Docsconz- The Blog

Black Friday

Frankly, I think the holidays have become too commercial with too much of an emphasis on consumption.That being said, this is the biggest shopping day of the year, so if you are going to shop Amazon anyway, I would ask you to consider going through my affiliate site by clicking above. If not, then please ignore this and forgive the intrusion.

Remembrance of Thanksgivings Past

If there is a holiday more focused on family and friends than Thanksgiving, I don't know it. While other holidays including ostensibly religious holidays like Christmas, have strong familial and friendship components,those elements really aren't the central theme. I suppose one can say that family and friends aren't the central theme for Thanksgiving either, but what can people be more thankful for than their family and friends? I guess  there are unfortunate people without either good family or good friends, who hopefully have something else to be thankful for. To me, though, those are the main things I am thankful for. To be sure, I am thankful for many other things as well, but I have been particularly lucky on both counts.

This Thanksgiving will be spent with my three best friends from high school and our families as we come together to celebrate our friendship and our collective 50th birthday year. These three guys, Armando, Dom & John, I have known for thirty-seven years. Together we established a very special bond all those years ago.  We are so close and know each other so well, that we are basically family, though not of the same blood. This, despite the fact that we have spread across the country and don't get to see each other individually or together nearly as much as we would like. Each of us also have close bonds with others from our high school and other years, people like Pete the Greek, for example, who through the wonder of facebook has once again become an important part of our lives. Being able to get together either in person or virtually is wonderful and something special to give thanks for.

I usually spend Thanksgiving with at least a few of my siblings. As readers of this blog know, we have a special relationship and enjoy each others' company immensely. I am especially thankful for that, as I realize that isn't the case for every family. Thanksgiving, though, has an extra dimension and poignancy for my siblings and I, one that makes memories of past Thanksgivings even more special.

Of course, I have plenty of memories of Thanksgivings through the years. Growing up in an Italian-American family, of course we had a roasted turkey on Thanksgiving. It would have been un-American not to! But we always had lasagne on Thanksgiving as well. It would have been un-Italian not to have that or some other pasta delight! Just because we had lasagne, didn't mean we skimped on the sides either or the desserts, my favorite of which was always pumpkin pie. In my household, we really didn't have any bakers in those days. There really wasn't any reason to, because we had all the good bakeries we could have needed in Brooklyn. The Italian bakeries were amazing when it came to pastries and breads. The cannolis and other pastries were (and still are) sensational. When it came to pumpkin pie, though, the best was from Ebinger's, a bakery that sadly closed sometime in the late '60's or early 70's. They couldn't compete with the distribution efficiencies of Entenmann's despite the fact that their quality was far superior to Entenmann's.

Food was of extreme importance and the centerpiece of Thanksgiving, but the other major childhood Thanksgiving tradition that has lived on for me, was something I watched on tv. No, it wasn't the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, though I did usually watch it. It was the day that the local NYC television stations (it varied over the years I believe) showed Laurel & Hardy's March of the Wooden Soldiers, which owing to this wonderfully positive association, remains one of my favorite films of all time. I still get goose bumps when I watch Oliver and Stan start up the wooden soldiers to the stirring sounds of Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland music. It is always great to see Silas Barnaby get his come-uppance.

Over more recent years, my family and I have spent the bulk of our Thanksgivings at my brother Larry's house, festive with friends, family and outstanding Thanksgiving food. As my childhood Thanksgiving memories stem from my family home in Brooklyn, most of my own children's memories will stem from here.

The most significant Thanksgiving day memory for me, though, happened 17 years ago today, November 26th. That day, Thanksgiving then as it is today and hasn't been until today, is the day that my mother, Irma, passed away. It is never an easy day to lose a parent. It can be particularly difficult on or around a holiday. Thanksgiving, though helped make it a little easier then and now. This was also true back in 1996 when my father passed away shortly before Thanksgiving and again five years ago, when my lovely mother-in-law, Jane White, passed away just prior to Thanksgiving too. The reason why being Thanksgiving helped, is that it forced me to remember and be thankful for all the good things those wonderful people brought into my life. It was still difficult to accept their passing, but being thankful for their making me and my family what we are, is what the holiday is all about.

I wish all of you and your families the happiest of Thanksgivings and a Thanksgiving that you can remember positively and with joy forever.

A Birthday Paella

I'm lucky. I come from a very close-knit family. I'm the youngest of 6 kids with a 17 year spread between my oldest brother and myself. We all enjoy each other's company and though we are not all geographically close to each other, we get together as much as we can. Yesterday was my brother Larry's birthday. He is my second oldest brother and the one closest to me geographically. In many ways he has been a mentor to me and my own sons over the years as well as many others. Yesterday was his birthday. I welcomed the chance to make him a birthday dinner. When asked what he would like, he responded "paella" - favorite of his for many years. I obliged.

Paella, of course, like "pasta" represents a wide variety of dishes. "Pasta", of course, represents the actual grain product, whereas the term "paella" is representative of the pan used to cook the dish, which happens to be rice based. Almost anything can go into a paella. Some combinations, such as  rabbit and snails or a variety of seafood are classic. The best paella I have ever had was at a restaurant not far outside of the city of Valencia in the town of Benisanó. The restaurant, Levante, operated by the Vidal family makes their version of "paella valenciana" with chicken, rabbit, garrofó beans (similar to Lima beans), green "ferraura" beans, tomato, water and rosemary. It is truly outstanding, as is the rest of their food. While paella can certainly be delicious without it, an authentic paella is generally cooked over a wood-fired with either orange-wood, grape-vine cuttings or pine cuttings.

If I were in Valencia, I might have made a paella different than what I did. Being in upstate N.Y. I used what I had and what I could get. Fortunately we still had two unopened bags of rice that we had brought back from Valencia.When I opened the first bag, my heart sank, as it was filled with little crawly things that had hatched and probably proceeded through several generations. It went directly outside. I approached the second bag with trepidation. It was with great relief that this bag of bomba rice (two other popular paella rice varieties are calisparra and senia) proved insect free. Using a recipe from Jose Andres' Tapas book, I decided on a seafood paella. Jose's recipe was for lobster and squid, but I decided to pump it up with some clams, Gulf shrimp, Louisiana andouille and some fresh piquillo peppers from Sheldon Farms. We still had some lobster stock in the freezer, which I used in lieu of Jose's classic fish stock. I made a version of Jose's sofrito, but given the season, i used canned "Fire-roasted" tomatoes that I turned into a puree rather than fresh plum tomatoes. To make the paella I killed and cut up a small, live lobster and par-cooked it in Spanish olive oil, followed by par-cooking the squid (previously frozen), then the diced andouille and julienned pepper strips. With all of that reserved, I fried sofrito and garlic before I moved out into the night to finish the paella over the grill. Having neither vine-cuttings nor orange wood, I used real lump hardwood charcoal. Over a nice hot fire, I added the lobster stock and once boiling, crushed saffron and the rice, stirring for a few minutes. With one last stirring, I added the andouille/pepper mixture and then without stirring, placed the lobster, squid, clams and shrimp on top, leaving the rice to absorb the broth. Once the seafood was cooked and the broth absorbed, I removed the paella to a trivet on the dining table, where I let it rest for a few minutes before we dug in. I paired the paella with a 2002 Godello from Viña Godeval in Galicia. While the wine was perhaps not as crisp as it had been in its youth, it was still a marvelous pairing with the crustacean rich paella. While the Vidals have nothing to fear from me, I was nevertheless quite pleased with the results. More importantly, my brother appeared to be as well.

I didn't stop there though. I served another course. Continuing the Spanish theme, I grilled a pimentón and garlic rubbed fresh ham steak from Long View Farm and served it with roasted cauliflower and sofrito. We finished the meal with a spectacular chocolate and raspberry birthday cake from The Chocolate Mill.

They say one can't choose one's family. I guess I am very lucky, because I wound up with an outstanding one. I enjoyed making the birthday of someone fortuitously close to me just a bit more special.

 

Brother Larry

Taste of the Week - November 15th-21st

For a number of reasons, I have been on a pumpkin kick of late. While there appears to be a national shortage of canned pumpkin, fortunately there has been no shortage of quality heirloom pumpkins in my neighborhood.Thanks to the work of Sheldon Farms in Salem, N.Y. I have been able to sample a number of different heirloom pumpkin varieties. While working on a dish for TGRWT#20, I made a pumpkin/chicken soup with cardamom and parmigiano-reggiano. The soup was a byproduct of a larger endeavor, most of which, unfortunately, did not work out quite as well as planned. Fortunately, the soup was a nice consolation. I made it by cooking a chicken and pumpkin along with cardamom, Parmigiano (I had been planning on using cheddar, but had unexpectedly run out) and parsley along with a little yogurt in a pressure cooker, Removing the chicken, I took the remaining ingredients and pureed them in the Vita-Mix. While my goal was to make a sauce, at this point, the consistency was decidedly soupy. I took some of the liquid and reduced it to a sauce. The sauce was quite concentrated in flavor. It wasn't bad, but it overwhelmed the food I paired it with - chicken and pumpkin nuggets. I was glad that I kept the remainder of the soup. I re-heated it a few days later and it was delicious! This soup is my Taste of the Week, because it shows that even the biggest disappointments can have their elements of serendipity.

 

The ill-fated dish consisted of chicken nuggets, pumpkin nuggets with a chicken/pumpkin/parmigiano/cardamom sauce and shredded brussels sprouts with chicken and sriracha...mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa! The conception of this dish actually had some merit. It was my execution that fell woefully short other than for the serendipitous pumpkin/chicken soup and the crisped chicken skin with lemongrass and salt. Back to the drawing board...

Starchefs 2009 Day One: April Bloomfield: This Little Piggie...

April Bloomfield is the chef of The Spotted Pig in NYC. That she knows a thing or two about cooking pigs young and old, should therefore come as no surprise. In a demonstration entitled "Pig, Pig, Pig,", Chef Bloomfield gave a very strong indication of just how much she does know about the subject - a lot. Reminiscent of last year's tour de force of piglet cooking at the Starchefs ICC  with Joan Roca and Candido Lopez, Bloomfield showed her skills with a piglet. Like last year's  suckling pigs that were brought all the way from Spain, Bloomfield's was special too. Her piglet wasn't from Spain, but it did cross a border. She utilized a St. Canut suckling pig from Quebec's Laurentian Mountains. Roca's approach was to take the Spanish suckling pig and prepare it using Vanguard techniques. Lopez' approach was to roast whole suckling pig in the traditional Spanish fashion. Bloomfield's approach was to take the whole suckling pig and break it down n stage and utilize the various parts in her platings. Each approach was wonderfully illuminating and incredibly appetizing. In the case of Lopez, I can emphatically speak to the absolute deliciousness of the approach. While I have no doubt that Roca's and Bloomfield's dishes were delicious as well, unfortunately I did not get a chance to taste them!

Bloomfield opened her talk explaining why she is so passionate about this particular pig. She considers it to be very "well-balanced" with a "fantastic fat ratio to the meat." For the pig's first three weeks of life, it is fed from its mother's teats, then raw milk for another seven weeks before being slaughtered at ten weeks of age. She finds the meat sweet and buttery. Even after slaughtering, it is treated well, supporting its belly in a box through the shipping from Canada. Her fervent desire was to do this particular pig "justice."

Blog Find: DICED: The Official Blog of ICE

Filled with posts about happenings at The Institute for Culinary Education in NYC as well as videos on culinary techniques, the DICED blog is an interesting compendium of culinaria. I particularly enjoyed Rick Smilow's recent posts on his road trip to the Southern Foodways Alliance conference in Oxford, Mississippi, an event I have wanted to attend for the past few years, but have been unable to make happen. Smilow's posts made me want to be there all the more.

Starchefs 2009 Day One: Chris Young & Nathan Myhrvold: Culinary Engineers

I first became acquainted (virtually) with Dr. Nathan Myhrvold, the former Chief Technology Officer for Microsoft and current CEO of Intellectual Ventures, a firm dedicated to creating and investing in inventions with culinary technology an important component of his and the company's interest, back in the first half of this decade  on the eGullet Discussion Forum Boards. nathanm, as he is known in that forum, made invaluable contributions to those forums, in particular, the topic, Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment, which may have been the genesis of the project he and Chris Young were at Starchefs to discuss. Today the process of sous vide cooking is widely known and used, even in home kitchens. When Dr. Myhrvold first started posting on the topic on eGullet back in 2004, it wasn't so well known and even he came to eGullet looking for information on the subject. as it turned out, at the time, there was not a whole lot generally known on the subject outside of select high end restaurants and industrial kitchens. That eGullet topic became a major source of information for many, largely thanks to the subsequent work and sharing of information by Dr. Myhrvold. His first post on the subject read:

"I am wondering if anybody has sources for recipes for sous-vide cooking - which is to say, cooking done in sealed vacuum bags.

It started out in Europe as a means to do large scale cooking - like airline catering - where food is cooked in a factory and reheated elsewhere. the idea was the cooking was done centrally, and reheating done elsewhere/later.

Some chefs in the US use it that way - for example for late night food at Las Vegas restaurants so a minimal kitchen staff can prepare it. However, there is a clear trend toward high end chefs using it as a tool in its own right rather than simply a means to centralize cooking. Charlie Trotter gave an interview in a restaurant trade magazine saying that 50% of his plates have at least one component made this way. Daniel Boulud and a number of other chefs are using it.

Typically the ingredients are sealed in a plastic bag under vacuum (similar to various home vacuum sealer machines). The bag is then cooked at low temperature - typically at less than boiling (150 degrees), and sometimes even lower. Typical cooking times are long - hours. It is basically a very gentle form of poaching.

I have a vacuum sealer machine, and I got some heat proof sealing bags. So I have been experimenting. However, there are very few recipes out there. This is a bit surprising because it is pretty widely used in Europe. So, one would expect there to be more recipes or even information of a general nature.

There is one book on the topic from Amazon - it is very expensive, and utterly worthless - it is more about industrial processes and gives few if any details.

Art Cullinaire had an issue with several recipes in it in Spring 2002 - for example: http://www.findartic...457/print.jhtml

On eGullet, the only references seem to be to restaurants that use it - like Trio near Chicago.

My questions are does anybody:

- Have any recipes themselves?

- Know of other sources (books, magazines, web sites)?"

The rest, as they say, is history. Fast forward to September 2009 and Nathan Myhrvold and Chris Young, a mathematician and biochemist cum chef and architect and former head of Heston Blumenthal's research team at The Fat Duck, are on stage giving a demonstration on some techno-fueled processes they have come up with to make better-tasting food as well as to make cooking more fun.

Starchefs Day One: Yoshihiro Murata's Quest for Umami

Yoshihiro Murata, the third generation of his family to cook at their century old Kyoto restaurant Kikunoi and one of the most respected chefs of Japan, came to Starchefs to present his view of The Quest for Umami, the fifth taste that was discovered early in the 20th century in Japan. Murata is renowned as a master of kaiseki, the Japanese way of cooking and presentation that values the evanescent nature of seasonal cooking and its expression on the plate. For Murata, kaiseki must express umami, nigama (bitterness) and kaori (aroma). The focus of this presentation was in showing ways to bring out umami.

Umami is present in many things. Despite his home of Japan being a country based on tradition, Murata has brough many non-Japanese ingredients into his restaurant, such as truffles, foie gras and shark fin, amongst others. They all contain umami. Murata likened the quest for umami to a baby seeking a mother's milk. He said that as a baby wants more and more milk, a body desires more and more umami. He said that even the baby's quest for the mother's milk was a quest for umami, as the milk contains both the sweetness and bitterness of umami.

Umami consist of an amino acid, Mono-sodium glutamate (yes, MSG), and two nucleotides inosine monophosphate (IMP) and guanosine monophosphate. These occur in different amounts in different foods and when combined can produced a synergistic umami effect, an example of which occurs with the making of dashi, a staple of Japanese cooking. Dashi combines kombu (kelp) with a high concentration of MSG and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes), high in IMP, to achieve an umami effect 6-8 times greater than with either ingredient alone - all while adding 0 calories!

Taste of the Week - November 8th-14th

Is it any wonder that Cafe Lazio has become my favorite restaurant in my adopted hometown? Chef Adriano DiMario made a dish specially for me the other night. I had told him that my favorite dish ever was the crab sauce and pasta that my mother would make for me when I was growing up. My mother's dish used fresh blue crabs stuffed with herbed bread crumbs simmered in a tomato sauce for hours. Served with perciatelli or buccatini pasta, it was heaven in a bowl for me.The real fun, though, was getting down and dirty and digging into the tomato sauce drowned crabs after the pasta. That was bib time and resulted in a napkin and crab shell graveyard.

 

My mother's crab sauce was (and still is) the best thing I have ever eaten. I have, on occasion, tried to make it myself when I have been able to come by fresh blue crabs and had the time to use them. My efforts have been good, but certainly not up to my mother's. Well, Chef DiMario's linguine with crabs and clams wasn't quite up to my mother's either, but it was pretty darn tasty, especially given the fact, that he used frozen blue crabs instead of fresh and they weren't stuffed like my mother's. Even so, his tomato sauce is so good and between the clams and the crabs, the sauce had a wonderful flavor, approaching my mother's. It was close enough that I scarfed down that meal with great pleasure. Between the wonderful flavor and the effort on Chef DiMario's part, this is clearly my Taste of the Week!

Starchefs 2009 Day One: Faces in the Crowd

If you attended the Starchefs Congress this year there is a good chance that you will either see yourself or recognize friends in these photos. These are from the first day. I have purposely not identified people as I certainly don't know everyone in the photos. Enjoy!