1. I made this pizza a few days before I went to Zeek’s pizza. It’s puffy in places, which is why it burned a little bit:
The Zeek’s people had a longish lightweight crowbar looking thing that they were using to punch down the “puffs” as they cropped up. It seemed like they had the doors to the ovens open quite a bit while doing they were busy punching the dough down. I wonder what temperature the pizzas were actually cooking at.
2. Far and away the most symmetrical No Knead Bread I’ve ever made:
Purely by accident of course.
3. More baguette experiments. I’m still not getting loaves that are as attractive as I’d like, though I feel I’m on the right track:
The “right” answer seems to be to visualize the dough with two imaginary lines running lengthwise along it, dividing it into 3rds. The slashing needs to all happen within the middle 3rd.
4. A basket that was purchased for transporting bread. It was a little small for the purpose, and somebody had other ideas as to its intended use:
5. Who knew a Sham-Wow let to dry on the edge of the tub could be so comfortable?
This type of steamer basket works best. You can get them at Amazon.com for about $8.
I do entirely too much reading of cookbooks. These days, I am not really looking for recipe ideas, more just to learn techniques. One thing that I hate to cook, but Mrs. Iron Chef loves to eat are potatoes. For me, they really are just a vehicle for adding stuff to it, much like chicken breast, so you go from healthy to unhealthy in a hurry since potatoes don’t inherently have much taste. For my End of the World meal, I was making beef stew served in a can, which I thought about it, and what goes better with beef stew than potatoes (well, celery root puree, sun choke puree…just humor me here). I took a hybrid technique from Modernist Cuisine and Cook’s Illustrated to come up with this recipe. This really isn’t much more difficult to do than making regular potatoes, but you will get better texture on them and you can actually do stage one in advance and finish them when you are ready to serve. When you are done, you should end up with potatoes that are creamy on the inside and crispy on the outside. The only special equipment you really need is a steamer basket.
The Software
1 large Yukon Gold potato, cut into ¼ inch slices
2 tablespoons fat (bacon fat, duck fat, butter or olive oil all work well. See note below)
Salt and pepper
The Recipe
Stage 1 – Fill a large pot with water to just below the surface of the steamer basket. Heat water over high heat until steam is visible. Add the potatoes to the basket in a single layer. Cover the pot and steam for 13 minutes. Check the potatoes for doneness – you are aiming for them to be slightly al dente and they should have leached their starch to the surface, so they will feel tacky. Remove them to a plate lined with a couple of paper towels and dry. It is important that the potatoes are dry before starting stage 2.
Stage 2 – Heat a large (12 inch) skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes (don’t use non-stick here). Add the fat and heat over medium-high heat until it just begins to smoke. Test the heat of the fat by dipping the edge of one potato slice in the fat. If it sizzles immediately, the fat is hot enough and you can add the potatoes in a single layer. If they all won’t fit in the skillet, you can do stage 2 in multiple batches. If the fat is not hot enough, continue heating it until you can get your test to sizzle. You are really just browning/reheating the potatoes and looking to get a golden crust on each side, so you probably won’t need more than about 2 minutes of cooking time on each side, checking after 1 minute to see the progress. After both sides are browned, remove to a cooking rack or a plate with a paper towel, season with salt and pepper to taste and serve right away. It pairs nicely with this Beef Carbonnade recipe.
Your end result should look something like this. You can also get really classy and serve it in a can, like I did.
Notes
You really want the potatoes dry before putting them in the fat since hot fat + water = bad news. Your cooking time will really depend on what type of fat you use. Animal fats (butter, bacon fat, duck fat) have a lower smoke point than vegetable fats (olive oil, vegetable oil), so they will reach that stage quicker and take longer to brown the potatoes, which is why you really want to check them after about the first minute. You can actually skip stage 2 if you want and just serve the potatoes steamed. Just increase the cooking time to about 16 minutes in the steamer. This dish would also benefit from the addition of some fresh rosemary, sage or thyme.
The title is not really an exaggeration or inaccurate.
Have you ever heard of New Albion Brewing? Chances are you have not, considering the company has been out of business for the last 30 years. New Albion is generally considered to be the first micro-brewery in the U.S. and it, along with Anchor Brewing in San Francisco, are the two breweries that really got the entire craft brewing industry going.
Why is this important? Well, thanks to Jim Koch at Sam Adams, he worked with Jim McAuliffe, founder of New Albion to try to recreate New Albion’s original pale ale recipe. The beer is being released and should be in stores soon.
So next time you are in your local bottle shop, pick up a New Albion Pale Ale and taste the beer that made it possible for you to be drinking just about all of the beers you are currently drinking on a regular basis (and the one that made it possible for me to review something other than Bud, Coors or Miller).
Too bad the Mayans hadn’t actually invented this dish, they might be remembered for something other than they amazing grasp of astronomy and a faulty calendar.
I like quinoa – it is nutty, easy to cook and really healthy for you since it is a whole grain and does not contain gluten. It is also one of the oldest cultivated agricultural products on the planet. I recently served a quinoa hash as a side dish for my End of the World meal. If you need a hearty side dish or something that can be expanded to a meal and cooked in really short time, this is one for you. I got the idea from this recipe from both Modernist Cuisine at Home and Cooks Illustrated, but the recipe is pretty much my version.
The Software
½ cup red (or any type) quinoa
2 teaspoons olive oil
¾ cup stock (chicken of veggie) or water
½ can black beans (preferably low or no sodium)
2 oz. queso fresco
The Recipe
Rinse the quinoa and drain. In a medium sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the quinoa and toss to coat with the oil. Sautee the quinoa for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden and fragrant. If it starts to brown deeply, lower the heat to medium. Add stock to the pot and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered until the quinoa begins to unfurl, about 15 minutes. Drain the beans and fluff the quinoa with a fork when it is finished. Add the beans to the quinoa, taste (add salt as necessary) and let sit covered for 10 minutes. Plate and sprinkle queso fresco on top. A sprinkle of chopped cilantro would also be nice.
Notes
The quinoa can be made in advanced and reheated with the beans prior to serving. This serves as a nice base for chicken, fish, veggies, or pretty much anything that you would want to put with it. Make sure you rinse the quinoa first and drain most of the water before putting it in the oil. Rinsing it removes a naturally occurring chemical on the grain that produces bitter flavors if you make it without washing it first. Quinoa can be found at most supermarkets either in the bulk food section, the rice isle, organic section or the ethnic foods section.
Bridgeport Brewing, out of Portland, Oregon, makes some very solid and occasionally spectacular beers. You can never go wrong with picking up a Hop Czar or Blue Heron – they won’t blow you away, but they are beers that you will enjoy drinking. In 2012, Bridgeport decided to try a fresh hop beer – a pilsner. I personally thought that was a gutsy move – pilsner is an under-represented style in the Northwest and because it is more delicate, it can be easily overwhelmed by hops if the balance is not just right. Of course, seeing the beer available in 22 oz. bottles, I had to pick one up.
According to their press release, the beer comes in at 8% ABV and 44 IBU. The beer uses Oregon Tettnang and Austrian Aurora hops to give it is complexity.
The beer pours golden yellow in color with a white head, exactly what you would expect from a Pilsner. A complex nose is dominated by lots of grain and sugar with plenty of green hops in the background, a wonderful balance of the two – lets you know you are drinking a pilsner, but this one has some legs to it. The initial taste is very crisp and dry with pleasant grain and a very quick grassy hop finish. The beer is not overly floral and is balanced with a hint of sweetness at the very end that comes out when the beer warms a bit. For an 8% alcohol beer that is on the lighter end of the spectrum, the alcohol is well hidden and I would not have guessed the ABV in that range.
The Fresh Hop Pilsner is not the most hop forward beer that you will ever drink but it had a good balance between grain and hops and would be a pleasant enough to drink it you wanted to experience a fresh hop beer without going toward the pale ale/IPA hop bomb end of the spectrum.
Although not a style I tend to prefer, Fresh Hop was a pleasant drinking experience and I would love to see Bridgeport bring it back in 2013.
Bridgeport Fresh Hop Pilsner crosses over with a respectable 3 suspension bridges out of 5.
Mr Bourdain, is that a beef knuckle in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? An actual picture from “My Last Supper”.
Well, it looks like the Mayan’s were wrong* and we survived the end of the world. It got me thinking again, what would be my last meal if I could actually pick it. A few years ago, a book titled (appropriately) “My Last Supper” by Melanie Dunea asked the same question. There were very little qualifications – the meal could be anything and cooked by anyone, dead or alive. The meals ranged from the simple – Anthony Bourdain wanted roasted bone marrow with a parsley salad to the extravagant – Gary Danko wanted this insane meal that would have made a Roman orgy look like a Golden Corral buffet. Chef’s play this game late at night sitting around drinking and it is an interesting question. You should check out the book, in addition to some great stories, there are some really wonderful photographs.
I digress. I think about the last meal and I am pretty sure I know what I would want it to be, so here it is:
Tortellini with Cream Sauce made by my dad. I have so many fond memories of this, I have spent years trying to recreate the flavors exactly and I have never quite been able to do it.
Perogies made by my grandmother (mom’s mom). Another insanely simple thing that I have never been able to get quite right. Just fried up in some butter please!
French Onion Soup made by my mom. She didn’t make it very often, but I still compare every other one that I have ever had to it.
Tripe Soup made by my dad. Say what you want about tripe, it is delicious and when I try someone else’s that is remotely close to my dad’s it pretty much brings me to tears.
Rabbit Stew made by my grandmother (dad’s mom). I had it once, when I was very young and I don’t remember much about it, but my dad’s parents lived on a farm, cooked over an open fire and made hearty meals. I will take the ultimate comfort food any day.
Bread baked by my grandfather (mom’s dad). My grandfather was a baker by trade and I never once remember him actually making bread (he was retired by the time I was born). I want that opportunity to try it.
Wine made by my grandfather (dad’s dad). Hey, you need to wash the meal down with something, don’t you?
I have had many amazing food experiences in my life, some that I can remember every little detail about, but when it comes down to it, the food that I grew up eating made by the people who made it for me is how I would want my last meal to go.
* I am writing this about a week before the Mayan prediction for the end of the world. If you are reading this either the world did not end or it did but the internet survived. If the Mayans were right, my apologies to them for doubting them.
I think I just lost all respect for Russian River Brewing. I will explain why.
They are pulling out of distribution in Washington State as of December 2012, which means no more Pliny, but more importantly, no more of their really good Belgian style beers. Russian River is not a big brewery, but Pliny created a huge cult following for them, so the demand usually far outstrips supply. Russian River distributed in 5 states – California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Pennsylvania, so they weren’t exactly widely available except on the West Coast.
Earlier this year, I found out from talking to someone in the industry that Russian River was cutting back their shipments to Washington, which I thought was rather odd since they had increased them a few months before that. It wasn’t a big deal – it just made getting Pliny a bit harder. Then they dropped the bomb on us a couple of days ago.
They wrote a letter which, in summary basically says they are at capacity at the brewery and, because of the state laws in Washington, have no control over their brand here, so they are pulling out. This to me doesn’t sound like it is the whole story – as far as I know the laws surrounding beer distribution have not changed in several years and they distribute in Pennsylvania, which has some of the most draconian laws involving alcohol in the U.S. I am not sure if we will ever know the real reason for this, but I suspect that the owners of RR aren’t particularly smart about how they are controlling their growth and it is causing problems. As a result, the 2nd biggest craft brew market in the country doesn’t get access to arguably the most in-demand beer in the country.
Whatever the reasons, I will be making a raid on a couple local shops for Damnation and Suplication before they are all gone. As for Pliny, I have 1 bottle at home that I will be cracking open soon with some friends to enjoy.
I have always like Andrew Zimmern, host of Travel Channel’s, “Bizarre Foods.” The man has no fear about eating things that most people would find strange, although I do question his ability to actually taste anything since he actually likes lutefisk (one of about 4 things I will never eat again).
Zimmern was in Portland this summer filming and he is really hitting some of the best spots in the city. From eater.com:
Thus far, Zimmern’s Portland itinerary has included stops to Olympic Provisions, Laurelhurst Market (where Zimmern touts a smoked balsamic-brined lamb as having “insane flavor”), Steven Smith Teamaker, and Beast (described as “just a jewel of an eatery”). As previously reported, he’s filming at Lincoln today (where he’s already Twatted a photo of tonight’s dinner), and it looks like a stop at Nicky USA is also on the calendar.
What other Portland stops should be considered sufficiently Bizarre? Holler in the comments.
UPDATE: Zimmern’s Tweeting major food porn — wild boar collar, fermented Thai sausage, Vietnamese wings — from Pok Pok.
Laurelhurst Market is a favorite of the Iron Chef Leftovers family and has been previously reviewed here. Hopefully he got the marrow bones, which were some of the best I have ever had. I went to Beast recently and it was outstanding. Olympic Provisions, also reviewed here, is home to an amazing eggs benedict, which Mrs. Iron Chef Leftovers calls one of the best things she has ever eaten. Pok Pok, Lincoln and Teamaker are all on my short list of Portland places I want to hit.
The one I am most jealous of – Nicky USA. If you are not familiar with them, they are the largest purveyor of game meat in the US, most of which is sourced locally in Oregon. I really can’t wait for the show to air just to see what sort of goodies he got to experience there.
In 2012, I started writing beer reviews on this blog in a semi-regular segment titled “Beer of the Week”. It is a bit of a misnomer since some weeks you got 2 beers of the week (hey, those are good weeks) and some weeks you got none. Anyway, I don’t review every beer I drink and I don’t always post them right after I drink them, so you sometimes end up with beers that are out of season or just not available anymore. What I am most proud of is my 5 point rating system.
In case you haven’t realized, instead of awarding stars or mugs or whatever else, I usually award a rating out of 5 based on something to do with the beer or the brewery. For example, I rated the Diamond Knot Whip Ale 4 out of 5 Silent Lucidities based on the idea that the recipe came from Michael Wilton of Queensryche (get it…Queensryche…Silent Lucidity). Coming up with these can be a challenge sometimes – anything animal or plant related is easy, just use the scientific name. Some are harder and probably not quite as funny. My favorite for the year was when I awarded Firestone Walker Wookey Jack 3 Kashyyyks out of 5. Kashyyyk being the home planet of Chewbacca, Chewy being a Wookie, get it? See how my brain works?
I digress, I reviewed a number of beers this year and several of them score a perfect 5 out of 5 on my rating scale. Several of those were vintage beers, so unless you know someone who happens to be sticking stuff in their cellar for 5 or 6 years (like I do), I figured that I should eliminate them from the running for the beer of the year. That really brought me down to 2 beers for the coveted title: Latona 25th Anniversary Cask by Anacortes and Pumpkin Ale by Reuben’s. It isn’t an easy choice; both breweries are great, both are breweries whose beers I really love and the styles are completely different. I am a shameless hophead and the Anacortes beer really appeals to me, but I also love pumpkin beers, especially ones where you can really taste the pumpkin and Reuben’s really knocked it out of the park with a pumpkin rye, a style which you don’t see too often, giving everything that I love about pumpkin beers with an interesting twist (and if you haven’t tried any of their rye beers, you should, they are fantastic).
So after much debate and locking the judges in a room without food and water until they made a decision (not really, I just spent 15 minutes thinking about who should win), we have a winner.
In a stunning upset, the new kid on the block, Reuben’s Brews wins the coveted Cheapseateats.com beer of the year award for their Pumpkin Ale! I highly encourage you to try this beer when it comes back around next year. It is so good that it is close to replacing Elysian’s Dark of the Moon as my favorite pumpkin beer on the planet, which is no easy feat since I pretty much consider Dark to be the second best beer brewed in Washington, behind Anacortes IPA of course!
Congrats to the wonderful folks from Reuben’s for brewing such delicious beers and keep it up. You will have some stiff competition in 2013 if you want to retain your title.
Since popup restaurants are all the rage these days, I recently saw a post on eater.com about one being done by a “celebrity chef.”
Here is what you would get:
Mac and Cheese with Butter Sauce and Crispy Bacon
Hot Chicken Bite with Tomato and Cucumber Salad
Meat Loaf with Collard Greens, Mashed Potatoes and Creamed Corn
Banana Pudding, Pecan Short Bread and Bruleed Bananas
Each course comes with a paired cocktail, a gift bag containing cookies and a bottle of wine and a photo op with the chef.
The regular price for this privilege is $399 per person, tax and gratuity included, but if you act now, you can get this meal for $175 per person (although there is some confusion if gratuity is included).
The chef?
Thomas Keller? Nope
Hugh Atchinson? Nope
Ferran Adria? Not even close.
The resurrected corpse of Julia Child? Well, that is closer.
It is none other than former Top Chef contestant Carla Hall, most famous for not winning Top Chef and being on a talk show. The event is held in Bloomingdales in NYC and I can imagine that Hall probably won’t be doing the cooking. For $175 dollars, go somewhere else – it is NYC, you can find a better meal just about anywhere. Hell, for half that, I will make the same meal for you if you want, and I am slightly less annoying than Hall.
FlatbreadGarden 