9/30/2008
Beet Salad
I had a marvelous beet salad at Insieme today, an understated Italian restaurant with a big reputation among food people in New York. The combination of yellow beets with oranges and salted, baked, hazelnuts was perfect, well matched with the slices of ricota salata on top. I will have to pair this with some pork, maybe, this weekend.
Alinea
The new Alinea cookbook was waiting for me at work today. I'm normally not one for these big coffee table cookbooks (more food po$n than food thought), but Alinea is so interesting that I felt I had to have it. Plus, at $31.50 from Amazon, it's a good deal for so many great photographs.
I've started to flip through it now. The first thing that struck me was Grant Achatz, the chef at Alinea, talking about El Bulli, in Spain (where Achatz spent a three day stage, or internship):
"It was almost as if I was on a different planet. There's nobody butchering meat, there's no veal stock simmering, there are no saute pans."
And this was a good thing?
I've started to flip through it now. The first thing that struck me was Grant Achatz, the chef at Alinea, talking about El Bulli, in Spain (where Achatz spent a three day stage, or internship):
"It was almost as if I was on a different planet. There's nobody butchering meat, there's no veal stock simmering, there are no saute pans."
And this was a good thing?
9/28/2008
Best grass-fed beef ever
We had the best grass-fed beef I've had in this country last night - an organic, grass fed filet from Citarella. So let's go over the caveats. Yes, it's from very far away. And yes, it's tenderloin, which I usually dislike. Oh, and it's expensive ($29.98 a pound).
But grass feeding and finishing lends the usually insipid tenderloin some new flavors, while the tenderloin gives you the latitude to cook the steak extremely rare, which helps the tenderloin. As for expensive, you only really need 12 ounces for two people - that is, about $20 bucks. Sure, that's a lot of money for a steak. But any entree in any restaurant we'd go to is more. So I poured the extra money into some excellent 2005 bordeaux instead.
* A quick note on cooking technique for steaks. I don't have any secrets. Just get a properly conductive pan really screaming hot with a little oil, open the windows and the fans, and let 'er rip. Turn the meat rarely, and let a proper crust develop. And make sure to let the meat rest when it comes out of the pan - the difference in the internal color (grey and flabby, without resting, and a consistent pink, with resting) and flavor is worth the five minutes of extra time.
But grass feeding and finishing lends the usually insipid tenderloin some new flavors, while the tenderloin gives you the latitude to cook the steak extremely rare, which helps the tenderloin. As for expensive, you only really need 12 ounces for two people - that is, about $20 bucks. Sure, that's a lot of money for a steak. But any entree in any restaurant we'd go to is more. So I poured the extra money into some excellent 2005 bordeaux instead.
* A quick note on cooking technique for steaks. I don't have any secrets. Just get a properly conductive pan really screaming hot with a little oil, open the windows and the fans, and let 'er rip. Turn the meat rarely, and let a proper crust develop. And make sure to let the meat rest when it comes out of the pan - the difference in the internal color (grey and flabby, without resting, and a consistent pink, with resting) and flavor is worth the five minutes of extra time.
Pimenton Redux
Pimenton with Halibut (or rather, halibut with pimenton, though the mistake is meaningful) turns out to be incredibly delicious. Not only does the deep red, smoky, spice give the fish an unexpected flavor, but the visuals of a pimenton laced halibut steak are terrific. We had the halibut, which I cooked on my griddle (if a plancha is good enough for restaurants, its good enough for me) with my usual fishy potato salad - boiled potatoes, mustard vinaigrette, sliced green onions, and parsley.
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