The Ironic Mullet :: Lee Ann Westover

Travel Cooking: what to bring?

Last summer we rented a house in the NC mountains with friends, and we are doing the same thing this July. The M.O. of the entire trip is to eat, drink and nap as much as possible. There isn't much opportunity for anything else.

To eat, you need to cook. Most rental houses come with little more than a crappy frying pan and a Mr. Coffee, so I tend to travel with a few essentials:

-A good knife (rental house knives are always impossibly dull)

-Herbes de Provence

-Sea Salt

-Pepper Grinder
  (those previous three alone can make scrambled eggs a masterwork)

-10" Cast Iron Skillet (if I am driving)

-Whole Bean Coffee, usually Fairway's Habana Decaf ( I can't handle caffeine anymore!)
-Coffee Grinder
-French Press (I am an anti-drip coffee snob)

This year I may need to add driend guajillo peppers and a food mill, just to be ridiculous

What's on your list?

The Kitchn has compiled an excellent list of their own here

Rhubarb-Anise Upside Down Cake Batter....and Cake

The other day at Diner, I had a delicate lil' rhubarb upside-down cake. A few days later, I was due for dinner at a friend's house. I was responsible for dessert and salad.

My father is visiting...as I was eating the batter, I said to him "If this turns out the way I want it to, it's my new favorite thing." It did turn out...deeee-licious!

Epicurious' Rhubarb-Anise Upside-Down Cake

It's a checkerboard!

Before we even had dinner, we had eaten about a quarter of it. After dinner, her husband had a  food-aggressive dog moment. I remember him trying to physically pull the plate out of my hands. He snarled and won.

GOOD ONE EPICIURIOUS

Uptown Delights: The Savoy Bakery

I often have the opportunity to head uptown to Spanish Harlem for my day job. I always get really excited when the day comes, because it means that (A) I will have tacos at Tu Casa for lunch (B) I can stock up on tomatillos and dried chiles at La Costenita Grocery (C) I will probably have a Corona at The Duck and (D) BWAHAHAHA OMFG SPONGE CAKE at the Savoy Bakery.

The neighborhood around the 110th street stop on the 6 train is one of my favorites in Manhattan. The denizens are mostly latino, which comforts my Texan heart. There are a billion dollar stores, a bustling hardware store full of local characters running in and out, and grocery stores full of some serious delicacies.

I can never stroll up 110th without stopping in at the Savoy. It represents to me the best of what is going on up in Spanish Harlem. From the outside, the Savoy is modern and clean - all new NYC. Once inside, though, it's obviously a part of the real neighborhood. The girls behind the counter are always giggling on some sort of sugar high and up for a chat. Work-a-day stiffs come in for their morning coffee, and layabouts trickle in throughout the afternnon. The Savoy bursts with a familial, friendly vibe that is every bit as addictive as the treats they sell within.

One of these days I mean to try the ham and corn danish, but for now, I always get the sponge cake. It's made in a muffin tin, but each cup is first lined with parchment paper, so the cake rises high and golden like an almond topped trumpet. It's light, sweet and egg-i-ly resiliant. Everything I need. 

At $1.50 a pop, I can have 20! It's a good thing I don't live closer.

Good Medicine: The Richardson, Brooklyn

Yesterday I had the first true day off I have had since my birthday. The first half of the day was spent in truly decadent fashion: detailing the kitchen sink, making tortillas and running the occasional quest in World of Warcraft. As evening approached, my friend Carey emailed in hopes that I would join her for happy hour near her house. Now, who am I to disappoint a friend?

We met at 6:30. I love to have a chat with the bartender to figure out what to drink. In this case, we had a conversation about lego candy, which lead to "What on earth could you mix with lego candy?" which led to 'The Violet.' Bartender John created it, and it's not on the menu, but man-oh-man it's good.

It's made of Creme de Violette, fancy gin, lemon and a splash of soda I believe.
Look! It's Lavender! It tastes like medicine-lemonade...in a good way!

 

Along with my drink, I ordered a couple of toasts from the menu. They seem to be pieces of good-quality baguette that have been squashed in a panini press. I don't know about you guys, but I sure love me some chewy baguette with stuff on it. I ate the cannelini bean, lemon and garlic toast, as well as the toast with prosciutto with fig jam. YUM.

Add to the yummy food and inventive drinks, a fabulous view for people watching. We installed ourselves at the bar by the window and made quite a time of it.

The Richardson
451 Graham Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 389-0839

therichardsonnyc.com

Homemade Enchilada Sauce: WHAT A PAIN, but so worth it!

Y'all know I have a problem. I live very very far away from Duran's Pharmacy in Albuquerque, NM - home of the best enchiladas on EARTH. I have set my sights on learning how to make great enchiladas at home. The first and most necessary step is the sauce.

Some lady on the Food Network makes hers with peanut butter. (blech) Canned sauce can be oily or very salty. A real New Mexico enchilada sauce is light and delicate. The only ingredients are chiles, garlic and salt.

I brought home a huge bag of guajillo peppers from the superiorly rocking Mexican deli at East 112th and 2nd Ave. Dried chile's aren't too hard to find anywhere, if you keep your eyes open. New Mexicao chiles aren't so common though, so I had to go for a good alternative. Anaheim peppers made a bitter sauce, but a quick consultation in said Mexican deli pointed towards guajillo. They are mild, and a gorgeous dark, dark red in the dried state.

 Enchilada sauce:
-->   A big bag of dried guajillo peppers should be boiled until they are soft.
-->   You can then dump the peppers in a blender with one or two cloves of garlic and some salt.
-->   To enable the blending, add a little of the cooking liquid.
-->   Blend til smooth-ish, then strain (that part sucks).
-->   BE FOREWARNED: everything the sauce touches will be irrevocably stained orange. My batch filled about 2 large yogurt containers. Mine looks nothing like Duran's, but DANG it is good.

For enchiladas:
-->   Follow the recipe for homemade tortillas below, then fill with shredded, cooked chicken.
-->   Arrange the tortillas in a baking dish or skillet, then pour over tons of sauce. The more sauce you can get in, the better.
-->   Cover with a thin layer of grated cheese, and bake at 400 for 1/2 hour or so...til bubbly.
-->   Shove in face.

Make it Today: Roasted Tomatillo Salsa!!

It has recently become clear that I will probably never move back to Texas. As a result, I have decided that I need to master the making of several good Mexcan dishes. These tacos with roasted tomatillo salsa is one of my favorites!

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa: IT'S SO EASY and it's good on everything!
-->  Roast a jalapeno over a burner on the stove, then remove seeds and ribs (if you want it not too spicy). Chop it
-->  Grab a big bag of tomatillos, take off the outer papery husk, and wash them well under the tap.
-->  Slice em chunky, then put them under the broiler (at about 2 inches) for 2-3 minutes a side - til there is some nice blackening.
-->  Dump them in a blender with the jalapeno.
-->  Add one clove of garlic.
-->  BLEND et voilà!

Chicken Taco Filling:
-->  I sautéed chicken chunks in olive oil and come cajun seasoning.
I then dumped in some frozen spinach and some frozen corn, a little oregano and cumin, and stirred it around. This be the filling.

Homemade corn tortillas are easy:
-->  2 cups masa harina, 1 1/3 C water. Mix it with your hands till soft and it sticks together nicely, then make a bunch of golf ball-sized chunks. Between plastic bags, squash em in a tortilla press ($20 at any mexican grocery) then cook on a dry griddle. Sometimes,just to be crazy, I add a little dry cocoa to the mix. It's a little molé-ey!

Cojita or Cheddar Cheese and tomatillo salsa make this lunch ridiculously yummy, and not really bad for you at all! I often just mix up a few handfuls of masa harina with some water - just enough for 4 tortillas!  It seems like a lot of steps, but you can do it all very quickly.

Sausagescape: My pizza obsession

I don't often get the chance to go to Trader Joe's, and often when I have the chance I take a peek at the line and run for the hills. This week, on a fair day bursting with sunshine, I did the work.

My friends in Winston-Salem, NC stock up on Trader Joe's pizza crusts whenever they get the chance to go to Chapel Hill. The crusts come in a variety of flavors, and cost a mere 99c each. Although I usually eschew the store-bought anything for the home-made version, the price is hard to beat and it's SO YUMMY. Mike Ruhlman my man, if you were coming over, I would make it from scratch for you.

SO peeps, I was tweeting some of the pizzas I have eaten over the past few days, and you have been saying they look yummy.

My semi-homemade version is as follows. Sorry, no table-scape... sausage-scape!!!

Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough
Trader Joe's pesto
Trader Joe's chicken and apple sausage
Little pancetta cubes (or a slice of chopped bacon)
Fairway brand marinara sauce
Key Food brand frozen chopped spinach
Trader Joe's brand Mexican style grated cheese (cheddar and jack)

Set the spinach to defrost in the microwave (5 or six mins on high in a covered bowl)

Preheat the oven to 425 Fahrenheit or so

Render 1/4 cup of the pancetta cubes into zee bacon fat and zee bacon meat.

Slice the sausage and brown it in the bacon fat. The maple syrup in the sausage makes it brown fast, so keep an eye on it! Bacon is magic. We know this to be true.

Spread out the pizza dough according to instructions in your cookie sheet or on your pizza stone

Spread out about a cup of the sauce on the dough

Spread out the squeezed-squozen?-dry spinach on the pizza

Gently drop bits of pesto over the spinach

Spread out the sausage and bacon bits (save that fat for tomorrow's eggs!!)

Bake for about 15-18 minutes...til browning

Try to wait til it's cool enough to eat, then eat!

The most beautiful thing in the world: Pâte à Choux.

 A week ago, I was in Winston-Salem, NC. After drinking away a fair part of the afternoon at Swaim's, I wobbled off to the bathroom. As I emptied the tanks, my camera fell out of my pocket onto the pretty tile floor. This happened three times, I think. crash.crash.clatter.

As a result, the shutter button popped off and rolled under something, ne'er to be seen again. My camera is unusable, so you may notice that I have had to start holding things up to my Mac's camera to get a shot. Let's call it arte de circumstance. The other shots are Blackberry. Let's hope the bf pities me and gets me a nice picture-taker for my B-day! hint hint

Yesterday, I bought RATIO by Michael Ruhlman. I read The Soul of a Chef last week & loved it, so I felt secure ponying up $27.99 for this one (worth it!). Ruhlman loves good food and the process of making it as much as my girl Ruthie. He's also a bit of a populist, as he relishes in sharing the secrets of the professional kitchen with us amateurs.

Watch and love: http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m3G89VVK53YPXK

On the subway last night, I read about Pâte à Choux. I have a longstanding love of profiteroles and Beard Papa, but I never thought I could make a puff on my own.

Ruhlman corrected me in the first paragraph of Part One, Section One, Chapter Six:

Pâte à Choux is one of the coolest flour-and-water preparations in the kitchen. It is easy to make, delicious all by itself, can be a pedestal for any number of sweet or savory ingredients, can be cooked in the oven, in water, in oil (with each type of heat creating different and wonderful effects), and can be featured at virtually any part of the meal. In spite of these features, it's not typically a part of the home cook's repertoire. Why? I have no idea, and I hope it changes.

Such encouraging words, no? I had all the ingredients on hand, so I took a stab at Gougères this morning. (CHEESEY POUFS!!)

I brought 1 cup of water to a boil with 1/2 tsp salt and 1 stick of buttah...all in a lil' enameled Dutch oven. Once boiled, I lowered the heat to a simmer, added 1 cup of flour, and stirred. Wonder of wonder! before my eyes a thick shiny batter formed. I took a taste...so smooth and rich!

I turned off the heat and let the pot sit for a minute while I prepped my cookie sheet. I am not fancy enough to keep parchment paper on hand, so I just gave it a lil' spray with Pam (olive oil). I also preheated the oven to 425 Fahrenheit.

I turned back to the pot, and added 4 eggs that I had previously cracked and beaten slightly...a little bit at a time...constantly stirring. WONDER OF WONDER! The eggs cooked in the hot batter, making it even shinier and richer than before! The texture became positively silky, sensuous and sexy. I shit you not. I was also gently overwhelmed that I could create something so gorgeous and took a moment to wipe away a solitary tear.

To make the dough into Gougères, I added 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese (as we Americans like to spell it) and about a tablespoon of badass herbes de provence the a friend of ours had brought for me from France itself.

A quick stir and I was ready to go.

I plopped lil' golf balls of batter on the cookie sheet, smoothed down peaks with wet fingers, as my boy Ruhlman instructs.

12 fit on my sheet...

I baked them for 10 minutes at 425, then turned the heat down to 350 for another 15.

And the end result? I would let you taste but they are all gone.

Just kidding! Take one!!!!
<--see my tiny-ass kitchen in the background?

I think next I'll tackle veal consommé! 

Go buy the book and start experimenting...my boy Michael Ruhlman would get mad at me if I typed all the ratios out here. We cant have that. He would never invite me for pizza.

Holla Mike! I am free Sunday!

Ruth Reichl and I are like so super BFFs. Bunches of lunches for $15.

 I was listening to The Leonard Lopate Show this morning - with Ruth Reichl as guest.

<------My BFF Ruthie

Please note, I freakin' love Ruth Reichl. She was a food critic for some 30 years (including a long stint at the New york Times). Now Reichl is editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine, and the author of a slew of books. If you haven't read "Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise," put it at the top of your to-do list. Along with "Heat" by Bill Buford, this is one of my top two food reads EVAR.

Reichl has a refreshingly funny and earthy writing style - very female in the best, most sensual, most matter-of-fact humor-to-mask-the-pain way. Her deep love for things edible oozes from every paragraph. The stories contained within left me with a laugh-bellyache and desperate for comped meals at fancy restaurants.

This morning, Reichl chatted with Mr. Lopate about the current state of food. Veggie seed sales are up 300%, and people are stretching their grocery budgets in ways they haven't in years.

Reichl spoke at length about making stock out of leftover bones and random bits from the veggie drawer. Imagine my surprise!! This morning I had planned on blogging about my own recent stock experience! Ruth Reichl, for all your writing and all the Google hits I will get from typing your name plus the words "make your own chicken stock" ...yea, I thank thee heartily.

Keep reading to find out about my roasted chicken, the stock I made from the carcass, and the soup I made from the stock. Total dollahs: $15 for about a BILLIONd-y meals.

Panko Chicken Nuggets: Ummmmmmmmami Mart

It's good weather for cooking smelly food! My kitchen has very little ventilation, but it's so warm in NYC that I have the windows open! Time for some bakin'...

I am a huge fan of UMAMI MART. Our fair blogger fills her site with exploration of other people's refrigerators (I am a shameless voyeur), intriguing recipes and close up photos of strange (to me) Asian food.

The other day I read her tempting recipe for baked panko chicken nuggets and decided to give it a whirl.

NOTES: I didn't use the cheese or cayenne, but I added creole seasoning...

<-----here's my brand - thanks Carey

...and dried oregano to taste. I also made them in preheated iron skillets, since I don't have a rack on which to bake'em. The hot iron made the bottoms as crispy as the tops! They are also fast, easy and not too messy. YAY!

Thank you Umami Mart!!! Panko chicken nuggies are now a part of my weekly repertoire of deliciousness...I am so impressed by how moist they stay. Me thinks it must be the flour layer + the oil in the panko.

<--Skillets FTW!