We’re always curious as to what goes on behind the scenes of a restaurant’s kitchen; how the food is made, the sexism in the kitchen, the different stations, the burns, blah, blah, blah.  Currently, I’m (Caroline speaking) reading Dalia Jurgensen’s memoir “Spiced,” so I may be a little more interested than normal. I personally like being behind the stove, cooking away, concentrating on the meal and not the service aspect, that’s the fun part for me.  So when Tasting Table tweeted about Shuna Fish Lydon’s (the pastry chef at Peels) Gooey Butter Cake it led me to her fun and informational blog, Eggbeater.  Wanna know about opening a restaurant?  becoming a chef? how to interview for a restaurant job? She’s got the post and the information not to mention the experience (Bouchon, French Laundry, do you need more?).  Have a look, if you’ve ever been curious about the restaurant life.

photo by Jessica Oshita

This past weekend, we had our inaugural Supper Club dinner with Spring’s bounty.  It was a blast and a great group of people came through, all who seemed to enjoy the company, the food, and the space.  Before we show you the post on that dinner we wanted to show you our “trial run” dinner we had in early Spring. We invited a handful of our foodie friends to a secret location where dinner was prepared by Corey Chow, the Sous Chef at a three star Michelin-ranked NY resto and drinks were concocted and served by Kelly Carambula of Eat Make Read.

One of the most important things to us is to use seasonal and local produce and to support our local businesses.  It is just as important that our guests feel at home and have a unique experience.  Most of our produce was bought at the farmer’s markets and our food scraps are composted.  All our beer was local (Brooklyn Brewery this time) and the proteins were provided by Dickson’s Farmstand Meats and The Lobster Place.  Here are some prep photos of the meal and some shots of the final courses.

COCKTAILS:

Rickshaw-lime, basil simple syrup, and gin

Easy Going-Cucumber, simple syrup, and sake

DESSERT

Profiteroles with Pickled Cherries and Spearmint Cream

Hamachi, jalapeño, and cilantro with ponzu

(apologies for the blurry photos) Cucumber and apple with plum Kewpie

Roasted Beet Salad with horseradish créme fraîche, radish, and celery.

In the deliciousness we forgot to take a photo of the second photo. (see below for photo)

Pork loin-Asian pear, ciopollini onions, asparagus, taro mash croquette, and honey-mustard shiso

Heirloom Tomato Salad -heirloom tomatoes, Salvatore Bklyn ricotta, basil, and balsamic reduction

Profiteroles with Pickled Cherries and Spearmint Cream

Vegetarians- Poached Egg with Asparagus in a Brown Butter Sauce and for the main course, handmade fettucine with peas and a cheese I can’t remember… (sorry guys, this was a while ago and we forgot to save the menus)

Each Supper Club we like to send everyone home with a little something, and since it was early spring we thought we’d send everyone home with a seedling for their own herb garden. We have some lovely photos by Jessica Oshita of the dinner, from a eater’s point of view.

We hope you join us for our next Supper Club, which we hope to do on a monthly basis.  You can sign up on our mailing list to get an invite or follow us on twitter for the next announcement.

]]> http://numnumchronicles.com/?feed=rss2&p=1093 0 http://numnumchronicles.com/?p=1064 http://numnumchronicles.com/?p=1064#comments Sun, 08 Aug 2010 16:14:10 +0000 Caroline & Lisa http://numnumchronicles.com/?p=1064

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to go on a detox to cleanse our bodies of, well, toxins. We ended up eating a mainly vegan, gluten-free, no caffeine, no alcohol diet for about 2 weeks. Honestly, it wasn’t that bad and we really did feel better. In fact, we’re still following some of the same rules! Of course we added alcohol back into our diets, c’mon guys, it’s summer…

Even though we were cutting out a lot of our normal foods, we still wanted to be able to eat tasty dishes while sticking to our diet so we did quite a bit of research. While recipe-searching, we remembered Lagusta of Lagusta’s Luscious and Bluestocking BonBons. Lagusta recently approached me (Caroline) to create a banner for her vegan chocolate company and that’s when we also discovered her amazing New Paltz, NY-based vegetarian home meal delivery company (everything looked soooo yummy). When we started the detox, we turned to Lagusta for some recipes and a little get-to-know-you.

Lagusta sent us recipes for Coconut Creamed Greens and Herb-Infused Seasonal Fruits. Both are incredibly simple but equally delicious. The coconut creamed kale was a hefty side and if you love coconut milk, you’ll love this dish. The herb-infused fruits made for the perfect dessert–who says you need chocolate and carbs to satisfy a sweet tooth? And these dishes are especially great for summer because you don’t need to turn on the oven to make them and the slaving over a hot stove is minimal.

The roux!  Equal parts flour and olive oil.

The roux sauteed with onions and creamed with coconut milk. (We couldn’t find the Fakin’ Bacon Lagusta recommends, only the processed soy-based bacon which we try to avoid, so we made our greens bacon-less.)

The season is perfect for fruit and the farmers markets are plentiful so we got some plums, plouts, peaches, and blackberries. We thought we had bought lemon verbana like the recipe calls for, but after further google image research we realized that wasn’t the case. So we picked some thyme from our fire escape garden and infused that instead.

Food Talk with Lagusta

1. Tell us a little bit about Lagusta’s Luscious, your vegan home meal delivery service in New Paltz, NY.

I went to cooking school in NYC, at the Natural Gourmet Institute in Chelsea, and I figured that I wanted to have a restaurant of my own one day. My goals changed when I saw that all the restaurant owners I knew had such intense, hectic, chaotic lives. I work best alone, in a serene environment, and having a restaurant is the exact opposite of that.

So in 2003 I decided to start a little meal delivery service with no capital and absolutely no business knowledge–I made a million, trillion mistakes. In time I got better at the business aspect and better at finding my cooking “voice,” too. In 2004 I moved upstate, to New Paltz, and rented a commercial kitchen a few miles from my house. I cook very seasonally, which is partly why my partner, Jacob, and I decided to move upstate—we moved to a very farm-friendly town, and some of my best friends are farmers. I’m always hounding them about what special treats they are growing that I can snatch up. I make meals for 20 clients a week and I feel really lucky that I’ve attracted a wonderful group of people who appreciate the way I cook. I’m also really proud of the fact that almost none of my clients are vegetarians or vegans—they just like my cooking.

2. Fill us in on your vegan chocolate line, Bluestocking Bonbons. What inspired you to create a vegan chocolate?

I’ve been making chocolate truffles for years, and in 2009 I created a new chocolate line to compliment the truffles: Bluestocking Bonbons. I was a Women’s Studies major in college, and loved the idea of celebrating influential women by naming a special chocolate for them, so the Bluestocking Bonbons are six different chocolates, all named for fascinating, accomplished women. Three of them I know (my mother and my two mentors), and three I’ve never met (Christine de Pizan, the godmother of modern feminism who lived in the 1400s, Nawal el Saadawi, a prominent Egyptian feminist, and Vandana Shiva, the Indian environmental activist and feminist.).

As far as the vegan thing–I’ve been vegan for 17 years, so I just quietly make all my cooking and chocolates vegan. I try to walk a fine line of attracting vegans (my peeps!) to my products while not scaring off non-vegans, who I love converting to the deliciousness of vegan chocolates.

3. What is your favorite cookbook? Can you recommend any books about going vegetarian/vegan?

I love every cookbook that Isa Chandra Moskowitz has done. And a few years ago I had the amazing experience of working on a two-volume cookbook set with my mentors at Bloodroot, a vegetarian-feminist restaurant in Connecticut. The books are called The Best of Bloodroot–one is vegetarian and the other is vegan. Bloodroot has been around for over thirty years and the innovations they’ve made in the realm of vegan cooking are astonishing.

The book that made me a vegan was Animal Liberation, by Peter Singer, and the book that gave me the courage to integrate veganism into my sense of self and my personal politics was The Sexual Politics of Meat, by Carol Adams. Both are great!

4. What are five must-haves in a vegetarian/vegan pantry?

1. Coconut milk I use it for everything but breakfast cereal. It has a clean, fresh flavor that packaged soy or almond or rice milk doesn’t have.

2. Extra virgin olive oil So many new vegans are unsatisfied with their food because it’s not rich enough. When you cut out meat and dairy you have a huge fat-shaped hole in your diet, and in order to feel happy and full, you need to be liberal with good, healthy fats like olive oil. I was an unhappy, unhealthy vegan for five or so years before I realized this.

3. Onions (specifically caramelized onions) Meat is rich in umami, the savory and rich “fifth taste,” so when you’re eating vegan foods you need to think about how to build deep umami flavors into your meals. Caramelized onions are my #1 trick.

4. Garlic, of course! I have 20 lbs of this year’s crop hanging out in my basement as we speak. It’s like money in the bank.

5. Shoyu Real, fermented soy sauce. I use shoyu a lot more than salt for the same reason I use caramelized onions. Shoyu is like salt + richness. Yum.

5. What’s your all-time favorite restaurant?

This one is easy: Kajitsu, in NYC, on 9th Street. It’s a vegan Japanese restaurant in the Kyoto (shojin) style. It’s extremely influenced by the seasons, and the food is breathtakingly beautiful. Their menu changes every month, and they only offer prix-fixe menus, with 5 or 8 courses. It’s pricey, but worth every penny, and the meals last for hours.

Refreshing agua frescas, a combination of water and fruit, seeds, flowers, can do a great job in quenching your thirst and not letting into the juice addiction.  Ok, maybe we’re the only ones with the juice addiction (we seriously try not to buy any, otherwise its gone within a day!).  We recently went on a brief detox, eliminating sugar, dairy, gluten, caffeine which meant, no juice!  No juice (to me, Caroline) means BORING water all the time, so I decided to replace my iced coffee/juice addiction with a light, detox-worthy drink, Jamaica (pronounced HA-my-kah), a hibiscus tea. I adapted a recipe from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Cooking by using agave nectar rather than sugar and diluting it a bit more.

First you boil water and add the hibiscus flowers to the pot to steep for about 10 minutes.

Strain, add sugar or agave, and you’re done!

Agua Fresca: Jamaica (adapted from Super Natural Cooking)

4 cups water
1/2 cup dried jamaica flowers
1/3 cup agave nectar
Another 4 1/2 cups of cold water
More agave to taste

This tea will stain anything it comes into contact with, so use a pot that you don’t mind being stained a bright magenta color or a stainless steel pot.

Bring the 4 cups of water to a boil. Remove water from heat and add the dried flowers and sugar. Place a lid over the pot and steep for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Pour the infusion through a strainer into a pitcher or jug (this is usually where something gets stained). You are going to want to add about 4 1/2 more cups of cold water to the pitcher. Taste and adjust based on your personal preference.

Cool completely and serve with plenty of ice in glasses,

Serves 8-10.

When Art in the Age released ROOT last year, we thought it was the best thing to hit our highballs since we’d discovered the beauty of bourbon (not to mention it looked lovely in our liquor cabinet). So of course we were amped to try the Philly folks’ new spirit SNAP, which hits home bars everywhere in August. While the cinnamon-y, vanilla-y, ginger-y flavors of SNAP (yeah, it tastes like a gingersnap but without any sickly sweetness. Yum.) are super well-suited for the cooler months, we ran through a handful of recipes the lovely folks at Art in the Age suggested and found on that’s perfect for summer. (The one we decided was PERFECT for fall will run in the next issue of BUST, so stay tuned!) Oh, did we mention SNAP is certified organic and 80 proof? Yeah, you want this in your glass. And with only three ingredients, this SNAP-inspired cocktail couldn’t be easier to mix.

Double Ginger
1 oz. SNAP
1 oz. rum
4 oz. ginger beer

Pour SNAP and rum over ice in a highball glass. Add ginger beer and stir. Garnish with a lime wedge.

This is the last of our Oaxacan posts, I (Caroline, here) wanted to share with you my experience at a cooking class I took while in Oaxaca. I met 2 wonderful people, Australians nomadically living in Oaxaca who are currently working on a cookbook about Mexican food.  I know, it sounds strange but after taking the class, meeting the people, and tasting the food, its not so weird.  Travis Harvey and Kerin Ferguson have done their fair share of research, visiting the local farms to learn about the agriculture, getting to know the Mexican people and their food.  The class was really fun and we learned everything from the basic tools necessary to a little bit about food chemistry!The menu for this class was as follows:

Mole Coloradito, Memelitas, Salsa de Arbol, and Horchata.

Travis met us at the Mercado and showed us the different chiles and uses (did you know that chipotle is just a jalepeno pepper that’s been smoked?!), chocolates, and Oaxacan cheese.  Then we were off to La Villada Inn, where the cooking class takes place.

First off, we started with the Horchata.  The almonds and rice had already been soaking by the time we got there, so all that needed to be added were a couple of spices and a whirl in the blender.  Its so easy, you’d wonder why you never made it before yourself.

Molé is incredibly simple, it just has a lot of ingredients, don’t let it fool you.  It is a mix of 3 different kinds of chiles, a crazy amount of spices, some tomatoes, tomatillos, onions, and a wee bit of chocolate.  Most people think that the majority of molé is made from chocolate, but its actually a tiny bit.

Travis then showed us the workings of a tortilla press and the comal.  A comal is “either a thin metal or unglazed ceramic tray, used to cook tortillas or toast ingredients like chiles, tomatoes etc.”  He coated the comal with calcium carbonate to keep the uncooked tortillas from sticking to the comal. We each got our turn at making a tortilla, of course, I failed twice but third time’s a charm!  From this we made memelitas which are a little thicker than a tortilla and thinner than sopes.

Lastly, Travis whipped up some salsa de arbol and we were seated for lunch.  Cerveza and mezcal (kind of like tequila but smokier, a product of Oaxaca) in hand we were ready to eat!  A nice breeze and good conversation with Travis and Kerin about their lives in Oaxaca and how Travis came to cooking/teaching there, the lunch was perfect.  Did I mention that the food was delicioso, because it was MUY BIEN!  Travis and Kristen are working on a book about Mexican food, hoping to get it published soon, I hope for both your sake and mine that it gets published soon.  Check our their blog, De La Tierra, for recipes from the class that I didn’t list here and for more info about their classes when you decide to go down to Oaxaca.

Mole Coloradito | makes 4 portions

from De La Tierra
1/2 cup vege oil or manteca
2 ancho chile
3 chile guajillo
2 chile pasilla
20g raisins
1/2 cup raw peanuts
300g egg tomato
1 onion halved
150g tomatillo (or 150g more tomato + 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar, if unavailable)
4 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
2 bayleaves
3 cloves
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
30g dark Mexican drinking chocolate (or good quality dark chocolate)
2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
poached chicken

1. After wiping the chiles clean, split, de-seed and fry one at a time for about 5 seconds in vegetable oil. Place in a saucepan with the raisins and cover with boiling water. Leave sit for 10 minutes.
2. In the same oil, fry the peanuts for 2-3 minutes until lightly golden. Drain from the oil and reserve.
3. On a comal, toast the tomato, tomatillo, garlic, and onion. When the tomatoes are soft all the way through, remove from the heat. Quickly toast sesame seeds till golden than add the cloves, oregano, and thyme and heat for 30 seconds.
4. Place all ingredients in a blender with 1/2 a cup of the chicken stock. Blend until very fine. Pass the mixture through a fine strainer, reserve.
5. Take a small amount of the oil used for frying the chiles and peanuts, and heat it in a frying pan. Carefully add the paste, fry for 2-3 minutes until very fragrant. Add the salt, chocolate and remaining chicken stock. Simmer for 10 minutes and serve over poached chicken with warm tortillas.

Memelitas de Frijol | serves 6

200g fresh corn masa (or commercially prepared masa flour)
100g black bean paste
100g quesillo or queso fresco
finely sliced white onion

1. Divide the masa into 6 even balls, flatten them slightly, then press firmly in a tortilla press.
2. Turn over and press again, but not too hard as you don’t want them too thin.
3. Cook briefly on a comal before flipping over and pinching the edges to form a slight crust.
4. Fill with a little black bean paste, top with shredded quesillo and cook a little longer till crispy on the base. Top with a little sliced onion and the salsa of your choice, my favourite is the Arbol sauce below.

Our recent bounty from the Community Garden!  So crazy!  I can’t wait to start pickling and canning and eating!

Oaxaca is known for their chocolates, coffee, and MOLÉ.  Oaxaca is an amazing place for food, everything was super tasty and crazy cheap. We had street food most of the time but it ended up being way better than fancy restaurant meals.

Our first meal was at the local, organic market which sets up every Sunday at the ferrocarrîl museo, an old railroad yard. Dining al fresco, underneath the trees with fresh corn, squash, squash blossoms underneath the trees was the perfect welcome.  All the tortillas were being freshly made in front of us, blue corn tortillas were soft and slightly crisp.  There’s also a vendor from Italy, whose wife is from Korea (after having met in India, then moving to Oaxaca) so they had some pastries, pizzas, a couple of korean items, and a wonderful chai.

A trip to Mexico is never complete without Mexican corn, slathered in mayo, cheese, and cayenne pepper.  These Elote Carts are everywhere and for about $1 a corn, its hard to say no.  The corn was different than the corn here in the US, or ones that I’m used to having.  They seemed to be heartier and the kernels much larger, regardless, they were delicious.

This drink is a traditional Oaxacan beverage, made from maize flour and fermented cacao beans.  These ingredients are ground into a paste then hand mixed with water when a pasty foam rises to the top its ready to be drunk.  Strangely, its really refreshing and not heavy as you may think or it may seem.  It has a slight nutty, sweet flavor to it.

Everyday for lunch, we went to same place in the neighborhood (during the day we were working on a print at a printshop).  Surprisingly it never got old and the lady who ran the place, cooked a different meal every day.  She was super sweet and laughed at us every time we took pictures of our food. We had everything from Green Enchiladas, to Molé, to Chicken Milanesa and every meal came with agua fresca.  It seemed a shame to only pay $2.50 for this meal, but that’s all she charged.  Its definitely a place we’d go back to.

One night, we stopped at La Gran Torta, in the City Center.  I had been wanting Molé, so I chose the molé enchiladas with a thinly sliced steak.  Now, I know molé is not for everyone and anytime anyone tells me that they don’t like molé I tell them they haven’t had good molé.  People think that its too bitter or chocolate-y, but authentic, good molé is a well balance of chocolate, spice, and earthiness.  This one was everything I wanted and more, mmmmmmm.  We also got a shrimp pozole, which til this day, I can’t get out of my head.  It had a nice kick to it and a couple squeezes of lime made this stew DElicious.

We walked around the City Center quite a bit, most of the other neighborhoods have their fair share of street vendors, most of whom serve out of their homes.  In the Zócalo, the heart of Oaxaca, many vendors were out selling tchotchkes and a variety of street food.  The elections are coming up and so there’s a large gathering of teachers protesting and camping out.  We stopped at this taco stand and got ourselves 50 cent tacos, chorizo, pork, and steak.  See those 4 tacos?  We had about 4 more…

We decided that we wanted to try a fine dining experience in Oaxaca and through our foodie research we found Casa Oaxaca.  At first we wanted to try a bunch of suggestions by Alice Waters, but just never got around to it. So we ended up here.  It was a really beautiful, romantic setting.  Right on the rooftop overlooking the Cathedral.  It kinda didn’t feel like we were in Oaxaca anymore, but some resort town.

The food was simple and clean.  They mixed up a salsa right before us in a mortar and pestle, all served with samplings of pickled carrots and onions, guacamole, and salsa verde.  We ordered the ceviche stuffed into a Agua chile as an appetizer.  I ordered the black molé with turkey.  This molé was a bit earthier than I’d like, and I realized that my favorite kind of molé is coloradito, it has the nice balance of chocolate sweet, spice, and earth.  This was a nice, quiet dining experience, it was truly beautiful to dine with the sun going down.  There aren’t any complaints about the food, it was good, but in my opinion, food was way better on the streets.

(next up, a cooking class in Oaxaca-highly recommended!)

Last week was Heather’s birthday and her only special requests were that we do a low-key, intimate dinner and for it to be gluten and meat-free.  We were happy to oblige, being that she is one of our nearest and dearest friends.  So we had a bit of a challenge on our hands since we love our bread and gluten, but we’ve been meaning to try a vegan/gluten-free week soon so this was a good test.  The dinner was successful and very grown-up, a small dinner party in our make-shift dining room.

We turned to our favorite vegetarian author/blogger, Heidi Swanson, and found many delicious recipes including one for Hummus and one for our beloved Lemon Cucumber Tofu Salad.  After shopping for our ingredients at the farmer’s market we found some celery root and so we added fennel and celery root salad to the menu.  I (Caroline speaking) first tasted this salad at Frankie’s Sputino, a really great restaurant in Carroll Gardens.  After craving it for weeks, I realized it was a fairly simple salad with simple ingredients and vîola! Also to the menu, we added a garlic jalepeño shrimp from Martha Stewart Living for a little added protein.  All of these are really simple recipes and the best part of all, require a one-time use of the stove. Seriously, in this heat who needs to be in a hot kitchen?

Hummus

(via 101 Cookbooks)

This hummus keeps nicely, refrigerated, for a few days, but is best served at room temperature. As Heidi notes in her recipe, the hummus might thicken in the refrigerator. If this happens, you can simply thin it with a splash of water. Adjust with salt and lemon juice if needed as well

Makes 4 cups

1 pound / 453 g dried chickpeas, soaked in water for at least 4 hours, drained

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup water
scant 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
1/3 cup / 80ml tahini

In a large pot cover the chickpeas with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the baking soda, and reduce the heat. Simmer, skimming any foam from the surface, until the chickpeas are soft but still structured, roughly an hour. Drain.

Place 4 cups / 1.5 pounds / 650 g of the cooked chickpeas in a food processor. You can set aside any remaining chickpeas and have them as a snack or use them in a stew or soup. To the food processor add the water, lemon juice, and salt. Process for three minutes or until completely smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice along the way. If you like your hummus thinner add more water a small splash at a time. Add the tahini, process one more time. Taste and adjust the seasoning, add more salt or lemon juice if needed. Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl.

Lemon Cucumber Tofu Salad Recipe

(via 101 cookbooks)

Like Heidi, we served this over mungbeans.  Lemon cucumbers aren’t in season yet so we used regular cucumbers.

2 lemon cucumbers, quartered then sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 handful of fresh dill (about 2/3 cup loosely packed)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 big pinches of salt
8 ounces nigari extra firm tofu
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 of a large, ripe avocado

Toss the cucumbers, dill, olive oil, lemon juice and salt together in a medium bowl. Let sit for at least 20 minutes tossing gently once or twice along the way.

In the meantime, cook the tofu. Cook the tofu and a pinch of salt in well-seasoned skillet (I’ve been trying to stay away from non-stick) over medium-high heat for a few minutes, until the pieces are browned on one side. Toss gently once or twice, then continue cooking for another minute or so, until the tofu is firm, golden, and bouncy. Set aside.

Just before serving cut the avocado into cubes.

Spoon the cucumbers out of the lemon-olive oil mixture into a large salad bowl. Add half of the remaining dressing, the tofu, and half of the pine nuts. Gently toss. Taste. Add more dressing or salt if you like. Sprinkle the avocado across the top of the salad and gently toss once or twice to distribute it throughout the salad. Serve topped with the remaining pine nuts.

Serves 2 – 3.

Fennel and Celery Root Salad

(based off of Frankie’s Sputino’s salad)

1 medium sized Celery Root

1 medium sized Fennel

1 large lemon

2 tblsp Olive Oil

½ small red onion

¼ cup of chopped fresh parsley

Salt and Pepper

Peel the outer, rough layer of the celery root.  Start slicing the celery root into matchsticks, if you have a mandoline that has this feature it would be really helpful with this salad.  Chop the top off of the fennel and slice into matchsticks as well.  Dice the red onion.  Toss in a large salad bowl.  Add parsley.  Squeeze lemon juice and add olive oil to salad.  You may want to add more or less lemon, so taste as you go along. And lastly, season with salt and pepper.

Garlic-Jalepeño Shrimp (via Martha Stewart Living)

Serves 4

• 20 large shrimp (about 1 pound), peeled and deveined (tails left intact; optional)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 jalapeno chile (stem, ribs, and seeds removed), finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Toss together shrimp, garlic, jalapeno, lime juice, and 1 tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper. Marinate in refrigerator for 45 minutes.
2. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove shrimp from marinade, and add to skillet; cook through, about 2 minutes per side.

Happy birthday again, dear Heather!

We are really excited to be a part of Issue 2 of Remedy Quarterly, not only is it a great magazine but created by really amazing people.  Half of the creators are one of our favorite couples ever, Aaron and Kelly Carambula. This new issue is all about cravings, with contributions by David Lebovitz and Ashley English to name a few.  And for us, what more would we crave than sweets and fried food, FRIED CHICKEN and WAFFLES. Yes, together and yes, it’s delicious!

Fried Chicken
Serves 4

BRINE
6 cups water
1/2 cup coarse salt
1/2 cup pure aple syrup
1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), cut into 10 pieces (with breast quartered)
*note-if you don’t have the sharp knives or feel like hacking up the chicken yourself, the butcher will do it for you.

FOR FRYING
10 cups grapeseed oil (or enough to fill pot halfway)

FOR THE COATING
2 cups low-fat buttermilk
2 large eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. cayenne pepper

Make the brine: Bring water, coarse salt, and maple syrup to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until salt and syrup dissolve. Remove from heat, and let cool. Place chicken in a bowl, and pour cooled brine over top. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (up to 3 hours). Remove chicken from brine, and rinse under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels.

Frying the chicken: Fill a medium heavy pot halfway with oil (enough to cover chicken). Heat until a deep-fry thermometer reaches 340 degrees.

Meanwhile, make the coating: Stir together buttermilk, eggs, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Whisk together flour, coarse salt, and cayenne in another bowl. Working in batches, dip each chicken piece into buttermilk mixture, coating completely (do not shake off any excess). Dredge in flour mixture, patting onto chicken to coat completely. Transfer to a plate.
Working in batches, carefully place chicken in oil, and fry until deep golden brown, 6 to 7 minutes for small pieces, 9 to 10 minutes for large pieces. (As chicken is cooking, adjust heat as needed to maintain an oil temperature of 325 degrees. Return oil to 340 degrees before starting each new batch.)
Serve the chicken: Transfer chicken to paper-towel-lined plates, and let drain.

Waffles
Serves 4 (if using a Belgian Waffle maker)
Adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 ½ Tbsp. sugar
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
2 egg whites

1. In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center.
2. In another bowl beat egg yolks, milk, and melted butter.
3. Add egg yolk mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just till moistened (should be lumpy).
4. In a small bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight up).
5. Gently fold egg whites into flour and egg yolk mixture, leaving a few fluffs of egg white. Do not overmix.
6. Spoon waffle batter into your waffle iron, making sure not to overfill it.
7. Serve with real maple syrup and unsalted butter.