We made it through another week….with a snowstorm smack in the middle of it…welcome to Friday.
Something a lot of people do over the weekend is hit the grocery store to stock up for the week ahead. I am admittedly not great at planning ahead when it comes to food.
Sometimes the fridge is over-full and I end up having to jettison uneaten items (usually produce that doesn’t last), and other times it’s embarrassingly empty.
One thing that is reliably stocked up in my house, however, is condiments. I am a BIG fan of condiments of all types – mustards, hot sauces, vinegars (this counts in my book), salad dressings, mayos, chutneys, ketchups, spreads – you get the idea. (This doesn’t event start to touch my ever-growing collection of spices).
I did take stock briefly of the contents of the fridge doors and cupboard shelves, and found to some surprise that one condiment that is glaringly missing is tartar sauce.
I do, however, have the components to make it from scratch, which really isn’t too much of a lift. It’s basically a combination of mayonnaise, pickles and/or prepared sweet relish, capers, lemon juice, and herbs (if you’re feeling fancy).
You can sub out mayo and sub in Greek yogurt, or go half and half to try to lighten things up, or, if you want to err on the decadent side, add creme fraiche or fromage fraiche and forgo the mayo altogether. Some recipes call for adding a chopped boiled egg, though I’ve never had it that way.
However you make it, the result is delightfully creamy and tangy and goes wonderfully with all manner of fried and/or broiled seafood. It’s also good on crab cakes, burgers, even fried chicken, and probably also not terrible on fries…yeah, I’m a fan, even though it appears that tartar sauce’s popularity is waning. Sad.
It’s kind of a distant – less sophisticated and definitely less garlicky – cousin of aioli, which is also fantastic and makes a great dip for veggies and cold boiled potatoes. It’s also kind of like a remoulade, although that – especially if you get it in Louisiana – is apt to include mustard and/or horseradish as well as cajun seasoning.
Tartare sauce – like so many sauces – originated in France, except there it was known as “sauce tartare,” with an “e” at the end. It has nothing to do with the Tartars, which is a term to describe a variety of Turkish-speaking ethnic groups, some of whom eventually merged with the Mongols.
There is, however, such a thing as tarator sauce, which is a Lebanese creation that is nut or tahini based and used to make tough proteins more palatable.
There are a number of hypothesis related to the tartar sauce origin story, but it’s clear that Hellman’s first introduced a commercial version sold in jars in the 1920s.
Today is National Tartar Sauce Day, which makes sense as it’s the first Friday of lent when observers are supposed to eschew meat. All those fish fries require a condiment, and tartar sauce fits the bill.
After a prolonged period of mixed precipitation – rain, ice, snow, you name it – we’re in for cloudy skies and maybe a flurry or two. Temperatures will be in the low 30s in the morning, but drop through the afternoon into the 20s. There will also be wind gusts or 20 to 30 miles per hour, so hold onto those hats and umbrellas.
In the headlines…
Heavy snow and blizzards cut power to nearly a million homes and businesses yesterday in the Western U.S. and Midwest, with strong winds making it dangerous to drive in some places.
More than 900,000 customers were without power yesterday evening across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, according to PowerOutage.us, which compiles data from utilities.
Other parts of the country had its own wild weather: record-high temperatures that made it feel like spring in Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., where it is usually frosty in February.
After the West Coast storm battered parts of Oregon, officials warned California residents to prepare for dangerous weather through the weekend.
President Joe Biden has announced that he’s nominating Ajay Banga, a former MasterCard executive, to serve as president of the World Bank.
In a statement, Biden said that Banga is “uniquely equipped to lead the World Bank at this critical moment in history” and that he has a “proven track record managing people and systems, and partnering with global leaders around the world to deliver results.”
Banga, 63, will be the first Indian-American to head either of the two top international financial institutions: the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Democrats are slamming Biden’s new immigration policy, with many branding it no better than the measures seen under his predecessor Donald Trump.
Biden received more than $46,000 in gifts from foreign leaders in his first year in office, according to an annual report from the US State Department’s chief protocol officer.
Moderna has made a $400 million payment for the rights to a technique borrowed from government research to make its Covid shots that will be shared by the National Institutes of Health and two American universities where the method was invented.
As Moderna awaits the arrival of the commercial COVID-19 vaccine market in the U.S., the toll of waning demand worldwide has become painfully apparent.
Moderna stock fell early yesterday, wiping out gains from positive news around its cancer vaccine candidate, as fourth-quarter earnings missed expectations.
If the Lee County Republican Party has their way, the state of Florida will be banning the use of Covid-19 vaccines. The “Ban the Jab” passed with a majority vote and now heads to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk.
Republican lawmakers in Idaho have introduced a bill that would criminalize the administration of mRNA vaccines, such as the COVID-19 shots produced by Pfizer and Moderna.
More than 100,000 Californians have now died from Covid.
Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding reported lackluster sales growth in the October-December quarter, highlighting the financial toll of Beijing’s heavy-handed Covid-control regime and pressure from competition.
Since February of last year, the avian influenza has led to the death of tens of millions of farm-raised birds in the U.S., the deadliest outbreak on record.
In the wake of the Ohio train derailment, Gov. Kathy Hochul is calling for change from the freight industry, Congress and federal regulators. She says expediting the implementation of safer tank cars can help prevent disasters.
“The train derailment that took place in East Palestine, Ohio emphasizes the need for preventative regulations and the adequate prepositioning of emergency response resources,” Hochul said.
Hochul and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey celebrated a key milestone in the transformation of JFK Airport with the groundbreaking for the $4.2 billion project to develop a new Terminal 6.
Director of State Operations Kathryn Garcia expressed optimism for Hochul’s housing plan – even as her approach to the state’s housing crisis has received a mixed response.
A measure backed by environmental advocates to reduce packaging waste and expand recycling efforts over the next decade is getting pushback from business organizations.
A coalition of good-government organizations called for the approval of a package of measures meant to expand government transparency in New York.
New York lawmakers are making a renewed push to bolster rights for freelance workers in the state. The measure, a previous version of which was vetoed last year, is modeled after a New York City measure first approved in 2017.
With the state budget deadline almost a month away, Mayor Eric Adams and Hochul are on a collision course over MTA funding.
As the MTA struggles to improve paratransit service for New Yorkers who aren’t able to ride subways or buses, City Hall is being asked to take the wheel on funding Access-A-Ride.
Brooklyn Democratic state Sen. Zellnor Myrie and backers rallied in support of a bill that would prohibit sheriffs and marshals from executing eviction warrants statewide during the coldest part of the year.
Empire State taxpayers spent at least $271,000 for Hochul to fly on state-owned aircraft over her first year in office amid sky-high fuel prices and a fierce election fight, a NY Post analysis has found.
Republican state Sen. Tom O’Mara has introduced a bill that would raise speed limits along parts of the New York Thruway Authority and other highways from 65 mph to 70 mph for all vehicles.
State officials recently finalized the process for farm laborers to be entitled to be paid overtime for work over 40 hours per week, which is to be phased in over the next decade and buoyed by a state subsidy to farm owners.
Rep. George Santos faces a new wave of criticism after he sponsored legislation to declare AR-15 style rifles – a weapon used in some of the deadliest mass shootings of the past decade – the “national gun of the U.S.” and picked a fight with Adams online.
Santos co-sponsored the bill, along with prime sponsor Alabama Rep. Barry Moore and two other GOP colleagues: Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Georgia gun store owner; and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who ran a gun-themed restaurant called Shooters Grill.
The full text of the bill has yet to be released, but the summary says the “AR-15 style rifle chambered in a .223 Remington round or a 5.56x45mm NATO round [would be] the National Gun of the United States.”
“I think that is disgusting, that (Santos) who’s done nothing else of consequence would put his name on a bill to make the AR-15, a weapon of mass destruction that’s slaughtered people’s lives from my hometown of Buffalo last May all the way to the Parkland shooting,” Hochul said.
In an apparent attempt to appeal to New Yorkers concerned about government waste, Santos started a Twitter spat with Adams over $200 million in Covid-19 supplies his administration sold for under $1 million.
Adams took the stage at a performance of the Broadway musical “Parade” to show his support for the cast and crew after the show was targeted by antisemitic protesters Tuesday night.
An aviation company executive is calling on the Adams administration to launch an investigation into concerns that a competitor had an unfair advantage in winning a lucrative helipad contract from the city’s economic development agency.
Top housing officials from the Adams administration criticized a package of affordable housing bills considered in the City Council on Thursday as overly complex, costly, time-consuming and redundant.
Adams announced the appointments of three new commissioners to the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the selection of the Mayor’s representative for the Public Design Commission.
A top aide to Manhattan Councilman Christopher Marte recently berated a female journalist with a torrent of sexist slurs, according to a complaint she filed this week with the City Council.
A federal jury considering the death penalty heard testimony from the father of Sayfullo Saipov, convicted in Manhattan federal court of using a truck to kill eight people on the West Side bike path, who said he expected that he would never see his son again.
Federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that corrections officers at Sing Sing in Ossining, orchestrated beatings during a prisonwide search in November, sending at least 7 prisoners to the hospital and more than 20 others to a medical unit.
Three men accused of being high-ranking leaders of the transnational criminal gang MS-13 were arrested in Mexico this week and will be sent to New York to face charges, the Justice Department announced.
A body was found this week along a section of the Mohawk River where police spent months searching for Samantha Humphrey, the 14-year-old last seen along the water’s edge in November.
Saratoga Springs City Council remain divided over a criminal charge filed by one of its members against the leader of Saratoga Black Lives Matter.
Albany International Airport is set to receive $2 million from the Airport Terminal Grant Program that will be used for upgrades at the air traffic control towers as well as improving the airport’s HVAC system.
Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter in New Mexico over the fatal shooting on the set of the movie “Rust.”
Baldwin, the movie’s star and a producer, waived the chance to personally appear before a Santa Fe District Court judge today, according to court documents.
Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years in prison after the disgraced Hollywood power broker was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault and related crimes in Los Angeles.
Weinstein’s sentencing was held in downtown Los Angeles yesterday morning, nearly two months after his Los Angeles trial concluded with a jury convicting him on three counts of rape and sexual assault.
Weinstein was ordered to serve the Los Angeles sentence after finishing the 23-year term that he is serving from his sexual assault conviction in New York in 2020.
Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison in a Chicago federal courtroom yesterday following his conviction last year on charges of child pornography and enticement of a minor, his second such lengthy sentencing in the past year.
But 19 of those years will be served concurrently with his existing prison time, meaning only one year gets added to the end of his previous 30-year sentence.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav unexpectedly announced that the studio would be making “multiple” new movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic “The Lord of the Rings” books.
