What's Cookin'? - Smithtown - Holiday Foodie Finds 2012

What’s Cookin’? – Smithtown

 By Nancy Vallarella

Holiday Foodie Finds 2012

You don’t have to look far to find that perfect gift for the foodies in your life.  In and near Smithtown are great restaurants and specialty food purveyors offering gift certificates, gift baskets and cook books for purchase.  Buying local will not only save time and gas, it will also give a boost to the health of the local economy.

Want to wow your foodie friends and give them a health boost? One of the most extraordinary local finds available this year is The Infused Palate – cooking with extra virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars by Eileen Sanger Profit.  It is not just another cook book; it is an adventurous exploration and learning experience. It will awaken anyone’s current recipe repertoire and help guide the sense of taste, smell, sight and touch with new ideas and ingredients for familiar dishes. 

Eileen Sanger Profit’s muse came calling when she accepted employment at The Crushed Olive of Stony Brook. It is here where she began helping customers pair the flavor infused balsamic vinegars and extra virgin olive oils. She then began experimenting with recipes at home and offering samples at the store.  Customers loved her samples and asked for the recipes. As time passed the number of recipes grew.

Having a background in art coupled with a sound enthusiasm for food and wine, Ms.  Profit channeled these passions through her palate and onto the page for all to enjoy.  Purchase this book along with a Crushed Olive gift certificate for the perfect gift pairing at all three store locations (link available through Smithtown Matters Food & Restaurant Guide).  A book signing schedule and on-line purchase of The Infused Palate can be made at www.theinfusedpalate.com.

My other fabulous cookbook find this year is The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook.  Author Leeann Lavin takes an intimate look at local, seasonal, sustainable, farm fresh products with the local chefs that use them and the artisans that produce them.  Like The Infused Palate; this book is much more than a collection of recipes. It is a history of local farmers, fishers, poets and culinary artisans that shape our island.  Beautifully photographed, this book belongs on your coffee table. It does contain recipes from local super rock star chefs such as:  Guy Reuge, Tom Schaudel and Eric Lomando; to name only a few. If one feels worthy of trying recipes of such local culinary greatness this book belongs in the kitchen.  I keep my copy in my car.  I use it like a passport to some of the most remarkable meals I have eaten. Each meal is documented with that chef’s signature (the stamp) proving my attendance to an amazing dining experience.  This is a foodie must have gift. Pair it with a gift certificate to the one of the restaurants profiled in this book for a truly memorable culinary event. 

I have also had the experience of attending a book signing dinner featuring The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook at Mirabelle this past summer. Chef Guy Reuge prepared his recipes from this book.  There is a game among chefs.  It is the verbal sharing of one’s ultimate meal, your last meal…a Death Row Meal – I had mine that night at Mirabelle.    

The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook can be purchased through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble or at a scheduled book signing. For information on book signings and book signing dinners  -  “ LIKE” The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook on Facebook .  Rumor has it there will be a book signing dinner at Tom Schaudel’s Jewel in Melville in January.  Maybe Eric Lomando will follow with one at Kitchen A Bistro? – My Christmas Wish. 

EDITORIAL - They Want To Do What?????

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”  Lord Acton in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton 1887

Smithtown Board members would be well advised to consider this quote.  The Supervisor’s budget message provided the grim news that property values have decreased significantly with the average home’s assessed value dropping from $6,000 to $5,500. A decrease in property value has major implications for taxpayers, but  it did not prevent the Town Board from raising taxes and giving pay raises.  For some town employees raises were part of contract negotiations, not so for everyone.  Board members voted, unanimously, to award a ten percent increase to each member of the Planning Board (PB) for the 2013  Budget year. This is the same PB which Council members now want to take away their responsibilities for overseeing commercial development. Is the PB doing a good job worthy of a ten percent pay hike or responsible for the stagnation and blight in our downtowns? Which is it? Tax payers deserve to know.To read editiorial click on First A Raise Then A Power Grab By Smithtown Town Board

Editorial - First A Raise Then A Power Grab By Smithtown Town Board

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”  Lord Acton in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton 1887

Smithtown Board members would be well advised to consider this quote.  The Supervisor’s budget message provided the grim news that property values have decreased significantly with the average home’s assessed value dropping from $6,000 to $5,500. A decrease in property value has major implications for taxpayers, but  it did not prevent the Town Board from raising taxes and giving pay raises.  For some town employees raises were part of contract negotiations, not so for everyone.  Board members voted, unanimously, to award a ten percent increase to each member of the Planning Board (PB) for the 2013  Budget year. This is the same PB which Council members now want to take away their responsibilities for overseeing commercial development. Is the PB doing a good job worthy of a ten percent pay hike or responsible for the stagnation and blight in our downtowns? Which is it? Tax payers deserve to know.

It seems that Town Board members have chosen to forget the  2011 GRAND JURY’s investigation into the Town’s interference into the commercial development of the Nassau - Suffolk Lumber site across the street from Town Hall. The report documented the clandestine activities that put health and well being of residents at risk and decreased the tax liability of a commercial land holder to the detriment of taxpayers.

The Grand Jury concluded that the Town lacked certain protocols that would prevent runaway elected officials from behaving in ways that are detrimental to the taxpayers of Smithtown.  The Grand Jury urged the Town to set up a system that provides for an honest and open review of the application and permitting process.  

THE GRAND JURY Concluded:

# 3. The Town of Smithtown must enact legislation which allows for the appointment of an independent Board of Site Plan Review.Town Board members must no longer be allowed to serve in this additional capacity. The presence of an appointed Board of Site Plan Review will introduce new individuals to the process whose singular roles as public servants will be to ensure that the legal mandates of Site Plan Review are enforced. These members should be selected in the same manner in which members of other Town boards and commissions are appointed.

#4.The Town of Smithtown must amend the Town Code so that the process of Site Plan Review requires notice and an opportunity to be heard for property owners situated next to the property of the applicant. This notice will not only provide these homeowners an opportunity to voice their concerns as to the application, but may also afford the Town knowledge of conditions and issues that might be unknown. This provision must establish a minimum time period for providing notice, and also allow for an appropriate period of time for response.

In a Nov. 21 article in the TIMES of Smithtown “Speeding Up The Pace of Government in Smithtown”, Planning Director Frank DeRubeis is quoted  saying  “It’s hard to convey the sophistication of reviewing a large site plan,” “Also, the Planning Board holds public hearings during its portion of the site plan review process, something the Board of Site Plan Review does not.By cutting out the Planning Board, DeRubeis argued, discussion of the plan’s many details may fall to the wayside.”

The article sites assurances from Councilman Wehrheim and Malloy they that they will continue to seek input from departments to discuss the necessary details of the plan.

This Town Board appears to be thumbing its collective noses at the Grand Jury report and the residents of Smithtown.  Fresh off their success in passing a budget that blamed higher taxes on everything but the very raises they were doling out, your Town Board now wants to consolidate its already considerable power to include uninhibited decision making devoid of Board and presumably Departmental review. 

 “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.  What could they be thinking?

A public hearing is scheduled for December 11, 2012 at 2pm

Commack - Kings Park Rotarians Support "Gift Of Life"

Eight year old Eljesa Vllasaliu of Prestina, Kosovo thanks the Commack-Kings Park Rotary Club for their support.  Dr. Sean Levchuck (pictured with Eljesa & her dad) surgically corrected Eljesa’s Atrial Septal (Heart) Defect at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn as part of Rotary’s Gift of Life Program giving her the opportunity for a full life.  Eljesa was accompanied by Gift of Life District 7260 Chair Joe DeVincent and her dad Nexhmedin Vllasaliu, a Kosovar Police Officer. 

What's Cookin'? - Smithtown - Thanksgiving!!!

What’s Cookin’? – Smithtown

 By Nancy Vallarella

THANKSGIVING

Time to put the last few weeks behind us and embrace “the holidays”. 

As a child, Thanksgiving marked the beginning of a magical, warm and loving time of the year; as an adult, not as much. This is probably due to the mounting responsibilities of trying to make everyone’s holiday magical, warm and loving.

Foremost, relying on gratitude for what one has goes a long way toward having a half full glass.  Stress does put a strain on keeping this glass full.  Travel, hosting, cleaning, cooking, anticipated bills, colds, flu, hurricanes, sibling rivalry and repressed resentment all drain the gratitude glass.  I have no qualifications in stress management or therapy.  I can only offer help through foodie fixes.

Sharing Thanksgiving with family? - There is a very good chance you will encounter sibling rivalry and repressed resentment.  You may not be the cause; it could be contributed by other attendees. In any case, to avoid those hurtful and awkward moments limit the quantity of alcohol served. Alcohol fuels courage and magnifies emotion. Who hasn’t experienced comments of repressed resentment when the alcohol is flowing?  No one needs this to happen around their dining table on Thanksgiving. The comment surfaces like a ton of dead fish, stinking and leaving everyone to look on in silence.  Instead go with limited quality options. Perhaps a pitcher of a mixed premium cocktail prior to dinner (one per adult guest), calculating a two glass maximum of wine per adult with dinner and filling  in with plenty of water and cider; flat or sparkling.  It will make for a more pleasant evening and you will be thanked for it.  - Especially the next morning and maybe even in the years to come. 

My recommendation for a premium cocktail – Fresh Cranberry Cosmo - recipe provided.  It may be a little labor intensive compared to using premade cranberry juice but it is quality and not quantity we are aiming for here. As for the wine – buy the local Long Island wine you enjoy. Calculate 4 -5 glasses per 750 ml bottle.

Stressed by hosting, cleaning and/or cooking? No problem.  Here are some solutions:

Mirabelle at the Three Village Inn in Stony Brook will offer a buffet with gourmet fare. Dine on smoked fish, shrimp cocktail, cheese and charcuterie, oysters Rockefeller,  lobster bisque, pumpkin soup, turkey, herb-stuffed rack of lamb, prime rib, rack of Berkshire pork, puff-pastry-wrapped halibut and an assortment  of side dishes and desserts. Refer to Smithtown Matters Food and Restaurant Guide for contact information.

The Garden Grill in Smithtown and all of Chef Tom Schaudel’s restaurants (Jewel in Melville, Coolfish in Syosett, A lure in Southhold and A Mano in Mattituck are serving Thanksgiving Day dinner. Check their websites for menus and reservation information.

Take out Thanksgiving dinner is available throughout town.  Call soon because order by dates range from Thursday, November 15 through Monday, November 19^th.  Kitchen A Trattoria and the Sequa Deli in Saint James, Elegant Eating and Uncle Guiseppe’s in Smithtown all offer take home Thanksgiving cuisine. Menu and pricing info are available on their websites or call to place orders.

Regarding travel – no foodie advice here.  I can only advise that you don’t do it. If you have to travel, do so during non-peak times.  If you are flying, drink plenty of water.  Colds & flu – stay home if you have either of these. It is not better to give these than receive these.   Bills- spend only what you have.  There are meal options available at varied price points. The Thanksgiving meals offered by the above mentioned establishments range from $15 pp to $50 pp.  Hurricane – none are forecasted in the near future and if there were it would be the topic for an entire article even if I were only to cover how to feed a family during. 

If you would like to help families in town that do not have the financial resources this Thanksgiving, please reference the What’s Cookin? - Smithtown facebook page for a listing of local food pantries and charities assisting in this effort.

Stay healthy, safe, limit the stress and keep those glasses half full! 

Happy Thanksgiving Smithtown!

Fresh Cranberry Cosmo

Ingredients: (Recipe makes 8 cocktails)

1 cup vodka

Cranberry Slush (see recipe below)

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

Cranberry Slush:

4 cups water

12oz. fresh cranberries

1 ¼ cup sugar

1tsp. lime zest – (optional)

Place water, cranberries and sugar into a 1 ½ qt. sauce pan. Cook on medium heat until berries begin to pop. Remove from heat and bend with an emersion blender or transfer contents into a standing blender. Blend for 1 minute. Pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer with a medium bowl under strainer.  Do not press skins. Ladle strained liquid from bowl into two standard ice cube trays. Freeze until set (6 hours or overnight). Once frozen, cubes can be removed easily by sliding the tines of a fork in the side of each cube to lift out. Place frozen cranberry cube on a flat surface and press down with fork tines to create cranberry slush. Transfer slush to a glass pitcher.  Add vodka and lime juice.  Stir until slush has melted and serve immediately in chilled martini glasses.

Individual recipe:

4 cranberry cubes

2 oz. vodka

½ oz. freshly squeezed lime juice

Place frozen cranberry cube on a flat surface and press down with fork tines to create cranberry slush. Transfer slush to a cocktail shaker.  Add vodka and lime juice.  Shake until slush has melted and serve immediately in chilled martini glass.

Unused cranberry cubes can be stored in ice cube trays in a plastic freezer bag up to 4 – 6 weeks.