The Second Avenue Deli Cookbook (20 page)

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Authors: Sharon Lebewohl

BOOK: The Second Avenue Deli Cookbook
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1. Using your hands, thoroughly mix beef, veal, and matzo meal in a large bowl. Add all other ingredients except flour and corn oil, and, still using your hands, mix in thoroughly. Pour about ¾ cup flour into a separate bowl. Form meatballs about 1½ inches in diameter, and dredge them well in flour. Heat corn oil in a large skillet, and sauté meatballs until brown and crispy, turning once with a fork (you'll probably have to do this in two batches). Refrigerate meatballs in a covered dish until needed.
FOR THE SAUCE
6 large ripe red tomatoes
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped or crushed fresh garlic
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil
5 sun-dried tomatoes
1 16-ounce can tomato paste
¼ teaspoon sugar
1½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
1. Place tomatoes in vigorously boiling water (enough to cover) for about 40 seconds (until the skin begins to peel), and remove them to a plate. Remove tomato skins under cold running water. Let tomatoes cool. Remove and discard seeds (they add a bitter taste to your sauce).
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet, and sauté onions until brown. At the last minute, add garlic, and brown quickly. Set onions and garlic aside in a large stockpot, including the cooking oil.
3. Blend tomatoes and all other remaining ingredients—except bay leaf, onion-garlic mixture, and meatballs—in a food processor.
4. Pour sauce into stockpot with onions and garlic, add ½ cup water and bay leaf, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
5. Add meatballs to pot, cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Serve with spaghetti or other pasta.

Tzimmes with Meatballs
SERVES
7
Tzimmes
is traditionally served at Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) to symbolize a sweet year ahead. There are infinite varieties, but the most common combine fruits with sweet and/or white potatoes, carrots (the coin-shaped pieces represent prosperity), cinnamon, and prunes. Some versions also feature chicken or beef. In Yiddish, to make a tzimmes means to make a big deal or a fuss over something … or over nothing. Someone complaining about a minor annoyance might be told “So, don't make such a big tzimmes out of it.” Or you might make a big tzimmes over (meaning to honor) an esteemed guest. If you look at the recipe below, you'll see why a tzimmes has come to mean a fuss. It's a complex, multi-ingredient stew, the preparation of which involves a lot of peeling, dicing, and chopping. But the results more than justify the effort.
1 tablespoon corn oil
1 tablespoon schmaltz (use a second tablespoon of corn oil if you don't have schmaltz)
3 cups chopped onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped or crushed fresh garlic
2 cups peeled McIntosh apples, cut into ¾-inch slices, ¼-inch thick
1 cup carrots, diced into ½-inch pieces
2 cups peeled sweet potatoes, diced into ¾-inch pieces
2 cups peeled white potatoes, diced into ¾-inch pieces
1 cup dried, pitted prunes, halved
½ cup fresh pineapple, diced into ¾-inch pieces (if you use canned, make sure it's thoroughly drained)
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups plain chicken soup or stock
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1. Prepare your
meatballs first
. Heat corn oil and schmaltz in a skillet, and sauté onions until browned. Add garlic, and brown at the last minute. Remove with a slotted spoon to a large stockpot, and set aside. In remaining oil (add a little if necessary), sauté apples until they're soft and a light, golden hue. Remove to a small bowl, and set aside on counter.
2. Add all remaining ingredients—except meatballs and apples—to stockpot. Stir well, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
3. Add meatballs, cover, and simmer another 10 minutes. Add apples and stir.
FOR THE MEATBALLS (MAKES ABOUT 20)
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground veal
¼ cup matzo meal
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup clear chicken soup or stock
2 tablespoons ketchup
¼ teaspoon pepper
Flour for dredging
1 tablespoon corn oil
1. Using your hands, thoroughly mix beef, veal, and matzo meal in a large bowl. Add all other ingredients except flour and corn oil, and, still using your hands, mix in thoroughly. Pour about ¾ cup flour into a separate bowl. Form meatballs about 1½ inches in diameter, and dredge them well in flour. Heat corn oil in a large skillet, and sauté meatballs until brown and crispy, turning once with a fork (you'll probably have to do this in two batches). Place meatballs on a flat plate covered with aluminum foil, and refrigerate until needed.

Rozanne Gold's Coffee and Vinegar Pot Roast
SERVES
6
TO
8
Many of my favorite recipes come from community cooks who are never shy about displaying their naïveté. My adaptation of a dish originally known as “Lutheran Ladies Peking Beef Roast” says to “burn on both sides and douse with coffee.” Improbable perhaps, but delicious. (for another
Rozanne Gold
recipe.)
5 pounds chuck roast or bottom round
1 cup white wine vinegar
2 cups strong, hot black coffee
1. Put the meat in a large metal bowl, and pour the vinegar over it. Refrigerate it 24 to 48 hours, turning several times.
2. Remove the meat from the marinade, reserving the vinegar. Pat the meat dry with paper towels, and brown it in a heavy pot until nearly burned on both sides. The meat will generate its own fat.
3. Pour the coffee and 1 cup water over the roast, and scrape up the browned bits with a wooden spoon, incorporating them into the sauce. Add 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns and ½ teaspoon salt. Cover, and cook slowly for 3½ hours, or until fork-tender. Turn several times during cooking. Remove the meat, and keep warm.
4. Add the reserved vinegar, and cook the liquid over high heat until you have about 3 cups. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Thinly slice meat, and simmer in the gravy for ½ hour longer.
Adapted from
Recipes 1-2-3: Fabulous Food Using Only 3 Ingredients
(Viking Penguin © 1996).

Roast Beef
SERVES
8
You can follow this recipe for a roast beef of any size. We like to make a large one, so there are plenty of leftovers for cold sandwiches on rye slathered with mayo or mustard.
1 5-pound roast beef
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons paprika
1½ teaspoons celery salt
3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1. Pat roast dry with paper towels. Combine all remaining ingredients thoroughly, and rub well into the roast beef. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours to marinate before cooking.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place roast, fat side up, in a large roasting pan. Roast meat for 1 hour and 40 minutes (if you use a different-sized roast, allow 20 minutes per pound). This will give you a medium-rare roast like we serve in the Deli. For a rare roast, 16 to 18 minutes per pound will suffice, 25 to 30 minutes for well done.
Note:
The Deli's roast beef needs to be marinated in spices for at least 8 hours in advance of cooking, so plan ahead.

Boiled Beef in a Pot
SERVES
6
4 pounds flanken
10 cups plain chicken soup
2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
3 stalks celery, chopped into 3-inch pieces
2 whole carrots
Salt (the amount will depend on how much salt is in the chicken stock you use; if it's salty, you may not need any)
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ pound egg noodles
1. Place all ingredients, except noodles, in a very large, wide-bottomed stockpot. Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 2 hours or longer, until the meat is fork-tender.
2. While flanken is simmering, cook noodles. Rinse, drain, and set aside.

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