David Chang is a jerk. I didn't say; people he's friends with have said it. From what I've read, he is unstable, self-evisceration at every opportunity, and brilliant food. His Milk Bar stores (2 of them) have funky, strange menus that fly in their surroundings.
I dare you to try to sell cereal-infused milk in the MidWest. Seriously. You'd have to market it specifically to young ones. 35+ is going to laugh at you and say, "I can drink that after I eat my cereal. Thanks." And then you get 3 hours of sharing cholesterol scores.
David Chang has employed a rockstar at pastry. Christina Tosi came up with Crack Pie, and it is evil. And I love her.
Let me explain.
I made Crack Pie. Top to bottom, specifically using exactly the ingredients I was told to use. No substitutions, no switchouts. I did what I was told. I started at 10 pm the night before, getting ingredients. It took 4 trips and 6 hours just to make the crust.
Was that my fault? Probably. Does that make me hate this pie any less? Not so much. I had to wait a day for it. Seriously, it had to chill for at least 12 hours, and I wasn't going to serve it unless I could relish the damn taste of it. Turning it half-way through both phases of the cooking process was a tiny pain in the ass, but at least the thing baked evenly.
More than once I screamed. I really would have liked to strangle the pie, were it strangleable. I think I very nearly threw the whole thing away when I realized I'd run out of salt. I was an hour away from the chilling phase, and I would have detroyed it. Then I remembered - it's salt. It'll be okay. End of story.
It's amazing. I would describe it as "pecan pie without pecans," maybe a bit creme brulee on top of a gooey butter cake/ oatmeal cookie crust. Be careful, you can overdose. There are ingredients involved that are similar to chess pie, but this is NOT chess pie. Having had both, I can safely say the textural and ingredient differences are enough to put a bit of a wall between these pies. I love the soft deliciousness, the way the cold crust still reminds you of a warm, welcoming cookie. You MUST serve it cold.
The recipe is complicated and huge. I'll post the recipe if needed, but it's large. The time constraint is impressive - 12 hours to set. But the taste is so very worth it.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
A Menu of Favorites
While looking over my new web toy, wherethelocalseat.com, I realized that a menu of my all-time favorite meals I've had would look a tiny bit befuddling. Check it out! It really reads weirdly. I included some things that probably shouldn't be there, but when I talk about food I find amazing, I get carried away.
Appetizers
Mozzarella sticks - How unoriginal, right? Hush. When done right, the crisp and herbed (yeah, herbed) outside married with a complimenting marinara..... Oh, my mouth waters with the mention! So there. My comfort food is nothing I'm about to apologize for, and I'd never ask you to compromise on food you love. Besides, what's a "Nice" list without the occasional "Naughty" to really set up the perimeters?
Bison Nachos - Okay, this title is sad. Let me make up for it: adobo-spiced ground bison with black olives, black beans, yummy salsa, couple different (and unambitious) shredded cheeses, sour cream, well-made tortilla chips, a touch of cilantro for brightness. I routinely ordered this as an entree.
Breaded Calamarie w/ Sauce - Bricco (listed on my links) has the description of this dish. What they don't tell you is that the balance is amazing, delicate and complex as soon as it hits your tongue. The buttery ease of the sauce hugging each piece of calamarie. Delicious, haunting, the stuff of which dreams are made. Did I mention the portion size is perfect for 2?
Hummus - Nothing better than a traditional, full fat, left alone hummus. The flavor, the texture and the exquisite taste of balanced ingredients always makes my heart sing. If all you order is the hummus, and you're happy with just hummus for the rest of the night, I'd call it a success.
Egg Rolls - What is the point of knowing the hole-in-the-wall places if they don't drive you crazy? There's a tiny little Chinese place I know, with bright red paint and absolutely no parking, that has egg rolls of gigantic proportions. The things are served, halved, on little white appetizer plates. Given the option, I would have a rather expensive meal of 6-8 plates of these delicious, hot, well-made delights.
Not-Your-Local-Pub's-Scotch-Eggs - There is a Scottish marvel in this world I would eat at once a month given the opportunity. At this delicious restaurant, hidden in the exotictly Scotch menu, is a gem of an appetizer sampler. Scotch Eggs, Baby Bridies, Sausage Rolls and (stay with me) Haggis Fritters.
Main Course
Bo Luc Lac - Ever had one of those menus where you just point and nod, praying your waiter/waitress understands that you want what you're pointing at, not the thing underneath it? Honestly, I usually attempt the name. This was a delicious accident I stumbled upon in the midst of an impressive and somewhat intimidating menu of Vietnamese cuisine. Delicately spiced beef (usually cubed sirloin) is "shaken" in the wok as it bounces from side to side, getting seared. The sour, salty, sweet marinade of the meat, coming through in the cooking, makes the combination with fluffy rice one that I melt for every single time.
Ropa Vieja - Let's talk about Cuban food. I don't trust any other cuisine to shred a skirt steak, cook it low and slow in a tomato sauce, put it over yellow rice with black beans and pull sweet, smoky, and finally heat from the mixing flavors, textures, tastes. Sounds easy? Trust me, it's not.
Paella - If you are invited into the home of a Puerto Rican family who wants to make you paella, you say yes. Just shut up that nagging "what if I don't like it" voice and say yes. It was saffron rice, and smoky oysters, and rounds of carmelized andouille sausage, and clams, and stupidly delicious and I didn't have the lobster tails but I heard they were good. Oh, the taste of that delicious meal!
Coconut Chicken Curry - Just to clarify, we're talking Thai curry. Different from Indian curry. Yes, they're related, but not quite the same. Especially the addition of that exquisite coconut milk that thickens, coats, sweetens, harbours the flavors of the curry and the chicken, the veggies along for the ride. I lick my fingers if I get this sauce on them. In public.
Seafood a la Moi - I know this isn't on a menu, but it would be if I had the choice. Raw oysters at room temperature (one shot of tobasco and we're good), clams Rockafeller, 1 1/2 lbs of steamed King crab legs, shrimp scampi (easy on the white wine). A little salad comes before the meal. That's all you need. *passes out from protein overdose*
New York Strip - Had one of the best steaks of my life on my honeymoon. A beautiful 10 oz New York strip (which is a steak cut from the tenderloin, no bone; if bone was left in, the New York strip becomes a T-bone or Porterhouse depending on bone placement, etc) grilled until it was ready for me. Perfect score marks, delicious aroma, light and tender texture. Paired with colcannon potatoes and a small salad, I was a happy woman.
Steak with Linguini Alfredo - Yes, occasionally the Italian nature that creeps nowhere in my historical lineage, but demands the attention of my stomach, gets the better of me. A 6 oz offering of expertly grilled sirloin, resting neatly atop a bed of linguini (think thick fettucini) in a slightly peppery alfredo sauce? You had me at "A". And, just because I'm in a nit-picky mood, alfredo is the sauce. Fettucini is the noodles. You literally cannot have "fettucini alfredo" on penne. Unless you put one pasta dish on top of a bed of entirely different pasta.
La Favorita - Another completely baffling discovery on a seemingly-common place menu from a local "Mexican" restaurant. You know what I'm talking about: the place that would horrify people expecting the same thing they ate in a tiny town outside Cancun on vacation, but still tastes delicious and keeps getting better with every beer? That's the place, and let me tell you about the dish! This tantalizing plate begins (for me) with a tostada. Top that corn tortilla that's been deep fried with refried beans, some seasoned ground beef, shredded lettuce, fresh tomato and maybe some sour cream or rice if you're feeling frisky. Next, the burrito. Classic beef burrito, lying quietly next to the shredded chicken enchilada. Both of the tortilla wrapped yums are covered in a queso blanco. Whenever I'm starving and want "Mexican", my stomach leads my mouth here before my brain knows what's going on.
Salads
Caesar - I love it. Raw egg, sardines, whatever. Give it to me. Put hard boiled egg crumbles or bleu cheese crumbles on it? I'll plead not guilty and the judge will understand.
Naked - I don't like dressing. Americans by and large drown our food. I happen to enjoy the taste of lettuce, and most of the ingredients I would normally put in a salad. Sometimes, the addition of a small bit of dressing enhances the opportunity. For me, however, I've learned to ignore the odd looks when the waitress asks what dressing I'd like and I say, "None, thank you."
Desserts
Cheesecake - It's simple. It's heavy. It's delicious. Leave it alone. I don't need berries in gross syrup, powdered sugar all over the plate or a drizzle. I don't like chocolate for the most part, and I'll ask for a drizzle when I want it, I promise. Put the squeeze bottle back where you found it, and quit adulterating my dessert so egregiously.
Stout Ice Cream - When you hang out with a lot of people who love beer, this happens. I don't mean they are alcoholics, I mean I spend a lot of time with awesome, amazing, intelligent people who care very passionately about quality beer. Some of them are even in the beer industry. Coming across a stout ice cream made from craft brewed oatmeal stout (yum), I couldn't resist. I'm glad I didn't. Fun, tasty, a go-to item.
Strawberry Shortcake - I take my strawberries very seriously. I know this. I should probably apologize for some of the resulting behavior, but usually I don't. Strawberries are my thing. I am an idiot for strawberries. Having said that, there is a dessert out there called Strawberry Shortcake that is not what you're thinking. Or maybe it is, I don't know. I don't think it is, though. It wasn't what I was expecting. Imagine a gigantic, buttery biscuit-like cake. Now put fresh vanilla ice cream on it, as smooth as Haagen Daaz and twice as awesome. Pile on fresh strawberries, slightly mascerated (meaning they've steeped in sugar so long they've made their own light-and-in-no-way-syrupy sauce). Top that with whipped cream. I've elbowed people out of the way for this. I would eat it every day, rotating what meal I replaced with it so I didn't get bored.
Ben & Jerry's Black and Tan Ice Cream - Once in a while you meet a taste that speaks to you on a cellular level. I love Guinness beer. One of the classic Guinness drinks is called a black and tan - a stout and a lager hanging out together in a glass without mixing. Hence the top is tan and the bottom looks black (yay names that make sense). Now, take deep chocolately ice cream and mix in stout ice cream. That's it. No gimmicks, no chunks of anything. Just two astoundingly delicious ice creams that come together in a baffling taste few could conspire to create. Phish Food is good, but this is just great.
Drinks
Mudslide - Hey, sometimes a girl just wants her damn ice cream spiked with chocolate syrup and booze. Yes, sometimes it's just about having a better day.
Hey, what's that blue thing? - I have a tendency to point, ask questions, and from time to time I'll make friends with my bartender, smile and say, "This is the mood I'm in. I would really appreciate a drink to match, and to be honest, I know you're a pro." This is how I ended up with a bright blue drink that everybody kept asking "Hey, what's that blue thing?" It wasn't a Blue Hawaii, so don't ask. I still have no idea what was in it, or what it was called. It was a $7 drink. I tipped $10 on that one. Worth every penny.
White Russian - Classic. I trust your intelligence.
Naughty and Yummy - Sometimes I like to corrupt the Great Loves of my youth. Nothing could get my attention faster than a drink of my own evilness: French Vanilla cappucino (I love using the international coffee house one, made with milk instead of water), and a healthy dose of Bailey's. Sometimes white hot chocolate substitutes, but either way I know the cool weather I adore and the peace-giving snow-gazing I live for are going to be that much more awesome with a treat for my lips that helps my insides stay warm.
Appetizers
Mozzarella sticks - How unoriginal, right? Hush. When done right, the crisp and herbed (yeah, herbed) outside married with a complimenting marinara..... Oh, my mouth waters with the mention! So there. My comfort food is nothing I'm about to apologize for, and I'd never ask you to compromise on food you love. Besides, what's a "Nice" list without the occasional "Naughty" to really set up the perimeters?
Bison Nachos - Okay, this title is sad. Let me make up for it: adobo-spiced ground bison with black olives, black beans, yummy salsa, couple different (and unambitious) shredded cheeses, sour cream, well-made tortilla chips, a touch of cilantro for brightness. I routinely ordered this as an entree.
Breaded Calamarie w/ Sauce - Bricco (listed on my links) has the description of this dish. What they don't tell you is that the balance is amazing, delicate and complex as soon as it hits your tongue. The buttery ease of the sauce hugging each piece of calamarie. Delicious, haunting, the stuff of which dreams are made. Did I mention the portion size is perfect for 2?
Hummus - Nothing better than a traditional, full fat, left alone hummus. The flavor, the texture and the exquisite taste of balanced ingredients always makes my heart sing. If all you order is the hummus, and you're happy with just hummus for the rest of the night, I'd call it a success.
Egg Rolls - What is the point of knowing the hole-in-the-wall places if they don't drive you crazy? There's a tiny little Chinese place I know, with bright red paint and absolutely no parking, that has egg rolls of gigantic proportions. The things are served, halved, on little white appetizer plates. Given the option, I would have a rather expensive meal of 6-8 plates of these delicious, hot, well-made delights.
Not-Your-Local-Pub's-Scotch-Eggs - There is a Scottish marvel in this world I would eat at once a month given the opportunity. At this delicious restaurant, hidden in the exotictly Scotch menu, is a gem of an appetizer sampler. Scotch Eggs, Baby Bridies, Sausage Rolls and (stay with me) Haggis Fritters.
- Scotch Eggs are hard-boiled eggs, wrapped lovingly in pork sausage and fried, accompanied by an exquisite honey mustard sause.
- Baby Bridies are little triangles of magic: sirloin that's ground and browned, seasoned delightfully and cooked inside a puff pastry.
- Sausage Rolls are the Scotch cousin of spring rolls. Pork sausage rolled in puff pastry that takes on a crisp wrap quality. Tasty little morsels.
- Haggis Fritters sound gross. I agree. They are not. Haggis = sausage. That's what it tastes like. You don't eat the stomach it was cooked in, and you'd never know what it was if I handed you this astounding "sausage in a biscuit situation" you just HAVE to try.
Main Course
Bo Luc Lac - Ever had one of those menus where you just point and nod, praying your waiter/waitress understands that you want what you're pointing at, not the thing underneath it? Honestly, I usually attempt the name. This was a delicious accident I stumbled upon in the midst of an impressive and somewhat intimidating menu of Vietnamese cuisine. Delicately spiced beef (usually cubed sirloin) is "shaken" in the wok as it bounces from side to side, getting seared. The sour, salty, sweet marinade of the meat, coming through in the cooking, makes the combination with fluffy rice one that I melt for every single time.
Ropa Vieja - Let's talk about Cuban food. I don't trust any other cuisine to shred a skirt steak, cook it low and slow in a tomato sauce, put it over yellow rice with black beans and pull sweet, smoky, and finally heat from the mixing flavors, textures, tastes. Sounds easy? Trust me, it's not.
Paella - If you are invited into the home of a Puerto Rican family who wants to make you paella, you say yes. Just shut up that nagging "what if I don't like it" voice and say yes. It was saffron rice, and smoky oysters, and rounds of carmelized andouille sausage, and clams, and stupidly delicious and I didn't have the lobster tails but I heard they were good. Oh, the taste of that delicious meal!
Coconut Chicken Curry - Just to clarify, we're talking Thai curry. Different from Indian curry. Yes, they're related, but not quite the same. Especially the addition of that exquisite coconut milk that thickens, coats, sweetens, harbours the flavors of the curry and the chicken, the veggies along for the ride. I lick my fingers if I get this sauce on them. In public.
Seafood a la Moi - I know this isn't on a menu, but it would be if I had the choice. Raw oysters at room temperature (one shot of tobasco and we're good), clams Rockafeller, 1 1/2 lbs of steamed King crab legs, shrimp scampi (easy on the white wine). A little salad comes before the meal. That's all you need. *passes out from protein overdose*
New York Strip - Had one of the best steaks of my life on my honeymoon. A beautiful 10 oz New York strip (which is a steak cut from the tenderloin, no bone; if bone was left in, the New York strip becomes a T-bone or Porterhouse depending on bone placement, etc) grilled until it was ready for me. Perfect score marks, delicious aroma, light and tender texture. Paired with colcannon potatoes and a small salad, I was a happy woman.
Steak with Linguini Alfredo - Yes, occasionally the Italian nature that creeps nowhere in my historical lineage, but demands the attention of my stomach, gets the better of me. A 6 oz offering of expertly grilled sirloin, resting neatly atop a bed of linguini (think thick fettucini) in a slightly peppery alfredo sauce? You had me at "A". And, just because I'm in a nit-picky mood, alfredo is the sauce. Fettucini is the noodles. You literally cannot have "fettucini alfredo" on penne. Unless you put one pasta dish on top of a bed of entirely different pasta.
La Favorita - Another completely baffling discovery on a seemingly-common place menu from a local "Mexican" restaurant. You know what I'm talking about: the place that would horrify people expecting the same thing they ate in a tiny town outside Cancun on vacation, but still tastes delicious and keeps getting better with every beer? That's the place, and let me tell you about the dish! This tantalizing plate begins (for me) with a tostada. Top that corn tortilla that's been deep fried with refried beans, some seasoned ground beef, shredded lettuce, fresh tomato and maybe some sour cream or rice if you're feeling frisky. Next, the burrito. Classic beef burrito, lying quietly next to the shredded chicken enchilada. Both of the tortilla wrapped yums are covered in a queso blanco. Whenever I'm starving and want "Mexican", my stomach leads my mouth here before my brain knows what's going on.
Salads
Caesar - I love it. Raw egg, sardines, whatever. Give it to me. Put hard boiled egg crumbles or bleu cheese crumbles on it? I'll plead not guilty and the judge will understand.
Naked - I don't like dressing. Americans by and large drown our food. I happen to enjoy the taste of lettuce, and most of the ingredients I would normally put in a salad. Sometimes, the addition of a small bit of dressing enhances the opportunity. For me, however, I've learned to ignore the odd looks when the waitress asks what dressing I'd like and I say, "None, thank you."
Desserts
Cheesecake - It's simple. It's heavy. It's delicious. Leave it alone. I don't need berries in gross syrup, powdered sugar all over the plate or a drizzle. I don't like chocolate for the most part, and I'll ask for a drizzle when I want it, I promise. Put the squeeze bottle back where you found it, and quit adulterating my dessert so egregiously.
Stout Ice Cream - When you hang out with a lot of people who love beer, this happens. I don't mean they are alcoholics, I mean I spend a lot of time with awesome, amazing, intelligent people who care very passionately about quality beer. Some of them are even in the beer industry. Coming across a stout ice cream made from craft brewed oatmeal stout (yum), I couldn't resist. I'm glad I didn't. Fun, tasty, a go-to item.
Strawberry Shortcake - I take my strawberries very seriously. I know this. I should probably apologize for some of the resulting behavior, but usually I don't. Strawberries are my thing. I am an idiot for strawberries. Having said that, there is a dessert out there called Strawberry Shortcake that is not what you're thinking. Or maybe it is, I don't know. I don't think it is, though. It wasn't what I was expecting. Imagine a gigantic, buttery biscuit-like cake. Now put fresh vanilla ice cream on it, as smooth as Haagen Daaz and twice as awesome. Pile on fresh strawberries, slightly mascerated (meaning they've steeped in sugar so long they've made their own light-and-in-no-way-syrupy sauce). Top that with whipped cream. I've elbowed people out of the way for this. I would eat it every day, rotating what meal I replaced with it so I didn't get bored.
Ben & Jerry's Black and Tan Ice Cream - Once in a while you meet a taste that speaks to you on a cellular level. I love Guinness beer. One of the classic Guinness drinks is called a black and tan - a stout and a lager hanging out together in a glass without mixing. Hence the top is tan and the bottom looks black (yay names that make sense). Now, take deep chocolately ice cream and mix in stout ice cream. That's it. No gimmicks, no chunks of anything. Just two astoundingly delicious ice creams that come together in a baffling taste few could conspire to create. Phish Food is good, but this is just great.
Drinks
Mudslide - Hey, sometimes a girl just wants her damn ice cream spiked with chocolate syrup and booze. Yes, sometimes it's just about having a better day.
Hey, what's that blue thing? - I have a tendency to point, ask questions, and from time to time I'll make friends with my bartender, smile and say, "This is the mood I'm in. I would really appreciate a drink to match, and to be honest, I know you're a pro." This is how I ended up with a bright blue drink that everybody kept asking "Hey, what's that blue thing?" It wasn't a Blue Hawaii, so don't ask. I still have no idea what was in it, or what it was called. It was a $7 drink. I tipped $10 on that one. Worth every penny.
White Russian - Classic. I trust your intelligence.
Naughty and Yummy - Sometimes I like to corrupt the Great Loves of my youth. Nothing could get my attention faster than a drink of my own evilness: French Vanilla cappucino (I love using the international coffee house one, made with milk instead of water), and a healthy dose of Bailey's. Sometimes white hot chocolate substitutes, but either way I know the cool weather I adore and the peace-giving snow-gazing I live for are going to be that much more awesome with a treat for my lips that helps my insides stay warm.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Thinking About One's Own Culinary Perspective
My favorite question on any Food Network show is: What is your culinary point of view?
My food perspective is simple. If I had a Food Network show, it would be called "The Language of Food." I love words, I love food, I love the way food and words interact.
What would an episode of my show look like? I would have one theme per episode, no overwhelming the audience for this girl! Let's say the theme is something simple and obvious like... salad!
Why would I do an entire episode on something a lot of people don't even eat? Because I believe that once my audience saw the words that could be associated with SALAD, the leafy stuff could be an amazing new dimension in culinary experiments!
I would start with the beginning of the word, which is routed in salt. Just like, for example, salsa. Many culinary food names come from this root, and speaking of roots! Let's travel around the world and explore the idea of salad.
Sometimes the best way to start with the familiar is to make it unfamiliar. A salad made entirely of ripe tomatoes, cucumbers and fresh onion, in chunky but not awkwardly sized pieces, marinated in vinegar and spices. Refreshing, light, crisp, delicious and lettuce-naked.
And here is where the fun begins in earnest. It wasn't enough to tease your idea of salad. Let's talk about where exactly this dish is from.
In India, this dish is offered as a break, a palate cleanser before that exquisite tandoori chicken. Perhaps most interestingly, this is served without having been refridgerated.
In Italy, after a marinade in the fridge, this is a traditional salad.
With these three ingredients, adding roasted peppers, a white brine cheese called sirene, and parsley. Once it's cool, this Bulgarian dish is called a shopska salad.
Leave out the onion, dice your cucumber and tomato, add parsley, olive oil, lemon juice and black pepper: welcome to Israel.
Tabbouleh adds bulgar, mint, often onion and garlic, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice and salt to the Israeli choice, minus the black pepper.
It's about execution. It's about taste, and what the food culture developed with/ without. It's about the regions, and what they call each dish. It's about teaching each other that no matter how different it may look, under the wrapping the flavors are familiar sometimes. It's about believing adventures are worth the price of travel, every single time without hesitation or doubt.
It's about the language.
My food perspective is simple. If I had a Food Network show, it would be called "The Language of Food." I love words, I love food, I love the way food and words interact.
What would an episode of my show look like? I would have one theme per episode, no overwhelming the audience for this girl! Let's say the theme is something simple and obvious like... salad!
Why would I do an entire episode on something a lot of people don't even eat? Because I believe that once my audience saw the words that could be associated with SALAD, the leafy stuff could be an amazing new dimension in culinary experiments!
I would start with the beginning of the word, which is routed in salt. Just like, for example, salsa. Many culinary food names come from this root, and speaking of roots! Let's travel around the world and explore the idea of salad.
Sometimes the best way to start with the familiar is to make it unfamiliar. A salad made entirely of ripe tomatoes, cucumbers and fresh onion, in chunky but not awkwardly sized pieces, marinated in vinegar and spices. Refreshing, light, crisp, delicious and lettuce-naked.
And here is where the fun begins in earnest. It wasn't enough to tease your idea of salad. Let's talk about where exactly this dish is from.
In India, this dish is offered as a break, a palate cleanser before that exquisite tandoori chicken. Perhaps most interestingly, this is served without having been refridgerated.
In Italy, after a marinade in the fridge, this is a traditional salad.
With these three ingredients, adding roasted peppers, a white brine cheese called sirene, and parsley. Once it's cool, this Bulgarian dish is called a shopska salad.
Leave out the onion, dice your cucumber and tomato, add parsley, olive oil, lemon juice and black pepper: welcome to Israel.
Tabbouleh adds bulgar, mint, often onion and garlic, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice and salt to the Israeli choice, minus the black pepper.
It's about execution. It's about taste, and what the food culture developed with/ without. It's about the regions, and what they call each dish. It's about teaching each other that no matter how different it may look, under the wrapping the flavors are familiar sometimes. It's about believing adventures are worth the price of travel, every single time without hesitation or doubt.
It's about the language.
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