foodie nyc

Rosemary Honey

While thinking about making a cheese plate recently, I needed to come up with a few quick condiments to go along with the cheeses.  I immediately began to think about the truffle honey I enjoyed so much in Italy, but I'm unfortunately out of it and haven't tracked down replacements for the pantry.  I did, however, have a high quality Acacia honey that would be a fine accompaniment with one of the cheeses.  In thinking about the truffle honey, I thought about infusing my own flavors into the Acacia honey I had on hand.  I had some truffle oil , but instead eyed some of the fresh herbs in the fridge.  The rosemary in particular should have been a nice pairing with a mild, earthy goat cheese.  I chopped a handful of fresh rosemary and tossed it the honey, then let the rosemary marinate overnight, hoping the flavors would intensify.  That they did.  The rosemary honey was nicely balanced - sweet, earthy and bursting with rosemary flavor.  I think honey is great vehicle for carrying flavor, so I plan on pursuing other honey infusions...and maybe not just for cheese. Peperoncino is at the top of my list - somehow I think the spiciness and sweetness could be a nice combination.  I am cooking for some folks tonight, maybe I'll think about using a spicy honey to lightly coat a slow roasted fish, BLT style?

Fig, Chorizo, Toasted Corn Tart

One of the best things about making a buttery pastry dough is the fact that the initial effort you put into making the pastry can continue to pay dividends in the future.  Pastry dough is easily freezable for an extended period of time.  After thawing it out for a few hours, it's ready to roll and bake for another dish. 

For this fig tart, I browned some chopped chorizo until just crisp in a pan.  I then toasted some fresh corn kernels as I discussed in another post.  I quartered large chunks of fresh black mission figs, thinly sliced some scallions, then tossed all of these ingredients with some salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice. 

After rolling the tarts thinly and placing them in a buttered ramekin, I blind baked the shells until brown and golden.  Just before serving, I added the figs, corn and scallion mixture into the tart and just warmed it in the oven.  I didn't want the ingredients to be piping hot, but just warmed through.  I think figs are especially tasty when warm and juicy, but not cooked or overjammy.  The richness of the chorizo, the sweet juiciness of the figs and the fresh crunch of corn is offset by the flaky, crisp pastry shell.  I only hope I make this again before fig season ends.

Related:  My Fig Rockefeller dish froim last season.

It's Official - October 15th Tasting

Our next foodie event is scheduled for October 15 - read all about it here.

This is going to be a special tasting for me, as the entire menu will be based on my recent travels to Tuscany and Umbria.  You've read a bit about the trip on this site, with hopefully much more to come.  But creating a tasting for 50 or 60 of you out there based entirely on what inspired me during my travels is very exciting - it makes the entire event more personal for me.  I'm used to expressing my traveling experiences in photos or words, but to be able to convey my experiences to you through food and wine will be an exciting challenge.    Hope you can make it!

Toasted Corn, Sausage, Curry Coconut Milk

I love to experiment with the textures and flavors of corn - sweet raw corn, corn milk, corn purees are a few of my favorites, but I've also been toasting corn kernels to add a touch of depth to the flavor of the kernels. 

I take the kernels off the cob, then throw them into a smoking hot dry pan.  After a few minutes, I'll get some browning and even hear some popping action. I only bother to toast one side of the corn, as I still like it al dente and not soft or mushy. 

This dish is very simple.  I toasted the corn in advance, then chopped some ginger, garlic and lemongrass and satueed them with a touch of olive oil and a sprinkle of ground curry.  I added some coconut milk and let the mixture simmer briefly, allowing the flavors to come together.  A squeeze of lemon juice finished the sauce.  (I strained the ingredients out of the sauce before serving).  I simply roasted and sliced sausage, which made a great pairing for the sweet corn and the rich curry milk sauce.

Corn Juice, Pancetta Potato Hash, Fried Mint

My new juicer means that I am juicing everything - herbs, vegetables, fruit...and now corn.  I recently had dinner at Blackbird in Chicago, a favorite restaurant of mine that I've been lucky to enjoy twice in the past year.

We shared a corn bisque with fried oysters and pancetta on my most recent visit.  The corn was rich, silky and bright yellow in color, untainted by seemingly any other flavors.  I thought about the corn milk I used to make, back when I was psychotic - I used to barely cut the kernel tops off a juicy ear of corn, and with the back of my knife, juice the milk from the corn into a separate bowl for sauces and such.  My $100 juicer is much more efficient.   

I simply tossed the raw kernels into a juicer (about 6 or 7 ears gave me soup for 4, with a usable corn puree for another dish).  I warmed the corn milk gently when it was ready to serve.  The result was a rich, buttery, corn juice that tasted like fresh cream had been mixed into it, even though it was dairy free. Now what to pair it with?

I liked the idea of  the pancetta in the corn soup at Blackbird.  After cubing and crisping it, I slowly cooked cubed potatoes in the same pancetta pan until soft and browned. To add a bit of crunch, I fried mint leaves in canola oil for only about 1 minute - the mint shatters and crisps, adding a nice fresh, herbal contrast to the rich corn juice.

Highlights from Argentina

We just returned from a few days in Argentina.  This was our second visit in the past year and half.  Our friend Jorge, a soon to be pro chef who cooked with me for a while at my events, had lived in Buenos Aires for a few months in 2005, giving us reason to spend close to three weeks in Buenos Aires and Mendoza.  Jorge just married a great Argentine woman, Marina, and we just returned from a short five night visit to the land of asado.

Here are some highlights from the trip, with a few of my pictures.

We started in The Pampas coutryside outside of Buenos Aires, a bit of relaxation before fun nights of eating and drinking Malbec late into the night in BA.

We stayed at Estancia el Rocio in The Pampas.  We had an excellent asado lunch with Patrice,the owner, the staff and other guests staying at the estancia.  This is Javier, grill master.

City people and horses don't mix.  But we rode a few of the polo horses anyway.

We rode by ranch after ranch of cattle, sheep and horses.  Yes, I felt like an asshole thinking about asado while riding by the cattle.  (Yes, family members and work collegues, I still curse on this site. Sorry.)

We rode back and had an evening dinner with the our friends at Estancia el Rocio, which featured a cooking technique (the name escapes me, I will ask the owner, Patrice) derived from the Argentine gauchos, who would use their wheel hub to cook a meal over the fire.  For this dish, the estancia slow roasts onions, red peppers, potatoes and chicken, finished with a bit of chicken stock to steam.  The dish reminded me of a lighter version of a chicken cacciatore, sans tomato.

After relaxing in the countryside, it was time to party at Jorge's wedding in Buenos Aires.    This was the first wedding I've been to in which everyone was given party gear after dinner.   Clearly one of the best weddings ever - foie hors d'oeuvres, party masks at 2 am followed by a whole roasted pig at 4:30? Genius.

By far the best asado I have had in Buenos Aires was at a local favorite called La Dorita.   The meats are beyond excellent.  I will be craving the asado from La Dorita for years to come.  The skirt steak and the long ribs were unreal.  Argentines cut their ribs differently than we do.  Served in a long slab, these ribs allow for a more tender piece of beef surrounding the bone, which is perfect for quick cooking on the grill. These ribs from La Dorita were insanely delicious.

I would seriously travel back to Argentina for the chorizo at La Dorita.  It is juicy, porky and crisp from the slow heat of the asado.  The subtle smoke from the grill is the only dressing this sausage needs.  This was the juiciest sausage I can remember ever having.  We went back to La Dorita again just to have a full plate of the chorizo.   

This is my shirt being treated with stain remover after eating at La Dorita.   Yeah baby.  Klassy.

Cucumber Ice, Seared Tuna, Ginger Oil

I've been hanging onto this dish (as well as a full series on corn, coming soon before the season passes) for a few weeks now.

I've since been to a wintery Buenos Aires (ok, not that wintery) followed by showers back in NYC. I even bought a winter coat while eating asado in Argentina.  Looking at the cucumber ice I made a few weeks ago, it's now hard to remember the humid summer night which I made this dish. 

The cucumber ice is the work of my spanking new juicer. I've been cranking out light, rich, vibrant vegetable and fruit juices ever since.  I've been using the juicer for soups, sauces, and the cucumber ice that I paired with seared tuna, arugula and a drizzle of ginger infused olive oil (just ginger simmered in warm olive oil for a few minutes, then cooled). 

The cucumber ice is simply the juice of a cucumber, seasoned with some lime juice, salt and pepper - then frozen with an ice cream machine.  If you didn't have a machine on hand, you can also make this granita style. In fact, a granita is certainly just as easy. 

I definitely considered serving the tuna raw with the cucumber ice, but based on the dish that preceded this during a meal, I thought a seared fillet of tuna would be a better fit.  If the ginger oil is not your speed, I would consider a chili infused oil for a bit of heat.