Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

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August 15, 2013 By cheryl

Belle Harbor Steak House (Rockaway Park, N.Y.): Back to the Basics

There’s something to be said for a solid, old-school meal.

What this means varies, of course, depending on where you are. In the U.S., I’ve always relished the mom-and-pop low-key restaurants that still roll out unfussy, decades-old standbys — hot turkey platters, melts, meatloaf and more. (If you’ve read “A Tiger in the Kitchen,” you’ll know what a meatloaf obsessive I am.)

I find myself craving these meals when it gets a little chilly. And so on a recent rainy day, we found ourselves heading over to a little restaurant called Belle Harbor Steak House in Rockaway Park, New York.

I’d caught a glimpse of the menu a few days before and it seemed like just the place to warm you up on a cold drizzly afternoon …

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Filed Under: American, Beach, Meat, New York, Queens, Restaurants, Steak, Tales From the Road, The Beach, Travel Tagged With: Beach, Belle Harbor, Chicken Parmesan, Chocolate Pudding, Minestrone, New York, Rice Pudding, Rockaway Beach, Rockaway Park, Soup, Steak House, Turkey

December 28, 2009 By cheryl

Debal: A Devil of a Curry


Deb

If you’re still staring at a fridge full of Christmas ham, roast beef or turkey, here’s something you can do with all those leftovers — make debal.

The dish, a traditional spicy stew that Eurasians in Singapore make on Boxing Day, is a kitchen-sink concoction made with the myriad leftover meats of Christmas feasts. It’s a classic dish in Eurasian cuisine, which developed in the 19th Century when European traders began migrating to Singapore and marrying into local families. Debal combines cooked hams and roast beef with spicy Southeast Asian chilis and ginger.

I spent a few hours last week learning how to make debal (pronounced “dee-bahl” and also known as curry devil or devil’s curry) from chef Damian D’Silva of Big D’s Grill for a piece for The Atlantic.

The process is fairly laborious — you’ll need to be stirring constantly for at least two hours. But the end result is out of this world.

Here’s how to do it …

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Filed Under: Eurasian, Leftovers, Meat, Recipes, Restaurants, Singapore, Singaporean, Southeast Asian, Tales From the Road Tagged With: Big D's Grill, Boxing Day, Christmas, Cuisine, Damian D'Silva, Eurasian, Ham, Holidays, Roast beef, Singapore, Spicy, Stew, Turkey

December 4, 2009 By cheryl

Leftover Turkey Hash Brown Quiche: Dieters Beware


CIMG0796

As much as I love Thanksgiving, I may adore the days after the holiday even more.

One word: Leftovers.

Sure turkey dinners with stuffing and corn pudding that have been doused in so much gravy that you have a thick, glistening brown moat on your plate are unbeatable. But this is also a great time to rev up your creativity in the kitchen.

What to do with your mounds of leftover turkey? Our Let’s Lunch bunch — a group of far-flung home cooks who have a monthly lunch date on Twitter — decided to tackle this question for December.

My answer? A garlicky turkey hash brown quiche.

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Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Holidays, Let's Lunch, Recipes, So Good It Must Be Bad For You, Thanksgiving Tagged With: Basil, Black pepper, Butter, Cheddar, Cheese, Eggs, Garlic, Green onions, Ham, Hash Brown, Herbs, Holidays, Leftovers, Olive Oil, Oregano, Paula Deen, Quiche, Rosemary, Thanksgiving, Thyme, Turkey

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