chadzilla

down and out but feeling good

For the last 2 years at the ICC, we've made a point to eat at a 'nice' restaurant.  This year we decided to hit as much casual food as possible.  This wasn't due to any current industry trends, but more of a reflection of our finances and having to fund our entire journey out of our own pockets.  No matter how small or uncomfortable our hotel room was, no matter the fact that we became more subway savvy to avoid cab fares, and no matter what big name chef's food we didn't get to try... this was one of my best years ever.  I felt lucky, moreso than before, to be in attendance and for the chance to get the information firsthand.  The chefs that attend the ICC aren't full of ego.  The vibe is incredibly friendly and everyone seems happy to meet new chefs and make new friends.  I just wish we could have found that Will Goldfarb BBQ truck also.

Here were my 'down and out' casual food memories...

Best pizza ever in my life.  Guillermo at Motorino in Brooklyn gave us the hook-up, but for a short subway ride from Manhattan and a fair price, I highly recommend the visit.  We (our group of 6) dined out back with olives and amazingly fresh salads before moving onto Guillermo's brick oven baked flatbreads, calzones, and pizzas.  The best pizza was... brussel sprouts and speck.  The flavor of the char on the edges of each brussel sprout leaf balanced out the flavors perfectly.

The hands-down best way ever to make pizza.  There's something about a wood-burning brick oven.  I've been obsessing about building one for some time now.  Hopefully, I will have the time, motivation, and money to fulfill this destiny once we close on our house.  The backyard is screaming for one... ok, maybe I'm the only one who can hear it screaming, but it keeps me up at night.

The late-night subway crew (2 Argentinians & 3 gringos)... Guillermo, Zilla, Chef K, Fabian, Mark.  Guillermo used to be our friend Alberto's (with us but not in the picture) pastry chef in Miami.  He moved back to NY to become one bad-ass pizza-meister.  If you want to open a brick oven restaurant, it only makes sense to hire an Argentinian to run the oven.  These guys learn to manage a fire before they can walk.  Being a pastry chef on top of that just makes him even more perfect for the job.

BBQ at Fette Sau.  Although someone said it's been rated among the top 10 BBQ joints in the US which seems ridiculously outrageous to claim, it's not bad.  This place was fun.  Get your meat by the quarter pound on a half sheet pan, pick your drink up at the bar, and live the dream in Brooklyn.

Baoguette at the Congress.  Although I don't know where the original store is, the word in NY is that this place is hot.  $8 for a banh-mi seems like Vietnamese blasphemy, but I can say from experience that this slightly untraditional sandwich is the best banh mi I've ever eaten in my 15 years of banh mi-eating history.

Di Palo's Italian Market.  We met the coolest NY Italian behind the counter at Di Palo's.  Aside from the incredible porchetta, focaccia, and asiago that made for our last NY meal, he shared a few other tastes with us in his shop.  Check out this gigantic Swiss crucolo that we were lucky enough to watch being cut during our stop.

Here's a close-up of that rip.  The cheese is being crushed by it's own weight.

Golden King Bakery.  A Chinatown hole in the wall.  Being an early riser and having this place right across the street equals coffee and congee every morning.  After nights of heavy alcohol consumption, a light congee with pork and thousand year egg gets you ready for another run.  I'd love to stay in Chinatown again next year, but for a much cheaper room rate... thanks, UN convention!

Flying out to Venezuela on Thursday for 3 demos over 3 days.  Looking forward to every bit of the trip except for the kitchen we had to prep in last year... not ideal at all.  It's like some Top Chef nightmare.

soup & sandwich

Yes, it's been done to death (like everything else, but I didn't lose any sleep over it... this is home cookin').

This is my current home version of the soup & sandwich combo... alphabet pho ga & banh mi burger sliders.  I've been working on my banh mi burgers for years now (on and off), and these were the best yet.  If I had space to actually grill these suckers over some smoky charcoal I could take over the world (sorry, just a little Plankton complex)!  

The alphabet pho ga is simply a chicken pho broth with tri-color alphabets instead of rice noodles (mostly just improvising with what's available at home, but a fun idea nonetheless if I do say so).  Just didn't actually notice if the letters spelled out words in English or Vietnamese.  It also had me wondering if anyone manufactures Chinese Alphabet pasta or would you be limited to only pinyang spellings if you were doing a Chinese soup version.

fish ribs

We've had an inkling to somehow incorporate a fish rib dish on our menu.  Toying with the idea of mahi and other species gave us great flavored meat, but there was always the underlying question of customer acceptance... you know, with the bones and everything.

Chef K came across pacu one day, and we found a supplier.  Pacu is generally served 'on the rib' and looks surprisingly like a sparerib.  It's found in the Amazon and Orinoco rivers of South America.  The meat is fatty and delicious.  We've heard previous mixed reactions to the fish's goodness, but wanted to try it firsthand.  Besides, it's related to pirahna... so how cool is that?

korean kogi pacu ribs, honshemiji tempura, sesame leaf dolma, Frod's black garlic aioli, korean bacon powder

We found that the fish texture and flavor was greatly improved by giving it a 30 minute brine before grilling.  Although we initially entertained the thought of sous-vide cooking, a quick grilling with kogi sauce gave us great results.

The tempura batter was mixed with chopped cilantro (similar to a fried mushroom I enjoyed in the mountains of Taiwan).  The 'dolma' consisted of sushi rice wrapped in a marinated sesame leaf (there was some confusion over whether the leaf was actually perilla or sesame after questioning a few Koreans, but the leaf is actually more related to perilla and simply referred to as sesame).

Lastly, the aioli was taken from one of our friends who made a black garlic aioli after pondering what to do with some recently purchased black garlic.  Here's to you, Frodesnor.  You were officially on a P-dime menu.

traditional foundation

We often utilize jamon Iberico because we always keep it in house, and it's just that damn good.  Recently, we also brought in a case of shishito peppers.  This simple starter evolved from pairings familiar to these elements.

shishito poppers (grilled shishito filled with basil goat cheese cream and wrapped in jamon Iberico), compressed (or should I say syrup-infused and held under slightly higher than normal atmospheric pressure for a short time) melon, shaved pine nut, ximenez vinegar meringue

liver 'surf & turf'

ankimo, pickled ginger flower, blood orange, lime, maple == surf

chicken liver pâté, crispy smoked chicken skin, white pepper flake, beet licorice, basil == turf

Ankimo has to be one of the most amazingly flavored pure ingredients in the world.  We've utilized it periodically in the past, but the last package of monkfish liver that arrived was the freshest we've ever been privileged to work with... and probably nothing compared to some of the top rate sushi bars.

The process is very simple yet tedious.  The liver must be removed of all outer membrane and veins.  It is then brined in a mild salt solution for 30 minutes then manually dried.  Roll cylinders of it in plastic wrap, wrap in foil to secure, steam for 30 minutes, and allow to cool overnight.  Peel and slice and try not to eat too many of them.

ham & chicken

We've really been into chicken confit lately.  Chicken is the tilapia of poultry (or is tilapia the chicken of fish?).  It's lowly, humble... usually what people order when they don't know what to eat.  On the flip side, along with pork it is truly representative of American southern cuisine.  To confit it simultaneously increases it's comforting deliciousness while elevating its status.

So what could be better than chicken confit?  Chicken confit that has a additional layer of crispy ham fused onto its skin... chicken skin, ham, and juicy bacon fat-poached confit flesh all together in a glorious symphonious bite of slap yo' momma tastebud bombing goodness.

... with pea salad, fig jam, roaring 40's, shiraz chip, pancetta powder, crispy smoked chicken skin (did it really need the extra skin?  Maybe not, but no one complained)

gabose

Hiro and May of Yakko-san graciously invited us to eat at Gabose (gah-boh-say) which is their favorite local Korean restaurant.  That recommendation alone had me excited to experience it.  We are not as fortunate as other US cities to have a Chinatown or Koreatown (we're more like Cuban town, etc.), so finding a place like this is like gold.  I know that restaurant dinner 'recaps' are not the focus of this blog, but I just wanted to share some photos from our experience.  The restaurant is a bit of a trek for the Miami crowd (all the way out to 4991 N. University in Lauderhill), but it's a great excursion for a group... besides, food at this volume is best enjoyed with a small crowd.  The tables in back are equipped with inserts and exhaust systems for coal burning bbq grills.  This was just great traditional food with an interactive element.

Gabose does not advertise (yet the place was packed).  There are no take-out menus or websites, so I will refrain from attempting to give the Korean names of these dishes.  (I would recommend calling ahead of time if you wish to get a 'grill' table.)

a starter salad of pork shank and lettuces

a seafood pancake packed with squid, oyster, and green onion

lightly fried oysters

clear sweet potato noodles with beef

we were told this was Korean scrambled eggs (obviously diluted with broth or other liquid because the texture was silky soft and came out bubbling at the sides)

crispy fried fish packed with roe

Susan (the owner's daughter and a very creative chef in her own right... her most popular dessert creation is a popcorn ice cream which unfortunately we were too full to sample afterwards)... here she is cutting up some black pork belly which we cooked on a table top flat grill.

May Shigetomi flips the black pork while Hiro-san flakes off pieces of fish with his most excellent chopstick master skills.

sliced beef tongue and shrimp over the charcoals

eating the bbq'd shortrib in Hiro-san's recommended method... wrapped up in fresh sesame leaves with miso and kimchee

Thanks to our generous hosts for the great food and company and the free-flowing 32oz Hite's.  We will be returning.  Susan did mention that they are aiming to open another restaurant in South Beach, but there is no set location yet... this may be quite far off in the future.  However, we did coax her into a possible Paradigm dinner in the near future... that could be a great learning experience for all of us, but don't expect us to set a white hot pot of flaming charcoals in the middle of our dining room.  I don't think the Donald's insurance covers that.

produce samples

One of our produce reps showed up yesterday with some interesting items to try...

yellow plum- tart, fairly firm texture, hints of citrus but not mouth puckering astringent

black apricot- also closer to a plum, uber sweet flesh, astringently tart skin, soft supple texture

iceplant- funny I had just seen these for the first time the day before on StudioKitchen... refreshingly soft and spongy with a delicate ghostly crispness (more of a textural element than anything else)... can these be soaked in an ice bath of flavorful water to soak up nuances of flavor?

oca- also known as New Zealand yam (found in NZ and parts of South America along the Andes), very much like a crisp potato with hints of sweetness and tanginess, an extremely interesting starch for any dish.  It's tolerant of high altitudes and was first introduced to Europe as a food source during the potato famine.

the great Miss Lewis

Bailey Barash of Barash Productions emailed me a video link to a 21 minute video on Edna Lewis.  Maybe it was because I had spent the evening before frying chicken at home, or that I had pulled Donald Link's recipe for buttermilk biscuits beforehand to mix this morning, but I was mentally groovin' for a Southern Food pep-rally.  Watching this reminded me of her importance in American food culture.  Arguably just as important as Julia Child and definitely moreso than Alice Waters when it comes to fresh ingredients.  (I actually knew close to nothing about Mrs. Child growing up, but I had heard of Edna Lewis.)

Miss Lewis defined Southern cuisine in America.  She represents this cuisine when it was all about coaxing the beautiful natural flavors in common ingredients.  It's too bad that many of these foods are so lacking in flavor today.  In the same way that poor cooks learned to take the lesser cuts of animals and turn them into tasty dishes, we are faced with trying to add flavor to bland mass produced meats and vegetables today.  I have made it a point of pride to use naturally raised free range chicken for frying (from Whole Foods, since sadly these are the best available to me... for home cooking, not as a chef).  Hearing Miss Lewis talk about frying chickens being available for a short time out of the year, that they were selected chickens raised separately and fed a special diet to insure maximum flavor and juiciness when fried... well, that's humbling.  I feel fortunate to have experienced just a small portion of this food culture in my life.  It's too bad that our food systems, while protecting us against going hungry have also alienated us from our food roots.  Maybe that's part of the sadness that Michael Ruhlman feels at the end of his recent post.

okinawa

rafute, ramp hirayachi, sweet potato, soy gel, steamed ginger milk

Chef K decided to get back to his Okinawan roots on this one.  Yes, he is a Kansas City boy but he was born in Okinawa on an American military base (what a contrast in backgrounds!).  The rafute was braised down from Berkshire belly.  The hirayachi acted as a blini of sorts with booming ramp flavor.  Crispy fried Okinawan purple potato, soy gel pearls, and microcilantro finished it off.  The ginger milk offered a delicate contrast.