Rooftop Gourmet

While walking through Whole Foods the other day, I noticed that garlic scapes had made their annual debut. For only about two weeks of every year, farmers markets, and some grocery stores are flooded with these curly-Q link delights. Once upon a time, these scapes sat on the top of every farmer’s compost heap, but now they are making their way into the kitchens of garlic lovers everywhere.

 Garlic as we know it, starts its journey underground as a soft bulb. Once it grows and hardens, a bright green shoot pokes its head through the soil and curls into a beautiful tendril. If these pliable garlic scapes are left unattended, they will harden and stop the growth of the bulb, making it a no-brainer for farmers to start snipping away.

Now that chefs and foodies are fighting over these once a year treats, farmers are getting a two for one deal by selling them off along with their more commonly seen bulbs. In my opinion, garlic scapes are best when eaten raw. Unlike raw garlic cloves, the scapes are far less pervasive and pungent.

Their flavor is a gentle and mild, almost a cross between garlic, green onions, leeks, and asparagus. When you snap into one, you can immediately smell garlic but the flavor is tame and almost grassy. When I saw a pile of the scapes sitting in a basket at Whole Foods, I got really excited and bought them all because who knows when I’ll ever see them again. People thought I was walking out of the store with two coiled garden hoses.

 I got home and decided to make a giant batch of garlic scape pesto, which is the best way to utilize two pounds of scapes because the pesto is freezable.

I sliced them up and tossed them into the food processor along with lemon juice, Spanish Marcona Almonds, and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

I decided to use marcona almonds instead of pine nuts in this pesto because the strong flavors of the scapes needed something a little nuttier than pignoles. I drizzled in a thin stream of extra virgin olive oil as the motor roared away, and in no time I had a huge batch of pesto.

The color was so bright and vibrant, it looked like a giant bowl of Chlorophyll! At least I know that my fiance isn’t a vampire because she couldn’t stop dipping her bread into it.

 I tossed some Perciatelli pasta into a pot of boiling water and waited patiently for it to cook. Perciatelli is like a thick Bucatini but with a hole in the middle… kind of like a curly straw or a garlic scape!  When the pasta was just undercooked, I tossed it in a skillet with a blob of pesto, some baby sea scallops and a ladle of the pasta water. The baby sea scallops were so fresh, I was eating them raw while the pasta was cooking.

They only need about a minute and you don’t want to overcook them. Unlike the large sea scallops, the babies are mild and sweet. The lime green pasta started to come together and I plated it with a fresh garlic scape and a torn piece of chewy baguette. If you’re curious about the Japanese anime character hiding amidst the jungle of scapes, that’s just the crazy wine label from Fetish “the V Spot” Viognier from the Barossa Valley, Austrailia. This 100% Viognier is as light and vibrant, as the pesto is. It’s wonderfully aromatic, with nuances of lime zest and fresh flowers. The acidity and crsip finish make this wine perfect on its own or even better with food.

Flavors of honeydew melon and citrus didn’t overpower but rather complimented the humble garlic flavors in the dish. We sat the dinner table, twirling and slurping away until our cheeks were green and our breath was deadly. During the two week long garlic scape season, it’s acceptable to have garlic breath because the scapes are just too delicious.

Believe it or not, I made this entire dish using only four ingredients. That’s what’s great about cooking. As long as you have quality, fresh, and flavorful ingredients, you can create an elegant meal with just a little bit of  imagination.

As I’ve done in the past, I take classic dishes such as the Italian’s Veal Saltimbocca alla Romana and put my own modern twist on it. Saltimbocca translates to, “jump in the mouth”, because that’s exactly what all of the flavors do. Classically, it consists of a paper thin, veal cutlet that has a layer of prosciutto and fresh sage leaves, which is then rolled up and cooked in butter.

I decided to use a duck breast instead of the veal because I had a gorgeous bottle of Pinot Noir at home that I was excited to try. Duck and Pinot are one of my favorite combinations, right up there with Brady and Moss, and Godfather 1 and 2. Since duck breasts have a pretty decent sized layer of fat on top, I opted to leave the prosciutto at the deli counter. Besides, the only thing that I can think of that would be better than a paper thin slice of Prosciutto di Parma melting on my tongue, is a piece of crispy duck fat.

Whole Foods didn’t have prepared duck breasts, so I was forced to buy a whole duck and butcher it myself, which I don’t mind because I save the bones and miscellaneous parts for sauces. It’s been a while since I’ve deboned Daffy, but after a few minutes, I managed to produce two beautiful filets.

I scored the top of the skin in a criss-cross pattern, being careful not to puncture the bright purple flesh beneath. Scoring the skin side prevents the fat from curling and separating from the breast meat as it cooks.

I placed the breast, skin side down in a cold sautepan and turn the heat on just so slightly. This was somewhat tricky, because I needed to crisp up the skin without cooking the actual meat. Once the pan gets warm, the fat in the skin starts to release tons of aromatic duck fat juices and actually fries the skin it its own fat. This is the part where I get flustered because the smell of duck fat sends me into a frenzy. Duck fat ranks right above pork fat on my scale of most delicious animal fats (yes, I have a list of those).

After the skin was golden brown, I removed the breast from then pan and threw it into the fridge to stop the cooking. Once it was cool, I suffocated it underneathth a few layers of plastic wrap and pounded it into a paper thin circle.

 I seasoned the breast meat with salt and pepper and layered the freshly snipped sage leaves from my herb garden on top. These were the biggest sage leaves I have ever seen, I don’t know what Siobhan is feeding my pot of herbs but they’re multiplying like Gremlins. I tightly rolled the breasts, crispy skin, and sage up into a tube and secured them with some butchers twine.

 Two ingredients, duck and sage, were set aside and ready to fire, but first I had to make my sauce. Veal Saltimbocca alla Romana is traditionally served with Marsala wine or a lemon caper sauce but since I was using a duck breast, I needed to adjust the flavors a bit. Duck tends to be slightly gamey and of course fatty, hence the amazing layer that protects the breast, so sweeter sauces usually compliment it nicely.

 I chose to make a blueberry compote, which is incredibly simple to do. A compote is a 17th century English dessert that was transformed into a sauce by the French. It is essentially a pot of fresh fruit, sugar, and water that is slowly simmered until it reaches a jam-like consistency. This is exactly how I make homemade cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving. I just tossed some fresh blueberries into a sauce pan, covered it in water, and then dumped about a cup of sugar in to top it off.

After about 30 minutes of bubbling, the sugar and water turns into a thick simple syrup and the fresh blueberries pop and start gurgling. It thickens right before your eyes and is not only great with game birds, but vanilla ice cream and toast as well. I finished searing the Saltimbocca in a pan of butter along with the legs that I braised in their own juices for about two hours. The succulent leg meat was falling off the bone and dripping with savory duck fat.

I made sure the center of the roulade was still pink and medium rare because if you overcook duck it gets extremely tough. It seems strange applying temperatures to birds because we’re so used to chicken and salmonella poisoning, but duck can be and should be served medium rare. Not only does it taste better, it is easier to chew. I plated the roulade with a massive blob of the antioxidant-rich, sweetened blueberry compote. The combination of sweet and savory was heavenly.

I popped a bottle of the brand new Lot 20 Reserve Label Pinot Noir from my friends at 90+ Cellars. If you’re not familiar with the company, you’re missing out. Value…value…value is the key word here. 90+ Cellars cold calls distinguished wineries with prestigious reviews and asks if they have any leftover wine. Due to the current economic state, certain wineries have an extra thousand cases of a certain vintage that Restaurant X usually buys, but couldn’t afford it this season. The two parties strike a deal, 90+ Cellars slaps their label on the wine along with a specific lot number, and delivers the savings right on to the consumer. The only catch is, once a certain lot is gone…. it’s gone forever.

I have been waiting in anticipation for Lot 20 to be released, and it’s finally here! Knowing that the actual value of the juice is around $45.00 retail, this bottle for under twenty is going to sell like hot cakes. I opened the wine with my duck Saltimbocca and let me tell you… this baby lived up to the hype. The winemaker has spent the last forty years making Pinot in California so he is no rookie. The Sonoma County fruit is hand picked and aged in oak to give it some extra body and structure. On the nose, the wine gives off aromas of fresh strawberries and cranberries.

On the palate, the wine is velvety and elegant with loads of bing cherry and sexy cinnamon. The finish never ends with smooth tannins and hints of vanilla. This wine is a tease… it starts up voluptuous, sultry, and erotic, but then finishes classy and structured. I couldn’t have met a better match for my duck breast with blueberry compote. The Saltimbocca was jumping in my mouth and the wine made me want to start jumping on the table in excitement.

Grilled cheese reminds me of my childhood and I’m pretty sure that memory goes for most people as well. When I was little, I would go to friend’s houses to play and their parents would make us grilled cheese sandwiches for after school snacks and I noticed that everyone’s parents made it a little bit differently. Differently than my mother would at least. I was used to classic white bread and four slices of orange Kraft Singles, slowly toasted in a skillet with a little bit of butter. That was my childhood staple.

Whenever I’d come inside from playing in the yard, I’d whine to my mom, “I’m hungryyyy!!!”, and this was a quick solution that she didn’t mind spending two minutes to fix. As I got older, my perception of grilled cheese evolved… and I noticed my mother’s love for grilled cheese too. I’d have a couple friends sleep over and we’d ask my mom to make us some of her by then, famous grilled cheeses. I started to notice that my mother would always burn the first one and pretend like she was upset by it, but later I realized that she had a thing for burnt grilled cheeses. Somehow, that first ”mistake” always disappeared.

When I got to college, my concept of grilled cheese changed again. When I wasn’t eating twelve of them in one sitting, I was busy stuffing them with cheese Doritos and dipping them in con queso or blue cheese dressing. Probably the reason I put on the freshman thirty, but at least I was being creative with my comfort food that reminded me of home. Now, I still appreciate the classic Kraft contraption every once in a while, but I also can’t resist getting gourmet with my grilled cheese.

The other day, my school teacher fiance called me up at lunchtime because she had a craving for grilled cheese after working lunch duty in the cafeteria of her middle school. I told her, “great idea!”, but she had no idea what I had in store for her when she got home.

I wanted to pair different cheeses with different types of bread to create three of the ultimate grilled cheese sandwiches, in three different styles. Wine wasn’t the route to go with this blog so I opted to pair each sandwich with a different craft beer. Let’s face it… beer and cheese are a match made in heaven (just ask Brad Wasik from Wasik’s Cheese Shop in Wellesley center, who offers amazing beer and cheese pairing events from time to time).

My first GCS (Grilled Cheese Sandwich) started off on the light side (ironic, I know). I crumbled up some local goat cheese and spread it in between two slices of fresh sourdough bread. Taking notes from my mother, I slowly toasted it in a skillet with some butter until both sides were golden brown and the goat cheese oozed out of the sides. This became my early favorite because the sourdough toast and the tangy goat cheese were amazing together.

I poured a tall glass of Chimay Cinq Cents Gold Label, which is a traditional Belgian Wheat Ale, and watched as the foamy head settled to the top. I was shocked at how aromatic this beer was, almost more aromatic than it was flavorful but in a good way. I stuck my nose right into the glass like it was a fine white Burgundy and noticed all of the honey, clove, and yeasty smells. The beer was a hazy golden color and was full of carbonation. It was medium bodied with a bitter, caramel finish that was actually quite pleasant.

My second GCS was created using, freshly sliced pumpernickel loaf and two amazing melting cheeses. I was going for the picture-esque, Kraft television commercial, pull apart shot where the stringy cheese stretches for miles. I layered a slice each of both aged Gruyere and Emmental cheese, which is kind of like a funky Swiss.

 It was a good thing that the pumpernickel toasted quicker than the sourdough because these cheeses broke down fast and started to drip down the sides of the bread. The Gruyere is my type of cheese… super funky! and when it gets warm, the smell gets better and better. It was a really cool combination with the nutty, roasted malt flavors in the pumpernickel.

This is the GCS that you don’t want to serve to your children if you don’t know how to perform the HeimlichManeuver! I paired this one with a bottle of Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale. This comes from an old English Brewery that has been making beer for hundreds of years. It’s much darker in color and has a significantly lower level of carbonation. The nose smelled of sweet apples and flowers but when I tasted it, it was rich and nutty. It had a cola-like mouthfeel, and almost tasted like toasted pumpernickel bread and toffee. It was like a New Castle on steroids!

My last creation was by far my favorite GCS and the richest one as well. I spread tons of creamy Gorgonzola (Italy’s blue cheese) in between two slices of dense, cinnamon-raisin bread and performed the same toasting procedure. I paired these two odd balls together because with a cheese that is so rich and full of mind boggling flavor, it would have considerably dominated a wimpy slice of Wonder. I needed a bread that had an equal amount of wallop to combat the Gorgonzola, so I chose one that was studded with plump raisins and laced with sweet cinnamon. Let me just say, that I have officially created a monster. The raisins caramelized with the toast and the blue veins just oozed out into the pan.

The love affair of sweet and savory was the most incredible GCS combination of the night. I paired this one with a bottle of Schlafly Reserve Barleywine Ale from Missouri. The beer was a burnt orange color and smelled like vanilla and sweet oak. I had never had a barleywine ale before but I really enjoyed this beer. Just like the GCS, it was a perfect balance of earthy and sweet. Tons of bourbon and maple flavors combined with a dry, creamy finish. After three giant craft beers, and three different, super rich, grilled cheese sandwiches it was time to revert back to my childhood once again and take a much needed nap.

I like to think of myself as a sporadic coffee drinker. I go through phases where I’ll have a few ice coffees during the summer but for the most part, my coffee intake consists of an after dinner double espresso or a scoop of coffee heath bar ice cream (sometimes single espresso and double scoop).

I don’t need the caffeine fix, I just truly love the roasted, bitter flavor of espresso. Similarly to the way the Spanish incorporate bitter chocolate into their rich mole’ sauce, I set out to infuse a barbecue sauce with the pungent flavors of dark roasted espresso beans.

The barista at Starbucks thought I was a wacko when I approached him and ordered six shots of espresso in one cup. Little did he know, I wasn’t pulling an all-nighter, but rather basting a massive pork loin roast with my java. There’s no real basic recipe for barbecue sauce.

 It’s not like you have to start with one of Escoffier’s fundamental mother sauces in order to produce a bottle of sticky, sweet muck.

There’s no real science to it but rather a few basic principals. You need tang from vinegar, and a balance of sweet and heat.

You can get those flavors from a million different ingredients from all different cultures. Even though I wanted my espresso to be the star of the show, I used an additional 25 ingredients to make my jet black mop sauce.

 I started off with a base of onion, jalapeno, and garlic, that I sauteed in some butter in a heavy bottomed pan. Then I started to layer all of the other ingredients. Dried spices came first (cayenne powder, all spice, smoked paprika), and then the vinegars (apple cider vinegar and aged Balsamic).

Then I added some traditional barbecue sauce ingredients like ketchup, molasses, Worcheshire sauce, and Soy sauce, followed by some not so typical ingredients like Cognac, Pepsi cola, Korean Black Bean paste, sesame oil, raisins, 62% Cacao dark chocolate, and of course my six shots of espresso.

 I let all of the flavors come together and reduce for over an hour until the sauce was dark and sticky. I blended it with my boat motor tool and added the last of the espresso before I transferred it to a stainless steel tub. I pulled out this rubbery mop that I picked up the other day that’s great for sloshing sticky sauces onto grilling meats and tossed it into the espresso barbecue sauce.

 I had this monstrous rack of half a dozen pork chops that I simply seasoned with salt and cracked black pepper, because once it hits the grill it would get dowsed with flavor. The tricky part about grilling a piece of pork this big is preventing flare ups because there is so much excess pork fat around the bones that constantly drips into the flames. I really had to keep an eye on it, moving it around to different parts of the grill and trying to keep the lid closed for the most part.

This is where a meat thermometer really comes in handy because a big charred piece of pork looks cooked to a crisp on the outside but the center could be still raw. Once I knew it only had about ten minutes left, I started painting my sauce on the rack. The sugars in the sauce made a sticky, sweet crust on the outside of the meat and the smoke coming out of the grill started smelling like someone was firing up an expensive espresso machine.

 While the pork was resting, I glazed some whole carrots by sauteing them in butter and a little bit of water. As the carrots cook, the water reduces and the butter glistens the orange stalks. When I cut into the roast, the meat was juicy and pink with a beautiful espresso crust. I opened a bottle of 2007 Quivera Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley, California. Red Zinfandel is a great wine to pair with anything off the grill because of its jammy, peppery character.

 This Zin was loaded with fruits like black cherries and plums and it had an Asian spice kick to it in the finish. The fruit wasn’t too overpowering like some Zin’s can be. This bottle was much more balanced and elegant, which was great because it allowed for the espresso nuances to shine through in the sauce. I also liked the picture of the wild boar on the label because I have a minor pig obsession even though I was about to devour one.

Construction… check! Electricity… check! Warm weather… check! The roofdeck is finally complete and mother nature was cooperating (minus the brief thunderstorms). This past weekend we planned to have our first dinner on our brand new moon-lit dining room. The humidity was unbearable so I decided to make something light and healthy.

The traditional salad Nicoise was originated in the city of Nice, France but became extremely popular in America when Julia Child introduced it to us in her cookbook “The French Chef”. The original components to this salad are debatable but for the most part it contains canned tuna, potatoes, haricot vert, olives, tomatoes, red onion, and hard boiled eggs.

I left the supermarket with the impression that I still had a few eggs left in the fridge but they magically disappeared, so I left the eggs out of my salad. I also wanted to put my own twist on this classic salad, so instead of using the canned tuna or sardines, I bought some sushi grade, Ahi tuna. 

Ahi tuna is a species of tuna that is typically seared, or eaten raw, sashimi style. I’m sure you’ve seen it before because every restaurant in America has some sort of seared tuna, or tuna tartar appetizer on their menu these days.

I loved this cold salad idea because I was a little skeptical about bringing hot food up the spiral staircase for the first time. Plus, we wanted to sit on the deck and relax without having to worry if our food was getting too cold. I started out by boiling some baby Yukon Golds until they were fork tender.

Then I quickly blanched my haricot vert and after less than a minute transferred them to an ice bath to stop the cooking. I like when my veggies still have a solid snap to them. After that one pot of boiling water was dumped, all of my indoor cooking was finished.

I continued slicing my olives, tomatoes and onions, and seasoned my Ahi tuna steaks with tons of cracked peppercorns. In order to get a nice crust on the tuna, along with keeping the center nice and rare, you need to have an extremely hot grill. I let mine preheat for about 20 minutes until it was close to 700 degrees before I flopped my fish on.

Only a few minutes on each side and I was done. I sliced the tuna and tossed it into a bowl with all of my other components. The center was just slightly warm and bright pink.

Tuna is a great piece of fish for grilling because its flesh is firm and dense. Unlike other delicate fish that would flake off and fall through the grates, tuna can be treated like a steak. To make my vinaigrette, I combined Dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a small Tupperware container and shook the living hell out of it. This technique works for this whisk-free vinaigrette because the Dijon makes it thick and creamy.

I tossed my motley crew of flavorful and bold ingredients together and headed up to the roof with a bottle of wine made from more components than were in my salad. Sokol Blosser’s Evolution is a unique white wine made from the most random blend of grapes, I have ever seen.

 It boasts nine different varietals ranging from Chardonnay and Pinot Gris to Muller-Thurgau and Slyvaner all grown in Oregon. This is a really fun wine that’s perfect for a warm, muggy summer night and great with all types of cuisine. It’s off dry and has fresh aromas of freshly cut flowers, and key lime pie. Every sip seems to be different and “evolve” on your palate.

Sometimes you taste semi sweet flavors of sugary nectarines and others are bone dry with hints of pineapple and allspice. For such a weird blend, these random grapes produce a seriously complex wine that leaves you thinking after every sip. It’s bright acidity and off-dry flavors make it a great match for light salads, seafood, and especially spicy Spanish or Asian food.

As the sun set, we sat on our new deck and casually picked our way through a fresh and vibrant salad and sipped our white wine while our glasses and bottle started sweating profusely with condensation. The lanterns lit up the night as if it was twelve noon and the view of the Thomas Park monument towered over us. It was a truly perfect night and a great way to break in the new deck. We all know that wine evolves, but condos evolve, and classic French dishes evolve as well. I am happy to say that the gourmet is now officially back on the Rooftop.