Bronx Borough Hall Greenmarket Reopens Today

(file photo)

The greenmarket at Bronx Borough Hall, at 161st Street and Grand Concourse alongside Joyce Kilmer Park, reopens today. It will return every Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. until December 27.

The market features fruits and vegetables from Migliorelli Farm in Duchess County and Morgiewicz Produce in Orange County, as well as fresh baked goodies from Not Just Rugelach in Hudson County, NJ, and honey from Ballard's Honey based in Delaware County, NY.

Food Stamps/EBT payments are accepted.

Arthur Avenue Retail Market Event, Plus Our Vendors Guide

Editor's note: Head on over to the Arthur Avenue Retail Market in Belmont's "Little Italy," this afternoon, from 4 to 7 p.m., for the market's celebration of Bronx Week. Tour the space, meet the vendors, and enjoy free samples and cooking demos.  Remember, Bronx Week will run through this Sunday, May 22. For a full calendar of events, visit www.ilovethebronx.com. For those and other Bronx happenings, check out the BxNN community calendar here.

The story below was originally published in this month's issue of the Tremont Tribune, out now.

Arthur Avenue Market Gets a Makeover
By Fausto Giovanny Pinto

The Arthur Avenue Retail Market is undergoing major renovations this year, including a new exterior facade. (Photo by F.G. Pinto)

In 1940, then-Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia opened indoor markets throughout New York City, a move to get pushcarts off the streets to make room for the increasingly popular automobile.

Among them was the Arthur Avenue Retail Market, an indoor bazaar of vendors hawking foods and goods in the heart of Belmont’s “Little Italy,” on Arthur Avenue between Crescent Avenue and East 187th Street.

Now in existence for over 70 years, the market is undergoing an estimated $1 million renovation this year, thanks to a grant from the city’s Economic Development Corporation with help from Councilman Joel Rivera and Congressman Jose Serrano.

The market’s new modern-looking exterior was unveiled last month and a new service elevator and tiling are also in store.

Bronx Foodie: Bronx Urban Farm Tour Tomorrow

To mark the one-year-ish anniversary of the Bronx Food Summit (which took place on May 1, 2010) several Bronx groups are organizing a Bronx Urban Farm Tour and stopping at several locations in the Bronx. The day will include workshops on seeding and composting and live music. The tour starts in Manhattan (part of an effort to drum up tourism from other boroughs), but if you live in the Bronx, you can go straight to the farms.

Below is a schedule of events. The Bronx Tourism Council is the main organizer, and along with the Bronx Food and Sustainability Coalition, Bronx Green Up and the Botanical Garden, are planning monthly farm tours through out the summer, so stay tuned for more details. You can also visit www.ilovethebronx.com for updates.

Bronx Urban Farm Tour

10:30 a.m.
La Finca Del Sur (138th Street and Grand Concourse)
Join the tour at its first stop at this three acre farm.

Noon
Garden of Happiness (Prospect Ave., between 181st and 182nd streets)
The Borough President will speak and an organic lunch will be served on a first come first served basis. Lunch will be provided by the Peace Love Cafe in Melrose.

1:30 p.m.
Rincon Criollo (156th and Brook Ave.)
Last stop on the tour.

Sen. Gillibrand Visits Bronx Health Fair

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand checks out a display on healthy snack foods at Montefiore Medical Center.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand made a stop in the Bronx this morning to attend a "healthy eating" fair at Montefiore Children's  Hospital in Norwood.

The senator took a quick tour of several booths set up in the hospital's lobby, where staff presented visitors with nutritional information and tips for eating healthier.

"This display is all about nutrition," said Gillibrand, who sits on the Senate's Agriculture and Nutrition Committee, the first New York representative to do so for nearly four decades. She's sponsored legislation to ban trans-fats in school lunches and increase funding for child fitness programs.

"Too many of our children are obese," she told reporters on her visit today. "We need to do much better."

The Bronx has some of the bleakest obesity statistics in the State. According to a 2009 report from Gillibrand's office, 62.7 percent of Bronx County adults are overweight or obese. In the South Bronx, a third of pre-schoolers enrolled in the city's Head Start program are obese.

Today's healthy eating fair was sponsored by Montefiore as part of the medical center's "Food Education Project," a series of seminars and events that aim to improve the community's eating habits by offering healthy recipes and nutritional tips.

Bronx Foodie: Cinco de Mayo & an Easy Guacamole Recipe

I absolutely love Mexican food. I love everything from very authentic Mexican dishes like pozole or tacos al pastor to more Americanized foods like burritos and quesadillas. So one of my favorite days of the year is definitely Cinco de Mayo.

Normally, I would tell our readers to stay home and then I would list some good recipes, but I really think Cinco de Mayo is best celebrated outside--preferably wherever you can buy a frozen margarita.

There are lots of great restaurants in the Bronx, like Montezuma on Kingsbridge Road. And there's also lots of hidden gems like your local taco place or the taco truck on Fordham Road between Grand Concourse and Webster Avenue.

The Daily News recently wrote that La Estrellita Poblana, at 2231 Westchester Avenue, has the best tacos in New York City! Let us know where you celebrate and send us your tips for the best Mexican food in the Bronx.

Finally, I have been eyeing this cookbook, Mexican Made Easy, by Marcela Vallavolid, which would be a great present for my birthday next week. Hint, hint. So if you're staying in, here's a simple recipe for one of my favorite snacks, Guacamole.


Easy Guacamole
Serves two

1 ripe haas avocado (the small black kind)
1/8 tsp salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
5 grape tomatos or 1/2 of a really ripe tomato diced
1/4 red onion diced
1 tbs of cilantro finely chopped

Put the avocado in a bowl and mash it up with the salt. Pour in the lemon juice, tomatos, red onions, and cilantro and mix together. Add more salt if desired. Try adding garlic or pepper for a deeper flavor. Enjoy!

Bronx Foodie: Carrot Cake

I'm a huge fan of cakes that are made from more than just flour, butter, and sugar. I love breads and cakes with actual fruit and nuts inside. This week I made carrot cake as a nice treat during all of this cold weather. It was great to feel the warmth from the stove and to smell cinnamon wafting through my house on a freezing cold night.

I hope some of you jumped on board the Bronx Foodie New Year's challenge to cook 50% of your meals at home. For the last three weeks, I've posted easy recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We'd love to hear how it went. Were there any challenges to cooking? Let us know and we'll feature a question on the blog.

So here's a recipe for carrot cake and stay tuned for next week's post that will give tips for making a home cooked Valentines Day dinner. Enjoy! Click Read More for the recipe and more photos!

Bronx News Roundup, Feb. 1

Welcome to February, Boogie Downers. Everyone enjoying Mother Nature's offering  this morning of a swirling, prickly mongrel mix of snow and ice? It feels like someone's tossing a fistful of tacks at you while you walk around in this stuff.

This type of sleet/snow is expected to continue through the morning, tapper off in the afternoon and then pick back up tonight with winds blowing everything around after midnight. Then, for a fun change of pace tomorrow, it's going to rain!

[Pause for everyone to throw something or bang their head against their desk.]

OK, we've regrouped. On to the news.

Story of the Day:
Norwood's Foodtown supermarket, which burned down 13 months ago in a fire that investigators say was the result of arson, is scheduled to re-open this month, say co-owners Dan and Noah Katz. Residents say Foodtown's big (11,000-square-feet of shopping space) return will be a boost to a community beset by two devastating 2009 fires.

The other fire, on Halloween of last year, destroyed a bustling commercial corner (where Bainbridge Avenue turns south toward Mosholu Parkway) of 10 businesses. That lot remains vacant and serves as a constant reminder (read: eyesore) to residents. But as we reported last month (and the Daily News reiterated today), West Bronx Stores, Inc., the entity that owns the lot is actively trying to lease and develop the property. Stay tuned.

Quick Hits: 
Despite vague and gossipy rumors of a serious illness, the Bronx's own Father of Hip-Hop, DJ Kool Herc, aka Clive Campbell, is simply recovering from surgery to remove kidney stones. However, it is true that Herc doesn't have medical insurance and is struggling to pay for continued health care.

The Baron Ambrosia, aka Justin Fornal (does everyone have a moniker these days?), the colorfully eccentric star of Bronxnet's "Bronx Flavor" food show, hosted the First Annual Bronx Pipe Smoking Society Small Game Dinner at the old Bronx Borough Courthouse. The Baron asked chefs to prepare meats taken from small woodland creatures, including beavers, muskrats, otters, a squirrels, an opossum and a fisher. Yum.

Cory Gunz, the Bronx rapper managed by his father, Bronx rapper Peter Gunz, is set to star in a new show on MTV. 

More reflections from Bronx-born filmmaker Rashaad Ernesto Green following the debut of his film "Gun Hill Road" at Sundance.

The DN's Bob Kappstatter says Bronx State Senator Jeff Klein's bold move to break away from the Democratic minority conference and form his own independent caucus is paying dividends, as the foursome has garnered three chairmanships (which are handed out by the GOP majority) and is increasingly making the John Sampson-led Democrats "irrelevant." Kappy also has some nice to things to say about the late Bronx pol Guy Velella who died last week and a buffet of other Bronx nuggets.

[Editor's Note:] Just a reminder to our readers that the Bronx News Network is in the middle of our annual fundraising appeal. If you value quality local journalism, please consider donating so we can continue to bring you news and features, like our daily roundup or our borough events calendar. More details on how to contribute can be found here.

Bronx Foodie: Quick and Healthy Chicken Dinner

I hope everyone is off to a healthy start since the last Bronx Foodie post. Some of you may remember that last week Bronx Foodie set a new year's resolution to encourage our readers to cook half -- seriously, you can do it! -- of all meals at home. Click here for more tips on how to do that.

Now, here's an easy dinner recipe that even non-cooks can handle. Chicken cutlets with mushrooms cooked in wine is a fast recipe to cook that would also make great leftovers for lunch the next day. Pair it with a side of brown rice (just read the box for instructions) or a salad.

Oh and by the way, don't forget about our Bronx News Network fundraiser! Donate today.

Enjoy!

Chicken with Mushrooms

4 thinly sliced chicken cutlets
1 box of mushrooms, sliced(either white or baby portobella)
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of dry white wine

Season the chicken on both sides with salt, pepper, and garlic.

Put a large pan over high heat. When it's really hot, drizzle a little oil and then add a tablespoon of butter. Put the cutlets into the pan and cook on both sides for 5-7 minutes each or until they are nice and brown on each side. Take out of pan.

In the same pan add the rest of the butter and cook the mushrooms until they just start to get tender and brown. Then add the wine and cook down by half. Toss the mushrooms on top of the chicken.

If you use thicker cutlets, make sure to insert a meat thermometer and that it reads 180 degrees or higher. If you use thin cutlets, you should be fine.

Bronx Foodie: New Year's Resolution and Oatmeal with Maple Syrup

In honor of the New Year, I'm asking everyone to make a New Year's Resolution with me. For most people, New Year's resolutions focus on getting healthier -- like losing weight or going to the gym more often. Well, I have a better one and it will go a long way toward any health-focused goals you aspire to this year.

In 2011, try cooking half -- just 50 percent! -- of your meals yourself, instead of eating out or eating already prepared foods, like unhealthy frozen dinners. Sound too hard? Here's some tips to help you.

• If you don't know how to cook, try buying a cookbook with easy recipes like Martha Stewart's Great Food Fast.

•  If you don't have time to cook during the week, try cooking big batches of food on the weekend (like chilli, soup, or anything in a sauce) that you can put in separate, stay-fresh containers and eat during the week or freeze for later.

• Invest in a slow cooker, which allows you to throw everything in a big pot and -- voila! -- you have home-cooked meals waiting for you when you come home from work.

• If someone else cooks in your house, try to support them by going grocery shopping or by helping them while their cooking.

Cooking your own food is the best way to control portion size and ingredients. It's also a great way to eat healthier versions of the foods you would normally order at a restaurant. So here's to the New Year and to cooking your next meal at home.

Finally, here's an easy recipe for breakfast (to replace your Pop Tart or Frosted Flakes): oatmeal with bananas and maple syrup.

Follow the instructions on the box to cook the oatmeal. (I cook mine with water instead of milk, and I let it cook on the stovetop while I'm getting ready for work). Then add slices of banana, sprinkle in some cinnamon and top it off with real maple syrup (note: make sure the container lists maple syrup as an ingredient -- the real stuff is expensive, but worth it). Feel free to add any other fruits or nuts to the oatmeal. The picture above also has shredded coconut.

Enjoy!

Food Stamp Use at Farmers Markets Doubled This Year

The City Council announced yesterday that the number of low-income New Yorkers using food stamps at the city's outdoor greenmarkets is higher than ever before. Residents spent over $500,000 in food stamps to buy fresh fruits and vegetables at the markets last year, double the amount spent in 2009.

City politicians and food advocacy groups have been campaigning for more greenmarkets to accept food stamps, seeing it as one way to increase access to healthy foods in neighborhoods where they're usually hard to find. This fall, the greenmarkets at Bronx Borough Hall, Lincoln Hospital, the New York Botanical Garden and Poe Park all accepted EBT card purchases--at Poe Park, over $500 a day came in via food stamps.

Local markets will open up again this spring and summer, though there are several in Manhattan that operate year-round. Locations and schedules can be found here.

Bronx Foodie: Appetizers For Your New Year's Eve Party

My husband and I can't wait to go to his family's New Year's Eve party tomorrow night and chow down on some classic party snacks. For us, that means empanadas filled with ground beef or shredded chicken. My mother-in-law even started making them with shrimp because she knows I don't eat much meat.

There are lots of other tasty appetizers and snacks that would be great for a party with friends. Here is a list of easy-to-make appetizers and a link to the best New Year's Eve cocktails. Enjoy!

Appetizers To Try This New Year's Eve

1. Empanadas
2. Guacamole
3. Crostini Alla Romana
4. Pizza Poppers
5. Roasted Tomato Bruschetta
6. Maple Pepper Pecans
7. Deviled Eggs
8. Roasted Chickpeas

And visit The Bar website for the best New Year’s Eve drinks.

Happy New Year!

The Bronx is in the House -- The White House; NYBG President Gregory Long and Community Garden Activist Karen Washington Accept Award

New York Botanical Garden President Gregory Long and long-time community garden activist Karen Washington were guests at the White House on Friday, where Michelle Obama "presented the 2010 National Medal for Museum and Library Services to The New York Botanical Garden and nine other cultural institutions. The NYBG was also singled out for its contribution to international cultural understanding."

Here's more of what the First Lady said:

"While some of your work may be national in scope," said the first lady in her opening remarks, "ultimately your most powerful impact is local ... For example, The New York Botanical Garden started the Bronx Green-Up revitalization program, and they helped plant hundreds of school and community gardens in struggling neighborhoods so that families could grow their own fresh produce."

For more information about the Garden of Happiness, founded by Karen Washington on an eyesore of a vacant lot across from her home on Prospect Avenue, or Bronx community gardens in general, check out our stories in the Tremont Tribune, by clicking here, here and here.

Congrats to the NYBG and to Washington, who serves on their board and is a Home Care aide at Montefiore Medical Center.

Venerable Lechonera Serves Up a Feast

El Nuevo Bohio (The New Hut) is located at 791 E. Tremont Ave. The holiday season is the restaurant's busiest. (Photo by G. Pinto)

[Ed. note: this article appears in the latest issue of the Tremont Tribune, which it out on streets now.]

By FAUSTO GIOVANNY PINTO

At El Nuevo Bohio, pernil is prince. It is also in high demand, the hands-down favorite among all who visit the Puerto Rican restaurant.

“If I don’t have pernil, these people will kill me,” jokes manager Roy Fernandez.

Patrons come from all over for the pernil or roast pork, which is served with your choice of a side, a piece of crispy chicharron (pork skin), and a side of mojito, a crushed garlic sauce. They flock there from the five boroughs, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, and upstate New York, as did recent newcomer Dan Shapiro. This was the second time in two months that he’d made the trip down from Rockland County.

“The atmosphere here is very easy and the roast pork tastes better than any other place I’ve been to,” said Shapiro, who likes to add a plate of white rice and red beans as well as chicken soup to his order.

Bronx Foodie: Cookies That Won't Break Santa's Diet

Cookies top the list of my favorite holiday desserts. They're easy to bake and there are so many ways to make them. The only thing I don't like is that a lot of cookies are made of mostly butter, flour and lots of sugar, i.e. not too good for your health or waist line. 

If you're looking for a healthier option, try these oatmeal cookies. They aren't exactly fat-free -- no cookie should be completely fat-free. But they are a bit healthier and filling because of the oatmeal and the maple syrup. Let us know what you'll be baking and cooking in the comments section. And stop by next week and we'll post some tips for healthy holiday eating.


Raisin and Walnut Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from The Kind Diet

1 cup of quick-cooking rolled oats
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/3 cup real maple syrup
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon molasses
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup raisins or other dried fruit

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the syrup, oil, vanilla extract, and molasses. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir to combine. Fold in the raisins and nuts.

If the mixture is too wet, add some more flour. Then chill in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes. This will prevent the cooking from spreading too much. My first batch came out like crisps instead of cookies. Be careful not to let the dough freeze.

Using your hands, roll tablespoon-size scoops of dough into balls. Place the balls onto the prepared baking sheet, and press down slightly on the balls to flatten the top. Bake for 10-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a baking rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Happy Friday Morning

We're a little late posting this, what with Chanukah being over. But if you live in the Bedford Park area and are in the mood for rugelach, head over to the Mi Casa Bakery on Bedford Park Blvd. between Grand Concourse and Jerome Avenue. I bought these yesterday and shared them with the BxNN staff.


Happy Holidays!

Bronx Foodie: Veggie Fried Rice & How to Eat a Pomegranate

We are in the middle of the holiday season and that means lots of holiday parties and lots of hearty food. In between parties and family gatherings, I crave warm healthy food with lots of vegetables. I was inspired by a post I read about vegetarian comfort foods, and I made a vegetable fried rice dish last night.

But first, let's talk pomegranates. These are one of my favorite fruits, but they're only in season from October to January. So get them while they last. You'll want to buy one that is big and red, but it doesn't have to be bright red. I got the one above for $1.50 at the produce market on Bedford Park Boulevard near Jerome Avenue.

To eat, cut the pomegranate in half with a knife. Break apart the skin and pluck out the red fruit. They look like little jewels. The white skin is bitter, but the fruit is tangy and sweet. That's it. Enjoy!

Vegetable Fried Rice
You can put anything in fried rice, so feel free to swap any of these ingredients. Also, I used frozen veggies that I let thaw, because that's what I had in my kitchen, but you can use fresh. Some scallions would have been great, but I didn't have any. Enjoy! (Read on for the full recipe.)

A Bronx Winter Share

Today was the first distribution of the Norwood Food Co-op's Winter Share. As you can see from photo, my family received a bunch of carrots, greens, Jerusalem artichokes (not sure what those are yet but I'm sure you'll tell me or I'll find out in one of our cookbooks) pickles, granola, eggs, onions, shallots and leeks. The winter share is 6 monthly pickups December through May for $310.  It's too late to sign up for this season, but early-bird registration has begun for the weekly summer share that starts in June. All the information for both share is at www.norwoodfoodcoop.org.

Bronx Foodie: Winter Farmers Markets

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving last week. I started the day at my mom's house in New Jersey for an early dinner with my family. My mom is an awesome cook, so I served myself a huge plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green bean casserole. And then went back for seconds.

Then I came back to the Bronx to visit my husband's family and we had a second dinner of turkey, lasagna, and rice and beans. It was probably more like my third dinner. And I can't forget about the desserts. There was cheesecake, pumpkin pie, carrot cake, and even a Dominican Cake. And yes, I had a slice of each.

Wow. That was a lot of food.

Well, we are now officially back to eating normal with lots of fresh vegetables and healthy grains. And that brings me to today's post. I love shopping at farmers markets, but now that it's December, most of the markets are done for the season. I love my local grocery store, but nothing compares to the experience of shopping at a green market.

Lucky for me, there are several year round markets in New York City. Unfortunately, none of them are in the Bronx, as far as we know. (If you do know of any, alert us in the comments section.) Below is a list of year-round markets in Manhattan that are also open on the weekends. All are easily accessible from the Bronx by train.

Bronx Foodie: Thanksgiving Pies

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Last week we posted some classic Thanksgiving dinner recipes along with some shopping tips. This week we're showing some love for Thanksgiving pies. If you're looking for a last minute recipe, we've got you covered.

Check out apple pie recipes here, here, and here. The last one is by Paula Deen, the mistress of all things butter and deep-fried. Her recipes should be reserved for special occasions, since you'll want to share your creations with about 10 other people.

You can find a couple of pumpkin pie recipes here and here.

Here's another recipe by Paula Deen for sweet potato pie, and Epicurious has a recipe for "Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie."

Enjoy!

Bronx Foodie: Thanksgiving Shopping Tips

Next Thursday is Thanksgiving and a great excuse for Bronx Foodie to cook some classic comfort food. But I am officially overwhelmed at the number of recipes available on the internet. There is this turkey recipe by Emeril Lagasse that looks good. The NY Times has a feature on how to make a vegetarian Thanksgiving. Here's a blog post on the top 5 vegetables to eat during Thanksgiving. Wondering how to make mashed potatoes this year? Try one of these 50 different recipes.

There are an endless amount of recipes and the links above will take you to some great cooking resources. So instead of focusing on one single recipe this week, I'm sharing some shopping tips as you buy ingredients for all these delicious meals.

Here's a great post on the ten things to buy in bulk to take advantage of supermarket sales. Here are some items that made the list: butter, poultry, frozen vegetables, nuts and oil. I'm assuming that here in the Bronx we'll see most of these items on sale too, so let us know what you find.

Baking items are also great to buy in bulk. As I was on my way to work this morning, I noticed that a 5-pound bag of flour was on sale for $1.50 at the Fine Fare on Grand Concourse and 204th Street.

Here are some more tips for keeping your grocery bills low.

My last tip is to check out a farmers market for ingredients and for good gift ideas. I went to the Union Square Farmers Market on Wednesday and bought a bunch of muffins and apple cider donuts.


I ran out of money by the time I got to the fruit jam table, but that would have made a great gift. These fruit spreads were really good, made without sugar, and costs $5. That's cheaper than the bottle of wine that I usually bring to my mom's house.



So where will you be shopping for all your Thanksgiving groceries? Let us know in the comments section.