Where to eat at the Belmont in Saratoga Springs (updated)

Posted on May 28, 2024 by Burnt My Fingers
Eat at the Belmont

Bring out your seersucker and fascinators! The Belmont is coming to Saratoga Springs. Photos courtesy NYRA.

The Belmont Stakes, final jewel in horse racing’s Triple Crown, is happening June 6 through 9 at Saratoga Race Course. Tickets to the track sold out within hours after the announcement, and according to the Times-Union’s Steve Barnes, local restaurant reservations were not far behind.

If you scored tickets and a place to stay, lucky you. But you still have to eat at the Belmont. Here are some ideas from a local.

Bring a picnic—to the track, or for a warm evening in the park. NYRA won’t allow alcohol to be brought in, but you can import a 12×18 cooler (about the size of a jumbo lunchbox) which might contain a Go Box from 9 Miles East, a sub from Cardona’s or Fat Paulie’s, a sandwich and sides from Putnam Market or Franklin Square Market, or maybe a half fried chicken with sides from West Ave Chicken. All these are tried-and-true local favorites. Just remember to order in advance (online ordering available for most) because they’re likely to be slammed. Update: Mittler’s, a “New York style bodega”, has just opened at the corner of Phila and Putnam Streets, one block from Congress Park. For now the store features take out items and a selection of grocery basics.

Consider dining choices off the main drag. Brook Tavern, across the street from the track, was completely booked as of Memorial Day weekend, but their sister restaurant The Wishing Well up the road on US 9 still had availability. Radici in Glens Falls and Pasta Pane in Clifton Park equal the standards of better Saratoga spots but may be less crowded because they’re an easy drive on the Northway (which will probably be more enjoyable than waiting for your reserved table on Broadway). Next Door Kitchen is another local favorite that’s 5 miles down the road in Ballston Spa.

Have a handicapping plan if you dare to dine downtown. Inevitably there will be cancellations and many places take walk-ins so somebody’s going to get lucky—maybe you! Expect a packed house and overtaxed kitchen which may affect your dining experience, and remember that most places depend on seasonal help. As a result you may wait a lot and pay a lot for a meal not nearly as good as the same meal in the same spot off-season. Still willing to risk it? 15 Church, Taverna Novo and Hamlet & Ghost are three places which have an exceptional degree of professionalism as well as great food and high prices; expect they will do everything they can to make the dining experience a good one. Update: Franklin Square Market has just opened an in-store restaurant with an upscale menu. Because it’s new, reservations may be easier here than elsewhere.

By the way, Saratoga Springs is not just about horse racing. Do take the time to walk or bike in Spa State Park. Investigate the healthful and delicious (just kidding) water from our mineral springs. Pick a hat to wear to the track at one of the tempting stores on and around Broadway downtown. Learn about our checkered and colorful past at the History Museum in Congress Park. Go to our Farmers Market on Saturday morning in High Rock Park. (They open at 9 on Belmont Day and first post isn’t till 10:45 so you have time.) You’re sure to work up an appetite.

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Food for thought: The Food Scene

Posted on May 25, 2024 by Burnt My Fingers
Jell Olives

“Jell-Olives” (Castelvetranos suspended in cubes of Negroni jello) at Cafe Mars in Bushwick, from a recent issue of the New Yorker’s Food Scene newsletter.

I love the New Yorker, but I don’t read it for restaurant suggestions or recipes. Same with their Food Scene newsletter. And while a New Yorker subscription is quite expensive (though deals are to be had if you really work at it), the newsletter is free (though magazine subscribers get “priority access” whatever that means).

So what do you get if not recipes and restaurant tips? First, some of the finest food essay and personal experience writing anywhere. Bill Buford’s Heat, in my mind the all time best book on working in a restaurant kitchen, started as a long article in the New Yorker. More recently there is Helen Rosner’s interview with Kenji on the eve of his new book. We expect that many similar articles will be excerpted or published in full in the newsletter.

Rosner is also one of two writers of the restaurant column that appears at the front of most issues. This is an impression of a restaurant rather than an analysis of the menu and ambience, though you’re still going to find out what it is like to eat there. It’s most interesting to an out of towner* looking for food trends and inspiration, like the “Romanian-ish” place that puts flower petals on its soft cheese and serves complimentary gummy bears for dessert.

Goldfield Food Scene

A typical food shot from a Hannah Goldfield restaurant piece.

Before Rosner (and maybe after; I didn’t see a clear announcement when the roaming food critic changed) there was Hannah Goldfield. She had the same clear-eyed approach to what’s happening in a restaurant but presented in a different voice, and there were really interesting photos accompanying the columns. Sometimes there were half-eaten dishes, sometimes an hand helping itself in the shot, sometimes harsh flash lighting.

Did I mention all this is free? There’s not a catch as far as I know (except that you will be regularly reminded you should buy a magazine subscription) so check it out.

*Unfortunately (or not) most of us do not live in NYC. I myself am three hours away and my visits are very transactional; I can take a train down, eat lunch or an early dinner, and get back the same night without paying $300 for a fleabag hotel room. So I’m not likely to go exploring an offbeat place in Bushwick though I am quite happy to read about it and steal ideas.

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Recipe: Sicilian Hazelnut Cake

Posted on May 21, 2024 by Burnt My Fingers

 

Sicilian Hazelnut Cake

Sicilian Hazelnut Cake

As promised, we tried the Sicilian Hazelnut Cake recipe found on the Mangia Bedda blog. Very happy with the result. Our only changes were to reduce the sugar and up the salt slightly, to tip the sweet/savory balance toward savory. You could eat this with a meal in the way we eat cornbread, maybe with some melted butter and hot honey. Or serve for dessert with macerated fruit and whipped cream. Makes one 10-inch cake.

Ingredients:
1¾ c hazelnuts
3 large eggs
½ c fruity olive oil OR neutral vegetable oil
½ c granulated sugar
½ c whole milk
1 t vanilla extract
1½ c all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1 t Kosher salt, plus a pinch for beating egg whites

Method: husk the hazelnuts using this method, then roast 20 minutes at 325 degrees until they just begin to brown. Chop coarsely (not to powder) in a food processor; reserve. Separate eggs; combine yokes with sugar and oil and beat to mix. Add milk and vanilla and mix well. Add hazelnuts, reserving a couple of tablespoons full for topping. Add flour and baking powder and fold many times with a spatula to form a smooth, even paste. (This batter will be quite thick.) Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt till they reach the stiff-peak stage. Mix into the batter until all the whites are incorporated.

Have an oven preheated to 350 degrees and a 9 inch springform pan with sides buttered and bottom covered with parchment, or else a 9 inch baking pan with parchment paper trimmed to cover both bottom and sides (like we did for this fast focaccia recipe). Pour the batter into the pan and smooth with spatula till it reaches the edges. Sprinkle the reserved hazelnuts on top. Bake 40-45 minutes until the sides pull away from the pan and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Cool slightly before serving.

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Why we’re snacking Xochitl Salted Tortilla Chips

Posted on May 15, 2024 by Burnt My Fingers
Xochitl Chips In Bag

Xochitl Salted Tortilla Chips, ready for snacking.

We had never met a packaged tortilla chip we liked until Xochtil Tortilla Chips came along. We first encountered them at a friend’s house with salsa and were startled to discover they had exactly the right amount of salt. Most healthy-looking chips (those that come in virtue-signaling paper bags) are undersalted while Doritos and their spawn are so chockful of chemicals the base layer might as well be cardboard.

A quick search found Xochtil (pronounced so-chill) chips are sold at our local Price Chopper chain. This is an unusual example of things being available in our neglected corner of the world that are hard to find elsewhere.  Xochtil (which is a Toltec word for “flower” and is a popular girls’ name in Mexico) is also sold at Shaw’s markets in the Boston area but you won’t find them in NYC or SF. They’re produced in our old stomping ground in Irving, TX and are the official chip of SMU athletics (home of Peruna, perhaps the world’s ugliest sport mascot).

Xochitl Tortilla Chips

There are several varieties; Xochitl Salted Tortilla Chips are the ones to get.

I paid a little under $5 for my own package; right now Amazon appears to be running a sale with a pack shipped free to Prime members for $4.13. This isn’t likely to last, but you can buy 2 packs for $22 (including shipping) on a regular basis by direct order from the manufacturer. As with Whole Shabang Potato Chips, we think this is a small premium to have a satisfying culinary experience delivered to your door.

Of course you’re not just buying for the salt; there are other reasons to like Xochtil Salted Tortilla Chips. They also have the ideal form factor, thin and light but sturdy enough they don’t crumble in the package.  We do love tortilla chips made from actual leftover tortillas in Mexican restaurants fried in oil but that’s a different experience; no reason that a packaged chip has to be that heavy. With a light touch of oil, we’ll venture that Xochitl chips are even better for you.

We already have an official horseradish and paper towel over here, so why not add this fine product to the list? Xochitl Salted Tortilla Chips, you are now the official tortilla chip of Burnt My Fingers.

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Recipe: Pickled Eggs

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Burnt My Fingers
Pickled Egg

Pickled Egg with bonus beet slice.

Pickled eggs are a good way to use the perfect hard-boiled eggs you make in the Instant Pot. If you don’t have your own recipe, please use ours. Peeled hard-boiled eggs are quite perishable, but once pickled these should last a week or so in the fridge.

Ingredients:
Dozen hard-boiled eggs, shelled
14.5 oz can sliced beets (don’t buy pickled, just plain sliced beets)
1 c (approx.) distilled white vinegar
1 T sugar
1 T pickling spice
Sliced onions (optional)

Method: drain the liquid from the beets into a container; reserve the beets. There should be about 1 c beet liquid; mix with an equal amount of distilled white vinegar. Add sugar and pickling spice and stir until sugar is dissolved. Transfer to a quart jar or equivalent container then start layering eggs. Add back the reserved beets between layers of eggs. We like to add some thin-sliced onion as well. If eggs are not fully submerged after layering, add a 50/50 distilled white vinegar/water mixture till covered.

Refrigerate several hours, then rotate eggs in the mix to eliminate any white spots where the eggs have not contacted the pickling liquid. Eggs are ready to enjoy after 24 hours.

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Recipe: Tomato Jam

Posted on May 4, 2024 by Burnt My Fingers
Tomato Jam Crackers

Tomato Jam with brie on crackers.

Tomato jam would make a nice accompaniment to our onion jam if you’re putting together a fancy sandwich. It also goes great on a cracker with a smear of brie. No need to peel or seed the tomatoes; everything will meld in the delicious mush you’re about to create. Makes a scant 1 c.

Ingredients:
2 lbs meaty tomatoes (Roma or San Marzano preferred), cored and coarsely chopped
2 T lemon juice
2 T dark brown sugar
2 t crushed ginger
1 t Kosher salt
½ t cumin (seed or ground)
½ t cinnamon
A generous grind of black pepper (maybe ¼ t)
½ t cracked red pepper (optional)

Tomato Jam

We don’t worry about the occasional bit of skin or seeds because it’s jam, not jelly.

Method: mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook on low heat, stirring frequently. Initially the tomatoes will throw off a lot of liquid, then they will begin to break down. Reduce heat to a very low simmer and continue to cook, stirring frequently to avoid sticking in the pan, until liquid is almost gone. This might take as much as 2 hours. Cool and refrigerate until used; will probably keep for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.

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My day in the city with Baldor Bites

Posted on April 30, 2024 by Burnt My Fingers
Kwame Onwuachi Baldor Bites

Chef Kwame Onwuachi is interviewed at Baldor Bites.

Ever heard of Balducci’s in Greenwich Village? When I was a wee lad on my first trip to NYC, I made a pilgrimage to this legendary Italian deli and was stunned to find it has closed. But it actually morphed into a very different identity, as a supplier of fresh foods and fine dining staples throughout the five boroughs called Baldor.

Baldor Bites is a biannual event to celebrate Baldor customers with generous food and drink samplings and a program of mostly panel discussions featuring chefs and influencers. This year it was held at the emerging basketball center at South Port which is for now a hall surrounded by construction barriers. No matter, we got there and everybody had a great time.

Baldor Audience

Not your typical white collar audience…

The audience was almost entirely chefs or chef-trainees in some sort of culinary education program. The profile of the now and future chef: probably not Caucasian, gender fluid, very large and covered with tattoos. Interesting people in other words and they were very active in the panel discussions asking many questions. The best attended session featured controversial celebrity chef Kwame Onwuachi who, after some early career missteps, now helms the top rated Tatiana at Lincoln Center. At least half the questioners asked “how can I get a reservation” and were referred to his hapless interrogator.

Baldor Bites also featured a session in which Dan Barber of Blue Hill at Stone Barns interviewed Joseph Lofthouse, a seed developer and author of Landrace Gardening. Lofthouse started his career working for a pesticide company and had an epiphany after he realized his company was responsible for the anthrax that went in the mail a few decades back. He took a vow of poverty, stopped wearing shoes and now focuses on hand-developing the best seeds can based on a/how good does it taste and b/how well does it thrive in his harsh environment in Utah. They mentioned Row 7 Seeds, a company following the same principles that exhibited at the show and offers seeds by mail order.

Paella at Baldor Bites

Now that’s a lot of paella!

Also interesting to me was an international panel discussing how global trends are influencing restaurant menus today. David Shim, an early 2000s graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, commented that today’s curriculum is completely different from what he took a few years ago. Fariyal Abdullahi, also a CIA grad, said the school has consulted her about designing an injera unit. In a plug for the sponsor, Ayo Balogun said his favorite Baldor order is a guinea hen because though he does not feature it often, he can get it overnight when he does.

Baldor Tuna Demo

A 100-lb tuna was broken down in a demo at Baldor Bites. Cups at left are for sampling.

And yes, there were lots of “bites”. Many of the vendors were those who show up at the Fancy Food Show but here they limited their presentation to the high end stuff. It helped that the facility is a good half mile from any public transportation (hopefully this will remedied before actual basketball arrives at the center) so one had the opportunity to walk it off.

We left with the impression that Baldor is a very positive influence for good in the food service clients they work with. Check out the wide selection on their website and see if your favorite restaurant or purveyor works with them.

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Food for Thought: Mangia Betta

Posted on April 21, 2024 by Burnt My Fingers
Chickpea Fritters Mangia Bedda

Panelle (Chickpea Fritters) from Mangia Bedda.

You can get food inspiration for free by reading up on the dishes prepared by favorite chefs and hole-in-the-wall ethnic restaurants. Such was the case with a recent FB post by Ric Orlando, an inventive local chef. He’s been leading tours of Sicily and shared a vegetarian sandwich he had made with two Sicilian dishes, Panelle (Chickpea Fritters) and Cazzilli (Fried Potato Croquettes).

What? A search for recipes for these two hitherto-unknown products led us to Mangia Bedda, a wonderful blog by Nadia who is “documenting my mother’s recipes in order to preserve them and pass them on to future generations” and augmenting them with discoveries from her own travels in Sicily. I will warn you this is a heavily monetized website in which the preparation descriptions are drawn out to make room for lots of advertising, but in this case much of the filler material is actually useful.

Hazelnut Cake Mangia Bedda

Hazelnut Cake from Mangia Bedda.

A good example is this recipe for Sicilian Hazelnut Cake which describes the heritage of Sicilian hazelnuts from the Neroni and advises us on the best texture for grinding the hazelnuts to create a dessert which is meaty and not too sweet. I have a couple of bags of hazelnuts and you can bet I’m going to try this one.

Seafood Aranchini and Cipolline Catanesi (Sicilian Onion Puff Pastry Tarts) are two more that made it on my must-try list. Or simply dive into the recipe index. You surely can eat better with Mangia Bedda, so check it out.

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Recipe: Marinated Artichokes and Hearts of Palm

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Burnt My Fingers
Marinated Artichokes and Hearts of Palm

Marinated Artichokes and Hearts of Palm.

Stores sell marinated artichokes, so why not marinated artichokes and hearts of palm? They’re both mild vegetables that contribute more texture than taste, and they absorb the flavor of a marinade beautifully. You do need firm hearts of palm which will hold up when you slice them; we found just what we wanted at Walmart for a little over $2 for a 14.5 oz can and quartered artichoke hearts for about the same price in a supermarket house brand. Makes about 2 cups marinated artichokes and hearts of palm, enough for several salads.

Ingredients:
14.5 oz can hearts of palm in water pack, drained
14.5 oz can quartered artichoke hearts in water pack, drained
1 T plus 1 t lemon juice
¼ c good olive oil
½ t Kosher salt
¼ t ground black pepper
1 t finely chopped garlic (optional)

Loaded Salad

Now that’s a salad!

Method: combine the dressing ingredients and mix thoroughly; taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. Cut hearts of palm into ¾ inch logs. Add artichoke hearts and hearts of palm and toss to coat all surfaces with the dressing. Rest for at least 2 hours before serving as an appetizer or with tossed salad. You can refrigerate for storage, but bring them out before serving so any solidified oil will liquify. We prefer to just leave them on the counter; they should be good for a couple of days and will likely be gone by then.

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Taste test: marinated mushrooms

Posted on April 13, 2024 by Burnt My Fingers
Marinated Mushroom Taste Test

Marinated mushrooms four ways.

I hoovered some delicious marinated mushrooms from the charcuterie board at a recent event and resolved to make them myself. Researching online recipes, I found a surprising variety of methods and even definitions of what “marinated mushrooms” implies. As executed, our marinated mushrooms taste test includes four preps with a focus on a/how flavorful is the mushroom itself and b/how well do the marinating ingredients complement the mushroom.

I worked with ordinary brown mushrooms (cremini) from the supermarket and trimmed the ends of the stems then quartered them (or halved in the case of smaller ones), I used good olive oil and a reasonable amount of salt and pepper for flavor balance plus some spices as noted below but was not going for a completed product, just a best practices technique.

Sautéed Marinated Mushrooms

Test #1: sautéed then marinated.

Test #1: sauteed then marinated. This is the method used in an NYT recipe and it might be argued the mushrooms aren’t really marinated but simply cooked then doused with vinegar before serving (not unlike that famous Rao’s chicken dish). I sauteed them lightly in olive oil with garlic then added vinegar to the warm skillet.

Boiled then Marinated Mushrooms

Test #2: boiled then marinated.

Test #2: boiled then marinated. This is a technique I ran across on the Mediterranean Dish blog. Boil the mushrooms 5 minutes, then drain thoroughly and toss with marinade. It’s counterintuitive because you’d think the objective in preparing mushrooms is to reduce their water content, not give them the opportunity to absorb more. But they retained their texture and flavor and were not waterlogged at all.

 

Boiled then Pickled Mushrooms

Test #3: boiled then pickled.

Test #3: boiled then pickled. I used the same boiling technique as test #2, then immersed the mushrooms in a pickling brine with half and half white vinegar/water, a bit of salt and pepper and sugar and a teaspoon of Penzey’s pickling spices. Also added a dash of olive oil, which I regret. These were refrigerated a couple of days before tasting.

Balsamic Marinated Mushrooms

Test #4: raw in marinade.

Test #4: raw mushrooms in marinade. I ran across a balsamic marinade recipe I liked and wanted to do something with uncooked mushrooms. Balsamic and red vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and a bit of thyme were heated to boiling then removed from heat and tossed with the mushrooms.

The results: a 2 ½ -way tie! The sauteed-then-marinated mushrooms in test #1 were closest to my charcuterie experience and were delicious. Boiling the mushrooms turns out to be a great solution: they retain their shape and texture while developing flavor and absorb the marinade without getting soggy. #2 was just as good as #1 yet with a completely different mushroom profile. #3 only gets half credit because I should not have added oil; will try again and expect an excellent result. #4 was a non-starter, with much less mushroom taste and an unsatisfying texture. I immediately recognized the dispiriting mushroom profile encountered in salad bars and poorly designed main dish salads.

Next test: I will tinker with #1 sauté, but start with boiled mushrooms as in #2. Look forward to having mind blown!

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