[Correct Dining by Wilfrid: June 22, 2009]
This was well worth the trip. Even on Metro North in the rain.
That's the recommended route from downtown up to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, one of the best food shopping neighborhoods in the city and about eighteen minutes out of Grand Central, plus a ten minute walk from the Fordham station.
Yes, even on a rainy day, it's worth it. In addition to the Arthur Avenue market itself - an indoor paradise of butchers, offal-mongers, prepared Italian food stands, good produce and even hand-rolled cigars - there's a first rate Italian wine store, Mount Carmel Wines, a bargain Italian cheese vendor, Calandra's, as well as excellent fresh fish from Randazzo's.
Me, I was hunting goat.
I enquired at Pete's Meat Market. Oh yes, they had baby goat alright; produced the entire animal and hung it by its heels; asked me what I needed. At that point, you can't really order a chop, so I suggested a leg for roasting. I came away with the leg attached to a good part of the hindquarters. Thirty dollars, because baby goat is prized more than the adult of the family. I picked up a pound of sweetbreads too for about five dollars. Fresh figs aren't cheap either - 99 cents each, although I got a bargain on a small basket. I was down about forty dollars, but that goat was going to make more than one meal.
Calandra's, fortunately, always costs less than you expect. For about five dollars, I bought some fresh ricotta and a sizeable chunk of Parmiggiano Reggiano.
Although sweetbreads seem more popular in NYC restaurants today than ever, few kitchens prepare them the old-fashioned way. I like to take the trouble. Blanche them first in hot water with just a splash of vinegar. They turn white and semi-firm. Then press them between two large plates.
Ew, blood. This is because I am squashing the plates together, and even delicately standing on them. Then I put a big pot of water on the top plate and refrigerate for a few hours. Then you need to spend a bit of time with a sharp knife trimming off gristly bits and stringy bits. You probably won't do this perfectly - few restaurants do - but it's worth the effort.
Neatly cut up and brushed with some seasoned flour, they can then be grilled or sautéed quite quickly.
An easy sauce, about two parts butter to one part flower, seasoned, then brought to the right consistency by slowly adding white wine (or in this case cava).
I separated the leg itself from the goat-portion I'd brought home; mixed oil, plenty of salt with rosemary and thyme in a bowl; then rubbed the leg all over. In a medium oven, 325-350F, it cooked for about two-and-a-half hours.
It comes out looking nothing like a leg because the butcher had made some helpful incisions - I am not sure why, but I expect he had his reasons. A lot of meat - less bone than I'd expected - and this week's menu will be featuring goat curry and kid
fricassée.
Served with green beans and potatoes roasted in the fat from the leg, with more rosemary and plenty of salt. I spooned another very easy sauce over it: red wine, seasoned, reduced with just a little of the goat juices, and - special ingredient - a cube of partridge stock. I am a stock hoarder, and I'd cooked the partridge carcasses left over from an
earlier dinner (with onions, carrots, etc) and frozen the stock in an ice tray.
Nothing to stop you eating the figs with the ricotta, just as they come. One way to enhance figs, though, is just to slice off the stub of stalk, make a cross in the top of each fruit with a sharp knife, then throw them in the oven for twenty minutes or so. It brings out the sugars.
Warm figs, then, and although I don't usually garnish my cheeses, the creamy ricotta made an inviting canvas to decorate with honey and chopped walnuts.
And then some straight cheese to finish, the Parmesan, with some chunks of a sweet raisin bread I'd made earlier in the week.
As I said, I did spend fifty dollars, but this would have fed six people comfortably. And with the kid and the cheese, worth opening a good bottle of red too. Cheers.
