foodie nyc

Cooking sans Cooking

I'm always looking for new cooking challenges.   In fact, I like to put myself in situations that make me slightly uncomfortable.   While it can be satisfying to be the master of what I already know, I am always looking to keep myself sharp.   

I've always believed that over time, I'd learn and appreciate as many new genres of cooking as I possibly could.   Over the years, that usually means learning about other cultures, and the food traditions that stem from them.   

But when a few friends decided to do a raw detox for a week, I couldn't help but wonder what type of raw dishes I'd create.   I researched and read as much as I could on the subject until I was armed to create from my newfound knowledge.   But in my research of raw,  I began down the frightening path of reading about "mock" ravioli and a plethora of "dishes" with a"ridiculous" number of "air quotes".   It made me slightly nauseous and raw started to get me nervous.   And slightly pissed.    I thought I may have met my match.

I then started down a different path - one inspired by the Matthew Kenney, Sarma Melngailis  book, Raw Food Real World.    After consulting with my raw dinner guest,  I realized raw milk cheese and raw fish were sometimes part of the diet.     I realized I didn't need to learn to make a special raw menu.  I do it all the time.

Cooking raw didn't mean following or adapting a new style of cooking, or making compromises by creating food with air quotes.   It meant making raw food within my own style of cooking.

Three Salad Tasting with Truffle Honey

I dorked out at the Union Square farmer's market for about 30 minutes, highlighted by the ten or so salad green varieties I tasted.   As I thought about which I'd like to serve for dinner, I realized it would be a shame to mix the individual flavors together.   So I featured three greens separately in order to appreciate and truly taste their differences.  The pea shoots, the mustard greens, and a wasabi like spicy lettuce (forgot the name)  make up the dish.    I mixed each stack of greens with olive oil, salt, and lemon juice.   I served them with a slice of raw milk Parmigiano Reggiano, some dried figs, and a mixture of preserved crushed truffles and raw honey.

Gruyere with Cilantro Juice and Pomegranate (pictured above)

I figured I'd make a cheese course, choosing a year aged raw Gruyere.   The nuttiness of aged Gruyere is one of my favorite things.   I juiced raw cilantro, added a drizzle of olive oil, lemon juice and a garnish of pomegranate seeds for texture.

Salmon, pear, pistachio with vanilla bean vinaigrette 

I was into vanilla bean in a major way a few years ago and I've noticed it's coming back into my cooking in the past month.   I simply sliced raw salmon, garnished it with fresh pear, and drizzle a vinaigrette made with olive oil, lemon juice and a the seeds of a fresh vanilla bean.   Not one of my best presentations ever.   I also thought the olive oil competed with the vanilla, so a  neutral oil would have been a better choice.   But the combo of vanilla bean and raw salmon work very well with fresh pear.   I'll experiment with this again.

Tuna, avocado, jalapeno and pear curry juice

I thought it would be interesting to try consecutive raw fish dishes, but with completely different qualities.   I aimed to make a pear juice with a deep, haunting flavor.  Just of pinch of curry with the pear juice took the entire dish to a different level.   A slight showstopper and possibly the highlight of the meal.

Anyhow, I'm sure a few raw zealots will send me an email telling me that my ground curry powder was made with toasted spices or what not.   Please don't.   While I certainly find the benefits of enjoying all of the nutrients and benefits of eating raw, I generally thought that the entire raw experience was a bit extreme.    Though I guess in this case, extremely tasty.

Turkey Leftover Magic

(Ed:  This is a recycled post from Thanksgiving 2005.   Sorry for the lack of posting here lately - I've lost my digital camera.   A certain slacker I know has tons of my food pictures but has been remiss in sending them to me.   Write me a rude comment below so I can use them as motivation for her).

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. 

As you may expect, I did a decent amount of holiday cooking.  My family doesn't really like me to experiment on Thanksgiving, which is understandable (I guess).  So I won't get carried away with pictures of a roasted turkey or mashed potatoes.  Instead, I'll share possibly the best thing I ate over the entire holiday and wine filled weekend.  I made a stock with the turkey bones the day after Thanksgiving, something which I find an absolute must.  Throwing away the turkey bones should be a criminal offense, punishable by a lifetime of Taco Bell gordita consumption. After I made the stock, skimmed it and removed as much of the fat as possible, I decided to make turkey meatballs with finely chopped leftover shreds and pieces of turkey white and dark meat that are always lying around.   I mixed the meat with an egg, parm cheese, parsley and formed them into meatballs.  I seared them in a pan of olive oil and then let them reheat in the turkey stock.  No need to get fancy with this - just season the stock with salt and pepper, toss in your meatballs and a handful of grated parm cheese to finish.

Edit: Cindy's comment below reminded me to post my chicken and meatball brodo dish, created from a similar stock based recipe.  Cindy's right, it's easy and worth the effort to make your own stocks at home, especially on a cold winter afternoon or night.  And even easier, my ham hock stock recipe for a variation.