Silk Experience

For the next several days I am in Las Vegas- fresh off the plane with time to kill and having not eaten at all today, I made a b-line for The Venetian to find some lunch. I am quite sure that I could live happily inside these walls, never gambling, but eating to the tunes of Mario Batali, Thomas Keller, W.G. Puck, David Burke and others. Today I’d like to treat you to a lunch in real time at Batali’s “casual” lunch place, Enoteca San Marco.

Enoteca is upstairs in the Venetian on the outskirts of the shopping. The courtyard dining overlooks the performance area and Postrio, Puck’s restaurant.

My first meal of the day started with the fresh baked rustic bread,wrapped in Enoteca paper, which is nice, if not a bit Bouchon. The bread itself was soft and fresh with a good crust that unfortunately was burnt a bit on top.

I just received my first vegetable appetizer, cauliflower Siciliano- a cold cauliflower salad, cooked, cooled and then dressed with kalamata olives, capers, olive oil and red pepper flakes. Being a huge fan of cauliflower, this was a perfect start to the meal, well seasoned and tangy with just the right amount of heat.

Landing before me moments ago were fried and stuffed squash blossoms. The batter is very light, like a tempura and the are quite crisp despite having a bit of liquid inside from the blossom steaming. The ricotta filling has a bit of flavor that I think is anchovie, but I am not sure. Overall the blossoms are a bit bitter, sending the flavor out of balance a bit.

Ah, the pizza. I have to say that the aesthetics of this pie are a little disappointing, there is a uniformity to the look that takes away from the idea that this was handmade, with care, just for me. Also a bummer is that the thin, crackery crust I was expecting turned out to be soggy from a somewhat bafflingly watery sauce. The flavor of the housemade sausage and peppers was wonderful, but overall the pizza did not live up to my expectations. I could have a better pie for a couple bucks a slice in the North End of Boston or several meighborhoods in NY.

My final impression of lunch was that Enoteca can produce some excellent fare, not often on the menu of a casual Italian restaurant, but I would be surprised if Batali would be satisfied with the execution.

had a poem published in the Oregonian last Sunday, here is a link

I made an oregano pesto last night to add to a Central American take on an au pistou soup. The soup started with some fresh chicken stock and added summer vegetables like fresh corn, zucchini, carrots, celery, garlic and onion. It was the first time I have made this pesto, but it turned out wonderful. So much so, in fact, that it inspired an Exceptionally Brilliant Idea for Lunch- a stacked salad thusly,

Avocado
Heirloom Tomato
Avocado
A different kind of heirloom tomato
Avocado
A different kind of heirloom tomato

and so on. The salad was salted and then topped with the oregano pesto and crumbled ricotta salata, which is a dry, salted cheese similar to feta, closely resembling the Mexican cotija cheese. The salad turned out fantastic- one of my favorite meals of the summer. My pesto included pinon (pine) nuts, fresh cilantro, fresh oregano, toasted chilies, garlic, cinnamon and allspice.

I have a bit of the pesto left and am excited about the possibilities that it opens up… perhaps something with chorizo, or eggs, or both!

click to see it in big-ish size

From Very Good Taste

How the Omnivore’s 100 Works:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional: Post a comment at Very Good Taste, linking to your results.

78/100 My Omnivore’s Hundred

1. Venison

2. Nettle tea

3. Huevos rancheros [blogged]

4. Steak tartare

5. Crocodile

6. Black pudding

7. Cheese fondue

8. Carp

9. Borscht[blogged]

10. Baba ghanoush

11. Calamari

12. Pho

13. PB&J sandwich

14. Aloo gobi [blogged]

15. Hot dog from a street cart

16. Epoisses

17. Black truffle [blogged]

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes

19. Steamed pork buns

20. Pistachio ice cream

21. Heirloom tomatoes

22. Fresh wild berries

23. Foie gras

24. Rice and beans

25. Brawn or head cheese

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper

27. Dulce de leche

28. Oysters [blogged]

29. Baklava

30. Bagna cauda [Wow! I want to try this]

31. Wasabi peas

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl [they don't know who they're dealing with here]

33. Salted lassi

34. Sauerkraut

35. Root beer float [start with Virgil's- it will change your life]

36. Cognac with a fat cigar

37. Clotted Cream Tea

38. Vodka Jelly/Jell-O [pleading the fifth]

39. Gumbo

40. Oxtail [blogged]

41. Curried goat

42. Whole insects [I don't think you can go to China and not try some insects]

43. Phaal [this is on the list to try soon]

44. Goat’s milk

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more

46. Fugu [I go back and forth whether I'd want to try this, or not]

47. Chicken tikka masala [blogged]

48. Eel

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut

50. Sea urchin

51. Prickly pear

52. Umeboshi

53. Abalone

54. Paneer

55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal [yes... but i was young and didn't know any better]

56. Spaetzle

57. Dirty gin martini

58. Beer above 8% ABV

59. Poutine [this sounds pretty American for a Canadian dish...]

60. Carob chips [they really had to go there?]

61. S’mores [I have made "real" S'mores as well]

62. Sweetbreads [blogged]

63. kaolin [I think we are stretching the boundaries of "food" on this one]

64. Currywurst

65. Durian [blogged]

66. Frogs’ legs [on my short list]

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake

68. Haggis

69. Fried plantain

70. Chitterlings or andouillette

71. Gazpacho

72. Caviar and blini

73. Louche absinthe

74. Gjetost or brunost

75. Roadkill

76. Baijiu

77. Hostess Fruit Pie [unfortunately, yes]

78. Snail

79. Lapsang Souchong [I even have some in my cupboard]

80. Bellini

81. Tom Yum

82. Eggs Benedict

83. Pocky

84. 3 Michelin Star Tasting Menu [Nice... rub it in]

85. Kobe beef [blogged]

86. Hare

87. Goulash

88. Flowers

89. Horse [does glue count?]

90. Criollo chocolate

91. Spam

92. Soft shell crab

93. Rose harissa [going to have to try this]

94. Catfish

95. Mole poblano

96. Bagel and lox

97. Lobster Thermidor

98. Polenta [blogged]

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100. Snake [be sure to see what I made with it too

When the heat of the summer hits, there are two keys to maintaining happiness in the kitchen without sacrificing your love of good food and your waistline (for those that would just opt for eating out).

1. Minimize the amount of heat you generate indoors
2. Keep it light and fresh

The first point here helps keep your energy use down, your house cooler and your evening emotional outlook on the positive scale; the second not only allows you to take advantage of the bounty of the summer, but also keeps you feeling energetic and alive. One of the easiest ways to keep the heat down inside is to cook outside on the grill, but grilling has it’s own disadvantages. Those with gas grills have the convenience of being able to have heat on demand and the ability to turn it off when they are finished, but something else is lost- flavor.

Setting aside the politics of gas vs. charcoal (since I fall solidly on the latter), filling up a charcoal grill with coals to cook on it for 15 or even 30 minutes is a colossal waste of energy. When I am planning to fire up the grill, I try to minimize the amount of charcoal used (hardwood, of course) and maximize the use of the heat I am going to generate. This means gather up stray food and grill it for later in the week.

Tonight’s dinner was a pesto pasta salad, which took advantage of both of the key points above in a couple of different ways.

1/2 Pesto rubbed chicken breast

I grilled mine last night along with the salmon, kept it wrapped in the fridge and then sliced it thin, across the grain, tonight. We’ll get to the pesto.

8 oz of whatever odd shaped pasta you’ve had in the back of your cupboard since you convinced yourself in the store that you would make something with it… three months ago.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, covered so that it starts to bubble faster. You can also use leftover pasta that is already cooked, or perhaps you were thinking ahead and boiled some earlier in the day when it was cool. This may seem like a surefire way to heat up your house, but you are going to find that we make efficient use of this pot of water, and the burner it is on.

3 red potatoes
1 big handful of fresh green beans, stems broken off
2 tbsp pine nuts
1 red onion, finely diced
1 green onion, sliced thin on the bias
1 red pepper (blackened on the grill when you cooked the chicken, put into a container until the steam separates the skin from the pepper, peeled and then sliced thinly)

If you were really prepping for the week you could have boiled the potatoes at some other time and have them at the ready in the fridge. If not, when the water comes to a boil, add 1 tbsp of salt and drop the potatoes in. Cook them until fork tender, about 10-15 minutes depending on the size. If you leave the pot covered, you can turn your burner down to medium low and the water will still boil, conserving energy and heat. Once the potatoes are cooked, pull them out with a slotted spoon or mesh strainer, but DON’T DUMP OUT THE WATER. Immediately drop in your green beans, cook for 3 minutes and scoop them out as well. Once the vegetables are cooked, drop the pasta in the water and cook until al dente.

With the hot water drained, but the burner still on, place a frying pan on the hot burner and toast your pine nuts for a couple of minutes (shaking the pan every once in a while). While toasting, quarter the red potatoes and then cut across the grain into 1/2″ thick pie wedges. When the nuts are done toasting, remove them to a plate or small bowl, add some olive oil and then brown the potatoes. When the potatoes are cooked until yummy brown on both sides, add some pesto (I’ll explain in a minute), a bit of salt and pepper, and toss around.

Now that everything is done, toss it all in a big bowl together with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and then add in about 2-3 tbsp of fresh pesto (I really will get to it), garnish with some fresh grated parmesan and you have dinner.

Pesto
1.5 cups firmly packed basil
.5 cups firmly packed spinach
1-3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup grated parmesan (Reggiano, please)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. pine nuts

The reason I casually alluded to tossing your dinner around with with some pesto is because this time of year there is no excuse for not having some fresh pesto in the fridge. It takes a few ingredients and 2 minutes in a food processor to give you enough pesto for several, very simple meals. Make it, put it on just about anything for breakfast, lunch and dinner and eat it. Then make some more.

Here is my favorite dinner of the summer, so far. It starts with grilled wild silver salmon from Alaska marinated and glazed with a teriyaki sauce made using agave instead of sugar for the sweetener. The salmon was served over rice, surrounded by a wakame slaw and topped with tempura potato nests. The potato, when crumbled over the top of the salad and fish pulled the dish all together and elevated it from good summer fare to a memorable meal. Here is the recipe for the slaw, which rocketed to the upper echelon of my [extensive] favorite salads list.

Wakame Slaw

1/4 head purple cabbage
1/4 head green cabbage

core and slice thinly across the grain and then place cabbages in a colander and sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt. Let sit for 1-3 hours.

1 carrot, shredded
1 green onion, sliced thinly on a bias
1/3 cup cooked and shelled edamame
2 tsp black sesame seeds
Handful dried wakame, soaked in tap-hot water for five minutes then drained and either spun in a salad spinner or squeezed until most of the liquid is gone

Once the cabbage has wilted a bit, combine with the above ingredients and mix with hands (you can use a spoon, but it is better to be intimate with your salads)

Dressing
1 tbsp. shoyu or tamari soy sauce
1/2 tbsp. sesame oil
1 tbsp. grapeseed oil
small handful of cilantro
1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 clove garlic
1 green onion sliced
1 tablespoon raw almonds, peanuts or some seeds (optional)

Put dressing in a food processor or blender and process/blend until smooth. Dress your salad. You will likely only need about 1/3 to 1/2 of this dressing for your salad, so start sparingly and only add dressing after you mix well (with your fingers) and determine that it needs more. The finished slaw should be moist, not wet (or an oil slick) and the garlic and cilantro flavor should be the highlights, with undertones of tang and soy.

Starting the Experience off is an extremely playful and wonderfully rich and delicious combining of sweet peas and fresh lobster. The bisque started as a broth made from the shelled pea pods, onion and ground lobster shells. The peas were cooked in the strained broth, pureed, strained again and finished with coconut milk and cream. The lobster after being cooked just long enough to separate from the shell was poached in coconut oil that had been steeped with lemongrass and kaffir lime. I then chopped the lobster and stuffed it back into the pea pods.