Off the Shelf: Restaurant Reviewing with the Best

A decent amount of my reading material is food-related, and while I was in culinary school, I almost exclusively read food-related material.  I particularly loved the book "Becoming a Chef" by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, which provides a great overview of the various routes to development as a professional cook. 

It is almost textbook-like in its depth, but it reads like a novel.  It can be read as a how-to guide for culinary development, or it can simply provide insight into the lifestyle for those who are interested.

I recently came across the book "Dining Out" by the same authors, and I dove into it immediately. 

The book does for restaurant critics what "Becoming a Chef" does for chefs.  It provides an in-depth look into the world of restaurant reviewing, from the perspectives of both critics and the chefs and restauranteurs they review.  The book discusses the various career paths taken by critics, but it also analyzes the very practice of reviewing restaurants.  The authors raise a variety of issues that really got me thinking about how restaurants are judged, from the role of the critic (defender of the public's wallet versus aesthetic/artistic critic, similar to a music or theatre critic) to the merits of a quantitative (i.e., star) rating system to the importance (or lack thereof) of a critic's anonymity.

The book was published in 1998, so some of the information about specific restaurants may be out-of-date, but the critics interviewed for the book are still probably some of the best critics in the history of US restaurant criticism.  I learned a lot and really started thinking about the ways I judge restaurants, and I would recommend the book to anyone who is interested in learning more about this impactful (and rapidly-changing, especially thanks to social media) profession.

On the Table: Vegetarian BBQ Beans (and Bonus Zucchini!)

The weather has been BEAUTIFUL (well, other than the hurricane over the weekend) and COOL(ish) for the past few days, and I am starting to get into a fall mood.  I really want to enjoy summer food just a little bit longer, though, so last night I decided to go full summer spread - hot dogs, zucchini, and baked beans...although I am calling them BBQ beans since they're not baked.  The beans were delicious!  They would be completely awesome with some bacon in them too (obviously), but I decided to keep them vegetarian this time.  They were pretty sweet, so if you don't like super-sweet things, I would cut down on the corn syrup.  They had a great balance of sweet and spicy and just a hint of vinegar-y.  Yum yum yum.  To prepare:

Dice up one small yellow onion.  Put a medium-sized pot over medium heat and thinly coat the bottom of the pan with canola oil.  When the oil gets hot, add the onions to the pot.  Cook, stirring often, until the onions become translucent.  A little browning around the edges is good too.

Add the following to the pot: 1.5 cups of ketchup; 1/2 of a teaspoon of ground cloves; 1/3 of a teaspoon of ground ginger; 1/3 of a teaspoon of ground mustard; 3 teaspoons of honey; 1 teaspoon of maple syrup (grade B, ideally); two 15.5 ounce cans of kidney beans (drained but not rinsed - I used one can of light kidney beans and one can of dark kidney beans); 1/4 of a cup of dark corn syrup; 1/4 of a cup of brown sugar (I used light, but dark might be better if you have it); and salt.  Stir well to combine.  Bring to a simmer, cover the pot, and turn down the heat so the liquid just maintains a simmer.  Cook for about an hour (stir every once in a while), or until the beans soften.

Since this post was seriously lacking in pictures, I took some pics of the zucchini I made...

Slice the zucchini lengthwise, rub it with canola oil and sprinkle it with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cook it at 400 degrees until the zucchini just starts to soften (grilling it would also be great!).

I served the zucchini topped with plain Greek yogurt (it tastes almost like sour cream), which was just delicious.

Beans, zucchini, and a hot dog topped with pepper jack cheese and mustard...that says end-of-summer to me!

Enjoy!

On the Table: Warm BLT Salad

I love BLTs and TBMs...and pretty much anything with bacon and tomato.  However, as I may have mentioned a time (or two!) before, I don't necessarily love plain lettuce.  I like my lettuce cooked, just like greens!  I decided to make a warm salad using all the traditional BLT ingredients (if it's a salad, it's healthy...right?!), and it was delicious.  It sounds weird, but it was really yummy! To prepare:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Dice up two small or one large tomato (I had half a big red one and a small yellow one) and spread them on a baking sheet.

Cook in the preheated oven for about 1.5 hours, or until the tomatoes are pretty well dried (but not so dry as to be crispy).

Dice up half a pound of bacon.

Put a medium-sized pot over medium heat.  Very thinly coat the bottom of the pan with canola oil, and add the bacon to the pot.

Cook, stirring occassionally, until the bacon browns.

While the bacon is cooking, cut up half a head of iceberg lettuce.  I cut the half in half again (through the stem) and then sliced it into medium-sized strips.

Dice up three slices of bread and then toast the pieces to make little croutons (or toast the bread and then dice it, depending on whether you are using a toaster or oven/toaster oven).

When the bacon is browned, add the lettuce to the pot.

Cook briefly, tossing well with the bacon (/fat!).  When the lettuce just starts to wilt, add in the tomatoes and a dash of salt.

Toss well to combine, then add in the croutons (in retrospect, I probably would have added the croutons at the end so they would stay crispy, but it was also good when they got a little soft!). 

Add in about 1/5 of a cup (or even a little less) of mayonnaise.  Toss well to coat and taste and adjust seasoning.

I served it with rice as an entree, but it would also be delicious as a side dish!

Enjoy!

On the Table: Peanut Butter Lettuce with Bacon

With the wind picking up and the rain pouring (hi Irene!), tonight seemed like a perfect night for some comfort food.  When I first made peanut butter lettuce, it was highly experimental - I wasn't sure how it was going to end up tasting.  I was pleasantly surprised and it has quickly become a go-to dish for me, however, since (a) it is DELICIOUS and (b) I tend to have the ingredients on hand.  I have made it with cabbage, which I actually think is better than with iceberg lettuce, and tonight I decided to add BACON (and onions)!  You can't get much more comfort-foody than that.  The bacon actually makes a pretty substantial difference in the taste as compared to the original version, but it was yummy in its own right!  To prepare:

Dice up one small yellow onion and thinly slice half a head of iceberg lettuce (I cut the half in half again and then slice it, so the pieces are bite-sized).

Dice up half a pound of bacon.

Put a 3.5 quart pot (or similar size) over medium/low heat and put just a bit of canola oil in the bottom of the pan.  Add the bacon to the pot.  Cook, stirring occassionally, until the bacon just starts to brown (it will cook more as you add the rest of the ingredients).

Add the onions to the pot.  Cook, stirring occassionally, until the onions become translucent.

(Unlike a lot of foods, bacon seems to look better when photographed with a flash.  Duly noted.)

While the onions are cooking, mix together in a small bowl: 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar (I think apple cider vinegar is actually better, if you have it), 1 teaspoon of sriracha, 1 tablespoon of honey, and 1 tablespoon of peanut butter.

Add the lettuce to the pot and toss well with the bacon/fat.  The lettuce will start to wilt pretty quickly.

When the lettuce starts to wilt, add the peanut butter mixture to the pot.  Stir well to thoroughly coat the lettuce.  Cook until the liquid comes to a simmer.

Serve with rice.

Enjoy!

P.S.  Brownie sundaes would make a perfect comfort food dessert for this meal :)

On the Table: Stuffed Eggplant Casserole

I love stuffed eggplant, but sometimes the skin can be a little tough.  It needs to be sturdy, to hold the whole operation together, but sturdy/tough eggplant skin isn't always the most appetizing thing to eat.  The best way to soften eggplant skin is to stew it or braise it - cook it in liquid - but soft skin won't hold in the filling.  I decided to make a casserole using traditional stuffed eggplant components, but do it such that the eggplant skin could get nice and tender.  It was delicious!  To prepare:

Cook 1/4 of a pound of pasta (I used penne - you want a short-ish pasta) according to the package directions, but pull the pasta out of the water a minute or two short of the total cooking time.  You want it to be slightly firm.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Dice up one large onion and two small or one large eggplant.  You could peel the eggplant if you really want to get rid of the skin - but that defeats the purpose of the dish, in my opinion :).

Dice up about 2-4 ounces of mushrooms (optional).

Put a medium-sized pot (ideally one that is oven-proof, though you could transfer the ingredients to an oven-proof casserole dish later) over medium/low heat.  Thinly coat the bottom of the pan with canola oil.  When the oil gets hot, add the onions to the pot.  Cook, stirring often, until the onions become translucent.

Add a pound of sausage to the pot (remove the casing first, if applicable).  Cook, stirring often and breaking up the sausage, until the sausage is browned.

Add the eggplant and mushrooms (if using) to the pot.

Stir well to combine, and cook for a few minutes.  Add to the pot a cup of chicken stock, the cooked pasta, 1/4 of a cup of grated parmesan cheese, 1/4 of a cup of bread crumbs, and salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Stir well to combine and cook briefly on the stovetop. 

Cover the pot (or transfer the mixture to an oven-proof casserole dish and cover it) and put it into the preheated oven.  Cook for 15-20 minutes, then remove the cover and cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until the top is slightly browned.

Enjoy!

On the Table: Basil Walnut Pesto

Nothing screams summer to me quite like pesto.  Considering that the weather is becoming increasinly fall-ish, I figured I should load up on summer food while I can, so I picked up a bunch of basil at the farmers' market this week.  There is barely any "cooking" involved, since you only need to turn on the stove to cook the pasta.  Plus, it's really fast!  It is ready in just the amount of time it takes to cook the pasta.  Summer-ific, I'd say!  To prepare:

Prepare half a pound of pasta according to package directions (I used penne).

Wash a bunch of basil and remove the paper from three cloves of garlic (or fewer, if you don't love garlic quite as much as I do!). 

With the motor running, grind up the garlic and a handful of nuts (I used walnuts, but pine nuts are the traditional choice - you can also skip the nuts).

Remove the basil leaves from the stems and put them into the food processor (throw away any leaves that don't look good).  Also add in just a pinch of salt (the parmesan cheese, to be added later, will add salt as well).

Put on the lid and start the food processor.  With the motor running, add olive oil through the feed tube until the pesto reaches the resired consistency.

Add in a handful (or two!) of grated parmesan cheese and give the pesto a final, quick buzz.

Taste the pesto and adjust the seasoning.

Serve over pasta, topped with more parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!