The Nasty Bits

The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones
Anthony Bourdain

Full disclosure: I got the book for free (Thanks Eric!)

I love Anthony Bourdain. I think he is a very lucid observer of the food and restaurant world, although he does have many biases (none that he hides really.) Kitchen Confidential was a funny, informative and incredibly entertaining book. The same can be said about A Cook’s Tour. Even though you can, and probably will, call bullshit on him on more than one occasion, in any of his books, the reality is that I always finish his books with a huge smile on my face.

The Nasty Bits, just like Kitchen Confidential, is a somewhat disjointed collection of writings that makes use of most of Bourdain’s talents. From commentaries about the state of fine dining to an acerbic critique of the James Beard Foundation through the joys of world travel and the love of his fellow cooks, Bourdain covers a lot of ground. The whole thing is a bit of a mess but each of those articles make for an entertaining read, once again.

Bourdain has the gift of being himself, of enticing curiosity and of spectacular description all at the same time, something that you rarely see in food writing. When Bourdain loves, he loves with passion. When he loathes, he loathes with passion. Like the ex-junkie that he is, there are no half-measures both in his writing and with his persona. That brings two different results: he goes way overboard and is funny as all hell or he goes way overboard and you just call bullshit on his shenanigans, both results are equally fun for me to read. Much like Hunter Thompson, that he rips off lovingly in this book, Bourdain brings the whole food world to a new level of consciousness that you never thought he had at first. Nasty Bits is like Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, the Food version.

Tunes: With Bourdain’s fondness for old school punk I have no other choice but to recommend The Germs’ (MIA): The Complete Anthology for the finest in L.A. Punk with Darby Crash at the helm and Pat Smear anchoring the rhythm section, great stuff. Since I am a little younger than Mr Bourdain, I would personally would have gone with Black Flag, Damaged. Damaged is quite possibly my favorite hardcore record of all time and makes you forget what became of Henry Rollins afterwards (see: Johnny Mnemonic.)

CSA & Half a Lamb

Despite the lack of recipes posted on this blog in the past few weeks, there is no shortage of planning that has been done to ensure that the most exquisite meals will come your way soon (oh the humility of the amateur cook!) First I subscribed to a CSA, so I will be receiving boatloads of organics fruits and vegetables throughout summer and fall. So I will have to do something with that, hopefully a few things to please the readers. Second, I commited to buying half an organically fed, humanely raised lamb. Expect lamb recipes in the fall and all through winter as I’ll go through that beast (now I gotta convince the guy that I need those nasty bits like liver, tripes, brains  and all.)

Anywho, I’ll try to cook something interesting soon. Expect tasty things in the future. Now I am trying to secure foie gras directly from local farms… We’ll see how that goes!

No time for anything

Sorry people (the two of you), haven’t had a minute to cook anything interesting in a little while. I will have something up this week and I am planning a pretty challenging dinner party in a little bit so please come back soon.

 I also went to a great restaurant but haven’t taken any pictures due to lack of light. Maybe I’ll review it anyway.

Poutine au Foie de Veau

This time I show where I am from. Poutine is a strange, to some, concoction made of fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. This thing was introduced to the world in the town of Warwick, Québec, Canada, apparently in the 60s and has since become an essential part of any grease spoon diner in Québec. There has been a few attempts to reinvent the Poutine, probably none so successful as the Foie Gras Poutine at le Pied de Cochon, that I visited recently.

 

 

 

Before going all the way and trying to reproduce that one, I thought I’d try it with something a little less on the expensive side, still amazingly good, veal liver. I have tried all sorts of Poutine in my days, from sausage to steak and all sorts in between but I’ll be honest, this one ranks high, very high. On to the recipe:

• 2-3 medium sized russet potatoes cut in fries shape per person (ideally not too long, 1”-1 ½” long is good.
• ¼ cup of old cheddar (I had a five year old) crumbled into small pieces per person
• 1 nicely sized cutlet of veal liver per person (a quarter inch thick)
• 1 teaspoon of oil
• 1 table spoon of butter
• Frying oil
• Salt and pepper

Gravy (for 1 Poutine):

• 1 glass of red wine
• 1 cup of brown beef or veal stock
• 1 small onion, minced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• Salt and pepper

I don’t have a fryer so I fried in a stock pot so I put my frying oil in the pot and put it over medium heat to warm up first. If you have a fryer, start it up for frying. In a sauce pan over high heat, brown the onion for a few minutes, add the garlic, fry for 30 seconds and add the stock and the wine. Lower the heat so that it just bubbles away. This will have to reduce by half, in the meantime start your fries.

 

I do my fries the French way, cook them first in medium heat oil, for a few minutes, then brown them over high heat just before service. When doing the first pass, just dump a whole lot in at a time and don’t worry about the oil descending in temperature, it just will take a tiny bit more time but will save you time in the end. Reserve them on paper towels when the fries seem cooked through, you’ll see they will be all limp. Don’t let them brown! If they brown your oil is too hot.

 

 

Now this becomes a little tricky, everything should be done at the same time but if you are quick you will be able to pull it off. First, bring your frying oil to a piping hot temperature. In another sauce pan, cook a brown roux with the butter and the flour (in short melt the butter, when it is melted just add the flour and cook the mixture until it is nice a nice brown-caramel colour). Once the roux is coloured, add the reduced sauce and see it become all thick and wonderful. Remove from heat and reserve. Start browning your fries in the oil in small batches and then reserve on paper towels. Then put on a frying pan on high heat, melt the butter in the oil and add your previously seasoned liver. Brown it well on each side, for a minute or two on each side (depending on how rare you like it). Slice the veal liver into bite size pieces. Adjust seasoning on the gravy if necessary.

 

 

Plate it this way: Fries at the bottom, sprinkle the cheese on top, add your liver and pour the gravy on top. Awesome stuff.

 

 

Tunes: Shalabi Effect – Unfortunately. This is an awesome improv record from one of the most experienced experimental artists in the Montréal scene. This was recorded over a three day stay at an art gallery a few years ago and shows everything the band can do. From Middle Eastern grooves to face melting noise experiments. Incredible record.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

by Michael Pollan

Alright, I know I am a bit late to the parade on this one but I guess I needed to read it at some point and that was early January. After all the praise and analysis I am not sure what I have that is so unique to add on the subject but I will try none the less. I guess one more review is nothing that will make this less of a best seller, it already is, but this is an important book with the “foodie” crowd and I thought I would address it.

 

One of the most important aspect of this book is its incredible vulgarization characteristics. Pollan did a lot of research for this book, read many important texts, talked to important and not so important people and nicely packaged that in a book that anybody with more than a passing interest about food can read. And because he writes with such a naive tone that everything seems so new to him that you feel like you are discovering things at the same as he does.

 

His journalistic approach to research is interesting but, in my opinion flawed. My biggest problem I have with the book is the fact that he bases his whole arguments on things he has seen once and a huge sample of one person he interviews. I understand that he is trying to make his point as clearly as possible and that it is a lot easier to relate to that one “Organic” farmer in Virginia as the truth but the reality is much different. The reality is that there is shades of gray and that one people’s truth is not necessarily the one. True enough, corn farming in Iowa probably follows a certain order that is well established, but apart from big farming like that, they are definitely a whole host of different realities.

 

He even freely admits that the farm “his” cow was born was a place where they seemed to care for the animals. They artificially inseminate dozens of cows with the same sperm all the time but they take good care of their breeders and good care of the calves. But that is overshadowed by the incredibly cruel treatment they get where they will get fat and be killed. The feces, the mud, the animal fat given to them in addition to all the medicines. This is disgusting. But is it the point? I understand the will to engage the reader in what he is seeing but the blurring between the editorial essay and the journalistic research and personal account on the matter bothers me a bit. Pollan changes his hat quite a bit and that is the real issue for me.

 

None the less, the information is nicely packaged and the book is thoroughly entertaining. I mean I whizzed through that volume in no time while only reading on my commutes. There is some significant information for anybody that wants to know how the big food industry works. There is also interesting facts about the big organic business, their practices and how it will be changing, probably for the worse, with its increased popularity.

Stuff I haven’t blogged about

But I think looked pretty good:

 Squid and shrimp noodle stir-fry, Thai-style

Horse Meat Balls Stew and Blue Cheese Mac and Cheese

Octopus Stew Provençale with Soft Polenta and Roasted Pepper Squash Purée

First things first, there is not much that is “Provençale” in this recipe past the fact that it is inspired by the cuisine of this region and includes some of its staple ingredients (thyme, capers, olives etc..) Even though Polenta is said to be Italian, the recipe has traveled to France a long time ago and is commonly found in the cuisine of some of the regions of the country (perhaps notably in Corsica where polenta is done with chestnut instead of corn.)

 

According to some sites and chefs, Polenta is a complicated process and takes quite a bit elbow grease. I just think these people are out of their mind. There is a few principles that need to be known: Throw that instant polenta to the garbage, the longer polenta cooks, the better it gets and you need to stir every 5 minutes, not exactly what I think is a difficult operation. To make polenta I simply boil as much water as a big pot can contain, with a bit of salt. Once the water is boiling whisk in as much polenta as you think you need (1-2-3 cups, whatever), lower the eat to low, stir for about 3-4 minutes with a wooden spoon to make sure the polenta doesn’t stick while the pot goes down in temperature. Stir every 5 minutes from now on and cook until you have the consistency you need, more or less if you need soft or hard polenta. Voilà.

 

The Roasted Pepper Squash purée is just as simple. Half and remove the seeds of a pepper squash and generously put olive oil on the meat. Put skin side up on a baking sheet and put in a 400 degrees oven for one hour or an hour and a half. Remove from the oven, let cool for a little bit and scoop out the meat in a bowl. Smash the meat with the spoon you scooped the meat out and add a teaspoon of butter per portion, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Encore une fois: Voilà!

 

Now for another distinction with this recipe: Beer. As you might have noticed in the past, I am much more a beer drinker than a wine drinker, mostly for ignorance reasons. That said, this recipe would work perfectly well if cooked with a nice white wine, preferably with not a lot of acidity. That said I decided to go with a nice Belgian-inspired beer from local Unibroue brewerie. La Blanche de Chambly was meant to be a copy of the Belgian Blanche de Bruges and ended up as a very nice distinctive beer with a terrific citrus character and a very smooth hop flavour.

 

The stew:

 

• 1 lbs of Octopus, in bit size chunks

• 1 big onion

• 1 big parsnip (any root vegetable you have works, combinations work too)

• ½ head of garlic

• ¼ cup of minced smoked herring

• 1 handful of capers

• 1 handful of chopped olives

• 2 hot chilies finely chopped (optional)

• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme

• 1 750ml of Blanche de Chambly

• olive oil

 

For the stew, brown the parsnip and the onion with a branch of thyme well in a dutch oven over high heat. Once nicely browned, add the octopus and the garlic for about 2 minutes, stirring a few times. Add the 750 ml bottle of the beer with the capers, the smoked herring and chilies. Let simmer over low heat for one hour or more until the octopus is tender. Adjust seasoning, the capers and smoked herring will salt the dish a bit so go easy on the salt. Garnish with some fresh thyme and a few chopped olives and serve over the soft polenta.

 

Tunes: Kristofer Ǻström, Loupita. Honestly one of the best folk records I have heard in the past 5 years. Great songwriting, great music and a lot of killer melodies.

Café du Clocher Penché

Café du Clocher Penché

203, rue Saint-Joseph Est
Québec, QC G1K 3B1

Tel:(41 640-0597

Before the holidays, I was left alone one particular night in Québec city. My brother having abandoned me to the loneliness of this city while he was up to a romantic evening with his girlfriend (can’t really blame him can I? I mean I am good company but she has boobs and she cooks his meal 365 days a year, I don’t think I can compete.) After a long afternoon of buying gift for other people (I tend to try to complete my Christmas shopping way in advance but the family decided otherwise in showering me with request while I was in Québec…) and taking tons of pictures around the city, doing the tourist thing in a city that you lived in for 6 years and you left 7-8 years ago is a bit strange; especially since so much has changed in the interim, I decided to treat myself to a good dinner. I had heard good things about le Café du Clocher Penché and I was about five blocks away at that point.

This “Café” is honestly more of a bistro than anything else and presents food that reflects that. I came into the restaurants and was pleasantly received and taken to a table despite my lack of reservation, although there was only two tables left on that Thursday night. I opened the menu to just about the simplest description possible, no hyperboles or supplier’s names in there: Tartare de cerf, Chevre en Brioche, Bavette de boeuf etc… The menu was also fairly compact so the choice was relatively small: a few meats, a fish, one seafood plate and that was it. appetizers were also limited. It also looked like the menu would be changing regularly depending on the availability and freshness of the products, something you always want to see. My choice was fairly conventional, I needed good comforting grub after all that walking in the cold (yes it was one of those 3 days of cold we have had this winter). Bavette de Boeuf (flank steak) as the main course and open with a Chèvre en brioche (Goat cheese in brioche).

As I know next to nothing about wines and that beer is one of my passion I decided to match the meal with a good pint of brew. The place is serving beer on tap from local micro-brewerie La Barberie. After thinking about it I decided to go with la Cuivré au Coing (Quince coppery beer). The beer had a very strong bitterness to it that would quickly disappear to leave a nice fruity finish and a nice acidity that I enjoyed. The tunes were a little more complicated to choose, I felt laid back but at the same time needed to be comfortable and not too sleepy. In clear: I needed to be entertained, not challenged. I decided to go with an old favorite: Tom Waits. He released a massive collection of incredible work called Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards, three discs of songs you have no idea why they didn’t end up on records before. I am incredibly amused by the man and he not only rewards me by with great music but also with incredible storytelling. Great, great stuff. I have seen the three disc thing for 35.99$ and that is more than reasonable, get it.

The brioche came to the table with a certain amount of wow factor in the presentation. Nice geometry and good looking plate to me I was more than ready to dig in. First impression wasn’t so great. The chèvre was lukewarm at best, could have used a minute or two more in the oven and the cheese in itself lacked punch. This is the kind of plate that could have worked very well had the chef/owner chosen a better and more tasty cheese. The brioche was good and complemented adequately the cheese. The brioche came with a tapenade and a little compote of cranberry. All nicely complementing flavour if only the cheese had any….

The bavette came shortly after the appetizer plate was off the table and showed a fairly good portion of the bavette with roasted potatoes, garnished with olives and sautéed minced leaks with thyme and rosemary, and generously covered with olive oil The bavette was nicely grilled, a bit more cooked than I asked. While the meat was tasty, it could have been aged a bit more in my opinion. The execution of that plate was a bit clumsy but was none the less adequate. I mean, this is bistro fare so I am not asking for haute cuisine but this lacked a bit of the rigidity of the plating and overall execution that you see in classic bistro kitchens.

I was overall a bit disappointed by this establishment but from what I have seen, this is a place that definitely has promises, and I will come back to see if I caught them on a bad night.

Holiday pictures

More to come….

Au Pied de Cochon

 

Sometimes, very rarely actually, a meal just transcends the plane of existence you think you a re living and you feel that you have seen god. OK, that might be a little much but you see where I am going with this. Last night I had such a meal. A meal so perfect in its simplicity and taste that even though I hadn’t planned on writing about it (I didn’t even bring my camera).

Perhaps it is a matter of circumstances, a beautiful series of events and spontaneity that brought me to this restaurant that made it even better. Circumstances are even bad if you think about it but it just happened. I guess my destiny was to eat there that night. That meal ruled the earth, and the rulers are Martin Picard and his staff at restaurant Pied de Cochon in Montreal (536 Duluth East, Montreal, 514-281-1114).

As I was coming home from work I had to do some purchases at this specific store that is the only one somewhat near my place selling the thing (not divulging what it is a Christmas gift).

Circumstance #1: Water main breaks in the train tunnel going to the store.

I have to make a decision fast, I decide to go out of the train early and take the bus to get to destination. I come out of the train station and it is insane:

Circumstance #2: There is a line across the block to take the bus and traffic is insane.

I am not going to waste any time with this crap. I am walking from here, its only 30-35 minutes away anyway. So I begin the walk. I get there do my little purchases and fill my sling bag full of goods. The bag is freaking heavy. I am hungry like hell. There is this cool café near by that I often go to so I decide to head there for a pint and a nice sandwich.

Circumstance #3: There is an office Christmas party in the café! Filled with people with ironic name tags!

I am getting out of there so fast. I am more and more hungry. There is sandwich shops, pizza places galore around but I just don’t feel like it. I am going home. I am barely 5 -10 minutes from the train station so might as well go home and make myself something good.

Circumstance #1 (repeat): Damn train line is -still- closed! They have not repaired the damn water main yet!.

Alright, I am walking home, some 35-40 minutes away. I am about to eat myself alive. Then I think, I am 3 blocks away from le Pied de Cochon. I am alone, it is early on a Friday night so I might be lucky and they might have a spot at the bar for me. I get in. I ask if they have some space. YES! They show me to the only chair at the bar wrapped in deer antlers. The bar is directly on the other side of the very open kitchen. While I am perusing the menu and calling a beer a number of the staff are right in front of me shooting the shit and peeling about 4 pounds of garlic. Martin Picard is walking around the place tasting everything and also shooting the proverbial shit. The atmosphere in this place is exactly what I am looking for: extremely laid back, yet deftly efficient and tons of fun. As I am waiting for my waiter to come back, one girl on the staff starts pouring little glasses of Champagne while the rest of the staff (I am asked to toast with them as they do the same with each other) is finishing up on their Mise-en-Place for the night.

I am ordering venison tartar for appetizer and a foie gras grilled cheese for my main grub. The kitchen is admittedly tiny, two large six burner stoves, one small (a foot and a half wide) flat top, one deep fryer and one warming drawer one one side and a second space with a wood burning oven and a couple of burners. seven people work on the main side and 3 on the wood oven.

My tartar arrives. A large portion of the beautiful meat is disposed as a large quenelle on the plate with a big slice of perfectly toasted bread and a simple mesclun salad with a mustard dressing. The tartar is the best tartar of my life, and I eat tartar all the time in restaurants and I make a few pretty awesome ones myself. The balance of flavour is incredible, the acidity is perfect, the capers are incredibly good, and the spice level is just where I like it, nor overpowering but has a good kick. Incredible.

My plate flies off a couple of minutes after I finished. The service is fast but I do not feel like I am rushed despite the fact that I am pretty sure I am the first of three people sitting in this chair for the night. I am reading while waiting for my grilled cheese and I call for another beer. I hear Mr Picard calling 180 covers tonight and all I can think is how are they going to do that in a kitchen as small as this. The staff don’t seem to alarmed by the warning and continue their work with incredible efficiancy.

The grilled cheese arrives. Now a fois gras grilled cheese is not something you see everyday, but Picard is known for the use of exceptional ingredients in a context that usually are not. I look at this and I have at least half a fois in there, the bread is dense doesn’t look heavy, the cheese is pouring on all sides. I am saying to myself: no way I can eat that with my hands, it’ll spill all over the place. So I start digging in. Apotheosis. The fois is barely cooked, slightly browned on the outside and a deep shade of pinkish-red inside. The cheese is a soft-ripened non-pasteurized cheese with a strong flavour (my guess is something like a Sir Laurier d’Arthabaska or something like that). The combination is incredible, the soft and delicate taste of the fois is counterbalanced with about as much fat but with a much stronger flavour of the cheese yet none of the two overpower the other. Balance. Two bites in I felt like a fatty high and it took me hours to come down. The same mesclun salad also was with the grilled cheese but I didn’t care.

That night wasn’t supposed to be good. I mean I enjoyed a meal alone at the bar of a good restaurant, this is not exactly the best way to enjoy a meal. I mean I would have preferred company but the meal just kicked so much ass, I don’t care at all. And it wasn’t my first time there either, not was it my first fois gras experience. I don’t know why it was so good but once again, I don’t care…

55$ tax and tip in with 2 pints of St-Ambroise Cream Ale.

Tunes: This warrants some rock n’ roll and some punk. Let’s go with The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed [DSD]and Turbonegro Apocalypse Dudes. If you don’t have those two albums, then you need some help. Do it.