I love to cook. Be it alone, where I find an afternoon of solo chopping to be quite therapeutic, or tackling major menus with friends, there’s nothing better than wielding the knife with some music blasting (dub-step was a popular cooking choice of mine this year) and a cold beer next to the cutting board. I’ve learned much more, but have so far to go. I mean, I’ve never done a souffle! Or a standing rib roast! I want to learn Indian cuisine, and how to clean and filet fish, and charcuterie, and…the list goes on. For now, here are a few of my favorite cooking lessons from 2011.

Pasta dishes like aglio e olio, cacio e pepe, and carbonara made many appearances this year. Simple enough in design, to obtain the perfect texture and sauce consistency requires experiential timing and touch. I finally feel like I can make a proper pasta. Beautiful fresh pasta nests like these definitely help.

My favorite pasta all year was a quick pan sauce of salty pasta water and ‘nduja, a hot Calabrian spreadable salami I obtained from Jason at Cured Meats. I must have made that dish four times that week. I did spare a little to make a stunning grilled cheese with basil.

Cooler sous vide – I finally got my pastured pork at that exact right temperature.

Flannery beef. Still the reigning champ of steak in my book. So expensive. But so good. Look at the marbling on this strip!

Lasagna. My ultimate comfort food. I made many in 2011, including a few vegetarian versions so Katie could enjoy it along with me. But my heart belongs to Bologna. I made the bechamel (which I’ve finally nailed) and meat ragu version a couple of times, including once with calf livers, which made it extra funky and interesting. Lasagna for breakfast (with an espresso, in this one photo) is the best. Marone!

Soups. I’m making them quite regularly these days. They used to intimidate me for whatever silly reason, but now I know I can dig around my fridge and pantry and make SOME sort of soup. The Vitamix helps (understatement). This soup below is a mix of frozen peas and water and herbs. Nothing more.

Over the last week I’ve knocked out cheese sauces. I had a mac and cheese break (greasy, grainy) a few weeks ago, so I spent some time researching why this happens, then played around with a few variations of recipes. I wanted a cheese sauce that could take a real sharp cheese, melt smoothly, and hold up even when reheated. I’ve found my easy, no cream method – bechamel held with xantham gum. Mix in small quantities of grated cheese over very low heat.

The veggie plate. Chili oil marinated squash. Gently simmered pink eye peas. Yuzo kosho mashed cauliflower. Tomatoes with chives. No recipes, just preparing things simply and properly and seasoning in a way that makes sense.

Homemade biscuits. Buttery (but not soggy), flaky, crusty on the outside, made with buttermilk and frozen butter. Maybe not the prettiest, but I nailed the texture. It made my day.

Porchetta. Or a version thereof. This one was a picnic pork shoulder, with herbs, roasted for hours, the skin finished under the broiler.

2011 was the year I broke the oven in my kitchen. I began cooking my pizzas at 800F+ on the clean cycle, which is a process that requires some trial and error. I became a little more familiar with making, aging, and working with doughs, though I still need lots of practice there.

Moving on to other people’s food – my brother made some extremely impressive gougères. Better than the last time I tried the French Laundry recipe, and better than any I’ve tried outside of my meal at Per Se.

My friend Brad and I tackled a Momofuku meal. While I wasn’t overly impressed with the dishes, it was once again a great learning experience. This time we got to break down a whole pig’s head, debone chickens, and assemble this dish with meat glue.

And while I learn a lot by trying to follow complicated recipes word for word, my friend Rowdy continues to rock it in the kitchen and be an inspiration with his freewheeling style. I still can’t touch his hot chicken. How did he know that dish of cured, but uncooked bacon with a thyme dressing would be brilliant at 1:30 in the morning? I don’t think he did. But he just gets in the kitchen and experiments, and more and more I think that’s the way to do it.

For this post I also considered the title “Jock out with my stock out”, as this past Saturday also included a good bit of college football watching while making demi-glace with my friend Dude. See, it would have worked two ways.

This was my first attempt at a true demi-glace, a rich sauce made by mixing brown stock and Espagnole sauce and reducing until it’s almost a slick glaze. Espagnole (“Spanish” in French, debates exist re the naming) is the same brown sauce, with a brown roux and tomato paste or puree, and is one of the french mother sauces created by Antonin Carême, later updated by Auguste Escoffier. Though, I’ve read that many modern chefs forgo the roux in favor of a straight up reduction to obtain the thick demi-glace.

On it’s own, the name demi-glace implies the use of veal bones, but we had to take what we could get and produced a beef demi-glace using marrow bones from Dekalb Farmer’s market, $2/lb. We actually used an Emeril recipe, but no shame in my game, it’s very similar to Escoffier’s recipe.

I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking, it’s self explanatory. We had a fun time talking through the recipe, handling YDFM on a Satuday, and of course, eating and drinking all through the day. The photos at the bottom of the post are a Caw Caw pork shoulder Dude cooked on the Big Green Egg for the Momofuku Bo Ssäm recipe, which include really tasty fermented bean/gochujang and ginger scallion sauces.

Last night “Legend” cooked some Flannery steaks, which are always fabulous and worth the expense. I had the chance to taste a ’91 Ridge Monte Bello. It pissed me off it’s so good…why California Cab isn’t like this anymore is frustrating. I can’t imagine the opulent, powerful Robert Parker hundred pointers are going to be as elegant, interesting, layered, and balanced in twenty years as this one.

Oh and if you want to read something funny, check out Bryan Flannery’s current battle with Omaha Steaks over the use of the term “private reserve”.

Oh yeah, Charlotte.

I received numerous recommendations to eat at Customshop. I’m glad I listened.

The Roman inspired restaurant has a Crudo appetizer offering, something I’d love to see in Atlanta. The young lady (wearing a Boccalone shirt her parents brought back from SFO) who cuts the fish behind the bar told me the scallops were rocking, but no one ever orders them. She wasn’t kidding, they were amazing, tender and luxurious. The Spanish mackerel with grape fruit was real nice, though the fruit dominates a bit too much. I ended up eating the mackerel without it then used the fruit as a palate cleanser between types of fish.

My sous vide short rib was also highly recommended, and with good reason. Cooked to medium, the tender boneless short rib was more reminiscent of prime rib, the highly marbled king of cuts. It was flawlessly executed, though sous vide makes that quite easy. Lightly cooked kale and cold cipollini onions were a welcome addition.

Afterwards I stopped in Halcyon for a drink and a snack. Some cocktails were more miss than hit, but at least they were trying to be creative. One had gin infused with Earl Grey tea bags, and the flavors worked nicely. Another with bacon infused bourbon (served with a crispy bacon swizzle, naturally) was just…too much.

The rabbit rillette with picked beet and other garnish was well done, though I was a bit turned off after finding a small piece of bone.

Broderick cropped and enhanced this photo I took in the Waffle House the next morning with my phone. I really enjoyed this moment and am happy I snuck a photo.

I’ve was in Tampa for a long weekend the last few days, for a wedding and a little hangout time with some friends and my gal. The first few nights I was without internet (gasp!) and while the Tampa airport Hilton had free internet, it was so slow I was unable to work or update the old blog. I wish Hilton would offer “porn” and “non-porn” wireless signals. It would really help bandwidth for those of us doing important things like watching various renditions of “hide yo kids, hide yo wife”.

Our hotel was a mile away from Arco Iris, a Cuban restaurant I first heard about from Dirty. Amazingly enough, it turns out my friends from Tampa had also talked about going to Arco Iris (“rainbow”) for lunch, though as they are actually of Cuban descent and speak Spanish, our pronunciation of Arco Iris differed greatly.

I took Spanish in school for a few years, and was interested in further developing my ability, but I never did. It’s easy to be quickly discouraged. A few years back I was on a flight to Cusco, Peru which happened to be a flight populated by a hundred thirteen year old kids on a class trip. I sat between two giggly girls who conversed rapidly the whole time. Occasionally I tried to say something in Spanish, simple things like “Excuse me” when I had to use the restroom. They laughed hysterically in my face every time.

This flight is also notable as it is the only trip I’ve ever been on where the whole plane cheered when we landed. Mind you, not out of excitement for our arrival in an amazing destination, but because we didn’t crash and burn on the tiny mountain city’s runway that sits at over 13,000 feet above sea level.

If you’re still with me after that tangent, the food photos are below. I ordered the roasted pork in the second photo below, but also tried the flat iron steak and the ropa vieja. The steak and pork were my favorites. I liked the flavor of the ropa vieja, but agreed with the more experienced Cuban diner at the table that the stringy texture isn’t as appealing as the other meats on the table. Of the few I’ve sampled, it’s still the best ropa vieja I’ve tried.

Most of the dishes aren’t complicated, but are well executed. I loved the taste of the mostly raw onions with the tender pork, which was maybe a little too lean but was still extremely flavorful and moist from the cooking jus. My sides were roasted yuca and rice, also great. The soft and starchy yuca was so garlicky, the vegetable actually reminded me of a giant portion of roast garlic. The rice was also garlic heavy and delicious. Something new I learned is that most Cubans don’t eat yellow rice as a side dish, yellow rice is only eaten if the rice has turned yellow through the cooking process, as is the case when cooking arroz con pollo. (Thanks for all the knowledge Christie!)

I also ordered a Cuban sandwich to-go for the drive home. Awesome. The bread and roasted pork were superior to any I’ve had in Atlanta. Definitely seek out Arco Iris if you are in the Tampa area. Credit cards accepted, parking is somewhat limited.

One last related bit of Tampa news. We of course hit up The Temple of Bern’s to take advantage of their stunning and well-priced wine cellar. I tried a pinot noir blanc (white wine) from Nuits-St.-Georges in Burgundy, an area which almost exclusively produces red wine. Imagine a electrically acidic and fruit forward white Burgundy balanced by the tongue coating body of a red pinor noir. All you white wine haters need to get slapped in the face with a bottle like this, or at least try to find some to taste. Good luck on that in the retail market, but recently flights to Tampa were $69 each way. Also, after dinner I got engaged up in one of the little private dessert rooms at Bern’s, thus setting myself up for decades of trips to Bern’s with an anniversary serving as cover. Just kidding (a little); we both love the experience of Bern’s and the people that work there, and it was a great way to end an evening.

Yet another recent Scoutmob inspired meal was at Pacci in Midtown. I attended a media brunch months ago, but this was my first visit to Pacci for dinner. I’ve heard good things about Pacci lately, so I was very much looking forward to this dinner with my friend Brandon, also a wino. I’m actually meeting up with Brandon (and then later, Hardy of Dirty South Wine) in Napa Valley & Sonoma this weekend for a quick post-race vacation. I plan on getting fat and highfalutin drunk. If Hardy has to “shush” me in the middle of a meal at a 2 star Michelin restaurant such as Cyrus, I’ll know I’ve achieved my goal.

Which brings me to my appetizer, the kobe beef carpaccio, which is super thin, meltingly tender, and dreamy. The salad atop these heavenly cuts can be pushed aside easily.

We also tried a hot appetizer with clams and mussels in a bread-friendly sweet and creamy anise flavored broth. This was another winner with plenty of tasty shellfish, even if the sauce was a touch too sweet.

What could be deemed the simplest dish we sampled, the papardelle bolognese, is in my running for dish of the evening. Fresh al dente ribbons of pasta, hearty and tangy sauce, and some cheese…that’s it. The sauce wasn’t really quite that color, this is just the best I could do with my camera considering how low the lighting was in the plush bromantic booth we shared.

Similar to my risotto at Sotto Sotto, the mushroom risotto distracted me with its banal use of truffle oil. The fried egg was an unorthodox but welcome addition though.

The short rib dish was…a braised short rib. I don’t order them often lately. Short ribs are good but tend to be very similar from restaurant to restaurant. But if you are feeling like a short rib, it won’t disappoint.

The veal chop special with quinoa and a questionable amount of hollandaise was something to be seen. The amazingly large hunk of tender calf was cooked wonderfully, and really I would have been pleased if they had just served me this steak on its own, maybe with an accompaniment of asparagus with that hollandaise diverted to some place where it belongs. Or perhaps a side of their finest jelly beans.

We brought in our own wine, including this ’07 Copain James Berry Syrah. Quite elegant Cali syrah, though young. I also brought in one of Sebastien Riffault’s crazy freaky unfiltered Sancerres. Rich honey, acid, and fun in a glass.

When Brandon made the reservation, they told us they’d waive corkage. I’m not sure why, but I’ll take it.

A generous friend of mine recently gave me some beef to try, a Flannery filet tip (or tail, the narrow end of the filet). I wish I had taken a picture of the steak before cooking it; the beef had a deep red (almost burgundy) color, and evenly distributed thin lines of marbling. Even the aroma of the raw beef was rich and game-like.

I’m usually a medium-rare kinda of guy, but decided such high quality beef should not be abused. I seared it in a hot grill pan for two minutes a side, so it was just warm in the center.

What do you think? Is that too rare for you?

The flavor was amazing, if not intoxicating. A real treat. Mr. Bryan Flannery will be hearing from me soon. Damnit.

Served with split, cast iron roasted carrots and Logan Turnpike grits.

Last week was my first visit to Woody’s, even though one year during college I lived less than a mile away. I tried to visit numerous times, but they were often closed, or when I would see them open, I wouldn’t have cash, which is all they accept.

Now under new ownership, the hours have expanded greatly, so a visit to Woody’s is much easier to schedule. Cash is still required though. When I was heading to Ansley to spend my somewhat hard earned dollars on grape juice and remembered Woody’s was nearby, I decided to see what all the hubbub was about.

The place only had a few diners and no line, so I was able to promptly place my sweaty money down and order. Cheese steak with whiz. I was quickly told that whiz was not recommended. So I acquiesced.

Despite the brutal heat, the covered porch wasn’t too hot, so I sat outside. I noticed a young couple drinking some beer on the patio, which looked like a fabulous idea, but when I went back inside to make my frosty lager purchase, I was told those smart folks had brought them from home. Woody’s is trying to get a license to serve, but the school across the street is giving them gruff.

Around the end of that conversation my cheesesteak was ready. It sure did look good, no?

It’s doesn’t please me to report that I was disappointed. While not altogether unpleasant, I had higher expectations. The chopped beef was very unsavory, fairly bland. No salt, no greasy beef flavor. That fact, coupled with the quickness with which my order was prepared, makes me wonder if I got an older batch of ribeye that had been hanging out for a while on the griddle. Not quite as offensive, but notable, the bread was slightly stale and a little dense.

I’ll give it another try, because it wasn’t offensive or anything like that, but my future expectations have been slightly adjusted from major cheesesteak destination, to potential lunchspot when I’m in the area.

I went to Han Il Kwan for dinner with friends last weekend. Korean BBQ is always fun and it had been a while.

For five people we ordered pork belly (samgyeopsal), two orders of short ribs (galbi), and two orders of ribeye. It was a good amount of food for five hungry dudes.

We also got a seafood pancake (haemul pajeon). It’s a good starter, easily shared.

The wait staff was great, very accommodating, with no “lost in translation” issues. I wouldn’t call any part of the meal best-in-class in this genre, but we had a good time and ate every bit of it. Short ribs were the best protein. If I wanted to gripe I’d say the banchan is unmemorable.

I think we spent about $30 a person, including ten beers.

Definitely recommended, particularly for those looking for an ITP option.

The taco above has two corn tortillas, diced raw onion, cilantro, and heavily seasoned thin strips of  beef. It was served to me tightly wrapped in aluminum foil. It costs $1.49 for one, or $2.79 for two, so I got the carnitas pictured below as well.

It looks like it could have come from numerous taquerias around town…except I purchased this via the Taco Bell drive-through.

I wasn’t aware until I saw the picture on the store while driving by last night, but Taco Bell kicked off a new “Cantina” taco series this week.

They were kind of gross, the sauce on the carnita was gloppy, and the meat had that fast food artificial seasoning and texture thing going on. But other than that, they are cheap, quick, and are probably a comparatively healthy fast food option. I’ll be interested to see how they do. I think many Taco Bell goers will consider these tacos to be too “plain”.

I mean, we’re talking about a company whose whole product marketing plan consists of changing the colors of corn tortillas and seeing how much shit (beans, rice, ground beef, cheese dip sauce) can be stuffed in a one pound sack (burrito).

First dish – homemade burgers

I do own a meat grinder, but it’s vintage and the blades aren’t sharp, so I opted to try a food processor method I read about on Serious Eats’ A Hamburger Today website. I cut short rib, sirloin tips, and chuck into 1-2” cubes and put them in the freezer for 20 minutes. This gets the fat cold and firm so the blade can deal with it.

Then I pulsed the meat a few times.

I formed a fairly loose burger and seasoned with salt and pepper. I seared it in a smoking hot cast iron skillet, then turned down the heat and continued to cook for a few minutes, adding cheese on top along the way.

The resulting medium-rare burger was fantastic. The griddled exterior was crispy and flavorful, and the burger was fatty, tender, and deliciously greasy. I’m fairly sure I won’t be buying ground beef for burgers anymore. The cost was roughly the same, the flavor was unquestionably better, I can control the fat content, and as I’m comfortable eating even Publix beef medium rare, there’s no reason I shouldn’t be comfortable eating a freshly ground burger that way.

Next meal up – panini. I started by making a coleslaw, with some homemade chile oil as the base. I’ve had this batch a few months, and just a spoonful can be added to any number of dishes for improved heat and color.

The sauce was: 2 Tbsp of chile oil, 1T soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1t fish sauce, 1t Shaoxing rice wine.

For the panini filler – meats from Patak. Boston butt, salamis, and ham.

Stacked on ciabatta. Ciabatta is perfect for a panini.

See?

Next meal – 20 minute mac

Start by boiling your noodles per instructions. Meanwhile shred some cheese. Sauté chopped onions, garlic, and one small can of green chiles in a small amount of olive oil. Add 1-2T of flour, whisk rapidly. Slow pour in 1 cup milk, a bit at a time, whisking to create the roux. Add 1 cup cream after the milk, again, slow. Once all the liquid is incorporated, add the cheese. If it’s too runny, add more cheese. Too thick, add more cream.

Stir in noodles, place in oven safe serving dish, top with more cheese, broil.

Next dish – Ad Hoc Roasted Chicken

Let the chicken air dry in the refrigerator for up to 1 day, then rest on the counter for 1-2 hours before cooking. Truss. Set chicken on top of diced root vegetables. Rub butter or oil all over the skin. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook per recipe (linked it above)

Yum. Skin was the crispiest I’ve ever made. Slightly over cooked, but still acceptable.

Save the chicken fat/juices in the skillet with the leftover veggies. For a snack, reduce that liquid to create a pan gravy and pour over the vegetables.

Next – Muss and Turner’s small plates.

Squid, in a green olive based “salsa”. Sauce was rocking. Portion was huge.

Szechuan beef. Small portion, high quality, tender beef. Very nice.

Now I’m hungry.