Sandy disrupts best-food routes

Hurricane Sandy's flood waters swamped restaurants in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

Applebee's was one of the few restaurants on Emmons Avenue that re-opened.

In my travels around the metropolitan area, I often look for the best food rather than the shortest or most-scenic route.

That was the case on Friday, the 18th day since Hurricane Sandy hit New York and New Jersey.

On the way to John F. Kennedy International Airport, I took the Belt Parkway's Knapp Street exit, my heart set on a dozen fresh clams on the half shell in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brookyn.

My first stop was Randazzo's Clam Bar on Emmons Avenue, but in the parking lot, a man who appeared to be the owner said the restaurant was closed and in need of repair.

And all of the other seafood restaurants also were closed, as I learned as I drove around the neighborhood, finding dark traffic lights, police officers directing traffic, and debris and garbage bags piling up on sidewalks.  

One of the few places that took several feet of water, but had been repaired, was Applebee's at 2505 Emmons Ave., so I stopped there for a small bowl of tomato-basil soup ($4.99) and a cup of black coffee.

When the waiter told me the soup was tomato-basil, I asked if it contained cream. He wasn't sure. But he said if I liked marinara sauce, I would like the soup.

The soup was tasty, but nothing like pasta sauce. 

 

Pears evoke fall colors at DePiero's Farm in Montvale.

DePiero's makes its own marinara and vodka pasta sauces, top shelf.

Earlier in the day, on a visit to Montvale, I made sure to stop at DePiero's Farm.

I picked up shallots ($2.59 a pound), sweet potatoes (99 cents a pound) and fresh, untrimmed green beans ($2.49 a pound).

DePiero's Farm, 300 W. Grand Ave., 

Montvale; 201-391-4576.

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I'll always remember Sandy

For breakfast on the last of five days without power in Hurricane Sandy's wake, I warmed up grilled sweet potatoes and an omelet with pesto, even though I had made them the day before and, without refrigeration, left them out in a covered pan all night.

Using a battery powered lantern, we grilled sweet potatoes, above, and used liquid egg whites to make omelets on our gas stove, below. We could light the stove with a match.

The hurricane hit on Oct. 29 and we got power back on  Nov. 3, but Internet, TV and our land-line telephone weren't restored for another two days.

A tree fell in Brooklyn (President Street).

A restorative meal of sushi at Baumgart's in Englewood.

Fried oysters, above, and mussels, below, at Legal Sea Foods in Paramus.

North Woodland Street in Englewood.

The one gas line I waited on in Teaneck was only a half-block long.

There's nothing like a great salad to give you a nutritional lift.

I celebrated the return of electricity and my birthday on Nov. 4 with a lavish, four-course seafood meal at Marea on Central Park South in Manhattan, which showed few outward signs of the hurricane that flooded parts of the island.

The Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Subway riders got updates on the restoration of service.

Dinner for one on Central Park South.

In Hackensack, a tree landed on the hood of a car.

Super spicing your home-cooked meals

Fresh Icelandic haddock coated in spices and served with mashed sweet potatoes.

The spice mixture after I added a couple of ounces of Aleppo red pepper.

It didn't take long after our power was restored to shake off Hurricane Sandy, restock the refrigerator and freezer, and get back into preparing quick, nutritious meals at home.

Instead of huddling around the gas fireplace, we've resumed gathering for good breakfasts and dinners in our cozy kitchen.

One of the items I had almost ran out of before the storm hit Oct. 29 was a mixture of bread crumbs and ground spices I've been using for years to coat fish fillets, chicken, pork or beef before baking or roasting them in the oven. 

This is no-recipe cooking at its simplest and quickest, with the juices from the fish or meat rejuvenating the ground spices.

This week, I searched our cupboards and freezer for  spices -- new and old -- and combined them in a big plastic tub stained from all the ground red pepper it has held. 

I decided to streamline the ground-spice mixture by eliminating the bread crumbs and using many more spices than the ones I've long favored from Wick Fowler's 2-Alarm Chili Kit, which I would mail-order  by the case.

Post-Sandy breakfasts included callaloo and saltfish with sweet plantains and boiled green banana, above, and organic eggs with whole-wheat pasta and sardines, below.

I didn't discriminate between new bottles of spices and the old ones I found in the back of the closest, refrigerators or freezer.

I started with Organic No Salt Seasoning, Garlic Powder, Red Pepper Flakes, Ground Black Malabar Pepper, Dried Onion Flakes and other spices from Costco Wholesale.

I found a couple of old containers of Jamaican and Indian curry powders, Chinese Five Spice Powder and White Pepper; Corrado's Ground Ginger and Dried Mint Leaves. 

Korean Red Pepper, Cayenne Pepper and Ground Saigon Cinnamon also went into the mix. I didn't add salt, but had some spice mixtures with salt to add to the plastic tub. 

I can't think of any ground spice that wouldn't be appropriate for the Super Spice Mixture, and you can just continue to replenish the container as you use the mixture. 

For example, you can add a couple of ounces of ground cumin, which is what I did today.

I used the spice mixture to coat fresh, wild-caught haddock fillets from Iceland that I found at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack for $7.99 a pound.

I unwrapped the tray of fish, ran it under tap water, cut it up into smaller pieces and coated both sides with spices in the container, which I keep in the refrigerator.

Or you can spread the spices on a plate and coat the fish that way.

The fillets were ready after about 20 minutes at 350 degrees, and I served them with mashed sweet potatoes and wedges of lime.  

The heating system at the Little Ferry H Mart was broken today.

My wife went to Costco Wholesale in Hackensack today and Tuesday, and I shopped today at the ShopRite in Hackensack and H Mart in Little Ferry, a Korean supermarket, which had lights but no heat.

At Costco, a 10-pound bag of sweet potatoes from North Carolina was $5.99, 10 pounds of organic carrots were $7.99, a 1-pound package of Kirkland Signature Smoked Wild Alaskan Salmon was $15.39.

A 2-pound package of Jarlsberg Light sliced, reduced-fat cheese was $9.99, and 3 pounds of sodium-free California almonds I roast at home were $12.99.

At H Mart, a 15-pound bag of California-grown Kukuho Yellow Label Rice was on sale for $9.99. Other sale items were frozen Greenshell Mussels for $5.99 and a large bunch of fresh spinach for 99 cents.

At ShopRite, I bought the last three packages of antibiotic-free Readington Farms chicken legs and thighs for $1.89 a pound.

Now, the house is filled with the aroma of Curry Chicken.

But I'll be content with whole-wheat rigatoni in bottled marinara with added anchovies, which cook away but leave behind a robust taste; steamed spinach and a salad.   
  

 

Today, this omelet was made with Manchego cheese I didn't throw away.

After Hurricane Sandy knocked our power out on Oct. 29, we could still cook on our gas stove by igniting it with a match.

So, we cooked and ate what we could, supplemented by prepared food from Whole Foods Market; gave away a  lot of items from the freezer and threw away food.

But I didn't discard Tropicana orange juice in sealed cartons; Manchego, grated Pecorino Romano and another hard cheese; two jars of kimchi, olives, capers in brine, homemade pesto, ground spices, bread and tortillas. 

A celebratory meal at a temple of seafood

Crudo Al Taglio or sliced, raw fish at Marea in Manhattan.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

The menu at Marea offers an incredible variety of fresh seafood.

In fact, during a celebratory meal at the fine-dining Italian restaurant in Manhattan, I saw listings of fish I have never heard of, including Japanese greenling and Pacific parrotfish.

Marea means "tide," and I was delighted with what swam my way during a four-course, prix fixe dinner to celebrate my birthday on Sunday ($97).

I started with Lancia or raw Hawaiian blue marlin with sturgeon caviar in mussel vinaigrette, and the chef added a gift of Passera or raw Long Island fluke with lemon, caper and mint.

The fresh fish literally melted in my mouth.

House-made squid-ink pasta with sepia and other seafood.

   


All pastas are hand made in-house, and even the words in Italian make my mouth water: "Pasta fatta in casa."

For a second course, I chose Garganelli or squid-ink pasta with sepia, shrimp, scallops and butternut squash. 

The firmness of the pasta contrasted with the tenderness of the rich seafood. 

Roasted Alaskan Halibut with toasted kale and pomegranate seeds.

 

My entree of Ippoglosso or Roasted Alaskan Halibut was perfectly cooked. The thick, snowy fillet was moist and delicious. 

I don't eat meat, but missed mention on the menu that pancetta or cured pork belly was included in the dish, and had to weed out four or five small pieces.

For dessert, I had the Tasting of Three Cheeses -- variously made from buffalo, cow, sheep and goat milk -- the perfect end to the meal.

I nursed a glass of prosecco, a sparkling dry white wine, until the end of the meal ($11).
 

The final course was a Tasting of Three Cheeses.

 

I was offered complimentary petits fours, but had already broken my diet by eating lots of bread crusts with olive oil, so I asked the server to take them away. 

My no-bread, no-pizza, no-dessert diet has been so successful I was able to wear a sport jacket that was made for me 22 years ago.

I was surprised and disappointed not to see a salad listed on the menu, nor was I offered one, even though Italians usually end their meals that way.

The service at Marea is excellent, thanks to a big staff of captains, waiters and servers/bus boys, as well as a wine steward.

The young wine steward discussed whites with the couple on my left, and I noticed he was somewhat disheveled, with a mismatched suit jacket that was too small for him, a short beard and a shock of dark hair.

The servers describe each dish as they put it down in front of you, but sometimes, I couldn't understand their heavily accented English, and had to ask them  to repeat themselves.

The dining room at Marea echoes with the chatter of contented diners.

I dipped bread crusts in fruity extra-virgin olive oil.

A gift from the chef made from butternut squash, razor clam and frisee.

The drive into Manhattan was easy, and sidewalks around the nearby Time Warner Center were full of people enjoying the final hours of the weekend. 

There were only a few signs that Super Storm Sandy hit six days before, but streets were closed around the construction crane that broke atop at a 75-story building on West 57th.

I arrived early for my 6:30 p.m. reservation, and was seated next to a young Korean-American couple who spoke in California-accented English about celebrating "2 years together."

"Can you believe 2 years have gone by already?" he said.

"It seems longer," she replied.

Later, she brought up another woman he had dated, but he protested that was for only 3 months. She reminded him the relationship had lasted 8 months.

Meanwhile, I had a nice conversation with the young couple on the right, discussing food blogging and food safety.

Dinner at Marea was my fourth heart-healthy seafood meal in three days -- each one a small victory over harmful animal fats.

I had lunch at Seafood Gourmet in Maywood and dinner at Baumgart's in Englewood on Friday, and dinner at Legal Sea Foods in Paramus on Saturday.

I left Marea, wearing a warm overcoat and a fedora, and strolled over to the Time Warner Center, where I took the elevator to the fourth floor and the entrance to Per Se.

I'll return to Marea, of course, but looking over the menu offering a multi-course tasting meal for $295, including service, I thought Per Se would be a great place for my next birthday.

 

The entrance to Per Se in Manhattan.

 
 

Marea, 240 Central Park South, New York, N.Y.; 212-582-5100. 

Web site: Delights from the seven seas
 

With lights back on, time to restock

The prepared foods section at Whole Foods Market in Paramus fed thousands of nearby residents who lost their power in Hurricane Sandy.

The lights came on again Saturday night -- five days after Hurricane Sandy walloped North Jersey, cutting down trees and power lines, and diminishing our sense of security.

This morning, I continued the job of throwing away food from the freezer, including vegetable burgers, falafel, fish sticks, crab substitute and organic mixed vegetables.

I drank fresh-brewed coffee, but without milk, and had nothing for breakfast except Fuji apples, Manchego cheese and fig marmalade.

So, I had an apple and cheese with tea and orange juice from a sealed container.

Then I dashed out to Costco Wholesale in Hackensack for organic milk, carrot juice, salad mix and eggs; non-fat Greek yogurt with fruit, bananas, liquid egg whites and beefsteak tomatoes.

My salad at Whole Foods Market cost less than $5. The store asked customers not to charge mobile devices, because it was operating on a generator "with limited power."

 
On Saturday night, I had a quick dinner at Legal Sea Foods in Paramus: beautifully fried oysters and seaweed salad ($10.95) and a bowl of mussels with a garlicky broth ($10.95), washed down with a flight of red wine ($9.95).

I was rushing to make a movie, "Cloud Atlas," which proved so incomprehensible and trite I left early.

The crowd at the AMC Theaters was manageable, in contrast to past Saturday nights, and the same was true at Costco today.

I guess the lines for gasoline are a blessing in disguise.

Earlier Saturday, I drove over to Whole Foods Market in Paramus for a big, delicious salad and a great cup of coffee.

The seating area was full of shoppers who had lost power, and they related their experiences to one another.

I asked a priest at the next table for divine intervention, and that night my power was restored.

Seeking comfort food in the storm

Two fresh eggs poach in bubbling-hot soft-tofu stew.

Without lights or heat for two days, my thoughts turned to hot, comforting food.

So we jumped into the car on Wednesday night and drove through darkened streets to have dinner at a Korean restaurant in Palisades Park that serves the ultimate comfort dish: a bubbling stew of soft tofu and seafood perfect for poaching an egg or two.

When the yolks were soft boiled, I transferred one to my bowl of white rice, broke it and really enjoyed the rich, silken taste combination.

A seafood pancake and dumplings.

Side dishes include highly spiced raw squid, front.

We also ordered a seafood-and-vegetable pancake and dumplings, far more food than usual, as if we were trying to stuff down our anxiety and uncertainty over when we'd get our power back.

Many of our favorite restaurants in Hackensack, where we live, have been closed since Super Storm Sandy hit New Jersey on Monday.

At home, I've been making omelets with the last of the whole eggs or egg whites.

On Thursday night, we gave away most of the meat, ravioli and other food in our freezer to a family friend in another town who never lost power.

We filled two paper grocery bags with uncured hot dogs and bacon, grass-fed Australian beef in Korean marinade, lobster ravioli and tortellini,
ackee, rice pudding and sweet peppers (the last two from the fridge).

An omelet with sun-dried tomatoes, cheese and pesto.

This morning, by lantern light, I prepared an egg-white omelet with reduced-fat cheese, sun-dried tomato and pesto.

I also grilled sweet potato disks on our gas stove, which we can light with a match.

On Thursday night, I was comforted by a delicious salad of fresh organic kale, spinach, sugar-snap peas, tomato and other items in extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar at Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

My salad cost only $4.55.

My wife had chicken wings, stuffed grape leaves and other hot food, and we brought home similar takeout for our teen-age son and my mother-in-law, small meals that ran $6 to $8.

We're starting to empty the freezer

Sweet potatoes on a stove-top grill.

In our third day without power, we've started to cook food from our freezer.

Breakfast this morning was lobster bisque from Costco Wholesale with added langostino tails.

We also shared Denver Eggs and Whole Wheat French Toast from the hot breakfast bar at Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

On Wednesday, we drove to Palisades Park for dinner out at So Gong Dong, our favorite Korean soft-tofu restaurant.

On the way home from Whole Foods today, I saw a 2-block-long line of cars at a Shell station in Maywood, presumably drivers who didn't bother filling up before Hurricane Sandy hit on Monday.

New York Public Radio is calling the hurricane "Super Storm Sandy."

After the lights went out, plenty of anxious eating

With the power out, we cooked by lantern light.

A super storm hit North Jersey on Monday with powerful winds that cut down trees and power lines, shutting restaurants and supermarkets.

Suddenly, food became one of the few comforts in homes without lights or heat.

Grilled cheddar cheese and bacon for my teenage son. a carnivore.

I've been eating anxiously, allowing myself bread and other food that haven't been part of my diet for a couple of years.

In an effort to use what fresh food we have rather than throw it out, I ate three bowls of bran flakes in a row with lactose-free milk, then had a cup of cocoa with more of the milk.

Finally, this morning, I threw out the rest of the carton.

I cooked the last two organic eggs before they spoiled.

In an elevator at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center today, a doctor who had lost power in the storm bought a comforting slice of dark-chocolate layer cake she conceded she probably wouldn't eat in normal circumstances.

I had more bread today, making a cheese omelet sandwich for my wife and eating half of it.

On Tuesday, the day after we lost power, I made a canned fish salad sandwich on a large doughy roll I ate routinely when I was 40 pounds heavier.

I felt much better, then was flooded by guilt.