Johan Santana in the kitchen making Arepas. (
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It’s not every day that you see slugger Alex Rodriguez casually holding a pile of leafy kale as if it were a baseball bat.
Or all-star third baseman David Wright donning a white apron as he pulls a fresh-baked apple pie from the oven.
But according to Julie Loria’s new cookbook, “Diamond Dishes,” out tomorrow, baseball’s biggest stars are the very picture of quaint domesticity off the field — flipping pancakes, chopping veggies and whipping up casseroles when they’re not sliding into home plate.
“I wanted the book to be something both men and women enjoy — since more men are cooking and more women are watching baseball,” says Loria, a Boston-area native who fondly recalls watching Red Sox games with her father and making the occasional trip to Fenway Park.
PHOTOS: YANKEES AND METS STARS’ FAVORITE FOODS
“To me, food and baseball are social activities — both of them were big passions growing up,” she adds.
As the wife of Florida Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, she had unique access to the book’s 20 featured all-star athletes. Nearly every player is photographed in his own kitchen, offering a rare glimpse into the private lives of some of the game’s heaviest hitters.
Still, the author faced challenges along the way — especially when it came to scheduling: Since Derek Jeter’s kitchen was being remodeled at the time of the photo shoot, former teammate Tino Martinez pitched in and lent his Tampa home.
Culinarily, Loria honed many of her skills while pursuing a fine-arts career in Paris, where she took private lessons with French chef Marie Blanche, a friend of Julia Child. “I’d go over to her apartment, where she cooked with me and taught me French tips along the way,” she says.
For the book, Loria interviewed each player about the role that food has played in his life, resulting in a carefully curated selection of recipes.
What each of the major leaguers has in common, she says, is a love of food.
“They’re regular guys,” says Loria, “and [they enjoy] a homemade meal just like the rest of us.”
JOHAN SANTANA
In the off-season, Mets pitcher Santana visits family and friends back in Tovar, Venezuela. “Every time I go back home, I am dying for the food I grew up eating,” he says. And he adds proudly, “I haven’t lost any of my traditions — no way. It is part of what I am and part of what we want our family to eat.” As a kid, Santana, now 32, helped out in his grandfather’s bakery, including being the bread salesman. “I went to school from noon to 6 p.m. As a part-time job, in the mornings before school and on the weekends, I used to go to the bakery and work with my grandfather and uncles. I went to the flea market to sell bread that my grandfather and my uncles made. I used to follow people around, trying to sell the bread. I would say that I was a good salesman. I would really put myself into it,” he says.
Santana’s Arepas
Makes 6 arepas
Arepas define Venezuelan cooking. These thick cornmeal patties are placed on a griddle, baked and then stuffed while warm with anything from white cheese to this zesty chicken salad with avocado mayonnaise (Santana’s first choice). The recipe originally comes from Maribel Araujo of New York’s always-packed Caracas Arepa Bar in the East Village and her executive chef, Ilse Parra.
1. To make the filling, place two 6-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breasts and ½ small onion, sliced, in a medium saucepan, and add enough cold water to cover by 1 inch. Add ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove the chicken from the saucepan and let cool completely. Tear the chicken into shreds.
2. Mash 1 ripe Hass avocado, pitted, peeled and coarsely chopped, ¼ cup mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar together in a medium bowl with an immersion blender or large fork until smooth. Stir in 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro, 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, ½ jalapeño, seeded and minced, and 2 garlic cloves, minced. Add the chicken, ½ cup seeded and diced (¼-inch) red bell pepper, 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion and 1 scallion, white and green parts, finely chopped, and mix together. Season with salt and pepper. Taste and add more vinegar to give the filling a pleasant, but not sour, tang. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
3. To make the arepas, stir 3 cups lukewarm water and 1¼ teaspoons salt together in a large bowl, to dissolve the salt. Gradually add 3 cups cornmeal (must use precooked cornmeal, labeled harina or harina precocida), mixing with your fingers to dissolve any lumps, adding enough to make a soft dough that holds its shape without cracking when molded. Set dough aside to rest for 3 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon canola or vegetable oil and work it in with your hands, adding cornmeal or water to return the dough to the proper consistency.
4. Divide the dough into six equal portions. Shape each into a 4-inch-in-diameter disk, about 1-inch thick. Transfer to a baking sheet.
5. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a large nonstick skillet or griddle and heat over medium heat.
6. In batches, place the arepas in the skillet. Cook until the underside is a splotchy golden brown, about 4 minutes. Turn and brown the other side. Return arepas to the baking sheet.
7. When all of the arepas are browned, transfer them directly to the oven rack (without the baking sheet). Bake until the surfaces of the arepas have formed a taut skin — if you rap your fingers on one, it will feel and sound like a drum. Return arepas to the baking sheet and let cool slightly. Split each arepa in half and fill with the chicken mixture. Serve warm.
ALEX RODRIGUEZ
Yankees third baseman Rodriguez, 35, has very healthy habits, including his preference for organic food. He starts his day with a simple and healthy breakfast of fruit, brown rice and scrambled egg whites. Whether he’s on the road with the team or at home, he says he always starts the day with a bowl of fruit. For a pregame meal, Rodriguez has his routine: five slices of turkey, no bread and a sweet potato — just half — with “no oil, no butter, no nothing.”
Rodriguez eats sensibly, especially when it comes to dinner. “I like a three-course meal,” he says. “I like to take my time eating.” For the most part, Rodriguez sticks to a healthy regimen of fish and vegetables, such as steamed spinach or asparagus — plain, without oil, butter or salt. Like many great athletes, the uber-healthy and fit Rodriguez can’t resist a really good steak every now and then.
“I actually love a T-bone,” he says. “I just crush and devour it.” Perhaps not surprisingly, Rodriguez isn’t a dessert guy — and is easily able to skip sweets. He says, “I am a salt guy. That’s my weakness. I love chips, but baked chips, and nuts, any type of nuts.” Here he combines his love of salt and greens with a recipe for kale chips:
A-Rod’s Baked Kale Chips
Makes 4 to 6 servings
As a healthier alternative to potato chips, try these homemade kale chips, which will have your guests asking, “Is this really kale?” Use lacinato kale, which has very curly, dark-green leaves. Look for it at your natural foods market or well-stocked supermarkets.
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees.
2. Pull off the ribs from each kale leaf (one 10-ounce bunch of Lacinato kale). Wash the kale and spin in a salad spinner. Some water droplets will remain in the curls of the leaves; pat dry with paper towels and let the kale air-dry for an hour or so. The kale leaves should be as dry as possible.
3. Spread the leaves on two rimmed baking sheets. Drizzle each sheet with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and toss leaves to coat with the oil. Arrange the leaves so they overlap as little as possible.
4. Bake, one sheet at a time, just until the kale becomes crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Do not overcook the kale, or it could become bitter. Sprinkle the kale with salt. Transfer the chips to a platter or a deep bowl (they are less likely to break on a platter) and serve.
DEREK JETER
While Yankees shortstop Jeter, 36, gives his mother a nod for teaching him how to grill a good steak, he readily admits that cooking is not his thing: “I don’t have the patience for cooking. I prefer eating.” His favorite snack to make for himself at home is a bowl of cereal.
Jeter, like many players, eats the same kind of breakfast every game day. And like many professional athletes, he claims that this is just a preferred routine, not a superstition. “Every morning before a game, I eat pancakes and an omelet,” says Jeter. His pancakes are always plain — with syrup and no butter. And he is very much a coffee lover, but it has to be cappuccino for the all-star.
After a long day of working out, Jeter enjoys his favorite dinner of chicken Parmesan and biscuits.
“I love buttermilk biscuits,” he says. And he admits to having a certain weakness for ice cream, especially a combination of vanilla, chocolate and caramel.
Says the Yankee captain, “I could eat chicken Parmesan and ice cream every day.”
Jeter’s Buttermilk Pancakes
Makes about 15 pancakes
This recipe makes a good number of pancakes, which will disappear if you have company over. If you’re like Jeter and want to eat pancakes again the next day, just save and refrigerate the extra batter in a covered container. If you do this, thin the batter with milk to a pourable consistency before using it.
1. Heat a griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 200 degrees.
2. Sift 2 cups all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt together into a large bowl. Add 2½ cups buttermilk, 3 large egg yolks and 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened — the batter should be very lumpy.
3. Beat 3 large egg whites in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on high speed, until they form soft peaks. Using a rubber spatula, fold the whites into the batter just until combined — the batter should not be completely smooth.
4. Check the griddle’s heat: Flick cold water from your fingers onto the griddle. The drops should form tiny, skittering balls. If not, increase the intensity, and heat the griddle for a minute or so longer. Lightly oil the griddle. Using about ½ cup batter for each pancake, pour the batter onto the griddle. Cook until the pancakes’ undersides are golden brown, about 1½ minutes. Turn the pancakes and cook until the other side is browned, about 1 minute more. Adjust the heat as needed, so the pancakes don’t brown too quickly. Transfer cooked pancakes to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while making the remaining pancakes.
5. Serve pancakes hot, with maple syrup.
DAVID WRIGHT
Like his peers, Wright often eats the classic clubhouse food before a game — a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich on whole-wheat bread, or grilled chicken and rice, or black beans and rice. But his pregame snack choice is directly linked to his performance the previous game day: “If I get a couple of hits that day, I’ll eat the same thing the next day. If I don’t get any hits the day before, I will try to change it up and go with something else.”
When not in uniform, Mets third baseman Wright, 28, enjoys food reminiscent of his mother’s and grandmother’s Italian-American heritage. A salad of fresh tomato and mozzarella, known as a Caprese salad, remains a favorite. Like most kids, when told to eat his vegetables, especially green beans, he rebelled. Today, though, much to his surprise, his taste for green beans has changed, and he now eats them regularly.
As for Wright’s favorite on-the-go food, he’s a pizza guy for sure: “I love, love, love pizza. I could eat pizza every day, and if I were going out to eat, I really like sushi.”
At the end of the day, however, Wright’s favorite home-cooked meal will always be his grandmother’s chicken Parmesan and tomato sauce, but without the side of pasta. “I’m not a big pasta guy,” he says.
Wright’s favorite dessert is all-American apple pie. This should come as no surprise, since baseball and apple pie have always gone hand in hand.
Apple Pie
Makes 8 servings
If you think that it would be hard to improve on the classic American apple pie, you might want to try this tweak: Apples have a huge variety of flavors (tart, sweet, honeylike) and textures (crisp, tender, crunchy), and mixing different apples makes for a more interesting pie.
Flaky Pie Dough
To make the pie dough, mix 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1½ tablespoons sugar and ½ teaspoon salt together in a medium bowl. Add 6 tablespoons (¾ stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes and 6 tablespoons vegetable shortening, chilled, cut into ½-inch cubes. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the fats into the flour until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with some pea-size pieces. Using a fork, gradually stir in Ð cup ice water until the mixture is evenly moistened and begins to clump together. (You may need more or less water.) Gather up the dough and cut into two portions, one slightly larger than the other. Shape each portion into a flat disk, and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least one hour and up to two hours. The dough is easiest to roll out if chilled, but not hard.
Filling
1. Position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Combine 1½ pounds sweet and firm apples (such as Golden Delicious, Empire or Fuji) peeled, cored and cut into ¼-inch wedges, and 1½ pounds tart and crisp apples (such as Granny Smith or Cortland), peeled, cored and cut into ¼-inch wedges in a large bowl. You should have 7 to 8 cups. Add the ½ cup sugar and ½ cup packed light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg and ¼ teaspoon salt, and mix well.
3. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the larger pastry disk into a 13-inch-diameter round about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer to a 9-inch pie dish. Add the filling and scatter 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes on top. Roll out the remaining disk into a 10-inch-diameter round about ‰- inch thick, and center on top of the filling. Cut out a hole 1-inch in diameter, in the center of the top crust. Pinch the top and bottom crusts together and flute the edges. Place on the baking sheet.
4. Bake the pie for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling in the center hole, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire cake rack and let cool completely. Slice into wedges and serve.
Adapted from DIAMOND DISHES by Julie Loria (Lyons Press/Hardcover/$24.95/April 1, 2011). Excerpts / ©2011 by Julie Loria, with permission of Lyons Press