Fun Playing With Jewish Soul Food In East Northport NY

And so, our trip to NY ended on June 1, 2009, with a visit to Bagel Boss Cafe located at 1941 Jericho Tpk. East Northport NY 11731. We had intended to grab a quick bite (and something to go) and get on the road. We ended up spending over an hour playing with the amazingly fresh and delicious kosher foods of the Bagel Boss. My Nutty Uncle Jerry Heller rightfully refers to this kind of food as "Jewish Soul Food."

The Jericho Tpk. location is the only one in the 13 store chain that has a "Deli Boss" section of fleischicks or meat items. The other 12 Bagel Bosses are strictly dairy restaurants. Since they are Kosher, meat and dairy must be strictly separated. This Bagel Boss Cafe pulls it off with great aplomb.

First - a few items from the "meat" section:



Though Jack's Deli makes an acceptable knish, and Mister Brisket carries frozen Oceanside Knishes - there is nothing like a fresh Kasha Knish.



Speaking of kasha - another family favorite - Kasha Varnishkes.



Into the milchiks side of the place - a dairy lockshen kugel, or noodle pudding. I had a taste of this at mom's house and it was yummy.



Bagel Boss features a fabulous display of made-from-scratch savory salads. My mother is partial to the Honey Mustard Tuna.





Bagel Boss turns the traditional salad bar on its head by keeping it under sanitary wrap - you tell the server what you want, and they portion it into your "chopped" salad container.





I didn't ask what kind of blintzes these were - but they looked delicious!



It wouldn't be Jewish Soul Food without dessert. A little something you should dunk in your coffee maybe?



We brought this ubiquitously New York Black & White Cookie back to our friend Linda, who just had knee replacement surgery. She is another transplanted East Coaster living in Cleveland.

And now - the moment you should have all been waiting for - the FISH case!


Smoked Whitefish


Herring


Baked Salmon


Sable Fish


Smaller Whitefish "Chubs"


Lox!

Yes - the stars of our show - Nova and Belly lox - and who really cares about the Nova, anyway? It's all about the belly - which is fast disappearing as Americans worry about their salt intake and ignore flavor considerations.

Bob and I ordered almost the same breakfast - belly lox. Mine on Bialy, his on Poppy Bagel with Onion, both with house-made cream cheese, side salad and a pickle. We even picked the same side - a beautiful looking tomato-onion salad.

We sat. Interesting table signs:



Milchiks is milchiks and fleishiks is fleishiks.



This was a meal of great beauty and flavor.




Mine


Bob's

We took home a full pound of belly lox, a package of the house made, no-gums-or-stabilizers cream cheese, three knishes and two sandwiches for the road - off the bone turkey for me, and Kosher salami with mustard for the shaygetz (Bob). The folks serving us were so tickled with our enthusiasm that they offered us a complimentary dessert - we selected an absolutely decadent full-sized pastry/cake with fresh apple, caramel, chocolate and nuts. Unfortunately, though it tasted delicious, it got tossed around and a little smooshed during the 8+ hour drive home. Did I mention we were hauling the guts of a full sized freezer in my Edge?

After we got home, and enjoyed our wings and things at The Annex on Monday night, we jumped into our goody bag for breakfast on Tuesday:





Yum. Here is a look at a complete sandwich, a couple of days later, on a D&R Bagels Everything Bagel:





During the week, I enjoyed my kasha knish for lunch with a touch of mustard:





I enjoyed my Spinach Knish, which was interestingly all spinach and no potato, on Sunday, under poached Hensbury Farm eggs:







And I still have a potato knish for lunch tomorrow! And Belly Lox in my freezer! Life is good, playing with such wonderful food!

Fun Playing With Great Food and Good Family in NY

Ok - time for me to catch up on this backlog of photos and food!

We spent a long weekend in NY with my family, starting on our 13th wedding anniversary (Wednesday, October 22). I thought that I would have preferred a snazzier setting for our anniversary dinner than the Premier Diner just off the Long Island Expressway in Commack. But since we'd get to dine with my brother, sister in law, and their two kids (who I adore), it was worth the trade off. And the food was pretty darn fine, too.


Bread; Bread Service also includes several varieties of breadsticks


Amuse - Chick Pea and Bean Salad


Well - not really an amuse in the technical sense. But every dinner at this diner starts with a complimentary plate of some type of cold salad. This one was lovely.

Dad and brother both started with a cup of Matzoh Ball Soup. My dad has finally gotten serious about losing weight - this dinner was the first time in 44 years that I can recall my father ordering a salad for his entree. It was a tasty looking choice!



Bob and I each ordered entrees that came with salad and dessert.


Mediterranean Side Salad, sans Cucumbers (already removed to Bob's plate)


Red Snapper Filet Francese

I so adore partaking of fresh fish and seafood when on Long Island, but at a diner? Oh yeah - this plate was groaning with exquisitely fresh fish coated in an eggy batter and nestled over pasta with a gentle olive oil dressing. I was a happy anniversary girl!



Bob didn't do quite as well as I did, but he was very happy with his choice.


Grilled Pork Chop

This conventional pork was tasty, but suffered from dryness (a combination of conventional pork and slight overcooking). It was a generous portion, and Bob brought some home.

I didn't even try to photograph the rest of the table in the dinner tumult - mom enjoyed a Turkey Burger, nephew Daniel a hamburger, nephew Justin a Chicken Gyro (sans toppings), sister in law a lovely looking shrimp over pasta dish - and I can't for the life of me remember what my brother ate.

The boys left with their mother before dessert. Bob and I were too full to eat dessert, and got ours wrapped up. Mom sampled Carrot Cake, Dad a Pastry Horn, and brother had a black and white cookie.



Most, if not all of the pastries, are made in-house. My choice was the Mini Lemon Meringue pie (center item in the top row below); Bob took the Chocolate-chocolate cake to its right. The irony is that I never got to taste mine (hope Mom enjoyed it); I did get a bite of Bob's and it was dreamy!



The ubiquitous (on Long Island) Black and White Cookie is bottom row center, above. The carrot cake is one row up, second from the left. Dad's dessert is directly to the left of the carrot cake.

We began Thursday with some Jewish Soul Food from Bagel Boss.


Belly Lox, Onion, and a Schmear on Pumpernickel Bagel




Whitefish Salad

The whitefish salad had large chunks of delicious fish - it wasn't too hard to work around the celery!



And for dessert -


Rugelach



This pastry is characterized by being heavy, with lots of buttery mouth-feel, while conversely being flaky.






The rest of Thursday was a blur of shopping and doing. We picked up an order of farm-fresh goodness from Makinajian Poultry Farm & Country Store, including freshly roasted chicken, raw chickens for cooking, eggs, home-made pies, and garden produce. We also hit Richters Orchard (and I forgot my camera - duh!) - but more on that later.

It was a pleasure feeding my mother some real food for dinner Thursday night, starting with a hearty salad. We enjoyed the roasted chicken from Makinajian, with some local cauliflower, microwaved to al dante with some Ghee and Indian spices. Dad had also picked up potato knishes at Bagel Boss, but they were a great disappointment - crumbly in texture and freezer burned in taste. Finally - mom wanted a plate of mashed turnips. It was a new dish for both Bob and me - but we had great product, and took our best shot with it. It came out . . . ok - a bit bitter despite the sugar we'd added. I got the bright idea to mix in some of the potato filling from the knish - and it did the trick!

For dessert - we had two freshly baked pies from Makinajian. The Apple Pie was made with orchard-fresh apples:



The peaches in the peach pie had originated in Makinajian's orchard, but needed freezing once their season ended - the pie couldn't have cared less:






I think all four of us actually liked the peach pie a little better.





Speaking of Makinajian's chickens - here's one of the raw babies, getting ready for our stew pot!



The stew would be for the Oktoberfest we were planning to attend at Alley Pond Park in Queens on Saturday. Given the dire weather forecast, however, the High Command decided to postpone the festivities until Sunday, when beautiful weather was forecast.

We returned to Richters Orchard on Friday, this time with camera, to take pictures and buy more apples! We'd already been enjoying Macintoshes and Honeycrisps - but the Macouns we bought on Friday took the prize!



Turns out, Richters has been a stone's throw from my parents' house for longer than my family has lived in the neighborhood, and yet I'd never been (mom insists I went there on a school trip once when I was a kid). The question is WHY? No - they are not organic, and yes, they do use some spray - but as a last and not a first resort. And no wax to be found! Every bite was a burst of sweet goodness.


Tree


A Peek Into the Cider Mill

None of my cider photos came out well - but this was like drinking liquid apple love!


I think some of their equipment is older than me!


So many choices and so little carry-on allowance











We also got some fabulous preserves - blackberry for us, Black Raspberry and Strawberry for mom.

Getting back to the stew prep - having the extra day took some pressure off, and we cooked it up on Saturday.


Here, Chicky-Chicky



The Chicken Stew contained browned chicken, yellow onions, white onions, parsley root, celeriac, carrots, salt and pepper - pretty simple. Simple is often the most delicious.



Since we had so much beautiful chicken skin that would otherwise go to waste, Bob made some Grebenes (or cracklings):



My nephews joined us for a nondescript Chinese take-out dinner on Saturday. Sunday, we gathered with over a dozen good friends for the Oktoberfest!

Bob made Caraway Dumplings to accompany the stew. Here's the final product:


Dumpling is visible on lower left and at 10 o'clock




Sherry's Vegetarian Potato Leek Soup


Kenny's Sauerkraut with Smoked Pork and Sausages


Kenny's Sauerbraten

It was a European feast, washed down with many German and Oktoberfest beers.

Monday, we cleaned up, packed up, and enjoyed a quick lunch of pizza and subs with mom and brother before heading to the airport. We had great fun not only playing with this wonderful food, but spending quality time with my family.