Rooftop Gourmet

On Sunday I got knocked out of my works’ NFL Knockout Pool so after realizing I wouldn’t be collecting the pot, I decided to have friends over for dinner and keep the budget under $30. My eyes are usually much bigger than my stomach, and I tend to get carried away in supermarkets, so for me this was a difficult task. I had to feed four people after a long day of watching football so I knew everyone, including me, was starving. Pasta was my first idea because it’s cost efficient if you keep it simple, and only a few solid ingredients go a long way. I decided to make Spaghetti Aglio, Olio, e Pomodoro (A.O.P). It doesn’t get much simpler than this; three ingredients…garlic, olive oil, and tomato.

 As simple as it sounds, in order to make the perfect A.O.P, there are a few techniques that you must follow. First, buy whole, peeled plum tomatoes in the cans and use a food mill to grind the tomatoes into a sauce. To me, the previously pureed tomatoes don’t have the same natural sweetness that you get from the tomatoes that are still whole.

Second, slice your garlic cloves as thin as possible and toast them in the olive oil until they’re golden brown. By slicing the cloves, the garlic has more surface area and won’t burn as quickly as minced garlic; not only will you get some nice toasted garlic chips but they flavor the olive oil as well. Lastly, add the milled tomatoes to the toasted garlic oil and let it simmer pretty rapidly so it can reduce and thicken quickly.

When your al  dente spaghetti is finished you want the sauce to adhere to the pasta and not be thin and watery. I made 2 pounds for about $10! I still had $20 left in my budget and I knew that a bowl of A.O.P wasn’t going to cut it for this crowd.

I grabbed a huge skirt steak and threw it in a marinade of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Skirt steak is wicked inexpensive for the quality and quantity that you get out of it. They usually come rolled up inside of the package, but when you open it, the steak looks like my girlfriend’s scarf. It was about 3 feet long and heavily marbled just to my liking (fat=flavor). I roasted some red bliss potatoes with fresh thyme, and I made some balsamic-caramelized onions to kick the flavor up a bit.

After a short stint on the grill, the steak was sliced thinly over the potatoes and topped with the sweet and tangy onions. Since I was serving two separate meals, I had to choose a wine that was versatile and delicious. The 2005 Elio Grasso Barbera d’Alba “Vigna Martina” was a perfect choice because it was light enough to compliment the pasta, but still had enough fruit and structure to stand up to the steak.

Barbera is like the baby brother to Piedmont’s kings; Barolo and Barbaresco. Some say that Barbera is what you drink while you’re waiting for your Barolo to age. The wine is light ruby colored and gives off tons of beautiful bing cherry and spice aromas. On the palate, the wine is soft and lush with loads of  plum and a touch of oak. The silky smooth tannins and long finish make this wine elegant and great for parties. I ended up achieving my goal of keeping the food under $30 and my friend Tommy still went home with a pound of A.O.P that he devoured at work the next day.

Over the past few years there has been a huge increase in popularity and demand for artisanal microbrews and specialty beers. The gourmet beer craze has officially swept the nation and people are now buying $30 22oz. beers like they would Bordeaux. I came across a beer the other day that I couldn’t resist trying based on its description; “the first beer specifically designed to be paired with food”. The Estrella Damm Inedit is a blended beer created by world renown Spanish chef Ferran Adria’ of elBulli restaurant.

It is a hybrid barley-malt lager and Belgian Wheat ale, brewed with a blend of spices and yeast, that is double fermented in the bottle to add weight and complexity; in other words… this is not your typical beer pong, red cup filler. The brewmaster recommends serving it slightly chilled in a white wine glass for it to reach its maximum potential. Since I had not yet tasted the beer, I decided to play it somewhat safe by looking for a classic beer snack to pair it with.

I am a huge fan of wasabi peas whether they’re on their own or buried in a snack mix because they’re crunchy and they have just the right amount of heat that always makes you want to take another sip. I figured that if I pulsed the wasabi peas in the food processor just a little bit they would still keep their crunchy texture and add an enormous punch of flavor to anything.

I decided to use them to encrust a piece of salmon along with some fresh lime zest, which I eventually baked in the oven. Since I was already using some fake peas, I decided to pair the fish with some sauteed snap peas (yes they’re real) and a quick cabbage slaw. In order to cool down the nose burning, horseradish heat I had to make a sauce with a touch of sweetness.

Sticking with  the Japanese theme, I thought about the typical sushi accompaniments… wasabi, ginger, and soy sauce. The base for my sauce was sauteed shallots, fresh ginger, and garlic which I then deglazed with tons of Ponzu vinegar and soy sauce. Ponzu has a strong citrus flavor and the soy is pretty salty so I added some honey and let everything reduce to a sweet, sticky consistency.

The salmon baked for roughly ten minutes until it was pink throughout and the wasabi crust gained a touch of golden brown. I put a pretty good chill on the beer, maybe because I am used to drinking ice cold Bud Light, so at first the aroma didn’t impress me too much. After I let the beer open up in the glass for a while I was completely blown away!

The fruity nose smelled like dried apricots and honey, and the lightly carbonated beer was so rich on my palate. It started off filling my mouth with a creamy texture reminiscent of a fine White Burgundy; flavors of pear, orange, and toasted pine nuts.

The beer then finished smoothly but with a touch of spice that reminded me of a Gewurztraminer. The finish was so memorable and seemed to last forever. I found that all of the characteristics that make wine and food work so well together were equally abundant in this Spanish beer. It seemed to work beautifully with the wasabi-pea encrusted salmon too.

I totally see where the chef and brewmaster were coming from when they created this food-friendly beer. In my opinion, Ferran Adria’ has set a benchmark in the history of craft brewing that I assume other celebrity chefs will soon follow. Look for specialty beers to start popping up on wine lists all over the country and paired with gourmet dishes… not just a bowl of snack mix.

In 2007, the Boston Red Sox brought up Dustin Pedroia from the minors and he produced 8 HR, 50 RBI, a .317 Batting Average, a Rookie of the Year award, and a World Series Championship ring for only $380,000. Talk about value!  This is the same concept that 90+ Cellars, a relatively new and local company, offers with their wine. 90+ Cellars, “is taking advantage of the current economic conditions and purchasing high quality and highly rated finished wines direct from wineries at a discount and passing the savings on to our customers. Our primary selection criteria for wine opportunities is not just price and availability – the wines we purchase must have a pedigree of 90 or higher ratings, best buy or gold medal accolades from major publications. Other companies that offer this concept are usually buying the winery’s excess or distressed wine that they cannot sell on their own for pennies on the dollar. We are buying the winery’s best and most highly rated finished wine, which they would normally sell under their own label. Wineries are willing to sell to us because they either produced more than they need or sales may have slowed down. The wineries in return are promised complete anonymity, which we take very seriously.”

I think that this is an amazing concept and it gives the consumer a chance to try some wines that they typically might not splurge for but now are able to afford and enjoy. I decided to pair the 2007 “Lot 6″ Barossa Valley, Australian Chardonnay with my grilled swordfish dish. I picked up a thick slab of fresh swordfish from Yankee Lobster and seasoned it with fresh thyme, salt, and pepper.

While fighting off the nagging rain, I managed to get out onto my deck and grill the fish to perfection without getting soaked. Due to the density and weight of the swordfish, I decided to pair the fish with a sauce that is typically reserved for something other than seafood. I made a creamy walnut sauce in the blender by pureeing buttermilk soaked bread, garlic, thyme, and toasted walnuts to a smooth consistency. When the rich, nutty sauce was spooned over the grilled swordfish it didn’t overpower the meaty flesh at all.

The fish was still moist and flavorful, while the herbaceous cream sauce tied the fresh fish together with the sweet, roasted butternut squash. I added some steamed Swiss Chard to the dish to give it some bitterness and acidity. The Lot 6 Chardonnay was surprisingly rich despite no oak barrel aging, and it paired beautifully with this dish. The tropical fruit, and pineapple aromas were pleasing, followed by some intense complexity and peach flavors on the palate.

There was plenty of acidity on the finish which I consider to be a key component to being a great food friendly wine; just what was needed to cut through the creamy walnut sauce. The finish seemed to linger forever with subtle honey and citrus flavors; only fading due to another heaping fork-filled bite. Even though all of the components to this dish are extremely rich and wintry, I was still able taste the swordfish because of its meaty texture. Of all white fish, the swordfish is the most dense and almost has the consistency of chicken.

Don’t be afraid to throw rich flavors at bold pieces of fish like swordfish or salmon… they can handle it. If you’re looking for high quality wines at an affordable price, make sure you pick up some 90+ Cellars; it’s like driving a Mercedes and paying for a Mercury.

When I woke up Wednesday morning, I peeked into the fridge to see what I could make for dinner and I went into one of those fridge comas where you don’t realize that you’re staring into the abyss with the door wide open for about fifteen minutes.  I got so frustrated by the random mix of ingredients and my loss for creativity that I opened the dreaded “Take Out Menu” drawer. After scrolling through nine different Chinese Food menus that I yanked out of my mailbox (they’re all the same anyway, I have no idea what I was looking for) a lightbulb went on in my head. I had some fresh Chinese Lo Mein noodles in the fridge and a hodgepodge of vegetables… I could make my own Chinese Food!

This was a daring move because I  have never really attempted to make Lo Mein but I have been experimenting with a lot of Asian flavors recently so I went for it. I picked up a skirt steak from the grocery store and rushed back to get it into a marinade. Skirt steak is one of my favorite cuts of beef because it is ridiculously flavorful and super inexpensive; the key to its tenderness is in the angle in which you slice it.

I raided the fridge and pantry and came up with a marinade consisting of soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ponzu, dried ginger, chilies, honey, and fresh tangerines. A perfect balance of heat, sweet, salty, bitter, and Umami… yes Umami. The proposed “fifth sense” that has become more widely known as of recently; is tricky to describe. Umami is due to the detection of carboxylate anion and glutamic acid, a natural occurring acid in meat, cheese, broth, stock, and other protein-rich foods and serves as a flavor enhancer… I just call it savory, rich, and earthy (soy sauce has all these components).

After about eight hours in its Umami rich bath, I simply grilled the steak to medium-rare and sliced it thinly against the grain of the meat, making sure to save the marinade which I reduced later to saute the vegetables. I had some spinach, radish, and shallots and that was about it so I sauteed the spinach, cut the radish into matchsticks, and fried the shallots to add some crunch to the Lo Mein. The noodles only took a few minutes to cook and in no time I was tossing all of the components together with a little sesame oil.

When it comes to spicy Asian food, I typically turn to semi-sweet Alsacian whites such as the 2007 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer. The acidity that this wine lacks is made up for with tons of fruit and minerality. It is full gold in color and has aromas of ginger, clove, and herbal tea. On the palate, the fruit hits you boldly up front with tons of lime, tangerine, and honey but it finishes with a peppery crispness.

The oily, nutty-ness of the sesame oil and the salty soy sauce worked perfectly with the sweet flavors in the Gewurztraminer. The one thing I learned from this experience is that Chinese food at 3:00 am after the bar is good, but homemade Chinese food is better!

As I was taking the trash out yesterday I noticed some construction going on behind my apartment building so I wandered over to see what was going on. Someone was replacing the front steps to their building and there was a huge pile of old bricks laying in the street. Strangely enough I immediately thought about an old Tuscan cooking technique that has been around for centuries and I knew what was in store for dinner. I walked over and grabbed a handful of bricks and carried them up four flights of stairs to my kitchen where my girlfriend looked at me like I had three heads. Pollo al mattone, or chicken under a brick is classic Italian dish where, sure enough, you cook the chicken under the weight of a brick.

The idea is to basically fry the chicken skin side down in its own fat and juices. The weight of the brick presses the bird to the dry pan and while cooked slowly over medium-low heat, the fat in the skin starts to render. Soon enough the chicken will be pan frying in its own fat. The result is a golden brown, crispy, crackling skin and a tender, juicy inside. The preparation and butchering of the chicken is probably the most important part of executing perfect results. I start with a whole chicken (it’s extremely cost efficient to buy whole chickens and butcher them yourself) and with cooking shears, I snip both sides of the breast bone and remove it; splitting the entire chicken in half. I discard the wing , dislocate the leg from the thigh, and de-bone the breast making sure to leave all of the skin intact. What I end up with is a boneless breast and a leg with the skin on… a perfect portion (for me at least).

 The next part is loud and obnoxious so make sure to warn your neighbors before they call the police. Using the bottom of a heavy skillet smash the half chicken on your cutting board until it is as flat as possible. This is extremely important because you want as much surface area of the chicken touching the pan as you can. I wrapped my bricks in tinfoil so that my chicken didn’t taste like 40 years of the bottom of my neighbors’ shoes, and got a pan on the stove with a little olive oil. I placed my chicken in the hot pan skin side down and quickly applied the pressure from the bricks.

I wanted to serve the chicken with a fresh salad with tons of acidity because I thought that something light would be nice with the crackling, salty skin. I shaved some fennel bulbs and stalks and simply tossed them with baby arugula, tangerine supremes, and shaved red onion. Just a dash of extra virgin olive oil and some freshly squeezed lemon juice and the salad was complete. The sweet tangerine was great with the faint anise flavor of the fennel and the salad in general really lightened up the whole meal.

After the skin on my chicken was nice and crisp, I finished it in the oven to cook throughout with a little rosemary, thyme and garlic. I chose to pair this dish with the 2008 Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc-Viognier blend from California. The wine is comprised of roughly 80% Chenin Blanc and 20% Viognier, resulting in a wonderfully light, yet complex wine. The nose is very floral and citrusy, and the wine tastes like melon and pear with a slightly off-dry finish.

There was just enough acidity and lime flavors that paired nicely with the golden brown skin, and the juicy meat didn’t overpower the wine at all. I typically don’t care for Viognier but when blended with the Chenin Blanc, it was very pleasant; definitely a good choice to pair with turkey. If you’re looking to change things up this holiday season, try cooking your Thanksgiving turkey “al mattone”, or take a walk through a construction site to get inspired for dinner.