The farmer..............

On Monday of this week , I headed to a livestock auction with my friend Jonathan to see what it is was all about.
Heading north on the Taconic and then staying on rt. 203 into Chatam ……we hit it. It is about 120 miles from Manhattan.
It is pretty hard not to look like a “Citiot” when you walk into the auction with Prada Sandals, an I phone, a Blackberry and a Flip Camera! (That would be me)

The auction..............

I have always admired people that take up farming, whether they are born into it, or just choose to do it.
It has got to be one of the toughest jobs out there!

As we watched the 1-2 day old calves being paraded around, and being sold for $.30 per pound or $30 bucks for a #100 Calf, I began to wonder?

Do small town cattle farmers have a specific formula for the amount of food, water , rest and exercise they give each animal, to get them to the perfect weight and the highest profit margin? Hmmm- I wonder…..or do they just feed them as much as possible and in the end hope to make a profit and then put food on there tables, pay there bills and keep the farm going?

Trixie!

I have a feeling that for most farmers, it is the latter.

For Sale!

I remember when I was younger, my dad used to tell me about this pizza man. He had a store and from the minute he opened to the minutes he closed, there were lines out the door. He would sell each pizza for $5 a pie, but every pizza he sold cost him $7 to make.

The moral of the story is that just because you are busy and your costs don’t line up- your business will be dead. I just hope the cattle farmers are not selling below cost Pizzas!

This is what the veggies should look like, prior to breading...

1# Burrata cheese
2 limes

4 eggs
1 cup flour
8 oz Panko Bread Crumbs
1 C olive oil

Salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

 

Method:

Mix eggs and flour together to make a paste- (similar to Elmer’s Glue consistency)

Bread all of the vegetables first by dipping the seasoned veggies in the flour and egg mixture, then into the Panko Bread crumbs.

The breading process begins....

* hint- keep one hand used for the eggs and one hand for the bread crumbs. This way- your hands won’t be coated in a cement like bread crumb mixture.

* hint- when working with hot peppers, be very careful for allergic reactions. Try not to rub your face or any other sensitive body part (ahem) or you could be sorry.

Once all of the veggies are breaded, place in the fridge for an hour or so.

The Panko Crusted veggies, before they are cooked!

Preheat a sauté pan with olive oil and sauté each of the veggies until golden brown on both sides.

Remove from the pan and drain excess oil from the vegetables.

Place perfectly cooked golden brown veggies on a serving platter, add Burrata and Slices of fresh lime.

Pour XVOO over the top of the cheese and season the entire place with sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

A nice garnish is grill thinly sliced sour dough bread……

Enjoy!

This is such a super Mansion with so much history!

$2.5M for the Mansion and 20 buildable lots for an additional $2M

Step back in time, into this lovingly preserved Italianate Victorian mansion tucked away in the Eastern-most part of Astoria, Queens.  This imposing structure has a handsome rusticated granite façade with an exterior entrance portico enticing visitors to explore this striking piece of New York City history.  Built in 1858, by a scientific instrument manufacturer, Benjamin T. Pike Jr., the estate was later purchased by the family that gave the mansion the name it is known by today, the Steinway Mansion.  The Steinway family purchased the majestic home in 1870 which at the time, included 440-acres of land that housed the piano factory as well as housing for the workers.  Today, the “Steinway Mansion” has been home to the same family since 1925.  Its Twenty-Seven rooms, including seven bedrooms and five bathrooms were updated in the late 1970’s into the 1990’s with an eye to preserving and celebrating its past and keeping all period details.  Upon entering the grand entry foyer through massive doors with etched glass designs one is confronted with the jaw-dropping center hall of the Rotunda-style building with a massive chandelier and thirty-foot ceilings capped by a dramatic sky-lit dome.   Ornamental details abound throughout with coffered lofty ceilings, wide-plank hardwood floors, Baroque decorative columns with Corinthian capitals, and original wood-burning fireplaces with stunning marble mantles.  Double parlors, formal dining room, a kitchen large enough for a full catering staff, and impressive library with floor to ceiling carved bookshelves and round, cupola-style skylight complete the arresting, formal ground floor.  The striking central stairwell, or the back “servant’s” staircase lead to the upper circular gallery that houses 2 full baths and all seven bedrooms.  The complete tour continues the climb skyward to the third attic floor, and another small circular stair that leads to the top of the sunny square tower, providing lovely city views through the many Romanesque-style arched windows.

The Steinway Gallery....

Residing beneath this Victorian Gem is an informal getaway with rounded brick arches and is complete with an English-style 20^th century polished wooden bar and full pub, grotto-like over-sized Jacuzzi, sauna, locker room, and 2 baths.

The Steinway Dining room!

We invite you to explore the many possibilities of this special property, ideal for architectural and history enthusiasts or those looking to give new meaning to this historic home mixing new and old for either residential or commercial purposes.

Steinway Library.......

The Steinway Parlor......

As Stew Leonard says!

 It is not ME ME ME ME as an agent!

“The customer is always right & that is why we make the money that we do!”

Brokers See a Rise in Clients’ Hostility

Yesterday there was an article in the New York Times declaring that buyers in the current New York City residential real estate market as asking for more things than ever during the purchase or selling process. We guess what….everyone is asking for more.

As someone who was in the restaurant business for 31 years and totally gets service, the real estate business is not about the agents, but about the customer. As Joe Baum of Windows on the World stated many times, “The Customer is ALWAYS RIGHT!” Like the phrase or not, embrace it and work with it!

 I understand from an agent’s point of view that there are things that are requested for us to do that sometimes seems a bit over the top, but you know what? Make it happen….do those extra things for your customers and they will be customers for LIFE! Don’t do them and you will probably never work with them again and they certainly won’t have fond memories of working with you.

I wonder where Randolph keeps his cash to pay for these extravagant dinners?

Daniel is located at 60 E. 65th Street between Park and Madison

There is something about the minute you get to the beautiful revolving door at the entrance that is magical.

We have been to 100’s of restaurants all over the world and Daniel is World class. The people that work there are just not cooks, waiters, captains or Maitre D’s working just to get a pay check, rather they are there to continue to hone their skills for the love of food and service.

We have never had a poor performance from Daniel and his crew.

We had an amazing Lucien Crochet Sancerre that was perfectly chilled.

A cool heirloom tomato salad with basil oil was divine.

The winner of the evening was an appetizer of scallops dusted with Chorizo- it was one of those dishes that you eat where every component makes sense and you just want to devour the entire dish.

The restaurant spends thousands of dollars per week on fantastic flowers and their china purchases per year must be out of this world.

This restaurant is not inexpensive, but if you need to go and celebrate a special occasion while you are in NYC, this is at the top!One secret note- if you go to the bar and have a bottle of wine and a yummy cheese plate, you will still be served in luxury at a significant discount!

www.danielnyc.com

(212) 288-0033

A quick peek inside Daniel- the light fixtures are fantastic!

Mrs. Z's flowers for dealing with me for 11 years!

  This is a classic Salvadoran side dish that goes great with Chicken and Steaks-

Ingredients-

Serves 8pp

8 Tomatoes- remove the seeds and dice with the skin on

Radishes- 15 each- small dice

Red onion- 1 medium- small dice

Cilantro -2 oz fresh and chopped

Lime – the juice of 1- 2 limes to taste

Salt – to taste

Pepper (my mother in law does not use it, but I do)

Put everything in a bowl and mix- you should do this about an hour or more before you serve so the flavors will meld together…….

Chirimol

“Because it is August and BBQ is on my mind:)”

This salad is great with all of your BBQ dishes

Your guests will be blown away!

Feeds- 8

Ingredients-

1/2 cubed seedless watermenlon

4 -6 ounces crumbled Feta Cheese

1/4 Cup chopped mint

Method-

Place 1/4 of the diced watermelon in your serving bowl.

Layer feta and choped mint on top of the watermelon.

Repeat 3-4 times until the bolw is full.

Garnish with crumbled Feta and Chopped Mint.

Sometimes simplicity is the best way to go!

Method-
~ sweat the chopped garlic in olive oil until the garlic is translucent.

~ add the sausage (take it out of the casings first to give it free form.) Cook sausage until brown.

raw sausage out of the casing

~ in a sauce pot- place tomato sauce, sausage and garlic and bring to a boil and season with cracked black pepper and sea salt.

~ in a separate pot- boil pasta in salted water. The normal ratio of water to pasta is 5 parts water to 1 part pasta
*note- 1# dried pasta yields 2# cooked pasta.
~once the pasta is cooked, remove water- add arugula to the sauce and the pasta.
~ toss quickly, place in a large bowl and garnish with grated Parmesan and cracked black pepper……

I nice Malbec and some roasted bread will bring the whole dish together!