Grow. Cook. Eat. – Page 46 – Julia Shanks Recovering Chef and Urban Gardener

July 14, 2008

Recipes for the Impatient Gardener

I’ve always known my garden is a few weeks behind everyone else. As I spy the neighbors’ yards in early spring when the crocuses start to burst, mine are still under a mound of snow. And when I go to the farmers markets, they already have mounds of zucchini, while I only have flowers. Their kohlrabi is just winding down, and mine still has a few weeks to go before harvest. Nonetheless, I’m eager to push the garden along.

Two weeks ago, I reported that the tomatoes had flowered, but not produced fruit. A little on-line research yielded a useful tip… Cut the leaves below the first flower. This enables to the plant to focus its energies on producing fruit as opposed to maintaining the foliage. Sure enough, two days later the first bump of a tomato emerged. Now all tomato plants show fruit, though still several weeks away from ripeness.

At dinner Thursday night at Garden at the Cellar, we munched on Fried Green Tomatoes with Smoked Paprika Aioli. One friend opined that the origins of this dish come from resourceful gardeners using up end-of-the-season tomatoes before the first frost hit. Knowing the tomatoes wouldn’t have a chance to ripen, they picked and fried them.

To offer this dish seasonally, it should only appear on menus in the fall. I would counter that fried green tomatoes are also a great option for the impatient gardener looking to cook something before the crops are truly ripe. Should you go this route, be sure to pick the tomatoes when the green has a “matte” finish. Once they become shiny, they’ve reached a different level of maturity and will get mushy when cooked.

Zucchini is the ideal crop for the impatient gardener. The plant produces flowers at a prolific rate. Most flowers are male and will not produce a vegetable, so there’s no harm in harvesting them. If the flower is attached to a thick stem, likely it will produce a squash. For me, I’m happy to just eat the flowers. I know in a few weeks, I’ll be up to my eyeballs in squash and peddling them the way I did sage.

Fried Green Tomatoes with a Squash Blossom Relish.
3 green tomatoes
½ cup buttermilk
1/2 cup fine corn meal
½ cup flour
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
Pinch cayenne
2 slices bacon
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp. capers
12 squash blossoms, stamen removed
2 tbs. canola oil

Slice tomatoes about ¼ inch thick. Soak in buttermilk.

Season cornmeal with salt, pepper and cayenne.

Dice bacon, and cook in a skillet until the bacon starts to render fat, and the bacon just starts to look crispy. Add garlic and cook for until the garlic is lightly golden. Pour off any excess bacon fat and set aside. Add capers and squash blossoms and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil with leftover bacon fat.

Dust tomatoes slices in the cornmeal dredge. Add to oil, and cook on the first side until golden brown, about 5 minutes on medium high heat. Flip and cook for 3 minutes more. Drain tomato slices on a paper towel and serve with chutney.

July 11, 2008

Cooking from the Larder and Garden

Perhaps it’s a combination of rising food prices, my concern about the impact of wasted food on the environment (both up and down stream) or my general laziness to do anything in the heat of summer. In the past 24 hours I needed to cook 2 meals – dinner for myself and breakfast with a friend – and I decided to cook with what I have in the house.

What I have in the house is limited. Further complicating matter is that I like to have vegetables at every meal, but I don’t typically keep them on hand. My schedule is varied enough that I only buy things that will keep for at least a week or two. Fresh vegetables, which decline rapidly, I buy on an “as-needed” basis.

The garden is still in the early summer lull – the spring crops are over, the summer crops haven’t yet ripened.

I piecemeal together the vegetables: Canned tomatoes from last years’ crop. Organic, truly vine-ripened. And since they’re really “jarred” they don’t have that tinny taste like commercially processed tomatoes. The yellow tomatoes won’t give a vibrant color to a meal, but they are exceedingly delicious.

A few squash blossoms. As I just learned, zucchinis give off male and female flowers. The female flowers produce the vegetable, the males… well, the males don’t do much. The ratio of female to male is typically 1:5. Given that, I have no compunction about snagging all the blossoms that don’t have fruit behind them. That’s about a dozen over the course of two days.

The celery is not yet fully sized, but I could probably lop off a stalk or two without harming the rest.

The snow pea plant will be dug up in a few days, so I can snip off what’s left of the tender leaves and the last few peas.

The larder is pretty well stocked: eggs, milk, pastry crust, bacon, cheese, bread, black beans. And I have some left-over grilled vegetables – ¼ of a zucchini (from the farmers market) and ¼ of a bell pepper.

For the first meal, my dinner, the solution is obvious and easy: I pureed the canned tomatoes, warmed them and served it as soup with a grilled cheese sandwich. I garnished with some squash blossoms and fresh basil.

For the breakfast, quiche seemed like a great option because I have crusts in the freezer (left over from the strawberry-rhubarb pies. I could make a variation on an Alsatian Quiche with onions, bacon and cheddar (instead of gruyere).

Instead, I opt for “summer vegetable.” I like that I can use up some leftover grilled vegetables, another can of tomatoes (I have about 8 pints left from last summer that I need to use before this year’s canning adventure begins) and the basil and scallions from the garden. The onions and bacon will keep for another meal.

Summer Vegetable Quiche

Pie Crust
1 ½ cups milk or half-n-half
½ cup pureed tomatoes
3 eggs
1 cup left-over summer vegetables: zucchini, red peppers, snap peas, celery etc.
½ cup cheddar cheese grated
Fresh basil, chopped
Fresh scallions, chopped
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Combine milk and tomato puree in a sauce pot. Heat over medium flame until small bubble form on the edges. While milk is heating, whisk eggs. Slowly drizzle milk into egg mixture until combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Line pie pan with pie dough. Sprinkle vegetables, cheese and herbs on top. Pour egg mixture over the vegetables until the pie shell is full.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until quiche is set.

July 10, 2008

Dining at O Ya – Better Bring the Dough-Ya

O Ya – a Japanese restaurant on the edge of Chinatown with an American chef. It opened just a year ago to great fanfare when the New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni named it one of the 10 best new restaurants in the country. The buzz around Boston was that it rivals Oishii both in creativity, refinement and price.

I clearly don’t have a problem spending money on good food (as I wrote about here), and if the food rivals Oishii, the place of my first culinary “petit mort,” you can count me in!

The cozy room seats around 40 people with 10 more at the sushi bar. Perched at the bar you can watch the three chefs – one for sashimi, one for nigiri, and the third for other appetizers – create culinary masterpieces. You can also peer into the spotless kitchen.

The density of the menu reminds me of the neighboring Chinese restaurant tomes. On one side of a single page menu, lists dozens of styles of nigiri and sashimi. Though, they offer traditional preparations, it seems silly in a place like this to not trust the chef’s creativity. On the other side are categories for waygu beef, pork, vegetables, chicken, truffles and a few other things.

With the least expensive nigiri at $8, I was careful in my selections to make the best choices for my money – I knew the bill would add up quickly.

The intrigue ended with the arrival of the first dish. Enoki Mushroom nigiri was served with wild asparagus and a soy glaze. The two fingers had a lovely earthy, sweet scent. The wild asparagus was a fun visual addition, but with the strong flavors of soy and mushrooms, its appeal was lost. And for $12 I was disappointed.

Two pieces of Wild Santa Barbara Spot Prawn came in at $20, and they were torched until cooked through. I had hoped for the raw creaminess that makes shrimp sushi so pleasing.

As I perused the menu for further selections, I wondered if it were possible to satiate my admittedly ample appetite for under $100. Three bite-size pieces of chicken thigh yakatori came in at $16 – though I will forgive this one for the generous slices of black truffle. I was down-right insulted when the soft shell crab arrived – only ½ a crab – also for $16.

No soy sauce or wasabi adorned a dish, nor were they served on the side. The kitchen did not send out any amuse bouche that would suggest that the $16 soft shell crab was also bank-rolling other refinements.

In the end, two of us ate 6 small plate, drank a modest $40 bottle of wine and spent $105 each. The flavors were lovely, though with small portions and none of the extra flourishes that Oishii offers, I doubt I’ll return unless someone else picks up the tab. And even then, I’m not sure… I wouldn’t want to take advantage of someone’s good nature in treating me to a meal.

July 9, 2008

Baking for Non-Bakers

Culinarians and Business-People are divided into two categories: cooks and bakers. Cooks are free-form and whimsical in their approach – a little of this, a pinch of that. Precision is not necessary, and often balked at. Bakers, on the other hand, are very structured. Recipes must be followed precisely to get the desired result. An extra pinch of salt could ruin a dessert, whereas with a savory dish, it could further enhance.

I am a cook!

The exclamation point comes as a result of the only time I was fired from a job: as a pastry chef. Despite this setback, throughout my career, I’ve needed to make desserts – when at Chez Henri and the pastry chef was on vacation, the task fell on me. Or as a private chef, I always made my own desserts. I’ve learned to get by, and by home-cook standards, I’m pretty good. By professional standards, well… I’m a cook not a baker.

I have a few desserts that always impress. Their simple preparations don’t require the same level of precision as many other desserts. Surprisingly, one of my favorites comes courtesy of Thomas Keller. To be sure, he is not known for his simplicity. Each dish, each dessert, has several different components. The trick, for me, has been to determine where the line of diminishing returns is.

Thomas Keller, of French Laundry fame, dolls up the French classic, “Ile Flottante” by filling them with chocolate mousse. Ile Flottant, or floating islands in English, are poached meringues “swimming in a sea” of crème anglaise. He elevates it further by serving them with chocolate tuiles, mint oil and a chocolate shaving salad seasoned with sea salt. I opt against the tuiles and the chocolate salad.

Instead of mint oil, I sprinkle freshly julienned mint for both the color contrast and flavor. I take my own liberties by adding Tahitian vanilla to the meringue which gives the dessert an expansive, yet melt-in-your-mouth feeling, almost like cotton candy.

Floating Islands Filled with Chocolate Mousse

5 egg whites (save yolks for crème anglaise)
1 cup sugar
½ Tahitian Vanilla Bean
3 egg yolks
4 tablespoons sugar1 cup half-n-half
½ Tahitian vanilla bean
3 ounces dark chocolate, melted
¾ cup heavy cream
Berries and Mint for Garnish

Make meringue: Combine egg whites and 1 cup sugar in a mixing bowl.Set over simmering water and whisk until sugar dissolves and the mixture is about 110 degrees (slightly warmer than body temperature). Remove from heat and whisk with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside ½ cup.

Brush 6 ramekins with oil.

Fill each ramekin with the remaining meringue. Put in a baking pan with high sides. Fill the baking pan with water to come up half way on the ramekins. Cover with foil.

Bake meringues for 30 minutes at 300F.

Remove ramekins from water bath, and let set in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, make the crème anglaise:

Heat half-n-half over medium heat with the vanilla bean. Whisk the egg yolk and the sugar. When small bubbles form around the edges of the pot, slowly drizzle the half-n-half into the yolks while whisking vigorously. Return the entire mix to the pot and continue cooking over medium heat, while stirring constantly, until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat instantly and let cool.

Make the chocolate mousse: Whip the cream until stiff peaks with an electric mixer. One third at a time, fold the cream into the chocolate. When completely combined, fold the reserved meringue into the chocolate mix.

Hollow out the inside of the cooked meringues with a spoon, making sure to keep the exterior intact. Fill the cavity with the chocolate mousse. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve, invert the floating islands onto a plate. Spoon crème anglaise around. Garnish with mint and berries.

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!

July 2, 2008

Farmers’ Market Report, Part 2: The Beet Goes On

Beets get a bad rap, though I’m not sure where it comes from. Perhaps it’s a hold-over from the days when the only variety available were canned, leaving them mushy, salty and bland. To me, they are a perfect balance of firm, refreshing texture with a sweet, earthy flavor. Best of all, they are nutritious, so I feel downright virtuous when I consume a bowlful like candy.

Last week, beets appeared at the market. They were shamefully small, and I couldn’t imagine there’d be much left after peeling. As much as I love beets, it seemed the farmers were rushing the process.

This week, however, they were decidedly larger. With the greens still attached I know they are freshly harvested — beets that have been in storage have the tops cut off as they wither in a few days. Like tomatoes, beets come in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes – candy striped with white rings, golden, pink and red. They range in sweetness, the red sometimes cloying by comparison to the lighter colors.

Roasting beets intensifies the flavors and the sweetness. It also makes peeling easier. Before roasting, be sure to scrub the beets well to remove all the dirt. Toss them in some olive oil, wrap in foil, and bake in a 350 oven for an hour or so.

Lately, my favorite preparation has been roasted with bacon and onions. While the beets are roasting, I sauté bacon and onions together until the bacon is crisp and the onions are caramelized. When the beets are cooked, I peel and slice them and toss them in the bacon-onion mix. Seasoned with a little lemon juice or mint, they are the perfect accompaniment to salmon (Crusted with pistachios and horseradish) or a pasta carbonara with peas or asparagus. Pureed with a little olive oil or chicken stock, it makes a delightful sauce for just about anything.

Beets with goat cheese are a classic combination. The tart, creaminess of the cheese balances with the sweet, firm texture of the beets. Though, I don’t eat nuts, walnuts add both texture and flavor that some say is the perfect compliment.

Of course, beets stain exceptionally well – hands, cutting boards and clothing. The best remedy is to wash with a paste of cold water and baking soda. Not only does it remove the red from your hands, it leaves them soft as well.

Beets and Goat Cheese Napolean with Buttered Walnuts

1 lb. red beets
2 tbs. olive oil
1 red onion, finely diced
1 tbs. red wine vinegar
1-2 tbs. fresh chopped thyme
4 oz. creamy goat cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1. Put beets in a pot and cover in cold water. Season water with salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer. Continue cooking for 30 minutes, or until skins easily peel off.

2. When beets are cooked, cool under cold running water. Peel beets. Slice. Toss beets with red onions, vinegar, olive oil and thyme.

3. Put beets on a plate, and dollop goat cheese on top. Garnish with mesclun and buttered walnuts

Balsamic Mesclun
1 pound mesclun
3 tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. shallots
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. mustard
½ cup + extra virgin olive oil
pinch sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Put balsamic, shallots, thyme and mustard in a blender. Puree. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the oil. Season to taste with salt, pepper and sugar

Buttered Walnuts
1 cup walnuts
2 or more tbs. butter
salt and pepper

Melt butter in skillet. Toss in walnuts and toast until lightly browned and fragrant. Season with salt and pepper.

July 1, 2008

Farmers Market – Part 1: Zucchini and Squash Blooms

Zucchini and other summer squashes proliferate in the garden at an astonishing rate. This plays out in the supermarket when the price plummets from $2/pound to $.49/pound during peak season. Grocers practically give it away, and home gardeners usually do.

For me, this is good news since most markets (farmers’ or traditional brick and mortar) don’t sell squash blossoms – the flower that precedes the vegetable. And with their prolific growth rate, I may actually get enough flowers to serve a meal to more than one guest. The few times I’ve seen them in the markets they can cost $1/each. I’ve seen squash blossoms in Native American, Mexican and Italian Cuisines. This suggests to me that they are not a faddish new vegetable… they have been enjoyed for centuries. In Oaxaca, Mexico, Squash blossoms are a frequent filling for Quesadillas or a garnish for tortilla soup.

Harvesting squash blossoms requires careful timing. You want them before they bloom, though sometimes it’s tough to distinguish between a bloom that opened and closed, and one that has yet to open. You can see here that the tip of the flower on the left is slightly curled. This is a sure sign that the flower already opened.

Once you harvest the squash blossom, gingerly pull open a petal and snip out the stamen – which can be especially bitter and ruin a perfectly good meal. I had tried to take a picture for you – when the blossom was fully open, stamen poking out, but in the 10 minutes it took me to run inside and grab my camera, the flower had already started to close up.

Sometimes, the bloom grows out of the zucchini, and sometimes it just grows out of the stem. If can get it off the vegetable, then you are in for a treat.

In the Italian style, squash blossoms are stuffed with mozzarella and prosciutto. They can be battered and fried and served with a light tomato sauce. In the Mexican style, I stuff them with black beans, goat cheese and mint. I spice the batter with a little cumin and chili and serve them with a tomato salsa.

In the farmers market this week, globe zucchini flank the tables. Their bulbous shape makes them ideal for stuffing. My favorite is a traditional Eastern European flavored beef filling – mixed with rice, onions and tomatoes, seasoned with cinnamon, lemon zest, pine nuts and raisins.

Fried Squash Blossoms with Tomato Salsa

20 squash blossoms, stamen gently removed
¼ lb. goat cheese
1/2 cup cooked black beans, seasoned with dried cumin and oregano
1 tbs. fresh mint, chopped
1 cup flour
1 egg
1/2 tsp. baking powder
salt, pepper and cumin to taste
oil for frying

1. Mix the filling by combining cheese, black beans and mint. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

2. Gingerly stuff each squash blossom with about 1 tablespoon of filling.

3. Make a batter by combining flour, baking powder, salt and cumin. Make a well and add egg and 1 cup water. Whisk to combine.

4. Heat a large pot with oil. Gently dip each blossom in batter and fry in oil until golden brown on all sides. Serve with salsa.

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 29, 2008

Garden Updates – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I left for a week’s vacation a little apprehensive about my garden…. Would it rain enough? Had I controlled the bugs, will vegetables actually emerge from these leafy masses?

First, the good news… it rained. The soil was pleasantly moist. More excitingly, the first burst of bright color has emerged… several raspberries are deep red – ready to be plucked. Though not yet enough to make anything of substance, I could garnish a few cocktails if I managed to not eat them before guests arrived.

The cauliflower sprouted its first floret. The basil that was sickly two weeks ago (bottom photo) has recovered nicely (same plant, top photo), and the Brussels sprout plant that nearly withered from aphids has recovered too.

Tomato plants that flowered two weeks ago have yet to produce fruit. Instead of a little bump of a tomato pushing the flower off, the flowers instead fell off without any fruit behind it. With my favorite resource (Brett) on vacation, I am left to wonder the reason. Is it not hot enough yet? Do the plants need more nutrition (in the form of compost or organic fertilizer)? Was it too wet? Dear reader, do you know the answer?

The ugly…. With so much rain and too little attention, the weeds have thrived this past week. A solid hour or two will be necessary to clean up the beds – not just for the aesthetics. If there’s a dry spell, I don’t want the vegetables competing with the weeds for water and nutrients.

With only a few raspberries, but plenty of mint, a raspberry-mint mojito seems like the perfect diversion.

Raspberry – Mint Mojito

yields 1 cocktail

4 tsp. sugar
1 ½ oz. rum
5 mint leaves
½ lime, juiced
Crushed ice
soda water or 7-up to taste
Raspberries and mint to garnish

Muddle sugar and mint with ice until sugar dissolves. Stir in rum, soda and lime to taste. Garnish with raspberries and mint sprigs.

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…