Serious Eats

This Week In Recipes

2009-11-07T20:00:00Z

[Photo: Kerry Saretsky]

Choose Chouquettes: Kerry Saretsky proves that these classic French pastries chouquettes are surprisingly simple and unsurprisingly delicious.

A Tasty Secret: Mashed potatoes are just about as basic as it gets, but there is a huge difference between a good mashed potato and an amazing mashed potato.

Trick or Treat Remix: This week, Cakespy creates a recipe that makes use of all that Halloween candy you have lying around with this leftover Halloween candy pie.

The Power of Fat: Always delivering the unexpected offal delight, Chichi Wang creates a confit of pork tounge with a warm lentil salad.

A Patty of Pig: Ground pork, bacon, and standard Asian flavors like chili, ginger, and scallions come together in these pork patties.

My Way or the Highway: Joy Manning introduces her preferred method of cooking simple black beans and rice.

Purée Perfection: Michael Natkin dishes out this recipe for tahini, a blend of sesame seeds, garlic, and lemon juice—not to be confused with hummus.

Video: I Love Lunch! The Musical

2009-11-07T18:00:00Z

"I love lunch / It's half the way to dinner / I love lunch / If that's a sin then I'm a sinner." If you love lunch so much that you feel the urge to spontaneously burst into song before eating, you'll appreciate this performance by Improv Everywhere, filmed at the Trump Tower atrium for a segment on The Today Show. Watch the video after the jump.

I Love Lunch! The Musical

[via Unique Daily]

Video: Improv Everywhere's Grocery Store Musical
'Spontaneous' Musical Performed in Mall Food Court

In Season: Sweet Potatoes

2009-11-07T16:00:00Z

[Flickr: Barbara L. Hansen]

No other vegetable that says "fall" quite like the sweet potato. We all have our favorite recipes, and love debating which aunt's sweet potato casserole is the best. I still follow my Aunt Margaret's recipe, though with the addition and omission of several ingredients. Every time time I make the sugary, marshmallow topped casserole, my dad always says, "It tastes just like Margaret's"—bringing me instant culinary satisfaction. There is something nostalgic about the sweet potato that makes it taste that much better.

Some seasonal sweet potato recipes, after the jump.

This perennial root vegetable was first domesticated 5000 years ago in the tropical regions of South America. The sweet potato is characterized by yellow or orange flesh, coated by a thin skin that can be white, yellow, orange, red, or purple. Sweet potatoes grow best in abundant sunlight and warm temperatures, and are generally available year around with the peak season falling from late October through December. Not only delicious, one sweet potato packs twice the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, with loads of vitamin C, calcium, fiber, and only 141 nutritious calories.

When choosing sweet potatoes at the market, look for intact skin without cracks, soft spots, or blemishes. You can store your sweet potatoes in a cool, dry place for up to four weeks. Once cooked, keep them in the fridge for five to seven days or in the freezer for six to nine months.

We've rounded up our favorite sweet potato recipes below to help you take full advantage of peak sweet potato season.

Recipes

Grilling: Butterflied Leg of Lamb

2009-11-07T00:15:00Z

From Recipes

[Photograph: Joshua Bousel]

Between brisket and the forthcoming turkey, I was able to get in a nice big leg of lamb, one of my favorite large cuts of meat.

Seemingly designed for the grill, a butterflied leg of lamb comes out perfectly medium-rare exactly when the outside develops a nice crust over medium-high heat. In addition to the easy cooking technique, this leg of lamb has a smooth lamby flavor with just the right amount of chew, making every bite a pleasure.

It's hard to improve on something already so good, but add mint to the equation and you're talking some seriously, seriously delicious eats. The two come together here as part of a tahini and lemon based marinade, which added a minty tang to the crust, only heightening this leg of lamb into one of the best pieces of meat to come off my grill this year.

Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

For the marinade:
1/2 cup tahini
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons)
1 cup loosely packed mint leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon sherry vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Salt to taste

3 1/4 pounds shank half of a butterflied leg of lamb
3 lemons, thinly sliced
Fresh mint, for garnish

Procedure

1. Combine all of the ingredients for the marinade in a blender and process until smooth. Place lamb in a large Ziploc bag and pour in marinade. Seal and toss bag to coat the lamb evenly, open and reseal the bag, removing as much air as possible. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour or refrigerate up to overnight. If refrigerated, let lamb return to room temperature before grilling.

2. Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread coals evenly over the charcoal grate. Clean and oil the cooking grate. Remove the lamb from the marinade and grill until well browned, 12 to 16 minutes; turn and cook 12 to 16 minutes more, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 140°F in thickest part (for medium rare). Transfer lamb to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes.

3. While lamb is resting, grill lemon slices for garnish. Cut lamb into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Serve with grilled lemon and fresh mint.

Time for a Drink: Penicillin Cocktail

2009-11-06T23:30:00Z

From Recipes

Let's start the weekend right—with a cocktail recipe from Paul Clarke (The Cocktail Chronicles). Need more than one? Hit up the archives. Cheers!

It may not be as powerful as a flu shot or have the healing properties of the antibiotic it's named for, but the Penicillin Cocktail is a surefire cure for a chilly autumn night. Originally created by New York bartender Sam Ross, the Penicillin Cocktail takes the warming, soothing flavors of honey, lemon juice and fresh ginger, and fortifies them with a good dose of scotch whisky. And as if that isn't enough, the drink is topped with a thin pour of headily aromatic Islay malt, which gives the drink a fragrance as alluring as any woodsmoke-laced autumn breeze.

Other bartenders have taken Ross's formula and adapted it for drinks made with tequila, gin, and rum, all with great results, but the scotch-based original is always a good place to start. And one note on the preparation: the original drink uses a house-made ginger-honey syrup; since the spark of fresh ginger fades so quickly, home mixologists may be better served by simply muddling a few slices of fresh ginger in the drink, rather than mixing a batch of syrup that will likely lose its luster before the bottle is half gone. This adapted recipe is listed after the jump.

Penicillin Cocktail

Ingredients

2 ounces blended scotch whisky (Famous Grouse works well)
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
3/4 ounce honey syrup*
3 slices fresh ginger
1/4 ounce Islay single malt scotch (such as Laphroaig)

* Honey syrup: combine equal parts honey and hot water and stir until well mixed. Let cool before using, and keep refrigerated.

Procedure

Using a wooden muddler or mixing spoon, muddle the fresh ginger in the bottom of a cocktail shaker until it is well mashed. Add the blended scotch, lemon juice, and honey syrup, and shake well with ice. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass (you may wish to double-strain through a fine tea strainer to remove the small flecks of ginger), and pour the Islay scotch over the back of a bar spoon so that it floats atop the drink.

Leftovers: The Day's Stray Links

2009-11-06T23:00:00Z

Leftover Bread: Five things to do with leftover bread. [The Kitchn]
Obesity: It causes over 100,000 cases of cancer a year in the US. [Reuters]
Glut: People love this over 30-year-old natural foods store in Mount Ranier. [WP]
Michelin Closing: Michelin-starred restaurant in England temporarily closes due to outbreak of vomiting and diarrhea. [The Independent]
Disneyland of Grocery Stores: New huge grocery store Market District is now open in Western Pennsylvania. [Reuters]
Festivals: A list of food fests around the country this week. [Epi-Log]
Kids' Menus: What dishes should go on kids' menus? [BG]

Fresh Food on TV: Weekend Edition

2009-11-06T22:30:00Z

With all the channels on broadcast TV and cable--and the inevitable episode repeats—it's hard to sort out what's new or worthwhile. Let us sort it out for you so you don't miss anything worth watching. Times and episodes may vary with region (especially PBS shows); check your local listings for exact hour and channels.

Saturday (November 7)

Secrets of a Restaurant Chef (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "The Secret to Fish and Chips." Recipes for beer batter fish and chips, tartar sauce, and red cabbage slaw. 10:30 a.m. ET, Food Network

5 Ingredient Fix: "Southern Soiree in the City." Claire makes blackened catfish and on the side, Grandma Moore's creamed corn with green tomato and Vidalia onion gratin. (repeat) 12:30 a.m. ET, Food Network

Giada at Home (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Giada's Kidz Kitchen." Giada teaches kids how to cook a simple meal. 1 p.m. ET, Food Network

Barefoot Contessa (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Pizza Party." Pizza recipes for kids and adults. (repeat) 1:30 p.m. ET, Food Network

Sunday (November 8)

Alex's Day Off (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Childhood Tastes." Strip steak topped with green peppercorn brandy sauce, carrots in molasses and butter, baked and fried fingerling potatoes, and a ricotta cake topped with chocolate and lemon zest. 9:30 a.m. ET, Food Network

Gourmet's Adventures With Ruth: "Enrica Rocca's Venice." Ruth and her friend Dianne Wiest learn how to cook from Enrica Rocca in Venice, Italy. They also get a tour of Rialto market, take a traditional Venetian Prosecco spritz break, and go on a chocolate tasting adventure. 3:30 p.m. ET, PBS

Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home: "Winter Vegetables." Braised cabbage stuffed with ground beef and rice cooked in two ways: one with onions, celery, garlic, and caraway seeds; and another with tomato sauce. Also, cauliflower gratin, turnips, carrots, and celery root remoulade. 4 p.m. ET, PBS

Avec Eric: "Oil and Wine." We get a look at a regular olive oil blind tastings at Le Bernardin. Eric travels to the Chianti region of Tuscany to visit the Fonterutoli estate where they produce both wine and olive oil. Back in the kitchen he makes chicken paillard with tomatoes, fennel, and olives. 4:30 p.m. ET, PBS

America's Test Kitchen From Cook's Illustrated: "Fried Chicken." Creole fried chicken, grilled corn on the cob, taste testing microwave popcorn, and checking out dutch ovens. (repeat) 5 p.m. ET, PBS

Lidia's Italy: "Braising Beef With Beer." Joe and Tanya visit the Pfefferlechner artisanal brewery. Chef Billy Gallagher of Becco Restaurant joins Lidia to make beef chuck braised in beer, whole grain spaetzle, and baked apples. 5:30 p.m. ET, PBS

The Next Iron Chef: "Umami (Deliciousness)." The remaining chefs travel to Tokyo, Japan. First, they go to a yakitori grill restaurant to use soy sauce in their dishes to enhance the flavor of a variety of ingredients. Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto is the guest judge for the event. Then the chefs go to the most renowned culinary academy in Tokyo to meet Dr. Yukio Hattori and are challenged to use different cooking styles to highlight the five tastes. 9 p.m. ET, Food Network

Iron Chef America: "Cora vs. Phan." Chef Charles Phan from San Francisco challenges Iron Chef Cat Cora. 10 p.m. ET, Food Network

Great Food Photography in Cookbooks

2009-11-06T21:45:00Z

[Photographs: Chris Terry]

If you're looking for food photography inspiration, check out Design*Sponge's latest weekly cookbook review where Kristina Gill focuses on three new cookbooks with great food photography: The Songs of Sapa by Luke Nguyen, photography by Suzanna Boyd and Alan Benson; Fish by Mitch Tonks, photography by Chris Terry; and Cooking with Friends by Gordon Ramsay, photography by Ditte Isager. What sets these cookbooks apart, she says, is that they deliver more than recipes: "They deliver an entire food experience, from the location in which the food is enjoyed, to the environ in which the food is gathered, prepared, and served."

Dinner Tonight: Pasta with Sauteed Swiss Chard, Golden Raisins, and Capers

2009-11-06T21:00:00Z

From Recipes

[Photograph: Nick Kindelsperger]

My wife swears she's sent me this recipe numerous times before, but I never gave it much thought until I personally found it on the The Daily Green and sent it to her excitedly, like it was the greatest thing ever. I was inspired by the odd culinary pairing of golden raisins and capers, and hoped they would balance each other and bring out the Swiss chard flavors.

But what really sold it for me was the fact that this could be, in the words of the author, a "delicious pasta partner." Considering the size of the chopped chard, I figured farfalle would be that perfect partner, and I'm pretty sure I was right. This was a warming and balanced plate of pasta.

I upped the ante with a little more olive oil and generous gratings of Parmesan. The result is truly satisfying. The briny capers enliven the dish while the sugary raisins help provide some kind of stability.

Pasta with Sauteed Swiss Chard, Golden Raisins, and Capers

- serves 2 to 3 -
Adapted from The Daily Green.

Ingredients

1/2 pound farfalle
1 pound Swiss chard (red or rainbow)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons golden raisins
1 tablespoon drained capers
Salt and pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese

Procedure

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, separate the stems of the Swiss chard from the leaves. Chop the stems into 1-inch pieces. Slice the leaves into 2-inch pieces.

2. Pour the olive oil into a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the onion, and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the Swiss chard stems, cover, and cook for 5 minutes or so, stirring every minute.

3. Toss in the raisins, then add a handful of the chard leaves. Stir well, and then cover the pot. Once they have wilted, add another handful, cover, and wait until those have wilted. Repeat until all the chard leaves are added. Cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the leaves have wilted and the stems are tender. Turn off the heat and add the capers. Stir until well combined.

4. Meanwhile, add a couple tablespoons of salt to the pot of boiling water and cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. Drain and set aside when done.

5. Combine the pasta and Swiss chard mixture in a large bowl. Toss well. Grate some Parmesan cheese on top and drizzle with a bit more olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Weekend Giveaway: Nudo Olive Tree Adoption

2009-11-06T20:30:00Z

[Photograph: nudo-italia.com]

One of the best gifts I've probably ever given a friend was adopting a manatee in her name through the Save the Manatee Club. She received an actual photo of Brutus, her new sea cow bundle of joy, his bio, and a super official certificate. [Ed. note: this was very much inspired by manatee enthusiast Robyn.]

Our weekend giveaway has nothing to do with manatees but it's another neat opportunity to support an adoptive cause. Nudo is a family-run co-operative of olive groves around a small hilltop village in the Marche region of Italy. Through this one-year adoption ($150), you get to follow the progress of your own tree—the olive variety is up to you—and of course get some of the quality olive oil.

The oil deliveries will be spread out over 2010: four 500ml tins of first cold press extra virgin olive oil in the spring and three 250ml tins of infused extra virgin olive oil (like lemon, chile, or orange) in the fall. Not only do you get to douse salads and dunk bread in the tasty stuff but support an Italian family farmer who grew those olives.

To enter to win, just tell us your favorite type of olive. And even if you don't win, the adoption still makes a great holiday gift.

Contest will end and comments will close at 3 p.m. ET, Monday, November 9, 2009. One entry per community member. The standard Serious Eats contest rules apply.

Hot Dog of the Week: 24th & Passyunk Truck

2009-11-06T19:45:00Z

"The dogs are your standard Deitz & Watson, but what really makes them stand out is the steamed buns and homemade pepper hash."

Tucked away in a corner of South Philadelphia, right around the corner from Philip's, one of my favorite cheesesteak joints, lies what just might be Philly's best kept hot dog secret. Hollyeats.com calls it the best hot dog in Philadelphia, and I think I might agree.

I parked in a nearby half-abandoned strip mall near a guy selling bootleg Phillies t-shirts, found a battered newsstand and a cart selling fish sandwiches, but that couldn't be it. Maybe this legendary hot dog man had disappeared, or simply went home at 2 p.m. or "when the bread runs out" like many of Philly's working class lunch spots.

Then out of the corner of my eye I saw a green truck with about 25 people lined up beside it and knew that this was the spot. Looks like a custom-built rig he's got going on—a pickup truck with a gleaming silver food service station built onto the back, serving hot dogs and sausages from steam trays.

The dogs are your standard Deitz & Watson, but what really makes them stand out is the steamed buns and homemade pepper hash—an old-school Philadelphia cousin to slaw made with cabbage, green peppers, vinegar, a touch of sugar, and maybe some celery or mustard seed.

His signature dog is the 1/3 pound hot sausage served on a fresh New Jersey Del Buono's long roll. The combination of sweet pepper hash, tangy mustard, and spicy sausage totally blew me away. No wonder people are lining up 25 deep.

The 24th & Passyunk Hot Dog truck has been around since at least 2001, Monday through Friday. I would assume he's gone by late afternoon when that area becomes a ghost town. The vendor was a great host—knew half the people in line by name, and was happy to let me snap a few photos and chat for a second while he furiously whipped up dogs and sausages for the growing line of customers.

From Ladies' Aid Society Favorite Recipes, 1913, Sunbury, Pennsylvania. [Photograph: Google Books]

An old recipe popular in Pennsylvania German cooking, pepper hash was a common side dish in Philadelphia's early 20th century fish houses. Early recipes were really more of a pickling technique, some calling for cloves and mustard seed, but today tend to use more sugar and carrots for color. The secret seems to be really pulverizing the cabbage and green pepper and letting the mixture soak in vinegar so the juices and flavors all run together.

From left: Hot dog and hot sausage, both with pepper hash and mustard

Another great discovery here is the bread from Del Bouno's Bakery in Haddon Heights, New Jersey. Not only are the rolls terrific but this place looks seriously worthy of a trip to South Jersey.

Somewhere along the line, pepper hash got mixed up with hot dogs. It's a great combination and probably Philly's biggest contender for a popular signature hot dog. Sure we've got my favorite the Philly Combo, but for most people a bready fishcake on top of a hot dog is just too weird, and will probably remain an obscure forgotten relic.

But the pepper hash hot dog? It's close to a slaw dog, yet unique enough to stand on it's own. Lots of Pennsylvania German and Philly street cred, plus the hash is relatively easy and cheap to make. Whether or not "pepper hash dogs" spread across Philadelphia and the world like wildfire, this guy and his makeshift truck has the best around.

Hot Dog Truck

Passyunk Ave between 23rd & 24th Street, Philadelphia Pennsylvania 19145 (map)
(Usually in front of Dunkin' Donuts. Look for the line.)

Meatless Main Dishes for Thanksgiving

2009-11-06T19:15:00Z

[Photograph: Herbivoracious]

It's called Turkey Day not Other Non-Turkey Stuff Day for a reason. Vegetarians are usually stuck piling on the sides on Thanksgiving, which isn't the worst thing in the world, but they could use some entrees with a little more heft. This photo of squash stuffed with orzo in a sage brown butter sauce from our Seriously Meatless man Michael Natkin is a great example of a turkey alternative—and we're not talking the turkey-flavored proteins. Here are some others, and feel free to chime in with your ideas.

Seriously Asian: Thai Curries, Part One: Yellow

2009-11-06T18:30:00Z

From Recipes

[Photographs: Chichi Wang]

Taking a hiatus from my usual spoilsport-y self, I caved into the pressure of Halloween and served a menu built around orange foodstuffs. To start, a persimmon and daikon salad. To end, a kabocha cheesecake. The entrée was considerably more difficult to settle. What meat or fish, besides the obvious choice of salmon, comes in hues of orange? Deliberative indecision turned to panic—the persimmons had been peeled, the cheesecake was biding its time in the fridge, and still no orange entrée of which to speak! Sometimes the best ideas are right under one's nose.

I reached into the freezer and grabbed a few packs of my Thai yellow curry paste, the mildest of the curry pastes stored in my refrigerator. Traditionally, curry paste is made by pounding together aromatics like garlic, shallots, chiles, ginger, galangal, lemongrass, and kaffir lime, with ground spices like coriander and cumin. With fewer chilies and more garlic than either the red or green variety, yellow curry paste is gentler on the tongue. In place of the assertive galangal root, ginger is used. And, unlike the red and green, yellow curry paste takes a sizeable dose of ground cinnamon.

Turmeric is responsible for the color of the resulting curry sauce. (While the paste is called yellow, the color actually corresponds to the resulting broth rather than the paste itself, which is ruddy in tone.) We generally find the plant in its ground form, yet turmeric is a root. The interior of the turmeric root is a brilliant shade of orange; the outside looks remarkably similar to the more commonly found ginger. (This comes as no surprise given that turmeric is a member of the ginger family.) Coriander, also known as cilantro, produces the round, beige-colored seeds that are ground and used in many Thai curry pastes. Yellow curry paste happens to employ ground coriander in greater proportions.

Breaking the Coconut

Elementary school sensibilities suggested that mixing my yellow curry paste with enough coconut milk and a touch of red paprika, would produce the Halloween-ready hue. Prior to adding the paste, I performed the all-important act of "cracking the coconut," a process so integral to Thai curries and cuisine in general, that a book by that name has been penned by Thai cooking authority Su-mei Yu.

Coconut milk, made by the repeated boiling and straining of fresh coconut meat with water, serves as both fuel and liquid when cooking Thai curries. The fatty coconut cream that rises to the top of the milk is used along with oil to sauté the curry paste. This process of boiling off the water content in the coconut cream, thereby isolating the fat, is known as "breaking" or "cracking" the coconut. When the curry paste has been sufficiently toasted in the oil and fatty coconut cream, the thinner, more uniform coconut milk is poured into the pot.

More Curry-Making Tips

While curry pastes are traditionally pounded out in a mortar and pestle, using a blender yields a stellar version. The number and kind of ingredients required may seem daunting at first sight, but be flexible in your approach. For instance, if shrimp paste made from fermented shrimp or small fish is not available, use anchovies.

Make the paste in large batches and freeze what you don't use in cubes or little plastic bags. I can toss the chunks of curry paste straight from the freezer into the pot, which makes a Thai curry dish executable in well under half an hour. In fact, Madhur Jaffrey describes having Thai curry paste on hand like storing money in the culinary bank—probably one of the truer observations of kitchen life, next to the "fat is flavor" mantra. (If I've not made my point adequately, consider this: In the time that it takes you to travel to and wait in a Thai restaurant, you could be eating your own curry dish if you have the paste on hand!)

Just Add Lobster

After toasting my yellow curry paste in vegetable oil and coconut cream, I thinned out the sauce with coconut milk and water. Preparing the lobsters was simply a matter of twisting off the tails to quickly dispense with the crustaceans, then removing the gills and chopping each part into smaller sections. As the sections of lobster simmered in the pot of curry broth, I added the tomalley to further enrich the sauce.

The lobster meat, just cooked through with the gentle heat of the liquid, was succulent and tender. Still, it was the powerful flavor of the curry broth that bewitched my senses. The tomalley, along with the shells left intact on the meat, had infused the sauce with the heady perfume of lobster. Sipping the broth, my guests and I groaned audibly for the sheer pleasure of it all.

Yellow Curry Paste

Adapted from From Curries to Kebabs by Madhur Jaffrey.

Ingredients

7 dried hot red chilies, about 2 to 3 inches in length
1 cup chopped shallots or onions
2 tablespoons fresh lemongrass, thinly sliced
8 cloves of garlic, chopped
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon white pepper powder
1 teaspoon curry powder (a blend of cumin, coriander, red chilies, mustard, and fenugreek)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 canned anchovies or 1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste
1 teaspoon ground turmeric

Procedure

1. Place the chilies in a small bowl with approximately 1/4 cup of hot water. Microwave the chilies in the water for 2 to 3 minutes, then let sit for 30 minutes.

2. Place the softened chilies, along with the soaking liquid, in a blender with the rest of the ingredients. Blend, pushing down with a spoon or rubber spatula, until you have a smooth paste. Use immediately, or freeze in portioned chunks.

Lobster in Yellow Curry Sauce

- serves 3-4 -

Adapted from From Curries to Kebabs by Madhur Jaffrey.

Ingredients

14-ounce can of coconut milk, left undisturbed for several hours
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 tablespoons yellow curry paste
1 teaspoon hot curry powder, or 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt to taste, about 1 teaspoon
2 live lobsters, about 1 1/2 pounds each
3 to 4 kaffir lime leaves, or 6 basil leaves as a garnish

Procedure

1. To form the sauce: Open the can of coconut milk and skim off the top layer of thick cream, about 4 tablespoons worth. Stir the remaining milk to reincorporate the coconut cream.

2. Pour the oil into a large, nonstick lidded pan and set over medium heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the coconut cream and the yellow curry paste. Stir the paste around until it is lightly browned and the oil has separated from the coconut in the cream. You have just cracked the coconut. Now, add the curry powder and stir a few times.

3. Add the liquids: the coconut milk and about 1/2 cup of water to thin it out. You can add more or less water, depending on your preference for the consistency. Add salt to taste. Stir and bring to a simmer.

4. Cover the pot and simmer for another 5 minutes or so over low heat. This may all be done in advance and kept covered for 2 to 3 hours.

5. To prepare the lobster: Twist off the tail from the head of the body. Then twist off the legs and set aside. Twist off the front claws. Using a cleaver or a heavy knife, hack the claws into 3 sections and set aside. Do the same for the tail, cutting it into 3 or 4 sections. For the head, reach inside and remove the stomach sac. Now split the head into two, lengthwise. Reserve the tomalley in a small bowl.

6. When you are ready to serve, bring the curry sauce back to a simmer. Put in all the lobster pieces and stir gently. Bring the curry sauce to a simmer and cover the pot, cooking gently for 10 minutes. Occasionally, stir the lobster around and spoon the sauce over the lobster. Simmer just until the lobster meat is cooked through, taking care not to overcook the meat. Towards the last two minutes of cooking, add the tomalley and stir gently.

7. Chop the kaffir or basil leaves, and add to the pot. Serve immediately.

How Do You Eat Street Food? One Grad Student's Answer

2009-11-06T18:15:00Z

From Serious Eats: New York

[Photos: Midtown Lunch]

One Pratt student, Ali Pulver, has tackled a problem so many urbanites face—where, on a busy city block, can you eat a street food lunch?—and devoted her graduate thesis to it. Midtown Lunch reports that she's come up with a "Hydrantable" (pictured left), a tabletop that fits over any fire hydrant, and a "Lunch Shelf" (pictured right), with super-strong magnets to attach to any metal post. Consider your juggling problems solved.

(We won't vouch for the legality of either of these. But great ideas, no?)

Follow her work at PopUpLunch.com.

Portland, Oregon: Nostrana

2009-11-06T18:00:46Z

From Slice

Previously in our West Coast Pizza Madness tour: Apizza Scholls, where our party of eight housed almost four pies. After dinner there had ended, only one brave soul—This Is Pizza's Adam Lindsley—dared join me for a second stop at Nostrana immediately after. (The rest of the folks retired to the Horse Brass for drinks, some vowing to meet us later in the evening for the third and final stop.)

Though I'm not a fan, I'm used to the notion of Neapolitan-style joints leaving pies uncut. I've never seen one offer scissors for the job, however. As This Is Pizza's Adam Lindsley noted: "...There's some kind of joyous youthful nostalgia that comes with picking up those scissors and cutting into your pizza as if it were construction paper, and Adam and I actually did a pretty good job of dividing the pie into six equal slices with them." [Photographs: Adam Kuban]

Nostrana

1401 SE Morrison Street, Portland OR 97214 map); 503-234-2427; nostrana.com
Pizza Style: Neapolitan, and it's VPN-certified
Oven Type: Wood-fired
The Skinny: Co-owned and helmed by Cathy Whims, who's kind of a big deal in Portland dining, Nostrana may be a better bet for its nonpizza menu items
Price: Margherita pie, feeds one, $11

When I gave some local friends my Portland pizza itinerary prior to the trip, they said I needed to add Nostrana to my fact-finding mission, so off we were to the fifth and penultimate pizzeria of my two-day visit to Stumptown.* Some quick research on the googs told me that Nostrana was a VPN-status pizzeria. VPN, of course, being the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, an organization that certifies interested pizzerias as making "authentically" Neapolitan pies according to various pizza parameters—ingredients used, preparation methods, pie dimensions, and ovens and equipment used.

It turns out that this would be the first of five VPN-certified pizzerias I would visit in five days. What did I learn from visiting five VPN-certified pizzerias in five days? I'll tell you in my next post. For now, let's deal with Nostrana.

I have no photos of the pizza. After snapping the one above, I realized the atmosphere of the place didn't seem welcoming to weirdo food-blogger photo sessions. As befits the homebase of a Beard Award–nominated chef (Cathy Whims, Best Chef Northwest 2009 finalist), it's a classy joint. Kind of Northwest chic—all concrete-modern with plenty of wood accents and subdued lighting throughout the almost hangarlike dining room. Follow the soaring arc of a ceiling criss-crossed with wood rafters and your eye lands on a large, beautiful wood-burning oven serving as a focal point.

What 'This Is Pizza' Said

An excerpt from Adam Lindsley's account of our Portland pizza binge:

"...As for the pizza itself, it didn't rock my world. It's far from the best Neapolitan-style pizza I've had in the United States, and not even close to the top of the list for even the Pacific Northwest. The best thing about it is the sauce, as it's a pretty standard San Marzano blend. The rest of the pie seems a step down in quality from other VPN-certified pizzerias I've visited, such as Tutta Bella and Ristorante Picolinos in Seattle. The crust that night--crisper than most Neapolitan pies--was a little bland, and the mozzarella was on the thick side. It's not a bad pie by any means, just not an outstanding one...."

To my eye, the place was packed with well-dressed folks sipping wine who all seemed to be out for a night of upscale-casual dining. It just didn't seem like the place to whip out a honkin' SLR. Plus, the lighting was not conducive to a pizza porn shoot.

Anyway, I'll just say it: I didn't find the pizza that inspiring at Nostrana. We ordered a Margherita pie as a benchmark. I had intended on getting a second pie—something with a little more personality—but based on the plain pie, I stopped short. The crust was bland. The sauce, while a fresh-tasting San Marzano tomato concoction, could have benefited from some extra seasoning. And fresh mozzarella is fresh mozzarella—mild and delicate by nature. Without a flavorful crust and a more spritely sauce, here it just added to the one-note nature of the pie.

After meeting up at the next pizza stop with an old Portland buddy—the guy who had recommended Nostrana (it's his favorite restaurant in the city)— I relayed my impression.

"No! You have to do pizza as part of the overall experience there," he told me. "My girlfriend and I go and order pizza, appetizers, an entrée—the whole thing. You have to make a night of it."

So the antipasti, primi, and secondi, are the stars of the show, apparently. Not surprising, given that Nostrana executive chef–co-owner Whims spent 20 years at Genoa, one of Portland's most influential restaurants and the go-to place for fine-dining there until the recent restaurant boom gave it some serious competition. (Whims left Genoa in 2002 and started Nostrana in 2005. Genoa itself closed last year, a victim of the economy, competition, and changing dining habits; after finding new investors, however, it will reopen in a retooled format later this month. For further background on Whims, Culinate has a nice interview with her.)

Both magazines are from the same publisher, hence the similar look and food theme for the November issue. Portland Monthly's cover features a Nostrana pie; on Seattle Metropolitan's cover is a pizza from Serious Pie.

After this bit of insight, backed up by a second Portland friend, I thought I had a better understanding of Nostrana with regard to pizza. It just may be less a pizzeria and more a well-regarded Northern Italian restaurant that just happens to serve VPN-certified pies, should you want them. I think it's also telling that when the magazine Portland Monthly issued its Best Restaurants 2009 list with Nostrana among them, there was nary a word about the pizza (despite the fact that the issue's cover photo shows a Nostrana pie coming out of the restaurant's oven).

After the effusive praise my friends gave the place, I'm sure I'll go back with them the next time I visit PDX. And I'll approach it with their M.O., trying all the different menu sections—and maybe the pizza. If I have room.

* No, I'm not talking about the coffee. One of the city's nicknames is Stumptown.

Previous Stops on the Pizza Madness 2009 Tour

Apizza Scholls (Portland, Oregon)
The Amazingly Cool Wy'east Pizza Trailer (Portland, Oregon)
Escape from New York Pizza (Portland, Oregon)
Ken's Artisan Pizza (Portland, Oregon)

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What 'This Is Pizza' Said

Previous Stops on the Pizza Madness 2009 Tour