BOOK/A TABLE - Forever ‘21’

I was ten years old when I first saw The Spy Who Loved Me in theaters. I was obsessed with the title song by Carly Simon, bought the album and toy version of the amazing white Lotus Esprit S1 car that also functioned as a submarine (with retractable fins) and launched missiles. It was awesome.

                              
I’ve seen all of the Bond movies since. Sean Connery is classic, of course, but Daniel Craig actually seems like a killer—although neither of them are how I picture Bond from the books. I recently read Diamonds are Forever (1956), and was taken in so easily by the descriptions of New York, Vegas, and the races at Saratoga in that era. I always love the chilled cocktails (check out here and here) and the groovy girls, but got a particular kick from the evocative chapter titles in this installation such as Hot Ice, Night Falls in the Passion Pit, Spectreville, and my favorite—Love and Bearnaise Sauce.

In Diamonds are Forever, Bond’s old pal Leiter takes him to Sardi’s for a grilled steak (there’s a lot of food mentioned in the book):

“And I’ve taken a chance and ordered you smoked salmon and Brizzola,” said Leiter. “This is one of the best places in town for beef, and Brizzola is the best cut of that, straight cut across the bone. Roasted and then broiled. Suit you?”

“Anything you say,” said Bond.

Then they go off to ‘21’ which is funny because I actually have the recipe for Brizzola that also used to be served there, found in my beloved copy of The ‘21’ Cookbook. Former ‘21’ executive chef Michael Lomonaco tells us that Steak Brizzola served at the restaurant (sadly shuttered in 2020) was cooked on a high-temperature grill. Outdoor grilling at home is the preferred method at home, but a broiler will work with the door ajar. Or simply pan-fry!

Here is the wagyu ribeye we picked up on huge sale at Eataly over the Labor Day weekend, before we dropped it in the pan for our own Brizzola. And then I was too eager to eat it to take any other pictures. 

Dum ditty dum dum dum dum dum dum ditty dum dum... (my approximation of the Bond theme) ...do enjoy!

‘21’ Traditional Rib Steak “Brizzola”
Serves 4 to 8

Ingredients
4 (16- to 18-ounce rib steaks)
2 tablespoons pure olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method
Brush the steaks with olive oil. Spread a little of the chopped garlic on both sides of all the steaks. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Over a hot barbecue grill, or in a broiler that has been preheated at least 20 minutes, cook the steaks on both sides to the desired doneness. Generally, a steak of this size, cooked over a barbecue grill, will be medium rare within 12 minutes (6 minutes on each side).

I thought to include an additional suggestion, if you would like a butter baste: Halfway through the cooking process, drop the unsalted butter, crushed garlic, and rosemary sprig into the pan. Sprinkle with a pinch dried oregano and black pepper. Continuously spoon the foaming, hot melted butter over the top of the steak until it reaches your preferred internal temperature (about 57°C / 135°F for medium-rare).

What Were You Doing New Year's Eve?

 

Happy New Year! My fella and I had a ball with a cleverly composed collection of companions! I set the table with pink candles stuck into Russian-inspired in tone candelabras with fir boughs draping forth from a homey Burleigh ware pitcher, surrounded by pine cones and dried Victorian blue hydrangeas on a framed antique map over a vintage runner scattered with Japanese tangerines. We selected the red wines ahead of time and placed a host of whites in the refrigerator. Several bottles of Perrier-Jouet Champagne and prosecco joined them in anticipation of a toast at midnight! I don't mind telling you we put out paper napkins, "silver" plastic forks, knives and spoons and Chinet appetizer and dinner plates for our guests. Nobody seemed to mind and my, how much clean-up time we saved ourselves!

Our buffet menu was simple and elegant--links are below.

We started out with duck liver mousse--and do make this the day before you plan serving it, allowing this delicacy a chance to settle in. John Greeley's (executive chef at '21') steak tartare was utterly perfect and was eaten quickly by our guests. A fantastic French onion soup followed, courtesy of Julia Child, poured into cups and topped with individual slivers of French bread toasts covered with grated Swiss, Emmental and Parmesan cheeses. A salad of red and green lettuces is seen here, tossed with shallot vinaigrette and crisped prosciutto. We couldn't find escarole, as suggested in the recipe, so we improvised--improvisation is as much of a necessity as is a skillet or a spatula in the kitchen.

The peas! And mushrooms too went into our penne pasta (instead of garganelli) with cream sauce. Since the recipe called for prosciutto, we subbed wild mushrooms to avoid redundancy while bulking up on meaty flavor. It was delicious!

MENU FOR NINE
To Start
Duck Liver Mousse with Armagnac Cream
Steak Tartare from '21'
Julia Child's French Onion Soup (Soupe a l'onion)

A Superb Salad
Red and Green Lettuces with Crisped Prosciutto and Shallot Vinaigrette

The Pasta Course
Penne with Peas and Parmesan and Wild Mushrooms in a Cream Sauce

To Sup
Bloody Mary Steaks--Baby made this up. He marinated several pounds of flank steak with a Bloody Mary mixture overnight and a scoche of Russian Standard vodka. After that, the steaks were a snap to cook, arriving to the table medium rare in less than 15 minutes (including six minutes allowing the meat to rest before serving).

For Something Completely Sweet
Pepperidge Farm Chocolate and Coconut Cakes. Store bought. Love. Colorfully decorated the silver serving tray with more of the tangerines.

Next Magazine - '21' Club's Fatal Mistakes

Having long been a fan of the '21' Club, I was delighted to discover a cocktail inspired by the prohibition era series Boardwalk Empire at their recently installed bar. Now, this booze-fueled concoction really packs some heat! Do enjoy--but responsibly! 

21 Club's Fatal Mistakes

Ingredients: 

1 ½ oz Canadian Club

1 oz Applejack brandy (a.k.a. Jersey Lightning, from the oldest licensed distillery in the U.S.)
1 oz maraschino liquor
1/2 oz dry vermouth
3 dashes Fee Brothers bitters

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice and stir. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Rim and garnish with a lemon twist.

21 Club is located at 21 W 52nd St (btwn Fifth/Sixth Aves). Visit 21Club.com for more info. 

First published in part in Next magazine. 

Play Reading - All About Eve

This month we took to the living room to enact All About Eve, the scintillating classic drama about a neurotic, aging (she's only turning 40!) actress and the young upstart who schemes to uproot her life. The reading was different this time, we weren't reading from a copy of a staged play--I had found a transcript of an old Lux radio play, edited to fit the format--and actually featured the star of the film, none other than Miss Bette Davis.

As the legendary New York restaurant '21' figures into the film, I was inspired to create a menu from one of my favorite cookbooks, '21' of course, that was given to me by a dear friend years ago, with recipes by chef extraordinaire Michael Lomonaco. I set the table to mimic the tables at '21' with red and white checkered napkins, and cocktail napkins and stirrers from the joint that a bartender was kind enough to give me when I had recently visited. And of course there was a wide-rimmed martini glass for decoration.



Tonight's Menu
Chilled Relish Tray (celery, radishes and black olives)
Butter Lettuces with Peas & Shallot Champagne Vinaigrette
London Broil with Roasted Shallots
"Cold Cocoa" Cups

I filled a copper gratin pan with crushed ice and placed my dish of appetizing raw vegetables upon it before we began reading, as we caught up with a few glasses of wine.

Simple butter lettuces with peas served as a wonderful salad, dressed with Lomonaco's utterly distracting vinaigrette.

A London Broil steak was cooked well enough in an attempt to evenly gauge everyone's taste for doneness. Our off-oven preparation may be found here from a great New York Times article. The recipe for accompanying roasted shallots was pulled from the '21' cookbook and tasted like we had entered a Parisian bistro when paired with the meat.

The shallots before, performing a merry dance all on their own, quite bouncing about, as they sauteed in butter...

And after, being roasted in the oven with sugar, butter, salt, pepper and chicken stock for about 40 minutes until they become such a lovely gold brown.

The meat of the matter!

The '21' flourless chocolate torte that we intended to make had some issues--Baby and I couldn't unmold it from the pan! Julia Child once lamented (more or less) that "cooking is one disaster after another!" But as with any recipe, calmed assurance, control and a touch of ingenuity must also be added to the list of ingredients. We scooped the torte out of the pan as there was nothing wrong with it except for its unwillingness to budge, and into some elegant cups from a vintage coffee service. We topped this with spurts of whipped cream and blossoms of dark chocolate curls for a truly fabulous dessert.

It started out this way,  with sugar and corn syrup brought to a boil.



Ten whole eggs goes into this torte, beaten in an electric mixer to a frenzy!

Melting the chocolate in a double boiler until it turns to...

shimmering chocolate silk for the rich base of your torte!

Although our torte wasn't what we had hoped for, and it pained us to disrupt our confection in such a way as we did, nobody was the wiser and practically licked their cups clean. So don't tell everybody all about our evening.

Soundtrack: Atlantic Jazz, Hits of the 50's; Jorge Bolet, Lizst, Piano Works, Vol. 1; Applause, Original Broadway Cast.