Essentials takes a bite of The Big Apple and surrounds. When the sun shines in the northern hemisphere, both NYC and regional NY chefs keep the plates fresh, clean and simple. Classic New York fare lives on.
Bay Kitchen & Bar, East Hampton, NY
While you might expect only the super rich and celebrity fashionistas have an access-all-areas-pass to The Hamptons, the truth is Long Island’s white coastal sands and softly rolling seas truly belong to the people. So too do some of the region’s finest, and surprisingly modestly priced, eateries. The New York Times says East Hampton’s Bay Kitchen & Bar has ‘the open, airy Hamptons look down pat’ and that its ‘generously-sized’ crab and fish cakes starring fluke, scallops and crab are a ‘best-ever plate’. Bay Kitchen’s gigantic, fresh Lobster Roll, piled high, caught our eye and inspired an authentic recipe featuring Essentials’ extremely more-ish Roasted Tomato Marie Rose sauce. Our Baby Cos, Gorgonzola and Pear Salad is also a recipe designed to please. As a main or a side, it pairs with just about any entertaining moment with friends. baykitchenbar.com
NY Lobster Roll with Roasted Tomato Marie Rose
Serves 4
4 sourdough individual baguettes
2 small to medium freshly-cooked lobster tails, cut into bite-sized pieces
¼ wedge red cabbage, thinly sliced
1 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium-sized carrot, peeled, julienned
½ bunch chives, finely chopped
Dijon cress (micro-herb) to garnish
Lemon wedge and finely chopped chives to serve
Method
1. In a large bowl combine lobster pieces, cabbage, red onion, carrot and chives.
2. Add a generous amount of Roasted Tomato Marie Rose sauce (see recipe below) and toss well.
3. Slice baguettes into halves and spoon lobster/slaw filling generously onto the base of each baguette.
To Serve
Garnish the lobster/slaw filling with baby celery micro herbs and serve with a lemon wedge topped with finely chopped chives.
Roasted Tomato Marie Rose
3 truss tomatoes
1 garlic clove, peeled and thinly sliced
3 egg yolks
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup olive oil
Tabasco sauce, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
Preheat oven to 160C
1. Slice tomatoes in half and place on an oven roasting tray, season with salt, lightly drizzle with olive oil and place sliced garlic on top of each tomato half.
2. Roast tomatoes until they collapse, approximately 20-30 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool.
3. In a food processor add egg yolks, mustard and lemon juice. Process until emulsified.
4. With the food processor still running slowly drizzle in the oil to thicken the mixture into a mayonnaise.
5. Next add the cooled roasted tomatoes and garlic to the mayonnaise while the food processor continues to operate.
6. Season with Tabasco, salt and pepper to your liking.
Baby Cos, Gorgonzola and Pear Salad with honey seeded mustard dressing
1 small baby cos lettuce, cleaned
1 small wedge of gorgonzola or any blue cheese
1 golden shallot, peeled and finely sliced
4 cherry tomatoes, halved
½ pear, julienned
Chives, finely chopped
Baby celery sprout micro-herbs for garnish
Method
1. Tear and discard the larger outer leaves of the baby cos lettuce, leaving the crisp, sweeter and smaller leaves for your salad.
2. Cut away the lettuce base stem and separate the smaller leaves, wash them well.
3. Arrange the baby cos lettuce leaves on your serving plate and top with an arrangement of cherry tomato halves, sliced golden shallots, julienned pear, crumbed gorgonzola and chopped chives.
4. Drizzle a generous amount of the honey seeded mustard dressing over the salad and garnish with baby celery sprout micro-herbs.
Honey Seeded Mustard Dressing
2 tbsp whole grain mustard
2 tbsp honey
1⁄₃ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup Australian extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Place all ingredients into a small bowl and stir well with a fork until well combined.
Grand Banks Hudson River, Pier 25, NYC
Grand Banks at New York’s Pier 25 is a celebrated oyster bar aboard the historic wooden schooner Sherman Zwicker, and is inspired by the floating oyster barges that lined Manhattan’s waterfront in the 18th and 19th centuries. This perpetually crowded bar is so popular, it has spawned two new venues: Island Oyster on Governors Island and Pilot, also aboard a boat, docked at Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 6. On the menu are sustainably harvested oysters and nautically inspired cocktails. The awe-inspiring Hudson River and city views are a free bonus. Not to be outdone, we’ve put together a collection of Grand Banks-inspired oyster toppings for you to try. And, warning … the Deluxe Oysters Kilpatrick are addictive. grandbanks.org
Oysters with Mirin and Pickled Ginger
Top oysters with a splash of mirin and one slice of pickled ginger.
Deluxe Oysters Kilpatrick
2 golden shallots, peeled and finely diced
1 large garlic clove, peeled and finely diced
3 tbsp Australian extra-virgin olive oil for sautéing
100g quality smoky bacon or speck, diced
1⁄₃ cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp topaque wine
½ cup fig balsamic glaze
Cracked black pepper to taste
Method
1, In a medium frying pan, over a medium-high heat add olive oil, golden shallots and garlic. Sauté for 1-2 minutes without colouring then add diced smoky bacon or speck.
2. Toss in the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the wine and Worcestershire sauce to deglaze the pan.
4. Next add the fig balsamic glaze and stir well.
5. Remove from heat and season to taste with black pepper.
To Serve
The Park Avenue Kilpatrick dressing can be served cold, or atop grilled oysters with the dressing warmed.
Oysters with Golden Shallot Vinaigrette and Lilliput Capers
100ml red wine vinegar
50ml Australian extra-virgin olive oil
2 golden shallots, peeled and finely diced
Cracked black pepper to taste
Lilliput capers to garnish
Method
1. Combine red wine vinegar, olive oil and golden shallots in a small bowl and mix well.
2. Season to taste with black pepper.
To Serve
Spoon a teaspoon of golden shallot vinaigrette onto each oyster and garnish with several lilliput capers
Winged Foot Golf Club Mamaroneck, NY
Australian-born executive chef Rhy Waddington of the exclusive Winged Foot Golf Club understands that light, fresh meals are preferred after a round of golf in the balmy New York summer heat. ‘It can be humid here in summer, like Cairns FNQ, and so we have a lot of fish on the menu. We’re only a mile from Long Island Sound and the fresh Montauk fluke and Long Island striped bass coming off the boats are fantastic.’ NY classics such as Manhattan Clam Chowder (tomato base), or New England (cream base) are popular at the Winged Foot kitchen, as are the New York strip steaks. There’s also a killer lobster roll served with a split-top traditional potato roll or brioche bun. Entrée bites such as Rhy’s Tuna Crudo and Crispy White Bait work oh-so-well, no matter the season. wfgc.org
Crispy White Bait with Meyer Lemon Aioli
Serves 4
650g fresh whitebait and flour for dusting
2 Meyer lemons cut in into halves
1 cup pickled golden shallots
1 shaved fennel and fronds
1 cup of Meyer lemon aioli
White Bait Flour
1 cup plain flour
2 cups tapioca flour
1 cup rice flour
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tbs salt
1 tbs ground white pepper
1 tsp cumin
Method
1. Mix together and sift.
Meyer Lemon Aioli
1 egg
3 egg yolks
1⁄₃ cup of Meyer lemon juice
Zest of 2 Meyer lemons
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 cups grape seed oil
Salt and pepper
Method
1. In a food processor on medium speed, blitz all ingredients excepting the oil.
2. Slowly add the oil and blitz until emulsified.
Pickled Golden Shallots
1 cup raw sugar
3 cups red wine vinegar
3 bay leaves
10 black peppercorns
1 star anise
3 golden shallots, thinly sliced
Method
Bring everything except the onions to a simmer, simmer for 10 minutes, cool and cover cover onions for 4-5 hours until tender.
Fennel Preparation
Fennel fronds, picked and washed
Head of one fennel, shaved wafer thin
1⁄₃ cup of olive oil
Juice of 1 Meyer lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
To Serve
1. Dress fennel with olive oil, Meyer lemon juice and salt and pepper and place in the middle of the plate, top with pickled onions and fennel fronds.
2. Dust the whitebait in the seasoned flour, mix and fry at 200C for 3-4 minutes or until crispy.
3. Place the white bait and pickled onions over the fennel, smear some Meyer lemon aioli on the side of the plate and serve with a Meyer lemon half.
Tuna Crudo
Serves 4
450g fresh centre cut sushi grade ahi (yellowfin) tuna
8 pieces pickled white asparagus
¼ cup fresh wasabi mayonnaise
¼ cup sliced red grapes
20 pieces arugula blossom or culinary flowers
12 pieces squid ink tapioca crisp
Extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Pickled White Asparagus
1 cup white sugar
1 cup champagne vinegar
1 cup white verjus
2 tbsp toasted coriander seeds
2 tbsp toasted fennel seeds
2 tbsp toasted red peppercorns
Method
Bring all ingredients to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes, chill and cover the peeled white asparagus for 3 hours.
Squid Ink Tapioca Crisp
½ cup medium tapioca pearls
3 cups water
1 tsp squid ink
Method
1. Cook tapioca in water until translucent, drain and rinse under cold water.
2. Mix in squid ink with tapioca, spread thin onto a sheet of waxed paper and dehydrate in low oven, or in dehydrating machine until at plastic consistency (4 hours at 65C).
3. Fry squid ink crisps in oil at 200C, until they puff up (30 seconds).
Wasabi Mayonnaise
1 egg
2 egg yolks
1½ tsp fresh grated wasabi
1⁄₃ cup lemon juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 cups grape seed oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
In a food processor mix eggs, yolks, wasabi, lemon juice and mustard on medium speed. Slowly add grape seed oil until emulsified, season with salt and pepper to taste.
To Serve
1. Slice tuna into 12 even slices.
2. Slice asparagus lengthways once, and alternate slices between tuna and asparagus.
3. Dot mayonnaise and grapes randomly on the plate, garnish with arugula blossom and squid ink crisps, sea salt and olive oil.
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