Retropolitan Brisket

For our cookbook-in-the-works, Retropolitan Brisket, we are looking for recipes from chefs, winemakers, mixologists and others in the industry, including those who don't cook professionally (like wine and pr reps) but who just may happen to have a great recipe in his/her possession.

"Brisket" is defined as, and includes: Jewish/Eastern European braised pot roast; spiced pastrami; Irish corned beef; the Texas/Southern smoked or bbq'ed version; and the invented kind (everything from salmon pastrami to mutton pot roast).

We are especially looking for recipes that not only make a whole brisket or corned beef, but rework it in some fashion--as in pulled brisket tacos, or corned beef-and-cabbage spring rolls. Recipes for side dishes that go with brisket--cucumber salad? rosemary-roasted potatoes?--are also welcome.

Please feel free to send us the stories about who gave you your recipe, be it Grandma, Aunt Ida, Cousin Joe Bob, etc., as well as tips for slicing, serving, and eating brisket. All recipes will be properly credited, with head notes generously mentioning books, restaurants and other information.

While our book is currently in its proposal stage, in the hands of our agent in NYC, you can rest assured that your recipe will be in good company. We have already secured agreements and recipes from chefs including Michelle Bernstein, Elizabeth Karmel, Michael Mina, Michael Lomonaco and Allen Susser, among others that we have written and received from family members and esteemed food writers.

You may pass this call for recipes on or post this. We appreciate all your help and generosity in bringing this book to life.

Many, many thanks!

Betsy and Jen

Under Construction

Announcing a revamp: You may have noticed that I haven't blogged since April 2008. That's when things got really busy for me. So I froze the site. Well, get ready for a thaw. AND a huge sea change.

Some of you know, but most of you don't, that my sister, Betsy Karetnick, works for Martha Stewart Living Sirius Satellite Radio. Yup, she's obsessed with food, too. But in a kinder, gentler, more home-cooked way. Betsy co-hosts the morning drive show and also does a mid-day hour totally devoted to how to make dinner for the family. She's also my best friend, and we've been cooking ambitious dishes together since she was 10 and I was her 8-year-old sous chef. In fact, one of my most memorable experiences came at her hands when she decided we'd make a deboned capon stuffed with wild rice and its own liver, then crowned with a pastry shell, for my parents' anniversary one year. Guess who got to debone and remove the organs from the capon, and guess who got to make the pastry shell? I still recall those joints popping.

At any rate, Betsy is linking up with me and we're going to be completely redoing Kitsch'n to reflect our personalities--their similarities AND their differences. We'll be commenting on the culinary connections between NYC and Miami. We'll take turns blogging. We'll review books--having actually cooked from them. We'll review restaurants, together and separately. We'll publish our own well-tested recipes (mine will be the mango ones, natch). And we'll gossip about her guests and my print interviewies, some of whom turn out to be one and the same--albeit not always at the same time.

We're not quite ready to begin yet, but when we are, trust us: You'll smell that delicious perfume of collaboration from wherever you are.

As Promised...

The scuttlebutt--make that spin--on the Michael's Kitchen dissolvement. And I quote:

"The Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort and Chef Michael Blum of Michael’s Kitchen have mutually agreed to dissolve their joint partnership. The restaurant will remain open, operating under the name 'Kitchen 305,' with Kelly Sheehan at the helm. Greg Emersic, Restaurant General Manager, will be at the helm of daily operations to oversee the smooth transition and ensure that the experienced culinary team continues to produce at the superior level to which it is currently accustomed.

The Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort believes that Blum’s talent and passion for cuisine will bring him continued success. However, the team’s inability to find a common ground on varying issues ultimately led to the severed partnership. More information about Kitchen 305 will follow shortly."

Any q's, you'll have to wait 'til I eat there, and/or Michael Blum resurfaces.

Mark Reduces

and we're not talking sauces, either. Mark Militello has closed both Mark's South Beach and his restaurant in CityPlace, cutting his empire in half. Of course, he also effectively cuts his commute in half, too, leaving him the Las Olas-Boca route only. With the way gas prices are these days, maybe that was the plan, hmm?

Nah.