The Second Avenue Deli Cookbook (15 page)

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Authors: Sharon Lebewohl

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Vegetable Soup
SERVES
9
This soup is thick, hearty, and satisfying … and everything in it is good for you.
10 cups plain chicken soup or stock
½ cup barley
¾ cup dried lima beans
1 cup water
1½ cups onion, chopped into ½-inch pieces
¾ cup celery, chopped into ¼-inch pieces
1 cup carrot, chopped into ½-inch pieces
⅔ cup parsnip, chopped into ¼-inch pieces
1 cup coarsely chopped cabbage
1 cup corkscrew (fusilli or rotini) pasta; we use tricolor, which adds a festive touch
1½ cups canned plum tomatoes, chopped into ¾-inch pieces
1 tablespoon finely chopped or crushed fresh garlic
Salt (the amount will depend on how much salt is in the chicken stock you use; if it's salty, you may not need any)
¼ teaspoon pepper
¾ cup zucchini, chopped into ¼-inch pieces
¾ cup green pepper, chopped into ½-inch pieces
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1. Pour 7 cups chicken soup into a large stockpot, and bring to a boil. Add barley and lima beans, lower heat, and simmer for 1 hour. Check occasionally, and add a bit of water if it seems to be drying out.
2. Add 3 cups chicken soup, 1 cup water, onions, celery, carrots, parsnips, cabbage, pasta, tomatoes, garlic, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add zucchini and green pepper, and simmer for another 10 minutes.
4. Place cornstarch in a small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon cold water, stirring until smooth and all cornstarch is dissolved. Add 1 cup soup liquid, a little at a time, and stir until smooth. Bring soup to a boil. Add cornstarch mixture to soup, and, stirring constantly, boil for 2 minutes. Add salt to taste. This is a very thick soup, with little broth.

B
ORN IN
T
RANSYLVANIA IN
1948, Adam Tihany grew up in Israel, where, after serving in the army, he attended the Politecnico di Milano, School of Architecture and Urban Planning. Since 1978, he has directed his own design studio in New York and is considered one of the preeminent restaurant designers in the world today. His projects include, among many others, Baretto in Paris, Bice restaurants worldwide, Spago restaurants (in Las Vegas, Mexico City, and Chicago), Gundel in Budapest, Monte's in London, the Dan Eilat Hotel and Resort in Israel, and, in New York, Jean Georges and the spectacular Le Cirque 2000. We're especially proud to say that he also recently redesigned the Second Avenue Deli.
In addition, Tihany has created stunning lines of furniture and accessories, and Villeroy & Boch has produced many of his custom-designed china patterns. An accomplished chef, he is also the owner of Remi restaurants in New York and Santa Monica and the author (with Francesco Antonucci and Florence Fabricant) of
Venetian Taste,
which may be the world's most exquisitely designed cookbook.
Though I'd been introduced to him at social functions, and seen him bustling around the Deli, my first real meeting with Abe Lebewohl was in 1993 when he showed up at my office with a dream. At the height of the glasnost era, Abe passionately wanted to open the first kosher restaurant in Moscow … and he had chosen me to design it. Though I was flattered, I might have turned him down if this was a mere business proposition. It wasn't. Abe was on a mission, and he was very righteous—almost rabbinical—in his fervor. He felt like it was his duty to bring kosher food to the Russians, that it was something he owed to his native land and the continuing history of the Jewish people. It was about reestablishing culture via food and about challenging Russian Jews to openly display their Judaism by frequenting a kosher restaurant—a brave act in a country where religion had been underground for more than half a century.
He had already been to Moscow several times to check out the scene, which, his intense idealism notwithstanding, he viewed with a great depth of clarity. As soon as I agreed to accept the commission (there was no resisting his moral mandate), he arranged for us to fly there and view possible sites. It was my first trip to Moscow, and the mood in the streets was exhilarating; people were filled with a new hope for the future. We schlepped around town for several days with a rabbi, who was instrumental in putting the deal together, and a government-required Russian business partner. With his usual efficiency, Abe had everything under way; he'd even convinced McDonald's to supply him with kosher meats. He went back many times, always with abounding optimism and enthusiasm, trying to close the deal.
Sad to say, his efforts never came to fruition. In the end, corruption in the new Russia rendered his courageous and visionary project unfeasible. Abe retreated from Moscow, but our friendship flourished. And though we were never able to complete our project in Russia, I was, after Abe's death, able to fulfill another dream of his—the creation of the interior he had envisioned for the Second Avenue Deli.
Ima (Momma) Tihany's Cold Cherry Soup
SERVES
8
2 pounds fresh cherries, including pits
2 cinnamon sticks
4 to 6 tablespoons sugar (adjust amount, depending on the sweetness of your cherries)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1½ cups cherry juice (available at health food and specialty food stores)
1 tablespoon white flour
Sour cream
1. In a stockpot, cover fresh cherries with water, add cinnamon sticks and sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add lemon juice, and simmer for 10 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.
2. In a small saucepan, mix ½ cup of the cherry juice into the flour, stirring until completely smooth. Add the remaining cup of cherry juice, bit by bit, and stir in until smooth. Bring the mixture to a slow boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from burner, and let cool to room temperature.
3. When both mixtures have cooled, combine them in a bowl, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
4. Place dollops of sour cream in deep soup dishes, then pour the soup over the top. Serve chilled.

Cold Fruit Soup
MAKES ABOUT
3
QUARTS
This is a great dish for dieting—unless, of course, you top it off with a dollop of vanilla ice cream or sour cream.
1½ pounds Red Delicious apples (core and remove seeds; quarter, and cut each apple quarter into 3 pieces)
½ lemon, seeded and cut in quarters
6 peaches (remove pits; cut each peach into 8 pieces)
6 nectarines (remove pits; cut each nectarine into 8 pieces)
½ small cantaloupe (remove rind and seeds; chop into 1-inch pieces)
1 cup sugar
2 cups seedless grapes
1. In a large stockpot, bring 8 cups of water to a vigorous boil. Add apples and lemon, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes.
2. Add peaches, nectarines, cantaloupe, and sugar; simmer another 15 minutes.
3. Add grapes, and simmer 3 minutes longer. Chill before serving.
Note:
Except for the cantaloupe, do not peel any of the fruits.

PROMOTIONS, PITCHES … AND PITCHING NO-HITTERS
The Anniversary Schmaltz
O
NCE EVERY TEN YEARS,
on the anniversary of the 1954 opening of the Second Avenue Deli, Abe celebrated with a one-day rollback to original prices. Each time, hundreds of customers lined up throughout the day and waited patiently in the cold weather (the Deli opened in March) to enjoy a corned beef or pastrami sandwich on rye for 50 cents. If folks in the fifties couldn't afford 50 cents, there were other options—35 cents would have been ample for a frankfurter with sauerkraut and a potato or kasha knish. And a hearty bowl of matzo ball soup was just 15 cents. On the other hand, big spenders could opt for a roast chicken dinner with potatoes and vegetable for a whopping $1.25! Mark March 11, 2004, on your calendar right now.

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