March 30, 2011

This week’s topics include a beer recommendation and general beer snobbery, a sign of the coming apocalypse, a ghost in the pantry, my love affair with Chipotle, a review of Tamayo in Larimer Square in Denver, and a Jessica Simpson reference.  Yes.  A Jessica Simpson reference. 

What am I working on?  Too much travel for work, so I haven’t been able to cook much.  Not to worry.  I’ll correct that soon.

Beer?  This will surprise many of you, but I’ve been known to drink a beer from time to time.  Lately, I’m enjoying pilsner and I have Great Basin Brewery’s Pogonip Pilsner on tap at home.  I enjoy the clean, dry taste you get right in the front of your palate from pilsner.  I recently met a friend for lunch at the Yardhouse on the Sixteenth Street Mall in Denver.  I had a Pilsner Urquell on tap while I waited for him.  My friend suggested I try Barmen Pilsner, which takes seven minutes to pour properly.  Comes with a nice head on it and it’s a wonderful beer.  Has the nice dryness of a pilsner up front, but has a real depth in the back of the palate which reminds me of a Belgian beer, without the sweetness.  If you find it on tap, order it.

A sign of the coming apocalypse or just indicative of widespread bad taste?  You be the judge.  The Yardhouse is a chain with pretty good food and a dizzying array of beer on tap (110 in the Denver Yardhouse).  Care to guess the # 1 seller in the Denver Yardhouse?  Coors Light.  In Denver, where there is a ludicrous number of great microbrews!  Care to guess the #1 seller in the Glendale, AZ Yardhouse?  Bud Light.  I know this because I asked the managers while I was there.  All those great beers and the substantial majority goes with Bud Light or Coors Light?!  I’m going with apocalypse.  These people would probably take a good whiskey and mix it with soda!  There are 2 times when drinking a light beer is acceptable:  1) When you’re at someone’s house and the host is serving light beer.  “Why, yes, I’d love one.  Thank you;” and 2) If you’re hung over and easing into a little hair of the dog.  There is, of course, an exception to #1.  If you’re at a buddy’s house, or in my case a brother's house, and all he has is light beer, he deserves your mockery.

Random Thing I Have in Pantry?  Dried Bhut Jolokia (the ghost chili), formerly the hottest pepper on the planet.  Somewhere around 1,000,000 units on the Scoville scale.  By comparison, a jalapeno is somewhere between 2,500 and 8,000 units.  Why do I have this?  Because I found it and couldn’t resist buying it.  What will I cook with it?  Probably nothing.  This is a not a chili to be trifled with.  Imagine throwing some of that in my smoked hot wing rub.  Make a grown man cry for mommy and curl up into a fetal position. 

Chipotle Mexican Grill – For those of you who have never been to a Chipotle, it’s a burrito chain started in Denver in the 1993.  Chipotle....oh how I love you and your zeppelin-sized burritos.  If only there was one in Reno.  There’s some refreshing about restaurants like Chipotle that only do a few things, but do them well.  Chipotle’s been around almost two decades and not much has changed.  Reminds me of In-N-Out Burger.  This is who we are and what we do and we do it well.  You can like it or not.

My go to meal at Chipotle is a half chicken/half carnitas burrito with pinto beans, hot sauce, cheese and lettuce with a bag of their lime chips and a Nantuck Nectar.  Simply awesome and all for about $10! 

Curious how they make their rice?  Saute the rice in some butter and fresh lime juice before you cook it.  After it’s cooked and right before you serve it, toss the rice in some chicken broth and fresh cilantro.  Use just enough chicken broth to coat the rice and distribute the flavor of the cilantro.  Be sure to do this close to the time you plan to serve as the cilantro will slowly cook in the rice and lose some of its bright green color.  This rice is good with almost any Latin-themed meal.  Plus, your friends will think you’re so cool because you know how to cook Chipotle’s rice.

Ever wonder why carnitas tastes so great?  Warning – this may burst a few bubbles.  It’s traditionally braised in lard over a period of hours at a temperature of about 160-180 degrees (I don’t know if Chipotle uses this method).  That’s why good carnitas has a bit of a crust on the outside and the inside is juicy.  I know what you’re thinking, but don’t judge.  The French have braised stuff in animal fat for centuries.  How do you think confit is made?

Restaurant Review – Tamayo in Larimer Square in Denver.  Tamayo is a ‘modern Mexican’ restaurant.   The interior is very modern and open.  Beautiful restaurant and fairly pricey, so I’m expecting some good food.  My server is Lisa Ann and she is fabulous.  She knows the menu well and is a good salesperson.  I’m thinking about a margarita and she sells me on their Casa Coin, which is their high end house specialty.  I’m not thinking about an appetizer, and she sells me on the stuffed Chile Relleno.  Well done, Lisa Ann.

The Margarita.  It has Casa Nobles Blanc tequila, muddled lime juice, and Cointreau.  Good and strong, but you  primarily taste the tequila and it’s not worth the price.  I only had one and then ordered a Dos Equis. 

Appetizer.  As mentioned above, Lisa Ann used her superior sales abilities on a weak man and I ordered the Chile Relleno, which is a chile poblano stuffed with shrimp, scallops, calamari, and queso gourdo and served with a black bean puree, crema fresca, and chile sauce.  How can you go wrong with that combination?!  I mostly enjoyed the dish.  The chile is really just a vessel for the mess ‘o seafood and cheese inside.  It also gives a low and smoky heat to the dish.  However, something’s bothering me about the dish and I finally figure out what it is.  The shrimp inside are tiny little shrimp that you might find in an Applebee’s lunch salad.  I mean, come on!  This is a pricey signature dish of your restaurant and you use shrimp you stole from Applebee’s rather than plump and juicy prawns? 

Entrée.  After staring at the menu like an Amish person at Best Buy for way too long, I finally order the Braised Piloncillo Short Rib, another house specialty and also a bit pricey.  It’s served with a chile poblano-chive potato puree, a haricot vert salad (huh?), and a guava-habanero chile sauce.  Served with black beans and rice.  A beautiful dish:

The sauce reminds me of a spicy ketchup.  Piquant, sweet, and spicy.  The meat is nicely cooked, but as with the relleno, something’s off.  Then it comes to me.  The meat doesn’t look like a short rib and there’s no rib in sight.  It seems more like carnitas which hasn’t been shredded!  Plus, the meat was just bland and needed a rub or some sort of seasoning.  The sauces didn’t bring enough to the party to overcome the bland meat.   Nothing particularly wrong with it, but nothing particularly right about it either.  The beans and rice were even worse.  Anyone can cook black beans in chicken stock and throw some crema fresca on before they’re served.  Uninspired and not that good.  The rice and beans together reminded me of a bad Mahatma bag mix you could buy at the store.

In short, Tamayo and its expensive food were like a beautiful girl that’s dumb as a box of rocks.  It’s a Jessica Simpson restaurant!  There’s simply not much substance behind the pretty restaurant and food.    

Ever since I lived in Denver, I’ve searched for decent Mexican food in Denver, which is otherwise a fabulous food town.  In the land of Casa Bonita, I often found Cheese Whiz and ketchup masquerading as Mexican food.  Alas, I’ll keep looking.

WF

March 24, 2011 - The inaugural post

Why a Blog?  Simply?  I love to cook.  I love trying new and different cooking techniques and rarely use a recipe unless I have to.  I love trying good food at restaurants and wondering if I can duplicate it or even improve it. I am opinionated about food (see below) and am a borderline curmudgeon.  I love good wine, whiskey, and beer.  I want to write about all of this and I hope you find it entertaining.  Either way, I’ll enjoy creating this blog.

Each week (ish), I’ll write about what I’ve cooked, what I’m working on, wines, etc., that I’ve tried, random travel notes, and if I’m lucky, write a review of a restaurant in Reno or other places that my travels take me.

Highlights of this week:  Paella; homemade infused salts; a homemade cocktail; a wine suggestion; the best whiskey I can afford; a disclaimer about my BBQ snobbery; high hopes and low expectations; and a review of Men Wielding Fire.

What Am I Cooking?  As my friends and family know, I am fascinated with Paella lately.  It’s a beautiful, one pot dish that you can cook inside or outside on the grill.  Plus, it’s a very impressive dish, particularly if you make it on a Boy Scout Camping trip, as I did this weekend:

Traditionally, it’s made over a fire, which adds a great smoky flavor.  If you want my basic ‘recipe’, I’m happy to share it.  You will, however, need a Paella pan to make it properly.  And yes, I’m aware that “Paella” means pan and Paella pan is redundant.

It’s also that time of the year when a man’s thoughts turn to BBQ and cooking outdoors.  It’s time to fire up the smoker.  I’m thinking brisket and/or beef ribs with smoked mac ‘n cheese for Easter dinner!  I’m sure the Red (see below) will want something more traditional, like ham.  Perhaps I’ll try to cure my own ham and smoke it….

What Am I Working On?  Infused kosher salts.  I’m pondering making a rosemary and garlic infused salt for steaks and a thyme infused salt for chicken.  I think both have real promise.

Cocktails?   I recently made some (a lot) of pineapple infused vodka, which I’ve served shaken and straight up as a martini or mixed with some Sprite and served over ice.  Both are quite refreshing and should be very nice when summer arrives. 

Wine?  Found a nice French Bordeaux at Costco for $8.  Chateau Bel Air Bordeaux Superior – 2008.  Is it comparable to a great Bordeaux?  No.  Is it good enough to fondly remind me of the Bordeaux I had in France?  Yes.  Is it a great bargain at $8?  Absolutely.

Best Whiskey I Can Afford?  Elijah Craig 18 year.  My friend Brett (aka Huey) is my bourbon mentor and my frequent companion in juvenile frivolity.  I used to tell him that bourbon was white trash scotch.  I didn’t care for the sweetness in some bourbons and turned my nose up at a whiskey made to be drank on ice (the horror!).  He’s since proven me wrong and this whiskey is almost perfect.  It has the essence of what’s great about bourbon, without the overpowering sweetness.  It has a rich, mahogany color and wonderful, complex smell in the glass.  The best part is that it’s only 90 proof, so you can drink it neat (no ice and a couple drops of water).  If you want to mix this into a cocktail, find another whiskey, you godless heathen.  Fabulous with a cigar as well. 

Restaurant Review – Men Wielding Fire.  For those that live in Reno, Men Wielding Fire (MWF) is located at the corner of Lake and 1^st Street.  Since MWF is a BBQ place, a disclaimer is in order.  I am a BBQ snob and an amateur BBQ’er in my own right.  Yes, I have a pellet-fed barrel smoker in my back yard and, yes, I use it a lot.  I believe that lots of people try to make great BBQ and very few succeed.  If you’re going to serve me BBQ, please make me smile and thinks such thoughts as “Wow.  What a great smoke ring,” “Great rub,” or simply, and my personal favorite, “Damn!”  I am also a firm believer that most people can make pretty good baby back ribs and pulled pork.  If you want to separate the BBQ men from the boys, try the brisket.  That will tell you if the guy in the back really has righteous BBQ kung fu or not.  (Sorry ladies – BBQ’ers seem to be predominantly male.  Perhaps it’s the copious amounts of beer required to make good BBQ).  Sadly, in my oh so humble opinion, Reno does not have many good BBQ places.  When I enter a local BBQ joint, I usually have high hopes and low expectations.  I suppose that’s probably how my lovely bride felt when she married me 16 years ago, but that’s a different story.

My lovely bride (aka, the “Red’) and I decide to visit MWF for lunch mid-week.  When you walk into MWF, the first things that grab your attention are the décor (lots of steel and bright colors) and the wonderful aroma of hardwood smoke.  You’ve got my attention now as I have an almost pavlovian response to the smell of hardwood smoke.  The Red orders the house specialty, the pulled pork sandwich, and opts to forego the ‘Freedom Fries’ as a side in favor of the gorgonzola polenta.  At this point, I am thrilled because I desperately want to try the polenta and the fries, so I get the fries as a side to my lamb burger on a ciabatta bun (since I didn’t see any brisket, though the Red swears it was on the menu). 

As we wait for our food, the place starts to fill up and the head chef and part owner, Jack Lyon, drops by our table to say hello.  Gotta love a place where the owner cares enough to cook the food and gets out to mingle with the customers.

Our food arrives and both plates look awesome, so some food porn photos are in order.  Here’s the Red’s pulled pork sandwich:   

And here is my lamb burger:

The Red’s pulled pork is a nice sandwich.  MWF puts their slaw inside the sandwich, which gives it a nice, crunchy texture.  The pulled pork has a nice smoke ring and good all around flavor.  However, the star of the show is the gorgonzola polenta.  It appeared to be a mix of yellow and white polenta cooked with a nice chicken stock.  It was creamy and rich and would be a solid side dish on its own.  But, MWF doesn’t stop there.  MWF takes it a step further and puts gorgonzola on top of it and browns it under the salamander.  To the man who created this dish I say, “You, sir are a genius and one of my personal heroes.”  It’s almost like macaroni and cheese done at a high level.  To be more precise, it’s the epitome of foodie comfort food (what part of polenta and gorgonzola in the same dish was unclear?). 

A side note for you foodies who turn your noses up at grits, a southern staple.  If you like polenta , you’ll like grits.  They’re the same thing, with slight differences in preparation.  Trust me on this – the next time you’re at breakfast and grits are prominently noted on the menu (example – Pegs Glorified Ham ‘N Eggs), set aside your food snobbery and order some.  Put some butter in them (more is, of course, better), along with some salt and pepper, and thank me later.  The advanced grits course includes ordering them with cheese, bacon, etc.  Mmmmm… grits…. [Insert Homer Simpson sound here]

But I digress…..  As noted above, I ordered a lamb burger, which was marinated in a balsamic vinegar-based marinade.  I ordered my burger medium (no need to kill it again, it’s already dead!) with swiss cheese and blue cheese dressing (might as well abuse those taste buds), along with the ‘Freedom Fries’.  The burger had amazing flavor, but was unfortunately cooked well done.  I mentioned this to the waitress and Mr. Lyon came back to our table.  He noted that the burger did appear cooked well, but that the balsamic marinade tended to take the red color out of the meat and, because lamb is so lean, the meat cooks very quickly.  He offered to replace it, but I chose to keep it as it was still a very tasty burger notwithstanding that it was simply overcooked.  I might suggest that they grind some fat back or bacon into the lamb mixture to overcome some of the leanness of the lamb.  Then again, I think bacon and/or pork fat can help any dish and, more importantly, it’s not my restaurant.

The Freedom Fries were spectacular.  Thick cut and fried crispy and, if I’m not mistaken, made from Yukon Gold potatoes, which gave them a nice, sweet flavor.  I wonder what oil they fry them in…  Great fries.  I could only eat a pound or two at a time.

In short, I think MWF is a great local restaurant and I look forward to going back, though I’ll probably steer clear of the lamb burger.  It’s clear that MWF is run by people who love the food they make.  The best compliment I can give MWF is that I will gladly bring my out-of-town foodie friends to this restaurant when they visit.  It’s safe to say that we will likely try some of their 16 beers on tap.

I am certain that future restaurant reviews will not be as favorable as this one. 

WF