The Lunch Break Chronicles

ABOVE: Red snapper with roasted jalapeño and citrus salsa.

6/21/2009

Today is the first official day of summer and Magdalene Perez and I are bringing you our second installment of the Summer of Salsa series. This week we made a roasted jalapeño and citrus salsa, which owing to our knifework, didn’t turn out a pretty as it could have but brought an interesting mix of sweet, sour and heat. Its liquidity also helped out a little with the snapper, which I managed to overcook in the broiler.

–CP

Ready for spicy? Roasted Jalapeño and Citrus Salsa. Yow!

To recap, CP and I are celebrating summer by making a salsa every week for 12 weeks. All our recipes are from the book Nueva Salsa by Rafael Palomino and Arlen Gargagliano.

For week two, we decided to go spicy, with the Roasted Jalapeño and Citrus Salsa. We cooked it with red snapper, though any mild white fish will do.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED:

2 jalapeño chiles
3 oranges
1 grapefruit
1 lemon
1 lime
2 tablespoons of soybean oil [canola or peanut oil is okay too]
kosher salt to taste
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon ¼ inch diagonally cut green onions
1 nice cut of red snapper
1 plastic or paper bag

The recipe says this makes 2 cups, but we found it makes much more, so feel free to cut this whole thing in half if you’re not feeding more than 2 people.

First, you want to roast your chiles. Stick the chile on the end of a fork, turn on your stove and stand there rotating until it is nice and black on all sides. We tag-teamed this part to make it go faster.

Then, place the chiles in your paper or plastic bag and close it. Let the chiles cool for about 10 minutes, then pull out the stems and rub off the black skin. Cut the chiles in half and remove the seeds with a fork or knife.

The book says you don’t want to rinse the seeds out with water because it will lose flavor, but we don’t recommend using your fingers like the book says – you don’t want to rub that stuff in your eyes!

While your chiles are cooling, you can start prepping your fruit. First, zest one orange. If you are using a fancy zester or grater, be careful not to zest your finger like I did!

Cut the peel off all the fruits [deep enough that you are getting to the juicy part] cut into segments and halve.

Cut your onions. [We had a big dispute about this, I said the onion bottoms were fine, Chris argued in favor of the green tops, like the recipe directs. Go for what ever you want. Personally I love any kind of onions, and think you can double or triple the amount to your taste.]

When your chiles are cooled and seeded, dice them.

In a large bowl, combine the chiles, orange zest, and citrus segments. Stir in the oil, salt and sugar. Let sit for about 20 minutes, then stir in the green onions and serve.

THE FISH:

Cook your fish however you want. We broiled it:

Preheat your oven to broil. Rub salt and pepper on your fish [ours had the skin on one side]. Place it on a broiler pan and stick it in the oven. To tell if it was done, make sure the thickest part of the fillet flakes with a fork.

Having personally only deep fried, pan fried, grilled and poached fish before, clearly, we winged it.

THE VERDICT:

Before eating, I had the suspicion that this was going to be a pretty boring salsa. It’s just a bunch of fruit, right? But the jalapeño really does its part to add kick. You will be surprised by the spice. Tasted great with the snapper, and a side of simply roasted red potatoes with salt, pepper, olive oil and dried rosemary. [Apparently, I wasn't super dilliegent in scraping all the seeds out of the peppers and caught at least couple with a bite of fish, forcing me to run to the fridge for a third Sierra Nevada. CP.]

I say, cut the amount in half and this will be a quick meal for when you don’t feel like pulling out all the stops.

See you next week, when we go even more Mexican with Guava, Lime and Ancho chile salsa.

–Magdalene Perez

ABOVE: My mini-chocolate soufflé, already slightly deflated just seconds out of the oven.

6/20/2009

If you missed today’s episode of America’s Test Kitchen on PBS and have any interest whatsoever in dessert, you should head over to their homepage and check out the recipe for the “make-ahead” chocolate soufflé.

DISCLAIMER: Until this morning the only thing I knew about soufflé came from an episode of All in the Family where Edith manages to screw it up, much to Archie’s disdain (of course).

I made a batch today using what I had on hand, subbing Toll House chips for the Trader Joe’s bittersweet chocolate I usually have and Cointreau for Grand Marnier. They didn’t rise as much as I would have liked, but my egg white folding technique was a little heavy-handed.

The best part about this recipe is that you can make it ahead of time, portion the mixture into ramekins and freeze them. This way, you can pop them into a hot oven whenever you want and you are 16-minutes away from dessert.

TRY IT YOURSELF: Using the ATK’s recipe.

–CP

ABOVE: A New Englander dog and some of the best fries around, at Super Duper Weenie in Fairfield.

6/18/2009

SUPER DUPER WEENIE: 306 BLACK ROCK TURNPIKE, FAIRFIELD

It’s pretty clear my New Year’s resolution to no longer eat mediocre french fries was defenestrated months ago. But this isn’t really a problem at Super Duper Weenie, as these fries fall into the category of awesome.

Super Duper was on my way to work when I lived [briefly] in Bridgeport so I have had my fair share of Chicagoans – hot dogs slathered in spicy mustard and homemade relish. These days, I don’t get up to Black Rock Turnpike much, but I happened to be passing through one day this week and had to stop in.

A day earlier, I was high over the Midwest on a Jetblue redeye when the girl seated next to me tuned her chair-back t.v. to the Food Network’s  Diners Drive-Ins and Dives, which happened to be airing a segment about Super Duper Weenie. I hadn’t said a word to her the entire flight, but suddenly blurted out,”Dude, those are some damn good hotdogs.”

She, of course, thought I was a crazy person and ignored me, but I speak the truth: those are some damn good hotdogs. So when I was nearing exit 24 on I-95, I  knew I had to drop in for a hot dog.

On this visit I was persuaded by an Advocate editor to try the New Englander, despite the fact that I don’t like sauerkraut. The fermented cabbage slop I’ve always steered clear of is homemade here at Super Duper and is actually quite pleasant.

That said, next time I will return to my old standby, the Chicagoan, a dog with Super Duper’s exquisite spicy relish, an ultra-crisp pickle wedge, lettuce, tomato and onions. An absolute classic.

–CP

6/19/2009

EXCITING NEWS FOR BURGER AFICIONADOS: Five Guys Burgers and Fries, the ridiculously awesome Virginia-based chain, is launching a restaurant in Westport.

Connecticut has a handful of Five Guys fast-food establishments, but this will be the first in lower Fairfield County.

I first encountered Five Guys in Philadelphia, but subsequently came to realize you can’t throw a rock in Jersey, Virginia or the DC metro area without hitting one.

SACRILEGE: As an ex-pat Californian, I rightly consider In-N-Out as the “City on a Hill” of modern fast food burger purveyors, but Five Guys gives them a run for their money. The ingredients are fresh, the burgers are customizable and made to order and the fries are spectacular. Seriously, they are very, very good.

–CP

SEMI-RELATED: An LBC post from earlier this year.

ABOVE: Live uni at San Diego’s Little Italy Mercado.

6/16/2009

The rugged mountains east of San Diego give way to rolling foothills and finally the jacarandas in their full, violet bloom come into view, dotting the suburban landscape with vivid splashes of color. But the real treasure here lies in the kelp beds, under the glimmering surface of the Pacific Ocean, which appears static from thirty thousand feet.

Here, in the shallow depths of the continental shelf, red sea urchins thrive. Once intentionally poisoned by commercial fishermen, they are now one of California’s most valuable fisheries.

Owing to their diet, the urchins from this swath of the Pacific are among the sweetest and creamiest in the world and command top dollar internationally. The roe is considered a delicacy in Japanese cooking – where it is called uni – and is used in many Mediterranean cuisines.*

For months now, uni has been a part of my vacation planning. Photojournalist Dai Sugano and I have been talking about reprising our last backyard uni meal since my previous trip out west. But Dai, a native of Hokkaido, lives in Fremont, five hundred miles north of San Diego, and I wouldn’t be in Northern California for a few more days.

The uni would have to wait.

But plans changed on the flight to San Diego, the first stop on my itinerary. I brought along a copy of Jeffrey Steingarten’s “It Must Have Been Something I Ate,” a thoroughly enjoyable follow-up to his first collection of Vogue magazine food essays, “The Man Who Ate Everything.”

After stumbling on an essay about the many virtues of San Diego uni, it suddenly became clear: I couldn’t wait for the trip to the Bay Area to sample this oceanic treat again.

Once on solid ground, my search for uni was temporarily suspended by a trip to In-N-Out burger, a quick stop at a taco joint to appraise the al pastor and a veritable feast whipped up in my sister’s apartment in Little Italy.

But I was up early the next day with the bristly echinoderm on my mind. After a walk along the harbor, we headed over to a farmer’s market where live uni is sold next to the globe artichokes, artisanal cheeses and fresh basil.

The uni here –  the same as supplied to Nobu downtown – is fresh as it comes: alive. In the cooler, the prickly purple spines move slowly, the urchins oblivious to their fate.

$4.50 buys you a grapefruit-sized urchin, containing five ‘lobes’ of urchin roe, a mere fraction of the price you’d pay in a sushi restaurant. The urchins can be cracked on site with a pair of kitchen shears and eaten simply washed in salt water to savor their briny goodness or with Sriracha and soy sauce.

Sorry Dai, I couldn’t wait.

–CP

*Technically it’s not really roe, but you don’t want to know what it is. Trust me.

BELOW: The LBC ponders life, uni at the edge of a continent.

6/10/2009

A NOTE FROM THE LBC: Staff writer Magdalene Perez checks in with the LBC with this salsa recipe. I’m still on vacation in California, about to head into San Francisco for dinner, but I leave you in capable hands:

This spring, I held a swap meet as a way to get rid of old stuff and pick up a few new (free) things along the way. Being a big food lover, one of the items I snagged was a book called Nueva Salsa, by Rafael Palomino and Arlen Gargaliano. The recipes looked delicious, so I spent one night book-marking a dozen pages.

Which got me to thinking. Why not make a salsa every week? Well, this is episode one of the “Summer of Salsa” on the Lunch Break Chronicles. Every week we will show you how to make a new salsa recipe, complete with serving suggestions.

Last week we set up the video camera in CP’s kitchen and cooked up Roasted Tomato and Tarragon Salsa, served with seared steak.*

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED:

6 plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon of olive oil
¼ cup white balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Leaves from 1 small bunch of tarragon
One thick-cut steak

First you need to roast the tomatoes. Preheat the broiler.

From our trusty guide, Nueva Salsa:

“Core the tomatoes and cut them in half crosswise. Squeeze gently to remove most of the seeds. Place on a broiler pan or baking sheet, cut-side down. Roast under a preheated broiler, as close to the heat source as possible, for six to eight minutes, or until brown and blistered all over.”

Pull the tomatoes out of the oven, wait to cool a minute, then pull the skin off and coarsely chop. (Don’t burn yourself!)

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the tarragon (you don’t want it to wilt). Stir to blend. Let sit for about 20 minutes, then stir in the tarragon and serve.

To make the steak:
We recommend starting your steak once the tomatoes are in the oven. Place an oven-friendly skillet on the stove at high heat. Pour in a tablespoon of canola oil (or something with a similarly high smoke point, like grapeseed oil), and wait until the pan is very hot, but not smoking. Meanwhile, rub your steak with salt and pepper.

Cook the steak about three minutes per side without moving around in the pan. Then, place it in the oven at 450 degrees for about five minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted in the middle reads 135 degrees (for medium rare).

Once it’s done, cut into slices, top with salsa, and serve!

*This recipe and all others in this series are from the book Nueva Salsa, with a few tweaks.

Note: We didn’t bother to find white balsamic vinegar in the store, so feel free to use white vinegar, cider vinegar or regular balsamic. But be forewarned: if you use regular balsamic it will taste great but look like mud. Also, the recipe called for sherry wine vinegar, but being lowbrow, we went with the regular red wine vinegar in the cupboard.

Hope you enjoy! And check back next week for our next adventure: roasted jalapeno and citrus salsa.

–Magdalene Perez

6/8/2009

The Advocate’s staff blogs just made the jump onto our new servers, so if this is your first time visiting my food blog, welcome. And if you are one of the five people who regularly read the Lunch Break Chronicles, thanks for following me over here.

SIDE NOTE: I’m currently on vacation in San Diego, so won’t have much in the way of new content for a little while.

I will say that I just had some excellent beef enchiladas at a hole-in-the-wall lunch spot called Emma’s in El Cajon. It was recommended to us by an employee of the nearby Taylor Guitar factory and if you are ever in El Cajon – I hope for your own sake you are not – check out Emma’s.

Also of note: the farmer’s market across the street from my sister’s apartment in Little Italy is awesome. As is the little market at Filippis Pizza Grotto.

I’m also working on a post about sea urchins. But more on that later, I’m on vacation, so I’m going to put the computer down and grab another Pacifico.

–CP

ABOVE: Wave Hill Bread’s three-grain demi-baguette.

6/5/2009

WAVE HILL BREADS: 196 DANBURY ROAD, WILTON

Food writers Jane and Michael Stern declare Wave Hill Breads in Wilton a “top pick” on their popular site, RoadFood.com. And for good reason.

Though the bakery has only produced essentially one product since 2005, a naturally-fermented three-grain loaf called pain de Campagne, it is so remarkable, so chewy and crusty and so perfect, you wouldn’t dare ask for anything else.

The tiny operation is run by Mitchell Rapoport and Margaret Sapir, a couple who came to baking as a second career. Initially, they offered the pain de Campagne only in what they call a ‘country loaf,’ however, they now offer the same golden, crusty bread in other incarnations like baguettes and boules.

Last year, I started baking bread at home and because it is so complicated in many ways, where minute variations yield wildly different results, I understand their absolute obsession with perfection.

Wave Hill operates in a small space next to a dentist’s office on Route 7, is not visible from the road and keeps weird hours. Complicating matters, in Stamford, it’s only available at Mrs. Green’s Natural Market and according to a delivery driver’s run-sheet I inspected, just a scant six loaves were delivered the day I checked.

If you can get your hands on it, there are countless ways to enjoy this bread. I’ve made steak sandwiches. I’ve toasted it. I’ve dredged it in olive oil. I’ve made French toast. But the best way to enjoy the pain de Campagne is with a generous helping of butter.

Do yourself a favor and reach for some of that European butter – the kind with the higher butterfat content – this is one time when it’s truly worth it.

–CP

LISTEN: To Jan and Michael Stern talk about Wave Hill on American Public Media’s Splendid Table.