Friday, October 31, 2008

Green Tomato Redux

We've all heard of fried green tomatoes, but how about Spicy Green Tomato Soup? I was in Birmingham for business this week and the restaurant in my hotel, Icon, had a wonderfully piquant green tomato soup that was just a touch spicy and topped with a combination of thick cut bacon pieces and grilled shrimp. The waiter wasn't very helpful with the recipe or tips, so I looked it up.


Turns out that it is a Southern fave - with Emiril Lagasse doing a version along with a crab and country ham version from Magnolia Cafe in North Carolina. I am going to give it a try by adding shrimp to Emiril's recipe - borrowed here from foodnetwork.com. Seems like a great use for those tomatoes that never ripened in your fall garden.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup finely diced pancetta
1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 whole garlic cloves, peeled
1 bay leaf
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
2 green Anaheim chiles, seeded and diced
1 green pasilla chile, seeded and diced
1 3/4 pounds firm, green tomatoes, cored and cut into eighths
3 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons hot sauce
Cilantro Oil, for garnish, recipe follows

Directions
Heat the oil in a large saucepan, over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until crispy and golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta from the pan, place on a paper towel-lined plate, and reserve.

Increase the heat to medium-high and add the onions to the hot oil. Saute until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes. Season the onions with salt and pepper. Add the garlic, bay leaves and chiles, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stock. Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the tomatoes soften.

Remove the bay leaves, and using a handheld blender, puree the soup until smooth.

Alternatively, you can omit blending and leave the soup chunky. Stir in the lemon juice and hot sauce. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.

To serve, ladle the soup into individual bowls and garnish with a drizzle of Cilantro Oil and the reserved pancetta.

Cilantro Oil:
1 cup packed fresh cilantro, tough stems removed
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the cilantro and blanch for 10 seconds. Remove and shock in an ice bath. Pat dry well on paper towels, squeezing to remove any excess water. Roughly chop and transfer to a blender. With the machine running, add the oil and salt and process until smooth. Transfer to a squirt bottle and refrigerate until needed, for up to 1 week. (Bring to room temperature before using.)

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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

I Will Gladly Pay You on Tuesday for a Hamburger Today

I don't know if it's just plain luck, intense market forecasting, or simply this lame foodie trying to apply economic theories to restaurant openings, but the number of burger joints popping up couldn't have come at a better time...what with the economy tanking and people tossing those silly diets to the side and embracing red meat.

The Washington Post did a nice run down of the newer burger joints in the DC area (you can read it here) that are creeping onto Five Guys territory, but are here are my takes:



Good Stuff Eatery
Opened by Top Chef contender Spike Mendehlson, this Capitol Hill burger joint has quickly taken off, often with lines out the door during the afternoon lunch rush. I have had the pleasure of having three or four late night election cycle meals here and have never been disappointed.

My first visit was less than a week into their Grand Opening, and although it was obvious they were still working through their kinks, I was rewarded for my patience with a free refill on my Blue Moon beer (which they have on tap) and one hell of a tasty burger...now that's good service.

I got the Farmhouse Burger with Cheddar and seasoned fries. The burger was very juicy, but not greasy, and the fries were crisp and flavorful. You even have a choice of 5-6 dipping sauces for your fries (and burgers I suppose). Subsequent visits have not disappointed and I am slowly working my way through the full burger menu (work colleagues have informed me that their salads are fantastic as well, but who gets a salad at a burger joint)

Bonus menu item: homemade & handmade milkshakes

Ray's Hell Burger
Owned and operated by the same folks that run Ray's the Steaks (quite possibly the best steak in greater DC), this burger joint offers enough topping selections to make any foodie's stomach growl in anticipation. The cheese lists alone reads like the back of a fine dining menu, and the various extra toppings available will not disappoint.

The burgers themselves are HUGE, no seriously HUGE. I like to think that I have a healthy appetite, but Appe Teaser and I could have easily split one. Overall the burgers were good, but I agree with DC Foodies review overall. Ray's does a damn good steak, an pretty good burger, but a horrible bun (the thing falls apart).

If I had to choose between Hell Burger and Good Stuff, I'd go Good Stuff every time.

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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Pretentious Drivvle

So if you know me, you know that I love anything Anthony Bourdain. In fact when he is on the tele my husband will often say, "your boyfriend is on tv." But I have to say that last night's At The Table with Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel was the most self-serving, insiduous, drivvling piece of crap on tv. Who wants to watch a bunch of fauxlebrities sit around and talk about spending $1800 on a sushi dinner for 2?


Here's the official description...As you'd expect from an Anthony Bourdain vehicle, opinions fly and no topic is off limits as Tony hosts a no-holds-barred dinner with four featured guests on Monday, Oct. 20, at 10 p.m. ET. Joining Tony around the table are celebrated writer Bill Buford, "Nightlife Queen of New York" Amy Sacco, TV personality Ted Allen, and magazine editor and former gossip columnist Chris Wilson. They'll debate the ethics of an $1,800 dinner, and Tony will reveal how he always, secretly hopes the waiters like him. Food and travel stories will run wild from Wylie Defresne's restaurant wd~50 in New York City.

The reality was more like a rich, jaded, New Yorker love-fest. They did not debate the dinner - they essentially agreed that it was worth it for the "art" if they remembered the experience fondly in the future. I remember $300 dinners fondly and then have $1500 left over to do something good for the world (or pay my mortgage). That is just outrageous and not in a good way. In full discloser, Ted Allen bugs the crap out of me. He is embarrassing to watch. I really don't get it.

Then, in what I assume was a moment that was supposed to connect with the people, they started talking about loving KFC and Shake N Bake and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Honestly, this seemed like the most pretentious moment of the show - it was the food version of, "I have lots of insert minority group here friends." Ugh.

The saddest thing as a foodie was that the food was not even playing a supporting role - it was more like an afterthought. They would get a course which looked really interesting. The waiter would say what it was and then they would all taste it and say it was delicious - end of the food story. They have posted a couple of the recipes on the website. Wylie Dufresne seems really interesting, but he was not even part of the conversation.

All-in-all I would say stick to the No Reservations and have dinner with your friends on your own time- not mine!
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