There is no place like home

As much as I like to cook I have to admit it is still nice to go home and be spoiled by mom. I'm visiting for the weekend and my mom is prepared with all of my favorite food and drink.  Tonight we are having elk burgers with what was supposed to be mango chutney but turned into whatever ripe stone-fruit we had in the house chutney. It was delicious.  I helped a little (for some reason since I started this blog my mom is under the impression that I am an expert). It was so much fun to cook together.

Elk Burgers with Stone Fruit ChutneyElk burgers are delicious.  Like bison, the meat cooks very quickly and should not be overcooked (if you like your burgers well done, I would recommend not eating elk or bison).  I prefer elk and bison burgers to beef.  I find beef greasy and not all that flavorful.  Bison is readily available in most supermarkets.  Elk is  a bit harder to find, but obviously still available.

Tomorrow I am taking the night off and we are going to the Culinary Institute of America.  I can't wait!

Sometimes it's ok to be a glutton

Just in time for bikini weather comes two almost back to back nights of pure gluttony--dinner at Makoto in Washington, and the Culinary Institute of America's American Bounty restaurant in Hyde Park, NY.  My husband's birthday was yesterday and we celebrated at Makoto, one of the best restaurants in DC.  Dining at this Japanese restaurant is a unique experience.  Their sushi is amazing, but I highly recommend getting the complete dinner, a series of small plates that includes sushi, but for me the highlights were the other dishes.  I'll go into more detail on the restaurant review page, but I can't resist describing the first dish.  We started our meal with conch and wild mushroom soup served in a conch shell over "fire."  This  soup is traditionally cooked over a fire in Japan so it was served next to a flaming piece of blue lava. ok, I have no idea if it is really traditional or not, but I have no reason not to believe them and the flame was a completely gratuitous and enchanting accompaniment to the meal.  It just got better from there... 

I really enjoyed the meal because it was challenging.  I think that so many "gourmet" restaurants are simply variations of the same theme.  Although we had some familiar flavors at Makoto--ginger, mushrooms, avocado--there were many unfamiliar tastes.  Also, the way the flavors were mixed together was completely foreign to me.  Luckily I already hired a master chef to teach me the art of Japanese flavors.  Stay tuned for that adventure!

I am visiting my mom for the weekend which means lots of good food besides our trip to the CIA, and of course being spoiled by mom.  I can't complain.

Update on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 7:58AM by Klutz in the Kitchen

I've just been informed by the aforementioned Master Chef that he is not a Master Chef.  In fact, he is an Iron Chef.  Coming soon, Iron Chef America Battle Kitchen Klutz.  Let the battle begin!

A Perfect Night For Stew

Venison BourguignonOK, not really. It's hot and muggy here. But my brother mistakenly defrosted some venison stew meat for the fajitas, so I had to cook it. It's wild venison and probably a little tough, so I decided to stew the meat. I had opened a less then stellar bottle of wine, so I guess I am making "venison bourguignon." Juniper berries which--you guessed it--grow on Juniper trees are sweet and piney, and work well with game meats. I also added some onion and carrots, tomato paste, garlic, star anise, cloves, rosemary, and thyme. Hopefully it tastes good. If not, there is always take-out!

Whenever I cook venison, I think of Switzerland. I promise, this is not a non-sequitur. I found this restaurant in Zurich that, to this day, is still my favorite restaurant in the world. It is called Caduff's Wine Loft. Caduff, the chef and owner, prepares the day's menu based on what looks good in the market. The restaurant, which isn't in the greatest area of town, is unpretentious. I have to admit, I was unimpressed when I walked in and saw the stark, white-washed walls. This was before I visited the wine cellar. Instead of a wine list, Caduff takes you downstairs to his cellar. It is dark, and candle lit, and the crates of wine are dusty and covered in spider webs. Anyway, getting back to venison. My mom, brother, and I were perusing the menu written in German trying to decide what to have for dinner. Unfortunately none of us speak German. Our waitress tried to explain what each dish was in very broken English. We were doing great until we got to the Rehfleisch.  After she futilely tried to explain what it was, we commenced a game of quasi-charades.  "You know, its like Bombay," she said.  "Curry?" I asked, "no, no, Bombay."  "You mean Bambi?" my mom replied.  From now on, I am on my mom's team.

I better go check on the meat....

A few of my favorite things

A wise old man once said you only need a skillet, a wooden, spoon, and a fire to cook. Maybe that's true, but kitchen accessories are fun and definitely make it easier to cook. Here are a few of my favorite things:

1) Kitchen Tongs. I never used tongs until law school. What a mistake! Tongs are like fingers except you can pick up hot objects without burning yourself. I use them to toss pasta, rotate osso bucco, flip burgers, sautee onions, etc. If you don't already own them, buy a pair.

2) Dutch Oven. I love my Le Crueset dutch oven. It weighs about 20 pounds, but there is something reassuring in its heft. Like the tongs, my dutch oven is the consummate multi-tasker. I use it for soups, stews, pasta, and if I need it, a weapon (although I have to admit, the skillet version is easier to wield).

3) Good knives. I have Shun Ken Onion Knives. I love them. They are perfectly weighted, and very, very sharp. As I mentioned before, people who say that dull knives are more dangerous are lying. I know firsthand. I truly am a klutz in and outside of the kitchen, hence the name of this blog. Ask my neighbor who just happens to be an ER doctor. I have had a couple of run ins with my perfect knives that I wouldn't trade in for anything in the world. Anyway, it was nothing that a little super-glue, albeit applied under the strictest medically supervision, couldn't fix.

4) A cutting board. I leave mine out. I use it every day, and it looks nice, so it seems silly to put it away. I prefer a heavy wooden chopping block. I know I should use a different board for raw meat to prevent cross contamination, but I don't. I just wash it with soap.

5) A wooden spoon with a long handle. I have multiple wooden spoons, but my favorite one is from Italy. I paid $2 for it and it is made out of olive wood. It is hand carved, and square, rather than curved at the end.

6) multiple pot holders. I don't think this needs any further explanation. Use them.

7) Hot kitchen Fashion Accessories. Aprons are kind of reminiscent of the 1950s, but they are incredibly handy. You can wipe your hands on them, stay clean, and even make a fashion statement. One of my friends recently introduced me to Anna Maria Horner's creations. She is a blogger and a fashion designer. You can purchase her beautiful aprons online. I love them.

p.s. There are lots of other "essential" kitchen tools, but those will be the subject of future posts.

p.p.s. I might have made up what the wise man said...

Spring Peas

Sadly it is Sunday night.  Once the torrential downpours ended yesterday, it was a beautiful weekend in DC.  We went to dinner at Oyamel last night, a Mexican "tapas" restaurant.  It was delicious (you can read more about it on the "restaurant reviews" page) and highly entertaining.  As we were walking into the restaurant, two police cars pulled someone over, the guy ran, managed to lose his shirt before he was tackled and handcuffed by two police officers.  Meanwhile another officer (there must have been 10 policemen on the scene) started ripping open the seats of his car and removing a white powdery substance.  I love DC.

Pasta with Spring Peas and MushroomsIn honor of the first day of summer, I am writing a tribute to spring peas.  I love peas.  In contrast to the nondescript, vomit colored canned variety, peas are naturally sweet and not too starchy, and literally brighten up a meal.  You can eat them raw on salads, steamed, or in a multitude of dishes.  Besides peas, I bought some interesting looking "honey" mushrooms in the farmer's market yesterday, and some fresh tomatoes and mozzarella.  I'm going to make a pasta "sauce" with above ingredients as well as some garlic, basil, onion, and chicken broth.  I was thinking about adding some additional spices (mint and peas go great together.  I have an amazing recipe from the Culinary Institute for a cold pea soup with mint), but I didn't want to overwhelm the flavor of the peas.