious apples (because I tend to cook more often with sweet rather than tart apples, and Golden Delicious are a sweet variety that manages to keep its shape when baked). The caramel in the recipe adds something to the whole thing, as does serving it with a nice big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Caramel Apple Bread Pudding
recipe from What’s Cookin’, Chicago?

5 cups stale bread, cut into 1″ cubes & dried out (challah or gluten free bread)
3 cups apples, peeled and chopped into small pieces
4 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (or half & half)
3/4 cups light brown sugar
1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, diced

Serve/garnish with:
whipped cream
caramel sauce
vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease or spray a 9×13″ baking dish or pie plate with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the dried bread cubes and apples. Transfer to the greased baking dish.

In the same large bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients except for the butter. Pour the mixture over the bread and apples. Push down on the bread cubes to soak in the milk mixture.

Allow the baking dish to sit for at least 30 minutes, up to 24 hours in order for the bread cubes to absorb the milk and egg mixture. If you plan to make this ahead of time and let it sit for up to 24 hours, cover dish with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator.
When the milk and egg mixture has been absorbed, sprinkle the diced butter over the bread pudding and bake in the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes or until the center is set but not dry or burned.

Remove from oven and allow to stand for at least 5-10 minutes before serving. Cut into serving pieces and serve with whipped cream, a drizzle of buttery caramel, or vanilla ice cream… or a combination of these three for something indulgent!

Don’t know how I missed posting this one, but here’s another long lost post of the farmers market in October, 2010. This was right before I got sick, so unfortunately it was pretty much the last market I saw until mid-summer, 2011. Looking at this makes me inspired to make some cold weather dishes that encompass these seasonal ingredients. Keep your eyes peeled for some upcoming posts using these very items…’

I grew up in South Jersey, where everybody was Italian by extension (if you weren’t, you had at least one friend who was and whose parents would unofficially adopt you). My part of Jersey was all but invisible to anyone who lived north of Trenton, so the only time we’d attract the stereotype (see: any one of the douches featured on Jersey Shore) was during the summer. People are surprised when I say I’m a Jersey girl, because I’m the anti-stereotype – no accent to speak of, very Midwestern polite (i.e. I may think it but won’t say it). But we grew up with an old school pizza/pasta/sub shop on just about every block, so I’ve had my share of both good and bad Italian food. This recipe? An example of the good. I was looking for a recipe that would approximate the “Sunday gravy” my friends parents would make – what sets “gravy” apart from “sauce” is the amount of meat in it – this one is a gravy if ever there was one. This is an all day affair, one that many families do every single week. This is definitely a dish you want to make in the winter (because to me, red gravy is one of the cornerstones of comfort food) – mainly because this will heat (and humidify) your kitchen up something fierce. This? One of the better of the recipes I’ve seen over the years. I saw this on a Chowhound board a while back – and the reading through of the initial recipe amused me so much that I left it intact. If I didn’t know any better I would swear that the original poster was channeling just about anyone I ever asked in Jersey for a recipe. I followed the directions to the letter and was quite pleased with the results.

Sunday Gravy
recipe by John Fodera

First thing to note: This is not sauce. This is not marinara. This is gravy and it must be referred to as such. Capisce? Yes it’s red, yes it’s for pasta, but all the meat is what makes it gravy. So…..this is not my recipe for marinara sauce, or sauce with other accoutrements, but this is a recipe for what???? GRAVY….that’s right! Here goes.

First, you need a BAP (Big Ass Pot) The BAP must be at least 10 to 12 quarts or you are in for trouble. I do not recommend making gravy in pots smaller than 10 quarts – you’ve been warned.

Assemble the meat: For this rendition I used the following -

1 lb. chopped beef which yielded about 10 meatballs. If you don’t know how to make meatballs, either get someone to do it for you, stop reading now, or crush up the meat into bits and brown it that way.

4 links of sweet sausage. A good store bought version could work. Jimmy Deans don’t count. If you have an Italian market, get it there. Can also use hot sausage if you like, but be warned, your entire batch of gravy will taste hot if you do – not simply the sausage.

1 package beef short ribs – Probably about 8 ribs in total

1 package pork ribs – Probably about 8 ribs total

3 Osso Bucco Veal Shanks

Modifications: You are free to add brachiole as well, but see meatballs above. Do not use Lamb, do not use chicken and don’t include anything dumb like feet or ham or tripe. Capisce? Do not use carrots, never add sugar, never use red wine, and Good God!! no friggin potatoes!!!

Brown the meat : Get some olive oil going in the BAP and brown all the meat until nicely brown, except for the meatballs . Brown the meatballs separately in a fry pan. When done, set all meat aside.

Now get some garlic and onions going in the pot. I used 12 cloves of garlic (method to calc. later on) and 2 medium onions. If your definition of these items includes the word powder , read no further. Spank yourself with the wooden spoon you should be using and go buy Ragu.

After these items are sweating and or browning a bit nicely, deglaze the pot with a tiny bit of white wine. Probably just a few tablespoons is all that it will take. No 1/2 cup pours allowed here! Now crank the heat!! and boil off all of that white wine flavor.

Return meat to the BAP! – make sure all juices in dish go with the meat. DO NOT put the meatballs in yet.

Now begin the tomatoes – using fresh tomatoes is a waste of time and too much work. Get this martyr crap out of your head! Excellent canned tomatoes are available and should be used. But don’t go buying Hunt’s here either. You need good tomatoes. San Marzano are far and away the best tomatoes you can get. This is not a brand name, but a specific tomato grown in San Marzano, Italy. They are never sour and are always delicious. If you look carefully at the can, it will say somewhere on there “San Marzano”. The brand I always use is Cento . Progresso is good as well although not SM’s. And the organic Muir Glenn are nice too, but also not SM’s and a bit more expensive.

For this you will need 8 35oz. cans of tomatoes – whole, peeled tomatoes, including basil leaf! NO FREAKIN PUREE Capisce? Put the tomatoes into a blender a can at a time and zap them into a liquid. I use the “chop” setting. You don’t want to liquefy them, just mash them into a runny mess! As you mash them up, into the BAP they go. Calc: I figure a clove and a 1/2 of garlic per can of tomatoes.

When done adding the tomatoes, add S&P to taste along with fresh basil leaves (I used about 20) and some dried Oregano. Cover, set on low to medium heat, and begin simmering.

After 2 or 3 hours of simmering, remove the cover from the BAP and get rid of it. Wash it, let your kid use it for a cymbal, just lose it. Cook the gravy for another 4 to 5 hours until it thickens up. Sunday I added two cans of Stop and Shop tomato paste to speed the thickening process along. It’s thick enough when a wooden spoon does not fall when inserted in the center of the BAP. NO SPOONS OTHER THAN WOOD ALLOWED!!! Capisce?

Now, I cooked my gravy Sunday from 9:30 AM (began prep. at 8:00AM) and cooked it until 5:00 PM. All the meat fell off the bones (a good thing) and the gravy had thickened up and reduced by about 3 or 4″ in the pot. Clear so far?

Then just make whatever pasta you like and spoon the glorious concotion over the top. Remove all meat (that can be removed) from the BAP and serve on the side. Meat that stays in the gravy is a good thing. But do remove and discard the bones.

I’m not sure about the rest of you, but I’m a little weird about bananas – I love them, but only really like eating them out of hand if they’re mostly bright yellow with still a little green at the top. Go figure, considering I only really enjoy plantains when they’re really ripe. So a lot of bananas around here end up in the freezer waiting to be made into muffins or cake or some other recipe that calls for the puree of very ripe bananas. This cake recipe, which I happened upon by accident when browsing Recipezaar (now Food.com) a while back, is the best banana cake I’ve ever had and is now my “go to” recipe. So, so moist and delicious. Next time around, I may add a few chocolate chips to the batter.

Banana Sour Cream Bundt Cake
recipe courtesy Recipezaar

1/3 c. butter, softened
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
2 c. flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. sour cream
3/4 c. chopped walnuts

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Stir in vanilla and bananas.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to banana mixture alternately with sour cream. Stir in nuts.
Pour into a greased and floured 10″ bundt pan. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 50 minutes or until tests done with toothpick. Cool, then dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Love what the yogurt does to an otherwise normal lemon cake. Since I don’t really enjoy frosting on any cake I eat, this recipes serves up a perfect balance…

Gateau au Citron (French Style Yogurt Cake with Lemon)
recipe from Orangette food blog

This type of cake is an old classic in France, the sort of humble treat that a grandmother would make. Traditionally, the ingredients are measured in a yogurt jar, a small glass cylinder that holds about 125 ml. Because most American yogurts don’t come in such smart packaging, you’ll want to know that 1 jar equals about 1/2 cup.

For the cake:
1 jar plain yogurt
2 jars granulated sugar
3 large eggs
3 jars unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 jar canola oil
For the glaze:
Juice from 2 lemons
1/2 jar powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, sugar, and eggs, stirring until well blended. Add the flour, baking powder, and zest, mixing to just combine. Add the oil and stir to incorporate. At first, it will look like a horrible, oily mess, but keep stirring, and it will come together into a smooth batter. Pour and scrape the batter into a buttered 9-inch round cake pan (after buttering, I sometimes line the bottom with a round of wax or parchment paper, and then I butter that too).
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cake feels springy to the touch and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake.
Cool cake on a rack for about 20 minutes; then turn it out of the pan to cool completely.

When the cake is thoroughly cooled, combine the lemon juice and powdered sugar in a small bowl and spoon it gently over the cake. The glaze will be thin and will soak in like a syrup.
Serve.

Variations: This type of yogurt-based cake is a terrific base for many improvisations. For a basic yogurt cake, simply leave out the lemon zest, and do not use the lemon juice glaze. For an almond version, try replacing 1 jar of flour with 1 jar of finely ground almonds. You can also play with adding various fruits (if frozen, do NOT thaw before adding) or nuts, if you like. When I add fruit, I generally pour half the cake batter into the prepared pan, top it with a layer of fruit, and then pour in the other half of the batter, sometimes adding more fruit on the very top.

I haven’t been able to attend Restaurant Week (614 or Dine Originals) in more than a year either because I was in the hospital or just plum couldn’t afford it. My loss, too – I’ve heard stories of many fabulous meals at many fabulous restaurants on a variety of newer food blogs that have started up since my last time covering Restaurant Week. And they’ve picked up the slack quite nicely, as their entries had me yearning for meals that I missed. But I’m back, baby, and I’m really hungry.

I’ve been missing Spagio’s goulash for ages. They took it off the menu a few years ago, and other than a seasonal reappearance a while back (of which I had none, because I didn’t make it there in time), we’ve been reliving that particular meal time and time again in the interim. So, having said that, the goulash (which appears on this week’s Restaurant Week menu) was what drew us in this time around. About Restaurant Week: 614 Magazine’s version of the concept encompasses a wide variety of chains *and* independents, at many different price points ($15-35 per person) for 3-4 courses. Spagio’s menu is somewhere in the middle with 3 courses for $25. And well worth it, too – given the amount and quality of the food.

We got there when they opened to a very empty restaurant. One of the waiters joked that even though they’ve been busy all week, today was particularly dead because it seemed as though Columbusites have forgotten how to drive in snow. I actually enjoyed getting there and not having the place be as packed as it usually was on my last few visits. Our waiter brought us out a nice basket of crusty rolls, which were fantastic with a bit of butter – you can opt for olive oil if butter isn’t your thing.

For my appetizer, I chose the Prince Edward Island Mussels, which were steamed in a cast iron cocotte with a heady broth of smoked bacon, white wine and cream. The combination of flavors was outstanding – the juices released by the mussels made for a great “pot liquor” (so to speak) and they were cooked perfectly. Easily one of the best preparations I’ve ever had of the dish. The number of mussels given were quite substantial, and it took me a while to finish them.

P. (not a mussel fan) went with the Minestrone Soup – nothing about it stood out, really – it was solid interpretation of a classic recipe.

About the goulash – while the flavor of the dish was just as we remembered, there were a couple of things about the preparation that were a little less than perfect: namely, a small puddle of oil near the bottom of the dish, and a few tough beef cubes (while others in the same pot were melt in your mouth tender). Still, it’s a dish we would order again because despite its inconsistencies, it’s still a stellar dish. P., especially, used the rest of the crusty rolls to mop up the flavorful gravy.

For dessert, P. chose the multi-layered Chocolate Pot au Crème, a nice take on the recipe which topped a rich chocolate pudding with a layer of Crème Anglaise and whipped cream. It was rich enough that we were able to happily share it. Because of the way it is prepared, this is one dessert you’ll want to eat in-house.

I chose the Cherry and Cheese Strudel, which was a strudel made in the same way that my German great-grandmother used to prepare hers – a flaky, layer upon layer strudel crust, filled with a cherry and cheese combination that didn’t really stand out in its flavors – but isn’t strudel all about the pastry anyway?

We were quite pleased with the attentive and well-paced service, and went home with enough food for me to get another meal out of it (guess who’s having leftover goulash and strudel for a midnight snack tonight?). A great value, as we both left thoroughly stuffed and happy with the overall experience. Definitely worth checking out before Restaurant Week ends this Saturday night. Just be sure to make reservations if you’d like to check it out, given that Fridays and Saturdays are usually very busy for restaurants in Grandview.

If you’d like to go: Spagio, 1295 Grandview Ave., Columbus 43212, 614-486-1114. More information on other restaurants participating in Restaurant Week Columbus (along with their menus) can be found on their site.

If you’re in the mood for soup (to warm you up on an icy winter day, natch) but not in the mood for an expensive, time consuming, heavy stew, then consider this super simple (and budget conscious) soup that is a hit with kids and adults alike. We like to make it a bit healthier (not that it isn’t well-balanced already) by using lean ground beef or ground turkey and protein-enriched pasta (like Barilla Plus). I’m sure Italian sausage (sweet or hot, chicken or pork) would work just as well in this recipe. We also like to grate fresh Parmesan into it. Consider this one of those recipes that is a template, and adjust it to your own family’s tastes.

Beefy Tomato Pasta Soup
recipe courtesy Quick Cooking magazine

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
2 medium green peppers, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 medium onions, cut into chunks
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 to 6 cups water
2 cans (14.5 oz. each) Italian diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
1 tbsp. brown sugar
2 to 3 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
2 cups uncooked spiral pasta
Croutons (optional)

Directions:
In a Dutch oven, cook the beef, green peppers and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic, cook 1 minute longer. Drain. Add the water, tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Add pasta.

Cook for 10-14 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally. Serve with croutons if desired. Yield: 10 servings (about 2-1/2 quarts).

Nutritional Analysis: One 1-cup serving (prepared with lean ground beef; calculated without croutons) equals 207 calories, 5 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 17 mg cholesterol, 718 mg sodium, 28 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 13 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 meat.

When the farmers markets started up for the season, I unfortunately was still in the hospital being weaned off a ventilator and hopelessly weak (I couldn’t even sit up without toppling over). Going to the farmers market is the one thing that grounds me, no matter how frenetic the rest of my life is at any given time. It’s a yearly ritual that I hadn’t missed for years. Paul did a great job going to the markets for me, taking plenty of pictures, and bringing me fresh fruits and veggies (btw, a quick shout out to the folks at Select Specialty Hospital is in order – they were so great in adjusting my meals to make things that I could tolerate eating – their veggie omelet (which included whatever fresh veggies they had laying around, along with some nice melty cheese) is one of my fond memories of that time. The other biggie? The shampoo cap that was super relaxing – go figure.

I’m planning on attending the first markets of the year later this spring. Going without asparagus and morels and ramps and other spring goodies had me a little bit down, as did not being able to plant or tend to my garden. This year, nothing will keep me from picking up where I left off before I got sick. All of these pictures were taken at the North Market, if my memory serves right.

So, as the temperature plummets tonight and a little bit of snow falls, look at these pics as a reminder of what’s to come in just a few short months…what spring rituals are you most looking forward to?