Honoring the Seasons - Spring

Spring has finally arrived for real in New York, and the markets are brimming with interesting things, particularly greens at this point. So I set off to the Union Square Market to see what was in season and to develop ideas for using the season's bounty.

The things that most inspired me were new garlic, ramps and rhubarb. So I bought bunches and, upon returning home, decided what to do with them.

First, I made ramp risotto, using the bulbs as the onion/shallot component and the leaves in lieu of arugula or similar greens. I sliced the delicate cloves of new garlic as thinly as possible and threw them uncooked into the risotto about five minutes before it was done; this was enough to cook them lightly without losing their delicate flavor. The verdict: so-so. It needed lots more ramps and lots more garlic and still I'm not sure it would have been wonderful. Perhaps the ramps and new garlic are just too subtle for risotto.

Ramp and new garlic risotto

Second, I made a rhubarb,strawberry and ginger compote, which I served as an accompaniment to home-made ginger ice cream (from David Lebovitz's Perfect Scoop) with crushed ginger snaps for texture and zip. This was a very good dessert and, even though I had to use non-local (but at least USA) strawberries, it was a nice tribute to spring.

Rhubarb strawberry ginger compote with ginger ice cream

Even though the risotto was not a great success, it felt good to welcome the local terroir back into our lives.

Bobby Jay

Trader Joe's Fabulous Truffles

Surely a list of the great edible things in this world would include chocolate, salted caramel and peanut butter.

Imagine, therefore, my pleasure in discovering a package of Trader Joe's truffles outside my door last night, left by my friend Piglet.

These little bites touch all three bases in a perfectly balanced way, and the quality of the chocolate is high by any standards. And all this without having to go to Paris, where you could only get two of the flavors (no peanut butter there) in any event.

Bobby Jay

Family Table: Michael Romano's Latest Cookbook

Michael Romano's Union Square Cookbook is one of the best I have seen. It was our Bible when my wife and I spent three years in Tokyo. Romano's sequel, Second Helpings from Union Square Cafe, is also good, but not as groundbreaking.

Romano has just released a new cookbook, Family Table: Favorite Staff Meals from Our Restaurants to Your Home, written with Karen Stabiner. Family Table presents recipes for a number of meals served to the staff of the extraordinary restaurants in the Union Square Hospitality Group: Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, The Modern, Maialino, Blue Smoke, Tabla (no longer with us), Eleven Madison Park (no longer part of the same group) and North End Grill.  Having just read it from cover-to-cover, I was most impressed by the obvious quality of the recipes -- you can see that the excellent editing of the earlier books is maintained here; the eclecticism of the recipes (Italian, American, Asian, South American, Indian and other ingredients working together in harmony – if only the world’s countries could do the same!); the inside stories that gave a context to many of the recipes that make the reader (me) want to try them immediately; and the overall humanity and respect, not just for great food but for the people who prepare and serve it, evidenced on nearly every page.

For example, the story of how Farro & Beans came to be honors Geoff Lazlo’s skill and ability to improvise, while Joe Anthony’s approach adds piquancy to his Penne with Fennel, Spinach & Golden Raisins (a riff on a Sicilian classic). And who would not want to try Iris Battista’s tried and true Dominican Chicken or enjoy Floyd Cardoz’ five-generations old Goan-Spiced Braised Pork? Similarly, the stories behind Gabriel Kreuther’s Roasted Potatoes with Fromage Blanc & Bacon and Prizewinning Apple & Pear Tart have moved these recipes to the top of my “To Cook Soon” list. There are many other stories and related recipes that I could cite, but you get the picture.

Most of the dishes featured in the book bear little resemblance to the complex and meticulously prepared and finished dishes one finds in the restaurants in the Union Square Hospitality Group. But Romano's book shows the close connections, mutual respect and shared sense of purpose among the members of the teams that conceive, prep, cook and serve the wonderful meals for which that group is renowned. Those connections and that respect, which must be instilled from the top, are what make it all possible.

Bobby Jay

Mario Batali Meets Jackson Pollack: Anisette Glazed Bittersweet Chocolate Tart

I have been wanting to make this cake, from Mario Batali's television show, for some time, and finally got to it last weekend, when a chocolate lover was coming to dinner. With a hint of Sambuca in the filling, a hint of cinnamon in the crust and the lovely Sambuca flavored icing, this is an unmistakably Italian pastry. It tastes as good as it looks, and is not difficult to make. Here's a link to the recipe.

Bobby Jay

Passover 2013

Roast chicken with sumac, za'atar and lemons

I made the family seder again this year, for just the second time. We did it on Saturday night, not the official night, so that family members from North of Boston to Washington could all make it. I had fun cooking for a week, making a few things a day from a carefully drafted schedule. As a result there were no major mistakes and I was not too flustered despite all the work.

Here's the menu, all presented at tables magnificently set and flowered by my wife Joan:

2013 Passover Menu

Hors d'Oeuvres 

• Charred eggplant with tahini and pomegranate molasses (Ottolenghi, Plenty)
• Tapenade (Jacques Pépin, Essential Pépin)
• Matzo Flour Gougères (Clotilde Dusoulier's blog, Chocolate & Zucchini, Essential Pépin)
• Bobby Jay's sun-dried tomato and olive ricotta spread
• Lemon scented veal meatballs (Mario Batali's TV show, Molto Mario)
• Bar Nuts (Michael Romano, Union Square Cookbook)

Dinner

• Naomi’s chunky apple charoses
• Matzo ball soup (Wolfgang Puck for balls, Rosso and Lukens, The New Basics, for soup
• Gefilte fish with smoked whitefish (Bon Appétit, April 2002) with tons of Stan and Ina's homemade horseradish
• Roast chicken with sumac, za'atar and two lemons (Ottolenghi, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook)
• Quinoa with pomegranate seeds, almonds and parsley (yes, it's kosher for passover, neither a grain nor a legume)
• Ina’s incomparable brisket (Vicki's version)

Desserts

• Flourless orange and ginger cake (Chocolate & Zucchini)
• Pineapple coconut macaroons (David Lebovitz's blog, David Lebovitz)
• Vicki’s delicious assorted cookies and bars
• Various store-bought sponge cakes

Pineapple coconut macaroons

At the end of the evening, I announced that I have decided to become Sephardic for culinary purposes and that, accordingly, next year's Seder will be completely different, with Sephardic dishes from around the Middle East. This idea was met with excitement, so it's really "Next Year in (or near) Jerusalem!".

Bobby Jay

Favorite New York Restaurants

My wife J and I are often asked, typically but not always by non-New Yorkers, what are our favorite restaurants in New York. Unlike most New Yorkers, we eat home 3-4 nights a week, but of course we do eat out pretty frequently.

I don’t do reviews of New York restaurants on this blog, but here is a brief list of our favorites. I am not saying that these are the best restaurants in New York, just that they are our favorite places to go, in no particular order (reflecting where and how we live, the fact that we spend a lot of time in Paris, etc.).

American

• Telepan – solid, imaginative, well-presented; our go-to restaurant
• Dovetail – similar profile to Telepan’s; love vegetarian menu on Monday night
• Bar Américain – Bobby Flay’s regional American; noisy but a great place to bring out-of-town, especially foreign, guests

Japanese

• Sushi Yasuda for sushi – super quality and freshness
• Soba totto for yakitori and soba – like being in Japan

Greek Estiatorio (Fish)

• Milos – best fish in NY, incredibly noisy
• Molyvos – good, less expensive fun place to go

Italian

• Del Posto – great food, service and décor, an “adult” restaurant where you can be at your ease; our favorite restaurant in NY
• Caravaggio – excellent, authentic food, also not too noisy
• Elio's -- reliable and consistent for 35 years, cacaphonous

Chinese

• Shun Lee Palace – good food and excellent Peking Duck
• Evergreen Café – really good dim sum on weekends

French

• Bar Boulud -- great at any time, especially before or after Lincoln Center
• Cafe Boulud -- consistently excellent, a great buy for lunch
• Jo-Jo -- Jean George's other place; elegant food without too much fanfare and a stunning value for lunch

Elegant

• The Modern – great food at the restaurant and imaginative small plates at the Bar
• Gramercy Tavern – excellent food and service in this other Danny Meyer mainstay

Sandwich

• Baoguette -- the classic bánh mì sandwich

Portuguese

• Aldea -- excellent, imaginative food, unfortunately difficult to get a reservation

Mexican

• Rosa Mexicano -- Reliable upscale Mexican; not Tex- or Cal-Mex
• Toloache -- Very interesting modern Mexican in theater district

Indian

• Dawat -- Consistently excellent renditions of Indian cuisine from many regions

Oysters and Fish

• Oyster Bar at Grand Central -- that's what they do; always perfectly fresh (and the only Manhattan clam chowder worth eating)
• Ocean Grill, Atlantic Grill -- siblings that serve consistent fresh seafood in simple or interesting preparations at reasonable prices

Category of its Own

• Rouge Tomate – imaginative, tasty and amazingly healthful fare, with a fascinating wine list

This list speaks as of today. It is subject to change at any time, by virtue of new discoveries or bad experiences, and I'm afraid I can't undertake to keep it updated.

Bobby Jay

Elegant Arugula Salad

Here's a post that I drafted four years ago, but for some reason never posted. Whatever the reason, it's still one of my go-to salads.

Arugula salad with hazelnut oil vinaigrette

I have developed what I believe is a very nice arugula salad, based on a recipe I learned from a (French-trained) Japanese chef in Tokyo, who had a restaurant in Ginza named Tout Seul. The secret is to find really good, fragrant hazelnut oil; the rest is easy.

1/3 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp best quality red wine vinegar
pinch of salt
coarsely ground black pepper
1 1/3 Tbs (approx) good quality hazelnut oil
parmesan cheese
big handful of arugula or baby arugula
10 cherry tomatoes
1 tsp chopped chives (optional)

serves 2

Whisk together first 4 ingredients. Whisk in oil until an emulsion forms. Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary. Gently toss arugula and tomatoes with dressing. Using a vegetable peeler, shave parmesan over salad and toss again, really lightly so as not to break up the cheese peelings. Sprinkle chives over top if desired.

You could probably make this with other greens, but the interplay between the bitterness of the arugula and the nuttiness of the hazelnut oil is at the heart of this recipe. You can get decent hazelnut oil at gourmet stores, but the really great stuff is hard to find: I buy it in Paris but you can get J. Leblanc's wonderful fragrant hazelnut oil at Kalustyan's ($39.95 for a 500 ml bottle (!) but worth it).

Bobby Jay

Rosemary

I admit it: I'm addicted to rosemary. It was under control until my friend Susan, who lives on Galveston (one lives on, not in, Galveston), began to supply me with the good stuff. Every five or six weeks, I get an express mail envelope containing a whole lot of sprigs from her incredibly fragrant rosemary bush. As soon as I open the package, I am overwhelmed by the woody fragrance, take a few deep breaths and start thinking about ways to enjoy it.

Here are some of the things I have done with Susan's rosemary (of course any rosemary will work, especially what you find at the farmers' market in season):

• Rosemary apricot jam
• Olive oil and rosemary cake

Olive oil and rosemary cake with rosemary apricot jam

•  Rosemary jelly

Rosemary jelly

• Apricot rosemary conserve

Apricot rosemary conserve

• Rosemary bread

Rosemary bread

• Honey rosemary ice cream
• Rosemary sorbet
• Zucchini sauteed with rosemary
• Crispy potatoes sauteed with rosemary
• Add a sprig to pressure cooked veal and onions
• Throw a sprig (together with a thyme sprig and a lemon) into cavity of chicken before roasting
• Tie a sprig onto roast lamb or pork
• Add a sprig to soup
• Add a sprig to bouquet garni
• Add finely ground to rubs
• Add to spice/herb package for soups
• Throw some sprigs over coals when grilling fish or meat

Bobby Jay

Cocktail Dinatoire

People often ask me what I like to cook, and I always respond that I am very eclectic. Last night we had a cocktail party that turned into what the French call a cocktail dinatoire, which essentially means a cocktail party where the fare is substantial enough to serve as dinner.

Here's the menu, which consists of favorites from various sources (listed) and some that I invented myself:

I am happy to say that our guests stayed late, ate everything, and a good time was had by all. A lot of preparation, but worth it.

Bobby Jay

Happy Nowruz! Persian Cooking Lesson

My friend Piglet and I recently took a lesson on Persian cooking at the Institute for Culinary Education (ICE). Our teacher was Jennifer Abadi, who teaches various types of Middle Eastern cooking and has written A Fistful of Lentils, on Syrian Jewish cuisine. (I have ordered a copy but haven't read it.)

I went specifically hoping to learn how to make Persian rice (chelo), which has a wonderful crispy crust and is one of the best dishes in the world. And so that's the dish I chose to make.

First, we washed and rinsed long grained rice (we used Basmati) about 5 times, until the water was absolutely clear. Then we boiled it in lots of salted water for about 7 minutes, and drained it thoroughly. Then we dried the pot and melted a lot of butter in it. Then we placed the rice on the butter, not stirring but poking steam holes in the rice.

We wrapped a towel around the cover and placed it over the pot, and simmered for about 20-25 minutes, until it pulled away from the side of the pot.

Rice pot with towel wrapped cover

Persian rice after simmering, pulling away from pot

Next, we cooked it over high heat for a minute to set the crust. Finally, we turned the pot upside down and there it was: the perfect chelo!

Perfect chelo

We added a sauce made of grated carrots, blanched orange zest, saffron and slice almonds, for a truly fantastic dish. (See picture below.)

Other dishes that the class made were a stupendous chicken soup with chickpea flour meatballs (Nimtaz Rafaelzadeh's Gondi), which Piglet made; red kidney bean dip with tomato paste, lime and angelica powder (Loobia Pokhteh); chopped cucumber salad with coriander, tarragon and mint leaves (Saladeh Serkeh Khlar); chicken stewed in walnuts and pomegranate juice (Fessenjan); cauliflower pie (Kuku-ye God-e Kalam) and pistachio cake with cardamom syrup.

Norwaz (Persian New Year's) feast (note sauced chelo at rear right)

A really fun lesson.

Bobby Jay

Fabulous Handmade Kitchen Knives

My friend Gary Levine has been dealing in fine hand crafted knives for many years. Gary has added a new line to his business of interest for foodies: handmade knives for chefs. Gary has a great web site, bladesforchefs.com, where you can learn more about these knives, which are works of fine craftsmanship but meant to be used and, I can say from experience, a pleasure to use. I should note that Gary's cooking knives are all made by American craftsmen.

Carbon steel knife

Damascus steel knife

These knives are not inexpensive, but the pleasure they give you each time you use them justifies the price. Great gift items for serious cooks.

Bobby Jay

Paris - Back to Quatrehomme for Cheese

I arrived in Paris yesterday, and went to my favorite open air market - Avenue du Président Wilson - this morning. Despite the many temptations, I resisted the urge to buy cheese (well, except an Italian peppered pecorino and some mini-scamorzas) because I planned to go to Marie Quatrehomme's fabulous cheese shop on Rue de Sèvre in the afternoon. How I love this shop, which I have written up before!



Since I am alone, I only bought four cheeses (and probably won't finish any of them), but they still make an impressive haul: a coeur, a slice of mont d'or suisse, a slice of fourme d'ambert and a langres.

Langres, coeur, fourme d'ambert, vacherin from Quatrehomme

Heaven.

Bobby Jay

Ostrich -- A Great Beef Substitute

J can't digest beef, although she can eat lamb, pork and even veal. Over the years I have tried to find substitutes but the closest I have come was duck breast, which has a steak-y quality and is otherwise a pretty versatile, readily available meat.

Several years ago, J went to the Golden Door spa, where she had an ostrich burger, which she said was almost indistinguishable from a lean beef burger. I did some research and it turns out that ostrich, despite its rich, meaty flavor and color, is very low in fat and cholesterol, close to white meat chicken.

I followed up by getting some ostrich steaks and ground ostrich through internet sources, and we enjoyed it. In the last couple of years, Roaming Acres Farm has been selling ostrich at various open-air markets in New York City, so it is no struggle to find it.

Ostrich steak au poivre

The trick to cooking ostrich is to keep it rare. If you go to medium rare, it gets tough and tastes like well-done beef, pretty terrible. I have recently discovered the perfect way to assure that the ostrich is cooked to, but not beyond, the perfect temperature: the sous vide machine. I cook vacuum packed ostrich steaks in the sous vide bath at 127° fahrenheit for about four hours, then cool it in an ice bath and let it rest in the refrigerator. When you want to finish it, place it in a smoking hot skillet or under a hot broiler for one minute per side; it will char on the outside without exceeding 127°.

Last night I make ostrich steak au poivre, using a recipe for steak from Emeril Lagasse, of all people. Fa - bu - lous!

Thumbs up for ostrich and also for sous vide cooking.

Bobby Jay

Clotilde's Flourless Orange Ginger Cake

I recently was asked to bring dessert for a party of 20, but warned that one of the guests has celiac disease and as a result is absolutely gluten-intolerant.

The obvious (probably too obvious, these days) answer was flourless chocolate cake. However, while looking through my very extensive recipe file for the perfect example, I came upon a recipe for a flourless orange ginger cake (gateau à l'orange et au gingembre) from Clotilde Dussoulier's wonderful blog, Chocolate and Zucchini. I made two, and they were a huge hit: moist and flavorful, with more than a hint of bitterness from the orange peel (you boil oranges for two hours, then puree them to form the foundation of the cake). I have made it again more recently to equal raves: everyone who tries this cake wants the recipe. So here's the link to it.

Clotilde's Flourless Orange Ginger Cake

Bobby Jay

Ottolenghi Roast Chicken with Sumac, Za'atar and Lemon

I have previously written about the great cookbook, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, in several posts. It is exciting and interesting and worth reading for it's wonderful recipes but also just for inspiration. Last night we had guests and I made one of my favorite dishes from the book, Roast Chicken with Sumac, Za'atar and Lemon, a dish that's easy to prepare but with an exotic Middle Eastern spice profile that sets it apart: typical of Ottolenghi's recipes.

Ottolenghi's Roast Chicken with Sumac, Za'atar and Lemon

I own Ottolenghi's other cookbooks, Plenty (vegetarian) and Jerusalem, but haven't really gone through them because there's so much left to try in the first one. However, last night's dinner has inspired me to read the newer books and get to the next Ottolenghi level.

Bobby Jay

Tarte Tatin

There is nothing like a classic tarte tatin (upside-down apple tart), and today I set out to make a classic one, following the recipe of the Confrérie des Lichonneux de Tarte Tatin, the official society of tarte tatin lovers.

This recipe calls for buttering the pan with a huge amount of butter, covering with sugar and then arranging quartered apples on top and cooking over a hot burner until the sugar caramelizes and turns a dark brown. Well, I burned the sugar and after a lot of cursing decided to try again by making a caramel in a new pan and using the already very cooked apples, finally adding a pâte brisée crust (the official recipe calls for puff pastry but I prefer ordinary tart dough) and baking for 30 minutes.

The result was the best tarte tatin I've ever made, dark and crusty with rich caramel. Lesson learned.

 
Bobby Jay

Homemade Chocolates and Sous Vide Cooker - A Perfect Match

My friend Paul came over for one of our periodic chocolate-making afternoons yesterday. As usual, we tried a number of different chocolates: Valhrona Manjari 64%, Callebaut Bittersweet (unspecified percentage cacao) and Callebaut Milk Chocolate (also unspecified) and made a bunch of different shapes, including mendiants as well as six or seven molded shapes.

Assorted homemade chocolates

The challenging part of chocolate-making is tempering the chocolate, to get a snappy, shiny result. This involves slowly melting the chocolate, cooling it to 84°F (81°F for milk chocolate), then bringing it to 90°F (86°F for milk chocolate) and holding it pending use. With a good thermometer, it's not hard to hit the right marks, but it is exceedingly hard to keep the tempered chocolate at 90°F. This matters a lot, because if the temperature drops, it is hard to work with the chocolate.

The solution: use of a sous vide bath heated to 90°F. My friend Piglet and I just got a Sous-Vide Supreme, which is nothing more than a precise thermostatically controlled hot bath, but we have not yet learned to use it. However, I thought, why not put the 84°F chocolate into Ziploc bags and pop them into the sous vide until they reach 90°F? We could then hold the chocolate virtually indefinitely until we were ready to use it, cutting a small hold in the corner of the Ziploc and using it as a piping bag to form the chocolates. (I searched two sous vide cookbooks and the Internet for insights on this idea, but found none.) This method worked perfectly and avoided the need to carefully bring the chocolate up to temperature and then rush to use it before it cooled. (We had to do the milk chocolate without benefit of the sous vide technique because the 90°F temperature was too high.)

A note on chocolate. The easier dark chocolate to use was the Valhrona Manjari, which also has wonderful compexity and spiciness.  The Callebaut Bittersweet has a rich super-chocolaty taste that we really love but is tricky to use; we believe it has a cacao content in excess of 70%, which would suggest using slightly higher temperatures than for the Manjari. Next time we are planning to use Callebaut and Barry Venezuela 72%, which I bought in Paris, and go with a low temperature of 86°F and a holding temperature of 93°F.

Bobby Jay

Lamb Burgers

Since J cannot eat beef, but still likes burgers (as do I), I am always looking for burgers made with other meats: lamb, veal, turkey and ostrich. Over the years I have tried many lamb burger recipes and have developed my own, which I think is worth sharing. These are perfect for bowl games (we had them last night while watching the Rose Bowl) and for the pro football post-season.

Bobby Jay’s Lamb Burgers 

Ingredients 

• 1 lb ground lamb (preferably ground at home)
• 2 small shallots
• 1 big clove garlic
• 2 Tbs chopped parsley
• 2 Tbs grated mozzarella
• 2 Tbs crumbled feta cheese
• bread crumbs made from 2 slices Veri-Thin (1 slice normal) bread
• 1 really good tomato • red onion slices
• 2 pickled jalapenos, coarsely chopped (optional)
• salt and pepper
• 1 ciabatta loaf or hamburger rolls
• lettuce leaves or other greens  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Finely chop shallots and garlic. Saute in a little olive oil until soft.

3. Mix lamb with shallots and garlic, parsley and bread crumbs. Form patties. Fold cheeses into middle and surround with meat.

4. Heat canola oil in cast iron (or other heavy bottomed) skillet. Season meat with salt and pepper and sear in pan for about 3-4 minutes. Turn meat and put skillet in oven until done to taste. Another 3-5 minutes for medium-rare.

5. In the meantime, heat slices of ciabatta or rolls. Best is on a grill pan until browned, but a toaster would be OK, as would be the oven where the meat is cooking.

6. Put a burger on top of ciabatta slice, top (or bottom) with tomato slices, onion slices and, if using, jalapenos. Either add lettuce leaves or accompany with lightly dressed greens.

Bobby Jay

Paris - New Preserves Store

Last week J and I happened upon a new place in the Marais called La Chambre aux Confitures, which sells preserves, conserves, chutneys and jellies made by Lise Bienaimé, whose great-grandfather made and sold preserves in Paris many years ago. We sampled a large number of her preserves, and they are interestingly composed and with a softer texture than is common for preserves: utterly delightful.

We ended up buying the "Cuvee de Noël," apricot jam flavored with pain d'épices spices, and Cerise Griotte, a loose morello cherry preserve, both excellent examples of Mme Bienaimé's special touch.

Brochure and preserves from La Chambre aux Confitures

The shop we went to was at 60, rue Vielle du Temple, in the 3rd; there is another at 9, rue des Martyrs in the 9th.

Their products are perfect gift items as well as treats for yourself.

Bobby Jay

My Best Dishes of 2012

Gourmet's year-end edition (it has been resuscitated as an on-line only shadow of its former self) contains responses by 53 staff members and consultants to the question: What was the best thing you ate in 2012? The responses were interesting, running the gamut from Frank Pepe's pizza to Fondue au Vieux Comté from Auberge La Petite Echelle in Rochejean, France.

I am often asked questions like that, and frankly can't remember all the restaurant meals I have eaten, even the great ones. But I do keep records of what I cook, and can list the most successful dishes I made in 2012. People also often ask what kind of food I like to cook (and eat), and I think the list demonstrates that I have pretty eclectic cooking tastes. Of course, I enjoy many other cuisines, particularly Asian, but rarely make them myself, and they are never among my greatest successes. The list also understates how often I cook Italian dishes (very).

In any event, here's the list of my best dishes of 2012:

• Bobby Jay's corn soup, a recipe I developed myself: summer corn is my favorite food
• Heirloom tomato salad with torn mozzarella and basil, from a recipe by Jamie Oliver: summer heirloom tomatoes are my second favorite
• Salvatore ricotta, a wonderful creamy ricotta made in Brooklyn, from Eataly, with fleur de sel, coarsley ground pepper and Sicilian olive oil on homemade toast: not really cooked, just a wonderful bite from impeccable ingredients
• Chicken and andouille Jambalaya, from a recipe by Ethan Stiffel
• Caribbean roast and smoked pork chops, based on a recipe by barbeque genius Big Bob Gibson
• Slowly oil poached garlic shrimp, tapas style, based on a recipe from Tyler Florence
• Seared veal breast stuffed with garlic, mustard and spinach, from a recipe by Gordon Hamersley
• Matcha macarons with white chocolate ganache, commissioned by my wife for her Japanese art gallery, for which I combined about 5 different recipes over several tries: Japanese/French fusion in a single bite
• Mustard crusted tenderloin of pork with apple mostarda, from a recipe by Michael Chiarello
• Golden melon gazpacho, based on a recipe from the wonderful spa Rancho Puerta: healthy but spicy and satisfying
• Creme caramel, from a recipe from The French Slow Cooker: a perfect application for the slow cooker, wonderfully smooth and silky
• Cherries in almond syrup with toasted almonds over homemade Greek style yogurt, from a recipe in Bon Appétit: another celebration of summer's bounty
• Winter fruit compote with kumquats, prunes, figs and cognac, from a recipe by Laura Calder: amazingly easy but satisfyingly redolent of winter flavors

I never know where my mood (or reading or TV watching) will take me, so I am sure next year's list will be very different.

Bobby Jay

Paris - Happy New Year 2013!

Maybe I'm getting jaded, but it seems to me that this year's year-end windows at the great food stores are less exciting than usual. Still . . .

Cadeau Ô Merveille at Dalloyau

Bûches de Noël at Dalloyau

Caviar at Kaspia

Chocolates at Jadis et Gourmande

Bûche de Noël at unknown bakery

Some pretty appealing presentations for the holidays.

Bobby Jay

Christmas Dinner in Paris

I usually make a special dinner for friends on Christmas dinner in Paris. This year we were only three, so I decided to make it relatively simple but elegant, starting with foie gras that I had made earlier (with Chinese 5-spice powder and white port), moving to poule au pot (see preceding post for the story of this course), then a perfectly aged vacherin du Haut-Doubs (Mont d'Or), and relying on our guest for dessert, a delightful orange tart.

Poule au pot with accompaniments

Vacherin du Haut-Doubs (Mont d'Or)

Yoshimi's orange tart

You can only do this dinner in France, where it's easy to find great raw duck liver for foie gras (while expensive, it costs only half the price that it does in New York) and the truly spectacular vacherin. It's hard to believe anything can taste that good, with pungent, woody notes and a creamy unctuous texture that requires that you eat it with a spoon.

How lucky to be able to be in Paris at this time of year!

Bobby Jay

Search for a Great Poule au Pot

My wife J and I love poule au pot (chicken in the pot), especially in winter, and recently I have been seeking out a good and simple recipe for a French, as opposed to Jewish, version.

First I tried a slow-cooker version, served with a garlic aioli. The method was pretty good, but the vegetable profile was boring: it needed parsnips or fennel to perk up the muddy onion-turnip-leek-carrot melange. The aioli helped a lot.

With that experience fresh in mind, I received the January-February 2013 issue of Cook's Illustrated, and found a recipe for "French Style Chicken with Stuffing," essentially poule au pot with sausage stuffing. Their insights: use chicken quarters rather than a whole chicken, and stack them in a prescribed way that speeds up cooking and permits the breast and dark meat to be done (but not overdone) at the same time, and brown the chicken first to create a fond that will enhance the flavor of the broth. Thus, vegetables and potatoes are placed in the bottom of the pot, with broth to almost cover, followed by the leg quarter and the stuffing (sausage, bread and herbs processed and made into rolls in parchment) and, finally, the breasts.

Poule au Pot made from Cook's Illustrated recipe

The method worked and we had a good, but not great, result. My fault, I think: I started with a whole chicken and used the wings, back and neck to make a rich unsalted stock without vegetables or aromatics. This resulted in a broth that was rich but missing the complexity that I was hoping for. If I use this method again, I will make a more complex stock and add something to impart umami flavor, probably tomato paste.

Finally, it dawned on me that I should seek the wisdom of my idol, Jacques Pépin, who has been making poule au pot for more than 60 years.  Indeed, I found a recipe in his Essential Pépin, and this proved to be what I was looking for: great broth, interesting vegetables and flavorful chicken. Jacques gently boils the chicken, then removes the flesh and boils the chicken bones some more, and finally adds the vegetables only for the last 20 minutes, resulting in a supercharged rich broth.  The final dish is served with passed fleur de sel, toasted baquette slices with comté or similar cheese, cornichons (gherkins) and hot mustard. (Those knowledgeable in French food will recognize this as a pot au feu made with chicken instead of beef.) I made it in Paris, where excellent chicken and vegetables abound, and J and our guest loved it, as did I. Here are pictures with all the accoutrements.

Jacques Pépin's Poule au Pot

I have not written off the slow cooker and Cook's versions, but it's hard to see how I can beat the Pépin version of this French classic.

Bobby Jay

Paris - Le Bouchon et l'Assiette - Still Excellent

My wife J and I returned to le Bouchon et l'Assiette last night, after a year's absence. Apart from the fact that the price of the 3-course menu has increased from 33 to 39 euros, this little gem of a restaurant remains worth the effort it takes to get to, which is not insubstantial.

The young chef, who hails from the Southwest but has worked for some of the best chefs in Paris (among which, the Bristol's Eric Frechon), simply has an impeccable palate. All the imaginative dishes that we sampled were perfectly seasoned with unusual flavors. I started with lentil soup, light and a bit creamy, smoky and bursting with flavor, with toasted pine nuts and lardons of smoked dusk breast adding crunch and texture. Easily the best lentil soup I have ever had. Next was a quasi de veau (the top of the leg) with an interesting melange of diced crosnes and avocado on the side. J started with a plate of unctuous Iberico ham and continued with amazingly succulent suprêmes de pintade (breast of guinea hen).

Quasi de veau at le Bouchon et l'Assiette

We shared a good, but unexciting, chocolate gateau Basque for dessert; I felt that the chocolate overwhelmed the almond flavor that characterizes this type of cake. An inexpensive Pernand-Vergelesses was a perfect accompaniment to our meal.

You really should try this place.

Le Bouchon et l'Assiette, 121 rue Cardinet, 75017 Paris, Métro Malesherbes or Villiers.

A postscript: we returned to this restaurant with friends on December 26 and, among other things, had a wonderful Fontainebleau (fromage frais, whipped cream and sugar mixed and then pressed like ricotta) with pistachio nuts and caramel sauce.

Bobby Jay

Wrapping a Turkey in Caul Fat

At the urging of my friend John, I wrapped this year's turkey in caul fat (crépine in French), which Harold McGee defines as "a thin membrane of connective tissue with a lacework of small fat deposits embedded in it." Used in France primarily to wrap sausages and terrines, caul fat covers the intestinal organs in a pig or sheep (the one used in cooking is almost always pork). I have used crépine - most recently to cover a classic terrine de campagne - at cooking lessons in France.

Despite its unprepossessing provenance and appearance (like a stretchy hair-net from the fities), caul fat provides a continuous baste for the turkey. By the time the bird is fully cooked, the caul fat has mostly dissolved; any flaky remnants (see picture below) are easily brushed away.

Turkey wrapped in caul fat

Turkey roasted with caul fat wrapping

The main drawback is that caul fat is hard to find. The fine butcher shop Citarella could not get it for me but my friend Piglet got some for me at the quirky but excellent, all-organic new butcher, Harlem Shambles, at Frederick Douglass Boulevard and 116th Street. If you can find it, caul fat is worth the trouble. I can't prove that it made the turkey taste better, but I did have fun using this ancient artisanal product.

Bobby Jay

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

I just watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi, a documentary about Jiro, an 85-year old sushi chef who runs what is supposed to be the best sushi restaurant in Tokyo, Sukiyabashi Jiro. The ten-seat restaurant, on a basement floor in Ginza, has received three stars from Michelin. Jiro's is not a place to go for drinks, appetizers and a few pieces of sushi. There are no appetizers, just a 20-piece set menu that starts at 30,000 yen (about $375) per person. Not to worry, though: it's impossible to get a reservation.

The movie is delightful, with great images of sushi and every stage of sushi making, from the shopping at the Tsukiji fish market, to the preparation of perfect rice, to the cutting (and sometimes cooking) of the fish and assembly of the finished bite. The subtext of the movie is how passionate Jiro is about his work, and just how hard it is to be a great sushi chef. Early in the movie, Jiro sums it all up, with appropriate Japanese modesty and understatement:

Once you decide on your occupation, you must immerse yourself in your work. You have to fall in love with your work. Never complain about your job. You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill. That's the secret of success and is the key to being regarded honorably.

Only in Japan.

Bobby Jay

Momofuku and Daniel Join in Hurricane Relief Benefit

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which left downtown Manhattan without power and wreaked major havoc on the entire area, the team at David Chang's Momofuku and Daniel Boulud decided to help in the way they know best: by preparing a spectacular meal, charging a lot for it and donating the proceeds to the Rec Cross's relief effort.

J and I went, and had a great time while providing much-needed funds to the relief effort. Here is the menu, including the wines expertly paired with each dish.

Menu for Momofuku/Daniel Benefit

I have had only limited experience with the Momofuku empire (an excellent lunch at Momofuku Milk Bar), much more with Daniel's. As expected, the food that was provided by the Momofuku team was extremely imaginative, that provided by Daniel a bit more classic but perfectly prepared. A highlight of creativity was the foie gras - lychee, pine nut, pictured below.

Foie gras with lychees and pine nuts

Where's the foie gras? You're looking at it, flakes of frozen foie gras that melt in your mouth, covering fresh lychees and pine nuts. In all honesty, my favorite dishes were more straightforward: the duck with wild rice, apple and brussels sprouts, prepared by the Daniel team, and the veal sweetbreads with yuzu kosho, labne and Asian pear.

The meal was not the only great aspect of the evening. The 42 diners were arrayed along a single enormous table, and judging by the 10 or so people we were able to interact with, it was a lovely group of accomplished and articulate but unpretentious food lovers. There was a great chemistry in the room, and a good (and useful) time was had by all. Thanks to David Chang and Daniel Boulud!

Bobby Jay