I've Returned

After a long hiatus from blogging due to law school finals, I am back.  I know that my priorities have been all out of order this month, but I'll get back into the flow of things now that I have nothing else to do but apply for jobs.  Anyway, I left off blogging on my favorite day of the week...the ever popular Fish Tuesday, and for that I apologize.

I went to the Fish Guy Market located at 4423 N. Elston (http://www.fishguy.com/) for their $10 fish.  On this day, they had the most incredible selection of fish that I have ever seen there.  They had skate, monkfish, hamachi, bluefin tuna, and halibut, among many others.  I had recently seen a recipe for roasted monkfish, plus I have always wanted to try cooking monkfish, so that was my clear choice.  I headed home with my monkfish ready to rock its face off.

When cooking fish, it is almost always a good idea to do a quick cure in salt for about 10 minutes.  To do this, generously sprinkle kosher salt on both sides of the fish and let it sit on a plate for 10 minutes while it comes up to room temperature, then wash it off with cold water.  Monkfish; however, is a very thick piece of fish, so you may need closer to 30 minutes.

Here is how I did the fish.

Roasted Monkfish (serves 2)
1 lb monkfish tail fillet, cut crosswise in half
canola oil
kosher salt
4 cloves of garlic, smashed, skin left on
1 tspn dried thyme
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut in half
extra virgin olive oil

1.  Generously film a large saute pan with canola oil, and heat it over medium-high heat until the oil just starts smoking.
2.  Put the monkfish pieces in the pan rounded side down.  Cook for about 3 minutes until it is golden brown.
3.  Add in 2 tbsp of butter and allow it to melt, then add in the other 2 tbsp of butter and let it melt.  Continue to cook the first side for another couple minutes, basting constantly once the butter has browned.  Tilt pan if necessary to prevent butter from burning.
4.  Flip the fish over and continue to baste for 3 more minutes.  Add the garlic to the pan and cook for another 1-2 minutes.  The internal temperature should be about 145.
5.  Transfer the fish with the garlic to a plate and cover with foil for about 5 minutes.
6.  Plate the fish and drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on it.
7.  Spoon some of the pan sauce over the fish.  Serve with wedges of lemon and peas.

The crust on the fish was excellent and contrasted with the soft interior of the fish.  The lemon and peas gave it some additional elements of flavor.  If I could do anything differently, it would be cook the fish for about 30 seconds less on each side, to prevent the fish flesh from toughening up.  As I cooked it was not very tough, but it could have used a slight amount less cooking to make it perfect. 

The Heston Blumenthal Memorial "In Search of Perfection" Post: Chicken Vesuvio

For those of you who don't know, Heston Blumenthal is one of the top chefs in the world.  He owns the Fat Duck in England, and he hosts a television show called "In Search of Perfection" where he refines and perfects a whole bunch of common foods (mashed potatoes, hamburgers, pizza, etc.).  Anyway, Michelle made some amazing Chicken Vesuvio the other night.  Although her rendition was quite amazing, there may be a series of posts in which she/we try to refine the recipe further in order to perfect it.

Chicken Vesuvio (serves 2)
4 or 5 chicken thighs with skin and bones
3 tbsp olive oil (not extra virgin)
3/4 pound red potatoes, quartered (you can peel or not peel.  I prefer not peeled)
6 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed, and diced
1 cup sauvignon blanc
1 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 tspn dried oregano
1 tspn thyme
juice from 1/2 lemon
kosher salt
pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 450
2.  Film the bottom of a large saute pan with the olive oil and heat over high heat until hot.  Lightly salt and pepper the chicken.
3.  Add the chicken to the pan, skin side down and cook until browned (about 3-4 minutes).  Flip the chicken over and cook until the other side is browned (another 3-4 minutes).  Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
4.  Quickly, add in the potatoes to the hot pan and cook until they are golden brown on all sides (about 10 minutes total).
5.  Add garlic to the pan with the potatoes and cook for about a minute.
6.  Deglaze the pan with the wine and scrape the bottom to get all the tasty chicken and potato bits up.  Reduce heat to medium.  Add the broth, oregano, thyme, and stir to combine.  Return chicken to the pan and bring to a boil (this should happen pretty quickly).
7.  Remove pan from heat and cover.  Put in the oven to finish (about 20 minutes).
8.  Allow the chicken to rest in the pan, covered for about 5 minutes.  Remove cover and squeeze lemon juice over the top.  Serve.

I will keep you all apprised on the evolution of this dish.  This recipe is very solid, but I feel like with just a few minor adjustments it can become sublime.  In the next rendition (which may happen tonight), we will cut down the thyme by a little bit, add the lemon earlier in the cooking process (so it marries with the other flavors a bit better), and add peas for the last 5 or so minutes of cooking.  We may also cook it a bit longer (like 3-4 minutes) because the chicken was slightly underdone right at the bone.  I feel like we could cook it in the steamy environment for longer and not lose much in the way of juciness.  

Starstruck

If you read the previous post you might be wanting to ask me, "Hey Brian, why were you in the suburbs?  There is nothing good out there (except the wine bar that you rave about)."  Well, that is a great and accurate question.  However, this is a special situation fraught with extenuating circumstances because Thomas Keller, the chef of my favorite restaurant on the planet, The French Laundry, was doing a book signing at the William Sonoma in Oakbrook.  Of course I had to go.  The book signing was at 6p.m., and I managed to resist the urge to camp out in front of the store overnight like some crazy person.  I ended up getting in line around 5p.m. and talking/ranting like rock band groupies with a bunch of the people around me.  Like the true superstar that he is, Chef Keller was about twenty-five minutes late.  I somehow scoped him when he was like 500 feet away from William Sonoma.  I'm pretty sure I got a bonus point in his book for being the first person to be aware of his presence.

After waiting for about fifteen minutes from the start of the signing, I was on deck.  I had no idea what to say, but I knew that I didn't want to come off as a raving lunatic who could do nothing but gush about his restaurant.  I also thought about telling him how much I enjoyed In-n-Out burger (since he loves that place too), but I felt that would be stupid.  Rather than think about it further, I figured it would come to me in a moment of revelation. 

It was my turn to get my book signed, so I walked up there with my book all ready to go, but with nothing to say.  Suddenly, and without warning, I invited him out to the wine bar in Elmhurst when he was done signing books.  I fully expected him to politely decline immediately or perhaps just plainly say no (after all, many chefs aren't known for their patience).  However, after my inquiry into his plans later, he responded in a way that I least expected.  He asked me what time and where.  I was completely taken by shock by his response and it took me at least five seconds to gather my thoughts and respond.  Five seconds may not seem like that long, but if you are staring at a person expecting an answer, it feels like an eternity.  Eventually, I spit the answer out of my mouth, and he said that he and Grant Achatz (from Alinea) were going out for tacos.  Tacos?!?!  The two best chefs in America are going out in Chicago for tacos?  I briefly thought about asking if I could come along with him before figuring that he would probably try to get a restraining order against me.  I also thought about trying to cut off a lock of his hair to take with me, but the threat of a restraining order preventing me from eating at French Laundry weighed too heavily on my mind (just kidding Thomas...don't think I'm crazy). 

Anyway, here are a couple pictures of me with Chef Keller.  The first one looks like im lunging at him, which may not be entirely inaccurate.

Mexican Knife Fight

Only a few days after my incredible experience with Mexican food at Tarascas International, I was out in the suburbs.  I felt as if it would be wrong of me not to compare it with my reigning favorite Mexican restaurant, La Hacienda.  La Hacienda is located at 1571 Lake Street in Addison, IL (same parking lot as the Marcus Cinema.  They also have several other locations) and their website is http://www.fernandezfoods.com/.  Let me tell you, this was a heavy weight bout, not unlike Rocky Balboa v. Ivan Drago.  The haymakers were flying, the salsa was flowing, and Hearts on Fire was blaring over the radio.  In the end, only one could be victorious.

Atmosphere
While Tarascas was dimly lit and laid back, La Hacienda was brightly lit with eye-popping colors and Spanish-style architecture.  Basically, La Hacienda looks exactly like most other Mexican restaurants.  However, they do earn points for resisting the urge to have a mariachi band.  I do not much care for crowded or loud restaurants for the most part, so the winner of this round is clear.
Winner: Tarascas

Price
If I had written this post two years ago, I would not have even mentioned this as a category since they were exactly the same.  However, sometime in the last couple years, La Hacienda lowered their prices by about a third.  I think it was $8 for their tacos whereas it was $11 at Tarascas.  Not that $11 is that much for dinner in the city, but it is something to consider.
Winner: La Hacienda

Service
I usually don't like focusing on service since I'm in it for the food, and I always think the service is fine unless it is so unbelievably awful that it can't help but bear on the experience.  I know this is a dealbreaker for some people, so I'll mention it, but I feel like focusing on the service at a restaurant would be like focusing on the wall paint at the Louvre.  Anyway, Tarascas service was fine.  It was really busy, so the waitress was not hovering over our table at all points in time, and we probably waited a few extra minutes than normal.  It wasn't anything that really caught my attention.  La Hacienda, on the other hand, had the opposite problem.  They did not have many people there, so service was way too fast.  The main course came out while I was still eating my soup, and not even when I was nearly finished either.  I'm pretty sure I've had slower service at Chipotle.  When I go to a restaurant, usually I'm not looking to speed my way out of there, so if I have to choose one, the choice is clear.  Keep in mind that this is not a weighty factor in my mind.
Winner: Tarascas

Food
This is undoubtedly the most important factor for me, and it was a difficult decision to make.  On one hand, the tacos at La Hacienda are fantastic.  The chicken is perfectly seasoned and is unbelievably juicy.  The cheese is tangy and is a perfect counterpoint to the strong flavor of the chicken.  On the other hand, Tarascas has the best enchiladas I have ever had and they managed to nail mole (which is pretty easy to screw up).  This was pretty close to call, so I'll also mention that the rice at La Hacienda was significantly better than the rice at Tarascas, which I felt was kind of chalky.  La Hacienda also serves (for free) a bowl of soup that can only be described as Liquid Taco, it is delightful with its smoky cumin and tomato flavor.  In Tarascas favor; however, was the margarita.  I did not have a margarita at La Hacienda, but there exists very little doubt in my mind that Tarascas would win that one, but the doubt does remain.  By the slimmest of margins (pending my drinking of a La Hacienda margarita).
Winner: La Hacienda

Now comes the round-by-round scoring.  Tarascas wins the atmosphere and service rounds.  It also comes within a dangerous proximity of winning the food round.  La Hacienda wins the Price and narrowly escapes with a win from the Food round.  Since the Food column is more important than the others...the WINNER by split-decision AND STILL CHAMPION IS...............  La Hacienda!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That being said, if I were taking someone on a date or something like that, Tarascas would hands-down be my decision.  Not only is the atmosphere more date-compatible, but you will not be out of there in twenty minutes like you would at La Hacienda.

In any event, here are some pictures of La Hacienda.

Glaring Omission

I have absolutely no idea how I have been writing a blog for two months and have not put up the lemon chicken recipe.  It has been unquestionably the dish that I make the most out of all of the things that I have posted.  I apologize for this glaring omission.  Here is the recipe.

Lemon Chicken (serves 2-3)
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, room temp.
1 1/2 sticks butter
juice from 3/4 of a lemon, seeds and pulp removed
1/2 cup wine
flour
kosher salt
pepper

1.  Lightly salt and pepper each chicken breast on both sides.
2.  Melt 1/2 stick of butter in a large saute pan over medium heat.
3.  When butter is fully melted, dredge each chicken breast in flour and shake off any excess so there is just a light coating of flour on it.  Put the chicken breasts in the pan for 4 minutes per side.
4.  Remove chicken from pan and set aside.  Pour out melted butter, but do not rinse the pan.
5.  Put the remaining stick of butter in the pan and put the pan back on the heat to melt the new butter.
6.  When the butter is melted and hot again, put the chicken back in the pan.
7.  Add in the lemon juice and wine.  Cover and cook for 12 minutes, flipping the chicken at the 6 minute mark.
8.  Put chicken on a plate and tent with foil for 4-5 minutes while the chicken rests.
9.  Serve with jasmine rice.

Finals Descend Upon Me

I've been studying/outlining/researching take home finals for the last few weeks.  My extreme lack of blogging can be attributed directly to the most hectic time of the year for me, so I don't really apologize for that.  However, at some point last week, my brain melted from pouring through the Illinois Criminal Code, so I decided we needed to go out for dinner.  You may have noticed a theme here...whenever I get to immersed in something, I need to go out to eat.  It's amazing that I don't weigh 350 pounds. 

So off we went to Tarascas International, which serves Mexican food.  Tarascas is located at 2585 N. Clark and its website is http://www.cocinastarascas.com/.  My friends, Tom and Mike, have told me that this place was really good, but for whatever reason, I never made it there until last week.

I walked in and expected it to be like every other Mexican place I have ever been to (loud, brightly colored, very busy, etc.).  However, the room was dimly lit, it wasn't terribly noisy, it was crowded, but not people-standing-everywhere crowded.  I was also on the verge of tears as I'm certain we won't get a decent table. But we do; relief washes over me in an awesome wave.

Anyway, I had the chicken enchiladas with the mole sauce.  I had some enchiladas from some other Mexican place a few weeks earlier that were no good, so I needed to redeem enchiladas in my mind.  Thankfully, these did the trick.  The chicken was shredded and exceedingly juicy.  Many times in Mexican food, you will get diced chicken that is way overcooked.  Tarascas managed to avoid that pitfall.  Secondly, the thing that doomed the enchiladas the last time I had them was the terrible mole sauce.  I was a bit skeptical about getting mole again so soon, but again, Tarascas delivered.  The mole was dark black, like tar.  It was peppery, nutty, and tasted faintly of bitter chocolate.  All in all, it went perfectly with the tangy cheese and juicy seasoned chicken.

I would be doing a terrible disservice if I were to leave out the amazing margaritas.  I got the regular house margarita, but if you wanted to, it looked like they had some margaritas made with some awesome aged tequila.  I got the margarita frozen and it was a bit strong at first taste.  I was beginning to think their lofty status in the city's margarita pantheon was unwarranted.  However, I squeezed the lime over it and stirred it in, and it was ready to go.  I'm not exactly sure what type of magic lime they served with it, but it sucked out much of the burning alcohol flavor that accompanied my first taste.  It was well balanced, meaning it wasn't overly sugary or tart. 

It would be fair to say that I greatly enjoyed Tarascas.  I'll definitely be going back there.  Check out the pictures.

Thanksgiving Madness

After a trial run Thanksgiving and a Thanksgiving potluck, I was ready for the big show...November 26th, Thaksgiving Day.  We had a tentative headcount of twenty-two people, so there was much preparation to be done.

The menu as I had assembled in my head was turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli casserole, cranberry sauce.  For appetizers, I made watermelon "meat" and bratwursts with a mustard sauce.  Finally, for dessert, I made flourless chocolate cakes and a berry crisp.  My grandmother made the broccoli casserole and the stuffing that went inside of the turkey (not the sous vide one).

Yes, it does take a long time to make all of these things, but I found that if you make a written list (times you need to put things in the oven, etc.) of the things you need to do (thank you hundreds of episodes of Top Chef), you can get it done much more efficiently and you will use fewer pots and pans, so there should be less cleaning.  Also, I like making one dish or element of a dish at a time.  It keeps me better organized and you can measure every ingredient you will need so that you do not mess up halfway through looking for the correct ingredient or measuring something out.  I posted my recipes for mashed potatoes, sous vide stuffing, and berry crisp in my post about Trial Run Thanksgiving, but here are the rest of the recipes that I rocked out.

As a final note, I made sure that we got a turkey from Howard Kaufman Farms.  This farm is in Waterman, IL and raises the turkeys free range until the last few weeks before Thanksgiving.  They feed the turkeys on a diet of soybeans and corn instead of the normal pellets.  The Kaufman's mission is raising the best tasting turkey possible, and they truly seem to care about what they do.  Though these turkeys are a bit more expensive than turkeys from the supermarket, they are worth the extra price for the incredible taste that they deliever.  Plus they are never frozen, so you don't have to worry about thawing the turkey for 6 days in your fridge.  No thawing means that the turkey will taste better too...and I'm done gushing.

Turkey
22 lb turkey (one pound for each person)
1/4 stick butter, softened
salt
pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 325.  Don't listen to anyone who says to start it in a very hot oven then turn it down, it will just dry out the meat.  As most people know, turkey is often very dry already, so you must take every precaution to guard against this.
2.  Take all the stuff out of the turkey.  Dry the outside and inside very throroughly with paper towels.
3.  Rub the turkey all over with butter (I might omit this step, but everyone insisted on it, so I went along with it).
4.  Salt and pepper the turkey.
5.  Cram as much stuffing as you can int the cavity without turnig the stuffing into mush.  Also put a little in the neck cavity so the turkey looks whole.
6.  Put the turkey in the oven breast side up.  Put a thermometer in the thickest part of the breast, making sure that it does not touch the bone; however, make sure the thermometer goes into the stuffing.
7.  Cook until the thermometer says 153 (probably about 4.5 - 5 hours).
8.  During the last couple hours make sure to baste it with the rendered turkey fat.  This will keep the meat moist and ensure a more even cooking.
9.  When the turkey comes to the proper temperature take it out of the oven and immediately tent with foil for at least 30 minutes.  The turkey will continue cooking and rise up to about 160 degrees while it is tented with foil.
10.  After 30 minutes, slice the turkey thinly and against the grain.
11.  Make sure to reserve the turkey fat for making gravy.

Sweet Potatoes
I made this one last year after watching the Food Network.  Traditionally people mash these and serve them in a casserole, but I feel like there is enough mushy stuff already on the table (mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, cranberry sauce, etc.) that there needs to be some different textures. 

10 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into bite size pieces
2 sticks of butter
2 cups pecans, chopped
12 tbsp maple syrup (preferably type B)
vegetable oil
1 tspn cayenne pepper
kosher salt
pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 450.  Put pecans on a baking sheet.  Once oven hits 450, put pecans in the oven for approximately 5 minutes until lightly toasted.  Remove from oven and reserve on side.  Do not turn off oven.
2.  Meanwhile, put the potatoes in a single layer on 1 or 2 baking sheets (depending on how many you end up making).  Drizzle some vegetable oil over the potatoes and toss together to lightly coat them in olive oil.  Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the potatoes.  Put in the oven for about 45 minutes or until easily pierced by a fork.
3.  Meanwhile, put the butter in a sauce pan and melt over medium heat until it gets foamy (this will happen quickly, so pay attention).  Once it becomes foamy, stir in maple syrup and cook for a minute or two.  Sprinkle in cayenne pepper and remove from heat.  Stir to incorporate.  Keep warm until ready to use.
4.  Toss the potatoes and nuts together, and pour the sauce over the top.

Cranberry Sauce
Even from the time I was little, I always hated the canned cranberry sauce.  There is something kind of repulsive about pouring something out of a can and having it retain its shape.  People seem to like cranberry sauce though, so I decided to make one on my own.  I think I got the basic concept from some youtube video, but had to switch it up since it kind of didn't make sense.

6 cups cranberries, rinsed
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup orange juice
1 1/3 cup of port
1/2 lemon

1.  Put the cranberries, brown sugar, orange juice, and port in a medium saucepan and stir together.
2.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.
3.  Once mixture begins to boil, reduce heat to low to simmer and begin stirring frequently.
4.  Continue simmering until mixture thickens and you can see a trail when you drag a spoon through it.
5.  Tranfer to a bowl and squeeze the lemon over it.
6.  Refrigerate.

Bratwursts with Mustard Sauce
I've made this small dish as an element of a "Tribute to Baseball" dish.  I thought it would go well as an appetizer.  The mustard sauce is from the French Laundry cookbook and it is used with fish.  I liked it so much that I tossed it on some bratwurst, I could probably even drink it straight from a glass.  Make this sauce immediately before you will use it and keep it warm, whisking frequently so that it does not separate.

6 bratwursts
1 loaf of italian bread, cut into 1/4" thick slices, lightly toasted
canola oil
1/4 cup chopped leaks (white and light green part only, throroughly washed...leeks are very dirty)
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup veal stock (most butchers will sell it frozen)
1 chopped carrot
1 tbsp heavy cream
10 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
1 1/2 tspn dijon mustard
1 1/2 tspn grain mustard
kosher salt
pepper

1.  Film the bottom of a medium saucepan with canola oil.  Heat over medium heat until very hot.  Add leaks, mushrooms, and carrots.  Saute for 2-3 minutes until vegetables are lightly carmelized.
2.  Add veal stock and simmer for 5-7 minutes until the liquid has reduced to a glaze.
3.  Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside.
4.  Stir the cream into the veal liquid.  Whisk in the butter piece by piece, adding another piece only when the previous piece has melted.  If the butter stops melting, you were probably too slow.  However, just put it over the heat for a few more seconds to get it warm again and continue whisking.
5.  Strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer into a small saucepan or bowl.  Whisk in both mustards.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6.  Grill bratwursts over low heat for 10 minutes per side.  Slice each sausage into 3/4" slices diagonally.  Put one slice of sausage on each piece of toast.  Put a small amount of mustard sauce on the sausage.  Serve immediately.

Flourless Chocolate Cake (makes about 10 cupcake sized cakes)
This cake is for the truly intrepid chocolate lover.  It's so dark that rays of light cannot escape it.  Proceed at your own peril.  This cake calls for a sweet-tart sauce to offset the extreme nature of the chocolate.  I've served it with a pineapple-champagne sauce and a raspberry sauce.  For some unknown reason, I did not make a sauce for Thanksgiving.  Anyway, these could not be easier to make, but they do require a little attention.  Finally, you can make this without the parchment paper trick, but it makes the removal from the pan much much easier after they are cooked, so I'd highly recommend doing it.

8oz. bittersweet chocolate chips (I like the 60% Ghirardelli chocolate chips if you just want to go to the supermarket)
1 stick of unsalted butter
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tspn sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

1.  Heat a double boiler until the water is hot, but not boiling.  If you do not have a double boiler, put 2 same-sized pots ontop of each other.  Fill the bottom pot with 1.5" of water (not enough to touch the bottom of the top pot), and heat the water until hot.  Leave the bottom pot on the heat.
2.  Put the butter and chocolate in the top part of the double boiler and melt together, stirring until smooth.  Take the top pot off the water and set aside so it cools slightly.
3.  Combine the eggs and sugar in a metal mixing bowl.
4.  Set the mixing bowl over the hot water and whisk vigorously until the eggs are warm and the sugar is dissolved.  This should take about 3 or 4 minutes.
5.  Using the whisk attachment on a stand mixer or a hand mixer, whisk the eggs on medium or medium-high speed until the eggs are cooled and tripled in volume.
6.  Preheat oven to 350.  While it is preheating, put a baking baking sheet with a high lipped edge (jelly roll pan) in the oven and fill it about halfway with water.
7.  Gently fold the cooled chocolate and whipped cream into the eggs until the mixture is very chocolate-y looking and well combined.  The key word is gently.
8.  Spray the cups of a cupcake pan with non-stick spray or rub generously with butter.  Cut 10 strips of parchment paper each about 3/4" wide and about 5" long.  Press the parchment strips into the buttered cups to that about 1" of the parchment comes out from above each cup.
9.  Take a ladle and fill each cup up about 3/4 full.
10.  Put the cupcake pan in the water-filled baking sheet in the oven.  Cook for 10 minutes.
11.  After 10 minutes, cover the pan with a sheet of foil and cook for 15-20 more minutes (probably closer to 15).  The tops should look shiny, but set.  Insert a toothpick into one.  If it comes out clean, you are ready to go.
12.  Take the cupcake pan out of the water and let it cool.  Once cool, pull out using the parchment paper ends.
13.  Dust with powdered sugar.  Do not refrigerate.

Here are some more pictures.