foodie nyc

Golden Beet, Beet Green & Goat Cheese Pesto

For those new visitors or for any regular readers that need a reminder, one of my hobbies is to receive a pile of random ingredients without prior knowledge of them with the goal of creating a meal on the spot, without planning. 

All of my recent efforts in this area, which I call spontaneous cooking at home (TM), are fun for me as well as frustrating.   Sometimes I really nail a flavor combination, sometimes I don't.   Sometimes I plate a dish that I love to look at, sometimes it sucks ass. That's just the nature of these spontaneous experiments.

This is a recent spontaneous effort with golden beets.  They were presented to me fully attached to their green leaves on top.  I decided I would use the greens as a pesto-like condiment for the roasted yellow beets.  I roasted the beets with a glug of olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and wrapped in a foil packet so they could steam in the oven.   I then washed the beet greens, blanched them for :30 in boiling salted water and drained them.  I then placed the greens in a food processor with a glug of EV olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice, pine nuts and a few pinches of a firm, aged goat cheese.  I whizzed them together and had a very earthy, creamy, nutty pesto like dressing.  It was a bit creamier than the traditional oil based pesto, but we all know that goat cheese and beets work together and so did this.

I didn't really nail the plating of the dish.  I attempted to place the thinly sliced beets in a piled layer,add a dollop of pesto, pile of beets, layer of pesto, etc.  It would have been better/neater looking if I had done it in a ring mold, but it tasted great as a salad to start our meal.  It was also a technique that proved to be a nice way to utilize an entire bunch of beets.  Great taste, suck-ass plating (TM).

Mushroom, Sausage Buttermilk Polenta

I've been using buttermilk recently to help add that hard to describe twang to dishes that are rich and creamy in nature.  Like a squeeze of lemon juice, the buttermilk twang cuts through richness and creaminess and helps make the flavors pop in the mouth a bit more.  Just a little buttermilk goes a long way, and its rich, thick texture adds richness without a lot of fat.

Polenta is like adult baby food to me.   It's soothing, mesmerizing (I notice people don't speak when it's served!)and a perfect treat for winter. It's rainy and cold here in NYC as we approach Thanksgiving.  So the earthy fragrant aromas of mushrooms and garlic sizzling in butter, the fragrant smell of rosemary and browning sausage were perfect accompaniments for a cold winter night of 'adult baby food' enjoyment.

Restaurant Notebook: Nov 18, 2005

I had decided a while ago that I wouldn't post reviews of all of the restaurants I visit in NYC. But while I do like to keep this site focused on documenting my own cooking, I would be remiss if not mentioning who, what and where influences how I cook in my own kitchen.

Every few weeks I will give a list of recommendations based on the recent dining experiences I've had. I have started to find newspaper restaurant reviews really boring (but thankfully they are giving us Jules) so don't expect long winded BS for these recos - I'll just cut straight to the food.

Recommended, You'll love it

Blue Ribbon proper - This continues to be one of my favorites restaurants in the city.  I go here when I need a great meal.  Period.  Steak tartar, clam stew for two, oysters with perfect mignonette (a rarity in my opinion), fried chicken, skate, OK stop.  Great vibe, perfect date restaurant.

Biltmore Room - Expensive but worth it.  Very focused flavors but a bit playful with the menu.  Nice dining room, good bar, has a Babbo feel to me in the fact that it's high end, ambitious cooking without the formality you'd get at a 4 star restaurant.  Chef Gary Robbins kicked his status up a notch with the birth of this gem. He should get recognition as one of the best chefs in the city.

Uno Pizza Napoletana - So damn good.  Just be cool with paying double for a pizza  before you go and you'll love it.  I really wish this place was BYOB, because I'd like to drink something other than an average beer or the low priority wine options. I'd bring a sixer of an amber beer or a Malbec from Argentina, as the awesome wood burning oven flavor is great for a big wine.

Little Giant - Just love this little place.  So homegrown feeling, as if you were in the first restaurant of a young, ambitious team.  And you are!   Nice wine list (but don't like the stemless bistro style wine glasses I've had there a few times.  I really believe wines need a bowl style wine glass for maximum pleasure, but just ask and they'll give you a proper wine glass). Great vibe, friendly staff, simple and nicely done food based on whatever is fresh and in the markets.

Neptune Room - everything I wrote here continues to be true after repeat visits.

Recommended.....but

Les Halles - Hadn't been to my old stomping grounds for a while until recently.  Saturday night service beyond bad. Food is still tasting the same, which is nothing short of rich, over the top, old school bistro French meal.  Meats continue to be what to order.  Fries = excellent.  Onion soup still as good as when it was a craveable winter brunch order throughout my just-out-of-college days.

Cookshop - Uneven.  Thin and unremarkable clam chowder.  Fresh, beautifully crisp cod over chickpeas. Great wood oven items ala older sister Five Points, like razor clams and wood roasted pasta.  Nice vibe.  If feeling untrendy, I would reco Red Cat for similar style fare that is better and more consistent, in my opinion.

Babbo - Molto is my favorite celeb chef, no doubt about it. I have also considered Babbo one of my favs for the past - what - 7 years.  But recently the beef cheek ravioli wasn't up to previous high standards (overcooked) and our bronzino was just average (fishy,soggy).  Clams in chili broth, always very good. Two fantastic wine choices by the staff. I personally think they need to update the menu beyond the Babbo classics to refresh and shake things up a bit.  It's just missing its old spark.  I wonder if the eye is on a bigger price with Del Posto, but I hope not.

The Jury's Still Out On....

Chanterelle - Very good food, don't get me wrong.  And definitely worthy of a star from the wankers at Michelin.  But it is clearly aiming at being 3-4 star Times restaurant (just have a look at your bill at the end of the meal) and it has achieved these excellent ratings in the past. I think it is a restaurant to watch, as I think the issues need to be addressed - surely the team must have been taken aback by the lack of a Michelin star.  Such a diss surely must make you evaulate things a bit.  In my opinion, the restaurant is missing the wow experience you'd expect at these prices. Excellent wine list (a few bottles I was interested in were over 100% mark up from retail research I've done since eating here - ugh).  Seafood sausage is an ace.  Cheese course - not sure I can name a better one.  Lots of big, thick, meaty, over-reduced sauces overwhelmed many of the entrees.

Roast Pork with Mojo and Yuca Mash

I made this recipe a while ago for Gothamist, but just wanted to make sure I got it up on this site as well. 

Our friend Will was kind enough to invite us down to his family house in West Palm Beach for the traditional Cuban pig roast that his family loves to have.  A family friend of theirs has two permanent, tile-lined Caja China boxes in his yard, along with a pig prep/seasoning area and an outdoor kitchen for making the traditional accompaniments to the pork. The boxes coal roast a whole pig to a crunchy moistness in about five hours. Their friend buys and cleans the pig himself, seasons it with salt, pepper and lime and lets it roast away.

After stopping by to check out the roasting during the day, we returned five hours later to pick up our 60 pound pig, buttery yuca garlic mash, and black beans and rice. The final piece that took it over the top was a garlicky, herbal mojo that we watched our friend’s mother prepare in a mortar and pestle. We slathered it over evey piece of pork – from the crunchy skin, to our favorite part, the juicy ribs.

This is an attempt at recreating the flavors of that fantastic experience, sans the Caja China.  Man, I need a backyard!

Concord Grape Experiment #2

Another experiment with concord grapes, this time playing off the timeless combination of peanut butter and jelly.

I thought I would use the concord juice in a reduction, as a syrupy sauce for scallops.  In my opinion, the peanut butter idea would not work with the typically rich, smooth, creamy texture that we all know it to be. Instead, I imagined it a bit crumbly in texture and just barely held together. 

A seared scallop would be the perfect foil - its texture is receptive to a nutty peanut crumble and of course always works with a simple sauce. 

We cut into the scallop, picked up a bit of the peanut crumble and did a little dunk in the concord grape reduction - it was excellent.  This dish is great for an appetizer, as it works best when you get to appreciate just a few bites.

Details on how I made this after the jump......

Concord Grape Experiment #1

I've finally been able to experiment with concord grapes, as I had recently been thinking about how I can use them in my cooking.  I'll post a few of these creations over the next few days. 

The first, pictured on the right, is a Jalapeno Concord Jelly.  The juice of the grape is infused with slices of spicy jalapeno and chilled to make a jelly. The grape juice tastes a bit like Welch's to be honest, but the spicy kick of the jalapeno was a very nice addition.  I chose to use the jelly with fresh raw oysters.   The briny, fresh oyster was perfect with the sweet/spicy flavors of the jelly.  The fresh chopped mint was added as a garnish to work with the grape flavors and balance to some of the spiciness.

See the recipe below.....

Apple Cider, Mint Dressing

We picked up some fresh apple cider that is so good this time of year in New York.  I had some baby spinach greens but little else in the fridge that could be used for the salad, other than a bunch of mint, a hunk of parm regg, a lemon, and some pine nuts.   So I took about 1 1/2 cups of the apple cider and reduced it by 3/4, boiling it until it became a thick syrup consistency.  I transferred it to this ramekin and let it cool.  I added fresh chopped mint, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to create a balanced dressing.  The apple cider is sweet, so plenty of the acidic lemon juice is key.  The olive oil is whisked in to give it a bit of an emulsion-like consistency.  The mint adds a blast of freshness that matches well with the fresh apple taste from the cider.

As the apple reduction is potent, it's important to lightly coat the greens with the dressing.  Add the toasted pine nuts and shaved parm regg to the salad and we had a simple yet interesting side dish to go with a hefty main course.

Behrens & Hitchcock 2000 Syrah

I was lucky enough to enjoy the Behrens & Hitchcock 2000 Syrah from the Alder Springs Vineyard in Mendocino.  Amazing.  The wine was a remarkable deep purple and had a haunting, rich finish that seemed to last an eternity in my mouth. Nice tannins and while just a baby, it's drinking very well right now.  We opened this wine before dinner, had a taste, then drank the rest after dinner a few hours later.  The three hours of breathing time allowed the wine to mellow a bit and improved the finish as well.

Thinking About Concord Grapes

Welch's and Smuckers have made Concord grapes seem pretty ordinary, but for my tastes, fresh Concord grapes available this time of year are anything but mass produced tasting.

In fact, I find them extraordinarily flavorful. The question is, what to do with them?

Maybe frozen, and stuffed with something creamy and rich.  Like this?

Maybe pureed, strained and reduced as a sauce for fish? How about as a sauce for a tender, poached cod or a seared, crispy bass?

Maybe reduced into a sweet syrup, for seared scallops?

Maybe a gelee? Damn, that would be great with oysters.

Hmmm.  Will have to give it some thought, but expect a post with an experimentation soon....

Apple and Guajillo Pepper Reduction in Roasted Acorn Squash

I was introduced to Guajillo chiles after watching chef Rick Bayless's PBS show about authentic Mexican cuisine.

Bayless uses dried guajillo chiles frequently, as they are one of the most popular chiles used in Mexico. He either re-hydrates them and makes a paste by pureeing them or infuses them into liquids and soups.

The guajillo is smoky, kind of spicy but not overly so.  It has a deep flavor and adds a dark, rich crimson color to whatever you are making.

For this dish, I was spontaneously given an acorn squash, an apple, watercress and a few sweet bell peppers.  I had some dried guajillo peppers in the cabinet, along with ham hock stock frozen from the other night.  Here's what I did with them.....