It has been...a while since I have last posted, and I apologize for the lack of action on this blog. I have, however, been quite busy, and as a result have plenty of things to talk about.
Perhaps most notable of my holiday adventures is my stint at Tailor. I worked a stage there for about a week in early January, taking on the roll of kitchen slave. The majority of my duties involved running back and forth between the kitchen and walk-in, making and firing the bar hot wings, slicing apples (for the much raved about Pork Belly with Butterscotch-Miso), and whipping foams. It may not sound like much, but those were my main duties, but they were supported by many mini-tasks scattered in between.
All in all, it was a truly amazing experience. I have never worked in a New York kitchen (and I have limited experience to begin with), and it was a truly amazing experience. Every single cook in that kitchen is amazing. My knife skills are leaps and bounds better than they were before, and my knowledge of avant-garde cuisine (I learned to stop using the phrase "molecular gastronomy", but am still not sure what to use in its stead) has very much expanded. Lots of emulsifiers and thickeners. Lots, but all well placed and not very noticeable. The most obvious chemical manipulation would be with the use of meat glue (tranglutaminase), which is used for both the short ribs and chicken wings. And I must not neglect to mention the sous-vide technique. The result is perfectly cooked meat. I don't know that I've tasted such amazing duck breast.
After completing the stage, I returned a couple of days later with my girlfriend to try the food front of house. In the kitchen, I got to taste quite a lot of food, but all elements of dishes, rather than the whole dish. Seeing as chef's Sam and Fran devote much of their energy to unexpected food pairings, to taste only a part of the dish is to, as they say, miss the forest for the trees. So, it was crucial for me to have a meal at the restaurant. It was amazing. We had a great time. First of all, the service is mind-blowing. Granted, we went rather early in the evening, but every single waiter and server seemed to be paying attention to all the tables, and the result was extremely fluid and efficient service. The food itself is incredible. I have dreams about the previously mentioned Pork Belly and Butterscotch-Miso. Salty and sweet, it seems to define Tailor. Another of my favorite dishes is small dessert, sort a pre-dessert, or pretzel ice cream and beer foam. Amazing. Really, truly fantastic. It tastes like the Superbowl. I know that seems weird, but I taste it and all I can think about is watching football with a bowl of pretzels and mug of beer. Really delicious. All in all, a wonderful meal, and if you have the opportunity, I highly recommend you go.
So, there that is. I'll update more often from now on...I promise.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Monday, December 24, 2007
Christmas Eve Dinner
First off, Merry Christmas to all. That aside, I would like to apologize for the lack of posts recently. Last Thursday I came home for the holiday, and things have been crazy ever since. I had quite a few food related projects, some of which may or may not show up on this blog. But for now, I would just like to show you the Christmas Eve Dinner I made for my family.
A few days ago, I decided that I would take the responsibility for Christmas Eve Dinner. My mother, being the one who normally cooks for the holidays, was quite receptive towards the idea. So, I came up with a couple small appetizers everyone could snack on, and then came up with a main course.
Above is pictured the first appetizer of the evening: Dates stuffed with almonds and wrapped with Bacon. This was a fantastic dish, being both simple to make and absolutely delicious (of course, bacon is always delicious). To make these, I simply pitted the dates and replaced the pit with a whole almond. Some recipes suggest crushing the almond and mixing it with a cheese (blue?), and using that for the stuffing. Cheese was out of the question, as my father and I are both lactose intolerant (though I am willing to suffer as long as it tastes wonderful). I also decided to go with a whole almond instead of the crushed. The texture is just holds up so much better to the soft date. It provides a little crunch, so as your teeth sink through this treat, they experience the sensations of crispy, softy and crunchy, in that order.
Anyway, after stuffing the dates with almonds, I wrapped half a slice of bacon around each date, pinned it all together with a toothpick, then placed them on a cooling rack which was on top of a pan (so that the bacon fat would drip off into the pan, and the dates wouldn't have to swim in grease). I then placed the pan into a oven which had been preheated to 500 degrees, where I left them for about 10 minutes. Serve them immediately after they come out of the oven, because they are best when still hot, but tread carefully, as they can be a little too hot (I burned the roof of my mouth on the first bite).
Looking back, I will make a few changes if I make these again. I think the sweet to salty ratio was a little off, with the dates almost overpowering the bacon. As a fix, next time I will use thicker bacon, and perhaps smaller dates.
For my next appetizer, I decided to make some mini meatballs. I know, I know, I started with Spanish when I made the dates and bacon, and all of the sudden I'm switching to Italian. It all seems a little eclectic, but I was looking for finger-food, so cut me some slack. Plus, we're in America dammit, the melting pot of cuisine.
The meatballs were also pretty simple to make. We finely chopped a clove and a half of garlic, one small white onion, a big pinch of basil, and a big pinch of parsley. All of this was added to 1.5 pounds of ground pork. I also added about a tablespoon of fennel seed, a tbsp of dried oregano (couldn't find any fresh at the store), some freshly ground black pepper, about a tbsp of salt (you might want to add more, mine definitely needed more salt), a large egg (to hold it all together), and maybe half a cup of bread crumbs. I mixed it all with two forks (to make sure the meat didn't turn to mush), and lightly shaped them into balls about an inch in diameter. I popped them in an oven preheated to 400 degrees, where they stayed for about 30 minutes.
I was having a lot of trouble deciding what kind of sauce to serve them with, and I had run out of time to make something from scratch. I had some currant jam in the fridge, so, taking a cue from Swedish Meatballs (which are normally served with Lingonberry Jam), I popped some of the currant jam in a small bowl and served it with the meatballs. It was delicious.
Pictured above is the main course. Pan Seared Duck Breast with raspberry/wine reduction on a bed of wild rice, with a side of sauteed Broccoli Rabe. I apologize that the Broccoli Rabe looks...less than tasty in this picture, I guarantee you that it tastes better than it looks (perhaps we sauteed it for just a little too long).
This recipe is a little more involved. Recipes for sauteed broccoli rabe and wild rice can all be found elsewhere, so I will devote this space to the recipe for the sauce, which I created by altering and tweaking a plum sauce recipe, and to the duck breast.
This sauce was made the night before, which I recommend you do, as it was fairly involved and will take a good portion of your time, as well as several of your burners.
Ingredients:
Duck Breast (about 1 breast for every two people)
Salt and Pepper
Sauce:
1 pound raspberries
1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon (or port, if you prefer a sweeter sauce. Cabarnet was really all I had on hand.)
1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tbsp ground clove
1/2 tbsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp currant jam
1 tsp dijon mustard
Juice from 1/2 blood orange (about 2 tbsp)
3 tbsp sugar (or more to taste. You may not want to add sugar if using port)
Start with a pound of raspberries. For raspberries, fresh is always best, but seeing as it is the middle of winter, raspberries cost a pretty penny, and I am no chump, so I just bought a pound of frozen raspberries (make sure to give them plenty of time to thaw before you start making your sauce). Put the raspberries and wine in a large saucepan, and let them simmer on medium heat, stirring to help break down the raspberries. As the raspberries began to break down, add the cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and ginger (all to taste, you don't want any of them to be to overpowering). As this mixture is simmering, in a small pot, mix the currant jam, mustard and blood orange juice over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally, and let this mixture reduce to a syrupy consistency. Once this mixture has reached that syrupy consistency, mix it into the raspberry and wine. Let everything simmer, burning off the alcohol and letting the sauce thicken. Give it a taste, and add the sugar. Let me reiterate, you may not want to add the sugar if you used port or another sweet red wine instead of the Cabarnet Sauvignon. You want the sauce to have a sweetness to it, but you still want it to have tang from the orange and raspberries, and a nice Christmas aroma and flavor from the spices.
Once the sauce has thickened, take it off the heat and let it cool a little. Once it has cooled down some, run it through a blender, and then pour it through a sieve (or cheesecloth if you don't have a sieve) to get out all the little raspberries seeds. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge, to be warmed up and drizzled over the duck breast the next day. Save any leftover sauce and try it on a sandwich (it would probably make a pretty dandy replacement for cranberry sauce on a turkey sandwich).
The next day, when you're ready to make the dinner, put the sauce in a small pot at low heat, and let it simmer, stirring occasionally. While waiting for it to warm up, you can make the duck breast.
Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare each duck breast by scoring the skin side (the fat) with a sharp knife. Slice across the skin at a diagonal, with each slice a quarter inch apart. Take care to only slice the fat, and not to slice the meat underneath. This process is to make sure the duck breast won't buckle as the fat is rendered off and the skin shrinks. Once the duck breast has been scored, lightly season each side with salt and freshly ground pepper. Place the breast SKIN SIDE DOWN on a oven safe, nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. The skin will start to crackle and spit as the fat renders. Cook it for about 5 minutes, or until the skin has become a nice golden brown, and then flip the breast, searing the meat side for about 2 minutes. Then, take the duck breast off the pan and pour the duck fat into a bowl, to later be strained and saved in the fridge (duck fat is tasty, and it's always good to save). Put the breast back onto the pan, meat side down, and then place the pan in the oven, where the duck will cook for about 6 minutes (possibly less if it is a thin or small duck breast, aim for the meat to medium rare). Once you take the duck out of the oven, take it off the pan and let it sit for a moment so the juices can settle. Then, slice the duck and finish it off by drizzling on the raspberry sauce. Voila, a delicious, rich and Christmasy dinner.
We finished off this tasty meal with an amazing Mississippi Mud Cake with Raspberry Coulis. I cannot comment on how this cake was made, as it was my sister's doing (she is far better at baking and pastry than I am). So, I will attempt to get her to guest blog so she can give you this recipe. For now, all I can tell you is that the cake was mighty delicious. Check back for that recipe/post, as it will be coming soon.
A few days ago, I decided that I would take the responsibility for Christmas Eve Dinner. My mother, being the one who normally cooks for the holidays, was quite receptive towards the idea. So, I came up with a couple small appetizers everyone could snack on, and then came up with a main course.
Above is pictured the first appetizer of the evening: Dates stuffed with almonds and wrapped with Bacon. This was a fantastic dish, being both simple to make and absolutely delicious (of course, bacon is always delicious). To make these, I simply pitted the dates and replaced the pit with a whole almond. Some recipes suggest crushing the almond and mixing it with a cheese (blue?), and using that for the stuffing. Cheese was out of the question, as my father and I are both lactose intolerant (though I am willing to suffer as long as it tastes wonderful). I also decided to go with a whole almond instead of the crushed. The texture is just holds up so much better to the soft date. It provides a little crunch, so as your teeth sink through this treat, they experience the sensations of crispy, softy and crunchy, in that order.Anyway, after stuffing the dates with almonds, I wrapped half a slice of bacon around each date, pinned it all together with a toothpick, then placed them on a cooling rack which was on top of a pan (so that the bacon fat would drip off into the pan, and the dates wouldn't have to swim in grease). I then placed the pan into a oven which had been preheated to 500 degrees, where I left them for about 10 minutes. Serve them immediately after they come out of the oven, because they are best when still hot, but tread carefully, as they can be a little too hot (I burned the roof of my mouth on the first bite).
Looking back, I will make a few changes if I make these again. I think the sweet to salty ratio was a little off, with the dates almost overpowering the bacon. As a fix, next time I will use thicker bacon, and perhaps smaller dates.
For my next appetizer, I decided to make some mini meatballs. I know, I know, I started with Spanish when I made the dates and bacon, and all of the sudden I'm switching to Italian. It all seems a little eclectic, but I was looking for finger-food, so cut me some slack. Plus, we're in America dammit, the melting pot of cuisine.The meatballs were also pretty simple to make. We finely chopped a clove and a half of garlic, one small white onion, a big pinch of basil, and a big pinch of parsley. All of this was added to 1.5 pounds of ground pork. I also added about a tablespoon of fennel seed, a tbsp of dried oregano (couldn't find any fresh at the store), some freshly ground black pepper, about a tbsp of salt (you might want to add more, mine definitely needed more salt), a large egg (to hold it all together), and maybe half a cup of bread crumbs. I mixed it all with two forks (to make sure the meat didn't turn to mush), and lightly shaped them into balls about an inch in diameter. I popped them in an oven preheated to 400 degrees, where they stayed for about 30 minutes.
I was having a lot of trouble deciding what kind of sauce to serve them with, and I had run out of time to make something from scratch. I had some currant jam in the fridge, so, taking a cue from Swedish Meatballs (which are normally served with Lingonberry Jam), I popped some of the currant jam in a small bowl and served it with the meatballs. It was delicious.
Pictured above is the main course. Pan Seared Duck Breast with raspberry/wine reduction on a bed of wild rice, with a side of sauteed Broccoli Rabe. I apologize that the Broccoli Rabe looks...less than tasty in this picture, I guarantee you that it tastes better than it looks (perhaps we sauteed it for just a little too long).This recipe is a little more involved. Recipes for sauteed broccoli rabe and wild rice can all be found elsewhere, so I will devote this space to the recipe for the sauce, which I created by altering and tweaking a plum sauce recipe, and to the duck breast.
This sauce was made the night before, which I recommend you do, as it was fairly involved and will take a good portion of your time, as well as several of your burners.
Ingredients:
Duck Breast (about 1 breast for every two people)
Salt and Pepper
Sauce:
1 pound raspberries
1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon (or port, if you prefer a sweeter sauce. Cabarnet was really all I had on hand.)
1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tbsp ground clove
1/2 tbsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp currant jam
1 tsp dijon mustard
Juice from 1/2 blood orange (about 2 tbsp)
3 tbsp sugar (or more to taste. You may not want to add sugar if using port)
Start with a pound of raspberries. For raspberries, fresh is always best, but seeing as it is the middle of winter, raspberries cost a pretty penny, and I am no chump, so I just bought a pound of frozen raspberries (make sure to give them plenty of time to thaw before you start making your sauce). Put the raspberries and wine in a large saucepan, and let them simmer on medium heat, stirring to help break down the raspberries. As the raspberries began to break down, add the cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and ginger (all to taste, you don't want any of them to be to overpowering). As this mixture is simmering, in a small pot, mix the currant jam, mustard and blood orange juice over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally, and let this mixture reduce to a syrupy consistency. Once this mixture has reached that syrupy consistency, mix it into the raspberry and wine. Let everything simmer, burning off the alcohol and letting the sauce thicken. Give it a taste, and add the sugar. Let me reiterate, you may not want to add the sugar if you used port or another sweet red wine instead of the Cabarnet Sauvignon. You want the sauce to have a sweetness to it, but you still want it to have tang from the orange and raspberries, and a nice Christmas aroma and flavor from the spices.
Once the sauce has thickened, take it off the heat and let it cool a little. Once it has cooled down some, run it through a blender, and then pour it through a sieve (or cheesecloth if you don't have a sieve) to get out all the little raspberries seeds. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge, to be warmed up and drizzled over the duck breast the next day. Save any leftover sauce and try it on a sandwich (it would probably make a pretty dandy replacement for cranberry sauce on a turkey sandwich).
The next day, when you're ready to make the dinner, put the sauce in a small pot at low heat, and let it simmer, stirring occasionally. While waiting for it to warm up, you can make the duck breast.
Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare each duck breast by scoring the skin side (the fat) with a sharp knife. Slice across the skin at a diagonal, with each slice a quarter inch apart. Take care to only slice the fat, and not to slice the meat underneath. This process is to make sure the duck breast won't buckle as the fat is rendered off and the skin shrinks. Once the duck breast has been scored, lightly season each side with salt and freshly ground pepper. Place the breast SKIN SIDE DOWN on a oven safe, nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. The skin will start to crackle and spit as the fat renders. Cook it for about 5 minutes, or until the skin has become a nice golden brown, and then flip the breast, searing the meat side for about 2 minutes. Then, take the duck breast off the pan and pour the duck fat into a bowl, to later be strained and saved in the fridge (duck fat is tasty, and it's always good to save). Put the breast back onto the pan, meat side down, and then place the pan in the oven, where the duck will cook for about 6 minutes (possibly less if it is a thin or small duck breast, aim for the meat to medium rare). Once you take the duck out of the oven, take it off the pan and let it sit for a moment so the juices can settle. Then, slice the duck and finish it off by drizzling on the raspberry sauce. Voila, a delicious, rich and Christmasy dinner.
We finished off this tasty meal with an amazing Mississippi Mud Cake with Raspberry Coulis. I cannot comment on how this cake was made, as it was my sister's doing (she is far better at baking and pastry than I am). So, I will attempt to get her to guest blog so she can give you this recipe. For now, all I can tell you is that the cake was mighty delicious. Check back for that recipe/post, as it will be coming soon.Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Downtown Sushi
It's difficult to find good sushi in New York. I'm sorry, let me correct myself: It's difficult to find good CHEAP (or at least reasonably priced) sushi in New York. There are of course tons of amazing sushi restaurants in New York, such as Masa or Nobu, but these are restaurants that are way out of my price range. Way, way, way out of my price range. Despite dreaming about the $350 Sushi Menu at Masa, my wallet simple cannot support all my culinary desires.
There are several sushi restaurants in the East Village area that boast a "half-price all day" menu, meaning you can get rolls at $2.50 a pop, which is certainly a relief for your budget, but this sushi is far from delicious, and the quality is...questionable. I ate at one of this places (I think it was called Okasa), and once I got past how thrifty I had been, I began to realize the poor quality of the sushi. I ordered a roll of tuna, a California roll, an unagi (eel) roll, and a roll of sweet potato tempura (which is one of my favorite types of sushi). All together, the total bill was about $12. The meal was less than memorable (mushy fish and cold rice), with its only upside being the price. I do remember specifically watching them make my roll of sweet potato tempura, and was kind of upset with what I saw. Instead of freshly frying a batch of tempura, pieces of pre-fried sweet potato were sitting on a plate, and seemed to have been there for some time. The result was a limp and cold roll of sweet potato tempura. It lacked the crunch that I love so dearly. Despite the price, when quality is sacrificed, as it was in this situation, I would much rather spend the money on something else.
Despite all this, I recently found a fairly priced sushi restaurant in the Financial District called Sushi Around. The sushi has been and is, at least to my experience, excellent. So good, and so well priced, that I have actually eaten there two days in a row. So far, I have tried the spicy tuna roll, the california roll, and the shrimp tempura roll, all of which cost between $4.50 and $5.00 each. The california roll is pretty good. It's made from real crab, which is a nice change, seeing as most sushi rolls at that price include faux crab. The spicy tuna roll was pretty good. The tuna wasn't quite as firm texturally as I would have liked, but the roll itself was quite tasty, not to mention beautiful to look at. The final roll, the shrimp tempura roll, was, to put it simply, amazing. The shrimp was cooked perfectly, so much so that when you would bite down on it, the shrimp practically pops, and is so sweet, it is like eating a piece of candy. Truly a wonderful experience. I should also mention that these rolls are gigantic. 8 pieces of sushi, each of them massive. 2 rolls are all I need to feel completely full. This sushi joint is a steal. The only downside is that the restaurant itself is incredibly depressing. It is tucked away on Ann Street, and at night (the only time I've been) it is completely empty. I went tonight and the only other people there were the cashier and his girlfriend (or sister?). A depressing site to see, but there is a salvation: they deliver! Hopefully business will pick up for Sushi Around, because I certainly plan on going back.
There are several sushi restaurants in the East Village area that boast a "half-price all day" menu, meaning you can get rolls at $2.50 a pop, which is certainly a relief for your budget, but this sushi is far from delicious, and the quality is...questionable. I ate at one of this places (I think it was called Okasa), and once I got past how thrifty I had been, I began to realize the poor quality of the sushi. I ordered a roll of tuna, a California roll, an unagi (eel) roll, and a roll of sweet potato tempura (which is one of my favorite types of sushi). All together, the total bill was about $12. The meal was less than memorable (mushy fish and cold rice), with its only upside being the price. I do remember specifically watching them make my roll of sweet potato tempura, and was kind of upset with what I saw. Instead of freshly frying a batch of tempura, pieces of pre-fried sweet potato were sitting on a plate, and seemed to have been there for some time. The result was a limp and cold roll of sweet potato tempura. It lacked the crunch that I love so dearly. Despite the price, when quality is sacrificed, as it was in this situation, I would much rather spend the money on something else.
Despite all this, I recently found a fairly priced sushi restaurant in the Financial District called Sushi Around. The sushi has been and is, at least to my experience, excellent. So good, and so well priced, that I have actually eaten there two days in a row. So far, I have tried the spicy tuna roll, the california roll, and the shrimp tempura roll, all of which cost between $4.50 and $5.00 each. The california roll is pretty good. It's made from real crab, which is a nice change, seeing as most sushi rolls at that price include faux crab. The spicy tuna roll was pretty good. The tuna wasn't quite as firm texturally as I would have liked, but the roll itself was quite tasty, not to mention beautiful to look at. The final roll, the shrimp tempura roll, was, to put it simply, amazing. The shrimp was cooked perfectly, so much so that when you would bite down on it, the shrimp practically pops, and is so sweet, it is like eating a piece of candy. Truly a wonderful experience. I should also mention that these rolls are gigantic. 8 pieces of sushi, each of them massive. 2 rolls are all I need to feel completely full. This sushi joint is a steal. The only downside is that the restaurant itself is incredibly depressing. It is tucked away on Ann Street, and at night (the only time I've been) it is completely empty. I went tonight and the only other people there were the cashier and his girlfriend (or sister?). A depressing site to see, but there is a salvation: they deliver! Hopefully business will pick up for Sushi Around, because I certainly plan on going back.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
A Quest for the Perfect BBQ Sandwich
I am a firm believer in do-it-yourself. Recently frustrated with the exorbitant prices that Indian restaurants in this city charge, I decided to take my fate into my own hands. In other words, I went online, browsed through Chicken Makhani (my favorite Indian dish) recipes until I found one I liked, and then tried making it. It still needs some tinkering, but it is getting there, and is certainly more cost effective than paying for a $13 order from Baluchi's.
However, not everything that one can order in restaurants can be reproduced at home. This can truly be a problem when what you crave doesn't even seem to be available. A perfect example of this would be BBQ. I love BBQ. I truly do. I have a lot of family in the south, and whenever I visit, I make sure to order 2 quarts of pulled pork, which I proceed to consume over the following two days. If I had the choice, I would live in a giant tub of Buz and Ned's Pulled Pork. When I lived in New England, good pulled pork was hard to come by, and so, when I moved to New York, I was positive that my problems would be solved and my prayers would be answered. There had to be a restaurant somewhere in this city that makes a delicious pulled pork sandwich. Well, if that restaurant exists, I have yet to find it.
The problem is this. When it comes to the realm of pulled pork, two types exist: Vinegar Based and Tomato Based. Vinegar based hails from the Carolina's, is a little drier in texture and has a nice tang to it. Tomato based, on the other hand, can be found in places like Virgina, and I believe the Tennessee area (although don't quote me on that), and is meatier, spicier, and fuller, and packs a beautiful umami punch. In case you haven't guessed, I consider myself a disciple of the tomato based pork.
So really, the issue for me is not that it's impossible to find pulled pork in New York City. It just seems impossible to find tomato based pulled pork. I have been to RUB, Cowgirl, Dallas BBQ and The Hog Pit (to name a few). No luck. I have yet to find a good tomato based pulled pork. I even ordered takeout a couple nights ago from a place that I was optimistic about called Texas Rotisserie. The pulled pork platter (despite being a good deal), was a handful of pork chunks, swimming in a tub of BBQ sauce. Not only did I have difficult time classifying what I ate as honest-to-God pulled pork, I also found it impossible to classify as vinegar or tomato based. I know that there are many more BBQ places left to try in the city (Blue Smoke, Daisy May's, etc), but considering what I have seen so far, I am not optimistic. I may be able to find good BBQ, but its just not what I want.
Normally by this time I would have taken the "do-it-yourself" approach. I would hunt down a good pulled pork recipe and add it to my repertoire. The problem is, pulled pork is near impossible to make in the city. The biggest problem is the smoker. First of all, I don't own one. This is trouble. When I was younger, some friends of mine built one out of a couple of metal drums welded together. It worked quite well, and many backyard parties resulted. However, it took them a substantial sum of money to build it, and it took up quite a large amount of space. Those are two things that I don't have much of. Over the summer, my buddy Matt showed me the cold smoker he had built for curing bacon. Fairly ingenious, just a metal trash can with holes in the top, a rack in the middle for the bacon, and an electric heating element with a steel bowl filled with hickory chips on the bottom. Simple, yet effective, cheap, and small. The problem here is two fold. First of all, a cold smoke won't work. In order to properly smoke (not cure) a good hunk of pork, the needs to hover somewhere around 215 degrees (you're looking for an internal temp of around 180). There is no way that the small electric burner will create enough heat or that the metal trash can will insult that well. If I did get it to work, the second part of the problem arises. Where do I smoke the pork? My apartment is a definite no, I don't have a big enough hood to suck up all that smoke. The street is a no. New Yorkers get scared when they see smoking trash cans, and I would most definitely get arrested as a result. Finally, I could try the roof of my building, but I think I'd probably run into the same problem, except instead of getting arrested, I'd get evicted. So, I'm essentially at an impasse. Do-it-yourself is not an option here. Guess I'll just have to keep looking for a good BBQ joint.
Friday, December 14, 2007
And so it begins...
Starting a blog seems to be a futile pursuit. There are no readers at this point in time, therefore writing this seems to be solely an act of personal gratification. And yet...I press on. I might as well take this opportunity to outline what will hopefully be going on in this blog. Food. At least, mostly food. Snapshots of my life will inevitably pop up here and there, but the general focus will be eating and cooking. Keep an eye out for guest bloggers. I have several friends who would make fine contributors to this blog, and providing I am able to convince them to join me in this endeavor, hopefully we will all be able to benefit from the things that they have to say.
That aside, I think it is important to point out that it is mid-December, and being a college student, that means it is exam time. Despite the fact that I should be studying, I find my mind wandering to the subject of food (for those who don't know me, or those who don't know me well enough, this is something that happens rather often). Last week I promised some friends of mine that I would cook them a dinner. So I have started plotting it out. I'm thinking of doing about a 4 or 5 course meal. So far, I've plotted out a couple of the dishes.
The first dish that I was thinking of was the fish dish. It would be a play on a BLT. It will be an open faced sandwich with toast, grilled endive, and raw tuna, topped with tomato caviar. On the side will be a ginger/miso aioli. I'm not sure how this will work out, but it tasted good in my head.
The second dish I was thinking of was a little simpler. Grits with roast pork belly and truffled maple syrup (thank you to Matt Jennings of La Laiterie for the truffled maple syrup idea). This dish will be a little heavier than the fish dish. The fish dish has a little more asian flare, but I still think this will go nicely. Plus, I'm always looking for a way to include pork belly in my meals.
Stay tuned for updates on this meal. If I get around to sketching platings, I'll be sure to post them.
That aside, I think it is important to point out that it is mid-December, and being a college student, that means it is exam time. Despite the fact that I should be studying, I find my mind wandering to the subject of food (for those who don't know me, or those who don't know me well enough, this is something that happens rather often). Last week I promised some friends of mine that I would cook them a dinner. So I have started plotting it out. I'm thinking of doing about a 4 or 5 course meal. So far, I've plotted out a couple of the dishes.
The first dish that I was thinking of was the fish dish. It would be a play on a BLT. It will be an open faced sandwich with toast, grilled endive, and raw tuna, topped with tomato caviar. On the side will be a ginger/miso aioli. I'm not sure how this will work out, but it tasted good in my head.
The second dish I was thinking of was a little simpler. Grits with roast pork belly and truffled maple syrup (thank you to Matt Jennings of La Laiterie for the truffled maple syrup idea). This dish will be a little heavier than the fish dish. The fish dish has a little more asian flare, but I still think this will go nicely. Plus, I'm always looking for a way to include pork belly in my meals.
Stay tuned for updates on this meal. If I get around to sketching platings, I'll be sure to post them.
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