"Gross" Things I've Eaten

I saw this clickbait post on weird foods and decided to put up a post with a list of some of the unusual things I've eaten along with my impression. 1) Sheep's Head: It's in the list, but I didn't think it was weird at all. It's delicious, if a bit tedious to eat. Last time I had it at Union Republic in Jersey City at about 2:00 am during a drunken after hours party. It was great. 2) Balut: A perennial favorite on lists of gross foods, balut is awful looking but actually tastes great. Basically, it's egg and duck, both widely eat and enjoyed. In this case, you just happen to eat them together and the duck is also tiny (and you eat the bones, head, beak and feathers). YUM. 3) Fried scorpion: Verdict, not great. Tastes a bit like fried soft shell crab, but without any of the meat. And I have a mild insect phobia, so this was a tough one. 4) That thai liquor (is it vodka? I don't even know) with a dead snake in it. It was fucking gross. It smelled and tasted like rotten snake, unsurprisingly I guess. There is no upside. It's just ruined booze. Thanks for nothing Kevin Kamel. 5) Chicken feet: Overrated. Sorry chinese people, these just aren't good. It's basically just trying to gnaw mushy chicken skin off a foot. just because you can cook something doesn't mean you should. 6) Durian fruit: I had some once and it was basically unmemorable. And yeah, it stinks, but not quite so much as they say. 7) Crickets (and also chocolate covered grasshopper): They served it in a bar in brooklyn as a kinda of bar snack in bowls on each table. They also had it ground up with spices to salt the rims of some of their cocktails. eh. it was fine i guess. i'll take cashews next time though.

Deep Fried Burgers - They're As Good As You Hoped

So I made some fried chicken a couple days ago and was, of course, left with a ton of oil that I didn't want to just pour out and waste.  And no, I don't strain and save frying oil.  I'm not that guy.  But in an effort to be at least a little less wasteful I decided to try out an idea I've been thinking about for a while.  Deep frying a burger.  

Deep frying seems like a prefect way to cook a burger.  Super high, fast heat transfer to get a crispy, brown crust fast enough to leave the interior nice and medium rare.  I looked online for a recipe from America's Test Kitchen or Alton Brown or Serious Eats, but didn't see much.  So I thought, "this must be a bad idea for some reason".  Yet, there was the oil, ready to go.  And I already had the ground beef.  So, what the hell.  

Of couse I needed cheese , but since I was deep frying I couldn't melt the cheese on the burger, so I stuffed it with some decent aged cheddar that i shaved.  I also made the patty pretty flat, since I expected a dramatic shrink when it hit that hot oil.  You'll see in the video I was right about that.  Aged cheddar also worked out well because both burgers got holes when they shrunk up, and a softer cheese would have leaked, but the cheddar stayed in there.  I also made the patties relatively small, about 4-5 oz each I'd guess.  After forming them around the shaved cheddar I salted the outside only, because many chef's say mixing salt thoughout the patty causes it to develop a tougher sausage-like consistency instead of the looser ground meat a burger "should" have.  Let it sit for a few minute for the salt to absorb and that's it, into the oil.  So here's a video of the frying process.  Please excuse how dirty my stove top is, I had just cooked a BUNCH of fried chicken.  Notice how the burger is fully submerged when I put it in and slowly contracts and sticks out of the oil.

And here's a quick look at the interior after I pulled it out.

And finally, here's the first bite.

As you can see, the exterior has a delicious dark brown crust while almost the entire the interior is a perfect, uniform medium rare.  This is much better than the results I've ever gotten with traditional methods of burger cooking.  It's similar to a very hot grill, but much easier and the whole cooking process is really fast compared to a pan.  

So give it a try.  You'll be impressed.  And be careful with the hot oil.

Jersey City Favorites

Since we're all already #HipstersTakingPicturesOfFood, I decided to do a blog post asking everyone to send me a photo of their favorite  dish in JC and I'll put them all together on a subsequent post.  Just send em via facebook message or post to my timeline.

Here's mine, crab gazpacho at the Jersey City Pop-Up:

#crowdsourcing

Cooking for Health?

First off, I want to say this is not a new year's resolution, or a resolution of any sort.  That said, I decided to try to start eating healthy, particularly for work lunch which is usually my worst meal of the day.  So I made healthy lunches for the next 6 days and put them in to go containers.  After all, I have to live at least until medical science cures all disease (for americans at least) and makes me immortal.

Anyway, all the self help gurus say make it ahead and you'll keep to the plan better.  So I did salmon, pork chops, mashed yams, sauteed mustard greens and pan roasted tomatoes, alternating proteins each day.  All my loyal readers (aka heather) can look forward with bated breath to my rock hard beach body.

Lamb Chops, Crab Cake with Mashed Yams and Bok Choy

As a prelude to our anniversary (dating anniversary, not the other thing), we we decided to do a decadent but quick and easy dinner at home.  First plan was ribeyes and lobster, but lobster was a bit more work than I was interested in expending (both cooking and eating) and we eat steak often enough it seemed too boring.  So, not venturing too far afield from the original menu we went from ribeye to lamb rib chop (basically the same cut of meat on a different animal) and lobster to crab cake.  

The plated meal 

I started with the crab cakes instead of the lamb because they can hold very well in a warm oven after they're finished.  You could do the same with the chops, but if you want a nice rare lamb chop there's more chance of it starting to overcook a bit even with the oven at 200.  Crab cakes are cooked through so all you need to worry about is keeping the outside nice and crisp.  Its important to plan our cooking a big meal keeping these kinds of details in mind to get the best, easiest results.  

Anyway, crab cakes are intimidating to many inexperienced cooks, but in fact they're one of the easiest things you can make because the crab itself is a very forgiving ingredient.  Here's the basic ingredients:

1 lb Lump crab meat (Phillips is by far the best commonly available brand but others works fine)

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1/2 of a small yellow or white onion

old bay (to taste)

1  tablespoons butter

~3 oz breadcrumbs

1) For bread crumbs I used some crackers I happened to have on hand.  Just crush them to a pretty fine powder.  You might think adding bread is a kind of cheap filler, but in fact its a necessary and beneficial ingredient.  First its a binder, otherwise the crab cake would just fall apart.  Second it improves texture and helps to create the tasty brown crust during cooking.  You need bread crumbs in a crab cake. 

2) Combine 2 egg yolks (I have a video of how to separate the white and yolk below), mayo and old bay in a bowl and mix well.   

egg, mayo, old bay mix

3) I was lazy so i skipped onions, but normal i would mince and saute half an onion for about 7 minutes and add it to the bowl 

4) Add crab meat and mix gently.  You should be careful here not to mush up the crab meat while you mix it.  Its important to maintain the texture of the lump pieces so its more of a folding or tossing mix.

5) Add the bread crumbs and gentle mix again.

At this point you want a consistency that is not too wet but has enough egg and mayo to allow you to form a 

pretty solid ball with the crab mixture.  If its not wet enough add mayo, if its too wet, at a bit more bread crumbs.  Then let the mix rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes (you will be prepping the lamb at this point).  This lets the bread crumbs absorb moisture to help bind the crab.  

6) Add a tablespoon of butter to a large pan at medium high,  form patties with the crab about 3/4 - 1 inch thick (any diameter is ok).  Once the butter is melted and the pan fully heated add the patties.  Cook about 4-6 minutes per side (until golden brown).  When they're done place on a wire rack and in the oven to the lowest setting available.  I think  mine is 180.

Next up, yams.  This is super simple.  Just throw them in the microwave skin on for 10-20 minutes depending on size and the strength of your microwave.  When they're soft all the way through (test with a knife), let them cool enough to handle, then peal and mash with some olive oil or butter.

Bok Choy is a great, healthy vegetable that's very common in chinese cuisine.  You can do a lot of things with them, but today I just threw them in a pan with about 3 oz of water, a little olive oil and some soy sauce.  Cover and let steam for 12-15 minutes, then remove the cover and continue to cook until most of the liquid is evaporated.  Put these in the oven too.

Now, the lamb chops.  You should do this step earlier while the crab mix is resting.

1)Basically, just salt and season with whatever herb mix you prefer.  I had a bag of dried herbs for a veggie dip I used and some black pepper (always use fresh ground.  the pre-ground stuff loses all the flavor and oils and just becomes kinds bitter heat).  Leave in the fringe for 30 min or up to a day covered.

2)  Scrape off spice mix.  This may seem weird but the point of the marinate time was to let the flavors absorb into the meat.  If you left the spice mix on now it would burn in the pan leaving a bitter burnt taste in the meat.

3)  Add a couple tablespoons of oil to a large pan.  Its important to use oil here and not butter, because you want a very hot pan and butter will burn.  Olive oil should work, but also has a somewhat low smoking temp, so vegetable or some other high temp oil is preferred.  This rule applies anytime you are searing meat.  You want to very hot to get browning and flavor on the outside quickly enough that it doesn't overcook, and you need a high temp oil to prevent smoking.  

    For a rare chop its only going to take about 3-4 minutes per side because the lamb chops are small and relatively thin.  

4)  As the chops finish, place them on a plate and cover to let the meat rest and the center continue to warm and cook a bit more.  Meat will always keep cooking inside for a while after heat is removed, which is another reason you only need a very short cook time here.  The rest also allows muscle fibers to relax and juices to redistribute making the meat more juicy and tender when you finally cut into it.

5) Finally, (i forgot to take pics of this) a great simple sauce for lamb is greek yogurt with balsamic vinegar.  This tart and sweet sauce complements the very rich flavor and cuts the fat.  You can serve it in a small dish on the side or place a couple spoonfuls on the plate and place the chops over it.


Now plate and enjoy.  I'm not the best at artistic plating, but I did my best.  A somewhat tannic, full bodied red would go well with this, also to help cut the fattiness and balance the strong flavor of the lamb.  You could serve with lemon slices or a melted butter lemon sauce for the crab cake.  Bon Appetit!

Homemade Lox -The Best Decision I've Made In Years

Normally, I put a picture of the finished product at the end of the review, but this lox turned out so pretty I decided to open big.  Now, I assume most or all of the people reading this blog are familiar with lox but there's some technical variations between lox, nova, lox, scottish lox, smoked salmon etc.  There's a rundown here http://www.ehow.com/info_8265696_types-lox.html , but even that is not definitive because other lists differ on the details.  But in any case, what I like flavor profile-wise is a lower salt light smoke with a lot of oil.  The key for me is being able to taste the flavor of delicious, fatty salmon while at the same time concentrating and enhancing its natural flavor with a simple dry rub and bit of smokiness.  So what I'm trying to recreate is a nova or scottish style lox at home.

So good lox usually costs $24-$35/lb and even when you pay that, the quality is hit or miss.  With so many different types and brands I rarely know what I'm getting.  If  the only cured salmon you've bought is the prepackaged stuff from the supermarket, you've only had bad stuff.  Some of the high-end places with fillets which they slice to order at the deli counter have great stuff, but its still uneven quality.  So being able to make my own in 24 hours with minimal effort is really great because smoked salmon is probably my favorite luxury food.  Now that I've waxed poetic about the ins and outs of cured fish products, lets get on to the recipe and prep.

1) Get a whole salmon filet as pictured here.  I got a wild atlantic slamon, but I've read many folks who say king salmon is the best for lox because of its high oil/fat content.  In any case, I'd definitely recommend a wild caught fish because of the flavor.  And the thicker the better, because you lose a lot of volume as it cures and the water comes out of the fish.        

2) Next you're going to scale the fillet if it hasn't been done at the store.  This wasn't specified in the recipes I read, but since you're going to be putting a dry rub on both sides, I figurred removing the scales from the skin side will aid in the curing process.  Its simple to do.  You just take a small, sharp, non-serrated knife and scrape it across the skin against the grain of the scales, like shaving against the growth of your hair.

You can see in the picture the scales building up on the knife as I scrape left to right.  When you're done rinse the fish under cold water and pat dry with paper towels.

3) Now you're going to mix your spices.  This is where individual taste comes in.  I used a 50-50 salt and brown sugar combo, plus about 3 tablespoons of fresh ground pepper.  This is on the low side for salt of most recipes, but I found it more than sufficient.  The total amount you'll need depends on the size of your fillet (or fillets).  You need enough to have a heavy coating on both sides.  

4) Since I don't have a cold smoker, I took a shortcut which many foodies will abhor (but many foodies are pretentious a-holes.  That's why they get the shitty moniker of foodie), I substituted liquid smoke.  I only learned recently that liquid smoke is not a weird Frankenstein chemical creation from the labs of Monsanto, its actually made from real wood smoke that's condensed into a liquid medium, so I don't feel bad using it in homemade food.  All that said, I applied about a teaspoon to each side of the fillet rubbing it evenly across the fish. This is strong stuff, so err on the side of caution.  My lox came out plenty smokey.

5) Next place the fillet on a large piece of plastic wrap (big enough that you can wrap the whole fillet up when you're done) and apply the rub to the meat side.  Then carefully flip and apply rub to the skin side.   

You might notice that there's no pepper in this pic.  That's because I forgot it and had to add it later.  Anyway, wrap the whole thing up and put it in a shallow baking pan.  Then cut two small holes on the corners at the large end.  This will let the liquid drain as the fish cures.  I then placed a heavy wood cutting board over the fillet to press the cure in and the water out and put the whole thing in the fridge tilted slightly so the water drains away from the fillet into the pan.  

6) At this point you're basically done.  Most recipes advise 1-4 days curing.  I did 24 hours, flipping the fillet once.   When I tested a piece after 24 hours it was perfect, but you might want to go longer.  When you are ready to end the cure, unwrap the fillet and rinse it under cold water and pat dry.  Your lox is done.

This is what it should look like when its unwrapped before rinsing.  You'll notice the salt and sugar have disappeared, absorbed into the fish or carried away with the water that drained out.  You can also see the skin has darkened and dried out, losing its shiny appearance.  

7) Cutting and serving lox is a bit  tricky.  You need a very sharp thin knife.  You'll lay the salmon skin side down.  The curing process will leave a thin tough layer on the outside which you want to trim off.  I didn't throw this away though and plan to use it in a smoked salmon cream sauce because it still have great flavor.  Here's a video of how to slice and serve - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9ET3rPJYpY

And that's it.  I served this for a brunch with bagels, cream cheese, tomatoes, capers and onion but you can do lots of other delicious things with lox like omelets, pasta sauce, crostini, sushi rolls etc.  

  

I can't stress enough how easy this process was and how great the lox was.  Its some of the best lox I've had in years, and I'm picky about the stuff and about my own food.  Try it and enjoy.  Also, DISCLAIMER/WARNING, eating raw cured fish carries risk of disease and parasites.  I am not one to worry too much since I eat seared salmon and raw sushi all the time, and figure a 24 hour salt cure makes this way safer than that.  But there's always a risk, so be aware.

Spicy Ginger Pork Soup

On on cold snowy night we wanted something warm for dinner and the Cooks Country we got in the mail today inspired Asian style spicy soup.  The original recipe called for several things we didn't have: beef, ramen noodles,scallions, chicken broth and cilantro.  But we did have pork, beef stock, etc etc.  If you can't improvise, you're not really cooking.  So throwing away the recipe at this point, I started with grating some ginger.  You should cut off the skin first on the section you'll be using.

As you can see I just did it right into the soup pot.  Then same thing with a whole lime.  You want to just get the green outer layer,not the bitter white pith below.  Its also important to know the oil in the rind will retain the citrus flavor when cooked, but the juice of a lime or lemon won't  You should add citrus juice to most recipes toward the end.

Next I threw in a clove of garlic, some sliced ginger, a couple dried chili peppers and a bay leaf.  At this point all the aromatics and spices which give the soup most of its characteristic asian flavor profile are done. 

Next up, we need some liquid for a soup, so in goes about  3 cups of beef stock.  Along with that, you'll want to add about the same amount of water.  You can adjust to taste after you give it a chance to cook a bit.  Different stocks have very different concentrations and amounts of salt.I ended up adding about a teaspoon of salt in the end.  Then keeping it on high heat,take it to a boil.

Now I didn't have any ramen or rice noodles.  But I did have some black squid ink spaghetti my friend Chausa brought me back from Italy.  Obviously this is a big departure from the traditional rice noodle you'd see in most asian soups, but fuck it.  We'll call it asian fusion.  The black color at least gives the noodle a more exotic look. I threw in a half lb of spaghetti and let it boil about 10 minutes,till al dente.

While the noodles are cooking you want to take a very sharp chef's knife and slice the pork as thinly as possible.  Don't go crazy, its not carpaccio, but you're going to throw this in at the very end and allow the hot broth to cook it.  The fact that it cooks very quickly and is so thinly sliced allows less expensive cuts of meat to stay tender and absorb a lot of flavor.  Asians are great at making cheap shit taste good.

 I also chopped up some cabbage at the end and threw that in just before the pork.  Then throw the pork into the boiling soup and immediately turn off the heat.  Mix it gently to ensure all the pork is cooked.  Add a tablespoon of soy sauce and the juice from the lime you zested.  I threw some torn lettuce that was in the fridge on at the end too mainly for presentation.  You'll end up with this delicious looking soup and a kitchen that smells great.  Beginning to end this took about 30 minutes.  So remember that if you know the flavor profile of the dish you're making, you can do it with quite a few substitutions and end up with something that is in essence the same thing.

Cook, bitches.  Its easy. (I didn't even change out of my work clothes)