Culinary Fool

Douglas Wins Iron Chef Competition!

06-Nov-2005

Congratulations to Tom Douglas for his win on Iron Chef America! The "secret ingredient" was wild King Salmon and Tom did what he does best – let the natural beauty of the salmon shine through. The contrast between the dishes he prepared and those by Morimoto was very obvious. Morimoto had much sparser highly designed presentations while Tom’s looked a bit out of control – sort of like the man himself. :-)

I bet tonight’s party was a ton of fun, too. Hopefully we’ll hear the details from some one who attended!

NY (and Paris): Richart Chocolate

06-Nov-2005

A few years ago, on a trip to Paris, M and I stumbled across this marvelous chocolate shop, Richart. In Paris, the store is located just a couple of blocks away from the Musée D’Orsay. We had planned to visit the museum but when we arrived the tourist buses were emptying their riders, the lines were huge and it was pouring down rain. We decided to try our luck later in the day and while dashing from the scene we came across this shop with the most beautiful chocolates in the window. This was in March, so all the display chocolates were egg shaped, in celebration of Easter, with the most gorgeous designs adorning the tops.

Now, I have to tell you that these people think even more of their chocolates than I do…. The chocolates in the cases are for display only – sort of as a resource so that you know what design is what flavor. You can’t buy just a single piece to see if you like them. No, you must buy one of the boxes with an entire selection. If you don’t like that, I guess you’d better just move along! Lucky for me, they are as good as they look, since I bought several boxes as gifts that first time we discovered this place – I figured they were at least very beautiful!

At some point after we returned, I checked out their website and discovered they also have a location in New York, so the last two times I’ve been in New York I’ve stopped by for a little fix. One of my favorite items is a chocolate sampler they carry. These are thin slabs of undecorated chocolate. In the small box you get 4 varieties and 9 in the large box. Each stack is from a different country and has a different percent of cacao. It’s really interesting to taste the different flavors as you taste your way around the chocolate world.

The candies pictures above are beautiful but I would not recommend them – at least not this particular variety. They had these flavored almond paste candies and I thought the basil variety sounded interesting so I bought a small bag of them – thank heavens it was small! It wasn’t that they were bad, actually, but put basil with almonds and you have something very reminiscent of pesto! So eating this candy was much like popping a little ball of pesto in your mouth and chewing it up. I like pesto, but not like this! The other flavors they had were fruits; I want to say raspberry was one but I don’t remember the other. Maybe they’d be better? Anyway, I kept them long enough to snap a photo but then into the garbage the rest of the bag went. I also came away with a couple boxes of chocolates, though, so all was not lost!

RICHART Design et Chocolat
7 E 55th Street – between Park and Madison
New York

Subway: E, F at 5th

NY: Bar Americain

06-Nov-2005

Saturday night in NY found me just a little bit hungry but at a rather early time for New Yorkers, about 6:30 pm. I decided this would be a good opportunity to visit Bobby Flay’s newest NY venue, Bar Americain, which just opened this last April. My idea was that I’d be ahead of the crowds at, what I was sure would be, a very popular place.

I arrived before 7:00 pm and the place was packed! This is a huge restaurant and the dining room was jammed from end-to-end, including the upstairs area. There were people standing in the bar waiting for their tables to be cleared. It was (controlled) chaos! Since I was on my own I was able to find a single seat at the bar and I just slipped right in.

Throughout my time there, the bar crowd turned over several times as people would come in and have a cocktail before being seated for dinner. In talking with the bar staff I learned that around 8:30 the bar normally gets its own crowd and people will be two or three deep at the bar. That really didn’t happen during my visit but the weather was still really stinky that night so I imagine that kept many people at home.

The menu is pretty varied, some fish, some steaks, a little of this and that. A couple of the entrées sounded really great but I just wasn’t hungry enough to go for a full meal. Instead I settled on the Seafood Cocktail Sampler: a selection of three mini cocktails, which can also be ordered individually at full size.

My seafood cocktails arrived about two minutes after I’d placed my order with the bartender. Hmmm. They must be pre-made. I don’t really mind that as so many things are better when the flavors are allowed to mesh, however it sometimes makes me a little nervous with seafood. However, everything was in good order with the exception of the avocado which was a bit on the gray side.

My sampler cocktail consisted of a Lobster-Avocado; Shrimp-Tomatilla; and Crab-Coconut. All three were wonderful but I absolutely loved the Shrimp-Tomatilla! The tangy tomatilla with the sweet shrimp was absolute perfection! The crab-coconut was also good but there was something different about it that I’ve forgotten now. I just remember that I asked the bartender what type of crab was used since it didn’t taste like the Dungeness which is used everywhere here on the West coast. She was new in her job and wasn’t sure and wasn’t able to flag anyone down to figure it out before she got swamped with orders. Anyway, I’m not a real big coconut fan but this combination was great.

The staff at this bar were really friendly. If you want somewhere you can have a little conversation with locals this would be a great place. There were all actors (of course, this is NY after all!) and bartended to actually pay the bills. At one point I got them competing as to who could make the best Cosmopolitan, which paid off well for me! :-) They only use fresh lime juice at Bar Americain, which I heartily applaud.

At one point I admired a dish of Hot Potato Chips with Blue Cheese Sauce that people next to me were sharing. Soon, to my surprise, a (comped) dish showed up in front of me! These were heavenly! Freshly made crispy potato chips, fairly heavily seasoned and served with a little bowl of Blue Cheese Sauce very similar to the sauce I made for gnocchi for the Cooking Club’s Tapas Dinner. It’s a good thing there were no calories in that dish! Ha! :-)

If the little plates I had were any indication, the food here would be familiar yet served with an interesting twist. Next time I’m in town I’ll probably try to get in for an actual meal. Or maybe not – the bar was certainly a lot of fun!

BAR AMERICAIN
152 West 52nd Street – Between 6th Avenue and 7th Avenue
New York City
212.265.9700

Subway: B, D, E to 7th Ave; F, V to 50th St

Hot Buttered Rum Batter

06-Nov-2005

I made my Hot Buttered Rum Batter this weekend, in preparation for a trip to Whistler later this week. Now, we are actually going up for Cornucopia – a big wine and food event that’s been going on for 10 years now. However, the lifts on Blackcomb opened this weekend so it looks like we’ll be able to get a little skiing in, too! That’s a real (and unexpected) bonus!

Our ski resorts here in Washington are starting to open, too. Everyone is hoping to make up for last year when we, for all intents and purposes, had no snow what-so-ever!

But back to the batter. I’ve been making this batter since the late-80s and it’s been a winner every year. Friends anticipate it! I make a batch at the beginning of the winter and it will normally last me until spring. This makes a really rich drink, although you can control just how rich by varying the amount of batter you use. I’ve found that premium ice cream does not work as well as basic ice cream. And, when you are making this, remember that most ice cream comes in a half-gallon container so you only want to use one half of a carton. I forgot that one year. I realized as I was finishing it that something didn’t look right and so was able to add a second round of all the rest of the ingredients but I had a HUGE amount of batter for the year! :-)

Hot Buttered Rum

1 qt vanilla ice cream, softened (let it get almost liquidy)
1 lb. soft butter
1 lb. brown sugar
1 lb.powdered sugar
2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Cream butter, sugars and spices. When they are thoroughly blended mix in the ice cream.

Store in freezer until ready to use.

To make drinks
Put a generous tablespoon of batter into a mug.

Add a shot of rum. (I prefer a golden rum.)

Mush it around until the batter is soft.

Add boiling water to fill cup.

Stir.

Sprinkle a little nutmeg on the top.

You can use different types of alcohol, for instance whiskey is also good.

Iron Chef Reminder…

04-Nov-2005

Tom Douglas and Morimoto square off this Sunday, November 6, 9:00 pm Eastern and Pacific Time on Food Network.

NY: Union Square Farmers’ Market

03-Nov-2005

I won’t go into detail about the Union Square Farmers’ Market – the NY bloggers can do that with much more aplomb. I will tell you that I stop by this market every time I visit New York just to see what’s new and often to pull together a little breakfast or lunch from the offerings. This visit I was amazed at the gigantic vegetables that seemed to be on every table! Radishes; carrots; cauliflower and more: they all looked like mutant varieties! I’m sure they were tasty and wonderful – just very large!

Culinaria Series at Costco

03-Nov-2005

While browsing through my "Costco Connection" to see what new and exciting things Costco might be getting in for the holidays I noticed that they plan to carry several volumes of the Culinaria Series. I know that many people have been looking for these out-of-print books so I thought I’d mention it. You can start keeping an eye out for them at your local Costco or, if you don’t have a membership, make arrangements with someone who does to look for you. Costco will be carrying the four volumes that are pictured above.

Last year I bought two at Costco and another two at Half Price Books (I bet they’ll be getting more, too) and I think I paid about $25 a piece. That’s a real bargain for these beautiful, interesting and educational books! I think of them as being both cookbook and travel guide!

To find a Costco location near you, check their warehouse locater.

Update November 6: I was at my local Costco yesterday and saw stacks of these books – not so many that they won’t run out though!

NY: Chelsea Market

03-Nov-2005

On Saturday I visited the Chelsea Market expecting to find something that resembled Pike Place Market here in Seattle. That wasn’t quite what I found but it was interesting, none the less.

Chelsea Market does have fruits, vegetables, fresh-baked bread, meats, flowers, and all manner of goods but there is just one vendor for each type of product. That’s not exactly true – there is a little overlap between vendors, but only in a very limited way. There’s just one butcher, one fruit market, one bakery and then some specialty shops. And lots and lots of little restaurants. Although the number of vendors was limited the breadth of offerings was not!

At the Manhattan Fruit Exchange I browsed through an amazing array of mushrooms; checked out myriads of cheese; enjoyed the Halloween display of hundreds of pumpkins, gourds and squash; marveled at the containers of grains, nuts, spices, candies and other dry good stacked neatly in towering rows along every wall.

The whole space was filled with the essence of oranges – the citrus fragrance brightening and enlivening the experience.

I found the little baby Brussels sprouts that have become so popular in restaurants; I marveled at the number of peppers and chilis they had pulled into their small space. Although they are the only fruit and vegetable vendor in the market you’d most likely be able to find nearly any ingredient your little heart desired.

I browsed through the Bowery Kitchen Supply Shop and sampled an amazing Coconut Gelato from the little stand at the entrance; I strolled through Chelsea Market Baskets where you can find all manner of gourmet treats to assemble your own gift basket; I bought some little breads from Amy’s bread, where the bakers were working on the other side of glass walls so that you could see the entire process. I was disappointed in the bread – maybe I chose the wrong things but after nibbling on a couple items I didn’t understand the number of people gracing the tables inside the retail shop. I happened to arrive in time for an Australian Wine tasting at the Chelsea Wine Vault and talked to the winemakers.

Probably my favorite place in the building was Buon Italia, an Italian food shop and mini restaurant all in one. This place reminded me of a local Seattle shop, Big John’s PFI (the website appears to be being updated), except it was better!

Rows of pallets lined the floor holding all manner of oils and condiments. There were baskets full of bulk grains and nuts; tubs of olives and pickled vegetables. The cold cases held all manner of frozen pastries, cheeses and meats. I really wanted to load up on all the good things that were calling my name! But I managed to hold off, remembering the times I’d had to haul heavy bags through airport security checks and not being so happy about it!

So the market is a fun place to spend some time browsing and many of the little food stands looked interesting – although some also looked a little touristy. I didn’t go upstairs to see if you could see the Food Network Kitchens and some of the studios but I might do that some other time. If I lived in the area I’d be in and out of this market on a regular basis but for now it’s just another happy NY memory.

Chelsea Market

75 9th Avenue
New York
Cross Streets: Between 15th and 16th Street

Subways: A, C, E, L to 14th St

NY: Barça 18

02-Nov-2005

I actually lied in my Balthazar post. I did not arrive in NY last Friday but the Friday prior – October 21st. Time is just zipping by! This is a little important because when I tell you that I visited this brand new restaurant, Barça 18, just three days after it opened some of you who know the place might think I’m trying to pull one over! :-) I read about this opening in three separate places. One was in my Daily Candy newsletter, the other was in New York magazine, but I can’t remember the last source at this moment! I had thought one had been MUG but I can’t find it on the site. Frustrating! Anyway, I knew this place was opening and it sounded interesting….

It seems to me that Tapas Bars are the latest rage in Manhattan and Barça 18 was another in a line of recent openings. However, the lineage of this place gave me hope. So Friday evening after finishing my one business meeting, recuperating at my hotel for a bit, and spending some time just wandering around reacquainting myself with the city, I hopped on a subway to Union Square. I walked a couple blocks north to 18th and Park and surveyed the scene from the sidewalk. The dining room was still pretty empty but the bar was starting to get lively. I walked in and took a seat at the bar.

All of the decoration in this place is dramatic. The lights are very low; colors (especially the bar itself!) are saturated; flower arrangements, room dividers and light fixtures are all larger than life. But the ceilings are high so it all works. Well, the jury is still out on the bar – you’ll see a photo below. I was glad they brought me a place mat before serving my food – the pattern was too distracting. I have to say, though, that by the time I left I really wasn’t noticing it anymore.

Barça 18 has an extensive Spanish wine list and, even better, bartenders who seem extremely knowledgeable about the list! I ordered a glass of sherry but heard them field all kinds of questions about the wines and what their recommendations would be. Those sitting near me seemed to be happy with the suggestions made for their tastes.

Many items on the menu called my name, but I decided to start with the Charcuteria Platter for my meal. It arrived in short order and my only complaint was that it was not really tapas size – this was easily a meal for one or one and a half. There was a pile of Jamon Serrano, several slices of an in-house chorizo, Spanish Manchego (but where was the Membrillo??) and lovely, lovely slices of Pan con Tomate. The Pan was amazing! Warm from the oven, fragrant with olive oil and then colorful and flavorful from the tomato rub. I just sighed with happiness. Both the jamon and Manchego were very good, too, but the other item that captivated my tastebuds was the chorizo. I think that a true Spaniard would be appalled. In texture, his sausage reminded me more of an Italian salami than a Spanish sausage except for the flavorings. Chunky, chewy and heavy with smoked paprika I wanted each bite to go on forever.

Although my Charcuteria Platter was more than enough, I had seen too many other items on the menu that I wanted to try. After consulting with the bartender who assured me that the mussels were just a small portion, I placed on order for Mejillones. Liar. There were at least a pound, if not more, of beautiful petite mussels that were placed in front of me when my order arrived. Fragrant with basil, sherry and more of the chorizo, they drew me in with their enticing perfume. Although I could not come close to finishing the order I thoroughly enjoyed those I was able to consume. While sitting at the bar I noticed all kinds of other plates being delivered to those around me. I have to say that many of the dishes would not be considered traditional but they do seem to hold true to the ingredients of Spain – some of the dishes have just been slightly reinterpreted, however.

The one thing that I thought was just too much, however, was their use of "foams". Mojitos came with a Mint-Lime foam perched on top. Stupid. Pitchers of Sangria came with a side carafe of Orange foam. Ridiculous. Don’t restaurateurs understand it’s not necessary to do these bizarre things if the food is good, the service friendly and the prices fair? Makes me want to scream sometimes.

In spite of that I really hope this place does well as I’d love to come back next time I’m in New York. Not only was the food good; I found the staff to be friendly, helpful and knowledgeable; the other clientèle were also friendly (something I always look for since I often travel on my own and I think certain places attract and encourage more interaction); and I like the location.

If you are in town, check it out – I think you’ll be happy you did!

Barça 18

225 Park Avenue South
at 18th Street
New York

212.533.2500

Subway: N, R, 4, 5, 6, L to Union Square

NY: Balthazar

02-Nov-2005

Last Friday I arrived at JFK Airport at about 7:30 am after taking a red-eye from Seattle on Delta’s new no-frills airline, Song. I was very excited to be back in New York, as it had been about two years since my last visit – w-a-a-a-y too long! Since I was arriving so early in the morning, yet just in time for rush hour traffic I had decided to try a new way to get into the city. I thought I would take the AirTrain from JFK out to Jamaica Station and then catch the E line into Manhattan.

This is not a very glamorous way to enter the city but at that time of the day I figured a cab ride would take me around an hour, maybe more, and the fare before tip would be $49 ($45 flat rate into the city plus $4 toll fee) while the subway schedule showed the commute time at about 30 minutes plus the time for the AirTrain ride and the total fare would be just $7. Plus, the E train had a stop just two blocks from my hotel – an easy walk with a rolling suitcase! And, there’s not a lot to do in NY at 8:00 am so a little adventure sounded like a good way to start the day. This was a very good theory on my part, but one that didn’t quite work as planned…

After departing from the plane, I stopped to wash my face, put in my contacts and make myself as presentable as possible after spending 4 hours sleeping, mostly upright, in a plane seat. When I arrived at baggage claim I was surprised to see that the luggage had already arrived and, in fact, everyone had claimed their bags and mine was the lone case circling round and round on the belt! That really has to have been the fastest baggage transfer I have ever seen! I grabbed my bag and made my way to the AirTrain station. This was not a hard trip but it did involve exiting the terminal, crossing a couple streets and a parking lot – on Friday it was an easy trip. On a rainy, stormy day it may have seemed much more daunting and miserable. A train arrived within a few minutes, I took a seat and we made a few more stops (the train is primarily used to move people between terminals at JFK) and then within a few minutes we entered Jamaica Station. I paid my fare (no cost within the airport but $5 to go out to either Jamaica or Howard Beach Station). I made the journey from the AirTrain terminal into the subway station and soon was on an E train headed into the city.

Now the E is a local and friends who knew of my plans suggested that I transfer to an express when possible. But with my luggage and the certain crowded conditions on the express trains I had decided just to stay on the local, figuring it wasn’t going to make that big of a difference, especially since I’d need to transfer back to a local to get to my stop in Manhattan. All went well for several stops. I was standing and was okay with that since I’d been cramped in a plane for several hours. Occasionally, the train would stop for five minutes or so in between stations, as they sometimes do. Then the stops started becoming more frequent and longer. Then the conductor made an announcement – there was a small fire at one of the ticket booths and it was causing some delays. Still it didn’t seem like anything to worry about.

More announcements and short delays. Then a 45 minute plus delay in between stations. The car got very warm – people started peeling their outer layers off. We waited. And waited. Somewhere in there the announcements indicated the fire was more serious than first thought, the smoke was being sucked into the tunnels, stations were closed, trains being terminated at certain stations or being rerouted. It was a mess! Finally, the train lurched into Queens Plaza, I escaped and made my way to the street – ahhhh, fresh air at last! Now my challenge was to figure out where I actually was (prior to this Queens was a place that existed in my imagination or on my TV only…) and where I should try to flag a cab considering where I wanted to end up. There is nothing worse than the disgust of a NY cabbie when you’ve flagged them down and they are going in the wrong direction and have to get turned around – especially in the middle of rush hour! Oh, and did I mention the traffic cops who were trying to keep the traffic moving (and doing a good job) but also inflicting their verbal wrath on anyone who did anything to endanger that fragile balance they were maintaining?

I picked my spot, flagged an open cab, jumped in (without incurring anyone’s displeasure!) and was soon at my destination. However, by the time I arrived it was nearly 10:30! Yikes! What a way to spend my first few hours in Manhattan. The only good thing to come of this was that by the time I got to my hotel they actually had a room ready for me! Amazing! And it had just been cleaned so arriving any earlier wouldn’t have worked from that perspective. I got into my room, freshened up and immediately made my way to Balthazar for a nice comforting meal – by this time lunch.

My first experience with a Keith McNalley restaurant was actually at Pastis. I happened to be watching Martha Stewart one morning when she featured the (at-the-time) newly opened restaurant and its chefs on her show. I was going to NY a couple of months later, checked it out and fell in love with the place. It took me two or three more trips to actually make it to Balthazar but since then I almost always stop in for some sort of meal or even just for a coffee or tea break.

On this day, I new exactly what I wanted – the Roast Lamb Sandwich with Harissa Mayonnaise and Frites. Yum! Comforting. Cozy. Hearty. Tasty. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to linger as I had a business meeting uptown that I had to get to and it had started raining! No time to waste – rain in NY has a terrible impact on traffic. It took me over an hour by taxi to get from Balthazar in Soho to the office Uptown. I was late for my meeting. Oops.

Since I didn’t have much time to linger on Friday, I decided to return on Monday morning for my farewell to NY breakfast. I arrived after the morning rush, was escorted to a little table along the back wall where I spent some time sipping tea, munching on Brioche French Toast with Applewood Smoked Bacon (that bacon is amazing!) and writing postcards to friends and family. If I squinted my eyes just a little and then looked around I could pretend I was in Paris. Well, except that this brasserie is about three or four times the size of a true Parisian version. No matter; it was a very pleasant way to pass a little time.

Balthazar

80 Spring Street – between Crosby Street and Broadway

New York, NY

212.965.1785

Subways: N,R to Prince Street. 6 to Spring Street.