Restaurants – Page 2 – Grow. Cook. Eat.

July 7, 2008

Adventures in Sweet Potatoes

Four Burgers opened up just a month ago in Central Square with the mission of serving high quality, simply prepared burgers and fries. In this modern era of eco-friendly dining, they do the right thing by composting, recycling, and serving ingredients with known provenance. The net result, for the most part, is fabulous: Juicy, meaty burgers with flavorful toppings and fries that taste like potatoes.

There’s been a small hiccup in the business—and that has been the sweet potato fries. While most would agree that anything fried and salted is better, these fries suffer in that they never get really crispy. Short of coating them with a non-organic/unnatural substance (as many lesser burger joints do), the options are somewhat limited.

The composition of the sweet potatoes creates a layered challenge with sugar, starch and water issues at play. Food science research leaves a gaping hole in this domain.

For regular potatoes, culinary experiments have yielded the best technique… first soaking the potatoes in water to rinse some of the excess starch, cooking the potatoes a first time in 325F oil and then a second cooking in 375F oil to crisp them. Intermediate refrigeration between frying further alters the starches which better enables a crispy fry. Researchers have discovered that Idaho potatoes are the best variety, and farmers have refined the genetics to consistently produce a fail-safe potato.

What works for regular fried potatoes does not translate to sweet potatoes because of the starch, sugar and water content.

And while there are a few sweet potato varieties out there (White Hamon) that are better suited, they are not mass marketed, leaving the small restaurateur to experiment with the readily available varieties.

The starch issue is a complicated one… And after researching in Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking, I discover this is more complicated than I can address with chain starches and branch starches and the chemical reactions of both. The water and sugar contents pose a more straight-forward challenge. As we know, moisture is the enemy of crispy [[Think about meringues on a humid day or fried eggplant]].

In order to get “watery” foods crispy, we must first batter them to prevent the moisture from seeping out and soggying the crust. Sweet potatoes get crispy in tempura batter because they are sufficiently coated.

Alternatively, in the case of regular potatoes, the minimal water evaporates before the fry crisps up – creating a fry with long-lasting crispiness.

This is when the challenge of the sugar content kicks in: Sugar begins to caramelize about at 334F and starts turning bitter at 363F. This narrow window limits the opportunity for the sweet potato fry to rid itself of excess moisture and get crispy.

Armed with this (somewhat limited) knowledge base, Michael B. (owner of Four Burgers) and I got to work.

Our baseline was a sweet potato fry that was cooked in 350F oil until golden brown and soft in the middle. The fry was mildly crispy straight out of the oil, but quickly turned limp.

The first wave of experiments involved coating the raw fries with a type of starch that would help absorb moisture and increase the starches that would crispy up the fries. We tried corn, wheat and potato starches. And with a nod to the tempura batter, we also made a mix of corn and wheat flours. The best yield was the corn starch. Straight out of the fryer, the potato was crispier than the original, but soon met a similar fate of limpness – though the crisp to limp time gap was greater.

Other starches provided minimal improvement. The biggest complaint was that the floury coating took away from the flavor and “Mouth feel” of the potatoes.

The second round of experiments involved drying the potato first before frying. First, we “par-” fried the potatoes the way regular fries are. This seemed to produce a crispy fry but we soon realized that this extra step was minimal better than the baseline, and not worth the effort.

Par-Baking the potatoes yielded the best result. The potatoes dried out with a gentle heat. Unlike the fryer, the drying process did not brown (i.e. caramelize the sugars in) the potatoes. By the time we put them in the fryer, they crisped up quickly and stayed crispy.

Special thanks to Michael B. and his staff for allowing me to play in their kitchen! Stop by, have a burger and fries and let me know what you think!

June 30, 2008

Casablanca – Mediterranean Food For Thought

Casablanca just celebrated 30 years open as a restaurant. The first celebrity chef it produced was Ana Sortun (of Oleana fame), and still pays homage with her signature Short Ribs appetizer. Ruth-Ann Adams took over the kitchen after honing her chops at Rialto – another Cambridge, Mediterranean mecca. She manages a consistent kitchen with little fan-fare. For better or worse, it conjures memories of other food experiences rather than creating its own.

The cocktails menu features a margarita with muddled sage. Finally, another use for the abundant sage in my garden! The medicinal earthiness of both the sage and tequila enhance the other without overpowering the fruity sweetness of the orange and pineapple juices.

The Mediterranean menu spans in flavors from Portugal to Israel. From Portugal, clam with sausages – a flavor combination that made its way to New England via New Bedford and Cape Cod.

And to give the dish a New England flair it’s served with fried oysters.

The briny clams reminded me of the best clam I ever tasted… standing ankle deep in Wellfleet harbor with Pat Woodbury, he dug into the sand to grab a few live clams. With a pocket knife, he pried them open and offered them up. They were still warm from the sun and salty from the bay water bath. No lemon or cocktail sauce necessary.

Dolmas, stuffed grape leaves that originate from Turkey, infuse Italian flavor with an Arborio rice filling.

The less familiar musabaha is a chunky style hummos, which I first tasted in the Arab markets in Jerusalem…

I was looking for a rug to cover my dining room floor. I poked my nose into a few shops that were selling rugs. Most did not look appealing, so I walked away. In another rug shop, three Arab men were sitting in the back eating hummos and pita.

They invited me to join them. They were clearly eating the food, and looked healthy, so I obliged their invitation. I was not as agile as they, picking up the hummos with pureed and fresh chick-peas, so one of the older men would scoop up little bits for me, and hand me the ready-to-eat morsel.

When I was satiated, I told them that I was in fact looking for rugs, but didn’t really see what I wanted in their store. Of course, they had more upstairs. So I climbed up the rickety wooden stairs, took off my jacket, and began unrolling silk rugs. I found a few that I liked, and the owner of the shop came upstairs.

Over freshly brewed mint tea, we began to discuss the virtues of hand-made, silk rugs. And of course we discussed price. He gave me a very “tempting” price.

I had learned at a very early age that there is a game to bargaining. I was a bit rusty. Even though I knew I should be able to get him to drop the price by at least 50% I was only able to get a 35% reduction. He quickly grabbed my hand and shook it, we had sealed the deal.

Even though I know I overpaid, I had a wonderful morning of eating and drinking and talking. I also know that I couldn’t get these rugs in the US for less.

Alas, the Casablanca musabaha can’t compare to the memories of the first experience… and like the rest of the meal, it needed more salt.

June 24, 2008

Four Burgers

I probably like a good burger more than the average person. With proper cooking and simple seasoning, little else is needed to achieve burger nirvana. You can imagine my excitement when Four Burgers opened in Central Square.

The name suggested a simplicity to the offerings, which could either be very good (a juicy burger with a salty, meaty flavor), or very bad (that would require a post-cooking bath in ketchup and salt to make up for where the kitchen failed). The menu lets you know that the meat is of high quality – purchased from the same farm as Grill 23.

In the back of the dining room are bins labeled from composting and recycling. Even with a friendly price point ($6.50 per burger, $10 average check with fries and a drink), you know that this will be a fresh, high quality experience.

The four burgers: salmon, beef, veggie or turkey, come on either whole wheat or white buns. The beef is a classic – no fancy condiments, just simple pickles, lettuce and tomatoes. The romaine lettuce is shredded so it fits nicely inside the bun, without over-expanding the sandwich which would have made the burger difficult to eat. The burger was cooked perfectly to our specifications, which sadly is a rare feat for most joints.

The turkey plays off the traditional Thanksgiving (autumnal flavors). Apple bits are folded into the meat, yielding a slightly sweet and crunchy texture. The burger was cooked perfectly – 95% on the grill, 5% from residual heat – the patty was moist and tender. The apple bits would have compensated well if the burger was overcooked, but oddly, in this case it was superfluous. The cranberry chutney was bright and was a nice diversion from the standard ketchup. My only complaint was that as we head into the heat of summer – I want to think of summer flavors and would have preferred a more seasonal flavor.

The sweet potato French fries posed an interesting culinary challenge. While they tasted like sweet potatoes with a lovely enhancement of salt, they were a bit limp. In speaking with the owner (Michael B. of Paramount and 21^st Amendment fame) he agreed. He noted that the only crispy sweet potato fries come frozen from Sysco and are sprayed with some food-like substance. If you go naturally, as Four Burgers does, the fries won’t get that fast-food crispy.

Four Burgers is not alone in its quest to naturally achieve crispy sweet potato fries. A little research shows that no one has yet to find a solution (and publish it on-line). In thinking about the problem… regular French fries typically use Idaho potatoes – a high starch, low protein, and lower water tuber. You never see Yukon gold fries, and certainly not red bliss. The starch content is low (which has its benefits for other preparations…) but does not yield a crispy fry. What makes the potato oxidize quickly also produces a crispy fry. (also thinking about potato latkes, they get crispiest when you squeeze all the water out of them)
Michael B. and I decided to do a little experimenting in the kitchen. With a nod to Chinese cooking, we tossed the sweet potatoes in a dusting of corn-starch. They fries stayed crisp longer, but soon met the same limpy fate of the original batch. I think we were on the right track, and I bet potato starch would be worth a try. In thinking of the crisp tempura batter, a blend of flours – in that case corn starch and wheat flour, might also work. For sure, you'll find me back there again. But I might wander back into the kitchen to play around with sweet potato fries in a quest to perfect burger nirvana. Stay tuned for more culinary experimentations…

June 10, 2008

The Central Square Farmers’ Market

A visit to the Central Square farmers’ market shows that my garden is right on cue with local farmers. The lettuces are winding down, and there really is not much else. After many years of going to this market, I’ve come to recognize the usual vendors. Many were missing this week, (most notably Steve Parker who I’ve known for years because he sells to local restaurants) probably because they don’t have much to sell yet.

The farmers that were there primarily offered seedlings and lettuces. Seedlings are perfect for those who have not yet had a chance to plant vegetables in their own gardens. The tomato plants are vibrant and full, the herbs billowy and aromatic, and lettuces sprouting a few leaves.Wait… lettuces??? After all this heat, I was surprised to see farms even suggesting that we should start growing the cool weather plant. I questioned this… the gal from Kimball farm says they plant new lettuce seeds every 5 – 10 days. This makes sense: The standard method of harvesting lettuces, “cut-and-come-again,” does not work in this heat, necessitates successive planting if you want a steady supply throughout the summer.One farm was selling hot-house tomatoes, but I’m still not buying. Though this betters the California hothouse because they could ripen on the vine longer, I’ll hold out for the drippingly juicy field tomatoes.

The Herb Lyceum at Gilson Farms specializes in herbs. Herbs grow easily in pots as well as in beds, and have a great cost/benefit ratio. Garden fresh herbs are better than store bought because the aromas are more pungent.Better still, you can harvest just what you need for a single meal – unlike the predetermined pack sizes at the supermarket. Better flavor, less waste – another point in the no-waste column. Gilson Farms also owns two restaurants, including the local Cambridge favorite: Garden at the Cellar. This gastro-pub features locally inspired, European-styled cuisine. The perennial favorite is the creamy tomato soup with grilled cheese. The three-course tasting menu highlights local farmers.

June 5, 2008

My Ten Favorite Dishes: #4

All this talk of Pad Thai, besides making me hungry, was really a lead-up to the fourth dish on my 10 favorite dishes in Boston.

Believe it or not, on this trip to Thailand, I did sample a few other dishes including my new favorite vegetable “Pok Bong,” morning glory leaves. Crunchy with a slight “creaminess” to it in a light brown sauce: it was the perfect balance for all the noodles I was eating. Upon my return to Boston, friends told me that Brown Sugar Café not only has the most authentic Thai cuisine, but it also serves Pok Bong.

Once in the door, I forgot about vegetables and immediately went for the noodles section of the menu. I quickly discovered the “Country Style” Pad Thai, and all memories of other Thai noodles faded away. The slippery noodles balance the sweet, salty, sour and spicy. They are not dry, but a little saucy. The heat pleasantly builds as you work your way through the plate. Peanuts do not dominate the way so many American versions can. And as someone who does not like nuts (though I manage through most Pad Thais), this is an added bonus. The piece de resistance is the 5-spice tofu used in place of regular tofu. Little bits wiggle through the noodles, adding a depth of sweetness and warmth that make this dish irresistible. Just the right touch of bean sprouts adds texture and brightness. If it were possible to improve, I would use more scallions.

And while you’re there, be sure to try the Brown Sugar Roast Duck and, of course, the Pok Bong (when it’s in season).

May 30, 2008

My Ten Favorite Dishes: #3

I’ve always wanted a transcendental food experience. My first awareness of the notion was when I was five years old: watching Fred Flintstone devour a pterodactyl drumstick. Every summer, at the Renaissance Festival, I would order the turkey drumstick hoping, praying I would derive such pleasure, even half the pleasure, that Fred seemed to get from that leg. Alas, it never happened. As I got older, I witnessed my father eat sushi. He would close his eyes as he popped Flying Fish Roe with Quail Egg into his mouth, waving us off to be sure we didn’t interrupt his experience.

In 1999, I traveled to Tuscany…. We dined, among other places, at a four-star restaurant in the Old City of Colle d’Val Elsa; the setting was spectacular, atop an ancient village, gazing out to the rolling hills at sunset. The service and décor were flawless. If ever I were to have a transcendental experience, this would be the place. My friends ooh’ed and aah’ed through every bite. Though I enjoyed the meal, I couldn’t muster an authentic moan of delight. I resigned myself to never having this experience.

It was not until I ate at Oishii Boston – 9 years later, that the culinary heavens opened up and shone its light on me.

Specifically, the hamachi-truffle maki sang to me. Hamachi, yellowtail in English, is thick and meaty like tuna, but creamier in texture, and is my favorite fish for sushi. Truffle has no taste, per se, but has an intoxicatingly earthy scent. It keeps drawing me in, sucking my taste-buds hoping to extract more of its aroma. In this maki, the flavors and textures come together harmoniously with smokiness from torched (“bana”) yellowtail and crunchy shrimp tempura rolled inside. The roll is topped with a nibble of caviar to give it a crunchy, salty start that opens the taste-buds for the sensations to come.

The first time I tasted this roll, I immediately ordered a second despite the $25 price tag. On another occasion, as I sat eyes closed focusing inward to the sensations in my mouth, I waved off the server (just like my father waved off the family) when she asked me how everything was mid-bite. My dining companion was so incensed by my behaviour, we never spoke again. The same waitress has served me again, and she has forgiven what we both agree is justifiable behavior. I go back again and again, never tiring of the flavor, having a petit mort every time.

I think I need a cigarette….

May 19, 2008

My Ten Favorite Dishes: #2 – Faux Virtue at the Shack

Jasper White garnered his acclaim during his years at his eponymous, white-tablecloth restaurant in the North End. Imagine everyone’s surprise when he shuttered the doors to work at the chain Legal’s Seafood, and then a clam shack!

The original Summer Shack is located at Alewife…a sprawling restaurant that, unfortunately, does not resemble a shack. Nor does it feel like summer with little natural light flowing in from the small windows. But what it lacks in décor, it makes up for in the food experience. Food is indeed love here.

One of the first things I notice when I walk in is the guy standing in the walk-in cooler (with a window so I can see him and he can see me) shucking clams. These clams don’t come from a gallon tub whose provenience is unknown; they come from fresh clams. In the open kitchen, a cook is cutting corn kernels off the cob for the fritters. As a person who opts to make fresh pasta for an idle Tuesday dinner because it’s not that time-consuming, I appreciate these extra touches for the sake of quality. The fried clams burst with sweet-brine, slightly chewy but mostly tender. The bellies, which can be a turn-off for the novice clam-eater, are subtle if even discernible.

But what keeps me coming back time after time is the Vegetable Platter: a mélange of faux virtue that allows me to order the clams and feel that I’m actually eating healthy. I’ve studied enough nutrition to know that a salad has little nutritional value and lots of fat since we make it taste good with dressing. Vegetables, on the other hand, are loaded with vitamins, minerals and fiber. And that Jasper makes them taste good…

Brown Rice, Seared mushrooms and Corn on the Cob regularly star on the plate. The rice is firm and chewy with a richness that only butter can offer. The mushrooms are seared so hard that they are crispy and caramelized brown with a nuance of roasted garlic. The corn, despite the season, manages to be crisp and sweet. To color the plate, other vegetables appear depending on the season. In the winter, broccoli raab is sautéed with garlic and chilies and glisten of olive oil, in the summer, squash is bathed in fresh tomatoes, in spring it’s asparagus roasted with parmesan. And in fall butternut squash with a hint of sage and honey. Though, you can never be sure what you’ll get since the kitchen takes advantage of what’s at peak seasonally. No matter what’s on the plate, each vegetable has its own treatment that showcases its particular virtue. And the abundance and variety make it the perfect dish to share with the table.

May 16, 2008

Scampo at the Liberty Hotel

Do you remember the days when hotel dining was considered second-class fare? The menus were dumbed down to the lowest common denominator, often leaving the more sophisticated diner unimpressed. Oh, how things have changed! At least in Boston… The hotels have become destinations for the locals as well as the tourists by offering exceptional food and service: Clio, Rialto, KO Prime, Eastern Standard, just to name a few.

The Liberty Hotel opened with great fan-fare last year. An old jail left vacant for years transformed into a tourist attraction with the same developer as the Charles Hotel in Cambridge (and home to world-renowned Rialto). The first restaurant, Clink, opened inside the lobby to mediocre reviews. Now Lydia Shire has moved in, and Scampo is bustling with hipsters, tourist and regular folk like me.

My memories of Lydia Shire’s food center around one of the last meals I had at Biba…. Five of us shared 2 appetizers to start. They were so rich and intense, that I was full after just that little bit. And I’m not one to get full easily. But I also attribute much of my culinary acumen to my time spent working in Lydia’s kitchen at Biba. So when we sat down and were handed menus, I expected the “old” Lydia: rich, decadent and eclectic.

Not here. It’s a fun menu of pizza, pastas and mozzarella. Yes, mozzarella. Just as a menu would have a section for pasta, pizza, soup or salad, this menu has a section for hand-pulled mozzarella in a variety of flavors and presentations. A few entrees round out the menu for those craving a little more.

We started with a fried artichoke and arugula salad with chick peas. A satisfying appetizer with pan-fried baby artichokes that are crunchy from a quick sear. The arugula is lightly dressed with slivers of prosciutto. The chick pea puree is garlicky and olive oil-y (??) – its strong flavor pulls out the arugula and balances nicely with the artichokes.

The pizzas offerings are a combination of traditional tomato sauce, and a more refined white pizza. The broccoli raab and shrimp pizza crust was brushed with garlic and shallot infused oil. The crust was a little soggy in the middle from all the juicy toppings. But better juicy shrimp and soggy crust than dry shrimp and crispy crust. I accept the trade-off.

Pasta carbonara is my weakness. I mean, how can you go wrong with bacon (or pancetta) and cheese? And with a few peas thrown in, I feel almost virtuous for eating my vegetables. Scampo’s carbonara does not disappoint. The pasta is firm and chewy, the sauce is creamy and cheesey and the pancetta is crispy and salty. Oh yes, and the peas were good, too.

If I had to guess a recipe for the pizza, it would go something like this:

Broccoli Raab and Shrimp Pizza

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup sliced garlic
¼ cup sliced shallots
Pizza dough (see recipe below)
2 cups broccoli raab, washed and coarsely chopped
¼ teaspoon chili flakes
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
2 scallions, cut into rounds
½ cup ricotta salata grated
¼ cup parmesan, grated
½ pound shrimp, peeled and deveined.

1. Preheat oven to 500F

2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil. Add shallots and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes until garlic is soft and shallots are translucent. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of oil, and set aside the garlic shallot mix.

3. In pan with remaining olive oil, return to high heat. Add chili flakes and cook until they start to sizzle. Add broccoli raab and cook until bright green. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice and set aside.

4. Using the same pan if you’d like, return to high heat. Season shrimp with salt and pepper. Add 1 teaspoon of garlic/shallot/olive oil. Cook shrimp for 2 minutes, or just until pink. It’s okay if they’re a little underdone.

5. Roll out pizza dough as thin and round as possible. You should have enough toppings for 2-3 10” pies. Put on a baking sheet and brush with a little olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes, or until crispy and lightly brown.

6. Top pizzas first with shallots and garlic, then scallions, then cheeses, then broccoli raab and finally the shrimp on top. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the piping hot. The cheese will not melt.

Dough
2 cups water
2/3 oz. fresh yeast
1 # bread flour
10 oz. semolina
2 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. salt

1. Heat water to 105F. Dissolve yeast in water. Combine flour, salt and semolina.

2. Using a dough hook, combine flours, water and olive oil. Knead for 10 minutes. Place dough in oiled bowl, cover with plastic and let rise in warm place until doubled. Punch down and form.