Archive for June, 2011
There hasn’t been much cooking this week – there have been late nights and early mornings and an emergency dentist visit. I’ve been simultaneously catching up from being away in Austin and getting stuff done before we leave for California. Feel free to hate me – I might.
We’re leaving Sunday, all of us, Ben included, and the boys are nearly beside themselves with excitement over going to Disneyland. It’s a requisite visit, isn’t it? For all parents of kids under ten?
We go to San Francisco first, which I’m nearly beside myself with excitement over. (Note to self: wear sandals. No wool.)
I’ve been on the afternoon show on CBC all week too, which means being in the studio until 6, with not much motivation to cook by the time I get home. On one of those nights-I’m not sure I can distinguish which-I ran some raw, tail-on shrimp from the freezer under warm water in a colander to thaw them while I got changed out of my work clothes, and had almost the same barbecue shrimp we always order at Memphis Blues in Vancouver. It turns out all they do is saute them in plenty (plenty!) of butter (I was a little more stingy) and a good shake of their all-purpose dry barbecue rub. They serve them in shallow bowls, swimming in salty butter, with wedges of cornbread, and they are divine. It’s a good thing Vancouver is so far away.
You could of course use any spice rub – the same you might use for ribs, brisket, pulled pork and the like – or a curry or tandoori blend. Heat a generous pat of butter in a heavy skillet, add a drizzle of olive or canola oil and when the foam subsides, throw in as many raw, peeled, tail-on shrimp as you want to cook. Add a generous shake of the rub. Toss them about in the pan for a couple minutes, just until they turn opaque – don’t overcook them, or they will curl up tight and end up tough – pour into a shallow bowl and serve with cornbread or crusty bread, for mopping.
And then, while the boys are at grandma’s for a sleepover, crawl into bed before midnight for crying out loud.
June 10 2011 | seafood | 20 Comments »
You may recall I met Jacques Pepin last week, sort of. And he taught me how to cook this apple Charlotte. Well, there were a hundred or so other people in the room.
What I loved about this particular demonstration of French cooking was that it involved a pan, apples, butter, syrup, and day-old buttered bread. And his fingers. There was nothing high-fallootin’ about it, no proper techniques. It did not smack at all of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, with all its trussing and duck deboning and gellée. I can’t even think of a cooking technique one might learn from this particular dish of apples in a pan, topped with toast, except to demonstrate that you can take the most humble of ingredients and turn them into something wonderful. That, and it’s all in the branding. (If you sauteed apples, put sliced bread on top and baked it, would you think to label it a skillet apple Charlotte? Sounds far fancier than the sum of its parts, no?)
I must confess to messing up right off the bat: my cast iron is 9-10 inches, not 7-8. I forgot to compensate with more apples.
I totally blew off his advice to use a) sandwich bread, opting for a dense, chewy white loaf instead, and trimming only the slightly thicker bottom crust. I further did not lay them on a surface and make them into a round the size of the pan – I just laid them on top of the apples.
Next time – tomorrow morning, maybe? – I’ll lay French toast on top. Don’t you think?
Then all you do is bake the lot until it’s bubbly and the bread is all toasty. But the final measure of brilliance is in the topping – sour cream, not sweetened whipped. How have I not thought of this? On something as sweet as a tarte Tatin or apple Charlotte, it makes perfect sense to dollop a thick and smooth but slightly tangy cream on top. It was divine. That Jacques knows his stuff.
Skillet Apple Charlotte
adapted from Jacques Pepin
3-4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into sixths
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 Tbsp honey or Roger’s Golden Syrup
3 Tbsp butter
4 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
1 tsp sugar
sour cream, for serving
Preheat the oven to 400°. In an 8-9 inch cast iron skillet, arrange the apples snugly, cored side up. Add the maple syrup, honey and 2 tablespoons of the butter and bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook, gently shaking the pan occasionally, until the apples are tender, 5 minutes.
Uncover and cook over high heat, shaking the pan a few times, until the liquid is evaporated and the apples are caramelized, about 7 minutes.
Arrange the bread slices in a square on a work surface. Trim the corners of the slices to form a round the size of the skillet. Spread the bread with the remaining butter.
Arrange the bread over the apples, buttered side up, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes, until the bread is toasted. Invert the Charlotte onto a plate.
Cut into wedges and serve warm with a dollop of sour cream. Serves 6.
June 08 2011 | dessert | 13 Comments »
I vote we all go on a field trip to Austin for some barbecue. Or rather, all y’all should come with me to Austin for some barbecue. (All y’all being the plural version of the singular y’all, which I find crazy charming now. Especially when someone uses it in a sentence like this: “y’all haven’t tried Free-toe Pah? p-EYE is a mathematical term. P-AHH is the stuff you eat.”)
There was a lot of really great stuff in and about Austin, but I can’t fill you in on everything, so since my tired brain is strapped for adjectives anyway, I’ll focus on yesterday’s lunch. Because really, there are no words.
We went to get in line at Franklin Barbecue at around 10:30, on the advice of some locals who told us it opens at 11 and is generally sold out by 1. Go early. You won’t regret it.
If you go with 8 brand-new friends, the wait in line isn’t so bad.
And when they open the door and you wind through the building, exposed to the smell of that barbecue as you pass the people from the front of the line just sitting down at their tables, newly heaving under the weight of pulled pork and brisket, it’s like food foreplay.
It’s just that much better once you get to the front of the line. But then you have to choose.
We bought a pound each of the meats – plus a little extra brisket – and some sides. Butcher paper instead of plates. Paper towels instead of napkins.
The brisket was unreal. The pulled pork and ribs and spicy smoked turkey were close to it. The sausages dripped down my chin like warm peaches. They had something called Big Red, which tasted like red sugar – cream soda-y and bubblegummy – and authentic Dr Pepper, which is apparently a Big Deal and hard to come by. I had to run out early and check out of my hotel, and forgot my bottle, ice cold and covered with condensation, on the table. I’ve been pining for it ever since. (And the brisket. Oh the brisket.)
Austin was never on my radar, and certainly not on my mental list of food destinations – but now I’m plotting a way to get back. Perhaps at a time of year when it’s not over a hundred degrees. At least next time I’ll remember to not bring only one pair of dark, heavy, fully-enclosed leather shoes – my feet are currently weeping with joy over their reunion with flip-flops. The rest of me is weeping with joy over the memory of what in my mind was perfect barbecue. So worth the pilgrimage.
I wonder what their pie (read: p-AH) is like.
June 05 2011 | eating out | 27 Comments »
Those of you who don’t follow me on twitter may not realize I’m in Austin, Texas right now. I am. At the IACP conference. It’s almost a hundred degrees, and I’m the only one not wearing strappy sandals. Since I arrived yesterday afternoon, it’s been nonstop. I think I may have slept for a bit in the middle there somewhere.
So yesterday? at food camp? I met Dorie Greenspan. Who was absolutely lovely and friendly and exactly like the Dorie I had in my mind, once I filled in all the gaps.
And then I went to a party at the museum Kalyn, and Eliese, and Jaden, and so many people I have a bag full of cards and a brain full of good conversations. And Kalyn and I went to La Condesa for margaritas and a late nibble, which were stupendous.
And this morning, at food camp? I met Shauna. (Finally.) And Dan, and Gaby. And we walked in the wet heat to the Taco Shack and ate tacos for breakfast, with guava juice and iced coffee.
And then there was a lot of other stuff, and tonight, at another shindig, Dorie saw me through the crowd and came over to ask me how my day was. And then Jacques Pépin came over to say hi – to Dorie, that is, but yes for a few fleeting minutes I was just hanging and chatting with Dorie and Jacques, and it could be that I just fell asleep and didn’t notice, but if that’s the case I’d like to continue on with this dream, please. Glee – I get it now.
Dinner, by the way, was amazing barbecue at Lamberts with Shauna, Danny and Lu, and Lisa, Gaby and Lillian. After a midnight food styling session (you know you’re hard-core when…) I’m going to bed – never so happily exhausted and invigorated at the same time.
June 02 2011 | leftovers | 14 Comments »
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