McMust Eats: The McEvent

What do the Parc baguette, Claudio’s smoked mozzarella and Stock’s pound cake have in common? Yes, they all landed in Philadelphia Weekly’s recent Must Eats package, authored by yours truly and fellow PW food dudes Tim McGinnis and Brian McManus. But those ingredients will also be turning up at the Philly Kitchen Share on Saturday, October 24 for Must Eats: The Event. McGinnis and McManus will be cooking a nine-course dinner inspired by and including several Must Eats gems. In addition to being two of the funniest writers in Philly, both Mcs are talented chefs and founders of collaborative culinary event company Spinal Tapas. McGinnis attended Johnson & Wales, studied in France after graduation, cooked in Providence and Delaware and currently holds down a day job as a high school culinary instructor. PW music editor McManus studied culinary arts at Houston Community College and juggled restaurant work with his indie band for seven years in Tex. The dinner will double as a meet-the-brewer event; Yards brewer Tim Roberts will be there to talk about Brawler, included in the $90 per person price. Only 16 reservations are available, so keep an eye on Philly Kitchen Share’s website, where the tickets will be sold via PayPal. Check out tentative menu below.

Must Eats Menu

pickles
cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers from aj’s pickle patch

suzuki peruvian ceviche
black sea bass, citrus, tamari romesco sauce, rice cracker

tempura green beans
green beans, blackening spice, cajun remoulade

shrimp pho cocktail
anise beef stock court bouillon, tiger shrimp, thai basil, hoisin, peanut

trio of sliders
fiorella’s sausage
fennel mostada, parc baguette

lamb shoulder
pomegranate juice, parc baguette

reuben
house-brined brisket, sriracha 1,000 island dressing, gruyere

polpo pizza
octopus, marinara sauce, claudio’s smoked mozzarella

dessert

stock’s pound cake & patches of star goat’s milk ice cream

Photo: SpinalTapas

Kernel Olunloyo

Yesterday, the enigmatic Shola Olunloyo leaked on his Twitter feed details for the Sweet Corn Modernista dinner he’s doing September 4th and 5th. Modernista, according to the Nigeria-born and London-raised chef’s blog Studiokitchen, refers to the Spanish aesthetic in art, architecture and literature popular from late nineteenth century through WWII. How does that zeitgeist translate to the $150 per person 10-course menu? If it means scrambled corn with Santa Barbara sea urchin; lemongrass-scented chilled corn soup; and corn pound cake perdu with frozen chocolate, then viva la Modernista! Hunter’s Farm in Riverton, NJ is lending the ears for the dinner, a true celebration of the season. Stay on the Studiokitchen blog; there’ll be a reservation link tomorrow. Proposed menu below:

Lemongrass Scented Chilled Corn Soup . Pink Grapefruit . Hamachi . Combava Lime Gelee
Silver Queen Ice Cream . Lime Struesel . Blis Smoked Steelhead Roe
Scrambled Corn . Santa Barbara Sea Urchin . Iceplant . Lemon
Corn Juice and Ginger Polenta . Summer Truffle . Castelmagno Cheese
Dayboat Scallop . Crushed Marcona Almond . Sweet Corn-Miso Broth
Chitarra Pasta . Sweet Corn "Carbonara" . Meadow Run Egg . Grated Benton's Ham
Slow cooked Pacific king Salmon . Peanut-Corn"somme" . Chanterelle Mushroom
Australian Grass fed Lamb . Corn-Shisito Relish . Yellow Watermelon . Spicy Yuzu
Neal's Yard Dairy "Duckett's Caerphilly" . Edamame-Piquillo "Succotash"
Corn Poundcake "Perdu" . Chocolate Frozen Cold Cool

Photo: Studiokitchen

Cooking 4 Dummies: Roasted Chili-Creamed Corn

Corn, corn, corn. This time of year, feels like we eat it three times a week. Oh, no, we’re not complaining. What’s great about corn is how versatile it is. Grill it, roast it, bake it into bread, buzz it into soup. This week we shore two A.T. Buzby ears clean of their gleaming kernels and did a riff on the American classic creamed corn with roasted Corno di Toro chilies purchased last Sunday from Savoie Farms. Like all blogalicious recipes, it’s easy and requires only a little forethought. The peppers impart a deep, complex smokiness that balances the natural sugars of the cream and corn. Toasted panko-almond breadcrumbs add texture. See for yourself.



Makes 2 cups
2 ears Jersey corn, kernels only
8 sweet medium-sized chilies (like Corno di Toro)*, whole
½ sweet medium-sized chili, thinly sliced
1 cup whole milk or half-and-half
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
¼ red onion, finely chopped
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
½ cup raw almonds
½ cup arugula, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

To make the roasted chili cream:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Toss chilies with ¼ cup olive oil, salt and pepper and spread on a foil-lined sheet pan.
3. Roast for 30 minutes or until skins are charred and blistered.
4. Once chilies have cooled, remove stems and transfer for blender.
5. Add 1 cup milk or cream and puree till smooth.
6. Strain through a fine mesh sieve and reserve. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To make the breadcrumbs
1. Puree ½ cup almonds in food processor until finely ground
2. Combine with ½ cup panko in pan and toast over low heat until brown and fragrant.

To make the corn:
1. Sauté chopped garlic and onion in ½ cup olive and 1 tbsp. butter oil until translucent, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Add corn and sauté and additional 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Reduce heat to low, add roasted chili cream and simmer until slightly thickened, approximately 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Remove from heat, fold in ¼ cup chopped arugula and additional 1 tbsp. of butter.
5. Serve warm in cups, topped with panko-almond breadcrumbs, remaining chopped arugula and sliced raw chili.

*If you can’t find Corno di Toros, regular red bell peppers will work. Use 4 and be sure to peel off their skins before pureeing with cream (the smaller chilies don’t require this step).

Photo: blogalicious

Must Eats, Mofos!

Hungry? Check out Must Eats, the PW cover story we coauthored with fellow food writers/culinary bad-asses Tim McGinnis and Brian McManus. This ain't your mom and pop's top 50--unless your folks are into lamb tartare, oxtails, banh mi and whole roasted kid goats, of course. And once you've salivated your way through the whole story, peep Must Eats: The Contest. First reader to eat all 50 items on the list wins $100 in awesome restaurant gift certificates (and not the corny spots your fam from Jersey gets you for Christmas). Grab the entry deets on the site, and then busy eating.

Photo: PW

Cooking 4 Dummies: Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

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This salsa is like an electrical current running through the lighthearted corn soup, but it’s also ridiculous dabbed on eggs and pizza. We found a giant box of tomatillos (actually a relative of the gooseberry) for $4 at Savoie Farms’ table at Headhouse on Sunday. Dealsky… but what to do with 20 of these sticky green buggers? We made up this roasted salsa on the fly, and it came out crazy delicious: all caramelized sugars up front, followed by the tomatillo’s token sourness, with a wicked after-burn. We advise you to make it now, and if you can’t find tomatillos, this salsa would be just as delicious with tomatoes (just make sure their not too ripe). Do invest in the cumin and fennel seeds (if only for the aroma they’ll give your kitchen as they toast in the oven), and use any herb you have on hand. We have hoja santa (tastes like root beer!) growing in the garden, but basil, cilantro or mint work just as well.

Makes 2 cups
20 tomatillos (approximate)
2 medium-hot peppers (like jalapenos)
1 hot chili (like habanero or Thai bird)
1 tbsp. fennel seed
1 tbsp. cumin seed
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup hoja santa, chopped
1 lime, juiced and zested
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Place tomatillos and peppers in ovenproof pan. Add cumin and fennel, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in oven on top rack and roast for 25 minutes or until tomatillos look blistered and pulpy.
3. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Blend in blender with lime juice, lime zest and epazote till desired consistency is reached. Season with salt and pepper to taste, serve immediately or transfer to airtight container. The salsa will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks, or in the freezer forever.

Photo: blogalicious

Cooking 4 Dummies: Five-Step Corn Soup

While there are plenty of things to gripe about Jersey (its cops, its Housewives), the corn grown in the Garden State is not among our complaints. Gift-wrapped in lime-hued husks, the elegantly slender ears are piled like firewood on Buzby Farm's table at Headhouse. It’s an embarrassment of wealth, actually, so the farmers a favor and take some off their hands. The husks reveal orderly columns of plump, silvery kernels so juicy and sweet they’re remarkable eaten raw. We snack on stray kernels like chips while we make our annual pot of Jersey corn soup. We Tweeted the recipe in real time yesterday and have transcribed it here for your viewing pleasure. The frothy puree is the essence of summer distilled in a bowl; it only takes five steps and doesn’t need to cook all day. Use the very freshest corn and milk you can get. Vegetarians, just swap out the bacon fat for butter. Vegans, cook something else.

Makes 8 cups
8 ears of Jersey white corn
2 tbsp. bacon fat
1 clove garlic, chopped
½ red onion, chopped
½ hot chili pepper, sliced
½ gallon milk
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
Salt and pepper to taste

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1. Chop and sauté the garlic, onion and chili in bacon fat. Add 1 bay leaf and cook 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, remove kernels from 8 ears of corn with a sharp knife. Reserve kernels and cobs.
3. Add kernels to onion-garlic-chili mix and sauté 10 minutes. In another pot, add cobs, milk, other bay leaf and cinnamon stick and simmer 30 minutes. Season corn mix and cob stock with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Remove cobs and from pot and add stock to corn mix. Simmer 10 minutes.
5. Remove bay leaves and cinnamon stick, and remove soup from heat. Once cool, puree soup in small batches till frothy and smooth. Strain through a fine sieve if desired and serve garnished with roasted tomatillo salsa (see recipe above).


Photo: blogalicious