Ploafmaster General

This morning my RSS reader had an exciting entry. The Fan District Hub pointed me to Melissa Ruggieri's review of a nascent bagel joint smack in the heart of VCU's Monroe Park campus. This was awesome - something closer than Cupertino's but serving their bagels. Even if the Bagel Czar didn't make their own (unfortunate, but not the end of the world) at least they sourced them wisely.

Now I care far less than Ruggieri about the decor of my bagel purveyors. I'm not sure what background (and I don't mean to doubt it) makes her a "bagel snob" and I don't want to sound contrarian, but nearly every worthy bagel shop I've entered from Delaware to Manhattan is a little on the plain and utilitarian side. Sometimes even hole-in-the-wall. What matters is the bagels, and here's where things started to disappoint.

Having tasted Cupertino's wares a number of times, I'm doubtful these bagels were their work. While the West End deli and bagel shop isn't quite like the Tri-State area, they at least have that slightly crispy skin on the outside with a slightly chewy interior. The Bagel Czar, on the other hand, was a bit too chewy for my taste the whole way through. It's not simply the subjective evidence that makes me question the origin of these bagels, though. Their own website has the following message in the title bar of the browser: "Bagel Czar: serving authentic NY H&H bagels to the greater Richmond community." So I asked the gent behind the bar this morning where they procured their dough and he told me that it's not even H&H anymore. The bagels were apparently too small and - surprise - couldn't stay fresh that long coming all the way from NYC. So they switched to some distributor whose name he couldn't quite recall for sure; either "Walther" or "Walter" or some such place, and he didn't know where they were located.

Is it possible that at 7:30 AM the wage employee didn't really know who dropped off the food? Sure. Is it possible Cupertino's owns a truck with some other name on the side? Sure. But if these are indeed their bagels, then I have greater cause for disappointment since it would mean the quality is slipping.

Granted, the bagel I had wasn't terrible. I like to test a new place by trying a plain bagel with butter (or an egg bagel if they make them - sadly, not at the Bagel Czar, but available at Cupertino's), and this was decent. Look, if you're a student who can't hoof it out to Cox Road for a worthwhile bagel, this place beats the crap out of whatever Kroger has to offer. But if you can and are willing to drive a little, the Bagel Czar isn't worth your time.

UPDATE: The proprietor of Cupertino's told me that the Bagel Czar does, indeed, carry his bagels. I dunno if perhaps they don't always have fresh stock (and I haven't exactly returned), but unless I'm desperate for time, I'd rather make the trek to the Far West End and get them from the man himself.

The phrase which gives us the title of this blog post is bandied about colloquially to indicate meat with a mild and generic flavor. Flaky whitefish? Tastes like chicken. Light chunk tuna? Tastes like chicken. Alligator? You know where this is going.

It's my experience that the majority of factory-farmed poultry in our country today tastes very little like anything at all. There's a vague, savory meatiness, sure. But a distinctive flavor? It seems to me the only flavor you get out of your average grocery store chicken is what you put in to it, like a heavy marinade and lots of salt, and hopefully a really good sear on the outside to get the tasty crispy crust. This is made worse by the typical American's fat phobia driving the purchase of skinless chicken (where much of any chicken's flavor resides).

Well as many of you know, I don't really buy meat from the grocery store anymore. I get my cuts from the butcher, and I've found that even their skinless chicken thighs have a distinctive flavor that I don't recall from my childhood. Last night I cooked up a fairly quick and easy dinner: I chopped up four slices of hand-crafted peppercorn maple bacon (also from the butcher) and fried the bits until crispy. Reserving the bacon and draining most (but not all) of the grease, I seared the salted thighs on both sides cooking them all the way through. I cooked up some cheese tortellini (some new brand imported from Italy, the name escapes me, but they're GREAT), and threw them, the bacon, and the chicken (now chopped up) into the frying pan to stir together with roasted garlic Alfredo sauce. I freshly grated some Parmigiana over the whole thing to finish.

There are several strong flavors in that dish when you think about it - garlic, salty bacon, a sharp grated cheese - but the chicken stood out. I noticed a flavor and aroma which reminded me of good scrambled eggs. Through the many components of my dish - some which might threaten to dominate the palette - the poultry could not be ignored.

And do you know what? It tasted like chicken.

Valerie and I just finished dining at Tapas Restaurant on Hilton Head Island. As the name indicates, the menu consisted of small plates, but the flavors and preparations circled the culinary world (leaning heavily toward French Cuisine). Between the two of us we sampled 8 different dishes - sharing with each other, of course.

We started off with appetizers which may as well have been tapas items themselves. Valerie's Crab Rangoon with cherry-plum sauce was tasty (though not my preference), but the real star here was the Lobster Ravioli in lemon burre-blanc sauce. Now burre-blanc is one of the "mother sauces" of French cuisine, and arguably one of the more difficult to produce, but self-trained chef Ardis Matthews showed herself to be worthy of her kitchen with this entry. The only shame was that this was my first course and easily my best of the night. I wiped up as much of the remaining sauce as possible with the bread (which was fresh and delicious)...

Sticking with seafood, Valerie ordered the Shrimp Parthenon, which consisted of sauteed shrimp with feta and oregano in an amazing tomato bisque. There was even a little puff-pastry fish in the bowl! I, on the other hand, opted for the Shrimp and Scallops Ardis, deciding that if the chef was willing to put her name on the dish it must be worth a try. I wasn't disappointed - the shrimp were delicious, the scallops perfectly tender, and the lobster cream sauce poured over the top was subtle but spectacular. I went for another seafood round while Valerie digested a bit, choosing the Grilled Pesto Salmon. There's not much to explain, given the name of the dish, but the fish was grilled just right and went better with pesto than I'd have imagined.

My wife's next choice was the Grand Marnier Duck - a thin slice of duck breast sauteed with grapes and pears in a sauce which gave the dish its name. Very flavorful, very tender, and very creative. I went for the Tornado Vernoff - a slice of beef tenderloin sitting in a sauce consisting of Madeira and demi-glace - and what a sauce! My last dinner selection was the Venison au Poivre, a tasty rendition of the steak classic with the stronger flavor of deer.

Beyond belief, we still had dessert! Valerie's creme brulee was one of the lightest I've had, and they broiled brown sugar instead of granulated on top which added a nice change. My "chocolate decadence" (oh what a lousy name) was incredible. It was as dense as a brownie and layered with caramel and toffee bits.

We will return on Tuesday when Val's mom, accompanied by two friends, join us on the island. What a dining experience.

Michael Pardus, instructor at the Culinary Institute of America, shows how straightforward it can be to make as classic a dish as consommé on the food blog, A Hunger Artist. Sure, not everybody in The States has beef hearts or leeks lying around, but the general concept certainly seems a whole lot less obfuscated after Pardus' relatively simple demonstration.
(via Ruhlman)

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that some Boy Scouts took ill because of some E. coli-tainted ground beef from California.

So, really, do Virginians consume so much beef that they're underserved by the state's second largest agricultural industry? And of all places, why on earth did meat from the OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY find its way over here to the Atlantic Coastal Plain? This is yet another example of our broken national food chain.

Tonight I braised a pair of beef shanks for dinner. A pair of dry-aged shanks from a humanely raised cow, to be specific. I used garlic, soy sauce, freshly ground ginger (a first for me), basil, salt, pepper, and water for the braise, and the zest and juice of a lemon to brighten things up a bit. I reduced the braising liquid afterwards to about a cup of intensely flavorful suace and finished it off with a few dashes of toasted sesame oil (WOW). The shanks were quite tasty, and the rice on the side (with several of the same flavors) complemented the meat very well.

The real star of the show, however, wasn't the meat, the rice, or the sauce. No, the real star was the bone marrow.

After having been seared on both sides and braised for an hour and a half at 225 F, the marrow was soft and gelatinous. I had only to run the tip of my knife around the inner rim of the bone to release the teaspoonful of protein-laden marrow. I tentatively scooped it up with my fork out of the sauce on the plate, and ingested. HOLY CRAP, IT'S LIKE MEAT JELLY...but in the best possible way. I'd seen Anthony Bourdain spread marrow on toast on an episode of No Reservations, and I understand why. Had I more at my disposal I'd have done the same. The flavor was like the most complex essence of beef, as if somebody had distilled all the best flavors from every cut of a cow and amped it up tenfold.

Next time I head to the butcher I'm going to ask more about marrow...I could totally make a dish out of it, like an appetizer or something.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Soy Vay; Kosher Asian sauces and marinades. Now the eighth of me that's Jewish can snack guilt-free.



I wonder which variety of He'brew pairs best with these...

I suppose my weekend was so relaxing that I completely forgot to write about my first visit to Lulu's in Shockoe Bottom, so here I am, four days after my brunch, making up for just that.

The interior was visually interesting if a bit disjointed; the jury's out on the pairs of close-set columns separating the booths between the bar and the rest of the main seating area. I did, however, like the bar, the open kitchen, and the spectacular back seating area with what must have been 30-foot ceilings and skylights. I'd really like to check the place out at night and grab some drinks (unless anybody has reason to avoid it).

The food, so far, is another story. Very little about my first meal there calls me back. I ordered the Pork BBQ with cheesy scrambled eggs (hold the slaw, please), but what arrived wasn't actually BBQ. Sure, it was tasty and spicy shredded pork, but it was clearly braised pork. Not smoked. The color, the texture, the flavor...no smoke at all, and perhaps not even liquid smoke. Additionally, there was half a handful of chopped red peppers and scallions scattered across the plate of food, something not indicated in the menu (or I'd surely have asked to leave them out as well). Finally, the gray-brown thinly sliced potatoes on the side were presumably home fries, but they were soggy, limp, and thoroughly unappetizing.

Better luck next time, whenever that is.

Tonight I decided to eat dinner at Chiocca's in the Museum District. It looks like my favorite sandwich in Richmond has been usurped by a piled-high pastrami and cheddar on rye, nice and hot.

If you can take the smokey and dive-yet-comfortable interior, grab a seat and enjoy. If you can't, call a head and take out. Either way, bring cash, because they don't take plastic (and as of this writing, their in-house ATM is busted). This is the real deal as far as deli sandwiches are concerned.

GENTLEMEN...BEHOLD!!!



(via Uncrate, which still has a good one left every now and then)

The following is excerpted from an actual conversation with an Arby's employee while I ordered my lunch today:

ME: I'd like a roast beef melt -

EMPLOYEE: Do you want cheese on that?

This past week I was fortunate enough to experience two inventive foods - each from two of my favorite Richmond food establishments.

First off was the pork/pistachio/truffle sausage from the Belmont Butchery. When Tanya suggested this initially I decided to try a link mostly out of curiosity, but I was completely taken aback by how well the components blended, particularly the pistachio and the pork. The black truffle shavings were so spare as to have only a small influence over the complete flavor, but they certainly rounded out the whole thing.

The second was this evening at DeLuca Gelato. While Valerie was deciding which flavors of sorbetto to combine, the proprietor offered me a taste of a new flavor: Balsamico Estasi - Balsamic Ecstasy. Here were raspberries steeped in quality aged balsamic vinegar mixed into a rich base of gelato with shavings of chocolate. Now chocolate and raspberries are a no brainer pairing if you already like both, but the balsamic provided a subtle fruity complexity and tanginess.

Richmond may not have a larger city's profusion of top-notch food outlets, but we sure do have our share of inventive places to chow. This week's surprises confirm that, and reinforce my love of eating here.

This morning I finally had a chance to stop by the 17th Street Farmers Market to check out Veronica Perez's macarons. She sells them under a little side business called Petites Bouchées, and after the free sample of the hazelnut with salted caramel (pictured above, I believe, from her Flickr account), it was an easy purchasing decision. Val and I bought two pleasantly-wrapped three packs including (between the two) vanilla with buttercream, pistachio with chocolate ganache (AMAZING), raspberry, and the aforementioned hazelnut with salted caramel.

A few important notes:
1. So far these are ideally found at the farmers market on Saturdays only. I believe she'll do Monday orders, but according to her website, I think they're only for out-of-towners (assuming I understood that correctly).
2. Because of today's heat, they were in a cooler instead of on display. The card attached to each packet recommends letting them come to room temperature before consuming. I whole-heartedly agree. I couldn't wait at first and ate one, and I was a little disappointed at the lack of the faint crisp skin I expected from the macarons in Paris. After I was home and they'd warmed up a bit, I had another and presto! Just like France. Delicious.
3. Unfortunately, she only seems to offer the min-sized pastries which are about the diameter of a quarter. Part of me wishes for the larger variety that were available in Paris - a single one is just the right size snack - but then I suppose she'd have to call these grandes bouchées :-)

Whatever the case, these are ALL delicious, and I highly recommend checking out her stall in the market. This week (and perhaps all the time?) she was in the center closer to Main Street, and it's important to note that she won't be there the next two Saturdays, but it's definitely worth waiting until later in June for these authentic goodies.

Well well well.

I just returned from an early morning bagel run to Cupertino's N.Y. Bagel and Deli in the West End (do they actually have their own website?). This is my third visit including yesterday morning - investigation requires work, after all - and I'm convinced now that I've found something resembling a decent bagel shop in Richmond (and possibly even a good deli!). I've since had some more bagels (pretty good), a capicola and mozzarella sandwich on their fresh baked rye bread (not quite a deli-portion of meat, but it was DELICIOUS), and even some of that Boylan cream soda I dig so much. Next time I go over there (how soon is too soon?) I plan to hit up some of their fresh crumb cake in addition to some fresh cold cuts for the week's lunches.

Is this a true transplanted deli from the Northeast? Have I found my real bagels and delicatessen?

I'd say it's halfway - but that's very promising for my fair city. The bagels are certainly a cut above anything Einstein's or Panera has to offer. The fact that I can get capicola on a sandwich is rare (but not impossible) in Richmond. The fresh rye bread is fantastic, though, and tasted at least as good as anything I've had back in Jersey. My hope is that Cupertino's remains a busy so that other bagel makers see opportunity down here in the South.

Tip o' the hat to Tripp for pointing out the joint.

As my trip to DE draws to a close I'm reminded that back home I've found a real butcher and some real pizza. Heck, I've even found real gelato.

But after having fresh egg bagels every morning here in Delaware reminds me that I have yet to find authentic bagels in Richmond, VA. Any suggestions people?

Maybe I can hope against hope for a serious deli, too...

This afternoon Valerie and I hit the road and head north to visit my brother Mugs, his wife, and their awesome son for the long Memorial Day weekend. As much as I'm pumped to see my family, I can't hide the fact that I'm equally excited about the food. Delaware, you understand, is above the Mason-Dixon Line. It's a short-throw from Philly and Jersey. This means REAL bagels. REAL pizza. REAL cheese steaks.

Real heartburn?

Additionally I'll be shooting several rolls of film as I'm sure my nephew will provide several excellent photo-ops. And if we're anywhere near Philly, there should be plenty of neat places to photograph as well.

Val and I just returned from dining at deLux, located on the corner of Main and Addison. This restaurant replaced Southern Culture which, unfortunately, closed permanently after a fire several years ago.

Thankfully, deLux is a fantastic replacement. The moment we walked in the door we were struck by the slick contemporary decor. The stair case leading to our table on the second floor had glass side panels, dark wood floors on floating steps framed by black-painted steel. Upstairs was a second bar and lounge area with cement tiles fashioned (very well) to look like thin grey bricks. The seating was a mixture of leather-clad dining chairs and high-backed comfortable arm chairs. Valerie made the astute observation that these arm chairs should appeal to folks of our generation who are more used to eating on their sofas in front of the television.

Service was prompt and appropriately spaced throughout the meal, and our waitress provided just the right level of useful information about the menu and specials - especially that the soft shell crab dinner would be served over rice instead of fried plantains (deal breaker!). Valerie ate a crab cake sandwich cleverly seated on an English muffin - not too much bread, and sturdy enough to hold up through every bite. My entree was the lobster macaroni and cheese - elbow macaroni in a Vermont white cheddar sauce topped with a generous portion of freshly cooked bacon and lobster meat on top. And the lobster! It wasn't simply the typical shredded meat. There were chunks of leg and claw (my favorite parts) as well as tail meat. We finished the meal by sharing an deLux's unique dessert: pancake fritters. This consisted of lightly sweet pancake batter dropped into hot oil, with the result (resembling darker hush puppies on the outside) plated with ice cream and a citrus sauce. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS.

The bartender (at least upstairs) was aces, too. I had the deLux martini, consisting of an expert mix of Ketel One Citron, Grand Marnier, sour mix, and pomegranate juice. Val had the Strawberry Street - Stoli Strawberry, Cointreau, and a splash of Sprite. With dinner, Val put down another cocktail - the raspberry mojito - which tasted JUST LIKE a red Swedish Fish. No joke. It was quite tasty.

deLux is a classy restaurant and lounge with a menu that's both extensive and coherent. It may be easy for a first timer to feel overwhelmed at the selection, but a little time to peruse is sure to provide any diner with something to his or her taste. I was also impressed by the fairly wide price range. You could eat a standard Fan restaurant burger for $8, or splurge on crab-stuffed filet mignon for $27.

I certainly plan on returning to explore the menu further, hopefully with friends in tow.

Now here's a really clever idea:



These are cutting boards with file-folder-style index tabs and color coding by food type. This is a novel idea that looks both well designed and well thought out. But I have a short wish list...

1. I'd prefer they separate fruits and vegetables into two sizes. Have you ever cut fruit on a cutting board even a day after chopping onions/shallots/garlic?
2. I wish they had a bread board in there, too.
3. How about making these available in A3 size, eh? :-)

(via Uncrate)

The BBC is running a story on their site about a bakery at the Mount Everest base camp. The whole operation is run using a special portable oven, and includes some clearly non-local foods like banana bread and apple pie. What cool, though, is that the profits are reportedly going towards a trust fund for local villagers to help deal with the dangers that come with global warming.
(picture via Flickr user Emma Sjönell)

My dinner was better than yours. Why? Because I made my lasagna tonight, that's why.

I'm getting a lot better at reducing my sauce to the right consistency, and applying just the right amount of salt. I'm also starting to perfect the distribution of the cheese mixture (I piped it on using a cut zip-top bag - there's no better way, man) and the overall texture and thickness of the finished and assembled product.

I was happy to share the meal with the folks in our Bible study, but I'm happier that we have leftovers :-)

Watching today's new episode of Good Eats, I noticed a reference to Texas' "Safe Cupcake Amendment." Yes, it's real, and yes, there's stupidity on both sides of the "issue."

Dinner tonight was magical. I went by the butcher shop for a special trip because I knew they'd have freshly made hot dogs.

Let me repeat that. FRESHLY MADE HOT DOGS.

The Belmont Butchery makes their own links from (I believe) beef shoulder, presumably garlic, salt, some fat, and whatever other seasonings they choose. They handle the stuffing and smoking, and I was delighted to see them trussed up with string when I arrived. They're a quarter-pound each, so I grabbed two for dinner.

I decided that I'd try my hand at deep frying, so there was a reprise of my potato chips - only this time cooked in peanut oil. MUCH better. They cooked considerably faster, were more evenly crispy, and delightfully browned. I toasted up some nice rolls while the hot dogs cooked up...

I felt as if I'd never eaten a real hot dog until tonight.

I'm finding that I'm consistently delighted (but not surprised) by the extreme difference in quality and flavor between what I'm buying from the butcher and what I've previously eaten in its industrial format. The snap of the casing, the juiciness, the texture, the taste! You can't begin at one without the others. I'd have a hard time getting these for a cookout (they're not cheap), but I think my every-two-or-three months hot dog habit is about to change to once-a-month.

I washed down this perfect warm weather meal with some lemonade, and now I wish I had some gelato to cap off my evening's meal :-)

I made my own potato chips for the first time tonight.

I used the mandoline to slice up a large Yukon Gold potato which I then tossed in a drizzle of extra virgin live oil and some Kosher salt. I roasted the slices (I didn't feel like deep frying for the first time when I was cooking other things), flipping once after about ten minutes. Once finished, I dressed the crisp slices with another sprinkle of Kosher salt (though perhaps it should have been the only salt), fresh ground black pepper, fresh thyme, and freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

They are pretty much my new favorite potato chip.

Tonight I'm heading to Delicious Designs with Valerie - an annual event hosted by her trade organization, the American Society of Interior Designers.

At this event folks construct architectural, interior, or furniture elements out of edible materials. I've seen copies of famous buildings, a sagging toilet made out of rice crispy treats, and the totally-not-fair-but-somehow-won-anyway pirate ship made almost entirely out of pickles. Lots of this stuff is super kitschy, some of it's downright stupid, but some of it is quite clever and creative. Valerie is working with some others to construct a sample board, and her part included some "wood" made from chocolate, and "cork flooring" made from two kinds of graham crackers. I'm hoping to get loads of pictures from the event, but considering the low indoor lighting, that may be wishful thinking...

Holy crap, Richmond has a new spice store!

Penzeys is a chain based Wisconsin that's just opened their 26th location in Carytown, and the store is full of a spectacular selection of whole and ground spices as well as herbs and spice mixes. There are at least three different curry powders, for example, and at least as many chili powders!

I purchased a tube of three whole Mexican vanilla beans, and I look forward to exploring the shelves at Penzeys in the future.
(via Brandon Eats)