In Ladder 38 we had Arthur Ave to shop and three very fine chefs, one of the groups was referred to the "fish groups". Tommy Sidor made outstanding fresh fish everytime he cooked. Another was Ray Benway. He lived in Bayside among the many resturants, he'd fine dine with his wife, talk with the chef to see how he prepared the meal and recreate the meal his next tour. Our other chef was Gil. He made outrageous comfort meals. His specialty was golden fried chicken tenders, mixed in with yellow rice and combined, peppers, onions, pineapple and a hint of duck sauce. One of my favorite. L 38 was reknown for its meals. Dennis Smith ran a essay competition for Firehouse Magazine. The winner received a cash prize and a dinner at the firehouse. Guess what firehouse was selected. In addition, Commissioner Spinnato was a regular dinner guest. Helping prepare I took mental notes on the meals.
I took many of these recipes to Bushwick when I transferred, and they were well recieved, and my new guy status didn't last long.
When I was in L 5, I used to cook for the young guys with another buddy named Dan. We wanted to make the meals a little more memorable. I bought a candleabra and we started to eat by candeliight much to the amazement of some old salty chiefs.
Yet one meal stands out. In L 38, guys suggested chicken, I thought about glazing the chicken, like duck L'orange. They loved the idea. We cooked the chicken L'orange, but our nutty chauffeur wanted to take it a step further and added food coloring to every other item. We had orange duck, blue rice and green cornbread. It was a meal to remember.
PHOTO; Chicken L'orange in progress.
