Oh Danny boy, get your dinner here!

03/13/2009

Just like Thanksgiving turkey, it’s a shame that corned beef and cabbage is a dish we eat just once a year. Delicious braised beef that has been spiced and brined, served with tender white cabbage and potatoes…this is good food! Start with a sharp Irish cheese and a good glass of stout, there’s no reason to go out and fight the drunks crowds.

Niman Ranch Uncured Spiced Corned Beef Brisket. Uncured means no nitrates: Niman uses celery powder as a curing agent. Here are the ingredients: water, sea salt, celery powder, natural flavoring, lactic acid as a starter. Brand X Corned Beef ingredients: water, salt, sugar, monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed soy protein, garlic, vinegar, sugar, sodium erythorbate (keeps it pink), sodium nitrite and flavorings. So for a once a year treat, buy Niman. $7.99/lb, 2-4 lbs. We are taking orders, call 303 894-9499 soon!

The kitchen will have a traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner ready to heat-and-eat; and colcannon, an Irish meal of potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and bacon, starting Saturday.

We receive cheeses from Neal’s Yard Dairy, a venerable English producer and distributor of the finest cheeses from the British Isles, all year long. Visit them at their beautiful site http://www.nealsyarddairy.co.uk/ and see why we love them. Neal’s Yard Dairy Irish Cheeses: Cahill’s Irish Porter from Cahill’s farm in Limerick, shot through with dark porter beer, is great looking and delicious too. $18.99/lb.

Ardrahan is hand-made by Mary Burns and family in Duhallow in northwest county Cork.  It’s a semi-soft washed rind cheese with a pungent aroma, a buttery textured honey-colored center, and a complex delicate flavor. $23.99/lb.

Cashel Blue, hand-made by the Grubb family in Tipperary. Creamy, rich, luscious. $22.99/lb.

New!

Whole Wheat Penne Pasta. This is chewier than regular, and really stands up to rich sauces. $3.99. Try a sauce of sautéed chard with pancetta, Haystack goat cheese, a can of stewed tomatoes, walnuts, olive oil and garlic.

Market made cream cheese spreads. Roasted tomato, very veggie, and strawberry spreads will start your day off right, especially with:

H&H Bagels in jalapeno, pumpernickel, whole wheat, sundried tomato, or onion. $6.99/doz. They’ve won Best Bagel for years in NYC, and that’s saying something! Cher likes them too.

For Passover: Streit’s matzos, $5.99; matzo meal, $4.99; and coconut macaroons, $6.29. Streit’s still occupies the same four buildings on Rivington Street where the family started baking matzos more than seventy years ago. And the matzo bakery is still a family business: granddaughters and great-grandsons run the company. Streit’s is the only family-owned and operated matzo company in America!

Come try the new macadamia nut and white chocolate blondies. Gild this lily by adding a layer of raspberry jam. For Pete’s sake, get yourself a big blondie!! $2.99.
 

Frequent Shopper Special:

Plugra Butter, usually $4.49/lb, now $3.99/lb. Plugrá butter contains less water than regular butter. Lower moisture means that cakes will rise higher, cookies will crisp more evenly and pie crusts or croissants will be flakier. A higher butterfat content means that all your baked goods will taste better when baked with Plugrá butter.
A Panini grill in the deli! www.marczykfinefoods.com/blog has the soup of the day and the Panini of the day.

Gluten-Free Products Galore

Frankly, we have been blown away at all the requests we have gotten in the past few months for gluten-free products: more in the last 6 months than in the last 6 years. Clearly, something is going on with American food, we have our theories: http://www.marczykfinefoods.com/blog/. Thanks to our customers Charlotte, Joe, Katy, and Lynnette for suggestions!

Bob’s Red Mill flours to the rescue! Potato flour, $7.69. Garbanzo flour, $3.69. Whole grain rice flour, $3.99. Gluten-free all purpose flour, $5.19. Gluten-free cornbread mix, $3.79. I worked for a caterer in LA once, she was psycho but her veggie fritters were the best! See recipes below.

Tinkyáda brown rice lasagna, $4.99; elbow and spaghetti pasta, $4.49.

Bionaturae GF elbow pasta, penne, and spaghetti, $5.49 each.

Pamela’s cookies in 3 flavors, love the lemon shortbread! $4.69 each.

Udi’s gluten-free white and whole grain bread. $6.49.

Drinking with Pete, March Wine Madness

http://www.marczykfinefoods.com/video7.html
Watch as Pete Marczyk and the Wine Chicks, Ash and Krisana, give you a taste by taste eval of their wicked awesome wines of the month.  Marczyk Fine Wines – No points, no Parker, just people and their palates.

Drinking with Lu and Chris

Open That Bottle Night is a great excuse to go into your basement and pull out that bottle you’re saving for a special event, perhaps one you know darn well will never happen. The 10 anniversary of OTBN was Saturday, February 28, and our friends Lu and Chris sat and ate and laughed for 8 hours, sharing wine and food and stories. Here is a link that works: http://web.me.com/claw55/Site/Blog/Entries/2009/2/28_OTBN_09_1.html

Speaking of wine, we forgot the white wine of the month in the last email. Here it is: Dominio de Eguren Protocolo Blanco 2007. Tierra Castilla, Spain. This is a great looking wine: brilliant yellow with dancing hints of soft green. The pretty nose is rich with aromas of tropical fruit, bananas, green apple and sun ripened peaches and the palate shows soft, silky notes of like fruit, balanced by lively acidity. What a lovely choice for a first day of spring dinner! Regular price: $13.99 - Sale price: $9.99 - Washed Up White case discount price: $8.50.

Recipes

Veggie Fritters with Rice Flour

• 1 lg. carrot
• 1 med. sized zucchini
• 1 med. sized yellow straight neck squash (about 10 oz.)
• 1/3 c. Bob’s Red Mill rice flour
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1 lg. egg
• 1/2 c. salad oil

About 30 minutes before serving: with coarse shredder, shred carrot, zucchini and squash. Pat vegetables very dry with paper towels. In medium bowl, mix shredded vegetables with remaining ingredients except salad oil.
In 10” skillet over medium heat in hot salad oil, gently drop 1/8th of vegetable mixture at a time (1/4 cup) flattening slightly to about a 3” round. Cook 3 fritters at a time, 5 minutes until golden brown, on both sides, turning fritters once. With pancake turner, remove fritters to paper towels to drain. Keep warm on platter while cooking remaining fritters. Yield: 8 fritters.

New England Style Cod and Potato Cakes with Tartar Sauce

• 1 pound skinless cod fillets (approximately 2 to 3 fillets)
• 4 large russet potatoes (about 3 1/2 pounds), peeled
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup coarsely grated onion, squeezed of excess moisture
• 1 teaspoon celery seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Tartar Sauce

Preheat oven to 200°F. Place 2 nonstick baking sheets in oven.

Using box grater or food processor fitted with grating disc, coarsely grate potato and set aside in colander to drain.

In large mixing bowl, lightly beat eggs. Whisk in flour, then add onion, celery seeds, and celery salt. Break cod into small flakes and add to bowl.

Press potatoes to extract as much liquid as possible, then add to bowl. Season mixture with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Using wooden spoon or hands, mix well, but do not overwork.

In heavy-bottomed, 12-inch skillet over moderately high heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter until hot but not smoking. Drop 4 scant 1/4-cup portions of batter into pan and flatten with spatula to form four 3-inch pancakes.

Fry until bottoms are golden-brown, 4 to 5 minutes, then turn over and fry until golden-brown and crisp, an additional 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain; season immediately with salt and pepper. Keep warm on baking sheets in oven while making remaining pancakes.

Using paper towels, carefully wipe out pan. Add 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter and fry 4 more pancakes. Repeat with remaining batter, wiping out pan and adding 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter before each batch.

Serve pancakes hot with tartar sauce.

Curried French Green Lentil (now in bulk) and Swiss Chard Stew with Garbanzo Beans

(Of course the Marczyk’s would not shy away from adding a nice sautéed sausage of your choice also).

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 5 teaspoons curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 5 C vegetable broth
• 1 large bunch or 2 small bunches Swiss chard, tough stalks removed, coarsely chopped (about 12 cups)
• 1 pound lentils (about 2 1/4 cups)
• 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
• Plain yogurt

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté until golden, about 13 minutes. Mix in curry and cayenne. Add broth and chard. Increase heat; bring to boil. Add lentils and garbanzos; reduce heat to medium.

Cover; simmer until lentils are tender, stirring twice, about 15 minutes. Divide stew among bowls. Top with yogurt.