Bonjour! I'm afraid I had a little accident in the kitchen this year while trying to hack apart a chicken for a Poulet Financiere. After a bit of a tussle with the plucky devil, the bird got away and I'm still not entirely sure where it went. Just the same, do have a fiendishly good time on Hallowe'en this year and bon appetit!
This is not my usual sort of post, where I cavort around, gleefully suggesting what to eat. But I hope you will find my first published novel a remarkable feast just the same. I am eager to know if 'the pale of memory' is to your taste. Do enjoy and please watch this snippet from my book party! Tell everybody!
THE PALE OF MEMORY by Peter Halsey Sherwood
(iUniverse; On Sale: September 7, 2012; $13.95 USD) is a suspenseful, bracing
novel set in a mid-90's Manhattan still hovered over by a dreadful affliction.
What starts out as a caper in which the Hardy Boys themselves might have
embarked upon turns into a reckless mission of obsession that evolves into a
dangerous love affair with dire consequences. From the perspective of a voyeur,
the reader peeks into the world of the questionable protagonist, a young man
named Scott or ‘Scotty’ to his friends, as he attempts to hide his secrets and
transform a new lover in an ultimately futile effort to recreate the past. In a
swirling pool of lies amongst all of the characters, nothing is what it seems
at first as perceptions are revealed and confronted with haunting vigor. As the
reader discovers through Scott's slowly exposed mania, his life has been one
stained by a curious, confusing past that eventually brings THE PALE OF
MEMORY to a devastating crescendo.
A few of my esteemed readers said:
“A period suspense novel, as cleverly pulled off by an
expert at the genre.”
– Michael Musto, Village
Voice columnist
“Hitchcock’s Vertigo with sexy, dangerous young men.
Had me hooked from page one.”
– Charles Busch, author of The Tale of the
Allergist's Wife
This sumptuous pasta featuring thick curls of fusilli pasta and sweet and hot sausage in cream is courtesy of Bocca executive chef James Corona. Thank you for the recipe, James!
Bocca 39 E 19th St (btwn Park/Broadway) BoccaNYC.com
Fusilli alla Norcina
Recipe Yield: serves 4
Ingredients:
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp shallot, minced
1 link of sweet sausage
1 link of hot sausage
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup smoked mozzarella, grated
1 lb fusilli pasta
Salt
Pepper
Directions:
1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water till al dente.
2. Drain pasta, reserving a cup of the pasta water for binding.
3. In a large saucepan, brown the sweet and hot sausage.
3. Combine minced garlic, shallots and heavy cream with sausage in saucepan and reduce for about three minutes.
4. Add smoked mozzarella.
5. Toss fusilli into the sauce. If necessary, use reserved pasta water to bind. Serve.
15 East 15 E 15th St (btwn Fifth Ave/Union Square West), 212-647-0015, 15EastRestaurant.com
Marco Moreira and Jo-Ann Makovitzky add to their culinary empire with
the freshest fish hauled in from Japan by executive sushi chef Masato
Shimizu.
My gal pal is simply stark-raving mad for sushi. I don’t know anyone
who loves the raw devils more profoundly than she does. So it was my
thrill on the evening we hastened to 15 East to have her sample
executive chef Masato Shimizu’s fresh fish flown, which is flown in from
Japan. We were, in a word, wowed. Everything was a small surprise—we
were presented with wonderful gifts, which once opened, so to speak,
proved to be utter delights, enlivening our taste buds, enriching our
hearts and filling our stomachs.
The husband-and-wife team Marco Moreira and Jo-Ann Makovitzky moved
their fabulous Tocqueville to a nearby location and reinvigorated its
former address as 15 East with the assistance of architect Richard
Bloch. Although we considered the crowded sushi bar in front, we made
our way to a more capacious corner banquette in the modest dining room
composed in an inviting color scheme of sand and slate with pale,
billowy curtains.
Settling into cocktails, the Tokyo Manhattan struck my fancy with a
light Japanese single-malt whiskey with a masculine uprising about the
bosom that bandied about with sweet vermouth and brandied cherries. The
summery caipirinha with passion fruit and lime had a good nose and was
decidedly more feminine.
A convenient tray of creamy, buttery Kumamoto oysters started us off
with sweet, icy ponzu granite and pickled turnips that held a resonating
pine flavor in the final execution. Bluefin tuna was served two ways:
as red velvet slices of sashimi and chopped toro tartare in a conspiracy
with chive oil and paddlefish caviar.
We moved on to a carafe of a floral, elusive, wondrous chilled Koshi
no Kanbai “Muku” sake that further enhanced the flavors of our ensuing
dishes, which included a rapturous, benevolent and calm pond of caviar,
ikura and uni floating along with cold soba noodles and wasabi paste.
More sea urchin found its way into a poignant, soft risotto keenly
matched with sumptuous matsutake mushrooms and pink wasabi root to set
up our pasta course. We dispensed with our chopsticks, resorting to
spoons so we could devour the dish more quickly. Eleven kinds of
Japanese sea lettuces, in turns sturdy, woodsy, frilly, oceanic, fruity
and sweet, cleansed our palates for the upcoming meat.
A tartare of chopped Kobe beef led the way with a presiding flavor of
crisped garlic and a cracked, runny quail egg on top. Foie gras terrine
bordered on the obscene with miso duck, raisins and brioche that I
unashamedly admit I devoured in one orgiastic bite. Medium-rare smoky
duck with shiitake mushrooms, sweet Japanese yams in a veal stock
reduction and soy had us quacking with vigor.
Resist as we did at first, desserts were a foregone conclusion.
Wavering between indulgences such as flourless chocolate cake, kabocha
crème caramel, a watermelon parfait and green tea ice cream with matcha
jelly and red beans, the crunchy tempura rice pudding won out with its
fully rounded ice cream fashioned from sake. With nothing left to do but
hug our gracious co-conspirators, we packed up and left 15 East to head
home, back west.
Prices: Appetizers: $12-$29; Entrées: $18-$95; Alcohol: wine, full bar, specialty cocktails. Short Order: For aficionados of fish, modern Japanese cuisine off of Union Square proves to be a really great catch. Peter’s Picks: Tokyo Manhattan cocktail; sea urchin
and mushroom risotto; foie gras terrine with duck; caviar, sea urchin
and salmon roe soba noodles. Peter’s Pans: 15 East has not taken residence in my apartment building.
First published in part in Next magazine. Photo Credit: Michel Ann O'Malley
Baby had returned from Marrakech after two months away for business and I had been madly editing to put the final touches on my novel. Exciting! But just the same we thought it was high time for some sun, surf, and sand as the fall had descended indeed so unexpectedly. So we headed off to South Beach for a week to stay at Delano. To be perfectly honest, all we did was sleep, eat and drink poolside or at the beach at this utterly spectacular hotel, and not necessarily in that order.
Jeremy, the bartender at the pool was kind enough to make at least several pina coladas on the rocks for me. Now, I love a pina colada when I make them myself, but out and about, when they are frozen, they often don't taste like there's any booze in them and after one they become cloying. One might as well stuff themselves with rock candy! So here is the elegant solution with Jeremy's recipe that certainly made for a few entirely enjoyable afternoons. I suspect the use of coconut water is the trick. Do enjoy!
Jeremy's Fresh Piña Colada
Ingredients:
2 oz. fresh pineapple juice
2 oz. Coco Lopez
2oz. light rum
1oz. Coco Vidal coconut water
Method:
Shake and our over ice, a splash of dark rum on top. Garnish with a pineapple slice.
Isola Trattoria & Crudo Bar 9 Crosby St @ Grand St, (212) 389-0000, IsolaSoHo.com
Originally based on the dreamy, fantastical atrium in Jean Cocteau’s classic film La Belle et La Bête,
Imperial No. 9 in the Mondrian Soho hotel became something of a kitchen
nightmare. Star chef Sam Talbot left his post and several replacements
followed. The menu that slowly lost its flavor during Talbot’s tenure
has been entirely revamped and gloriously resuscitated by the hands of
executive chef Victor LaPlaca—indeed, the newly dubbed Isola is now a
fantastic night to remember. Much of the décor has stayed the same but
LaPlaca, a native Sicilian, pulls his food inspirations from the Amalfi
Coast and further reaches out to other Italian provinces.
A most extraordinary Isola Negroni led the way with Tanqueray Ten
Gin, a touch of Campari and Carpano Antica stepping in for less casual
sweet vermouth. A few of my friends took a sojourn with the Columbian
Exchange, a decided step up from a margarita with fresh honeydew melon,
lavender and lemon shaken up with Don Julio blanco tequila. Another
dining companion was delighted to find Italian Peroni beer on draft and
availed himself of its foaminess readily.
Truffled mushrooms topped a flat grilled special pizza and burrata
cheese with squash blossom pesto occupied another pie. Warming, fluffy
focaccia with salty taleggio cheese, sweet caramelized onions and fig
jam tasted like a savory cake and rounded out the bulk of this carb fit.
To lighten things up, we took a dip into cool slices of hamachi with
crispy shallots and a vibrantly verdant pool of surrendered avocado.
Tuna in white balsamic vinegar shared a plate with intensely red, ripe
watermelon, while octopus in an almond romesco sauce found kindred
spirits in herbed aioli, peanut potatoes and zesty lemon. A Caesar salad
rapidly followed, its grilled leaves rolled up like a scroll parchment
with black olive-anchovy dressing and ricotta salata. Thinly sliced baby
beets were finely featured with a burst of green pistachios.
Moving to mains, ravioli stuffed with porcini mushrooms were delicate
love notes, embraced by a heartbreaking veal ragu. We didn’t know what
to do with ourselves when the extraordinary, hefty, medium-rare sirloin
showed up courtesy of meat maven Pat LaFrieda, with a skirt of rich
juices bleeding into mushroom polenta and cured, truffled fatback. The
whole affair was beyond anything and not even like steak. We found it
rather more like slowly savoring an indecent, chewy caramel. We were
simply ravished! What could whole branzino with perfectly seared skin do
but hold its own quite swimmingly, with escarole and a sauce made with
limoncello?
Frosty scoops of ices were endearingly served in paper cones with
wooden spoons, just like summer days at the beach. Tangy tangerine
sorbetti was our first choice, followed by chunky strawberry rhubarb and
wildly absorbing cannoli gelati. Naturally, we didn’t stop there and
got involved with butterscotch cake, done up with slowly simmered
blueberries and peach jam. Tartuffo threw us into overdrive with fudge
brownies, hazelnut gelato and creamy salted caramel reaching to the
heavens. What an enchanted evening we had during our time in this
garden.
Prices: Appetizers: $9-$36; Entrées: $17-$48; Alcohol: beer, wine, full bar, specialty cocktails. Short Order: Dining in the beautiful atrium at the
Mondrian Soho hotel is nothing less than enchanting, with wondrous fare
executed by executive chef Victor LaPlaca. Peter’s Picks: The Isola Negroni; delicate porcini mushroom ravioli; divine sirloin of the third kind with rich polenta; fudgy tartuffo. Peter’s Pans: Nope. Nothing. Really.
This is a finger lickin' dish from Rosie Daley's book, In The Kitchen With Rosie, that I've been making for years! I owe many thanks to spa-trained Daley, who helped Oprah lose all that weight back in the mid-90's, and taught me a wonderful methodology to use when making any kind of food. What joy I found back then, discovering ways to make perfectly reasonable meals that are low-fat and health-conscious--there is so much flavor cleverly incorporated into Rosie's creations, using spices that are probably already in your pantry.
Instead of dealing with removing the skin from chicken drummers and breasts as the recipe below suggests, I just buy boneless chicken breasts. I also skip the whole ice bath process and thaw my chicken until it is malleable but still cold, so the yogurt will cling to the chicken before being marvelously, lightly breaded with proportions of the spice ingredients that best suit your fancy!
Rosie Daley's Un-Fried Chicken
Makes 12 pieces
Light vegetable oil cooking spray
3 whole chicken breasts, halved and skin removed
3 1/2 cups ice water
1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
FOR THE BREADING
1 cup dried Italian bread crumbs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dash cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Coat a baking sheet with 3 sprays of the vegetable oil.
Put the chicken in a large bowl with the ice water. Put the yogurt into a medium bowl. Set both bowls aside.
Toss all the breading ingredients into a large, tightly-sealing plastic bag. Seal and shake well to mix.
Remove 2 pieces of chicken from the ice water. Roll each piece in the yogurt. Put the chicken into the plastic bag, reseal, and shake to coat thoroughly. Transfer the breaded chicken to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat the process until all 12 pieces are breaded. Spray the chicken lightly with the vegetable oil.
Place the baking sheet on the bottom shelf of the oven and bake for 1 hour, turning the pieces every 20 minutes to allow even browning.
Serve hot or at room temperature.
The finished dish! Go green and dress with haricot vert as I did, seen here. Thanks, Rosie!
After a career as a theatrical agent for Broadway, film, and television, Mr. Sherwood left his stable of actors from the stage and screen and went on to pursue his literary aspirations. He is currently the senior editor for Carnsmedia, was web editor for Interior Design and the dining editor for Next magazine (nextmagazine.com) where he wrote a weekly restaurant review column which also featured Manhattan's best food and drink recipes from the finest chefs and bartenders on the island. He has written for New York magazine, Travel & Leisure and Woman’s Day, among others, and his recipe for Wicked Good Clam Chowdah from this blog was published by Andrews McMeel in Foodista’s Best of Food Blogs Cookbook. A proud graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Mr. Sherwood also studied voice and theater abroad at Regent’s College, in London’s historic Regent’s Park, and at the Royal Academy of Music. He spent a year at Hunter College in Manhattan.Mr. Sherwood's books are available on Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, and iUniverse.com. Follow on Instagram: peter.sherwood
An urban fairy tale for those who have delighted in love or searched for it desperately, this charming cocktail spans the decades of four lives in a fanciful exploration of the heart and mind.
The Murdery Delicious Hamwich Gumm Mystery
Available now on Amazon.com and BN.com. It's absolutely delicious!
the pale of memory
What's eating Scott? Find out in my utterly gripping novel available on Amazon.com and BN.com!
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Recipient of the Official Everyday Foodie Award - Courtesy of Food on the Table
