Taming the rare roast beast for Holiday 2024

Rare Roast Beast packaged

This Rare Roast Beast is about to be unwrapped and refrigerator aged overnight, then dry brined.

The grinch has kept the price of standing rib roast well north of $10/lb in our outpost, but our local market dropped it to just $6.99 last week for USDA Choice so we jumped at the chance to secure a five-rib small end roast for around $45. Now we need to prepare it for Christmas dinner in a manner that satisfies Dr. Seuss, who specifies that the roast beast must be cooked rare.

Last year we described the process we learned at Victoria Station cooking dozens of prime ribs every week. An aged whole roast is rubbed with Kosher salt and then blasted at high heat in a convection oven until it is medium rare at the ends, rare in the center, with a glorious crust overall. Results are consistently perfect, so of course we’ll try something different in our rare roast beast for 2024.

We’ve already made one decision in buying a small end roast vs the usual large end that has fewer ribs but more surface area on each cut for a more impressive presentation. They say the small end is more tender but I have never encountered a chewy prime rib that was Choice or better.

I am going to make one important modification based on Sam Sifton’s preparation method in NYT Cooking: I will refrigerator-age the roast for 24 hours on a rack, then rub it all over with salt and let this dry brine work overnight. I will then rub the roast with Sifton’s formula of salt and pepper mixed with flour because it’s all about the crust and a little flour could only make the surface more crusty, yes? (I will not follow Sifton’s advice to rub the ends with butter because I cherish my end cuts (“baseballs” we used to call them at Victoria Station) and want them as crusty as the rest of the beast.

The reverse sear method, which tempted me last year, was not considered in 2024 because I fear the hours at low heat this method requires (cook low and slow to desired doneness, then blast it to crisp the surface) might render out too much necessary fat. By the way, Sifton’s article (which is paywall-free at the link), has hundreds of tips from readers on reverse sear and other strategies.

The rest of the meal will consist of Yorkshire pudding, some sour cream spiked with Sau-See horseradish, green beans and, in an homage to House of Prime Rib in San Francisco, a Caesar salad. Looking forward to it.

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Make iconic tteokbokki right at home!

Burnt My Fingers was a marketing writer before becoming a full-time glutton, so we enjoy good copy about food as much as anyone. Which is why we are sharing this Amazon blurb for Taekyung instant tteokbokki. Who knew that a companion product to Shin Lamyan (made by the same company, by the way) could generate so much adoration?

• TAEKYUNG TOPOKKI, HOT (128g/4.5oz) – Savor the iconic taste of tteokbokki right at home. Our product encapsulates the flavor of the beloved after-school cup tteokbokki, combining the delectable chewiness of rice cakes with the harmonious addition of glass noodles. A convenient snack that captures the essence of Korean street food
• EFFORTLESS PREPARATION – Convenience meets culinary excellence with our paper cup packaging. Unbox the delight and choose your cooking method – simply microwave for 3.5 minutes (1,000W) or 4 minutes (700W), or use a stovetop by adding water, glass noodles, and our signature sauce. In just a few steps, you’ll have a piping hot, mouthwatering dish ready to enjoy
• GENEROUS PORTION – Set apart from the competition, our tteokbokki doesn’t just stop at rice cakes. We include glass noodles, offering a richer and more diverse snacking experience. It’s more than a snack; it’s a fulfilling treat
• TRANSFORM YOUR TASTE BUDS – This is the epitome of hassle-free Korean cuisine. Whether you’re a Korean food enthusiast, a busy bee, or someone who loves to explore spicy flavors, our Taekyung Topokki elevates the everyday snacking experience to new heights. Let your taste buds embark on a flavorful journey!
• NONGSHIM TAEKYUNG – Taekyung, a culinary tradition in South Korea, is renowned for our iconic Gochugaru spice. A proud member of the Nongshim family, Korea’s top noodle manufacturer, we create the seasonings for all Nongshim noodles, delivering an authentic Korean flavor experience

We’re buying some, how about you? Oh, and that’s an affiliate link, did you guess?

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In praise of mom-and-pop ethnic restaurants

Hot and Sour Soup

Ocean Palace hot and sour soup is the best we’ve tried.

Ethnic mom-and-pop restaurants are a treasure. I’m thinking of small places that have been in business for a while, so the proprietors have developed a well-oiled routine which is highly efficient but also entertaining to watch just because it is practiced and trimmed of all unnecessary actions.

Typically pop is in the back and mom is front-of-house. You are in direct contact with your source of dining pleasure, no intervening layers of chefs, line cooks and marketing strategies. And one more thing: at an ethnic mom-and-pop restaurant what you eat is what they give you. It may not be what you asked for but it’s what you deserve and need.

Yoshi Lunch Special

Yoshi lunch special early 2024.

I’m fortunate to have three examples within driving distance of Saratoga Springs for my daily lunch rotation. First up is Yoshi Sushi in Latham. Yoshi makes the sushi behind a counter; Mrs. Yoshi serves miso soup and tea and checks you out when done. Until recently Yoshi had a lunch special consisting of a couple pieces of nigiri, some assorted rolls, and random items made from whatever Yoshi had left over from the previous night. One time I was served mixed pickled things atop clam meat in a nori wrapper, another it was a perfect chunk of miso-marinated black cod. I decided this spring I would dine there every Friday lunch; since it’s the last day for the lunch special before the weekend Yoshi should have the widest palette of leftovers to work with. But they closed for a long vacation, and when Yoshi reopened it was dinner only. They’re both well into their 70s so I guess they deserve a break.

Bon Appetit Sampler

Combo meal at Bon Appetit. Cannot be finished by one person.

A few miles south is Bon Appetit, an Egyptian place improbably sited in a windowless bunker within a brutalist office tower on Wolf Rd in Colonie. This place came to our attention when our local food critic gave it a loving review. Most of the patrons are from the offices and order standard fare like egg sandwiches; if you go for the middle eastern menu they recognize a fan and will treat you as such. The portions are cheap and generous and usually come with an unannounced extra; one visit it was a clamshell of Koshari, a mac-and-cheese type thing that is “the national dish of Egypt”; another time I was offered a bowl of piping hot crusty chicken rice, straight from the oven, to savor while they prepared my order. The falafel are the best I have ever had and come with a side of babaganoush except they don’t; unless you preorder by 9:30 am you will get hummus instead. I learned my lesson and called ahead the next time and the creamy eggplant dip was well worth the extra effort.

On the other side of town, in a seamy Albany neighborhood near the Hudson River, Peter Chan plies his trade at Ocean Palace. Peter is a local institution who has owned multiple restaurants and to-go emporia; he has a habit of disappearing and then popping up somewhere else a few months later.

Front of Ocean Palace is a small room that was converted to a take-out window during the pandemic and only recently started serving sit-down meals. My routine is to order their lunch special, which includes the best hot and sour soup I have had, and enjoy it while a takeout order is prepared and I watch Mrs. Chan taking orders and tending to my table. (Since the pandemic, I have always been the only dine-in customer.) The menu is enormous and one wonders how a single chef can make all those dishes. The answer is that he doesn’t; you can expect reliable results if you stick to Chinese-American standards (my house special fried rice on a recent order was sublime, and came in a laughably overstuffed clamshell) but stray to more esoteric items and you will get what the chef decides to give you. The good news is it’s bound to be delicious. No complaints whatsoever.

Japanese omakase restaurants—in which the chef chooses what you will eat and usually charges a pretty penny for the service—have recently appeared in my remote provincial capital. (Demonstrating our provincialism, most of these places hedge their bets by publishing a menu in advance which seems like cheating to me.) But ethnic mom-and-pop restaurants are the OG omakase, at a much lower price point. Visit one of these establishments, or the equivalent where you live, and look forward to a meal which is a pleasure and perhaps a surprise.

 

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Thanksgiving leftovers…

Turkey Bowl

Thanksgiving leftovers turkey bowl.

We’re down to the stems and seeds on our Thanksgiving leftovers, as you may have guessed by our Turkey Soup post yesterday. Today we’re having a satisfying Turkey Bowl.  Start with a base of dry stuffing cooked separate from the bird, ladle on wet bits including moist dressing, hunks of turkey, shards of skin and random deliciousness scooped from the carcass and roasting pan after the breast and thigh meat had ben carved and removed. Add a dollop of giblet gravy, 3 minutes in the microwave, a couple generous spoonfuls of cranberry sauce and we’re good to go.

Durkee Side Label

“Refrigerate to maintain color quality.”

But wait, where’s the Durkee’s Famous Sauce you are asking? Alas, that’s the one part we miss by not making a sandwich. We still have most of a jar left… will it be good till next year? We checked the jar for a “sell by” date and couldn’t find one. We did find this admonition in mall print on the side: “refrigerate to maintain color quality”. No “refrigerate after opening” or other food safety advisory? I guess that’s what you would expect from a condiment that used to be manufactured by a paint company.

 

 

 

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Recipe: Grandma’s Cream of Turkey Soup

Grandma's Cream of Turkey Soup

Grandma’s Cream of Turkey Soup.

Grandma may be gone, but Grandma’s Cream of Turkey Soup lives on. It was one of the most popular items at Grandma’s Pies and Restaurant on Central Ave in Albany, and after the restaurant closed the Times Union published the recipe which had been shared by the owner back in 1990. I was initially skeptical because the veggies are added after the roux has been mixed rather than sweated with the butter, but turns out this gives it a pleasant fresh-veggie taste. Makes 8 servings.

Ingredients:
2 quarts chicken or turkey stock
½ medium onion, about ¾ c, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, about ¾ c, diced
4 stalks celery, about 1 ½ c, diced
3 mushrooms, about ¾ c, sliced
6 oz cooked turkey, about 1 ½ c, chopped
6 T butter*
6 T flour*
½ c half-and-half (or ¼ c heavy cream and ¼ c whole milk)
Salt and pepper to taste

Yelp Turkey Soup

Photo borrowed from Grandma’s Yelp page.

Method: melt butter in a large saucepan and stir in flour. The flour should be completely absorbed with no wet spots, but not dry; add more flour or butter if needed. (And consider using additional flour and butter if you want a thicker soup.) Heat this roux over low to medium heat, stirring constantly, till it browns slightly and smells toasty, maybe 5 minutes. Stir in the stock a little at a time, blending or whisking to remove any lumps.

Add the veggies all at once and simmer for ½ hour, stirring frequently. Taste for seasoning; the amount of salt and pepper you add will depend on the stock you begin with. Add turkey and half-and-half and heat to just below the boiling point. Serve Grandma’s Cream of Turkey Soup immediately; if you have extra it can be reheated but not boiled as that will separate the dairy.

*This amount of roux will produce a soup which is viscous and full bodied but not thick. If you want a thicker soup increase the quantity of flour and butter while keeping proportions equal.

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Time to defrost that Thanksgiving turkey!

Patriotic Turkey

In honor of the election, I asked Chatbot to create an image of a patriotic turkey.

It’s Monday before Thankgiving… do you know where your Thanksgiving turkey is? if still in the freezer, drag it out stat! You’ve got 2 days if you’re going to brine it, 2 1/2 days otherwise, so not a minute to waste. Most food safety experts would say you should defrost in the refrigerator, but when time is short we tend to “forget” ours on the counter for a few hours right at the beginning, until the surface is just beginning to soften and still below the 39 degree setting of most fridges.

After we defrost our Thanksgiving turkey we’ll repeat the dry-brine method which turned out to be a hit in 2023*; from that point we’ll follow the method first described several years ago:

We’ll cook our turkey this way following the options from sfgate.com with a light brining, stuffing, and roasting at moderate heat with a paper towel or cheesecloth covered with oil or butter over the breast till the last half hour. We’ll use this stuffing recipe, though we’ll dial back the spices because we will be using our bread machine bread for stuffing  which has the spices already mixed in, accompanied by fresh cranberry sauce which, according to our taste test, is the best option and very easy.

The next day we’ll have turkey sandwiches on some good stiff country sourdough with leftover stuffing, gravy, wilted salad and cranberry sauce, nicely lubricated with Durkee’s Famous Sauce. And then the real work begins as we figure out what to do with the remaining 15 pounds or so of turkey.

*We follow the first part of the recipe where you dry the bird, generously coat it with salt and let it cure a day or longer in the fridge. After that we proceed with our usual method.

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Recipe: Tea-Smoked Chicken

Tea Smoked Chicken

Tea-Smoked Chicken as it comes out of the oven.

Tea-Smoked Chicken is moist, flavorful and far cheaper than tea-smoked duck. And we proved you can make it in an average kitchen without setting off a fire alarm. Choose a fat, juicy bird so you’ll be well rewarded for your time and effort. Feeds 4-6.

Ingredients:
One whole chicken
1 T Kosher salt for rub
2 T dark brown sugar for rub

For marinade:
2 t finely grated ginger (1 inch knob, or a couple cubes of Trader Joe’s)
3 T fermented red bean curd (mix of curd and juice)*
1 T five spice seasoning
½ c xiaoshing cooking wine
2 T neutral oil

For smoking:
2 buds star anise
½ c uncooked rice
½ c brown sugar
¼ c tea leaves

Method: wipe down inside and outside of bird with paper towels and air-dry in refrigerator overnight. Rub skin surface with salt and brown sugar and dry cure 1 hour or a little more. Mix marinade ingredients in a large zip-seal bag; pour some into the cavity of the chicken then put the bird in the bag; seal and rotate to expose all surfaces to the liquid. Marinate in refrigerator 4 hours to overnight, turning several times to distribute marinade.

Line the bottom of a wok with aluminum foil, making sure the surface is covered with no gaps. Add smoking ingredients then a rack sufficient to hold the chicken. (We used an inverted expandable steamer basket.) Add the chicken and have ready several towels soaked in water. Cover and heat on medium high till smoke starts to seep out under the lid. Wrap the lid with the damp towels; when properly adjusted very little smoke should escape. Smoke for 45 minutes, then turn off heat and let cool to room temperature as you preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Transfer the chicken to a roasting pan and roast, breast side up, until the skin is a beautiful golden brown and the meat is cooked to 160 degrees internal temperature, 30-45 minutes depending on the size of the bird. Rest until cool enough to carve, then serve. Tea-smoked chicken pairs well with rice and Chinese vegetables but is also at home with Westernized sides.

Fermented Red Bean Curd

This seems to be the most popular brand of fermented red bean curd.

*Fermented red bean curd is the stuff that gives char siu pork its distinctive red color. It has a salty umami flavor similar to miso or doubanjiang, but it’s worth the trouble to get the real thing which you can find in most Asian groceries. A plain fermented bean curd is also available; be sure you get the red kind.

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Let’s make a tea-smoked chicken!

Tea Smoked Chicken Towel Wrap

Here’s my improvised towel wrap for the tea smoked chicken. Worked well at keeping the room from filling up with smoke.

I’ve long wanted to make a tea-smoked duck at home, though decided early on it would be smart to start with tea-smoked chicken because of the cost factor. I am tempted by the birds hanging in the window when I visit a Chinatown and typically buy half a duck each time I go to San Francisco. They chop it up and put it in a plastic tray with a tiny cup of sauce and I can’t resist snitching a prime breast piece from the container and munching it while I am waiting for the 30 Stockton bus. So good!

Well, turns out that is not a smoked product at all according to the generally trustworthy Woks of Life. It’s Cantonese Roast Duck, which offers “layers and layers of flavor from a water/vinegar bath and two marinades for the cavity—one that is a seasoning paste and one that is a cooked, cooled sauce.” Hats off to you if you want to try this in your kitchen: in addition to the prep steps described above, you need to inflate the bird like a balloon at one point to lift the skin off the meat (which produces the delicious crackly skin, so worth it).

YandZ Tea Smoked Duck

For reference, here’s the Tea-Smoked Duck from Y&Z Restaurant in San Francisco.

But tea-smoked duck is definitely a thing; the venerable Y&Z Restaurant in SF Chinatown is one of several places serving it according to a Yelp search, and that’s what we are going to make except with chicken. The general idea, according to many online sources, is that you put a bunch of flavorsome substances in a tray or pan or wok, place a marinated and seasoned bird on top, then heat to the smoking point in a wok or oven or an indirect fire in your grill with the cooking area sealed so the bird will get maximum exposure to the smoke.

The smoke has been our point of resistance, until now. I am currently residing in a townhouse with sprinklers in the ceiling and don’t care for a dinnertime shower, but also don’t have access to an outdoor grill (plus it’s getting colder here, though not cold like in the old days). So I was intrigued by a recipe that suggested wrapping wet towels around the lid of the wok rather than the usually recommended aluminum foil.

Tea Smoked Chicken

Here’s the Tea Smoked Chicken as it came out of the wok, ready to go in the oven.

It worked! I placed my flat bottom wok on the “smart” burner of my induction range (it adjusts the size of the heating surface to match whatever is placed on top of it) and lined it with aluminum foil. Placed tea leaves, rice, brown sugar and aromatics (recipe to follow) then an inverted collapsible steamer basket with the (previously marinated) chicken stabilized by its three legs pressed into the back from below. Turned on the heat to high and smoke started oozing out from under the lid in a minute or so. Then I wrapped it in two very damp dog towels and nervously monitored the process. 45 minutes later I turned off the heat and lifted the lid (after the wok had cooled down a bit) and walla! Beautiful tea-smoked chicken. It went in the oven for a final roast then rest and carve.

The result was terrific: crispy flavorful skin, tender delicately seasoned flesh pronounced “buttery” by my taster. (I’ll share the recipe in the next post.) And I’ve found an indoor smoking method I’ll put to work on other smaller cuts.

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Recipe: Date Cardamom Bread

Date Cardamom Bread

Date Cardamom Bread.

A local bakery called Night Work Bread makes an amazing Date Cardamom bread. The flavor is right at the tipping point between sweet and savory so it’s equally good spread with butter and jam or maybe some soft brie, or in a roast beef or chicken salad sandwich. My rendition is pretty close, I think because we likely get our cardamom from the same source. Makes 1 loaf a bit bigger than a kilo.

Ingredients:
125 g active white flour starter @60%
315 g purified water
410 g whole wheat flour
90 g all purpose flour
2 t Kosher salt
1 T diastatic malt powder (optional)
1-2 t ground cardamom (see NOTE)
225 g or so dried and pitted dates, coarsely chopped
4 T or so sesame seeds for crust, optional

Method: mix starter, water and the flours into a shaggy mass and autolyze at least 30 minutes. Add salt, cardamom, dates and optional malt powder and knead by your preferred method until gluten is well developed. (Test: you can pull on a section of dough and rather than breaking apart it will thin into a translucent “gluten window”.) Allow the dough to rise for around 4 hours in a covered bowl, then transfer to a large Ziploc bag or other covered container and refrigerate at least overnight.

In the morning, you should see air bubbles on the surface of the dough caused by developing yeast. If no bubbles, give it an extra day. When the dough is ready shape it to a ball on the counter, rest 20 minutes or so, then transfer smooth side down to a banneton prepped with a generous coating of rice flour (preferred) or white flour. If using the sesame seeds to coat the crust, add them before transferring the dough to the banneton: liberally coat a moist paper towel with a layer of seeds, roll the smooth side of the dough in it, then transfer to the banneton. (You can let the paper towel dry out and save the leftover seeds for another use.) Place the banneton with loaf in a plastic bag (I use an old fashioned, now-banned plastic supermarket bag) and proof at room temperature till it has risen somewhat, 2-6 hours.

When dough has risen, place a dutch oven in the oven with the lid on a separate shelf and heat to 460 degrees; allow at least 25 minutes for the dutch oven to come up to full heat. Remove the pot from the oven very carefully (using good potholders) and place on a trivet. Sprinkle polenta on the bottom to prevent sticking then transfer the loaf. Ideally, it will drop into your hand if you flip the banneton over; if this doesn’t work you may need to gently pry the edges away from the basket. Transfer the loaf to the dutch oven, taking care not to burn yourself and handling lightly so as not to deflate the bread. Score the top with a lame (razor blade) or serrated knife. Place the lid (which you have been heating separately) on top and return to oven. Bake 20 minutes covered to allow the bread to steam, then remove the lid, lower the temp to 440 degrees, and bake another 25 minutes until the center registers 206 degreeS when measured with a meat thermometer and the bread has a nice hollow sound when you thump it. Turn out on the counter or a rack and cool before serving.

Penzey Ground Cardamom

Finely ground cardamom loses flavor quickly. We prefer the seeds from Penzey’s which have a much longer shelf life.

A NOTE ABOUT CARDAMOM: this spice is used in sweet baked goods and also Indian cooking (for a completely different flavor profile). The product sold in grocery stores is finely ground and loses potency very quickly. Penzey’s sells “seeds” which are coarsely ground with a much longer shelf life. Based on the taste matchup I believe this is what Nightworks uses as well. We used 2 t for our first bake which was almost overpowering on first bite but mellowed overnight. To be safe, start with 1 t and increase it on the next batch. If you have to use ground, be sure it is very fresh and limit to 1 t.

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We tried the Decades Menu at Taco Bell (so you don’t have to).

Taco Bell Mess

This might be the Green Burrito from the Taco Bell Decades Menu, except there is no green sauce just beans.

Like Taylor Swift, Taco Bell is currently drawing on its history to put together an episodic menu. Unlike Taylor Swift, Taco Bell doesn’t have much of a catalog considering their products endlessly repeat the same small set of ingredients. Against our better judgment, we decided to give it a try.

Tac Bell Tostada.

Taco Bell Tostada.

Our local Taco Bell is right up the road, a mile at most. We ordered on the app (efficient) and specified ASAP as our pickup time. This was about 11:30 am, early in the lunch service. We were there in five minutes and gratified that our meal was already bagged, sealed and waiting in a clearly marked pickup shelf. So far so good.

The experience went downhill as soon as we opened the bag: the carefully selected assortment of sauces had been left out. The items inside were either room temperature or cold. They could not have been prepared on the spot and might have been left over from the previous day’s service.

Taco Bell Gordita

Taco Bell Gordita.

First up was the Tostada. Some internet sleuthing confirms this was indeed an early offering in the 1960s, when they had to provide a phonetic pronunciation for customers unfamiliar with Mexican food. It was $2.19, not a bad price. Tasted ok except the base tortilla was cold and the container had been crushed and the product cracked in two during its brief journey from the kitchen to the pickup shelf.

We also tried the Gordita, from the 1990s. This has a puffy flour tortilla, though Taco Bell calls it “flatbread” so as not to frighten us. Inside was ground beef and a decent sprinkle of veggies. We’d order this again though the $2.99 price takes it out of the bargain category.

Meximelt No Cheese

Meximelt maybe, but without the cheese.

The Decades menu also includes the Meximelt and Green Burrito, but I don’t think we actually received either. Unlike at McDonald’s, the wrappers are not labeled so it would be easy for a demotivated server to grab whatever is lying around. We received a folded over soft taco containing a decent array of chopped tomato and onion and a base of meat and sauce; this might have been a Meximelt except that, instead of a “three cheese blend” we got zero cheese.

The final item was a very large flour tortilla folded around a wad of refried beans with a few strands of grated cheese, no sauce. Was this supposed to be the green burrito? There is nothing on the menu to match what we received; even the basic bean burrito includes red sauce and onions.

Taco Bell Burrito

WTF?

We know a few food-savvy people who claim to be Taco Bell fans; their argument is that it is the healthiest fast food because it doesn’t contain a lot of additives. Our kids used to insist on Taco Bell and we’d indulge them from time to time. But no mas. With such theatrical overpromising and incompetent under delivering, they’ve surely jumped the tiburon this time. ¡Afuera!

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