Travels in the 2nd half

It is holiday party time and that means many of us are reaching for the instant onion soup and sour cream to make dip. I found an excellent and easy replacement - körözött. Körözött is a Hungarian cheese spread. In The New York Cookbook , Molly O'Neill gives a recipe from Andre Balog, manager at Paprikas Weiss, a spice store on the Upper East Side of NYC. This type of cheese dip was common throughout the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. It can be made of a mixture of creamy cheese and goat cheese. Spices are added to give individual taste.   The heart of the dip is a mixture of 8 oz. of cream cheese, 4 oz. of Bryndza cheese and a stick of butter. To this mixture add paprika, onion and caraway seeds. Or mix whatever spices you might like. It is easy, fast and tastes much better that that old sour cream dip. Serve on crackers, or a good, hearty peasant bread. This dip will be the hit of the party.

The origins of saté (or satay) is in Indonesia, Java to be exact, but its roots are in the kabobs brought from the Middle East by Muslim traders. The dish probably started as street food. Today saté can be found throughout Asia from the streets to the finest restaurants. The basics of the dish are pieces of meat that have been marinated, and then cooked on skewers, usually over coals. The meat is served with a sauce, which can be spicy, coconut based, curry based or often a combination of all three. In The New York Cookbook , Molly O'Neill has included a wonderful recipe from Dhanit Choladda. Today Dhanit is the head chef at Thai U.S.A. in Huntington NY. He can to the United States at the age of 19 from Thailand. His recipe uses coconut milk curry and Thai fish sauce as the base of an excellent sauce and marinade that keeps the chicken moist and flavorful. Chicken Saté skewers I made the dish as a welcome home lunch for The Amazing Ms. D , who was coming home after spen...

Fresh Homemade Falafels In 1992, Molly O’Neill released the amazing New York Cookbook . This wonderful tome documented the international flavor of New York City food. The book is as much a research project into the history of New York City and its immigrants as it is a collection of recipes. I have always enjoyed cooking and when I saw the movie Julie and Julia I knew that I had mission for when I retired – to cook through this book. I will not make the promise of cooking ALL of the food presented (I can’ eat eels, or tripe) but I will come close and I will share my results and thoughts here, because my growth in the kitchen is part of my personal travels in the 2nd Half. Moshe’s Falafels Anyone who has been to the Middle East, or just to a middle-eastern restaurant has most likely had a falafel. For those who haven’t, a falafel is a ball or patty made of ground chickpeas with spices. While some places use fava beans, the standard in NYC is chickpeas. According to t...