HUNGRY GERALD

BSK has often mentioned shopping at Market Basket in Pawtucket, RI. To HG, the name indicated a small Mom-and-Pop grocer. A few  days ago, HG accompanied BSK to Market Basket for shopping. Surprise!!  Market Basket was vast, the biggest supermarket ever–and everything was sparkling and fresh, super quality. Helpful employees did some guidance. Among many other things, BSK picked up a Bell & Evans chicken (B & E is the favorite brand of discerning chefs). BSK spatchcocked the chicken, gave it a rubdown with spices and herbs, and roasted it in the oven. BSK is a master of roast timing. The chicken had crisp, golden skin and juicy flavorful meat (even the breast was juicy). It was the best chicken HG ever tasted and the accompaniment–quinoa with chopped spinach–was a good choice to absorb the tasty juices from the roasting pan. Fortunately, the chicken and quinoa dish was a double header–enough for two hearty suppers. And, just as good and juicy on the second night. 

Shawarma-style chicken is a middle eastern dish that BSK makes—much to the delight of HG. Basically, it’s a chicken stew in a cast iron pan–served (after braising on the stove range) on a bed of basmati rice. Before cooking, chicken thighs are marinated in a mix of olive oil and spices. Best to marinate for an hour. The marinated chicken (and the marinade) go into the pan with stock and garlic—plus a host of spices–turmeric, pimenton, zaatar, cumin, sumac, etc., etc. Also much lemon juice. BSK serves this hearty dish with a Greek yogurt sauce (yogurt enriched with olive oil, lemon juice and crushed garlic). Frank’s hot sauce and Sriracha on the table for those (HG among them) who want to amp up the heat. BSK makes enough shawarma for two suppers (double header). Pita and red wine are good companions for shawarma.

HG/BSK are back in Central Falls, RI. (near the edge of Providence) . The spacious loft (3,200 sq. ft.), beautifully decorated by BSK, is both aesthetically pleasing and down home comfortable. Getting there (after almost five joyous months in the HG/BSK/RIVA oceanfront home in green and serene Prince Edward Island) was a horror. Endless traffic jams made it an exhausting and frustrating 11-hour journey (daughter Lesley did most of the driving with BSK at  the wheel for brief intervals, so Lesley could rest her eyes). Trip took a toll on the old HG and HG skipped the arrival dinner and had much difficulty getting to bed (as usual, BSK was heroic in assistance).  But, after hours of sleep (awake at noon) HG had a hearty breakfast (Coffee, yogurt and maple syrup, Black Mission figs, large smoothie–and 20 vitamins and meds. Dinner was a BSK specialty—linguine with sardine sauce. Heartwarming and delicious.Topping it off, HG/BSK drank glasses of a top notch pinot noir that BSK put aside when HG /BSK left Rhody for PEI. Taxation on PEI makes wine very pricey so BSK, the sommelier, picks lesser vintages (BSK calls them “Plonk”). So, BSK is glad to be in Rhody where she buys splendid wines at comfy prices.

HG/BSK and gifted daughter, Lesley R., will soon be leaving the family oceanfront home on serene and green Prince Edward Island for their Rhode Island homes. The last PEI suppers were lush, lusty–super yummy. There was okra in the fridge so BSK made a big pot of chicken and chorizo gumbo—it was enough for two dinners and lunches. HG will not write more about gumbo cooked by BSK (and son Jeremy), Check the HG archive—there are almost ten gumbo posts–all recalling joyous suppers. Last night was Rosh Hashanah ((Happy New Year!!!).  BSK’s sister, Noel M. and her husband Yossi M., drove from their Ocean Mist Farm on the south shore of PEI to the HG/BSK/RIVA home on the north shore to celebrate. BSK and Lesley collaborated on a dinner of seared tuna (caught in the local sea) on a bed of rice noodles mixed with jalapeno peppers, radish, cucumber, sugar snap peas, scallions, cherry tomatoes, cilantro and mint. Lesley made a spectacular Asian dressing incorporating garlic and ginger. Fabulous. Dessert was French Vanilla ice cream with surprisingly splendid strawberries from Nova Scotia. All made fervent New Year wishes.

Prince Edward Island–where HG/BSK spend many months at HG/BSK’s oceanfront home–is famous for its numerous potato farms. Spuds are the Island’s major crop and they are shipped all over Canada and to some northeast USA locations. They have a unique and tasty mineral flavor (PEI’s red soil is the reason.) BSK cooks them in many ways –all delicious. Weeks ago, BSK made a dinner of fresh steamed cod and seasonal asparagus. This was accompanied by a saucepan of browned sliced onions and local potatoes. The sliced spuds were gently sauteed with the onions, dusted with turmeric and other spices and simmered in chicken broth until soft. Sensational. Spuds merged beautifully with the fish dish and a salad of avocado and cherry tomatoes.

HG loves softly, softly scrambled eggs. (HG uses a special rubber tipped small spatula to move the curds around and this needs focused attention). Soft scrambles are the best when topped with red salmon caviar and sour cream. Like everything The Wonder Woman does, BSK makes excellent soft scrambles. Except in France, it is impossible to get good scrambles in restaurants. (A coffee shop in the E.50’s –sadly, long closed–did good scrambles accompanied by a warmed and buttered bialy). Many decades ago, Andre R., an eccentric Fire Island friend, made super rich scrambles. He beat the eggs with a pint of heavy sweet cream and a dash of Tabasco. It was not designed for health food converts. Today was chilly and windy at the HG/BSK/RIVA Prince Edward Island oceanfront home. Wonderful daughter Lesley R. is here to help close down the house as HG/BSK leave PEI for their Rhode Island residences. Thoughtful Lesley warmed her Dad with a lunch of scrambles and buttered biscuits, Oh, my!! These were the best scrambled eggs. HG ever tasted. Scrambles? Lesley is the Champ!!

BSK’s delicious suppers at HG/BSK’s Prince Edward Island oceanfront home are made extra special by BSK’s creative tweaks–additions and substitutions, This  was the case with two dishes that provided suppers and lunches for two days. Alas, HG/BSK will  soon be leaving the green and serene Island for HG/BSK’s spacious 3,100 square foot loft in Central Falls, RI. It has been imaginatively decorated by BSK  –so arriving there will not be unhappy.  BSK’s  two PEI suppers were Chinese Mapo Tofu and Jewish Kasha Varnishkes. HG is a lover of Chinese and Jewish Ashkenazi dishes so these  are HG faves. Ma Po Tofu is a spicy ground pork and tofu stew mixed with rice noodles and spicy sauce. BSK made it special by adding plentiful sugar snap peas and mushrooms. No rice noodles so BSK cooked Japanese buckwheat noodles–this added an earthy taste. The pantry didn’t have Kasha, the buckwheat groats that are traditional for Kasha Varnishkes . So, BSK substituted RED MILL Sarrasin, a buckwheat grain. The grain cooked to a smaller and firmer size than traditional Kasha but was equally tasty. No traditional butterfly (farfalle) pasta that is traditionally mixed with Kasha. BSK substituted tortellini–a good choice. Lots of mushrooms and fried onions enhanced the dish–plus a topping of sour cream. Sea salt and many grinds of black pepper added a spicy touch. Once more, BSK rose to the occasion and made HG happy with BSK culinary magic.

HG/BSK’s multi-talented, helpful and gifted daughter, Lesley R. is at the HG/BSK/Riva Prince Edward Island oceanfront home. She is here to close down the house and pack up wintry clothes for life in Rhode Island. Lesley and BSK will share the driving (a very long one day journey)  to Rhody and HG (plus Toby, The Wonder Dog), will keep them company. Marking Lesley’s arrival in PEI, BSK made a big pot of yellow squash soup. This was a soup invented by HG’s beloved late sister, Beulah Naomi Katz. It was always served midday before the big Thanksgiving Day feast. It was very tasty (with a dollop of sour cream topping it). BSK’s version is much better flavored with many tongue tingling spices (Aleppo pepper among them). HG had two and a half big bowls for supper followed by a dish of leftover (Waste Not-Want Not) buckwheat noodles topped with feta cheese and cherry tomatoes. Happy eating–and there was enough soup in the pot for lunch.. Cooking was done by Lesley for the following night’s supper– linguini with a sauce of tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic , olive oil and juicy, silky sea scallops. It was a fabulous dish. Are HG/BSK lucky to have Lesley in our lives? As they say in the midwest USA—-YOU BETCHA!!!

The “shtetl”, glorified in the movie and play, “Fiddler on the Roof”, did not resemble  the “shtetl” where HG’s late Mother, Ida Kopkind Freeman, spent her childhood and young womanhood. Her home was in the town of Plestyanitz in Belorussia, Pale of Settlement (geographical area where Jews were allowed to live). Shtetl life was unpleasant. Sewage and sanitary facilities were primitive. Rats abounded (A large rat bit my beloved Mom’s toe and cracked a bone. Some 40 years later, USA surgery repaired it). Mom’s father was a fur trader. He sold the skins in Vienna (Access was secured by bribes.) Transportation was horse and wagon. He was accompanied by a paid Cossack bodyguard and rifleman. (Many wolves in the forest and roads). Mom’s father was away for nine to ten months a year. (HG presumes he had another family or mistresses in Vienna). HG’s Father, Hershele Tsvi “Grisha” Freimann (Later anglicized to Harry Freeman) had a pleasant time in the town of Smulovitch in the Ukraine (HG believes it’s now part of Belorussia). Don’t know how they managed it, but they were prosperous and secure. The Freimann family managed the estates of absentee Russian noblemen (And probably used their influence to prosper). The family owned a wheat mill and a vodka distillery. Young  “Grisha” Freimann was a skilled horseman and delivered vodka to taverns via horseback. (Many decades later, he never passed a Bronx horse without giving it a friendly nuzzle).  “Grisha’s” older brother Philip , (The first to emigrate with his family to America), owned a glove factory which was burnt down in a pogrom after the Russia-Japan War (Russia’s military woes were the fault of the Jews, of course).  This violent anti-Jewish event spurred Philip’s migration. “Grisha” left soon after as he was facing a draft into the Russian army. He managed to get to Hamburg where he worked as a stevedore to earn ship passage. “Grisha” enjoyed German beer, herring, wurst and black bread. He spent jolly times with German socialist stevedores (He had been a member of the Jewish Labor Bund in Russia). Finally, he sailed to America on the SS Pennsylvania and became Harry Freeman. (Here’s a happy postscript. HG/BSK are lucky to have two distinguished English friends–Antony and Claudia Cragg. HG/BSK love these two life enhancing, generous, thoughtful people. On an HG birthday some years ago, they presented HG with a Smulovitch soccer team pin. HG will never know how they found it. HG wears it proudly on the lapel of an HG English tweed sport jacket. Go Smulovitch!!)

Few things are more symbolic of the grim 1930’s depression years than HG’s Mom’s reliance on unidentified A & P cans whose labels had been washed off or torn off. (HG called them “mystery cans”). The A & P store manager displayed them in a big barrel–they were cheap–five cents or less for a can. The late beloved Ida Kopkind Freeman bought them for dessert. She thought contents like peaches, pears, pineapple or prunes could be determined by shaking a can near her ear. Surprisingly, she had a very good batting average and most family meals in The Bronx ended with a canned fruit dessert. However, sometimes Ida missed. A  can was opened and revealed lima beans or brussel sprouts or something equally unpleasant. These contents were served for dinner next night with boiled chicken or stewed meat (“gedempte fleisch”). Waste not. Want not. However, there were times when we ate, under protest, cold brussel sprouts for dessert. “Eat, eat. It’s a vegetable. It’s good for your health,” Ida insisted.