When it can't be sunny on Philly

I am enamored with cheese steaks. Gooey cheese, soft rolls, mushy onions, crispy beef- heaven.

I do my best to grab at least one of the magnificent creations each time I pass through the City of Brotherly Love. Those times are few and far between so I have to find a way to make due. Yesterday, I came close to recreating the cheese steak. NOTE_ I am not so vain to think that I could actually compete with the likes of Tony Luke's, Pat's, Geno's or Jim's.

The Cheese- Cheese steaks are to be made with Provolone or Cheese Whiz. I tend to prefer the Whiz over the Provolone, but I could not find proper Cheese Whiz at Ukrops or the drug store. I had to settle for Kraft singles. They melt well but lacks in true meat penetration.

The Roll- Cheese steaks should be made with Amorosa rolls. They are made in Philly and very few other places, if any. The are soft, light and chewy. Fortunately we can find these gems in our neighborhood WaWa market. Make sure to warm them up in a low-temp oven.

The Onions- This is the easy part. I generally use yellow onions, but lastnight I mixed both yellow and red together with a bit of peanut oil in a non-stick pan over medium-low heat.

The Meat- I am not a fan of Steakums or really any other processed frozen meat. I went down the street to Belmont Butchery, where they gladly cut up some local, ethically raised beef in what they term "Japanese Style". All that really means is that they slice it up similar to lunch meat and therefore perfect for cheese steaks. I cooked the slices on a griddle, topped with a dash or two of seasoning salt. That's it.

I threw on some Heinz Ketchup and mayo (I was out of hot pepper relish). Great sandwich.

More Perfect Grilled Cheese

I have had a few more wonderful recipes come in this week so I thought that I would post them.

Russell T. Cook- formerly of Millie's Fame

A simple straightforward grilled cheese I like requires a partial loaf of crusty baguette, olive oil, 1/2 clove of garlic, a few slices of comte or raclette and a broiler. I cut the bread, a little more than a 1/2" thick, on a severe bias. (to give you a good bread::crust ratio) Oil each side and rub with garlic clove. Toast one side in broiler until GBD. (golden brown delicious) Flip and toast other side half as long. Cover that side with cheese and continue to broil until gooey and bubbly. Sandwich the two pieces together and go to town.

Sometimes, when I feel like a fancy-pants, I'll add sliced apple and bacon.

Candace Nicholls- IT Recruiter

Start with 2 slices of a country-style white bread. Spread one slice generously with pesto, and the other with just a teeny bit of mayo. Add several slices of provolone or fontina cheese to the piece of bread spread with mayo(usually the former, the latter is harder to come by in New Kent County), and top with sliced Roma tomatoes (they taste better, often, and the smaller slices fit together better on the bread), then sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Top with the slice of bread spread with pesto, then dot the outside of the sandwich with butter (on both sides, but it’s usually easier to do the second side once it’s in the pan). I’ve been using the flat griddle plates of my waffle iron to cook this- it smashes it enough without smashing it TOO much- my Panini maker makes it too flat.

Billy Pillow- Graphic Designer

He suggested that I look at Welsh Rarebit recipes that use Guinness. 

The Perfect Grilled Cheese?

I am running a survey out there based on the perfect grilled cheese. This all started because of recipe and article I found in December's Saveur magazine. The recipe was a simple grilled cheese made out of sourdough bread, unsalted butter, and comte cheese. I cooked that sucker up and it was amazing. Then I realized there has to better combinations that I am missing. So here are some of the results I found on day 1. I hope to get another onslaught of responses so that I may post a follow-up.

Tanya at Belmont Butchery

If I'm eating a grilled cheese... ham and gruyere on brioche/or some soft egg bread... a skim coat of mayo on the bread, mayo down on the griddle, when brown pull off griddle. Top browned side of bread with grain mustard, good sweet ham, gruyere, top with bread - again browned side to food. Finish on a griddle, with a skim coat of mayo on the outside of the sandwich - cook until browned and cheese is melty.

Ben at Belmont Butchery

Grilled cheese shouldn't be gussied-up. It's american and it's simple. In fact, it should be a rule that you can't add any more than two toppings to it, anything beyond that is bullshit. SO, with that in mind...

• white or wheat (personal preference white)
  
• unsalted butter
  
• 2 slices kraft american cheese
  
• If I'm "Going Big" I'll add one slice of tomato and chopped jalapeno. If I'm drunk I'll sub the jalapeno for Texas Pete
  

Julia at River City Cellars

Mine is not so much the traditional, I prefer to call it the heart attack snack--it was my celebration for when I FINALLY got my cholesterol checked and found out it was absurdly low. I love genetics!

• Take a cakey bread like challah and slice off a 1.5-2" chunk. slit the side open enough to stuff with salty ham or prosciutto. grate a meltable alpine cheese or combo (aged gruyere+appenzeller, or just comte) and stuff that in, too. 
  
• heat a griddle or cast iron pan. add butter.
  
• in a shallow bowl beat an egg, a pinch each of salt and white pepper and a bit of milk (or if you're really thumbing your nose at the gods, half and half) and coat the stuffed sammy like french toast. not so much it starts to fall apart but enough to soak in a bit.
  
• fry that 6,000 calorie delight until golden on both sides and melted inside.
  
• open a yummy white (Loire chenin or better yet, brut Champagne).
  
• cancel all plans for the rest of the evening because in 22 minutes you will have face-planted into a carb coma.
  

Sarah at River City Cellars

Crusty bread, butter, Meadowcreek Farms- Grayson, pickles

I wish I could cook

For me, thick, spongy bread, lots of butter, basic Cheddar-esque singles, tomato and sometimes ham when I'm feeling kinky.

In vino veritas

sourdough bread brushed with REAL unsalted butter grilled with swiss and tomatoes. and smushed. for some reason, i have to smash it with a spatula

RVA Foodie

Butter, bread and cheese.

• The bread should be thin sandwich style (white/wheat/whichever).
  
• The butter should be unsalted (Karen says to put it on both sides of each piece of bread! but I think that might be overkill).
  
• The cheese should include "american processed cheese food" and maybe one other variety from the fridge (but not too fancy).
  
• The sandwich should be pan fried until golden, then flipped and pressed flat with a saucer so that there's a little circle in the middle of the bread. Both sides need to be crunchy and butter-logged.
  

variations:

• sauteed thinly sliced onions and fresh homegrown tomatoes
  
• sauteed apples and thinly sliced onions, and brie tween white bread
  
• nabulsi cheese. it stands alone
  
• fresh mozzarella, steamed greens lightly sauteed in garlic and butter or olive oil
  

Josh from Ch'ville

From the pan: butter, sweet potato bread, sharp honey mustard, fresh chopped basil, s & p, cheese blend (last time was chevre, sharp cheddar, havarti dill, smoked Gouda)

Carol from Cap1

Cooked in a frying pan, 2 pieces super thick white toast with butter, cream cheese and thickest velveeta slice ever with pepper sprinkled on top

Zuppa

Fresh basil pesto, tomato, mozzarella, dill havarti and prosciutto ham

Café Caturra

Sharp cheddar, provolone and vine ripe tomatoes grilled on panini bread

Holy Frijoles

So I am proud to say that I have mastered a dish, albeit a simple dish- The Refried Bean!

So the basic process of making frijoles is taking the dried pinto bean, cooking it in water over a period of 3 hours, mashing them, and frying them up with some onions and fat*. I used duck fat the first time and bacon fat the second time. I also used generic taco seasoning. And really, both times, the beans were good but not great. I was really disappointed in the in the consistency. It was very chunky and husky. I tend to like creamier beans.

So last night, I made some major changes. After cooking the beans in water, I dumped them into the blender with some additional water and went to town. I then fried the blended concoction with onions and duck fat. I seasoned them with salt, Penzy's Adobo seasoning, and Hungarian Paprika. They were heavenly and by far the best thing on the table last night. Thank goodness I will never have to subject my guests to canned or freeze-dried frijoles again.

*Note- any fat will do. Olive Oil is fine for those vegetarians out there. I love the meat fats because they provide great flavoring.

The Dancing BBQ Man

He shows up in Richmond at least twice a year. His setup smells like heaven. He’s the man dancing to his Irish music, spraying your mouths with Irish whiskey, and then wielding a knife as he passes around samples of his glorious smoked pork shoulder. He’s an English born, African-raised, Irish-bred, and now a full-fledged American BBQ man. He is Peter Baker, owner of Sneaky Peat -the foremost Irish peat business for US homes since 1998, and he is the man who helped me finally understand BBQ as it should be.

You will generally find Peter at Irish and Celtic festivals. He is present at the Irish Festival in Church in March and at the Richmond Highland Games in the fall. He advertises his product as IRISH BBQ and his method for making IRISH BBQ is with peat- yes, the same stuff that is used as a heating source in Ireland. He freely admits that he gets some chuckles from BBQ purists and that if you were to talk about Irish BBQ over in Ireland that the people would think you were bloody crazy. Yet, he would be quick to remind you that BBQ was a way of survival in years past. It was about using the hearth with peat to heat one’s home. While heating the home, people would store/cook/preserve their food using that same hearth. So while the Irish would never claim to own the BBQ, they were using the BBQ process years before America existed.

What you can’t help but notice as you walk by Sneaky Peats is the wonderful sweet earthy smell of peat. No sooner do you stop to take a look at the product when Pete graciously hands you a slice of meat. He might have sprayed your mouth with whiskey, he might dip the meat into his sauces, but the when all those flavors roll away; the rich, smoky flavor of peat persists. That was the exact experience that hooked me and made me decide I was going to make this myself. What I didn’t realize going in was that I didn’t get it when it came to smoking meats. I have several outdoor methods of cooking and possibly smoking. My often-used implement for BBQ was my little electric bullet smoker. So my first go around, I soaked me some chuncks of peat, and laid them near the coil. I filled up my water basin with beer. I rubbed my pork shoulder with salt, pepper, sugar, and dried mustard. I served it with a mustard-beer sauce. Honestly, it was a hit. The taste was great, but not because of peat, but because I could flavor food well with spices and sauces. I was disappointed because I wanted a wonderful smoke flavor, but that just didn’t happen.

When I cornered Peter in October and in subsequent conversations, he proceeded to teach me the basics of BBQ. He taught me that if I separated the elements, then I could truly understand and appreciate BBQ and subsequently Irish BBQ. He also taught about how peat works. The trick to peat is to give it a slow burn, but not too slow because that chars the product and traps the oils that produce the wonderful aroma and flavor. As such, it is important to select the appropriate size of peat to the heating element that you would be using. He said that water is essential to backyard BBQ because it helps transfer the flavor to the meat. He also told me to never, under any circumstance, soak the peat in anything. There were several conversations like these over both phone and email. Honestly, we didn’t have success I was looking for that next time around. Finally, after more talk and a little trial and error, we found the system that worked.

Needless to say that this homage is a way of saying thanks to the person who literally gave me hours of his time to help me refine my technique in the art of BBQ.

Gravlax- Take 1

Since returning from my trip, I have been fairly adventurous in my cooking. This initially started with Greek food, but it has extended into other cuisine. Last week, I thought I would give gravlax a try. I have been fascinated in trying it ever since Bookstore Piet was telling me about how well it turned out. A few months later, I was fortunate enough to try the actual goods from the man himself. So without further ado, here are Piet's gravlax instructions.

Ingredients:
Salmon (high quality, preferably sushi grade)
Salt
Sugar
White Pepper
Fresh Dill

Instructions:
-wash the salmon, pat dry, remove pin bones
-combine salt and sugar (1 part salt to 2 parts sugar) and add 2 tablespoons white pepper
-place salmon in a dish or pan. pour a shot or two of akavit over and let sit for 10 or 15 minutes
-remove excess liquid and pat dish dry
-pour a small base of sugar/mixture into dish a place salmon (skin side down) onto mixture.
-place several sprigs of fresh dill on top of salmon
-cover salmon with remainder of salt/sugar - make sure the salmon is completely covered
-let sit on counter for 30 minutes to an hour
-cover and place in fridge and wait 36-48 hours to do it correctly
-when you remove it rinse under cold water, make sure you do NOT rehydrate the salmon.
-after rinsing pat dry and wrap tightly in saran wrap until ready to use. I find it best to remove from the mixture at least a couple of hours before serving
-slice thin at a heavy bias

Oh, it turned out perfect!

Thanksgiving Question for RVA Foodies

This is the first year that I will actually be cooking a Thanksgiving Dinner. As such, I want to buy a decent turkey. So my question is:

Where will you be buying your turkey this year?

Oh My, My Mashed Potatoes

As you may know, Mrs. Marinara does the baking in our household. Other than that, it is only warming things up for the little Marinara. So when friends have babies, I have the pleasure of preparing a meal for them. Well, this latest meal was tricky because I am friends with the guy but have only met his wife in passing. On top of that, he is an Italian from Upstate NY, so my basic Italian meals might be considered rubbish. On top of that, people have built up my skills much further than they really deserve. So I have this pressure to deliver.

I decided to stay simple because simple works. I knew I wanted to grill steak (flat iron beauty from Belmont Butchery) and asparagus. For the starch, I was leaning towards a pesto farafelle when it occurred to me that pesto is out of season. Most people wouldn't care, but that stuff bothers me. So my buddy, The Sausage King of RVA, gave me his take on mashed potatoes.

His advice was to boil the potatoes until they fall off the knife when you poke them. In the meantime, heat up ungodly amounts of butter with some heavy cream. He had me dry the potatoes, then break them up using a potatoe ricer, and add the butter/ cream mixture in slow intervals, while stirring slowly. He said moving to fast would release the gluten and mess them up. He then told me to add salt, white pepper, and nutmeg.

So I followed the recipe, except that I had no nutmeg. Oh yeah, I also added some crumbled bacon (with just a tad of bacon grease). In reality, I used 2.5 pounds of potatoes and melted 3 sticks of butter into a pint of heavy cream. I only ended up using 1/2 of the mixture because I thought you can only make mashed potatoes so liquidy before they turn into soup.

Anyway, they rocked. They could have killed a small child, but they were so good. I would rather have 3 tablespoons of amazing food than a full serving of anything average.

I completed the meal by sending over a loaf of flour garden bread, 2 large Ghiradelli mix brownies, and a pint of Bev's ice cream (espresso oreo and dirty chocolate). I hope they enjoyed it, I sure did with all the leftovers!

Last Night's Dinner

A nice dry-aged strip from Whole Foods.




















Romaine lettuce, roasted peppers, cucumbers, manouri cheese, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.

Trying to Smoke a Brisket- Again

I have made several valiant attempts at smoking briskets, and all to often I can't seem to get over the hump from good to really good. There are probably several reasons why I seem to be OK at this exercise including quality of beef, use of an electric smoker, spice combinations, wood usage.

This time I tried the following preparation.

*Injected the briskets with Creole Butter
*Rubbed it with yellow mustard
*Combined various amounts of Lawry's Seasoning Salt, sugar, brown sugar, paprika, cumin, chili powder, and cayenne pepper
*Soaked Hickory and Cherry wood chips
*Used water and pomegranate juice in the basin

So it's been in the smoker for about 5.5 hours. A few more hours and we will be in business.

Chili Plateau

About 4 years ago, I had a pretty good chili recipe that included corn, kielbasa, and sugar. People loved it, but I gave it up because it wasn't real chili. It wasn't Texas chili.

So took a few years off and decided that I needed to start over with chili. I have had several chili's that I liked. Most of them fall into the category of hot dog chili, but from everything I can tell, hot dog chili and Texas chili are the same thing. Some of these chili's are made at places like Jimmy's in the West End, Jess' Quick Lunch in Harrisonburg, Texas Tavern in Roanoke, and Ben's Chili Bowl in DC. They all seem to have that addictive combination of meat, grease, and spice.

My first attempt at a Texas chili was an accident. I made taco meat, but I decided to break up the ground beef in water and then boil it. After cooking and adding the spices, I realized I had found the consistency that I would need for my chili. But that was all the success I had. Since then, I have tried three different times to start concocting the perfect recipe. Each time I could never get the spices right. It always seemed to lack that spark. So desperate times called for desperate measures. I decided to cheat and use the chili seasoning packet that my mom used. It is called Caroll Shelby's Chili Kit and it comes in the brown paper bag. I cooked up the chili and still it didn't do it for me. So now, I am at a loss. I need to figure out how some of these places do it. I know it would be too much to ask if anyone would mind sharing their secret with me ;)

Failing the Memory

So I was asked to make a meal for a family that just brought in two teenaagers from Haiti. My thought process was as follows:

"H'mm I've been to Haiti 4 times"

"H'mm I bet those boys would appreciate a meal that reminds them of home"

"All I remember is fried chicken and thier rice and beans."

So I scoured the internet looking for Haitian fried chicken. When that failed, I looked for Carribean fried chicken- BINGO. The recipe called for cleaning the chicken with lime, using adobo seasoning, and light flour to coat it. Now I hadn't had Haitian fried chicken in 10 years but I remember it being amazing- then again I was tired and hungry when I ate it.

So I buy the ingreadiants, prep the chicken, heat the peanut oil, and fry away. Guess what! It was pretty good, but it didn't taste anything like my memory. So now I'll have to figure out something else for that dinner.