Foodie at Fifteen (now 18)

Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Fried Rice and Why I hate Strip Clubs

2012-01-29T19:20:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago a fraternity at Penn took me and some other friends to the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City. I put $20 in one slot machine and won $350. Afraid to waste away my gains, I quit while I was ahead and didn't gamble any more money in my time there.

In the following days, I tried to think of the best ways to blow that money to maximize the value gleaned from it. This meant spending it on experiences rather than material goods. I decided to go to the strip club cause I thought it would be a good time. It's supposed to be fun right? Isn't this what guys do to have fun?

Previously the only strip club I had been to was Show and Tell. I went there once with a few friends and once with a fraternity. My buddies told me that Delilah's was the nicest one in Philly so I decided to go there. It was about 5 on I think a Wednesday and it was the first week of classes so I had no homework and nothing to do until later that night so I said "what the hell" and took a cab there.

I sat myself down at the bar next to a middle-aged Mexican man. I started to make small talk. Is Delilah's the nicest strip club in Philly? Do you come here often? What's your favorite type of cigar?

After about 10 minutes I saw an attractive girl come down from upstairs. She was blonde with glasses--sporting the sexy nerd look that has become a Halloween costume staple. After a few minutes she got onstage. I said to the Mexican man, "that one's cute right?" "Yea she's cute, but she never lets me touch her senos. But you are young maybe she lets you touch them." I liked that. She wasn't willing to let dudes touch her boobs for a quick buck. In attempt to set myself apart from the horny males who frequent these clubs, I went up to her and said "I'm going to pay you for a lap dance but I just want to talk."

I told her that strip clubs bothered me. They're all about tricking guys that you like them, that you're into them, that you feel something for them. They just perpetuate the stereotype of the male who can't control his sexual urges. Believe me, I have nothing against lap dances, but I only want one from someone who genuinely wants to give one to me, not from someone who only cares about the bills in my wallet.

We talked for a while. I have no idea how long. She told me about how she went to Richmond and then to Temple, worked for a law firm, and now works for a tech company. She wasn't living on the streets in North Philly with stripping as her only source of income. She was clearly smart and a bit nerdy, but she was secure in her nerdiness. She was not the least bit ashamed to be a stripper, definitely a self-confident girl. For health reasons she maintains a dairy-free, gluten-free diet. At the end she told me to pay her what I wanted. I gave her $60. Looking back, I probably owed her around $400.

I went back to talk to her a few times--never a lap dance--maintaining the theme of my disgust with strip clubs. Then it hit me. I'm just as bad as these losers who come here for lap dances. They pay someone who has no interest in them to give them a lap dance or motorboat their titties. I pay someone who has no interest in me to talk to me and pretend they're interested in me. That's even worse. While there aren't many girls at Penn who dish out lap dances, there are plenty of attractive girls at Penn to talk to who wouldn't feign interest and who don't charge speaking fees. It's just unfortunate that my wallet had to take a beating before I really analyzed my actions.

Food always on my mind, I naturally thought about her dairy-free, gluten-free diet. That's gotta be rough. But least she can eat fried rice.

Here's a simple fried rice thrown together with some leftover take-out white rice and ingredients in my pantry. I often find that fried rice is all salt and grease. I aim to balance the flavors in mine by adding a touch of hoisin for sweetness, some sriracha for heat, and a dash or rice wine vinegar for acidity. Also I'm pretty liberal with the sesame oil because I love the flavor, but it is powerful so add it to your own taste.

Ingredients:

About two cups of day-old cooked rice (I always make this with leftover Chinese food rice).
4 Cloves of Garlic, crushed and peeled
2-3 medium-sized onions, diced.
2 eggs
About 2 tsp Hoisin Sauce (or to taste)
About 2 tsp Rice Wine Vinegar (or to taste)
Soy Sauce (or taste)
Sesame Oil (to taste)
Sriracha (to taste)
Salt
pepper

Coat the bottom of a cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven with peanut oil and turn to medium heat.
Cook garlic cloves until golden brown and then remove from skillet.
Add diced onions and cook until dark golden brown. Add a pinch of salt. (I cook these until they are almost black because I really like them crispy).
Add rice to skillet and cook for about five minutes until it has heated through and has begun to take on a touch of color. Add a pinch of salt. (Make sure the rice hasn't completely soaked up all the oil in the pan, the fried rice should not be overly greasy, but it should be coated with oil. The overall grease level however is up to the cook)
At this point add the sriracha, rice wine vinegar, hoisin sauce and salt to taste, and mix thoroughly.
Remove rice from heat, and divide into two bowls.
Drizzle in soy sauce and sesame oil.
Fry eggs sunny-side up in a non-stick pan or well-seasoned cast iron skillet, seasoning them with salt and pepper as they cook.
Top each bowl of fried rice with a sunny-side up egg and serve.

Finance vs. Entrepreneurship and Eats 1/28/2012

2012-01-28T22:54:00.000-05:00

Thinking on paper. First semester done. What now? I don't know what I'm doing. I miss the kitchen. Though I was able to do some cooking over break.

Every now and then I feel like being Thomas Keller again. But I just don't know if the chef lifestyle is for me. Long shifts, low pay, physically exhausting work. I think it would be more fun to be a straight restauranteur, designing each aspect of a restaurant for success.

Anthony Bourdain honestly has the best job in the world (here he is pictured with Eric Ripert from when I saw him a few months ago in Philly) but close behind him is the restauranteur Stephen Starr. It must be so fun to create a restaurant like Dandelion (2 photos down), or Morimoto, or Buddakan. Starr's restaurant empire is essentially Disney World for diners. The decor in each of his restaurants is a frikin foodie's wet dream. How cool would it be creating those concepts?

This brings me to my next point. As I've mentioned before, I'm an undergrad at The Wharton School at Upenn. Wharton is as close as it gets to a Wall Street Farm Team. Something like 65% of Wharton's graduating class goes into finance making 70k a year with a 30k year-end bonus.

That's a hard opportunity to pass up. But obviously creating something of my own, (opening up my own restaurant would be one way to achieve this) would be a lot more fun. Getting Compare Food Pics up and running was a great time (although I recently let the server payments run out because I wasn't making any money and it would've cost me a lot of money to make the improvements necessary to monetize the site) and I'm currently working with a programmer on a UPenn Smartphone Application. I'm also taking the Code Year Challenge with Michael Bloomberg so I can learn JavaScript and not be completely dependent on someone else to implement my ideas.

At the same time I don't know if I'd be able to pass up the opportunity to work in finance. Time will tell. This isn't a very in-depth analysis of the implications of an entrepreneurial life versus that of the alternative, but this is all I got for now.

That said, here are some snapshots from the past month or so of my life.

Bourdain and Ripert in Philly

My friends took me out to Dandelion for my birthday on December 9th. We spent much more than we had planned, but it was a great time.

(Seared foie gras, over-easy egg, bacon)

(Cured Salmon, cucumber salad)

(steak and chips)

(Pumpkin-Pecan Pie)

This is from a trip to Morimoto with my grandparents. This is a sashimi platter.

(noodle soup from Morimoto)

(New Delhi Indian Buffet with my roommate)

(Sashimi Bento Box from Harusame in Ardmore)

(Pork Belly cured, rolled up and vacuum sealed)

(Pork Belly after being cooked sous vide at 155 for 36 hours and then deep fried)

(White chocolate graham cracker toffee)

(A young Paula Deen with her plate of Christmas hors' d oeuvres)

(View from NYC apartment)

In NYC I met up with my buddy Max Kramer of Master Chef Fame and we went to the sushi restaurant Kanoyama. We told the chef to give us the works. Omakase. Everything.

(house made tofu)

(eel in gelee)

Then we had a lot more sushi that I didn't take a picture of. For two of us the bill was $800. We crapped our frikin pants. We split the check. Here's my individual bill without tip. Could've eaten at Per Se almost 1.5 times for that amount.

Afterwards we had some fun going out to clubs in NYC. Here we are at a doughnut shop trying to figure out how they make crullers.

Went to the famous artichoke pizza in NYC with the fam. The artichoke pie is essentially pizza topped with a heaping helping of rich-creamy artichoke dip. Artery cloggingly delicious.

(Beef tartare at La Gazetta in NYC)

(Sublime octopus from La Gazetta)

Bento Box from Gin Za in Ardmore.

(Beef in Spicy Korean Sauce from Pei Wei on City Line right outside of Bala Cynwyd)

Felt compelled to add this. My friend was one of the first people to ever order wine from the popular bar Blarney's at Upenn.

(Baby Back Ribs from Sangkee in Wynnewood)

(Bacon Candy. Christmas Present from Mom. Absolutely disgusting. Haha. Played a few pranks on people by asking them if they wanted a mint).

Thanksgiving and More Eats 12/8/2011

2011-12-08T19:24:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is a great holiday. No shit. I got to cook and relax and see my girl (pictured above) Kylie.

For Thanksgiving I made a leek-cornbread stuffing with hot italian sausage and granny smith apples.

Here's the finished product. Tasted incredible. Cornbread added a nice sweetness. I don't know why stuffing isn't a year round food.

Here's my uncle's turkey, we go to his house every year for thanksgiving.

Cousin's biscuits.

Cousin's tofurkey. Looks scary. Tastes scary.

Aunt brought a chocolate cake. Incredible.

Pie on pie. Nothin like it.

Next day brunch with my friend. We shared a burger with bacon and a fried oyster sandwich with a fried egg on english muffin.

Here's my confited turkey legs getting brown in a pan. I confited the turkey in the sous vide supreme for 8 hours at 176 in butter after curing it in thyme and garlic and sage.

Here's the sous vide breast. Cooked at 146 for two hours then broiled.

Ma baked an apple pie.

Grilled leftover turkey sandwich with cheddar cheese.

Turkey-sweet potato hash. Grated then browned sweet potatoes with leftover leeks, garlic, onion and sage, added in turkey scraps, cooked till crispy.

Then threw in some sunny side up eggs.

Some sweet grilled beef with tumeric rice from a middle-eastern food truck. Great lunch.

Raspberry pastry from au bon pain.

3 AM sandwich from Wawa. Honey smoked turkey, spicy mustard, roasted red peppers, onions, whole wheat shorti.

BBQ chicken from the pizza place allegro's. Wow, this is really not that good sober.

Grilled chicken kabob from one of my favorite food trucks. It's got onion and pepper on it and I usually get it with a chipotle mayo.

Makin creme anglaise for ice cream.

Chipotle burrito bowl. So frikin good. I get double meat--barbacoa and steak--and then medium and mild salsa and pinto beans. So satisfying.

Racks of lamb to be sous vide.

Fridge stuffed with pizza dough.

Sous vide machine crankin away those lamb chops mid rare.

Dinner is served. Was able to prep at home over the past weekend then yesterday I cooked this dinner party for a friend of my mom. Sous vide lamb chops with romesco. Pulled chicken. Seared Scallops with asparagus, grilled veggies. I do the same din party every year. Nice that I live so close to school so that I can still do it.

And here's the raspberry crumble with homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert.

More Grubbin

2011-11-25T20:34:00.000-05:00

Like honestly, I've been eating better at college than I do at home. I seriously eat like a frikin king most of the time. And I'm so greatful for it. Food is like what I spend my money on. It's really money well spent too. Here are my latest and greatest eats since I last posted.

Also I'm busy at work confiting turkey in my frikin sous vide supreme so check back in soon to see how that turns out. I'm real hype for that. Curing in salt, garlic, sage, sugar right now. Really wanted to cure it in a sweet/spicy soy ginger sriracha cure but it's frikin Thanksgiving, you gotta go with tradition.

Udon noodle soup with brisket from this crappy Chinese place next to the quad. Decent meal. Brisket was decent. I love soups in the winter. Been grubbin on soup non-stop recently. My favorite soup is the Tom Yum Seafood soup from Sangkee--not technically Chinese but absolutely bangin. Spicy but not too spicy. It's like, by the end you're like wow that was frikin hot--spicy, but each individual spoonful isn't spicy so it just entices you to keep going.

So on last Saturday I didn't have too much work so I walked to La Colombe--Philly's premier coffe shop--for my morning cappuccino. Great setting, great foam, great coffee. I can't stress the foam enough. Note to Starbucks/Au Bon Pain, the foam is why I order a cappuccino. I recently tweeted "Why do I keep giving au Bon pain another shot at making a cappuccino? It always ends with me contemplating suicide."

This is a good story. As I passed Rittenhouse Square on my way to La Colombe I saw my friend who used to work at Lacroix with me selling Canales at the Rittenhouse Square Farmer's Market. After she left Lacroix, her and her boyfriend started their own canale business Market Day Canale. They gave me a free box. The canales were great. So Different. Airy and creamy in the center, caramelized on the outside.

Close friend visited from home and brought us pumpkin muffins that his mom made.

Baby Blue's BBQ, right off of Penn's Campus. I've been there so many times since school started. It's just great. Mac and cheese, pork and beans, brisket, ribs, fries, cornbread, all the good stuff.

Here's my roommate on the left and my boy from home on the right at Baby Blue's.

For my Management 100 class, my team of 10 and I partnered up with the non-profit Hip Hop Inc. which aims to reduce the dropout rate in West Philadelphia High School. To raise money for Hip Hop we held an event which featured food from the local restaurants. To read more about it, check out our sweet write-up in Meal Ticket. This is some pasta from the food truck Chewy's.

Here's country pate with foie gras from Fond. The pate was just incredible.

Here's some pizza from Fork.

Some fried rice from Chabaa Thai Bistro.

Pizza from Axis Pizza.

Gaspare was nice enough to send me some chocolates to my dorm.

Here are the coffee flavored chocolates. So good. I love coffee and anything coffee-flavored (yogurt, ice cream etc) so these were perfect for me.

A few other chocolates. The highlights were the caramel on the bottom, and the passionfruit chocolates on the top. It was like a burst of passionfruit in my mouth. Unexpected and delicious.

BBQ spare ribs from some crappy Japanese place that everyone goes to for Sake bombing. These ribs were just so lackluster.

This is seafood miso soup from the same place. Same deal.

That's all for now. Thanksgiving updates to come.

Overview of College Eats Since October

2011-11-18T03:05:00.000-05:00

So how's the food at Penn?

Thus far incredible, but mostly because I've been blessed with some great food experiences so far. I've been eating out a lot, and seriously avoiding the dining halls. At most of the halls, the food is hardly bearable--I usually just go for the sandwiches when I'm forced to eat at the halls.

So I got that new Iphone in late October and I've been taking pics non-stop, mostly of my food. Here's what I've been eating since late October.

Here's some grilled chicken, msuhrooms with peppers, roasted tofu with garbanzos. From the one of two solid dining halls on campus. This is actually from the Kosher dining hall. I'm not Jewish, but I go there because all the servers are so much friendlier. It's nuts.

Scallops from Distrito. Been to Distrito a few times since it's right off campus. Always fun to go, food is always good. I've basically had everything on their menu once.

Hiramasa (yellowtail) ceviche with habanero sauce and sangrito sorbet.

The mushroom flatbread from Distrito. This is a great dish at Distrito.

Half-eaten ice cream sandwich from Insomnia. 2 warm chocolate chip cookies sandwiching vanilla ice cream.

Dan dan noodles from Han Dynasty. These noodles are one of the top dishes in Philadelphia. It's unreal how good these are. So oily, but not unpleasantly so and you hardly pay attention when you're grubbin hard on these.

Went to Han Dynasty with this girl from one of my classes who is also into food. Great experience overall. Fun company, laid back atmosphere, great food. Han Dynasty isn't too expensive either. We were stuffed and had leftovers after spending $22 each on food.

Pork dumplings at Han.

Tripe in chili oil at Han. Soo spicy, love the funky flavor of the tripe.

"Rabbit hot pot." Basically rabbit with lots of vegetables in a spicy sauce.

After eating at Han Dynasty we went to the Franklin Fountain a few blocks over and I got the maple walnut and the pumpkin ice cream. Great stuff. I love anything pumpkin flavored in the fall, and the mixture of the pumpkin and the maple was great.

This is a roasted who branzino from Susanna Foo's in Wayne. I went with my best friend/roommate's family. Was really underwhelmed by this. Expected something really delicious but the sauce was really lackluster. Nothing exciting about this dish.

This is a burrito bowl from the other acceptable dining hall on campus. Unlike the other one, this one forces you to use "dining dollars" which are part of a meal plan, but are a more precious commodity than the meal swipes, which you can use at the other halls.

The burritos they make there are great. Approaching Chipotle status. The meat is consistently underseasoned however and the "spicy" salsa barely provides any kick. They really need to work on ratcheting up the flavor, making it less bland.

I also went to Pod with my best friend's family. I enjoy going to Pod everytime I go, but it's like the food there is just so boring. All of it tastes good, but if I'm spending my own money to go out to a nice restaurant, please take me somewhere where I will be wowed by the food.

That said, it's such a fun place to go with groups (we were sitting in one of the pods) and its always fun eating in the restaurant because you feel really young and hip.

Sushi at Pod.

Braised baby back ribs.

Rock shrimp with pecans in aioili.

A brownie for the birthday girl, my roommate's sister.

My favorite dessert, cheesecake, for me.

The lunch trucks are huge around Penn. They're really popular among the students because they provide a cheap, welcome alternative to the dining halls. Something I learned the other day was that each meal swipe at a dining hall is worth $15!!!! 15 DOLLARS. I could get 3 meals at a cart out of that.

I still need to check out more carts, but this one is great and its legendary around Penn. It's called Hemo's and they're famous for their chicken and their cheesesteaks. I really like the grilled chicken with mushrooms, extra chicken and two fried eggs. Nothing better for a hangover.

I tried out Il Pittore with a Upenn alumni. It was a very good meal, but not worth the price. I won't go back. Nothing made me jump out of my seat for the price I paid (I'm still kind of bitter).

Here's foie gras with some pitzelles and preserves. Uhhh, good, but no different than any foie I can get anywhere else.

These were delicious, pumpkin/mascarpone gnocchi in brown butter. Very pillowy and not so heavy gnocchi. Like just reading the description of the dish you automatically think how could this be bad? Some chefs say "when all else fails add more butter" but I would like to extend that to "when all else fails add some browned butter."

I'd honestly like restaurants to start serving congealed brown butter with bread instead of regular butter. I did that at home once. It was great.

Duck agnlotti. Great. Phenomenal. Probably the best dish of the night, although I am a HUGE sucker for suckling pig (which I had later in the meal).

Turbo with bagna cruda. I loved the anchovy in the sauce. Bagna Cauda is great, but maybe a tad overpowering for a lean white fish like turbot.

Overall not an incredible dish--the sides could definitely use some work--but the suckling pig was great. Crispy skin, tender meat. 29 bucks is a lot to pay for this dish though.

Here's a dish from Sabrina's which I went to last Saturday for brunch. It's right up on Drexel's campus, just a good 10-15 minute walk from my dorm. It's an egg white omelet with turkey bacon. It was Underseasoned!!! Egg whites have no flavor as is so make sure you season the damn thangs!

It's also my fault for ordering egg whites. What was I thinking? I don't know. The potatoes were real good though--not your frustratingly greasy-gross potato concoctions that you get from Joe's diner down the street.

Also the inside of Sabrina's is really really nice. Like I want to go there again this weekend. It's such a nice place and they make a real solid cappuccino which I'm a HUGE sucker for (it's impossible to get a good cappuccino on campus). And literally every publication raves about their cream cheese stuffed french toast. I also really want their pumpkin pancakes because I love all things pumpkin.

That's it for now, but now that I have an Iphone and an actually decent camera on my phone, I really do expect to be back here frequently. It's just too easy to take pictures of food when a decent camera is right in your pocket. Talk to you guys soon

Picture of the Week 10/3/2011

2011-10-03T18:13:00.000-04:00

The porchetta pizza from Zen Can Cook is the picture of the week on Compare Food Pics.

Check out the recipe here!

Picture of the Week 9/26/2011

2011-09-26T17:18:00.000-04:00

Blueberry Beignets from Tara O'Brady is the Number 1 picture for this week on Compare Food Pics. Check out the recipe on her blog Seven Spoons!

Moving forward with the New Site

2011-08-27T20:28:00.000-04:00

So what's next for the site moving forward?

Categories

I need to create categories, so that when you are comparing food, you are comparing food of the same category. That's just plain and simple, doesn't make sense comparing cake and chicken.

Mobile App

I'm talking with developers now about possibly creating a mobile app.
For this kind of thing i think mobile is the direction it needs to go. Phones can now take high quality pictures, and I feel like mobile is the best way to create a kind of community feel to the site.

Stat Tracking

To make the site more fun, I need to create some stats so that people can see how well their pictures are doing in the rankings.
For this type of thing there needs to be a login/username system.
People would see how well there pictures have done relative to others in the past week/month/year.

That's all I've got for now.

What am I missing?

Site Finally Working

2011-08-19T23:28:00.000-04:00

My new site http://comparefoodpics.com is finally up and working.

It's sweet. Check it out, and upload some pics to the site. If you get an error message when u try to do so (still workin out some kinks), just email them over to me. nicknormile@gmail

Hope you all like it as much as I do!

New Site

2011-07-31T17:25:00.000-04:00

I'm trying as hard as I can to get this thing up (check out the eyesore now). My programmer buddy who helped me create it is at camp right now, so correspondence is slow.

It'll be up as soon as possible.

And if you wanna have any of your pics featured on the site, check out the previous post.

AWESOME NEW SITE COMIN

2011-07-11T23:43:00.001-04:00

So I've been gone for a while.

Where have I been? Graduating. I have an internship at a financial services firm. Been dining, Le Bec Fin (10 course tasting menu) Zahav (chef's tasting). But I've also been working on a website with my programmer buddy from high school.

The website is very basic, but it is a pretty cool concept and it is currently working on my local server although it does not have a domain name yet.

Thing is, I need some really good food photos. And if your photos are good enough, they will hopefully drive significant traffic to your blog.

I don't wanna state outright what the website is just yet. But it will hopefully be up in a few weeks, and if you send me good photos, they could be up on the site in a few weeks driving traffic to your blog.

SO SEND ME YOUR BEST FOOD PHOTOS. nicknormile@gmail.com

I need the name of the dish you cooked.
I need a link to your blog if you have one.
Your name (or however you want to be referred to).
And then just send me your best pictures.

Small Print. By sending them to me you acknowledge that I may use them on my site. If you provide a site I will like the picture to your blog. Thank you.

I Won That Scholarship!

2011-05-23T17:27:00.000-04:00

I found out a few days ago that I won that scholarship that I asked you guys to vote for!

Much thanks to all who voted. $1,000 down 49,000 to go!

Meal at Dandelion

2011-05-15T17:05:00.000-04:00

Had a great meal at Dandelion--Stephen Starr's British pub--a few weeks ago. That place is great. You walk in, and it's like a whole new world. You're on a street corner and then you're in London. I love restaurants like that. Ones that take you away completely. That let you feel like you're really in a completely different place. Stephen Starr has nailed that. Every restaurant of his is so fun to go to because when you enter the restaurant you enter a whole new world. That aspect of the ambiance helps to form an enjoyable restaurant experience.

The food isn't too shabby either. I had some great bangers and mash with gravy (I'm hitting myself for forgetting to bring my camera. I don't have a smartphone either so I can't take good phone pictures). My buddy's burger was very good as well. The tangy tomato-horseradish sauce really made the burger. I always think that burgers need an acidic tang for them to be enjoyable. A lemony mayonnaise or vinegary pickle takes them to the next level.

The fish and chips were very good as well, though the fish was underseasoned. On the menu it says that the chips are "triple-cooked." I'm really curious if the chef cooks his chips according to Heston Blumenthal's method that was detailed in his book "In Search of Perfection." He advocates boiling the cut-potatoes first then frying them twice. It is an easy recipe but takes more time than I am generally willing to commit to fries. The results are impressive however.

Whether the chef does or doesn't use Blumenthal's method, his chips are outstanding. I told my friend that I can't even think about McDonalds' french fries after that. They are perfectly crispy on the outside, and pillowy in the center. And they are cut large enough to provide for both textures. Fantastic.

I do realize that The Dandelion is modeled after a pub, however the service was disappointing. And for a menu that certainly does not reflect pub-prices, I expected better, more attentive service. Our waitress, seemed constantly rushed. It stressed me out. She brought us one bowl of bread for a table of six teenagers, and then neglected to bring another when we finished it after about 10 seconds. She stopped refilling my soda glass after the entrees came out. Like c'mon girl I'm Foodie at Fifteen!

I wonder if it was because 20% gratuity is already added into parties of 6 or more. That probably contributed to the effect. But I would definitely go back. The food is good and the setting is just too cool. I actually really want to go there soon with my friend and his British mother, who gets nostalgic for yorkshire pudding and fish and chips and the like.

Help me out?

2011-04-26T19:04:00.001-04:00

In the running for this scholarship! Please help me win by voting! Takes two seconds and I will be forever indebted to all who vote! Thanks!!!

Ramps

2011-04-20T18:05:00.000-04:00

http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/04/enough-with-the-ramp-rage-rant.html

Feelin like this dude at serious eats hits the nail on the head with his post about ramps. Ramps aren't life changing. They're no foie GRAS. Chefs probably do overhype them a little bit, but can you blame them?

So many foods are so readily available year-round that to be able to get your hands on a new ingredient to work with, and experiment with, and attempt to use in a new way must be exciting for that one month time slot.

It's probably more the foodies like me who do the overhyping. Cause you know, we just pick up on the demand from chefs without really knowing the value of a product ourselves. So then I go and brag to my friends I "just had these fresh picked ramps. Those things are like the holy Grail to chefs" and they stare at me in awe as if I were Zeus of Mount Orampus.

Night at Penn

2011-04-16T14:45:00.000-04:00

So last night I went to University of Pennsylvania for this big annual concert called Spring Fling and spent the night afterwards.

Immediately noticed the dearth of good places to eat that were open late on campus. There was a Wawa and a pizza place and that was about it. That's gonna be a problem next year.

Went to the Philly diner on campus for breakfast. Had a monster breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage. Wasn't great. Gonna have to discover the good places to grub on campus.

Spain 1

2011-04-12T22:27:00.000-04:00

Dude. Here I am. 1.5 weeks left of school in my senior year. I started this puppy up back in freshman year. I was reading the blog French Laundry at Home and I noticed a "Create a Blog" button in the top right. The rest is history.

But the rest after that is mystery. I don't really know what's gonna happen with this blog or my food life in general. Next year when I'm at the University of Pennsylvania, I will be required to join a meal plan, which means I'll be eating the majority of my meals in the cafeterias, where, everyone seems to agree, the food is what it is--cafeteria grub. Unless I get lucky with housing, I won't have a kitchen in my dorm either.

So will readers wanna hear about that? Will a student's attempt to make the most of a measly meal situation create a compelling storyline? I don't really know, but I'll try to make it work and we will see what happens. I'm here for now though.

And I've really missed writing on my blog. I've missed writing the disjointed, non-flowing sentences and paragraphs, and incomplete thoughts that I feel is really my style, but can only create on the blog. I've had my mind on other things: finishing my senior year, graduation, prom, Lacroix, what I'm doing over the summer. But I'm happy I'm back here writing. Cause ya know blogging is the coolest thing ever. The fact that I basically just talk about myself, and people listen, and offer support, really blows my mind.

Now to Spain.

A few months ago I was chillin at my friend's house, and my friends dad, a big-time psychologist, approached me. Knowing that I'm really into food, he told me that he was asked to speak at a conference in Spain hosted by the restaurant Mugaritz.

I freaked out. Then he said I could come. I freaked out more and with good reason. My trip to San Sebastian was the best vacation I had ever been on. It was so perfect for me. Everybody always says that San Sebastian has more Michelin stars per capita than anywhere on earth and our trip turned out to be a completely food oriented trip. I loved it so much.

We were brought to Spain by this company that was was organizing the conference and we were treated like absolute royalty. They paid for us to stay in this incredible hotel, and they payed for incredible meals every lunch and dinner. I really hit the jackpot on this trip. I was experiencing all the incredible food and wine in San Sebastian without breaking the bank.

The hotel even had a bidet!

Some vegetables and serrano ham with olive oil at Bar Hazea, a random tapas bar in San Sebastian that was actually the tapas bar that Anthony Bourdain visited in No Reservations.

At a Txakoli winery overlooking the Cantabrian Sea. Txakoli is a sparkling wine native to the Basque region of Spain. The grape that makes the wine is found only in Basque country. The wine is typically taken in the early afternoon with some tapas or whatever. It was great. I ordered it everywhere we went. Champagne San Sebastian style.

Tuna and anchovies from the sea that the winery overlooks to go with the wine.

That's me in the white shirt talking to the manager of Mugaritz.

Fish testacles. Absolutely delicious. Seriously. I ate a lot of these.

My friend's sisters.

Me and Isabel Conde, one of our guides who works for the company that put the conference together. She's told me that she's engaged to Ferran Adria's right-hand man.

There's a shot of Andoni Adruiz, head chef of Mugaritz. We were essentially his guests so we were hanging out with him non-stop and I was able to talk with him in-depth about his philosophy on cooking etc. Unfortunately, my Spanish is good, but not great, and he doesn't speak English, and so a good amount was lost in translation.

More about Spain to come. I feel like I didn't do a good job of explaining the experience in this post so I will work on that more in the next.

New Post

2011-03-19T00:15:00.000-04:00

I'm kind of a dick. I've just left the blog behind. A post about why I've done so and all about my recent trip to San Sebastian coming within the next two or three weeks.

I ate like a freakin king in San Sebastian. Got some good pics too. Was chillin with the chef at Mugaritz. Yea, that Mugaritz http://www.theworlds50best.com/awards/1-50-winners

Hershey's Cookies and Cream Blondies

2011-01-05T17:58:00.000-05:00

I made these blondies as my secret santa gift to my buddy whose favorite candy is Hershey's cookies and cream bars. They're absolutely loaded with cut-up chunks of the bar. Go here to learn my easy recipe for extremely rich, dense, delicious blondies.

How to Avoid Packing on those Extra Holiday Pounds

2010-12-22T22:57:00.000-05:00

I love pigging out on the holidays. It just feels so right. And you really should treat yourself. Eating is probably what I enjoy most about the holiday season (I really wish people ate stuffing year round) and if you're reading my blog, it's probably what you most enjoy as well. Friends and family are great too, but really, who needs them when you got your best friend food dressed up nicely in front of you at the holiday table.

Of course hanging out with your best buddy can have negative consequences. Especially during holiday time, he's always there, looking up at you from the holiday table, begging you to pig out. And so I've devised an exercise plan that tempers the negative effects of big-time holiday grubbin.

It's called the pasta plan. All you have to do is make large quantities of pasta and knead for 30 minutes a day if your just starting out, or 45 minutes for advanced gym, I mean "kitchen rats." I recently put my grandma on the plan and she's gone from flab to fab in JUST TWO WEEKS! Ya see, the workout really tones the arms, so if you're feelin a little flabby back there, but really want to wear that sleeveless for New Year's, START NOW!

My plan will cut through those Christmas cake calories from like cutlery in the kitchen. E-mail me now and receive fresh pasta dough delivered to your door. This workout is guaranteed to work almost as well as the shake weight. So if you try the program, send me some before and after pictures to put up on the site.

But seriously, I'm not tryna get sued here. Talk to you doctor before engaging in any serious workout plan like this.

Fortuitous Meeting at Lacroix

2010-12-19T23:41:00.003-05:00

I couldn't do any work last Friday. I sat in school, my mind a stone wall to any information coming my way. I thought about why I might get in, or might not get in 1000 times. I listed all the pros--I work at a nice restaurant, I get good grades, I'm really into business--and cons--I'm not that strong in math, I don't have many school-related extra-curriculars--then back to pros and back to cons again. I thought about getting in and what I would do. Jump up and down? Run around the block? Or would acceptance not elicit that much emotion. I couldn't tell. Then I thought about getting rejected. Would I cry? Would I lock myself in my room for the week? Would I hit the cheesecake? Or would I brush it off? I had no idea.

The day dragged by thusly, me envisioning both circumstances, accepted or rejected, embraced or eschewed. I knew that I would be able to check exactly at 3 pm--that's what the website said--and so I rushed home after school. I got there at 2:58 and stayed in my car. A slow, sad song came on the radio. Was it an omen? 2:59. I was going to stay in here and check. I didn't wanna look in front of my mom and grandparents. My heart starts beating out of control. I begin to type in my user name and password. My hands are shaking. It's difficult. 3:00. I log in. Congratulations! You have been accepted to the class of 2015.

I ran out. I screamed. The neighborhood knows I'm into college because of that scream. I started running. I told my mom. Then I ran back outside, unaware of the freezing cold. I was yelling again now. A lady walking her dog was staring at me. "I just got into college, sorry."

And so two days later I went into Lacroix working front of the house. I went behind the host stand and took a look at the reservations. Miller, Condron, Gutman, pause. The first name was Amy, party of two. Amy Gutman.

"Is that Amy Gutman, as in the president of UPenn?" I asked the manager. "Yes I just made the reservation a minute ago." I couldn't believe it. What a coincidence. The day dragged on, like the day at school before I discovered my acceptance. And then at one o clock, she came in. I sat her at table 9 in the back by the window, and following right behind me was the manager. I gave her her menu, but before I could say another word the manager was at the table.

"Good afternoon Ms. Gutman this is Nicholas, he just got into UPenn two days ago. He's been with us for four years. He's a hard worker and we're very proud of him."

Wow. Haha. That was more than I could've asked for. I work with good people.

"Nice to meet you, you must be very special, we had more early decision applicants than ever before. Where do you live?"

"Ardmore"

"Great. I'll see you around campus."

What a treat. Really. That was great. Later I was making coffee, and she called to me.

"Nick (yes she remembered my name) I have someone I'd like you to meet"

And she introduced me to Eduardo Glant the dean of engineering. I told him that I was actually admitted to Wharton but that I knew some people admitted to the engineering school.

"Well we like you anyway" he said jokingly.

Gutman was so pleasant. She wasn't the least bit condescending. She acted like just an average human being. She didn't need to display her power.

I went home amazed at the fortuitous meeting. It was a very special weekend.

GOT INTO WHARTON!!!!!

2010-12-13T23:03:00.002-05:00

I thought once I got into college all my work would disappear, but sadly, that's not the case. I'll be back with more soon. I promise.

Senior Quote (Vote on the Right before Friday)

2010-11-30T22:45:00.002-05:00

So I'm feeling slightly like a bum. I don't have any new posts for now, because I will be busy as ever this week and next. I've got a lot of schoolwork, and I've got two major dinner parties coming up that I will be cooking for. But on the brighter side, I should have some good material coming out pretty soon. I'm supposed to find out whether I'm into Wharton on the 15th of December and I'll post that whenever I find out, even if it's a no. I also have a post to write about the results of a taste test using different fats to make pie crust (yea I'm dumb, I should've posted that before Thanksgiving, but it will be out before Christmas). Also, my birthday is December 9th, so hopefully I'll be eatin good for that.

At the present, my senior quote for my yearbook is due Friday and I'm still pretty indecisive. I have decided that it will relate to food, and I think I've found a few good candidates. Lemme know which you think I should use (you can vote on the right).

Those who forget the pasta are condemned to reheat it.

Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch.

I've been on a diet for two weeks and all I've lost is two weeks.

"With humans it's abortion, but with chickens it's an omelet."

A gourmet is just a glutton with brains.

Cheese is milk's leap toward immortality.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2010-11-25T14:42:00.000-05:00

Happy Turkey Day to all of you readers out there.

Now I'm going to see how much stuffing I can possibly stuff in my belly.

New Job

2010-11-18T21:25:00.001-05:00

I've got a new job. For four years, I've been apprenticing as a cook at the restaurant Lacroix at the Rittenhouse. I go in on the weekends--originally it was saturdays, now it's Sundays--and cook. For the last two and a half, I've spent eight hours there each weekend. Four whole years. I've been doing it since I was 13.

And so a few weeks ago, I was approached by the manager of the restaurant. He asked if I wanted to learn something new. He said I could trail him. I would be trailing the manager. I would be a mini manager. Hell yes. Hell yes. I love cooking in the back, but I have been there for four years, and I don't wanna hone one side of the knife and leave the other one dull.

I wanna be well rounded. I want to understand different aspects of the restaurant. I want to learn the restaurant. Not just the cooking. I want to own the restaurant: the concept of a restaurant. And I think this experience is just another step on that path.

So this week, I'll show up to Lacroix in a dark suit, white shirt, and conservative tie. And I'll be starting anew. Looking in from the other side. Broadening my perspective.

I can't wait.

Dinner in New York

2010-11-16T22:12:00.000-05:00

Since I did pretty well on my first quarter grades, and to give me a little reward and perhaps relieve me of some of the stresses of the college process, my old man said he would take me to dinner in New York. Where should I go?

Do you have any recommendations? What restaurant would you like to read about here? I've got a few on my mind, Eleven Madison Park, Jean Georges, Del Posto (I've already taken myself to Per Se, Daniel, and Le Bernardin), but if there's something I'm missing, let me know. Don't worry about price. I'll pay for myself with catering money if it's expensive (which the restaurants I mentioned are). I'm pretty excited. I haven't been out for a real nice dinner in a while and I feel like those posts tend to be pretty exciting (read that Per Se link if you haven't already, it's my best post).

So let me know! Thanks

So I applied...

2010-11-11T17:43:00.000-05:00

So I applied early decision to Wharton, the business school at Penn and now I'm just waiting for judgment day. This punishment, this wait, is cruel and unusual. I actually heard the Supreme Court is actually looking at the constitutionality of this torture right now. The duration is what kills me. Every day I go over in my head, why I might get in or why I might not.

And others contribute to the torture. Just last week I was at my friend's house. Her dad, who went to Wharton told me about some kid who was the Valedictorian of my high school, who had perfect SAT's, but didn't get in. I know this kid who was a senior last year, who was rejected by Wharton, but accepted to Princeton.

So I'm a little anxious right now. I know there are other places I'd be happy to go, but Penn seems too perfect. One of the essays penn requires you to complete asks "Why Penn?" I nailed that essay, and it came so naturally for me to describe why I belong at Penn. It wasn't contrived. Writing that same essay about anywhere else won't be easy to do.

So with this anxiety, I think I'm developing more of an appetite. I want more rich comfort foods. I'm dreaming in burgers and pancakes. In math class I see fried chicken falling from the heavens onto pillows of waffles and then it rains maple syrup.

But if I'm gonna indulge in comfort foods, I want it to count. See, my philosophy on food is that when playing the eating game, and you're on the lower end of the nutritional spectrum, the match up between nutritional value and taste must be zero sum. If I'm consuming empty calories, they better taste really good.

(If I'm gonna eat junk, gimme the good stuff, not crappy doughtnuts like these)

So What's your favorite comfort food and how do I make it or where do I get it? I'm 5'10 150 now, we'll see how that changes by judgment day.

Afterschool Snack

2010-11-08T21:06:00.002-05:00

Scrambled eggs, pork, chorizo

2010 Hierarchy of Halloween Candy

2010-11-01T15:52:00.002-04:00

As compared to the 2009 version. Read the list like u read a book, Reese's is 1st, Baby Ruth is 5th etc. The mysterious 3rd candy is Hershey's Cookies and Cream, which you really need to try if you haven't already.

So what do you think? Which list do you agree with more?

Pumpkin Doughnuts

2010-11-01T15:07:00.000-04:00

Yea these were pretty bad. They had nothing more than a tiny hint of pumpkin flavor that is only noticeable every four or five bites. They smelled nothing like pumpkin either. The only thing reminiscent of pumpkin was the bright orange interior. Overall, they just tasted like plain doughnuts--a big letdown when you've purchased the doughnuts for the pumpkin flavor.

On the brighter side, I did just discover a particularly pleasant pumpkin product from Trader Joe's. Their pumpkin ice cream is really delicious. It's relatively soft even when completely frozen and has great mouthfeel and, I'm proud to proclaim, powerful pumpkin flavor. I'm slowly but surely getting my pumpkin fix.

What's in here

2010-10-28T11:35:00.000-04:00

Anyone wanna venture a guess as to what's in here?

And ya can't just say doughnuts smarties, I need some specificity.

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts

2010-10-26T16:38:00.001-04:00

I was surprised and impressed by how many people guessed correctly from my last post. Kudos!

I've noted on this blog before that I'm a huge fan of anything pumpkin. Pie, soup, muffin, lattes, scones, whoopie pies, even the little pumpkin candy corn that have no pumpkin flavor in them. You name it, I love it.

And so as I was perusing the aisles of Genuardi's the other day, my pumpkin radar started going nuts as I passed the snack aisle. I doubled back and sure enough, there they were: shining like the holy grail of autumn: the pumpkin pie pop tarts. I beamed like a kid on Halloween then flew home like a witch on a broomstick to try em out.

It occurred to me on my way home that they probably were not going to taste anything like pumpkin. They would probably taste like cinnamon and sugar and nothing else. I began to doubt whether they even contained pumpkin.

So I popped em into the toaster and tried them out. They were fine. Just average. Not very good if you're a sucker for pumpkin flavor like me, but I mean, it's a pop tart how bad can it be. Compared to other pop tarts, like the brown-sugar cinnamon flavor and strawberry though, it just can't compare. So if you're going for it because it's a pop tart, you might as well get a better flavor, and if you're going for it because of the pumpkin, you're better off sticking with the muffins.

If you got a great pumpkin recipe. Send that thang over. I'm trying to get my full pumpkin fix before the season's over.

What is this?

2010-10-25T19:28:00.000-04:00

Can you guess what this is just by looking at the ingredients?

Prob not. But there's one word hidden in there that could clue you in.

Answer coming tomorrow night.

Cheesecake

2010-10-21T22:56:00.000-04:00

Cheesecake is the best. That's my thesis and body and conclusion. Cause that's all there is to say. That's all that should be said. At least that's what I thought until today.

Everytime I take a bite into any cheesecake I leverage my expectations tenfold. I have such high hopes for the pleasure I will receive when the cream cheese, the crust, cream topping hits my taste buds. But sometimes my expectations aren't justified. Sometimes cheesecake is like a tech stock of the 90's. And this particular cheesecake that I ate today was the pets.com. I kept artificially increasing the value in my head until I actually tried the cake and completely burst my bubble.

Ya see, because cheesecake such potential for success in my mind, my expectations are naturally elevated, and are therefore much more prone to a crash.

So I got this cheesecake from this place in Philly that dubs itself "Best Cheesecake in Philly." It was the worst cheesecake I've had anywhere near Philly. I was so frustrated because I had expected the greatness that's usually a tag-team with cheesecake. The denseness. The richness. The feeling of ultimate indulgence. The knowledge that you are committing sin, and the decision to resign yourself to gluttony.

That was vacant from each of these three pieces of cheesecake--they were light and fluffy and puffy and airy--and I walked away a discouraged and pessimistic man.

Bananas Foster, Peanut Butter, and Pumpkin Cheesecake

Halloween Costume

2010-10-18T20:29:00.001-04:00

Anyone interested in some Kudos? I'm giving out Kudos points to whoever gives me the best idea for a food-related Halloween Costume.

So if you're low on your Kudos points and looking to re-up, leave me an idea in the comments and I will kindly bestow them upon you. It's almost like being knighted ;)

Cooking Bacon

2010-10-13T20:06:00.000-04:00

Frying bacon in the frying pan is a pain in the ass. I remember when I thought that was the only way to do it. It was so hard to get it nice and crispy. It demanded constant attention, and despite my constant care, it would curl up around the edges in defiance of my pampering.

There finally came a time when I realized like any parent must, that bacon in the frying pan is like that preteen who really just wants you to leave it alone. It will be happiest when it's left to do its own thing. It will also be on its best behavior when you do decide to check up on it. Ya see, bacon is just a free spirit that can't stand being controlled. Just let it breathe, let it live a little, and it will pay you dividends.

To truly unleash the free spirit of bacon, lay it on a rack over a foil-covered baking sheet, the place it in the oven.

Then preheat the oven to 350.

When the oven reaches 350 check on your bacon, depending on how fast your oven preheats, you may need another 15 or so minutes (mine needs about 10 extra minutes but my oven is real slow)

Your bacon should be flat and crisp and perfect. Now take away its freedom and DEVOUR IT.

The Departure Part 2

2010-10-09T23:05:00.000-04:00

I'll miss him because he's the who made cooking cool for me. The spiked hair. The take-no-bs attitude. The tough guy demeanor and appearance. He's shaped my idea of a chef. When I'm trying to decide on, or make a judgement about another chef, I compare them to Jason. He's the reference point, the standard to measure up to.

And he is Lacroix to me. He represents Lacroix and he is what Lacroix represents. It's hard for me to imagine the two entities separately. They're inextricably linked. I feel like he has tamed Lacroix, but at the same time Lacroix has tamed him. It has matured him: ingrained in him a certain responsibility that only being the head chef of a four star restaurant at 25 can. But he gives back to Lacroix what he takes from it. He has given it structure and security. Maybe I'm not the best judge, but when Jason is at Lacroix, I always feel that everything is under control: that nothing will happen to the restaurant. Mistakes will be made but they will be worked out.

In the darkest days of the recession, however misguided, I was never worried. He was at the helm. He's had it under control. Maybe it's a false sense of security, maybe not, but the aura he emits is infinitely valuable in a work environment.

And as valuable as his aura is the sense of importance he gives to his profession. He gives cooking significance. In his kitchen, it isn't a job for slackers, or people who aren't striving for success, or people who thought they'd try cooking cause they thought they wouldn't have to think. It's legitimate, and serious and professional. But he doesn't take it too seriously. There is work time and play time: stress time and chill time.

These qualities combine to make him a leader. A great leader. A born leader. That's how I'd describe him if I only had a few words. That's what I'll miss.

After reading this through I almost feel like I've just written an obituary. Haha. It's kinda weird that I can't get my mind around the fact that he'll still be around here and there. And I'm talking as if Lacroix is going down too. It's not. Accomplished chefs are taking over. I have nothing to worry about. But I still wonder if I'll work for him again. I'll surely be eating his food again.

The Departure Part 1

2010-10-05T23:25:00.000-04:00

Jason's is leaving Lacroix.

Jason is the head chef at Lacroix at the Rittenhouse Hotel, the restaurant where I work. He has been for a while. He was a sous chef when I started there, (four years ago last week), and as people dropped out--as chefs left to move on to their own things--he remained and moved up. You must understand that since I come in for only 8 hours once a week, change is magnified for me. He has been the only constant at Lacroix. All else is variable. I can't believe he's going.

I remember the first day I started at Lacroix. I had no idea what I was doing. I was shy, helpless. He shook my hand, "You're coming in because want to be a chef? That's awesome." Two weeks later, I saw the other side of the coin. I had been leaving my cutting board out and not cleaning it up when I left the kitchen, simply because I was 13 and completely naive of how the restaurant functioned. He came up to me, "How bout you clean up your cutting board this week. I've been doing it for you every week"--that's the censored version.

Haha! What a slap in the face. I remember another time. I had to mix proportions of 2 expensive chemicals for some gel. I measured the 47 grams of agar and 36 grams of some other chemical, then gave it to him. A bomb exploded in the kitchen. I had missed the decimal points in between the 4 and 7 and the 3 and 6.

Another time, a girl I was really into showed up at the restaurant for lunch with her mom. He sent them out a few extra dishes on the house, and when she came back into the kitchen, he told her that I had cooked everything, though of course I hadn't.

He's volatile like that. He's made me cry, laugh and everything in between. But this hardly relates to why I'll miss him...

To Be Continued later this week

Update

2010-09-29T21:54:00.000-04:00

Making massive amounts of pulled pork for a barbeque while trying to finish history essay/call grandpa cause it's his birthday/ e-mail grandma back/ read a few english articles.

Catch ya soon.

P.S. I've changed up the brine on my Ultimate Pulled Pork. I'm brining the pork in apple cider, liquid smoke, and a few other funky things now. I'm excited to see how it will turn out. I'll let yall know.

Homemade Cottage Cheese

2010-09-26T20:24:00.000-04:00

If you thought it requires any special equipment, it doesn't. If you thought it requires any special skill, it doesn't. Making cottage cheese is easy. Too easy. Chefs will always tell you that processes that you would never try at home are actually easy. Like pasta. I tell everyone that homemade pasta is the easiest thing to make. But you really don't know easy until you meet that girl from school, I mean, until you make cottage cheese.

Bacteria is just so goddamn generous sometimes. Really. Whenever you wanna make cottage cheese, it will shoulder the workload without desire for repayment. And they work frikin fast--my cheese was done in 30 minutes--and don't complain. Such simple creatures are so superior to humans in some ways. Anyway, all the process really entails is heating milk, adding acid, letting cool, straining. Really. I made a mistake however. You are apparently supposed to use skim milk because the curds are more prone to separate. After you make the cheese, then you add heavy cream or half and half to adjust the fat content. I used 1% and my yield seemed small--I got a little over a cup of cheese using a 1/2 gallon of milk--but I wouldn't really know since I've never made it before.

The product was fresh and clean and refreshing. You ever find that grocery store versions have off tastes? The homemade version was like a nice ricotta--creamy and light, not thick and gloppy. I'm going to do it again. It's too easy not to.

Ingredients
1) 1/2 gallon skim milk
2) 3 oz lemon juice, white vinegar, or any other type of acid (I used lemon juice and got a nice clean, light lemon flavor)
3) Cheesecloth
4) Thermometer
5) Heavy Cream or Half and Half to adjust consistency

1) Bring Milk to 120 degrees then turn off heat.
2) Add Lemon juice then cover the pan and wait 30 minutes.
--after 30 minutes the milk will have separated into curds and whey. It will look kinda green and gross on top. Don't fret. This is natural.
3) Pour mixture into a colander lined with cheesecloth and drain for five minutes
4) Take the sides of the cheesecloth and squeeze the excess liquid out. Run the cheese under water kneading as you go.
5) Drain the excess water and put cheese in a bowl. Add heavy cream and salt and mix until you reach the desired texture and fat content.
6) Enjoy!

Cottage Cheese

2010-09-26T07:11:00.000-04:00

So I made it! It's good. It's fresh. It worked pretty well actually. Now I'm off to work at Lacroix but when I'm back I'll upload the pics and detail the process.

Improve Chicken Breasts by Factor of 5!!!

2010-09-22T21:14:00.000-04:00

What's an extremely easy way to substantially improve chicken breasts? 7% salt, 5% sugar. It's simple. Simple math. Get a scale if you don't have one. And try it. Now.

I'm talking about a brine. I feel kinda bad that I haven't discussed this too much; that I haven't yet given the brine the blog space it truly deserves. True, I've mentioned it, but I've never really delved into its mystic powers. But don't get too excited. This post isn't for that. Someday in the near future I will write a comprehensive post about brining in general, my favorite brines, and my favorite foods to apply the brine to. But today's just a lil post on chicken and how to elevate their status in your home kitchen.

Brining is osmosis and diffusion at the same time. I think. Everyone else, as in food scientists who I probably shouldn't be contradicting, just mentions osmosis, but after water leaves the low concentration of water in the meats cells, and flows into the high concentration in the brine, salt, diffuses into the meat, dissolving some of the meat's fibers thus creating more space for water which flows back into the meat, making it juicier.

But why not bring some more flavor to the party? Bring sugar! He's oh so sweet. And if you want to make it a real banger, why not add some thyme, and lemon and peppercorns (if the water is infused with flavor as it enters the meat, it will bring that with it into the meat), and maybe instead of sugar bring honey--better flavor. Steep everything together (I squirt some lemon juice in and then just throw in the segment that I squeezed in), let cool (or use 1/2 of the weight of the water as ice and cool it down real fast after it has steeped) then put your breasts in for an hour or two. Now that's a party I wanna be invited to ;)

If you're in a rush, just use cool water and dissolve sugar and salt into it. Also 7% means 70 grams of salt for every 1000 grams of water. You can use ml to measure water but grams is more precise. Your chicken will be noticeably moister than if you hadn't used a brine.

Ok, that's all for today. I'm off to make my cottage cheese.

Cottage Cheese

2010-09-20T17:16:00.000-04:00

Puke and peaches? my friend asked me today at lunchtime while pointing at my lunch. I tried to think of something clever to say back at him about his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Nothing came to me, but my mouth kept moving, so I simply said "peanut butter and jelly?" Nice comeback Nick.

I use to hate cottege cheese also. My mom would get it when I was younger in tubs pre-mixed with pineapple. It was nasty. Or it looked nasty. I never ate it myself. The texture was enough. Thick, heavy curds in pale swamp combined to form bleached mud. Gross.

My friend had been talking about my peaches and cottage cheese that I had brought for lunch. I saw where he was coming from--an observer might lose his appetite if he stared at it long enough--but to me it was bliss. Peaches and cream. Sweet and salt. I don't know how I got into it. One day I just tried it. And loved it.

But I don't think every type is worth eating. Eating Lucerne, for instance, is like eating glue; I have absolutely no desire to eat it. Friendship cottage cheese on the other hand, is delicious. I can't stop eating it. Tell your friends. Tell your colleagues. It is the best. Add some berries, or peaches, or pineapple, and there's nothing better. Really nothing. I eat 1%. Unlike after eating Fage, I'm completely satisfied with the lower fat version, I have no desire for full fat. It's that good.

I guess however, it's time for me to stop being lazy and make my own. And make it better (anyone notice I love starting sentences with and? It's like HAHA I'm not in English and I'm free to do what I want). After browsing a few recipes, I see it's incredibly easy. I think I'm going to use this recipe with 1% milk and maybe I'll try using lemon juice instead of acid. I guess the real trick to making this cheese well is using good milk. I don't drink milk myself so I don't know squat. Anyone have any favorite milk brands or maybe a favorite cottage cheese recipe?

My results will be posted by Saturday at the latest.

College essays

2010-09-15T22:55:00.000-04:00

Remember that I mentioned that I was getting to work on my college essays last week? Well they're done ( there's 2) and I need help deciding which essay to use for the common application. E-mail me if you're interested in participating in this poll. Of course I'll have to make sure you aren't trying to steal it or publish it somewhere else, but come on would you really do that anyway?

foodieatfifteen@verizon.net

Lotta work this week. Post coming sometime on wednesday

2010-09-14T20:09:00.001-04:00

College Essay

2010-09-07T21:54:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again. I have a four day weekend (Rosh Hoshana) starting Thursday, and I'm really trying to get my college essay done.

If anyone has any ideas for a good essay topic, I'd love you forever if you e-mailed me left it in the comments :) I'll contact you (if you leave your e-mail) if I decide to use your idea.

MUCH MUCH THANKS!

Ocean City NJ Boardwalk Fudge

2010-09-07T21:48:00.000-04:00

So I'm ending the summer with a post I should've used to begin the summer. It's funny. I'm telling you all where to go to get the best boardwalk fudge when you're not going to get any fudge for another nine months. And why aren't I making my own? The post is a big mess-up in a few respects.

But then again, now that the summer has come to a close and you have (hopefully) been eating astounding amounts of fudge for the past three months, this may be the perfect time for a post like this. Now is when you will be best suited to discuss, dispute and deliberate over my decisions.

Anyone ever been to Ocean City? It's great. I've gone there all throughout my childhood and it has hardly changed--it has the same boring rides, mediocre beaches, and awful food as always, but it's all so endearing. And by awful food, I meant awful real-food--don't try to have a nice sit-down dinner-- but the junk food there is great. Ice cream, funnel cake, fudge, fried oreos, it's all there.

When I went down with my family, we would always go to the same hotel. It was right off of the boardwalk, and right as you walked on the boardwalk from the hotel was a place called Steele's Fudge. I've always been loyal to Steele's. It was the place we always went to and I had always loved it. We never really tried anything else. It was just the best.

Last weekend I was walking along the Ocean City boardwalk with a few friends. We were talking about food--that's all I talk about--and fudge came up in the conversation. They mentioned that they wanted to go to Fudge Kitchen because that was the best. I disagreed. I claimed that Steele's was better. But then I thought about it, and realized I had nothing to compare it to. I didn't really know if Steele's was the best, I had allowed a bunch of factors other than taste to enter the equation...

So we set up (my mom really set it up) a blind taste test. My mom bought chocolate fudge from six different places on the boardwalk and we brought over the neighbors, who tasted the fudge. The test was completely blind. The fudge was the only isolated variable. They had to be silent when they were eating so as not to alert the other tasters of something. They were not shown the preferences of other tasters (I didn't participate because I don't love chocolate fudge. It's good, but it's good just because it's straight sugar. I try to avoid such things if the reason that I like them is only because they are straight sugar and instead indulge in things whose taste I find appealing in addition to their sweetness.)

The six companies are as pictured. Which is your favorite?

The winner was Shrivers. Overwelmingly. Out of six testers, 5 picked Shrivers as their favorite. Steele's did really poorly, though in my defense, I only eat their vanilla fudge. We used chocolate because chocolate is the classic and we thought it would best exemplify the shops' skills. Next summer I will have to do the same test with vanilla. And I'll do it at the beginning next year ;)

Enjoying the last days of break. Back Tuesday

2010-09-04T01:02:00.001-04:00

2010-08-24T10:54:00.000-04:00

The best decision I made all summer was to work for myself. To cater events, to cook private dinner parties, to not get a conventional summer job. Not only have I made more than I have any other summer, I've enjoyed my summer much more. I've had much more free time. While my friends slaved away working every day for summer camps, I stayed in my house, plotting spreadsheets to determine food costs and profits and cooking. This isn't as true for catering larger events, but I still can't believe I get payed for cooking private dinner parties. It's always so much fun and generally relaxed, and I get to cook and interact with the customers and such. Catering is a little different. Those events are fun, but by nature (large amount of people) are more stressful.

But really this job is great. I run it like a business. I'm always on the lookout for potential clients. I've started to make comprehensive spreadsheets that detail each dinner (how much did I profit, did my projected profits meet my actual profit aka did I meet my budget, how much did I spend for each dish, where can I cut costs in the future, what were the guests' comments, what will I change next time). I have control. I have the power to run this into the ground or to build it up. You don't get that from a job at the ice cream shop.

Webchat with me!

2010-08-16T20:06:00.000-04:00

Tune in here http://www.whyy.org/community/fit_chat_gettingstarted.html tomorrow, Tuesday August 17 at 12 and ask me anything about anything (but mostly cooking) on an online web chat hosted by WHYY!

What am I doing?

2010-08-13T16:40:00.000-04:00

Oh yea, that's right, I'm doing me.

Props to anyone understood that pop culture reference. I thought that some of you might be curious about what's going on with me. What's the next step?

Well I don't know what I'll get. I do know what I want, but I'm not sure what will come out of it. I want to go to Wharton (the business school at the university of Pennsylvania) damnit. That's where I will go. That's where I must go. I love business. I love management. I love running shit. I love that whole deal. I want to have experience in business so that I can open my own restaurant. I feel that a lot of restaurants fail because chefs know how to cook and nothing more. They lack acute accounting skills. I want to run a tight ship. I want to know my finances. That knowledge will make me comfortable cooking. I will be on top of things. I hope.

I love Wharton. I love the curriculum. I love Philadelphia. I love the campus. I love the thought that I could be going to one of the best undergrad business programs in the country. But what if I don't get in? See, basically I'm doing exactly what they tell you not to do in regards to college hunting. I'm putting all my eggs in one basket. I really want Wharton and if I plan to purchase a punching pag perchance I don't get in. But if I don't get in, I don't get in. I have to make due. I'm stubborn though, and pathetic sometimes. I think a lot of things aren't worth doing if I don't have the potential to be the best. That's why I quit basketball. That's why I cried when I lost a spelling B in second grade. I'm a baby. But if it's not Wharton, it'll be Lehigh business, or Michigan business, or Virginia business, or Penn State business. And I'll mope for a little while, but then I'll be fine. And I'll move on. And I'll still run a tight ship when I own a restaurant.

But if anyone knows the admissions officer at Penn, put in a good word for me wont you ;)

Food Shows Today

2010-08-03T01:14:00.000-04:00

Is it just me, or is food in pop culture getting kind of boring? It feels like it's all the same. It isn't evolving. It isn't expanding even as the public grows accustomed to what's on television. I used to really enjoy watching Barefoot Contessa and Everyday Italian and others (actually now that I think about it I do still enjoy watching Everyday Italian, but not for the food) but now they're just boring.

I mean every show is kinda the same. Giada boils pasta then tosses it with pesto then makes some wonderful biscotti, "which means twice baked in Italian," Paula Dean makes "good ol southern fried chicken" for dinner and butter for dessert. It's funny how well I can sum up their shows with two dishes. After watching these shows for years they're getting kinda dull. They seldom offer information to help me elevate my cooking and I don't really learn anything new by watching them.

This isn't true for everybody I'm sure and I would think that, for instance, my mom disagrees. She probably learns a lot from each episode of Rachel Ray or Everyday Italian. A lot of people do. A lot of people are fascinated by what the hosts do on these shows, and I argue that that is because the viewers have little background in technique. They understand how to read recipes, but don't comprehend processes.

And who can blame anyone for that? Food culture these days is based around recipes. On every food show, a recipe is offered, hardly does a show zero in on a technique that will alllow you to create a recipe over and over again with different ingredients. Why would they? Then you wouldn't need to watch their show.

You should buy Ruhlman's Ratio and learn the basic methods that govern the creation of everyday dishes. Then, every new show may be entertaining, but it certainly won't be revolutionary and over time, the individual shows will begin to blend together as you realize that all the mainstream food shows use a series of basic techniques with different ingredients and some flourishes added on.

IM BACK

2010-07-29T18:37:00.015-04:00

Where the bleep have I been seriously? I've been absent, my writing vacant. I'm that goddamned sketchy friend who never returns calls, who just kinda goes away and leaves you behind. You can love me (doubtful) or hate me (probable) but either way, I'm back, and we can have fun once again. Let's talk food.

So where have I been? Reading Atonement. Getting an Ipad. Reading the WSJ every morning on my ipad. Cooking dinners for clients. Last Thursday I did a wine gala for 200. I rented wine glasses, picked up Pellagrino, hired servers (my buddies), purchased serving trays and napkins, and made quarter-sized blinis with smoked salmon and creme fraiche to be passed around. And I got paid for it. Sure as hell beats working at an ice cream shop. I took a class on small business and entrepreneurship at Penn. I went to a seminar on the restaurant business hosted by the Philadelphia Business Journal. It featured Jen Carrol, Rob Wasserman (owner of Rouge), Michael Solomonov (chef/owner of Zahav) and Ellen Yin (part-owner of Fork and Fork etc.). Yea. It sucked. Other than the first 30 minutes of kind of a cocktail-hour type setting in which I was able to talk to Ellen Yin about Fork (I worked there for a period) and I met Rob Wasserman who invited me to stage at Rouge, it was awful and uninformative. It was poorly put together. A few general questions were asked by a moderator and the chefs talked about the industry as it is currently, and all I really got out of it was that these restaurants are in better shape than last year. No shit right?

But back to the Gala. Yea that was great. That was jolly fun. I got to exercise genuine authority over a bunch of friends, what could be better right? Haha. It was great, yet terribly nerve racking in the days and hours leading up to the event. I had never done anything like that and it was really good for me to get out of my comfort zone. Before, all I had ever really done for clients was cook. I focused on what I knew. With this event I almost had to act as an event planner. I bought a BJ's membership (Alice Waters is surely plotting to kill me in my sleep) so that I could buy Pellagrino in bulk for cheap. I went to Party Land and got napkins. I went to some restaurant supply store in the city and picked up serving trays with lots of traction so that the wine wouldn't spill when passed (yes the wine was to be passed, that freaked me out when i found out), and I picked up pizza trays at the same store on which to serve the blinis. And that's only the half of it.

(haha there I am strutting down the aisle)

As the event approached, I ran situations over and over in my mind. What was I missing? The day before the event one of the four people I had hired texted me saying "How badly do you need me tomorrow?" I frikin freaked out. She couldn't be seriously cancelling on me now. Hahahaha wow I thought, so this is what it's like at Lacroix, or any restaurant for that matter, when a server decides they don't want to show up when they're scheduled. Luckily she didn't need to to "be with her boyfriend who was in from Boston" I made sure of that. The next day however, she asked me if he could come too. I was pissed off, but she said he would work for free. I made sure that he wouldn't be a distraction and let him on. That turned out to be a great decision.

The day of, almost everything went smoothly--thankfully and surprisingly. I made blinis until 3 then I showed up at the gala. I chilled the wine and Pellagrino with the help of my servers, then began to set up the blinis. I made my servers practice carrying the wine glasses before the event began--I was still quite nervous that one of them would drop a glass--not at all because of their imcompetence.

So the event began, and ran smoothly throughout. I hardly remember the middle of the event. It was a blur. Nothing of great significance occurred. It was smooth. Without blemish. At the end the bosses were happy but not overly so. It was a job well done, and that was what they had expected, and was all that they would tolerate. I felt like an adult. I shook his hand and acted as if this was the norm. As if this job was effortless. My expressionless face concealed the work and worry I had put in. And that was how it should be. They shouldn't know of anything more than work aptly completed.

Lunch for myself

2010-07-21T00:43:00.000-04:00

Pulled then seared pork shoulder, avocado, roasted potatoes tossed with romesco and pecorino.

Lunches for sis keep on coming

2010-07-21T00:41:00.000-04:00

This here is pulled then seared pork shoulder, mozzarella, tomato, and avocado on toasted spinach focaccia.

Nother Lunch for Sis

2010-07-07T18:13:00.002-04:00

Toasted pulled pork sandwich with American cheese (I had no other cheese in my house). Funny thing is, I always wish that I had made myself the sandwich after I make it for her.

Lunch for Sis

2010-07-01T15:45:00.004-04:00

Bacon, egg, and mozarella cheese toasted to perfection and served with a few slices of grilled eggplant. Lunch for my sister, for a small fee of course.
But I don't feel bad. She works five days a week, raking in tons of dough, well I cater an event once every few weeks. This is just how I get by!

Losing a Client

2010-07-01T15:40:00.001-04:00

I lost a client dammit. I lost him. He's gone. He's not coming back. I lost money too, but that's not as important. I lost a relationship, a trust, potential for future business. I let someone down. Dammit.

My "job" this summer is catering dinner parties and events. It's mine. It's my own thing. I work for myself. I answer only to me. And I like that. It's great. I work my own hours and am only bossed around by myself. I'm no one else's slave (if you live in the Philly area and wanna hire me shoot me an email).

So I had this one party for about 20 people planned for mid-July and I had been talking with the host about the food, service, etc. via email. After corresponding as such for a week or so, he asked me to stop by sometime at his house which was right down the street. I told him that I could stop by that night around 7.

I shouldn't have said that. I was cooking and eating with the family then. It crossed my mind to cancel the appointment, but I was under the impression that it was an informal kind of "stop by if you can" type thing. It wasn't. I emailed him later, apologizing and asking if the next night would be ok. But he had already made up his mind. I had lost the job.

Darned customer service. It's infinitely important. Our negotiations were going great until then. But he was right. I easily could've cancelled. And I should've. But this was a valuable business lesson and one that I won't easily forget.

Extra crispy strips?

2010-06-29T15:04:00.002-04:00

Everybody's seen that commercial right? I mean the one for KFC where there's a crowded bus and some old guy is talking really loudly on the phone and the girl is getting really bothered by it so the guy next to her gives her some extra-crispy strips and the crunch of the strips is loud enough to block out the noise of the old guy talking on the phone?

Yea well that commercial makes those strips look pretty darn good and I'm the type of guy whose always down for some finger licking fried chicken so I decided to see if the crunch on KFC's strips was really loud enough to block out some extraneous noise in the background. More importantly, I had to see if the strips were any good.

So I went for a run beforehand so that I wouldn't feel bloated and guilty afterwards, then stopped into my good old local KFC. I picked up the strips, a biscuit and some mashed potatoes (note to self: the roasted potatoes are definitely better than mashed)then got back in my car. I turned on some awful techno, then bit into a strip, hoping that the crunch would dominate the music. It didn't. I took another bite. Same result. I turned on some rap metal and blasted it out the speakers to vent my rage. It wasn't just that the strips weren't "extra crispy" it's that they were hardly crispy at all. TGI frickin Fridays serves crispier strips!

That's not to say they weren't good however--I actually finished them on the ride home before I could get a photograph-- but they definitely did not live up to expectations. I actually stopped at Popeye's on the way home to satisfy my craving for crispy. Popeye's, now that's some good chicken...

2010-06-23T15:59:00.000-04:00

My favorite afternoon snack

2010-06-16T12:23:00.003-04:00

Mushrooms are so meaty, so substantial, so much more than a vegetable. I can eat a plate of mushrooms and feel like I've eaten a meal. For that reason, they've become my favorite after-school snack, taking the position formerly held by the egg nickmuffin tm. My favorite preparation follows.

Shrooms (two big handfulls)
Handful of pre-cooked, chopped, chorizo,
2 minced cloves of garlic
1/2 shallot minced
oil
salt/pepper
chives to sprinkle on top
chicken stock (or water, or red wine, or anything to deglaze the pan with really)
parmesan cheese

1. Render the chorizo with enough oil to cover the bottom of a cast-iron or heavy stainless steel pan.

2. When the chorizo is browned, removed it from the pan, and continue to heat the oil until it is smoking.

3. Add your shrooms and brown them on one side. Add the garlic and shallot and spread these and the mushrooms around with a spoon. Cook for about a minute more, then add the salt, pepper and enough deglazing liquid to come up about 1/8th inch on the pan.

4. Add the chorizo back into the pan.

5. Stir around the mushrooms as the liquid evaporates, cooking until the pan is almost dry, but leaving a little moisture so that the mushrooms are nicely glazed with the liquid.

6. Sprinkle with chives and grate parmesan over the top.

Eat!

Graham Cracker Toffee

2010-06-08T20:51:00.004-04:00

I think my dentist has given up on me flossing. It's been a gradual shift in her mindset. I remember that when I was younger--maybe 9 or 10--telling me to floss was always one of her priorities. She would mandate she would demand she would insist that I floss. I hardly did. Every time I came in should would ask if I was flossing. "On occasion" was my generic response. She was stern with me the first few times. So stern that for the next two days I actually did floss, but after that her words meant nothing to me. I wouldn't see her for the next six months so what did I care.

As I grew older she began to stop pressing me. My answer of "on occasion" only warranted a "well you really should." Well I went back to the dentist a few weeks ago, and she posed that anticipated question. I decided to be frank with her. "No, not really" was my response. She didn't say a word but just nodded her head. She had conceded. The battle was lost.

Recently however, I motivated myself to floss my teeth. My mom has a few dishes in her repetoire that she does really well, and one of them is this graham cracker toffee. It's irresistible, it's to-die-for, I can't stop eating it. She got the recipe from Steve Poses' blog a few months ago and has been making it every few weeks since. I tell her to make it less. I'd be thinner. I also wouldn't have to floss my teeth.

Graham Cracker Toffee

Enough graham crackers to cover a large cookie sheet, about two packages. 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup unsalted butter 11 oz. chocolate chips (you can eyeball this it doesn't have to be exact)
Handful of chopped nuts

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Line a 17.5 by 13 inch cookie sheet with foil then top with parchment (so that no caramel sticks to your pan).

3. Lay out the graham crackers on top of the parchment, breaking pieces as necessary to fit the whole sheet.

4. Combine butter and brown sugar in a heavy saucepan and stir constantly as you heat over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until the sugar dissolves.

5. Pour over graham crackers.

6. Bake at 350 for 9-12 minutes. Make sure the caramel doesnt burn.

7. Remove from oven and evenly sprinkly chocolate chips over top. Wait five minutes then use a spatula to spread the now-melted chocolate over the caramel.

8. Sprinkle nuts and fleur de sel over top.

9. Chill in the fridge then break into pieces.

Curried Cauliflower

2010-06-03T19:20:00.003-04:00

I'm trying to eat more veggies. Especially now that all these farmer's markets are opening back up, there's really no reason not to; well, except for that one reason, what was it, oh yea, convenience. It's kinda sad that it's easier to get a pack of Doritos and eat chips than it is to say roast cauliflower. But convenience really can become somewhat of a non-factor with such easy yet delicious veggie preparations as roasted, curried cauliflower.

It's salty and crispy if done right, and it almost satisfies the junk food craving. And the fact that it's so satisfying to simply roast and eat a bowl of veggies makes it more pleasing than eating junk. No it's not as convenient as a bag of chips, but really the preparation is minimal and in the 20 minutes it takes to cook in the oven, you can be off doing your own thing. Here's the recipe.

1 head of cauliflower
a few pinches of curry powder
a few pinches of salt
2 tablespoons of oil

--Preheat oven to 450

-- Cut cauliflower into small pieces.

--Toss with remaining ingredients

--Roast for 25 minutes on a large baking sheet, shaking the cauliflower and reversing the direction of the sheet once during cooking.

-That's all. It's too easy not to do. Enjoy.

I'm featured in food news journal

2010-06-03T19:00:00.001-04:00

I've got a nice little write up along with a bunch of other teen bloggers in the Food News Journal. Check it out.

Braised Trip-Tip with Kielbasa

2010-05-26T21:02:00.003-04:00

From market to table.

Chorizo, Mushroom, Omelet

2010-05-26T20:48:00.002-04:00

Wow, it's beach season. I think it kinda came outta nowhere. And I think a lot of people are scrambling to eat healthy before they hit the beach.

Today I made myself a delicious and relatively healthy omelet. I rendered some chorizo in a pan, removed the chorizo, seared mushrooms in the chorizo fat, then tossed the mushrooms and chorizo in with the omelet. I ate it with guacamole on the side. It's feel good good.

Burgers

2010-05-26T15:57:00.002-04:00

Burgers, Beach, Bikinis. Those three words represent summer for me. But with the bounty of barbeques that I am bound to attend, it’s all too easy to get bored of burgers. Even without a bounty of barbeques, burgers can be boring. I always try to get the most out of each burger. If I’m going to eat a burger I want it to count. A plain burger on a white roll is boring and insufficient. My burger has to be decked out. It’s gotta be more than just a hamburger. With the right add-ons it can.

Beef: Grinding your own is preferable, but most people will never do that, so buy your meat from Whole Foods. I trust their meat over that of Genuardi’s or Acme any day. Go for an 80-20 meat to fat ratio for nice, moist burgers.

Cheese: I love bleu cheese on burgers, but it’s not even worth an attempt at trying to convince people of bleu cheese’s greatness. It just wouldn’t work. As an alternative I like gruyere on a burger. It’s a good melting cheese and has a clear flavor—but one that doesn’t overwhelm. Sharp cheddar is another good one.

Bun: I can’t stand just plain white bread rolls. They’re boring and unsubstantial and I don’t like to think about just eating plain white bread. I much prefer potato rolls which have a nice flavor, and an even better cushy texture. As for crusty rolls, I like them on sandwiches but on burgers, pillowy is preferable.

Other Condiments: I love caramelized onions on a burger. They add a complex sweetness that works well with the meat and is also a nice counterpart to the cheese.

Sauce: I’m not a huge fan of ketchup on my burgers. I prefer this really simple tangy sauce that is just a combination of mayonnaise, mustard, honey and Worcestershire. It’s not gross. It’s actually quite good. Seriously, try it.

Extras: Bacon. Maybe it’s excessive, but last time I checked, bacon could do no wrong.

So if you’re going to eat a burger make it count. Break away from boring burgers and go for something more substantial

Burger

2010-05-24T22:08:00.002-04:00

Gimme a day or so but soon I will detail the preparation of my favorite burger.

Personal Dinners

2010-05-19T19:20:00.002-04:00

Do you want to experience my cooking, to see what I cook when I need to prepare a fancy dinner, to see what kind of ideas are running through my mind? Do you live in the Philadelphia area? Then maybe we can arrange a dinner.

I've done a bunch of private dinners recently and would like to test my abilities and do more. Moreover, I need a medium for my ideas. I will cook for parties of 2-8 people for a reasonable price. E-mail me at foodieatfifteen@verizon.net and we can arrange something.

Self- Control

2010-05-16T17:22:00.003-04:00

Note: This story is not completely true. Certain details have been altered to better fit my purpose. Overall however, the story is an accurate depiction of certain experiences at Lacroix.

It was a while back but I still remember it vividly. I was young and new and naïve and didn’t know what I was doing. I was altogether too green to be working in a restaurant, that at the time seemed like the devil’s workshop: burning hot stoves ran from end to end, long sharp knives, cleavers, saws were in abundance, and multiple meat slicers stood ominously in the center. Yet viewed from a different angle the kitchen seemed like heaven: all the chefs wore white and there was food, an ungodly amount of food, an absolute abundance of food but not just any food. Oh no, Lacroix only put out only the most perfect pastries and proteins, the most sublime starches and salads, and there was plenty for the cooks.

But I guess I got a little too comfortable in this gourmand’s glory land. One day, only a month or so after I started working at Lacroix, I was put in charge of making foie gras ice cream sandwiches. I had to butter then toast then chill slices of brioche, after which I would spread an already-prepared foie gras ice cream base on one slice and top it with another. Then I would cut the sandwiches into individual triangles and put them back in the refrigerator to chill. Everything was going along fine. I sliced the brioche without a problem. I buttered then toasted the brioche without a problem. I even spread the foie gras ice cream on the brioche without a problem. But as I cut the sandwiches into triangles, I started to have a problem. I cut the sandwich, then plopped the first triangle into my mouth, just to taste. It was delicious, and there was never anything wrong with tasting what you were cooking, rather, you were supposed to taste as you prepared food to make sure that it was being done correctly. But then I plopped a second one in my mouth. The combination of fatty foie gras and rich, toasted brioche produced a double dose of richness. I ate a third. I was like a pregnant woman—utterly unable to control my cravings. I ate a fourth and a fifth and a sixth. I was thirteen and completely susceptible to impulse. I stopped at 12, then put the rest in the fridge to chill. My tummy full and the job done, I moved on to my next task.

A few hours later I was cleaning lettuce for the salad station, and I saw him coming. The kitchen turned back to hell and he, the then-sous chef, a slender man with bright red hair, pointed features, and a large chef’s knife in one hand, was walking, no storming towards me. He was fuming, and though accounts from chefs that were present deny this, I swear his hair was on fire. I squeezed myself closer to the sink in defense. My fear was palpable.

“DID YOU MAKE THE BLEEPIN FOIE SANDWICHES?” he screamed.
“yes” I mumbled.
“ WHAT THE BLEEP HAPPENED? WHERE THE BLEEP ARE THE REST.”
The rest of the kitchen was watching at this point.
“I, I, uh, I ate them.”
A few cooks snickered. This was great theatre to them.
“YOU WHAT. YOU BLEEPIN ATE THEM? THERE’S NOT BLEEPIN ENOUGH FOR BRUNCH TOMORROW.”
“It was dumb. I apologize.”
“THAT DOESN’T MEAN BLEEP. YOU GET THE BLEEP BACK OVER THERE AND BLEEPIN MAKE MORE.”

Needless to say, I did as I was told. My cheeks scarlet and my eyes watery, I made 12 more foie gras cream sandwich triangles, and now, my symptoms of pregnancy, my childish impulses, and my lack of self-control, are absolutely and positively, gone.

McCain on Farmer's Markets (read this one)

2010-05-12T21:13:00.004-04:00

Recently John McCain and two other Republican Senators sent a letter to Tom Vilsack, the Secretary of Agriculture, condemning Vilsack's "Know Your Farmer Know Your Food" program that was introduced last fall. The program aims to "Connect Consumers with Local Producers to Create New Economic Opportunities for Communities," by aiding farmers with the marketing and proliferation of their products (more can be read here). The Senators claimed the project was directed at “'small and organic producers' whose customers generally consist of 'affluent patrons of urban farmers markets.'”

As of now, that is largely true. Organic, sustainable food isn't very accessible to the lower and much of the middle class. The costs of production, and subsequently the final product are much inflated compared with those of big agribusiness which supplies the food to the megamarts. Yet this is a fundamental problem in the nature of the current agricultural system, a problem which the "Know Your Farmer Know Your Food" initiative aims to mitigate. It seems that McCain and his cronies have missed the point. As of now farmers markets are places for prosperous patrons, but such initiatives as the one described aim to increase accessibility to, and with federal funding, lower the price of sustainable farmed food. This program isn't for the elite--the elite already have access to farmed food--its for the less affluent who don't have access to or can't afford such food.

With his letter, McCain is highlighting a pro-business position that demonstrates support for big agribusiness companies. Now remember, that he originally stated that he didn't support the program because it catered to the wealthy (which I don't believe it does), yet his support of the big farmer's, companies like Tyson and ConAgra and Monsanto, has that exact effect for a few reasons. The first is the fact that supporting such companies carries the connotation of supporting the big businessman as opposed to the humble farmer. The second is the fact that these companies are notorious for exploiting the small farmers and the "little guys" that work for them. The profits in these companies go straight to the top with few stops in between (See Food Inc. Read anything by Michael Pollan, Fast Food Nation and more). Therefore McCain's preference caters more directly to "affluent patrons" than does the "Know Your Farmer Know Your Food" program.

CASE CLOSED

Scenes from the Market

2010-05-11T19:05:00.005-04:00

The first week of this local farmer's market.

2010-05-04T19:48:00.005-04:00

It's freakin spring and I can't believe it. Was it not just a few weeks ago that I got hit with 20 inches of snow? HA! And now I'm looking for ways to cool down. It's surreal that it's fureal. In addition to being a great food season, spring almost equates to happiness, sustained happiness. It doesn't soon fade like that fantastic fall feeling does to winter, it endures through summer. Spring's enchantment lies largely in the fact that it serves in anticipation of summer. And indeed, the best part of many great things is anticipation for it.

I wish that spring was more of a new beginning, a fresh start, like it is for the plants in my garden. In my life it's more of a culmination but at the same time it's fresh (never frozen) from the winter. I see spring as a traveler, fresh out of a snowstorm, pioneering happiness through warmer climates.

My first butter lettuce is in. It's fresh from the garden. It's sweet, soft, and, well, buttery. My mom thinks it's sweet enough, soft enough, buttery enough, to eat without any dressing. Not quite, but minimally invasive dressing is preferable with lettuce this fresh. I made this salad with a simple champagne vinaigrette and I tossed it with cashews, ham and avocado.

Hopefully as my plants spring up and back into life, so will my blog :)

Chicken Drippings

2010-04-26T20:46:00.004-04:00

In the constant quest to conquer cooking, I've come upon a curious new use for conventionally cast-off comida.

Chicken drippings are delicious--we all know that-- but they are rarely kept unless one is making gravy. This shouldn't be so. Chicken drippings have a multitude of uses.

By chicken drippings I mean the liquid left over after a chicken is roasted. This includes the gelatinous jus, and the fat which will rise to the top after the mixture is poured into a container and cooled (make sure to pour into a narrow container so that the fat is distinct from the jus) . Flavored by roasted chicken, the fat is much more flavorful than say an average canola or peanut oil (the kitchen literally smells like chicken soup when I'm heating the oil up) and the jus is far superior to any broth.

(mushrooms deglazed with chicken jus)

The fat is perfect for sauteeing--I cook eggs and vegetables in it--and the jus is delicious too. It's like a concentrated chicken stock. It adds a chickeny tang to anything. I add the jus to soups or I deglaze pans of vegetables with it. I am however, only touching upon the possibilities of chicken drippings. It's an awesome new ingredient that I'm excited to work with.

Best Cake Ever

2010-04-20T10:07:00.002-04:00

This is my latest article for my school paper.

I’m often a bad brother or a bad son. When a sorry won’t suffice, I comfort my kin with food. Nothing says sorry like a sweet cake with confectioner’s sugar buttercream. Cake doubles as my birthday present to others. It’s the perfect gift. It costs little, yet is always appreciated. It’s the universal gift—who doesn’t like cake on their birthday? Plus it displays willingness to put in effort for the recipient.
That said, there’s nothing wrong with making this cake simply for yourself. It’s incredible. It’s simply my favorite cake ever. It’s tender and moist, yet rich and substantial, unlike cake made from a mix. I would eat the cake without icing, yet this vanilla buttercream frosting is as delicious as the cake. So claim that you’re making it for someone’s birthday, but make sure you get a slice.
The recipe is from Bakewise by Shirley Corriher. There are a good amount of ingredients but it’s not difficult to make. You must be sure to use cake flour, not all purpose, or else the cake will be sunken in the center.

Golden Cake
The recipe is from Bakewise by Shirley Corriher. There are a good amount of ingredients but it’s not difficult to make. You must be sure to use cake flour, not all purpose, or else the cake will be sunken in the center.
Non-stick spray
2 large eggs
3 large yolks
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups cake flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
4 tbs unsalted butter cut into four pieces
1/3 cup canola oil
½ cup heavy cream
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Spray a 9 x 2 round cake pan with non-stick spray then top with a circle or parchment paper.
3. Stir together the eggs, yolk, buttermilk and vanilla together.
4. In a stand mixer, thoroughly mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
5. Add butter and oil and mix on medium speed for 1.5 minutes.
6. Slowly add the egg mixture.
7. Whip the cream with a hand mixer until it forms peaks that fall over but retain their shape with the mixer is removed from the cream.
8. Fold the cream into the batter.
9. Bake the cake about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean but moist.

Confectioner’s Sugar Buttercream Icing
• 1 ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• ½ cup Crisco
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 tbs heavy cream
1. With a stand mixer, whip the butter with the Crisco then beat in the vanilla extract.
2. On the lowest speed, slowly add the sugar.
3. Add the cream.
4. Add more sugar or cream to adjust the texture.
5. Refrigerate up to 2 weeks.

Cereal

2010-04-12T20:43:00.004-04:00

I'm just in that cereal mood. How will I break the fast tomorrow morning?

My Favorite Cake. Ever.

2010-04-12T20:37:00.001-04:00

Gimme a day or two to post the recipe.

Ant Trap

2010-04-12T20:26:00.003-04:00

Ants have been crawlin cross my kitchen counter recently. I wanted to do something about it.

I dipped this Chile de Arbol in sugar water (aka the incredibly refreshing city punch: 1 part sugar 1 part water) and set it out in the counter.

No, of course it didn't work.

Pet Peeve explained

2010-04-08T08:45:00.003-04:00

Some readers didn't understand this, but I'm not actually comparing myself to Michelangelo or John Keats. The piece is satiric. It's a joke. I'm making something that really isn't a big deal and I'm blowing it out of proportion... on purpose. Thank you.

Pet Peeve

2010-04-06T17:02:00.005-04:00

Recently in English we had to write about a pet peeve in a satiric, colloquial tone. Here's my response (names have been changed). I just threw in some pictures of cinnamon buns to keep it interesting.

Not as Easy as Pie

Imagine, for a second, that you’re a doctor. You’re at a party with a bunch of friends, but also a lot of people that you don’t know. You and your buddy go over to talk to a group of people cause, you know, you’re trying to make some new friends. You go around the circle listing your professions, and after you mention that you’re a dermatologist, one of the men you just met blurts out, “Maybe you can help me! I need to know if this mole under my armpit is cancerous.” What would you do in this situation? Would you not be pretty annoyed? Well I’m faced with a very similar predicament every weekend, and I’ve come to the breaking point!

You see, I generally try to be a pretty nice, friendly guy. I’m certainly no Mr. Rogers, but I’m no Steve Stiffler either. I like to help people out just like the next guy and my favors often involve food and cooking. It’s what I know and love. It’s my signature. I can definitely be the mean big brother, but I make it up by baking treats for my sisters. Yesterday was my mom’s birthday so I baked her a cake. My cooking is either a display of affection or a gift, and that’s why it’s absolutely absurd, when people assume that I will just cook for anyone who asks!

I don’t like it, no, I can’t stand it, when random kids ask me to cook for them. I guess it has kind of gotten around school that I cook a little here and there, and so whenever I go to some social gathering with people I haven’t met before, they don’t even take the time to introduce themselves before asking “will you cook for me.” “Nick I hear you’re a big famous chef, will you make me some cheesecake? Nick how are you at making banana bread? Nick when it’s my birthday will you roast me a chicken?” No, No and No! Just last week I was at my friend’s house talking to a few girls that I had hardly met. I guess they overheard me when I said to my friend “Let’s have a picnic at the park tomorrow” because one girl promptly responded, “will you make a picnic for all of us?” “Absofrickinlutely not” I thought, but didn’t say. But from now on, I’m gonna let them know how I feel. “No Jessica Johnson I will never make you cream cheese brownies. No Andrew Carter, I couldn’t care less that you’re a burger connoisseur. No, unnamed lax bra, the fact that you have the mega-munchies does not make me want to cook for you. No Jen Matthews, well, actually yes Jen Matthews I would love to cook for you.” But the point remains. I actually met a girl once who asked me to make her an omelet. That soon became the extent of our relationship—whenever I saw her, she would ask me to make her omelets. That was it! How egregious, how disrespectful, how discourteous can you be? Be my friend talk to me, and maybe one day, I will tell you, that in the future, there is a chance that I might potentially cook for you.

Believe me, I love cooking, and I’m generally friendly, but if I cooked for everyone who asked, my cooking would become an empty gesture. It would have little meaning or significance. Imagine for a second, that I became known for whoring my skillet around and cooking for anyone. Then all of a sudden, the most beautiful girl—deep blue eyes, long blonde hair, enjoys long walks on the beach—transferred into this English class. I could try to impress her with some pancakes, but that wouldn’t be special because I’ve already made those for Billy and Sue and Jane. I could bake her my famous cookies, but she knows that I do that for anyone that asks. Basically by cooking for everyone, I’ve thrown away my one shot at this blonde beach babe.
But there is a larger picture. Did longshoremen ask John Keats to write them poems? Did Venetian cheese mongers ask Michelangelo to paint the ceilings of their shops? Did Austrian yodelers ask Mozart to compose them symphonies? No, and unless we’ve spoken, I will not make you apple pie.

2010-04-06T17:00:00.001-04:00

Here's a post I just wrote for the Amateur Gourmet community blog.

2010-04-03T02:29:00.000-04:00

Cheesecake

2010-03-24T22:17:00.003-04:00

Nothin like cheesecake n' berries to get you thinking of summer :)

Fun with food

2010-03-22T15:55:00.003-04:00

I think cooking is the most fun when you're experimenting. When you're doing your own thing. When you're not constrained by a cookbook.

My sister and I have been doing this recently. We've been playing with food: having fun with it. My favorite recent creation of ours was blondie batter, mixed with chopped up peanut butter girl scout cookies, baked in a graham cracker crust, then topped with chocolate chips. It's childrens' food. It's playful. It's fun. And it's altogether over the top, but that's the appeal.

Note: These blondies do not contain baking powder. They are extremely dense and rich and are certainly not for the feint of heart. Proceed with caution.

Cookie Blondies

1 cup chopped Cookies (I used the chocolate peanut butter girl scout cookies)
1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1tsp vanilla

1. Melt butter over low heat in a sauce pan.

2. Add sugar and mix thoroughly.

3. Add egg, vanilla and salt. Mix.

4. Fold in flour then cookies.

Graham Cracker Crust (from Martha Stewart)
6.5 oz graham crackers
5 tbs melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
pinch salt

1. preheat oven to 350

2. combine all ingredient in a food processor and pulse until well combined.

3. Press down into a 9 inch pie dish.

4. Bake 8 minutes (the recipe calls for 12-14 but it will get plenty cooked when is goes back in with the blondies.

For Final Product.

1. Spoon blondies into crust top with chocolate Chips and bake 25-30 minutes. I usually go 25 cause I like them gooey in the middle.

School Paper Article 3/19/10

2010-03-19T00:39:00.004-04:00

Here's the latest article that I wrote for my school paper (it hasn't been edited or published yet).

Pie Crust Perfection

The ability to prepare a pristine pie crust is a premier skill to possess, yet few people can. This ability is almost irrelevant nowadays. The use of pre-made pie crusts is so prevalent, I can’t think of one person who prepares their own from scratch. That’s a shame. It’s extremely easy—it requires little culinary competence—and the time you sacrifice will be made up tenfold in flavor and potentially, flakiness. Sure the store-bought versions are acceptable, but they are just that and since everyone uses them, using one puts a limit on the greatness that a pie made with said crust can achieve.
So now that we have established that you should make your own crust, we may talk method. Pie Crust is very versatile and varieties range from bacon fat pie crust for quiche, to graham cracker crust for cheesecake but for now I’d like to focus on an all butter pie crust perfect for fruit pies. Shortening increases flakiness in crusts, but butter provides more flavor, and an all-butter crust can be flaky if prepared correctly. The trick is keeping everything cold—I freeze the pie plate before adding the crust—and though you can use the crust immediately, I like to refrigerate it while I prepare the filling. This recipe is easiest to make with a KitchenAid mixer, but it can also be prepared by pinching together the butter and the flour and then stirring in the ice water. This recipe makes enough for a double-crust pie. Before baking I like to brush the top crust with a beaten egg and sprinkle it with sugar. Also, if you plan to make apple pie with this crust, use apple juice rather than water.
All-Butter Pie Crust
2 Cups Flour
2 sticks butter (cut into cubes and frozen)
¼ cup sugar
Ice Water (have at least two cups)
Pinch of salt

1. In a KitchenAid mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together salt, sugar and flour.

2. Add butter gradually, and beat on low speed until the butter cubes are slightly larger than peas.

3. Gradually pour in the ice water until the dough just comes together. Don’t add too much.

4. Push together the dough and use immediately, refrigerate for up to three days, or freeze indefinitely.

5. Roll out.

6. And you’re done. Really. That’s it.

ENTER THE BATTER

2010-03-15T21:03:00.005-04:00

My blondies mixed with a cup of chopped Tag Along Girl Scout Cookies, topped with chocolate chips, then baked in a graham cracker crust.

EatSmart Scale

2010-03-10T17:27:00.003-05:00

For a while now I've been a fan of measuring ingredients by weight as opposed to volume. It's not only more accurate, but also easier and less messy and makes it easier to see the ratios of ingredients that combine to give your creation identity.

I recently tried out a scale from a company called EatSmart. At $25 on Amazon it's a definite bargain, yet it performs no worse than my $50 Williams-Sonoma scale. Anyone thinking about buying, check this out.

Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

2010-03-04T20:50:00.003-05:00

Last Friday night, after I had returned from my friend's house, I found myself at home, eating Chunky Peanut Butter Company Peanut Butter, from the jar, with a spoon. And then it hit me. I had done the same thing the previous Friday night, and the one before that. But really, who hasn't?

These peanut butter cookies however, serve as a sweet and suitable substitute. I find that my biggest problem with peanut butter cookies is that they are too crumbly--they turn to sawdust after the slightest bite. To combat this complication, I use 100% brown sugar, and I am 95% sure that you will agree with me that these are better. They remain somewhere in the middle between ultra-crumbly and ultra-chewy--they are slightly chewy, but the texture isn't so far from the traditional.

Also I think that plain peanut butter cookies are, well, plain, and that their flavor is heightened immensely by the addition of either a mini Reese's peanut butter cup, or a piece of good dark chocolate, but not both--I tried using both on my latest batch and found it to be too much. The chocolate from the Reese's and the dark chocolate conflicted. Choose one or the other. Also, though there is some salt from the peanut butter, I add a sprinkle of fleur de sel on top, just for kicks.

Otherwise my cookies are pretty basic, nothin too fancy. I hope that they may be for you, as they are for me, an outlet for my peanut-butter passion.

Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
1 1/4 Cup Dark Brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Reese's peanut butter cups or dark chocolate for topping
Fleur De Sel

1. In the bowl of a kitchenaid, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt on low speed for a whole minute. Remove to a bowl.

2. Mix together the butter, peanut butter and sugar and beat for 5 minutes (creaming correctly really isn't a huge deal here).

3. Add the egg and vanilla.

4. Slowly add the flour.

5. Scoop onto plates, top with Reese's and freeze for 30 minutes.

6. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes. DONT OVERBAKE!

7. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies

2010-03-03T22:05:00.001-05:00

As photographed by my sister.

Mac and Cheese

2010-03-01T19:35:00.003-05:00

I recently said that Fried Chicken, Mac and Cheese and Biscuits is my favorite meal, and so after I made the chicken, I chose to revisit mac and cheese. I've always been happy with Alton Brown's recipe, but after a recent attempt, I find it rather one-note and not as interesting or enticing as I remembered. Maybe the cheddar wasn't good enough, I don't know, but from now on, I want a mac and cheese made with multiple cheeses; simple can be good, but if I'm going to go to the trouble of making it myself, it has to be more complex.

I'm also contemplating the ways I can get more flavor into it. Maybe steep the milk in thyme, sage and garlic before making the roux. Maybe when making the roux I brown the butter before adding the flour. I think that adding caramelized onions would heighten the complexity without going over the top, however I'm not sure whether bacon deserves a place in mac and cheese. Maybe to supplant that smoky flavor I use smoked cheese. Lastly, the mac and cheese must have a thick crispy crust, which means plenty of panko.

(cold mac and cheese fried in a hot skillet)

These are all things to play around with, but in the meantime, does anyone have a recipe they can swear by? Is Ina Garten's, Martha Stewart's, the Lee brothers' mac attack any good? E-mail me or drop a comment.

Girl Scout Cookies

2010-02-25T23:17:00.002-05:00

Girl Scout Cookies in descending order of greatness

Pork shoulder: The Method

2010-02-23T16:03:00.005-05:00

Few foods are more pleasing than pork shoulder (of pulled pork and carnitas fame. I'm going to say pork shoulder as opposed to one of the two common preparation because I don't want to be limited to the preparations of either of those two variations). It's juicy, moist, flavorful, and unlike say, pork belly, pork shoulder gives the illusion that you're not eating something filled with fat. It's no so indulgent that you feel bad eating it as an everyday sandwich, though I feel somewhat guilty that I've have legitimately eaten it for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the past two days (I had leftovers from an event that required me to produce mass quantities). It's an escape from the humdrum taste of turkey and cheese or peanut butter and jelly that my peers and I are so constantly subjected to. Perhaps what's best about pork shoulder is that it is very easy to prepare. The fact that the meat is laden with fat leaves large room for error on the part of the cook. This large room for error however means that there is a large range for good pork shoulder. Most pork shoulder is delicious, but how does one make it exceedingly so?

I'm a strong believer in the power of the brine. It's a great way to ensure that the meat retains more moisture after cooking and it is also a great way for imparting flavors into the meat. The pork that I've prepared without a brine has been significantly dryer and less flavorful than that prepared with a brine. For pork I like to use garlic, rosemary, peppercorns, and honey as a starting point from which I add or subtract depending on the application. I brine pork shoulder for 12-24 hours. I also like a dry rub, largely because the sugar I put in the rub helps to ensure a nicely cararmelized and crispy crust. For my dry rub I use smoked paprika, smoked black pepper, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, lots of cayenne, and brown sugar.

To cook the pork I sous vide it because it gives me precise temperature control and lots of other benefits. I sear it on all sides before it goes into the sous vide bad, then I cook it at 176 degrees for 12 hours. To reheat the pork, I take it out of the bag, reserving all the juices and fat in the bag and dry it off as well as possible. I then sear it in a flaming hot pan in some of the reserved fat from the bag--I really like the crispy parts. Then deglaze the pan with the juices left in the bag and pull it apart in the pan. Then DEVOUR.

(Pulled pork, romesco, pecorino cheese)

I don't really like to call it pulled pork, because it diverges from pulled pork in the preparation (i.e. it's not smoked). It's kinda just my own little thing that I've improved upon. Here's a basic recipe.

Brine:
This makes a 7% salt, 5% sugar solution.
1000 grams water
70 grams salt
50 grams honey
few sprigs of rosemary
4 cloves of garlic
tablespoon of peppercorns

Dry Rub:
I don't know exact quantities for the rub.
About 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp of each:
garlic powder
onion powder
cayenne
cumin
smoked black pepper
smoked paprika

1 boneless pork shoulder

1) cut the pork into 6 pieces.

2) Make brine by bringing all ingredients to a simmer in a pot, then turn off heat, let cool to room temp, then refrigerate until cool

3) Add pork to brine and keep in fridge for 12 hours.

4) remove pork from brine, rinse off, and cover with dry rub. Let sit another 12 hours.

5) Sear pork in a very hot pan until brown on all sides.

6) Sous vide (or alternatively braise in chicken stock for about 4 hours) at 176 for 12 hours.

7) Let meat cool and when ready to serve meat, remove from bag, reserving juices and fat in bag.

8) Sear in a hot pan until a crust is formed, then add the remaining juices from the bag and pull the pork apart as it warms.

Enjoy!

Butter vs. Butter-flavored shortening in cookies

2010-02-17T21:46:00.003-05:00

Just recently I had a vision of a moment in time, a long time ago, when I was watching Good Eats. It wasn't weird. Sometimes I'm thinking, and certain moments of the past that relate to my current thoughts, pop up.

So I was melting butter to make cookies, and I suddenly remembered this random moment in Good Eats when Alton Brown said that sometimes Butter-Flavored Shortening tastes even more like butter in baked goods. I made a note to get butter-flavored shortening if I ever saw it in the grocery store, and several weeks later, I did, in a huge tub.

I just recently decided to test out my hypothesis and compare it head to head in my chocolate chip cookie recipe. I kept all variables in the experiment constant other than the fat. I noticed that the dough made with butter was much looser, I suppose because of its lower melting point. I much preferred the dough of the butter cookies to those made with shortening. The shortening cookies tasted almost synthetic. My sister agreed.

The finished cookies were a different story. The cookies made with butter were more poofy whereas those made with shortening were more dense and rich (perhaps because the water in the butter turned to steam and provided some leavening?). Though the tasted synthetic before cooking, after they were done the shortening cookies had a stronger butter flavor than the cookies made with butter. I feel that in regular chocolate chip cookies, you don't really notice the flavor of the butter; it's flavor gives way to the chocolate and sugar and you really only get it's richness. Butter flavor was however prevalent in the shortening cookies.

(The one on the left is made with butter, and the right is made with shortening)

Tasters were more ambivalent than I was. Of the six people that I asked, they were split down the middle over which they liked better. I am not completely ready to declare that cookies made with shortening are definitely better than those made with butter (though I did so on my Twitter account a few days ago)--I'd like to do a little more testing. Shortening is however more convenient than butter in many recipes-- it's already at room temperature, and you therefore don't have to wait before you can cream it with sugar. I'm not going to change my Ultimate Cookie Recipe from Butter to Shortening just yet, but don't be surprised if it does happen after further experimentation ;)

Buttermilk-brined, not just soaked, fried chicken

2010-02-12T20:28:00.002-05:00

The more and more that I've been thinking, the more I've come to believe that fried chicken, mac and cheese, and biscuits is my favorite meal. I've been obsessed with fried chicken lately, more specifically Popeye's spicy fried chicken. It's consistently crispy and sufficiently spicy for fast food and though Popeye's mac and cheese is sub-par, their biscuits are delicious. It's amazing! I can have my favorite meal for 5 bucks!

Popeye's chicken is delicious espiecially when you have that fast food craving, but the chicken itself doesn't actually have much flavor. I've found that the Popeye's chicken without the crisp exterior isn't worth eating. That just isn't right. I sought to make it right in my home kitchen.

I was excited to test out an idea I had been pondering for a while. Does soaking chicken in buttermilk really do anything other than coat the outside in buttermilk? Can buttermilk really penetrate the exterior? I wasn't so sure. I think of it like soaking chicken in water. The water won't diffuse into the chicken unless it's a brine. Why not make a buttermilk brine to really instill that tangy buttermilk flavor in the meat?

I made a 7 percent salt, 5 percent sugar (honey) brine steeped with thyme, peppercorns and garlic. I used half buttermilk and half water. I used water to steep the ingredients then poured in the buttermilk when it had cooled. I then placed the chicken in the brine for 12 hours.

To fry the chicken, I resorted to David Chang of Momofuku's method. He steams the chicken then fries it at a high temperature for a short period of time. To try for some extra crispness I coated my chicken in flour and then a double layer of breadcrumbs (and even that didnt provide enough crisp). I'll have to try coating them in Panko and/or any other methods for maximum cirspness, but that's another post.

The chicken was overall a success. It was very tasty and had a definite twang that only buttermilk could provide. I wasn't sad when the crisp exterior was gone because the chicken inside was so moist and flavorful. I definitely plan to do the buttermilk brine agin.

The method however, is still in question. I want the crust to shatter, not bend when I bite into it. Another thing--I don't like eating the chicken skin with friedn chicken. It just gets mushy and off-putting under the crisp crust. I'll take that off for next time.

Also to come, experiments with biscuits.

My Fridge

2010-02-08T20:19:00.004-05:00

Bleu de auvergne, sous vide chicken thigs, sous vide whole legs, sardines in a tin.

Sardines

2010-02-02T18:02:00.003-05:00

I've never really loved sardines, but I can't say that I've ever hated them either. In fact, I think until last week, I'd only heard of their repulsive redolence (I thesaurused odor) in legend. A few weeks ago, Alton Brown did an episode of Good Eats in which he outlined approaches for healthful eating. He spiced some almonds and made a smoothie, but what really stood out was his use of sardines. He praised sardines, citing their health benefits and flavor and nearly begging the audience to give these fishies at the bottom of the food chain another chance.

He marinated them with sherry vinegar and some of the oil from their can (buy ones in oil) and made them into a sandwich with avocado. I tried this recipe and loved it, and found that marinating them is key--the acid completely brightens the fishy flavor and the buttery avocado. The toasted bread provides some texture.

I really enjoy sardines now and have been thinking of new ways to use them. Here I marinated them with sherry vinegar, mustard and oil, then tossed in some broccoli that I roasted at 450 for twenty minutes, some peanuts, some red onion, some feta cheese, and some avocado... and it was heaven. Enhanced with some acid, sardines are savory, satisfying and salubrious (I thesaurused healthful) and are even part of a sustainable lifestyle because they are at the bottom of the food chain and therefore use up negligible amounts of resources (wow, English teacher would kill me if she saw me adding new information in the conclusion). Do give them at least chance ;)

More Lunchroom Photos

2010-01-26T13:51:00.007-05:00

It's been a while, but I'm back with a bang. Here are some photos form around the lunch room. This time I tried to get people from all different social circles rather than just my friends.

I'm Still Here!

2010-01-21T17:35:00.001-05:00

I'm a little swamped with the SAT's on Saturday, Lacroix on Sunday, and midterms starting Tuesday, but I'll be back I promise. There will be a post by next Wednesday at the latest.

Me on the 10 show

2010-01-18T18:44:00.000-05:00

Check me out on NBC's 10! show!!!

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video.

Nother Dinner Party

2010-01-05T20:37:00.004-05:00

How you guys been? It seems like it has been a while. Last time you heard from me I was out dancing in the Arctic with some top chefs, but now I'm back home and back to school. What's really depressing is that I hardly had any time to cook over break. I had to read the majority of a biography on Andrew Jackson, work on some math, and write 3 essays. Whatever!

A few weeks ago I did cook for a 17 person dinner party. Photos are below.

Pesto/Margherita Pizzas
Bread salad with raspberries, goat cheese, arugula, and a sage-garlic aioli
Grilled veggies (not done by me).
Scallops with asparagus coulis
Rack of lamb sous vide with butter and rosemary served with romesco.
Sous vide, then shredded and seared Chicken confit

Yea I know I do chicken confit all the time, but it's just too easy to make in bulk and too delicious. When I was telling one of the chef's at Lacroix what I had made, before I said anything he told me he'd bunch me in the face if I made chicken confit. I definitely gotta try new things, but I'm overall very happy with the results I get from it every time.