The Last Vegetable Dish

I was reading an article on Roger Ebert’s struggle with cancer of the jaw. After being diagnosed with the disease a few years ago his course of treatment led to the eventual removal of his lower jaw bone. Ebert has not been able to speak, drink, or eat solid food since operation.

I can’t imagine how lonely it must feel to not be able share dinner with family and friends, let alone not be able to speak. For me dinner is a major highlight of my day. While I enjoy great food, I find that even good or mediocre food is made so much better with great conversation and laughter. Hell, if you give me good enough drink I’ll spend the night laughing with friends and making fun of bad food. While I think one can be good independent of the other, when you get both it can be so much fun.

In the article they ask Mr. Ebert what his last meal was; after thinking for a little while he said he really didn’t remember. I can imagine the amount of pain in his jaw limited him considerably in what he could eat. As a food fanatic I think I can safely say that if it were me I would be (to use a Jersey Shore reference), creepin’ on the most memorable dish I was able to comfortably consume.

I can say that any last meal for me would have to include the Pea Soup with Parmesan Foam from Jean Georges. My memory of the whole thing is pretty vivid even to this day. (I won’t bore you with the details but if you really want to read about the best lunch in New York City read here.) When you taste a dish like this, it’s a sensory experience that seems to indelibly burn itself on your memory forever.

Chef's Garden Carrots

The folks at The Culinary Vegetable Institute have generously offered two seats at this Saturday’s February Earth to Table Dinner with Beej Flamholz and Erica Wides, valued at $55 a person. If you haven’t been to the CVI you’re in for a real treat (see here). What do you have to do to win these prized seats? In the comment section I want you to tell me what your favorite vegetable dish from a restaurant is. Unless your grandmother or mother owns a restaurant, I don’t want to here about it. Hopefully the restaurant is still open so we can all sample it for ourselves, but if it’s not that’s okay, too. The winner will be picked randomly on Wednesday night (giving you enough time to line up a babysitter). Good Luck!

Make sure you check out next month's Mangalitsa Pork dinner. Half of the tables are already sold for what will surely be a steel cage match between a very rare breed of pig and equally high end Chef's Garden vegetable.

Maple Budino

Maple Budino with Sea Salt and Almond Tuile

My wife made a special Valentine's Day request for Karen DeMasco's Maple Budino from Locanda Verde (a very thorough review from Bite Buff here). Buried in my nearly one hundred unfinished posts is my review of this restaurant in NYC that is cranking out some awesome food (by not one, but two James Beard award winning native Clevelanders chef Andrew Carmellini and pastry chef Karen DeMasco). Ironically enough, I also making the pork chops from Carmellini's recipe in The Niman Ranch Cookbook, for dinner (recipe here).

So here it is Valentine's Day and I've already been given my marching orders on the Maple Budino . It seemed like fate when I opened up the Plain Dealer I saw an article on Cleveland native. In the article the dessert is actually referenced. How crazy is that?

This isn't just a plate of pudding. The New York Times' Sam Sifton voted this sterling dessert as one of his "eleven most memorable dishes of 2009".One would think that making a dessert as good as this would have a certain amount of difficulty, but this is about as easy as it gets. You can make them a couple of days in advance without fear of any degradation. While the original at the restaurant comes with candied pecans, I opted to sprinkle a little Hawaiian sea salt on top and add an almond tuile. My wife's friend described it as french toast without the bread.

This recipe is not from Karen's new cookbook Craft of Baking, but I highly recommend checking it out. Many of her recipes encourage the reader to freestyle and create their own twist on the recipe.

Maple Budino by Karen DeMasco
(makes 6 servings)

• 1 cup maple syrup (preferably grade B)
• 4 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 7 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Fill a kettle with water and place over high heat to bring to a boil. In a 4 to 6 quart saucepan, bring maple syrup to a boil and cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced by about half, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in cream, salt and vanilla.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, yolks and brown sugar. Add about a third of the cream mixture, and whisk to blend. Pour into remaining cream mixture and whisk until well blended. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer. Divide evenly among six 8-ounce ramekins, and place in a deep metal baking or roasting pan (using a glass or ceramic pan may increase baking time). Carefully add enough boiling water to pan to come halfway up sides of ramekins. Cover pan securely with foil to seal it closed.

3. Bake for 20 minutes, then rotate pan, release steam by lifting foil cover and replace foil securely. Continue baking — rotating pan, releasing steam and re-covering every 15 to 20 minutes — until custards are completely set around edges and slightly loose in centers, about an hour more.

4. Remove pan from oven, remove foil and allow custards to come to room temperature in water bath. Remove from pan, cover each custard with plastic wrap (not touching surface) or a small plate and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days before serving.

Almond Tuile by Johnny Iuzzini from Dessert Fourplay

• 4 teaspoon (22g) water
• generous tablespoon (22g) honey
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons (37g) unsalted butter
• scant 1/2 cup (75g) confectioners' sugar
• 2 Tablespoons (15g) all-purpose flour
• 5-1/2 ounces (150g) sliced almonds, chopped

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F or 325 degrees F on convection. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or use a nonstick baking sheet.
2. Put the water, honey, and butter in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the butter is melted.
3. Whisk the confectioners' sugar and flour together. Pour in the wet ingredients and stir until smooth. Stir in the nuts.
4. Use a small ice cream scoop (1-tablespoon capacity) to scoop up 1 tablespoon of the batter. Level off the top and drop onto the Silpat, leaving about 2 inches between each tuile (you should fit 6 on the baking sheet). Bake in batches until golden, about 14 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let cool completely on the Silpat.
   

Crawfish Étouffeé

Hey, I thought we were friends!

When I worked at Muirfield Village Golf Club, there was a creek in front of the third green that had flooded after a heavy rainfall. As a couple of coworkers cleaned silt off of the green there was a call over the radio stating that there was a live scorpion on the green. Needless to say, they don't have scorpions in Columbus, OH, but they do have, what we call crayfish, though not as large (or plentiful) as those down in Louisiana.

Imagine how stoked I was when I got an email from Bay Lobsters announcing a shipment of live crawfish. Since I live in Ohio, any étouffeé I've ever had has been made with shrimp. So I was very excited to get my hands and these little guys, since it isn't something that you can just drive down to the grocery store and buy. While Bay Lobsters does carry the frozen already peeled crawfish tails, everything I've ever read on the subject says that the live critters are the only way to go.

As I drove back home with my 2 1/2 pounds worth of my temporary pets, I could hear them "clacking" away on the floor of the car (in a bag). I have to say that I was dreading the idea of boiling these lively little guys. It was going to be murder on a grand scale. As I heated up the water the crawfish kept climbing out of the bowl and falling onto the floor. While unpleasant at first, the boiling of the mud bugs wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

I used John Besh's My New Orleans for the recipe. I think the cool thing about this book is that Besh gives a lot of the building blocks of the New Orleans favorites while also offering some recipes from his French culinary background. There is a lot of nuanced information that you don't seem to get with some of the traditional books.This recipe calls for an entire pound of crawfish tails, but he also has a franco-centric dish that calls for just ten tails. I haven't cooked out of this book that much because it isn't very seasonal for this time of year, but when the strawberries come out this thing will be getting a work out.

The étouffeé was very good, especially the next day. I don't know what it was, but when I do it again I will definitely make it the day before. The spice (which is present but restrained), seems to incorporate itself into the tail meat when it sits overnight. Biting into one of these tails doesn't dispense an immediate and overpowering spice, but a slow crescendo that seems to sneak up on your tongue after you've swallowed the bite. When I ate right after making it, there seemed to be two separate flavors: tail meat and then the other stuff. If you make it let me know which way you prefer it.

Chicken Stock
¼ cup canola oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 leek, white part, coarsely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 pound roasted chicken bones and carcasses (Substitute 1 pound of shells from shrimp, blue crab, crawfish, or lobster for Shellfish Stock)
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1. Heat the canola oil in a large pot over moderate heat. Cook the onions, celery, carrots, leeks, and garlic, stirring often, until they are soft but not brown, about 3 minutes.

2. Add the shells, the bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns, and 3 quarts water. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to low and gently simmer, skimming any foam that rises to the surface, until the stock has reduced by half, about 2 hours.

3. Strain through a fine sieve into a container with a cover. Allow the stock to cool, cover and refrigerate, then skim off the fat. Freeze the stock in batches to use later.

Besh suggests putting the stock in an ice cup tray

Basic Louisiana White Rice (Makes about 4 cups)
1 tablespoon chicken fat, extra-virgin olive oil, or butter
1 small onion, minced
1-1/2 cups Louisiana long-grain white rice
3 cups Basic Chicken Stock (see above recipe)
1 bay leaf
1-2 pinches salt

1. Put the fat, oil, or butter and the onions into a medium saucepan and sweat the onions over moderate heat until they are translucent, about 5 minutes. Pour the rice into the pan and stir for 2 minutes. Then add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the bay leaf and salt.

2. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 18 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, fluff the rice with a fork, and serve.

Crawfish Étouffeé with Louisiana White Rice

Crawfish Étouffeé (serves 6)
3 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons flour
1 small onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
Half a red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Leaves from two sprigs of fresh thyme
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 small tomato, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 quart Basic Shellfish Stock (see above recipe)
3 tablespoons butter
1 pound peeled crawfish tails (from 2 ½ pounds live)
2 green onions, chopped
2 dashes Worchestershire
2 dashes Tabasco Salt Freshly ground black pepper
3 cups cooked Basic Louisiana Rice (see above recipe)

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk the flour into the very hot oil. It will immediately begin to sizzle and fizz. Keep whisking and reduce the heat to moderate. Continue whisking until the roux takes on a gorgeous dark brown color, about 15 minutes. *I don’t know if I screwed something up but mine only took about half that time* Add the onions, reduce the heat, and cook until the onions caramelize. If you add all the vegetables at the same time, the water that results will boil the onions and their sugars won’t caramelize.

2. When the onions have turned the roux shiny and dark, add the celery, bell peppers, garlic, thyme, cayenne, and paprika. Cook for 5 minutes. Now add the tomatoes and the Shellfish Stock and increase the heat to high.

3. Once the sauce has come to a boil, reduce the heat to moderate and let simmer 5-7 minutes, stirring often. Be careful not to let it burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.

4. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the butter. Add the crawfish tails and green onions. Season with Worcestershire, Tabasco, salt, and black pepper. Once the crawfish tails have heated through, remove the saucepan from the heat.

5. Serve in individual bowl over rice.

CVI Earth to Table Dinner with Craig Deihl

A few weeks ago I received an invitation from the folks at Culinary Vegetable Institute to attend their January “Earth to Table” dinner featuring Chef Craig Deihl (as in “The Real Deihl” of Cypress Lowcountry Grille, in Charleston, SC. If you read this blog with any regularity then you’re probably well aware of my affection for southern food.

Since I was allowed to bring a guest, and my wife was unavailable, I brought Stuart Spivack along (both dinners were graciously provided by CVI). From the east side of Cleveland, it takes about an hour or so to make it out to the compound.

The Culinary Vegetable Institute is an impressive place in its own right. The 11,000 sq ft facility houses an incredible two story kitchen (it even has an Anti-Griddle), a dining room with 22’ ceilings and a lodge-like atmosphere (seats 90), accommodations for visiting chefs and their teams, a culinary library, a root cellar, and a wine cellar. Just outside the impressive structure are experimental vegetable, forest, and herb gardens. (I’m not sure what a forest garden is, but I’ll make sure I ask the next time I’m there.) In all honesty, this is probably the most impressive thing I’ve seen since I was at Stonebarns, in Pocantico Hills, NY. (If you’re ever in the NYC area anytime other than winter, it’s a must see.)

As we walked into the CVI, were immediately greeted by both Lee and Mary Jones. Once we checked in they encouraged us to take a look at what was going on in the kitchen. I’m guessing I made three or four steps before it hit me – a pungent smell of cured meat. People were painstakingly loading up a table covered with plates filled with charcuterie that had been brought up from their own “Salami Room” which I’m assuming is at Cypress. (Video of Chef Diehl and his sous chef making salami, here.)


Here are my highlights for the dinner:

Candied Lamb Bacon with gnocchi
For me this was a serious punch of flavor to start the dinner. This was actually my favorite item of the night. This was salty and sweet at its finest. Stuart said that Doug Katz at Fire used to have this on the menu. In talking to Chef Deihl, this is just a throw away cut of meat. It's one thing to do something with nothing, but do this with nothing was just awesome. I absolutely loved this dish.


Ice Spinach with Maytag blue cheese
Ice spinach? What's ice spinach? It's actually a patented Chef's Garden process that is very similar to that of ice wine. While I didn't eat enough of it to be able to say exactly what it was that made it so different, I can say that the dressing, blue cheese, and spinach epitomized the word harmony. Deihl will be getting a recipe request from me, and The Chef's Garden can count on a call about a more detailed explanation on this curious process. (I smell a future post.)


Cumin and Orange with Pecorino Tortufo
There wasn't anything outrageously clever about this dish; it just tasted really, really good. You know a vegetable dish is good when people have their eye on what's left in the carrot bowl, with a plate of short ribs and chuck still sitting on the table. I singled this one out, but believe me when I say every single one of the vegetable bowls left the table empty.


Chocolate Beet Brownie with Homemade Ice Cream, Candied Ginger Jam
Chef Deihl actually used something like five pounds of beets as the "sugar" in the brownie batter. A little skeptical at first, I was pleasantly surprised that the beets hadn't been totally masked by the chocolate. When you bit into the brownie you could feel small bits of beets in your mouth. I thought this was a very creative way to incorporate a vegetable. (Also pictured is the Goat Cheesecake with Lemon-Fennel Confit and Anise Hyssop.)


I can’t tell you enough how much I enjoyed this dinner. What made it such a special event was that the chef did such job of putting his signature on the each and every dish, while not overshadowing the tremendous quality of the Chef's Garden vegetables. If the drive out to CVI is discouraging you, just know that at the end of that trek awaits a very special dinner.

For information on upcoming dinners, click here. I have already booked our spot at the Mosefund Mangalitsa dinner on March 27 with Chopped winner Chef James Briscionne.

Earth to Table Dinner with Chef Craig Deihl complete menu:

Appetizers

• Chef's Garden Ice Root Spinach Salad with House Smoked Bacon, Maytag Blue Cheese
• House Cured Salami, Mixed Root Vegetable Salad
• Ricotta Gnocchi, Tomato-Mint Jam, Candied Lamb Bacon
• Ham and Bean Soup with Mixed Winter Kale

Entrees

• Duo of Certified Angus Natural Chuck Eye and Braised Short Ribs

Chef's Garden Vegetables

• Cumin and Orange Glazed Carrots
• Sweet Potato Gratin with Glazed Carrots
• Sweet Potato Gratin with Pecorino Tortufo
• Confit Potatoes
• Celery Root Infused Anson Mills Grits
• Braised Collard Greens

Desserts

• Goat Cheesecake with Lemon-Fennel Confit, Anise Hyssop
• Chocolate Beet Brownie with Homemade Ice Cream, Candied Ginger Jam
  

Rice Cakes with Korean Red Dragon Sauce

Is there anything like finding a sauce that is both tasty and versatile? So far I've used it on a chicken saute and also (as pictured below) on rice cakes. Chef David Chang's recipe for roasted rice cakes, which includes also making ramen broth as well as roasted onions, was a little too involved for me to do on a weeknight. The Red Dragon Sauce as written below is very good, but I added a little more of the usukuchi to balance the salty and sweet to my liking.

Rice Cakes with Korean Red Dragon Sauce

Red Dragon Sauce
David Chang from Momofuku

• ¼ cup of water
• ½ cup of sugar
• ¾ cup of ssämjang (fermented bean and chile sauce), or more to taste
• 2 tablespoons usukuchi (light soy sauce), or more to taste
• 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar, or more to taste
• 1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil, or more to taste

Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes, then stir in the ssämjang to dissolve it. Stir in the soy, vinegar, and sesame and taste the sauce: no one flavor should stand out, but all should be present and accounted for. Adjust as necessary.

To Review or not to Review

Cleveland has a couple of restaurants that have recently opened, Dante Buccuzzi's Dante last weekend and Zack Bruell's Chinato tonight. Much like the arrival of a newborn baby, everyone is anxious to see the latest addition to the Cleveland restaurant family.

As people scurry to see the "latest and greatest" that two of the more well known chefs in the city have to offer, there will inevitably be an avalanche of blog posts chronicling the ups and downs of the decor, the dinners, and the service. Opinions typically run the gamut from gushing to gruesome. For some diners there is a sense of realistic expectations for a newly opened establishment; while others are much less forgiving.

Is there much value in a review of a restaurant that has been open for two weeks, or less? I think it's fair to say that the only thing such a review is apt to reveal is how prepared management was for the grand opening. If there is a restaurateur out there that hasn't had these growing pains I'd like to know who it is. In the first few months there are numerous additions and subtractions in trying to strike the right balance in the entire staff.

I think reviews from patrons have very little value if they're on the extreme end of the critical scale, especially early on. If someone writes an absolutely gushing review, the expectations are going to be next to impossible for an establishment to meet. I've heard on a number of occasions where people say, "I went to such and such a place because people raved about it. I didn't think it was that good." In some cases maybe they might have had an off night. I, however, would argue that the food was fine, but the expectations were way out of line. Rave reviews should be reserved for places worth raving about.

The other end of the critical spectrum is the person that nitpicks at every little thing and ultimately brands the entire experience a monumental failure. An excessively negative review does nothing to educate prospective diners as to what they can expect. I have eaten at quite a few restaurants in my life and I think I count on one hand how many abysmal dining experiences I've had in my life. If such bad experiences are as commonplace as the one I've had, I can't help but to believe they will be in business for long.

The worst possible review is when a place is skewered during that period of time when they're still trying to iron out the kinks during the first few weeks. The chances are that this review will continue to get referenced well after all of the problems have been worked out. How fair is that?

When I read a post I want to know what the general vibe of the place is, what level of skill the food is at, where the good and bad places to sit are, and what some of the recommended dishes are. There was a point in time when I used to give the play-by-play of the entire meal, complete with pictures. Coming to the realization that this whole thing was turning into uninteresting and poorly photographed story that no one found all that interesting, I severely pruned the pictures and food descriptions. In the end I think painting a general picture of a restaurant's flavor is much more appealing (and useful).

How long are people supposed to wait before they're "allowed" to post on a restaurant? I don't think there's any set time period; just a different level of expectation dependent on how close you go relative to the place opening. Do I have the same expectation for the service after one week versus one month versus one year? If it takes forever to get food after a month then I think there's a problem. If there's still a problem with food coming out after a year, there's a good chance they're on the verge of failure, or on Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. This information only becomes useful once it's put into the right context.

At the end of the day these are people's livelihoods. Extreme posts don't help anyone, be it gushing or ghastly. The ridiculously positive sets unattainable expectations for future diners. Extremely negative reviews never give the restaurant a chance to win prospective patrons over in the first place. I will actually add an update to a review from early in a restaurant's life if they've corrected a problem, like here. The important thing to remember is that long after our posts are up these businesses still have to deal with these words after we've forgotten about them.

Carolina Barbecue

This week I spent a few days down in Pinehurst, North Carolina. If you’re not familiar with that area, it’s about an hour south of Raleigh Durham. Like most of the South, the drive down to Pinehurst takes you on country highways that wind through seemingly never ending pine forests. Small houses dot the landscape, peering out from rusty tin roofs topped with clumps of pine needles.

I’ve made this trip four or five times now and I can tell you that with the exception of one restaurant (Elliot’s on Linden), the others have been at the very most ho hum. How can such a place be so mediocre? When I think of the South I think of good eatin’. Food I could get back in Cleveland was not how this was supposed to go down. It was time to take a more direct approach.

Over the weekend I did a search on “barbeque in Pinehurst, North Carolina”, two places were consistently mentioned – Pik N Pig in Carthage and Jackson Bros. BBQ in Sanford. I knew if I persuaded my coworker Robb to try a barbecue place and it sucked it would be the last time he agreed to barbecue the rest of the trip.

If Operation Pulled Pork was going to be successful, I knew that Pik N Pig was going to be the best shot I had. Robb has his pilot’s license, so I knew when I told him this place was at a small airport he would be willing to go.

The restaurant actually sits on a small airport reminiscent of the 80’s show “Wings”. Built out of what were the old Carthage Post Office and a building from Sandhills Community College, which were moved to the airport, Pik N Pig is sited just next to the runway.

They have things set up to where you can order a sandwich which comes with fries or you can get the dinner which comes with two sides and your choice of cornbread or roll. Robb got the spicy chicken sandwich and fries and said it was a pretty good balance of spice to where you weren’t gulping down water. I opted for the pulled pork dinner with baked beans, slaw, and cornbread. The pulled pork had a tender ropiness that was flecked with charred bits of the outer crust. The sauces come in the form of a sweet sauce that’s a more traditional thickness and a thinner more vinegary hot sauce. I give my vote to the sweet sauce. I thought the beans and the slaw weren’t anything to rave about, but the cornbread with jalapeno butter was a definite winner. With the sandwich platters going for $5 and the dinner platters going for a whopping $7, the food is a steal.

I told our friend at the bar about our lunch and he agreed that Pik N Pig is one of the best in the area. He told us that his other favorite place is Jackson Bros, (affirming what I had already heard) which he usually hits whenever he’s headed to or from Raleigh. We were warned that everything is “to go” so we’d have to eat it in our car.

After finishing up our work in the morning, we loaded up our equipment and headed to the Raleigh Durham airport. As we headed north through Sanford we actually passed Jackson Bros., not even realizing that the spartan little building was our destination. We doubled back around and headed to what looked like an old converted ice cream stand in the middle of a gravel parking lot. For whatever reason, Robb only ordered the Big Pulled Pork Sandwich with no sides ($3.50). I on the other hand, I got the sliced pork, which I could’ve ordered chipped, along with fries, slaw, and hush puppies ($7). Of the two places I think JB had better pulled pork. The fries were just typical frozen fries. I really liked the hush puppies; they looked like miniature corn dogs only there wasn’t a hot dog inside. I think it’s the first time I ever remember having hush puppies like these. I was absolutely stuffed after devouring the whole tray.

In the end I thought both places put out a good authentic product. Pik N Pig gets the nod for actual sit down dining experience, while Jackson Bros. wins best food. Should you be in the Pinehurst area you owe it to yourself to stop at both of these restaurants. While they are both certainly among the top values in the area, they are also your best shot at authentic eastern North Carolina BBQ in this neck of the woods.

Pik N Pig
194 Gilliam Mcconnell Rd
Carthage, NC 28327
(910) 947-7591
www.pik-n-pig.com



Jackson Bros. BBQ
2440 Jefferson Davis Hwy.
Sanford, NC 27332-7102
(919) 776-8887
www.jacksonbros.com

I'm a Proud Papa!

There are kitchen smells and then there are kitchen smells. When I say kitchen smell, I’m really talking about the odor that fills your house after the meal is long over. Cookie smell? Good. Sauce smell? Good. Meat smell (particularly pork and more specifically beef?) Bad.

There is something about a lingering grease smell after the dinner is long gone that I absolutely abhor. One way to mitigate that smell is to cook the meat out on a grill. Simple enough, right? Except I live in Cleveland where we are currently in what I like to call “The Shining” season. Continuously falling daily snow with the mercury dropping near ten degrees is hardly grilling weather. It’s enough to make you want to pull out the ax and chop down a door, yelling, “Here’s Johnny!”

What to do.

I’d been smitten with the Big Green Egg ever since my wife showed it to me about a year ago. I’ve looked at it on and off over the last six months hemming and hawing over whether it was worth the money.

If you’re not familiar with The Big Green Egg, let me give you a little background. BGE is what we have come to know as a kamado style cooker. The modern version is made of the same ceramic as the heat tiles on the space shuttle. The heat retention of the ceramic allows the grill to retain most of its heat and use the charcoal very efficiently; this ends up being a fairly big deal up in the Ohio winter because a lot of heat is lost to the cold weather with a metal grill. The high efficiency also allows you to smoke something at low temperatures for up to 20 hours without reloading with charcoal.

Open the windows and unplug the smoke detectors; Daddy’s about to sear some beef! I hate the smoke. I hate the smell inside my house (three hours afterward.) If I have a choice I’d rather grill it outside. The BGE is capable of temperatures between 700 and 800 degrees. With this grill I’m going to get a better result than I ever would indoors. The other cool thing is that the available 24” pizza stone allows you to achieve the high temps necessary for pizza without needing to hack the lock on your oven cleaning setting.

I had to have one of these, but I couldn’t get past the price. Regina and I decided to at least look at them to find out what the whole thing was going to cost. We went to Embers in Solon, where the salesman was extremely informative. There was no question that I was sold on the grill, but I just couldn’t get over the price of these things. It was one of those deals where they pretty much regulate the same price among all of the dealers. You weren’t going to troll on the internet for a cheaper price.

The only place in town that had an XL BGE was Northfield Fireplace. When we got there we saw every size BUT the XL. When we asked the salesman where the XL was, to our delight he told us that it was over in the other section of the store – in the closeout area. Like Ralphy on Christmas morning, it took all I had to contain my excitement. We walked through the door and there it was, in all its glory – a demo and marked down 50%!

The salesman started talking about all of the features on the grill while I sat there and feigned ignorance. He also threw in the plate setter (which acts like a diffuser), the pizza stone, a new grill rack, and the frame with wheels they call “The Nest” for a grand total of $750!

The Big Green Egg XL

Using the winnings from a poker tournament, I was now the proud papa of an XL Big Green Egg.

The first thing I made was a plum glazed pork shoulder recipe from John Besh’s cookbook. All I can say is that this thing fun as hell to use. It was ten degrees outside and I cooked the pork to perfection with very little trouble.

While I have to admit that I’m always intrigued by the latest technology, this two thousand year old kamado relative will probably be the coolest cooking thing I may ever buy. I can’t wait to explore all of the seemingly limitless possibilities The Big Green Egg has to offer.

Brown Butter Custard Pie with Cranberry Glaze

My obsession with Christina Tosi and her crazy ingredients continues. This pie crust is made with bread crusts combined with the butter and cinnamon taste which tastes just like cinnamon toast. I could easily grub on the crust alone. The brown butter custard is also unique in the sense that the brown butter is encapsulated in a gelatin floating in the filling. With every bite you get this intense little bursts of brown buttery goodness.

I made this in a glass pie pan and found that the crust needs to warm up a bit before it will easily pop out. When this crust is totally refrigerated it puts a death grip on the pan. I warmed it slightly over a low flame on the stove.

This particular recipe was in the recent November issue of Food + Wine. The printable version for the filling is here. The Cinnamon Toast Pie Crust, which I will definitely will be using for other pies, is located here.



Brown Butter Custard Pie with Cranberry Glaze
by Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 cups diced crusts and end pieces from 1 loaf of packaged white bread (10 ounces crusts)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the butter is golden brown, about 8 minutes; strain into a glass measuring cup. Reserve the browned butter solids for the Brown Butter Custard Pie.
2. Pour half of the melted butter into a bowl. Add the sugar, salt, cinnamon and bread, and toss. Spread the bread on a baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes, stirring once or twice, until golden. Let cool.
3. Rewarm the remaining butter; pour into a food processor. Add the croutons and pulse to fine crumbs; spoon the crumbs into a 10-inch pie plate. Refrigerate for 5 minutes. Press the crumbs over the bottom and sides of the pie plate; refrigerate the crust until chilled, 15 minutes.

Filling

• 2 teaspoons plain powdered gelatin
• Reserved browned butter solids from Cinnamon Toast Crumb Crust
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• Kosher salt
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• Cinnamon Toast Crumb Crust
• 3 1/2 ounces white chocolate, chopped
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup mashed sweet potatoes
• 1 cup cranberry sauce, pureed and strained

1. In a microwave-safe bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 2 tablespoons of water and let stand until softened, 3 minutes. Microwave at high power for 10 seconds, until melted. In a microwave-safe measuring cup, microwave the reserved brown butter solids with the milk, sugar, 1/8 teaspoon of the cinnamon and a pinch of salt until warm. Whisk in the gelatin and refrigerate until set.
2. In a bowl, whisk 3/4 cup of the heavy cream and sour cream to soft peaks. Whisk the custard to loosen it, then fold into the whipped cream. Pour the custard into the Cinnamon Toast Crumb Crust; refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the white chocolate and butter. Add the mashed sweet potatoes, the remaining 2 tablespoons of heavy cream and 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of salt; whisk until smooth. Transfer the sweet potato ganache to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip and refrigerate until chilled slightly, 15 minutes. Pipe 1-inch mounds around the edge of the pie. Refrigerate until the ganache is set, 10 minutes.
4. Pour the cranberry puree over the pie and spread it evenly with the back of a spoon. Refrigerate until set, at least 30 minutes. Cut the pie into wedges and serve.

The pie can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Momofuku Noodle Bar

You can go for lunch in just about any city and feel a subtle anxiety beforehand over whether you’re going to be able to find a place to sit or not. You can then imagine the uncertainty we felt when we decided to attempt a lunch at Momofuku Noodle Bar on a Tuesday afternoon.

To say I had high expectations for Noodle Bar is an understatement. We had eaten at Momofuku Ssam Bar the night before (followed by a dessert stop at Milk Bar) and absolutely loved it. There was such energy in both places that it left me asking the question: Is this the Generation X/Y’s expression of haute cuisine? To say I was giddy with anticipation, as I strode up First avenue, is an understatement.

As we approached the understated front of the restaurant, I was relieved to not see a queue spilling out onto the sidewalk. It was noon and we were seated immediately (very happy.) The interior is very similar to that of Ssam in the sense that a bar runs the length of the left side of dining room with plywood tables and backless chairs down the right.

I’m not going to act like I looked at the menu for any longer than ten seconds. I knew what I was getting order before I walked into the place. Since Regina wanted to eat over at Rickshaw Dumpling afterward, she said she’d this lunch was all me. Anything that was ordered was mine. With that I ordered the chicken wings and the Momofuku Ramen.

The wings are an absolute monster. As with most things Momofuku, you’ve had something like these, but these are just a better version. Instead of being slathered in sauce these are layered with garlic, pickled chiles, and scallions. They’re crispy with a subtle bite of spice and the end. I could have sat at the table and eaten these damn things the whole time.

….then there’s the pork buns. The buns themselves have the look and feel of a light and fluffy omelet; only instead of egg it’s made from white bread (only they're white). These things are all about mouth feel. As you sink your teeth into the soft bun you find the hoisin and pork belly waiting for you inside – simple and deeeeeelicious.

Good 'till the last drop

You didn’t think I’d go to Momo Noodle Bar and not get ramen did you? I just went with the down and dirty Momofuku Ramen – pork belly, pork shoulder, poached egg, and (of course) ramen noodles. The proteins were great, but do you want to know what my favorite part was? The broth with the noodles made for a perfect ending to this little afternoon feast. All of the rich flavor that had leached out of the pork along with the silky yolk of the poached egg resulted in a delicious bowl of goodness that I will not soon forget.

This place is not to be missed.

Momofuku Noodle Bar
171 First Avenue
New York, NY 10003
www.momofuku.com/noodle/default.asp