A Few More Random Meals at Cafe Drake

So yes the nasty secret is that many weeknight meals at Cafe Drake are far from special, mainly simple and far from show-worthy. The good news that you all already know is that these hurried, insouciantly prepared dinners can be among the tastiest and most soothing to a tired soul after a long work day. Witness:

Great store-bought hummus becomes even greater drizzled with your best, most precious olive oil, slathered on toasted whole grain English muffins and adorned with smoked paprika. Olives only add to this lunch's charms.

Above and the two photos below: our Sunday night fave - Asian inspired small bites. Hoisin and Chili Shrimp, Brown Rice, Burdock and Daikon.

Cafe Drake has been obsessed for years with burdock's culinary and health benefits. Both the flavor and nutrients will add swagger to any meal. Click here for an old posting with a few of our fave ways to cook this often underappreciated veggie.

Daikon is a radish we eat with fair abandon at Cafe Drake. Though we often pickle it (see our easiest method here) or grate for a Japanese-style condiment (read here all about our newest technique) most often the root veggie is braised with carrots and onions. Above we let daikon shine by itself: to make Simmered Daikon Ankake as above, begin by peeling 2 lbs. of daikon (generally 2 large daikon radishes or 4 smaller ones) and chopping into small-ish, bite-sized pieces. Place daikon in a medium saucepan with 1 cup dashi broth, easily purchased at any Asian supermarket. Cafe D. likes the powdered version for its ease of prep; choose one without MSG if allergic of course. Add to the pan 2 T. sake or dry sherry. Chinese cooking wine will work in a pinch as would probably any dry white wine in the house. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer uncovered until the daikon softens and becomes slightly translucent. Now season with 1 T. mirin (no substitute really but available in all large supermarkets in the Asian section) and about 1/2 t. salt. Finally, mix 1T. cornstarch with 1 T. water, stir well and add to daikon. Cook on low for 30 seconds until you have a somewhat thicker and clear sauce. If you don't mind a runny broth with the daikon you can skip this last step.

Shrimp tossed with hoisin sauce and chili paste and broiled for 2 minutes. With brown rice. What could be easier, really?

More brown rice - yeah, we eat a lot here - with roasted yellow (summer) squash and local sheep milk cheese from Valley Shepherd dairy farm.

Semi-successful attempt at homemade chapati bread with the easiest, fastest raita known to humans: throw this all in a blender and process just until blended well: 1 cup plain yogurt (low-fat OK, whole milk preferred, "fat-free" unacceptable), 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, 1/2 cup chopped mint leaves, 1/2 small onion, chopped, 3-4 chopped green chilies, 1-2 T. olive oil, salt and black pepper to taste and a pinch of cumin (ground or seeds both work here). This is fairly spicy as described here, using 3-4 Indian small green chilies. The equivalent in jalapenos would be 2 whole we would guess.

Who could resist Fairway's house-made Italian sausage? Three large links is all you need for the recipe below. You could probably get away with two if calories or excess fat is an issue.

After all these years in Italian Williamsburg - yes it still exists on a few nearby blocks in this post-Hipster Invasion nation - Cafe Drake has grown to love the classic Sicilian dish of greens and sausage. Sometimes with the addition of tiny white beans (also known as Navy beans). Excessively watery escarole is most common, yielding a brothy brew perfect for thick-cut pasta. We got crazy  - as above - and served ours with more (again, we love the stuff!) brown rice. The Cafe Drake Version: Take 3 large or 6 average sized Italian sausages - the ideal mix would be roughly half and half sweet and hot - and remove from casings. Crumble into small pieces and fry in olive oil until lightly browned. Now toss in 2 cloves of crushed garlic and cook for another minute. Because we believe the Bare Bones Version is best, all you need to add now is a LARGE amount of chopped greens, in our case above, 1 large bunch of shredded Swiss chard. Escarole works here and if you have a taste for the bitter, dandelion greens are also good. Spinach is not a good choice but finely chopped kale or collard greens will also work. Raise the heat and stir to coat leaves with oil and sausage. Add a T. or two of water, lower heat and cover. Cook until greens are just tender and eat hot.