New York City's Lena Latin Grill Serves Up High Quality, Affordable, Fast-Food

Lena Latin Grill

Like the sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass, one steps off 35^th Street into Lena’s Latin Grill restaurant and enters into a mirror world of seeming opposites. 

Nothing is quite what it seems.   

This is a fast food eat in/take out/delivery restaurant; however all the food ingredients are sourced fresh-from-the-farm – Pasture to Plate - and from local greenmarkets.

The cuisine boasts Latin, but there is nary an enchilada or a burrito in sight

How can all this be??

There are freestanding refrigerators filled with Lena-labeled water and tempting home made juices.  The exotic-sounding fruit flavors: lulo, tamarind, mango guanabana, cantaloupe, blackberry, watermelon, lemonade and herbal tea are fresh-squeezed -- every day!  

The restaurant buzzes and hums with a purposeful, lunchtime working-class clientele. 

Breakfast is served daily too. Lena’s customers found themselves part of such a culinary awakening – and are so devoted to its one-two punch of innovative food offerings and breakthrough operations, the restaurant is now also open for dinner too. 

Shhh. Don’t tell McDonalds. The customers at Lena are all enjoying fresh, good-for-you, grilled food!

The genius behind this break-through dining concept is chef and owner, Ronny Abenhaim. 

Chef Ronny’s award-winning culinary pedigree includes extensive fine dining, haute-cuisine episodes with the great top chef, Mario Batali and hospitality legend Andre Balazs’s Miami Standard Hotel and his Long Island Sunset Beach resort.  Ronny learned the brilliance of “how to keep it simple” from Chef Mario.  Mario would often say, “What are the probabilities of a mass audience liking 13 ingredients?”  Simple flavor is best.  With upwards of 1,000 dining covers on a typical 4^th of July weekend at Sunset Beach, Ronny learned how to manage volume from Balazs.

Chef Ronny is a hands-on chef and manager.  Diners catch a glimpse of the wiry, intense chef in the see-through grill kitchen as well as ringing up customers in the fast-moving order line.  

Chef Ronny is the kind of passionate chef that has years of experience, vast knowledge of food and farming and homegrown pride, all rolled together - like one of his stellar wrap sandwiches.

“The concept was to do a high-end restaurant style menu in terms of quality, using fresh, seasonal ingredients; molded into a fast-food and service template to make the meals quick and affordable,” explains chef Ronny.   “And to serve up Latin-infused, flavor drenched dishes that would turn the notion of Latin-menu-is-Mexican on its head.

No easy task.  However, Lena succeeds brilliantly.  

Chef Ronny's distinctive cuisine stems from his South American roots.  He moved to the United States when he was 13 years old from Columbia. 

He grew up with fresh vegetables and fruits and grilling food to wring the most succulent, savory taste. 

Ronny explains he uses a mix of applewood, ash, and maple split wood to fire up a sweet, heady grill.  Even the wood is sourced locally – from Brooklyn’s The Woodman. 

So important is the wood grilling to the restaurant’s food integrity, Ronny named the restaurant Lena – which means "firewood" in Spanish.  In homage to nature’s purest “stove,” split wood serve as a sort of rough-hewn cornice design detail, lining the top perimeter of the restaurant’s narrow space.

“Using direct heat to cook is healthier,” says Ronny.  “Grilling the food sucks out the fat and retains the protein.” Lena grills all its Plate entrees and its vegetable Additions. 

The food ingredients are sourced locally too.  Ronny’s farm-fresh vegetables and fruits come from a number of green, organic growers including Chelsea Market, the Greenmarket in Union Square, Baldor Specialty Foods or Ipex.  The food itself starts off with so much natural flavor Chef Ronny claims “We don’t need to do too much to it in order to serve pure, simple, flavorful dishes.”

OK, here’ s the skinny on the menu:

Three different styled entrees: Wrap, Salad and Plate.

The Wrap and Salad come with one sauce and two Additions or side orders.

There are 12 different kinds of sauces to choose from – all fresh-made with savory ingredients ranging from green tomatillos (which is excellent) to the jalapeno pepper to avocado.  

The Plate comes with one sauce and two Additions or sides, such as roasted sweet potatoes. 

Sorry, no New York-styled mixing and matching or substitutions when it comes to ordering, a la “I’ll have the BLT and hold the bacon!” 

Here, Lena does the formidable task of “culinary accessorizing” for its guests  -- to perfection. They make it all so easy to eat good food!

Don’t forget to enjoy a Lena alfajor cookie confection:  a South American street food version of a Linzer torte cookie sandwich filled with a sweet, caramel dulce de leche.  Luscious.  

Chef Ronny’s passion for fresh, quality ingredients, grilling and less-is-best philosophy when it comes to manipulating the food is based on his own preference for eating healthy (he and Michelle Obama would see eye to eye on diet and health).  And is backed up by his research that he is only too happy to share.  Available as a print out and on the Lena web site and soon to be on the wall for customers in line to order to read, are Chef’s Seven Latin Power Foods and their benefits.

The succulent seven are:  tomatillos, garbanzo beans, avocado, garlic, cinnamon, chiles and cilantro.

According to Ronny’s research, “the hot Latin diet increases fat burning by 25 percent in addition to decreasing hunger.”  It is true that eating good food satiates more than the palate. The body is not tricked by added sugars or oils. In fact, he goes on to report the hot Latin diet increases the variety and flavor while improving the balance of fats consumed.  In addition to the Power Foods, the Latin food menu emphasizes fish, olive oil and nuts, adding lots of spice to the meals.

Lena's flavorful food sure gets around town: about 80% of the restaurant’s lunch business is take out.  

Breakfast favorites are coffee, fresh fruit juices and pastry.

Chef Ronny and his game-changing Lena Latin Grill is just the beginning. He hopes to open another Lena Latin Grill for a Wall Street clientele.  And then on to a franchise. “It’s what I love to do,” he says.  He commented how he is energized by the needs of his customers. 

How Do I Love Lena?  Let me Count the Ways.

When asked, a well-heeled customer, Jacqui Booker said she is such a fan of Lena Latin Grill she asked chef Ronny to prepare her Thanksgiving turkey.  “The food at Lena is so well-cooked, so authentic and yet so very simple that she comes to Lena more often than she can count.  "I've lost track of how many days a week I eat here," Booker says about her favorite New York city restaurant.

Lena customers are to be forgiven for their cult-like devotion to this moderately priced, foodie haven.

So there may be no need for the Lena Latin Grill Loyalty Card but there it is. “Ten Is On Us.” 

After an even 10 meals, Lena provides $10 on the house.

The only things I'd change is to have a waitress tell Lena newbies, like me and my cousin, that diners need to step up and order directly from the menu at the register, a la McDonalds or its fast-food distant relations.  Chef Ronny says they are already planning to add this instruction signage to the wall menus. 

The Seven Latin Power Food and their benefits will also be added to the wall menus.  So you can feel even better about what you are about to order.  Delicious AND Healthy. 

Lena Latin Grill

34 West 25^th Street (5^th & 6^th)

phone: 646 274 1995

http://www.lenanyc.com

GrowNYC Greenmarket Nominated Local Farmers to Attend Slow Food Conference in Terra Madre

From the city that never sleeps and where things get done in a “New York Minute,” the Greenmarket delegates will be immersed in the Slowww way of life…

For the next few days, at least.

Applause, Applause! 

What greater honor could there be for a dedicated, local farmer and artisanal food producer than to be acknowledged as a representative for the Greenmarket at the biannual Slow Food Conference? 

It makes all those early mornings setting up in Union Square, endless hours of washing the baby lettuces, tapping the maple trees and boiling the sap, fretting over the storms and heat and water count for something. 
It’s not just the trip to Torino, Italy, nor the opportunity to mix and network with food artists from around the globe, or even all the great food tastings and samplings.

I think it’s also the recognition that all the hard work, dedication and standards of excellence in honor of fresh, local food matters.

This is important, noble work and just like the Oscar or the Emmy or the Tony, foody peers will forever have respect that you were selected.

I was admiring the pristine lettuces and sassy greens at one of my favorite Greenmarket “boutiques” yesterday when I learned from Bodhitree Farms (www.bodhitreefarm.com)

owner, Nevia No, aka the Greenmarket Goddess, that she was leaving for Terra Madre later that day.  Wowsy!

I was so excited for Nevia.  Questions spilled out of me along with the kudos.

Nevia explained that she is one of two farmers selected to attend the Slow Food conference by GrowNYC Greenmarket Farmers Market (www.grownyc.org/greenmarket.org

The other delegate is Howie and Stephen Cantor of Deep Mountain Maple, Vermont – because “the Italians don’t have maple syrup.”  No said. 

The exotic, sexy elixir is sure to cause a scene in Italy…

The Greenmarket Goddess didn’t have to explain to me why her Bodhitree Farms was chosen.   

No is usually eager to explain that Bodhi means enlightenment in Sanskrit.  A visit to her Greenmarket display with its pure, clean, variety of colorful and delicious vegetables will elevate anyone to a higher consciousness.

Greenmarket Goddess Nevia No’s Bodhitree Farms is located in the Garden State, naturally. She grows hundreds of varieties on 70 acres in Burlington County.  The Farm is a darling of all the New York City Master Chefs and Bodhitree was noted on most of the menu cards at the recent GrowNYC Greenmarket benefits.

The Farm is famous for green and hard to find Asian vegetables including baby lettuces pea shoots, mustard greens, tatsoi, mizuna and some of my favorites too are love her Hawaiian sweet potatoes grown from seed here, and shisito peppers.

  

I went back to take Nevia’s picture and Debbie said I just missed her L  She was on her way to JFK. 

So here is Debbie!  She is there every day of the market along with Nevia.

The theme of this conference is indigenous food and what we can learn from them.

Both Bodhitree and Deep Mountain Maple will have the other delegates swooning. 

I feel like I’m rooting for the home team!

Deep Mountain Maple was hailed as home town heroes in their local news:

www.bartonchronicle.com/index.php/food-ventures

The biannual Slow Food conference is called Terra Madre held in Torino, Italy from October 21^st – October 25^th.

This is the Fourth conference.

Delegates attend events, sample indigenous food, cheese, bread, vegetables, they also attend workshops,  -- brings together small food producers, farmers chefs,

Carlo Petrini started the Slow Food movement as a resistance to a McDonalds going up in Rome and as a backlash to fast food and bad food and the erosion of convivial dining. He has celebrated the importance of real, wholesome food, saying that to regain sovereignty we must rebuild it through an alliance of fisherman, farmers, livestock breeders, chefs, and academics from around the world.

Petrini recently visited the Union Square Greenmarket – and American universities as president of the Slow Food Organization and to promote his new book that highlights the future of food and biodiversity.

The new book is a follow up to Slow Food Nation (2005).  “Terra Madre – Foraging a New Global Network of Sustainable Food Communities” is available now.

 No usually offers cooking demos for Greenmarket buyers to sample the delicious and sometimes new and curious vegetables.  She often does the cooking herself.  Sometime she features a guest cook.

I can’t wait to see what gastronomic surprises she will bring home with her, along with the great stories and learning.  

Spring is a Time of Renewal

Spring is a Time of Rebirth

It seems a lifetime ago that I launched the series of chef interviews for my book about master chefs and their gardens.  

So much has changed in the world, in my life, with some of the chefs and their restaurants -- and with the book itself.  Crazy times.

But I remember that beginning like it was yesterday. 

In fact, it’s a sweet anniversary of sorts, as it was just about one year ago that it all began.

Break out the champagne – cheers, darlings!

My first interview was with Chef Michael Anthony at Gramercy Tavern.

Lucky for me too, as he is the consummate professional: punctual, courteous, dedicated and seems for the entire world to possess a gentle spirit. 

Gramercy Tavern restaurant is within walking distance of our Greenwich Village apartment and the morning of the interview, I set off with contained joy; cutting across Union Square, on my way to what I was sure was going to be the start of a great adventure.

Curious by nature, I couldn’t wait to discover the stories that Chef Michael – and the other leading culinary artists  -- would share about their quiet yet powerful revolution to change not only their menus, and by turns their patrons’ eating habits but to also spark a national desire to know where our food comes from. 

Along the way, the chefs ignited a return to flavor along with good health, helped to foment a foodie or locavare tsunami that altered the political agenda and I daresay, the landscape of food’s influence on our lifestyle and culture.

Whew!  But you’re getting the picture about how important these culinary artists are.

By this time last year, I had painstakingly compiled my list of hoped-for chefs to include in the book. The master chefs I sought had to be leaders – those at the forefront of the emerging  -- in some areas -- and in others a full-throttle commitment to the slow food, farm to table movement. 

Remember, I first started the book in early 2002 with a different publisher than I now have.  However, then as now, I wanted to explore how gardens inspire artists – all great artists, in fact – and no surprise -- wanted to start with culinary artists because they utilize the bounty of the garden and farm in their art and craft. 

For my part, I had been designing and planting edible landscapes for garden design clients since I launched my garden design work in 2001. 

I joyfully rediscovered local food —from New Jersey blueberries and tomatoes and corn to melons and of course, herbs. 

I believed potagers are beautiful and practical and too many Americans hadn’t been exposed to an edible garden. I went to school in Switzerland, traveled and saw beauty and practicality of a potager even in small spaces.  I love even the concept of their jardin potager - meaning the “soup garden” because so many of the delicious ingredients for those all-in-one-meals are there in the garden beds; such as parsley, potatoes, tomatoes, and lots of herbs. 

By the time I had my book contract signed in January of 2009 (see early blog post), eating locally grown, sustainable, organic food was the topic de jour. 

Farmers were the new rock starts.

Michael Pollan was anointed a John the Baptist of food’s holy grail. 

Alice Waters revered as the Queen of the land.  Literally.

At the same time, food headlines screamed of what seemed to most Americans as unthinkable. 

We witnessed way too many E coli outbreaks, tomato blight, and milk warnings.

Pretty scary stuff.

Master Chefs Perspective:

My book takes a unique look at this food movement -- as backdrop; insofar as the master chefs I write about recognized the flavor and inherent good taste of fresh organic food early on and advocated for sustainable, local food as the natural alternative. 

Specifically, my book personalizes the foodie revolution because it tells the stories of how and why these or “my” chefs help ignite the desire for real, fresh food. 

Having eaten in some of the best restaurants but with one foot firmly planted in the garden, I wanted to learn why these chefs sought to move away from food as architecture and theater that heretofore, had been considered a professional badge of honor.

I wanted to know what propelled them to seek another way -- to build personal relationships with their farmers, growers, and artisanal food sources…

 

To learn what sparked their passion for creating recipes that are driven by a respect – no devotion – to fresh food and it’s inherent flavor.

It’s a lot more work. In some ways, cooks might consider all this relationship building and resourcing too much work – out of the realm of their responsibility. 

Not these leading culinary artists.  They forged a new way. 

And I got the distinct impression that while it may have incurred more effort and time – it’s not work as work. 

Rather, they love every minute of it!  The bond with the growers -- being an important link in the food chain and getting inspiration from the artisanal food adds -- an immeasurable joy and pleasure to the chef’s craft.

They embrace the discovery of like-minded food aficionados and craftsmen – from beekeepers to farmers to fisherman to dairyman to vintners.

The book always aimed to pursue an artful approach to the triangulation, if you will, of homegrown food from the garden and farm, the intrinsic, imaginative elements of the garden as artistic inspiration and the garden as art, to fuel the culinary artist’s talent to create ephemeral culinary art. 

I also wanted to reveal their restaurants as part of contemporary culture. 

I wrote in the very first introduction for the book that every night is “Opening Night” at fabulous, successful restaurants!  It’s full-frontal theater: drama, comedy, music, and fashion.   Few things are more intoxicating. 

Recently, NY Times’ Sam Shifton wrote: “Restaurants are culture as sure as music or paintings. They say something about who we are….”  

Indeed.

The content of the book includes a unique portfolio of artistic elements. 

I write a profile about each chef. 

I also render their garden inspiration as a watercolor

and produce a garden design layout/blueprint and include the garden’s plant list. 

There will also be gorgeous, behind-the-scenes color photographs of the chefs in their kitchen preparing one of the four recipes they will provide for the book, as well as intimate shots of them in their garden. 

As the book evolved, the selection of the chef’s garden inspirations emerged as a delightful smorgasbord. 

Conversations with the chefs about the garden that best inspires their culinary art extended from their own personal garden, to a childhood home garden to the restaurant’s garden, a preferred farmer, or a greenmarket. 

The variety of gardens that inspire these singular master chefs has made for a much more intriguing, fascinating and unique garden tour than I ever imagined!

The book is all the better for the garden diversity. 

I know the readers will eagerly explore the intimate look at the chef’s gardens and the behind the scenes peek into their homes and kitchens.

By way of background, for much of ’08, the publisher was determining the location or region from where we’d select the chefs for the book (Regional? National? Bio regional?) 

I pitched the book as a series and so could see doing any and all of these iterations – from San Francisco to Dallas to Miami.

I had in fact, at my editor’s request, researched farm to table chefs in top areas across the country and presented her with a top-20 list.

Ultimately, my editor wrote in October of ’08 that they “finally came to their senses” J and went with the area “you know best.”  New York and parts of the Garden State.  Ahhhh.

Later they asked if I’d add in the Hamptons.  Why not?!

So, after at least a year of research, refinement, discussion, trepidation, angst and triumph, I was sanguine the list included the very best chefs, who practiced a sincere and almost religious reverence for the just-picked food, along with the gardens and farms that inspired that commitment to their art and craft.

Following is the Master Chefs list (alphabetically) I am honored agreed to be included in the book.   Because some chefs have so many restaurants, I won’t list their entire portfolio but indicate with: J 

Following the restaurant name is their garden or farm inspiration.

Chef Michael Anthony- Gramercy Tavern

Chef Dan Barber - Stone Barns – Blue Hill family farm

Chef Mario Batali – Babbo, etc. J   - Las Vegas Farmer’s Market he launched

Chef David Burke – Fromagerie, Townhouse, etc. J  - Sickles Gourmet Greenmarket

Chef Peter Hoffman – Savoy and Forty Acres – Windfall Farms

Chef Patti Jackson – I Trulli – personal & restaurant garden

Chef Anita Lo – Annisa  - Fire Island personal garden

Chef Eberhard Mueller – Satur Farms  - Seriously!

Chef Marc Myers – 100 Acres, Five Points, etc. J

Chef Chris Mumford – Mumford’s Culinary Institute – restaurant’s garden

Chef Michael Psalkis – Anthos, etc. J

Chef Joseph Realmuto – Nick & Toni’s, Town BBQ, etc. J restaurant’s garden

Chef Michael Rozzi – Della Femina – Balsam Farms

Chef David Waltuck – Chanterelle – Bearsville personal garden

Chef Matt Weingarten - Inside Park – restaurant’s garden

Anna Pump – Loaves & Fishes  - restaurant’s garden

The American Hotel – Ted Conklin  - personal garden

I will write some wonderful, charming and inspiring chapters about these amazing chefs.

Soon. I promise…

Meeting Deadlines

By late spring, most of the NYC and Garden State interviews had been completed (all in- person, one-one-one).

Every interview is fascinating and compelling, as you will read in the book.

The chefs offer their personal insight into what built a movement.  How they struggled to source the fresh, local food they wanted. How they had to break out of their kitchens and their whites to build an infrastructure that would provide them with the ingredients they dreamed of.

Along the way, they built the foodie movement.

All the interviews with the chefs were a book unto itself. (If only)

Some highlights are:  Legends Chef David Waltuck and Anita Lo prior to their restaurant’s shuttering for a time of transition.  Change is exciting if unnerving.

Being the first to interview Dan Barber the day his James Beard award as Best Chef in American was announced in the New York Times. 

He kept his appointment with me, if you can believe it!  What integrity.

Go East young gardener...

In June of 2009, I completed the chef interviews in the Hamptons – on a bicycle.

I thought it would be more interesting to see and explore the area on a bike  -- and it was ^:^ but the 40-plus miles I rode did take a bit more time…

I felt right at home staying at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor – perfect place to write too. (www.americanhotel.com) -- the staff and customers were like old friends and my peeps from day one.

I loved making new friends from there, East Hampton, Shelter Island and the North Fork. 

I returned later in late summer with photographer, Jennifer Calais Smith (http://www.jennifercalais.com/) and food stylist, Patty White (http://www.pattywhitefoodstylist.com/) to complete the photographs of the chefs and their gardens. (More on that later too.)

Final Chapter...

I was joyfully and somewhat frenetically pushing to complete the book by a November deadline. 

Then I got an email from my editor that we needed to talk about a change. 

Long story short, the CEO came back from the Book Fair in Frankfurt and wanted a second book (yeah!) but that book would need to come out first... 

The premiere book would need to be an expanded one, focused on Long Island chefs.  The books were to part of their line of a developing Homegrown Cookbook series.

It was time to recalibrate.

Ultimately, I researched, read, researched, networked and produced that expanded list of chefs for this book.  I am happy and jazzed by the noteworthy chefs who represent the best of the Island’s pedigree of fresh, local, homegrown food:

• Chef Starr Boggs - Starr Boggs
• Chef Matt Conners – The Lake House
• Chef Bryan Futerman – Foody’s
• Chef Gerry Hayden – North Fork Table Inn
• Chef David Intonato – Jamesport Manor Inn
• Chef Adam Kopel and Elizabeth Ronzetti – 18 Bay
• Chef Keith Luce -  Jediah Hawkins Inn
• Chef Meredith Machemer – Grey Horse Tavern
• Chef Christian Mir – Stone Creek Inn
• Chef Eberhard Mueller – Satur Farms
• Chef Bryan Naylor – OSO South Hampton Inn
• Chef Jonathan Parker / Ted Conklin – The American Hotel
• Chef Anna Pump – Loaves & Fishes
• Chef Joseph Realmuto – Nick & Toni’s
• Chef Michael Rozzi – Della Femina
• Chef Mitchell Sudok – Bistro M
• Chef Hank Tomashevski – The Frisky Oyster
• Chef Jason Weiner – Almond Restaurant

(one or two still pending…)

At this point: Introduction, overview and first chapter featuring Chef Joseph Realmuto, are turned in.  That includes the profile, the artwork, the plant list and photos. 

“Looking good,” said my editor, Kari.

I had a couple of speaking engagements for the book already, and Kari and her team produced this terrific flyer to give to attendees. 
Here it is posted for the first time.

Seeing the flyer was very exciting --  Makes the book seem more "real" and timely.... 

I will share on Facebook, too. 

Now that you know the background and status of the book, I will share excerpts, conversations, photos and videos from the behind the scenes interviews and photo shoots. 

Fabulous and interesting and inspiring!

I am humbled and awed every time I’m with these outstanding culinary artists…

I hope you’ll continue to follow their stories with me.

Cayuga Pure Organics and The Rye Bread Story

Cayuga Pure Organics – Locally Grown Dried Beans & Grains from New York’s Finger Lakes Region

It all started for me – the love affair with Cayuga Pure Organics, that is – after reading Florence Fabricant’s New York Times’ sweet spotlight on the revived grain growing in upstate New York.

(Well, maybe part of the love was joyfully recollecting my father crooning his beloved alma mater Cornell University's school song, "... Far Above Cayuga's Waters...")  

Florence wrote:  “Packaged under the Farmer Ground Flour label, the flours are sold in paper sacks in Greenmarkets by Cayuga Pure Organics, a participant in the cooperative. The flours are fresh, and have not sat for months in warehouses.”  http://tinyurl.com/ydh8f6u

My husband loves rye bread. 

I make bread every other Saturday morning and couldn’t wait to try out this fresh, pure rye flour. 

I visited Cayuga’s Pure Organics at New York’s Greenmarket in Union Square http://www.cenyc.org/greenmarket to purchase my rye flour.  

In telling my rye bread story, and looking over their whole grain recipe and beans and… I was told Cayuga didn’t have a rye bread recipe and they’d be happy to share my recipe at their booth.

I was on it.

That Friday, Cayuga’s unassuming brown paper bag with the rye flour peering back at me from the bag’s window, made the ferry trip back with me to the Garden State and our cooking kitchen there. (In contrast to here in Gotham, where we prefer to enjoy all the great restaurants and don’t cook in the kitchen J)

On the way, I got to thinking that I wanted a more special, perhaps more deserving bread recipe than my usual.  Coincidently, there was a multi grain bread-baking article in Martha Stewart Living’s recent Martha Stewart Living Magazine. (This was turning into a trend, I thought...)

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/multigrain-bread

It looked interesting. But then it hit me – I’ll ask my Hamptons sherpa Peter Garnham, Hamptons master gardener at the East End Community Organic Farm, writer, The American Hotel’s Ted Conklin’s garden consultant and bread baker extraordinaire, for his recipe. 

Bingo.

I considered all the recipes, and then massaged them slightly to make the best rye bread ever.

I wanted to call it, “Peter’s Pain” as the recipe is, by and large, Peter’s. 

And Pain is French for bread, if you don’t know... and pain, sounds like pan.

Peter Pan!  How perfect, I thought. 

The name captured the fairy tale and alchemy essence of the bread-baking miracle.

I wrote to Peter to share my excitement about the bread recipe results and my brilliant moniker.  You can imagine how crestfallen I was then when he wrote his pithy response, noting that he had indeed sometimes been referred to as a P-A-I-N. 

I hadn’t considered how it would read. 

Back to the drawing board.

Then, over oysters at Fish Restaurant in the Village with my friend, Beth, I was recounting my failed attempt at naming the bread recipe – and she came up with a brilliant solution. Beth speaks Spanish and therefore recommended the Spanish word for bread: Pan!

We were back to the magic of Peter Pan!

I made up index cards with the “Peter’s Pan” Rye Bread recipe and took it to the Cayuga Pure Organics booth at Greenmarket – along with the bread sample. 

Here are Cayuga’s Ted -- Lauren had just stepped away:

(While there, I had to buy some spelt. I found a really good recipe I want to try out.  Stay tuned.)

Without further delay, here is Peter’s Pan Rye Bread Recipe:

Peter’s Pan

Ingredients:

4½  cups bread flour

¼ +  cup brown sugar

2 tsp instant yeast

2 TB caraway seed

1½  tsp salt

Method:

2 cups warm water

2 TB vegetable oil

2+ cups rye flour

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten with 1 tsp water

In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the K-paddle, combine 2 cups flour,

sugar, yeast, caraway seed, and salt. Add warm water and oil, beat for 2

minutes at medium speed. Add ½ cup flour; beat 2 minutes at high speed.

Scrape bowl as needed.

Stir in rye flour and enough remaining bread flour to make a soft dough.

Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Adjust moisture if

necessary. Cover and let dough rest for about 10 minutes.

Divide dough in half. Shape each piece into a boule, or place in bread pans.

Place boules on parchment-lined baking sheet. Dust with flour, cover with

plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Slash the tops, and brush with egg mixture. Bake at 400°F for 35 minutes.

Allow to cool on wire rack.

Yield: 2 loaves             http://celebritychefsandtheirgardens.blogspot.com/

Let me know what you think!

See Cayuga Pure Organics to learn more about their dry beans, grains, corn, and soy.

http://www.cporganics.com/live/