This is one of my favorite lines from the movie, You’ve Got Mail. The rejoinder is, “makes you want to buy school supplies”. That line just popped into my head this morning. I do think that the aura that is New York, is perhaps best felt, at least for me, in the Fall. It is the season when I spent a lot of time, 35 years ago, with my husband, as we first started dating and roamed around the city together when he was living not far from the Path station on 14th Street. Each season does present its own aura in New York: Summer is “dirty and gritty”, as the Lovin Spoonful say, Winter is soulful and reminds me of sky scenes from the movie Autumn in New York with Richard Gere, and Spring is, well, filled with all that is “changeable” and optimistic – and believe it or not, reminds me of the movie, Easter Parade. (who remembers this?) But, Fall just seems to be so inviting – to walk around and take in all that is charming and, yes, cozy, about the city. That’s the way I feel, anyway.
I am two weeks behind in going to visit Dorie Greenspan’s new Beurre et Sel, due to a cruel stomach virus I got when I was supposed to go with Christin two Saturdays ago. I am also working on scoring a reservation at Blue Hill, La Grenouille, ABC Kitchen and Rouge Tomate. Hopefully, one of these will work out for this weekend. I want to go to the Union Square Farmer’s Market again – to see the Fall iteration, and I am in the market for some new Fall additions to the kitchen equipment collection – although I am quickly running out of storage space in this house.
Ever since Sunday evening, when I arrived back from Newport and stepped out of the car and said, “wow, it’s cold!” it has definitely felt like Fall in NJ. I feel it the most in the evenings when it is dark before 7:30. This is such a hardship for me to adjust to. I feel like it is time to go to bed. I hope someday they find a cure for this ailment, which I am sure is directly related to my “old brain” being dominant. I guess I have not evolved properly. This is one of my favorite anthropological issues – like, why do I respond so strongly to the presence and absence of sunlight? I digress, sorry! Be that as it may, this anthropological condition also affects what I want to cook and bake, where I want to go, and what I want to do, especially at home, and in New York.
Today’s indulgence in the kitchen – perfect for a cool day:
MY NEW TURKEY CHILI:
3 tblsp chili powder
1 tblsp ground cumin
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 large yellow onions, chopped
2 large red bell peppers, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tblsp dried oregano
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 large jalepeno, finely minced, with ribs and seeds
1/2 can chipolte peppers in adobo, chopped
2 lbs ground turkey
1/2 can (14 oz) low sodium beef broth
1/2 bottle Guinness Draught
1 14oz can tomato sauce
1 14 oz can chopped tomatoes
1/2 can tomato paste
1 tblsp cumin
1 tblsp dried oregano
2 14 oz cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
sour cream
fresh chives
Heat a large enameled dutch oven over medium heat. Add 3 tblsp chili powder and 1 tblsp cumin and toast the spices in the dry pan, stirring often until darkened and smoky but not burnt. Add the olive oil and stir to combine. Add the onions and red peppers and cook until tender, stirring, about 5 minutes, adding a little more olive oil, if necessary. Add the garlic, oregano and jalepeno, stir and cook, 1 minute. Add the turkey, breaking up with a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring often until the turkey is cooked through. Add the broth, beer, tomato sauce, tomatoes, tomato paste and chipoltes. Stir to blend. Stir in the additional cumin and oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Add the drained beans and stir. Simmer, uncovered for at least one hour. Adjust seasonings. Serve with a large dollop of sour cream and snipped chives. This is an easy and quick recipe, makes a nice, big pot, is better on the second day, and is on the spicy side, so, if you don’t like spicy, you can cut back on the jalepeno and chipoltes. Hope you like it! Recipe is also in recipes section.
Here are my Montauk Daisies and Purple “Spirea” from the front yard:
Wow, it’s not raining – that’s a bonus!