Saturday, July 10, 2010 - By Z
I like experimentation. I rarely make a dish the same way twice. I recently described my cooking to someone as frenetic and while I originally meant that I generally flail about the kitchen, I think it describes my approach to recipes as well. If there’s a flavor I want or a texture I’m after, I’m gonna try to get there a bunch of different ways… no, not to see what’s best, just because I’d get bored otherwise.
This approach does not work well in the realm of baking. As the T-shirt says, “Baking is science for hungry people” and, unfortunately, science requires proper measurements and correct temperatures and the like. I don’t pretend that I know how to bake, so when I bake, I defer entirely to others’ expertise.
That said, even though I made a few rookie mistakes, I was not embarrassed of the soufflés, especially when topped with rich vanilla bean ice cream and served with port.
Though, to be fair, how could any combination of sugar, fat, chocolate, vanilla, and booze taste bad?
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Tuesday, July 6, 2010 - By Z
I read somewhere that this roast chicken would be Thomas Keller‘s choice for his last meal. I dismissed this as the hyperbole of a celebrity chef, but was quite intrigued nonetheless. After my friend and fellow food blogger Azmina (of Lawyer Loves Lunch) sang its praises, I knew I had to give it a try.
The verdict? I’m a convert. Everyone must try it. I’ve made it twice and eaten it thrice since the first time I had it. Is it the absolute best roast chicken ever? I’m not sure about that, but it is rather mind-boggling how good it is given the simplicity of the recipe. It reminds me of an elegant solution to a math problem, with all of the variables boiled down to their constituent parts and arranged precisely so as to arrive at the correct result. Here, the correct result is crispy salty skin surrounding tender flavorful meat.
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Saturday, July 3, 2010 - By Z
Gumbo, like any great dish, comes with fervent devotees, each with their own “correct” recipe. With my gumbo I think I’ll probably manage to offend each one of those schools of thought. Not only do I use linguica instead of andouille, I add some homemade chili powder, both okra AND filé powder, and even (*gasp*) tomatoes.
Yet, as this blog makes perfectly clear, I am far from a purist. I am an experimenter and a blasphemer. So, I did just that (blasphemed, that is) and, fortunately, it turned out that experimentation and blasphemy work quite well with gumbo. Sure, there are things that I will change the next time I make it (and I’ll let you know what they are), but ultimately I’d say this was a success.
As a side note, my picture taking was NOT a success. I was under the impression my camera had run out of batteries, when in fact the camera had simply shut off to spite me (probably). I didn’t realize this until much later, so that explains why I only have pictures of the very beginning of preparation and none until it was fully prepared.
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Filed in Dinner, Lunch, Meals
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Tagged bell pepper, catfish, cayenne, celery, crab, fish, gumbo, okra, rice, sausage, scallops, seafood, shrimp, stock, thyme, tomatoes
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Tuesday, June 15, 2010 - By Z
A couple of weeks ago, I met up with some friends on a camping trip. We spent the night on a bitterly cold and windy beach in a tent that was better suited for a heated patio. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t my greatest camping adventure. Although I woke up with a crick in my back from sleeping in a car, I received a fairly decent consolation prize: fresh crab.
My friend had taken a boat out on Bodega Bay and returned with a pretty big catch. He cooked the crab and gave me a bagful. He warned me that it wasn’t particularly good, but I was simply looking forward to using it to soak up a bunch of clarified butter. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to use it immediately and had to freeze it. This compromised the texture even further, so I figured that there was only one thing to do… fry ‘em up as crabcakes.
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Filed in Appetizers/Side Dishes, Dinner, Lunch
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Tagged aioli, bell pepper, cayenne, cilantro, crab, crabcakes, garlic, green onions, horseradish, huge mistake, mayonnaise, mustard, panko, paprika, Ritz crackers, scallions, shallots, Worcestershire sauce
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Monday, May 31, 2010 - By Z
Soak pieces of freshly cut pineapple overnight in a solution of pomegranate molasses (رب انار), regular molasses, and bourbon.
Drain the liquid, then boil it to make a reduction glaze.
Grill or broil the pineapple until it has char marks and/or has a slightly golden “crust.”
Serve with coconut ice cream and drizzle the reduced glaze over it. It will cool and become pomegranate pineappley caramel.
Heaven in a bowl.
