Monthly Archives: March 2009

Shigellosis

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100 sickened after eating at N.Y. Applebee’s. (AP via MSNBC)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Health officials say more than 100 people reported getting sick after eating at an Applebee’s restaurant near Syracuse.

The county health department says there are seven confirmed cases of Shigellosis among people who ate at the Applebee’s in Camillus in early March. The bacterial infection is associated with consuming water or food contaminated with fecal matter.

I’m sure there’s a joke about Guy Fieri somewhere in there, but I just don’t have the spirit.

Publicans lament

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Is the English pub at death’s door? (Global Post)

Rural life is unrecognizable from 20 years ago and British drinking habits have undergone a sea change, as well. Both of these factors have led to a crisis for British pubs. Thirty-nine a week are going out of business forever.

And the bad news is accelerating. The numbers were awful before the recession kicked in, but now they are brutal. In the last quarter of 2008 sales of beer were off by almost 10 percent in pubs, according to figures from the British Beer and Pub Association. Now politicians are becoming alarmed about the future of an industry that employs upwards of half a million people.

HA & VL Revisited

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I’ve made a few repeat visits to HA & VL on SE 82nd to sample their excellent rotation of daily soup specials, and I must say this unassuming storefront tucked away in a roundabout strip just north of the Fubonn super shopping center continues to capture my delicious fancy in ways that I have rarely experienced in my short time on this earth.

On Sundays, one of the two soup specials includes bun thang (in addition to a chicken pho). Bun thang was a staple soup in my household. Though my mom prided herself on her terrificly nuanced pho, this rice noodle soup–clear broth accompanied by a protein triumvirate of omelette chiffonade, sliced cha lua (Vietnamese pork loaf/bologna), and tender chicken meat, pulled from the bone—was the stockpot dish I’d most commonly smell when I awoke on weekends.

HA & VL’s version is a veritable revelation, at once resplendent with nostalgia and packed with savory, “clean” flavors from the broth and the seemingly perfect proportional distributions of noodles and accoutrements. A final garnish—a crumble consisting of seasoned, toasted and minced dried shrimp—takes this bowl from terrestrial to other-worldliness.

Perhaps the family at HA & VL are using standard, commercially available rice noodles in their soups, but here they seem so much more toothsome and satisfying.

On a recent Thursday morning I was fortunate to leave the house a bit early to get to HA & VL to sample their ethereal crab soup. This soup features bahn canh noodles; thick, chewy and substantial rice noodles with a toothsome bite not unlike Japanese udon.

Though it is billed as crab soup, crab lends more of a distinguishing background to the stock, with ephemeral slivers of crab flesh punctuating the thick, impossibly savory and viscous broth.

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As usual with Viet soups, a dish of fresh herbs and vegetable garnish pairs on the side.

The soup is studded with pink shrimp, quail eggs…

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…and wonderfully meaty and fatty slices of tenderly braised pork. A sprinkle of fried shallots complete the bowl, a dish so overflowing with umami and residual deliciousness that it’s nearly depressing; each passing, joyful bite is somehow counterbalanced with an impending dread that the soup is that much closer to depletion.

Then you are done.

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Keep in mind the availability of the soups here is–like every bite–impermanent. HA & VL only serve their specials during the wee morning hours, starting at 7:30 am on weekdays and 8 am on weekends, and only until they sell out. I spoke with the matron about the possibility of opening throughout the day, perhaps into the evening; she responded with a trite perfunctory truism—she’s older, and she couldn’t handle the grind of a full workday churning out the necessary provisions for cover after endless cover.

There is probably some truth to this. But I also suspect a separate phenomenon is in play here. There exists a demarcation between what is created at a micro level, and what can be successfully executed via extrapolation with every nuance intact. What HA & VL are doing is cooking for their extended family, and you just happen to have an invite to a front row seat if you get there early enough. The care and honor they imbue into every bowl of soup that is whisked from their compact kitchen cannot be duplicated at a macro level. To do so would be disingenuous.

The Interwebs

PDXPlate
Portlandfood.org
BB@ Eat.Drink.Think. has been there
So has the Oregonian‘s Karen Brooks

Steak Salad

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This is a pretty standard Vietnamese cold noodle dish, aka “bun”. Go to any Vietnamese restaurant serving standard fare and you’ll see “bun thit nuong” (rice noodles with grilled pork), “bun thit nuong tom” (rice noodles with grilled pork AND shrimp) and “bun thit nuong cha gio” (rice noodles with grilled pork AND crisp spring rolls).

This version is sort of a twist with rare-ish grilled steak, which you generally won’t find on a standard Viet menu, as the beef, while perfumed with lemongrass and fish sauce, is most likely thin slices of beef that has either been quickly sauteed or threaded in skewer form and grilled.

Steak Salad

Makes two servings. If you want to make more, just double everything, you fucking moron.

  • 1/2 pound semi-lean steak filet, like a sirloin, flatiron, or skirt
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 3 kaffir lime leaves
  • 3 stalks of lemongrass, trimmed
  • 2 cloves of minced garlic
  • 2 thai bird chilies, minced
  • 1/2 pounds of rice stick noodles
  • 1/2 English Cucumber
  • A couple broad leaves of red or green leaf lettuce
  • Variety of fresh herbs, including spearmint, perilla (shiso), cilantro, thai basil, rau rum
  • 4 tablespoons coarsely ground toasted peanuts
  • 4 tablespoons prepared nuoc cham dressing

lemongrass

Prepare the lemongrass by chopping off the thin tops, and the large 1/2 inch nub on the fat end. Halve the stalks, the quarter lengthwise, then use your fine knife skills to create an extremely fine mince.

Similarly, mince the lime leaves and chilies into extremely fine particles.

Coat the beef filet with lemongrass, lime leaves, garlic and chilies, and pour over fish sauce and sesame oil. Turn a couple times to coat completely, and marinate for an hour or preferably more.

steak

Grill the steak over very hot coals for a couple minutes per side.

sliced

Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes. Slice.

Peel, halve, and slice cucumber. Chiffonade lettuce and herbs.

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Toast the peanuts in a cast iron pan.

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Give them a few pounds in a mortar or a few whirls in a coffee grinder.

Boil rice noodles for 2-3 minutes (or according to directions). Shock in ice bath, and rinse in cold water to remove residual starch.

Put noodles and steak into large mixing bowl and add herbs, lettuce, cucumber. Pour over nuoc cham dressing and toss to coat evenly. Dish out and top with chopped peanuts.

Spider bananas

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World’s Deadliest Spider Found In Whole Foods In Tulsa. (Huff Post)

TULSA, Okla. — One of the most deadly spiders in the world has been found in the produce section of a Tulsa grocery store. An employee of Whole Foods Market found the Brazilian Wandering Spider Sunday in bananas from Honduras and managed to catch it in a container.

The spider was given to University of Tulsa Animal Facilities director Terry Childs who said this type of spider kills more people than any other.

Childs said a bite will kill a person in about 25 minutes and while there is an antidote he doesn’t know of any in the Tulsa area.

I kinda like spiders, so my on-again/off-again boycott of Whole Foods is, for the time being, OFF.

This explains the two step recipe for Tossed Salad in the latest issue of Saveur

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Food Magazines Begin to Consider Cooks’ Budgets. (NY Times)

After covering eating trends that have included haute pub food, exotic fruits like yuzu, and restaurants that dehydrated, foamed and froze everything from meat to dessert, upscale food magazines are writing about an even more unexpected topic: cheap home eating.

Reflecting the bad economy, Gourmet, which usually writes about expensive restaurants and faraway travel, has added a feature about what to do with leftovers, and put a ham sandwich — albeit a fancy one — on its March cover.

Food & Wine’s March issue includes an essay on buying the cheapest bottle on a wine list. Bon Appétit’s April cover trumpets a “low-cost, big-flavor” pizza party.

Green is the new lame

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Green Your St. Patrick’s Day Partying. (Huff Post)

Well, St. Patrick’s Day is upon us. Can you think of a better time to throw a green party? Nope! You can’t. So here are some fun and easy ways to get started:

…

3. Vegan eatin’: Vegan corned “beef” and cabbage
I’ve never tried this one, but I’ll say this: I’m increasingly impressed with imitation meat meals. Especially vegan junk food (like Foodswings in Brooklyn). But if you want to reduce the impact of your St. Patrick’s Day food — or if you want to cater to your friends who don’t eat meat, here’s a recipe for Vegan corned “beef” and cabbage.

The most insipid thing you’ll read all day, unless of course you happen to visit CNBC.com.

Beef Daube

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As winter winds down, it’s probably a good time to share one of my favorite winter dishes.

Beef Daube

  • 2 1/2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2 inch-ish chunks
  • Few tablespoons of flour
  • 9-12 peeled cippolini onions – hey, Trader Joes has these, how easy!
  • 1 very large onion, coarsely chopped
  • 2 or 3 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
  • 2-3 stalks of celery, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
  • 10-12 or so garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 pound button mushrooms (if you really like mushrooms), whole or halved if really large
  • 3 thick slices of slab bacon, cut into 1/4 inch “lardons”
  • 3 tablespoons fine tomato paste
  • 2 cups broth, preferably beef
  • 1 bottle of red wine, like a Cotes de Rhone or something that sounds Frenchy
  • Few sprigs thyme and rosemary
  • One bunch of Italian parsley
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 2 tablespoons veal demi-glace reduction (or a slurry of the cooking liquid and corn starch – see note)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • Sea salt
  • Pepper
  • Egg noodles

Preheat an oven to 275 degrees.

Cut the stems of the parsley and set aside. Finely chop the parsley leaves, and put that in another container.

In a stainless steel saucepan, combine red wine, parsley stems, thyme, and rosemary. You can also augment with a pinch or two of dried herbs de provence. I do.

Bring wine to a simmer, lower heat, and simmer until the wine is reduced by half (probably 30 minutes or so). Remove herbs.

While that is happening, in a large dutch oven, heat olive oil to smoking. Toss beef with flour and season with salt and pepper. Brown beef in pan, and set aside, draining all liquid from the pan onto the same platter or bowl on which you are setting the beef aside.

Bring the pan back up to heat, add butter and bacon, then add onions, carrots, and celery, and cook over high heat, stirring often, for a few minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic, and sautee for a couple more minutes.

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Return beef and all the liquids back to the pot, and stir fry for a minute before adding wine, broth, tomato paste, bay leaves, and some salt and pepper. Bring to a nice simmer…

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Then place into oven, with a very loose cover of foil on top (do not cover completely). Cook in the oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove and allow to cool. Set aside in the fridge overnight.

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The next day, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, add demi-glace and bring the pan back up to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes or so until it’s a nice consistency, while salting and peppering to taste.

NOTE: I use Demi Glace Gold or, more recently, Williams Sonoma, with good results. I love this stuff — it’s pricey, but an oh so rich and delicious way to thicken and “luxuriate” this stew or most anything really. Alternately, you can extract a 1/3 cup or so of the braising liquid and mix with a tablespoon or more of cornstarch to create a slurry, and slowly drizzle this into the simmering stew to help thicken things up a bit.

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I like to serve the daube on top of cooked egg noodles (straight, curly? your call), and top with a pinch of your finest finishing salt, a quick turn or two of the pepper grinder, and a sprinkle of parsley. Instant comfort.

Go Galt!

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The Colbert ReportMon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word – Rand Illusion

You can’t spell Salmonella without “Salmon”

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FDA Approves Salmonella. (America’s Finest News Source)

WASHINGTON—Calling it “perfectly safe for the most part,” and “not nearly as destructive or fatal as previously thought,” the Food and Drug Administration approved the enterobacteria salmonella for human consumption this week.

The federal agency, which has struggled in recent years to contain the food-borne pathogen, and repeatedly failed to prevent tainted products from reaching store shelves, announced Monday that salmonella was now completely okay for all Americans to enjoy.

“Rigorous testing has shown that salmonella is…fine,” FDA director of food safety Stephen Sundlof said. “In fact, our research indicates that there’s no need to pull any more foodstuffs from the market. Not raw chicken. Not contaminated spinach. Not thousands of jars of harmful peanut butter. Not anything.”

Lindo Michocoan

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Taqueria Lindo Michoacan is a permanently parked taco truck residing at the south side of SE Division, on the intersection of 34th Ave., just a few doors down from the venerable Pok Pok/Whiskey Soda Lounge.

The “marquee” lists all the flavors of flesh available. Notice the sign boasting of hand-made tortillas.

The full menu (click to view a larger, detailed version).

The taco triumvariate–pastor, carnitas, and asada.


Carnitas.


Asada.

Pastor.


Fully dressed taco.

Verdict? The asada could have been more crisp, and I’ve had better, more flavorful carnitas. The hand made tortillas are good, the pastor is flavorful (if a tad bit greasy), and the salsas—3 kinds, red, green, and atomic/habanero—are bright and fiery. This is a good taco truck.

Lindo Michoacan

SE Division and 34th
Portland, OR

Burn in Yelp

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Yelp and the Business of Extortion 2.0. (East Bay Express)

This wasn’t your average sales pitch. At least, not the kind that John, an East Bay restaurateur, was used to. He was familiar with Yelp.com, the popular San Francisco-based web site in which any person can write a review about nearly any business. John’s restaurant has more than one hundred reviews, and averages a healthy 3.5-star rating. But when John asked Mike what he could do about his bad reviews, he recalls the sales rep responding: “We can move them. Well, for $299 a month.” John couldn’t believe what the guy was offering. It seemed wrong.

The WORLD WIDE WEB is an awful place. You best avoid it.

Still waiting on them to cite John McCain’s brother

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A McNuggets “Emergency. (The Smoking Gun)

Angered that her local McDonald’s was out of Chicken McNuggets, a Florida woman called 911 three times to report the fast food “emergency.” Latreasa Goodman, 27, last Saturday called police to complain that a cashier–citing a McDonald’s all sales are final policy–would not give her a refund. [To listen to Goodman's 911 calls, click here and here.] When cops responded to the restaurant, Goodman told them, “This is an emergency. If I would have known they didn’t have McNuggets, I wouldn’t have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don’t want one.” Goodman noted, “I called 911 because I couldn’t get a refund, and I wanted my McNuggets,” according to the below Fort Pierce Police Department report. That logic, however, did not keep cops from citing Goodman for misusing the 911 system. Even after being issued a misdemeanor citation, Goodman contended, “this is an emergency, my McNuggets are an emergency.”

Reminds me of the time I forced the issue of an Amber Alert when my daughter ate all my Nutella.