Dinner on Sale Episode II- Pork Chops with Balsamic Reduction and Hand-Cut Coleslaw

Dinner should be both delicious an affordable.  As part of my series on creating meals with nothing but items on sale at your local grocer, I bring you this meal.  Now, I was at my local Genardi's, the store that I do most of my general meat shopping at, and I saw something I had never seen before.  The store called them "country style lion ribs" on the label, but they turned out to be simply the rib cut with half of a lion chop attached, as you can see in this picture (the loin in the large half circle muscle).  While there was a bit more fat on these "chops," they were only $0.98 /lb.  For six pieces of meat, they were about $2.60.  I decided to take these ""country ribs" and treat them just like pork chops.  I grabbed some white onions, also on sale for $0.99/lb, green cabbage on sale for $.99/lb, baby carrots on sale for $2.00/20 oz bag, and light cream at $.99/half pint.  I first prepared with coleslaw by cutting all of the ingredients, but only after salting the pork.  I quartered the cabbage and cut out the center support.  I halved each quarter down the middle and turned it up on it's side to shred.  After all of the cabbage was shredded, I skinned and put a fine julienne on the carrots (you can also run them through your mandolin on the fine julienne mode).  I also quartered an onion and shaved it thin. 

After the coleslaw was prepared, I began the pork.  I took the salted "chops" again and added pepper.  I took my saute pan and added a wild mushroom and sage infused extra virgin olive oil (I will tell you where this is from soon) and sauteed the meat over medium heat.  Before the meat was added, I threw into the hot oil some thyme, rosemary and minced garlic to flavor the oil.  Once the first side was seared nicely, I added more minced garlic and once diced onions.  I sauteed this delicious mixture for about 8 minutes on each side.  I took some pieces out of the mix earlier, as they were not as thick as others.  While the meat was cooking, I added some light cream into the prepared coleslaw veg with some salt, pepper, and store bought coleslaw dressing (I am working on my own recipe for coleslaw dressing, but for not I trust a brand called Marzetti).  After the coleslaw was finished, I turned back to the pork.  I made sure that the meat was all at proper temperature, and then removed the "chops" as they came to temp.  

Once the pan was empty, I poured off some of the cooking oil and placed back on the heat for about two more m minutes with nothing in it to allow the pan to heat up.  I then threw the last of the shaved onion into the pan and let sear.  I then added a special balsamic vinegar (bought the same place as the wild mushroom and sage olive oil) that was infused with cinnamon and pear into the pan to deglaze it.  The balsamic bubbles up and reduces VERY quickly into a nice drizzle.  The meat, slaw and glaze reached the plate in a sort of unusual plating for me.  It was a nice dish, though, that was accompanied by a salad with romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, shaved onion, walnuts and goat cheese.  All in all, a nice meal for about $9.50 for two people.  

Christmas Day Meal!

I married into a great family which, on most occasions, shows their love for each other through food.  When they really love you, you get something like we had on Christmas night, where eating is an all day event.  This meal was one that I made no personal contribution besides an empty stomach.  

My in-laws food desires are fed by a Scandinavian background: my father-in-law's family is from Sweden and mother-in-law from Norway.  Some of what we ate is inspired by that background, but some just comes from a love of food.  We began the day with a few deliciously Scandinavian selections.  There were two food options and one drink that were put out early.

  First was Swedish coffee bread, which is a dense semi-sweet bread infused with cardamom and sprinkled with shaved almonds and sugar.  The other is gravlax, sugar and salt cured raw salmon served with dill and accompanied with hovmastarsas, a dill mustard.  We also had an interesting drink called Glug.  While the name suggests a vile concoction originating from the middle ages, it is actually quite good.  It is a lovely combination of one beer, a gallon of port wine, whiskey or vodka, almonds, raisins and cloves.  During the process, it is flambéed to burn off some of the alcohol, but it remains fairly potent.  It is on the same traditional line as wassail, but not mainly fruit juice.   It is served warm and is ideal for opening gifts.  

This was simply something to keep people happy until the main event rolled around.  As is often the case, the meal with my in-laws centers around a huge amount of meat.  This time, it was around a nine pound, four rib, bone-in ribeye.  It was accompanied by several sides, which included dill carrots, mashed potatoes, roasted Brussel sprouts with shallots, Asparagus, creamed leaks, and three sauces- creamy horseradish, hollandaise, cream cabernet with mushrooms and shallots, and a true pan gravy.  

The meat was cooked to a perfect medium on the outsides and a slightly less cooked medium-rare in the middle of the roast.  The creamed leaks, however, stole the show.   My father-in-law used simple ingredients to create a delicious side dish.  He cooked the leaks in butter, white wine, and cream, then topped with homemade whole wheat bread crumbs.  The leaks were tender, but not soggy, which can happen even though leaks   

are tougher to overcook that onions or shallots. The meal concluded with a ridiculous spread of cookies, almond bars (which will be in a future post) and after-dinner drinks (which will be another post soon).  

All in all, it was a great holiday, topped off with a great holiday meal.  I hope that you all who read will post some comments about the meals your families cook during the holidays.  For now, have a good few days and have a great New Year.  

-Kris

What a Christmas!

I had a great Christmas, and I hope you did too.  I have a few new and exciting things to blog about.  First, I received a new camera from my lovely wife.  My new Sony a230 will surely be providing you with crisp, clear pictures ASAP.  I also have some new suggestions for seasonal drinks that will warm you on those cold winter days.  Finally, I have to report on the masses of delicious and traditional foods that I get to eat with my family during the holidays.  

Final are over and I am going to COOK!

So I am free!  I finished my finals today and will be cooking a hell of a lot of food in the next few weeks.  I welcome ideas, questions and suggestions.  I will be continuing my series on dishes comprised of all ingredients that are on special in my local markets.  So, enjoy.

Everything on sale- Steak Sandwiches with Roasted Potatoes, Asparagus and raw Brussell sprout salad

I am starting a new series of posts on reasonable in home meals that are easy to prepare.  This is the first of these posts.  I was reading my local grocery store flyers yesterday morning looking for deals.  There are, of course, different stores that are known to carry better items in certain departments.  For instance, the Genuardi's has one of the better meat sections for pork and beef.  Acme is better for produce, seafood and random ingredients.  

This particular meal came from two stores: Genuardi's and The Fresh Market.  At Genuardi's, I bought the  yellow onion ($.99/lb), and baby portobello mushrooms ($2/6oz. package) and meat- one bone-in Rancher's Reserve Black Angus New York Strip at $4.49/lb for $5.34.  At The Fresh Market, I bought the roll ($.75/roll), asparagus ($3/bundle), sweet potato ($.99/lb for $1.29), Brussell sprouts ($3/bundle at about 1lb.), and four strips of bacon ($4.99/lb for $1.45).  

Here is the process for this delicious sandwich.  First, clean and cut the sweet potatoes into wedges.  In a large bowl, drizzle olive oil and shake to coat all sides- don't add salt and pepper until you take them out of the oven.  Place in the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.  When they come out, season them with salt and pepper.  After 7-10 minutes, repeat with the asparagus.  

For the steak, as soon as you get the meat home, or up to four hours before the meal, open the package and place on a plate.  Season the meat liberally with salt on both sides and allow to sit out on the counter.  For more seasoning tips, see my past post.  You will need a griddle or other sautéing vessel.  Heat the griddle to about 350 degrees, or at the point that the olive oil begins to smoke a bit (this is ok, just back down the heat a smidgen).  Now, you only want to turn your meat once, so sear the meat on the first side for about 4-5 minutes depending on the thickness of the meat.  You should get a nice crust on the steak by then.  (The salt pulls fat and juice to the surface of the meat and then caramelizes at high temperatures.)  After 5 minutes on both sides, place in the oven (which should contain the sweet potatoes and asparagus) for 10 or so more minutes.  You are looking for an internal temp of about 130 degrees on your meat.  

While cooking the above delicious things, clean your Brussell sprouts and shave them thinly on a mandolin, or shave thinly with a sharp knife.   Dress your raw shaved sprouts with a light drizzle of truffle oil and shaved pecorino romano cheese.  YUM.  

The last thing is the sauteed mushroom. and onions.  It is just a little olive oil in a pan, cut the mushrooms in threes and sauté the mushrooms alone for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.  Then add the onions and cook till just slightly soft.  Remove into a bowl and throw the bacon in the same pan.  Cook till crispy (if you need instructions on cooking bacon, please sell your pots and pans and leave the kitchen).

Arraigning the sandwich!  After everything is out of the oven, turn it off and place the roll, open end down, in there for about 2 minutes to crisp it up.  Spread a little mayo (regular old mayo, or see below for a trick) on the bun.  Dress the sandwich with the bacon first, then the sautéed mushrooms and onions.  Throw a few sprigs of asparagus into the mix.  Then slice the meat (after 5-10 minutes of resting of course) on an angle against the grain of the meat for maximum tenderness.  Stack the meat on, then a little pepper-jack cheese and arugula.  Add tomato if you like, but they are really bad this time of year.  

Sounds delicious, so go cook it!

-Kris

There are two little things that can really elevate the dish.  Spicy ketchup for the sweet potatoes and a balsamic infused mayo for the sammy.  

Thanksgiving Roast Duck with apricot/cranberry/plum glaze

This Thanksgiving I wanted to do something a little different.  I was in my local market and saw a small bird in the area with the turkeys.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that the bird was a delicious 7 pound duck.  Having never roasted a whole duck before, I was excited for the opportunity.  So, here is how I did it.

First, I let the bird sit out overnight to come to room temperature.  When I took it out of the bag, I patted it dry and covered it.  The next morning, I made a glaze to baste the duck with every 20 minutes.  Here is a quick recipe for the glaze:

1/2 cup of orange blossom honey (or any type)

2 tbsp of apricot jam

2 tbsp of plum preserve

2 slices of fresh ginger

2 cups of water

1 cup of clean, fresh cranberries

Combine the honey, water and cranberries in a small saucier and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, continuing until the cranberries are very soft.  Add the ginger slices, plum preserve and jam during the simmer.  Whisk them evenly through glaze while the cranberries are still fairly solid.  Reduce the glaze for about 15-20 minutes.  

While the glaze is reducing, prep the duck.  Again, pat the bird dry to ensure a crisp skin.  Because duck has so much fat over the breast, you must prick the skin so that the fat can run out.  (Be sure not to penetrate the meat or it will dry out.)  season the skin with a little salt, but no pepper.  quarter an onion and peal two cloves of garlic and stuff them into the bird.  Also, I added a few slices of ginger into the cavity as well.  You can omit this if you like, but it adds a nice flavor to the meat.  Glaze your bird with the delicious glaze and place in the oven.  

Place the bird on a rack in your roasting pan.  Make sure the duck is elevated so you can retain the fat drippings!  Roast the duck for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.  Baste the duck again, and back down the heat to 350 degrees.  At 350 degrees, baste every 20 minutes.  Over the next two hours, you should turn the bird twice, once from breast up, to breast down, and then again to breast up for the finish.  If you have a meat thermometer, which you SHOULD, the minimum internal temperature should be 165 degrees.  If not, you should be pretty safe with 30 minutes at 400 degrees and two-two and a half hours at 350 degrees.  When done, take the bird out and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting.  

IMPORTANT- in the bottom of the roasting pan, there will be delicious duck fat, even up to a cup and a half.  This is GREAT stuff.  Use it for roasting potatoes, brussel sprouts, ect.   

Thanksgiving Tradition

Every year, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I shred leftover turkey and make the best pot of chili.  The combination of shredded dark and white meat is just the best in a spicy, bold tomato base.  This year, however, I will be adding a twist.  For the first time in my career cooking for Thanksgiving, I will be roasting a whole duck to serve on Wednesday night.  As if all of the calories from Thursday's meal weren't enough, I will add a little duck fat!

I have never roasted an whole duck, but I am looking forward to the near 2 cups of rendered fat that I will use in other dishes. In the chili, I will sauté the onion and garlic in a bit of the duck fat.  YUM!!!  

Also, lets hear some your favorite Thanksgiving food traditions.  Post some comments about what you love, or even hate, to eat over the holiday.  Mine is my aunt's ricotta-based stuffing made with little bits of sweet italian sausage- so freakin' good.  I also enjoy watching Christmas Vacation with my family the night of Thanksgiving while drinking obscene amounts of wine! 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Great little wine gadget

About a month ago, I became very frustrated with having to wait for a nice bottle of wine to open up in the decanter.  I would decide to open something nice for my wife and me, and we would have to let it sit there for a half hour to breath before consuming.  That put me on the hunt for a solution- and I found one.  It is a nifty little gadget called the Vinturi Wine Aerator.  It can be purchased for around $40, depending on the store.  It also comes with a screen for older, sediment-filled, wines.  It has two small ports on opposite sides from each other which draws in air as the wine passes through the opening in the bottom.  The air is infused into the wine, so to speak, allowing the bouquet and subtle notes in the wine to present themselves much sooner than if you were to just let it aerate in a decanter.  So, while this will only really save you an hour, it really wakes up the wine much faster.  Some people believe that it can even add a few years of cellaring, or the maturity that a few years would bring to a wine.  I am not sure that this is true, but it is certainly true that this aerator makes a difference in the wine.  I challenge you to get a decent bottle of wine (after all there is nothing that you can do for some shitty wines) and have two glasses- painful I know.  Pour about once to two ounces through the Vinturi and, in a separate glass, pour right from the bottle.  I swear, you will be able to tell the difference.  

What Some Call Odd, I Call Delicious- Toro in Boston

Last weekend, Christa and I were up in Boston for a weekend away from everything here.  We decided that, instead of paying insane rates for a Celtics game or some expensive tour of Fenway, we would just eat our way around town.  We started on the North End, dining on some delectable oysters from New Hampshire, Chowda from a Irish little pub called the Green Dragon, and so on.  Then, on Saturday, we headed to Chinatown, the third biggest Chinatown in the US, for some peking duck, bbq pork, thin noodle duck soup, 

and these delightful scallion cakes served with ponzu dipping sauce that had the flavor of a savory italian pizza fritte, sans confectioner sugar.

For dinner that night, we had a treat in store.  Being consummate fans of spanish tapas and the beautiful ingredients it promotes, we had to get to Toro, a 55-seat Barcelona-inspired tapas restaurant in Boston's South End.  It is owned by chef Ken Oringer, who was named Best chef-Northeast" by the James Beard Foundation in 2001.  The executive chef, Jamie Bissonnette, brings the spanish theme true credibility with a delicious menu.  So, here is the meal as we experienced it.  Some of the dishes may make you think, " I would NEVER order that," but think again, this was amazing.

So, the dished we ordered ranged in price from $5-$14.  Each offering was enough for two bites for both of us, and some were larger.  All were very well prepared.

These two dished were our first offerings.  On the left is Corazon a la Plancha, grass-fed beef heart with romesco.  The romesco was a nice combination of almond or hazelnut, red pepper, garlic and onion.  The heart was shaved quite thinly and piled lightly.  It was not minerally, nor was it tough, it was a nice beef flavor.  On the right is Ventresca, or tuna belly, tomato tapanade and celery leaves.  Unfortunately, this was the least memorable of the dishes.  It tasted of albacore tuna, not ahi, and was balanced with the tomato.

The dish on the left is Mollejas, crispy sweetbreads with blood orange and cinnamon. The sweetbreads were fantastic.  The blood orange really off-set the fattiness of the sweetbread, and the cinnamon added a nice, unexpected tone.  The dish on the right is oyster with a citrus foam.  Good, but not fantastic.  On the bottom is Jamon de Pato- cured duck ham.  It is just a duck breast, cured and served as charcuterie.  It ROCKS.  You can get it in Philly at DiBruno Brothers- see my past post.

Ok, now these two dishes were by far two of my favorite of the night.  On the left is Uni Bocadillo, a pressed Uni sandwich with miso butter and pickled mustard seed.  For those of you who are uninitiated, Uni is the gonad of the sea urchin, male or female.  It is the Foie Gras of the sea.  Simply it is a savory, creamy, slightly salty delight.  The miso butter added to the creaminess, with the crispy texture of the panini-like sandwich, it was heavenly.  On the right is Foie Gras con Chutney de Pera- Foie Gras with pear and bacon chutney.  Again, Foie Gras is the Uni on land.  It is creamy, fatty, rich, delicious, and was cooked to perfection.  Crispy outside, creamy center, and seasoned nicely.  The chutney added a sweet pear flavor, and bacon added to anything makes it better.  There was great balance in both of these dishes; just amazing.  

These two dishes came to us on the recommendation of the server.  On the left are Croquetas de Bacalao- salt cod fritters with preserved fried lemon rings.  The lemon rings were very nice, and complimented the salty fish.  On the right, there is grilled corn with alioli, lime, espelette pepper and aged cheese.  I thought this dish was a little bit of a throw away for the restaurant.  It was one of the less expensive dishes, but it was not great.  It was messy and the corn was not in-season sweet corn.  

On top here was a daring dish for my wife.  It is Lengua con Lentejas y Salsa Verde- smoked beef tongue with lentis and salsa verde.  The tongue was as tender as any beef dish you could think of.  The smoke, though, brought on a pastrami taste and texture.  The lentils were fantastic.  Served al dente, they paired beautifully with the salsa verde.  On the left is Vientre de Cerdo- crispy pork belly with pumpkin, escargots, apple and maple crumble.  It was a near-perfect dish.  The pork belly could have been a little crispier, but the flavors were spot on.  On the right are Navajas a la Plancha- razor clams with garlic, lemon and piquillo peppers.  Razor clams are a little used and rare ingredient.  They have a very strong clam flavor, but are not overpowering in any way.  These are actually Atlantic jackknife clams and can be found from Canada to South Carolina. 

The last dish we enjoyed was Asado de Huesos- Roasted bone marrow with radish citrus salad and oxtail marmalade.  Restaurant bone marrow is often the inner-most part of the femur bone.  It is rich, fatty, and best over bread.  Some of the best chefs in the world, famously including Anthony Bourdain, consider it to be good enough to be their death-row meal.  The oxtail marmalade had the consistency of a beef short rib, and the intense flavor of a long braise.  the radish salad added a brightness to the dish, and the citrus cut through some of the fattiness of the dish, but there was no cutting through all of it.

The meal was paired with a nice pinot noir that complimented most of the dishes, but there was no wine that would have reached all of these wonderful dishes.  It was a great meal, worthy of a gander if you are up in Boston.  If you want a similar experience in Philly, chef Garces' Amada is a similar style restaurant with similar flavors.  Hope you enjoyed, because I know I did.  

Its Braising Season Kids- Beef Short Ribs

As everyone knows, the cooler weather lands itself to big, rich flavors coupled with deep, complex wines.  For the first installment, I am offering you a simple and traditional braised beef short rib.  Now, there are multiple variations of braised or barbequed short ribs.  There is the Korean version with soy, sugar, sesame and green onions.  There is also just a ketchup based American-style barbequed short rib (see my post on bbq sauce).  This version is a red wine/tomato-base braising liquid that easily infuses into the beef.  This post will give you the basic steps to have a tender, juicy, flavorful short rib.

The first step in having a successful dish is choosing good ingredients.  Most stores sell short ribs for about $4/lb for standard choice grade meat.  Even though they are short ribs and are going to be cooking low and slow, I suggest that you find prime grade beef.  It should have great marbling, which means that there should be veins of fat running throughout the meat.  They should look something like this:

 

To begin the cooking process, you want to season the meat liberally with salt and fresh cracked pepper.  If you have not read my post on seasoning meat, check it out before you begin here.  You want to give short ribs AT LEAST 6 hours of seasoning time.  That includes a re-salting before you begin to brown.  So, the braising process begins with browning the meat on all sides.  Choose your most dense cooking vessel, preferably a enamel coated cast iron dutch oven.  Coat the bottom with vegetable oil and crank the heat.  Make SURE that the heat is intense- usually when the oil begins to smoke a bit. (Open the windows a little during the browning process, it will definitely get smoky.)  Place a few ribs in the bottom of the cooking vessel, but be sure not to crowd them or they will cool the metal and the sear will not be sufficient.  

Each side should take about 4-5 minutes.  They should look like this:

  

Now that you have your meat seared, you need to get your sauce going.  As crazy as it may seem, pour off the fat that rendered out of the ribs.  Put clean oil back in the pot and start cooking your mirepoix (onion, carrot, and celery diced to 1/2 inch cubes).  Use two carrots, one sweet spanish onion, and three ribs of celery.  Season your veg and brown it.  Some people suggest that you put your mirepoix into a food processor and make a paste to ease browning.  I did about half and half diced to paste.  I also add two cloves of garlic to the mix.  Let the veg brown, then scrape the brown up, and let brown again.  Once your veg is cooked, add in a cup to a cup and a half of tomato paste.  Combine that with the veg and let cook for 5-8 minutes.  Now, there will be a lot of brown, but don't worry, it will be fine.  Add three cups of a fairly bold red wine (a cabernet or an equivalent).  The wine must be good wine, something you would drink otherwise.  de-glaze the bottom of the pot with the wine, scraping up all of the lovely little bits.  I suggest using a whisk for this- it will also help homogenize the sauce.  Bring it to a simmer and reduce the sauce by half.  Add back in your meat.  You must make sure that the braising liquid covers the meat- you should add water to cover, about three cups.  Add into the pool two bay leaves and four sprigs of thyme.  It will look something like this:

Place your covered vessel into the over at 350 degrees and cook for three to four hours for juicy, fall off the bone ribs.  Most of the rib bones will not adhere to the meat, but it will still look delicious.  Remove the ribs, plate, and cover in the braising liquid.  You can reduce the liquid more, but the cooking time should have reduced the sauce adequately.  I prepared a simple garlic and parmesan smashed potato dish for the meat to rest on.  I was tempted to take the smashed potatoes and make a Jonny Cake out of it, but I did not have time.  I hope you try this recipe and please enjoy.

American Bounty- the award winning restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America

Two weeks ago I had the unique opportunity to dine at the Nation's best culinary school, The Culinary Institute of America. I have wanted to see the campus and eat in their restaurants since reading Michael Ruhlman's book The Making of a Chef, which I have written about in a previous post. My family and I were in Rhinebeck, NY for an antique show that we do annually. I figured that we ought to make it a point to go to the CIA for dinner given that it is only 6 miles away. This is an account of our meal at the American Bounty, their award winning America cuisine restaurant.

To start, the Greystone Campus of the CIA has a winemaking program. Each of the student-run restaurants offer those wines, so we ordered their Merlot, along with a Pinot Noir to pair with the anticipated entrees. The menu, which can be viewed on the website for the American Bounty, is rich food with big flavors. I began the meal as any Hudson Valley meal should, with Foie Gras.

It was prepared with shaved fennel, grilled artichoke heart, and a caramelized onion sauce. Now, for those of you who have not had Foie Gras before, it can best be described as rich, buttery, and, if seared properly, crispy on the outside. My wife had a crab cake appetizer that was served with a vanilla bean cole slaw and a Louisiana-style remoulade. We also ordered a seared scallop dish that was served with crispy pork belly and a smoky tomato sauce.

Being that it was the beginning of autumn, and given the fact that fall flavors are my absolute favorites, the two autumn soups were a must. The first, a butternut squash soup with creme fraiche and toasted pecans. (not as good as mine though)

The second was a sweet corn chowder. It was not a traditional chowder with chunks of goodness, but rather a creamy soup.

The ladies had salads, this one with roast beets, goat cheese, pinenut butter, and sherry-honey vinaigrette.

The second salad was a country salad with wine poached pears, blue cheese and spiced walnuts.

The entree selection was not huge, and surprisingly, no steak option was offered, unless you include a BBQ beef sparerib as steak, which I would not. We chose three options so that we all might taste and share. I chose smoked duckling served in a curried almond sauce, and preserved mango.

There was also a double cut Berkshire Pork chop served with ginger tomato jam, spicy mustard and a mound of garlic mashed potato.

And last, there was a dish that I had never had. It was a Maine Lobster burgoo. Now a burgoo is traditionally a meat stew made with some type of game or lamb. It was a peasant dish that began in Ireland or Scotland, much like Brunswick Stew. Here, it was a broth that was used as a sauce. The lobster claws were served over roasted veggies, lima beans, chanterelle mushrooms, and a carrot froth. It was rich, clean, and focused- a really great dish.

As if all of that was not enough, of course we had dessert. We chose an off-menu berry buckle with a shortbread cap served with vanilla ice cream.

I had a serving of pistachio ice cream, something that I love to eat any time of day, and this was good!

There was also a neapolitan with puff pastry, a ricotta filling, and berries.

We also had an assortment of dessert drinks. We tried the pumpkin spice cappuccino, an almond latte and a Late Harvest Vignoles from the Finger Lakes (this is a sweet wine made from grapes that are left on the vine until very late into the fall).

SO, overall, we had a great meal. It is an experience that I would recommend for anyone who wants to see the place where more top chefs have been trained than anywhere in the nation. The service is shaky, but keep in mind that the servers are culinary students who do not have front of the house experience. For more information about the restaurants at the culinary institute, go to their website at www.CIAcheff.edu.

Delicious Beer option for the fall- Dogfish Head PUNK!

I am sort of a purist.  I like my meat with salt and pepper; I like my pancakes with syrup and butter only; and I like my beer with hops and barley.  There are, however, a few instances in life where something comes along and knocks you on your ass.  Mirco-brewery genius, and fellow Muhlenberg College Mule, Sam Calagione has created something special at Dogfish Head Brewery.  For those of you who know beer and live in the greater Philadelphia/Wilmington, DE, Maryland area, I am preaching to the choir.  

There are several traditional, but exquisite, ales crafted by Sam and Dogfish Head.  His "60 Minute Ale" is the flagship.  The 60 Minute name comes from the length of time the wort is boiled while hops are added.  This long boil time accounts for the hoppy IPA taste.  There is also a 90 Minute Ale and a famously potent 120 Minute Ale, which hits the ABV (alcohol by volume) of 18.0%.  It is a real shot of life and a rare treat.  Two and thats it.  

But this is about an oldie but a goodie.  The Dogfish Head Punkin (this is a link) pumpkin flavored ale is fantastic.  It is everything you want in a specialty beer and nothing you don't.  The pumpkin is subtly fused with a smooth full-bodied brown ale.  There are clear hints of nutmeg and allspice, but I don't really taste the brown sugar.  It pairs incredible well with a little chocolate.  I never would have really thought of this, but I bought my wife some chocolates the other day, popped one in my mouth and opened one of these Punkin Ales.  The cocoa really brought out the flavors of the beer.  

All said and done, everything (well almost everything) Dogfish Head brewery creates works.  There are a few low points, but nothing worth even listing because I think everyone is entitled to a bias-free taste-test.  I suggest the 60 Minute Ale highly.  For something more hoppy, go to the 90 Minute.  If you are daring and want to spend the money, get a bottle of the 120 Minute Ale.  For those of you within an hour of Wilmington, DE, it is worth while to go to Total Wine and buy by the bottle.  (Sorry people in PA)  Also try the FANTASTIC Aprihop Ale, it is a hoppy fruit ale that is really enjoyable.  

Eat, Drink and Get Drunk.

My BBQ sauce

Upon the request of an avid reader, I am disclosing to the world the secret of my BBQ sauce.  I do this with great trepidation, but the avid reader is my mother- I would like to see you say no to her.  So, there is no real recipe in the traditional sense.  I think recipes are a good basis for a process that you, yourself, can perfect.  All I can give you is my process and let you create your own taste.  

So, I start with standard ketchup.  I know it seems pedestrian, but there is no other option.  To that I add a bevy of spices including the following in the order I add them and in descending quantity: chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, hot paprika, garlic powder, ground ginger, mustard powder, onion powder, fresh ground pepper, and only a dash of salt.  There will be enough salt from the other things added, so you don't need much more.  I do have one more secret, but it is a little...I don't know...remedial.  McCormick makes a roasted garlic and herb seasoning for chicken.  I add a dash of that for a little depth of flavor.  

Now, getting away from the store-bought ingredients, I stir the mixture of ketchup and spices together and let it simmer for a minute or two.  Now, it is always important to connect sauce with main dish.  When I slow-cook my ribs or pork shoulder, I place them in a roasting pan and fill the bottom pan with a mixture of apple cider vinegar and some of the dry-rub I put on the ribs.  So, a tablespoon or so of apple cider vinegar goes into the pot of BBQ sauce.  Also, in the dry-rub I add about a half of a cup of brown sugar for caramelization when I put the ribs on the grill.  So, into the pot goes brown sugar and white sugar.  Add all of these ingredients to taste, meaning add some, taste the sauce, and determine f you have added enough or need more.  You shouldn't be able to taste any one ingredient, but just the note of flavor the ingredient brings to the dish, or in this case, a sauce.  

Thinking about flavor profile, we now have salt, acid (vinegar), sweet (sugar), and bitter (mustard powder and other spices).  This is the makings of a very nice, rich and deep BBQ sauce.  Please do some trial and error and post your results.  Your preferred taste will probably be different from mine, so adjust amounts as you like.  Be careful with the vinegar however- it is easily overdone.  Enjoy.

When To Season Meat- Lamb

For the Labor day weekend, I decided to have a family cook-out at our new house.  Knowing that I was having both of our (My wife and I) families, I knew I would have to have a healthy dose of meat.  My wife's family is known for expressing love through copious amounts of animal carcass and creamy french cheese.  My family often just prepares food for 25 people when there are only 10 coming over.  So, to make both families proud, I put together the following dishes:

1) Hand-cut coleslaw with homemade dressing; 2) Potato salad with fingerling white, red, Japanese Purple Sweet, and fingerling sweet potatoes, celery, and egg; 3) Arugula salad with shaved Pecorino Romano cheese, freshly boiled red beets (blot them totally dry so they don't bleed into the salad), with a dressing of red apple balsamic vinegar and black truffle oil; 4) 2 racks of pork ribs- one baby back and one spare, dry rubbed the night before, slow roasted in the oven, basted once with homemade BBQ sauce, then finished on the charcoal grill, see here, for a nice crispy, smokey finish (recipe and method forthcoming); 5) Two racks of New Zealand lamb; 6) homemade chocolate chip and pecan cookies or peanut butter Heath Bar cookies (100% my wife); 6) Of course you need a few hot dogs an bratwursts for the fillers; 7) 14 ears of corn that never really made it to the table because everyone was so full.  There was also contributions from family including macaroni salad, pies, ect.  

But this post is about the Lamb.  It was clear that the racks, seasoned 8 hours before cooking, were by far better than others I have cooked that were seasoned earlier.  I did not even bother with the 4 hour or 1 hour season because of the fat content on the top-side of the racks.  There was a nice thick, dense layer of fat that, when I began to cook them on the VERY hot grill, melted into the rest of the meat and made the taste incredible.  I did not get any pictures of the meal, but I can assure you that Lamb is best seasoned at LEAST 6 hours before cooking.  Season very liberally with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.  My sister-in-law asked me if I used anything else because the taste seemed different, but that was all- just salt and pepper.  

One tip, however, for seasoning racks of Lamb.  When seasoning the top layer of fat, just when you think you have seasoned it enough, season it again.  It takes a lot of salt to season that dense of a layer of fat.  Also, when you cook the rack, the fat will render and run into the coals.   That is flavor leaving the final product, so you have to make sure that enough remains.  You might also want to season in stages.  Season once, then come back to it a few hours later and throw another fresh layer of S&P on the meat.  

So, go get some Lamb and don't forget to wrap the frenched bones in tin foil BEFORE you put the meat on the grill.  Otherwise you will loose some bones to the heat like I did (I forgot and tried to wrap them after a few minutes on the grill- ouch).  Also, don't forget to let the meat sit for about 5-10 minutes before cutting.  130-135 degrees on the thickest part of the meat for a nice medium-rare to medium, so take the meat off the grill at 125 or 128 and let the carry-over cooking do the rest.  

Fall Food is Coming

I know everyone loves summer for the hot temps, beach (or if from Jersey, shore) weekends, and fresh produce.  I have to admit that I love tomato season too.  But there is a time of year that is unequivocal to me, and that is autumn.   I am not trying to rush it, but the smell of falling leaves and charcoal grills, the taste of butternut squash puree with rosemary and thyme roasted pork tenderloin topped with stone roasted apple and pear chutney...I could go on and on.  Not to mention football season, tailgating, pumpkin beer, Octoberfest beers, big bold red wines that you have let sit all spring and summer, aged scotch... here I go again.  

That should suffice to say that my blog will be pushing out a post or two a day in the fall.  So stay tuned and get ready for some killer recipes, great events, and reviews of the best fall drinks.  

Seasoning and Grilling: Tools of the Trade

Ok, so I have gotten some questions about the seasoning series I have been doing and talking about. (By the way the lamb is being cooked tonight and seasoning has already begun)  When I season meat, I use a base of kosher salt and medium grain fresh cracked pepper.  Sometimes I will add a little garlic powder or onion powder if the side dished call for a complimentary flavor.  For instance, when I cooked the ribeyes pictures below, I used only salt and pepper because I was serving homemade potato salad (with white, red, and purple potatoes, celery, homemade mayo, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper) and hand-cut coleslaw (napa cabbage, sliced carrot, raw onion, my secret slaw dressing, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper).  I debated dashing a little cumin and paprika on the steaks to compliment the other dishes, but these spices can burn and taste a bit nasty.  Also, the flavors would not be that pronounced in the other dishes, thus difficult to pick up on the steak.

As for choice of grill, I have the luxury of a two grill system.  I start my meat on a super hot Weber grill, and always with natural hardwood charcoal.  Lighting this type of charcoal can be a pain in the ass, so get yourself one of these, a chimney starter.  Once you have the chimney filled with enough good lump charcoal, get some newspaper and put about 1-2 oz. of vegetable oil on it so the paper burns longer.  Place the paper under the chimney and let it work.  After about ten to fifteen minutes, wearing a fireproof glove or a thick oven mit, pour out the red-hot coals into the grill.  Get yourself a long pair of tongs, and evenly distribute the coals.  Let them set up and burn off any grim on the grate where the meat will be.  Place the steaks on the grill with the longest points facing 2:00 and 7:00 on a clock.  After about 2-3 minutes, depending on the thickness of the meat (this is for a steak about 3/4'' or 1'' thick) turn the steak to face 5:00 and 11:00 on a clock and cook for 2-3 more minutes: this is for pretty grill marks.   Flip and repeat.  

Now if you do not have a gas grill, at this point you want to move the steaks to a cooler part of the grill and turn the air system to closed so the heat dies down.  I, on the other hand, have already placed a tray in my gas grill and turned the burners on the lowest setting.  I place the steaks in the 250-300 degree gas grill to finish, much like I would for inside cooking on the stove and in the oven.  If there are people who want to mistreat their meat and overcook it, then allow for a few extra minutes on the charcoal grill or longer cooking in the gas grill.  Remember though, you have to add even minutes on both sides of the meat, or there will be uneven cooking from side to side.  

Other foods that are to be grilled should can be placed on the charcoal grill after the meat is tucked into the gas grill.  Things like onion slices, corn, and poblano peppers are nice on the grill, as well as hot dogs or hamburgers for people who are not looking for a steak.  If you are considering chicken as well as steaks, you ought to cook the chicken first and let that carry-over-cook while the steaks are grilling.  If you try to do the chicken after the steaks, it will take too much time to cook and the steaks will either get cold or overcooked in the gas grill.  Remember though, all meat needs time to rest after cooking, so cook to 5 degrees under temperature and let the carry over time finish to a nice 128-130 degrees on beef for medium rare.  

For any other questions regarding proper grilling techniques, please leave comments and I will be happy to answer them.  

I'm on a Quest...A Quest for Meat

"They call me The Seeker 

 I've been searching low and high

 I won't get to get what I'm after

 Till the day I die"

-The Who

This quote runs true to my life in the recent few months.  What am I searching for you ask? Well, I am searching for that which all good cooks ought to, the best ingredients possible.  Recently, the product that has disappointed the most is meat.  Besides the lovely rib-eyes I cooked last week, I have been devoid of really impressive beef, pork, lamb, chicken or any other tasty animal to eat.  So, I went on a quest for good carcass.

I had heard about a few places in the area that claimed to be premium butcher shops, so I made the trek out into the hot summer in search of something seemingly common: rack of lamb.  I obviously wanted to conduct the next phase of my "When to Season Different Meats" series.  Can you freaking believe that I could not find a fresh rack of lamb (and by fresh I meat not dry-sealed and shipped from New Zealand) anywhere.  It was not a surprise that the mega-marts did not have anything other than imported, so I don't count that.  

I was surprised that these "butcher shops" did not have what I needed.  I went to two butcher shops.  First was the Westtown Butcher Shop and Deli.  This diminutive establishment on Rt. 202 south (you can access from the northbound lane) doesn't seem like much from the outside. Once inside, you will not find much more.  There are a few roasts in the case that may be trimmed into steaks, and a few loose steaks as well, but nothing special.  There are lists of available products, but not much in the case.  If you are like me, you like to see, touch and smell your meat before purchase.  Here, I did not get the opportunity.  More importantly, there was no lamb at all.  An overall disappointment.

The second place was a brighter light in my day.  The Country Butcher, www.thecountrybutchermarket.com, had much more to choose from.  The beef in the case was all marked prime, and looked it to me.  The weekly special was bone-in rib-eye for $11.99/lb.  Is that expensive?  Yes, it is.  But is it worth it, you better believe it.  The difference from prime beef (this beef, and fine dining restaurant beef) to choice beef (what you get in the mega-mart) is drastic.  Beyond these steaks, there were fresh pork chops, pork butt, country style ribs (single cut meaty back ribs either boneless or with bone- get the bone-in, they are tastier) and other assorted chops.  There were lamb chops, but no racks.  They stocked a frozen section of some more exotic meats like bison, squab, tongue, rabbit, ect.  Frozen meats are tricky and ought to be purchased sparingly (never get squab, quail, or other small game birds frozen or they will be dryer than a session of Congress).  Overall, not a bad butcher shop.  The Country Butcher also had a nice bakery, cheese, and gourmet food sections.  Give it a shot.  I will continue to look for good local lamb for the next of the "Seasoning" series.  

To season or not to season, that is the question.

 

Upon purchase of our new house, I wanted to have a few family members (a couple that isn't actual family, but feels so) over for a "soft opening" of our home kitchen.  The story goes this way:

It was a muggy early morning after a steady nighttime rain.  The lingering haze blocked the sun from shining in our bedroom window.  Regardless, the peaking light seemed to hit me right in the eyes.  I stirred for a second, but finally gave in to the restlessness in my legs.  Dragging myself out of the bed, I realized that it was a day for MEAT.  There was a burning question I had to have answered: when do I season the meat?

Ok, my culinary noir attempt is over.  The real question is, when do certain meats need to be seasoned.  I arrived at this lesson from an article in Food and Wine magazine.  They detailed four meats and the timeframe in which they need to be seasoned.  They detailed pork, beef, chicken, and lamb.  I will be doing sort of a series on the topic.  I will take each meat and season at different times with salt and pepper to see which results in the tastiest meat. 

This time was beef.  I seasoned four thick cut bone-in rib-eyes, about 24 ounces each (I like my meat big (thats what she said)).  I seasoned the first about 12 hours before grill, the second 6 hours before, and the last an hour before grill time.  I seasoned the fourth as my wife liked: I like sleeping in my bed at night.  

As it turned out, the meat seasoned 12 hours before had a great flavor with fantastically salty fat run-off.  The fat run-off seasoned the entire surface of the steak and was absorbed by the surrounding meat.  The six hour steak was also well flavored, but did not have as nice of a crust on the surface, nor did it have the flavor in the meat around the bone.  The steak seasoned for an hour before grilling had the flavor of a well-seasoned steak, but the fat was not as flavorful.  (Yes, you should eat some of the fat on a steak, it is where flavor is born.)  

So, as far as beef goes, the longer the season, the tastier the final product.  There was not a huge difference between the 12 and 6, not the 6 and the 1, but it there was a noticeable difference.  The 12 hour was far better than the 1 hour season, however.  I doubt there would be much of a difference if one would let a steak sit while seasoned longer than 12 hours.  But, I may try it.  Next episode, LAMB.

A Good Read

I recently picked up a book to read during my 62 minute (each way) train ride into Philadelphia. I was torn about genre, so I decided to do something I had always found to be a bit silly: read a book about the culinary world from someone who had never worked in it. I had heard about Michael Ruhlman for a few year from people who touted his writing. I then saw him on No Reservations (the show hosted by culinary bad-ass and lifetime skeptic Anthony Bourdain) and Iron Chef America as a judge. During one of the Iron Chef battles, Jeffrey Steingarten called Ruhlman an expert on food, so I figured me must have something useful to say.

So, I purchased his book The Making of a Chef: Mastering the Heat at the Culinary Institute. In the book Ruhlman audits classes at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. He attends classes in the order they would be attended by a full-time student. Although he does not partake in all of the classes' exams, and thus does not feel the real pressure other students do, he does find out what it is like tobe a cook, working in a kitchen on the line. He asks the right questions and searches for the answers in a interesting way: by doing. Some people have been critical of this book, in that Ruhlman was not a true student and did not get the real experience. While this is true in application, it did not prevent him from writing a cohesive account of culinary school and an accurate description of where some of the nation’s best chefs began. Give it a read, it is worth it just for the lessons on making brown stock.

A Second Lunch Trip to Butcher and Singer

As I indicated in my last post, I returned to Butcher and Singer yesterday for a second go at the $5.99 burger. Using my first experience as a guide, I adjusted accordingly. First, as my last offering was overcooked, I asked for my meat medium rare, hoping to get a nice warm pink-centered medium. Instead, I was served a rare to blue burger. Most of the center of the patty was not even warm. Granted, we went at 12:15PM this time and the restaurant was not yet full, only slowly filling up, so the line cooks were probably anxious to keep ahead of the game. Time lapse from order to plate-on-table was approximately six minutes (I counted). There is no way that a 10 oz. piece of meat can cook to 125 degrees in six minutes. (I feel like Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny asking the cook if he had magic grits because the witness on the stand said they cooked in ten minutes)

All that to say, the burger was undercooked. As is my shiny personality, I tried to find the good. I said to my lunch companion (who initially clued me in to the $5.99 B&S burger), "Being that the burger is undercooked; it will not be as greasy." I was wrong. I even ordered the burger without the oily sautéed onions. None the less, the burger was a mess to eat again. I assume that this is due to the higher quality meat used in the burger, probably 80/20 choice sirloin or chuck. Regardless, it was a mess again. This time I ruined two napkins.

Halfway through the burger, I gave up. In the middle of the patty, the only parts of the meat that was cooked at all were the sear marks. I touched the meat and it was cold to the touch, with the fat specks still intact and solid. They had not even been rendered during cooking, not at all. The middle was raw. The parts that I was able to eat were tasty and delicious, but I could only eat about 60% of it. A high pointon this visit, however, was the state of the fries. They were freshly crisped and were still too hot to eat when they were placed in front of me. Big win there.

So, when the front of the house manager noticed that I had only eaten the outside half of my burger, he approached the table, looked at me, and kindly asked how our lunch was. We both said that the burger was great. He looked at my plate and asked me again, so I mentioned that mine was a little under temperature. I followed by saying that it was ok because I had been there last week and devoured every scrap of the far from low-cal burger. I expressed no disapproval or unhappiness with the meal. Low and behold, the front of the house manager removed the burger from my bill. After a minute or two of insisting that I pay for the burger that I ate more than half of, the young man (no more than 25 or 26) said that he and the server agreed that the meat was drastically undercooked and that he would not dream of charging me for it. I concurred with his assessment of the burger and thanked him for the gesture. I believe that a restaurant is half the food, setting and personality, while the other half is ability to keep the customer happy when things don't go smoothly. Butcher and Singer certainly wins in both categories. While the burger was not fired correctly both times I ordered it and was a mess to eat, it still ranks as a good burger and an even better marketing idea.

Philly Steakhouse on the Cheap- Butcher and Singer's burger deal

So, I know that I have been a shitty blogger for the last two weeks, but the move, coupled with 50 gallons of water in our basement in the first 6 days (that little gem was not in the sellers disclosure) has not awarded me the opportunity to post. I am, however, back to it today. A lot has happened in the last two weeks, so I have some good ammo for the next 10 posts.

I will start with this: Last week I heard something that I was not inclined to believe. Then I remembered a strange trend. Philly restaurants have been loosing revenue with each passing day. Some of the finer restaurants are resorting to gimmicks like Le Bec Fin "pay what you think the meal is worth if you get there before 4:00PM or something close." So, when I heard that Steven Starr's Butcher and Singer steakhouse was selling their 10 oz. burger (previously at $16) for a mere $5.99 at lunch, I said "shenanigans." I was wrong. I went for lunch and indeed devoured that burger, had an iced tea, and had a total bill of less than ten dollars. You can't get a sniff of burger in other top-end Philly steakhouses for $6.

I know what you’re thinking: this isn't the same burger that would be $16. Now I cannot speak to the quality of the $16 version of the burger, cause lets face it, what burger is worth $16? (Ok, I admit I have spent more than that on a burger, but it has fois gras and caviar on it.) What I can tell you is that this particular burger, the $5.99 version, was good. Notice I did not say great or outstanding, just good.

First off, both the guest I dined with and I ordered the burger. So did almost every other person at the restaurant that day, and the place was packed. I would estimate, from my days on the grill at a busy steakhouse, that the person on the meat station was doing 90% of the cooking, probably putting out 3 burgers a minute. This makes it almost impossible to ensure that each person gets the correct temperature meat. I ordered my burger medium rare to medium, but received a well done piece of ground meat that was hovering on hockey puck. My guest ordered medium well and likewise got well done. (Most foodies will agree that a little blood is a prerequisite to a "great" or "outstanding" rating for a burger.) The overdone meat aside, the burger was surprisingly juicy and tasty.

This brings me to the second issue, and one of paramount importance. The fried onions on top of the burger were so oily and grease ridden that the bun, which was unremarkable in itself, was coated with a healthy amount of grease, making the burger near impossible to eat. I felt bad, but the cloth napkin I was given was destroyed by the end of the meal. When I go back, I believe today actually, I will order mine without the fried onions, which actually did not add much to the burger to begin with.

The other accoutrements were fine. Pickles, lettuce, tomato, and a sauce, an emulsion of some sort (the damn burger was so messy that I didn’t dare take it apart to examine its individual components), were nicely complimented with a hunk of melted English Cheddar cheese. The fries were tasty, but not as crispy as I had hoped. (There is nothing in the WORLD worse than a soggy fry.) Overall, the burger was 7 out of 10 for me. The taste was great, the eatability (new word) was very low, and the fries were pretty good. The price, however, was outstanding. I am under the impression that the deal is for a limited time only, so if you are looking for a lunch spot, 15th and Walnut is the place to be. But make a reservation, cause it will be packed with 150 other people who are all ordering this cheap, well-worth it burger.

Charcuterie Heaven

I was recently in the 1730 Chestnut St. location of Philly's famous DiBruno Bros. Italian Market just poking my head around at lunch time. I usually stop at the cured meats station and oogle the duck prosciutto, the Jamon Iberico de Bellota (a spanish acorn fed black foot ham at $32.00/4 oz.), and the Prosciutto di Parma Black Label Riserva, which is one of the finest dried meats that one can buy in the U.S. I often look at them like Wayne Campbell gawking at the Fender Stratocaster through the window in Wayne's World.

That day it was a salami that took the top stop for me, however. It was a Mole flavored salami changed the way I look at cured meats. While Prosciutto di Parma is a celebrated world over for its salty refinment, this salami was miles ahead in flavor and complexity: it tasted distinctly of chocolate, cinnamon, and chipotle peppers, but with a satly pork flavor you would expect from a salami. Created by Armandino Batali, he is the father of celebrity chef and culinary giant Mario Batali, this Salumi (his Seattle storefront) creation is something to be marveled at. I suggest your next trip into Philly includes a stop at DiBruno's to taste it. Also, go on Salumi's website for products shipped all over the country at www.Salumicuredmeats.com.

Moving woes

So folks, I am moving this weekend.  My wife and I are buying a home about one and a half miles from where we were previously (as of tomorrow) renting.  I wanted to post this to say, if I don't post anything tomorrow, or anything of value later tonight, I am sorry, but I am painting or moving stuff.  

In the mean time, cook something delicious and write me about it by commenting on a post.  

Evil store-bought potato chips

A few years ago, I convinced myself that potato chips were evil. As most restaurant cooks probably are, I was diagnosed with high cholesterol at a young age. So, I did all I could to avoid fried food, most of all chips. I have officially fallen off the horse.

I recently bought a large ensemble of root vegetables (beets, sweet potato, turnips, parsnips and carrots), half of which I was not going to use in the dish they were required in. They looked so good at the farmers market that I had to but them and find a use. I decided to clean them and remove skins. For some reason I picked up a knife and started to cut very thin rounds: I said "I am making chips". What a pain in the ass the knife was, so I grabbed my mandolin and began to run them through.

I only had canola oil, so I took my large enamel coated cast iron and heated the oil. I dropped the veggie rounds in the oil a few at a time and fried them till crispy delicious. These veggies do not take on as much oil as white potato and are therefore a bit healthier. I drained what oil did collect on a plate with paper towels. While hot I seasoned the chips with salt, pepper, and a little cumin and smoked paprika. I made a spicy chipotle ketchup and black truffle honey for dipping.

I tell this story to say, instead of buying unhealthy potato chips in the store, go to a local farmers market and get some root vegetables, run them through a slicer or mandolin, fry em and eat em. I promise you will enjoy.

What do you want to read about?

I have been selfishly writing only about topics that I have found interesting and useful. However, you, the reader, are the person I am trying to reach. So, send me some topics that you might find useful, have always wondered about, and want to read about. Use the comment section of this post to suggest topics.

-Kris

Farm Fresh Ingredients

This weekend, my wife and I embarked on a mission to find superior produce. I had an idea for dinner and it called for onion, zucchini, portabella mushrooms, artichoke, tomato, potato and fresh chèvre. I immediately scoured the internet for farmers markets where the producers set up tents and peddle their produce. I had heard of a website, a conglomerate of local farmers, mushroom growers, wine makers, and cheese makers, but had forgotten how to find it. Finally, I had it!

The website is called Pennsylvania Buy Fresh, Buy Local, http://www.buylocalpa.org/. Once on the main page, you can search by region, and then by county and local area. On the other hand, you might find it handy to just punch in your zip code in the upper right. Once you have your area entered, you can browse the local growers, restaurants who use these products, and markets where you too can get these local, and mostly organic, gems.

SO, go visit the website, find your area, and support your local producers.

Top Quality Seafood

In the greater Philadelphia area, we should be swimming (pardon the pun) in good, fresh seafood.  Our proximity to the northern Atlantic (lobsters, rockfish, bluefish), the Chesapeake Bay (crabs, scallops, striped bass), and some of the best fresh water fishing on the east coast in northern PA and southern NY (bass, trout, perch) should result in fish markets with high quality, diverse fish and shellfish fresher than any other city.  While downtown Philadelphia boasts Ippolito's fish market on 1300 Dickinson St., Marco's Fish Market on S. 9th St., and I suppose Under the C in the bowels of the Comcast building, out in the burbs we do not really have a lot of great choices for fish markets.  

There is one shining beacon of light.  Hills Seafood, with locations in Media, Exton, Kennett Square and Newtown Square, is providing our area with great fresh seafood.  They promote wild caught fish, which really matters for taste: farmed fish can, and often do, loose flavor from lack of natural habitat and prey.  Farmed fish are fed things that normally would not be in the fish's diet, therefore promoting flesh that does not mimic that of its cousins living in the ocean/river/lake.  

Just tonight, I picked up a few dozen top-neck clams, little-neck clams, and mussels to put is a slow cooking spicy marinara with tomato concasse, garlic, minced onion, italian herbs and red chili flake.  Both the littleneck at $5/lb. and top-neck at $5.99/lb. (a bit larger than the littleneck) clams were sweet and tender, with very little sand to wash off, although I always recommend thoroughly scrubbing clams before cooking.  The mussels, however, were a little disappointing.  Advertised in the store as Prince Edward Island mussels for $3.49 a lb., they were smaller than PEI mussels, but tasted fine.  The thing that was most off-putting was the fact that I specifically asked if they were de-bearded, to which I received a response in the positive.  When I got home and opened the bag I found that only about half of the mussels were indeed de-bearded, a very annoying process if you have not had to do it yourself. 

Overall, however, Hills Quality Seafood Markets is a winner and miles above other seafood outlets in the West Chester area.  They provide several not-so-often-found fish like bluefish, Hawaiian Opah, Mako Shark, Shad, Wahoo, and Lemon Sole.  Some of these are upon request, but the fish monger will take requests for his 7:00AM daily order for easy pick up on the way home from work.  Some of the standard choices are a bit pricey though.  Tonight I saw dry packed scallops for $17.98/lb.  While the difference between dry and wet scallops will most likely be a separate post soon, these scallops, while MUCH better than wet scallops, are a bit overpriced.  

Hills Quality Seafood Market is worth a trip for anyone looking to get out of the grocery store and into some better quality ingredients.  You will find what you need at Hills if you are looking for anything living in water, and most things that compliment those dishes (like fresh corn, lemons and Old Bay seasoning).  So, go visit and become a regular eater of good seafood.

Killer Cab

During Christmas time last year, I had the occasion to travel up to Scranton Pennsylvania, my home country and the area my parents still live. As anyone might imagine, the family interaction that the holiday season brings will take anyone right to the liquor store for some good libation. What I found was a great deal, even for Pennsylvania State Stores (which is a misnomer given that PA is a commonwealth, not a state). There, sitting in the "Chairman's Select" section was a stack of Heitz winery's Bella Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon Magnums from 1998 .

Now, 1998 was not the best growing year in Napa Valley. Lest we forget, El Nino was in full effect that summer, which produced foggy mornings and lower than usual temperatures. This made it increasingly hard for the grapes to ripen enough for wine making. In fact, some commentaries I read researching this post say that 1998 was "the scariest growing season" they can remember in Napa Valley. But the vintners at Heitz, who have made great wine in Napa Valley since 1961, were clearly up to the challenge. In fact, the area where the grapes for the Bella Oaks cab are grown, the Rutherford Bench, the late summer finally turned hot. This allowed some growers in the valleys of Napa (as opposed to the hills and mountains) to have a long growing season with mature grapes. They took a poor growing season and produced a complex, layered cab with a very reasonable price.

The 1998 Bella Oaks Magnum is well balanced with a 14.2% alcohol content covered by extremely mild and smooth tannins, almost none at all. I don't pretend to be able to pull out all of the notes that the great wine raters and sommeliers can, but this wine is easy in some respects. There are obvious indications of red fruit (cherries and plums) with a little herb flavor and black licorice. A lighter cab than some others, almost reminiscent of a Bordeaux. This wine pairs perfectly with grilled veal or pork. I would hold off on a fatty cut of beef, rib eye for instance, for I believe that the meat would dull the wine even more than it can get. Also, decant this wine for only about a half an hour before consuming; after about two hours out of the bottle, it got a little flat tasting. Not flat as in not carbonated, but flat as in the flavors of the wine, the cherry and plum mentioned above, are taken over by the alcohol in the wine, thus converting your $30 bottle into "Two Buck Chuck." (Don't get me wrong, I have had many great nights drinking low priced wines, but when I spend $30, I want to taste the investment.)

I am not the first food writer to review this wine. Craig LeBan of Philly.com reviewed it in April when the Pennsylvania stores first began to stock it. He, like me, uncorked a bottle and felt it necessary to detail the experience. In fact, I am enjoying a bottle as I write these words. So, go to your local PA state store and pick up a bottle. As you will see, I do not often recommend spending more than $25 on a bottle, but this is nice enough for the extra $5.

A word of caution: I would not let this Cab rest too much longer in the bottle. In my opinion, and take that as you will, this wine is at its drinking peak. Otherwise, it may get a bit flatter in taste, which is never good.

Label shot:

Secret Sauce

Well here it is. This is what thrust me into cooking in the first place. It is the first recipe that I ever created- my infamous red pasta sauce. While my grandmother and mother have/had very different recipes, I have derived the best of each of their own delectable concoctions to create this delicious, and economical sauce. So, here it is. PLEASE try it and let me know what you think.

The first step is choosing meat. Now there are a few different choices, and it will depend on your own personal likes and dislikes. I will give you three choices which all fit into the recipe the same way. First, you can do ground beef sirloin or lamb. Both will make a delicious Bolognese on a 30 minute or 3 hour cook. Option two is cubed beef. It is a nice option for a shorter cook-time with a quick sear up front. The third option is cubed pork loin (NOT tenderloin). This option is better for a longer, lower temperature cook. High boiling temps will dry the pork out too much, no matter what cut you choose.

So now you have your meat. Before you begin, choose your cooking vessel. I use an enamel coated cast iron braising pot. I like it because it cooks up the sides of the pot as well as from the bottom, thus awarding the option of a lower temp slow cook for good flavor melding. A stainless steel or non-stick stock pot will do just fine as well.

Ingredients:

Meat- one or two packs chosen from above, about 1 pound per pot of sauce

1- 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes

1- 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes

1- 28 ounce can of tomato sauce

1- 10 ounce can of tomato paste

one large sweet onion

5 garlic cloves

2 Tble spoons red chile flakes- as desired

1 Tble spoon dried basil

1 tsp oregano

10- white button mushrooms (can substitute canned mushrooms if you like- one 10 ounce can)

1/3 cup of olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1) Put your cooking vessel on medium-high heat and oil bottom. Dice onion and garlic and fry lightly. Do not let the onions brown or soften. Add red chili flakes and herbs and let cook for two minutes. Add meat, season with salt and pepper and brown for five minutes.

2) Open all cans of tomatoes, adding paste first and fry for one minute. This will sweeten the paste. Add the other tomatoes in no particular order. Once all of the tomatoes are in the bath, bring to a LIGHT simmer. Add mushrooms anytime from now to 20 minutes before serving. When you see the bubbles of a boil beginning, stop.

3) There are two ways to go from here. If you have less than an hour to let the sauce cook (and you ought to be using ground meat or cubed beef, or none at all), you can leave the temperature at medium heat. If you have the great ability to slow cook your sauce, which is no more than three hours, you can turn the temperature down to medium-low and enjoy the intoxicating aroma.

4) That is it. It is simple. NEVER buy bottled sauce again. This will cost you about $10.00 for at least one week of dinner!!!

Other options:

If you like a veggie filled marinara sauce instead of meat, add green, yellow, and orange bell peppers, and maybe a little zucchini or eggplant if you like a ragu-ish sauce.

Otherwise, if you want a thicker sauce, you can add a larger tomato paste or drain the water off of the diced tomatoes.

I'm Not The Only One

Here is a story from Philly.com speaking directly to what I was talking about the other day.  Jut remember that I wrote it first.

http://www.philly.com/philly/restaurants/20090709_Staying_sharp.html

Best Boards For Your Kitchen

A few months ago I had a problem. I had just purchased a new great chef's knife, the one described below. I was noticing, however, that it needed honing after only one month of use. I took it back to the store to exchange it thinking that there was a flaw in the blade. My favorite kitchen store expert Tim, a former metal expert at DuPont turned personal chef and knife expert, asked me a simple question: what type of cutting board are you using? I told him that I had built my own rock maple butcher's block for the countertop. He asked, "Are you using that for more than just butchering and breaking down meats?" "Yes" I replied, "I use it for all my cutting needs." He slapped me in the face (gently of course) and pointed me to a set of cutting board that I will never ever give up.

Epicurean, a company out of Minnesota, has created the best cutting boards on the market. They are eco-friendly, as they are created out of paper and 60% of the energy used to create them is renewable. The are dishwasher safe- as opposed to other wooden cutting boards, they are able to be run through the dishwasher without worrying about splitting. They are knife friendly- an Epicurean cutting board will score slightly, allowing for the blade to pass through the material and remain sharp. They are sanitary- unlike wood cutting boards that are porous and allow food bacteria under the surface of the board, Epicurean boards are nonporous thus earning the NSF (National Sanitary Foundation) approval. This means that you can break down chicken, wash the board with hot water and soap, dry it, and serve cheese and crackers on it. They are heat resistant- you can place hot pots and pans on them or use the smaller boards as trivets, for they will not burn or discolor. They resist smell or discoloration- again, as they are not porous, they do not absorb odor-causing bacteria or stain.

Overall, these boards are the best. Rest assured I was not offered free boards to say this, I blog for blogging's sake and for the betterment of the home cook. There are the standard set; a chef's set with juice groove on one side and flat surface on the other; a carving set for meats; a camping set made out of recycled material; a big block series for the Epicurean lover (my next purchase); and a trivet set among others. So go to your local kitchen store and check them out or go to the Epicurean website, EpicureanCS.com.

Best Value Product- Gripper series. It is the standard cutting board with rubber grippers on the corners for those of you who have stone countertops and cannot keep a cutting board still while chopping. 12x9 for $24.99, 15x11 for $29.99, and 18x13 for $36.99