The cheesesteak is dead, long live the cheesesteak!

Victor's Pizza, on Nassau Street across from the main entrance to Princeton University, was already a well-established business when I arrived on campus in 1983. I soon became a fan of its cheesesteak hoagies (and learned that "hoagie" was the local term for a sub sandwich). Long after moving away, I often made a point of returning to Victor's for a cheesesteak when visiting Princeton.

In 2004, Victor's changed hands and became known as Iano's. Cheesesteaks remained on the menu, and if not quite the same, were still delectable. Now the establishment has changed hands again. The new name is Princeton Pi, as in the mathematical constant.

The artwork on the walls features not only the Greek letter pi, but many of its digits. Now that's nerdy!

 

 

 

Fortunately, Princeton Pi still serves cheesesteaks. They're not quite the same. In particular, the hoagie rolls are larger and denser, served toasted. It's still a greasy, delicious treat, though. All the usual toppings and condiments are available. My personal recommendation is fried onions, peppers and mushrooms; lettuce, tomato, oil and vinegar.

 

 

 

I guess you could say the Princeton cheesesteak experience has come full circle.

Whole wheat pizza goes Greek

It's not easy to find whole wheat pizza. It's not even easy to find whole wheat pizza crust with wholesome ingredients at a reasonable price. The Wegmans supermarket in Woodbridge, NJ came through for me. I purchased their whole wheat "Food You Feel Good About" 16-inch pizza crust. Whole wheat flour is ingredient number one. The rest of the ingredient list is inoffensive, including less than 2% (non-whole) wheat flour.

You can see the nutrition facts here. Mostly good news, although the sodium content is a bit disturbing. It looks innocuous at 120 mg until you realize that's for one ounce of crust, or a twelfth of the pie. Since my family split the pizza three ways, that's 480 mg per person in the crust alone. I'm sure the Greek-style toppings I added contributed considerable additional sodium. I was definitely thirsty after this meal.

Those toppings sure were tasty, though! I drizzled the crust with olive oil and then added crumbled feta cheese, as well as chopped olives, artichoke hearts and Peppadew peppers from Wegmans' olive bar. I also placed thinly-sliced zucchini on half the pie. (I left it off the other half because one member of my family, who shall remain nameless, doesn't like zucchini).

After about 15 minutes in the oven, it came out looking like this.

I would say the whole wheat crust was slightly less tasty than typical white crust, but not bad at all, and the overall result was delicious. This wasn't a low-cost meal -- about $4 for the crust, another $4 for the cheese and $7 for the toppings, totaling the price of a large pizza with one topping from a local restaurant. But for a whole wheat pie with multiple exotic toppings, not a bad deal.

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts, but don't be afraid of Greek-style whole wheat pizza!

Salad soda

I started with a bowl of crisp, fresh lettuce. I added tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded cabbage and a sprinkling of crumbled feta. Now all my salad needed was some dressing. So I dumped on a few spoons of sugar and some water. No, wait -- that's not right! But if you read the ingredients on many bottled salad dressings, you'll find out that sugar and water feature prominently. In fact, it's so common that one brand proudly mentions "no sugar" on the package.

I'm not just talking about inexpensive mass-market brands that you might expect to be loaded with junk, either. I have often chosen Newman's Own dressings in the belief they were more wholesome than many competing products. Perhaps that's true, but they're not free of water and sugar; these are ingredients number two and five in Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette. And their Creamy Balsamic variety has 7 grams of sugar per two-tablespoon serving. I guess "creamy" means "sweet."

I don't mean to single out Newman's Own. The bottle of Marzetti Olive Oil and Vinegar Vinaigrette in my fridge also contains water and sugar. Even the Cindy's Kitchen Lemon and Shallot Vinaigrette I picked up at Whole Foods for a pricey $5.99 contains honey, and water is its first ingredient.

I don't really know why commercial salad dressings contain water, but I'm going to guess. First, water is cheap. Second, replacing oil with water reduces the fat content, which might appeal to people who are shopping based on the number of fat grams listed on the nutrition facts label. Finally, I'm going to charitably assume that the acidity of vinegar may vary from batch to batch, and manufacturers may be obliged to add water to bring the acidity to desired (or perhaps even government-mandated) levels.

I don't really know why commercial salad dressings contain sugar, either, but anyone who has read Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us can probably come up with a good guess. Sugar tastes good and makes certain mass-production cooking techniques easier.

If you don't want water and sugar in your salad dressing, here's a simple alternative. To a large individual serving of salad, add:
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp of your favorite vinegar or lemon juice
- Salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste
- Onion powder and dried oregano to taste

Toss and enjoy.

Because if it contains sugar water, it's not salad dressing, it's salad soda!

Confessions of a lentil noob

I've cooked a lot of things in my lifetime, but until last week, I had never cooked lentils. I recently picked up a package in my local supermarket. I know there are different colors and varieties of lentils, but I don't know what kind these were. They were brown and looked like, well, lentils.

The directions on the bag said to cover with 6 - 8 cups of hot water, bring to a boil, cover with the lid tilted, then simmer for 15 - 20 minutes or to desired tenderness. I figured the results of that would be rather bland, so I added a few other ingredients.

I started by sautéing some chopped onions, celery and parsley in a little olive oil. Once the vegetables had softened a little, I added the lentils and 6 cups of water, along with a bay leaf, black pepper, a dash of chili powder and a fair amount of cumin.

I also figured a considerable amount of salt would be required to make the lentils palatable, but I didn't want to turn my healthful lentils into a high-sodium dish. Lentils themselves have almost no sodium. I ended up using a little over half a teaspoon.

Once the water came to a boil, I covered the pan (tilting the lid as instructed, which I guess allows some of the steam to escape) and reduced the heat. I started checking for doneness after 15 minutes. It ended up taking more than half an hour for the lentils to become tender enough. Here's how they looked:

I was afraid the end product would be more like a soup than a side dish, but most of the water ended up being absorbed. I used a slotted spoon for serving, so as to drain any liquid that remained.

As for the taste, the consensus among my wife, my teenage son and me was "not bad." Not the most delicious thing, but certainly edible and filling. I found the amount of salt sufficient, although I think more salt would have made the flavor better. My wife liked drizzling some balsamic vinegar over the cooked lentils.

It's amazing was how much food results from cooking a pound of lentils! They nearly filled two one-quart Chinese soup containers. Two to three of us ate lentils as a side dish for three meals, and there's still half a quart left. I put those leftovers in the freezer and will find out in the near future whether reheated frozen lentils are appetizing or not. Stay tuned for the results!

Sunday soup

It was a Sunday. The weather was cold. I planned to be home for the next few hours. And my refrigerator's vegetable drawer was well-stocked. In other words, it was the perfect time to make cabbage soup!

This is an easy soup to prepare. It's very forgiving. You can omit ingredients, substitute other ingredients, change the proportions, or vary the cooking time, and nothing bad will happen. You'll still end up with a hearty and nutritious result. So what follows is more of a template than a precise recipe.

The one trick to this soup is to avoid adding the root vegetables too soon, so they don't become mushy.

Ingredients:

• One onion, chopped. Any size will do. Or you could use leeks instead.
• Several stalks celery, chopped. The exact quantity doesn't matter.
• One medium head green cabbage, cored and coarsely shredded.
• Fresh dill, chopped. Or parsley. Or both. Or any other herbs. Or dried dill. (I also threw in a dried bay leaf, since I happened to have some.)
• Several carrots and/or parsnips cut in one-inch lengths.
• Several potatoes, cut in large cubes. I used three large, peeled russets. If you use a thin-skinned variety, you could choose not to peel them.
• Four cups chicken broth. Or you could use vegetable broth. Or any other type of broth or stock. Or just water.
• Additional water as needed.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

In a large pot, saute the onion, celery and herbs in a little olive oil (or any other kind of oil, or butter) for 5 or 10 minutes until they begin to soften.

Add the cabbage and liquid ingredients, including enough water to fully cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for at least an hour, until the cabbage is fairly tender.

You may need to add water occasionally during cooking. You can cover the pot or not. If you do, the cooking time might be a bit shorter. If you don't, you're more likely to need to add water.

Add the carrots and/or parsnips. Increase the heat to bring the soup back to a boil, then reduce it again and simmer for half an hour.

Add the potatoes. As before, adjust the heat the bring the pot to a boil and then back to a simmer. After 15 minutes, start checking the root vegetables for tenderness by poking with a fork. Once they're all tender enough for your taste, the soup is ready.

Taste the soup and add salt or pepper as needed.

Serve as a first course, or with crusty bread to make a full meal. Make approximately one zillion servings!

 

Filipino fare in Queens

This is a story about food I'd never eaten before, in a place I'd never been before. Because of that, I'm unclear on a few of the details, but it was an interesting and enjoyable dining experience that I want to share with my readers.

I had just dropped a family member off at LaGuardia Airport and was driving home to New Jersey. It was lunchtime, and I decided I could find a more interesting meal in Queens -- where I had never dined before -- than if I returned to my hometown. I randomly selected an exit off the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, pulled into a parking space, and used my phone's web browser to search for restaurants on Yelp. I discovered that I was in the Woodside neighborhood, and that Filipino and Thai restaurants were prevalent there. I selected a Filipino place a few blocks from where I happened to park.

That's how I ended up at Papa's Kitchen. Here's a picture of the exterior, and the view looking westward on Woodside Avenue.

It was around 12:30 PM on a Saturday, and the sign in the front window said "open," but I didn't see any customers inside. I was about to walk away when a woman asked me to come in. At first she said they wouldn't be open until 3:00 or 4:00. However, when I asked if she could recommend any other restaurant nearby, she insisted that Papa's Kitchen would open early for me. I protested briefly, not wanting to put the staff to any trouble, but she said it would be no problem.

I soon learned that my kind hostess's name was Beth (I hope I'm spelling that correctly), and that the gentleman preparing food in the kitchen area behind the counter was Miguel. Then my second point of confusion arose. Beth said the restaurant could prepare a dish of vegetables, with a slightly spicy coconut milk sauce, for me. She did briefly show me a printed menu, but didn't give me any time to study it or suggest that I could choose from it. I assumed that, because the restaurant had opened early, most dishes weren't available at the moment, and I accepted her suggestion. A few minutes later, though, a couple entered. They clearly knew Beth. Although she mentioned that they should have called ahead, she seated them, offered menus, and allowed them to choose what they wanted to eat. Interesting!

Anyway, my food soon arrived. I found out that the dish was called laing. It was mostly a stewed, shredded green vegetable that reminded me of collard greens. There were also some thin slices of a crunchier, tan vegetable, and a few bits of meat -- I don't know what type. The sauce was indeed coconut-based and moderately spiced. The meal was accompanied by steamed white rice. When I asked Beth about the green vegetable, she said it was taro leaves. Here's a photo:

 

I don't know if this recipe is very similar to what I had at Papa's Kitchen, but it will give you the idea. The recipe offers some advice, which suggests that expert knowledge is required when working with taro leaves:

 

Do not stir the ingredients while cooking so that itchiness of the taro will not spread on the dish, otherwise it will cause an itching sensation in your tongue when eating this cuisine.

 

Raw taro, like some other vegetables, apparently contains calcium oxalate, which can be toxic and is minimized by proper preparation.

 

I can't say that laing is the most delicious thing I've ever eaten, but I enjoyed it, and it didn't make my tongue itch. I found it very filling, perhaps because of the high fat content of coconut milk. Even though I didn't finish the whole serving, I still wasn't hungry six hours later. It did leave me hungry to try more Filipino cuisine the next time I get the chance.

A Ruthenian Christmas: A kielbasa story in words and pictures

First of all, let me say that not every post on TrueGrub is about healthful food. Today we're going to talk about some decidedly high-fat, high-sodium stuff that happens to be a traditional holiday favorite in my family.

Second of all, let me say that I'm not Ruthenian. (We'll get to the subject of Ruthenia in a moment.) But my wife's family is Ruthenian, and I'm the cook in my household, so I've had the duty and privilege of preparing some traditional Ruthenian dishes for the holidays.

Now, about Ruthenia... Ruthenia is a place. Or, rather, Ruthenia was a place. Scholars -- and members of my wife's extended family -- don't agree on exactly where it was, but it was clearly somewhere in Eastern Europe. Wikipedia describes it better than I could.

Suffice it to say that my in-laws say their ancestry is Ruthenian, and their holiday tradition includes kielabasa. Kielbasa with brown sauerkraut, to be precise, which I prepared yesterday.

It began with a visit to the Union Pork Store in Union, NJ last weekend. These two photos show just a fraction of the huge assortment of sausages and other products offered there.

 

 

 

I purchased three links of kielbasa, roughly five pounds total. I'm not a kielbasa expert, but I know there's more than one kind, and I know that I usually buy the kind known as krajana, which is coarse-ground. Another customer, who appeared to be an elderly Eastern European lady, tried to talk me into the fine-ground version, which, if I understood her correctly, is called mielona. I was almost persuaded, but in the end I stuck with the familiar krajana.

 

The first thing I did when I got home was to seal the kielbasa tightly in a large plastic bag. If this step isn't taken, the refrigerator and everything in it will reek of garlic!

 

 

 

On Christmas Eve, I liberated the kielbasa from its plastic prison...

 

 

 

...and assembled the other two ingredients for my dish: sauerkraut and slab bacon. The sauerkraut was a couple of two-pound bags or ordinary kraut from the refrigerated section of my local supermarket. The bacon came from the Union Pork Store. The variety and quantity of bacon aren't critical. I had about a third of a pound.

 

I diced the bacon...

 

 

 

...and cooked it in a nonstick pan until slightly crispy.

 

 

 

Then I drained some, but not all of the grease. I drained as much liquid as possible from the sauerkraut and added the kraut to the pan. I cooked it for several minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden. This combination of smoked pork and light caramelization produces the "brown sauerkraut" that's key to the dish.

 

 

 

Next, I sliced the kielbasa. I like to cut half-inch slices on the bias, which provides plenty of surface area to encourage mingling of the juices from the kielbasa and the kraut. You can see the coarse texture that characterizes krajana kielbasa.

 

 

 

Then it was just a matter of combining the brown sauerkraut and the kielbasa slices in a couple of aluminum baking pans.

 

At that point, since I wasn't planning to serve the kielbasa until the next day, I stored the pans in the refrigerator. On Christmas Day, I brought them to my sister-in-law's house (once again safely wrapped in a large plastic bag). She heated the pans in a 350-degree oven for about an hour.

The kielabasa was just one part of a multiethnic holiday meal that included mushroom soup, Italian-style antipasto, ham, pierogies, green beans, carrots and babka. The feast was enjoyed by all, Ruthenians and non-Ruthenians alike.

Happy holidays and good eating!