Something Hot for a Cold Month

Earlier this month, I developed a serious case of The Dropsies. Things have been slipping through my fingers, sticking to my arms as I walk by, flying out of my hands. I've been bumbling through life this month leaving a trail of debris in my wake. Food, dishes, my iPhone, and (much to my chagrin) my favorite lens have all fallen victim to my increase gravitational force. While I am relieved that nothing was actually damaged, the dropping of the lens made me particularly skittish about things, and I decided I needed some time to find my internal balance, so I scaled back on things to give myself time to breathe. I still went to work, fed the cats, watched "Glee", but all non-essential activities were put on hold so that I could regain my grip, so to speak.

And now, ten days later, I have my center back.

Just in time for my counterpart to try his had at what we call Dominican Casserole. This is because the first time we had it was when a Dominican friend of ours invited us over when his family was in town. His mother made this amazing layered dish of plantains, ground beef, green beans, and egg. So when we got a cold and blustery winter-type Saturday instead of the 70-degree early spring the weatherman promised, it seemed like a fine opportunity to try it ourselves.

First, Gareth sliced the plantain and sauteed it in olive oil.

Plantains sauteed in olive oil

While the plantain was cooking, he made what can only be described as a pepper paste. He sliced up some jalapenos and green chilis and used the mighty Cuisinart Smart Stick food processor attachment to puree them with some garlic and white onion and leek. Then he cooked it for a few minutes on the stovetop. I tried some. It was hot.

Why my kitchen smells like mace

Brian Boru exhibits his superior olfactory senses

He replaced the ground beef with some finely chopped choice strip steak. 

Chopped steak

He then mixed the steak with the pepper paste.

Steak and pepper mixture

He transferred the plantains to a baking dish and then lightly cooked some green beans in the same pan with the remaining oil.

Green beans

He then layered the meat and green beans over the plantains.

Layers of plantain and steak with green beans in the background

For the egg layer, he used the immersion blender to combine a couple of eggs with some heavy cream, a spoonful of labne and some salt and pepper.

The egg mixture

He poured the egg over the other ingredients. 

Adding the egg

He then baked it all at 350 for about 45 minutes. It was served immediately and was delicious.

Golden and delicious

And, even though we spent twice as much on our ingredients as our Dominican friend's mother, we are still certain that hers is better, although our was still pretty darn good.

Nothing Says Love Like Pate

My faith strives to achieve a certain balance with nature. We cultivate a high regard for life, so when we take a life - whether plant or animal - it is imperative that we do not let anything go to waste as this shows a lack of respect for the life that was taken. My counterpart goes along with this, and as a result, I regularly get home made pate.

Pate is one of those fancy dishes that is actually easier to make than most people realize. It its simplest form, it is liver, flour, brandy, cream, fat, and seasoning. In keeping with the respectful aspects of my faith, my counterpart has expanded upon this basic theme, and now he uses a wide variety of giblets as the base, including turkey, rabbit, chicken, and anything else we have eaten recently. His choices for fat have included butter, bacon, duck grease, chicken fat skimmed off the stock pot, and rendered pig fat. He favors red onion and shallots and garlic along with salt and pepper for the seasoning.

It is also important to note that proper equipment is necessary for making pate. The main objective is to mix everything together into a paste, including the giblets. There will be casualties. Over the years, we've burnt out four immersion blenders and three food processors, and I think an ice blender in making pate. We are now on the mighty Cuisinart Smart Stick, and so far it is holding up.

First, you want to prep your veg - in this case, red onion, shallot, and garlic.

Shallot

Garlic

Red Onion

Prepped and Ready

Then, prep the giblets. To preserve the life of your kitchen gear, cut down the giblets into smaller pieces, and puree them in batches, transferring the puree to a larger container as you work.

Cut the giblets into small pieces

Puree them in small batches

And don't forget about the cat

The mighty Cuisinart Smart Stick

Add the remaining ingredients, paying close attention as you go. Pate is one of those things that is made by sight and smell, not by taste. Once you add the cognac, things will start to smell pretty good.

Heavy cream added before moving to a larger container

Separate the eggs as you will only need the yolk

Once things are transferred to the larger container, my counterpart switched to the immersion blender to mix the remaining ingredients. Use the blender to mix in each of the ingredients as you add them.

Mmmmmmmm cognac

Butter is our fat for today

Add a little salt

Add a little cake flour

Add a little olive oil

Add the veg

This is the right consistency

Pyrex or Corning Ware are excellent choices for baking pate. Line them with fat and bacon to help the pate release from the pan with it is done baking. We used butter and pancetta.

Lining the Pyrex

Pour the pate into the pan and bake at 350 until cooked through.

Mini-pate

To release the pate from the pan, place a plate over the top and flip it over. Set it down and let gravity work for you.

The pate is releaseing

Carefully remove the pan, shaking it gently to help the pate release. Serve with brie, chopped hard-boiled eggs, capers, and a baguette or water crackers.

Pate is served

Food Truck Sighting!

This week I was overjoyed to see the return of the GrrChe grilled cheese food truck to my work neighborhood. Turns out, they never really left. Neither have most of the food trucks. They have just moved further west of Central Avenue.

When I spoke with the operator of the GrrChe truck, he told a rather unfortunate tale of two groups who should be supporting each other for the greater good of the community but have a tenuous relationship at best, and sometimes downright hostility - the independent food truck operators who set up temporary shop in various neighborhoods throughout the city and the restaurant entrepreneur working to build a loyal following.

When the food truck rolls into my neighborhood, the block between of Fleet Street between Central and Exeter is prime real estate. There are two large office buildings on that block (including the one that houses my employer) full of corporate America looking for lunch. There is also one of my favorite local restaurateurs - The Bagby Restaurant Group. And it's a challenge to park on that block without ending up right in front of Bagby Pizza. If you were Mr. Bagby, what would you do? If you said "protect my investment", you're on the same page.

SouperFreak spent an abbreviated lunch hour on our block and has never returned. Last time I saw GrrChe, they were also in close proximity to the Bagby building. Now I heard this secondhand, but Mr. Bagby's alleged assertion is that the mobile food truck wins over customers - potentially his customers - without making the same financial investment in the neighborhood. Which is an interesting thought.

Which gave rise to another interesting thought. When I started considering lunch, I first visited the website for Bagby's TenTen Bistro to check the current menu and get a price check on their bison burger. When I stepped outside and saw the GrrChe truck parked on Central Ave, I made a B-line for the truck.

Did Bagby lose me as a customer? No - when I thought of lunch out, i thought of him first and will continue to do so. But why did he lose my business that day? Part of it is the food truck is a novelty. Many of them have a theme (like Haute Dog and the aforementioned SuperFreak) or an eclectic menu (The Gypsy Queen Cafe) that makes them unique. Plus they are mobile so when I see one in the neighborhood, I'm never sure when they will be back. And, with the impending snow already creeping into the air, what I really wanted was a grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of tomato soup. This is not on Bagby's menu. And that's really the bottom line. GrrChe provides something the Bagby doesn't, and vice versa.

I strongly support both in their endeavors. I am also a regular patron of both types of business. I think they provide different services to the city. Their presence means a smaller market for The Cheesecake Factory and Hooters and Chipotle and other purveyors of culinary abominations. I'm sure there are loyalists in both camps, but I'm also sure there is a lot of crossover customers like  me. And, as any restaurateur can attest - people are fickle. I can change my mind in a moment. I did.

So while I continue to contemplate the state of the local food scene, feast your eyes on GrrChe's Grilled American on Sourdough with sliced tomato. It came with a piping hot cup of from-scratch tomato basil soup, a bag of Utz Kettle Crisps and the requisite deli pickle. It was, like my last GrrChe sandwich, cooked to perfection. And the gossip wasn't bad, either.

A Bento Lunch Experiment

The bento box has always appealed to me. I'm what's known as a sectional eater. If you serve me a meal of meat, veg, and starch, I'll turn my plate clockwise until the veg is closest to me and will proceed to eat one section at a time continuing clockwise around the plate. I also don't like my food to touch. This has fascinated my counterpart over the years, and he regularly prepares meals to thwart this tendency.

Given this quirk of mine, when I discovered bento boxes,  I felt like there was someone else out there who understood. The entire concept is ingenious - each item unique enough to stand on its own, placed in its own separated section of the box. If I had my way, all meals would be served in this manner.

Recently, through various food blogs, I've discovered the world of DIY bento - websites devoted to photos and ideas for turning standard lunch fare into a bento experience, extending the concept beyond Asian cuisine so that anything can become part of a bento box. This is my favorite food porn. I marvel at the creativity that goes into these lunches. The sheer artistry of the garnishes alone is breath-taking.Today I decided that it's time to give it a try.

My bento lunch is going to have a nice, wintery, Northern European feel. I'm making mini sandwiches that I'm going to pair with a fresh slaw. And I'm going to add a fruit section of tiny Mandarin orange sections. I'll use parchment paper between each section.

Mini Sandwiches

Nothing fancy here - just French baguette and kohlrabi, both sliced thin; mustard; brie; and Braunschweiger made into small, bite-sized sandwiches.

Slaw

My knife skills are not what they should be for this task, so I am using the not-very-chefy technique of the food processor. The slaw consists of apple, kohlrabi greens, carrot and a little shallot, tossed with some sushi vinegar and a little sugar. It's a little bitter from the greens and the shallot, but the apple and sugar cut this a bit.

Assembly

This was more challenging than I thought. I wanted to use the parchment paper to create individual compartments inside my Snapware but couldn't figure out how to do this. Once my counterpart realized what I was up to, he was so impressed with the creativity of this venture that he gladly lent an origami-skilled hand.

He made little boxes out of the parchment paper that will keep everything separate and even added little sheets of paper between each sandwich. Here's the finished product.

I can see that I have quite a way to go. While all the flavors should work well together, it's visually out of balance. And I didn't even attempt a garnish. But I did have fun, so I'll keep at it. For some real bento lunches, visit Gamene's photostream on Flickr and check Foodista for a weekly Bento Love posting.

Winter Roots: Kohlrabi

I remember as a child growing up in Green Bay going to the farmer's market and spending my allowance on any number of things. Thus typically included a kohlrabi that I ate on the walk home, skin and all. One of the neighborhood moms would peel it, slice it, and serve it to us with a little salt and pepper. Given its prominence in my formative years, I was surprised when my counterpart had never tried it.

Kohlrabi is one of those nice starchy, peppery root vegetables similar to a turnip. The name is German and loosely translates to "cabbage turnip". This is fitting as it tastes like the perfect blend of the two. It belongs to the same coniferous family as cabbage, cauliflower, and - my personal favorite - Brussel sprouts. It can be used in a similar manner in soups and sides.

It's also fairly versatile. It is more tender and less bitter than turnips, and not as forward as radishes, making it a nice choice for salads. If you want that crunchy peppery radish quality in your salad but without the pungency, kohlrabi is a good choice. The greens are also edible and provide an interesting note. A note, though, that the greens are similar to other vegetables in this family - kale, turnip, and collard greens. While not as bitter as these, there is a similar flavor and texture, so mixing with other more mild greens is recommended.

When cooked, kohlrabi has a wide range of flavors and textures, depending on how long you cook it. A quick saute slightly mutes the raw flavor, but a longer fry or oven roast brings out an unexpected sweetness. If you are using it as a side dish, having a mix of kohlrabi in various stages of the cooking process will yield a flavorful medley. It also mixes well with other roots like celeriac, turnip, and carrot.

If you're into root veggies during the cold dark winter days (and many of us seasonal eaters are), add this veg into the mix. Here are some recipe suggestions from Simply Recipes.

Some Notes on Food Photography

I dedicated considerable time this long holiday weekend to improving my photography skills. The new camera provides an opportunity to cultivate new habits. Plus the differences between the old and the new have made it necessary.

So, first some notes on the upgrade. I have a Canon 10D. It's served me well for the better part of a decade in the realm of nature photography, out in the open where there is plenty of good, bright, natural lighting. Until the New Year's Even posting, it was not used in conjunction with this blog. In its day, it was a high-end prosumer product - better than the Rebel but not as good as the low-end professional gear. It had the same ability to manually set the camera, but the menuing was arcane. The professional photographer who taught the mini-course I took at the Y last spring was even baffled. Given the lack of understanding about my camera, I relied heavily on the "training wheels" - the settings familiar to many of us:

The Canon 10D - complete with training wheels

Enter the 7D. This is a step (or maybe two) up from the 10D as Canon no longer makes an equivalent. The 60D is the closest approximation, but after doing a little research, it's actually much closer to the Rebel than it is to the 10D. So, we seriously upgraded. Gone are the training wheels, but in exchange I have a menuing system that I understand and can actually use:

The Canon 7D - a whole lot of auto settings eliminated

So that got me moving in the right direction. The first thing I found was the white balance. Then I started manually setting my aperture and f-stop. All of this improved the quality of my food shots. The red influence from our halogen track lighting was diminished, and the shots started looking a bit sharper.

Poor white balance - default setting

Better white balance - set for Tungsten lighting in my halogen-lit kitchen

The next step was the introduction of the tripod. I've always been a hand-held photographer, believing I'll get that perfect shot only if I have the freedom to capture the subject from all possible angles as quickly as possible. While this may work for shooting flowers and butterflies, it does not work for shooting food.

But not all tripods are created equal. Stability is important, even if you are on level ground inside the house and everyone else is in bed asleep. The earth has energy, and, if you're using a crap tripod or an unstable setup, subtle vibrations will throw your image right out of focus. you should be able to see into the view finder without standing on tip-toe. Once the focal point, aperture and f-stop are set to your liking, it's hands-off except to click the shutter and take the shot.

Poor tripod setup

Stable tripod setup

With a good tripod and a better understanding of aperture priority, I was able to alter the f-stop and play around with the focal points of my shots, moving away from the pin-point focus and fuzzy background to a more evenly-focused image.

That lighting remains an issue, though. Unless you can block off all natural light, things are going to change throughout the course of a shoot. My pie crust posting is a perfect example. During the 30 minutes that my dough was resting, something happened to the ambient sunlight. And, here's another lesson - because I was multi-tasking, I was more focused on the pie crust than on the photography and did not fully appreciate the depreciated lighting until I downloaded my images.

Beginning of shoot - approximately 3:30 PM

About 45 minutes later - much of the natural light is gone but I am too busy baking to notice

End of shoot - about 5:30 PM, no natural light left but no change to white balance settings either

I still have a long way to go. Looking at the work of others, it seems that white balance, aperture, f-stop, and stability are not enough. The best food photos have diffused light. A Fervent Foodie post last week provides instruction on creating a home lighting kit. I think that's my next task.

Easy as Pie?

There are some who would say the term "easy as pie" comes from the ease at which one can make a pie crust from scratch. The simplest recipe I know comes from the Betty Crocker Cookbook Sixth Edition (circa 1986) and contains all of three ingredients: flour, shortening and a little ice water. Simple, but deceptively so. One wrong move spells disaster. I once made this pie crust with the wrong flour and was doomed. I was on a white whole wheat kick and had been getting really nice results with breads and other baked goods. In pie crust, however, the results I got could have been used to patch the roof.

So, when making pie crust from scratch, it is important to follow the recipe, especially if you are new to this. After a little practice, you get a feel for what the tolerances are, and you can deviate all you like. My counterpart puts egg in his crust.

Also many people fear the home made pie crust due to the potential mess. With the right  equipment, the clean up is a snap.

And, it really is worth the effort. The pre-made frozen crusts are a convenience, but once you fill one of them with a nice, made from scratch filling, all those additives in the crust really stand out. A few years ago, I was a judge for a holiday bake-off at work. All entries were to be made from scratch. One woman entered a really lovely chocolate silk pie that she did indeed make from scratch. Except for the crust. Next to her superior filling, the phony crust was obvious.

For this afternoon's pie, I turned to another reliable standby, The Joy of Cooking Cookbook (1997 edition) and made the Deluxe Butter Flaky Pastry Dough.

First, the tools:

In addition to my measuring cups and flour sifter, I have a pastry blender, a silicon rolling pin, a large plastic cutting board, and a pie mat. These are basics in making a pie crust without making a mess.

Next, lightly mix together:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (unless the recipe states otherwise, this is the flour to use)

1 tsp white sugar

1 tsp salt

Then add 2 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter. I cut mine into smaller pieces as it makes the next step easier.

There are a couple of approaches to blending the cold, hard butter into the flour mixture. You can use a butter knife, but this will take a good bit of time and is a bit of a pain in the ass. Or, you can use the pastry blender. A poor one will not make much difference. A good one will make all the difference in the world. If you're serious about baking and doing things from scratch, this is a sound investment.

The concept is to break up the butter into small pieces that are coated with flour without softening the butter too much. A chopping motion is very effective. You should end up with pieces about the size of peas.

You should have 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons ice-cold water nearby. Drizzle the 1/3 cup into the dough. At this point, I prefer to work it by hand, which I readily admit is a tad messy. Keep it in the bowl and the mess is contained. Also do not do a full-on knead like you're making bread. The objective is to just get things to stick together - any heavier working changes the composition of the flour, and your crust will be nothing better than subflooring material.

Once you can form a ball with the dough, you're done. Clumps of butter are desirable here.

Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes before rolling it out. You can set it right in the refrigerator, or wrap it in plastic wrap first. While it is resting, prepare your filling.

A big help in rolling out a pie crust (or any other dough) are a silicon rolling pin and a pie mat. The dough won't stick to them the way it will to other surfaces, and these items are easier to clean that a wooden rolling pin and your countertop. Plus, the pie mat has circles that correspond to common sizes of pie plates.

So, ideally, your ball of dough will roll out into a perfect fit for your pie plate.

Even if you have superior tools like these, you will still need some flour. My preferred method is to drop a small handful of flour on top, flatten the ball slightly, flip it over, and repeat. This covers the surface area of the dough and the mat. Roll the dough out from the center to the edges until you have enough to cover the surface of your pie plate.

I got my dough just about evenly rolled to the corresponding circle for my pie plate. Just to make sure, this is also a good visual technique.

There is also a trick to getting it from the pie mat into the pie plate. I do not have photos as I was working solo. Basically, you place parchment paper over the rolled out crust. Then, place the large plastic cutting board over the parchment paper. Placing one hand on top of the cutting board, gently lift the mat off the counter top and flip the whole thing over so that the map is on the top. Place everything back on the counter top and peel the mat off of the dough. Gently flip it over again onto your pie plate with the cutting board now on top. Remove the board and the parchment paper, and the hard part is over. And you will notice that most of the flour is either on the crust or on the mat, not all over the counter or the floor or you.

Use your fingers to shape the dough into the plate, filling in any gaps. Then, trim the overhang with a knife and press the edges into the rim of the plate. And, you can do what my mother always used to do with the trimmings: lay them on a metal cookie sheet, sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar, and bake until golden. These are a nice treat and a good preview of your crust before you serve it to others.

You can either pre-bake your crust or fill it right away. If you pre-bake it, you'll need to add weight to it to prevent it from bubbling up. You can buy pie weights if you like. These are just metal balls that fill a pie plate. Or, you can take another hint from my mom and just use a cup or so of dried  beans. Note that once the beans are used for this purpose, they can't really be used for anything else. Store them in a container with your other baking supplies until needed.

I made the filling and crumb topping from the Apple Sour Cream Pie recipe in my good old Betty Crocker Cookbook and baked as instructed.

Happy Long Weekend!

How to Bind Meat

I am admittedly a bit of a tourist in the kitchen. I wander around with my camera and take pictures of all the pretty sights but usually leave for more familiar terrain pretty quickly. My counterpart over at Very Chefy is a full-time resident and probably the Grand Marshall. He is responsible for the majority of food seen here and on my Facebook page.

With the acquisition of the mighty Canon 7D and my excitement to get familiar with it, we embarked on a joint venture this evening. We picked up a couple of Porterhouse steaks during last night's grocery shopping and decided to work on our meat binding and photography skills together.

Mis en Place

First, Gareth made a filling out of leek, shallot, blue cheese, and butter. The idea is that as the meat roasts, the filling melts and provides additional flavor to the meat. He used a rubber spatula to cream everything together in a large mixing bowl.

Then he cut the steak off the bones, taking care to ensure he had several large pieces of meat.

He layered the meat and the filling together until he had a pile of meaty-shalloty-cheesy goodness.

Then, using kitchen twine, he very carefully bound it all together for cooking. If this process looks a bit like macrame or crochet, it is similar. The trick is to create loops and to loop back on yourself, creating a large-weave, custom-knit netting around your meat.

Once bound, he seasoned it with a little salt and pepper.

With a nice pan-searing in olive oil, it was ready for a quick 10-minute roast in a hot oven. He placed the meat on a small rack inside a heavy pan for the roasting as with the rabbit and Frenched rack of lamb.

When the meat was roasted to his satisfaction, he removed it from the oven and transferred it to a ceramic plate to cool for a few minutes. Using kitchen shears and tongs, he carefully cut and removed the twine.

The meat was sliced and served with mashed potatoes seasoned with goat butter, leek, and shallot.

During this whole process, I took about a jillion photos. I'll post a gallery of my favorites in my Picasa gallery. Look for the link on my Facebook page.

Know What You're Eating: Italian Soda

I really like the Archer Farms Italian soda at Target. My week-long battle with the flu included several bottles of the Blood Orange variety. One look at the list of ingredients and it appears to be a fairly rational choice. It also gave me the impression that all Italian soda was made this way.

Italian soda from Target

Wow, I know what all the ingredients are

So last night we were doing the weekly shopping at Wegman's. I am still totally parched most of the time as the virus stages its last hurrah, and I decided I needed a beverage for the drive home. In the convenience cooler at the check-out, I found Blood Orange Italian soda and grabbed a bottle.

It tasted quite different. When we got home, I checked the label and found a very different list of ingredients.

Italian soda from Wegman's

WTF????

That's a lot of crap! Why do you need stabilizers in soda? And what is Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin?

This is one of those ingredients that some clever marketer should have renamed by now. It's also challenging to find any real information as to what it actually is. While Wikipedia lists a high number of beverages that contain it, it only states that it is used as an emulsifier. Which sounds innocuous enough, but why would you need that in soda?

AnswerBag has a listing of what it is made from, albeit very scientifically. Basically, it appears to be pine rosin harvested from the stumps of trees. If this calls to mind such household items as turpentine, it isn't exactly the same. But, according to AnswerBag, it is a common component of things like floor wax. Even if it is a different grade of the stuff, I'm not entirely comfortable with the cross-over of cleaning products into food products. 

I'm also not sure why the Wegman's product needs a stabilizer and the Target product does not. If it's not needed, why add it? And, even if you trust the source, always read those food labels.

Crossing a Culinary Threshold

The truffle is one of several varieties of edible mushroom. Its culinary usage dates back to the early Roman Empire where they were considered a rare delicacy created when lightning struck warm, wet soil. Truffle hunting continued in Europe past the Fall of Rome with the wild mushroom gaining vast popularity among the aristocracy during the Renaissance. Resistant to cultivation efforts, pigs were used to sniff them out in the vast forests of Italy and France. The 18th century French lawyer and foodie Jean Anthelem Brillat-Savarin dubbed them "the diamond of the kitchen".  Now I know what all the fuss is about.

The Wegman's in Abingdon carries truffles. Sometime while I was in Italy, my counterpart decided that one day we would venture into this new world of true delicacies, price be damned. And the per pound price is pretty hefty - usually between $300-$600 per pound. But truffles are fairly light, and at the high end of the price spectrum, you can still get them for about $10 each. A little goes a long way, so one or two at a time should be sufficient.

Last night we took the plunge and have now joined the limited population who have had cooked with actual truffles. They are truly unique in flavor and texture. If saffron tastes like sunshine, truffles taste like the forest. They are dark and woody and bitter and add something mysterious to the food. I don't think they are ever the main course, but as a flavor enhancer, they are really quite amazing. For our first truffle experience, Gareth prepared duck breast and eggs with a hollandaise sauce. About half a truffle was grated into the eggs at the very end of cooking. While it was indeed superlative, we both agreed that perhaps eggs weren't the best vehicle for the truffle. We used up less than half of one of them, so we have plenty of opportunity to try again.

The price tag is a little intimidating.......

........But the actual cost per seems reasonable enough

Proper storage of truffles is important - rice absorbs the excess moisture

Pan-seared duck breast - my favorite

Reserve some of that nice duck jus to cook the eggs in

A little brie for the eggs

Lemon zest for the hollandaise

The finished sauce

Nice and rare - just the way I like it

Adding the truffles to the eggs

Dinner - cheffy eggs with brie and truffles, seared duck breast, sauteed leeks, and hollandaise sauce

What's New in Harbor East

With October's travels behind me, I started November by returning to my regular work routine only to discover that there had been some changes in the neighborhood. Before I left, the Curbside Cafe - home of the curried chickpea burrito bowl - had closed and The Silver Platter had re-invented itself to mixed reviews. GrrChe and Souper Freak had also made limited engagements and seem destine to never return again (they both set up shop on Fleet Street almost directly in front of one of the neighborhood's established restaurants. I posted a recommendation to go around the corner to Central Street to no avail). This week I discovered that The Silver Platter had broken camp altogether and had left their Central Street lot for Timonium. It appears that the Summer of the Food Truck in Harbor East has come to an end.

But all hope is not lost as two venues have expanded their offerings.

October 20 saw the opening of the long awaited Manchurian Rice Company Asian Grill. Located at 1010 Aliceanna, it occupies the space vacated by Harbor East News where I used to get my photography magazines. They offer a modest selection of Chinese take-out with the claim that each order is fresh and made to order. After several days of soup and juice, I was feeling more like myself on Thursday, so I gave them a try.

The space is actually a two-story space with the counter, grill and a few seats on the first floor, and most of the seating upstairs. And the grill is not actually a grill, but a line of about half a dozen woks with their own individual heat source and water tap. And the food really is made to order. The area is open so you can watch them if you like. There is also a television showing Asian game shows, a nice touch and bizarrely entertaining.

Also behind the counter is the welcome, smiling face of the proprietor of the short-lived Elevation Burger franchise in the neighborhood and the Harbor East Deli currently in its place. With a wide variety of pizza and sandwiches, he brought a staple of the America culinary scene to us in a straight-forward, no-nonsense manner that is much appreciated in an area known for its pretension (many of us remember when it was a vacant field strewn with broken bottles and used paraphernalia and now every restaurant around here is gourmet dining.). His deli and pizzeria has the liquor license he wanted for his Elevation Burger location and has become quite the after work hang out as well. What he did for pizza, he appears to be trying to do for Chinese take-out, another one of America's dietary cornerstones. I always find it easy to trust a restaurateur with one successful endeavor to his credit, especially one who seems to enjoy what he is doing.

This week, I selected what looked to be the spiciest dish on the menu - Topan Shrimp with white rice. It's interesting to note that white rice is free, but fried rice and lo mien are upgrades and are priced as such. I am a fan of neither. I also got a side of the Crab Rangoon, my litmus test for Chinese. The shrimp was indeed hot. I grabbed some extra hot sauce to go but ended up not needing it. The sauce was spicy and rich with a slight flavor of rice wine, but just a little. The vegetables - carrots, onion, broccoli and cabbage - were cooked just enough so that there was still some crispness left in them. The mushrooms and shrimp were also still firm and not tough or chewy (or "swamped" as one of my professional friends says). The more I ate, the saltier it tasted, which is why it is nice to have white rice on the side. It's also where the Crab Rangoon came in handy, although these were sadly inferior to what I have been getting a Wok To Go. The wrapper was tough and the filling was thick and tasted more of cream cheese and barely of crab. Still, it helped absorb some of the salt from the shrimp and was an adequate complement.

The other opening is a new venture by the Bagby Restaurant Group, owners of another pizzeria - the Bagby Pizza Company located in the old Bagby Furniture Factory on Fleet Street. Their latest is the TenTen Bistro at 1010 Fleet Street in the former location of the Dutch Connection florist. I was their first take out customer.

If the guys at Harbor East Deli are unpretentious, the guys at the Bagby Restaurant Group are only slightly more so. Bagby Pizza emphasizes fresh, local, organic ingredients, and so does TenTen, although their menu is more focused on high-end salads and sandwiches (including a bistro burger and an interesting take on the cobb salad), plus a quiche of the day. They also have a full bar with a short list of designer cocktails developed by their bar master.

I ordered the crab cake with fries. It tasted broiled, not fried, and came on one of the best rolls I've had in Maryland. It was dense and chewy and very hearty and was the first time my crab cake has been paired with a roll that could support it. And the crab cake was thick and meaty with crab meat and very little spice or filler. It came with a couple of slices of plum tomato and a leaf of butter lettuce, both very good choices, plus a ramakin of mild horseradish sauce that was a fine partner to the sweet crab. The fries felt and tasted hand-cut. They were lightly dusted with Old Bay and not at all greasy.

I was satisfied with both lunches and an glad to see a couple of local teams expanding.

Topan Shrimp from Manchurian Rice Company with Crab Rangoon

Crab cake from TenTen Bistro with the saddest pickle ever served.

The Food Over There was Amazing But.....

When you travel overseas, your diet inevitably changes for the time you are away. Even visiting places that are not so different, like Western Europe, there are foods very similar to what we can find at home, yet not quite the same. The concept of something as simple as salad may be quite different (I couldn't find one without olives, capers, anchovies, and other things I do not eat regularly). After two nearly back-to-back weeks in Milan eating full-fay dairy, meat that has been cured differently (and, in the case of hams, with much more salt), having pasta and wine at almost every meal, my insides feel very different. I now have the daunting task of getting myself right. Here are some guidelines for the gastronomically weary traveler that worked for me during my week between trips, and that will be used by me again in the event that my cold doesn't flush things out.

Getting Back to Basics
First, breakfast has got to change. My hotel in Italy had a wonderful breakfast buffet that was included in my room rate. And every morning I hit it hard. Scrambled eggs (real eggs, not from a carton or reconstituted powdered eggs) with ham and salami and mortadella and strange cheeses washed down with coffee with steamed full-fat milk meant that I hit my body with more fat during that first meal than I typically consume during my normal breakfast and lunch combined. So, my first step is to switch to that most basic of breakfasts - oatmeal.

I'm not talking instant oatmeal or even quick oats. To really get back to normal, you need some dietary fiber. You need Scottish-style steel-cut oats. Add some fruit and nuts (or my favorite - peanut butter) and you've got a good, solid breakfast. If you have limited time for breakfast, make a pot on Sunday and reheat a portion a day. (Here's a link to my recipe). Or, if there's a Whole Foods nearby, they offer it as part of their breakfast bar.

Regulating Blood Sugar
The oatmeal will also help regulate your blood sugar, especially if you have been someplace where wine is just part of the meal. Personally, I don't drink a lot of alcohol or eat a lot of sweets at this point, so the pasta-wine-dessert-liqueur dinners in Italy really got to be a bit much. Amazingly delicious, but just a tad over the top. All the simple carbohydrates left me feeling a bit wonky - restless and night and groggy in the morning. To get your blood sugar right, along with the oatmeal, add fresh juice to your diet for a week.

Again, I don't mean the not-from-concentrate varieties of carton juice. I mean go to Wegman's or Whole Foods or the local food co-op and cough up the $10 for a gallon of orange or grapefruit juice that they have juiced on premises that day. The natural sugar of the juice will help you adjust to the missing wine and dessert that your body may now expect, and the additional nutrients and fiber will help balance out your sugar levels.

Cleanse
Most people shy away from this word for the obvious connotations. If you are cleansing, you are expelling things from your body. Do not be afraid. I have one simple addition to your diet that will make a big difference.

Most cleansing packs that you can buy really overdo things, as do the drinks and teas. Plus they taste terrible. My method also tastes a little weird, but it involves one supplement, not a mighty cocktail. It's chlorophyll.

You can find liquid chlorophyll at health food stores, co-ops, and (of course) Whole Foods. Pick up a bottle and follow the instructions to reconstitute. Drink a glass in the morning when you first get up and one in the evening before bedtime. It does taste a little strange, so I use about a cup of water and I drink it quickly. And brush your teeth afterward. The bottle will most likely carry a warning about staining. This warning is for more than your clothing.

Yes it will flush the system. No it won't make you bloated or gassy or make you sweat or strike at inopportune times. What it will give you is a good dose of plant-based protein, something I was sorely missing in Italy, where most of the vegetables I found were cooked to a mushy hell. (Not to say that they weren't tasty - they were. But overcooked veggies have much of the nutrition cooked out of them). There are a whole host of other purported benefits associated with chlorophyll. Just know that it will make you regular in a fairly unobtrusive way. It's supposedly a blood purifier, so it may also flush out your respiratory system. You won't become a sneezing, snotty mess, but you should keep some Kleenex handy.

Eat Light
My only other advice is to just take it easy that first week back. Eat a lot of soups and salads and fresh fruit. Scale back the dairy and bread and salt. Drink plenty of water and fresh juice. Take a walk whenever you can. Go to bed when the clock tells you to. And remember all those wonderful flavors and textures and try your best to make them at home.

My Heart Belongs to Milan

The rain in Milan stopped in time for the Wednesday open air market. And while the sky did not clear completely, the streets were relatively dry and the day just a little bit brighter.

I've heard about the Wednesday open air market from others who have been to this part of Milan. It is held on the boulevard adjacent to the campus I am visiting. I walked past it on my previous visit as they were setting up but did not get a chance to go back until after all the vendors had packed up for the day.

This morning, I took a moment to wander around while they set up shop - farmers selling fresh produce, fish mongers, and plenty of tables full of sweaters, scarves, jeans, even underwear. I made a mental note to sneak out at some point in the morning and do some shopping.

"At some point in the morning" turned out to be 12:45, or just before lunch. I go there just in time, too. Many vendors had already broke camp, and the few remaining were in the process of closing down. I did manage to procure a couple of scarves and a very nice argyle sweater.

And of course when the opportunity to eat authentic street food in a strange city presented itself, I lept at it. Today's lunch was bought from a butcher's wagon at the market who sold items by weight. I ordered two small skewers of meat that look like kabobs. When I asked if they were, the butcher scoffed and replied in very rapid Italian that he was not inclined to repeat for the tourista Americana. He did tell me that they were chicken even though they did not look at all like chicken, which is a phenomenon I have encountered before. I also got a side of what looked like batter fried veggies of some sort. I love veggies and do not really care what variety. And, if they are battered and deep fried, they will taste good. Everything was placed in little paper bages made out of lightly waxed butcher's paper - the perfect container, and much preferable to styrofoam or plastic, especially items fresh from the fryer. I always feel a little freaked out when my take out leaves a perfect imprint in the side of the styrofoam box it was packed in.

I stopped by the school cafeteria for a couple of juice boxes (A-C-E juice, my new addiction) and returned to my work area to eat.

The batter fried veggies were actually young squash flowers. You may ask yourself why do that to squash flowers when there are so many better ways to prepare them. I will look into this and cover it in a future post. Even covered in batter ad fried to a crisp, they are very good. They taste very orgainic and green and a little sweet in the same way fresh green beans are sweet. The batter was light and did not detract from this, and the deep frying left little residue.

The kebobs were something else altogehter. Alternating meat and veg, I hardly recognized any of it. There was indeed chicken on the skewers. What part of the chicken I will not say as it is a part that is found in that little paper packet inside the chicken when you buy it at the store that goes to one of three places - the gravy, the cat or the trash. Here in Italy, it goes on the skewer with some cherry peppers, a little sausage and some yellow tomatoes. At least I think that's what it was. I loved it.

Something about an authentic street dining experience really makes me feel like I have been to that city. Like my sampling of every hot dog stand in every US city I have visited (it was actually a taco shack when I visited LA), I now have a barometer against which to gauge Milan. Like all my other dining experiences here, it was extraordary, providing me with yet another meal I will not be able to get at home.

Batter fried squash flowers and not-kabobs

A-C-E juice which I am now consuming by the liter

Risotto 2: Risotto Solo

Last night's rain turned into thunderstorms that continued throughout the day today. While I am enjoying the thought that I am in Milan, it is questionable how much I am actually enjoying Milan itself this week. I am fairly certain of one memento I will be bringing home with me this time as the ache I thought was pain from my luggage is settling into a slightly feverish feeling. The flush in my cheeks confirms it - I am catching a cold.

I had so much luck with risotto last night I decided to try for risotto number 2 tonight. Trattoria Alla Vecchia Maniera is directly across the canal from my hotel, and I have been eyeballing their menu since I got here. My travel guide says that a trattoria is a mom and pop restaurant. I do not think this is entirely accurate. While it may be run by a family, there is much pride in their establishment. This trattoria looked far more upscale than any other place I have visited and very well kept.

The busboy let me in a little before 7:00, the official dinner hour. Upon accertaining that I was American (this took all of 30 seconds -  the lack of scarf is indeed a dead give away), the traditional Italian music was gleefully replaced with Depeche Mode by said busboy. This was only tolerated by the management for a couple of songs. A compromise was soon reached, and the music was changed to the local pop music station. I will never forget that I heard Rebecca Black for the first time over risotto in Milan.

Even though the risotto is billed as a dish for two, the matron (and obvious prorpietor) served me a half-portion of risotto with cheese. And while this trattoria is definitely more upscale than the Bella Riva, you wouldn't knwo it by the risottto. This was not the same risotto as the risotto I had last night. The grain was different and felt much more like regular old rice, and not even cooked differently. The sauce was the more typical startchy liquid that always reminds me of leftover rice water. The abundance of cheese throughout the dish was its saving grace. That and the shreaded raddicchio, the bitter red and white stuff that you find in most packages of spring salad mix. Turns out if you cook it, it actually becomes palatable, adding only a slight edge to the otherwise creamy dish and just enough to make it interesting. Overall, the whole was greater than the sum of the parts in this version of risotto.

I let the matron select my wine and felt somewhat pleased with myself when she brought me a crisp, dry white. And I was right - this is a good wine for a risotto.

And because she had been so accommodating of my risotto solo request, I felt  obliged to order dessert. I had my second Italian tiramisu. This time it was served in a custard dish and tasted more of mascarpone. The yellow cake soaked in coffee was in the center, creating a bottom layer of cheesy custard that was less dense and rich than the top. When I get back to the States, I can nver eat tiramisu again.

And it struck me as I sat alone in this trattoria with a full belly and a warm feeling of gestation setting in that I was indeed alone in Italy, and what a grand adventure life truly is. I will miss Milan tremendously after this trip. Knowing this makes me want to stretch my time out as I do not know when I will return. I will make the most of my final two days, rain and cold be damned.

Inside Trattoria Alla Vecchia Maniera

Risotto Solo with Dry White Wine and Acqua Naturale

The gratuitous Tiramisu

Risotto 1: Il Classico Risotto di Milanese

It was a cold and overcast day In Milan today that turned into a chilly and rainy evening. This was no warm early autumn rain, either, but an icy rain that stung when it hit my skin with no hint of the very recent summer. This was an early winter rain that foretold of snow and sleet and weather blowing down from the nearby mountains. I now understand why everyone here wears scarves, and I wish I had packed one of my own.

I found solace in a familiar place as I returned to Daniele and the Bella Riva cafe on the canal, the site of my first meal in Milan (and a few more after that). They offer two varieties of risotto - Il Classico Risotto di Milanese and Risotto with mushrooms. The Milanese risotto sounded more authentic to me, so I chose that with a glass of red wine that I left to Daniele's discretion. And as my last visit to Milan spoiled me to baklava, tiramisu and canoli, I am now spoiled to risotto. Tonight I have had the real thing.

I have often wondered at the appeal of risotto. It has always struck me as improperly cooked rice, including the risotto from the Legg Mason cafeteria which serves the international banking sector. When I prepare rice in such a manner I usually get the business, yet it is considered some kind of fancy dish when it comes out of the right kitchen. Now I understand. This risotto was something completely different. The rice was firm and chewy but did not feel underdone. The starch from the rice did not permeate the sauce it was cooked in and there was no hint of the pastiness that has plagued my risotto experiences in the past. This is not rice at all but a different grain altogether. Denser and heavier than rice, this felt closer to barley but still had the mild flavor of rice. It felt more like fiber than starch and had enough backbone to convince me that it was a meal unto itself despite the absence of meat or veg. And, while I did not know this at the time, I would wake up the following day still satisfied from this meal and not quite ready for breakfast until well into the morning.

And the sauce was exceptional. It had a warm flavor - if warm were a flavor, it would taste like this sauce - warm and golden and rich but not heavy. If the grain was dense, the sauce was a perfect juxtaposition of light sunshine. It didn't taste like anything I have ever had before, yet there was something familiar about it that I could not quite place. It reminded me of my mother's chicken noodle soup, but did not taste like chicken. I thought it might be saffron at first. About half-way through, it occurred to me that it might be tumeric, a seasoning that is used in some chicken boullion. This would also explain the golden yellow color. It was definintely not something I get at home, though. There was also that buttery creaminess reminiscent of the strangozzi I had the last visit that is supposedly olive oil. I never quite believe this becasue American olive oil is so heavy and bitter and pungent and this oil tastes and feels and smells the exact opposite. If this is olive oil, I want some of it. I believe there was also a hint of cream, but not much.

It was crowned with a pile of grated hard cheese in the center of the dish. As I made my way around the edges and worked my way to the middle, the cheese melted completely which made for a remarkable finish.

In retrospect, I would have selected a dry white wine to go with this dish rather than the tangy red Daniele picked. The wine he selected was similiar to what I was ordering two weeks ago, and kudos to him for remembering my tastes. I don't think it complemented this dish the way a crisp, dry white might have.

Overall, though, it was a satisfying end to a dreary and challenging day.

UPDATE: I did a little research this morning, and last night's risotto was most likely seasoned with veal marrow and saffron.

Bella Riva Cafe

Il Classico Risotto di Milanese

Holy Crepe

Tonight I had my first crepe in Europe. This time through Navigli, I am noticing that many of the gelati places I overlooked last time are also creperies. They look to be almost as ubiquitous as our burgers and fries, as if the crepe were European fast food - food you can make to order and turn around quickly, except in this case it is something the diner savors rather than stuffing it in while driving, working, etc. I am once again enjoying the full stop of all other activities while eating over here.

Tonight's crepe was not at all like what I've gotten in the States. It was a thin pancake of something completely unfamiliar, and I wondered if it was spelt, or farro, which seems to be common here. It was also seasoned with herbs and a little salt. Once it was almost done cooking, it was layered with salami sliced so thin it was just slightly opaque, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and arugula, plus something that was drizzled on top just before the crepe was folded up that I thought was olive oil. It turned out to be something spicy almost like Tobasco.

My crepe was simply folded over and cut into bite-sized pieces and delivered on a paper plate with a plastic fork. The meat was warmed, the cheese was melted, the arugula was slightly wilted, and the tomato was uncooked. I sat on a bench inside and enjoyed.

The Creperie that was right in front of me

The Crepe

Rising to the Occaision

Gareth has decided he is now in competition with the chefs of Europe and is upping his game. Not that I'm complaining. And this is actually a logical conclusion on his part. Before I left for Milan, he asked that I pay particular attention to what I ate - the flavors, the textures, the different combinations of food. Which I did. He read my blog while I was away and then did a complete debriefing upon my return.

Then he cooked me pasta. The so-called fresh pasta from the dairy case at the grocery store. He asked me how it was, and I gave him a shrug and a "meh". Later he told me that I just kept moving it around on my plate and staring at it with kind of a mix between a frown and a sneer. And I thought I was being subtle about it.

Not one to back away from a challenge, he went to work in the kitchen.

He figured out how to make grocery store olives get that smooth taste and buttery texture like the olives I ate in Italy - rinse them in water, gently simmer them in apple juice, and then rinse them again. Who knew?

He also decided that we shall now shop at Wegman's even though our grocery bill will double. That way we can enjoy meat from their small but impressive game section, as well as a variety of European cheeses and an amazing selection of produce. Plus goat milk butter, creme fraiche, and other exotic items that are now within easy reach. It's a quality of life decision that I certainly will not argue with even if it takes from my shoe budget.

So, here are the highlights of the meals I had this week before he got pulled into homework and school and I got pulled into a software deployment.

PS - After this second trip to Milan, my next work trip is to Paris. I can't wait to see how he follows up on that one.

Seared duck breast on creamed green veggies with olive oil toast. Veggies are zucchini, celery, celeriac and leek

Pork with a pear compote and olives, asparagus and leek

Duck and shrimp in an herb cream sauce over previously acceptable grocery store  fettucini