Lobsters, chickens and clams! Oh, my!

Born in the late 1800s in forges, foundaries and railyards, Newark, New Jersey's Ironbound district is now lined with Portuguese and Brazilian salons, fish markets, pastry shops, churrascarias and sporting goods stores brimming with football gear.

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, we wandered, pointed, peered and purchased olive oil and dried salt cod for later experimentation.

Hungry and tired, we landed at Sagres Bar & Grill (44 Prospect St.), wooed by the promise of beer and sidewalk seating. Unfortunately, beer and sidewalk seating is about all the place has to offer. With a draught beer list mournfully lacking in charm, I settled on the Sam Adams.

We ordered a seafood soup, the clams in cilanrto and garlic and the bacalao in peppers, potatoes and onions. The clams and soup were good, if salty. Sadly, the potatoes and onions turned out to be more interesting than the bacalao.

The kitchen's impulse to fling fresh herbs (parsley and cilantro) was a good move, but across the board, the cooks seem to rely on a one-two punch of chicken stock and salt in place of more carefully nurtured flavor.

The comp breadbasket turned out to be the winner here, full of hearty, chewy slices that enjoyed a good dunk in the seasoned clam juices.

After further reflection and research, I think perhaps Forno's of Spain, Spanish Sangria or Fernandes might have been better choices.

If you're interested in a professionally guided view of the district, my alma mater offers one in November: ICE Ironbound Walking Tour

Would a ceviche in the light of bright day tickle the palate so sweetly?


From the evening's hand-written menu, deftly snatched up and tucked away by my delightful dining companion. Charmingly erratic capitalization and punctuation left intact. Your Hedonista's garden-variety dining annotation included.

The Queen's Hideaway
DINNER: August 26, 2005

MAIN:

1. TART: crab and corn custard with side of smoked cherry tomatoes; bush basil. 12 (ed note: Sprinkled with rock salt. The smoked tomatoes made the dish.)
2. Albacore Tuna ceviche with Avocado, currant tomato & fresh fried tortilla. 12 (ed note: As seen in the photo above. These folks are not afraid of the pepper grinder. Very nicely seasoned.)
3. BBQ Italian Sausage with Flaky Biscuits and savory summer berry compote. 11
4. Buttermilk & chive marinated Flounder filet, coated in cornmeal & fried. With hushpuppies, coleslaw & hideaway hot sauce. 12
5. Fried chicken/salt potato Salad on a bed of mesculin(sic). Sides: sauteed okra & sweet sweet Melon. 11

SIDES & STARTERS:

1. Peaches roasted in duck confit with triple-cream KNNiK(?) cheese. Yes, you really do want this. 5 (ed note: oh.god.yes. But why only half a peach? Still... heavenly.)
2. Heirloom cucumber salad with vinegar & dill. 4
3. White corn on the cob. With butter. 2
4. Bobolink diary stinky cheese plate with chiken paté & beautiful seedless grapes. 5 (ed note: Holy cats! Ah do loves me some stinky cheese!)
5. Jersey maers with butter, chives & sea salt. 3

DESSERT:

1. Golden Peach & Raspberry Pie 5 (ed note: None left. A deep sadness, indeed.)

BEVERAGE:

1. Coconut/Lime Soda 3

[The Queen's Hideaway has A Bottle Fee (ed note: endearingly scribbled heart appears here) ]

The Queen's Hideaway
222 Franklin St (at Green)
Greenpoint, Bklyn
(718)383-2355

No legitimate reason for this post. I just love looking at frisee. It's a silly, fuzzy muppet in a world of staid endive, arugula and romaine. Its existence makes me happy.

What's to be done with three pounds of apricots?

Well, you could eat apricots until you never care to see another apricot again. There's also salads, crisps, tarts, jams, pickles and purées, of course.

But what of chutney? Sweet, savory, spicy and simple. You really can't go wrong with a few pints of chutney stacked in storage. Fantastic straight up on lamb, chicken, pork, salmon or duck, you can thin it a bit for a glaze or a fruit salad drizzle, mix up a tablespoon with a bit of canola oil and cider vinegar for a first-rate vinaigrette. It'd be fun on vanilla ice cream. And oh... paired with cheese. A blue, perhaps? A friendly goat?

Here's my recipe:

Apricot-Ginger Chutney

3 T mustard oil
1.5 T canola oil
1 pasilla chili, torn in half
2 sticks cinnamon
5 star anise
6 oz sweet onion, minced
6 oz fresh ginger, minced
2 cups sake
3 lbs fresh apricots, pitted & quartered
1.5 T ground, dried ginger
1.5 T ground black pepper
1/4 c rice vinegar (or to taste)
3 T brown sugar (or to taste)
0.5 T salt (or to taste)

1. Heat mustard oil in a heavy-bottomed pot until it smokes.
2. Mix in the canola oil to cool it slightly and bloom the chili, cinnamon and star anise (no more than 1-2 minutes).
3. Add in the onion and sweat for 2-3 minutes.
Add in the ginger and sweat 2-3 minutes more.
4. Pour in the sake and add the apricot slices. Simmer until the apricots are tender. (Simmer a bit less if you like a chunkier chutney.) Blend in the pepper and dried ginger.
5. Strain the mixture through a colander, reserving juices. Pick out the spices and discard. Transfer reserved juices back to the pot and reduce, stirring occasionally, until thick and bubbly (about 15-20 minutes).
6. Taste the thickened chutney liquid, adjusting the acid-sweetness-salt balance with rice vinegar, sugar and salt.
7. Incorporate the apricot pulp in the colander into the liquid in the pot. Transfer to sterilized jars (if you're canning), or cool mixture and transfer to prepared pint containers (for short-term refrigeration or longer-term freezing).

Makes enough to fill three pint containers. Takes around an hour from start to finish.

Initially, I assumed Rocambole was strain of garlic. As it turns out, I was wrong. It's a variety. What does that mean? Think back to Biology 101. Rocambole just indicates a particular type of hardneck garlic. Porcelain and Purple Stripe are the other hardnecks. The softneck garlic varieties are Artichoke or Silverskin. Distributed between the Porcelain, Purple Stripe, Rocambole, Artichoke and Silverskin are more than 300 different garlic strains that vary in color, shape, size, scent and flavor.

With hundreds of identified strains of garlic, isn't it pretty pathetic that we only see the softneck silverskin variety and that charlatan "Elephant garlic" in stores?

A sample of the bulbs in the photo above (from the Union Square Farmers' Market in Manhattan) demonstrated rich flavor, beautiful aroma and a nicely peppery bite at the finish. Best garlic in the known universe? Might be. You won't get any argument from me.

Here's more info than you'll probably ever need to know about garlic: Garlic Gal

Yes, sir. It's a burlap sack of corn next to my desk.

The boss, demonstratively gleeful.

My office often produces blaring false fire alarms. Sometimes it produces actual fire alarms. Once in a while, it produces clouds of poisonous ammonia gas, and sometimes they clean the grease traps. I really can't begin to describe how ghastly a large grease trap smells if you've never had the pleasure.

So why do I stick around? Occasionally my office produces something joyous. Sometimes, there's sweet corn so fresh, it's less than 120 minutes away from the field where it was picked. Sweet corn so juicy, so prime, you don't even have to heat it. The sugars haven't yet turned to starch.

Shuck an ear, lean over the cubicle trash bin, close your eyes, take a bite and pretend you can't hear the fire alarms sounding. Again.

A top-secret dispatch from O. — one of our agents in the heartland:

"I almost called you on Saturday.

If I had my cell phone with me would have.

We went to the XXXXX Farmers’ Market, and I found a lovely little cheese stand.

They were selling raw sheep’s milk cheese, but to get around “the law” they were selling it as “fish bait”.

There was even a sign stating how it was illegal to sell as cheese, so they had to sell it as fish bait.

I bought some on principle.

Thought you would like to know."

Inform the underground... Viva La Revolución!