Restaurant Widow

Ingredient Study::Black Garlic

 

 

 A few months ago, I received an email from a produce importer suggesting I try black garlic. My contact from Frieda's said black garlic had been compared to such ingredients as balsamic vinegar.

Let's backtrack for a bit.  What is black garlic?  Black garlic is fermented regular garlic, just as soy sauce and black bean sauce are.  Fermentation is a natural process where sugar is converted to acid (vinegar) or alcohol (beer!).  One of the most delicious results of fermentation is lactic acid.  Bacteria create lactic acid in vegetables which are pickled, and milk which is cultured (among other things).

Fermentation occurs naturally - with a bit of help - and has been used for thousands of years to preserve food.  I'm no scientist, but my understanding of fermentation is encouraging "good" bacteria to take over and transform our food into something edible before "bad" bacteria get hold and destroy everything.

Without fermentation, we would probably have died out a long time ago, because it sustained mankind during periods of drought, famine, seafaring, and plain old wintertime.

The result of fermentation is frequently a mouth-watering savory, sweet, and pleasant flavor; it can also be savory and have the aroma of gym socks and the texture of slime mold (in the case of natto).

Fermented garlic has the better qualities of fermentation; the process mellows out the pungency of raw garlic and creates a spreadable, sweet condiment which practically defines umami (the flavor of savory deliciousness).

So, what to do with this little treat?  I found it wonderful spread on butter toast and added to simple pasta sauces (especially creamy or buttery ones).  It seems particularly well-suited to anything containing cheese and cream, and would make a very lovely flavoring agent for vegetarian dishes, as it can be difficult to get that rich, meaty taste without the use of actual meat.

One of my favorite applications was in soup.  I make a rich and hearty chicken broth loaded with black garlic in addition to the usual mirepoix (onions, carrots, celery).  I strained them out before serving, but they added an amazing depth of flavor to the soup; something which would be undetectable as an individual component, but rather an undefinable deliciousness.  (Okay, i've used deliciousness twice now, meaning you will probably begin to doubt the validity of my claim.) The garlic also added a great dark brown color to the usually pale chicken soup.  At the suggestion of one of my Tweeps, I made herbed dumplings for the soup and it was tasty indeed.  I'll write about it sometime soon.

Black garlic gets its color from the transformation of the amino acids.  Because of its incredibly high antioxidant content, black garlic has been used for years as a health food until someone from the culinary world discovered its usage!

Black garlic is available the Hills Market, Weiland's, and Big Bird stores.  You can usually find it in the garlic and shallot portion of the produce section.  It comes in a little black plastic packet.  It will last for a very long time as long as it isn't exposed to too much moisture; I keep the little silicone packet which comes with it, and store them together in a zip-top container after opening.  

Sources: California Black Garlic, Frieda's Specialty Produce, Wise Geek, HealthMad.

 

  

In the Case of Gustatory Indescretions

This might be one of the most romantic pictures ever taken of an antacid.  I'm not sure exactly what makes Brioschi so effective, but it is amazing.  Just in case you eat too much, or eat things you know will give you heartburn - like the half loaf of homemade bread I ate this morning - Brioschi will come to your rescue.  Locally you can find it at Carfagna's market (161 just east of I 71) and at some Giant Eagle stores.  It looks rather silly and tastes awful but it works wonders.  I add a little lemon juice and simple syrup to the concoction to make it a pinch more palatable.

My First Tee!

Okay, green is probably not the best color to print a sweet pea upon, but green is my color...I went to Skreened today to pick up my shirt and I got to see it printed before my very eyes!  Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera or my phone on me to docment the process.  But very soon, I'll be getting some tote bags printed, so I think I'll do it them.

Get your own!

Attention Foodies with iPhones

I received this press release today and thought it sounded like a pretty cool application.

Pocket Cocktails and Easy Recipes Now Available for iPhone
and iPod Touch

(MMD Newswire) December 2, 2008 - - Impressive holiday
entertaining made possible with help from Pocket Cocktails and
Easy Recipes. With everyone feeling the pinch on the economy,
entertaining at home is an economical way to entertain. Style
doesn_t have to be skimped on. By using Pocket Cocktails and
Easy Recipes, it is possible to give guests a gourmet restaurant
experience at home for significantly less and stay on budget.

Pocket Cocktails and Easy Recipes have a retro 1960's theme
and use beautiful, large, high resolution pictures and incorporate
many trendy iPhone features including the integrated graphics
and navigation features that the iPhone is famous for. This
seamless integration of visuals and content provides a fast,
engaging and entertaining user experience. Pocket Cocktails is
available for $4.99 at Apple's iPhone application store, iTunes or
at www.pocketcocktails.com . Easy Recipes is available
exclusively at Apple's iPhone application store for free. Visit
www.pocketcocktails.com for a video overview for Pocket
Cocktails. All images, recipes and ingredient_s lists are stored
locally on the iPhone, no need for internet connection, yet another
reason to have the convenience of an iPhone. With ingredients
built into the application, grocery shopping becomes a
stress-free experience for time pressed shoppers.

Creating a gourmet experience at home for a lot less is easy with
Easy Recipes. Short on cash not a problem. No need to break
the bank to entertain in style. Make it a team effort. By using Easy
Recipes to divide recipes up among guests and create an
interesting sampling of starters, sides, main dishes and desserts.
Get creative with hosting a Holiday Open House, an intimate
dinner party, a potluck party or a cocktail party with starters or
host an unconventional but much needed Holiday recovery party
in January.

Pocket Cocktails is the newest application of its kind. Unlike other
bartending and cocktail applications which are mostly text
based, Pocket Cocktails uses gorgeous, large, high resolution
pictures. It also has a fun "shaker" feature that selects cocktails at
random.

About the creators of Pocket Cocktails and Easy Recipes:
The applications were produced by a couple who love to
entertain: Robert Maran, the developer and computer book
packager teamed with Deidra Jones, a veteran of the advertising
industry. Together they worked day and night to create these
amazing applications just in time for the holiday party season.

Media Contact:
Deidra Jones
Website: http://www.pocketcocktails.com

Thurns Ham Salad

I know ham salad sounds so quaint and retro - I have visions of ham salad on toast points, perhaps with a pimento-stuffed green olive garnishing the top, at a party in the 50s.  But the other day while I was shopping at Thurns, a man came in and said his family had recently developed an addiction to the ham salad, and so I thought "maybe I should get some, too." So, forget everything you know about ham salad, because this is Thurns we're talking about, and they wouldn't do anything without making it amazing, even ham salad.

I'm putting up this weird recipe and picture to prove that a) the options at Thurns are endless and b) I will put a fried egg on anything.  I had this idea yesterday, and Husband and I ate these open-faced sandwiches and both came to the conclusion later on that what they needed were some raw onions.  So today, when I made one for myself for lunch, I added the raw onion and then went to a meeting where even brushing my teeth twice and 5 Altoids probably didn't save me from reeking of said raw onions (sorry)...

This ham salad is really, really rich - just as with lots of things at Thurns, meaning they always do well with a nice acidic counterpoint such as pickles, onions, Dijon mustard, you get the idea.  It is also really nice and smoky and generally really tasty.  You should try it.

Here's the sandwich: toast 2 slices of bread.  Slather one with really good Dijon mustard (Fallot is my mustard of choice, best price locally is the Anderson's general store) and spread with ham salad.  Top with slices of raw onion (if you use a sweet local onion, you probably won't breathe onion breath all over your coworkers/loved ones/etc) and top that with fried eggs.  Top the other piece of toast with butter (preferably homemade) and use to sop up any runny yolks.  Sprinkle over some freshly cracked pepper.  You should probably not talk about this sandwich with your cardiologist.

Hawaiian Purple Sweet Potatoes

Pretty much every time I see something I've never encountered before, I feel immediately compelled to buy it and tell you all about it.

And so it happened that yesterday I was shopping at Tensuke market, and stumbled upon these purple "Hawaiian" sweet potatoes.  One had been cut in half for display, and I was powerless to resist purchasing a package of them (about 4 small potatoes for $2, enough for 2 servings).

As a general rule, purple fruits and veggies are very, very good for you, containing an antioxident known as anthocyanin, also found in blueberries.  These are intensely purple, almost instantly turning the cooking water really purple (see below) - so pretty you want to drink it!  On further thought, you might retain more of the antioxidants by steaming them rather than boiling, but that's a note for next time.  In addition to being full of antioxidants, these potatoes are a good source of fiber and potassium.

After a little research, I discovered that these potatoes are also called Okinawan potatoes - - , as they are native to Okinawa.  So it would seem funny that they would be called Hawaiian at a Japanese grocery store.  But, who am I to judge or question?

I brought these sweet potatoes right home, peeled them, and boiled them in salted water for about 12 minutes until they were soft, and then tasted them plain.  They are very good - very sweet and rich, with a dry, almost crumbly texture.  I added just a pinch of chicken stock and a little salt and ate them just like that, and then started thinking of how good they would be as dessert.  So I'm going to eat the second serving drizzled with a little maple syrup. 

I think you should try these if you ever see them for sale.  If nothing else, they make a great conversation starter and I am sure kids would get a kick out of eating something which looks like purple Play-doh!

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)