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The actual state part of New York cusine

3K views 29 replies 6 participants last post by  chrislehrer 
#1 · (Edited)
I did not want to hijack the French Fry thread, but I wanted to address @sgsvirgil and @halb. About food from Central and "upstate" NY

Syracuse Salt Potatoes!! I grew up with them and they were the best thing ever. I still make them regularly.

Buffalo Wings. Need I say more

Chicken Riggies. A Utica delight

Beef on Weck. Better than french dip

Anything else?
 
#3 ·
I just worked up a recipe for "Original Utica Chicken Riggies" from the You-tube video. Haven't gotten around to trying it. Would like to add it to our menu.

I have relatives up that way and I know salt potatoes and chicken riggies are regional favorites. They sell bags of potatoes with a packet of salt in stores there. Another menu item I noticed was chicken wings rolled in salt.

I wonder how many people have high blood pressure up there?
 
#6 ·
Ha! I thought I recognized your accent! lol

Here's some more CNY originals (not all of them are tasty):

- Utica Greens
- Deep fried Oreos
- Salt and Pepper wings
- The Garbage Plate (Nick Tahou's in Rochester)
- Michigans (a hot dog on a french roll smothered with meat sauce and topped with onions and yellow mustard)
- Tomato pie (basically a square sheet, thick crust pizza that has the sauce on top of the cheese)
- Speedies
- White Hots (a "snappy griller", which is a white hot dog made by Hofman's)
- Thousand Island Dressing
- Grape Pie

There are more but, I don't feel like looking them up. :)

I don't care what the internet says, a friend of mine, who owned and operated a stand at the NYS Fair, was serving deep fried Oreos as far back as the late 80's/early 90's. The internet says some guy named Charlie Boghosian is credited with inventing them, but, that information is wrong. The cook that worked for my friend accidentally dropped some Oreos into the onion ring batter and decided to deep fry them as a joke. Except, they turned out to be delicious and they sold faster than they could make them. My friend was not interested in claiming the recipe because his only food service venture was the two weeks a year that he operated a stand at the Fair. I am quite sure that given the popularity of deep fried Oreos that he is kicking himself for not claiming the recipe.

As for the salt and pepper wings, there was a place on the South side of Syracuse that was serving them when I was kid back in the early 70's. My friends and I would go in every Friday after school and eat a huge plate of these wings. To this day, I have no idea who decided to drown fried wings in salt and pepper, shake it off and eat it. I'm sure it was someone drunk enough to give it a try. Lol!

A bit of trivia for the younger chefs and cooks: Back then, chicken wings were considered scraps. Local butchers would either give them away, throw them out or in some cases, use them to make stock. But, as you know, the high collagen content of the wings made the stock gel when refrigerated so, many butchers didn't like to use them to make stock.

Today, a package of chicken wings is literally more expensive than a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts!

Cheers!
 
#13 ·
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Today, a package of chicken wings is literally more expensive than a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts!

Cheers!
Indeed. One of my fondest childhood memories was of my mother doing these half acre sized trays of wings in the oven. Okay, when you are like 6 or 7 years old, a basic sheet pan looks enormous to you. Half an acre might be a bit of an exaggeration. Anyway, she'd bake them for a bit, then sprinkle some stuff on them, perhaps a zesty Italian dressing packet, brush on sour cream and bake for a while longer. They were good, greasy and messy, what a kid loves. And raising a family of 6 kids no doubt quite economical at the time, which was around 1960 or so. Back when flank steak and brisket were really cheap cuts of beef. Oh well, times change.

mjb.
 
#15 · (Edited)
@sgsvirgil

I did an eye of round roast. Seasoned with salt, pepper, granulated garlic, thyme. Basted with butter. Cooked at 350 until internal temp of 135. Let rest and sliced thin.
It was ok, but still a little too chewy and could have used a bit more flavor too
The pitance of pan drippings really didn't allow for the au jus to get proper flavor. I added beef stock, splash of soy, and pepper and reduced. It was lacking. It is much better in a commercial kitchen when you are cooking 100# of beef vs 5#.
The Kummelweck rools turned out good, but I used sea salt and would prefer a fancier more flaky salt.
Nothing an exta dollop of fresh horseradish couldn't fix, but I am very open to suggestions.
 
#20 · (Edited)
I realize that choice of beef is a matter of preference (and how deep your pockets are :) ) but, eye of round tends to be a bit too lean for my taste. However, I'm not the type to run out and buy a $100 prime rib or Filet just to make some sandwiches.

But, what I do is I save the fat from prime rib, steaks etc and freeze them so when Im roasting a lean cut like an eye of round, I just toss them into the roasting pan for some instant beef fat.

So, here is what you can do with the eye of round to give it some more legs.

Salt the hell out of it with Kosher salt the day before and let it sit covered in the fridge overnight.

When roasting it, bring the roast to room temp. Just use salt and pepper to season (more pepper than salt because its already salted). Freshly ground pepper, of course. I do mine with a mortar and pestle. When you think you've added enough pepper, add some more. That pepper will form a fantastic crust. Make sure you press those coarse grounds into the roast.

*Do not make any slits to add garlic or herbs*

When roasting, blast it in a 500'f oven for 5 minutes per pound. Make sure you are using a low sided roasting pan. Afterwards, reduce the oven to its lowest temp setting and slow roast until it reaches the desired internal temperature.

Remove from the oven and let rest uncovered for at least 30 minutes. Slice thin.

Gather up all juices from the resting roast and from the roasting pan and put them in a pan and bring to a gentle boil. Test for salt and season accordingly. If its too salty, add some beef broth or stock. Otherwise, season however you wish. I like to use a bouquet garni of lemon thyme and rosemary and some crushed garlic with about 1 tsp of cold butter.

You can either make a thin rue with about 1/2-1 tsp of flour (depending on volume of liquid) and add some cold beef stock/broth or you can skip the rue part and let it reduce on its own. Either way tends to work out well.

Soak the thinly sliced beef in the au jus, pile it on a Kummelweck roll, slather with sinus clearing horseradish, pour yourself a good ale (I like Boddingtons Pub Ale) and repeat.

The best place for Beef on a Weck in Syracuse was Kittie Hoynes in Armory Square. But, its been quite a while since I've been there so, I don't know if they are still there or if they still serve them.

:)
 
#22 ·
Yeah......they go very well with any seafood. The place in Syracuse called "Hinerwadel's" that invented salt potatoes, specializes in clambakes. Just about everyone in Syracuse has been to a Hinerwadel clam bake at some point or another. So, salt potatoes are common items in backyard BBQ's in Syracuse and Central New York.

I put them on the menu in my restaurant here in the Midwest and they were very popular.

:)
 
#21 ·
There's a lot of different stories about Michigan hot dogs and where they came from. The story I've heard is they originated up in the Plattsburgh area in the 1920's. How the name started also has many stories. Some say a couple from Michigan were visiting Coney Island and loved Coneys so much that when they moved the Plattsburgh, they opened a hot dog stand and called them "Michigans." Another story is a woman from Plattsburgh met and married a man from Michigan who showed her how to make the meat sauce . The couple opened a hot dog stand in Michigan and the woman coined the name "Michigan."

I'm sure there are many other stories or variations of these. :)
 
#24 ·
@sgsvirgil i could see using tenderloin, but that is still to lean. I wouldn't think of doing it with prime rib. That would border on blasphemy.

I remember getting a prime rib sandwich at a fancy place in San Francisco a ways back. The waiter said "Bravo for picking up your sandwich with your hands and not using utensils" in a far from approving tone.

My response? "It's a %!?$# sandwich. What do you want?" Lol. I'm college educated, but prefer a bit more blue collar living
 
#27 ·
I remember getting a prime rib sandwich at a fancy place in San Francisco a ways back. The waiter said "Bravo for picking up your sandwich with your hands and not using utensils" in a far from approving tone.

My response? "It's a %!?$# sandwich. What do you want?" Lol. I'm college educated, but prefer a bit more blue collar living
What do you expect from a place where people eat pizza with a knife and fork.
 
#29 ·
I thought you were talking about Syracuse and almost choked! Lol!

I think just about any good cut of meat with half way decent fat content would do well. But, I tend to agree. Using prime rib would be a bit much. But, if someone offered me a roast beef sammich made with prime rib, I sure as hell would not turn it down.
 
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