Monday…Reminiscing
Williamsburg Bridge
When Nick & I first got married we lived in his house in Williamsburg Brooklyn, his mom lived with her second husband around the corner, so we had the house. Nick’s childhood home was a two-story building with two bedrooms on the top floor; the first floor had a living room and huge kitchen that fit a large table in it; and one bathroom. We had a tiny concrete backyard that also housed a huge garage that probably could fit 4 cars.
Lucky, our German Shepherd, lived in the back yard…a direct order from my mother-in-law that Lucky was not allowed in the house. Of course, he did come in quite often, but never slept in the house, well maybe sometimes; a couple years later when we had enough money we moved into a 4 room railroad apartment a few blocks away, the landlord didn’t allow any pets so sadly we left Lucky behind. My in-laws were giving up the apartment and moving into the house, they became Lucky’s caretakers and Lucky never slept in the yard again.
I am reminiscing of a time that was so long ago…I think it’s because it is Monday today.
When I was a little girl I grew up in a neighborhood that did not have too many Italian families, many of my friends did not have what I had …Sunday meals with my family, cousins always visiting, or us always visiting cousins….and of course my grandparents living in the same building as we did.
On Sundays, my mom always made Ragu, which is not the jarred Ragu sauce but a homemade tomato sauce. The Ragu had meatballs, Italian sausage hot and sweet, and braciole; a thin steak that is seasoned with garlic, cheese, and herbs it is rolled, tied with string, fried in olive oil and then it cooks in the sauce – note my mom called our sauce Ragu which actually means a meat sauce, but in Brooklyn it’s called Sunday gravy or gravy. So what is my point….well it never failed that on Mondays my lunch was always a meatball sandwich …it’s true Sunday’s leftovers was always Monday’s lunch and if you haven’t ever had a meatball sandwich on Wonder Bread,well it’s something to consider putting on your bucket list.
The sandwich was always made in the morning, so the sandwich sat for a few hours before I ate it, and by the time it was lunchtime… well, the bread was mushy and soaked with some sauce; it wasn’t messy …it was actually good. Of course, I was the only one in the class that had a meatball sandwich on Mondays; at least I wasn’t given a meatball hero!
So today I started reminiscing …I did not have a meatball sandwich for lunch today. However, I did have a broccoli rabe sandwich, oh was it yummy!
Broccoli rabe is a bitter green leafy vegetable. The larger leaves are discarded, I cut the tips off the smaller leaves that surround the bulbs, I also trim the bottom of the stem…rinse in cold water. In a pan I boil water, add some sea salt, once the water is boiling I add the broccoli rabe and boil for about 3 to four minutes.
Remove from the water; at this point, I run it under cold water, you can store it in a zip lock bag, freeze it to be used later on in the week, or you can pat dry, saute in oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. I used 3 garlic cloves and two bunches of broccoli rabe.
This was today’s lunch; we had it for dinner last night as a side dish, what was leftover I brought for lunch and yes I did make a sandwich. Yum!Broccoli Rabe sautéed in garlic and oil; my husband’s family calls it bitter broccoli which reminds me of how when prompted Nick can speak Brooklynese quite easily!
Words like Sunday Gravy ….instead of sauce or Ragu….then he asks to pass the butule of soda, after dinner he always makes himself a cup of cuffee, then visits the neighbors cross a street, and tell the kids don’t be ascared! It is very funny, when he starts!
Mangia, Mangia…No Talk!