Simple recipes for famous blogs

Apparently, there are blogs about things like simple recipes, motherhood, I don't know what else. Making LED powered endoscopes... and all of them get thousands of hits per day.

This blog, however, is different. It lurks in a tiny back room of the Internet lit by a 4 watt bulb (usually turned off ), in a box in the back of the closet behind the fake flowers from the Easter party and a forgotten case of one dollar wine given for Christmas by a now distant friend, covered with cat hair, dust and spider tracks.

Someone told me about the guy who makes enough money on a simple recipe blog to travel around the world. The author probably even built a McMansion with a huge kitchen, all from doing a blog.

I'm not even sure what a simple recipe is. Is it something that highlights a main ingredient of excellent quality, only adding things to showcase its flavor? Maybe it's something that comes from simple cans of simple things (simple as long as nobody reads the ingredients on the cans). Things that can sit on the shelf for years until called into action, simply. Then, there are all kinds of "simple"mixes. They tend to have more ingredients than something you'd do yourself in almost the same time, but there seems to be a common belief that mixes are simple.

Some recipes are intrinsically simple: grilled oysters, roast chicken, fried eggs... Others are not. Of those, some seem simple but aren't and others are complicated no matter how you look at them.

This blog is about the experience of attending chef training. Apparently, it's just not as fascinating as a simple recipe like 1/2 can of tomato paste, a dash of dried oregano, a bit of basil, some garlic powder, dehydrated onions, 1/2 a can of chicken or beef stock, salt and pepper poured over microwaved pasta. That's just not what chef's school is about. We'd say fresh, fully ripe San Marzano variety tomatoes, fresh basil, dried oregano, sautéed onion, minced garlic, salt and pepper. We might even make the pasta from scratch, too. So, which do you think would taste better? If I were really being simple, and had a corporate sponsor, I'd just tell everyone to microwave brand X Italian Pasta Sauce and never mind that stuff lining the can might be carcinogenic.

As to that endoscope... I'm thinking it uses actuators, multiple CCDs for stereo imaging (CCDs outside the tube) and yes, LEDs for light. Make the thing thinner, easier and faster to use than what's out there now. It would all be in one tube, and additional instruments for biopsies, etc. would run up it if needed via micromotors. If anyone answers, I'll draw a picture. Although I have to admit that I don't know much about the things other than what I could find on the net.

Is that chicken... safe?

Today, we were supposed to strike a blow against intolerance by eating chicken in a specific chain. Yes, we would smite those who dare criticize the establishment's adamant stance against gay marriage. Those intolerant leftists who dare oppose Liberty must be shown that hate will not be tolerated.

I didn't go there. I was afraid. Terrified, even.

How could I be sure the chickens themselves were straight? There's no proof. They probably arrive frozen in a box, cut up, with only the USDA telling us they're physically safe to eat. But, are they morally safe? OhmyGod! That could have been a homo-filet! It could be full of, of... I don't know, really, but I'm certain that if I ate even a tiny bit, things could happen. Potentially contagious things. Things that would spread insidiously through the American genome, subtly altering our DNA, destroying family values, taxing billionaires, changing our thought patterns, messing with our gonads. This could destroy the American Way of Life!

Panchito's El Tepeyac Cafe departs Northern California

Apparently due to pernicious exhaustion of funds, Panchito's El Tepeyac Cafe has bid adios to Northern California.

For fans of this L.A. institution, it's back to the 400 mile drive to get a Hollenbeck Burrito or some good SoCal machaca.

Perhaps they'll find a solution and return north in a better location, bringing their unique burrito expertise. For now, though, it's back to Evergreen in Los Angeles.

Swordfish with lemon butter and capers

Some ingredients aren't meant to be tasted; they're present to make other things better.

There's molecular gastronomy - where you might want to make a raspberry into a foam - and there's food science. I'm not a big fan of molecular gastronomy. Too many chemicals with names I don't recognize, things that I doubt are healthy.

Food science, on the other hand, looks at the interface between what's in the food and how we perceive it. So, how to improve on a recipe that I've been making for over twenty years?

The basic recipe is to take great quality swordfish, thick steaks whisked here from the most pristine water possible (no such thing as "pristine" but still...). The fish is seasoned with salt and pepper, then sautéed in vegetable oil, put aside before it's completely cooked. A pan sauce gets built with the fond: a quick sauté of some capers, white wine to deglaze, reduce, add butter then lemon juice, adjust seasoning, pour over the fish and serve.

That was my old recipe, from before I started reading about glutamate receptors and how to increase the perception of richness and depth of flavor. So, armed with a bit of knowledge (enough to be dangerous?) I began my mise en place. Celery paste, garlic paste, nuoc mam (nam pla) shiitake mushroom powder and shallots step into the equation.

The sauté process remains the same - that part is all good science, Maillard reaction, all that stuff. The fun begins once the fish is out of the pan, holding in the oven. Sauté the shallot paste, then the celery, then the garlic - deglaze with white wine, add a tiny dash of nuoc mam, throw in the mushroom powder, reduce, add butter, lemon juice, adjust seasoning, pour over fish and serve.

The result? Much richer, a sauce that segues from flavor to flavor, lingering. The trilogy of fish, wine and sauce works well, with nothing dominating.

So, here's the theory. The nuoc mam, shiitake powder and celery paste all supply glutamates that stimulate umami receptors in the palate, making the food taste more rich and savory. None of them were there to provide their own flavor - the mushroom powder and nuoc mam, in fact, were undetectable by mere mortals. It's all a question of proportion, like most things in cooking.

So, eleven ingredients for the sauce, but they definitely take the dish to a new level.

salt - flavor stimulant
pepper - flavoring
capers - flavoring
lemon juice - flavoring and acidifier
nuoc mam - umami (anchovy paste would probably work as well)
shiitake powder - umami
celery - glutamates, again - for umami
shallots - flavor
white wine - flavor, acidifier
garlic - flavor, and umami again
butter - mouth feel, richness

Of these ingredients, the ones you're likely to actually taste are the salt, pepper, capers, wine and lemon. The other ingredients are in smaller quantities and will blend in to support the dish without stepping up and screaming.

Heirloom Tomatoes, Inc?

It crunched, almost. There wasn't much tomato flavor, about the same as those "vine ripened" things they sell year-round at the supermarket. Nowhere near as much flavor as the Early Girl we harvested last week, our first tomato of the season.

So, has Agribusiness Inc. corrupted even the noble heirloom? Were these fruits ripped green from the vine, thrown into some ethylene fogged vault and sold to an unsuspecting public?

Is nothing sacred? We pay a lot more for that real tomato taste, something heirlooms had, until now, faithfully delivered. Now, buyer beware. If the fruit isn't fleshy, heavy and does not smell of time spent ripening in the summer sun, leave in there in the bin. It's not the tomato you're looking for!

(For the record, tomatoes are legally vegetables, but botanically fruits).