Rambutan in Cocktails

One of the great things about living in New York City is all the great produce and fruit shops. Just the other day, I was strolling through Grand Central Market, a collection of shops that sell charcuterie, gourmet meats, cheeses, fine produce, exotic spices, fresh fish and seafood, rare and exquisite coffees, and more. The products are all of the highest quality, and the breadth of the selection is expansive. You can find anything from a rare type of saffron, to an obscure fish from Hawaii, to a fruit from Vietnam that only started getting exported to the U.S. a mere few weeks ago.

I have a habit of picking up odd produce and fruits that I don't recognize, taking in their aromas through my olfactory senses, enjoying their vivid colors, feeling their unique textures, and thinking about how they might enhance my home kitchen or bar.

So when I first discovered Rambutan, I knew I had to buy some and play with it at home. Rambutan is native to Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and southeast Asia in general. It's similar to the lychee in appearance and taste. The outer shell is red and "hairy" with lots of fibrous strands that extend from the covering. The fleshy fruit inside is sweet, sour, and lychee-like in texture -- soft and rubbery.

Rambutan is in season in late fall/early winter usually, but it also has a short season in late spring/early summer. According to the owner of the greenmarket where I purchased the rambutan, the long season lasts about six weeks.

I have used lychee in martinis in the past, but I decided to use tequila and try my hand at a margarita with rambutan flavor. After muddling the rambutan (peeled and de-seeded of course), I added 2 oz tequila, 1 oz Cointreau, and 1 oz fresh lime juice.

Two points here -- first, always, always use 100% blue agave tequila (make sure it's bottled in Mexico), and second, always squeeze your lime juice fresh.

Why, you may ask? The type of tequila you use is extremely important in your drinks. Many people say they dislike tequila simply because they have never had real Mexican tequila. Brands that are bottled outside of Mexico are called "mixtos," which contain less than 51% agave, using sugars and other alcohols to make up for the remainder. The result is a loss of pure agave flavor, a potential for a nasty hangover, and the lack of the deep and rich flavor of real 100% agave tequila. Personally, I always purchase 100% agave tequila, as the difference in cost is nominal and the quality that comes with the extra few bucks is tremendous.

As for the second point, an important tenet of bartending is that fresh fruit juices can make or break your bar. Please don't use the pre-squeezed brands available from the supermarket -- they are either too sweet, sour, sugary, watery, or simply not fresh-tasting. It's so easy to juice your own fruit for cocktails. As a rule of thumb, one lime will yield approximately one ounce of fresh lime juice if you use a citrus reamer.

Anyway, I shook all the ingredients in a Boston shaker filled with cold ice, and strained it into a margarita glass. Delicious.

An alternative is to use 1 oz grapefruit juice or 1/2 oz lime juice and 1/2 oz grapefruit juice in lieu of the lime juice.

Bottoms up!

Recipe: Rambutan-Grapefruit Margarita

Ingredients:
2 oz tequila
1 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz grapefruit juice
3 de-seeded and skinned Rambutan
6 mint leaves

1. Muddle the Rambutan in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Slap the mint leaves to release their oils and aromas and place in the shaker.
2. Add the tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, and grapefruit juice.
3. Fill the shaker with cold ice and shake thoroughly.
4. Strain into a margarita glass and garnish with a lime wedge. Serve immediately.

Chinese Tea Eggs

One of my favorite traditional Chinese preparation of eggs is Chinese Tea Eggs, also known as 茶叶蛋 （cháyèdàn). While hard-boiled eggs are normally flavorless with a dry yolk, Chinese tea eggs are beautifully marbled and delightful to the eye, aromatic, and delicious and full of intense flavor. They are also not difficult to prepare, and you can refrigerate them for a few days and eat them whenever you want.

The idea is to hard-boil regular chicken eggs -- supermarket-bought ones will do -- until they are about 75% done. You can use any type of eggs (I used a mixture of chicken eggs and quail eggs, as you can see above), but chicken eggs are larger and provide more food for your effort. Then, the eggs' shells are cracked carefully with the back of a spoon, and the eggs are marinated in a simmering mixture of soy sauce, black tea leaves, star anise, sugar, and other optional ingredients. The main items in the marinade are the four ingredients mentioned above, but you can add whatever you want to customize the flavor and aromatics as you wish. Some optional ingredients can include cinnamin stick, cracked black peppercorns, or orange zest. You can imagine the possibilities.

Chinese Tea Eggs - 茶叶蛋 （cháyèdàn)

6 eggs (chicken or quail eggs)
3 tea bags of black tea
1 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
6 pieces star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon cracked black peppercorn (optional)
2 to 3 strips dried mandarin peel (optional)

1. Submerge the eggs in a pot with cold water. Bring the water to a slow boil, then lower heat to simmer for about 3-5 minutes. Remove eggs from heat and allow to cool (or run them under cold water). Once they are cool enough to handle, take the back of a spoon and crack the shell all over. The more cracks, the more the marinade will penetrate the shell, and the more flavorful the resulting egg will be.

2. Return the eggs to a clean pot, and add the rest of the ingredients. Bring liquid to a boil and simmer for 1-3 hours, or even longer, for more intense flavor and color. Add water if level gets too low.

3. Remove from heat and peel egg immediately before serving. You can store them in the refrigerator for a cold snack.

Homemade Pesto

One of the herbs I decided to grow in my home garden was basil. Basil has a delicious aroma and distinct taste, and it grows quickly and extremely easily in any home garden. So when I inspected the garden this morning and noticed an abundance of large leaves, ready to be harvested, I decided it was time to do something interesting with them. I didn't want the plants to go to seed (when the leaves become smaller and don't grow as fast), so I harvested both the two plants I have, entirely.

I decided to make pesto, using a very standard recipe. Pesto is a paste made from basil, olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. Some recipes call for Romano, which has a stronger flavor, but I think the decision is purely subjective.

First, I used two packed cups of basil leaves, which filled my entire blender. I don't recommend using a blender actually because there isn't enough liquid to get it to blend well. I used a spice mill, but I would recommend a food processor or something similar.


I added 1/3 cup pine nuts and pulsed my spice mill, then 3 cloves of garlic and pulsed some more. Then, I slowly drizzled about 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil while blending.

Lastly, I added 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese and pulsed my spice mill until well-blended. Add salt and pepper to taste.


What a gorgeous color. The aroma made me want to make pasta that instant, which I did. The pasta needed nothing more than to be tossed with the sauce. I was so delighted with the dish that I didn't bother adding a protein, like chicken. Pesto is a great use for your basil, if you have an abundance of it. The homemade version beats the store-bought version any day. Try it at sometime!

Recipe: Fresh Homemade Pesto

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Makes 1 cup.

Chesapeake Bay Soft-shell Crab "Sandwich"

Soft-shelled crabs are one of my favorite shellfish. I love shellfish, especially crustaceans, but you always end up with a large pile of shells that you must dispose of promptly or they will smell the next day. Another problem is that they require you to crack open their shells with your hands, making it laborious and tedious to eat. Which brings me to soft-shelled crabs. You can eat the whole thing, shell and all, because their outer exterior is soft enough to devour.

Soft-shelled crabs in the United States usually come from the Chesapeake Bay, which is where I sourced mine. I purchased a few from Pescatore in Grand Central Market. You can also buy soft-shelled crabs in Chinatown during the summer (other seasons, you can only get them frozen), but they are most likely mangrove crabs from Asia, a decent substitute.

As the crabs grow in size, they molt their old shell (which cannot grow in size) and are temporarily "soft-shelled" for several days. Fishermen who capture blue crabs during this phase usually set them aside for market as soft-shelled crabs.

I have prepared soft-shelled crabs in the past a number of ways, including, but not limited to, spicy soft-shelled crabs with linguine, deep-fried crispy soft-shelled crabs, sauteed with garlic and butter, etc.. Most of these preparations rely on the soft-shelled crab being deep-fried or sauteed until crispy. We will use the latter preparation for today's dish: Chesapeake Bay Soft-shell Crab "Sandwich."

The sandwich is composed of six components.

The sauce! Here's the mise en place for the sauce, egg yolks, minced cornichons and cornichon juice, chicken stock, canola oil, Dijon mustard. (Not pictured: minced shallot, minced Italian parsley, Brunoise, salt & pepper)

I blended the egg yolks, chicken stock, cornichon juice, and mustard in a blender. I then slowly drizzled oil in while it was running to emulsify the mixture. I then stirred in the remaining ingredients and refrigerated the sauce.

The capers! I heated 2 inches of canola oil in a small pot and fried capers for 12-15 minutes.

They were deliciously airy and crunchy after I drained them on paper towels. (Sorry about the white-out in this picture, the flash was on too high).


The soft-shelled crab! The worst part of making soft-shelled crabs, for a lot of people, is cleaning the crabs. Usually you can ask your fishmonger to do it for you, but I have a deep respect for all my food and prefer to do it myself. So, with a pair of kitchen scissors in hand, I cut off the face (and eyes) and removed all the gills under the soft cover and the apron from the back of the crab.

Once they were all clean, I dusted the SSCs with salt, pepper, and flour. I heated some clarified butter in a large skillet and sauteed the crabs in the hot butter for 2-3 minutes on each side. I had different cooking times for the claws, which I fried separately. You can see them draining on paper towels below.

The tomato confit! Tomato confit is delicious and you can eat it straight. I should create a diet which is just tomato confit -- you'd never gain weight -- since it's entirely water content.

Anyway, I cored the tomatoes and cut an X in the bottom of each tomato. I dropped each tomato in a pot of boiled salt water for a few seconds to loosen the skin, then moved them to an ice bath. The skins fell right off. I cut each tomato into quarters and cut away the ribs, leaving a smooth tomato petal.

I prepared a large baking sheet drizzled with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and placed the tomato petals on it. Each tomato petal had a small drizzle of more olive oil, salt, pepper, and its own sprig of thyme. I baked this for an hour and a half at 250.

The croutons! I took slices of bread with the crust removed and brushed them with olive oil. I sprinkled some kosher salt on top and baked them for 10-15 minutes. (Not pictured)

I then did the final assembly. A spoonful of sauce, followed by a crouton. Then, a crab body and a piece of tomato confit in half on top. Two crab claws, and some baby arugula on top. Lastly, a sprinkling of fried capers around the plate.

By the way, I am looking for someone who can help me with my food photography skills. I will reward you handsomely! If you live locally, I'll treat you to dinner! If you don't, I can always mail you some desserts or something in a refrigerated cold package. Let me know if you can help or have any tips!

Sources:
Soft-shelled crabs from Pescatore
Produce from Whole Foods

Vietnamese-style Pork Chops

It's the late summer. The image that burns most brightly in my mind during this season is when I vacationed in southeast Asia a few years ago in late summer. The sun was setting over the small town where I was staying the evening, a town where buildings were rarely two-storied and none of the roads were paved. Movement was accompanied by a large amount of dust stirred into the dry air. Young boys and girls played an unfamiliar game with a ball in the streets, and cars were rare. I spied a few taxis, but they were often parked and empty; I supposed that the operators were probably sleeping off the heat in their homes.

On this arid evening, I decided to visit a random restaurant in the neighborhood and discovered a delicious lemongrass grilled pork chop. It tasted sweet, tangy, and had a delicious saltiness that I later realized was fish sauce.

I've always been afraid to make pork chops because they can be dry and flavorless if prepared wrong. But I had beautifully cut pork chops in the fridge and some lemongrass in the freezer and felt this would be a preparation that would do them justice.

First, the mise en place:

(From left to right, minced lemon grass, lime/lime juice, minced garlic, honey, fish sauce - nam pla, black pepper)

I created the marinade by combining all the ingredients above and marinated the pork chops in them for about an hour.


I prepared a large cast-iron skillet on high heat and sauteed the pork chops, allowing the sugars in the honey to caramelize and give the meat a delicious burnt sweetness.

Dinner is served!

Recipe (adapted from the Minimalist)

VIETNAMESE-STYLE PORK CHOPS

Time: 30 minutes

2 tablespoons minced lemongrass
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon nam pla
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
1 1/2 pounds boneless pork chops or country-style ribs
1 lime, quartered
Chopped Thai basil or cilantro for garnish (optional).

1. Whisk lemongrass, garlic, honey and nam pla in large bowl. Add lime juice and pepper. Place pork in the bowl, turning to coat; let stand while you preheat grill or broiler.

2. Grill or broil pork, spooning marinade over as it cooks, until nicely done, about 10 minutes. Turn only once so that each side browns nicely. Serve with remaining lime and, if you like, the herb garnish.

Yield: 4 servings.

Sautéed Atlantic Halibut with Summer Succotash and Rue-Scented Onion Glaze

Work has been kicking my ass lately. I've been working on a lot of projects in my free time, including building a sous vide machine from spare parts I purchased from Home Depot. More on that later. I have lots of articles queued up!

With the summer in full swing, I thought I would make a pleasant seasonal dish. I wanted to make something light and halibut seemed like a natural choice. So I settled on Sautéed Atlantic Halibut with Summer Succotash and Rue-Scented Onion Glaze.

The FLCB heralds fish because it carries garnishes extremely well. The garnish for this dish is the summer succotash, which is composed of baby corn, bell peppers, fava beans, Brunoise, and chives. Rue is an unusual grey-green herb that I have growing in my garden, and it imparts a unique flavor to onions. I think it is the perfect herb to cook onions with.



I love cipollini onions because they are small, round, and roast easily. They aren't awkward to work with in the roasting pan. Their sweetness really comes out when you caramelize them.

I first trimmed the onions, leaving the skin on and searing them in canola oil. I turned them halfway through. Searing the onions added flavor depth and character to the sauce.

I then took them out of the pan and drained the oil. Here you can see the terrific browned edges.

I melted some veal stock in the pan, and added chicken stock, thyme, rue, honey, and salt to the mixture. I readded the cipollini onions and brought it to a simmer.


A parchment lid covered the whole pan and I braised it in the oven for 45 minutes.

Next, the succotash:

I cooked the baby corn in sugar, milk, and salt for 10-12 minutes.

I drained and cut the baby corn into rondelles, rounds that are about 1/16 inch wide. I then combined the baby corn with the fava beans, red and yellow peppers, chives, and Brunoise and cooked it with beurre monté and water to tenderize and moisten them.

Next, the sauce. I took the liquid used to braise the onions and reduced it in a saucepan, all while adding butter, whisking and whisking. The sauce was ready once it coated the back of a spoon. I seasoned it to taste.

Lastly, the halibut. I bought this particular halibut from Whole Foods. I prepped the halibut into 2 inch by 2 inch by 3/4 inch pieces (3 ounces).

After dusting the fillets with flour, salt, and pepper, I sautéed the halibut in a large pan.

I turned them over after about 2 minutes.

Look at that terrific color. The halibut was cooked medium, as it dries out easily. I only seared it on the bottom side for an additional minute. I removed and drained them on paper towels.

Finally, plating!

First, a spoonful of sauce:
Next, one or two cipollini onions (depending on preference and size of the onions):

Next, a piece of halibut...

Finally, a few spoonfuls of succotash and a sprig of chervil:

Wow. This dish is one of my favorites to date. It has a summer lightness. The succotash had terrific flavor and provided interesting texture in contrast to the softness of the halibut. I had initial doubts about using a meat sauce for fish, but it worked well. That technique will have to be added to the kitchen repertoire in the future.

Sources:
Produce and halibut from Whole Foods