An Ethiopian Feast at Abyssinia

The bunch ventured up to Harlem to experience an Ethiopian feast at this charming little hole in the wall called Abyssinia. 

Our great experience included vegetable and meat sambusas.  Triangular, fried pockets filled with lentils or ground beef.

The sambusas were not greasy, hot and crispy on the outside and the lentils had good flavor, nicely accented by the spicy red sauce.  I find that anything fried, wrapped in crispy fried dough is delicious. Empanadas, potstickers, eggrolls, you name it, I love it.

Then a few extra large platters filled the tables!

The platters had a variety of meats, which included tibs (spiced, sliced beef), doro wat (chicken simmered in Berbere sauce) and everyone's favorite, yebeg alicha (lamb cooked in butter with onions and green peppers).

There were a variety of vegetables on the platter, like beets, greenbeans, chopped onions, pureed chickpeas, and collard greens.

The platters were accompanied by freshly made injera, thin, slightly sour, spongy crepes, used to pick up items from the platter.

A few platefuls of injera later, our chicken was picked clean!

Our gracious chef showed us the teff flour that is used to make the injera, imported from Ethiopia.

And then she invited us into the kitchen to see how it was made !  (I love kitchen invites !)  The teff flour is just mixed with water.

And then poured onto large hot plates.  She pours the teff flour mixture onto one side of the plate.

And then tilts the plate down to have the mixture glide to all the edges.

The injera takes only minutes to bubble up and cook.  The chef then swiftly lifts the injera off the plate with a straw disc and glides it to the side to cool before serving.

I couldn't imagine a more gracious and welcoming restaurant for the students to experience their first Ethiopian meal.  The restaurant is warm, the food is good, and quite light on the wallet !

Abyssinia
221 W 116th
New York, NY

Blue Smoke BBQ Brunch !

Recently, the gang brunched at Blue Smoke, a Danny Meyer restaurant specializing in barbecue from all the popular BBQ nexuses of the nation, including Texas (yeehaw !), North Carolina, Kansas City and Memphis.

We ordered a slew of appetizers including spicy cheesy fries with crispy but tender fries topped with a cheesy goo in addition to homemade  barbecue chips, heavily dusted with paprika and scarlet spices, served with a creamy blue cheese and bacon dip as well as a healthy side of macaroni and cheese.

For entrees, some students ordered dishes from the brunch menu in addition to the regular lunch menu, with large plates of eggs benedict, ribs, sausage, brisket, pulled pork and roast chicken filling our shiny, wooden tables. I ate the eggs benedict, which consisted of slices of smoked pork belly, poached eggs and Texas toast.

It was satisfying, as any perfectly poached egg would be, and the buttery Texas toast was a nice touch, but the dish was not particularly distinctive, even with thick slices of smoky pork belly.

Dessert was a highlight of the meal for most.  Large ice cream sundaes arrived at the table, thick slices of banana cream, and mini bundt lemonade cakes with thick blueberry sauce.  I enjoyed the bright citrusy flavors of the lemonade cake, but it was a bit plain compared to the stellar, fresh banana cream pie, which was less of a cream pie and more like delicious chunks of sweet bananas topped with a heavy layer of whipped cream.  It was quite delightful.

After gorging ourselves on America's greatest cuisine, we were treated to a guided tour from the head chef smoker of their ovens as well as their woodburning furnace.  It was a fun way to learn how they continuously smoke racks of ribs for 18 hours, and learn about the types of wood they used in the furnace to create their signature smoke flavor. 

Upon leaving, I saw a member of the kitchen staff carrying a huge tray of fried chicken which looked pretty stellar.  I might have to return to see what that's all about.  Aaaand eat a fat slice of banana cream pie !

Blue Smoke
116 E 27th St
New York, NY

An Afternoon with Scott's Pizza Tours

A crew of volunteers and students from MS 104 embarked on an adventure last Saturday, with a legendary pizza guide named Scott.

Our adventure began at Keste, a restaurant specializing in Neapolitan style pizza, the oldest style of pizza.

Keste bakes their pizzas in a beautiful, domed, tile-inlayed wood-burning oven that has heat temperatures ranging from 700 to over 1000 degrees.  The fornaio, the gentleman responsible for manning the oven, continually shifts the pizza around the oven in order to leverage the oven's different temperature zones, and to cook the pizza perfectly.  Total cooking time for one pizza is about 1.5 minutes.

Scott told us about the the special 00 grade flour Keste imports directly from Naples for use in their thin and airy pizza dough.

He also educated us on a common pizza-making blunder which involves rolling out the dough.  In order to maintain a light dough that is not tough and dull, you must use your fingertips to lightly push out the dough until it forms a circular width of your liking.  

The result of gentle fingertips and 00 flour yields a silky dough that is quite delicate.

We tried two pies at Keste, one which was the original form of pizza, simply presented as dough, pecorino romano and shards of lard.

The salty and savoriness of the mast'nicola made one forget that there was no tomato sauce at all.  Scott informed us that tomatoes were not brought to Italy until the 1800s, and thus the initial pies were not made with this characteristic ingredient that we all commonly associate with basic pizza.

We also sampled Keste's margherita pizza, featuring fresh mozzarella, basil and cheery tomato sauce.

The addition of fresh tomato sauce lightened the pie considerably, compared to the mast'nicola.  It was fresh and delicious.

I also particularly enjoyed Keste's attention to detail, down to their special curved knives that are designed to not deflate their airy and light crusts.

After, we crossed the street and ventured to John's Pizza, which introduces the state's namesake pizza: the New York pizza slice.

John's is a historic and popular New York style pizzeria, notorious for not serving slices.  One must always order a full pie.

We visited the West Village branch of the restaurant, which was more intimate and charming than its Times Square counterpart, with names of patrons carved into any wooden spot possible.

The pizza at John's is made with inexpensive American ingredients like regular flour and low-moisture mozzarella cheese.

The pizza is cooked in a coal-burning oven and requires about 6-7 minutes to fully cook.

What is notable about John's pizza is that the pie is prepared by pouring the sauce on top of the shredded mozzarella.  The result of this method melds the cheese and sauce uniformly together and avoids major pizza faux pas of massive cheese slippage while eating.

Although I have previously enjoyed John's Pizza years ago, I found I did not enjoy them as much in the present, especially after such a delightfully light pie from Keste.

Finally, we explored a third popular style of pizza called the Sicilian at a place called Ben's Pizza.

We were fortunate enough to visit the pizzeria while the owner was preparing huge bricks of mozzarella cheese to put through their industrial shredder.

We tried this interesting slice called the Palermo, a breadcrumb-laden pizza devoid of cheese, with a flavorful, garlic-infused tomato sauce.  This was a hefty bugger, and though tasty,  is a slice I just do not see myself ordering again soon.

The trio of pizza eateries highlighted a wide spectrum of pizza styles and toppings and was a great inaugural eating adventure for the gang!

Keste
271 Bleecker
New York, NY

John's Pizzeria of Bleecker St
278 Bleecker
New York, NY

Famous Ben's Pizza of Soho
177 Spring St
New York, NY