San Antonio and Coming Home

This weekend was my first trip to San Antonio. I heard it was something like the seventh largest metropolitan area in the country. My brother was playing in a soccer tournament, so on top of that, I wanted to find some good food. Upon arriving, I found that the hotel I was staying in was a mile away from a Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives destination. I had never been to one of the Guy Fieri visited establishments before, so I figured we could try The Cove. I went with my mom and step-dad. We walked in and it certainly looked like a dive. There were old signs on the walls, picnic tables both outside and in, and a bike parked right in front of the drum set at the far end. The dining area was separate from where you ordered food, in the same room as the bar. They had an extensive selection of beers in bottles. Many from the southern and western parts of the country, as well as a few Mexican beers and other imports. There was nothing on tap which was too bad. My step-dad ended up getting a relatively light, malty wheat beer brewed about 30 miles away.

For lunch, we ordered a chicken-poblano soup, sweet potato fries, and seafood tacos. One thing that I noticed in San Antonio was the extraordinarily large amount of soups like this, some kind of chicken and mild chile soup with or without crisp tortilla chips. The soup was okay, and I thought the seasoning was fine, but everyone at the table tried it and thought it was missing something. There was a certain brightness missing, maybe it could have used some fresh herbs or to have been sitting around a little less. With the fish tacos, there was also something missing. The fish was mild and did not contribute in terms of flavor. The tortilla was fine, and it was served with a cilantro cabbage slaw. The whole thing was missing something, and this was where it could have been helped in my opinion. The slaw was relatively bland, and the cilantro in it had lost all freshness. An addition of some of the house made salsa that they had brought out with the tortilla chips actually helped some. I did not try the sweet potato fries. My mom and step-dad had ordered them and I did not feel compelled to try them as they were pretty soggy.

So our first meal in San Antonio could have been better, and I had less hope for that evening’s dinner. It was a banquet for the soccer teams and their families. I ended up eating food from Whole Foods that I had picked up on the way and not eating the meal that was served. The next day consisted of breakfast at the hotel with team parents, oatmeal and a standard omelette. Lunch was again from Whole Foods after a long run, and we had dinner at a restaurant after the soccer game hosted by Williams College Alumni. It was standard Tex Mex, and we had salad, chicken fajitas, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

The next day we again had breakfast with the parents. For lunch, we went to a local grocery store. It was a chain of five or six in Texas, and it was fun to go. It definitely made me wish I had a kitchen, because they had a lot of quality products. The produce section was good, they had fresh fish, including a fair amount whole, and I was very impressed by the meat selection. All of the meat (chicken, beef, veal, buffalo, and maybe some other) looked high quality and fresh. They also had an impressive wine section, a decent sized cheese section, and some good prepared foods, including fresh made tortillas (white flour, whole wheat, and butter flavored). For lunch, I had a beet salad with an orange and rasberry vinaigrette, a salad, and pastrami and turkey with chipotle mustard in a warm whole wheat tortilla. Unfortunately, this would be the best meal I would have on the trip. I had planned on going out for dinner later that evening, but had to run a workout on a track. I had a lot of trouble finding a track, it got very late, and I ate leftover groceries and frozen yogurt from a local, Pinkberry-like place.

We left the next morning, picking up breakfast from Jamba Juice on the way to the airport, and this was the best breakfast I would have on the trip. Jamba Juice consistently produces quality, fresh tasting smoothies with a great consistency, and I am a loyal fan.

Tonight was the first night back that I was able to cook, and it was a relief. I made a trip to the Great Harvest Bread Company for a free loaf of bread as I had filled my frequent customer card. I made an asparagus leak soup with garlic, shallots, thyme, and stock. It was simple but very flavorful, was a bright, vibrant green, and did not take much time to cook at all. The loaf of bread I got earlier had spinach, parmesan, and roasted red pepper in it and was perfect toasted and dipped in the soup. I also made buffalo burgers with number of different pantry ingredients mixed in. I added chopped garlic and shallots, capers, olives, miso, and horseradish. After struggling through a weekend of food searching, trying to make my way past all of the Tex Mex that was being thrown at me, it was nice to be home.

First Draft, Thanksgiving Menu

In the past week, I have been completely unable to avoid thinking about Thanksgiving, even if I tried. There are hundreds of turkeys for sale at work, my twitter feed is being barraged by others’ menu ideas, and holiday advertising is nearing its peak. I have been convinced by my family to keep things somewhat traditional, but I also want to try and get a little creative with some things. So here are my initial thoughts. The menu will of course develop in the next couple days, and I hope the end result will be deemed a success.

- Fennel and white bean soup with balsamic and thyme roasted butternut squash

I have made a simlilar soup to this before, and I hope to add to it some traditional Thanksgiving flavors. The butternut squash should give it a touch of fall, and maybe some nutmeg might add something to the overall flavor as well.

- Garlic and rosemary cauliflower puree

I plan on serving sweet potato, and I hope to bring some flavors of a classic mashed potato without doubling up on potatoes.

- Mesculin salad with apples, walnuts, bleu cheese, and maple balsamic vinaigrette

My mom requested a mesculin salad, and some local bleu cheese and apples will add a lot to this salad, dressed with a vinaigrette starring Vermont maple syrup.

- Turkey roulade with crimini mushroom cranberry buffalo sausage stuffing, and extra stuffing…

This one might need some tasting and tweaking between now and Thursday as I have never attempted many aspectsof the dish. I have never cooked a turkey roulade, and I plan to make my own cranberry buffalo sausage. The extra stuffing will be necessary. My brother will be able to polish off the stuffing in the roulade himself I imagine.

- Sweet potato mash/puree (sweet potato, fromage blanc, balsamic, molasses, nutmeg)

Sweet potatoes remind me so much of fall, and I love a good sweet potato puree.

- Braised cabbage, carrot, and leeks with cider, cumin, clove, ginger, thyme

This was actually the first dish that I tested, mostly because I wanted to eat it last week. It was the first time I had made it, and it turned out very well. I used a local hard cider with local cabbage, carrots, and leeks. I may look to tweek it a little, but I am also not sure if it needs it. Here it is…

- Golden beets prepared agrodolce w/thyme

I love beets, and I think that some pre-cooked golden beets couldbe finished off well in the pan with a sweet and sour praparation.

- Pumpkin soufflé with graham cracker crumble and marshmallow whipped cream

For dessert, I want to finish things on a light note. I think a pumpkin soufflé will achieve this perfectly. This is also a fun twist on a pumpkin pie. The graham cracker crumble will take the place of the crust, and I hope that a cool marshmellow whipped cream (or maybe a homemade ice cream) might add some richness to make it feel like a complete dessert.

So that is what I’ve got so far. It is by no means written in stone. I think I am finally ready and excited enough to get through a few days of holiday cooking. I also hope to keep good records of the process with pictures. Hopefully I can get everything done and nothing major goes wrong in the kitchen…

Rabbit: Another White Meat

Rabbit is well known in the culinary world, but it cannot come close to being called so in the home kitchen. Personally, I enjoy cooking with rabbit. It is as lean as can be and I enjoy the flavor of the meat. No, I don’t think it tastes like chicken. It has a nice gamey flavor when you get quality rabbit, and there is almost no animal out there more healthy to eat. That being said, I have very little experience cooking it. For the average home cook, it is not the easiest to find. For me, I come in contact with it everyday. So why don’t I cook with it regularly? I can’t afford it.

I find this unfortunate, because I would love to consistently have it in my kitchen. It is not the easiest to cook most parts of the rabbit, as they tend to dry out. I find this aspect fun. I welcome a challenge in the kitchen. Not too long ago, I made a rabbit stew. This was one way to help keep the rabbit moist. I cooked it in a red wine and tomato based braise with onions, carrots, and celery. I added herbs during the cooking process and had a comforting stew after a couple hours.

Right now, I am watching the end of an Iron Chef episode. The secret ingredient? Rabbit. With my little experience cooking rabbit and the way I saw it dealt with on the show, it is clear that rabbit is a vehicle for a tremendous variety of flavors. The challenger utilized many different flavors from all over Asia. He cooked the rabbit with Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, and Indian flavors. Each one complimented the rabbit in a different way, from Indian curry and tumeric flavors to the different miso flavors of Korean cooking.

The Iron Chef focused on his specialty, Mediterranean cooking, but made a point of using the whole animal. From the kidneys, to the hearts, to the loin, the entire rabbit was being utilized. This is something that I appreciate when working with any animal, and it is something that the meat department where I work also focuses on.

A couple weeks ago at work, we made a rabbit terrine. I learned how to break down a rabbit, removing the limbs, the tenderloins, and then removing the meat from the bones. We made a mousseline out all of the meat excluding the tenderloins, hearts, kidneys, and livers. The mousseline consisted of the ground rabbit and heavy cream. The tenderloins were seared whole, and the hearts, kidneys, and livers were sauteed with garlic and thyme. They were then roughly chopped and mixed in with the mousseline. We lined a loaf pan with bacon, put in half of the ground rabbit mixture, placed the seared tenderloins in the middle, then added the rest of the mixture on top. After cooking the whole thing at a low temperature in the oven and allowing it to cool and set overnight in the walk-in, the terrine was unmolded.

It looked like a nice paté with some slightly crispy bacon on the outside and two little surpises dotting the center. These pearly white circles were the tenderloins. In this form, It was difficult to tell you were eating rabbit. With the added fat of the cream, the flavor of the herbs, and the distracting layer of bacon surrounding the whole thing, the rabbit flavor was somewhat lost. Don’t get me wrong. It was a tasty paté.

So why isn’t rabbit cooked more often? Well, it isn’t as available. Farmers who raise rabbits do so at a higher cost, and the consumer is forced to pay the higher price per pound. And quite frankly, it may just not be worth it. The flavor is not quite unique enough and there are other healthy alternatives that come without the high price tag. It is unfortunate, and one might hope to see the price of rabbit go down while its availability increased, but that trend has yet to reach the horizon. I may cook with it again, and I hope that I do. It might have to wait for a somewhat special occasion, or a night when a visitor makes a request to try something new.

11/12/12009

Café Shelburne in Shelburne, VT

Cafe Shelburne is a little under 15 minutes outside of Burlington and is right in the middle of the town of Shelburne. It is a nice setting for a restaurant, and the building is inviting. My friend’s parents were visiting Vermont for the weekend, and they took us out for dinner at about 8:30. The restaurant was emptying out at that point, and we were seated in the main dining room. There is a bar as you walk in that is small but sets up a comfortable and elegant atmosphere. This atmosphere continues as you head into the dining room. The elegance, however, does not overpower the sense that you are still in Vermont. You are, in fact, in Vermont, and I enjoyed feeling it.

The first course I had was a corn soup with a corn and  shrimp “coulis.” It was a stock based soup and had a good corn flavor. The shrimp complemented the corn well and actually providedsome nice texture, although may have been a little less tender than I may have liked. Next I had a scallop “salad.” There were three small scallops, very well cooked and tender. It was on a bed of sauteed endive that was certainly appreciated. The mesclun would have been nice had there been more than three or four leaves. It might as well have not been there. For the main course I had the steak tartare. It was beef tenderloin ground to order. They bring the tartare to the table for you to season it according to your taste. They bring things like shallots, dijon, worcestershire sauce, capers, an egg yolk, salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar. I enjoyed the dish, but it did not show much from the chef. The three others I was eating with all enjoyed their food and had no complaints. Overall, I found that they do their version of French food well. It was a very nice meal, and I would certainly enjoy going back.

10/12/2009

A Single Pebble in Burlington, VT

I went here last night with a friend and family. There were four of us. I went very hungry, and was ready for a good meal. We started out by ordering a couple of appetizers. We ordered a soup, the Sea of China, with shrimp,  scallops,  squid, and a white fish I can’t remember. It wasn’t bad, but like the white fish, not memorable. I also had the salad of napa cabbage which was in a vinegar dressing and was fairly ordinary, probably cost 50 cents to make, and was sold for $7.50 or something. We had doule garlice brocolli, which again, was nothing to write home about.  That may have been the story of the meal, as the five flavor chicken left me with the same impression. The reason I would not give it three stars is that none of the dishes surpassed this, and a couple were not up to par. The Bejing Street Noodles were overpoweringly flavored with soy and were a little salty. My mom served herself some,  took one bite, and left the rest. I took a little bit to try, was very hungry for some starch, but decided to go home and have a bowl of cereal instead of having more noodles. We also had a seafood special with shrimp, scallops, and tilapia. The sauce on this dish was primarily white wine and garlic, lacking flavor and under-seasoned. The meal was not great overall. Most of the dishes were edible but not much more. We also paid about 30 dollars a person with one person getting something to drink, and you could get a better bowl of noodles on the side of the street for 5 dollars in most places.

10/04/2009

American Bounty Restaurant at the CIA in Hyde Park, NY

I came here on a visit and a tour the other day. Besides being very impressed by the school and everything it has to offer, I was pleasantly surprised to get a 12:30 reservation for lunch just before noon. It was the last table, so we got lucky. The restaurant was great. Attention to detail is not something that is overlooked. Everything was very nice and professional, but not stuffy or uncomfortable in any way. Our server was great. Extremely nice and had a lot to say about the food. One thing about having servers who also spend time in the kitchen, they are very interested in the food and know a lot about it.

I started with a piece of their honey wheat bread, a melon and sweet onion gazpacho, and a blackberry spritzer, which was the drink special. The bread was excellent. It had a great texture on the inside, and had a good crust. The melon and onion gazpacho was fantastic. Cool and refreshing, the flavor of the melon was what really shined. The spritzer was also great. There was a hint of blackberry, blackberry liqueur, and prosecco in the cocktail. Every ingredient stood out. Prosecco is great alone, and that made up most of the cocktail, with the blackberry liqueuer and juice adding a good sweet flavor.

For an entree, I had a pan roasted cod fillet served with a couscous with peas and raisins and a red tomatillo sauce. The couscous was light and fluffy, well seasoned with a hint of curry flavor. The fish was light and flazy and cooked perfectly. The sauce was excellent. It had an almost roasted red peppery flavor with a light smoky flavor that reminded me a chipotle peppers. For dessert, I had a trio of sorbets (mano, lemon, and raspberry). They were great. Not too icy. Very smooth texture, and the flavors in each were all outstanding. I had a great time here, and I am excited to get back, as well as try what else the Culinary Institute has to offer. And, of course, to maybe end up there as a student.

08/17/2009