Sunday Sauce - Food Blog with Italian Recipes

Sunday Sauce Takes Hoboken - Fiore's Deli and the Antique Bakery

Sunday Sauce has finally hit Fiore’s Deli!

What’s Fiore’s you ask? Well, the shortened story is that this deli is regarded as making the most delicious mozzarella this side of....well…I don’t know. Maybe anywhere in the world if you listen to their fans (allegedly Sinatra used to come here all the time). This Hoboken institution makes their “mutz" on site and not only do they produce this famous product but they also offer a  roast beef, gravy and mozzarella sandwich (“sambo” in JonnyMangia parlance) that is unparalleled  (according to many I have spoke to). It’s standard practice for a line to file outside the door and down the block every Saturday morning as an assortment of Hoboken-ites – old school Italians, hung-over post College dudes with baseball caps pulled low, fireman and cops, yuppie families and construction workers  line up for sandwiches…with the roast beef and mutz being the most popular.

 I hit Fiore’s at about 3 pm last Saturday and it was definitely an old-school joint – tin ceiling, old time counter and yesteryear pictures of Hoboken on the wall and the smell of coldcuts and cheese that permeates Italian pork stores and delis. Unfortunately I was told that they has just run out of bread thus there was no roast beef and mutz to be had. The deli guy told me his partner had just run out to get more bread, and fortunately after a 15 minute wait outside next to a chain-smoker who was waiting for a sambo also (and seemingly going through roast beef and mutz withdrawal as he nearly fell to the floor when told they were out) the bread was replenished and I was soon out the door with a pound of fresh mozzarella ($9 and change) and a roast beef-mutz hero ($10).

Photo: Cross-section of Fiore's Famous Roast Beef, Mutz and Gravy hero

I unwrapped the sambo when I returned to Casa Mangia and was surprised at the brown mess (gravy folks) it was wrapped in. Thank God Nikki wasn’t around because she would’ve gotten sick as it wasn’t an appetizing site. I took my first few bites at room temp and frankly I was unimpressed. To me it was any old roast beef sandwich with slightly buttery mozzarella. Then, I decided to heat it up and the metamorphosis took place…

WHAM! This sambo came to life!

Photo: God Bless Fiore's Mozzarella!

The roast beef became lively, tasty, somewhat smoky as it embraced the gravy. And the mutz? Madonna mia, can you say re-incarnation? The mutz went under a complete transformation from a lifeless block to a bonanza of taste and texture -  soft, creamy and buttery with a hint of salt. This cheese was born to be melted.

So the verdict is in – though we never shy from taking the contrarian opinion, especially when it comes to debunking legends (if it’s deserved) , we both concur (Nikki affirmed my opinion later that day) that Fiore’s mutz is outstanding and simply the best we have tasted on these shores. And the roast beef sambo is something to behold as well -  just make sure to eat the sambo warm or it won’t offer the goods.

Fiore's Deli
414 Adams St
Hoboken, NJ 07030
(201) 659-1655

Antique Bakery

The next day Nikki and I continued our Hoboken theme as we stopped by Antique Bakery , one of the town’s venerable bakers who still make their bread on-site. We picked up a sausage and mozzarella bread (they also offered a sausage and pepper loaf as well as a pepperoni and mutz) as well as a

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Nikki  Improvises over Antique's focaccia, adding  Fiore's mozzarella and then drizzling with olive oil.

focaccia with tomatoes and a nice standard Italian loaf without seeds. When we returned to Casa Mangia Nikki the improviser cut a few pieces of Fiore’s mutz, placed them on the focaccia, and put it in the oven for 10 minutes then drizzled olive oil after it was out. We both felt this had transformed into an astounding Sicilian style pizza with tangy, lively tomatoes marrying with the creamy, buttery Fiore mutz and the thick ,doughy crust.

Photo: Stupid nice!

Unfortunately we couldn’t say the same for the stuffed bread. Simply put, it wasn’t stuffed with anything. Take a look at the cross-section photo and you’ll see with your eyes.

A Salute!

Antique Bakery
122 Willow Ave # A
Hoboken, NJ 07030
(201) 714-9323

 

Photo: Antique Bakery's bread allegedly stuffed with sausage and mozzarella.
Can you find the saw-zeetch?

Recipe: Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Capers and Anchioves

There are some nights when a long day of work and a tiresome commute home have me yearning for the days when a piping-hot, delicious Italian meal would be waiting for me on mom's table.  But now, as newlyweds, I know that it is up to US -- and most of the time, ME -- to determine in a short amount of time whether we'll be eating tuna sandwiches or a meal with all the food groups represented.  Plus, although we generally save the exotic tastes for weekend meals, sometimes it's just too long of a wait!  So, when I hit upon a recipe that strikes the essential chords -- tasty, healty, filling and
QUICK AND EASY -- I want to shout it from the rafters (and not to mention, have seconds).  I've found that Sicilian-style pasta skillet dishes using ingredients found in most pantries, to be ideal.  In the following dish (which took all of about an amazing 15 minutes to prepare!), the medley of
capers, anchioves and garlic is what gives this tomato sauce its complex flavor.  I consulted with the "Goddess of Italian Cooking" (a.k.a. Lidia B.), for a little guidance on the simple, yet important science of the skillet...

Photo: Quick, delicious and somewhat healthy with

flax-seed wheat pasta...it's spaghetti with tomatoes,

capers and anchovies. 

Ingredients

- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- (1) 32 oz. can of san marzano-style tomatoes, crushed
- 3-4 oz. anchioves, chopped
- 1/2 cup nonpariel capers, drained
- 4-5 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
- 1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 lb. spaghetti
- 2 ladles of the pasta cooking water
(NO, there's no salt needed because the capers & anchioves are enough!!)

OK, let's go!

- bring a large pot of water to boil

- pour 1/3 cup of oil in skillet, bring to medium heat and saute garlic for a minute or so;

- once garlic sizzling, clear a spot in skillet for anchioves, and another spot for red pepper flakes

- once anchioves start to melt and red pepper crackles, mix garlic, pepper and anchioves together

- clear another spot for capers, spread them out and saute until they start to sizzle, in meantime, give the garlic, red pepper and garlic a mix

- next, pour two ladles of the boiling pasta cooking water into the skillet

- bring to a boil for a minute or two (in the interim, start cooking the pasta in the large pot of boiling water)

- next, pour the tomatoes into the skillet, stir and bring to a boil for 1-3 minutes

- when the pasta is still a little hard, take out of pot with tongs and place in skillet as sauce is simmering, raise the heat and toss pasta & sauce together

- serve immediately*

*to make this dish real Sicilian-style, Lidia suggests toasting some bread crumbs and sprinkling on top of pasta when ready to serve.

Cacio e Vino: Our Favorite New Italian Restaurant in NYC

So let it be written . . . we have found the best Italian restaurant in NYC that you may never have heard of. . .

Photo: The Trinacria symbol of Sicily hangs over the wood-burning oven.

Cacio e Vino ("cheese and wine") is a small trattoria nestled on 2nd Ave in the lower East Side that features the cuisine of Sicily. We ate there 2 weeks ago and were absolutely blown away by the place; so much so that we have anointed it one of the best Italian restaurants in NYC.
And we make that statement with the utmost confidence as we've recently eaten at a number of higly-rated Italian restaurants in NYC including Fiamma, Del Posto, Peasant, Roberto's and Lupa to name a few. To our palates, the understated, humble, Cacio e Vino rises above them all.

Photo: Our Pizza Bianco al Crudo - look at the beautifully blistered bubble on the bottom...gorgeous!

Don't expect white-table cloths and tuxedo-clad waiters doting on your every whim. Cacio e Vino is a trattoria which is a more casual-style restaurant in Italy. The room boasts dark, warm woods, tables huddled close together, shelves stocked with wine and a beautiful wood-burning oven standing vigil in one corner, toasting the entire room while the ceramic "Trinacria" -- the symbol of Sicily -- hangs from its center.
Though we love the cooking of Emilia-Romagna (regarded as the culinary capital of Italy and popularized by Mario Batali), we've always felt that Siclilian cuisine is the most diverse in all of Italy and woefully underrepresented in the NYC restaurant scene. Thanks in part to Sicily's role as either the doormat/strategic outpost (depending on how you view it) of the Mediterranean and the fact that so many different cultures - Greek, Roman, North African, Arabic, Norse, French, Spanish - conquered it at one point or another and left their respective culinary footprints, a very diverse cuisine was born. Cacio e Vino and its Chef Allessandro Ancona do an incredible job of capturing that diversity.

Photo: The Sicilian classic Caponata, served with goat cheese wrapped in panelle (chickpea fritter).

The Menu is broken up into pizzas/flatbreads (all cooked in the wood-burning oven), antipasti, entrees and dolci (deserts!).
The menu had so many potential winners that we took a great deal of time selecting our dishes. Here's what we rolled with:

- Pizza Bianca al Crudo (fresh mozzarella, arugula, proscuitto, shaved parmigiano)

- Sarde a Beccafico con Cipollata (baked Mediterranean sardine stuffed with bread crumbs, pine nuts, raisins, orange zest, sweet/sour onion)

- Caponata con Panelle al Caprino (sweet and sour eggplant, celery, olives, onions with chick pea fritter and goat cheese)

- Bucatini con le Sarde (bucatini pasta with fresh sardines, pine nuts, raisins, saffron, wild fennel and bread crumbs)

- Busiate con Pesto Trapanese (Busiate pasta, fresh tomato, basil, garlic and almond pesto)

Photo: Stuffed sardines. We didn't know if we'd like it, we ended up loving it.

As for desert we feasted on one of the best cannolis we've ever tasted, an apple tart that was delicious, glasses of Vin Santo and a cappuccino to top it all off.

Photo: Nikki's Trapenese pasta. The pesto almond sauce was brilliant.

The pizza was sublime. The crust was charred by the wood-burning oven, yet wasn't so brittle to become cracker-esque. The sauce was tangy, arugula was fresh and crisp and the mozzarella imparted a creamy sweetness that lingered merrily on our palates. The caponata had the ideal amount of sweet/sourness going on, whereas some caponata dishes that we've tasted have taken the sourness over the edge. The stuffed sardine was delectable and the stuffing medley of breadcrumbs, pine nuts and raisins was delicious and would be repeated with a few other additions in the Bucatini con le Sarde that JonnyMangia ordered as an entree.

Photo: It wouldn't be a Sicilian feast without Pasta con Sarde (though we still prefer Mom G's!).

We were hard-pressed to find one problem with this Sicilian feast. The only issue was that there were so many items on the menu that sounded amazing that we were put in a state of paralysis trying to figure out what we wanted. The menu boasts a whopping 15 styles of pizza, 8 pastas, 8 types of flatbreads, 5 stuffed calzones and 8 main courses that ran the gamut from skirt steak with sauteed escarole, roasted potatoes and wine reduction, braised lamb shank in almond flavor over soft polenta (!), pan-roasted chicken breasts with Sicilian peppers and pan roasted sea bass filet with spinach, pine nuts, raisins, garlic mashed potatoes cake over celery root sauce. And that's just a sampling of this diverse menu.

Photo: We ended things with this cannoli, an apple tart, Vin Santo (no grappa!) and a cappuccino.

Cacio e Vino is truly an experience. Between the stellar cuisine and the warmth and coziness of the room, it truly is a haven amidst the chaos found on the streets of the lower East side. Jonny commented that with each bite he took, he found himself transported back to Palermo, envisioning the sights and sounds of that colorful city. The Euro is nearly double the US dollar right now, so save your money and take a trip to Sicilia through the masterful cooking at Cacio e Vino. Bravissimo!

Photo: Torneremo!!! (We will return!).

Cacio e Vino
80 2nd Ave (btw 4th and 5th streets)
NYC 10003
212-228-3269
www.cacioevino.com
Open 7 days per week
Mon-Thur
Noon - Midnight
Fri-Sun
Noon - 2am