the arugula files

Grilling Steak With Kick

Fine Cooking is my favorite food magazine.  The recipes are spot on and the magazine's pages are filled with mouth watering pictures (like the one below).  Recently, I was reading Fine Cooking on the beach, looking for something to grill that night.  I wanted something beyond traditional grill food.  Since I live in the city, with neither a grill or a backyard, grilling is a special occasion not to be wasted on hamburgers and hotdogs. I decided on MoJo Marinated & Grilled Flank Steak.  This recipe is directly from the magazine.  The only adaptation I made was to use steak seasoning instead of cumin seeds (I forgot to buy a jar at the supermarket).

For the mojo:

12 cloves garlic (or 4 Tbs. minced garlic)
2 habaneros or other spicy chiles, cored, seeded, and minced (wear rubber gloves)
1 tsp. kosher salt
4 tsp. whole cumin seeds, toasted
1 cup olive oil
2/3 cup sour orange juice (or 1/3 cup fresh lime juice plus 1/3 cup fresh orange juice)
1-1/2 Tbs. sherry vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the steak:
1-1/2 lb. flank steak
1 or 2 large Bermuda onions, thickly sliced and brushed with olive oil (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

To make the mojo:

"Mash the raw garlic,chiles, salt, and cumin together in a mortar and pestle until fairly smooth. (Alternatively, use a food processor, pulsing until the ingredients are finely chopped but not puréed.) Scrape the mixture into a bowl and set aside.

Heat the olive oil until fairly hot but not smoking, and pour it over the garlic-chile mixture (the oil should sizzle when it hits the cool ingredients), stir, and let stand 10 min. This will cook the garlic slightly. Whisk in the sour orange juice and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool completely.

Put the steak in a zip-top bag or a shallow bowl and pour in 1 cup of the cooled mojo. Seal and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight, turning occasionally. Refrigerate the remaining 1 cup of mojo."

To cook and serve:

"Light a charcoal or gas grill. When the grill is very hot, remove the steak from the marinade (discard the marinade), pat dry, and season with salt and pepper; cook 5 to 7 min. on one side and 3 to  4 min. on the other for medium rare. Remove from the grill and let rest for 5 min. (If you like, grill the Bermuda onions as well—you can put them on at the same time as the flank steak; grill 6 to 7 min. per side.) Meanwhile, warm the reserved mojo over low heat. Slice the flank steak very thinly on the bias and serve with the reserved mojo and the grilled onions."

Notes from my kitchen:

It is VERY IMPORTANT not to over cook the steak.  I grilled each side for about 5 minutes and the steak came out perfect.  Also, make sure to cut against the grain.  This is a tip I learned from America's Test Kitchen.  Otherwise, the steak will be chewy.

Usually, I take my own photos after I cook.  It was too dark and I totally forgot anyway.  I just couldn't wait to dig in. The photo above is from Fine Cooking. I hope it gives you a sense for some of the terrific shots featured in the magazine on a regular basis.

Quickfire Challenge: Mixology

I want to be on Top Chef.  However, until Bravo dedicates an entire episode to delusional fans, I have to run my own Quickfire Challenges using my friends as contestants and me playing the role of Tom Colicchio. Generally speaking, making drinks is easy--unless there are no mixers.  This Quickfire challenge was to make a tasty, original, and good looking drink....in fifteen minutes.  These are the ingredients:

The contenders:

Skittles were the main ingredient in the first drink.  The second drink featured peanut butter cups, the third used cinnamon candies around the rim, and the last drink-- which looked like a bloody mary--was made primarily from ketchup with cayenne pepper and salt around the rim.  It was by far the tastiest and the winner of the challenge.

Dupont Farmers Market: Rhubarb!

Today I picked up some rhubarb at the farmers market.  At $4 a pound it was a little expensive, but I couldn't resist.  I made a rhubarb pie.  Rhubarb pie is so easy, especially when you buy pie crust.  Yes, I bought the pie crust.  Some day when I have a bigger kitchen with ample counter space I will make pie crust from scratch.  Until then, I avoid catastrophe by buying Pillsbury. 

Looks like celery doesn't it?  The sign at the farmer's market said that the color of Rhubarb does not affect the taste.  I was a little doubtful, but since I peel the outside anyway I thought I would give it a whirl. 

Here's my rhubarb pie.  Turns out the farmers were telling the truth.  The rhubarb was perfectly tart.
I used 1 1/2 cups of sugar, five pats of butter, a teaspoon of cinnamon, and two cups of rhubarb. 

THAT. IS. IT.

Crawfish Boil At Acadiana

The proper way to eat crawfish is to twist off the tail and suck the fat juice from the head.  Next, remove the meat from the tail and eat it (this is the best part).  Discard the shell and reach for another. This is what I learned at Acadiana’s Crawfish Boil cooking class.  Well, that and if I ever want to host a crawfish boil I know how to do it and where I can order crawfish. 

Acadiana's cooking classes are worth the money.  You sit, consume unlimited amounts of alcohol, and watch and learn from the chef as he cooks.  Then you eat.   It's a little bit like watching the Food Network, but better because instead of pressing your mouth up to the TV you actually get to taste the food.

We consumed 80 pounds of crawfish and 20 pounds of shrimp during that class (not bad for 21 people).  I am not so much a fan of the fat juice part, but I do like the tail meat.  Crawfish look like tiny lobsters and taste similar, but unlike lobster, crawfish are a fresh water catch. 

I didn't count how many I ate.  My best estimate is 20 to 25.  Oh dear.

A few years ago, I went to the New Orleans Jazzfest.  I spent a lot of my time eating crawfish: crawfish monica, crawfish pie, crawfish etouffee.  But before this class I had never see a live crawfish (below).  While they are tiny compared to lobster, it surprised me how big they are.  There is not much meat for all that crawfish.  Legend has it that when the people of Nova Scotia were expelled from their land, they brought lobster with them.  The trip to Louisiana took so long that the lobsters lost weight on the way.   That's silly.

Sorry, little one, you have to go in the pot.

The photo below shows Chef Chris Clime dropping crawfish into the boil.  Clearly, if you were doing this at home it would be a pot, not a professional boiler.  Crawfish season lasts from February to May, so you have a few more weeks to get a piece of the action.  Acadiana hosts crawfish boils on Friday from 3:30 to 6:30.  Guests have their choice ofcrawfish ($13 per pound) or shrimp ($17 per pound), plus potatoes and fresh corn on the cob.  Buckets of four ice-cold Abita Lights are available for $12.  Check out Acadian's website for more details.

I'm On The Food Network

I'm on the Food Network...website.  Let me explain.  Adam Roberts of Amateur Gourmet fame stars in a Food Network webisode called FN Dish where he attends food events and other culinary adventures and interviews food network stars.  Recently Adam, a self-described blogger, author, and food network star stalker ran a contest for the best food blogs.  I entered (along with 56 other bloggers) and Adam picked the Arugula Files as the second best blog.  How exciting is that?  Adam described the Arugula Files as "crisp, clean design and smart writing with lovely pictures of food."  Neat.  Hey, Mom, I'm on the Food Network. 

Adam is a model blogger, from what I can see.  He really loves what he does and he's very generous--always sharing his knowledge and encouraging other bloggers.  Check him out on FN Dish.

Here's Adam's most recent show.

Cheap Eats: Bebo Trattoria

I have no idea why Bebo Trattoria made Washingtonian’s Cheap Eats list.  Perhaps they meant cheap compared to Roberto Donna’s other restaurant, Galileo.  My arugula and shaved parmesan salad was $12.00.  Um, Washingtonian, that is not a bargain. Admittedly, the salad was delicious; it was lightly dressed with lemon and oil, the cheese was high end (parmesan reggiano), and the arugula's flavor was strong and nutty.  If the salad were priced at $8, I would have no complaints.  I also had a Margherita pizza ($14), another over priced item.  The pizza had a few tiny basil leaves, tasted bland, and was soggy in the middle.  I would have ordered pasta, but there were only three choices on the menu, including penne pasta with spicy tomato sauce for only $15.95.  A woman at the next table was eating the penne.   I had to tie my legs and arms to the chair to prevent myself from leaning over and asking her if the sauce tasted like caviar.

The most annoying thing that can happen when you are trying to enjoy a meal at a restaurant is dealing with a wobbly table. At Bebo, I felt like I was eating off a sea saw. We asked the waitress to see if someone could fix it and she ignored our request (along with my request for garlic on my pizza). Overall, the service was insufferable.  We waited a while for our food, no one checked back, and our water glasses were empty most of the time.

In the interest of full disclosure, this was my first visit to Bebo and I only tried the pizza, a calzone, and the salad.  And obviously, I'm not a professional food reviewer.  I'm not alone in my opinion, though. A quick review of the internets shows that a lot of people complain about the service and the reviews on the food are mixed. 

As a side note, a while back Chef Donna was peeved at Washingtonian's Todd Kliman for giving him a bad review, so he had bumper stickers printed that read "Don't Believe the Washingtonian."  I couldn't agree more.  They should take Bebo off the cheap eats list.

I HEART Gordon Ramsay

Here's a video of Gordon Ramsay making Beef Wellington, something I would never cook.  It looks deliciously EVIL.

What Would Alice Waters Do?

I wasn't sure how to prepare the ramps I got from the farmer's market.  What would Alice Waters do?  Keep it simple.  Taste the food.   I sautéed the ramps in olive oil and butter.  I learned that ramps are a lot like garlic: if the heat is too high, they turn brown quickly, so be careful.  Next, I added fresh leafy spinach, squeezed a lemon over the spinach, mixing the spinach with the oil, butter, and ramps, as I squeezed.  When the spinach started to wilt a little, I turned the heat off, and put the cover on the pan (not wanting to over cook the spinach).  When the linguine was done, I added it to the pan, swirled it around, seasoned with salt and pepper, and sprinkled with feta cheese.  Done.  My farmer's market pasta dish was delicious.
The only thing I would do differently is buy more ramps--two handfuls instead of one.