Show Me the Playbook

“Do you know the name of the large black bean?” I asked our waiter, shoving my arm into my winter jacket’s sleeve. BS and I had finished ourRancho Gordothree bean salad atFlatbush Farm, a Brooklyn restaurant focusing on humanely raised animals and vegetables, and we were steps away from the door. But I had to ask. It was the best bean salad I’ve ever had.

A warm and tender polenta base, as smooth as hummus, provided the backdrop to lovingly cooked beans. Soft but not mushy, like the pillows in a furniture showroom.

The waiter, having taken an American Apparel ad too seriously, sported perfectly cuffed trousers showing just the right amount of white sock. ”I can find out for you,” he answered back.

He walked behind the bar and pulled out a binder, or what Flatbush Farm refers to as its playbook. Along with the slim binder, filled with printed pages and handwritten notes, the waiter brought out a glass with a variety of dried beans. Feeling his way around the beans, he simultaneously flipped through the binder’s pages.

“Scarlet Runner Bean,” he answered.

We thanked the waiter and walked out.“Holy crap that was cool,” I blurted out as the door closed behind us.“He just whipped out a book and told me exactly what kind of bean was in that salad. He didn’t have to ask the chef or anything. Do you think other restaurants have that kind of book? I’ve never seen it before.”

“Maybe you should start to ask to see the playbook everywhere you go,” BS replied.

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Artsy Guess the Photo of the Day

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Top Chef All-Stars Exit Interview: Episode 10

Top Chef All-Stars is really getting down to the nitty-gritty, with just seven chef-testants left this week. But one of them ended the episode about as happy ascookie monster at a make-your-own-salad party. We find out what went wrong, after the jump.

In the biggest shocker of the season so far, Carla and Tiffany survived, but Angelo Sosawas told to pack his knives and leave.

ES: How exhausted are you after doing two seasons of Top Chef back-to-back?
Angelo Sosa: I think I did close to 80 challenges, but Top Chef All-Stars broke me. It broke me in the most amazing way. It kept pushing me beyond limits that I didn’t even know I had. When I was told to pack my knives and leave, I just really had a sense of gratitude that I got to cook with these amazing chefs in front of millions of people.

In season seven you were kind of the villain, but in this one you came across as more likable.
To be honest with you I think I was misunderstood in the first season. Cooking with the All-Stars, who are all amazing chefs, I just felt more in my place. I felt like I was able to form kinships. I was able to let my guard down and just cook.

Why did everyone decide to cook soup in the last challenge?
We had two hours to cook and basically set up our own kitchen. I’d never been to a Super Target before and I didn’t know what to expect, but I figured they wouldn’t have filet mignon, salmon and caviar. So I was trying to think of dishes that could come together quickly.

We saw Mike Isabella tell you that your soup needed to be salted and then you lost because it was too salty. Did he set you up?
I tasted Mike’s dishes five to 10 times, as he did mine. What you saw was only a sliver of it. At the end of the day, I conceived the birth of this dish, I put it out there, and I’m smart enough to make my own decisions.

Tiffany cracked at judges’ table and broke down. She seemed to think she was going home— did you?
I don’t really play that game. I have my own standards and hold myself accountable for my own dish. That’s it.

The last few guys to get kicked off have seemed to think the ladies don’t deserve to still be there. What do you think?
Let me put it this way— I never once questioned the judges’ decision. They really love food and they know what they’re doing. If the three girls are still there, then they deserve to be there.

What’s up next for you?
I’m a partner in Sosa Consulting Group, we manage and strategize restaurant concepts, and I’m opening up a new concept in midtown Manhattan very shortly called Social Eatz. It’s going to be American comfort food with Asian accents. For example, I know a lot of people loved eating sloppy joes growing, so I’m going to do a sloppy ho chi mihn that has an Asian kick and is super yummy.

Who is the best chef left?
I have the highest respect, as a person, as a chef, as an innovator, forRichard Blais. I’ve never cooked with anyone at his level.

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Fart Without Fear

We don’t hype a lot of cookbooks here at ES because, well, they’re all so boring. In fact, if I get one more press release along the lines ofLearn to Cook Family Favorite in 20 Minutes or Less!I’m going to barf all over my laptop. But once in a blue moon we get one that actually sounds like our style. Clearly,Fart Without Fearfalls into that category.

Now this is not your run of the mill anti-farting cookbook. FWF is not here to tell you to forgo theblack bean nachosor themacaroni and cheese pizza. Come on, we wouldn’t do that to you. Nor do they share instructions on how to make these fatty foods flatulent-free. We all know that’s not possible. No, this is much more complex that that. Instead, Fart Without Fear promises a more attainable goal— 70 comfort food recipes that the book’s authors swear result only in the less offensive kind of farting, i.e. weeding out the ingredients that result in“badflatulence (a. k .a. smelly farts, silent but deadlies, air biscuits, backdoor trumpets, poots, etc.)” They promise their recipes will show readers how to:

Reduce the pungent, eye-tearing, sulfur-laden farts from recipes for breakfarts, loaded lunches, oop soups, sneaky snacks, appetooters, side splitters, dangerous dinners, and deadly desserts…Decide which ones to prepare using the authors’ very own scientifically based and politically incorrect rating system, the Original Boston Baked Bean Odor Index.

Finally, a cookbook that actually wants to help.

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banana cream pie cupcakes recipe

After all thechocolate and beer dessertsof last few posts, I thought I would lighten it up some and make something non-chocolate. You know, get back to basics like pie or cupcakes— better yet let’s just fuse the two for somebanana cream pie cupcakes.

Let me say, it’s like finding nirvana between the pleats! On your way, you’ll find a vanilla cupcake stuffed with some banana cream filing and topped with some good ol’ fashion whip cream. To round it all out I rimmed the whip cream with some crumbledcoconut and pecan graham cracker crustand then drizzled it with some caramel sauce— and done! Enjoy.

Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes

Preparation: Line cupcake pan with liners. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Vanilla Cupcakes

• 2 cups of unbleachedall-purpose flour
• 1½ cup granulatedsugar
• 1/2 t baking powder
• ¼ tbaking soda
• ¼ teaspoonsalt
• 1½ cupsunsalted butter, softened
• 3 largeeggs
• 1½ tablespoonsvanilla extract
• ¾ cupsour cream
• ½ cupmilk

1. Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda; set aside. Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat on medium high speed until mixture becomes light and fluffy. Add in salt and beat until combined. Add in eggs one at a time and beat until combined. Add in vanilla and beat until combined.

2. Turn off mixer. Combine sour cream and milk until smooth. Using a sturdy spatula or a wooden spoon, add in sour cream mixture and flour mixture, alternating in thirds. Fold in each rotation, beginning with the sour cream and ending with the flour mixture, mixing each rotation until just combined.

3. Fill cupcake liner two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes.

Banana Cream Pie Filling

• 1½bananas, plus 1/2 banana for divided use
• 1 cupmilk
• 1 cupheavy cream
• ¼ cupcorn starch
• ½ cupsugar, plus 2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoonvanilla
• ¼kosher salt

1. Place all ingredients in food processor bowl or blender and process to combine. Pour mixture into a saucepan over medium heat and cook until mixture starts to bubble, making sure to constantly whisk. Continue to cook mixture until it thickens, about 5– 7 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Whip Cream Frosting

2 cups ofwhip cream

1 tablespoongranulated sugar

1 teaspoonvanilla extract

Place whip cream, sugar and vanilla in a chilled bowl. Using a whisk or a hand mixer beat whip cream on low until it starts to bubble. Increase speed to medium high and continue to beat until cream almost doubles in size and is smooth and creamy.

Assembly

1. Using a serrated melon baller or knife, dig out a well in the middle of each cupcake and fill with banana cream filling. Frost with whip cream to preference. Rim frosting withcoconut and pecan graham cracker mixtureby placing crumbs in your hand and pressing it into the sides. Finish by drizzlingcaramel sauceon top.

And, a…hem, please get your chompers and biceps ready for next week’s post as it’s going to be a hand to mouth addiction you won’t be able to stop— just say’n!

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gado gado recipe

It is a question I’ve had to answer again and again.  If it doesn’t come up the first time meeting me (what tipped you off— the obviously thrift store jeans or the decrepit Earth shoes?) I know it still dwells in my new friend’s/coworker’s/grocery store checker’s mind. Maybe they open my fridge for another beer and encounter a meat drawer full of cheese. Perhaps they suspiciously eye my container of leftover tofu pad Thai.  Whatever sparks it, I always know it’s lurking below the surface like Jaws, if Jaws ate black beans instead of people. “Are you a vegetarian?”

The answer, strictly speaking, is no. The answer, compared to most Americans, is basically, yes. I first heard the termflexitariana few years back, and I actually suppressed a gag reflex.  Sorry ES, I know they once received a nomination foreater of the year, but I am not ready to unite my eating habits with the soy hemp pomegranate latte crowd. At a recent foodie gala thing, I overheard someone say, “I don’t know what I’m going to eat when I go home because this is my first Thanksgiving as a pescatarian.”  Cue aforementioned gag reflex, and accompanying eye roll.  I mean, come on, you could practically cut the sanctimony with a fillet knife.  Blech.

So, my answer, like most real ones, is, it’s complicated.  I like happy meat from happy cows and you likely won’t find any animal parts in my fridge unless my husband has a hankering for sausage on his homemade deep dish pizza.  One coworker dubbed all of my leftovers “nut-berry casserole.” But…I believe in hospitality, both giving and receiving, so I will eat (and enjoy) any lovingly prepared food, animal or otherwise.  Don’t knock the West Virginia pickled hot dog ‘til you’ve tried it.  And if the only place to watch the Illini game is Buffalo Wild Wings, bring on the hot and spicy wing platter.

I don’t think telling you how great vegetarianism is will convert you any more than telling you how often I go to church is going to make you a Christian.  But St. Camillus does have a fabulous 10:30 mass if you ever care to join me, and if you come for lunch afterward, I dare you to leave any nut-berry casserole, I mean Gado Gado, on your plate.

Gado Gado (A dish so nice they named it twice)

Adapted from the Moosewood Cookbook

Gado Gado is the best kind of dish— similar tobi bam bap, you can make it a million different ways.  Basically, there are three parts:  the rice, the toppings and the peanut sauce.

The rice:

Make two cups cooked rice, adding 1 t turmeric to the rice as it is cooking to give it a lovely yellow color.

The toppings:

Choose from the following (my recommendations) or whatever else is around:

Hard boiled eggs

Tofu

Cooked spinach

Tart apples

Raw carrots

Barely cooked green beans (still crunchy)

Shredded cabbage

Sauteed onions

Boiled red potatoes (with skins)

The peanut sauce:

1 c. good quality peanut butter (no Skippy unless you are desperate)

1 heaping T grated fresh ginger

1 cloves minced garlic

3 T brown sugar

1 1/2 c. hot water

4 T cider vinegar

2 T soy sauce

1 t or more salt, to taste

Crushed red pepper to taste

Puree in food processor.  Cook briefly on low heat in a small saucepan to thicken.

You can lay it all out on a lovely platter to impress your guests.  Serve in bowls by layering rice, then toppings, then sauce.

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Resist the Jerky at Seattle Farmers’Markets

If you want to understand a new city don’t go on that dumb duck tour. Instead, find a farmers’ market.

Ask questions of the vendors. Sample local food, it’s better than any other breakfast.

A cheese made in the temperate Pacific Northwest will taste different than a cheese made from cows raised in searing heat. Each state has different rules on selling alcohol, so wine, cider and mead sips can be found at Seattle markets.

You can even find alcohol (although not as much as NyQuil) in the ancient Asian tea, Kombucha.

Really bring home a piece of your vacation with an edible souvenir. Find unique beans or grains (such as, wheat berries-red hard or triticale berries), or simply ones that can’t be found at your markets.

An apple from a nearby orchard makes a perfect plane snack. A sturdy cheese can stand a few hours of flying (and will pass a security test.) Apple-smoked fleur de sel will remind you of your trip long after you’ve landed.

And while you will be tempted to buy a package of salmon jerky, resist. Chewy fish is unappetizing. Nibble on the smoked stuff instead.

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