Here's a Crushed, Toasted BBQ Chicken Sandwich

Crushed, toasted BBQ chicken sandwich with avacado, sprouts, tomato, lettuce and garlic/caper mayo was dinner tonight.

The chicken was marinated in BBQ sauce during work, seared on the grill for 6ish minutes (2-3 minutes a side) and then left to bake in a closed grill for 10 minutes then cool for 4.

Rolls were toasting to a crisp on the top shelf of the grill while the chicken baked.

BBQ chicken,  avocado, sprouts, salted tomato, lettuce and garlic/caper mayo were layered on.  The sandwich was closed and crushed then handed to those in attendance.

101: Refrigerator Soup

Timid home cooks take note: You can’t screw up refrigerator soup.*

Even in the heat, Kat and I have been turning to refrigerator soup because it can be light on calories and still pack crazy flavor thanks to flavorful meats and fresh summertime veggies. It can be super simple or you can spice it up with seasonings and aromatics like onions, garlic, cilantro, chiles or lemongrass to take it wherever in the flavor-spectrum that you want to go.

It’s called refrigerator soup because it’s great for cleaning out wide swathes of the edible contents of your fridge.

The work time is 15 minutes. Cook time is an hour and the recipe is simple: oil, low-sodium broth or water, seasonings and aromatics you like to taste; and things you like to eat.

It’s easy to get more specific, but the idea is to make what you like. It really is that straightforward.

Tonight, we used:
Olive oil
Dry Seasonings: salt, pepper, old bay seasoning, dried Italian seasonings, bay leaves, thyme
Wet seasonings: Pickapeppa sauce, Worcestershire sauce, canned diced tomatoes
Things we like to eat: Onion, Carrot, Celery, Cabbage, Green beans, Zucchini, Andouille chicken sausage

Prep: Get out a pot and put it on the stove. Chop up the things you like into edible sizes.

Procedure:

1. Put about 3 tbsp of oil in a big pot (6-8qts) and heat on high
2. If you’re using raw meat, season and brown that on all sides and remove it for later
3. Add dry seasonings you like to taste and let them saute in the remaining oil
4. Stir occasionally for 2 minutes until the smell fills the kitchen
5. Add aromatics and cook
6. Add the rest of the things you like to eat
7. Wait 4-5 minutes then stir so the hot what you like to eat is on top
8. Wait 4-5 minutes, add salt and stir thoroughly, scraping the bottom of the pot
9. Add the wet seasonings, stir and cook for 3 minutes
10. Return browned meat to the pot or add pre-cooked meat now
11. Cover with broth or water (2-3 quarts) and bring to a boil
12. Reduce to simmer and cook for 30 minutes
13. Stir, taste and adjust seasonings if needed
14. Continue simmering until things you like to eat are tender
15. Portion, serve, eat.

That’s it.

It’s so easy that you have to try. What will yours have in it?

* It's almost impossible to mess this up. All that can really go wrong is that you make too much. This happens when you’ve added too much salty, sweet, spicy or acidic flavor and you end up having to balance the taste and then add extra broth or water until it’s edible. Avoid this by using restraint at first and then adding more seasoning once the soup has been simmering for at least 30 minutes. Then fix it up right if you have to.

Pantry Productions: Cracker with Anchovy and Apricot Jam

Dinner was roasting and I needed flavor, fast!

I reached into the cabinet and grabbed stoned wheat crackers, a tin of Cento brand anchovies and some apricot jam. It's crispy and bright; sweet and salty.

I thought that is tasted awesome but Kat was recently up from a nap, didn't have fish on her mind and so I need somebody else to confirm this.

Look, I wouldn't recommend this if I didn't think it was damn tasty.

Will you try it and report back?

Eaten: Dragon Fruit

Tonight I had a hot date with dragon fruit. I got it at H-Mart, a Korean grocery in Gaithersburg, MD, and I paid a $6.50 for it. For an individual piece of fruit it was pricey, yes. But for an eater who has, in a moment of weakness, paid $4-plus for one fresh passion fruit, the decision was not subject to budgetary consideration or rationale.

Besides, look at it. It's one of the freakiest looking fruits that you can eat. And you should eat it.

Dragon fruit is a variety of pitaya so it grows on cacti. It grows in arid places like Mexico, central, and south America - where it originated - Israel, Australia and all over southeast Asia. It is known to offer health benefits, too, such as vitamins A, B1, 2, and 3 along with come C for good measure. Anti-oxidants, too!

But that wasn't the point. The point was the flavor and the adventure. I grabbed my big knife and made one cut from top to bottom, unveiling seed-speckled, creamy-looking flesh. Some dragon fruit has red flesh. Mine was white and the satiny appearance was just a show. As I ran a big spoon between the flesh and the skin - the way you would an avocado - there was a nice crispness and plenty of juice.

This dragon fruit's texture had the crispness of an Asian pear or fresh watermelon with the added pop of tiny, crispy seeds - like a kiwi's. The flavor was light with a bright, clean citrus tone. One could argue that, flavor-wise, it is a cucumber's sweet and tropical analog. It was nice and sweet with just a bit of tang. I think it tasted like a pear-kiwi hybrid which is cool because I love those fruits individually, too.

Dragon fruit is easy to prepare and great fun to eat. You can probably find it at a nearby Asian or Latin grocery. It might be pricey, but the flavor and the experience are well worth it. Find someone to share it with and enjoy.

Russia in Rockville - Blichniki and Beer

Bistro Nostalgie, in Kingfarm across Rockville Pike from the Shady Grove Metro stop, is one of a very few Russian restaurants in the Metro DC area. The restaurant's food is an interesting mix of proper Russian favorites as well as some other more Mediterranean/Ottoman dishes. The menu acts as a road map of the chef's career - from Russia, through Eastern Europe, to Italy then to us here, in Rockville- without sacrificing the authenticity, quality or traditional value of the food he serves.

At 7:30pm on a Thursday all of the restaurant's 15-to-20 tables sat empty as we approached, looking through the big glass windows into the sparse and contemporary dining room. Seeing an empty restaurant is usually a turn off but we were going for the adventure and the flavor...not for the popularity. Those who were there (staff and patrons) were honest-to-goodness Russians, Georgians, Ukrainians, etc. This immediately canceled any remaining trepidation.

Our waitress, a Ukrainian, was friendly and attentive. She told us that she was a skilled home cook and that we were in for a treat..."the food here is just like home. Mine is good too!" We ordered beers – maybe Baltika - and some honey pepper vodka which was the Happy Hour Special at $4 a shot down from the normal $9. The beer was nice and hoppy and the vodka was strange, even startlingly so. The first shot was smooth and fragrant with a strong pepper spice. As the night wore on, I found the following shots to be cloying and overly pungent, but by then I was drunk so that opinion may not be as valid as others.

The menu had apps ranging from $6 for potatoes fried with mushrooms and onions to $99 for Osetra Caviar on blini or toast points "as you wish." The entrees ranged from $18 to $30 and featured healthy portions and interesting accompaniments.

There were three of us and we treated the apps like tapas, starting with those delectable fried potatoes which were silky-soft with wonderfully crisp and caramelized bits which were still sizzling hot with oil. The mushrooms in the dish were a Trumpet-variety and they lent a wonderful earthy flavor to the dish.

Veal tongue with mustard and horseradish had exceptionally deep flavor. The texture was soft with almost new resistance to the tooth and after some proper chewing it became like butter - molten, viscous, and sensuous. It was the most complex and challenging flavor of the night...surely not for those who aren't fans of intense meaty flavors.

Showing a touch of his experience in the Aegean, the next dish to hit the table was grilled octopus. It tasted exceptionally fresh and was served topped with a lemon herb vinaigrette. The flesh was tender, easily cut with a fork, and the dressing was piquant and bright.

Next came the lamb chops. They were grilled to medium-rare perfection and seasoned with salt, pepper and what tasted like a standard spice mix with oregano and thyme as well as other usual suspects. While the meat took center stage, the plethora of pickles that resided on the plate with the meat really made the dish unique and memorable. There was pickled cabbage, beets, and tomatoes; each with its own unique zing. With the pickles there was a tomato, red onion and cucumber salad with cilantro which was refreshing and light. My favorite part of the plate was the little pita bread that was hiding under the grilled lamb. It was soaked in the fat from the meat but still quite crisp and toasty. All together it was one of the best-thought-out plates I've ever had.

With the last shot of vodka, we ordered blinchniki, or blintzes, or stuffed crepes, or whatever - they're delicious! We had two varieties of blinchniki at Bistro Nostalgie: meat and mushroom. Both are served with sour cream and both are absolutely splendid. The crepe wrapping was tender and sweet and the fillings were intense in flavor without being offensive.

Deserts were a Napoleon Cake which was sweet and tender and a crème brulee, which was a crème brulee.

For the three of us - with 4 apps, the lamb entree, 2 deserts, 5 big beers and 12 shots - the bill came to $150, which isn't too terrible considering that we got stuffed to bursting and very, very drunk.

While I don't have much experience with Russian food in the DC area I do know what tastes good. With that in mind I'm excited to go back to Bistro Nostalgie for more...and I suggest you try it out too!

We're at Sushi Damo in Rockville and I'm perplexed...then delighted

We sat at the sushi bar at Sushi Damo in Rockville Town Center so that we could get to know the chef. Strangely, we were served by a waitress instead of the guys behind the bar. Sure, for drinks, maybe, but I like to talk to the dude who's cutting my fish. This was confusing...then the food came.

The head chef delivered - with a nod that showed he remembered us from a tasting a few months back - the first round of fish, which was delicious and the technique showed great attention to detail in its presentation and the preparation of the rice and the fish. We ate silken, ruby-colored tuna; buttery yellow tail; mild and clean striped bass; smoky, delicate Spanish mackerel; heavy and dull fluke, and terrific fresh water eel...and others. The Mango-something roll (sorry) was great too. It was the best use of fish and fruit I've tried.

The second round of food was prepared by a chef who was right in front of us. Perplexingly, he put it at the pick-up where it sat waiting for a waitress - shimmering at us - until Kat pointed it out. When it did hit the bar I was in for a big treat: the best salmon skin handroll I've had in a long, long time. my very favorite - I use it as my benchmark, along with tamago - and theirs was exceptional. The nori was crisp and fragrant. The little bit of fish was cooked just right - juicy with fat - and the skin was an ideal balance between crispness and chew. I can't emphasize this enough. I'm going back just for that.

Dessert, which was house made chocolate mousse with black pepper, was the most fun I've had with food since my trip to MiniBar. It was a great combination of diverse flavors, sensations and textures. Extra A+ for the gold leaf.

The bill was steep. Edamame for 6 bucks is rediculous...we were silly not to look, but still. Miso soup is too salty and could also stand a pass.

Without the booze and the above skip-ables we spent about $60 before tip for 15 peices and a roll.

The bottom line is that for flavor, inventive and modern use of technically-excellent traditional preparation, and great quality of fish, Sushi Damo is a safe bet for a great sushi in Rockville, MD.

One Thing to Do with Shrimp Heads

The squeamish ones, those who did not eat the heads from their fried shrimp at dinner on Friday night - stir fried whole shrimp in XO sauce and Thai coconut soup - have done us a favor. They left us with the most flavorful and delicate part of what I believe is an occasionally misunderstood ingredient. I think that shrimp are misunderstood because the rich and tender bodies are only half of the point.

Some folks have a hard time eating faces, but if you look around the world - from broiled salmon head and hamachi kama in Japan, to headcheese in France, to halibut cheek in China, and to whole roast pork in...well... everywhere - you will find many sumptuous and memorable flavors. All well worth the "look your food in the eye" factor.

The "look your food in the eye" factor is the very center of what I call The Diner's Dilemma, which is: How am I to feel about the living creatures that I eat? I still don't really have a comfortable answer for that, so today I like to use the Native American response: Use every part of the animal to the best of your ability and treat the animal (the ingredient) with respect. Also, I enjoy every morsel. Waste not, want not and all.

So, with the moral issues out of the way, the shrimp heads sauteed momentarily at the bottom of a stock pot with ginger, scallions, half an onion, coriander seeds, galangal, five spice powder, a bay leaf, garlic, two teaspoons of XO sauce and 3 quarts of water. This was gently boiled for 2 hours, adding water every 30 minutes or so when the contents had reduced by half.


This boiled down to about 1 quart of lightly flavored broth which was strained through a chiniose. After straining the solid remnants were pressed to force the remaining liquid back into the pot with the rest of the broth. To this was added about 2 cups of half-and-half. It should have been heavy cream, but healthier aspirations won out. This reduced by one quarter then finished with two tablespoons of butter and was set aside for a few moments before service.

Pan-fried chicken dumplings went into a wide, shallow bowl followed by the soup and a garnish of sliced scallion.

The soup was light and flavorful. The shrimp heads definitely polished an unique facet in the flavor and the herbs and spices were pretty well balanced, being warm and savory and not too bright. A roux and some heavy cream would have made it a solid wintertime soup but it was nice for a warmish fall afternoon. Next time it will get sauteed shrimp for some variety in the texture.

Total cook time was 2.5 hours. Total work time was 25 minutes.