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.

Spicy Thai Style Braised Beef

My friend Pep and her husband have been getting into cooking over the last year or so and she called Heather yesterday to say she was making a braised beef stew.  Not sure how she liked it yet, but it put me in a hearty beef stew mood, and since it was Sunday I had tons of time to do a nice braise.  I was in the mood for something with bolder flavors and more spice than a standard european style braised beef stew or even the delicious and rich beef bourguignon.

Most of the ingredients and spices (I threw in some

extra stuff after tasting a few times)

I thought about simple vietnamese style spicy braised beef, which was the sort of flavors i was in the mood for, but I still wanted something stew-ish that I could ladle over rice.  The solution, i decided, was a thai curry stew with a thick coconut milk based broth.  Going through this though process is something that you get much better at the more you cook and the more you eat out.  I make a point of picking new things to cook and eat so I'm exposed to new ideas I can use.  Being able to improvise based on mood, available ingredients, guests etc make cooking more fun and interesting.  So try new things, mix it in with your own cooking and don't worry about screwing it up.  You really do learn more from your mistakes than your successes in the kitchen.

So to start with, here's the ingredients:
note:  I don't include amounts for most ingredients because its mostly spices to taste.  I like a lot of spice and pungent flavors in this dish, but you might not.  The great thing about a braised dish like this is you can taste and add spices anytime once the braising liquid is added.

2.5 lbs beef chuck roast (other cuts are fine, but you need something with a lot of fat and connective tissue.  otherwise the braising process will leave you with dry meat)
vegetable oil
ginger
grape tomatoes
cillantro
red onion
white mushrooms 1-2 pints
garlic (5-10 cloves)
2 8oz cans coconut milk
1 8oz can chicken broth
2 hot fresh peppers such as cayenne, thai, habanero. here i used 2 scotch bonnets.
cumin
cardamom
curry powder
black pepper
salt
tumeric
bay leave
cayenne power
paprika
dried chili pods (here is used dried pequin pepers)
fish sauce
white vinegar
white rice


So step one is to cube you beef.  I did approximately 3/4 in cubes.  Don't worry if it seems like there's a lot of fatty pieces, you want that fat.  During the cooking process it will break down and just give you a nice velvety sauce and moist meat.

Now salt the cubed beef liberally and heat a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil in a dutch oven on high heat.  You can substitute any large thick bottomed pot but a dutch over or optimal because it can build a nice fond on the ceramic bottom (unlike non-stick coating pots) and it is easy to deglaze the fond and get it incorporated into the sauce (unlike cast iron or stainless steal).  Once the oil is very hot and shimmering, add just enough beef to cover the bottom.  If you over fill you will not brown.  The cooking meat will add too much moisture and most pieces won't make direct contact with the pot.  The key point to this whole step is to create a brown crust on the meat AND on the bottom of the pot.  Both add important flavor and color to the dish.

This is about 60% done browning (but the color balance is terrible)

If you look at the 2 picture below you'll see both the browning of the meat and fond on the pot you want.  It may look like the fond is burnt but its not.  You want this bark brown, but not black, so you do have to be careful and monitor heat, especially after the moisture released from the meat has evaporated.

Continue cooking the meat in batches, until its well browned.  You will have to turn it so it browns on both sides.  While the batches are cooking you can chop all your other ingredients and mix all your powder spices in a bowl.  

The ginger and garlic should be minced, the onion cut in strips, the mushrooms and cilantro roughly chopped and tomatoes left whole.  The various types of cuts affect both appearance and how how they cook.  For example, if you don't mince the ginger its too tough and fibrous to eat.  The mushrooms are tomato are left in large pieces mainly because they look nice when served.

After you finish the beef, reduce heat to medium, add the onions and cover to let them sweat.  this speeds the cooking process and traps the moisture which prevents the fond from burning.  After 5-7 minutes add the garlic and ginger, recover and cook 5 minutes.  

Next, add the tomatoes, mushrooms and chicken stock. Using a wooden or plastic spoon, scrape the pan bottom to loosen the fond and mix it into the stock.  Then add back the cooked beef, two cans of coconut milk, cilantro, diced scotch bonnets, dried pepper pods, cardamom, powered spice mix, bay leaves, fish sauce and white vinegar.  Its all to taste, but be cautious with the fish sauce.  Its very strongly flavored and if you're not asian, you might hate it.  You can also add lemon grass at this point but i didn't have any.  At the end I add lime juice.  Its best to wait till after cooking to add the lime juice because it looses its flavor in cooking.

Now cover and cook on med low for about 1.5 hours (or at about 300 in the oven). You can taste a couple times through the braising process to see if you want to add more spice or other flavorings.  The cooking process will change the flavors as you proceed.  I added a lot during this dish, but its important to remember you can always ADD but its much hard to TAKE OUT, so do a little at a time, especially with the very strong components like hot peppers or fish sauce.

After 1.5 hours or so, taste a final time and make any adjustments.  Then ladle about a half cup of liquid into a small bowl, add about 1.5 tablespoons of corn starch (or if you don't have corn starch about 5 tablespoons of flour) and mix well with a fork or whisk.  Then turn the stew back to med high and add the starch mixture. This will thicken the sauce and make it "stick" to the stew components and the rice on which I serve it.  Let the stew come back to a simmer for another 5 minutes and then you're done.  You can take the dutch oven off the stove to cool for about 15 minutes, then serve over rice.  For me this is a dish that doesn't need any other sides.  And remember that there are a hundred variations and adjustments you can make to this recipe. You could use pork, or chicken.  You could add bell papers or asparagus or lentils.  Once you know the basics and are familiar with the flavors and techniques its time to make the specific dish you want. 

Final dish plated with white rice.  The bright and contrasting colors really enhance the dish.

Another Greek Bankruptcy...In Jersey City

Just a quick rant about Its Greek To Me on Newark and Jersey Ave.  I have no problem with the place but why is it so expensive?  I got a gyro, a salad and some calamari to go, none which was great, and it was 31 bucks.  Which is probably why the place is always empty, and I imagine, destined for default unless the ECB steps in. But I don't think Mario Draghi even likes gyros.