Nova Clutch

Shukshuka: A Little Love from the Middle East

Shukshuka; A Little Love from the Middle East

Late morning, July 4th. Consumed by fatigue, dehydration and light headiness brought on by a lack of sustenance. Racked by the din of mixing mixers, a churning ice cream maker and the pumping beat of Crazy Penis, a subtle knock on the door. A peep through the peep hole revealed none other other than our man from Tel Aviv, the architect of better living, the father of two and a half, Dedy.

I opened the door, and with outreached arms he offered up the best thing to come out of the Middle East since the pizza bagel. Behold Shukshuka, a balanced mixture of tomatoes, onions, peppers, spices and herbs that is completed by a special buried surprise in the form of an egg with yoke intact. A side of houmous and a piece of perfectly grilled bread rounded out this moment of divine intervention. A simple dish, a simple gesture to savor and celebrate.

How I brought myself to share this bounty with Natasha is beyond me, but I did bite for bite. It was just enough satisfaction and energy to keep us going until our 4th of July all-American pork fest on the terrace. Just another example of our building being the gastronomic heart of Brooklyn. What a country, what a building, what a dish.

Lizz's Blueberry Muffins

"How good is she?", to borrow Darren's often used phrase when referring to his lovely Lizz, creator of this blueberry-a-licious muffin. Brought to our door at 8:45 yesterday morning, this gorgeous piece of baking was just further proof that we live in the best building in Brooklyn. While most New York apartment dwellers can barely trade glances or "good mornings", we exchange baked goods, vegetables, recipes and dinner invitations. Hell, we have even gone on vacations with our neighbors, our friends.

Lizz is one of the best bakers I have ever known as was evident by this light and delicate muffin packed with sweet juicy blueberries picked in Pennsylvania this weekend. Could I ever leave this building, this cornucopia of gastronomic interchange? I'd rather see a church burn.

Watermelonade

Seeing as we were going Carolina-style for our Fourth, we made some good ol' fashioned watermelonade. Sure, there were some bottles of Sancerre knocking around but they were swiftly displaced by some bottles of beer, courtesy of my intervening other half. Who can blame him?

For the watermelonade, just hack a watermelon to pieces and blend it with a squeeze of lemon, a tiny bit of sugar and a handful of mint. Sieve. Serve over ice. Perhaps add vodka. It tastes just like summer should.

4th of July, the Anti Macy's

As most Americans turned their heads and hearts to the heavens this 4th of July weekend, I set my gaze downwards to enjoy bursts of color and spectacular displays put on by mother nature rather than those provided by Macy's (no offense Natasha). Attempting to escape the melodic phrases of "God Bless America" for those of crickets and birds, I walked through the fields and forests that grace our friend's farm Pennsylvania farm Saturday afternoon. Exercising my right to bear arms and to shoot everything in sight, I captured and brought home the bounty of the day. On bent knee or in prone position I would seek out the unknown, the unusual and unsuspecting. Some that fell within my sights were well camouflaged, some were in sharp contrast to their surroundings, easy targets for my eager trigger finger. Breathe in, focus, focus, shoot! I got one, two, three! What a country, one nation, under foot. What an opportunity to leave the synthesized noise and plastic distractions of our adopted life behind to consider and reflect upon what this nation was really founded upon; a natural world of beauty and wonder, void of light beer, computer generated fantasy, right wings, left wings, cheese filled hot dogs, manmade gods and manmade fireworks.

July 4th on the roof terrace

No, Manhattan isn't burning, this is the view of the fireworks from our terrace in DUMBO. My nephews from California were delighted to see the fireworks bursting over the Williamsburg bridge and the view of Manhattan and the view over Brooklyn and the South Street Seaport.