Savor the Legacy: NYC Flavors and Compelling Reads! 🎉

During this month, we're taking you on a nostalgic journey through the heart of New York City with a pairing that blends rich history and flavors! Indulge in the quintessential NYC-style hot dog, sip on a classic Brooklyn Cocktail, and treat yourself to the decadent Brooklyn Blackout Cake. To complement this iconic culinary trio, dive into "Legacy" by Uché Blackstock, MD—a powerful memoir that explores family, resilience, and the enduring impact of legacy. Get ready to savor each bite and each page with this perfect pairing that promises an unforgettable New York experience!

Pairings: Get ready to elevate your month with this delightful trio that promises to tantalize your taste buds and captivate your imagination:

Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine 

Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, it never occurred to Uché Blackstock and her twin sister, Oni, that they would be anything but physicians. In the 1980s, their mother headed an organization of Black women physicians, and for years the girls watched these fiercely intelligent women in white coats tend to their patients and neighbors, host community health fairs, cure ills, and save lives.

What Dr. Uché Blackstock did not understand as a child—or learn about at Harvard Medical School, where she and her sister had followed in their mother’s footsteps, making them the first Black mother-daughter legacies from the school—were the profound and long-standing systemic inequities that mean just 2 percent of all U.S. physicians today are Black women; the racist practices and policies that ensure Black Americans have far worse health outcomes than any other group in the country; and the flawed system that endangers the well-being of communities like theirs. As an ER physician, and later as a professor in academic medicine, Dr. Blackstock became profoundly aware of the systemic barriers that Black patients and physicians continue to face.

Legacyis a journey through the critical intersection of racism and healthcare. At once a searing indictment of our healthcare system, a generational family memoir, and a call to action, Legacy is Dr. Blackstock’s odyssey from child to medical student to practicing physician—to finally seizing her own power as a health equity advocate against the backdrop of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Munchie: Brooklyn Blackout Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (4oz) unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup (3oz) dark chocolate* chopped

• 2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

• 3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons (105g) all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup (40g) unsweetened cocoa powder sifted

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs and 1 large egg yolk at room temperature

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup buttermilk

• 1/2 cup hot coffee

Pudding Filling

• 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar

• 2 tablespoons (15g) cornstarch

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 cups milk any percentage is fine

• 1/2 cup (3oz) bittersweet chocolate, chopped (good-quality chocolate chips are fine)

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Glaze

• 4 tablespoons (2oz) unsalted butter

• 2 tablespoons milk

• 1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/3 cup (2oz) semisweet chocolate, chopped (good-quality chocolate chips are fine)

• 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar sifted*

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°Line 22 cupcake cups with liners.

• In a medium microwave-safe bowl, microwave butter until almost completely melted. Add dark chocolate and oil and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Microwave for an additional 15 seconds if necessary, until chocolate is completely melted. Stir until well combined and set aside to cool.

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

• In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk in cooled chocolate mixture. (It can be warm, but if it is hot to the touch, set aside for another couple of minutes. You don't want to scramble the eggs!)

• Whisk in half of the flour mixture until just combined. Add all of the buttermilk and mix. Whisk in the last of the flour, mixing until just combined.

• Whisk in the coffee.

• Fill cupcake tins just under 2/3 of the way full. You should have about 22cupcakes. Don't over fill!

• Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.

Dish: NYC-Style Hot Dogs with Street-cart Onions

 Ingredients

• 4 large frankfurters

• 4 hot dog buns, split

• sauerkraut, to serve

For the caramelised onions

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

• 2 large onions, halved and sliced

• 1⁄4 tsp ground cinnamon

• large pinch of chilli powder

• 2 tbsp honey

• 2 tsp American-style mustard, plus extra to serve

• 2 tsp ketchup, plus extra to serve

• 2 tsp tomato purée

• 2 tsp cider or white wine vinegar

• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Method

1. First, make the onions. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a low-medium heat and cook the onions for 10-12 mins until golden and slightly charred in spots.

2. Stir in the cinnamon, chilli powder, honey, mustard, ketchup, tomato purée, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, 2-3 tbsp water and a pinch of salt. Simmer for 1-2 mins until the onions are saucy, adding a splash more water if they seem dry. Taste and add a little more chilli powder, mustard or a pinch of sugar, if you like. Keep the onions warm if you’re serving straightaway or cool and chill. Will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. Reheat over a low heat before serving, adding a splash of water to loosen as needed.

3. Light a barbecue and wait until the coals are ashen, set a gas barbecue to medium or heat a griddle pan over a medium heat. Alternatively, bring a pan of water to a simmer. Cook the frankfurters for 15 mins on the barbecue or in a griddle pan until charred, or for 8 mins in a pan of simmering water. If using a barbecue, warm the buns over the coals, if you like. Spoon a little sauerkraut into each bun, top with a frankfurter and spoon over the onions. Drizzle over some extra mustard and ketchup.

    

Sip: The Brooklyn Cocktail

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey (or bourbon)

• 1/2 ounce dry vermouth

• 1/4 ounce Amer Picon (or Cio Ciaro or another bitter you may like to try)

• 1/4 ounce maraschino liqueur

• Lemon twist or Maraschino cherry for garnish, optional.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place a martini glass in the freezer to chill for 10 to 15 minutes. In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine the rye, dry vermouth, Amer Picon, and maraschino liqueur. Shake until well-chilled. Strain into the chilled martini glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

    

Conclusion:

As you turn the last page of "Legacy" by Uché Blackstock, MD, and relish the final bites of your NYC-style hot dog, classic Brooklyn Cocktail, and Brooklyn Blackout Cake, you'll find yourself fully immersed in the rich tapestry of New York City's culture and history. This month's pairing offers a perfect blend of iconic flavors and a deeply moving memoir, creating an experience that is both satisfying and thought-provoking. Let this combination remind you of the power of heritage, resilience, and the joy of savoring every moment.

Here's to discovering delicious traditions and compelling stories that resonate long after the last bite and the final word!