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Food Thread: Sushi: American Style!

I have mentioned before an excellent sushi restaurant in NYC...part of a small chain that began in Los Angeles. There are three or four in NYC, and they are just...damned good! Nothing pompous or or fancy; the atmosphere is a step above fast-food. But the service is good, the food is superb, and the pricing is, at least for New York, reasonable.

But the best part for me is the view of the kitchen. Most sushi restaurants pride themselves on their connection to Japan: Japanese waitresses, Japanese chefs. But a glance into this place's kitchen reveals a cross section of New York! A couple of black guys...one wearing dreadlocks (short!), one shaved head. A few obviously Puerto Rican or Dominican, a white guy with tats who looked like he lives in a fourth floor walk-up in Alphabet City, and one or two others who were equally typical. The last time I was there I asked the manager if I could take a photo, but I got the expected answer. Hell I wouldn't have let me either!

Why does that please me? Well, demystifying Japanese food is a good thing. I hate the arrogance and pomposity of some of the higher-end places who serve only "Omakase," which is essentially, "You'll eat what I serve you and then I am going to charge a ridiculous amount for it because I am Japanese!"

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There is far too much acceptance of the progressive cant in this article, and they carefully avoid (or perhaps don't realize) the idea that simply promoting hunting instead of demonizing it would go a long way toward helping their cause.

Rack of squirrel, anyone? The chefs putting invasive species on the menu

Here's my favorite stupid line:

While proponents acknowledge it is not possible to turn all invasive flora and fauna into gourmet food, they say that taste is key to success.

And that is the reason this will fail! Killing invasive species is the way to go. Not, killing enough to stock the larders of hipster restaurants.

For instance, If Texans had to eat all of the pigs they shoot to keep the population in check, they would be eating pork three meals a day...forever.

But it is a good start, and maybe teaching people that their food doesn't have to come from a slaughterhouse or a corporate farm will temper the lunacy that hunting is evil.

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Hey...how about a cocktail!

Here is commenter "naturalfake..."

Okay, here's your Valentine's Day cocktail, which will make you look like a genius, becuz -
One, it's got a Valentiney name..."Angel Face"
Two, it comes from the Great Age of Classic Cocktail Invention 1930
Three, it only has 3, count'em 3 ingredients in equal proportions, so it's so simple even CBD couldn't mess it up, and
Four, it is specifically required by the creator of the cocktail from 1930 that you shake, shake, shake the cocktail with ice for roughly 20 seconds.

Angel Face Cocktail

1 oz of London Dry Gin
1 oz of Calvados or Apple Brandy
1 oz of Apricot Liqueur

Shake with ice for 20 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish by floating a thin slice of apple therein.
Drink! And glory in the heartfelt praise Your Sweetie gives you for concocting such a delicious adult beverage.

This is seriously good. Give it a whirl.

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One of our regular readers (and a lurker) sent me this photo of his batch of "Homesick Texan's" red beans and rice. She is a fine and fun cook. Her books are worthwhile, and the recipes are solid. Although she claims this recipe is for eight. That's just nonsense. I can eat a double portion before dinner!

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Ina Garten does not screw around. Her recipes are always at least good, and sometimes they are great (best meatloaf recipe on the planet).

Yes, she uses too many damned bowls and pots and pans, because let us be honest, she is wealthy and has forgotten that most people don't have a legion of cleaners tiptoeing behind them in their 1,000 square foot kitchen. But the food is good, so let us forgive her.

Company Pot Roast

One thing I find puzzling is her use of both homemade chicken stock and a chicken bullion cube. Why? If you are making your own stock, then take one big batch and reduce it to a sixteenth of the original volume. You will be left with glace de viande, which is essentially homemade bullion cubes in gelatin form, but without all the salt!

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Last week I promised kch's recipe for pulled pork, so here it is, complete with his notes, which are interesting, especially about the whole "plastic wrap under foil" thing that I have seen, read about, and am too chicken to try.

kch's PULLED PORK

- 5 lb Berkshire pork shoulder, lightly trimmed
- 1 med onion, sliced thin
- 2/3 cup hot apple cider
- 1/3 cup maple syrup

For the brine:
- ½ cup salt
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 cups water

For the rub:
- 2 tsp dry mustard
- 2 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp dry marjoram
- 1 tsp dry oregano
- 4 tsp smoked paprika
- 4 tsp salt

Method:
- Make the brine by dissolving the salt and sugar in hot water. Allow to cool.
- Soak the pork shoulder in the brine solution for about an hour (best done by placing pork and brine in large plastic bag).
- Mix all of the dry rub ingredients together.
- Remove pork from brine, pat dry.
- Sear pork in hot frying pan.
- Coat with the dry rub mix, patting it on all surfaces fairly thickly.
- Line roasting pan with parchment paper and scatter the onion over the bottom of the pan. Arrange the pork pieces on top, then add the hot apple cider to the bottom of the pan.
- Cover the pans tightly with first plastic wrap, then foil.
- Put in 325F oven for at least 4 hours. [Or in a slow cooker for 5 hours or more]
- When done (falling off the bone), shred immediately (much easier to do when hot!). It's best to do this by first cutting away the bone, then shredding the meat and any fat with forks.
- Strain the cooking liquid. Add the onion to the shredded pork. Skim the fat off the liquid and discard. Add the liquid to the pork, along with the maple syrup. Mix well, then check and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Cool. Reheat gently, serve on good buns. Should make enough for 10 generous portions. (Will freeze well, though)

Some notes:

- Up here in Canuckistan pulled pork is usually done - or at least finished - with lots of heavy, sweet bbq sauce. I've always found it too heavy, too rich, too indigestible (even as I've served that style by the ton - give the customers what they want, good and hard if necessary). Given the opportunity here I decided to try a different route. It's kind of sloppy (you'll need napkins!), but much lighter on the stomach and in my opinion a better showcase of the pork and maple.

- You can do this without using the Berkshire pork, but if you can get it, it's well worth it. Actually, you can even do this with pork loin, but why would you want to? Unless it's really cheap...

-As I mentioned earlier, my recipe starts with 30 lb of pork. I tried my best to adjust ratios in cutting the batch size down, but would suggest giving this a try, then noting any changes you might want to make for future batches.

-The plastic wrap/foil thing. Yes, we do actually do that. The plastic wrap seals in all the moisture and the foil protects the plastic wrap. Trust me, if done carefully and correctly, it works.

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There is an excellent Greek restaurant about 30 minutes away. Too far for a last-minute meal, but definitely worth the trip. There is nothing out of the ordinary on the menu; it's probably printed for 1,000 Greek restaurants in the country. But they execute everything really well, the prices are ridiculously reasonable, and everyone in the place is friendly and competent.

I love this sort of restaurant. They aren't trying to reinvent the wheel, they just want to do a good job with the stuff they know.

Yeah...it's usually crowded.

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Brussels Sprouts that aren't as tough as trees, beef short ribs that have meat on them (not the stupid little sliver of bone they sneak into the packages), carrots that don't taste like stalky chalk, spare bottles of Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 Year Old Bourbon, an herb garden that actually produces herbs (but no basil!), well-marbled NY strip steaks and elk backstrap to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.

And don't think that you are off the hook with maple syrup and French Toast: I'm watching you...all of you! And I am watching you perverts who shake Manhattans and keeping a list for the Burning Times.