Just a little food porn...
There comes a time in everyone's life in which a little voyeurism is called for. When it comes to food, these are some of my favorites. Enjoy....
Everyday BBQ
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| You need smell-o-vision. |
For a closet foodie like me, there is one dish that has
always eluded me--barbecue. There’s a lot of debate about the best kind of
barbecue sauce. Some like it hot. Some like it smoky. Some like it dark and
sticky.
For certain regions in the U.S., barbecue is a serious
business. In Texas, beef reigns supreme while in the Carolinas the pig is king.
Memphis and Kansas City round out the Southern and Western flavors of
smokiness, sweetness, and tang. Some regions prefer wood smoking; others dry
rubs. Either way, it makes your kitchen smell incredible!
I’ve tried them all and the one barbecue sauce I just happen
to love is Carolina barbecue sauce. It’s lighter in color—almost red,
actually—and vinegary. It’s not smoky, but it doesn’t need to be. The tang from
the vinegar gives it just the right bite.
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| Ah...Virgil's... |
(Incidentally, one of my favorite restaurants is Virgil’s
Real Barbecue in New York City not far from Times Square. They make a Carolina
pulled pork sandwich that you would sell your own children just to have on your
plate!)
I often go with pulled pork slow roasted after marinating it
for a few hours. But this time, I went with chicken thighs—mainly because I
happened to have them on hand. Frankly, this is how I make most of my culinary
decisions.
For my Carolina sauce, I took a few recipes, found the
ingredients I liked the best, and combined them. The key is to have a good
balance of vinegar to brown sugar. But make it ahead of time and then let it
sit. Let the flavors get to know each other a little better.
In a bowl, combine:
1 ½ cups of cider vinegar
¾ cup of ketchup
2 T of brown sugar
2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Kosher salt
½ tsp of dried crushed red pepper
Cracked black pepper to taste
I browned the thighs in a little olive oil first with salt
and pepper and then set them aside. Pouring in the sauce, I let it simmer down.
The consistency should get a thicker viscosity—a little like motor oil. Placing
the thighs back in the mixture, I let them get cozy for another 20 minutes or
so.
What you serve your barbecue with is up to you. I happened
to make this meal with polenta and sautéed broccoli in garlic and oil. Next
time, I might choose to pair it with an easy veg slaw and soft dinner rolls.
But when all you want to do is dig in, who really cares what the sides are?
Local Kitchen & Beer Bar
Disclaimer: This restaurant review is a reposting of one I previously posted on another site in early January. This is my personal experience with my family. You are free to agree or disagree.
From Two Roads in Stratford to Long Trail in Vermont,
they’ve got everything for the thirsty beer connoisseur. Add to that a funky
space, open bar area, and flat screen TVs for catching the game, and you can
say hello to you new favorite place.
But that’s the upside. Here’s the downside: the food. I’d
love to tell you that the meal my family and I had there tasted great and was
well presented. I’d like to tell you that, true to their name “Local,”
everything was fresh and crisp using only the finest ingredients.
Unfortunately, I can’t. Their offerings look good on paper. But on
your plate, a plastic picnic one at that, they are merely a romp through
mediocrity at best.
We ordered the pulled pork sliders and the beer braised
mussels to start. We followed up with a tuna taco, seared salmon, and roasted
bricked chicken.
The pulled pork was fine, although that’s kind of hard to
screw up. As long as you don’t burn the meat, using bottled barbecue sauce to
douse it with, you’re good to go. But the rolls shouldn’t look and taste like
Parker House. And, the accompanying slaw was over-mayonnaised tasting less
freshly made and more like it came out of a can. The whole dish gave the impression
of dinner on a shoestring budget.
Beyond that, it was clear that the slaw on the pork sliders
was also used on the tuna taco. For the taco, the tuna had an appropriate sear
on the outside with a good color on the inside. But I shouldn’t taste a creamy
goop on my tuna. It’s not a tuna sandwich, so skip the mayonnaise please. It
should be crisp and bright with lime and cilantro and a matchstick medley of
fresh veg. What I got was the exact same glop they put on the pork and the glop
wasn’t that good to begin with.
The braised mussels were cooked, but that’s as far as my
compliment goes. Very few of them weren’t steamed open from the cooking
process, which you have to expect with shellfish. But the sauce tasted almost a
little stale. I’ve had mussels steamed in beer many times before, so I had a
certain expectation. I’m not sure if the beer was off or if everything they put
in the beer just didn’t work. The veggies were way overcooked to the point of
mush. Whatever herbs were in there didn’t marry well with the beer choice.
It should be a good quality light ale or rich lager to steam
the shells open, the vapors steeping the meat inside. There should also be a
hint of lemon that marries as much with the shellfish as it does with the beer.
The mirepoix of carrots, onions, and celery should still be toothsome—cooked,
but with enough give to let the patron know they’re fresh.
The bricked chicken, while over salted, was moist. The
crispy potatoes were good, but the veg of the day was also over salted making a
decent dish not so decent. The seared salmon, however, was far from moist. It
was the kind of dense dryness just shy of a sandbox.
I’m not sure, but I think the veg used for the salmon was also
used with the chicken. Frankly, it was hard to tell what was in any dish. The
place was very dark, especially upstairs. And, that’s where they put us because
we had kids. Even though we came in on a Sunday night with barely any of the
booths occupied downstairs, I felt like we were pushed upstairs and out of the
way. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t really bother me. Except, it’s a beer bar with
flat screen TVs to watch the game. But you can’t see the game from upstairs. No
TVs. You actually have to crane your neck around the bannister to catch a
glimpse of anything. What, people with kids don’t like sports?
More to the point, my daughters are 13, 11, and 9. With
family abroad, each of them has traveled starting as young as six months old.
They have been to some high-end European restaurants and know how to conduct
themselves appropriately. To be pushed upstairs with the kids felt a little
insulting. And if you’re not going to entertain us as well, then injury just
got added to insult.
(One of my work friends relayed a similar result. She and
her husband took their 8-year-old daughter to watch a game on a recent Saturday
evening around 5:00 p.m. The place was relatively empty, so they asked to watch
the game from one of the booths downstairs. They were told no; they had to sit
upstairs. That essentially meant not watching the game they came to see. They
politely left.)
From a service standpoint, their stations are on the first
floor. So even if you ask for a glass of water, it takes several minutes to get
it because they don’t have what they need up top. That’s a planning and layout
issue that should have been caught before they opened in late December.
Fairfield is a family town. If families feel like they’re
not getting good food and good service (or worse, feel like they’re not really
welcome), they won’t come back. For
Local, that should be food for thought.
aw, nuts...
nuts. i don't really think about them until i see them. then i suddenly want them. they are the perfect snack food, too. hand held. easily popped into your mouth. they come in so many different shapes, flavors, and sizes. they go well in salads, rice and pasta dishes, and desserts.a recent favorite of mine is hot pepper and lemon roasted almonds from trader joe's. they've got a little bit of heat, a little bit of citrus, and whole lot of crunch. i find them slightly addictive.
the other bag i usually grab from trader joe's is the marcona almonds with rosemary and sea salt. dude, that rocks. i often pair a little dish of those with assorted olives, a wedge of parmesan or manchego, and selection of meats like prosciutto and bresaola. always a crowd pleaser.
but i always forget how much i like pistachios, cashews, and even brazil nuts until they are sitting right in front of me. i remember as a kid we'd have nuts around the house at christmastime. my dad would set out a big bowl of them with a nutcracker. it was fun making a big, fat, messy pile of discarded shells from walnuts, pecans, and sometimes hazelnuts.
and what's not to like about them, really? they fill you up. they're high in fiber. they regulate the good cholesterol and lower your risk of heart disease. maybe i should keep my own dish of nuts around....
soup nazi
i wish i could claim credit for it. i wish i was the genius who put these simple ingredients together to make a bowl of soup that can sing to you—like cecilia bartoli, only soup. but i didn’t. instead, i will promote someone else’s work standing by on the sidelines cheering it along.
thanks to a recipe in ina garten’s barefoot in paris, i have fallen in love with this little squash and there’s no looking back. the recipe is quick and easy to make. it can be frozen and reheated. and, it’s a great soup to give someone else who needs a good dinner. add some crusty bread, baby lettuces with a light vinaigrette, and a sancerre and you’re in business, baby. enjoy!
2 TB unsalted butter
1 TB good olive oil (and i mean good!)
2 c. chopped yellow onions (translated: 2 medium-sized onions)
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
1 ½ lbs butternut squash, peeled and cut in chunks
3 c. homemade chicken stock or canned broth
2 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 c half and half
crème fraîche, grated gruyere, or croutons
heat the butter and oil in a heavy-bottomed stockpot, add the onions, and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until translucent. add the pumpkin purée, butternut squash, chicken stock, salt, and pepper. cover and simmer over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes, until the butternut squash is very tender. process the mixture through the medium blade of a food mill. return to the pot, add the half-and-half, and heat slowly. if the soup needs more flavor, add another teaspoon of salt, serve hot with garnishes, if desired.
bon appétit!
picnics and sunsets
summer is the perfect time for a picnic. but picnics take planning. what you bring must be portable, and hopefully, finger food.i always love fresh fruit in season. sprinkle a little sugar and let the juices macerate, or just leave them plain. veggies with hummus or a yogurt-based dip is an easy crowd-pleaser too. making your own pico de gallo with tortilla chips is a quick way to wave away hunger pangs at the park or the beach.
true, simple ingredients and simple preparation are key. but some of the best picnics involve a group of friends, each bringing their favorite dish.
just last weekend, we spent time at the beach with some friends and their families. everyone brought something quick and easy: potstickers with thai sauce; a mediterranean tustcan bean salad with roasted red peppers and feta cheese; bean and corn salsa with multigrain chips.
we chowed down. quick and simple recipes, yet it seemed like a luxury to eat. maybe it was the amazing sunset on the horizon or the good company that made it better. but with very little effort, we had a feast.
sometimes, it’s not the grandiose gestures but the little things that matter in life. and so it is with food…
savoring france
i recently returned from france. i want to describe the most beautiful meal…
we went to les oenophiles in dijon. it was a little out of the way place that we never would have found without our guide book.
i asked for a table for my family, “cinq personnes.” after seating us, a waiter came almost immediately with a tray of amuse bouche: salmon mousse with caviar alternated with prosciutto-wrapped sundried tomatoes studded with roasted garlic on crostini.
i ordered the filet mignon for my husband and the rosettes d’agneau for myself. the kids had pommes frites avec steak hache. the kids meal alone would have been a great. but i must say, our plates were even better. sorry, kids.
now for the wine. the sommelier suggested a moray st denis 2002. the moment he poured the first glass, you could smell the perfume of the wine. i can’t recall a single time i’ve ever used the word sublime to describe something before. now i can.
the kids opted for dessert. they had homemade ice cream. vanilla made from real beans. raspberry sorbet bursting with real fruit. and the chocolate—oh the chocolate. intense. deep. rich. full. the best chocolate ice cream i’ve ever tasted. understandably, the kids loved it more than the pommes frites.
my husband and i decided dessert was best enjoyed with the stinky cheeses. morbier, rouquefort, a small selection of goat cheeses, and plenty more that just melted on your plate before it melted on your palate.
there are moments that are simply invincible. they stay in your mind. you never forget them and refer to them often as a beautiful time in your life. that moment—smelling that beautiful wine, eating that incredible meal—was my moment. life doesn’t get any better than that.
photo courtesy of les oenophiles.
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