The Best Meal I Ever Cooked

December 21, 2011

Those of us who like to cook and eat can remember so many meals we’ve enjoyed, restaurants we’ve visited, tastes we’ve shared, dishes we’ve created. We remember meals with family and loved ones. We remember the roast chicken Barcelona, the cheese steak in Philadelphia, the fish boil in Wisconsin, and the white beans in Florence. We tend to rank these meals: What were my top 10 dishes of the past year? What are my favorite restaurants in the Triangle?

But sometimes, an ordinary meal, something you’ve made or eaten dozens of times can be elevated by the circumstances. That is what happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

My father is 79 years old. He has had two open heart surgeries, suffered from emphysema, and a few years ago, was diagnosed with lung cancer. The effects of the cancer, the emphysema and then the radiation treatment left him with very little lung capacity and is on oxygen 24/7. It tires him out just getting dressed. Singing, the one activity he loved to do, is no longer an option. His vocal chords were damaged during one surgery and he doesn’t have enough breath to get out even a few notes. (And let me tell you, my Dad could flat out sing).

Quite frankly, living is quite difficult for Dad, and one of the other things he loved to do, eating, is also a chore. It tires him out. The flavors aren’t the same. Consequently, he’s lost about 35 pounds in the last six months.  I really don’t know how much longer he’ll be around.

I made it down to Florida a few weeks ago and spent a couple of days with my parents. My Dad’s spirits were pretty good, but he wasn’t eating that much. We went to a local Italian restaurant, and he ate a small slice of pizza. That’s all.

But he asked me the next day, as he always does when we’re together, if I could make some foccacia. He loves that simple flatbread, with some rosemary, olive oil, and sea salt.  I told Dad I’d be happy to make it, and I’d cook him dinner.

I decided on a simple dinner. Filet mignon, baked potato, roasted asparagus. For dessert, a molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. I knew that my Dad would appreciate the thought, even if he couldn’t eat it.

Dad ate 3 sizable pieces of foccacia that day. I was very pleased that he enjoyed it and was able to eat so much. But then he ate the filet. And half a potato. And about 8 spears of asparagus. And the entire freakin’ dessert. He ate it all. He ate more in one meal than he had probably eaten in the prior three days. And I made it for him.

I’ve cooked a lot of great meals in my life, but this one tops them all. It wasn’t technically perfect. It wasn’t fancy. But it nourished my Dad. My sick Dad. And, after the meal, he sat back, looked me in the eye, and said, “Delicious. Thank you.”

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Duck Fat Skillet Cornbread

November 28, 2011

I didn’t grow up with cornbread, and most of the time, the stuff I taste is just OK. It’s usually too dry or too sweet or too anything. I feel like Goldilocks, because I could never find the cornbread that was just right.

That changed a couple of years ago when my buddy Pableaux came through town on his “Red Beans & Rice Tour.” He’d visit friends. The friends would invite other friends. Pableaux made red beans and rice and cornbread. Everyone ate.

Pableaux’s technique was pretty simple: Heat up a cast iron skillet. Melt fat in the skillet. Pour melted fat into the cornbread batter. Stir. Add back to the skillet. Bake. And the thing is, this cornbread was just right. The bottom was good and crispy. The cornbread was moist, with the sweetness coming from the cornmeal, not a lot of sugar. And it was rich. I wanted a second piece. And a third. It was that good.

And so, Pableaux’s cornbread is now mine, as I use his technique, following the Lee Brothers‘ recipe for skillet cornbread. But where I differ is that I use duck fat. You can use shortening or butter or lard or bacon drippings, but I use duck fat, because I always have a lot around and, well, it makes the most kick-ass corn bread around. Now that it’s chili season, you need some kick-ass corn bread. So have at it.

Duck Fat Skillet Cornbread (Adapted from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook)

3 Tbsp. duck fat
1-1/2 c. stone-ground cornmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar (optional)
1 large egg
1-1/2 c. whole buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450. Add duck fat to 12″ cast iron skillet and put in the oven. Allow skillet to get really hot! Meanwhile, mix dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients into another bowl. Add the wet stuff to the dry and mix until it comes together. Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven, swirl a bit to make sure duck fat coats the sides, then pour the molten duck fat into the batter. Stir until combined and pour batter into skillet. Bake for about 15 minutes until the top is golden brown.

 

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Chile-Chocolate Brownies

September 19, 2011

My 10 year old daughter Clara has become quite the baker. She’s always surprising me with cookies, breads, muffins, and lately, even pies. But one of her favorite things to bake is also one of the easiest: brownies. She’s been making brownies for years, and she occasionally looks for a new variation on the tried and true standard chewy chocolate version that our family prefers.

Well, do I have a great variation for you: Chile-Chocolate Brownies from Sandra Gutierrez’s new cookbook, The New Southern-Latino Table. (It’s funny, but I’ve never met Sandra, but I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been told, “Oh, you two should really meet!” Even now, after receiving a complementary copy of her new book, we still haven’t met. Time to fix that!)

But back to these brownies. I recently read a local magazine’s take on this rich, dense and moist brownies, which combines two different types of chile powder, one in the brownie itself and a spicier, smokier chipotle for the glaze. This magazine said that if you’re making these brownies for kids, leave out the chile powder. Leave out the chile powder? Are you completely out of your mind??? Yes, this recipe would make a very nice brownie without the spice, but it would still be relatively ordinary. It’s the chile powder that makes this dish something special, something unusual, something truly memorable. And the amount of heat is really not that great. We had a bunch of kids trying these brownies, and they all loved them. Were they a bit spicy? Yup. But combined with the sweetness and all that chocolatey richness, it was a perfect combination. So please, try making these brownies, just the way Sandra intended you to (although you can leave out the nuts, if so desired — we did). But do not leave out the chile powders — it’s all the difference between a good brownie and a kick-ass one.

And the recipe is so simple, even a 10-year old can make it!

The recipe below comes directly from Sandra’s cookbook. We made just two minor variations. First, we did not include the pecans. We wanted a nut-free version. Second, rather than melting chocolate in a double boiler, we did our standard operation of combining the butter and the chocolate in a large Pyrex measuring cup, and melting it in a microwave, thirty seconds at a time, stirring after each cycle. If you’re wondering where to find the chile powders, check out a Latino store, but I was lucky enough to find both types at my neighborhood Whole Foods.

Chile-Chocolate Brownies

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ancho chile powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup chopped and toasted pecans (optional)

For the glaze:

  • 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • 2 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon coffee-flavored liqueur
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chile powder

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter a 9x9x2-inch baking pan.

Place the butter and chocolate in the top of a double boiler and heat over low heat, stirring occasionally, until they have melted and are well combined. Lift the bowl carefully from the pan so no water droplets come into contact with the chocolate mixture; let cool for 5 minutes and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the sugar; add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; stir in the vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ancho chile powder, and salt; gradually add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture, beating well until fully combined. Add the pecans. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the center is set and the brownies begin to pull back from the sides of the pan. Cool brownies for 1 hour in the pan.

To make the glaze: in a medium bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, butter, liqueur, vanilla, and chile powder; blend until smooth. Place the glaze in a pastry bag (or zip-top bag with a snipped corner), and drizzle back and forth over the brownies.

Cut them into 20 bars.

Makes 20 brownies

 

Note: This post is part of the New Southern-Latino Table Dinner Party!

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Taco Ideas

September 15, 2011

For the third year in a row I’m throwing my own Tacos and Tequila birthday party on the 25th. This old man is turning 48, and  there’s nothing I like doing more than cooking for friends and family.

I typically make four different types of fillings for soft tacos, a red meat, a poultry, a seafood, and a vegetarian option. Sometimes I might make two red meats, depending on my mood.

I’m thinking about pork belly carnitas as one option, and maybe lamb for another red meat. Chicken? Not sure what to do. Suggestions welcome for that and the seafood selection. We fried a LOT of shrimp last year, but I may go with catfish this year. I just haven’t decided.

I have my friends bring tequila, beer and dessert. I do everything else.  And if I’ve actually met you in person, and you didn’t get an invitation, let me know. If we’re not too crowded, you’re welcome to join us.

And really, if you have any ideas for an interesting taco type, let me know. I’ve really not decided on anything yet.

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Recipe Failures

April 27, 2011

Sometimes I come up with a great idea for a recipe, and it fails miserably.  This happened to me at lunch today, when I sneaked home to grab a bite.

We had a bunch of Easter ham in the fridge, a gift from a friend, and I was getting a bit tired of the regular old ham sandwiches I’ve had this week.  I wanted something different. Something I hadn’t had in ages.  Aha!  Ham salad!

Before you start gagging, I must confess that I’ve always loved ham salad — even when it’s the nasty grocery store deli case glop.  My love for ham salad came from my childhood, when my mother fed us a similar concoction that we called, “pickle and baloney” sandwiches.  My mom would buy a big hunk of bologna from the grocery store — not the pre-sliced stuff, but the solid, cylinder found in the deli case.  She’d break out the meat grinder and throw some sweet pickles into the mix.  It would be a course grind of bologna and pickles, and she’d pull it together with some Miracle Whip (no mayonnaise in my childhood home).  I loved that shit, and whenever I found a pickle and baloney sandwich in my lunch bag, I thought I was being treated to something damn special.

Over the years, my mother stopped making pickle and baloney, and she would buy ham salad from the deli instead.  It wasn’t the same as my old favorite, but I still liked the stuff.

And so, when I went home today, I was going to make some ham salad.  I mean, how hard is that — ham, pickles and mayo.  Maybe a little celery for some crunch.

But then I realized we had no sweet pickles.  Damn!  You have to have that sweet element to make ham salad work.

So, with no pickles, I had to come up with Plan B.  What is sweet that goes with ham?  I was thinking of what goes well with prosciutto, and of course, I thought of figs.  But it’s not fig season.  I do, however, have lots of fig preserves in the pantry.

THAT’S IT!  Ham and fig preserve salad!

So I minced up the ham, and finely chopped the fig preserves, added some mayo to bind it all.  A little salt and pepper.  Onto some bread it goes, and then I take a big bite.

Blech.

It’s sweet.  Too sweet.  What I forgot is that the pickles didn’t just add sweetness, they added acidity to balance out the sweetness and to cut the overall richness of the ham and mayo.  My sandwich didn’t have that.  I could have added some vinegar, but that wouldn’t have kept the acidity with the fruit, which I wanted.

I ate half the sandwich and gave up, despondently.

Hmm, I wonder how mango chutney would work?

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Adult Gingerbread for the Holidays

December 24, 2010

I love gingerbread.  It’s always been one of my favorite flavors, particularly when served warm with some soft cream.  It represents the essence of winter comfort food, not too sweet, with depths of flavor beyond most other desserts.  But that depth was sometimes illusory, as it was just a smack of molasses paired with a touch of ground ginger.  This holiday season, I wanted more flavor.  I wanted more complexity.  I wanted a goddamned adult version of gingerbread.

Thank goodness for Karen Barker.

Barker, the co-owner and Beard Award winning pastry chef of Durham’s Magnolia Grill, has the hand’s-down-bet-the-farm-you-can-take-it-to-the-bank-absolute-best gingerbread you’ll ever taste.  This isn’t one of those pale cakes that you whip together in 2 minutes that will still taste just fine.  This is a dark, foreboding-looking gingerbread, with three types of ginger, coffee, black pepper, and dry mustard in it.  It’s a gingerbread that has some kick, without being piquant.  It’s not a dense cake, but it’s really rich.  And when paired with something somewhat sweet, like Barker’s Hot Buttered Rum Raisin Sauce and some vanilla-nutmeg ice cream — oh, my.

And that’s what my guests were saying last week when I concluded a 6 course dinner party last weekend.  This dish is a winner.  This gingerbread means business.  And hell, yeah, I made three of those cakes, so there was plenty for breakfast the rest of the week.

Not-Afraid-of-Flavor Gingerbread

  • 2-1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp dry mustard
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 Tbsp peeled, very finely chopped fresh ginger
  • 2 Tbsp finely chopped crystallized ginger
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 cup molasses
  • 1/2 cup brewed coffee
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 cup orange juice

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9X9X2 square pan or a 10X2 round pan. Line bottom with parchment paper, and butter the paper.

Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, ground ginger, dry mustard and salt.

With a mixer, cream butter with the sugar and the fresh and crystallized ginger. Add eggs one at a time to blend.

Slowly add the oil and then the molasses. Mix to blend.

Gradually add the flour and spice mix until just barely blended, scraping bowl as needed.

Heat up the coffee in a small saucepan to a simmer, add the baking soda, stir, and add to the mix. Add the orange juice until fully combined. The batter will be thinner than what you would expect.

Pour batter into the pan and bake at 350F for about an hour and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan. Invert onto parchment paper, and then flip back over onto serving platter. Eat. And then eat some more.

From “Sweet stuff: Karen Barker’s American Desserts” by Karen Barker, University of North Carolina Press

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Creamed Corn: Simplest Recipe in the World

December 7, 2010

Damn iPhone images stink!

One of the favorite dishes in the McCord residence is creamed corn.  No, not that crap from a can — freshly made creamed corn, with kernels freshly cut from the cob.  It’s a dish I make fairly frequently, and it’s good in the summer with local corn and in the winter with Florida corn.  The corn infuses the cream with its sweetness, and the cream holds it all together.  It goes well with just about anything.

And the best part of all is that  it’s so damn simple!  It’s so easy that I’m not going to give you a real recipe; I’m just going to tell you what to do.

  1. Shuck the corn and cut kernels from cob.  Scrape cobs with back of knife into corn dish.  (TIP: Put a clean kitchen towel over your cutting board.  The kernels won’t bounce away as much with a naked cutting board.)
  2. Melt some unsalted butter in a skillet.
  3. Add corn and the goodness scraped.
  4. Cook over medium heat until it starts to brown.
  5. Add some cream to bring it together.  You want enough cream so the corn cooks in the cream, rather than the cream just evaporating away.
  6. Cook until somewhat thick.  There will still be some residual cream, but it’s all good.
  7. Salt and pepper to taste.  Some freshly ground nutmeg is killer.
  8. Devour.

Really, that’s a lot of steps for something that’s as simple as this:  Brown corn in melted butter.  Add cream, cook, season.

You’ll thank me for this dish, and you can even add it to your Christmas dinner.  And for you lazy folks out there, Whole Foods often sells corn that has been freshly cut from the cob.  It’s not as good, as you don’t get the cob scrapings, but it’s still pretty damn tasty.  Regardless, you’ll put thoughts of the Del Monte Creamed Corn far behind you — just where it belongs.

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The Best Community Cookbook Ever — And Two Events to Celebrate It

October 12, 2010

Yes, I love the Southern Foodways Alliance.  Yes, I’m a member.  And yes, I’ve even been nominated to be on its Board of Directors.  So it should be no surprise to you that I’ll do just about anything this organization asks of me — not just because I’m a good soldier, but because there’s nothing this organization does that I don’t support.  Whether it’s a fundraiser for their film or oral history initiatives or for scholarships for burgeoning food writers, I’m going to spread the word.

This time, however, it’s different.  This time, the event is to celebrate a cookbook.  A fantastic, spiral-bound, community cookbook, suitably named, “The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook.”  The cookbook  is divided into chapters that represent the region’s iconic foods: Gravy, Garden Goods, Roots, Greens, Rice, Grist, Yardbird, Pig, The Hook, The Hunt, Put Up, and Cane.  It’s been edited, written and compiled by some of my favorite people in the world, including April McGreger, baker and pickler extraordinaire of Farmer’s Daughter in Carrboro, Chapel Hill’s great cooking instructor, Sheri Castle,  and Sara Roahen, author of the fantastic book on New Orleans, “Gumbo Tales.”  Heck, I even submitted a recipe for the book — and yes, it is a recipe for cooking one type of varmint.

To celebrate the release of the book, there are not one, but two events planned for this weekend in Chapel Hill.

The first event is this Friday, October 15th, at Foster’s Market in Chapel Hill (750 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd).  This event is a book signing and is free to the public — and, yes, there will be a little bit of food there.

The second event has a lot of food, and this is a ticketed event.  It will be on Sunday at 4:00 PM at Chapel Hill’s 3CUPS (227 South Elliott Rd.).  If you just want to come and eat, it’ll cost you $25.  If you want one of these awesome cookbooks (all the cool kids have them), then that will cost you an additional 15 bucks.  That’s less than the Amazon price!  So, you get a soon-to-be iconic cookbook, lots of great food (with both cake and pie, as there will be a debate about which is better), lots of social interaction with writers, and all on a Sunday evening!  And because it is 3CUPS, there will be wine.  Tasty, wonderful wine.

So, get off your butt and head to Chapel Hill this weekend to buy a book — the best community cookbook ever!  And if you need more information, just check out the SFA’s Blog.

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Southern Pies — The “Must Have” Cookbook

September 30, 2010

We all receive gifts from time to time.  A bottle of wine, a nice piece of pottery, or a cookbook.  On Sunday, my dear friend Nancie McDermott gave me a copy of her newly published “Southern Pies.”  I have all of Nancie’s cookbooks (as she has been so kind to give me copies of them), and through these books she’s taught me a ton about Asian cooking and Southern cakes.  I’ve enjoyed the books, as they’re very accessible and interesting, and all of the recipes have been winners.

But of all these gifts, this one — this book of pies — is different.  This is not only a gift commemorating a birthday, but it’s a gift for everyone.  It’s a gift from Nancie to the cooking world.  Hyperbole?  Judge for yourself, but if you take a serious look at this book, you’ll see what I mean.

Last night after dinner, I finally got a chance to sit down and take a look at Southern Pies, and my first impression is that this may be the first time I’ve had a cookbook that makes me want to make every single recipe in it.  I’m totally serious about this.  Of course, there are the expected chess, lemon and coconut pie variations, but there are a number of very interesting pies of which I’ve never heard: green tomato pie, sliced sweet potato pie, vinegar pie, bean pie, and a plum custard pie.  There are fruit pies that have added substantial amounts of cream to them.  Rhubarb and scuppernong grapes are featured.

I’ve always been a huge pie lover, but I’ve gotten away from baking them in the past year.  That’s all about to change.  I’ll be sure to chronicle my pie baking escapades here, and I suspect my kids are about to learn how to make pie crust.

Thanks again for this wonderful gift, Nancie.  It will be treasured for a long, long time.

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Birthdays and Cakes

September 28, 2010

Our family celebrated two birthdays this past weekend.  My youngest child, Clara, turned 10 on Saturday, and for her birthday dinner party, we had fondue.  She and five of her young friends feasted on cheese fondue with bread and summer sausage, an oil fondue with filet mignon and shrimp, and then chocolate fondue with strawberries, marshmallows, and pound cake.  The girls had a blast, and we loved following up behind them, eating the scraps.

My birthday was on Sunday, and my new tradition is to cook tacos for family and friends (and to serve a lot of tequila).  So I had 5 different types of taco fillings: Braised short rib with morita chiles; Smoked pork shoulder (with a rub of achiote, garlic, cumin, sour orange, salt, Mexican brown sugar, chipotle, and oregano), Braised chicken thigh with mustard greens, tomatillo and jalapeno; Flash fried shrimp; and Eye of Goat beans from Rancho Gordo.  I also made 4 different salsas, some pickled onions, guacamole, and other accompaniments.

It was a great weekend, but the true highlight from a culinary sense were the cakes.  I’m not talking about the amazing coconut cake that my sister-in-law made (thanks, Doro!) or the fantastic one brought by my friends at Crumb, but the two birthday cakes.

My daughter is currently obsessed with the film, “Alice in Wonderland,” and that was the them of her party.  Thus, my wife decided to make Clara an Alice in Wonderland cake.  Clara’s godmother drove up from Augusta to help, and two of our kids (along with one of their friends) all contributed in the final project.  The cake itself was a pound cake, and they used a buttercream icing.  They also made figures with fondant and gum paste.  It took them quite a lot of time, but the end result was quite spectacular.  I particularly love the top of the cake, where you see the legs of Alice as she is falling through the rabbit hole.  Absolem the caterpillar is very cool, as are the Cheshire Cat, the playing cards, and the White Rabbit.  I still can’t believe my family made this.

Clara’s birthday cake was a team effort, but mine was made solely by my 15 year old daughter, Ryan.  She knew I was making tacos for dinner, so she, of course, made me a taco cake.  Look at this thing!  I don’t know how she came up with the idea, but it was truly incredible.  I’m still breaking out into a huge grin when I think about that big ol’ taco.  And it was tasty, too!

These cake-making skills did not come from me.  I am quite competent at baking, including cakes, but I suck at decorating.  I’m happy if I just get the frosting on it evenly.  But my wife has turned into a gifted decorator, and my kids appear to be following in her footsteps.  And I love it.

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Happy 15th, Ryan

August 25, 2010

I embarrassed my daughter last year somewhat by describing the dinner I was going to cook for her birthday party as a type of father-to-daughter love letter.  I’ll not do that again, but I’m pretty pleased that she asked me to cook for her and her friends again this year.  I’ve got a tentative menu planned, including a couple of Thomas Keller dishes, but she may have me tweak it a bit.  It is her birthday, you know.

Hors D’Ouevres
Gougères (French Cheese Puffs)

Soup
Cream of Cauliflower Soup with Red Beet Chips (Keller)

Salad
Baby Spinach with Avocado and Grapefruit, Poppy Seed Dressing (Thanks, Ann Cashion)

Pasta
Farfalle with Pesto, White Beans, and Local Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Entrée
Sautéed Curry Chicken Breasts with Tarragon Butter Sauce, Pole Bean Ragout (Keller)

Dessert
Raspberry Buttermilk Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache, White Chocolate Ice Cream (Thanks, Crumb!)

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Interactive Dinner Party — Southern Style

August 6, 2010

As I’ve previously written, my wife and I host an interactive dinner party for my law firm each summer.  The primary purpose of this party is to ensure that everyone in attendance plays some role in the production of the dinner, whether it’s prepping, plating, busing, or shaking cocktails.  That way, we put people in situations that are a bit different from our office environment, such as when a first year associate is telling our managing partner that he’s screwing up the composition of the plate.  It’s a multi-course affair, and with the exception of one year when I did Louisiana-inspired food, I’ve made Italian fare.  That’s because Italian is easy, particularly for a big crowd.

This year, however, I’m doing something different — Southern food.  Some of my chef friends gave me some ideas for dishes, and then I got other inspirations from items that are fresh at the market.  Here’s my tentative menu (the dinner is on the 14th), listing who provided or inspired the idea.  If no one is listed, then I’ve sort of pulled that one together from multiple sources.  I’d appreciate comments and suggestions, particularly if there’s a way to make it easier on myself.  There will be 34 guests this year.  Eek!

Cocktails

Blackberry Collins –Vodka infused with Lyon Farms Blackberries, House-made Sour, Club Soda  (inspired by Karen Barker of Magnolia Grill, but I’m likely using this for the SFA Potluck on Monday) -OR-

Whiskey Barrel Punch — Bourbon, pomegranate, lemon, Angostora bitters, sparkling wine

Hors d’Ouevres

Smoked deviled eggs with trout caviar – Ashley Christensen, Poole’s Diner, Raleigh, NC

Country ham and cheddar pretzel bites – Edward Lee, 610 Magnolia, Louisville, KY

Dinner

Roasted Figs, Celebrity Dairy Goat Cheese, Allan Benton’s aged country ham

Green tomato soup with lump crab, Benton’s bacon and tomato relish – Ben Barker, Magnolia Grill, Durham, NC

Creamed Collard and goat cheese ravioli with smoked turkey consommé– John Currence, City Grocery, Oxford, MS

Shrimp n’ corn – NC Shrimp with creamed corn, duck cracklins, okra

Lamb Loin, Pink Eye Pea and Zucchini Salad, Tomato-mint jam

Dessert

Brown sugar pound cake with roasted peaches and molasses crème fraiche – Karen Barker, Magnolia Grill, Durham, NC

I may throw in an intermezzo course of a slice of watermelon with heirloom tomato and some Pheta from Chapel Hill Creamery, inspired by Bill Smith’s great salad at Crook’s Corner.

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Things I Don’t Get

July 1, 2010

I’m about to lose some credibility as a foodie/gourmet/gastronome/whatevertermiscurrentlyinvogue, but I have a confession to make: There are a small number of foods that I really don’t love or fully appreciate.  Foods that some people think are the best in the world, but to me, they’re just OK.  This came to me last night when I had two gorgeous green tomatoes that just came off the vine.  I sliced them thickly, soaked them in buttermilk with some green Tabasco, then dredged in cornmeal with salt and pepper.  I fried them quickly in a skillet until a rich golden brown.  I dug in and, just like every single fried green tomato I’ve previously eaten, they were fine.  Just fine.  Nothing all that special to me, and certainly nothing close to an “Oh my god, this is so good” moment.

I don’t get fried green tomatoes.  And before you tell me, “Oh, you haven’t had mine” or “You need to try so-and-so’s,” let me remind you that I’ve had fried green tomatoes dozens of times from dozens of places.  I always allowed to get myself excited by the hype, and I tried to convince myself that they were fantastic.  But they were just OK.  Nothing all that special, but certainly a good way to get rid of the end-of-season green tomatoes (although making soup out of them is a far better thing to do).

And then I realized that there are other food items that I enjoy just fine, but they’re nowhere nearly as exciting as what others proclaim.

Exhibit B: Soft shell crab.  I first have to admit that I am a soft shell crab neophyte.  I’ve had it before, but I hadn’t even eaten an entire soft shell crab until about a month ago.  It was cooked by Ashley Christensen, whom you all know as my favorite chef in the area.  And I enjoyed it.  But as I was eating it, I was also thinking, “Boy, I would love to have some blue crab or dungeness. ”  I understand that  soft shell crabs are different, in flavor, texture and how they’re cooked, and they’re more sought after because they’re available for only a limited time.  But to me, they’re not so good to cause me to groan in a food-gasm.

Exhibit C:  Fiddlehead ferns.  They have a fine flavor, but again, I suspect these are so desirable because they’re available only for a limited amount of time and they are a harbinger of spring.

Now there are some transient foods that I do get, and how.  Morels are at the top of the list.  As are truffles.  I really like ramps.  And the first of the season’s asparagus.  The height of the summer peach season sees me looking like a fool, with peach juices constantly dripping down my chin.

I obviously haven’t thought long enough to come up with other foods I don’t get, but I’m sure there are plenty.  I just don’t like calf liver, but that’s another story altogether.  What don’t you get?

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Posted by Varmint

Strawberry Dreams

April 30, 2010

This is a picture of the dessert I made last weekend.  I had some chocolate waffles in the freezer that were left over from a dinner party several months ago that I popped in the toaster oven (Leggo my chocolate Eggo!).  I had bought 8 quarts of strawberries on Saturday  to make jam, and with the extras I made some strawberry ice cream.  Some chopped strawberries with a touch of Cointreau added a nice touch, finished with whipped cream.   It was a fantastic dish, very appealing to the eye, and totally captured the essence of the strawberries.

It might make a comeback tomorrow.

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Beurre Fondue — The Medium for Spring

April 27, 2010

When spring rolls around, I think of asparagus and ramps and morels.  But I also think of butter.  Lots and lots of wonderful butter, but not in the way you might suspect.  I think of beurre fondue, the butter and water emulsion that I prefer to use to cook these wonderful spring goodies.

You may not have heard of beurre fondue unless you’re a culinary school grad or a food geek, but you know about it if you’ve ever heard the term “butter poached.”  This is what Thomas Keller uses to butter poach his lobster, although I think he uses a slightly more concentrated form of emulsion.  He calls it beurre monte’, but I really can’t figure out if there’s any difference between these butter sauces.

Regardless, I first learned about beurre fondue 10 years ago when Tom Colicchio’s first book, Think Like a Chef, came out.  This is one of my all-time favorite cooking books, as so much of it focuses on technique, flavor profiles, and other culinary basics.  Beurre fondue is just butter that has been emulsified into boiling water.  The technique is simple: Get about half to 3/4 of an inch of water boiling in a small saucepan. Whisk in unsalted butter about a tablespoon at a time. Continue adding the butter until you’ve added anywhere from 12 to 16 tablespoons. If droplets begin to form, add a bit more water, as that’s a sign you’ve evaporated too much water.

Now, take some asparagus, peas, fish, mushrooms, whatever and poach it at a very gentle simmer in this ultra-rich sauce (transfer it to a wider skillet). You’ll end up with the most delicious, decadent (but seemingly light) dish you can imagine.

Some folks par-cook their food first and finish it in the beurre fondue, but I love to cook it from beginning to end.   I particularly like to cook morels in this sauce, as the final flavor is heavenly.  I recently made a dish of mahi-mahi with morels, shallots and local asparagus, with all the vegetables cooked in the beurre fondue.  I served the dish in shallow bowls, making sure there was plenty of the butter sauce to go around.  It was spring on a plate and one of the best tasting things I’ve ever made.

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Looking for Strawberry Shortcake?

April 21, 2010


My friend Andrea Weigl, the food writer at the News & Observer, wrote about strawberries today and included my recipe for a ginormous strawberry shortcake that I discussed a couple of years ago.  Click here if you want to go to that old story.

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A Black Box Dinner

March 23, 2010

My friend Alan is a culinary school grad who has put the world of professional kitchens behind him (at least for now) and is staying at home with his cute, young son.  He and his wife started a tradition a few months ago where they would invite a couple who would bring the ingredients and he would turn them into a meal.  The catch is that these were mystery ingredients, only to be revealed when the guests arrived.  And all the ingredients must be used, but you can supplement with anything in the house.

My wife and I went to Alan’s and Erin’s house some time ago, and he expected me to bring something exotic.  Instead I brought chicken.  Sure, it was really good poulet rouge chicken, but it was still just chicken.  I also brought yellow cauliflower, Arkansas black apples, thyme, lima beans, littleneck clams, red beets, radishes and Meyer lemons.  Alan did a great job, making 3 savory dishes: (1) Roasted beets with apple, wilted beet greens, toasted walnuts and tarragon/thyme vinaigrette; (2) Littleneck clams with Spanish chorizo, fennel, pine nuts and Meyer lemon; and (3) Roasted poulet rouge, with lima beans, radish and leeks, yellow cauliflower puree and jus.

This past Saturday, Alan turned it around, and he and Erin brought the ingredients.

These included farm fresh eggs, bay scallops, blood oranges, fiddleheads, key limes, golden raisins, Israeli couscous, arugula, green garlic, radishes, rainbow chard, and a fucking duck.  No, I’ve never cooked a whole duck before.  No, I’ve never broken down a duck before.  And no, I still really haven’t done either now.  That’s what my sous chef, Alan, was for. Read the rest of this entry »

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Pressure Cooker Risotto

January 27, 2010

Ever since I bought my cheap pressure cooker, I’ve been exploring ways to use it in getting dinner to the table more quickly. This is important to me, as I often don’t get home from work until 7 or so, and I don’t want to spend an hour or two putting together a nice meal. I’m trying to eat more high fiber foods, such as brown rice, so the pressure cooker allows me to cook that rice in 20 minutes, rather than an hour.

Last night, I tried making risotto in the pressure cooker.  That’s right, risotto, which traditionally takes 20 to 30 minutes of constant attention.  But not in a pressure cooker.  You cook it for 8 minutes, without stirring.  And damn it, if it didn’t come out perfect!

Now you still have to cut up your vegetables for the soffritto.  Last night I used shallots, fennel, garlic and carrot.  I browned some boneless chicken thighs in the cooker, removed them, added the soffritto, and cooked for a couple of minutes.  Add the rice, stir to coat, some wine, chicken stock, and then the chicken.  Seal the cooker and cook for 8 minutes.  Release the steam, stir in grated cheese and butter, and serve.

This risotto was absolutely perfect.  Creamy and rich.  The starches from the arborio rice released into the broth, which surprised me.  I thought that the dish would be overly watery, but it wasn’t at all.  And the chicken was nicely cooked, too.

I may never make traditional risotto again.

Pressure Cooker Rissotto

  • 1-1/2 cups aborio rice
  • 2-1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 pound boneless chicken thighs
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 2 Tbsp butter

Heat oil in pressure cooker without lid over high heat.  Salt and pepper chicken thighs and brown in hot oil.  Remove chicken from cooker and add shallot, carrots and garlic.  Stir for 1-2 minutes.  Add rice and stir for another minute.  Add wine, stir, and then add stock.  Add browned chicken thighs (including any exuded juices), bring to a simmer, and seal pressure cooker.  Reduce heat to low and cook for 8 minutes.

Release pressure, remove lid, and stir in cheese and butter.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 3-4.

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Posted by Varmint

Mmm, Eclairs

December 25, 2009

I experimented with pate a choux the past couple of days.  Here’s the eclairs we’ve been snacking on.

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A Stage in Herons — Part 1

October 18, 2009

Herons Kitchen

(Note — This is the first of several parts regarding my two days spent in the Herons’ kitchen.)

DAY 1 — PREP WORK

It was a week before I had planned on spending two days working in the kitchen of Herons, the ultra-swank restaurant in the deluxe Umstead Hotel & Spa in Cary.  I had worked in a small restaurant the month before, but I knew this experience would be different.  A lot different.  I had asked Chef Scott Crawford what I needed to wear and bring, and I got this email response:

We are very much looking forward to seeing you next week. We are very busy next week, so you will see some action. You can arrive any time around 2:00 or shortly after and I will meet you in the lobby. If you give me your jacket size I will have one ready for you. I recommend you wear a white t-shirt under the chef jacket. Black pants are appropriate. I will provide you with an apron. You can bring a knife kit. We will have you doing a rotation through the stations so you get an overall understanding of how we organize. On some of those stations you will need some knife skills (I hope you’ve been practicing).

Crap.  I don’t have any black chef pants, so I was wondering if I could get away with just some everyday, black cotton chinos.  And what about the shoes?  I knew this was a formal kitchen, so I needed to play the role properly.  So I went and bought me a pair of black chef pants and ordered some black chef shoes.  Heck they were on sale, so better to be safe than sorry. Read the rest of this entry »

6 Comments | Best Of the Triangle, Cary, chefs, Cooking, General, Restaurants | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Varmint

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