Motorcycle in its purest form - a bicycle with a motor duct-taped to it.
Over the weekend I found myself searching for a good restaurant in the Springville area, and my sister suggested Art City Trolley – a place that I had passed by many times before, but never once stopped to eat at. My wife and I walked into the lobby of the vintage diner, and my eyes roved over the old-school decor. Some restaurants try to go “retro” by stringing up over-shellacked pop merchandise from the 50’s all over their walls, but they just wind up looking like posers. With Art City Trolley, however, it felt genuine somehow. (Maybe they HAVE been there for over 50 years. Someone want to verify this?) The walls were decorated with old tin signs, glass bottles, and even a motorcycle or two! One in particular (above) looks like it’s one of the first Harley Davidsons ever built – it’s basically a bicycle with a motor on it.
Ribs and Chicken Platter with Onion Rings
The Food
Let’s get down to the nuts and bolts. The menu boasted several local award-winning items, including chicken wings and ribs. They had also been Zagat rated, which came as a surprise to me. Eventually I settled on a combo platter featuring their “Best in Utah” ribs with original sauce and some chicken. Our server asked what sauce I’d like on the chicken, so I ordered their hottest. However, when it came out I found it to be no spicier than Tabasco sauce. (Yes, I am a heat-snob). Also, I had been envisioning some kind of breaded chicken breast or buffalo wing-like dish, but it came out as just a grilled chicken breast with some sauce on it. I was a little let down by that.
However, the salad, onion rings, and fries were exceptional. The onion rings were nice and thick with a perfectly crisp batter, and the fries were done just right. And how about the main focus of the night? I have a tendency to save the best for last, and this was no exception. But wow, it was worth the wait. The rib sauce was a perfect balance of smoky, sweet, and savory. It was amazing. The ribs themselves weren’t fall-off-the-bone tender, but isn’t there something of a primal satisfaction in gnawing meat straight off a rib-bone? I had a good time, anyway.
Malibu Chicken with french fries
My wife had a Malibu Chicken sandwich with french fries, and we were both blown away by the size of this thing. It was huge! And very tasty.
Points for improvement
For one, I want something to jazz up the chicken that comes with the ribs platter. It just seemed weird to have that little grilled chicken breast next to the impressive stack of ribs and onion rings.
I don’t mind ribs that don’t fall off the bone, but if that’s what you’re going for when you make ribs, low and slow is always the key. I usually cook them covered in the oven with a nice dry rub at the lowest possible temperature for about four hours or so. Then I finish them on the grill and slather them with my own sauce, and they don’t disappoint.
All in all, I was very impressed with Art City Trolley, and I may find myself there again soon.
Let me halfway apologize for my lack of posts over the last week. As you may have guessed, it was finals time! (That’s why it’s only a halfway apology – I have a damn good excuse). The hot foods class has taught me a lot about classical cooking, and I’m looking forward to compiling an ebook with all of the goodies that I learned.
Sawadee
Today I had the chance to go up to Salt Lake City, where I tried out a Thai place called Sawadee. It won first place for Thai food in the City Weekly’s Best of Utah awards, so I had to try it out.
Let me tell you, they didn’t let me down. For starters, the value was amazing. Sawadee offers a lunch special for $7.50 that includes a salad, rice, a spring roll, and your choice of two entree items from a list of about 20. My wife and I ordered two kinds of curry, a barbecued pork dish, and a peppered chicken/vegetable dish for our specials. I ordered a Thai Sweet Tea to drink, which soundly blew my mind. Picture a southern sweet tea, if you’ve ever had one. (If you haven’t, it’s simply a sweetened, strong black tea.) Now add a spicy, exotic bite from the Thai tea. Now add a shot of half-and-half to make it oh-so-deliciously creamy. It was transcendent, my friends.
Food and Service
The service was extremely quick – our food was out mere minutes after we put in the order. (The salad was brought out literally right when we sat down, so that probably helped the time seem to fly by. I guess the salad is their comp dish for everyone, like breadsticks at an Italian place.)
A great spread at a great price to boot
The sweet and spicy peanut salad dressing was excellent. The little spring roll with sweet/sour chili sauce was delicious. The barbecued pork was smoky and savory, very well seasoned. The curries (we got Masaman and Red Curry) were distinctly different and both very tasty. The peppered chicken was warm and refreshing. And for dessert, we just had to have their sticky rice with mango and coconut cream. Get this stuff at any Thai place – it’s so simple, yet so incredibly delicious. As long as you get a reasonably ripe mango, you’ll be in heaven. I don’t care how full you are, just get it. You’ll find your appetite. Today we got a lightly firm-yet-sweet mango, and it was delicious.
Points for improvement?
The only possible complaint I can think of is about the chicken that was in our two curry dishes. It felt too tough, like it had been overcooked. This is a tricky one for many chefs, because obviously you don’t want to take chances on underdone chicken. (Hello salmonella, goodbye career!)
The curry’s chicken is very thinly sliced, so it can go from done to overdone in the blink of an eye. There is also the chance that they let the chicken sit in the simmering curry broth for a long time, which will toughen it up pretty quick. What would I do about it? One idea is to cook the chicken breasts whole and slice them up after. And they should leave it a little pink on the inside. Are you raising your eyebrows? Think about it: the chicken is cut into very thin slices,meaning they will cook quickly. Then they are placed into a pot of boiling-hot curry. It willcook them.
So that would be my ideal serving scenario – sear the chicken breast, cut it thin, and drop the slices into boiling curry just before service, letting it cook for barely a minute. Imagine what a difference it would make to have perfectly done, melt-in-your-mouth chicken slices inside your delicious savory-sweet curry soup. Wow, I’m getting hungry again.
Sawadee Thai: 754 East South Temple, Salt Lake City
Synopsis: Today we made a new cream of asparagus soup, with a nice change of seasoning. Today’s soup is thickened with beurre manie, which is simply an uncooked roux. (The term beurre manie means “kneaded butter” in French.) It also has a helping of sauteed garlic, which adds some extra savor.
Recipe: Cream of Asparagus Soup
Asparagus
Celery
Onions
Shallots
Bacon
Chicken stock
Heavy cream
Butter
Flour
Garlic
Salt
White pepper
Thyme
Worcestershire sauce
Chop up all vegetables and bacon. Saute the bacon in the bottom of a large soup pot. When some of the grease comes out, add the vegetables and saute them as well. When the asparagus turns a deep green, add enough chicken stock to cover it completely, plus another inch or so. Let it simmer until the asparagus and vegetables are soft. Now puree the soup well with an immersion blender or regular blender, and strain it well to remove all the tough asparagus fibers. Return it to the heat along with a small pot of heavy cream. While the cream warms, you can make your beurre manie by kneading together equal amounts of butter and flour until it forms a dough. When the cream starts steaming, add it to the soup. Let the soup come to a simmer, and then drop pea-sized pieces of the beurre manie dough into it while whisking vigorously. Add enough to bring the soup to the desired consistency, something like a chowder. Sautee some minced garlic in butter to add to the soup. Season the soup to taste with salt, white pepper, thyme, a splash of Worcestershire, and the sauteed garlic. And if the beurre manie didn’t do it enough for you, you can add in some extra butter at this point. (Screw you, calorie counters). Bon Appetit!
Synopsis: Today my team made this smoky-sweet roasted pepper and tomato soup. It is a little involved, but it makes a big impression! Ideally, you should have a gas stove or a grill to roast the peppers. If possible, I suggest doing it outside, since little black flakes of red pepper skin tend to fly around everywhere and can be a pain to clean up. Feel free to switch up the seasonings in this, but I think the Worcestershire and the sugar are essential to striking a nice balance of flavor.
This soup was thickened exclusively with rice, giving it a bisque texture. Feel free to use a cornstarch + water slurry instead.
Recipe: Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
Red Peppers
Tomatoes, peeled and seeded (can use canned)
Fresh whole tomatoes, quartered
Cooked rice
Onions
Chicken Stock and Tomato Paste, if necessary
Basil
Worcestershire sauce
Sugar
Salt
Pepper
Flame on! Turn on the gas burners of your stove or get your grill nice and hot. Place the peppers directly over the flame and roast those suckers nice and black. Like, ALL of it, don’t leave any bits of red skin. When they are done, take a wet towel or washcloth and sprinkle some kosher salt on it. Now rub the skin of the peppers gently to get the skin separate from the flesh. Don’t worry about loose flecks left on the pepper, because the next step is to rinse the peppers well. Cut the pepper in half, remove the stem and seeds, and chop up the pepper roughly.
Now place the quartered tomatoes into a sheet pan and roast it at 400 degrees until it just starts to get some black tops on it. While they are roasting, saute the onion in some butter in the bottom a large pot. Add the chopped red pepper and quartered tomatoes. Now add the canned peeled tomatoes whole and bring to a simmer. Add the cooked rice. If you wish, you can add some chicken stock and/or tomato paste to adjust the thickness and volume of the soup. (Our team added some of both. It was good, but I think the roasted flavor comes out better if you don’t).
Now puree the soup in a regular blender or with an immersion blender. If needed, add more chicken stock or tomato paste to adjust the final texture. Add Worcestershire, salt, spices, and sugar to taste. Strain the soup to get any rice particles or seeds out. Done! Garnish with cheese, fresh basil leaves, or whatever your heart desires.
Synopsis: Today my team got an interesting challenge – make a soup to use up all of the spare vegetables and stock from the fridge. This is something that every chef will face, whether in a professional kitchen or at home: the use-it-today-or-chuck-it dilemma. How can you creatively incorporate new ingredients into some of your traditional dishes? This is a great chance to expand your horizons as a chef.
Today’s result? A medley of vegetable soup containing yellow squash, acorn squash (though you would never know it), carrots, onion, celery, and diced tomato. We had pork stock that we needed to use, so we made that the base of the soup. We sauteed the vegetables first and then added the stock, simmering until done. I finished it with fresh rosemary and garlic salt. Why? Because I like garlic and rosemary. So eat it.
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from it, but it came out very nice! So here’s my challenge to you: don’t let anything go bad in your fridge for the next week. Go now and take an inventory of everything that you have, and how close it is to going bad. (If there is something that’s already gone bad, hang your head in shame and throw it away). Now think of a rough menu of dishes that you can make over the next week. Utilize ALL of the produce, meats, dairy, and anything else that would go bad in that time frame. Obviously, start with the stuff that’s closest to meeting its maker, and work your way back from there.
You may be surprised at the results! Combinations that never occurred to you before can turn out to be very tasty. (And some won’t. That’s cooking). Try it! And I want to see what you come up with – email me or leave a comment with your uniquely delicious (or uniquely horrible) dishes from this challenge!
Synopsis: Today’s post will be short and sweet. Due to the absence of an expected food order this morning, our class was forced to improvise with whatever we had in the freezer and dry storage. And as a result, our team was stuck doing a lot of random prep work throughout the day. So I don’t have a new recipe for you today, but we did do a tomato concasse, which is a handy technique to know. (Pronounced kon-kah-SAY).
Tomato concasse is simply a peeled, seeded, and diced tomato. Removing the peel and seeds leaves you with only the red flesh of the tomato and none of the messiness. If you ever want to do a tomato dice, this is the way to do it. Try making salsa with a tomato concasse – it comes out nice and clean.
Technique: First, get a pot of water boiling. Core the tomato by cutting a tight circle around the stem, pointing towards the center at all times. Now blanch the tomato – dip it in the boiling water for approximately 10-15 seconds, and then take it out and dip it into cold water. This will free up the skin and allow you to peel it off easily. Now comes the fun part – cut the tomato in half horizontally, exposing all of the sections. Now squish it! (Preferably over a bowl or garbage can or something, but whatever.) Just pick it up and squish it with your hand. If you’re too squeamish, let your kids do it or something. This will get rid of just about all of the seeds and pulp. Now you can dice the tomato flesh to your heart’s content.
If you like, you can use the peels and seeds for a stock or soup flavoring. Waste not, want not, right? Use your creativity.
Baked Eggplant Parmesan over Sauteed Spinach, garnished with parsley
Synopsis: Another full day at culinary school has yielded plenty of tasty treats. Today in particular I heard a lot more food-gasm noises than usual coming from the class, and that’s always a good sign. We had creme anglaise bread pudding, orange-cranberry turkey slices, and zucchini sticks with garlic aioli sauce, not to mention the wonderful sweet treats that came up from the bakeshop and cold foods classes. Keep in mind that all of this was just for us students to eat! (This is one of the wonderful perks of culinary school).
For the customers, my team put out this baked Eggplant Parmesan on the hot line. I have nothing against deep-frying this dish, but today’s pan-fried/baked version came out surprisingly well. And if you’re careful with the amount of cheese you top it with, this could actually be a very health-conscious dish. (I, on the other hand, will probably put on more parmesan next time. And some mozzarella. And possibly some smoked provolone. Oooooh, melty goodness.)
Recipe: Eggplant Parmesan
Eggplant, peeled and sliced lengthwise
Flour
Egg wash (scrambled raw eggs)
Cracker meal (or bread crumbs)
Rosemary
Thyme
Basil
Terragon
Diced tomatoes
Tomato sauce (seasoned as you like it, preferably thick)
Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
First, chop up the herbs and mix them into the bread crumbs. Then bread the eggplant (breading anything else is pretty much the same exact process). Dredge an eggplant slice in flour until covered on all sides. Now dip it into the egg and make sure not to leave any dry flour spots. Next, press it into the bread crumbs to coat well on all sides. Repeat with all the other slices. When you’re done, get a frying pan nice and hot with some oil (enough to cover the bottom of the pan). Fry the eggplant until it gets that nice golden brown color and crisp coating on either side. When you’re done with all the eggplant, arrange them on a sheet pan and top them with a small pile of diced tomatoes. Then pour some thick tomato sauce over the top of each slice, and finish with a generous sprinkling of parmesan. Now put them in the oven at 350 until the cheese is all melty, brown, and delicious. That’s it! As always, if you try out this recipe, or think you can beat it, let me know either by email or in the comments. And feel free to shoot any questions my way. Bon Appetit!
Synopsis: Today we did a smooth cream of asparagus soup seasoned with oregano, garlic and marjoram. The procedure is basically the same with all cream soups, but today’s recipe is thickened with a Bechamel sauce. Bechamel is just hot milk thickened with roux. The nice thing is, you get the thickening agent and the creaming agent all in one!
Recipe:
Asparagus
Onions, diced
Celery, chopped
Broccoli florets
Chicken stock
Salt
White pepper
Garlic powder
Oregano and/or marjoram
-Bechamel
Butter
Flour
Milk
First saute all the vegetables in some butter or oil until about half done. Add desired amount of chicken stock. (I added quite a bit, about double the amount of vegetables). Simmer until vegetables are done. Puree with an immersion blender, and prepare the roux for the Bechamel by melting butter and then adding flour until the mixture resembles wet sand. Now add hot milk and whip with a whisk over medium-low heat until it thickens up. Since we’re using this as a thickening agent, obviously you don’t want to thin down the sauce with too much milk – add just enough to keep it thick but get rid of all the roux lumps. Add the Bechamel to the asparagus soup and mix well. Now strain the soup to remove all the asparagus strands and any stray roux lumps – use a spoon or spatula to help it through the strainer. Season to taste, and your soup is ready!
Turkey Cutlet, Roasted Corn Salsa and Potatoes Lyonnaise
Synopsis: Today I have another interesting variation on plain ol’ Thanksgiving turkey for you to try out this holiday – Curried Turkey Cutlets! I liked the spicy warm flavors and the tender cuts of turkey breaded inside a crispy coating. You can either deep-fry these suckers to get them done quick, or do what we did today, which was a quick pan-fry followed by a spell in the oven to finish them. This dish blended nicely with the smoky-sweet flavor of the Roasted Corn Salsa. To make that, just roast some corn until the tips of the kernels get black. Cut the kernels off, and mix with diced onions, diced tomatoes, diced sweet peppers, and some white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire.
Recipes:
Turkey breasts, cut into 1/2-3/4 inch fillets
Flour
Eggs
Panko (Asian-style crispy breadcrumbs)
Curry powder
Chili powder
Salt
White pepper
Oil for frying
Begin by seasoning the turkey cutlets with salt, pepper, and the chili and curry powders. Next, dredge the cutlets in flour, covering it well. Now dip into a raw egg-wash bath to get it wet on either side. Finally, dip it into the breadcrumbs to coat nicely. Done? Congratulations, you now know how to bread most everything on earth! Use this knowledge wisely, unlike the folks who invented deep-fried twinkies. (Yes, I know those are battered, but the point still holds.) Anyway, you can deep-fry at this point, or you can quickly pan-fry it in some oil or clarified butter to get a nice brown coat, and then bake it at 350 until just done. We did the second method, and the result was good, but I’d like to try deep-frying to compare the two results. If you nail the cooking time, I think deep-frying could produce something even more tender than what we got today. If you try this yourself, let me know how it turns out! Bon Appetit.
Chicken Breast, Mashed Yams, Apple Cranberry Stuffing, and Squash Medley
Today rather than post a specific recipe I’ll talk about the general preparation of roasted turkey breast. The ones I made today worked out beautifully, they were extremely tender and flavorful. The picture here shows a roasted chicken breast that I also prepared today. I posted it as one interpretation of a traditional holiday meal that I think worked out well. But when it comes down to it, ’tis the season for Turkey, is it not? Oh, and let me know your own methods for cooking up a delicious Thanksgiving bird, too!
Roast Turkey
I roasted both chicken and turkey breasts for two separate entrees. The chicken was good, but the turkey came out great. I baked two huge turkey breasts in a deep roasting pan with chopped carrots, celery, and onion in the bottom, as well as enough chicken stock to cover the veggies. I baked at 350 until the turkey had a nice, golden top. Then I took it out, covered it with aluminum foil and returned it to the oven until it was about 150 degrees in the very center of the breast. Poultry should be cooked to 165 degrees, but remember carryover cooking! It’s going to keep cooking for about five minutes after you take it out of the oven. Especially with turkey breasts, because they are such large pieces of meat.
I strained the drippings into a pan and thickened with a cornstarch/water slurry to make a sauce, which I seasoned with salt and pepper. You can thicken with a roux to make a more traditional gravy instead. After taking the turkey out of the oven, I let it sit for five minutes before cutting it. Those few minutes of rest give it a chance to reabsorb its internal juices, so those tasty fluids stay inside the meat instead of dripping out all over the table when you cut it. (And the same is true for steak!) That’s it! This simple preparation made some of the best turkey breast that I’ve ever eaten. Just remember the key points – don’t overcook and rest before slicing. Those two things alone will do wonders!
Oh, and one last note: those automatic pop-up timers on turkeys? Bull. They can get stuck, they can go off at the wrong temperature, and they’re just no good. Get a good thermometer that you can stick right in to the meat to measure the temp, and live by it!
Synopsis: Today my team made this smoky-sweet roasted pepper and tomato soup. It is a little involved, but it makes a big impression! Ideally, you should have a gas stove or a grill to roast the peppers. If possible, I suggest doing it outside, since little black flakes of red pepper skin tend to fly around everywhere and can be a pain to clean up. Feel free to switch up the seasonings in this, but I think the Worcestershire and the sugar are essential to striking a nice balance of flavor.
