Read The Second Avenue Deli Cookbook Online
Authors: Sharon Lebewohl
The Second Avenue Deli Cookbook (29 page)
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Turkey Meat Loaf
SERVES
8
8
This lighter, healthier version of meat loaf can be enjoyed hot (perhaps with mashed potatoes and a vegetable), but we prefer to serve it chilled, along with cold cuts and potato salad. It's also a great sandwich filler.
1 cup bread (French or Italian bread, or rolls, with crusts)
1½ pounds raw white-meat turkey
2 coarsely chopped medium onions (about ¾ of a pound)
â
cup chopped carrots
4 eggs, beaten
1½ teaspoons finely chopped or crushed fresh garlic
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Shortening for greasing pan
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut bread into pieces so you can measure about a cup's worth. Sprinkle the bread with water to moisten (don't soak it), and squeeze extra moisture out.
2. In a food processor or meat grinder, fine-grind the turkey meat, onions, carrots, and bread together. Place the mixture in a large bowl.
3. Add eggs, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper. Mix very thoroughly.
4. Grease a 5- by 9-inch loaf pan, at least 3 inches high. Put the turkey meat loaf mixture in the pan, and flatten the top with a spoon. (Alternately, you can form it into a mound, using your hands.) With a knife, score a crisscross design along the top of your loaf.
5. Place the meat-loaf-filled pan in a larger baking pan filled with about ½ inch of water (this will keep the bottom from burning during the lengthy baking process). Place the entirety in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Wrap the top with aluminum foil, and bake 1 hour and 45 minutes more.
PROMOTIONS, PITCHES â¦Â AND PITCHING NO-HITTERS
Sardi's Downtown
Milton Berle at the Deli's opening-night party for Goodnight, Grandpa.
T
HE
L
OWER
E
AST
S
IDE'S
thriving off-Broadway theater scene (La Mama, the Public Theater, et al.), inspired Abe to turn the Deli into “Sardi's downtown”âa venue for cast parties and theatrical celebrations. The first of these, in 1983, was for veteran comedian Milton Berle, then starring in
Goodnight, Grandpa
at a converted Yiddish theater two blocks from the Deli.
The New York Times
noted that Berle had had heartburn twice that week: from critics panning the play and from the cast party for three hundred on opening night at the Second Avenue Deli, where he consoled himself at a lavish buffet of chopped liver, kasha varnishkes, pastrami, corned beef, kreplach, potato knishes, and pigs in blankets. In spite of terrible notices, Berle remained dignified and even gallant: asked to pick his favorite dish, he pointed to his wife, Ruth.
HE
L
OWER
E
AST
S
IDE'S
thriving off-Broadway theater scene (La Mama, the Public Theater, et al.), inspired Abe to turn the Deli into “Sardi's downtown”âa venue for cast parties and theatrical celebrations. The first of these, in 1983, was for veteran comedian Milton Berle, then starring in
Goodnight, Grandpa
at a converted Yiddish theater two blocks from the Deli.
The New York Times
noted that Berle had had heartburn twice that week: from critics panning the play and from the cast party for three hundred on opening night at the Second Avenue Deli, where he consoled himself at a lavish buffet of chopped liver, kasha varnishkes, pastrami, corned beef, kreplach, potato knishes, and pigs in blankets. In spite of terrible notices, Berle remained dignified and even gallant: asked to pick his favorite dish, he pointed to his wife, Ruth.
Broiled Chicken Livers
SERVES
6
6
3 pounds chicken livers
1 tablespoon chopped or crushed fresh garlic
4 tablespoons corn oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Paprika
2 cups chopped onions
1. Set oven to broil. Wash livers well in cold water, and drain them in a strainer. Trim off all fat. Place in a baking dish large enough to accommodate them without stacking.
2. Add garlic, 2 tablespoons of the corn oil, salt, and soy sauce, and toss to cover the livers well. Sprinkle evenly with paprika.
3. Place baking dish in broiler, and broil for 8 minutes. Turn livers, and broil 5 minutes longer. While livers are cooking, heat remaining 2 tablespoons corn oil in a skillet, and sauté onions slowly, stirring occasionally, until well browned. Serve livers smothered with fried onions.
Stuffed Breast of Veal
SERVES
6
TO
8
6
TO
8
FOR THE STUFFING
5 tablespoons corn oil
2 cups chopped onion
¾ cup celery, chopped into ¼-inch pieces
¾ cup carrots, chopped into â
-inch pieces (it's easiest to get them to this pebbly size in a food processor)
3 cups scrubbed mushrooms, chopped into ½-inch pieces, ¼ inch thick
8 cups loosely packed, cubed French or Italian bread
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons schmaltz (optional)
1½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 6- to 8-pound breast of veal (ask butcher to trim the breast and cut a pocket, approximately ½ inch thick, to hold the stuffing)
Salt
Pepper
3 coarsely chopped onions
5 carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
3 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch chunks
8 cloves garlic, whole
1. Begin by preparing the stuffing. Heat 2 tablespoons of the corn oil in a large skillet, and sauté onions until brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon corn oil to skillet, and sauté celery and carrots until crisp and lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon to bowl
with onions. Add remaining 2 tablespoons corn oil to skillet, and brown mushrooms. Remove with a slotted spoon to bowl with onions.
with onions. Add remaining 2 tablespoons corn oil to skillet, and brown mushrooms. Remove with a slotted spoon to bowl with onions.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place bread cubes in a colander, run cool water over them (don't drench), and squeeze out excess liquid, mushing the bread to a doughlike consistency. Add bread and all other stuffing ingredients to bowl with sautéed vegetables, and mix thoroughly (use your hands).
3. Rub the top of the veal with salt and pepper. Fill the veal pocket with stuffing (it will hold approximately 4 cups), and close tightly with skewers. Place extra stuffing in a separate baking dish (see
Note
below), and refrigerate until needed.
Note
below), and refrigerate until needed.
4. Place the coarsely chopped onions, carrot and celery chunks, and whole garlic cloves along the bottom of a large roasting pan. Cover vegetables with water. Place the stuffed breast of veal on top of the vegetables, pocket side up, and bake, covered with aluminum foil or a lid, for 2 hours.
5. After the veal has baked for 2 hours, place baking dish with extra stuffing in oven, spooning pan juices onto it. Uncover the veal, and bake 1 hour longer, or until it is dark brown and crisp. Every 20 minutes, spoon more pan juices into the extra stuffing.
6. Remove everything from the oven. Slice the veal along the ribs. Skim fat from the gravy, and serve it in a gravy boat, leaving the vegetables as they are or pulverizing them in a food processor. Combine stuffing cooked outside the veal with stuffing cooked in it, add some gravy, adjust salt to taste, mix thoroughly, and warm briefly on stove if necessary.
Note:
Use a deep dishârather than a large, shallow oneâto bake extra stuffing. The outside will form a delicious crust, but you don't want too much crust in relation to stuffing.
Use a deep dishârather than a large, shallow oneâto bake extra stuffing. The outside will form a delicious crust, but you don't want too much crust in relation to stuffing.
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