Restaurant Widow

Ingredient Study::Bresaola

Oh, how I love bresaola.  Even if you are unphotogenic - I can't think of when I've shot something so many times that I finally gave up and went with a sub par shot.  Sorry folks.  I've rarely met a cured meat product I didn't love, but there's something about bresaola.  I think it might have something to do with the difficulty associated with finding it (I'm shaking my fist at you, Giuseppe! why, why did you take it off the menu?!) Just when I was about to shell out $55 to buy it online, I stumbled upon it at Carfagana's.  Yes, two Carfagna's-related ingredient studies in 24 hours.  I just happened to have had a very successful venture there the other day.

So, what exactly is bresaola?  and how do you say it?  Just like it looks: bress-ay-OLE-uh, or, if you're from Jersey or a Sopranos cast member, it's breggh-UL (soft g, like george).  Anyone who, like my family growing up, has salt cured their own beef or venison, will be reminded of that over the top salty, gamey flavor.  Hailing from the Lombardy region of Italy (in the North), bresaola is made from the eye of round. (there's an American version, which you can find at Marcella's if you so desire, but it's ho hum at the very best).  The meat is salted and spiced, and then left to hang for a few months.  The resulting product is sliced paper-thin (in truth, the slices purchased at Carfagna's were a little too thick for my taste) like carpaccio.  The color is deeply red - almost black, and the flavor is gamey, salty, and meaty.  The aroma is slightly musky; the texture is silky. 

Bresaola is rather expensive - expect to pay anywhere from $22 (at Carfagna's) to $50 a pound and up (online various places, such as Dean & Deluca).  However, a little goes a long way, so it's worth the occasional splurge.

Because bresaola is very rich, it is well served when served very simply with contrasting ingredients, the most popular being a simple arugula salad.  A little drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil and a few lemon slices are also a nice balance. It makes a great little appetizer - simply arrange 3 slices on each plate.  Dress a little handful of arugula (aka rocket) with good extra virgin olive oil and salt and place on top.  Serve with lemon to squeeze over . Serve with some crusty bread and a few olives if desired.

Ingredient Study::White Anchovies

Lots of people hate anchovies.  As a matter of fact, in the restaurant business, I think I encounter more haters than lovers.  And there seems to be no in-between.  I think most people who hate anchovies only think they hate anchovies, either because it's been pounded into our collective American consciences, or because they've only had the hairy, brown, oil-pack anchovies (which have their own place).

First of all, some personal anchovy history.  While I have always enjoyed the flavor of anchovies, I also remained skeptical of eating the actual filets.  I just don't like the little tiny bones (which are full of calcium, by the way); they always seem to get stuck in your gums or throat, and for the rest of the day you're miserable.  Even now, when I use anchovies in a dish, I chop them crosswise, to ensure all of the bones have been cut into very small cross-sections.  Even the hairy little brown, oil-packed anchovies provide such a lovely, deeply savory flavor in dishes that I highly recommend you at least try them in something.  Here's a start.  Here's another.

But if you're still afraid of the hairy ones, I still think it's time you take another look at anchovies.  Specifically, white anchovies. I first became enamored of these little buggers when I fell in love with the Caesar salad at Basi Italia.  You see, these white anchovies have a similarly delicious anchovy flavor - although significantly less salty - of the hairy brown ones, but they have been filleted.  That's right!  No hair!  Furthermore, they aren't dessicated by being packed in oil and salt.  Instead, white anchovies are packed in white wine vinegar and olive oil, which gives them a pleasantly acidic flavor and, being boneless, they have a texture similar to a very soft canned trout.  I am very fond of eating these anchovies with crusty toast or croutons, or on top of lemon and olive oil-doused white beans - anything simple. 

Anchovies, by the way, are very good for you; they are full of omega 3 fatty acids.  Also, because they are small and reproduce rapidly, anchovies are a smart choice if you are concerned with overfishing.  Another benefit from eating smaller fish is smaller fish typically have lower levels of mercury contamination (because predatory fish gain mercury from the food they eat, in addition to the waters in which they swim).

So, let's all give anchovies another chance.  White anchovies can be a little difficult to find, but are used by many restaurants.  How about the next time you are served one, you at least try it with an open mind?  White anchovies can be purchased in bulk at Carfagna's, where they cost $10 a pound (in the prepared foods/olives section), which is actually cheaper than their typical cost canned (about $2-3 per 2 ounce tin).  Let's give unlovable things an opportunity to prove their worth, shall we?  You never know what you might discover about yourself.

Just Call Me the Happy Homemaker

Updated Wednesday with FoodSaver Model, below.

When I was a child, if you had told my mother - my saintly, longsuffering mother - that I would grow up to be someone who was interesting in preserving food, growing a garden, and hunting down heirloom tomato varieties, I am quite certain she would have laughed in your face.  I was, after all, a wild child - I think the term in those days was "strong willed" - a crazed bundle of nervous energy with, to put it kindly, an "artist's temperment."  I couldn't be bothered to learn to walk, read, or sew.  I steadfastly resisted learning to make my bed, clean my room, put my dirty clothes in the hamper (confidential to Mom & Sis: remember the story of the little girls who had to go to school in their nighties?).  Gardening?  Please!  That was too close to work!  I should mention that I still had to work in the garden, and I think I learned to like it at some point, because I do remember it fondly, and am glad for the education.  No, I was destined to be a lady of leisure, or a writer, I had an overactive imagination that kept me busy concocting long and intricate stories.  Oh, weird children.  At least we make interesting adults.

Why do I start here?  Well, to give hope to you parents.  Whenever I meet parents of wild kids - and I don't mean poorly reared brats, I mean naturally wild children - I always try to reassure them that their creative children will eventually grow up to be perfectly reasonable adults.  They might still be odd ducks, but they don't need to be medicated within an inch of their lives to make them mangeable.  They'll be fine.  Of course, to the parents of some of my friends, I might not be considered a "success," being that I have yet to cross that 6-figure income threshold, and don't wear a power suit to work every day.  Fortunately, I don't have those parents.  Oh, did I get too personal?  You know how I'm prone to digression.  Is digression a word?  Hold, please.  Yes, it is, indeed, a word.

All of this meandering to get to today's point.  I have purchased a FoodSaver.  And a freezer.  A big one.  (Husband cheerfully noted, whilst standing in Lowe's, that we could both fit into it if need be.  I'll try not to think of circumstances in which I might need to be frozen.)  This means, I can "put things by" (don't you just love archaic phrases?) and still be eating locally in the wintertime!  I'm giddy with the thought.  Husband is just happy because this means the freezer in our kitchen can be completely devoted to popsicles.  And gin.  So far, I love the FoodSaver.  I have to admit, I'm not really one to buy something which has previously been hawked on infomercials, but having been in the restaurant business for awhile, I know how nice a vaccuum sealer can be.  I have been vaccuuming anything willing to sit still and have the air sucked from it.  Croissants don't so well, just for the record, must use the "pulse" setting for that. 

Things which have been vaccuumed: goldfish crackers, coffee beans, bread, safety pins (just out of curiosity), aforementioned croissant,
Things which have been vaccuumed and frozen: green beans, sausages, berries of all manner (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries), cherries, peaches, broccoli, canned tomatoes, homemade stock, sweet corn, zucchini, baby squash, and a few ready-made entrees.

The nice thing about the foodsaver bags is they can be placed in boiling water.  So, I blanched sweet corn for 3 minutes, cut it from the cob, and put it in a bag with salt, pepper, and a pat of butter.  Then, on a dreary Tuesday sometime in February, I can put it in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes, cut open, and voila!  Instant side dish.  Same thing goes for the short ribs Husband made a few nights ago (recipe forthcoming). 

Dear FoodSaver: Please feel free to send me free freezer bags and other accessories, in exchange for free adverts.

If I buy a dehydrator, you'll know I've officially lost my mind. 

I bought this Tilla FoodSaver model at Costco.  I would recommend buying one with a "pulse" mode, especially for things which are juicy or easily crushed.  It cost $140, but came with 3 canisters and 2 rolls of bag material.  There is a similar model available at Target, which costs $170 but doesn't have the pulse feature or the canisters.  I think I paid about $40 for 8 rolls of bag material at Costco at the same time, 2 rolls of 8 inch wide bags, and 6 rolls of 11 inch "bags."  This is way cheaper than the bags at Target.  You can also use bags made by competing brands of vaccuum sealers.  I hope that helps!

File Under::Things to Make You Fell Better

The truth is, some days are harder than others. 

This morning I decided to pretend I was Vietnamese for a day and start the day off with a big steaming bowl of pho ga, dosed with giant lashings of sriracha and garlic chili paste until it was so spicy my nose was running.  If it gets too spicy, you can dip the occasional bite in some hoison.  Something starts to happen with you're heating spicy chicken noodle soup.  I don't know if it's myth or fact, but spice causes pain; pain causes a flood of endorphins to be released in your brain, endorphins make you happy and calm, and, if you're eating something really spicy, sometimes this pleasant euphoria will overcome you.  There's something zen to sitting alone, outside in the cool summer morning, spoon in one hand, chopsticks in another, slurp sip, slurp sip, wipe nose (if your nose isn't running, you're not doing it right).  It's like prescription-free Xanax.  And so I am grateful to you, Lac Viet, for helping to soothe my soul:
 
And now that you've calmed the beastie inside, something to smooth that burning tongue.  A nice Mango smoothie from Bubbles:

The breakfast of champions.

Info: Lac Viet & Bubbles Tea & Juice Company can both be found the Columbus' North Market, at 59 Spruce Street (Short North/Arena District)

Lake Erie Creamery Cheese

Last Saturday at the Market, a little stack of cheeses in the case of Curds & Whey caught my eye, but I had just purchased some Oakvale Gouda, so I resisted.  This past Saturday (click the link to see pictures of the packing), however, I had to try it out.  I had a nice little chat with purveyor Mike Kast about the state of soft cheeses - especially those from France - and how they seems to have this bizarre plastic-y texture sometimes.  He told me this is a result of stabilizers being added to the cheese for export; this Ohio cheese has no stabilizers, keeping its texture true to a traditionally soft, bloomy cheese.

This Lake Erie Creamery Goat's Milk "Blooma" (Brie style) has a soft, velvety exterior (the bloomy part, the beneficial white mold which grows on the outside of many soft cheeses) which encloses a ring of aged, rich cheese, which surrounds a paste which has a texture reminiscent of other goat cheeses - kind of dry but pleasantly rich.  The cheese is delightfully salty (most of which is concentrated in the rind; while I prefer to eat the rind, some might choose not to) which almost demands a side of fruit spread for balance (we had it with baguettes from Omega Bakery and fresh Rhoades Farms strawberries).

All in all, this artisan goat's milk Blooma is so good, it made me wonder why we don't have more people producing great cheeses here in Ohio.  It's not like we don't have enough cows to go around.

Lake Erie Creamery also makes a traditional soft chevre as well, a tangy spreadable cheese which is fantastic with Mediterranean accompaniments such as olives, hummus and tomatoes.

Info:  Lake Erie Creamery Goat's Milk Chevre and Blomma are available locally at Curds & Whey in the North Market (59 Spruce St, just West of High Street in the Short North/Convention Center area).

Let's Break for Cake

Cake seems as good a reason to break from Living the Pyramid, and today I'd like to talk about one of my favorite bakeries, Ichiban bakery in Kenny Centre.  Unlike the over-the-top flavors of eggs and butter in European-style bakeries, Japanese baked goods tend to be far lighter, and focussed on clean, simple flavors such as green tea or fruit.  Whereas you might look at a slice of cake this big covered in buttercream and think "yum" and "ugh" at the same time, there's little trouble downing a slice of this ethereally light cake from Ichiban.  Their strawberry cake is hands-down my favorite cake for my birthday (and I even got one this year, thanks!).  Featured in the picture above (L-R) are green tea, strawberry, and mocha flavors.  While I was in the store, they also had raspberry mousse and an unbelievably purple blueberry variety.  The cakes, which feature a light whipped cream frosting, are perfect for those who don't like anything too sweet, as they are never overwhelming.

Besides their great layer cakes, Ichiban has a wide range of cookies, crisps, and roll cakes, not to mention a large selection of savory baked goods as well, such as the fat steamed pork buns I also brought home (which, sadly, didn't photograph very well).  This pork bun is so good, you'll probably never buy another frozen one.  And it is a steal at 80 cents.  They also have what seem to be the Japanese bakery requisite hot dog buns and corn and ham buns. 

Info:  Ichiban Bakery 1157 Kenny Centre on the Northwest side (Kenny & Old Henderson) 614.459.1688

Balsamic Vinegar Primer

I frequently call for "good" balsamic vinegar in recipes, such as my Sausage & Cranberry Bean Risotto the other day - its mildly sweet, acidic bite is a nice foil to rich dishes - and I thought it was worth discussing the meaning of "good" balsamic.  There are basically two categories of balsamic - true, traditional balsamic and balsamic condiment.  Both come from Modena, Italy (part of the Emilia Romagna region, in central northern Italy)  Most basically, balsamic vinegar is made from the juice of wine grapes.  The juice is boiled until reduced - concentrating the sugar - and is then aged in a series of different barrels, each made from a different type of wood (such as oak, juniper, and cherry) and each progressively smaller.  The barrels are subjected to extreme weather conditions which cause the sugars to concentrate and amino acids to react and form "aroma molecules more commonly found in roasted and browned foods," (Harold McGee's On Food & Cooking).  As the vinegar evaporates in the barrel, it is replenished with vinegar from the next youngest barrel.  The finished product comes from the oldest barrel, and true, traditional balsamic vinegar must average 12 years in barrel.  This labor-intensive process, and the fact that it takes somewhere around 70 pounds of grapes to produce 1 cup of vinegar, means true traditional balsamic comes with a very high price tag.  Always.  There's simply no way around it.  You can expect to pay over $30 an ounce for the traditional classification.  This kind of balsamic should be used sparingly, drop by drop, over strawberries, chunks of good Parmesan cheese, and even over ice cream.  It's cost makes it prohibitive for most people, and this is why, when I talk about "good balsamic," I am talking about good balsamic condiment.

The balsamic condiment category, used in everyday cooking, is less labor-intensive than the traditional balsamic category; the vinegar is aged for less time, has less viscosity, the flavor has less character, and most of what you find is completely awful.  There is simply no cheap balsamic vinegar which is worth consuming.  Its only possible usage is to be cooked down to a syrup, but even that is shady and should only be done in a pinch, or when the balsamic is added during cooking for an acid balance, rather than to shine on its own. 

For our kitchen, the cheapest option I use is Giusti balsamic condiment.  The Giusti house is hundreds of years old and still uses traditional methods to make their balsamics, and they have a large range of good-quality, well-made products all the way from 4 year ($11) balsamic condiments to traditional, 12 year balsamics (around $80).  Their 6 Year Balsamic condiment (pictured above) runs around $13 and can be purchased locally at Carfagna's on 161 and at a few of the vendors in the North Market.  It makes a great drizzling balsamic without breaking the bank, has a good viscosity considering its youth, and has a nice, rich balsamic flavor.  Traditional balsamics can also be purchase at Carfagna's as well as Pastaria Seconda in the North Market.

I am not trying to be a snob here, but there is simply no place for grocery store brands of factory-produced balsamic vinegar.  You might as well skip the step rather than use a cheap imitation which is made with red wine vinegar enhanced with sugar and caramel color. 

I hope this helped dispel some of the mystery surrounding balsamic vinegar.  In addition to the local sources I've mentioned, Amazon has a great selection of Giusti Balsamic Productsas well. 

So Just What do I do With All Those Parmesan Rinds?

I work in a restaurant which uses a lot of Parmesan cheese.  We get the good stuff,  the kind which costs a lot in the grocery store or cheese shop.  Our line cooks shred pounds of Parmesan cheese every week, and about once a week, I beg for the Parmesan rinds, or "Parm butts," as we lovingly refer to them at work.  People are always asking me why.

There are a few reasons. As we all know, wholesale beats out Whole Foods anyday, so I try to be as enterprising (read: cheap) as possible when it comes to this precious comodity.  Our cooks use a coarse grater, and are on a time constraint.  At home, I use a fine grater for light, fluffy shreds, and have more time to devote to my grating.  As a result, I can get a lot of mileage from the cheese they leave behind. 

But more than that, Parmesan rinds make a delicious addition to any number of things after all usable cheese has been grated from within: they are wonderful added to soups and stocks, they in fact make their own delicious stock when poached slowly, and they are also a great enhancer to all sorts of tomato sauces.  Just throw the rind in and pluck it out before serving or canning.  The flavor is subtle yet wonderful - it isn't overtly cheesy, just as Parmesan itself isn't overtly cheesy - it's rich, salty, savory and satisfying.  Some might call this Umami.

Which brings me to my finer point: using typical Lisa logic with no concrete scientific evidence to support my theory, I believe Parmesan makes everything taste so wonderful because it contains large quantities of naturally occuring MSG - the largest occuring naturally, I believe.  Now, don't freak out on me, folks.  Your body loves MSG so much it creates it on its own - it also occurs in large quantities in breast milk.

So what have we learned today?  Don't throw away those Parmesan rinds!  They are very useful.  You can acutally purchase them at Whole Foods, by the way, just in case you don't have unlimited access to them as I do - not in the regular cheese section but in the cheese cooler where they have the "lesser" pre-packaged cheeses.  Happy eating!

Pom Iced Tea in Cool Reusable Glass with Lid

Congratulations, Pom Lychee flavored Iced Tea.  Your slick packaging ensured I would part with $2.79 on something I would typically never purchase (premade iced tea).  The good news is, this "keepsake glass," as they call it, comes with a neat little lid, so you can put it by your bed at night and no cat hair will float in.  Brilliant.  It's worth every penny.  Oh, and the tea is pretty good, too, although I like the blackberry version better.  You can buy your very own at Sunflower Market (now open on Bethel road at Sawmill; much bigger than the campus store).

CSA & Market Report for October 6th

The morning started out cool - I spent the 10 minutes before leaving the house searching in vain for a scarf - but it ended up being quite a lovely day.  I got to Worthington by 8:30 and there was not a crowd to be seen; it was a little sad, no one was enjoying breakfast on the patio of La Chatelaine, I had to begin to ask the farmers how much longer they thought they would be coming to market; the season is coming to a close.  Just for the record, the Worthington Market will continue until October 28th; many of the farmers I spoke with intended to stay until the end as long as the weather was nice.  The North Market may continue another week longer, with several farmers I spoke with remaining only a few more weeks; for a few farmers, this past week was it.

That isn't to say there was nothing to buy!  The nice thing about things which grow this time of year is they tend to last awhile - hardy squash, garlic and onions, potatoes - it's time to think about stocking up for the winter.  At Garden Patch Produce, I bought a few staples - onions, lots and lots of garlic, and some nice Italian sweet peppers (in our house, this means pasta for lunch every day):

I could hardly pass up the display of cauliflower (pictured at the top of the post) at Wishwell Farms, they were beautiful.  They also supplied some nice redskin potatoes:

 
I stopped by Zemnicki for some apple cider (the very taste of Fall), broccoli and leeks; they also had lovely tiny little cauliflower heads but a girl can only eat so much in a week.  I bought a quart of the fleeting and delicious Fall season strawberries from Crum's Strawberry farm.  They are unbelievably sweet and tiny:

My CSA box this week contained carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, squash, eggs, red bell peppers, lettuces, and greens (mustard/Swiss chard mix); I also bought a few more of those lovely carnival squash and some scallions.

I stopped by Toby Run Growers to have one of my last boxes of shitake mushrooms for the winter, and breezed through Dearsman farms for some more Brussels Sprouts - and yes, they were selling them either on the stalk or in a box, $2.50 either way.  There's still time to convince yourself they're delicious!

I have so many things on the slate to cook this week I don't know how we'll find the time to enjoy everything!  I still have a few things from last week I haven't told you about, and I am in the process of reviewing a great Columbus restaurant (last week it was great, we'll see how it goes tomorrow night); I have new beer to tell you about, and we're about to get back into baking season!

Get out there and enjoy the fall color!