Dessert Truck

It seems quite the fad nowadays to take your kitchen, put it in a truck, and drive around and serve food. Its taking street food to another level. I hadn't even heard of the Dessert Truck till this weekend. I have to say, I wasn't blown away. The dessert was decent but the desire to get food there was more for the novelty. This was definitely no Kogi Truck, which I've never personally had but can only imagine its deliciousness.

There's something fun about ordering food on the street. Its not where you are supposed to eat. Real meals are supposed to take place at a table with people in chairs, not standing/walking on the street. But still street food is fun. It reminds me of ordering from the ice cream truck as a child. That's the exact feeling you get from the Dessert Cart. Its an adult version of an ice cream truck and I'm more than OK with that.


Goat Cheese Cake - I felt this was the one dessert that would have tasted better in a traditional setting. Sometimes things just taste better with a little porcelain and metal.


Brownie with vanilla ice cream, salted caramel, pretzel crunch - The perfect dessert for this setting. Gooey and good.


Vanilla Creme Brulee - Pretty standard, nothing to write home about.

Momofuku Noodle Bar

Slowly, Momofuku noodle bar is becoming one of my favorite places in the city. In my first visit, I fell in love with the pork belly steamed buns. Somewhere between that day and last weekend, I started to desire the texture and flavor of their noodles. I'm not sure whether the noodles have gotten better or if I've just learned to enjoy the slightly stiffer texture. At some point though, they started taking in a bit of the broth, without becoming soggy over time. Maybe because they've trimmed down their noodle selection, they can give a little more attention to each bowl. Either ways I've become a big fan.

I know that a huge part of my perception of David Chang and Momofuku in general has come about since my experience at Ko. I've always liked the atmosphere and playfulness but after Ko, I've come to appreciate the food a whole lot more.

In general, the food is clean, flavorful, surprisingly simple, and emotionally complex. For asian food its very refined without loosing the flavor. The menu and dishes don't really try to be too fancy. Emotionally complex? Well I think that's for everyone to figure out on their own.

Enough of words! On with the pictures!


Pork Belly Steamed Buns - simply divine



Shitake Steamed Buns - the shitake's soak up the sauce so well


Momofuku Ramen – pork belly, pork shoulder, poached egg - a classic


Chilled Spicy Noodles – sichuan spiced sausage, spinach, cashews - not really sichuan spicy but still nice, the sausage is top notch


Rhubarb Soft Serve - perfect tartness to end a meal

Katz's Deli

One of the best things about having an out of town friend visit, is that you get to play tour guide and visit all the places that you generally wouldn't. Visiting the Empire State Building may not be your idea of fun, but visiting other NYC institutions generally don't disappoint. Katz's Deli is one of those places. This was actually my first time at Katz's. Its been on my list ever since I moved to NYC, but I've never actually made the time or effort to visit.



I was pretty excited as we stepped into the deli and even more as we got our samples while waiting for our sandwiches. We decided to split a pastrami (below right) and corned beef (below left), both on rye with mustard. Two classic sandwiches prepared beautifully.



The corned beef was moist and flaky. It was a great sandwich. But I have to say that the pastrami blew it out of the water. The pastrami was so tender and flavorful with just the right amount of fat. It just melted in your mouth and satisfied in every bite.

Up until this point, I've always been a bit disappointed in the number and quality of deli's I found in my neighborhood. When asked about the quality of NYC deli's by my friends, I would always say that it wasn't as good as people made it out to be. But deep down inside, I knew that I had to reserve judgment until I had at least visited Katz's and Carnegie.

Now that I've been to Katz's, I'm already trying to figure out my visit to Carnegie. At least now I know what the big hype about NYC deli's are all about. But from my vantage point, the great here is great. Too bad the drop off from great to good seems pretty steep.

More Homemade Bacon

My last attempt at bacon left me wanting a bit more. I wasn't fully satisfied with the results. My obvious mistake was not letting the pork cure for enough time. This time around, I also wanted to add a bit of flavor. At first I was afraid to limit the possible uses of the bacon but since I was making a very small batch I figured I would be to avoid bacon overload. I was lucky to have a giant can of pure Vermont Maple Syrup lying around and that pretty much decided my fate.

I used this recipe that was published by the LA Times from 'Charcuterie' by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. Unlike my first attempt, this was a wet cure and it used curing salt. I actually found the wet cure easier to work with since I could just put everything in a Ziploc bag and just turn it over every day after work. After drying for 2 days and cooking it in the oven, I was excited to see the results.

I took out my knife and did my best to cut a not too thick slice of bacon. I failed miserably. I cooked up the bacon and found that it was too meaty. It had a nice salty maple flavor, but lacked the texture of bacon. That was the moment I decided I needed to borrow/take my father's meat slicer that was sitting in his basement.



The meat sliced made all the difference. I could still get thick bacon slices, but with cleaner cuts that cooked and looked like bacon.



I try to do as many things as I can with just basic equipment, but this is one task where I feel having a meat slicer is a must unless you have some crazy knife skills.

Simplicity

The more I cook and eat, especially the eating part, the more I realize how the most simple things are always great. You don't even have to have the best of ingredients (but it always helps), simple meals are great because they are simple. There's nothing to complicate them. We have enough complications in our daily lives, no need to go about exacerbating the situation.

Most of my life is built around simple meals. A quick salad (greens, olive oil, sherry or balsamic vinegar, pepper). Some salumi (salty), cheese (stinky), and bread (stale). Or a quick pasta with minimal work.



This specific pasta was just some linguine I had lying around, cooked al dente, tossed in olive oil with some frozen peas, with grated/shaved cheese. I was lucky enough to have some nice smoked gouda lying around to go along with the Parmesan, a staple in my fridge.

It was refreshingly light for what could easily become a heavy dish. Extremely comforting on a nice spring day. And took however long cooking dry pasta takes.

The Spotted Pig

314 W. 11th Street, New York

The Spotted Pig is one of those places in NYC that I've been meaning to visit for a long time and last night I finally decided to go, bringing along 2 coworkers of mine.
The SP is one of those places that comes with a lot of hype, especially with its list of high profile investors and I was hoping it would not disappoint.

I started off with the Chicken Liver Toast, which was delightful. The pate had a nice creamy texture with a very gentle liver taste. It defiantly wasn't one of those 'in your face' liver pates. I was even comfortable enough offering it to a coworker, who actually enjoyed it. It was what any good appetizer should do, provide some foreplay to the main event.

Everyone talks about how good the burger is at Spotted Pig and if I learned anything from my visit to Interim, it is to start with what the restaurant is known for.



I had my burger medium rare, which I'm happy to say came to me at a perfect medium rare. The beef was tender and flavorful. The Roquefort cheese was the perfect complement as did the toasted brioche bun that held its own, with all the juices of the beef patty.

The shoestring fries, with rosemary and garlic chips, were the perfect side. Unlike their heftier cousins, they didn't fill you up. They didn't steal the show, no matter how you wanted them to. The consummate wingman.

April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman have done a great job putting together the loungey gastropub. Hopefully I'll have a chance to go back again and try other items on the menu and visit their other child, The John Dory.

Catfish Banh Mi

It's official. The catfish Banh Mi from Baoguette is my current favorite Banh Mi. The traditionalist's will disagree, but there is something magical about the sticky spicy mayo based spread and the oily catfish. Now don't get me wrong, I still love the great traditional Vietnamese sub but every time I walk into Baoguette, I can't help but not order the catfish.

Pefect Saturday Morning

Is there any better way to start a beautiful Saturday morning than with a quick run, followed by a couple cups of smooth mellow coffee and a deliciously fresh doughnut while watching my Celtics play the Bulls.

The coffee is Aged Sumatra from Peet's Coffee. I usually like my coffee nice and strong, but I'm loving this medium roast for its mellow flavor. And once you start paying attention the flavors are pretty complex. There's a slight sweetness and a delightful herbal and woody undertone. It is truly a great session coffee.

Doughnut is from Bouchon Bakery, which I've written about previously and is even better fresh.

Ratio

Yesterday, I came home to a signed copy of Michael Ruhlman's Ratio. I've only had a chance to read the introduction, but I'm excited dig into it. So far it describes everything that I've wanted to learn about cooking. I've always loved tinkering with recipes, to see how food changes minus an ingredient, plus another.



What I hope to get out of Ratio is a better understanding of some basic principles and ideas. And then yes Mr. Ruhlman, I'll let the ratios guide my inspiration.

Interim Restaurant & Bar

5040 Sanderlin Avenue, Memphis

My trip last week to Memphis will probably be one of my last. The work I was doing there is, for the most part, finished and as much as I've learned to enjoy Memphis, its not a destination I plan on seeking out.

Since I was only spending one night, I decided to forgo my usual trip to Gus's and instead head to Interim Restaurant & Bar. Chef Jackson Kramer is a 2009 James Beard Foundation semifinalist for Rising Star Chef of the Year. I could not pass up the chance to eat his food, especially since I probably would never have the chance to again.

I sat at the bar and while perusing the menu ordered a sazerac, which was smooth and crisp. A great start to the meal, along with the warm crusty break with freshly whipped butter. I was already starting to like the place.

To start, I had the Macaroni & Cheese Casserole. The herb and parmesan crust blended in great with the macaroni. The entire dish was cheesy,light, and buttery. The Tripp country ham added just the right amount of saltiness. Overall, its probably one of the best Mac & Cheese dishes I've had. The entire composition worked so well.

For the main event, I had the Roasted Colorado Lamb. The lamb was cooked beautifully and; the merguez sausage was a crispy & salty bit of perfection; the grits were nice and creamy but with an odd after taste; the asparagus was salty and a bit overdone. The overall dish didn't gel together well.

My biggest issue was that the flavors of the lamb did not come through in the dish. Quite frankly, you could have substituted it with a filet mignon and I wouldn't have noticed. Come to think of it, the dish would have been better with a NY Strip. At least the cow would have held its own in the dish.

The real star of the dish was the merguez sausage. I could not get enough of it. It worked great with all the components. Too bad it wasn't meant to be the main component.

Would I go back? Yes. Just for the mac and cheese. I'd probably try the burger or the duck breast next time. Too bad they aren't in NYC or Boston so I'd have the opportunity to give them another try. Interim is a nice break from the usual dinner fare I get in Memphis, but at the end of the day I made sure to hit up Interstate BBQ in the airport before I left.