The Bicycle Chef

G is for Goat Milk

The first semester of culinary school I was a giddy, excitable freshman all over again. If I had been at MIT I would have run for president of the robot club and written articles about knot theory. Instead, I wrote about farming revolutions in Kansas and signed up for ice cream contests.  

Two like-minded ladies and I formed a team – we were CIA babies and the odd culinarians competing against 6^th semester baking and pastry students. On the Vanderbilt lawn, an emerald expanse that topples into the Hudson River, we dreamed up ice cream flavors while eating summer strawberries and triple cream cheese. The next day we submitted our recipe for a goat milk-honey ice cream with salted almond brittle. I had never tried goat milk, but it sounded pure, clean, sweet, grassy … something that would make good ice cream. We named our creation Halcyon Daze, inspired by a Whitman, Ben, and Jerry.

Savannah, Katie and I won People’s Choice and as a prize we each received an ice cream maker. Two years later, I recreated the golden, sweet,  award-winning ice cream.

I start with the brittle. It's easy, delicious, and photogenic. If you don't have time or equipment to make ice cream, the salty, honey-sweet, cracking brittle is a nice mini project on its own. 

Salted Almond Brittle 

½ cup almonds

1 teaspoon butter

2 tablespoons honey

cinnamon

salt

-in a small sauté pan toast almonds til light golden brown. Add butter and honey and stir until caramel. Remove from heat, stir in a pinch of salt and cinnamon. Pour onto silpat or greased wax paper. Sprinkle with salt and allow to cool and harden.

 

 

The ice cream is not difficult to make, but it requires some focus and patience. After completing the custard, the biggest challenges were capturing a good drip photo with one hand on the camera and waiting patiently for the mixture to cool. 

Not quite…

Almost…

There it is.

 

Halcyon Daze

2 cups goat milk

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablspoon flour

pinch salt

1 egg

10 tablespoons honey

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

-Over a double boiler, scald goats milk. Stir in sugar, flour, and salt and stir a minute until dissolved. Temper egg by pouring a thin stream of hot milk gradually into egg while whisking, about 1 cup, then whisking the mixed egg and milk back into the double boiler. Continue whisking until thick custard is formed (one that heavily coats the back of a spoon). Add honey and stir to mix.

-Cool several hours. When completely cool, add whipped cream that has been beaten to look like fluff, then add vanilla. Spin custard in an ice cream machine, adding crushed salted almond brittle. Freeze and enjoy.

 

F is for Fig Cake

Fig Newtons make me gag. They were the only fig experience available to a Kansas City kid, so I assumed I hated figs. Luckily, Erin Lusk didn’t tell me her mom had brought her famous Louisiana FIG Cake to SEA’s campus. She just gave me a plate and fork. What fruit sap was giving her miracle cake its density, depth, and … is that molasses? Prune? Ok, I guess I don’t hate figs.

 

 
 

A few years later I tasted a freshly picked fig from a friend's backyard. Ok, I guess I  really love figs. Who knew perfect, melon-y, mind-blowing figs grew abundantly in the District of Columbia? 

Mrs. Lusk’s Louisiana Fig Cake is one of my most-used recipes. I have witnessed a proliferation in varieties of fig preserves. Leftover preserves may be spread on ham and cheese sandwiches.

Louisiana Fig Cake

Ingredients

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 eggs

1 cup peanut (or canola) oil

1-12 ounce jar of fig preserves

1 cup chopped pecans

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and oil bundt pan.

2. In a large bowl, stir together first six ingredients. In a small bowl, mix together eggs and oil, and add to the dry ingredients. Stir together with fig preserves and chopped pecans until uniform, then transfer to bundt pan. The mixture will look like wet sand, the kind you might make drip sand castles out of.

3. Bake about 1 hour, until the cake collapses in on itself. This is perfectly normal. Allow the cake to cool completely. The cake can be difficult to remove, but with gentle prying it will release itself. Simple bundt pans (NOT like the one I used) or silpat pans help in this matter. 

 

E is for Eggs Benedict

Eggs Benedict is my hypothetical death row meal (with a hot fudge brownie sundae).  Unlike grilled cheese or pizza, Eggs Benedict is only worth eating when it's made well. The best I’ve eaten was from the Art Cliff Diner on Martha’s Vineyard - the Hollandaise had enough acid to balance the rich clarified butter, and the eggs were cooked through just to the end of the white-yolk border. 

I’ve eaten too many disappointing versions - with chalky yolks and foamy, greasy sauces. I have stopped ordering Eggs Benedict altogether. I still crave it, so I decided to stop complaining and make my own. It's a surprisingly quick, simple meal. Here are some tips.

-Irish Bacon, which is smoked pork loin, is a nice ham alternative.

-Use a tall-rimmed pot to poach the eggs. The white will form around the yolk during its slow torpedo descent.

-Add a few tablespoons of vinegar and salt to the water to encourage the eggs to set faster.

-Crack fresh eggs into a cup and then gently transfer them to the water. 

-I start Hollandaise with a vinegar-black pepper-shallot reduction and add lemon juice and a bit of cayenne at the end for a brighter, cleaner tasting sauce.  

D is for Doughnut

Doughnuts protect themselves against predatory amateur bakers with intimidating defenses: yeast and deep-frying.  Weighing the costs in time, labor, and potential oil burns against the benefit of eating homemade doughnuts, the logical conclusion is Krispy Kreme. Sometimes we need to defy logic.

My foray into doughnut making started at FOCUS summer camp in Martha’s Vineyard. Caitlin and Nina, two volunteer cooks, tackled the kitchen with the same fervor they applied to opposing rugby players. We three decided to make a midnight snack. In an hour we had filled two twelve-foot islands with trays of rainbow, chocolate, and cinnamon bedazzled fried dough. 

Today I completed my second batch of doughnuts. It is an incredibly satisfying exercise! There are unaccounted benefits that tip the scale back in favor of home made. The customized flavors, shapes and toppings; hotter and fresher doughnuts than even the factory can provide; and the pride of seeing your perfect ring bobbing on a turbulent sea of canola oil all make the effort worthwhile. Defy logic, overcome yeast and frying fears, and create something that would make Homer Simpson say “mmmm…”. 

 I chose basic yeast, pistachio, and masa doughs with cinnamon sugar, chocolate ganache and simple glaze toppings. My favorite was the yeast topped with glaze and cinnamon sugar.

Yeast Doughnuts 

Creates about a dozen, depending on size. Recipe adapted from CIA's  Baking and Pastry.

1 1/4 cup bread flour

3/4 cup pastry flour

1 package (1 teaspoon) dry yeast

2/3 cup water 

1 egg

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons dry milk

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 ounces shortening

-Stir first three ingredients together. Beat in all ingredients except shortening for 2 minutes on medium. Add shortening and mix together for 8 minutes on medium, then 3 minutes on high. While a standing mixer would make life much easier, I beat my dough by hand. My right bicep is slightly larger today. 

- Put the dough in a greased bowl covered loosely with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until it's twice its original size. Punch it down (my favorite part), and let it rise again. I kept my dough in the refrigerator overnight for a longer, slower second rise so I could have doughnuts as soon as could heat the oil. 

-Roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thick. Use ring cutters to form your doughnuts. Fill a 4-quart pan 2 inches deep with oil and bring the temperature to 360°. Gently lower dough rings into oil and fry for about 1 minute on each side until golden brown. Place cooked doughnuts on paper towels to absorb excess oil. 

-Dip doughnuts in prepared toppings of choice: 6 ounces of chocolate melted with 1/2 cup of cream; half-cinnamon-half-sugar; a cup of powdered sugar with a tablespoon of melted butter and just enough milk to make it soupy...

C is for Cajeta

A quick tutorial: Caramel is burnt sugar (milk optional). It is the Chardonnay of the burnt sugar universe – variable and versatile. Dulce de Leche is burnt sweetened milk. It's like a smooth, medium-body Merlot. Cajeta is burnt sweetened GOATS milk. Cajeta is the old, funky Burgundian Pinot. It’s may not please everyone, but it is unique and worthy of obsession.

Paris brought home a case (12 bottles) of Coronado brand Cajeta. Here's how I made an enormous amount of lovely burnt, sweetened goats milk disappear in less than a month.

 "Oreos" made with galletas Marias, which you can find in most grocery stores for about $0.90.

I don't know how Paris got these giant colorful wafers from Mexico to Hoboken without breaking them. They are neutral-flavored, crispy Cajeta carriers, the "bread" for Obleas "sandwiches".

Apples + Squeeze of Lemon + Bowl of Cajeta = Snack Perfection.

 

My favorite application: Cajeta and Almond Butter Sandwich. Bananas optional. I sprinkle a pinch of Maldon sea salt on top of the almond butter, especially when it’s going with something sweet.

Coronado makes a lovely, thick Cajeta. A future project is to make my own. Your project is to buy a jar and enjoy it now!

B is for Braise

For muscles the animal uses often -- shoulder, shank, or round  -- low and slow is the way to go.

Braised meat and hot chocolate help me survive Winter. I decided to sneak one last braise in before Spring tweaks my cravings to lighter fare. In the CIA’s American Bounty Restaurant, Chef Roe makes a shredded braised short rib on soft polenta with mascarpone, capers, sun dried tomatoes… It is one of the most harmonious, insanely delicious dishes I have tasted. Here are the basics of how to recreate a deep, dreamy braise. 

Start by browning the meat, in this case 2 pounds of short ribs, on all sides (see above) and preparing sauce components. Although the standard ratio for mirepoix is 2:1:1 onion, carrot, celery, I prefer a 2:2:1 onion, carrot, celery mix. I like the sweet, earthiness of the carrots, and I'm not sure that celery has much to contribute. After caramelizing the mirepoix over a raging flame, throw in 1/2 bottle of good red wine, scrape the pan's bottom with a wooden spoon to free the brown bits on the bottom, put the meat back in, and add enough beef broth to cover 3/4 of the meat. 

I like to use a LOT of thyme, so I recommend you put half a bunch in at the start of braising time along with garlic (4 crushed cloves sounds about right), a bay leaf and parsley stems. These "aromatics" develop background flavor notes. Put the other half-bunch-of-thyme in forty-five minutes before braising time is up. This will add a fresh herbal flavor.  

 

My 2:2:1 ratio and aromatics including a hefty portion of thyme 

 

Just before going in the oven...

 

... and just after coming out. (I had a few extra tomatoes in the pantry, so I tossed them in.)


Once the braise comes to a simmer, cover and cook it in the oven for five hours at 225°F. With a lightly maneuvered spoon sweep away any congealed filmy sludge ("impurities", as they call them at the CIA). Remove the short ribs to a separate tray and strain the sauce, pressing the solids against the mesh to get all the flavor out, clarity be damned! Simmer the sauce in a clean pan and let it gently bubble away 2/3 of its liquid volume, leaving a densely flavor-packed reduction. 

The photos may not look conventionally pretty. The aromas complete the image, and everything is completed by the eating. I am sorry to leave my neighbors incomplete, without sight or a bite, sniffing in the hall. I will also have to wait for completion. Paris works late, and I'm catching a bus to D.C. to see my nieces' christening. The braise is relaxing in modest accommodations in my refrigerator. This situation has a few advantages. One is that I will be able to skim the fat more gracefully once it has solidified on top. Another is that braises taste better one or two days after cooking. And finally, anticipation makes everything taste better! More on braising to come!

A is for Avocado

“The avocado is a food without rival among the fruits, the veritable fruit of paradise.” 

Italy and Mexico share national colors. Lets see how their ingredients mix. 

 

…Looking extremely bite-able.

Paradise is found; it's creamy, green and sweet. The declaration at the top of this post is from David Fairchild, an American botanist who introduced thousands of new crops and flavors to the US palate in the 19^th century, including the avocado. The quote at the top of this paragraph is from me. I spent the first twenty-five years of my life avoiding avocado, and I've spent the last three years making up for wasted opportunities. I am having a moment with the Avocado, Mozzarella, and Dijon Sandwich. While these ingredients compose the sandwich’s base, experimentation would lead me (and should lead you) to add a generous garnish of parsley and garnets of tomato, shaven ham and pepperoncini, or whatever else is available. Paris and I also love it plain and grilled.

When I want to nibble on something fresh, this salad is perfectly simple and satisfying. 

    Avocado Grapefruit Salad

  1 avocado, sliced

    1 grapefruit, segmented (reserve 2 tablespoons of juice)

    1/2 teaspoon salt

    1 teaspoon honey

    1 teaspoon dijon

    2 tablespoons oil

    4 cups greens (I like watercress when I can find it, and find it looking healthy)

    -In a small bowl mix reserved grapefruit juice, salt, honey, and dijon. Whisk in oil. Toss with greens, grapefruit and avocado. Add nuts, fresh cheese, herbs, light meat, etc. as desired. 

 The pinnacle of an avocados existence: guacamole. *Chips provided by The Taco Truck.*

My last, and favorite, avocado application is (glory, glory!) guacamole! I was the intern in charge of making guacamole every day in a restaurant that charged $100 for the plate containing it. It had to be good guacamole. A few tricks I thieved: 

     - Add a pinch of cumin to ground the guacamole. Otherwise it is too ethereal.

      -Keep the guac chunky so the flavors stay distinct and meld under your molars

     - Olive oil gives the guac a silkier texture and a glimmering plate presentation

      -Gradually add salt and lime juice, keeping them in balance until the flavors peak and it tastes like .... Paradise

Everyone should have their own guacamole recipe or at least have an idea of what they look for in guacamole. Here is my recipe, although Paris says it's inauthentic because of the olive oil and chunkiness. I don't care. It's definitely delicious. Call it what you like. Please feel free to use this as a starting point, and let me know your various versions and secrets.

     Guacamole

  2 tablespoons minced red onion

    2 teaspoons minced jalapeño

    2 avocados, small diced

    1 teaspoon salt (for this and past/future reference I always use Kosher Salt unless specified)

    dash of cumin

    2 tablespoons lime juice

    1 tablespoon olive oil

    1 tablespoon cilantro

    -Stir all ingredients to combine.