shakshuka

I first had Shakshuka at the Fagen estate in East Hampton. Their chef who used to work at Mimi's Hummus, prepared the Middle Eastern dish for 10 people and we ate it at a long table by the pool. I've been wanting to make it since and when I found out Aimee and Marc were coming to brunch (she's allergic to seafood so no lox) it was the perfect time.  I made Melissa Clark's shakshuka — delicious, cheap and easy. You don't need a private chef for this. In fact you can make it mostly ahead of time (add eggs after guests arrive) and serve family-style in middle of table with warm pita.

a smokin brunch

in

Friday morning Mack and I hit the soccer field at Bushwick Inlet Park. After kicking the ball around and yelling "GOAL" about 500 times, I had the idea to visit the Acme fish market's "Fish Friday" where all the smoked goodies are available at lower prices to the public.

I’m always trying to turn sports outings into food outings and Mack’s too young to complain. So far. Plus he was fascinated by the bubbles on the factory floor, which were hiding all the fish guts and goo under them. We waited in line with a lot of polish people who knew exactly what they wanted and since we’d been before, I could sort of sound authoritative when it was my turn to shout “Pastrami smoked salmon, Whitefish salad, Whole trout and Honey baked!”

The only person, maybe in the world, who can eat all this smoked fish is my brother-in-law, Avi. So we invited Avi and family to brunch.