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)

A Couple Thanksgiving Tips

I'm not cooking thanksgiving this year, and I didn't last year either.  Gotta say I miss it, but we're going to someone else's place.  So instead I thought I'd giving a couple quick tips for people who are cooking and might be a little nervous.  There's really no rhyme or reason to this list, I'm just making it up as I go along.

1)  Plan the order you're cooking things (especially things that need the oven).  For a big meal like this, planning is key.  Think about how much room is in the oven, what things can be done ahead and reheated quickly at the last minute, what things can share the oven at the same temp, how time and oven space will the turkey or roast take etc.  You don't want to have a bunch of pies that you can't cook because there's no room to cook them.

2) Think about serving dishes and table layout.  Do you need 2 gravy boats, or an extra casserole dish?  What about a second table and chairs?

3) Brine your turkey starting the day before.  This really makes a huge difference in flavor and moistness (way more than I believed before I started doing it).  I literally will never server a turkey unbrined again if I have a choice (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html).  This also really helps with the breast meat drying out before the dark meat is finished.  Another tip for that is to cover the breast with shiny side out aluminum foil for the first 1/3 of the cooking time.  Also, if you want to cut cooking time, apparently the hot thing this year is butterflying the turkey. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/butterflied-dry-brined-roasted-turkey-with-roasted-root-vegetable-panzanella-recipe/index.html

4)  Do not make stuffing with just premade packaged crap.  If you want to use boxed stuffing as a base, ok, but you must add fresh vegetables (carrots, onions, garlic, thyme, celery) and stock from boiling the giblets.  This makes stuffing go from blah to awesomely delicious.  Also, you don't need to do stuffing in the turkey, just cook it in a casserole dish.

5)  Make the gravy with the same stock from the giblets and drippings from the turkey pan.  This also means keeping a bit of water in the pan while the turkey roasts to prevent drippings from burning.  Once you've finished roasting the bird, throw the whole roasting pan on the stove top on medium heat and deglaze with the stock.  get all the sticky goodness whisked in and thicken with a water/flour mix.  Make sure after you add the flour you keep it simmering for a few minutes to cook the flour.  Whisk it all smooth.

6)  A rib roast is a great alternative or addition to turkey.  Just puree oil, butter, garlic, salt, pepper and whatever spices into a paste and rub on the meat then roast.  very easy and delicious.

7)  You can cook potatoes for your mashed potatoes in the micowave (just don't peel them ahead of time or they'll dry out).

That's all I can think of right now.  If you have any questions email me, unless you want really good answers, then email Alton Brown.

30 Acres

I haven't had much time to do any review posts recently, so I just want to briefly mention our trip to 30 Acres. The food was really excellent all around and in particular the corned beef. I've never liked corned beef, but this was a different breed of cat, as they say. The cure they used was very mild, leaving you brisket that still tasted like beef. I don't know the details of how they they seared sliced to create a delicious crust over a silky smooth interior. Really an amazing dish. Good luck 30 Acres, seems like you're doing great so far.

Final Super Pop-Up

The last Pop-Up brunch was a huge success, so thanks again to everyone who helped and attended.  Here's an awesome video by Eric Acosta https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=271986546238618 for anyone who wants to check it out.

The next event is August 25th and I'm excited to announce that we'll have a guest chef!  Ben Christie has worked at great restaurants in Jersey City and NYC and he'll be bringing us a 5 course modern Italian Fusion feast this month.  If you haven't been to any other Pop-Up, this is the one you need to attend.  As always, you can buy tickets on paypal with any credit card, just click the button below.

Brunch Pop-Up July 30th

Here's the link for tickets the next Pop-Up Folks, Monday July 30th. Its gonna be a great Monday Brunch with Mimosas, Mini Biscuits and Gravy, Smoked Bacon Quiche, Apple Tartes, Lamb Breakfast Sausage and more! The menu is still in flux, but it will be delicious.
Click here to buy and reserve!

Get Your June Pop-Up Reservation Now

Mexican-French Fusion is what's on the Menu for our Saturday June 23rd Pop up. The event begins at 6 PM, and will consist of a complimentary cocktail, 2 wine parings, and a five course dinner. Vegetarian options are of course available upon request. We also encourage our guests to bring a bottle of wine if they care to drink more than is provided. Tickets are $45 and are available though our pay pal account below or through square anytime you see us using a VISA, MC, AE, or DSCVR. Thank you to everyone for your support!


To Reserve your spot and make a donation use the button PayPal below.  You don't need a PayPal account, you can use any credit card, just click the link that says "Don't Have A PayPal Account?"
 

Food Stamp Survival Meals

I saw Mario Batali is doing a "Food Stamp Challenge", in which he feeds his family of 4 for a week on the amount of money food stamps would provide.  I think its a great way to highlight the financial hardship so many families are facing and counter the ridiculous argument you hear from republicans so often that the poor in America are living a life of luxury on the public dole.  In any case, just happened to make a great, simple dish this week with some leftovers from the Pop-Up that fit with this low price, great flavor idea.

The key to inexpensive meals is very often thing like bean, lentils, or cheap cuts of pork and beef.  These items are can produce great flavors, along with some simple spiced, but can be time consuming.  To take pork shoulder or a beef chuck roast tender usually takes hours of braising.  And many dried beans have the same problem.  So for low income people who work all day, this presents a problem.  You can't come how at 6 and start a 4 hour braised beef stew.  But what you can do is use a pressure cooker and cut that cooking time down to 30 or 40 minutes with almost 0 prep work.

Basically, water can only get to about 212 degrees because once it starts boiling all the heat energy gets carried away in the form of steam.  This keeps cooking times high.  A pressure cooker, as the name implies, keeps the pot contents under pressure.  This raises the boiling point, allowing it to get much hotter and cook much faster.   You can get a tender, delicious stew or chicken soup in about 40 minutes.

So for this recipe I really just looked in the fridge to see what I could clear out and we had Kale, cherry tomatoes, a red onion and cubed pork shoulder and chops.  The pork chops and should I just threw right in the pot.  You could sear them first to develop some browning and flavor, but you really don't need to.  This recipe will provide a lot of flavor without it.  I chopped the kale and onion and threw that in with the whole tomatoes.  Next I added a few cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, 3 dried bay leaves, some hot sauce and a bag of lentils.  Then I put in one cup of canned beef broth and water to cover everything.  You could also throw in potatoes or any other vegetable you have on hand.  You could use a whole chicken, or beef or whatever.  That's the beauty of this type of stew.  Anything on hand can be substituted.

Then on with the pressure cooker top, high heat till it starts to steam (maybe 10 minutes) and then turn the heat down to medium low and let it continue to cook for 30 or so minutes.  If you had a really big single piece of pork or beef you can do 45 minutes.  Then hit the release valve to let the steam exit and you're all set.  A really delicious, hearty and healthy soup which can feed a family for very little cost.

The first JC Pop-Up

Thanks to the amazing photographer Rebecca for providing these:

JC Pop-Up Menu

We're still not 100% set (in particular we haven't decided on the vegetarian entree), but here's the preliminary menu for May 12th.


Amuse Bouche:
Creamy Coconut Milk curry, mango chili paste, cilantro and  jersey corn


Appetizer:
Homemade Fresh Duck and Pork Sausage with fresh thyme, rosemary and basil


Salad:
Frisée and Endive Salad w Warm Brussels Sprouts, Citrus Sections and Toasted Pecans in Mustard Vinaigrette


Entree:
Braised Beef Rib, Cranberry Ginger Teriyaki glaze, fresh Pea Greens and  Aligot Potatoes 


Desert:
Cheese Cake with caramelized mango and banana

Get Tickets for Jersey City Pop-Up - May 12th 2012

For right now we're only releasing 10 tickets to the public, but the total seating will be 30 guests. We're offering a 2 course wine pairing for an additional $10 per person, but the event is BYOB so feel free to bring your own wine, beer etc.
To reserve your ticket and make a donation to help cover our costs, click the Pay-Pal link below.  You don't need a Pay-Pal account, you can use any major credit card.  Just look near the bottom where it says:

Don't have a PayPal account? 
Use your credit card or bank account (where available). Continue

Once you're done, just print out your receipt and bring it with you to dinner. If you're bringing a guest, don't forget to change the quantity to "2" when you get to the donation form.  We'll see you on May 12th!

Donation Options

Standard Menu $35.00 USD With 2 Course Wine Pairing $45.00 USD

Jersey City Pop-Up Restaurant

Most of our friends already know we're planning a Jersey City Pop-Up Restaurant Series Starting in May.  We hope to do 1 per month for at least 6 months.  Here's the blurb I wrote up for our Kickstarter Project Page (yet to be approved):

We want to partner with local businesses and organizations in Downtown Jersey City to promote local chefs and local food, stimulate the culinary community and provide a new venue for creativity and socialization among the local residents and business people.  Its our believe that sharing great food is a key part of building meaningful relationships and creating a sense of shared community, trust and friendship.  We also love to cook, serve host and eat!  The Pop-Up Restaurant concept lets us bring together our love of food and desire to bring more people in Jersey City together, while providing a great venue for local chefs to showcase their skills and vision.  There will be a fee to attend which will cover food and equipment costs, but the exact price will be determined by how much money we raise in donations.

We hope that those who share our passions and interests will see value in this project and both donate to support it and join us at the dinner table.  The dates and details will be forthcoming, but we have already secured a venue for the first Pop-Up Restaurant night and plan on a date in early May.   Everyone who donates will be contacted by email with details.  Because of limited space we cannot guarantee a seat, but you will be given priority over other attendees.  Thank you!

Jersey city getting (fist) pumped for Jersey shore

all the latest gossip will nee covered later including whet they're living and the fox give interview at Marcos will be posted soon.  bring it on jwow.

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JC Sakura - There's Nothing Fishy About This Place

Fran and I have been going to JC Sakura Sushi for 4 years now whenever we need a sushi fix. They do both take out and have a small, simple dining room. I won't to pretend to be a sushi connoisseur, but every time we've eaten there it has been a pleasant experience with fresh, good sushi for a reasonable price. Some people can differentiate yellow tail and striped bass just from the flavor. I cannot. What I look for in sushi is freshness, both in appearance and taste, and lots of wasabi. Call me uncultured, I just call it delicious.

 

Our Sushi Sashimi Combo

   

Our most recent trip to JC Sakura was no exception to the usual fresh fish and good portions. Fran and I shared a Queens Roll, (spicy tuna & cucumber, tempura, crunch, wrapped w. salmon & tuna) roll to start. It was nice and spicy, and the tempura bits inside gave each piece a nice crunch. We also split a Sushi, Sashimi combo, which consisits of salmon, tuna, white tuna, eel, shrimp, and a few other "unidentifiable to the untrained sushi eye" slices. All of which were yummy and fresh. The last item on our menu that night was Uni or sea urchin. I had never tried it before but I'll try anything once, right?....I should have said wrong. I consider myself an adventurous eater, but I was put back in my elementary-understanding-of-sushi place when this came out. So, let me preempt this with the fact that Fran liked it, and after talking to a few friends, I find it's not as out there as I thought it would be. The sea urchin came over two rolls of rice, and has the appearance of a tiny tongue, and the color of boxed mashed potatoes. I decided not to think to much about it and just go for it. Once in my mouth, it felt like a cold, wet booger. Though I have to say, if you can get past that(I didn't get past it, had trouble swallowing as to not make a scene), the flavor was nice. Sea urchin has the flavor of a mouthfull of fresh, cold seawater that's pleasant and not too strong. I was happy to wash it down with ample amounts of Saki, lets just say at that point I was drinking to forget. 

Heather is a dummy who doesn't like Uni (don't worry, she wants to keep it funny!) - Francis                                                                            

 

Overall, JC Sakura is my favorite Sushi place I've tried in Jersey City. It's got an unpretentious vibe, and very Japanese and efficient staff. I've heard some critics of the place say that the staff is off putting and rude, but I honestly think it's just a language barrier, the staff seems truly Japanese. They even gave us a VIP card! Watch out world! Here we come!

Douggie finishes up the leftovers since we forgot to get cat food

He's also a fan of JC Sakura

Oven Thermometer Update or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Oven

So as I mentioned buying an Admetior oven thermometer a couple weeks ago because I thought my oven temp wasn't accurate.  Well, turns out I was wrong.  The built in oven thermometer and the Admetior thermometer were very close, within 5 degrees.  The problem is it took the oven much longer than i though to get up to the set temp.  I think it was about 20 or so minutes. So i wasted money but at least now I know.

I'd Like to Lodge a Complaint

I think the title tips you off that I wasn't too happy with Lodge in Brooklyn.  As you can see if you click through to their website, they've got the whole trendy, alternative, hipster ethos down.  This website's got it all, a birdcage, a bowler hat, a rocking chair and a typewriter, all in appropriately vintage monochrome print form.  But its williamsburg, so par for the course.  When we get there its pretty pleasant actually and not particularly  pretentious.  Its a pretty decent space with big windows and pleasant servers.  No complaints there.


The menu looked promising as well.  Very standard fare like sticky ribs, artichoke dip, steak salad, pork loin au poivre, fried ravioli, mac and cheese etc.  Definitely not haute cuisine, but it looked like a hearty, simple menu that that should provide some tasty choices.  Then, lo and behold, I saw the special was a grass fed rib eye.  Rib eye is the king of steak; full flavored, tender and riddled with fat.  Glorious fat!  What a lesser patron might cut away in disgust, the true epicurean will pick off their plate with reckless abandon.  The fools.
So, anyway, my entree was set.  And being as I had woken up at 4, had a small breakfast and dinner was at six, Heather and I split an app of artichoke dip.  And she had the meat loaf as an entree.

I'll start with the artichoke dip.  It was OK, and the artichoke was pretty nice and chunky, with decent flavor. It lacked a few things though.  First its wasn't cheesy enough for me.  It needed some, or more, parmesan.  Second, the color and overall appearance was not appealing.  It had the pale yellow color of egg salad.  I know this sounds pretentious, but presentation is an important part of a meal, and when I go out to a nice dinner I expect the kitchen to know that.  I think I can safely say the pic below looks more like egg salad at a church picnic than artichoke dip "with crostini" at a restaurant.

Egg Salad?

Artichoke Dip with Crostini (not available at Lodge)

To be fair, many people at the table really liked the artichoke dip.

On to the steak.  I ordered medium rare and it was served with onion rings.  It was cooked to a perfect medium rare and had a nice crust and a dollop of herb butter.  Problem is, I don't think it was a rib eye.  Just looking at it, it looks a lot more like a NY strip than a rib eye.  I thought, where's all the fat?  Why's it shaped like a "strip"?  Then I took a bite and it was way more lean and tough than any rib eye I've  had.  Now, it may be that this is all because its grass fed beef, which is supposed to be leaner, but I've had grass fed beef before and never noticed a rib eye taste like a strip steak.  The onion rings were ok, obviously fresh made and not frozen.  But the batter was a little bland and didn't adhere well to the onion. When you picked on up, half the batter fell off.  

Below are pics of a couple other entrees.  My friend Chris was very happy with his grilled salmon, Jenna liked her veggie burger and brussel sprouts.  The sticky rib appetizer was very tender, big for an app and very tasty and the steak salad was one of the best entrees.  The steak was tender and the arugula was fresh (though a bit over dressed).  

We missed a picture of the meatloaf, but it was under seasoned, overcooked and a bit on the dry side.  Heather also didn't like the homemade ketchup they used as a sauce.  The mashed potatoes were fine and the brussel sprouts were, according to heather, the "saving grace" of the dish.

The other problem I had with Lodge is they added automatic gratuity to our check for a party of 6 and it was 20% on the after tax total.  I'm not cheap when i tip, and in fact to tip on after tax total.  But in general I don't like automatic gratuity (that's the opposite of gratuity, its just part of the bill), and on a party of just 6 people it seems ridiculous.  Second, if you make it automatic, the restaurant certainly shouldn't presume to tip 20%.  It defeat the whole point of tipping when ANY level of service gets a very good tip.  Our service was good, and  I would have happily paid 20% (as would all my friends) but I  don't appreciate the way it was done at Lodge.  And I know that may all seem like cheapskate nitpicking but its my opinion.

It may seem like this is a rough review, and it was, but there's no point in doing reviews if they're always good.  So good luck to Lodge, I hope that it was just an off night and you continue to be successful.  Don't let one bad review get lodged in you craw.

In closing, the best part of the night was this beautiful and well behaved young lady at her very first dinner out.