As a history major I have to admit to being moderately biased toward this oil—you’d be hard pressed to find any product that’s a whole lot more rooted in family and national history than this. The family—formally known as the House of Alvarez de Toledo— has been a fixture in Spanish history for something like ten centuries. Best I can tell quality and care have been a part of most everything they seem to have done for hundreds of years now, and this oil is no exception.

The Valdueza oil is very well made. No defects, long finish, good complexity. It’s made from a unique blend of four different varietals that grow on the farm. Hojiblanca and Picual are standard varietals from southern Spain and are not uncommon out west either. The former brings a soft, warm, nutty butteriness; the latter offers hints of artichoke, green asparagus, a bit of earthiness and a touch of black pepper in the finish. Arbequina arrived in the region only recently, planted for its good yields and round soft flavor. In Extremadura, at least on the family farm, it tastes a bit different from what I’ve experienced in Catalonia (where it typically comes from): less appley, more olivey. Most interesting to me, though, is the oil from the Morisca olives, which are unique to the area, offering a fair bit of pepper and interesting fruit, almost apricot in a way, with a touch of green grass and green tomato in there too.

For those of you who follow these things (and there are many!), I’d put the flavor profile of the finished oil in about the middle of the range—less green than the Tuscans, less earthy than most southern Spanish Picuals. This past autumn the weather was very dry—not great for yields, but generally, in my experience, very good for the flavor of the oil. As is true of all these high end, well made oils, there’s a complexity and an elegance (and a commensurate higher cost) that will likely mean you’ll want to use it for finishing—at the table drizzled on great greens from the market, on top of a bit of roasted meat or vegetables. During my visit a few years ago we had lunch at the family hunting house where they served us an entire meal in which the oil was featured in every dish. The highlight for me was the potatoes, tossed with a lot of the oil and a bit of salt, then roasted at high heat ‘til they had a bit of a golden brown crust and a whole lot of flavor. The more I eat this oil, the more I like it, and I should add that with its distinctive pale blue label and elegant bottle, the Valdueza oil makes a pretty marvelous gift too.

This post is part of a series of Ari’s Best Foods of 2011.

Noodle Kugel

We’ve been making noodle kugel since we opened the Deli back in 1982. It was delicious then, and it’s equally as delicious now. It’s basically my grandmother’s recipe, but we make it with much better ingredients. Although there’s no replacement for family memories and emotional connections, when it comes to flavor, the truth is that ours actually tastes far better than what she made for us when I was a kid. Egg noodles from Al Dente in Whitmore Lake, farm cheese from the Creamery, plenty of plump Red Flame raisins, and a generous does of vanilla, all blended and then baked ‘til it’s a nice golden brown. Great for breakfast, lunch, dessert or really any time you just want something good to eat. And now that I think about it, since it holds up nicely wrapped, it’s a great bag lunch or afternoon snack as well. I’m considering calling 2012 the Year of the Noodle Kugel. I’ll start the trend now so you can get out in front of things.

Recipe
12 ounces fettuccine egg noodles
1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
9 large eggs
3/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups raisins
1-1/2 cups farmer’s cheese
1-1/2 cups sour cream
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus additional for boiling the noodles

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook, according to the package instructions, until al dente.

Meanwhile, combine the vanilla bean seeds and the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and stir until well blended.

When the noodles are ready, drain them well and gently stir them into the sauce.

Pour into a 9x13x2-inch pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden on top.

Cheese Blintzes at the Deli

This is another classic that slipped off my list for far too long. They’re so, so, so good, that blintzes really shouldn’t be off anyone’s list for any length of time. Like the noodle kugel, we make these pretty much as my grandmother did, but, again, the ingredients we use are about eighteen times more flavorful. Thin handmade blintzes (Jewish crepes would be the standard description) folded around a filling of farm cheese from the Creamery, plenty of real vanilla (from beans, not extract), and a generous dose of chestnut honey to sweeten them. It’s an impressive line up of ingredients, but the honey, for me, is what takes them over the top. Chestnut honey has a pretty remarkable, sweet, deep, almost slightly bitter flavor that brings a big round bass note to an otherwise mostly sweet dish. Served with sour cream or preserves, blintzes, like the kugel, are great for almost any setting—breakfast, lunch or a light dinner.

We’ve been making this simple and delicious “noodle pudding” since we opened the Deli back in 1982. It’s based on one my grandmother used to make, and probably not unlike what Emma Goldman would have been eating back in her day. Noodle kugel is good hot out of the oven, but also a few hours later when it’s cooled down to room temperature. If you’re not into raisins you can sub in pretty much any dried fruit, cut into small pieces.

Recipe
Crêpe Batter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 cups whole milk
2 eggs, beaten

Sift the flour and salt into a medium bowl. Make a well in the center. Add the eggs and milk to the well and stir, slowly mixing in the flour until it is well blended. There will be a few lumps. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest while you are making the filling.

Filling
8 ounces farmer’s cheese
8 ounces cream cheese (preferably natural—without vegetable gum), softened
2 tablespoons chestnut honey
1/2 tablespoon butter, softened
1 egg yolk
2 vanilla beans
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Additional butter for greasing pan

Split the vanilla beans lengthwise and using the tip of a spoon, gently scrape out the seeds. Reserve the pods for future use. Set the seeds in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the farmer’s cheese, cream cheese, honey and butter and mix until well blended. Gently stir in the egg yolk and salt. Mix well again and set aside.

To make the blintzes, heat a 7″ crêpe pan over medium heat. When a little water splashed onto the skillet dances and evaporates, the pan is ready. Grease it lightly with butter, regulating the heat so it does not burn.

Lift the pan from the heat and ladle 1/4 cup of batter into the center of the pan, then tilt the pan in a circular motion to coat the cooking surface with an even thin layer of the batter. Cook ’til bubbles disappear and underside is golden—about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to a clean dishtowel and keep covered. Repeat until all crêpes are done, lightly buttering the pan before starting each. You will end up with about 12 to 13 crêpes.

To assemble the blintzes, take a crêpe and place 2 slightly rounded tablespoons of filling onto the uncooked side of the crêpe and fold it closed to make a rectangular package, folding in the top and bottom first, then the sides. Each blintz will look like a bit like a nicely folded envelope.

In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the blintzes—working in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan—seam-side down until underside is golden. Flip and cook a minute more or until both sides are golden brown. Serve immediately.

This post is part of a series of Ari’s Best Foods of 2011.

Shawn Askinosie Scores Big with Two Sweet Treats!

1. Dark Chocolate from Tanzania – Community Project Puts Out an Amazing Chocolate

This is one delicious and very special chocolate bar which is made by Shawn Askinosie, unquestionably one of the country’s best chocolate makers, who’s working directly with cacao growers in east Africa to bring these beans to North America. I love it. It’s a bit lighter, slightly softer in flavor than most of Shawn’s other offerings. It’s definitely more cocoa-y than most of our other dark chocolate bars, with a slight hint of cinnamon with a slight bit of some other specific spice that I can’t put my finger on. Shawn himself says it has “hints of tobacco” but I quit smoking so long ago I can’t really remember what that means. It’s definitely kind of creamy on the tongue. Allen Leibowitz, founder of Zingerman’s Coffee Company, is adamant that he tastes banana, and I agree. The main thing is, it’s complex and well balanced with a nice finish and it really doesn’t taste like any other chocolate that I’ve had. All of which, I’d say, makes it well worth checking out. Without getting too simple on you, it’s just sort of downright delicious. Mouth watering. Clean finish. Makes me want to eat more every time I taste it.

2. El Rustico Bars – Chocolate and Chewy Bits of Organic Vanilla Bean

It’s been I think four years since Shawn Askinosie started making this special bar specifically for us. I loved it then and the truth is that I love it still, a few years further down the road. Dark chocolate that starts with the cacao that Shawn has personally sourced (in its current incarnation, the El Rustico features cacao from Davao, Philippines) and hand chopped bits of organic vanilla bean laced into it. Shawn has worked with Deli Chocolate Lady Margot Miller to adjust the recipe of this bar and the biggest change is the quantity of hand-chopped vanilla bean. The new bar now has three times the amount of vanilla bean than the original El Rustico. This bar boasts a texture triple threat—rich chocolate, crunchy sugar crystals, and vanilla bean pieces! Where most bars that use vanilla have it in there like background vocals, when the El Rustico goes on stage the chocolate and vanilla are singing a strong, well-balanced duet with full flavor, good balance, and a nice long finish. Sounds like a good recipe for living life now that I think about it. Buy a bar. Eat a square. Appreciate the work that Shawn and his staff in Missouri have made happen.

This post is part of a series of Ari’s Best Foods of 2011.

Although we’ve been making it for a good ten years now the Bostock really does seem to be one of the best kept secrets at the Bakehouse. I know it has a loyal following but it’s yet to get the level of attention I think it deserves. It really is amazing stuff, but unlike muffins, croissants, danishes and donuts it’s hardly a well-known way to start one’s day. There are a handful of spots around the world that make it but not many, so maybe the word is starting to get out. Sara Kate Gillingham, on her amazing website The Kitchn described the Bostock as a “syrup-soaked, frangipane-topped, crispy-edged ode to breakfast glory.”

I’d say it’s a little bit like a really good almond croissant that’s come back to life in a dense, round, but still equally delicious and almost otherworldly good new existence. Bostocks start with a piece of Bakehouse all-butter brioche. It’s brushed with orange infused simple syrup, topped with a layer of frangipane (ground almonds and sugar), and then toasted slivered almonds. If you’re ready to liven up your morning routine, ask for a taste of this stuff at the Bakehouse bakeshop or the Deli’s Next Door Café.

This post is part of a series of Ari’s Best Foods of 2011.