Gourmet Food

Posted by Jacqueline Church

Okay, so convenience is there. No one has to touch garlic or wash sand out of parsley if they don't care to, but isn't that what cooking is about? I made swordfish using Rick Moonen's Fish Without a Doubt recipe (p. 166) and it calls for garlic, red pepper flakes, thyme.

I could not have brought myself to squeeze garlic from a tube rather than mash it in the mortar and pestle. I took fresh garlic, mashed it anchovies, and thyme forming a nice paste. To this, red pepper flakes and oil were added, and the swordfish was marinated in the paste. Strong, fresh flavors.

No preservatives, no sugars, no starches, no emulsifiers. I was making the emulsion with the mortar and pestle. The anchovy provided umami, salt. The herbs added great flavor, and the swordfish was delicious.

Here's a technique for drying fresh herbs from Michael Vyskocil.

Here's another method for keeping herbs: make a compound butter, roll it in waxed paper and place in the freezer.

Newer ovens on the higher end (such as Bosch) have extremely low settings such for dehydrating herbs and proofing bread. Last year's end-of -summer garden herbs, dehydrated that way were spectacular!

Read about Gourmet Garden herbs here in my product review. Does convenience rule over all else?

Posted by Jacqueline Church

Ouch -- my tongue looks awful and feels worse. I just got so caught up in the excitement of sharing a good meal with new friend David, old friend Joe, some XLB (soup dumplings), when aiyaaa....chomp. Now my tongue resembles ground beef.

My penance was to write all night about really good food (with no ability to eat). Drinking cold iced tea. Hot liquid just opens up the wound. Trust me.

So - remember what your Mom told you and please, don't talk with your mouth full. No matter how hungry or excited you are, how animated the conversation gets.

Read here about this wonderful Miso Marinated Sablefish. And I also thought I should share my sustainable seafood finds and faux pas here: Tautog, Wolf Fish, Sablefish.

It's getting close to back-to-school time. My 'most wonderful time of the year' and I'll be going back to school myself. Newman Farm University, where Berkshire pork is raised. They are Certified Humane and I'm eager to learn more about the abattoir (slaughter) practices, too. It will be tough but good to get an honest view of how a cute little pig gets turned into that delicious bacon, ham or salumi. See The Snail Issue 6 Summer 2008 for Marissa Guggiana's excellent article on The Art of Killing.

Remember Berkshire? Kurobuta is its other name. Or how about Salumi in Seattle? They use Newman Farms' pork. Yes, I will be rounding out my porcine education this month. Stay tuned for more good swine. The schedule looks like it includes plenty of eating too, so I'll be rounding out more than just my knowledge.

Let's just hope I can remember to not speak with my mouth full!

Posted by Jacqueline Church

The Familiar and the Unexepected

Jose Andres is a fantastic chef and ambassador. With the black eye Spanish Olympians are giving the country, someone there should get out in front of the media and do some positive PR for the country with their culinary leaders. One of the things you see watching Chef Andres in a clip from ABC news. He speaks to how our knowledge of the world expands but our experience of it flattens out. We become unable to experience things the way a child does. Our capacity for joy is not gone, it's just dulled.

Andres is el jefe when it comes to enthusiasm. This comes through in his PBS show. He is focused on reintroducing us to the child-like wonder in the world through food. It's what Chef Gabriel Bremer also does here in Cambridge at Salts, using new techniques to re-introduce us to famliar foods.

My introduction to Ferrán Adrià was quite moving for me. I wrote about it here, catching the attention of Epicurious.com editor, Tanya Steel.

Unexpected

Paella is one of the dishes most commonly identified with Spain. One of the best parts of the dish is "socorat" the crusty rice on the bottom of the paella pan. People covet it. To my surprise, a recent paella in Boston had no socorat! Guests had complained of "burnt" paella so the kitchen stopped serving it done properly. The lesson: ask. Next time I'll give the kitchen the joy of cooking an authentic paella and I'll enjoy my crunchy bits.

To read about my experience at a Spanish newcomer here, Estragon is Serious about Cachondeo.

Posted by Jacqueline Church

First our Noodles

Rin: like angel hair. Seiro, smooth but heavier. Inaka, roughest, deliberately chewiest. This according to Frank Bruni reviewing Matsugen - the new soba shop in TriBeCa. "Shop" may be the wrong word, it sounds like more of a temple of worship.

This spot is the lovechild of Jean-Georges Vongeritchen and Taka, Yoshi and Masa Matsushita. The Matsushita brothers run the kitchen. It was a conscious delegation of responsibilities Jean-Georges wanting to ensure a purely, Japanese soba experience, not simply a Japanese aesthetic experience.

Natto in the dish? That's the real deal. This is one aspect of Bruni's review that strikes me as authentically Japanese: an unbending honoring of tradition. No California rolls. No dumbing down for the American customers. Matsugen: 241 Church Street (Leonard Street), TriBeCa; (212) 925-0202.

Ribs for Republicans or Dems

While PETA urges the Republicans to honor their elephant mascot's vegetarian ways and serve ribs of celery versus ribs of beef at their convention (as if!)...Virgil's Real Barbecue(152 West 44th) celebrates Woodstock's 39th anniversary with "Ribstock". Did I miss something? Were a lot of hippies BBQ lovers? I'd have guessed they were the celery rib types, if they ate at all...Go figure.

Real ribs...Bison Ribs

My first Bison ribs from Wild Idea Buffalo were fantastic. Further evidence that this heritage meat, humanely raised and slaughtered, grass-fed is a terrific alternative to beef. Try some bison y'all. Write me for a killer recipe for BBQ sauce and techinque! (Secret: father-in-law's sundried tomatoes replace ketchup as the base.)

Posted by Jacqueline Church

I've been really lucky to connect with some great blogs lately. Burnt Lumpia brings us Chicken Inasal which uses both Annatto oil and Lemongrass.

101 Cookbooks ran this Grilled Lemon-Achiote Tofu recipe, just when I was researching a reader's question about Chadon Beni.

So it got me thinking, how many herbs, spices do we share with a diverse array of cultures? For example, culantro which is the chief ingredient in the Chadon Beni sauce I was locating for my reader, is also used in Puerto Rican Sofrito, as well as Vietnamese and Cambodian foods.

Annatto seeds, which color Filipino Chicken Inasal, also lends color to Red Leicester cheese and Spanish yellow rice.

Allspice is used in Jamaican jerk seasonings, is a key ingredient in chili and in my poaching and soup recipes.

Some of the most beloved cuisines and food cultures are those that combine influences from so many traditions. Like Floribbean cuisine, New Orleans cuisine and Jamaican all share that in common. Coming together around the table, does it get any better than that?

Posted by Jacqueline Church

Even as recently as last week I told you about new frozen treats discovered at the cross-roads of science and gourmet food. One of my favorite scientists, Harold McGee the Curious Cook, often reveals the science behind our experience in the kitchen. He does so in a way that even a girl who skipped science after the 9th grade, for ever more, can understand it. Harold says cold is the new hot.

Now we know that many people claim to taste differences in bottled waters. There's even a newsletter and blog about fine waters and their different flavor profiles and sources. I guess there can be terroir in wines, merroir in oysters, why not terroir in mineral water? Okay, even the Four Seasons hotel in Sydney is promoting a water bar.

Now, it's ice. That's right, ice.

Can you imagine your invited guests coming over for cocktails and bringing their own ice because they don't like yours? Apparently, this is the new frontier: Ice. We're not talking (just) about ensuring your ice has no "off flavors" picked up from the foods in the fridge or freezer. People actually are talking about boiling water to make ice without bubbles. And others are unhappy with crescent shaped ice, blaming it for shifting in the glass when they sip their beverage.

Read this article, I like my ice just so and see why your guests may be showing up with their own ice. Mine is reverse-osmosis filtered so don't bring me ice from a lesser source please!

Posted by Jacqueline Church

I met Chef Rick Moonen in Monterey. He's going to join Teach a Man to Fish this year and I can't wait! Chef Moonen's book, Fish Without a Doubt, embodies the same energy as he does: straight shooting, smart, fun, informed.

You have the sense from Chef Moonen, and from his book, that this is a trusted friend you can come as you are, ask any question, and have a great time cooking a terrific meal. Allaying cooks' fears about fish in a natural way, he doesn't avoid any tough issues, just lays out the facts and moves forward. Fish whose stocks are depleted simply don't appear in the book. He also tells us which fish that are included, should be eaten judiciously. An early leader in sustainability - long before it was fashionable - Chef Moonen is an inspiration.

Recipes, photos, resources, and tips are all here to make your intro to fish smooth and stress-free. If you need a little help convincing the family to try a new dish, Catfish Sloppy Joes is a sure bet.

Clams and Chorizo (p. 283) is a great example of his style. Six ingredients, six steps, 20 minutes and you've got dinner for two or appetizers for four.

See his website for more information. Join in the fray by telling me about your cookbook favorites and pet peeves, here: Cookbooks read, reviewed, reviled, recommended.

Posted by Jacqueline Church

Whether it's fresh heirloom vegetables from his own Salts Farm, or the memory of baking beside his Grandmother, or going to the market with her and grabbing piping hot bread from the Italian bakers; Chef Gabriel Bremer draws inspiration from many sources. He's one of an increasingly well-known cadre of chefs to come out of Cleveland. Michael Symon, Michael Ruhlman, Regan Reik, Dominic Cerino.

Bremer's a big fan of new techniques pioneered by Ferrán Adrià, and now known as "molecular gastronomy" though Chef Adrià himself does not use that term. So how did this Food & Wine annointed "Best Chef" go from Cleveland's West Side Market, to cooking for the award winning Fore Street restaurant in Portland ME, to running the beautiful boîte of restaurant in Cambridge MA called Salts?

Like many in the business, working in a restaurant was first a way to earn money for school. Soon he realized the restaurant, not the Conservatory, was where his heart was. Full scholarship or not!

Some might raise an eyebrow at foam on the plate, but Bremer brings familiar flavors to his contemporary comfort food. He artfully uses new techniques to bring just enough surprise to the table that diners are able to find new pleasure in known dishes. Exactly as Adrià would do, without missing a beat.

Read my Q & A with Chef Bremer for a fascinating take on new food, musical inspiration and what tastes like it came out of your grandmother's kitchen, foam and all.

• Cold is the New Hot; McGee on Chilling and Bremer on Molecular Gastronomy
• Child of Cleveland's West Side Market, Chef Gabriel Bremer

Posted by Jacqueline Church

The International Culinary Center introduces a new Recreational Division that will offer fun, hands-on courses for people of all ages and culinary skills at a fraction of the time and cost of a professional culinary school.

For the first time, world class chef instructors will be offering classes for the public. You'll be taught in the same hands-on, immersion technique that they use to teach students enrollled at The French Culinary Institute.

The introductory Recreational Division courses range from The Perfect Baguette to The Ultimate Thanksgiving Dinner to a special Cooking 101 series taught by chef, radio host and author, Michael Colameco. The courses-which cost between $150 and $395-- are single-session, classes that run three or four hours.

For more information about course descriptions or enrollment, please visit see their website here.

Hungry for More?

Don't forget the up-coming, inaugural New York Culinary Experience, where you'll have even more in-depth, hands-on training from top chefs for a whole weekend of master classes. Read about it here.

Posted by Jacqueline Church

Cobalt Blue and Fabulous

Imagine a very, very chic woman, dressed to the nines, jet black and cobalt blue hair. Like a cross between Coco Chanel and Chryssie Hynde - high heels, tailored pants, crisp white blouse. Oh my god. I wanted to follow her and just be in her presence. She’s more chic, turned more heads on her morning bagel run than I do on my very best date night. At half her age. Her stories, you can only imagine. I’m sure there are some amazing tales in that life.

And stories are plentiful when you go to a Jewish Deli or Appetizing store. Even when you take an intro class on the world of lox. There are many reasons to go but just as many to visit their website. See Russ & Daughters. Buy, listen, watch, eat.

The only thing you'll be hungry for is more stories.

Took my niece and her boyfriend Paul with us to the Astor Center for a class with another recovering attorney, Mark Russ Federman (third generation). Little did I know when we invited Paul to take a break from studying for the bar, that we'd hear jokes about "the rule of perpetuities" in our lox tasting. Oy! Sorry Paul! Good Luck!