Sasha's Kitchen: Spice-Infused Heirloom Tomato Salad and NYC's Eataly (a review)

Heirloom tomatoes are one of my favorite summer treats. So delicious and the colors and shapes are unique and beautiful. I love the way they look when you slice them, and all the colors and textures. Their imperfections and details is what makes them so perfect and gorgeous. The taste is luscious and fresh - nothing like a regular tomato.

The heirloom tomato season is not very long, but they're still around in New York, so I picked some up at the new Eataly Market, to prepare this dish. Eataly, by the way, is an incredible Italian foodie paradise of grandiose proportions.  I've been quite a few times now, since it is so close to where I work in Manhattan.   I decided to create some Indian spice infused heirloom tomatoes using my produce from the marketplace. It's quite easy. Mix the various spices and herbs below with the balsamic vinegar and olive oil and add the tomatoes and a sliced kirby cucumber. Allow to soak for a minute or two before serving with freshly made mozzarella. I love the way the Indian spices mix with the fresh goodness of the heirloom tomatoes. It's a wonderful way to say goodbye to summer. The kirby cucumber by the way, is from the locally grown produce section of Fresh Direct.

Sasha's Spice-Infused Heirloom Tomato Salad

3 large heirloom tomatoes
1 kirby cucumber
fresh mozzarella
1 1/2 tsp fennel
1 1/2 tsp cumin
pinch of pepper
pinch of cayenne
1/3 cup olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar (I used fig-infused balsamic vinegar)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup cilantro
1 tsp diced jalapeno
1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger


And before you thought I forgot - a bit of a review of Eataly Market. I love Eataly - everything there is fresh, gourmet and absolutely screams out Mario Batali. There's quite a few restaurants there, and even though I have been about 5 times already, I have not tried them all. So far, I have tried the panini bar, La Piazza, Verdure, La Pizza and La Pasta. Next I'd like to try the raw bar restaurant (Il Crudo), the fish restaurant (Il Pesce), and the gourmet beef restaurant (Il Manzo). In fairness, I should warn readers, the place is a hot spot right now. It will cool off, but right now the crowds are pretty fierce, even at lunchtime during the week.

 On my first visit, I went to the panini bar and had a brasaole, arugula and pesto panini which was delicious (not pictured).  Then, I went back to the absolutely crazy Saturday night atmosphere with my husband. First, we stopped a the Piazza and enjoyed a sampling of parmesan cheeses with a glass of Italian spumoni. Next, we decided to try the pizza and pasta restaurants. I had one of the fabulous Italian sodas. I've tried a variety of the Italian sodas at Eataly - I've never seen any of them anywhere else in NYC, but the ones I've had so far have been fabulous - rhubarb, lemon, lime - a whole variety of flavors and not overpoweringly sweet like American sodas. My husband had a Moretti beer.

At La Pasta/LaPizza we both started with a fabulous dish of the homemade fresh pasta in a pesto sauce - it was one of the best pesto dishes I've had. Fresh and simple, but oh so good. Then we followed with a basic pizza, which was good, but perhaps a bit too much cheese. But oh that crust - it was irresistible. The cheese was still great though, and of course they make their own mozzarella fresh at Eataly every day.

I have also had the opportunity to try the gelato at Eataly, which despite the long lines, does not dissapoint. I had two favors that would seen not to go well together - Fig and Hazelnut, but they were actually both delicious and went together just fine. I love fresh figs and the fig gelato took me back to that day in Napa a couple years ago where I tasted fresh mission figs from the trees.

Finally, I have tried Verdure (food pictured above),  the vegetable restaurant. There were so many great choices on the menu, including specials. However, I went with a lime flavored Italian soda and vegetables a la piatra, a dish that was composed of a variety of fresh market vegetables, from cauliflower to asparagus to sprouts to radicchio, to zucchini and just about everything else you could imagine. It was an amazing vegetable salad. The brushetta of the day was also amazing - fresh sweet corn with chives and black garlic.  The black garlic was amazing, with an almost balsamic/tamarind like taste - so exotic and delicious. I plan to make my own bruschetta using some later this week, since they sell it at Eataly market.

Sasha's Kitchen: Spice-Infused Heirloom Tomato Salad and NYC's Eataly (a review)

Sasha's Kitchen: Peach, Mozzarella & Bresaola Salad

As i discussed in my recipe for Peach Cobbler, peaches are my favorite summer fruit.  The peach is very versatile, and of course, my favorite summer salad recipe includes peaches.  This salad is a dinner salad - it includes my favorite cured meat, bresaola, which is a type of cured beef.  I think that the taste of the bresaola is lovely with fresh peaches and baby bocconcini, a type of mozzarella cheese.  The salad is very refreshing and perfect for summer.  You can make it without the meat as an appetizer if you prefer. I love the farmer's market peaches - this is the perfect dish for summer and I've been waiting for months to get nice fresh peaches to make this dish, which is one of my favorites!  This recipe is totally mine, but it feels very Jamie Oliver, doesn't it?

Sasha's Summer Peach Salad (makes two salads)

2 farmers' market peaches, sliced 

8-10 pieces of bresaola

fresh organic salad greens

1/3 cup canola oil (for dressing)

3 tablespoons lemon juice (for dressing)

1 T red wine vinegar (for dressing)

bocconcini mozzarella

Assemble the salad ingredients above and top with the lemon vinaigrette (which is just canola oil, lemon juice and red wine vinegar).  This is a very special way to showcase those fantastic June peaches!

Sasha's Kitchen: Peach, Mozzarella & Bresaola Salad

Sasha's Kitchen: Burgers . . . From Rome With Love

Tonight's burger recipe was one of my four-star burger classics - a very simple, easy to prepare Italian burger, which I refer to as "From Rome With Love."  Like my other burgers, this one should be prepared with high quality ground beef.  You will need about 1.25 lbs, which should be enough about four burgers.
My conception of the burger, is that it should be inspired by a particular city or location.  I have already shared by California Burger, inspired by the flavors of Napa Valley.  In addition, I have shared my "Back to College" Burger ,which for me is the Philadelphia Burger.  That burger recipe was inspired by my days of eating Philly cheesesteaks as an undergrad at Haverford College.  Today, I present a burger inspired by the most basic of Italian cusine - tomato, basil, mozzarella.  I travelled to Italy in the summer of 2000 (and hope to go again in the next couple years) and one of my best memories was the incredible Italian cuisine, including quite a bit of homemade Italian mozzarella, often accompanied by basil, balsamic and fresh roma tomatoes.  Here, I have attempted to put just a tiny bit of Italy in my burger tonight.

To prepare the burger, use a grill pan, and grill as long as you desire, depending on your personal preference.  My husband and I like our burgers medium-well, so we grill for a total of about 8 minutes.  For the last minute or so oif the grilling, top with a healthy-size chunk of fresh mozzarella and cover with a piece of tin foil .  You can prepare all four burgers at the same time on your grill pan.

When you are done, put on a toasted bun, and add the basil leaves, a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar, as well as a pinch of oregano.  Served to you from Rome with love.

For another writer's take on the burger, click here for Cindy's burger.

Sasha's Kitchen: Burgers . . . From Rome With Love

Sasha's Kitchen: Discussion Of Homemade Pizza Variations

I did not cook tonight. We ordered in sandwiches from a local sandwich shop in Park Slope. However, tomorrow, I will be preparing a pasta dish. However, I figured that tonight would be a good time to discuss some of the homemade pizza variations I have tried over the summer and fall.

You can really put anything on pizza. I love pizza with different and interesting variations. There are a lot of great pizza places here in New York. Some of my favorites are: Grimaldi's, Keste and Otto Enoteca.

The first step in making pizza is making a tasty crust. I have not experimented with a lot of crust variations, but have simply been working with a very basic crust formula. I have, however, experimented with different types of flours - including regular all-purpose flour and a mixture of all-purpose flour with whole white flour to make a whole white pizza crust. In addition, pizza crust preparation, like most bread preparation, requires using dry active yeast, so you should plan on allowing an extra hour for your crust to rise.

Pizza Crust

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 packets (1/4 oz each) active dry yeast
1/4 cups canola oil
2 T sugar
1 tsp salt
4 cups flour (either use 4 cups all-purpose or 2 cups all-purpose and 2 cups whole wheat)

To prepare the crust, add the warm water, dry active yeast, oil, sugar and salt to a bowl and whisk together. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes, until the yeast foams and is "activated."

Add flour and mix. Transfer to a bowl coated in canola oil and allow to sit, covered with either plastic wrap or a warm dishtowel for 1 hour, until the dough doubles in size.

After the dough doubles, prepare your crusts. You can divide into 4 pieces and stretch with your hands and flatten until you have 4 smaller pizzas, or you can make 1 or 2 larger ones. You can freeze the extra crusts until you are ready to use them.

If you are ready to use the pizzas, then it's time to prepare a topping. Here are some variations I have tried:

Grape Tomatoes, mozzarella, arugula, balsamic and pecorino

Cut up grape tomatoes and use to top the pizza. You can use as many or as few as you like. I then used freshly made mozzarella from M&S prime meats in Park Slope, where they make fresh mozzarella daily.

The I baked the pies at 450 F for about 15-20 minutes until done. While the pies cooked, I mixed the arugula with some pecorino cheese and 2 T of balsamic vinegar. Then, I topped the pies with this mixture and baked for about 1 minute, just enough for the arugula to wilt.


Grape tomatoes, Goat cheese and red onion

First top with the tomatoes and goat cheese, Add some sliced and sauteed red onions and bake at 450 F for 15-20 minutes.

Third variation - simple pizza

Same as variation 1, but use a can of tomato sauce instead of grape tomatoes.

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Sasha's Kitchen: Discussion Of Homemade Pizza Variations

Sasha's Kitchen: Back To College - Philadelphia In A Burger

I spent my college years in suburban Philadelphia, at Haverford College, on the mainline. Those college years (my 10 year reunion is coming up next year) remain some of my best memories. While at Haverford, occasionally (much more so during junior and senior year) my friends and I ventured from the mainline into Philly for cheesesteaks at Pats and Genos. Philly will always have a special place in my heart, and to this day, those are the best cheesestakes I have ever had.

Recently, I have made a burger which attempts to recreate those wonderful cheesestakes and great memories of the late 90s.

1.25 lb quality burger meat (divide into 4 burgers and season with salt and pepper)
fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
roasted red pepper
caramelized onions


The burgers can be grilled on a grill pan since we are not allowed to have an actual grill in our Brooklyn condo. The cheese should be put on the burger about a minute before it is done grilling and then should be covered with aluminum foil.

I like the homemade mozzarella cheese from M&S prime meats in park slope, as it is made fresh everyday.

Caramelized onions can be prepared by slicing two onions and sauteing in 2 T sugar and 2 T oil.

It's not quite like going back to college in Philly again, but it's a pretty tasty burger.

Sasha's Kitchen: Back To College - Philadelphia In A Burger