Posts by Rebecca Federman

While it doesn’t necessarily look like apple season outside, it is already upon us. Early September is apparently the best time for picking apples and upstate New York is full of Pick-Your-Own spots. According to a recent New York Times article, this year’s weather has helped produce juicy, sweet apples, “almost like a good wine” but because of immigration crack-downs and the steep fines for hiring illegal immigrants, there are not enough workers at the orchards to get these apples to markets.

The web is filled with information on various orchards throughout the state, and the Hudson Valley Network has a nice foliage guide that’s worth a look 

Claudia Roden is the subject of Jane Kramer’s wonderful profile in this week’s food-themed New Yorker. (great audio clip here.) Roden is an expert in many cuisines and her cookbooks are essentially fail-proof. I use her Book of Middle Eastern Food all the time, as well as the encyclopedic Book of Jewish Food. The latter covers both Ashkenazic and Sephardic cuisine in detail, and is also a wonderful history of Jewish cultures from around the world. Her most recent book, Arabesque, is gorgeous and is a new addition to the Library’s collection.My favorite Roden recipe comes from the Book of Middle Eastern Food, and it 

It’s been a while since I posted any cocktail recipes, but since Frank Bruni just gave two stars to one of my favorite restaurants, I thought I’d honor Franny’s by posting a recipe for a Brooklyn. They serve a delicious one at Franny’s, so my brother reverse engineered the recipe to make an equally delicious one at home. Like many cocktails, recipes vary. The Official Mixer’s Manual recipe (1934) uses rye and dry vermouth. But I can’t vouch for that recipe. I can vouch for this.

The Brooklyn
2 oz. bourbon (We use Maker’s Mark, or go to LeNell’s for something unique.)
3/4 oz. lemon sour 

According to a short piece in Publisher’s Weekly, two new cookbook stores have opened on the East Coast. In Boston, chef Barbara Lynch has opened Stir, which features titles in cookery, wine, culinary history and food science. In addition to the bookstore, Stir also offers classes in their demonstration kitchen. Some of the September class listings include: Oysters and Wine, and the Cocktail Meets Plum.In Portland, Maine, Don Lindgren and Samantha Hoyt Lindgren have opened Rabelais. The store features a wide variety of culinary texts including rare and out-of-print works, new cookbooks, and prints and photographs. Don was a rare book dealer for many years, and his 

Although I’m not one to read too much into coincidence, I would like to point out that Julia Child and I share a birthday: August 15th. So while I was chowing down on hamburgers and buffalo wings, Julia, no doubt, was eating Dover sole in culinary heaven shaking her head at my American ways.

Andrea Buman
Mother/Photo Editor
New York, NY

Cookbook: Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl

Why do you like it?: It’s not only a memoir, it also includes her favorite recipes from important times in her life. Ms. Reichl is an amazing story teller and she knows a thing or two about food. The recipe for fried chicken is worth the long prep time.

Favorite Recipe:
Claritha’s Fried Chicken

2 1/2 to 3lb chicken, cut up
Salt
3 cups buttermilk
2 onions, sliced thin
1 cup flour
3 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon