Hey there, foodies!

So after a (very) long hiatus, I've decided that now that I've taken my leave of restaurant work, it's time for me to punch some life back into this blog and get things cooking again (rim shot). I'm going to make things a bit more recipe focused again, and maybe wax concept or abstract occasionally. On the whole, though, I've decided this will be a food blog: recipes, concepts and techniques, food highlights from travel, and words on why certain practices in the food world are important- good or bad.

So, keep your eyes peeled, pals. WE'RE BACK.

Topic 1- What is seasonal eating?

(NOTE- this first is an overarching question. The next post will talk about the books themselves in earnest.)

Okay, so here we have the first books I've cracked this year- one I've read before (Momofuku), and one that's brand spankin' new (Eleven Madison Park). Here we have two very different restaurants in just about every aspect- style and ambiance, origins of cuisine, and flow of the restaurant (or in Momofuku's case, plural restaurants), even how the chef commands the kitchen (David Chang is notorious for his rages, while Daniel Humm is portrayed as a much quieter chef, at least so far as the book is concerned). However, one thing both chefs have a big appreciation for is eating seasonally- David Chang is adamant about local produce in season, and Daniel Humm changes his menu with the season, sometimes multiple times to reflect the changes in produce. 

What is eating seasonally, you ask?

Well, eating seasonally is eating and utilizing produce and all food when it's in its natural growing season or time of flourish. In layman's terms, getting what's good, when it's good. Sounds easy, right?

Well, not so much. Can you tell me off the top of your head when the growing season is for string beans? How about cantaloupe? Tomatoes? (Okay, maybe that one). Now this isn't because this info is hard to pick up. We just, to a degree, stopped caring. With the advent of the super-market, industrial greenhouses, and transcontinental shipping, we now have tomatoes in December, peaches in April, and honeydew year-round.

The one big problem? They suck.

And not just a little, either. Those of us in MD who've had a honest-to-goodness local farm grown Maryland tomato know just how much the supermarket stuff sucks. By comparison, our December tomato is absolutely flavorless. The problem is not enough of us know. Most of us grew up on that flavorless tomato, that factory farmed pork chop, and that flavorless cantaloupe, oblivious to what else is around us.

Now I know what you guys and girls are saying- "but what if we want, say, a tomato caprese salad in mid-winter?" (I know I'm belaboring the tomato point, but it's absolutely the most common produce complaint I hear as a cook). Well... You may just have to do without. If you know what you make is going to be sub-par and unsatisfying, why would you make it, wasting your time and money for something half-ass?

Now this isn't to say we can't enjoy out of season produce at all, just not in raw form. Why not try your hand at canning (blanket term- it also means storing in jars) all that tasty stuff, so you have that fresh tomato taste for a wintertime pasta, or preserved apricots for cakes or breakfasts in February? Jars are inexpensive and easy to find and use. If you have a little extra cash to burn and get a foodsaver or other vaccum-sealer, by all means do so! (seriously, they're great.)

"But," you may ask, "Even when I buy a supermarket tomato in summer, it's still the same! What gives?" Well, the supermarket generally doesn't change where they get their stuff from based on the season (though thankfully, this is changing in some markets). You're better off perusing your local farmer's market to get the best of what's around.  You may notice a marked change in some supermarket items' quality when you buy them in season (which is great), but others grown factory farm-style in greenhouses with the same nutrient mix as every other veggie or fruit grown in said greenhouses will not (which is not great).

Okay, so obviously I'm a fan of the whole seasonal eating thing, which to a sizeable degree means I also try to eat local whenever I can. Eating local is an additional aspect to easting seasonally, but allows you to really score the good stuff- without a doubt the best tasting, best quality, and least damaged (hey, less time in transit means less time bouncing around getting bruised in a crate) stuff out there. On top of that, you get to support local business. Good stuff all around!

However, here's the counterpoint- If not for the supermarket, How many of us could have had a pineapple? A passion-fruit? Hell, even a lemon or lime? The fact of the matter is that some things we consider common come from a ways away... Places that, to be fair, there's much more consistent weather and thus longer growing seasons. Do seasons matter as much for these items since they can be grown mostly year round, and shipped with little to no degradation in quality?

My position? The things that I can get locally in-season, I eat while they're around and do without when they aren't, or preserve for out of season use. The things I can't get locally at all? I buy them where I can with no guilt. In my mind, I'm responsibly expanding my culinary horizons that otherwise would not have the experience at all.

What are your thoughts? Do you try to eat seasonal, or actively think the supermarket is a better alternative? Or both? Where does money fit into all this?

One thing, though... This June, you guys and gals should find a ripe cantaloupe from a local market, slice it open, take a deep whiff, and take a bite. It'll change your life.

New year's resolutions.

Hello, foodies!

So I have several new years resolutions this year. One is to go through all my philosophical, religious, and cooking books and texts to try and get new perspective on them. Now while I've found discussing religion or philosophy on facebook or the blogosphere is usually asking for trouble, food may be a more accessible topic. Another of my big resolutions is to get this blog back up and running on the regular, and while I certainly will continue will describing individual techniques, I'd also like to get a larger sense of q&a and people's curiosity. As I go through each cookbook or two, I'd like to use whatever style, focus, or type of cooking the book conveys to fuel either the subject for discussion or the techniques/recipes to be covered, or both. From that I hope to get some good food for thought (HEY-O). For all my friends in the professional cooking world, the home cooking world, the foodie world, blogosphere, or just my friends interested with something to say... This is intended as open forum entirely, and all constructive input is welcome.

Salads. Nuff said.

In taking a look back, I haven't given salads much love on this blog so far. Yeah, I mention turning the beef into a salad back in the kabob entry, but I feel like I didn't quite do salads justice. To be honest, salads often get written off. They're what you make or order when "you're on a diet", "not too hungry", "need to cut things back", and so on. This line of thought makes it sound like salads are some kind of penance or self-deprivation, and that, had we our druthers, we'd all be chomping on steaks and potatoes for every meal. Well, I'm saying it now- this is bull. A good salad is a thing of beauty! In fact, for all you beginner cooks out there... Scratch that, for ALL cooks, salads are probably one of the best exercises in flavor creation and pairing out there- You have direct control over how much of each ingredient, and ergo its flavor and texture, goes into each plate of salad. You have the fewest variables- no heat to burn or mush your ingredients, no complex knifework, and can easily change the one thing that can elevate or undo your dish- Dressing. As an added bonus, salads are a dish that tastes equally awesome vegetarian or carnivore, and can help give you a better understanding of using quality ingredients- there's no way to hide inferior materials in a salad. What you put in is directly what you get out.

Also, this is when a lot of my favorite greens come around in the year.

So, first as a refresher, let's take another look at the spectrum of flavors, and how we can include all this to make a tasty salad-

Sweet. Salty, Sour, Bitter, Umami.

So let's start with our greens. A lot of the time, greens fulfill a little sweet and mostly texture contrast. Some nice crunch mixed with a fresh, if sometimes neutral, taste. For this salad, I want my greens livelier than that and really contributing to our selection of flavors. Our choice? Baby Arugula. This little green has a nice bitterness and peppery taste to it that helps to... set the stage for our flavors, if you will. their flavor makes a nice backdrop to help all the brighter sharper flavors really stand out. That said, we don't want the bitterness to overwhelm the palate, so our second ingredient needs to provide a more earthy flavored base. Beans of some sort will do nicely for this task. Even better, they contribute a nice bit of umami to the mix. Now that we have a good strong base, let's begin to build up. Sweet can be found lots of places- tomatoes, carrots, fresh red pepper... What about roasted red pepper? It has the nice sweetness we want, with the added benefit of a touch of smokiness to help tie the umami and sweet together. Now our salty and sour will come from our dressing primarily, so no need to put too much of those in here, or they may overwhelm the palate when paired with the dressing. Now that we have all our flavor bases covered, we need one more thing. Our dish doesn't really have much texture. the arugula has a little crispness to it, but our beans and peppers are both soft. We need some crunch. It's a job for cucumber! Cucumber allows for a nice bit of crunchiness without modifying the flavor of your salad too much, and in this case adds to our flavor with it's nice bit of freshness. So after slicing and tossing all our ingredients together, let's make a vinaigrette.

I know I've covered vinaigrettes before, but for convenience's sake-

Now a lot of people love the balsamic vinaigrette, and it's a great thing, but I'm a big fan of sherry vinegar- not quite as sweet, but tons of character and complexity, and goes on just about anything. We'll add a little coriander, a little salt, pepper, dijon mustard, and some diced shallot. Lastly, our oil- When making a vinaigrette you want to aim for a 3:1 oil to acid ratio. In the end, though, just eyeball and taste your way to a good result. Whisk your mixture while lowly adding the oil (or put all but the oil in your blender, switch it to low, and then slowly add the oil as the blender runs) until well emulsified.

Now, while this salad is perfectly ready to go as a course for dinner, we want some animal protein if we're having it solo. With our selection of salad components, chicken would be the best choice, both for price and flavor. Add any chicken you have handy, in almost any way (except fried. Fried chicken is really more of a standalone thing). Enjoy!

Variations for salad ingredients- So let's say everything for our salad isn't available to you. A couple alternatives we can choose are-

Red peppers- cherry tomatoes
cucumber- celery
Cannelini beans- northern or navy beans
meat- lamb or beef
Arugula- Dandelion Greens, mescalin

side note: prepping a cucumber- One thing that's always bugged me is just how popular the english cucumber is. I mean, don't get me wrong, its a tasty veggie, but so many people buy it strictly for convenience, paying over twice the cost for it when there are perfectly good american or kirby cucumbers sitting right next to them, often organic and STILL cheaper than the english cukes. A lot of people say that, aside from the hassle of peeling a cucumber (which I counter by saying how it's not much easier to get that darn shrink wrap off the english cucumber), there's too much seed goop in the american cucumber, making it a squishy veggie to eat, and can water down the vinaigrette and the rest of the salad. Well, here's how you take care of that- After peeling your cucumber, slice it in half lengthways. Take a spoon, and scoop down the line of seed goop, discard. This may take two passes to completely remove the seeds, but there you go!

Until next time... I'm not making a tossed salad joke. come on, now.

Pantry essentials 2- The Oily Truth.

Good evening, Foodies!

In going with our back-and-forth plan, today we step back into our pantry and cupboards for another look at what we should have, what we should avoid, and how we can use it. Today is something you might be familiar with... Scratch that, if you cook, this is something you are unavoidably familiar with- Oil. Be it dressing, sauteing, frying, or just about anything else, chances are if you've cooked, you've used an oil. They are integral for a vinaigrette or adding body to dressings, they're essential for high heat cooking, and, some of you may be surprised to know, there is no one supreme oil for everything, and just about every oil has a purpose. First, though, let's go over what makes oil so fantastic for cooking-

--At room temp, oils are a smooth, if slightly viscous, liquid. This makes it much easier to work with in non-heated applications than animal fats or butters, especially in larger amounts. This state also means that for emulsifying room temp ingredients, the emulsification will hold much longer than a fat that would solidify at or slightly below room temp.

COOKING VOCAB- Emulsify- the process of blending a fat and liquid together to form a uniform and smooth result. This is achieved on a molecular level by the fat molecules surrounding and binding water molecules, preventing the water from sinking below the fat. A smooth vinaigrette, for example (one that doesn't have oil floating on top of everything else) is an emulsification or emulsified sauce. To make an emulsification, You need an emulsifying agent to stabilize the oil and water, such as mustard, egg, or soy. More on this later.

--Many oils have a very high smoke point. What this means is that they can get very, VERY hot before they start to break down and start to burn (burning your cooking fat is never a good thing, and I have yet to see a burnt fat being used to improve a dish rather than detract or all-out ruin it). What this means for us is that if we want to cook something over a high heat and not have a burned or rancid taste added to it, we use oil instead of, say, butter. While other fats do have cooking applications, high heat is pretty much oil's game alone. (SIDE NOTE- if you are cooking with oil and it begins to smoke, that does not mean it's burned and thus ruined. It just means the oil's as hot as it's going to get, so add whatever you're going to cook in the oil now, or else the oil will really start to break down and get ruined. Some recipes will call for you to heat the oil until it starts to smoke, as insurance that you're adding it to the hottest possible pan.)

--While they're not unique in this regard, oils can have flavors infused into them. Citrus, herbs, spices, you name it,oil can take on some of it's flavors. Just let whatever you want to infuse sit submerged in the oil, and voila!

--Lastly, many oils just have delicious full flavors thanks to what they're made from. 'nuff said.

Okay, so now that we know why oil is great, what oil should we buy?

In viewing our standard grocery store (and a bigger list when we get to specialty food stores), we know that we have several cheap oils (canola, vegetable, peanut, sunflower) and more expensive oils (olive, walnut, infused olive oils, avocado, coconut, etc). Now I'm not going to list every oil on the market here because there's just too many to count at this point, and frankly some oils are either too specialty use-based or have too short a shelf life for the purposes of this blog (If you ever want to know specifics of some oddball oil, just let me know). We're going to give a couple solid examples of what there is, and why we use it (or not).

Standard cooking oils- These are the oils you're probably most familiar with, or at least see the most often at the grocery store. Plastic bottle, pale yellow oil- canola, vegetable, peanut, and sunflower (recently, Grapeseed oil also started popping up on grocery shelves, also a good decision). These oils don't really contribute much to flavor or nutrition, and with the exception of grapeseed (which has a very neutral clean character) really shouldn't be in any raw application for food. What they DO have going for them in spades, however, is a really high smoke point, and they practically never go rancid (when oil basically breaks down and goes bad. Rancid oil has a musty, mealy kind of taste. no fun). These are preferred for heated applications, because their lack of flavor means that you'll taste what you're cooking in the oil instead of the oil itself. I personally use a bit of canola or grapeseed oil for my heated prep. Yeah, that's right, olive oilers. I said it. Unless you want to taste olive oil in your dish (and hey, sometimes that's what you want), you should stick to neutral oils for cooking. Your palate and wallet will thank you. Speaking of Olive oil...

Olive oil- I could write a whole blog just on olive oil. No other oil has received the attention or has the history that olive oil does. Just as there are wineries with distinct characteristics based on region and variety of grape, there are olive oil farms with just as storied a history and just as much variety of product the world over. However, for simplicity's sake, here's the rule of thumb with olive oil- In California, olive oil has the most fruit and butter notes, very light and mild. The further east we go, into Italy, France, and Spain, we get (with exceptions, of course) a very different product, the flavor more peppery and dark. I urge you to try them all, Every one is absolutely delicious, and goes better with different things. Always go with extra virgin, cold-pressed. End of story. Virgin or blended oil has a marked drop in quality, and really belongs in the cooking oil category (or just not in your pantry at all). I like to keep a bottle of decent quality oil on hand for the occasional cooked application (again, when I want that flavor in my finished product), and a higher quality bottle or two on hand for dressings or cold applications. For your "nice" bottles, your bottle should say what region of what country your oil came from, if not what type of olive. If it doesn't, move on. Olive oil keeps for quite a while before going rancid, keep oil out of the light and out of temperature extremes to make it last longer (that advice goes across the board).

Walnut and Avocado oils- Actually, let's just say this is for most all specialty oils (except coconut oil. High smoke point, very mild character, light coconut taste. I like toasting bread crumbs with it). These are oils that are generally more volatile (more likely to break down and go rancid) than our other oils. So that means no hot uses. These are exclusively for dressing cold stuff, or giving a drizzle over hot stuff once it's come off the heat. it also means that you need to take special care in storing them. Many volatile oils are sold in opaque bottles or can-bottles to keep light out, and should also be kept in the fridge. The nice thing about these are they're an easy way to get the flavor of whatever they're made from into a dish without necessarily adding the ingredient (if you don't like the texture of walnuts, but want that nice nutty flavor). They're also usually quite potent, so a little goes a long way (you'll notice these oils are sold in smaller bottles than olive or neutral oil).

Okay, so now we have a general understanding of our oils and our vinegars, so we're gonna make a vinaigrette. This calls back to the term "emulsify" we talked about earlier, using mustard as a binding agent to emulsify the vinegar into the oil for a nice dressing. For starters, here's a nice easy and accessible balsamic vinaigrette-

1/4 C balsamic vinegar
3/4 C olive oil
3 tsp dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

whisk everything but the oil in a bowl, mixing well. whisking fairly quickly with one hand, slowly pour the oil in a small steady stream into the bowl with the other. Make sure you're whisking the entire time the oil is pouring, and then for about 30 seconds after. (this steady whisking while adding our oil is the emulsifying process).

There you go! Done and done. Now I'm sure most of you know a vinaigrette's application as a salad dressing, and that's all well and good. However, a vinaigrette can also be good when added to cooking meat or veggies, or in some cases even as a marinade in and of itself. A vinaigrette is actually one of the easiest ways to bring a bright wonderful flavor into your dishes, just by adding a spoonful or so at the right time. Seriously, next time you cook chicken thighs or breasts, splash a little balsamic vinaigrette on them while they're in the pan or oven (for the pan, wait until they're about 2/3 of the way cooked).

One last thing- the general rule of vinaigrette is 1 part acid to 3 parts oil, and have some agent in there to emulsify the two (usually mustard). However, if you don't mind stirring or shaking your dressing before using, you don't need the mustard, and if you want a brighter flavor and less fat, by all means change up the proportions! (For cooked applications, I like an even 1-1 ratio for oil and vinegar). There's no oil or vinegar that can't be used, so play around with it and see what you come up with!

Until next time, be a well-oiled cooking machine.

Market Adventures 1- CRUNCH TIME!

Hello, foodies!

Okay, so this first blog entry was planned to talk about greens, since we'd been having exceptional weather for lettuces and such- sunny and mild, not too hot or cold, with consistent rain. Well, no sooner had I gotten two paragraphs into the entry when the mercury started rising into the triple digits, and the consistent rain turned into one of the most devastating storms B-more has ever seen! Well, shit. Apologies for the belated-ness.

So, as one of the lucky few houses not wracked with downed trees and power loss, I've decided to make this entry about some of the hardier summer veggies, refreshing and wonderful on a summer's hot-as-balls day, and some ways to use them!

1- Carrots

Okay, this is probably the best known crunchy veggie out there, seen on every veggie platter, every menu, and every healthy dip option known to man. And for good reason. However, it seems like for every tasty, sweet, juicy store-bought carrot you get, you get five bland, dry, not-so-great ones. So at the market, let's explore our options for selection-

First, greenery! Look for carrots that still have their tops, and that those tops look good. For starters, this is a guarantee that your carrots are fresh (old ones would have dead brown wilted or goopy tops.) Secondly, this has (and let me state this is completely my opinion and I have no scientific evidence to back this up) always been an indicator of a tastier carrot for me. No idea why, but so it goes.

Secondly- color and feel! If they won't let you touch the carrots, don't buy them. In fact, any farmers market vendor that won't let you touch their wares (respectfully, of course) is one you probably should avoid. Most vendors will allow for free touching, examining, or even sampling of some of their wares- these people are proud of what they've produced, and know that quality is their best selling point. Those that don't are probably afraid that you'll realize upon handling that their product falls a little short. Anyways, back onto the veggie at hand, carrots should be a vivid color, of whatever color they are supposed to be- white carrots should be a nice creamy white, orange should pop out at you, and purple should carry deep hues (though admittedly, the skin on purple carrots can make it a little tricky to discern). As for touch, carrots should feel firm, slightly pliable, and not have any give when squeezed. Wrinkly or floppy carrots need not apply. It should be noted, though- size of a carrot has no bearing on it's flavor (I'm going to skip the "size doesn't matter" joke, thanks). I'll repeat- a carrot's flavor is not dependent on its size. You are just as likely to get a sweet carrot for a large, or small, thick or thin carrot.

2- Radish

Another common contender for the crudite, radishes can get a bad rap for their spicy profile. Not all radishes are this way! More on that in a second. First, how do we select a good radish?

Basically the same way as a carrot! Though here are a couple notable differences-
-Radish greens are more tender and edible than carrot greens, but as a trade-off are also a little more delicate. A few snapped stems here and there are acceptable in choosing a bunch of radishes.
-Not all radishes are created equal! Smaller radishes are normally a bit milder (the larger the radish, the more peppery the flavor), and some small radishes, a variety called french breakfast radishes, are so mild you might not even recognize them as radishes in the first place! So, if that spicy flavor is what you're looking for (kimchi enthusiasts, look no further), buy large. If not, buy small (though sometimes you'll need to request this from your farmers, otherwise they'll always wait until they're bigger. However, If you have a stand that sells "french breakfast radishes" at some insane markup, move on. They should be worth a little more, but not $20 a pound (market goers of the JFX market in Baltimore, you know exactly what stand I'm talking about).

side note- for smaller radishes, my personal favorite way to enjoy them (along with plenty of other cooks) is to simply cut them in half, and serve them on a plate with some soft butter and sea salt. If you've never tried it before, do it now. You'll never be the same.

Other side note- Frequenters of Asian markets and certain farmer's markets may see HUGE white radishes on display. These are Japanese daikon radishes, which are all crunch and no spice. Commonly used in East Asian cuisine, these big lovelies are nice if you want something fresh and crunchy, but not obtrusive in the flavor dept. I use them often for hors devoures bottoms, layering ingredients on top of them, as little edible plates. They also make one hell of a pickle.

3- Kohlrabi

Kohl what now? This one might be a bit of an oddball for some, but believe me- this is a veggie you want in your life. It may look like some kind of alien egg, but it is, without a doubt, one of my favorite veggies. Actually a member of the cabbage family, kohlrabi, instead of the cabbage's dense head of leaves with an almost inedible core, has a tough outer layer, that, once peeled, gives way to a crunchy, juicy center, with a texture that's a cross between apple, cucumber, and raw broccoli, and a light vegetal taste. Look for firm kohlrabi (leaves not required) without any deep cracks or splits in them. The green and purple varieties both taste the same, and both look the same once peeled. The leaves can be eaten, but are a little on the tough side, and require blanching (a quick dunk in boiling water, followed by another dunk into ice water to halt the cooking process) to be tasty. As for eating, kohlrabi can be eaten raw (I cut mine into sticks, then lightly toss with a hit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice), braised, roasted, and even takes well to grilling. Just... don't boil them. I mean, you can, but you'll lose both the flavor and the texture, and most of the nutrition as well. So do yourself a favor and eat it just about any other way.


So- while it may be obvious, one of the things that makes these veggies so wonderful is their prominent crunchy texture. We don't really want to push this to the side or make it go away via heat (and frankly, who wants to be next to a stove or oven in this heat?), so today we're going to do a bit of raw prep and make an Asian-themed slaw. Why Asian? Well, to be honest, I had a LOT of soy sauce and wasabi left over from a dinner party I crafted for a client, I figured I'd make the best of it, and it turned out pretty darn well. (NO WASTE!)

First comes the hardest part- chop prep. Every veggie you have has to be thinly sliced, then julienned. Those of you fortunate enough to have a food processor with a shredding blade, or a mandoline- These will certainly make the job easier. Those of you who have no idea what a mandoline is- check back next week. Everyone else- Get chopping, the thinner the better. Consider this as valuable time to work on your knife skills.

SOME TIME LATER...

Okay! So all our stuff is chopped, now what? Now we get out a handy dandy colander, place a good handful of our shreds in it, spread them out in an even layer (you don't need to be too obsessive about this, just don't have a mountain in the center), and sprinkle a little bit of salt over it (not too much, I'd say less than 2 tsp). Then, layer another handful of shred, then more salt, and so on and so on. What this salt does is leech out some of the moisture of our slaw, so we don't end up with a big puddle of veggie water in our serving bowl, and a watered down dressing. Giving this a good 10-15 minutes for the salt to work its magic, we then lightly rinse off the shreds, squeezing out the extra water (give it a good squeeze, these veggies can handle it) and place back in our big bowl.

OUR DRESSING-
1/3 C mayo
1/2 C soy sauce
3 tbsp wasabi (or to taste)
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp mirin
1 1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp nuac mam (vietnamese fish sauce. If you don't have this, don't sweat it, but my advice is get some for your pantry. It's AWESOME)
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp powdered ginger

mix everything in a bowl, and take a taste. Need more spicy heat? More sweetness from honey? more tang from the vinegar? Add it. Be brave! Anyways, once you have the proportions you like, pour a healthy amount (you may not need all of it, but this is a tasty dressing for just about anything, so don't sweat it if you have leftover) into your slaw bowl, and toss with a spoon (or two) to coat. let sit for a minute or two to absorb, then eat! Enjoy! Try it on burgers, in wraps, with pork, chicken or fish. This slaw has a bit more crunch and body than regular cole slaw, so use that to your advantage! These also give corned beef a nice kick in the ass.

I'll really be trying to update more often, this has been a crazy summer thus far. I'll also be adding pictures later today once my camera is finished recharging.

Until next time, It's crunch time.

Many Happy Returns!- New Kitchen Essentials 1

Hello foodies!

Apologies again for my long absence, and thank you for being so patient with me. With June almost upon us, I'll be changing the format just a bit, but in return will be able to update much more regularly. We will be going back and forth with two main topics for now. Topic 1 will be what I like to call "New Kitchen Essentials". This will cover things, both tools and ingredients, that are integral parts of my cooking life, and why I think they should be part of yours. Of course, this will include uses and techniques as well as the overall explanations. Part 2 will be "Adventures in the Farmer's Market". This will be what's good and worth looking into at your farmer's market, how to use it, and how to select good examples of said awesome stuff. For any out of state readers, while this will be a MD farmer's market, a lot of what I cover here will translate to your local market as well, and I welcome any food or produce selection/procurement queries.

On that note, let's begin our first section of New Kitchen Essentials- Vinegars.

So whenever I've cooked over a friend's house, I've found, in perusing their cupboards, that while many of us have accepted the need for good oils (either for taste or health benefits), fresh spices (as opposed to the "steak blends", for example), and good produce (though for the love of all that is holy, STOP PUTTING YOUR TOMATOES IN THE FRIDGE! The cold destroys their texture. Keep them on your counter, and eat them when they're fresh. Trust me.), we still often buy incredibly shitty vinegars in cheap plastic bottles. In our collective defense, though, I've found that vinegar can, for the supermarket shopper, be incredibly hard to selectively buy. Even if we decide to grab something above the plastic bottle that looks good, it still tends to suck, even the "Italian reserve" balsamic vinegars or "12 year aged" blah blah blah...

Frankly, it's confusing as hell, and unless we see it in a recipe, we barely ever touch the bottle, right?

Well, I'm out to change that.

First off, I'm going to tell you what's good in vinegars, and where to buy them. After we get all that established,  I'll tell you what to do with these different kinds of vinegars specifically. Just a note that I won't be covering all the vinegars on earth, just the most versatile/often seen kinds.

Why vinegars, you ask?

Well, recalling prior topics, we have 5 flavors to include on a successful dish- salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami. The hardest and most often overlooked flavor to include is, in my opinion, sour. We salt, we char, we glaze with honey and sugar, but sour often gets left by the wayside... Which is the big reason a lot of dishes fall flat. It's not that they suck, they're just... missing something. I mean, imagine rockfish cooked without that spritz of lemon, or a nice salad that's just coated with just oil and salt. There's no bright zing to offset the deeper, fattier flavors, no... pop to really wake up your taste buds. Acids, and vinegars in particular, are one of the quickest and easiest ways to inject good flavor into your dishes and help a nice piece of meat or veggie (or fruit, as the case may be) be extraordinary.

So... what to use, where to get it, and how to use it?

1) Balsamic Vinegar- the undisputed number one vinegar for adding sweet and sour in near equal measure. Loved by salad eaters everywhere, and rightly so- good balsamic, properly bottled and/or aged, can be revelatory, on anything from a salad to roasted veggies to marinating a steak to drizzling on a nice piece of cheese (parmigiano-reggiano in particular). In addition to standard balsamic, we also have aged balsamic. This is vinegar that has been aged and slowly concentrated over the years as the liquid slowly evaporates. It can be awesome. Unfortunately, due to its popularity (in both regular and aged), we have seen an outright deluge of "barrel aged", "special reserve", and my personal favorite gross evasion-"True Italian Blend" (complete with laughing elderly Italian man or woman on the label) most of which, quite frankly, suck. Those that don't suck are horribly inconsistent. Going to a specialty food or kitchen store with nice brands can, by contrast, cost you an arm and a leg (I'm looking at you, Williams-Sonoma).

Purchasing and uses- FEAR NOT, DEAR READERS. There is hope. While I do advocate shelling out for a nice aged balsamic at the expensive specialty food store (more on that in a second), there is a very affordable, consistently good, and easily attainable standard balsamic. Whole food's 365 brand balsamic vinegar, retailing for $6.99. My vote, hands down. this is what you'd use for dressing salads (you can create a dressing known as a "balsamic vinaigrette"), marinating steak, or anything of that nature. For aged balsamic- the kind you'd use by the drop, not the spoonful- things can get a little hairier. For the most part, you get what you pay for, and the price can be pretty hefty. However, if you want a pretty darn good product for an incredible value, check out Olivier's 25 year aged balsamic. While $29.99 for 16 oz. sounds like a hefty price, consider the alternative for the "traditional good stuff" that goes for upwards of $125.00 for 2-3 ounces. This is what you use to pair with a bit of nice cheese or some ripe fruit. A little bit makes all the difference.

2) Rice wine vinegar- Okay, this one is a lot easier to find decent stock of. No vintages, no barrel aging, just different brands, and two main varieties- seasoned (infused with different aromatics to pair specifically with certain types of food) or unseasoned. Go with unseasoned (some brands load their seasoned versions with plenty o' salt and MSG).

Purchasing and uses- Whatever brand suits your wallet. I love using this for light cooking or raw applications where I want a light savory sour hit without worrying about an overly strong, acrid taste. Light, not sweet, and a good all-around vinegar.

3) Red Wine and White Wine Vinegar- I list these two together because I use them for pretty much the same use. Often times, they can be a little too strong to use as a standalone, and their very, VERY acrid taste is what gives vinegar a bad name for many people. That said, they still have some very good use, and good character. They just require... a little more forethought.

Purchasing and uses- While there are nicer brands and not so nice brands, the change in quality is so minute for our applications that I'll say aim straight in the middle (price-wise). For both vinegars, when making a marinade or a vinaigrette (or for you canners out there, when pickling), go for very up front flavors to act as a foil for what these vinegars can do.

4) Cider Vinegar- One of my very favorite vinegars, for two reasons. 1- It's one of my chief barbeque ingredients for my favorite thing to barbeque- pork. 2- There is no widely commercially available top shelf stuff, the normal stuff is dirt cheap, and if you do find very good cider vinegar, chances are it was homemade by someone who could give it plenty of TLC.

Purchasing and uses- as said, there's really no wide gamut of cider vinegars to find at the grocery store, and my usual barbeque ingredient is the Heinz plastic bottle cider vinegar. that said, I've also made some right tasty dressings out of Whole Foods' cider vin, and also from farm brewed stuff. In my mind, though, cider vinegar is most at home in marinades and mop sauces (stuff to baste dishes, particularly barbeque, with as they cook). So there.

5) Sherry Vinegar- The dark horse. The unknown. The vinegar you honestly had to really search to find, up until about a year or so ago. Without a doubt, the vinegar I use more than any other. This is the only other vinegar you will deal with ages and smaller bottles for more money. In layman's terms, think of this for when you want to pair fresh flavors, particularly fresh vegetable flavors, and a very bright, fruity-but-not-sweet palate. In other words, this is your go-to vinegar when you want to dress something raw, but don't want it to be sweet. Rice wine vin can sub for it in a pinch, but sherry vinegar is something absolutely unique. Once you start using it, you'll wonder how you lived without it.

Purchasing and uses- So as said, this is the hardest vinegar to find of this list, hands down. While the better vineyards and bottlers do have a fantastic product, for the standard everyday use, the Columela brand found at Giant isn't bad at all. A good product without half the hassle of procuring it otherwise... I'll take it. If you do want to see just how deep the rabbit hole goes with this, Amazon.com, or better yet Zingerman's, is your ticket. Bring your wallet, they can get a little pricey. As said, this is best when looking to pair fresh flavored ingredients (looking back, I use this in both the ginger scallion sauce and the red pepper coulis for this very reason), and at being incredibly unobtrusive while still giving a nice new dimension to your cooking.

So there we go. 5 fantastic vinegars, and hopefully a little direction on how to use them. I'll be posting recipes for some of these down the road to help illuminate some of the things they specialize in.

Until next time, "It's balsamic vinaigrette. Pass it on."