Recipe: Cabbage Wedge with Blue Cheese and Miso Dressing

Posted on April 25, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Cabbage Miso Blue Cheese

Cabbage Wedge with Blue Cheese and Miso Dressing

Yet another way to eat our favorite vegetable, cabbage! Inspired by a recipe from Lady of the House in Detroit, Cabbage Wedge with Blue Cheese and Miso Dressing has a similar presentation to the iceberg wedge served in fancy steakhouses. Try it with corned beef! The miso dressing is nice on its own and would go well with any salad involving fruit or nuts.
Serves 6-8.

Ingredients:
1 medium head green cabbage
Neutral oil (like safflower or peanut) for roasting
1/2 c crumbly blue cheese

For the miso dressing:
1 T Kosher salt
1 T sugar
2 T honey
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T rice vinegar
2 T soy sauce
1 1/2 T white miso
1 1/2 t fresh ginger, peeled then grated or chopped
1/2 c neutral oil (like safflower or peanut) for the dressing

Method: remove outer leaves of cabbage and cut in 6-8 serving size wedges. Heat oil in a large sauté pan and pan-roast each wedge approximately 5 minutes on each side, until browned. Reserve.

For the miso dressing, mix all ingredients with a whisk (if using grated ginger) or mini-chop (if ginger is chopped). To serve, reassemble a cabbage wedge on each plate, pour over dressing and top with crumbled blue cheese. Serve hot, room temperature or cold.

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My other cookbook is a Kindle

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Noma Kindle Example

A typical page from the Kindle version of The Noma Guide to Fermentation

Some chef friends had an online discussion about how they like to read recipes. Almost everybody said they preferred physical cookbooks because they like to look at the pictures and see how the food is plated. Number of people who preferred a Kindle cookbook version: zero.

It is worth noting that a beautifully photographed and lavishly printed book like the French Laundry Cookbook has no place in a working kitchen (unless it’s the immaculate French Laundry kitchen, maybe) and if these chefs are inspired by the recipes they likely transcribe them to some other medium.

I have plenty of cookbooks and when I cook from them I tend to take a photo with my iPad then prop the tablet up so I can refer to the picture while working. But lately I have been eliminating the middleman and just buying new cookbooks on Kindle. Kindle cookbooks are impossible to spill on or misplace because the document resides in the Bezos Cloud; if you drop your tablet in the stockpot, just grab your laptop. You can save the books onto multiple devices and browse them at your leisure, like when you are on a plane. And you can take screenshots of the pages if you want to print them out.

And, the Kindle visual translation is not at all bad, assuming you’re reading in color on a high resolution device. Ingredients lists and instructions are easy to read with a quick look, and photos aren’t of gallery standards but fine for looking at what the dish is supposed to look like. (This is forensic, vs. artistic, photography and it’s what we strive for on Burnt My Fingers.)

Right now I’m reading Rene Redzepi’s The Noma Guide to Fermentation and Stella Parks’ BraveTart. Both are eminently readable for entertainment as well as knowledge, and I don’t think I’m giving up anything by looking at a digital version. Your thoughts?

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The surprising truth about kouign amann

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Kouign Amann Slice

Side and top view of kouign amann slice from Au Kouign Amann in Montreal.

I hungered for a sugary, buttery kouign amann (pronounced QUEEN followed by “almond” in which the “d” is silent) before I knew such a thing existed. I had recently moved to Saratoga Springs, NY and discovered the excellent croissants at Mrs. London’s Bakery. Good as those were, I was dissatisfied with the uneven distribution of sweet filling in the almond and chocolate versions.

B Patisserie Kouign Amann

b. pattiserie kouign aman. Photo by by Fuzheado, licensed under Creative Commons.

Coincidentally, I had ramped up my baking and was spending a lot of time on The Fresh Loaf baking website and at the King Arthur baking school in Norwich, VT. At one of these places I first heard about what sounded like a dream come true: a croissant-like pastry but with the pieces folded in on themselves, instead of rolled, to nurture a perfect heart of caramelized goodness at the center. This was the kouign amann.

I found my first kouign amann in the wild at a farmer’s market in Dallas, on a family trip. A local baker made them one day a week, and I went early before they sold out. It was more than okay, but I knew I would taste better. Then, not long after, I was in San Francisco and visited b. patisserie, said to make the best kouign amann in America. Their version was fabulously good, a flaky explosion inside the little pastry box. I was so overwhelmed that I ate it before taking a picture but fortunately there are thousands of photos on the internet.

Might I dare making kouign amann on my own? Not likely, since I have shied away from their lesser sibling, the croissant. Not so much because I was afraid of the laborious steps involved as because I was worried I would eat the entire batch by myself. And kouign amann is an even higher order of complexity as well as temptation—according to Chef Steps, “we’re gonna be honest: they’re hard to make. They take a full day of investment, and you might not get them right on the first try. Your kitchen will be a mess. You may get stressed out.” No thanks guys. Plenty of stress over here already.

Then I took a trip to Montreal.

Whole Kouign Amann Pie

Be still my heart. Entire kouign amann pie from Au Kouign Amann in Montreal.

At a shop called simply Au Kouign Amann I encountered a pastry that, at first glance, was closer to a pizza than a croissant. Many buy the whole pie, but it’s also sold by the slice. The day’s supply was spoken for but I negotiated with the proprietor to “find” me a couple slices which I took back to my burrow. Initial reaction: disappointment. Where were those lovely laminated layers? Then I bit into the thing: ecstacy. Somehow the butter was in every bite with a sugary propellant that blasted my synapses while simultaneously coating my arteries.

Au Kouign Amann Croissant

Croissant from Au Kouign Amann, just to show these guys can do laminated dough when they need to.

And it turns out this is the true kouign amann, two words which mean simply “bread and butter” in Bretony where it is from. In its homeland kouign amann is not an artisanal pouf but a hearty baked good often prepared from leftover bread dough. I have lots of that around. It’s rolled into a thin round, molded into a circular pan with the excess hanging over the edges, then the surface is liberally coated with sugar and butter (really GOOD butter, obviously) and the excess dough is folded in on itself. It is baked and voila, kouign amann. I know there is a lot of technique involved but those are the basics.

Ready to enter pastry paradise? Get started with this post from The Fresh Loaf in which Susan Mckenna Grant describes a journey similar to the one we just related, except that she actually got to go to Brittany to discover the true kouign amann. This recipe from her blog lays out her actual process of making the original-style pies. And, for comparison of technique and ingredients, almost everyone refers to this canonical recipe from David Lebowitz which may well be the origin story of the individual-serving pastries in the U.S.

And yes, we will try making our own and report back. But first we have to eat through the whole pie we’re bringing home from Montreal.

Kouign Amann Label

The label affixed to my entire pie from Au Kouign Amann. Suitable for peeling off and framing.

UPDATE: our whole pie is now gone, though the charming box artwork (which we may steam off and frame) remains. I now have to admit that at least part of the appeal of the authentic slice was the first weekend of spring in Montreal. It’s a very tasty treat, but I’m not ready to say it’s better than the croissant dough makeover. On the other hand, it’s a lot easier to make. Le choix t’appartient!

ANOTHER UPDATE: King Arthur Flour has published its recipe for the original Kouign Aman! Find it here. It’s long, but that’s because they have taken care to describe each step which should be followed exactly as written. Definitely going to make this.

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Test driving the Misen nonstick skillet

Posted on April 14, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Misen Nonstick Results

Perfectly cooked bacon and omelet made in Misen nonstick skillet

The promotional period for the Misen Nonstick Skillet has ended, but if you click the link to this checkout page you will get a pop-up offering the same 20% off for new customers in return for your email address. I’d go for it, (and buy the Misen Chef’s Knife as well since you’re getting the discount). Even at full price, I have to say I’d be tempted by this very exciting product.

Misen Cooked Steak

New York strip cooked in Misen nonstick skillet looked like it had been prepared in a cast iron pan.

The Misen Nonstick Skillet promo page (it’s not yet listed on their mail order product page) has some fun details and videos including a sunny side up egg skittering across the skillet, like a leaf in a pond, as a guy blows on it. I didn’t try that but I did make the best omelet and crispy bacon I’ve ever cooked. The secret is not the coating (I’ve got other good nonstick pans) but the brilliant heat distribution of the base which is like a good cast iron skillet or copper pot. I did take videos of the bacon and the egg as they cooked which I’ll add to this post when I figure out how to upload videos to WordPress. The bacon sizzled on the top as well as the bottom and the omelet bubbled like a witch’s cauldron.

Misen After Use

Surface of Misen nonstick skillet after wiping out after use. There’s still a residue that came off with a bit of soap. Interesting development I’ll investigate further.

I have previously commented (in my endorsement of their Smoky Joe) that Weber grills of every design cook better than any other grills I’ve encountered, due to better management of heat. I feel like Misen has somehow accomplished the same thing and it’s a pan I look forward to using for quite a while. I was surprised when the bacon fat started smoking and used a laser thermometer to discover the upper edges of the skillet registered 490 degrees F—well above the rated maximum of 450 degrees. Will have to watch that in the future.

The build seems exceptional and I will put this pan through its paces and do my best to wear it out, without sticking it with forks or burning it, and hope it lasts a good long time. But for now, the heat spreading features are reason enough to buy it at 20% off.

Update November 2019: I’m suddenly getting a lot of traffic on this page which is great except that the discount links above have expired. Go ahead and click them then explore the site when you get there. You will probably find a current discount or an offer when you sign up for email. By the way, the above are NOT affiliate links. I’m recommending it simply because the Misen non-stick skillet is a great product.

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Food for Thought: Alison Roman

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Chickpea Coconut Stew

Spiced Chickpea Stew With Coconut and Turmeric, from Alison Roman. Photo: Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott for The New York Times. Prop Stylist: Kalen Kaminski.

When Alison Roman launched her biweekly cooking column in the New York Times a year ago, she described herself as an unfussy cook: “To me, unfussy doesn’t mean boring — it means approachable and accessible. It means getting dinner on the table with ingredients that are simultaneously inexpensive and interesting, treating them in a mix of new and familiar ways and doing it in less time than it takes to start a new series on Netflix.” That describes our approach on Burnt My Fingers as well, which may be she is the one recipe author of the many reliable sources on NYT that we seek out by name.

Check out this Caesar-like salad that is made with raw egg yolks and croutons soaked in chicken fat and anchovies. A Quick Ragu that also depends on anchovies. Quick crispy pork chops that partly inspired this recipe but hers is probably better, if you have radishes. And this Spiced Chickpea Coconut Stew which was what got our attention in the first place.

We also like the side trips she takes in columns like the one accompanying her braised chicken recipe, where Roman talks about why she doesn’t have an Instant Pot and how to turn the recipe into pozole. New York Times reader comments, to both the columns and recipes, are another bonus. Not just the “made this, loved it” kind you see in most food blogs but a delightful combination of useful and cranky. Check it out.

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Serving up sustainable fisheries

Posted on April 9, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Farmed Yellowtail

Farmed hamachi… coming soon to a prep counter near you.

Half the seafood eaten in north America is consumed outside the home, according to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). But the chef serving fish faces a learning curve with his or her clientele. Everybody knows beef, pork and chicken—where it comes from, the basic cuts, how to prepare and eat it. But there are hundreds of different choices of seafood in dozens of major categories, each with its own set of considerations as to taste, preparation and food safety. Add to that education on the importance of sustainable fisheries? Forget it.

Except you can’t. Because without increased attention paid to sustainability, many of the varieties of fish consumers love will disappear or become impossibly expensive. The MSC, through its certifications, is out to prevent that. The blue MSC label stands for leaving enough fish in the ocean, respecting habitats and ensuring people who depend on fishing can maintain their livelihoods.

MSC Road Map

MSC’s roadmap for educating consumers about sustainable fisheries

At the 2019 Boston Seafood Expo, the MSC presented its latest market research based on a survey of 5500 North American consumers. Sustainability is far down the list of factors in purchasing fish, mentioned by less than 3% of respondents. (Younger consumers age 18-34 are more aware, ranking sustainable sourcing sixth after safe, fresh, healthy for my family, taste and price.) Accordingly, the MSC believes its most motivating message is to “ensure seafood we enjoy now is available for future generations”.

Sustainable Aquaculture Panelists

Seafood Expo panelists discuss sustainable aquaculture

I also attended a session where a panel of fishmongers and industry folk discussed the challenges in marketing aquaculture—farmed seafood. Consumers give it a bad rap because of experience with mealy catfish, artificially pink salmon, or shrimp raised with antibiotics that pollute the ocean. But today’s aquaculture, practiced right, is sustainable and traceable (meaning it’s not from a fishery that violates MSC principles) by definition. Consumers think wild-caught fish is healthier when in fact it’s more likely to contain parasites.

The panelists recommended that chefs use more seafood as an amuse bouche—a gateway drug that allows consumers to experience new seafood varieties and preps without paying for them. They also recommended the SmartCatch program of the James Beard Foundation which trains chefs to make sustainable choices and become advocates for sustainable fisheries.

On the floor of the show, I tasted farmed hamachi from a deep-ocean aquaculture operation that is sited in the Bay of Cortez. It’s a product still in development but it’s already cleared its biggest hurdle—the fish, fed a proprietary blend of vegetarian protein ingredients, really does taste like the endangered yellowtail we love in our sushi. And I checked out Hudson Valley Fish Farms—an upstate NY outfit which is raising steelhead trout (“salmon’s tastier cousin”) for chefs and consumers. It may be different from what we’re used to, but there is still fish in our future and that’s a good thing.

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Fishing for insight at the 2019 North American Seafood Expo

Posted on April 4, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Boudreaux Crawfish Sign

How to peel and eat a crawfish

I was so impressed with Shucker Paddy’s skill and expertise that I followed him to his next venue, the annual Seafood Expo in Boston. This is a vertical show where you can see not only the finest in fish and seafood products but the specialized equipment used to process fish on shipboard, the refrigerated trucks to take them to market, even the trays used in takeout sushi places. But most of all, lots of fabulous seafood.

Boudreaux Crawfish

These giant mudbugs made the effort worthwhile.

Panagea Uni

Live and prepared uni at Panagea booth

Panagea, a major supplier to our friends at Fin Your Fishmonger, was there with more oysters that I’ve ever seen in one place as well as uni. There was a lot of oyster tasting available, giving one the opportunity to compare by region. They do seem to get milder as one moves south into warmer waters, just as Shucker Paddy had suggested. Several Virginia and Carolina oyster farmers apologized for the lack of salty taste; there’s been so much rain this year there is an unusually low salt content in the water.

Lobster Tails

Giant lobster tails

Another exhibit featured the biggest lobster tails I’ve ever seen, well over a foot long. Many countries and regions sponsored pavilions for their exhibitors, like a Japanese area where one could sample fresh cut sashimi and compare fresh grated wasabi to the more familiar dried wasabi/horseradish blend. Some touted their commitment to sustainable fishing and farming, while others apparently could care less as long as the product is big and delicious. (I checked the exhibitor application form and there is no requirement to commit to ethically or legally caught product.)

Wasabi Sampler

Wasabi sampling. The horseradish/fresh wasabi blend (lower left) actually packed the most bite.

My only disappointment may have been the event I came to see, the oyster shucking competition. Shucker Paddy was the MC, not a contestant, and the shucking happened on a stage where we couldn’t see the shuckers at work. There were perhaps 20 competitors, but none came close to Paddy’s record of 39 oysters in a minute.

Trident Protein Noodles

The most innovative product I saw at the show. Trident Protein Noodles are made with 58% pollock along with tapioca starch. Coming soon to a supermarket near you.

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Recipe: Perfect Instant Pot Oatmeal

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Perfect Instant Pot Oatmeal

Perfect Instant Pot Oatmeal

My sister wanted to do a recipe that would help her get familiar with her Instant Pot, and this Perfect Instant Pot Oatmeal fits the bill. Perfect because it is creamy, filling and just sweet enough with only 1 T brown sugar for 4 servings. Adapted from The Instant Pot Cookbook.

Ingredients:
1 c steel-cut oats
3 T butter
2 1/2 cups water or a mixture of water and milk (don’t use all milk or it will curdle)
1 large apple, peeled, cored and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 T brown sugar (light or dark)
1 t powdered cinnamon
1/4 t Kosher salt

Method: Melt the butter using the sauté setting and stir in oats. Sauté 2 minutes, stirring frequently. (Our pot took several minutes to get up to temperature and turned itself off while sautéeing; if that happens, just turn it back on.) Mix in all other ingredients and stir to combine. Pressure cook 7 minutes on high with natural release; release remaining pressure after 10 minutes. Serve hot, or refrigerate and re-heat in microwave for serving the next day.

This simple and delicious recipe demonstrates several Instant Pot functions:
>Use of Sauté function to melt butter and toast oatmeal; you could do this in a skillet but you’d have 1 more pot to clean.
>Using controls to fine tune cooking time, heat and method. The cookbook tells you to use “Manual” setting but this has been replaced on newer pots with “Pressure Cook”.
>Technique for sealing the lid, turning the pressure valve to seal, then releasing carefully, using a wooden spoon, at the appropriate time. (We had a problem initially because the pot would not start pressure cooking; turned out it was not fully sealed).

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The solution to the restaurant bread service problem

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Vinaigrette Bread Service

Bread service at Vinaigrette: delicious, but only available on request

More and more restaurants are omitting complimentary bread service, and that’s a problem. The other night I ate at a Southern-inspired place in Saratoga Springs, and there was not a scrap in sight to sop up the savory and creamy gravies. Life would not be the same without the assortment of warm breads (accompanied by cultured butter) at 15 Church or the puffy house-baked loaves of Italian bread at Taverna Novo. And I have willingly (though not gladly) paid $4-5 for a bread basket at a couple of pricey NYC and SF restaurants.

What prompted this post is the lovely loaf pictured here from Vinaigrette, a trendy salad-forward restaurant in South Austin. It’s crusty and halfway toward cornbread, with a good amount of cornmeal and poultry spices thrown in. Olive oil and balsamic vinegar were provided for dipping. Yet it only made its appearance after one of our party needed something to eat with his mushroom stew. (The online menu states “Please let us know if you would like bread with your meal (to minimize waste, bread is served on request only).”)

I can appreciate that bread service increases the food cost, and restauranteurs can be grumpy if uneaten baskets are returned and health regulations prohibit making the bread into croutons or breadcrumbs. From the diner’s perspective, the stale supermarket slices served in mediocre establishments add nothing to the dining experience and might as well be replaced by crumpled pages from yesterday’s menu. But good bread is a treasure, regardless of what the gluten-haters say. (For them, there is always cornbread.)

The solution to the restaurant bread service problem is the same as for drinking water: inform guests at the beginning of the meal that it is served only on request, but then willingly. That’s what servers did years ago when they realized water was not something to be wasted and over time diners have learned and adapted. Now, if we want water, we know to ask. It can be the same with bread.

If you run a restaurant, try this for a while and see how much bread service costs you, then decide whether or not you need to charge for it. If you do, be sure it’s good bread.

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Recipe: Blackened Green Beans

Posted on March 26, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Blackened Green Bean

Blackened Green Beans

Blackened green beans make a very versatile dish. In the Sichuan original, they are mixed with ground pork which has been sautéed with wine and soy sauce and preserved salty vegetable. At Ric Orlando’s New World Bistro in Albany, they are tossed with Cajun spices. The blackened green beans you see here were finished in the classic almandine stye, with brown butter and sliced almonds. Makes 3-4 servings.

Ingredients:
1 lb green beans, stems trimmed off
1 T neutral cooking oil
Salt to taste

Method: heat a cast iron skillet or wok very hot. Add oil and let it heat to just below the smoking point. Add the beans and cook 5 minutes until a good number are blistered or blackened, tossing frequently. Spice and garnish to your preference and serve hot.

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