Docsconz- The Blog

Top Three Restaurant Meals - July & August 2009

Ok, I was remiss and didn't do a July Top Restaurant List. To be honest, unless I am traveling, the summer months are not big restaurant months for us. There is simply too much good produce available for cooking. That being said, we did enjoy some lovely restaurant meals.

1. Pepe's Pizzeria Napolitana - New Haven: The pizza is as good as it gets. The white clam pie is my favorite, but the others are no slouches either.

2. Sripraphai - An old favorite in Queens is still putting out top-notch, delicious Thai cooking.

3. New World Bistro & Bar - Albany: The Slow Food Saratoga Region dinner was fun and satisfying as well as a great value. If it wasn't so far, it would be a regular destination along with movies at The Spectrum

4. Lazio - Queensbury: This small, unprepossessing place is simply wonderful, producing great southern Italian cooking at a very reasonable price. It has become a regular spot for us. I have yet to have a dish that is less than excellent.

5. Max London's Restaurant - Saratoga Springs, N.Y.: I usually try to stay away from Saratoga restaurants in the summer, but a light post-polo meal here was just the ticket despite the Saratoga crowds.

6. El Mexicano - Hudson Falls & Saratoga Springs: Now with a new branch in Saratoga, both restaurants are models of consistency, value and good & satisfying Mexican food.

I don't typically list a breakfast here, but The Chocolate Mill in Glens Falls, N.Y. deserves a special mention. The "Eggs Boursin" I had were simply delicious.

September should be fun.

German Striped Tomato #6

A wedge of tomato served with a little smoked sea salt and a leaf of cilantro.

McGee's Berries

Yesterday morning, my wife brought home some raspberries from the Glens Falls Farmers market. Given that they were undoubtedly picked the day before and it had been raining all night, it was no surprise to discover mold already encroaching on a number of the berries. It was disappointing though, but then I recalled an article I had recently read in the new York Times.

In this article, Harold McGee describes a way to inhibit mold growth on normally mold friendly berries, a problem that anyone who has picked or purchased fresh berries has no doubt encountered.  McGee's technique:

"I bought pints of various berries, divided each batch into two samples, and heated one by immersing and swishing its plastic basket in a pot of hot water. I emptied the heated sample onto towels to cool down and dry. Then I repacked it, and encouraged both baskets to spoil by wrapping them airtight and letting them sweat on the kitchen counter. After 24 hours I counted the moldy berries in each basket...I tried the same treatment, 125 degrees for 30 seconds, on raspberries and blackberries, and got the same good results. There were many fewer moldy berries in the heated samples."

As the quote above shows, Harold used water heated to a specific temperature, presumably with an immersion circulator. Not having an immersion circulator, I had something else I could try. - a CVap oven! Already set to cook a sirloin roast at 125ºF, I laid the raspberries out on a sheet pan and placed the pan in the oven for 30 seconds. I was skeptical when I removed the pan as I couldn't really discern any temperature change for either the berries or the pan, but I placed the berries in a single layer on a paper towel and covered the container with Press'n'Seal wrap before putting them back in the refrigerator.

I checked the berries this morning and lo and behold, there was not a trace of mold, even though a number of them had mold already present when placed back in the fridge! Unfortunately, I did not take any "before" photos, but here is what they looked like this morning:

 

This is a technique that I will clearly use in the future, especially for raspberries and blackberries. The CVap ws a perfect tool for this and a great substitute for an immersion circulator, but there is the rub. The technique couldn't be simpler for anyone with either of those tools, but I don't know of too many homes that have either of these. I imagine that with careful attention, one could simply heat water to temperature and quickly add the berries before the temperature rises too much further, but I imagine that approach could have a steep learning curve. Anyone with other approaches to this problem?

Taste of the Week - August 23-29

A lake island campsite is not the place one expects to find a fancy birthday cake, but this past Friday, my wife and I brought one for a friend and avid camper Paul Baker-Porazinski, who was camping on Agnes Island on the northern part of Lake George near the picturesque hamlet of Hulett's landing. Paul and his family were there for an extended weekend and were prepared for the worst. We were supposed to stay and camp Friday night, but with foul weather approaching, we opted against that.  We did stay for dinner though, a lovely clam and shrimp chowder whipped up over a campfire by Paul and his wife, Jenn. Washed down with a German Reisling and sitting on the rocks with the weather still fine, it was a lovely evening.

We surprised Paul with a cake that we brought from The Chocolate Mill, a Mango-Pineapple Mousse Cake with a chocolate bar inscribed with birthday wishes for Paul. The sweet-tart, intensely flavored cake proved an extraordinary finish to the lovely evening and a great representative of all the wonderful treats I got to taste from The Chocolate Mill this week.

We left just in time or perhaps a bit later than ideal, as we were forced to navigate through some treacherous parts of the lake in an increasing rain, culminating in a significant downpour by the time we reached the dock. Fortunately, we made it home safely and slept well in our own beds, content from a lovely evening and mild adventure on the lake with friends.

The Chocolate Mill: Part 1

Glens Falls, N.Y. is a lovely town in northeastern N.Y. State, a bit north of Saratoga Springs, a bit south of Lake George and right on the southeastern cusp of the Adirondack Park. Dating back to the 1940's, it was christened "Home Town USA" by Look Magazine, then one of the most influential photojournalistic magazines in the country. It remains, in many respects, an archetypal American small city, with many of the good and a few of the bad things present in most small American cities. Above all, it is a lovely area in which to live and raise a family. It has not, however, despite access to some of the finest seasonal produce in the country (as this blog has hopefully demonstrated), been much of a mecca for top notch cuisine. That is not to say that there haven't been good eateries and excellent cooking, both in restaurants and in homes. In the 18 years that I have lived in this area though, neither Glens Falls, nor its surrounding towns, have housed a truly world-class culinary destination. Saratoga has and does (Mrs. London's comes immediately to mind) and there have been a number of such places in and around the Adirondacks such as The Friends Lake Inn back in the 1990's and The Inn at Erlowest, when Matt Secich was the chef and the product and delivery was first rate. It appears though, that Glens Falls may have its first truly world class culinary destination, at least since I have been here.

 The Chocolate Mill, a small patisserie, confectionery and cafe featuring breakfast and lunch items, opened last weekend. Owned and run by Frank and Jessica Vollkommer, the product that they have put out in their first week of business has been wonderful and unlike anything this town has seen from within it's limits.

Frank Vollkommer, 39 years old, has serious credentials and experience in both pastry and savory cooking. A graduate of Saratoga Springs H.S. and The New England Culinary Institute, Vollkommer spent 8 years (1998-2006)as a chef/instructor at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. In 2005 he earned the very difficult and prestigious title of Certified Master Pastry Chef, at that time becoming only the 13th person in the world to have done so and only the 4th American born pastry chef. he is also the most recent to have achieved this high honor.

Vollkommer's wife, Jessica, is no slouch either, having been the valedictorian of her class at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. and along with Frank, until recently the principal culinary team at The Saratoga National Golf Course.

Credentials are one thing, but as the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding...or the bon-bons, or the eclairs or the mousses. Over the past week, i took the initiative to  try a number of items from the shop as well as a breakfast. Amongst the treats I sampled were various bon-bons, malted milk balls, a Peach Melba mousse cake, "Eggs Boursin", almond and chocolate croissants, an apple pie and some tea. I am thrilled to say that the quality of the product lives up to the quality of their resumes. The "Eggs Boursin", an over easy egg on Cottage Cheese Herb Toast with bacon, baby spinach, Boursin cream, tomato & red onion relish, is a play on the theme of "Eggs Benedict," breathing new life into that classic. It is simply delicious.

The Peach Melba Mousse Cake incorporates raspberry along with peach to provide exquisite balance of sweet and tart along with an ethereally light consistency. The chocolate items provide great chocolate depth, beautiful workmanship and exquisite combinations. A quick favorite in my house are the passion fruit bon-bons. I found nearly all of the items I tried to be delicious with the sweetness well balanced to my taste. The almond croissant, for example, had terrific balance, whereas most in my experience lean towards being too sweet. There were a couple of exceptions, though, where the sweetness was greater than my preferred levels, the beautifully crafted malted milk balls (I brought a container in to work and they were quickly devoured) and an apple pie, upon which there was a coating of sugar crystals. I dare say, that I prefer my desserts to be less overtly sweet than most and opinions may vary.

When I first heard that the Vollkommers were coming to Glens Falls and what they were planning, I was a little concerned that perhaps there wouldn't be a sufficient market in Glens falls for their special talents or that their prices would make it untenable. For their first week at least, the area's residents have allayed my concerns. The biggest issue at the moment is for the Vollkommers to keep up with the incredible demand that has materialized. So far, it is proving to be impossible for them to keep their pastry cases stocked as many items appear to sell out almost as quickly as they are restocked. It beats having full cases at closing time!

While visiting the Cafe, I had the opportunity to observe and photograph the Vollkommers along with their assistant, Diane Fehder, work in their kitchen. I will detail that soon!

For the record, all of the items I sampled and described above, were purchased by me or my wife. The only items I sampled that were not paid for were a few tastes of what was being worked on in the kitchen, none of which are mentioned in this post.

German Striped Tomato #5

Red Pepper # 1

German Striped Tomato #4

From Saratoga Apple, Schuylerville, N.Y.

Tomatillo #1

From Sheldon Farms in Salem, N.Y.

German Striped Tomato #3

American Food

What with the theme of the upcoming Starchefs ICC being "What is American Food," the question has either been on my mind or below the surface of my thoughts a lot lately. While preparing dinner the other night, it hit me that the dinner I was making was the epitome of "American Food." No, it wasn't hamburgers or hot dogs, though in the minds of many, they are the consummation of the term. What I was making was not an established dish, nor was it based on any particular recipe or tradition. It did, however, employ a variety of techniques and ingredients used in a number of culinary traditions. It was a fusion of culinary cultures without any conscious attempt at "fusion" cooking, though a consciously creating a fusion doesn't necessarily make a dish "un-American.". I simply took a number of ingredients at hand and created a dish that owed a lot to different cultures, but wasn't the clear product of any of them other than American "melting pot" culture. In short, American cuisine is the natural conglomeration of products and techniques available on our shores without specific regard to where they came from, although specific cultural debts exist and may be acknowledged.

Of course, this has been true for any cuisine throughout history. It is difficult to imagine Italian cuisine without the tomato in the south and corn in the north; Spanish cuisine without pimientos or rice, Indian cuisine without chilis or Mexican cuisine without pork, beef or chicken, though clearly much cooking of those areas does quite well without those ingredients.

Many foods commonly accepted now as "American" had their origins elsewhere, but have adapted to this country. Pizza is certainly of Italian origin, but it has become an American staple, in the vast majority of cases vastly different than its Italian ancestor. The hot dog, as American as it gets, has plenty of European roots. Is there even such a thing as General Tso's chicken in China? The United States, a nation of immigrants including the very first immigrants that predated the Europeans, has always included the culinary traditions of those immigrants, at first as pure as they could be based on the ingredients at hand, before ultimately incorporating other influences and dilutions to become distinctly American. With few exceptions, the "Italian" food that I make today is vastly different to that my grandparents made.

So, what was my "American" dish? Given my Italian-American roots, I made pasta, using an Italian brand, short, wide tubes called "calamarata". Pasta, though common enough in this country, was obviously not the defining ingredient. Nor was it  the corn that I had cut from the cob (I made a corn broth with the cobs that I used to cook the pasta) to use in my sauce, nor the tomato, nor the jalapeño, nor the tomatillos, nor the garlic, nor the cultured cream, nor the arugula. The point is, there is no defining ingredient in American cooking. It was the combination of those ingredients and the techniques used to combine them that makes the dish and the cooking "American."

German Striped Tomato #2

Frank Pepe's Pizzeria Napolitana

There are not too many ways to get from the Hamptons on the east end of Long Island to Upstate New York and of those ways, none are easy. One could drive across Long Island and pass through NYC or one can take the ferry across the L.I. Sound and go through Connecticut. The latter is a bit longer and more expensive, but it is much more relaxed and avoids mid-day, mid-week NYC traffic. It also allowed for a visit to what is arguably the finest pizzeria in the United States - Frank Pepe's Pizzeria Napolitana in New Haven.

Being a Dartmouth grad, I am not typically partial to New Haven, but I must give credit, where credit is due. It had been a while since I was last at Pepe's and it's nearby rival Sally's Apizza, but I need not have worried. We arrived around 12:30PM having taken the Port Jefferson to Bridgeport ferry. The line was short by Pepe's standards, however, it got a bit longer after us, more typical of what I remember. After a short wait, we were led to a spacious table in the side room. Though I knew that I wanted their classic white clam pizza, there were too many other enticing alternatives to leave it at that. Though there were only three of us, we ordered four small pizzas: a clam, a fresh tomato, a chicken and mushroom and an original tomato pie.

 

After what seemed a long wait due to our hunger and anticipation, our four pies finally arrived. I'm glad that we ordered smalls, as we had a lot of pizza in front of us. They were, however, well worth the wait. Each pie was hot, arriving directly from the oven other than a brief stop for slicing. The pies were well charred and sufficiently crisp. I can't understand how people around us would leave their crusts on their plates once they made it through the filling. The crust, other than a few burnt edges was crisp, flavorful and rivaling the finest bread.

The clam pie was exactly what I was hoping for, bursting with juicy clam and garlic flavors. This is no wimpy, tasteless pizza. It possessed just the right amount of clams to provide taste and texture without adding too much moisture. I could eat this anytime.

My son wanted the chicken pizza, not something I would typically order, but it worked quite well. In addition to the chicken, we asked for mushrooms, after finding out that they use fresh mushrooms for their pizzas. 

The original tomato pie is a classic for a reason. Though one can get it with mozzarella, I suggest, at this pizzeria at least, to have it in its pure, original incarnation. The sauce is simply wonderful, with the charred pizza crust, the perfect vehicle for it. This is a pie not to linger over, however, as the high moisture content quickly degrades the thin crust.

The fresh tomato pie comes with mozzarella, garlic and basil. It is as much the essence of summer as a pizza can be. I was particularly impressed with the wonderful fresh tomato flavor given that this has not been a summer kind to tomatoes or their fans.

We ate about half the pizza we ordered and packaged the rest to bring home. While the leftovers were not quite up to the fresh pies since the crusts had wilted, they responded quite nicely in a 450ºF convection toaster oven for 5 minutes. 

At Pepe's the pizzas are so good, it is almost enough to make me sing "Boola Boola!" 

German Striped Tomato #1

Black Garlic

Having read a lot about the product, I recently bought some black garlic from Earthly Delights and brought it with us to the Hamptons, where my friend Joe and I used it in a few dishes.

It really is a wonderful product. Sweeter, more deeply flavored, a little smokey and very versatile, black garlic can be used as a substitute for regular garlic or in places where regular garlic really wouldn't work. An example of the latter is a dish adapted from jean-George Vongerichten's Simple to Spectacular: How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication. Using fresh Long Island Sea Scallops, Joe prepared a ceviche inspired by the book. The original recipe called for grapefruit juice, but we didn't have any. Nor did we have the red bell pepper the recipe called for, which would have added some nice color. Instead, Joe combined fresh orange and lemon juices, hazelnut and grapeseed oils, salt, and pepper with the succulent scallops and let them sit refrigerated for about 30 minutes. The dish was finished with the addition of minced black garlic and fresh dill. The garlic added depth and complexity while complimenting the sweetness of the scallops and the acidity of the juices. It is a product I plan on getting to know very well.

Taste of the Week -August 16-23

When I am hanging around my friend Joe Bavuso, as my family and I did for the better part of the past week, I am sure to eat very, very well. He is simply the finest non-professional cook that I know. Now, my other non-professional cook friends should not take this as a slight. It is not. I have quite a few friends, who can cook really well and whose food I enjoy tremendously, but Joe is just that good. I am more than happy to be his sous in the kitchen and help out as much as I can, but invariably, but mostly I just try to stay out of his way. His attention to detail, knowledge and impeccable technique most likely owe a lot to the fact that his father was a professional chef. It is clear that he paid attention.

The list of great meals and dishes from the week is long including wonderful fried fresh Montauk squid, 2" thick Lewis-Waite pork chops with fig/peach sauce, the previously blogged about fried peppers,mozzarella and sausages, Sea Scallop ceviche, cauliflower, poached eggs, Pepe's Pizza, Sripraphai and more. However, when one eats one of the finest versions ever of one of one's all-time favorite dishes, how could that not rate a Taste of the Week?

In this case, as we were celebrating my son's 10th birthday, he requested "Linguine with White Clam Sauce," which happens to be one of my best dishes and one of my all-time favorites. Well, being in Joe's kitchen meant that he would prepare the dish and since I am not crazy, I didn't argue, though I did help.

 

The clams (about 4 dozen littlenecks and topnecks mixed) were soaked in the sink for 30 minutes or so in cold, salty water to purge any remaining sediment, then they I scrubbed them, while Joe started sauteing garlic in olive oil and white wine (French Muscat). He added the clams to the oil and covered them. It was my job after a couple of minutes to pick out each clam just as they were opening. I generally prefer to do this in a hot pan without the oil, but given the results, I'm not arguing. Once I collected the clams,  I opened them being careful to retain all of their juices. 

The juices were added to the pan while the pasta (a bit less than a full kilo of Setaro linguine fine) was put into the heavily salted boiling water until they were quite al dente, at which point they were retrieved and added to the sauce, to finish cooking there. Once the pasta was ready, Joe added the clams and some chopped parsley, bringing the pasta to the table in the hot pan. Calabrian red pepper flakes were available for anyone who wanted a little extra kick. The pasta did not last long!

 

 

At the Market - August 22, 2009

Called "The Beauty of Hebron", these light pink colored beauties are an heirloom variety developed locally in the 19th Century in the Town of Hebron  by Edward Coy and Rachel Campbell and became an international favorite by the time of the turn into the Twentieth Century before becoming nearly forgotten by the midpoint of the century. According to Wikipedia, the potato is currently RAFT list of threatened North American foods.  I bought them from Sheldon Farms at the Saratoga Farmers Market. Albert Sheldon has re-introduced these potatoes to the area, but this crop is so new that even he couldn't give me an idea of how they might be best used!

I decided that I would see for myself how they should be prepared. I would bake some and boil some and then compare. I coated a few in olive oil and salt and roasted them in the oven at 350ºF for about 45 minutes. Before I boiled the remainder, I tested and tasted one from the oven - it was incredible! Like a medical study with results too significant to ignore, I aborted the rest of my experiment and put the remaining potatoes in the oven to bake. The potatoes required no additional flavor adornment, though I am sure they could carry any number of enhancements quite well. The result can be seen here:

 

So long as I can get access to them, this is a potato that I will happily and eagerly stock in my pantry. I may even try boiling or mashing them some time.

Shishito & Padron: A Pair of Peppers

Shishito Pepper

 Pimientos de Padron

First encountered by me a few years ago at Bar Quim in the Boqueria in Barcelona, fried Pimientos de Padrón quickly became a favorite. My friend, Joe Bavuso, picked some padrónes along with some shishito peppers, a Japanese variety very similar in flavor, texture and occasional heat to padrónes at the Union Square Greenmarket in NYC from Yuno's Farm (see this NYTimes  article).

Joe seared the combined whole peppers on high heat using some grapeseed oil. They were adorned with kosher salt and needed nothing else.

A New Neighbor?

I came home from the Farmers Market this morning to find this blue heron hanging out on top of my neighbor's car across from my driveway. he seemed to like it there as he hung around for some time.

Starchefs ICC 2009 Schedule

The schedule for the 4th Annual Starchefs International Chefs Congress has just been released. This year's theme is "What is American Cuisine." One of the highlights of the first day of the Congress, which runs from September 20th through the 22nd is a panel discussing that very question including such culinary luminaries as Norman Van Aken, Charlie Trotter, Emeril Lagasse and Clark Wolf. Another panel on the 21st features Pierre Gagnaire, Daniel Boulud and Grant Achatz on "Modern Cuisine: A Generational Discussion." The remainder of the program is no less exciting.