Jerk Beef on Sweet Potato Chips

For as much as I cook and bake, I don't get the chance to make too many appetizers. I'm not one to hold a party where I whirl around the room with hors d'oeuvres on a silver platter. And when I'm invited to such a soiree, I usually bring tasty baked goods. On this occasion, though, I really wanted to try something new and different.

Jerk Beef on Sweet Potato Chips
Makes 40 servings. Adapted from Gourmet magazine.

Ingredients
1 beef tenderloin
2 tsp jerk seasoning paste
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp cocktail onions, rinsed
1/3 cup cilantro
40 sweet potato chips (or plantain chips)

Directions
Quarter beef tenderloin lengthwise and pat dry. Season with 1/4 tsp salt and rub all over with jerk paste.

Heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beaf and sear on all sides, 4-5 minutes total. Remove from pan and let rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes. Cut crosswise into 1/2" slices.

Finely chop onions and cilantro together. Top sweet potato chips with beef, then onion and cilantro. Arrange on a platter and serve.


These delightful bites were quite a success. The sweet potato provides a sturdy base for the savory piece of beef. The meet is bookended by the vinegary onion and the sweet chip. Plus a little cilantro never hurts. These little mouthfuls have all the flavor components you need for a well-rounded amuse bouche.

Carnegie Deli - NYC

The adventures in New York City continue! I love immersing myself in the cultural traditions of whatever area I visit. Even with all of the various cultural influences in any metropolis, there are some foods that are decidedly New York. One restaurant that I love to visit that serves a classic NYC menu is The Carnegie Deli. This eatery is nearly three-quarters of a century old, but the food is as fresh and tasty as you'll find anywhere in Manhattan. This restaurant is a typical New York-style deli with obvious Jewish influences (matzoh balls and knishes are proudly displayed at the long to-go service counter). They keep the food straightforward (simple is too, well, simplistic) but never compromise on flavor.

After sitting at our table in the middle of the hustle and bustle of a Sunday morning, we perused the menu for a while, trying to find the one thing we would order among the myriad of deletable possibilities. If they ever invent a bottomless stomach, it would make choices like this so much easier. Meanwhile, piles of sliced meats kept passing our table and immense cakes spinning in a cooler case were visible from my seat, a prelude of tastes to come.


After you order, a huge pile of pickles appears at the table. These Kosher dills are beautifully pickled, not as much as the ones in the store. They are perfectly crisp but packed with garlic acidity. Pickles at 11am does not usually sound like a good idea, but it's hard not to partake. When in Rome...


Unlike most restaurants, this deli does not attempt to have all entrees reach the table at the same time. If you order one of their sandwiches, it will be out faster than you can spell "gefilte fish." They slice the hot deli meats to order. I ordered hot pastrami on rye, which was about 5-6 inches tall in the middle of the sandwich. Most of the sandwiches passing by were combinations of hot pastrami and corned beef that were twice as thick as mine, but I decided to get the "lite" version. The meat was sumptuously warmed and just melted in your mouth from the marbled fat throughout. I had to eat half the meat with a fork, but that was not a problem. If you make food tasty enough, it does not matter how you have to eat it. Once the sandwich was manageable, I applied a smidge of deli mustard to the bread and devoured this hand-held wonder in short order.


The other entree we ordered which came out about 10 minutes after the sandwich was a trio of blintzes. This breakfast fare is a little like a sweet burrito. The shell is very thin and a bit crispy. The innards can be a variety of flavors and we selected cheese (a sweetened ricotta-like cheese filling) and strawberry (tasted more fresh than the saccharine berry gel you buy at the store). Both types had an amazing flavor that really is a must if you've never tried them.


As if all that was not enough, I was not going to leave without some dessert. While the Carnegie Deli's sandwiches and entrees are awesome, they have some of my favorite New York-style cheesecake in all of Manhattan. Cheesecakes come in many flavors, but the major difference between them all is texture. Some are more gritty from the incorporation of ricotta. Others are very dense (a la Cheesecake Factory) or crumbly. But in New York, you find the richest, creamiest, dreamiest cheesecake known to mankind. The Carnegie Deli makes cheesecakes in this traditional fashion, even including some fruit on top in case you need some antioxidants. It is hard to describe just how astonishingly creamy this cheesecake is, but it's almost like eating a block of sweetened, flavored cream cheese. The crust is tender enough to add a little different texture to the cake, but it does not distract you from the goods in the center of your slice. The deli sells cheesecakes from 6" to 12" in a few different flavors. They will even ship the cheesecakes overnight to anywhere in the country. The next time I'm in the mood, I might do this instead of going all the way to New York for a slice.

The Carnegie Deli is a wonderful experience that showcases New York's traditional food offerings. Like many institutions on the island, the walls are covered with signed photographs of various celebrities (we had Bret "Hitman" Hart watching over us during our meal). The restaurant is open from 6:30am until 4am and it can get quite busy during peak hours. Try to find an off time to go if you don't want to wait in line. And you can always arrange for a Carnegie Deli package to come to you via Fed-Ex.

To Loukoumi - Astoria, NYC

New York City abounds with different cultural heritages. It's a city comprised of some hundreds of neighborhoods where immigrants from all of the world have built their homes in the New World. I found out that Astoria in Queens has it's own Greek area, so we took the Metro to where it ends on Astoria Boulevard, and walked east on Ditmars Boulevard to see what we could find. There was a definite Greek presence, but it was hard to decide on which restaurant would be authentic without overcharging us tourists. We walked east past a few overcrowded eateries until we came upon To Loukoumi.

The restaurant gets its name from sweet, chewy candies like Turkish delight, but the word has also come to mean "tasty," which is a good descriptor for all of their food. The menu avoids common dishes such as gyros in favor of authentic dishes that you don't find at your local Pita Pit. Everything you can imagine is on the menu, including saganaki (flambeed cheese) and chargrilled octopus. I was sad I could only fit so much food in my stomach because there were a number of dishes I wanted to try.


I could not decide on just one item from the extensive menu, so I ordered a selection of dips, served with fresh, warm pita bread points. On the left is skordalia, a thick garlic dip that just sings and begs to be spread on almost every piece of food that goes into your mouth. In the back is melitzanosalata, made from eggplant. Some unexpected sweetness came out of the earthy, smokey taste of this delicious dip. On the right is one of my favorites and what is seen as the most popular dip in Greek-American food - tzatziki. A combination of yogurt, shredded cucumber, garlic, lemon, and some other spices make a cool, refreshing, and astonishingly flavorful dip that is good on all sorts of pita sandwiches and meats. Lastly, in the foreground of the picture, is a spread made out of orange fish roe. This final dip tasted more like a smoked fish spread than I expected and was a delectable, salty counter to the other flavors.


The entree we ordered was ground chicken formed into these patties, then grilled. It reminded me of a flat meatball or a slice of meatloaf in some ways. The patties contained feta and some other unknown spices that really made it stand out. I'll admit that chicken patty does not sound that outstanding, but these were flavorful and moist, so what more could you ask for? On the side are sauteed dandelion greens which are like a hearty sauteed spinach.


It was a quiet evening in the restaurant and after we paid the check we were just about ready to head back to Manhattan when one of the owners approached our table and struck up a conversation. She, like her staff, was very pleasant and even convinced us to try some Greek coffee, free of charge. Like many Mediterranean cultures, this coffee is small, strong and sweet. The coffee is poured over sugar at a temperature that caramelizes the sugar and adds an interesting flavor to the coffee. Just don't drink too deep or you might hit some of the bitter grounds at the bottom.

While we were enjoying our coffee, the proprietor brought us a plate of Greek yogurt with blueberries, peaches and honey. We ate it so fast I did not have time to take a picture, but it was very delicious and a light end to a wonderful meal.

After talking with the owner for a while longer about the area, her family and some of the history of the restaurant, we left with stomachs full of good food and hearts content from good conversation. If you plan on visiting the Greek area of Astoria, go past the overcrowded standard restaurants for a couple more blocks to find this out-of-the-way, but worth-the-trip tavern.

Salty Potatoes

Boil the potatoes. It's a very easy step, common to many recipes. Mashed potatoes, home fries, gnocchi. They all can involve boiling. But what if you just boil the potatoes? That's it. No other preparation involved. Sounds pretty bland and boring, right? Sounds like a Depression-era meal like lettuce soup. Believe it or not, you can make a delicious side dish or even an appetizer by simply boiling potatoes.


The preparation for this dish is so simple, I won't even bother typing it into proper recipe format. Start with some potatoes (obviously). I used Yukon Golds because I feel they have a sweeter, more interesting taste than some of the other varieties. You can use as many or as few as you want, though smaller potatoes work better for this than the larger ones. I ended up with about 4 pounds worth of different sizes. Put the potatoes in a large, heavy pot (the wider the bottom the better). Fill the pot with water to just cover the potatoes. Place the pot on the stove. To this, pour in enough salt so that the water starts to look murky (between 1 and 2.5 cups). Bring the salt water to a boil and cook the potatoes until they are tender. You can remove smaller potatoes ahead of larger ones if they finish cooking first. Drain the potatoes in a colander.


As the potatoes dry, some of the salt from the water crystallizes on the outside, giving them a very thin, dusty-looking crust. Melt some butter in a saucepan or in the microwave as a sauce for dipping and you are good to go. It is easy to eat thees potatoes as a side, but you could easily serve them as a finger food at a barbecue or tapas party.

This simple preparation allows the potatoes to stand as the feature. Very often, potatoes act as a medium for other flavors like sour cream and chives, garlic, and spices. Allowing the salt to form a second skin on the outside of these tubers prevents them from being bland. Then you can taste the subtle potato flavors. You can easily dress this up a bit more by changing out the dipping sauce, perhaps by adding smoked paprika to the butter or using a buttermilk-ranch dressing, pesto, or homemade ketchup. But don't try to overwhelm these humble spuds. They do a lot of work for us on a daily basis, so let them have their time to shine.

Bagel Dogs

Perusing the blogosphere, I came across a food item that immediately threw me back to my childhood. All of a sudden, I was sitting on a barstool at the counter in my mom's kitchen, legs swinging, patiently waiting for one of my favorite treats to heat up. The chime on the microwave goes off to let me know that delightful deliciousness is imminent. My mom opens the microwave, retrieves my treat, turns around and presents me with a delicious, poppy seed-dusted bagel dog. Scientifically- or mathematically-speaking, the greatness of bagel does is not an additive effect of the ingredients, but rather the effect is exponential. In other words, hot dog = good, bagel = good, bagel dog = magnificent (instead of doubly good). The chewiness of the bagel adds far more interest to the dog than a mere bun ever could. Based on this attack of nostalgia, you can imagine how excited I was to find a recipe for these beauties fromFood People Want.


Instead of copying the recipe, I will outline the basic steps in making a bagel dog. Food People Want has all of the measurements and details just right, so no need to reinvent the wheel. First, you make the dough. My dough hook failed to help me knead the dough, so I got my hands dirty and finished the job. The dough rises and gets punched down (one of my favorite parts of making bread). You cut the dough into 12 strips and wrap them around the dogs. I would recommend keeping the wrapping a little tight, especially being sure to secure the ends. The dough rises again around the hot dogs. Then you put the dogs into simmering water for a minute so they'll puff up. Bagels are made in this way too. I'm assuming it's this step that makes sure the end product is especially chewy. Lastly, you sprinkle on your toppings and put the dogs into the oven for about a half hour.


I used Hebrew National hot dogs and some feta-spinach chicken sausages for my bagel dogs. On top are sesame seeds, herbs and dried garlic and, of course, poppy seeds. My bread-baking abilities are still at the novice stage, but this recipe came out perfectly. The bagel was the perfect texture, creating a cushiony blanket around the hot dogs. I would recommend using tubed meats without skin. It was not always a problem, but sometimes it was difficult to get through the bagel and the dog in one bite. The best part is this recipe made 12 bagel dogs that freeze and reheat exceedingly well. I will be eating these portable edibles for at least the next week, and my inner child can't stop smiling.

4th of July & Buttercream Flowers - 7/5/2009

Happy Independence Day, everyone! I hope everyone had a filling and safe 4th of July. I realized this year it's strange that on one of the days near the peak of the summer heat, we spend the day cooking in front of a grill and lighting fireworks. It seems we like to celebrate the birth of our nation by sweating all day long. Anyways, here's what I whipped up for a small gathering of my classmates.


As a simple appetizer, I made Muhammara. Instead of a perennial dip like spinach-artichoke or hummus, I chose the road less travelled which happens to run through Syria, the birthplace of this dip. It's primary constituents are roasted red peppers and walnuts with some cumin as the primary spice. The overall consistency is more like a thick paste, but it can be thinned down if need be. Not only is the dip easy, it's just different flavors that I think take your taste buds by surprise. So ditch the old dips and slip your chip into this tip and you'll be licking your lips.


I did not manage to take individual pictures of the main course and side items, but everything worth mentioning is on my plate (go figure). I like to run my parties as potlucks so I'm not left doing all of the cooking. This also prevents me from going overboard and preparing too much food for the occasion. So the main items to focus on are the burger and the cornbread. The pork burgers feature an apricot-chipotle mayonnaise that really livened up its flavor. The mayo has a sweetness balanced by a subtle, smokey heat that helps to counter the fattiness of the mayonnaise. If you prefer your pork well-done, be sure to not overcook it so that it becomes to dry. Not even mayonnaise can save it then.

These burgers met with critical acclaim, but the biggest smash of the main course was the cornbread. A little birdie gave me the idea, which I thought was absolutely genius: corn dog bread. Who doesn't love a corn dog? But who needs to go through the hassle of skewering and frying all those wieners when you can merely slip them into your favorite cornbread recipe? I love to keep everything a surprise, and this side item pretends to be normal cornbread until you cut into it. Then it's Crouching Hot Dog, Hidden Deliciousness comes to the forefront. I had to stop myself from eating the entire pan's-worth because it had all of my favorite elements of corn dogs, only in smaller pieces. I would definitely recommend this very simple twist on a fair food classic for pretty much any excuse you can find to make it. July 4th? Yes. Birthday? Sure. Monday? Why not?


Since the grill was already heated up, why not a grilled dessert. The great thing about fibrous fruits like pineapple and stonefruit is that they hold up well on a grill. Grill marks look great on almost everything, and they help to caramelize the sugars in the fruit. Plus warm pineapple puts cold pineapple to shame. On top of this great base is drizzled a diluted Nutella sauce, then dollops of a vanilla-infused mascarpone. You can also throw on some toasted hazelnuts to really finish it all off. Giada may not look it, but she knows her way around a dessert.


My favorite dessert, though, is this watermelon sorbet. I took Alton Brown's recipe and infused it with some Martha Stewart inspiration. While making the sorbet, I remembered some flavors she used on some fresh watermelon a few years back, so I dropped the vodka (I don't know why you'd really need it anyways since it would drop the melting temperature) and added some honey and a healthy dose of freshly grated ginger. The ginger kick helped give the watermelon a surprising bite so that it wasn't just sweet melon with more sugar then frozen. I attempted a nice display in a watermelon rind, but my scooping does need a little work. Presentation not withstanding, this sorbet was the runaway hit for our desserts without being too overbearing.


On a different note, cake class this week was how to make frosting flowers. Pictured above are a plain, simple swirl, a daffodil (my best was still not very realistic), a rose, a sunflower, and a hyacinth with leaves. My favorite were the hyacinth since they were the easiest to make, yet the most amazing to look at. The lesson learned for this class was you really need the right equipment (i.e. piping tips) to make just the right shapes for each of the flowers. The wrong size tip can make the difference of making a flower that looks like a nice representation of nature using frosting versus one that could be a flower placed on top of the cupcake. For those, like me, who care almost equally about flavor as about decoration, the cupcakes this week were from Shelly Kaldunski's book, Cupcakes. Half were gingerbread (with fresh ginger) and half were mocha, and all were topped with a vanilla-white chocolate buttercream. I thought they tasted good, and apparently my lab did too because they disappeared in less than 24 hours. Sweet.

Cake Decorating Win - 6/22/2009

Good news! I'm not totally inept at making cakes!


After last week's cake-wreck, I was glad to find out that I have some skills with the baked goods after all. They key is not taking shortcuts with the cake or frosting. The cake itself is vanilla-cherry with some cherries mixed in. The frosting is dark chocolate with almond extract. In between the layers, in addition to buttercream, is crumbled coconut macaroons. To top it off, I sprinkled on some toasted coconut. This cake was for the birthday of someone in my lab who likes coconut, and it was a big hit. My next goal is to make cakes with more intricate and involved decorations now that I have a handle on the more understated techniques.


I did do a good deal of cooking this week myself, but I will not claim these delightful hors d'oeuvrs as my own. These are the wonderful creation of my new beau. From what he told me, they are eggplant slices wrapped around tomato paste and fresh basil, then breaded and baked. Quite wonderful.


The main course to follow the above eggplant rolls was this baked salmon. It was seasoned with dried tea leaves (sadly I cannot remember which type of tea) and seafood seasoning. It was grilled in the foil packet that you can see above. It came out very moist and well flavored. Who would have thought tea could be so versatile?

I will mention some of the other food I made this week, even if I ate it so fast I forgot to take pictures: fresh local berries with balsamic syrup, roasted green beans with cashews, cantaloupe wrapped in prosciutto, garlic bread, and grilled corn with orange-hoisin butter. I also got a start on this week's cake, but I won't ruin the surprise.

Atypical Side Items, et al - 3/9/2009

There are a couple of side items I've wanted to make for a while. I wanted to get away from using potatoes, rice or pasta as a source of carbohydrates, so I gave these next two recipes a shot.


I'd heard of making a puree of cannellini beans, which sounded quite good, so I gave it a shot with this Gourmet magazine recipe. Briefly, you puree the beans with garlic, chicken stock, olive oil, salt and pepper. Then you cook the steaks and, after removing them from the pan, you cook rosemary, tomato paste and white wine in the pan to deglaze. You then mix in the bean puree with some chopped kalamata olives. The beans turned out smooth with enough stock and oil to prevent grittiness, and the subtle flavors of the rosemary, tomatoes and white wine gave it an extra boost to pair well with the steak.

For the next dish, I had to roast some veggies, including some tomato confit:


You may remember tomato confit from my cooking class outside of Cannes this summer. Here is what I made at home, using herbes de Provence on top. The second picture is what was left after I removed the tomatoes. These shadows looked a little like hearts - both the idealized heart shape and an actual heart (though only with two chambers).


I also roasted some zucchini, mushrooms and red onion, but the main feature of this dish that I was making was the polenta. Polenta is made from cornmeal in a fashion similar to grits, but with some definite differences, mostly in that it is made with milk or cream and Italian spices.
1 clove garlic, minced
1T olive oil
2 cups milk
2 cups water
1 cup cornmeal
0.5 cup Parmesan
1T basil, chopped
1T thyme, chopped
Cook garlic in olive oil in a saucepan. Stir in milk and 1 cup of water and bring to boiling. In a small bowl, combine cornmeal with remaining water. Slowly add cornmeal mixture to the hot milk mixture and return to boiling. Reduce heat to low and cook uncovered for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until polenta has thickened. Stir in cheese, spices and salt to taste. The polenta comes out creamy, slightly cheesy and an excellent substitute for other carbohydrates. It does solidify markedly once it has been refrigerated, just to be warned. I topped the polenta with the roasted vegetables and topped it with some more cheese.


I totally phoned it in on this dessert. I was looking at various Jell-o puddings when I saw they had their version of flan, a Spanish custard and caramel dessert. At 80 calories a serving, I thought I would give it a shot. The process is very easy and it only took about 5 minutes to put it all together (plus refrigeration time). The flan comes out of the mold easily, though the one in the picture had a few chips out of it. While it did not set up like a real flan and was not quite as creamy, it was still a good low-cal substitute nonetheless.


Lastly, near Raleigh is a huge Asian market. While there, we found some frozen durian. For those who haven't heard, durian is most famous for its pungent odor. Most of what I had heard was that it smelled atrocious, but tasted great. My Malaysian friend who was with me said as much as well. This one had been deseeded, so it was a bit soft. I had wondered how something could smell like one thing and taste totally different (your senses of taste and smell are connected), and it turns out that this fruit both smelled and tasted like feet smothered in cheese and onions. I could not bring myself to eat more than one bite of the fruit as it was so powerful. My Malaysian friend, however, picked up the slack and ate the rest with great relish. I wonder if this has anything to do with a socialization of taste/smell...darn, science always surfaces in my mind. I would recommend everyone to try durian if they have the chance, just beware and have something ready to help eradicate the taste from your mouth.

Polenta Lasagna & Salmon Crostini - 2/2/2008

I've been cooking! I swear! I've been traveling around the country for graduate school interviews, so my time for cooking has been unfortunately re-prioritized. I did manage to make this creation last weekend and now have the time to show it off.



I wanted a quick and easy appetizer while I waited for my main course to finish. I cut up a baguette into slices, rubbed them with a little olive oil and baked them at 350 degrees F for about 5-10 minutes to make them crisp. After taking them out of the oven, I smeared them with herbed goat cheese, placed some smoked salmon on top and sprinkled it with dried dill. They tasted pretty good and were very easy.



My mom has made a small casserole using polenta, some veggies and tomato sauce. I decided to take her idea and expand upon it. I bought the pre-made polenta that you can get in the produce/vegetarian section of the grocery store. I cut it into slices to act as the noodles of a lasagna. I also sliced up some zucchini and eggplant on my mandaline (to make sure they were even) then baked them in the oven with some olive oil and salt for about 15 minutes. Now the layering: tomato sauce, shingled polenta, sliced zucchini, mozzarella, sauce, polenta, sliced chicken sausage, mozzarella, sauce, polenta, eggplant, sauce, mozzarella. I baked this creation for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees F until it was nice and bubbly. Serving this creation was rather difficult with all of the sliced polenta, but it tasted delicious. It may be better to make as individual lasagnas, but if your guests are not looking for something pretty, this is a good choice.