Tag: New England

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In this episode of Caviar and Cadavers, we bring it back to Long Island, our OG stomping ground.

His name is Richard Angelo, a young man with a do gooder record. He was an Eagle Scout, a volunteer fireman, and RN at the Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, NY. During his brief stint at the hospital, Richard worked the graveyard shift, injecting unsuspecting patients with unprescribed skeletal muscle relaxers and coming in to “save” their lives in a sick attempt to gain heroic recognition.

Now that we’re not living on Long Island, we grow homesick for some quintessential things — namely a local neighborhood deli (shout out to the Malverne Deli) and with it, the BEC. That’s right folks, the unassuming breakfast sandwich. Bacon egg and cheese on a roll, understood to be a Kaiser roll in any NY deli. “Salt, pepper, ketchup with that?” The universal follow up to that order.

The true hero of the breakfast sandwich is the trusty vessel, the roll. It’s sturdy enough to handle a runny yolk on your commute on the LIRR to Penn Station. These round rolls, with their five point pinwheel design, are crisp on the outside, and airy on the inside. Sadly, these rolls outside of New York and New Jersey are usually dense and one textured, resembling store bought mass produced hamburger buns.

Avocado egg and cheese on the king of rolls – from the Malverne Deli circa 2016

To attempt this textural paradox, we spent a lot of time researching what separates these rolls from the sad sesame seed hamburger bun. There are tons of recipes out there pretending to be a Kaiser roll, but when anyone in the comments noted it was the perfect hamburger bun, it was thrown in a trash immediately.

What we found was you need barley malt, a ridiculously long initial rise time (2-2/12 hours) and you need to bake with steam. We leveraged a mix of Karen Kerr’s and Tamar Marvin’s recipes and made modifications after two trials.

Dough Ingredients

  • 625 grams bread flour
  • 315 grams of lukewarm water
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 30 grams egg (approximately 1/2 large egg)
  • 2 1/4 Tbsp. sugar
  • 2 1/2 tsp. barley malt syrup
  • 1 Tbsp instant yeast
  • 2 Tsp salt

Topping

  1. 2 tsp. Medium grit corn meal
  2. 2 tsp. poppy seeds

Instructions

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, add all of your ingredients except for the salt and mix on low speed for 2 minutes with the paddle attachment.
  • Add the salt and mix another 1 minute on low.
  • Replace the paddle attachment with your dough hook and knead for 10 more minutes.
  • Remove the dough and form into a ball. Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough into the bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and leave to rise for 2 ½ hours.
  • When risen, turn out the dough and divide into 10 equal pieces (I probably should have gone for 11). Shape the pieces into round balls. Place them carefully onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for and additional 15 minutes.
  • Place a steam pan on the bottom rack of the oven and a baking stone (or upside down baking sheet if you don’t have a baking stone) on a rack in the upper third of the oven. Heat your oven to 450 degrees F.
  • Flatten the dough balls into 6 inch rounds. Make sure to keep the dough balls you’re not working on covered. Dust the round and your work station with white rye flour.
  • Place your thumb in the center of the circle and fold the 9 o’clock side over your thumb and press it into the center.
  • Leaving your thumb in place, fold the 11 o’clock corner into the center and press it down on top of the first fold. Follow the same steps for 1 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 5 o’clock.
  • Remove your thumb and fold the remaining dough point under the first fold and press.
  • Place the shaped rolls, pleat side down on a damp towel that has been sprinkled with the poppy seeds and corn meal.
  • Cover the rolls and let them rise for 30 minutes.
  • Flip the rolls over, place them on a parchment lined baking sheet, pleat side up and allow to rise an additional 15 minutes.
  • Place sheet pan with the rolls on top of the baking stone (or upside down baking sheet) and pour the two cups of boiling water to the steam pan. CLOSE THE OVEN DOOR QUCKLY TO TRAP THE STEAM IN THE OVEN. Bake the rolls for 16 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Rolls are best enjoyed the day of baking. Happy eating!

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In our series premiere of Caviar and Cadavers, we introduce you to the mysterious wave of severed feet washing up on the shores of British Columbia.

Beginning in 2007 and for the next 10+years, over 20 feet sporting athletic sneakers or hiking shoes were showing up along the shores of the Salish Sea. As the number of feet began amassing, the theories circulating on how and why they got there also gained a foothold in the Canadian media.

Lace up your trainers, and head over to our YouTube channel for our premiere.

  • 1 large egg
  • 2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce
  • 2 tsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
  • 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
  • 3/4 to 1 cup of crushed Ritz crackers
  • 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh curly parsley
  • 1 pound fresh jumbo lump crabmeat, drained of liquids
  • olive oil cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, mayo, and your “spice bomb”, which includes the Dijon, Worcestershire, Tabasco, Old Bay seasoning, salt and pepper. Add parsley to combine. Carefully fold in the crab meat, taking care not to break up the large lumps of crab. Add the cracker crumbs 1/4 cup at a time and combine. Continue to add the crumbs until the mixture begins to just stay packed together.

With wet hands, start making small crab cake patties. Do not pack too firmly, but just enough for the cakes to hold their shape. Place crab cakes on a prepared baking sheet – you can use a silpat or spray with cooking oil.

Place the baking sheet on the middle rack in the oven. After 4 minutes of cooking, flip the cakes gently with a spatula and your hands taking care not to break apart the cakes. Cook another 3 minutes or until golden. Serve with lemon and some spicy mayo (Sriracha, mayonnaise, and sesame oil).