Boiled Peanuts

Boiled peanuts are a traditional southern snack that I had not experienced until recently. I found raw peanuts in the shell at the supermarket and determined to make them. I checked the internet and the back of the bag for recipes and ended by doing something that borrowed from several of them.

Basically, you just boil them in heavily salted water for a couple of hours, and they turn into something a lot like edamame, another legume. Like edamame, boiled peanuts are an excellent accompaniment to cocktails or, better still, beer. What I did was to add 1 pound of raw peanuts to 6 cups of water containing 4 tablespoons of Kosher salt and 2 tablespoons of Old Bay seasoning. The 2 tablespoons of Old Bay is optional, but I think it's nice to add something besides pure salt. Next time I plan to use a Cajun seasoning blend that I like.

Easy, cheap, fun.

Bobby Jay

Dawn

Despite the heading, this post is not at all poetic: it is about dish washing liquid.

I recently heard from a knowledgeable food friend that the only dish washing liquid to use is Dawn, which I had never tried. He said that he had switched when he read that Dawn is what is used to clean birds that have been soaked in oil spills, and found the grease-cutting ability of this brand to be markedly superior to others. Faced with this compelling advice, I have switched and I think it's true. So give Dawn a try.

To find out more about the use of Dawn to clean oil-soaked loons, pelicans and cormorants, follow this link to a thread on the International Bird Rescue Reserarch Center's efforts.

Bobby Jay

En Passant . . .

From time to time, ideas cross my mind, often in response to questions from friends, that are worth writing about, but do not individually merit full posts. This is the first post in a series devoted to such matters.

1. Rancho Gordo sells many varieties of wonderful heirloom beans. They are so fresh that the overnight soak is generally reduced to four hours. http://www.ranchogordo.com/

2. I love Cook's Illustrated, and have a rather unwieldy collection spanning many years. An easy way to access the work done at America's Test Kitchen is to buy The Complete American's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2010 and The TV Companion Cookbook 2011. I won't swear to it but it seems to me these books have all, but if not most, of what you find in Cook's Illustrated, including a somewhat shorter version of the analysis that makes the recipes so useful. I still haven't thrown away my Cook's Illustrated but probably could. And certainly it's nice to have so much in a single book (or 2 books).

3. I haven't written about The Art of Eating. This is a very scholarly, no-nonsense, no-ads publication, edited by Edward Behr, that comes out four times a year. I usually read it from cover to cover even though I will never make use of most of what's in it. Occasionally, though, I do use what I learn there; for example, I recently discovered a great product, Trahana, a kind of Greek sour couscous-like grain made with yogurt and dried on the rocks of sunny Greek villages. http://www.artofeating.com/

4. If you use a mandoline to slice vegetables, you will know that it's a great tool, but dangerous to use. To get the last bit of the zucchini requires a scary motion, and the food pushers that come with mandolines are not good. The solution: get a cut-resistant glove, made from super-tough space-age fibers, and slice with abandon. Microplane makes a good one, which sells for about $15.

5. Like hot sauce? Tears of Joy Hot Sauce Shop, in Austin, Texas, has 300 types of bottled hot sauces from around the world. I have not yet ordered because my wife is not a crazy hot sauce fan like myself. I'm looking for a partner for an order. http://tearsofjoysauces.com/

Bobby Jay

Japan on 47th Street

If you like Japanese food - and for this purpose I don't mean sushi - then take yourself to East 47th Street between Fifth and Third Avenues. These three blocks host at least three excellent finds for Japanese food lovers.

Onya serves freshly made udon, thick Japanese noodles, with any number of additions, including chicken, beef, curry, tempura, kimchi and my personal favorite, kitsune (a thin pillow of flash fried and then blanched tofu). The texture is authentic - toothsome but not al dente - although I like a little more body to my udon, and so is the taste. At peak times, there can be a bit of a wait, since the takers-out and the diners-in share the same assembly line where they choose their ingredients. There is a pleasant, bright eating area in the back for those who prefer to consume their udon on site. Onya, 143 East 47th Street.


Everyone knows tempura, but not everyone knows that the Japanese are great at frying a broader range of items. Katsuhama serves a full range of katsu (fried) dishes, traditional ton-katsu (pork), chicken katsu and ebi-katsu (shrimp). The lunch special is a fantastic deal - excellent miso soup, choice of pork or chicken katsu, pickles, cabbage and rice for just $11. The non-prepossessing front section of Katsuhama is a busy take-out store, but the restaurant in back is pretty pleasant. Being alone, I sat at the nicely designed counter. Katsuhama, 11 East 47th Street (there is a second location at 43-45 West 55th Street).

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Then head for Dainobu, a Japanese grocery store, which stocks a broad range of Japanese sauces and prepared foods - miso, pickles, sembei, noodles, tea, etc. They do a big take-out business, selling onigiri (rice balls), freshly made ramen and various bento boxes. Dainobu, 229 East 47th Street.

I said at least three good places, because there is also a restaurant called Donburi-ya (rice bowl place) next door to Onya, which may be good. However, I have not tried it and cannot express any views.

Bobby Jay

An English Outpost in Manhattan

Myers of Keswick's Window

Before I was a Francophile I was an Anglophile. So when my friend Suzie, who is English, told me about Myers of Keswick, an English food store in the West Village, I raced to get there.

It's a small place, with an assortment of traditional English packaged foods - Branston Pickles, HP Sauce, Marmite, etc. - as well as a selection of homemade meat pies and a few uncooked fresh meat items, including bangers and Irish style bacon. Things that are not necessarily the greatest delicacies in the world, but that do remind you of England and its quaint food traditions, and certainly a must for English expats. Needless to say, I bought a few items (pictured below). Myers is located at 634 Hudson Street, between Jane and Horatio Streets.

My purchases from Myers of Keswick (not the book)

Cheers.

Bobby Jay

Délicieuse Année 2011

As the sign at La Grande Epicerie de Paris says, I wish you a "délicieuse année 2011" filled with great meals, health and happiness!

Bobby Jay

Paris - Restaurant Jean

A number of people have asked me to recommend restaurants near the Opéra, which is a quartier not well represented in my blog. The reason for this is simple: there are not a lot of good restaurants in that area. However, my wife and I recently discovered a really fine restaurant in the area, Jean, near Notre-Dame-de-Lorette and perhaps fifteen minutes' walk from the Opéra.

Jean has imaginative, attractively presented food in a comfortable setting with capable team-style service. There is a moderate-sized but very attractive à la carte selection, as well as a 3-course menu for 45 euros, a 4-course menu gastronomique for 65 euros and a 7-course menu gastronomique for 78 euros.

We opted for the 4-course and were very happy. After several interesting amuse-bouches, we started with an inspired cauliflower (yes!) dish, consisting of cauliflower puree and tiny cooked florets, topped with thin raw slices, perfectly perfumed with a hint of sancho pepper oil. Next was sauteed scallops with a creamy almond sauce, topped with small slices of sauteed abalone and served over crispy cabbage. The meat course was a perfectly cooked fillet of venison with a simple but classic jus (my wife, a non-lover of venison, was offered an excellent magret de canard instead).

Dessert was a heavenly chocolate disk filled with a creamy mixture of flavors that we could not identify, and some little pastries on the plate. The pastry chef is an American woman, Alison Johnson, who previously was pastry chef at Artisanal, Picholine and Eleven Madison Park in New York City. This altogether satisfying meal was completed by a complimentary cognac.

Our menu did not include a cheese course, but we were tempted by the relatively small, but well chosen, selection of perfectly ripened cheeses. However, we were lucky enough to enjoy the aromas as the woman at the adjacent table ordered a small piece of each of the ten or so cheeses on the plate.

Jean, 8 rue St-Lazare (Métro Notre-Dame-de-Lorette), 9ème.

Bobby Jay

Paris - Bánh Mì

Writing the last post, on the return of Baoguette, reminded me that Clotilde Dusoulier, in her excellent blog Chocolate & Zucchini, had recommended a bánh mì place in Paris that I have been intending to try: Saigon Sandwich. Well, it really is good. Imagine a well-constructed bánh mì sandwich - pork pâté, roast pork, cucumber, shredded pickled carrots and radishes, cilantro, homemade mayonnaise and hot peppers - and imagine further that it's on a really fresh French baguette. Yes, you are in heaven. They also have a chicken bánh mì that is even better, or you can get the classic pork with chicken added.

Actually, I think the pork fillings at New York's Baoguette are better, but the great bread more than makes up for it.

I have to hand it to Clotilde: she is no snob. Saigon Sandwich is in a really terrible neighborhood, around the corner from the Belleville Métro station, and the sidewalks are so crowded with immigrants selling used clothes that you need to walk in the street. There are three folding chairs in the restaurant so you can eat on your lap, right next to the line of waiting patrons, if you don't want to take out. Having fully intended to eat sur place, I decided to enjoy my lunch at home.

Saigon Sandwich, 6 rue de la Présentation, Paris 11ème (Métro Belleville) (closed Sundays).

Bobby Jay

Baoguette Returns

I recently reported that Baoguette, 61 Lexington Avenue, had been closed by the Health Department. A trusted reader reports that it has reopened, with a provisional rating and lots of happy eaters.

In the absence of Baoguette, I have tried Nicky's, 150 East 2nd Street, a charming deli-like place, with three little tables for the few customers who eat in. The classic bánh mì is good (but not as good as Baoguette's), and they have other bánh mì sandwiches, including a tofu one that I plan to try next time I'm in the neighborhood.

Also, I went to Num Pang, a very popular Cambodian sandwich shop at 21 East 8th Street. The specialty, pork belly sandwich, is flavorful, but does not have the complex layers of hot, sour, sweet, salty and bitter that one finds in a good bánh mì. Also, the eating area, upstairs, is really pretty bad, even by my relaxed standards for this type of place.

I am continuing to make the rounds, but look forward to returning to Baoguette when I get back to the USA. I hope they can get their Health Department rating up to "A."

Bobby Jay

Christmas in Paris

Dalloyau's 2010 Christmas windows are as enticing as ever.

Bobby Jay

A Winter's Day in Paris

People often ask me what I do when I am in Paris, particularly when my wife is not with me.

Today was a typical, and rewarding, day.

It being Saturday, I visited my favorite outdoor market, on Avenue de Président Wilson. It being a few days before Christmas, the market is full of wonderful luxury foods: foie gras, truffles, geese, ducks, etc. I bought a lobe of foie gras to prepare for a Christmas dinner to which we have been invited, and food for a couple of lunches and dinners.

For lunch I bought a coquelet (baby chicken) cooked over the rotisserie, half of which I pulled and mixed with rice and a little Sriracha (Southeast Asian, not French, but it is great) hot sauce. Then an assortment of cheeses I found at the market, including Mont d'Or, a seasonal cow cheese from the Alps that is one of the great things to eat in this world.

In the afternoon, I went to the famous marché aux puces (flea market) at the Porte de Clignancourt, where I picked up a Napoleon III picture frame that I had bought earlier, and had a brief but unsuccessful exploratory visit. There is always a lot to see at this market, which has numerous submarkets and many hundreds of antique dealers.

Returning to the apartment, I walked the dog and read for a couple of hours.

Dinner -- at home -- consisted of saucisse mourteau, a French garlic sausage with no real US equivalent, cooked with lentilles de Puy, amazing green lentils that keep their firm texture and are great company for pork of any kind. I had enough for another meal, probably lunch tomorrow or Monday.

Saucisse Mourteau with Lentilles de Puy: in the pot and as leftovers

Then followed an extremely chocolaty store-bought organic mousse au chocolat, to which my French friends had introduced me, and a satisfying square of Lindt's new "Mytille Intense" chocolate.


Not for everyone, perhaps, but for me this was a very nice day.

Bobby Jay

New Cookbook - The City Cook

Kate McDonough, editor and founder of TheCityCook.com, an excellent web site, has recently published a book, The City Cook: Big City, Small Kitchen, Limitless Ingredients, No Time, which furthers her mission of encouraging busy urban professionals to cook at home and providing them with strategies to help them to succeed.

The first part, which is a concise but insightful look at how to cope with culinary life in the city -- shopping, equipping a kitchen, etc. -- will be particularly useful for Kate's target audience. Also the many bits of wisdom scattered throughout the recipe section, like "Eleven Easy No-Cook Hors d'Oeuvres," "Chicken Breasts Ten Ways," "How to Get Fish Smells Out of an Apartment" and "The Versatility of Rotisserie Chickens," to name only a few.

The recipe section provides about ninety clearly-expressed recipes. Most are quite simple, some amazingly so. The one recipe that I have tried so far, Broiled Black Cod with Miso, is wonderful: just two ingredients, almost no effort and a complex flavor profile that is a perfect example of what a little umami can do (I used mellow white miso). Next up are the Almond Cream Tart, made with whole unskinned almonds, and the Cacio e Pepe (a classic pasta with cheese and black pepper) for which I have not previously seen a recipe (who knew there was no butter? and note the tip on grinding the cheese in a food processor rather than using a Microplane, which would have been my instinct). There are many others that I plan to try.

The City Cook makes an excellent Christmas gift. In fact, I gave a copy to my French teacher, who has a tiny apartment kitchen and is always trying to make simple, healthy food for herself and her friends. Cookbooks that I have given her in the past include Jacques Pépin's excellent Fast Food My Way and slightly less excellent More Fast Food My Way, as well as Patricia Wells' Trottoria. Adding The City Cook to this group indicates my high regard for this book.

Bobby Jay

Thanksgiving 2010

Lots of people ask me what I do for for Thanksgiving, so I thought I'd describe what I did this year.

The Turkey. I bought a 14.6-lb heritage turkey from Heritage Farms USA. It arrived, as scheduled, on Tuesday, cold but not frozen. I generously salted it under the skin on Wednesday morning, to give it 24 hours. On Thanksgiving day, I rinsed it well, then put it breast side down over ice packs. Just before cooking, I dried it and rubbed it with Michael Chiarello's fennel spice rub. Cooked on a V-rack 45 minutes breast side down at 450, then turned and cooked at 325 for 1 hour 45 minutes. The breast was perfect, the dark was not, so I put the thigh/leg quarters back for 15 minutes at 500. I have to say that I found the bird to be difficult to deal with because the joints were so tight; it was very hard to separate the thigh/leg quarters, which usually fall away of their own weight. The taste was excellent, particularly the breast meat, which was moist and had an intense turkey taste; the dark meat was almost too intense.

Gravy. Michael Chiarello's recipe for a classic roux-based gravy, made with fantastically rich turkey stock made with chopped up wings and necks. The stock (another Saveur recipe) made all the difference.

Dressing. On the side, not in the bird. Used the recipe for sage stuffing from an old Gourmet, but with mixed herbs. The crowd loved it. My wife and I thought it needed some crunch.

Sweet Potato Gratin, with lots of sage, from Ottolenghi. Wonderful and simple; I prepare it the day before and it was in a perfect state to cook on Thanksgiving Day.

French beans and snow peas with hazelnuts and julienned orange peel, also from Ottolenghi. Delicious and can be cooked in advance for assembly on the day of.

Pumpkin Pie. Used America's Test Kitchen's excellent recipe for a light yet flavorful pie, which incorporates candied yams, and an idea I got from Saveur to top it with some caramelized nuts and julieneed candied ginger. The result was deeply flavored (although different from the traditional pumpkin pie) and beautiful (see picture above).

Lots of other things, including a simple salad, desserts baked by my mother-in-law, cranberry chutney made by my mother, and hors d'oeuvres from my sister-in-law, but the foregoing is what I cooked.

Now the question is what to do next year. Which to repeat and which to change? But I have a little time.

Bobby Jay

Veal Breast Pasta Sauce

I love the intense taste and luxurious unctuous quality of breast of veal, and thought that it would make a wonderful pasta sauce. The problem with this cut is that it takes forever to cook, so I decided to use a pressure cooker, which greatly speeds things up. Although still a bit time-consuming (an hour from start to finish), it was easy to make and came out great. Here's the recipe for the sauce, which goes with whatever pasta you choose, although the Italians would probably suggest fresh pappardelle or boxed rigatoni.

Bobby Jay's Sugo con Petto di Vitello (Veal Breast Sauce)

Ingredients

• 3 TBS olive oil
• 6 ribs cut from a breast of veal, about 3-4 lbs
• 1 small-medium onion, cut lengthwise in quarters
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1/2 cup white wine
• salt
• pepper

Directions

1. Heat pressure cooker over medium high heat. Add olive oil.
2. Salt the ribs with kosher salt. Then brown them in hot oil (you probably have to do this in two batches). Put aside.
3. Deglaze with white wine. Add ribs, garlic clove, onion and rosemary to pressure cooker. Cover, bring to high pressure, then lower heat to medium pressure and cook for 45 minutes.
4. Let steam escape. CAREFULLY!
5. Reserve sauce in a bowl or large measuring cup. When meat cools enough to handle, remove the rosemary sprig and separate the meat from the bones, cartilage and other unattractive bits. Add the meat to the reserved sauce. Add to pasta. Do not overdo it; the sauce is rich, and a little goes a long way.

Makes more than enough for a pound of dried pasta.

Bobby Jay

Baoguette Closed by Health Department

I went to Baoguette, 61 Lexington Avenue, the other day, only to find that it has been closed by the NYC Department of Health!

Need to find another bánh mì source. I am now headed to Battle of the Bánh Mì to seek suggestions from the on-line community of bánh mì lovers.

Bobby Jay

Paris - Salon de Chocolat

Is is possible to have too much chocolate? In a word, oui!

I went to the Salon de Chocolat in Paris last week and found it to be boring. I love chocolate, but it turns out that there are only so many things to do with it, and there is little regional or even national variation. So what you are left with is a huge number of displays by chocolate makers from France and all over Europe, most of which look like what you'd see at their shops or even at the big department stores. The saving grace is that you do get a lot of free samples.

















My big discovery was not chocolate, but rather an artisan pain d'épices maker from Aix-en-Provence, whose pain d'épices was the best I have ever tasted. Light (for this kind of mostly-honey cake) and incredibly perfumed, especially the orange, which I favored over the plain or the chocolate-flavored. I brought a chunk, cut from an enormous boule, to a friend the next day and she confirmed my high opinion as we gobbled it down for dessert.


My advice for chocolate lovers. Spend the 12.50 euros on chocolate, not admission to the Salon de Chocolat.

Bobby Jay

Paris - Autumn at the Market

Figs, Chanterelles and Cèpes

Purple Cauliflower, Tomatoes and Radishes

Some of today's offerings at the Avenue du Président Wilson market.

Bobby Jay

Paris - Artisanal Sardines at La Petite Chaloupe

Recently I was watching an episode of Laura Calder's "French Food at Home" on the new Cooking Channel in which Laura served an assortment of artisanal tinned sardines, with wonderful French bread and butter, as an appetizer. This really appealed to me (but not to my wife, who was forced to eat sardines as a child and still harbors a grudge), and I vowed to myself to follow up.

The show included a visit by Laura to the little shop in Paris where she had found the exotic assortment, but without giving the name. I wrote to Laura, who kindly informed me that the shop is La Petite Chaloupe, 7 rue du Pont Royal, Paris 13ème.









This unique shop was my first stop on arriving in Paris earlier this week. They have dozens of kinds of sardines, all French and almost all millésimé (like vintage wines), with various spice profiles and packed in different oils. Also many other tinned fish products - tuna, mackerel, anchovies, etc. - of the highest quality. Needless to say, I bought a selection (pictured below) to bring back to New York, to eat myself or to share with friends.


Next time you're in Paris, I recommend a visit.

Bobby Jay

Quick - While You Can Still Get Fresh Figs . . .

. . . make this wonderful Fig and Almond Tart from the excellent blog "Lunch in Paris." It is easy and, as noted in the blog, the frangipane is light and therefore doesn't overwhelm the delicate figs.

Bobby Jay

Del Posto - The Best Restaurant in New York?

My wife and I had the good fortune to celebrate her birthday at Del Posto a few days ago. I had made the reservation before The New York Times awarded the restaurant its fourth star, although our dinner followed the article in the Times.

We loved it last year and it has only gotten better: the four stars are richly deserved. Not only is the very innovative Italian food excellent, but the room is beautifully designed and not densely packed and the staff are capable and welcoming. Given severe recent disappointments at Jean-Georges and Le Bernardin - our former favorites - Del Posto is now our number one New York dining destination.

I don't really review New York restaurants because there is more than enough information available to US readers, but this is a noteworthy restaurant that is worth the trip to 10th Avenue and 15th Street.

Bobby Jay