Serious Eats

This Week at Serious Eats World Headquarters

2012-02-10T22:30:00Z

VIEW SLIDESHOW: This Week at Serious Eats World Headquarters

[Photographs: Robyn Lee, unless otherwise noted]

This week we fed Hambone meaty treats, ate lots of sandwiches, said good-bye to a coworker (and ate desserts to mask the pain), and more.

The Vegan Experience, Day 27: Vegan Fast-Food Options

2012-02-10T22:00:00Z

Note: For the four weeks between January 14th and February 11th, I'm adopting a completely vegan lifestyle. Every weekday I'll be updating my progress with a diary entry and a recipe. For past posts, check here!

Days 27: Thursday

Breakfast: A chickpea and potato empanada, some clementines.
Lunch: Homemade tofu (not the best), sauteed king oyster mushrooms, and a big salad.
Dinner: a bowl of 15-minute creamy tomato soup, some of Jim Lahey's excellent bread, and a bit of mushroom and eggplant massaman curry.

OK folks, this is my second to last Vegan Experience entry and I'm afraid it's gonna be a short one as I'm currently on the bus on the way up to Boston to a) stir things up a bit with Bottom Shelf writer Will Gordon and for one final, blow-out vegan tasting menu at Craigie on Main in Cambridge. Exciting day indeed.

I've been at this now for almost a month, yet I'm still learning something new every day.

Today's lesson: if you are traveling on a bus for 4 1/2 hours, bring your own lunch. I was in such a rush this morning that I accidentally left my cold sesame noodle salad (not many noodles, lots of cucumbers, peppers, and other vegetables) sitting in the fridge. Luckily, the MegaBus makes a stop in Connecticut right around lunchtime. Unluckily, the only thing available on the side of the highway in Connecticut is fast food.

Fast food is not a vegan-friendly dining environment. We stopped at Burger King, arguably the most vegetarian-friendly establishment of the big three (if you include Taco Bell, BK comes in at number two), yet still my options were extremely limited.

The BK Veggie burger used to be vegan, but these days the soy-based patty from Morningstar is formulated with dairy, as are the bun and mayonnaise. Luckily, Burger King's new French Fries are vegan, as is their house salad with oil and vinegar dressing. Not the healthiest or most filling of lunches, but it was just enough to tide me over.

Had we stopped at a Wendy's or—god forbid—a McDonald's, my options would have been even more severely limited. Wendy's? French fries and a plain baked potato. The very definition of a balanced meal.

Vegan-friendly options at McDonald's? Nothing. Nada. Zippo. Their salads all contain some sort of meat product (fried chicken, grilled chicken, bacon), their fries are formulated with animal-based flavorings. I could have ordered a salad without the toppings. Even their pies are made with animal-derived L-Cysteine, so no dessert from the clown.

Many higher-end fast food and fast casual chains are beginning to offer vegetarian or vegan options. Subway has their Veggie Deluxe, which is really just a meatless sub, but given the huge variety of vegetables they offer, it's not a bad option for a vegan on the go. (I still can't stand the smell of their bread).

Panera bakes their decent-for-fast-food bread on premises and offer a number of vegan-friendly sandwich and soup options. I'm arriving in Boston's South Station today which doesn't have a Panera, but has a Cosí instead. Their bread is made with milk, unfortunately. Salad for lunch it is.

Burrito mega-chain and socially-conscious fast food superstar Chipotle is a great option for vegans. Stay away from the meat, cheese, and pinto beans (cooked with pork), but you can rub their black beans, rice, any of the veggies, sauces, guacamole and dressings all over your animal-free body to your heart's content. (For those vegetarians who are selective about their cheese—Chipotle's cheese is made from vegetable rennet).

Of course, the best way to eat on the run is, once again, better planning. It was obvious to me from the start that being vegan was not going to be as easy as being an omnivore by sheer fact of choice limitations. It requires vigilance and planning on a daily basis. A single un-planned meal can mean that you end up eating undressed iceberg lettuce or french fries for a meal.

As much as I'd love to say that it's an easy task, it's really not. But that doesn't mean that the effort I've been putting into this hasn't been rewarding. Barring a few terrible vegan pizza and fast food incidents, I've enjoyed (almost) every minute of this month and the challenges it has brought. And it does get easier every day.

So what will tomorrow bring after this whole thing is over? I'm not sure, but it'll definitely involve plenty of vegetables.

Stay tuned next week for a big roundup of all the recipes I've published over the last month (plus perhaps a few bonus recipes!), as well as some last thoughts on the Experience.

About the author: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is the Managing Editor of Serious Eats where he likes to explore the science of home cooking in his weekly column The Food Lab. You can follow him at @thefoodlab on Twitter, or at The Food Lab on Facebook.

Dinner Tonight: Swiss Chard and Pasta Soup

2012-02-10T21:15:00Z

[Photograph: Nick Kindelsperger]

I've been sautéing a lot of pasta recently. And the more I do it, the more addicted I become to the flavor. Much like cooking rice before adding water, sautéing brings out some incredible toasted aromas in the pasta.

The method is also a great way to spruce up very simple soups, including this one from Diana Kennedy's Oaxaca al Gusto. This is pure comfort food, but it's also one with a surprising amount of depth.

Now, I know the chicken livers are going to scare off a lot of people. That's understandable—and part of me thinks it would still work without them. But I like the little bit of funk they add. You'd never pick out the flavor, but they add a meaty backbone to each sip. Still, if it bothers you that much, just leave them out. The soup is flavorful enough to get by just fine.

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Swiss Chard and Pasta Soup »

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Celebrate Valentine's Day With Pink Bubbly

2012-02-10T21:00:00Z

From Drinks

[Photograph: chilled pink Champagne from Shutterstock]

Pretty pink wine can definitely enhance a romantic evening. But it's a challenge to find good-value bottles: sparkling rosé is almost always more expensive than its paler counterpart. The additional step in the winemaking (either allowing the juice some extended skin contact, bleeding the vat in the saignee process, or making still red wine to blend with white) may account for some of the increase in price, but high demand for sparkling rosé keeps the prices up, too.

And unfortunately, there's a lot of lower-priced pink bubbly on the market that's pretty gross. We waded through more than a few drainpours to find some delicious options for your Valentine's Day enjoyment. Here are a few of our favorite pink sparkling wines—Cremant, Cava, and Champagne.

Get Cozy With Cremant

If you like bubbly, you should get familiar with the term Cremant: these sparkling wines aren't from Champagne, but they are from France, and they do undergo a secondary bubble-forming fermentation in the bottle like Champagne does. They're often a killer value.

My top recommendation: the name is so, so cheesy, but please trust me when I say that you should buy Antech Emotion (2009) for all your budget-pink-bubbly needs. The scent is toasty but the wine is light and bright: tart cranberry-strawberry flavors make your mouth pucker a bit. This Cremant de Limoux (from the Languedoc in Southern France) is made in the traditional methode, yielding very fine carbonation. It's clean and fresh, and there's a floral side too—as it warms, pressed violets come to mind. It's 70% Chardonnay, 18% Chenin Blanc, 10% Mauzac, and 2% Pinot Noir. Drink before dinner with prosciutto and goat cheese or shrimp cocktail, or make a meal of it with quiche or carbonara (a lobster roll would work, too.) At around $15, you can't really do better.

Another good option is Lucien Albrecht Cremant d'Alsace, which is fresh and tangy, with a little orange zest and tart strawberry flavor. This pinot noir-based bubbly is a thirst-quencher, good for serving as an aperitif (it would be nice with crispy fried spring rolls.) If you can't find the Antech, this one will do nicely for around $16. (Not sure I'd pay $20 for it, though.)

Bold Rosé Cava

If you're serving seared duck breast or juicy lamb chops for Valentine's dinner, you may want a wine that's a little more bold. Our pick: Torre Oria Cava Brut Rosado, which is a gorgeous magenta color and offers full dark-berried fruit. This traditional-method bubbly is made from 100% Garnacha, and tastes like cranberries and blackberries, with a hint of Campari richness. It sells for around $15.

[Photograph: pink Champagne from Shutterstock]

Rosé Champagne Picks

Rosé Champagne is pricey stuff—you'll definitely shell out more for it than you would regular 'white' Champagne. But if you want rosé, Champagne offers more flavorful and interesting wine than any of the options above.

If you're looking for seduction, Champagne Chartogne-Taillet's rosé, made from 60% chardonnay and 40% pinot noir, offers it in spades. In the glass, there's a potent, vivid scent of caramel and strawberry candy, and the flavors swirl in at first sip: toffee, tangy apricot jam on melba toast, spicy rhubarb with candied ginger, pressed roses and waxy honeycomb. This Champagne has a bit of a savory side, but is still feminine, with real acidity balancing throaty alto depth. This isn't pop-and-giggle wine, it's velvety bathtub-for-two wine, to be served with rich slices of salmon and tuna sashimi or better yet—pork belly. One of David Chang's pork buns and a flute of this, perhaps? Afterward, you might as well just smoke a cigarette and call it a night. About $50, but isn't romance priceless?

Sometimes, though, you want your bubbles to be a little less serious and a little more fun. Champagne Lallier rosé smells appealingly like peaches and cream, and the flavor is friendly and fresh, with the ripe fragrant peach flavors carrying through. Made from 80% pinot noir and 20% chardonnay, this berry-flavored wine laced with hints of thyme and sage is as easy drinking as it gets. There's no mustiness here (though also not some of the yeasty or mineral complexity of higher-end bottles.) Serve with goat cheese and prosciutto, or a heartier meal of meatball stroganoff, or really anything involving mushrooms and cream. It'll cost you around $40, though we've seen it for sale this time of year for $32.

Pehu-Simonet's Brut Rosé falls somewhere between the two, balancing fresh, pure fruit with a bit more complexity. Vibrant red berries and hints of nectarine and mandarin orange are accented with a minty/basil-like freshness and a little clove and Sichuan peppercorn spice. It's more interesting than the Lallier, but not as brooding as the Chartogne-Taillet. Pair this delicious wine with roast chicken or shrimp tempura, or mussels in white wine or curry sauce. It sells around $60 or $65.

A Few More Options

There are a few I hesitated over—I'd happily drink them if offered, but wouldn't likely shell out for a bottle now that I've had a preview. Champagne J. Dumangin Fils offers something a bit more tart and floral, for those who prefer their Champagne with a hint of grapefruit and lime and ready to pair with poultry or fish. Some tasters were turned off by the tartness and felt it was too austere, though others liked its brightness. On the opposite end of the spectrum, some tasters found Chateau Frank's Celebré Rosé a little on the sweet side. This 100% Pinot Meunier bubbly from the Dr. Frank estate in the Finger Lakes of NY has some nice yeasty flavor—it reminded us of strawberry-rose jam on a buttered biscuit. It would work nicely with salmon dishes (smoked or unsmoked) or an avocado-shrimp salad, and sells for $21.

Moving down in price from there, it was hard to find winners. Some tasters liked Bouvet Brut Rose Excellence from the Loire, which sells for around $14 and is made from Cabernet Franc. Up front, it offers tart cherry and baked-strawberry flavors, but, it showed an herbal/endive side that struck us as slightly bitter, and a dry grapefruit-peel finish. We found this wine much nicer to drink on day two and three—it fills out a bit if you store it in the fridge with a Champagne saver.

Are you fan of pink bubbly? What are your favorite bottles?

About the Author: Maggie Hoffman is the editor of Serious Eats: Drinks. You can follow her on Twitter @maggiejane.

Disclosure: All wines were samples provided for review consideration.

Bar Bites: Fried Pickles with Spicy Remoulade

2012-02-10T20:15:00Z

[Photograph: Jennifer Olvera]

Crunchy and briny with a nice, salty kick, fried pickles are a straight-up addictive snack. The thing is, they're not even that hard to make at home.While variations on this Southern fave abound, the straightforward execution works best.

Not all pickles are created equal—you need really crisp, cold ones so the breading will adhere. Kosher dills—the type found in your average grocery store refrigerated section—stand up throughout cooking, remaining crisp and garlicky until the very end. If you do opt for spears, however, I found using mid-size Milwaukee's Midget Kosher Dill Pickles produce superior results. They're crunchier than competitors.

To top it all off, a spicy remoulade mimics the flavors in the marinade, providing the perfect foil for dipping.

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Fried Pickles with Spicy Remoulade »

About the author: Jennifer Olvera is a veteran food and travel writer and author of Food Lovers' Guide to Chicago.

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Get to Know Us: Marisa McClellan, In a Pickle Columnist

2012-02-10T19:30:00Z

Editor's Note: You already know Marisa from her pickling column here and her popular Food in Jars site. While we know she loves her jams, pickles, and other jarred treats, today's your chance to learn more about her. Like how she microwaves a bowl of queso once a year. Take it away, Marisa!

Name: Marisa McClellan
Location: Center City Philadelphia
Occupation: Food Writer and Canning Teacher
Website/Twitter: foodinjars.com / @foodinjars

Guilty pleasures? I lead a life, both online and off, that involves a lot of healthy, homemade foods. I don't use much in the way of processed foods or pre-made stuff. However, about once a year, I break down and microwave up a bowl of queso. The kind you make with Velveeta and a can of Rotel. There's nothing redeeming about it, but it is SO good.

Describe your perfect meal. My perfect restaurant meal is a plate of the fish sauce wings with sticky rice and a mound of green papaya salad at Pok Pok in Portland, Oregon. Preferably eaten with my husband, parents, sister and her family.

What food won't you eat? I don't do shrimp, but that's only because I stop breathing normally when I eat it. Everything else is welcome on my plate.

Favorite food person? Laurie Colwin. She loved food deeply and had that unique ability to write about home and kitchen in a way that made it both universal and so personal.

When did you first realize you were a serious eater? My very first sentence, when I was just learning to talk, was "More mayonnaise, please." I think that says it all.

What do your family and friends think of your food obsessions? They all benefit from my obsessive behavior, so they're on board. It does sometimes frustrate my husband that our fridge is constantly bursting with food, but truly, having too much to eat isn't actually a problem.

Favorite food sites or blogs (besides SE)? I adore Molly Watson's site The Dinner Files and Kaela Porter's Local Kitchen.

Everyone has a go-to person they call for restaurant recommendations. Who's yours? I'm really lucky in that I have friends who have worked as restaurant critics. Though they're both currently out of the game, either David Snyder or Joy Manning.

What is your favorite meal of the day and where do you get it? I like breakfast best. My current favorite is a slice of homemade whole wheat sourdough with peanut butter and a smear of my damson plum jam.

Do you ever cook? What's the best dish you make? I cook all the time. I write about food for a number of sites and publications, and do some recipe consultation for restaurants, so I'm constantly in the kitchen. Soup is one of my specialties. My current favorite is a tomato-based vegetable soup with some local pork sausage crumbled on top.

If you woke up tomorrow as a food, what would it be. I think I'd like to be an apple. Fresh, crisp and sweet.

Behind The Scenes At La Maison du Chocolat

2012-02-10T18:45:00Z

From Serious Eats: New York

VIEW SLIDESHOW: Behind The Scenes At La Maison du Chocolat

[Photographs: Donny Tsang]

We here at Serious Eats are no strangers to La Maison du Chocolat and their decadent treats; our own Kathy YL Chan may have tried every chocolate they make already.

Chef Kino at La Maison was a sushi chef for 30 years, and then decided he needed a change eight years ago, because he wanted to spend his life on something other than just sushi. We spent a few hours in the kitchen while he was assembling their signature eclairs.

Check out the slideshow for a peek into the kitchen.

La Maison du Chocolat

Various Locations in NYC
lamaisonduchocolat.com/

About the Author: Donny Tsang traded a life of traffic jams in LA for one of crowded subways in NYC, where he's been since 2003. Now he is a Brooklyn-based food photographer and founded the website Foodaissance, where he photographs local artisans.

Drinking in Season: Pomelo and Basil Cocktail

2012-02-10T18:30:00Z

From Recipes

It seems like every time I go to the grocery store lately I come home with a new citrusy treasure. This past week I was greeted by a pile of big yellow pomelos. If you've never tried a pomelo, look for the big—we're talking six to eight inches around—fruit that resembles a grapefruit. The surprise comes once you cut through it: you'll immediately notice that it has a half-inch thick pithy rind that sets it apart from its tangy cousin. The pomelo's pink flesh holds a sweet-tart juice that's similar to grapefruit but without the bitter edge.

I like to pair pomelo with herbal flavors, especially basil. The slight sweetness of both the pomelo and basil work really well together, but they're both able to hold their own and bring depth to a cocktail. Gin, with its herbal inflections, rounds out the flavor and you're left with light, refreshing cocktail that's sure to leave you feeling good.

About the author: Kelly Carámbula blogs about her adventures in the kitchen, including a weekly happy hour, on eat make read. She is also the founder and publisher of Remedy Quarterly, an independent food magazine.

Special equipment: cocktail shaker and strainer

Ingredients

serves makes 1 cocktail, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes

For the Basil Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
6 large fresh basil leaves, torn in half
For the cocktail:
1 ounce freshly squeezed pomelo juice
3/4 ounce basil simple syrup
1 1/2 ounce gin

Procedures

To make basil simple syrup: Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir to dissolve sugar and bring to a boil. Add basil leaves, reduce to a simmer and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Strain before bottling.
For the cocktail, fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add pomelo juice, basil simple syrup, and gin. Shake vigorously for about 10 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with pomelo slice.

A Sandwich a Day: Short Rib Grilled Cheese from Saltbox in San Diego, CA

2012-02-10T18:00:00Z

In this great nation of ours, one could eat a different sandwich every day of the year—so that's what we'll do. Here's A Sandwich a Day, our daily look at sandwiches around the country. Got a sandwich we should check out? Let us know. —The Mgmt.

[Photographs: Erin Jackson]

Short rib's fatty flavor profile makes it especially tasty with cheese. Saltbox's short rib grilled cheese sandwich ($11) is a solid argument in favor of the union of these two ingredients. The griddled sandwich on thinly sliced whole-grain bread is stuffed with creamy manchego cheese and juicy short rib finished in a New Orleans-style sauce piquant made with olive oil, tomatoes, and peppers.

All of that fatty beef, cheese, and sauce makes for an excessively filling sandwich that despite looking small, is more than enough for lunch. Even though I arrived with an audibly growling stomach, I only made it through two segments, and half of the housemade bread and butter pickles, which give a refreshing hit of acid.

You might not want to eat this sandwich everyday but it's a delicious indulgence. It's also available on the dinner menu.

Saltbox

1047 5th Ave., San Diego CA 92101 (map); 619-515-3003
saltboxrestaurant.com/

About the author: Erin Jackson is a food writer and photographer who is obsessed with discovering the best cheap and tasty eats in San Diego, including all things sweet and sugary, for her dessert blog San Diego Sugar.

Bi-Rite Market's Sumac-Roasted Chicken du Monde

2012-02-10T17:30:00Z

From Recipes

[Photograph: France Ruffenach]

As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of Bi-Rite Market's Eat Good Food to give away this week.

Sour, citrusy, and totally at home with both meats and vegetables, sumac is one of those spices that we just can't get enough of. This Sumac-Roasted Chicken du Monde from Bi-Rite Market's Eat Good Food showcases how easily it can be incorporated into all sorts of dishes.

This particular roast chicken begins with an Indian curry powder heavy brine that stains the halved chicken a bright yellow. After a day of soaking up all of that sugar, salt, and curry it's rubbed with olive oil and sumac and roasted over a bed of red onions, balsamic, and thyme branches. It's a blend of flavors from Italy, France, India, and the Middle East that seem unlikely when the chicken goes into the oven, before it starts to roast and really fill the kitchen.

Why you should make this: Apart from being a delicious and inventive take on roast chicken, this is a dish that highlights the fact that we should all be more familiar with the glorious spice that is sumac.

Next time we might think about: Cooking the chicken over a bed of onions makes for a lot of drippings and some pretty tasty onions. Next time around we're definitely throwing a few potatoes in there too.

Ingredients

serves Serves 2 to 4, active time 1 hour, total time 1 hour plus brining time

Brine:
7 cups water
1 cup dry white wine
6 tablespoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons yellow curry powder
:
Chicken:
3-pound chicken, cut into two halves
2 medium red onions (about 1 pound)
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons ground sumac

Procedures

The day before you plan to cook: Combine all the brine ingredients in a large pot and stir until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Put the chicken in the pot and top with a plate, if necessary, to keep the chicken submerged. Refrigerate for at least  6 hours or overnight.
When you’re ready to cook the chicken: Heat the oven to 450°F and remove the chicken from the refrigerator.
Peel and trim the onions, keeping as much of the root end intact as possible. Cut into 1-inch wedges, cutting through the root end so the layers stay connected. Put the onions and thyme in a large roasting pan, drizzle with the balsamic, and stir to combine.
Remove the chicken from the brine, dry off with paper towels, and rub with the olive oil. Sprinkle the sumac all over the chicken. Put the chicken halves skin side up in the pan, arranging the onions around them.
Roast, stirring the onions occasionally, until the skin is golden and an instant-read thermometer reads 165°F at the deepest part of the chicken’s thighs, about 40 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside on a cutting board. Stir the onions so that they pick up some of the juices and browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Taste and add a sprinkle of salt if needed.
To serve, spread the onions across the bottom of a serving platter and top with the chicken.

Hot Dog of the Week: 'Chile' Dogs and Ice Cold Buttermilk at Texas Tavern in Roanoke, VA

2012-02-10T17:00:00Z

[Photographs: Hawk Krall]

My last trip to Roanoke, on official hot dog business, was for the famous Roanoke Weiner Stand, which was delicious. But I had no idea it was only a few blocks away from one of the coolest looking "Texas" themed hot dog joints in the country. While passing through the area again, I made sure to stop in this time.

By the looks of it, you wish this sort of place existed in every town (and maybe it did at one point).

Texas Tavern, also known as Roanoke's Millionaires Club, has been around since 1930. The 24-hour, cheap and greasy hot dog counter is equally suited for vagrants, locals, and the intoxicated. Inside, it's covered with quirky paraphernalia; an advertisement for a local septic system cleaning service is right next to a menu full of peculiar-sounding dishes from another time. Even their website proudly brags that "Preachers sit next to sinners and ladies of the evening rub elbows with the country club set."

Texas Tavern's place on the Texas-themed hot dog trail is sort of bizarre. The dogs are advertised as "Coney Island" which isn't unusual, but instead of Coney sauce, Greek sauce, or sauce, they call their meat topping hot dog chile—a slightly dry, chunky, mildly spiced concoction that's a bit different than the looser Mexican chile served by the bowl.

Both "chiles" are available to take home by the pint, quart, or gallon for ridiculously cheap prices as noted by the many signs inside and outside the establishment. There's also ice cold buttermilk, as well as the Hamburger America approved cheesy Western burger, egg and cheese "Denvers" and breakfast until 10:30 a.m.

Almost everything is under two bucks.

So how was the dog? Pretty much your standard Southern mild pork and beef skinless dog, cooked on a flat grill to a slight char. The chili, warmed up to order in a pot rather than just ladled out of a trough, was similar to but maybe a notch better than the stuff from Roanoke Weiner down the street.

Pretty unique here, a hot dog "all the way" also comes with Texas Tavern's "famous" relish—also available by the pint, quart or gallon—which was mustard based and definitely different on a chili dog. Nothing mind-blowing but definitely a decent dog with a nice balance of rich chili, tangy relish and a few fresh diced onions. Wash it down with an ice cold buttermilk, possibly the strangest "signature hot dog beverage" experience I've ever had.

The one thing the Texas Tavern doesn't serve is beer. You have to walk a few blocks to the Roanoke Weiner Stand for that. Also somehow related is the similar Texas Inn in nearby Lynchburg.

Texas Tavern

114 Church Avenue Southwest, Roanoke VA (map)
540-342-4825
texastavern-inc.com/

Grilling: Montreal Smoked Meat

2012-02-10T16:00:00Z

Ever since making my first pastrami, I've wanted to correct a rather large omission in my process—the pastrami was never steamed. To finally fix this, I got another brisket to smoke, but instead of remaking pastrami, I went the Montreal smoked meat route instead.

Montreal smoked meat is, more or less, Montreal's answer to pastrami. The process can be almost identical, but there are two main differences. First, the seasoning—smoked meat rubs can vary while pastrami is primarily a mix of black pepper, coriander, and garlic. Second is the cut of meat—smoked meat is often made with the whole brisket, letting customers choose between the fatty deckle or the more lean flat, while pastrami is usually just the brisket flat or beef plate.

As with pastrami, the smoked meat starts with a dry cure to let the salt and nitrites work their magic in the fridge for five days. Then the brisket gets soaked to remove some saltiness and is coated with my interpretation of a Montreal rub, then placed in the smoker until it hit 165°F.

When making pastrami, at this point, I took it out, let it rest, then sliced the meat and served. Hot off the grill, it was excellent but the next day, reheated, it was on the dry side. So this time for the Montreal version, I took an additional step of steaming the brisket until it jumped another 15 degrees, ending the cook at 180°F.

This made a world of difference. The texture of the meat was much smoother after gently bringing it to a higher temperature with steam. It also solved the leftover problems—both cold and reheated, the smoked meat was equally delicious.

The flavor was also better, its diverse spice rub creating a more nuanced flavor that let the meat stand out, while still providing a robust taste overall. Fixing a problem has never been so delicious.

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Montreal Smoked Meat »

About the author: Joshua Bousel brings you new, tasty condiment each Wednesday and a recipe for weekend grilling every Friday. He also writes about grilling and barbecue on his blog The Meatwave whenever he can be pulled away from his grill.

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Chain Reaction: Hard Rock Cafe

2012-02-10T15:45:00Z

From A Hamburger Today

Of course we love our mom & pops, and our favorite burger joints around the country are pretty much all independently owned, but there are certain times in life—overnight layovers, hungover Sunday mornings, all-day shopping trips at the outlets—that the only options around are the chains. Chain Reaction is here to help you decide when to go for the burger, and when you're better off sticking with the chicken fingers.

[Photographs: Erin Jackson]

Hard Rock Cafe

801 4th Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 (map)
150 locations worldwide, from Bankok to Boston, see list at hardrock.com
The Schtick: Tourist-friendly restaurant with a rock and roll theme
The Burger: A tasty 10-ounce burger that's surprisingly well crafted, though not without its flaws
Want Fries With That? Yes. Fries are light, crisp, and well seasoned
Setting: Framed music memorabilia covers every available space on the walls, but though the end effect is heavily themed, it doesn't look tacky
Price: All burgers, including the "Local Legendary", are $13.99 (price may vary by location)

I've always thought of the Hard Rock Cafe as a place reserved for the tourist and convention crowd. It's a great chain to fall back on after a day of sightseeing or a mid-convention business lunch. The music memorabilia decor and big, cozy booths make it markedly cooler than most chains, and sometimes, a predictable menu of American standards can be comforting.

The last time I visited a Hard Rock was years ago at the now-closed location at the SkyDome/ "Rogers Centre" in Toronto. Because the restaurant overlooked the field, I had to pay a premium to watch the Blue Jays lose. The burger wasn't great, most likely because the Hard Rock's default cooking temperature is medium well, and I was not yet wise to the benefits of medium rare. The second time around, I knew better.

Burgers are definitely a key component of the Hard Rock menu. Options include burgers topped with everything from guacamole to grilled portabello mushrooms, all of which are a staggering 10 ounces (except for one option, a classic six-ounce burger). Each city also has a "Local Legendary" with toppings that reflect the local cuisine. In San Diego, there are a few Local Legendary options, but the burger inspired by a California burrito was the most intriguing.

The burger starts with a patty flavored with "carne asada seasoning" (according to our server), topped with guac, pico de gallo, sour cream, and shredded jack and cheddar cheese. On the bottom, between the patty and the bun, is a layer of fries. On top, a deep-fried jalapeño. Unfortunately, the burger's main selling point (the seasoned patty) was its undoing. Instead of being rubbed with cumin and cilantro, the burger had the unmistakable flavor of commercially produced taco seasoning. Worse still, the salty, watery seasoning mix skipped the patty entirely, and instead of flavoring the meat, soaked the fries and made them wet and massively salty.

After clearing the sodium soaked sticks away, the burger was much, much better. All of the toppings worked together to bring fatty, flavor-rich accents to the patty, which had visible grill marks and was cooked to a respectably moist medium rare. By itself, the beef wasn't terribly flavorful and was pressed too firmly to have much in the way of texture, but as one component of a complicated burger, it was tasty.

Chips and salsa come standard with this burger, but I opted for fries instead. The light and crispy fries were dusted with seasoning salt, which made them extra tasty and all the more difficult to stop eating. Alongside the massive burger, this is somewhat of a liability.

Initially, I was pleasantly surprised by the Hard Rock's burger, but when I got home, things went south. Despite only eating a few bites with the seasoning, I was so massively dehydrated that I had to shot-gun pint glasses filled with water. Making matters worse, the sour cream (which felt so right while I was eating the burger) felt very, very wrong. I can't endorse this particular "Local Legendary", but if you get roped into going to Hard Rock Cafe, they do make a decent burger (if you stick to one of the more traditional options). But, if a burger is really what you're after, at $14 (plus tax and tip), it may be worth the extra effort to go out of your way to find a local mom and pop shop.

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Cocktail Trend: More Than A Dash of Bitters

2012-02-10T15:15:00Z

From Drinks

[Photo: Robyn Lee]

When asked about current cocktail trends, Theo Lieberman of Lantern's Keep and Milk & Honey offered a few we expected—the return to a focus on simple, great cocktails, and the end of twelve-ingredient drinks, for one. "I hope people will start to explore the simple things behind the bar more deeply," he said. He also noted the rise of sherry cocktails, particularly cobblers, citing an especially delicious one at The Beagle in New York's East Village. "Sherry is killing it," said Lieberman. But Lieberman also said that he's been seeing a rise of drinks that call for more than just a dash of bitters. Cocktails with bitters so prominent they can be measured in ounces are starting to pop up around the country.

Bitters are often thought of as the salt and pepper of the cocktail world, adding just a touch of spice to focus and deepen the flavors of a drink. It makes sense to use them sparingly—a 4-ounce bottle of Angostura can sell for $9 or more, and it's potent stuff, so a drop or two goes a long way. "But we're living in an age of extreme ingredients," says Lieberman, "everywhere you look, there's pork belly." So perhaps the time for the extreme use of bitters has come.

Like most trends in the cocktail world today, there's a historical precedent for bitters-centric cocktails. Charles H. Baker included an Angostura Fizz in his Gentleman's Companion (according to Brad Thomas Parsons, the cocktail also appeared in the 1908 Dr. Siegert's Angostura Bitters Recipe Booklet.) And the Angostura Fizz sounds pretty good: an ounce each of Angostura and fresh lime, a quarter ounce each of simple syrup and grenadine, half an ounce of cream, shaken with an eggwhite until frothy and topped off with seltzer.

Drinks based on bitters need something to balance their intensity: in the case of Giuseppe Gonzales of Clover Club's Trinidad Sour, 1.5 ounces of Angostura are offset by an equal amount of orgeat, an ounce of lemon, and a half-ounce of rye. Kirk Estopinal of Cure in New Orleans makes a Peychaud's-based cocktail called the Gunshop Fizz, which tames the bitters with lemon, simple syrup, orange and grapefruit peel, plus muddled strawberries and cucumber.

[Photograph: Alice Gao]

Theo Lieberman's been playing around with the idea, too. The result: The Dutchess, an Angostura based drink made rich with malty genever, orgeat, and pineapple, with freshly squeezed lemon for brightness. The flavors come together beautifully, and it's deceptively rich—upon first sip, you'll guess that there's eggwhite involved.

Get the Recipe

The Dutchess »

Have you tried any drinks with serious doses of bitters? Tell us about them!

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Life of a Food Stylist: The Devil Is in the Details

2012-02-10T14:15:00Z

Editor's note: You already know Maria—and to know is to love her—from her recipe columns on cake, sandwiches, and Latin American sweets. She's adding another to her plate: this weekly series where she'll share her adventures as a food stylist. Maria will give us a peek into her fascinating job from the shopping to the styling to the shooting—and yes, the food is real! —The Mgmt.

Take a closer look. [Photograph: María del Mar Sacasa]

Hello, and welcome to my new column. I am a food stylist, an esoteric trade that can be incredibly elating and soul-lifting, but also maddening.

The devil is in the details, and, although my career is still fresh, I have seen that fire-breathing horned creature many a time in minutiae like irregularly arranged sesame seeds on a hamburger bun.

The most frequently asked question with regard to my job is: "Is the food fake?" There is ample fake food, and I know that in days of yore the use of it was rampant and accepted. By the time I came into this business, however, it was all but gone, or at least, I've never used it.

Each dish and beverage (with the exception of acrylic ice) I've ever styled has been made of real food that I have carefully shopped for, sorted out, cooked, teased, and coaxed to look its best in front of the camera.

But before I begin to ramble, let me talk about one of the most important aspects of the job: attention to detail. It's in those moments of careful inspection when you really get to know ingredients that will be the foundation for a photo or video shoot.

Once I have job details and a shopping list neatly written out, I hunt for the goods. If I'm shooting, for instance, a drink that has a lemon slice or wedge as garnish, I will spend the better part of a half hour sorting through lemons at the market. I look for fruit of similar size, color, and texture (what, you've never noticed how some lemons have heavily pockmarked skin, as if they had suffered through teenage acne?).

I also keep in mind that the lemon should not be so large that it will look enormous on the lip of a slim Tom Collins glass, or so small that it looks like an extra from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

Certain ingredients are even more specific, as they have been requested by the client. For instance, for a McDonald's smoothie shoot, all pineapples had to have a 5- to 6-inch crown circumference because of the angle in which they'd be shot. You can see the national TV spot here.

Picking and sorting continue on set. If a client is providing product, such as frozen french fries, they will often send enough to build a haystack-sized pile. Plastic bags are torn open and the fries sorted out into groups by length and degree of curvature.

It sounds insane, especially as I see the words rolling out on the screen, and I do think it takes an odd sort to properly carry out—and enjoy—this job. I've always considered myself right brain dominant, but when I catch myself intently gazing at blueberry crowns and fussing over a small wrinkle in a pea, I wonder if the left is slowly taking over.

I suppose the skill set is similar to other punctilious metiers, such as mortician, brain surgeon, serial killer.

Stay tuned for more, and, questions are always welcome.

About the author: María del Mar Sacasa is a recipe developer, food stylist, and author of the food blog High Heels & Frijoles. Behind her girly façade lurks a truck driver's appetite. Read about her cravings and suffer through her occasional rants on Twitter @HHandFrijoles.