September « 2010 « Smart Kitchen

September, 2010

Bourbon Steak Don’t Wait 18 Years to Visit

We used the opportunity of Arizona Restaurant Week (September 18th – 26th 2010) to visit the award winning Bourbon Steak at the Scottsdale Princess Resort, one of Michael Mina’s 16 fine dining restaurants. Michael Mina, if you are not familiar with him, made his chops, (and soups and salads) at his two star Michelin rated Michael Mina Restaurant in San Francisco. Mina’s signature is elegant, luxurious dining with an innovative approach to American cuisine. We were excited to visit again.

Arizona Restaurant Week, a lucky invention of the tourism boards, spurs dining participants in town to create tasting menus at two price points: $29/person & $39/person. I read the Internet posted tasting menu’s for all the high flying establishments we’d love to frequent to Mrs. P Chef and we decided that Bourbon Steak’s Restaurant Week Menu, which included Day Boat Scallops with Passion Fruit Vinaigrette & Roasted Lobster & Corn Bisque as opening acts, sounded the best, for us. Reservations were available for the one night we had a sitter and we were set.

wine cellar at Bourbon Steak Scottsdale AZ

The Wine "Seller" Puts you in the Mood

Arriving at the Princess Resort, Bourbon Steak lived up to its elegant reputation with a broad, grown up, décor that compliments the western deserts of Scottsdale. The entrance foyer is a wine cellar and a WINE SELLER that puts you in the mood to relax and spend. For a night out, you feel like you are really out, not just down the block in a strip mall. And everyone, from the waiting hostess to the service staff to Anibal Macias, the manager himself, makes you glad you came in.

The Desert Theme Pervades

Seated at a nice table with outside views we perused the menu (again) and discussed the meal to come.

AZ Restaurant Week Menu for Bourbon Steak

The Final Perusal Before Ordering

While horse trading on the menu, we ordered the duck fries sampler. The fries were sophisticated and worth the short trip just by themselves.

Duck fat fry sampler from bourbon steak scottsdale az

Thank Gosh You Don't have to Choose

Mrs. P Chef, a astute menu trader, chose the Day Boat Scallops to start which looked great. Anibal Macias, the manager verified that the scallops were fresh and dry, having come unadulterated out of the Pacific Ocean, the day before. If you want to learn more about scallop trolling, you should see our (blog post)

Day boat scallops Bourbon Steak Scottsdale Az

Yester-"Day" Boat Scallops

And I chose the Roasted Lobster & Corn Bisque with a tempura corn fritter.

Lobster and corn bisque corn tempura fritter

Smooth and Rich Lobster & Corn Bisque

The scallops were excellent, firm to the bite but with an easy give and redolent of the sea. The sea foam garish was a noted embellishment. The corn bisque didn’t disappoint either and almost held its own with the exceptional scallops.

A terrific loaf of pan baked Potato Foccacia Bread with Truffle Butter & Chives served in a small cast iron staub Dutch oven was another overshadowing star. Michael Mina has a reputation for paying attention to the details and he kills them with fries and the Potato Foccacia Bread.

Potato Foccacia Bread from Bourbon Steak

A Killer Loaf

After a quick breather the rest of the meal arrived in a precisely orchestrated ballet de cuisine.

Kobe Steak with Bone Marrow Mash Potatoes

A Beautiful Kobe Steak Resting on Bone Marrow Mash Potatoes

The kobe flat iron steak was worth the planning, the sitter, the dressing up and the short wait since the appetizers: rich & delicate. The grilled asparagus side was well executed and well presented.

You Could Eat These Veggies All Day Long

I don’t have much memory of the flavor of Mrs. P Chef’s smoked Alaskan halibut with basil coulis and smoked tomato water, so that may be the dishes epitaph. And then my photo is bad, as fuzzy as my memory of the dish. We are not doing it justice.

A Beautiful Presentation, Not Captured by the photographer

For dessert, we ordered the banana panna cotta and the Macallan 18 butterscotch pot de crème with nutmeg beignets and a toffee float.

A Much Better Dessert than the Photo

The pot de crème saw a lot more action and was the clear winner of the vote by fork.

A Perfect Desert Dinner Dessert

I imagine some folks think of Bourbon Steak, as their corner steak house, and good on them, but for us it is a special event place and as such we relished it.

Apprentice H / Culinary Learning / Sea Food — No Comments
22
Sep 10

Thanks Lesson 4: Introduction to Cooking Methods

My “nice” wife brought home some “nice” salmon that was on sale. She was excited to grill it the BBQ but I had just finished working through Lesson 4, which includes Sautéing and Pan Frying. That was going to be a problem. Forget the BBQ all I could think of was that good looking salmon sizzling in the pan.

I tried to convince my wife to have our salmon prepared in a Combination Pan Fry, which I learned in the lesson was searing in a properly heated pan at Medium High Heat and then finishing the meat in the oven at a moderate heat. Optionally, if we were feeling fancy, we could De-Glaze the pan and make a faboooolous sauce. Having pan fried fish on the brain all afternoon and now here was a perfect specimen. I wanted to go whole hog with the new technique.

I got up the courage and asked to split our fish, which is never a good idea for the fish or the marriage. My understanding wife understood my enthusiasm and relented. She left me half a salmon filet so I could try the pan and oven route, as she went out to the grill.

They talk about Preview, Process, Practice ™ in the Foundation. I had already “Previewed” the Lesson on Pan Frying and I guess also “Processed” it because, with that fish filet on the counter, I thought I knew what to do. I heated the pan, like I was taught, added my fat like I was taught and at what must have been the right moment I added my salmon. I was worried it was going to stick when it was time to turn it over, but it didn’t. And miraculously, I knew when to turn it. I must have “Processed” that too. A bit more on the second side and the salmon went into the oven for a quick Finish Cook. Feeling Cocky, and deserving, I broke out some Sam Adams Octoberfest Beer and after a swig for courage, I De-Glazed the pan. Apparently I’d “Processed” that too because I did it and it worked. About the time I was done with the sauce the salmon was ready in the oven. I took it out and covered the fish with my pan sauce.

I was amazed. I had never tasted anything so good probably, because I’d never cooked it myself. After I ate I was giddy, like a kid with a good math score. I had to brag so I sat down and emailed the story in to Smart Kitchen.

Pan searing a fresh salmon, I felt like someone else. Maybe like one of those futuristic Matrix characters who download an instruction tape and magically know a new skill. Except for me, it wasn’t fiction. I was eating the delicious proof, a tender pan seared salmon accented by a pan sauce. And my wife was jeaolous. WOW!

Seriously, thanks Lesson 4. And thanks Smart Kitchen. I sure think you have a smart way to learn to cook.

User Name: H Smart Kitchen Rank: Apprentice

Events / Mexican / New Mexican — 3 Comments
19
Sep 10

SalsaFest 2010

At 5 PM September 14, 2010, Safford, AZ trailhead for the Arizona Salsa Trail, celebrates SalsaFest.

We’ve been through Safford, doing part of the Salsa Trail, a few years back. It was an eye opener for the destination, a throwback to another time. The restaurants, housed as they are in some interesting old buildings, are the draw that might get me to go back. And the food was all right, if you like a more traditional (almost historic) version of Mexican in the place we tried. A return trip might uncover another gem.

I wish I could give the food from our choice (thankfully which I have forgotten by name but still remember by geography and can avoid) higher praise but we are a little spoiled by some of the great Mexican Chefs cooking in Phoenix and LA, in the style of Mexico City with fresher ingredients and more improvization. We like Barrio Cafe, in Phoenix, Freida’s in Beverly Hills, Elote Cafe in Sedona, and Richardson’s in Phoenix. And of course there are the road houses, taco joints and burrito havens like The Owl Bar in Socorro, New Mexico, King Taco in LA, Cafe Rio (a small chain), H&H Car Wash in El Paso and one of my favorites for red or green chili, B&E Burrrito in Hatch, New Mexico.

Now I’m thinking Mexican and that the SalsaFest might just get us burning a tank of gas this year, if nothing else to get that much closer to Hatch, NM. If you are in the Sonoran Desert this week, you might want to check it out too.

P Chef

Chefs / Events / Restaurants — 2 Comments
12
Sep 10

The Fourth Annual Sour Ball – 2010

Fourth Annual Sour Ball at the Biltmore Hotel

An Incomparable Venue for Incomparable Food

I just got an update about the 4th Annual Sour Ball to be held in Phoenix on Friday September 24, 2010 at the Biltmore Hotel & Resort. The menu being worked on by Executive Chef Todd Sicolo and Chef Conor Favre sounds great. They are fine tuning the following: Duck Lollipops, Asian Pear Saki with Candied Ginger, Mango Pushups, Grapefruit Cotton Candy, and a Chili Beer Cocktail. And those are the dishes they have when we are still 2 weeks out.

If you are interested you can get in touch with Ed Sweet of Sweet’s Sour Salt through his web site at www.cocktailkick.com. I plan to be there with Mrs. P Chef to cover the Festivies, Fun & Food.

P Chef

Dessert / Events — No Comments
12
Sep 10

World’s Largest Hot Chocolate?

The Biggest Chocolate Bar Yerevan Armenia

Free Chocolate? What's the Catch?

But our headline may change if as planned the 9,702 pound chocolate bar, certified by the Guiness Book of World Records as the Largest on Earth, is unveiled in public as a giant free sample in Yerevan, Armenia.

According to Yahoo News & the AP, the Giant Chocolate Bar was made by Grand Candy Factory in Yerevan and contains all natural ingredients, including 70 percent cocoa mass. The chocolate bar is 224 inches (560 centimeters) long, 110 inches (275 centimeters) wide and 10 inches (25 centimeters) thick. The factory owner, Karen Vardanyan, said that the chocolate bar was produced to mark the 10th anniversary of the company. He said in the Internet version that it will be divided up and handed out Oct. 16 but that may be a translation issue. Our local hard copy AP story said 9.18.10. so if you are really going there expecting some free chocolate, I’d learn Armenian and get the straight facts from Karen Vardanyan himself.

Now, I have to admit ignorance about all of Yerevan but the name, and actually ignorance about most of Armenia itself, except for that unpleasantness with the Ottoman Empire. The only cob-webby thought sticking up in my brain when you say “Armenia” is heat. Am I wrong about that?

Maybe because we are hovering close to a hundred degrees Fahrenheit in the Southwest U.S. in mid-September, heat is on my mind. But all I am saying, is if you are in Yerevan Armenia, in the main square waiting for your sweet morsel this coming Saturday (9.18.10), you might think about bringing some marshmallows & a mug.

And a pen. Write us about how that GIANT. We’d heard GIANT chocolate was touch (kidding) but if it is good, maybe bring back a few hundred pounds. They won’t miss it, in fact they will probably be sick of chocolate for a while. And since the story got us thinking chocolate thought, just hearing about it, I bet we could think of some things to do with that much chocolate at SmartKitchen.com.

P Chef

Culinary Travel — No Comments
5
Sep 10

French Food Drive Fantasy

An Example of Fouee

I have a new favorite Summer Food Drive Fantasy Destination thanks to Jaqueline Friedrich writing in the Wall Street Journal on August 28th.

Apparently, Fouée, a kind of stuffed pita bread, is all the rage in the France’s Loire country. Born when native Loire bakers tested the heat of their ovens with a torn off piece of dough and received back a pufffed up bubble of hot crust, that the bakers quickly learned to stuff and call fouée. Around the Department (province) of Vendée fouée are a folk dish, but they are quickly gaining popularity.

When you hear about the stuffings you’ll understand why. Rillettes (a French unctious pork spread called “Brown Marmelade” by Honore de Balzac), Rillauds (larger simmered & salted pork cubes), Mogettes (the Vendée’s famous dried white beans), Loire Goat Cheeses,Vendée Jambon (local cured ham), Galipette (large locally cultivated mushrooms), local farm churned butter or sometimes they a combination of the above. Sounds pretty gallic and great, right?

Now, imagine that these interesting, historic fouée are served in romantic family restaurants housed in ancient caverns, drilled from the hillsides by peasant workmen quarrying stone for medieval chateaux walls. Then forget the word “imagine” because its true. Many of the best fouée places are housed in troglodytes, or quarried caves like Les Caves de la Genevraie below.

I'm Dying to See In Person, What's Behind the Brown Door

And between them are more villages and farms also housed in troglodyte caves, like Dénezé-sous-Doué & La Rochemenier.

The Scene Reputed to be Behind the Brown Door

Some of the best fouées are reputed to be from:

La Grange à Dime (in a 15th Century Tax House in the 11th Century Chateau town of Montreuil-Bellay on the River Thouet)

Les Caves de la Genevraie (part of a two acre troglodyte village @ La Rochenmenier)

Le Clos des Roches (in a troglodyte in the countryside near Grezille)

La Cave aux Moines (in a troglodyte)

Le Moulin de Sarré (which part of a working flour mill)

Great eating and great travel, a bit of French thrown in. Some time to stretch and stroll between meals. Got the picture? Why aren’t we booking tickets right now?

P Chef

Burgers / Restaurants — 2 Comments
3
Sep 10

Make Sure You Find “The Grind”

I’d heard a few times that people thought a new coffee shop had opened at 40th & Camelback in Phoenix. But I’d done my homework and knew that foodies have had great things to say about The Grind since it popped up on the national radar in July with its inclusion in Bon Appetit’s Top 10 Best New Burger Spots. Ironically, I was on the East Coast when this chart topper receives Kudos at home. I had to get in there and see for myself.

Located on Camelback, in the hip Arcadia neighborhood, The Grind is the product of the imagination and skills of Chef Matt McLinn, the force behind BLT Steak at the Camelback Inn and the backing of owners Alan Thompson and George Monzures. With a feeling like an old time speak-easy, quality pervades the senses the minute you leave the parking lot. From Crystal’s warm welcome, to the finishes, to the food its sensory heaven.

If you have read any of my other posts, you know I might digress from the burger to discuss the sides for a rave or two before getting to the burger eventually. In most these cases, either the burger was not that good or the sides were crazy. There is no digression today, the Grind’s burger was grand, from its ten foot tall appearance, to its ten foot tall taste. I had the Steak House BLT Burger. It was a $10, TEN if such things exist. Maybe its the salt crust, maybe its the 1000° coal fired oven.

The BLT Burger at The Grind in Phoenix, Az

Is That a Burger, or What?

Susie Timm over at Foodies Like Us had a photo of the oven on their blog post about The Grind and was generous enough to share. The photo of the coal fired oven is theirs and even though the coal fired oven isn’t sexy looking, don’t judge an oven by its sheet metal. Your standard gas oven cooks at 500-550°, a wood oven gets up to 650°degrees. Coal can get the oven even hotter, to a reputed 1000°F which is hot enough to cook most entrees in around four minutes while giving them a flavorful crust and sealing in a unique juicy taste.

Coal Fired Oven at the Grind in Phoenix Arizona

1000° F

And with coal you get the smoke flavor too. Thinking about that oven, I may have to go back and get our own shot of it, and eat another burger; hey, if you’re there, why miss out.

Are you getting that we were impressed? Well we were. “We” included myself and Ed Sweet, a free lance writer, foodie, founder of Sweet Brand Sour Salts and promoter of the Sour Ball, which raises money for Child Help. Ed and I were lunching to try The Grind and to talk about Smart Kitchen and his upcoming charity event. The 4th Annual ”Sour Ball” is locked in and will be held at the Biltmore Hotel, September 24th, 2010. It looks like we’re getting lucky and Smart Kitchen will get to cover the event (Yum!) and interview some of the talented chef’s about their culinary improvisation.

So back to the meal and finally, with the burger in its rightful place of honor, to the sides. Ordering ”Off the Menu,” I managed to turn the fixings from the Sweet & Spicy Burger into some splendid side dishes since they sounded too good to pass up. Candied Jalapeno and Fried Ratatouille turned out to be something to write about.

The Grind Fried Ratatouille & Candied Jalapenos

There's Some Creativity in the Sides of the Sweet & Spicy Burger

The Sweet Potato Fritters were worth a few words as well. If the burgers were’nt so stellar the fritters would have stolen the show.

Sweet Potato Fritters, The Grind Sweet Potato Fritters

Those are some "Sweet" Potato Fritters

To try The Grind yourself head to 3961 East Camelback Road in Phoenix, AZ and enjoy. If you have a problem, phone them at 602-954-7463; or check their web site @ thegrindaz.com

September, 2010

Bourbon Steak Don’t Wait 18 Years to Visit

Thanks Lesson 4: Introduction to Cooking Methods

SalsaFest 2010

The Fourth Annual Sour Ball – 2010

World’s Largest Hot Chocolate?

French Food Drive Fantasy

Make Sure You Find “The Grind”

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