Serious Eats

A Pint With: Dave Yarrington, Smuttynose Brewing

2010-09-02T15:15:00Z

[Photographs: Smuttynose Brewing Co.]

For many of us on the East Coast, Smuttynose beer is a standby. Dave Yarrington and his crew make dependably delicious beers in a number of different styles. I'm thrilled to welcome Dave to Serious Eats—he's got some wise things to say about craft beer and some exciting news about some possible new large-format beer releases!

Name: Dave Yarrington
Location: Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Occupation: Director of Brewing Operations, Smuttynose Brewing Co.

What was the first beer you ever tasted? When did you start drinking craft beer? I'm not sure what the first beer I tried might have been, but I do remember that whenever Pop brought Michelob home you knew the folks were celebrating—Michelob being obviously synonymous with quality because it was made with imported hops.

I started drinking craft beer—or to be historically accurate, microbrewed beer (seems so antiquated when you see that term used now, eh?)—as an undergraduate in Maine. I went to Colby College and we used to drink Geary's Pale Ale and Porter a bit. It wasn't until a cross-country trip in 1991 when we toured several small breweries, including Anchor Brewing, that I really started to enjoy and understand the glory that is fresh, well-made beer.

How did you learn to brew? When did you know you wanted to make beer professionally? I ended up home brewing the last couple years of college but it wasn't until I started working at the Twenty Tank Brewery in San Francisco that I really figured out what I was doing. I think the fact that we started our brew day around 10 a.m. and then headed to the bar for a post-mash-in pint, that my fate as a professional brewer was sealed. I mean, come on! Sign me up, right?

How would you describe your brewing style? If you had to pick a favorite Smuttynose beer, which would it be? I lived in Japan for a while and one of the great aspects of Japanese culture is the idea of Wabi Sabi, which I think encompasses my brewing style quite well. Here's a definition lifted right from Wikipedia:

if an object or expression can bring about, within us, a sense of serene melancholy and a spiritual longing, then that object could be said to be wabi-sabi...[Wabi-sabi] nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.

I guess you could translate it as New England Rustic: solid and well-made but a bit rough around the edges. With that in mind, my favorite Smuttynose beers are the ones that work despite some aspect being out of balance, some flavor component being skewed. I love the way the crystal and caramel malts in the Shoals Pale Ale play off of each other. It creates a unique, almost tea-like quality. I like the hopping in the Robust Porter as it brings a strange harmony to a gorgeous black beer. I really like the subtle malt character in the IPA. It's almost not enough and that makes that beer so damn drinkable.

Can you tell us a bit about the Short Batch series? What sorts of beers are you experimenting with? The Short Batch Series are draft-only releases that allow us to offer one-off beers that don't require the full range of packaging accoutrement. It allows us the freedom to play with recipes, ingredients and techniques without the need for repeatability or, in some cases, even the need for commercial viability.

What Big Beers will we see in late 2010 and early 2011? The next few Big Beers will be S'Muttonator, Baltic Porter, and then Wheat Wine.

What are your favorite Smuttynose beer and food pairings? I've been really enamored with beer and cheese pairings. One of my favorite being our Barleywine matched with a blue cheese so stinky it'll peel your eyebrows clear off. Beautiful. (The pairing, not the loss of eyebrows.)

What are your favorite non-Smuttynose brews? If I'm not drinking Smuttynose I'm probably living the High Life.

What's coming up for Smuttynose? What will we see in the coming months and over the next year? We're looking into releasing some of our Short Batch Series and barrel-aged beers into cork-finished 750ml bottles. Also, look for more kettle-soured beers like the Rouge d'Shire.

What do you think is the future of craft beer in the US? I think you need to look at the larger trend of local, fresh foods and products. Will we stop eating warm crusty bread baked each morning at the corner shop and start picking up more loaves of Wonder Bread? Will we stop heading to the local coffee shop because we really crave Maxwell House? I guess some people will. I mostly feel like we're moving past the "As Seen on TV" phase of purchasing trends and buying items that resonate on a more personal and tangible level. If I'm correct, then craft beer has a great future. If not, it's at least been a hell of a ride.

Meet More Brewers

Kelly Taylor, Kelso of Brooklyn »
Sean Wilson, Fullsteam »
Tomme Arthur, Port Brewing & Lost Abbey »
Greg Hall, Goose Island »

On the Cusp of Brilliance with the Burger at Longman and Eagle

2010-09-02T14:45:00Z

From A Hamburger Today

[Photographs: Daniel Zemans]

Longman & Eagle

2657 N. Kedzie Ave Chicago, IL 60647 (map); (773) 276-7110‎; longmanandeagle.com
Cooking Method: Grilled
Short Order: Spectacular meat, this burger is a couple easy but significant tweaks from being among the best in town.
Want Fries With That? You bet your Lifesavers
Price: $12

Inspired by my trip to Atlanta's Holeman & Finch where I had a spectacular burger and some delicious cuts of meat that would bring tears of joy to Chichi Wang, I headed over to Longman & Eagle when I got back to Chicago. L & E opened at the beginning of the year in Logan Square and has suffered no growing pains, earning national praise as one of the country's five best bars for eating by Esquire (Holeman & Finch got the same honor).

We had a meal of roasted marrow bones, grilled pork cheek, and the absolutely remarkable Tête du Cochon. We also sampled bits of L & E's ridiculously large selection of whiskey/Scotch/rye/bourbon. All of that led up to the purpose of my visit: to check out the burger.

I'm mentioned a couple of times before that I think the recent burger boom has completely changed the expectations many of us have for burgers. In years past, all it took was for a burger to be large and made with fresh ground beef to stand out. That's how places like Hackney's got so popular. Today, with an increasing number of places featuring high quality ground beef, the stakes have been raised substantially. Eaters may not be able to tell different quality eggs apart, but with beef the difference is huge. The flipside of the growth in places using exceptional beef is that in order to be at the absolute height of the burger world, even more than quality cow is needed for a burger to be among the elite.

Longman & Eagle starts off strong by using a patty from Slagel Family Farms. The beef is simply phenomenal and my burger was grilled to rare perfection. There wasn't much of a crust, but that's a forgivable flaw as that's hard to pull off on a grilled rare burger. Not content to stop with good beef, L & E sources every component of the burger from quality producers.

The burger is topped with some fantastic sharp cheddar from Widmer's Cheese Cellars, a third generation Wisconsin cheese maker. The bacon comes from Nueske's which is remarkable for a side of bacon, but I've grown to think is a little bit too powerful for a burger. The bun, a brioche from the otherwise excellent La Farine bakery, was the burger's massive flaw. The bun was so bready that it actually came close to overwhelming a half-pound of beef, rich bacon, and sharp cheddar cheese.

Sitting atop the Tête du Cochon, which was the highlight of my excellent meal, was a perfectly cooked sunny side up duck egg. I found out after I'd eaten that, while it's not on the menu, adding a duck egg to the burger is an option. With lesser meat (in quality or quantity) I'd avoid adding a duck egg because it's so rich, but the patty at Longman and Eagle could handle it. The burger I had was very good. With a duck egg, it would have been exceptional. With a duck egg and a different bun, it could be among the best in town.

One part of the meal that needs no tweaking at all is the fries. Cooked in beef fat, these skin-on beauties were cooked to crispy/pillowy perfection. There's really not much to say about them other than in a city full of great french fries, these are definitely in the top tier.

Spice Hunting: Mahlab

2010-09-02T14:00:00Z

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Here's another one of those spices that makes you wonder how people got the idea to eat it. Mahlab is a powder made from the seeds of the St. Lucy's cherry, found in different parts of the Mediterranean, that requires drying and cracking open rock-hard cherry pits. But if you've ever had a dessert made with whole roasted cherries, where the pit imparts an inimitable depth of flavor, it's easy to see why people go through the trouble.

When mahlab first hits your tongue it tastes a bit like cherries, a bit like roses, and a bit like almonds. There's a hint of vanilla and something quite floral. Its aftertaste, though, is quite bitter. When cooked, everything changes. It's fruity and rich, but subtle. It's a regal spice that adds majesty to sweets, an excellent mystery ingredient that contributes a whole palette of flavors without dominating an end result.

How Do You Use It?

Though it has some savory applications (coming to a lamb tagine near you!), mahlab is mostly a baking spice, used in pastries and breads from Greece to Iraq. It's common in a Greek sweet bread traditionally baked for Easter called tsoureki, though it's also common during Christmas baking. A teaspoon per cup of flour is often added to cookies, cakes, or rolled pastries of those areas.

Dairy pairs well with mahlab, either in the form of milk of cheese. It's a spice crying out to be used in rice pudding, which is often scented with almond and rosewater. Its fruitiness would make a welcome addition to crème brûlée, or anywhere else that fruit chunks or juice just wouldn't do. Or sprinkle some in a cheese-based tart, preferably one with lots of honey and butter.

I've been noshing on a snack based on an Egyptian dessert composed of two parts ground sesame seeds, two parts honey, one part extra virgin olive oil, and just enough mahlab to make its presence known. This thick, floral paste would be ideal to roll into a pastry like rugelach—but by the time I got the willpower to stop eating it with a spoon, I had barely enough to stuff one small pastry. Honey and mahlab are also best of friends, as are other complex sweet ingredients like dried fruit or nuts.

You can treat mahlab much like nutmeg. You don't need much for it to make an effect, but it can make all the difference between a ho-hum dessert and something alluring. Like nutmeg, it's easy to add it ad hoc to baked goods once you get a sense of it. Though the world is not teeming with written recipes that demand mahlab, many spiced desserts would benefit from a judicious application of the stuff. Just keep an eye out for bitterness and taste frequently. If you're looking to get creative with your baking, spices are the easiest way to do so, and mahlab's an excellent contender.

Where to Find Mahlab

It's a little difficult to find mahlab seeds whole, though your chances improve at Middle Eastern markets come Easter. The powdered version is more common, and I've even seen it at some Indian groceries. You can also find it online at Penzeys for about $3 an ounce. Because it comes from a seed and, powdered mahlab can easily go rancid, so buy it in small amounts and use it quickly. For longer-term storage, you could put it in a small, airtight jar with a cotton ball and keep it in the refrigerator.

About the author: Max Falkowitz is a proud native of Queens, New York. He'll do just about anything for a good cup of tea and enjoys long walks down the aisles of Chinese groceries.

Get the Recipe!

Poll: Do You Like Chili Burgers?

2010-09-02T13:45:00Z

From A Hamburger Today

Southern California-based burger chain Original Tommy's is known for their chili burgers. [Image: originaltommys.com]

Yesterday we received an email from an AHT reader asking why we ignore chili as a burger condiment. Sorry, chili—it wasn't on purpose! You slipped our minds. So before we continue our investigation of chili burgers, let us know whether you like them or not.

Gadgets: Top 5 Favorites From a Year of Reviews

2010-09-02T13:00:00Z

It's been just over a year since Gadgets became a regular feature here at Serious Eats, so I thought it was about time I looked back and picked some surprise favorites. Below, my top five finalists from a list of fifty-two, to give you an idea of which ones have risen to the top of a gadget-filled kitchen.

Most Regularly Used: Universal Nonstick Silicone Pot Lid

I may have given the Universal Nonstick Silicone Pot Lid flack for trying to do too many things; it's not a trivet, let's face it. But who cares if it doesn't perform extra functions when the one thing it does well is something that I need all the time? Even if I could use it as a wonderful trivet, I wouldn't, because this baby barely ever makes it off the stovetop between washes. It fits every single pot and pan I own, which means I never have to fumble through a drawer for other lids (which, by the way, all look the same and don't stack nicely in my cabinets). Plus, it's a value purchase: Rather than buying more expensive lids individually for each new pot or pan, buy one of these and consider yourself done. I'm obsessed: This may be the best thing I've bought all year, which continues to surprise me every time I think about it. Without question, though, it has proved to be the most used. Unfortunately, currently sold out at Sur La Table

Most Improved Kitchen Staple: Kapoosh Universal Knife Block

Your comments made me worry: Would my Kapoosh Universal Knife Block get bent out of shape the longer I used it? Weeks of testing put it through a certain amount of stress, to be sure, but I wondered what would happen after months and months. So what did? Nothing! What started as a fear of premature mourning has become a long and loving relationship. No matter how many knives I add (recently my steak knives moved in—all eight of them!), it doesn't seem to make a dent in the knife block. Better yet, it held a huge variety of kitchen utensils during a recent move, proving that, carelessness aside, over-stuffing and continual use are not an issue. $29.99 from Bed Bath & Beyond

Best Cleaning Aid: Odor Absorbing Splatter Screen by Faberware

You know that sticky grime that ends up all over the kitchen when you don't use a splatter screen? It's arguably the hardest thing to clean after cooking, though maybe the smells that stick around after cooking fish or shallow-frying potatoes take longer to undo. The Odor Absorbing Splatter Screen takes care of both—invaluable in small or open kitchens. Does it help you cook better? No, not really. But what time it saves in cleaning and convenience makes me want to use it as much as possible, keeping it out of the storage closet for good. And so far, the smell-trapping carbon filter has held up just fine. $12.99 from Pfaltzgraff

Best Value Purchase: HotSpot Silicone Egg Poachers

My fervent love for poached eggs makes me unquestionably biased, with lots of good contenders in the "painless price tag" category. Sure, I love my silicone pot spout and utensil clip—and they're likely to trump the HotSpot Silicone Egg Poachers for many of you. But for me, here's the bottom line: While I can pour and rest utensils without the other two, I am a horrible, horrible egg poacher without some help. And now that I can poach eggs at home, reliably and without fail, I'm able to dress my vegetables with eggs for a healthy dinner on a very regular basis. They always come out just right, and post-meal cleaning is a breeze. Talk about a lazy indulgence. $8.99 from LaPrima Shops

Most Worthwhile Splurge: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker

I would have never bought the Breville One-Touch Tea Maker for myself had it not been for this column, but I would have also kicked myself had I known what I was missing. Automatic coffee makers, in my experience with them to date, result in flawed cups of coffee—ones that have been sitting too long, that weren't ground right before brewing, and so on. But an automatic tea maker that controls for steeping, temperature, timing, tea variety, your own personal preferences—and does it all on your watch without even the touch of a button? If you're going to splurge on something, it should be something that you can use on a daily basis. I can't wait for fall and winter to come around so that I can use it more regularly. $249.95 from Williams-Sonoma

Have you made any surprisingly impressive gadget purchases? Let us know!

Tasting Coffee Tea, Tea Infused with Dried Coffee Cherry Husks

2010-09-02T12:00:00Z

[Photographs: Erin Meister]

There are coffee people, and there are tea people, but are there coffee-tea people? I don't just mean those who obsessively drink both bevvies (I'm a member of that club), but the lucky ones currently drinking "tea" made from coffee.

Coffee Cherries, the Fruit Around the Coffee Bean

Dried coffee cherries.

While we call the fruit that bears our coffee beans "cherry," you might be surprised to discover it's not nearly as meaty or juicy as the ones used in Grandma's famous pie. The beans take up most of the real estate inside the little red pods, which makes the fruit itself not that great for snacking—unless you want to crack a tooth.

That doesn't mean it's not delicious, though: When dried, the cherry can be steeped just like tea, and makes an incredibly syrupy and aromatic cup somewhat reminiscent of rooibos or a hibiscus infusion. Called cascara in Spanish, the dried cherry husks are a rare find in this part of the globe, though it's not uncommon to run into this sensual drink in coffee-growing regions farther east, such as in Yemen where the husks are used to make a hot ginger-spiced drink called qishr.

Coffee Tea Tasting

Last Friday at the regular weekly coffee tasting I host with my Counter Culture colleagues (yes, you can come; no, you don't need any experience), we got the kind-of-insanely-awesome opportunity to sample the cascara from three different farms, all of which are owned by the coffee-growing industry's equivalent to Mick Jagger: El Salvadorian farm owner and coffee producer Aida Battle. We were curious about the trio because the farms—Finca Mauritania, Finca los Alpes, and Finca Kilimanjaro—are planted with different bean varieties. But would there be a discernible difference on the palate between the fruits themselves?

Remarkably, there certainly is: While harder to detect in the aromas, the Finca los Alpes was noticeably tart and tobacco-like next to the brown-sugar sweetness of Finca Mauritania, while the more delicate Finca Kilimanjaro was intensely floral, sweet, and appley. And yes, I'm fully aware that this is why coffee people get made fun of the same way wine people do. Maybe you have to taste it to believe it.

And taste it you should: I think every coffee lover should jump on the chance to get their mitts on some of this stuff when the opportunity arises. I mean, when are you ever going to get to visit a coffee farm and eat a cherry right off the tree? This is as close to that as many of us will ever get, and we may as well savor it. (Heck—ice it. It makes an awesome iced tea, too.)

Dried coffee chery husks from Finca Mauritania, Finca los Alpes, and Finca Kilimanjaro are available from Counter Culture for $9.95 / 4-ounce bag.

About the author: Erin Meister (just "Meister" to friends and enemies) trains baristas and inspires coffee-driven people for Counter Culture Coffee. She's a confident barista and an audacious eater, but she remains a Nervous Cook.

Recap: Top Chef DC, Episode 12, Gastro-nauts

2010-09-02T06:45:00Z

Another week, another episode of Top Chef! This time, the final five paired food and wine before heading to NASA to prepare meals for astronauts. And in case that wasn't exciting enough, Padma and Tom were joined by Eric Ripert, Anthony Bourdain, and Buzz Aldrin. Who got kicked off the show? How many corny space puns did the hosts drop? Who won a car? And how many times did Bourdain and Ripert look like they wanted to kill each other? It's all ahead in this week's recap!

[Warning: Spoilers ahead!]

The Quickfire

This week, the chefs had to create a dish based on a wine pairing for Padma and Dana Cowin, the editor of Food & Wine magazine. And yes, it was as boring as it sounds. I haven't heard so many references to "beautiful notes" and "subtle nuances" since Kenny G released his last CD.

With seven minutes left to go, Kevin realized his pork was still totally raw. He opted to use quail instead, which was a huge mistake because it doesn't pair well with Merlot. Sorry, Kevin—the FAILBOAT just arrived in port, and you're its only passenger.

Not surprisingly, Dana wasn't a fan of Kevin's dish and noted that the Merlot completely overpowered the delicate quail. She enjoyed Angelo's foie gras with Evolution white wine, and ultimately named him the winner of the challenge. As an additional prize, Angelo won a trip to London. Hopefully, his Russian girlfriend/wife/whatever will have her "paperwork" worked out in time to join him.

Padma then told the chefs that for the first time in Top Chef history, the final four would be going to Singapore to compete in their final challenges. This news caused Angelo to utter two of the most asinine sentences I've ever heard in my life: "I feel Asian inside 100%. I mean I tingle when I think about it." Hey Chandler, you wanna take this one for me buddy?

Elimination Challenge

For this week's elimination challenge, Top Chef sent the finalists to NASA to prepare a dish that could be freeze-dried and taken into space. I, like Kelly, am a huge space nerd and was very excited to see what they would come up with. Say, did you know the light hitting the Earth right now is about 30 thousand years old? Coincidentally, that's about how long this season of Top Chef feels like it has been airing.

Once they got to the NASA control room, they were forced to watch an episode of Semi-Homemade. Just kidding. Actually, they had to watch an equally corny video of two astronauts floating around at the space station. "You have to create a dish that's (dramatic pause) OUT OF THIS WORLD," they said, as if they had just come up with the most hilarious pun we Earthlings had ever heard. "Good luck. SHOOT FOR THE STARS!" Um, guys, you might just want to quit while you're ahead.

The chefs were then given a few bits of advice from a peculiar woman with braces that made her look like she just arrived on Earth from a distant planet: "Don't use too much sugar, and don't prepare large pieces of food because they don't freeze well," she warned. That, my friends, is called foreshadowing, and it will come into play later.

I would totally have my blogger card revoked if I didn't mention how Angelo rudely crashed his cart into some poor unsuspecting woman who was minding her own business while shopping at Whole Foods. He didn't even turn his head around to apologize or see if he hurt her. What's that? The universe revolves around Angelo? Sorry, I forgot. Moving on.

Tom Colicchio showed up while everyone was cooking, and stuck around long enough to mock Angelo's short ribs and call Kelly nerdy because she liked space stuff. Things were going swimmingly until the very end, when Tiffany noticed the mussels she put in the refrigerator had frozen. This upset her immensely, and caused her to frown for the rest of the episode. It was awful to watch. It was then that I realized the cold, hard truth: A day without Tiffany's smile is like A DAY WITHOUT SUN.

The next morning, the chefs got a note that said they'd be driving to the NASA kitchen in a brand new car, which would then be awarded to the winner of the challenge as an additional prize. Of course, they ran outside faster than Anthony Bourdain could crack a joke about Sandra Lee's Kwanzaa cake, and they found a boring, black Toyota Avalon waiting for them. In true Top Chef fashion, they proceeded to drool over the car for the next 10 minutes: "It has leather," they excitedly swooned. Yeah, so does the seat on my exercise bike, but you don't see me foaming at the mouth about it.

The most entertaining parts of the episode came during judging, when Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert expressed staggeringly different opinions about some of the dishes. First, Eric said that Ed's Moroccan inspired rack of lamb was too complicated. Bourdain immediately disagreed, and did what any of us would have done when we were seven: He teased him by mocking his last name. "I wanna disagree with my colleague Mister RIP IT," Bourdain said. "Ed nailed it. And I've been to Morocco." Well then. I guess you'd know, Mr. BORE-Dain. (Har, har, har. See what I did there?)

Anthony playfully lashed out at Eric again over Angelo's dish. Ripert felt that it was way too acidic, and Bourdain disagreed again. "I'm shocked by Ripert's dark, cynical, snarky, and negative world view because it's all about love and optimism for me now," he said. Wow. Bourdain's really turning into a softie in his old age. Either that, or Angelo had a fruit basket sent to his green room. Hey, it worked for Rachael Ray.

Oh, by the way, Buzz Aldrin was eating with them too, but they didn't give him much camera time. Padma and Tom asked him what it felt like to walk on the moon, and I just rolled my eyes. I bet he's never been asked that one before! Way to bring your interview A-game, guys!

In the end, and with very little fanfare, Angelo was named the winner of the challenge—even though he smothered his shortribs with enough sugary candied ginger to choke a mule, one of the two things they were told not to do. He got the car and a copy of Anthony Bourdain's new book, and his food will be sent to outer space where it probably belongs. He then disappeared into the back room to congratulate himself and stroke his car key in private. True story.

Tom said the judges were really splitting hairs to find flaws, because the remaining dishes were all so great. And after deliberating, they ultimately sent Tiffany home. I must say I am really disappointed to see her go. She was a great competitor and her food was rock solid. She excelled over the past few weeks, and I think the judges made a huge mistake by keeping her over Kevin, who simply prepared a boring sirloin and called it a day.

Sorry, Tiffany. I was rooting for you. But look on the bright side: at least you won't have to witness Angelo "tingling" when he gets to Singapore.

What did you think of the episode, Serious Eaters? Should Tiffany have gone home?

Nuts About Vending Machines

2010-09-02T00:00:00Z

[Photograph: Peanut Butter & Co.]

Many Americans will take to the nation's highways this weekend, whether to travel to a Labor Day cookout, for a last family camping trip of the summer, or perhaps to deposit recent high school grads at their new colleges.

No doubt many of these weekend road warriors will get hungry, and stop at a rest area or comfort station where they might do some vending machine snacking. Have you ever noticed just how many peanutty snacks are in those vending machines?

It's no secret that Americans love peanuts in their candy. In fact, five out of the ten most popular candy bars sold in the U.S. contain peanuts or peanut butter (Snickers, Reese's peanut butter cups, Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, and Oh Henry!). Add to that all of the peanutty trail mixes, sandwich crackers, and cookies, and you might be surprised to learn that on average, about 25 percent of the items in most vending machines contain peanuts or peanut butter. Those are some yummy stats!

Just take a look at this ice cream machine.

Four of the 12 compartments contain items made with peanuts or peanut butter (the Reese's ice cream bar, the Drumstick (twice), and the ChocoTaco)—that's 33%!

Do you have a favorite vending machine snack that contains peanuts or peanut butter?

About the author: Lee Zalben was a PB&J-loving kid that grew up to be the founder and president of Peanut Butter & Co., which began as a Greenwich Village sandwich shop serving nothing but peanut butter sandwiches and expanded to include the now-famous line of all natural flavored peanut butter. Lee is a graduate of Vassar College and enjoys traveling the world in search of interesting foods made with peanuts, tree nuts, and seeds. When he's not working, eating, flying or writing, he enjoys scuba diving and training elephants.

10 Minimal-Labor Labor Day Grilling Recipes

2010-09-01T22:30:00Z

Each day this week we're rounding up our favorite no-to-minimal-labor recipes for your Labor Day festivities this weekend. So far we've shared appetizers and salads and today it's time to fire up the grill.

Ultra Crispy Burgers: If you're a sucker for crisp, brown, salty crusts on your burgers, this has all of that.
Green Chile Cheeseburger: So we're typically burger purists, but sometimes feel possessed to throw a green chile on top.
Pernil: Next to pulled pork, this is one of our favorite ways to prepare the magical swine.
Beef Pinwheels: The two cheeses, salami, and scallions in the stuffing of this meat roll create a total flavorbomb.
Chicken Fajitas: A short half hour marinade packs the chicken breasts with unmistakable flavors of lime and cilantro, and the grill will give it a nice slight-crisp crust.
Pizza: Before you run out and grab all those burgers and hot dogs for this weekend's cookout, consider pizza. What comes off the grill is a real beauty of a pie.
Corn with Chili Lime Butter: Just-grilled corn slathered with butter is always a winner, but this is how you take it to the next level: butter zazzed up with chili powder, cayenne, lime zest and juice.
Salad with Grilled Radicchio & Knob Onions: This is a perfect example of how grilling can make just about anything better. Radicchio is bitter on its own, but here it takes on a rather pleasing bitterness.
Grilled Peaches with Butter Rum Sauce: Fire up those peaches! And a little rum never hurt nobody.
Plantains with Brown Sugar Glaze: Sweet slices of deliciousness. The perfect side for your Labor Day meats.

What Are Your Essential Whiskies to Have Around?

2010-09-01T21:30:00Z

[Photographs: Danny Nicholson]

Today is the first day of National Bourbon Heritage Month—yes, there really is such a thing—and while I'll spend more time talking about bourbon later in September, today there's a more all-inclusive whisk(e)y question to be answered: What are the essential whiskies that you keep on hand?

This question was prompted by a post on What Does John Know?, the blog from Malt Advocate publisher John Hansell. Today's post was from guest-blogger Nate Nicoll, who can usually be found over on Whiskywall. Nicoll notes that for dedicated whisky aficionados (the same presumably applies to enthusiasts of other styles of spirit), there are several basic categories of whisky to keep on hand, to be brought out, and served for different reasons.

The first and most obvious category is the celebratory whisky, the bottle that's typically old, expensive, rare or all three. It's kept either in a place of prominence or in the darkest recesses of the liquor cabinet, to be brought out to mark Great Life Events. Easy enough, right? But while one's chosen celebratory whisky may often come up in conversation with other whisky lovers, it's the next three categories on Nicoll's list that are more interesting and more relevant to day-to-day life.

Guest Whisky

First there's the "guest whisky." Nicoll writes:

"[S]hould be an expression of you. This whisky is an opportunity to let those you invite into a private setting to get to experience an aspect of yourself that you have come to terms with and that you entrust to those around you. It's easy to impress a guest with something rare or fine, but to share a whisky with them that reflects something of your own tastes and personality gives them insight into who you are, brings them into your inner-circle."

This whisky will likely be above par in both price and quality, and it should take some thought and plenty of research to settle on the appropriate whisky for this particular situation.

The Other Guest Whisky

But what about those visitors who aren't necessarily close friends, nor do you desire them to be, and perhaps they have zero interest in whisky? This is where what Nicoll terms "the other guest whisky" comes into play, and as he bluntly puts it:

"If you have occasion to suffer guests that aren't particularly welcome but seem to occasionally wash up on your shore, you might need something to make them feel special while you hide any whisky of real value."

Nicoll suggests a decent blend, of which there are many, and if you're staying in the scotch whisky category, I'm inclined to agree.

Table Whisky

Finally there's the "table whisky"—the bottle that you turn to with the greatest frequency. Likely it's more on the affordable side, but still plush enough to satisfy regardless of your mood, and since this is something you'll spend the most time with, it should have a character sufficient to bridge the comfort-food / interesting-dram divide.

While Nicoll focuses primarily on scotch, this type of categorization is suitable to bourbon, rye or any other type of spirit for that matter. I have my own preferences, that change from time to time, but while I mull over some of them, let's hear from you.

What whiskies do you like to have on hand? And what are your preferred celebratory, guest (and "other guest") and table whiskies?

Weekend Cook and Tell Round Up: What I Learned in Home Ec

2010-09-01T20:45:00Z

Photograph: Life Magazine

Last week we chose a Cook and Tell that didn't involve all that much cooking. Instead we wanted to hear about your formative cooking experiences in Home Ec Class. Classroom projects ranged from apron-sewing to bed-making with plenty of useful and not so useful cooking lessons thrown in and of course, plenty of helpful life skills such as how to properly wash dishes and form a fruit-studded Jell-O mold. Let's take a look at some of your fondest adolescent Home Ec adventures.

Airedalelover's six years of Home Ec sounds more like a culinary school program with lessons in food safety, menu planning, and budgeting. Working as a team, Airedalelover's class would organize a menu, place a food order, and prepare and eat the meal as a group.

MissBrownEyes came away from her class with the important lesson that chocolate chips have no place in pancakes. She also learned that the quickest way to get rid of the offending pancakes was by stuffing them into a floor vent.

soozm32's Home Ec should have been called Salad Skills 101. soozm32 learned that the quickest way to core a head of lettuce is to slam the base on the counter. soozm32's teacher, better known as Mrs. Cauliflower, discussed the advantages of cutting lettuce with a non-metal knife and using a salad spinner.

ell.victor was lucky enough to learn the finer points of baking pizza dough, drop biscuits, and cookies. Thanks to Home Ec, ell.victor became the official family pizza-maker for most of high school.

How times have changed since nique jim took Home Ec. His children are enrolled in a culinary program that has them cooking restaurant caliber food like blue crab and roasted corn chowder and filet mignon. The class is available to cater private events—really!

Two of the most important lessons that millede took from Home Ec: how to properly set an attractive table and perhaps even more important, how to suspend pineapple slices in Jell-O.

Photograph: Life Magazine

baltobetsy 's Home Ec class took an international turn come senior year. Each week the class would make dishes from a different country including a veal stew made with wine smuggled in a peanut butter jar.

The thought of Home Ec still has MMinNYC a little upset—too many memories of cutting uniform cheese cubes. It is fascinating that MMinNYC's New York City version of Home Ec had a chapter devoted to "apartment"—every school had a fake apartment built into it so that the students could learn how to clean and maintain their New York digs.

None of us have fond memories of school lunches but duncan1205's Home Ec lunch of Cream of Potato Soup and Molasses Cookies would send any of us running for the cafeteria line.

TheKitchenWitch's menu involved some unexpected dishes including crêpes, Beef Stroganoff, and caramel sauce but, the characters from her class sound even tastier. Head over to The Kitchen Witch to read all about her Carmen Miranda-esqe teacher and a crush worthy troublemaker classmate.

Thanks to everyone who journeyed back to high school for this week's Weekend Cook and Tell challenge. Be sure to head over to Talk and read about next week's challenge: Edible Hand-Me-Downs.

Dinner Tonight: Roasted Chickpeas and Lamb Sausage with Swiss Chard

2010-09-01T20:00:00Z

From Recipes

Though not as well celebrated as the beginning of asparagus or tomato season, there's some real pleasure in spotting the first swiss chard at the market. Vibrantly colored, they pop out and just beg to be bought—I really can't resist them. Usually I enjoy swiss chard a side dish to some random meal, so it's nice to find this recipe from the blog Abby & Sam, which fully integrates them into a dish.

The roasted chickpeas add some nice textural difference, and the paprika and cumin help give it some depth. But it's the red wine vinegar that really perks this dish up. The sausage is kind of an afterthought here, and could be left out if you wanted a vegetarian main. That said, some good locally made lamb sausages are certainly welcome to the plate.

Ingredients

serves 2 to 3 people

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 bunch Swiss chard, thick stalks removed
2 lamb sausages
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Procedures

Preheat oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, combine the chickpeas, half of the olive oil, cumin, paprika, half of the garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss well, and then dump onto a baking sheet. Spread out in a single layer, and then nestle the sausage amongst the chickpeas.
Set the baking sheet in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes, tossing halfway through.
While that’s baking, chop the Swiss chard leaves. Pour the remaining olive oil into a large skillet set over high heat. Add the rest of the garlic, and let it cook for a few seconds, stirring often so it doesn’t burn. Then add the chard. Season with salt and pepper, and stir often. After a minute or so, add half the vinegar. When tender, about 5 minutes or so, taste the chard to see if it needs more vinegar.
Combine the chard with the roasted chickpeas in a large bowl. Toss. Serve the the sausage over the chickpeas and chard mixture.

Map: Barbecue Contests, Cookouts, and Festivals in the United States

2010-09-01T19:00:00Z

Last week, we shared a national guide to barbecue events in the United States. Though my knowledge of barbecue events is pretty limited, I included as many local events as I could find. But I thought it'd be interesting to open things up to anyone out there. Here's a simple Google map for plotting barbecue events across America. We've made it an open collaboration, so any of you can add to it! And we hope you will. The map, after the jump.

View Cookouts, Competitions, and Festivals: The Serious Eats Barbecue Directory in a larger map

How to Add to This Map

Open the map in a larger window, then click "Edit" and add the barbecue event to the list. You can also make a suggestion in the comments or email me directly; I will update the map periodically with your feedback.

This is clearly not a foolproof system, but the comments we've seen so far in response to these stories reflect an impressive store of knowledge. Wouldn't it be great to move some of that smoky wisdom to a community resource?

Know of a great barbecue event in your locale? A competition where barbecue lovers can witness the most serious smoke? A festival where newcomers can experience great barbecue firsthand? An educational event where anyone can learn how to find or cook quality 'cue?

If so, add your favorite barbecue event to this map and sign with your Serious Eats handle to represent. Be sure to include a brief description of each event you add. Include any relevant links to official websites, news stories, or blog posts to give readers an idea of what to expect and how to participate.

As a courtesy to fellow readers, please do not provide false information or use this map as a personal billboard/soapbox (direct your discussion and debate to the comments section of our roundup post).

This is entirely open-source, so let's do our best to make it a great resource!

—The Serious Eats Barbecue Bureau

Culinary Ambassadors: Condiments in the Philippines - Shrimp Pastes

2010-09-01T19:00:00Z

Serious Eats' Culinary Ambassadors check in from time to time with reports on food fare in their homeland or countries of residence. Here's the latest! (Find out more about CA or join here!) —The Mgmt.

Bagoong (in the small dish to the right) is an accompaniment for this bowl of kare-kare. [Photograph: dbgg1979 on Flickr]

Most aficionados of Southeastern Asian cuisine are already familiar with the pleasures of fish sauce, but few are ready to dive head first into the heady world of fermented shrimp pastes. It's a shame because whether you call it belacan, terasi, or bagoong, shrimp paste is an umami flavor bomb that can transform sambals and stir-fries into something otherworldly.

Bagoong alamang is a shrimp paste native to the Philippines and especially prized by Ilocanos, who harvest the tiny krill shrimp for bagoong from the coastal waters around the country's Ilocos region.

In its raw state, bagoong is salty with undertones of sweetness and a strong smell that a novice may liken to a gym sock. But in small amounts its pungent flavor holds its own as a bracing dressing for sour fruits and vegetables like green mangos.

More often, however, bagoong is sautéed with aromatics to make bagoong guisado (literally, "cooked bagoong") and used as the base for dishes like pinakbet or as a condiment for kare-kare. When sautéed, bagoong's saltiness mellows, and the sweetness of the shrimp comes forward. A hint of bagoong guisado adds a delectable brininess to a pot of mung beans.

Fried with rice, it elevates humble leftovers to delicious heights. And as the key ingredient of binagoongan, meat cooked in bagoong, even Tagalogs and Visayans have to admit that the Ilocanos are on to something!

—Omar T.

Want to tell us about a condiment from where you live? Go here! »

To find out more about the Culinary Ambassadors initiative or sign up, see this SE Talk thread »

A Half-Great Burger at Traxx in Los Angeles

2010-09-01T18:15:00Z

From A Hamburger Today

[Photographs: Damon Gambuto]

Traxx

800 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (map); 213-625-1999; traxxrestaurant.com
Cooking Method: Grilled
Short Order: The restaurant inside LA's historic Union Station makes a great patty, but undermines its burger with a substandard bun
Want Fries with That? Sure—frozen, skinny cuts are professionally prepared
Prices: Traxx Burger w/fries, $13
Notes: It's hard to argue with sitting inside "the Last of the Great Railway Stations," but if it's a sunny day sit outside in the courtyard

There are few buildings in Los Angeles more worthy of going out of your way to see than our Union Station. When it was built in 1939 it was touted as being the "Last of the Great Railway Stations," it's not the biggest of America's train stations, but it is, in my view, one of the most attractive. You've probably seen its ornate interior before, but its just as probable that you didn't realize it. The waiting room has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows through the years (the best version coming in the form of a police station in Blade Runner).

I don't often take a train, but I often poke my head in to take a gander at the grand entrance, like I happened to do the other day. That's when it hit me. Traxx is the now aging restaurant inside the station that first arrived in Los Angeles around the same time I did (a short dozen-ish years ago). It got a lot of attention back then for bringing a little high-end cuisine to the station. I made a bet with myself that the current menu would have a burger ready for my attention. A closer look revealed that I was half right.

Traxx's chef/owner Tara Thomas had a successful career going prior to her train station experiment. It wasn't a surprise when she opened Traxx that she'd get a good bit of attention. But 13 years down the rails serving food at Union Station has left her menu a bit stuck in a rut. I tried a couple of things that had potential, but didn't rise past "good." Unfortunately, the burger was one of them.

The Traxx Burger is offered up as customizable sandwich. I had a feeling that adding the cheddar cheese option might overshadow some high quality meat. On that count I was just right. It was a substandard bun where things went off the rails.

The patty is a hearty, eight ounces of straight 80/20 chuck from Premier Meats. It's a fantastic and simple round of American beef that's an argument for leaving the blends in the basket. The clean, rich taste of chuck was (thanks to the deft hand of line cook Kelly) perfectly seasoned and cooked. The salt and peppering was plentiful and the crust filled with carbon from the grilling. I was overwhelmed by just how good the patty was.

That's why the inferior bun that they source from the Melrose Bakery was an even greater disappointment than a bad bun would normally be. I suspect Traxx uses the brioche with sesame bun and it's just a huge miss. It's bready and mealy—it defies the fat and freshness of the patty. Along with some shredded iceberg (another misstep), ordinary tomato, and red onion, the bun and its cohorts undermine a beautiful patty.

Don't get me wrong—this burger is totally edible, even good, but that's due almost entirely to the fantastic patty. I hungrily ate the whole thing, but kept shaking my head in disappointment that this was such a mismatched affair. Mercifully, the french fries didn't ignite the same frustration. The skinny-cut standards were very nicely rendered.

In the end, I can't recommend the Traxx burger the way I'd like to. Yes, the patty is excellent and at $13 it's the easy and affordable option on the menu. But if you're like me, the disappointment about what could have been will stay with you long after you've left the station.