one foodie and his food

Steak Frites with Blood Orange, Beet and Fennel Salad

webaggression — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:18:45 +0000

I get the magazine Bon Appétit at home. It is one of the few print publications I still read. At least once an issue, I’ll see something that I become obsessed to make. This month’s obsession was the Blood Orange, Beet and Fennel Salad. The picture in the magazine was spectacular (unlike mine, gosh I wish I was a better photographer). The salad looked bright, fresh, vivacious and beautiful. I could taste all those flavors blending in my mouth. Well, I couldn’t just eat that salad, so I threw in the old filet mignon and baked fries.

I loved this meal. The steaks I get from The Fresh Market are always outstanding. I also really like making fries like here and here. Baked fries are healthier and less messy. Plus I don’t have a fryer. The salad was as tasteful as it was beautiful. I tweaked it ever so slightly (because I can’t resist) by created a vinaigrette and marinating the onions and fennel in it. This muted the flavor of the fennel and onion a bit which I liked. I also couldn’t find the golden beets so I doubled up on the red ones. I would absolutely do this salad again. Except for doing the supreme on the oranges and the mess that is roasting beets, it was quite easy.

INGREDIENTS

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 filet mignon
3-4 large potatoes
4 medium red beets
3 blood oranges
1 navel oranges
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 small fennel bulb, thinely sliced with mandolin
1/4 red onion thinely sliced with mandolin
1 tablespoon citrus champagne vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Cilantro for garnish
Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

Set steaks out to come to room temperature.
Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.
Wash beets but don’t dry them. Wrap each in foil and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for approximately 1 hour. Remove the beets and allow to cool. Under a slow stream of cool water, remove skins and set aside.
Increase the heat of the oven to 450 degrees.
Peel and slice potatoes into strips however you like. I used my mandolin for this. Place fries into a large bowl of cool water and swoosh around until most of the starch is removed from the outside of the potatoes. Thoroughly dry. Toss the potatoes in olive oil, salt and pepper until coated. Either spray a baking sheet with non-stick or I prefer to use the new non-stick aluminum foil. Bake until the fries are golden brown to your liking (we like them extra crunchy), flipping them once. About 40 minutes.
With a paring knife, remove the peel and pith from all the oranges. Over a large bowl, supreme or segment (watch a video on how to supreme) one of the blood and the navel orange. Squeeze the juice from the remaining membrane into the bowl. Slice the remaining oranges into thin rounds.
In a separate bowl, add the orange, lemon and lime juice. Add Dijon mustard, citrus champagne vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Whisk and slowly stream in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil depending on how much juice you had. Toss the fennel and onion slices in the viniagrette and toss to coate. Set aside.
Heat a skillet to medium high heat. Season the room temperature steaks with salt and pepper. Sear both sides of steak until brown and place in the oven. Cook to your prefered doneness, I like them VERY rare.

Seafood a la Wando at Hank’s Seafood

webaggression — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:58:59 +0000

As I’ve mentioned in several posts, we go to Charleston, SC often. We love the history, shopping, beaches and most important for me, the restaurants. Many of my favorite restaurants are in Charleston. One restaurant you won’t find on my favorites list is Hank’s Seafood. It’s not because I don’t like Hank’s. The food is very good and consistent. The atmosphere is awesome. The seafood is fresh. I’m picky with my favorites list.

The restaurant isn’t on my favorites, BUT they may have my favorite dish in Charleston. Hank’s Seafood a la Wando. This dish is fantastic, maybe a little rich, but amazing. I don’t often order the exact same thing every time I go somewhere, but I love this dish so much, I get it now every time.

The menu describes it such:

“Sautéed Shrimp Scallops and Fish deglazed with Sherry finished with Crabmeat, Button Mushrooms and Scallion in a Shellfish Saffron Cream Sauce Served with Fried Grit Cakes”.

I shouldn’t have to say any more than that. The seafood is fresh and cooked well. The mushrooms are a surprise of supple earthiness and the fresh scallion and a punch of freshness. The fried grit cakes are the perfect starch to balance the rich sauce. Oh and there is the sauce, very heavy sauce with a hint of saffron velvet. The sherry is a nice acid that brightens the whole dish. Ahh…yum! One of the best things I have eaten. As much as I love to try new things, I’ll get this until they take it off the menu.

PS. Hank’s isn’t on my favorites list but that is not because I don’t like the restaurant, we go often. They just aren’t the type of restaurant that I look for when naming favorites. Most restaurants on my fav list, I couldn’t point to a dish like the Seafood a la Wando, because the never have the same menu twice.

I would recommend Hank’s and highly recommend the Seafood a la Wando.

Most Popular Posts of 2011

webaggression — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 21:45:36 +0000

Thank you all for another year of reading my terrible writing and enduring my awful photography. Here’s to a great 2012. Below are the five most popular post from last year.

1 2011 Greenville Restaurant Week at Devereaux’s and American Grocery

2 Low Country Boil at Home

3 Jagerschnitzel with Spaetzle and German Red Cabbage Kraut

4 Portuguese Chicken with Chorizo and Clams.

5 Prosciutto Wrapped Halibut, Haricot Verts, Baked Duck Fat Fries

Roast Herb Pork, Succotash and Baked Polenta Fries

webaggression — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:20:11 +0000

This succotash recipe is one of my favorites. I liked everything about the roast pork loin and baked polenta fries, but this meal is all about the succotash.

The herbed pork was very tender, a bit too pink for my better half, but very nice. I liked the idea of the polenta fries and I think they turned out nice. Baked, not fried, a healthier option then French fries and they added a nice crunch. Again, the pork and fries were both nice but the succotash is why I made this meal.

I’m from the south and I’ve eaten succotash as long as I can remember. I don’t remember as a kid liking it at all. One of my absolute favorite things to do is take food that I didn’t like as a kid and make it “likable”. This succotash recipe is the best example I can offer. I 100% made this up one night although I am sure I am not the first.

My first step was to remove the lima beans and replace them with edamame. Nothing wrong with lima beans but I just remember those soggy over cooked, mushy lima beans from when I was a kid and wanted something more fun. Plus, I happened to have a bag of frozen edamame already shelled. Ironically, in the photo above I used fresh fava beans, and they were good but what a pain in the ____.

Next I add jalapeno for some heat. I love things spicy and leaving the seeds in gives this succotash some kick.

Next I add bacon and bacon fat. What isn’t better with bacon? Nothing! As I mention in several posts, my preference is Niman Ranch Applewood Smoked Bacon. YUM!

The final touch is heavy cream. Since I didn’t do any research on this recipe, this may be normal for succotash. Either way, when the cream reduces and gets thick, wow.

Make sure to use fresh corn and not the frozen kind, it makes a huge difference. Also, don’t overcook the veg, leave them fresh and crunchy.

The richness of the heavy cream and salty bacon, the heat from the jalapeno, the crunch of the fresh corn and bell pepper and even the pop that the frozen edamame give. Uhhh…just yum. This is one of my favorites to make and goes with just about any protein. If you give this recipe a try, please let me know what you think.

INGREDIENTS

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Boneless pork loin
4 garlic cloves
Fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, organo)
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 ears fresh corn in husk
1/2 bag of thawed edamame (use fresh if you can find it or broad/fava beans)
1 large red bell pepper
1 large jalapeno pepper
1/2 red onion
3+ strips applewood smoked bacon (my fav is Niman Ranch)
Heavy whipping cream (or half and half)
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
Polenta homemade or store bought (usually in the veg section in a tube)
Egg wash (egg + milk or water)
Flour for dredging
Panko bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS

First we’ll marinate the pork. Coarsely chop two cloves of garlic and whatever herbs you have. In this recipe I used rosemary and thyme. In a large zip top bag place the pork, garlic, herbs, zest and juice of the lemon along with 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil (depending on how large your pork is). Squeeze the excess air out of the bag and zip. Mix the marinade over the pork and refrigerate 1-2 hours. Remove 30 minutes prior to roasting.
Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees.
Cut the tops off the fresh corn and place in the oven (this is the BEST way to cook corn). Let cook for 10-15 minutes or until the outer husk is brown slightly and flip the corn. Let cook and 10 minutes and remove. Let the corn cool and remove the husk. Cut the kernels from the ear and set aside.
If you made homemade polenta, pour it into a sheet pan and allow to cool in the refrigerator. Once it has firmed up, cut into “fries” shape. In all honesty, this is much easier if you by the tubed polenta from the store. Dredge the fries in flour, egg wash and bread crumbs. Spray baking sheet with non-stick spray and line the fries up. It is best to allow these to setup in the fridge for a few minutes but I never do. When the fries are done, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Cut the heat down in the oven to 400 degrees. Place the pork in the roasting pan and cook for approximately 30 minutes. Internal temperature is supposed to be 155 degrees (I usually take mine out sooner). I would go ahead and add the fries here as well. Allow them to cook on the bottom rack for 10-12 minutes and flip them, depending on how crunchy you like them.
Stem and seed the bell pepper and dice. Stem the jalapeno and remove the seed from half (or leave them all in if you like the extra kick), mince. Mince the red onion and garlic.
Pre-heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the bacon strips (you can pre-cut them into lardons or you can leave the strips whole and cut them after). Cook bacon until crispy and most of the drippings (fat) has been rendered. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to drain. Depending on how much bacon you use, you should probably remove all but a tablespoon of the fat (but I leave it in).
Reduce heat to medium and add onions, garlic and jalapeno to the pan with the bacon fat. Sautee the mixture until softened and then add the bell pepper, corn and edamame (or broad beans in the photo). Season with salt and pepper and toss in pan until of the vegetables are coated and warmed. Pour in heavy cream and continue to toss or stir allowing to simmer until thickened. Add the crispy bacon and toss. Taste for seasoning and re-season if necessary.

Farm to Table Dinner featuring Stone Brewing at Greenbrier Farms

webaggression — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:26:46 +0000

Very rarely do events like this come to such a happy confluence. I really like Stone Brewery. I love Greenbrier Farms and I love American Grocery. When I was invited to the Farm to Table Dinner that featured all three I was ecstatic. One of my favorite Chefs preparing food from my favorite farm, pared with beer from one of my favorite breweries. Awesome…and it was.

Five courses of exquisite, is how I would define this meal. I have to say that it was A LOT of food and A LOT of heavy food but WOW. My favorite course was the fourth (image above). Basically it was pulled pork, but made into “paddy” then seared so it had a nice crust. The mustard was house made and brilliant. Collard greens and grits are about as southern as you can get and went perfectly with the pork. YUM!

I also I loved the charcuterie and the salad course as well. Actually the whole meal was brilliant and the beers were delicious and bountiful. Below I tried to remember all the courses and beer parings. I might have forgotten something, but that should be pretty close.

Courses

Charcuterie with grilled bread. Like pate (terrine or head cheese) with all kinds of goodies (lamb and pork head).
Salad with greens, pickled green tomatoes, roasted red and white beets, turnips vinaigrette.
Cassoulet deconstructed. White and red bean, kale, chicken confit, pork belly, aioli, green tomato chow chow.
Pork roulette (pulled pork, crispy sear), housemade mustard seed mustard, collards, Anson Mills grit cake, pork and lamb demiglaze.
Ginger and molasses cake, butterscotch Chantilly, whipped cream quenelle.

Beer Parings

Stone IPA
Stone Pale Ale
Stone Levitation Ale
Stone Smoked Porter
Stone Imperial Russian Stout

If you are not familiar with Greenbrier Farms, they are a small farm located outside of Greenville, SC and are definitely on my Favorites Products List.

American Grocery is my favorite restaurant in this area. If you’ve been following this blog you undoubtedly know this. I have written about them on several occasions.

Hanger Steak, Whipped Garlic Potatoes, Mushrooms and Red Zinfandel Reduction

webaggression — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 04:43:23 +0000

Sometime I just crave beef. I know, but sometimes I just do. When this is the case I generally look for the best and serve it rare as possible. On this day I was flipping through the October 2011 edition of Bon Appetit magazine looking for something easy to make and came across this recipe and had to test it. I made Hanger Steak, Whipped Garlic Potatoes, Mushrooms and Red Zinfandel Reduction.

Of course I tweaked the recipe some from the magazine but mostly just added the mashed potatoes and used less butter. Over all I really liked this dish. I think you need to be carefully with the fresh tarragon. If you are like my better half and don’t like licorice then I would omit this and replace with thyme (for a mild lemony flavor) or oregano (for a bold woodsy flavor).

The steak was local grass feed organic beef from Whole Foods. For the mushrooms I used a mixture of Shitake, Oyster and Cremini.

INGREDIENTS

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
8-12 oz mushrooms
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 pounds hanger steak
5 garlic cloves – smashed
4 russet potatoes
1 6″ sprig rosemary
1 cup dry red wine
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken stock
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
heavy whipping cream (or half and half)
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper

DIRECTIONS

Peel and cut potatoes into uniform chunks. Place in pot of cool water with two smashed garlic cloves. Bring to boil and let them go until fork tender. Stain potatoes and using a ricer, food mill or food processor “mash” until you achieve the consistency that you like. I mash the garlic right in with the potatoes for extra garlicky goodness. Add two tablespoons of the butter and as much cream as you like. Return potatoes to the pot, cover and keep warm.
In the meantime, heat a large skillet over medium high heat add two tablespoons of olive oil and the mushrooms. Toss until just cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.
In the same skillet add two more tablespoons of olive oil the remaining garlic cloves and the rosemary sprig. Season the hanger steak with salt and pepper. Add the steak to the skillet and cook depending on your taste (I like it rare) and its thickness about 3 minutes per side. Remove and tent with aluminum foil.
Discard the garlic and rosemary and add red wine. Cook while whisking to get all the bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the wine to about 3/4 cup. Strain the liquid and return to the pan. Add the chicken stock, bring the mixture to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Continue simmering until reduced to 1/2 cup. Remove from heat and whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Toss the mushrooms back into the pan with 1 tablespoon of the chopped tarragon.
Garnish with the remaining tarragon.

Fall for Greenville 2011, downtown Greenville, South Carolina

webaggression — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 17:55:22 +0000

We are very fortunate in this area to have a lot of great restaurants. We are equally lucky to have many outdoor events. As I have posted before, Fall for Greenville combines the best of both. This outdoor festival is full of music, great local food and eclectic beer and wine selections and proceeds go to local charities. What a phenomenal event! You can read more about this event in my write up from last year or download the Fall for Greenville 2011 Map(pdf). Below is some of the food I sampled. If you are within a few hours of sleepy Greenville, SC and haven’t been, I would highly recommend this event.

Tacos from Fonda Rosalinda’s

Ford’s Red Beans and Rice

Looking South, Main Street, Greenville, SC

Soby’s Lobster Mac and Cheese

Larkin’s Yukon Gold Chips with Bleu Cheese Dip

Looking South, Main Street, Greenville, SC

Vietnamese Bahn Mi Sandwich at The Nose Dive

webaggression — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:04:35 +0000

Restaurants can come and go pretty quickly. One restaurant that opened with great fan fare in downtown Greenville was The Nose Dive. The next in a long growing line of Table 301 Restaurants that include local favorites like Soby’s, The Lazy Goat and Devereaux’s.

The Nose Dive was a long time coming. Opening in the space that used to be the home of Restaurant “O”, an upscale steak house. The space stayed empty for a very long time by Greenville standards. Never the less, when The Nose Dive did finally open, the “Gastropub” menu was refreshingly unique for the area. Upscale bar food. Gourmet technique and recipes applied to food you might normally not associate with a bar. We’ve eaten there MANY times since they opened and have never had a bad meal. We mostly like the sandwiches and “snacks”. The entree menu or “Mains” is good not great. The restaurant has a nice wine list and better than average beer selection.

The whole reason for the post is to talk about my favorite sandwich in downtown Greenville. The Vietnamese Bahn Mi from The Nose Dive is a PERFECT sandwich in my opinion. PERFECT! Light and Crispy French Bun (with a very little mayo). Char Siu Pork brings some sweet and tangy bar-b-que flavor and is perfectly seasoned, not too little not too much. Spicy Pickled Vegetables add the acidity and crunch that anything “perfect” needs. Fresh Jalapenos slices and a lot of them add enough heat to make me sweat, which I love. Add in some cilantro for that fresh, earthiness and you have the perfect sandwich. YUM! I struggle getting anything else on the menu. I could see how some wouldn’t like this sandwich, it is probably not for everyone. Maybe it is too spicy, maybe some don’t like the pickled veg. For me, it is perfect.

OneFoodie – A year in food photos.

webaggression — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 20:20:51 +0000

Here is a slide show video of some (101) of the food photos I took over the last year.

What do you think?

Local Pork Chops, Creamy Grits and Quick Chow Chow

webaggression — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 01:52:37 +0000

One of my favorite things to do culinarily is to attempt to mimic a meal from a favorite restaurant. I try to make the same meal, with my twists. Maybe I add a little more of this or less of that. An example is a visit to The Lazy Goat (a favorite in downtown Greenville, SC) I had a brilliant lunch. Serrano Wrapped Halibut with Haricot Verts and Duck Fat Fries (best in the world…duck fat, enough said). This inspired me to make Prosciutto Wrapped Halibut with Haricot Verts and Baked Duck Fat Fries. I switched the prosciutto for the Serrano because I like it better and I baked the fries because I don’t have a fryer.

Earlier this year on a pilgrimage to Charleston, SC we visited a newly opened restaurant for dinner. Husk, a Sean Brock (admittedly one of my favorite chefs) restaurant, offers local southern inspired cuisine. As a matter of fact, none of the food served in the restaurant can come from north of the Mason-Dixon line (seriously). That night I had a Fudge Farms Pork Chop with Crispy Pig Ears, Bacon Braised Cabbage and Speckled Butterbean Chow Chow. Yes, I said with crispy pig ear. It was amazing, the pork chops were perfectly cooked, and the broad beans add a nice creamy balance against the sour and heat of the chow chow. Oh, and then there is the pig’s ear. I tell you, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. It essentially tastes like bacon. I love when Chef’s use the whole animal, I think it respects the animal to discard as little as possible. I digress; the pig’s ear was crispy, smoky, sweet and salty. It really did finish the dish perfectly. On last thing, if you aren’t familiar with chow chow, it is a spicy southern relish that is usually used down here as a condiment.

So that was my inspiration for Pork Chops, Creamy Grits, Chow Chow and garnished with crispy turkey bacon. On a visit to Whole Foods, we just couldn’t decide what we wanted for dinner. Jen suggested that we hadn’t had pork chops in a while. They had the biggest chops I’d seen, fresh, local, organic, thick cut chops. I’d never made chow chow before. A quick Google search gave me some ideas, but I am WAY to impatient to wait 6 hours to 2 weeks as most recipes suggested. I decided on a “quick” chow chow instead. The creamy grits tied this dish up nicely. I could probably have found some fresh pig’s ears (I actually had a bag of smoked ones for my dogs) but…umm…I’ll leave that to the professionals. I usually would have used my go to Niman Ranch Applewood Smoked Bacon, but I’m embarrassed to say, I was fresh out. All I had was Jen’s turkey bacon. All in all, this meal was very nice.

The chow chow was amazing, crunchy, sour, salty and spicy. We still have some in the fridge, I imagine it will be all the better in a few more days. I have talked in previous posts (like making quick kimchee and quick pickles) about my impatience in the kitchen. I have an idea and I want to eat it that night, not in a week or heaven forbid TWO WEEKS. The chow chow is the same deal. Most traditional chow chow are pickled and set for weeks or longer. My answer to that is below. Also, my jalapenos weren’t quite ready for harvest so I substituted Srirachi (my favorite condiment). This gave it a little Asian twist, which we liked.

INGREDIENTS

2 thick cut pork chops
Anson Mills Grits (you can use quick grits but NOT instant)
Niman Ranch Applewood Smoked Bacon
Half and half (milk or heavey cream)
1/2 to 1 cup cheese (your favorite cheese that melts easy)
1/2 head of savoy cabbage
2-3 green tomatoes
1 red bell pepper cubed
1 small vidalia onion sliced thin
Vinegar (I used a mixture of red, white and cider)
1-2 tablespoons sugar to taste
Sriracha to taste
Kosher salt
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

First we’ll make the chow chow. Heat a large pot over medium. Because this is the “quick” version, I put the green tomatoes into my food processor and pulsed them about 10 times. I wish I would have only pulsed 5-6 times; it would have left a few more visible chunks. Add a touch of olive oil and drop in the onions and bell pepper, mix for a minute. Add green tomato and juice from processor. Mix all together and add salt, vinegar, sugar, sriracha and bring to boil. Reduce to low and simmer until vegetables are cooked through but still have some crunch. At this point I just removed from heat and let sit until I was done making the other components. Traditionally you cool and put in the refrigerator. I was deliberately vague on the amounts for this recipe. Just add to your tastes, if you like more heat add more sriracha. If you like it sweeter, add more sugar.
Pre-heat your oven to 420 degrees.
If you have “real” grits, they may take up to 40 minutes to cook. If you have quick grits, that time will be more like 5-10. As for “instant” grits, it is just not right, don’t do it. Prepare the grits per the pack, but I usually replace half of the water with half and half, heavy cream or milk. When the grits are done, add cheese and butter (if you like). Also, on this day, I poured the drippings from the pork chop pan in. That added most of the seasoning. Keep warm.
For garnish I used turkey bacon brushed with molasses, but I just can’t recommend that to you all. Use smoked bacon. Put the bacon on a sheet pan and place in the oven. Cook until crispy.
For the pork chops, season with salt and pepper and in a large oven proof pan sear both sides. Place in the oven until the chops reach the appropriate doneness. I think the rule is 145 degrees. I like them a little pink, I usually target 130-135 degrees and let the carry-over cooking, when removed from the oven, bring them to a safe temperature.

The “sauce” you see in the photo above is actually the pickling liquid from the chow chow. I was very pleased with my decision to serve the chow chow warm. While eating, the sauce mixed with the grits and was delicious. I like the vegetables being sour with good heat and still having some crunch. The chow chow was nice this way although not traditional. Let me know what you think.