Food (Section) Fight!: Week 31

Food (Section) Fight! is my weekly look at The Washington Post's Food section and The New York Times' Dining section with my verdict on which section had the better content for the week.

New York Times
1) "You Say Tomato, We Say Bonanza," feature by Melissa Clark. Clark celebrates the quintessential summer harvest: the fresh tomato. Tomatoes are just hitting their peak now. For those of you who've still only experienced tomatoes from the grocery store, go out and get yourself a locally grown fresh tomato. They are so amazing right now and vastly superior to the anemic, tasteless variety in the produce aisle. Clark prefers them raw, as do I this time of year. She offers three great salad recipes: Cherry Tomato Caesar; Tomato, Fresh Fig and Blue Cheese Salad; and, my favorite, a Spanish take on Panzanella (Tomato Bread Salad with Chorizo and Herbs).

2) "Sipping on a Sunset, Italy in Mind," article by Jennifer Steinhauer. The Italian Aperitif Aperol is having its moment in the mixology sun. You see it on cocktail menus everywhere. Steinhauer pays homage to the spirit while offering up a few cocktail options. This afternoon, I was moved to buy a bottle of Aperol, from which I concocted a cocktail that will be among the first post-Dallas Drinks cocktails I write about.

3) "An Empire Stretches Its Dough," restaurant review by Pete Wells. Wells reviewed Nicoletta, a new East Village pizza restaurant from Chef Michael White that looks to be the start of a new chain. Wells is less than impressed, rating the restaurant "fair," although that seems generous given the number of criticisms he lobs. There is amazing pizza to be had in New York (I'm still very partial to Gramercy's Posto). There is no excuse for something that sounds so sub par.

4) "Should a Wine List Educate or Merely Flatter You?," the Pour wine column by Eric Asimov. Asimov asks some interesting questions in his wine column this week. He acknowledges the discomfort a diner can feel when examining a wine list that contains nothing familiar. Should a restaurant be obliged to offer some Napa Cab or, in pursuit of its vision, push the diner to try something new? He sides with the latter and makes a good argument for it.

5) "Countdown to a Summer Feast," How to Cook Everything column by Mark Bittman. Bittman whets the appetite with simple recipes for Eggplant Parmesan and Pasta with Pesto, both of which sound quite appealing with an Aperol cocktail in hand.

Washington Post
1) "In a perfect world," feature by Tim Carman. Carman creates a colorful portrait of Jamie Stachowski, purveyor of the Georgetown Stachowski's Market and Deli.

2) "In this heat, dinner should be no sweat," feature by Tony Rosenfeld. This time of year I'm thankful to living in a relatively small space that's easy to cool with air conditioning. But my kitchen can still get pretty hot, so this feature story with a bundle of no-cook recipes is just right as continue to face 90+ degree days in the D.C. August. Herbed Pita Bread Salad, for example, sounds really good.

3) "Brewed to turn heads in Washington," article by Daniel Fromson. It seems D.C. is heating up as a place for making booze. No complaint here, as I've become quite a big fan of DC Brau. As good as that is, it sounds like 3 Star Brewing is going to really push the envelope. The beer has its official launch tomorrow at Churchkey.

4) "Familiar plates, but there's an upgrade in the glass," First Bite column by Tom Sietsema. The food at the new Capitol Hill Hank's Oyster Bar sounds similar to what you'd get at the Dupont and Alexandria locations, but what's special about this new locale is the bar, Eddy Bar, presided over by Gina Chersevani. Love the picture of her carving ice from a giant ice block.

Verdict
The New York Times. Aperol, pesto, wine lists and all those gorgeous tomatoes. The Times hits a home run this week.

Score
The New York Times: 16
The Washington Post: 14

Chef Driven DC Food Truck

I finally got to try the Chef Driven DC food truck today, and I wasn't disappointed. I had a delicious meal of Indonesian babyback ribs with a spicy-sweet soy sauce and chopped peanuts. The tender meat fell off the bone and the sauce had just the right balance of tangy, sweet and spicy. I also really liked the salad served with it: cucumbers, teardrop tomatoes, onion, olives, cilantro and dill with vinaigrette.

Chef Driven is operated by Chef Jerry Trice, who has cooked in kitchens around the Washington region, including Red Sage, Vidalia and Yin Yankee in Annapolis and Bethesda, Md. I had a friendly chat with him and his assistant while my ribs were being prepared. The food is made to order, so you have to wait a little bit, but it was well worth it, and I appreciated how friendly they were.

This was the truck's first stop in Gallery Place, which is close to my office. I hope they come back. If they do, I'll definitely be back as well.

Dallas Drinks: Cynthia Cider

Dallas Drinks is a co-creation with Dallas Decoder, honoring the characters of the new TNT drama Dallas, which continues the Ewing family saga. See all of the Dallas Drinks here.

In advance of the TNT Dallas first season finale tomorrow, we conclude Dallas Drinks today with a toast to the series' developer, Executive Producer Cynthia Cidre.

Given her name, this drink is inspired by apple cider, represented here by Laird's Applejack, an apple brandy blend. Ginger beer gives it a spicy kick.

Additionally, the drink features ingredients from all the other Dallas Drinks: bourbon (John Ross, J.R., Bobby), lemon juice (Ann, Christopher, Sue Ellen), agave nectar (John Ross, Elena) and Cointreau (Ann, Rebecca).

Cereal Milk Baked Alaska with Brown Butter Cake

All these summer farm-fresh vegetables. They are so wonderful, providing an almost endless muse of cooking inspirations. But...enough already! I'm getting a little tired of it, frankly. So this week, I'm turning my back on locally raised vegetables and indulging my sweet tooth instead.

This baked Alaska recipe is the first of two I'll share this week that combine concepts from my current two favorite dessert-makers: Christina Tosi, executive pastry chef of Momofuku Milk Bar (and winner of this year's James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef), and Jeni Britton Bauer, purveyor of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.

Chris is from Southern Maryland, so we occasionally go there to visit his family. Most of the restaurants in that area are national chains, but there is one local place that we really love, Casey Jones. Their menu is pub fare done really well: pizza, sandwiches, salads, etc., with an attached fine dining restaurant, The Crossing, which has a more upscale menu.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal steeping in milk

The first time Chris took me to the Crossing was my first exposure to baked Alaska and I loved it. I thought it was the coolest dessert: a piece of chocolate cake sitting under coffee-chocolate chip ice cream surrounded by a spiky toasted meringue. I was instantly taken with it and worked to replicate it at  home.

Brown butter cake batter; notice the little brown butter flecks

My first attempt was a disaster. I didn't follow the instructions to freeze the dessert at every step. Plus, I'd never made a meringue before, so I had no concept of "stiff peaks" and stopped well short of that. The oozy mess I served (with company no less) was tasty, but not what I was going for.

Brown butter cake before cutting for baked Alaska base

Over the years I've had more practice and eventually made good baked Alaska, but it has been years since I've done it. A recent dinner party for a friend who grew up in Alaska seemed like a good opportunity to try my hand at it again.

Individual baked Alaska cake bases topped with Cinnamon Toast Crunch ice cream

For the flavors, I wanted to do a "breakfast at dessert" sort of theme and was intrigued by the "cereal milk" ice cream made by Momofuku Milk Bar. The idea to churn out an ice cream inspired by the tasty milk dregs from a bowl of kids' cereal is genius. For mine, I went with one of the most potently sugary kids' cereals: Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It just screams breakfast, combining cereal and toast into one delicious treat. To drive the point home, I wanted a brown butter cake for the base (since that's kind of like toast, right?) and a hint of coffee in my meringue.

Using a spoon to create little spikes in the meringue adds a decorative touch

In making the ice cream, I went with the tried-and-true formula of Jeni Britton Bauer. No, she doesn't have a "cereal milk" recipe, but her formula is so versatile that it's easily adapted to whatever flavors you're interested in. Hoping to impart an optimal amount of flavor, I ground the cereal a bit and then heated the milk before steeping it. This has the added benefit of breaking the cereal down quite a bit, making the milk really thick. Straining it is a bit of work then; be sure to use a spatula to press and stir the milk-cereal mixture to get out as much milk as possible. I used 4 cups of milk and worked really hard to get 2 cups of cereal milk, since the cereal "sludge" absorbs a lot of milk.

I used the meringue recipe I had originally turned to years ago from Epicurious, which produces just the right amount of meringue to coat all four ice cream cakes. The cake I just found online from the Honey & Jam blog, as I was seeking a simple brown butter cake recipe.

Cereal Milk Baked Alaska with Brown Butter Cake

1 9 x 9 inch brown butter cake (recipe below)
4 servings of Cinnamon Toast Crunch Ice Cream (recipe below)
4 egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. Kahlúa (or other coffee liqueur)
1/3 cup sugar

1. Make a brown butter cake (recipe below). Using a 4-inch round cookie cutter, cut cake into four rounds. Eat cake scraps immediately. Place cake rounds evenly spaced apart (4-6 inches apart) on a greased baking sheet. Put in the freezer until cake is frozen.

2. Make Cinnamon Toast Crunch Ice Cream (recipe below). When ice cream is frozen, scoop 1 even scoop on top of each frozen cake round (if the ice cream is too hard, let it sit out for a few minutes, but make sure it doesn't get too soft). Put back in freezer until ice cream is frozen hard.

3. Using a stand and hand mixer, beat egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form (dip a spoon into the meringue and a short peak will form that folds back down). Beat in the Kahlúa and then gradually beat in the sugar. Continue beating until stiff peaks form (the meringue will appear glossy, dip a spoon through it and a peak will form that does not fold back down). Be careful not to overbeat.

4. Remove the frozen ice cream cakes from the freezer and use a spatula to spread meringue evenly over the ice cream, sealing the meringue against the cake. If desired, use a spoon to make decorative spikes. Put back in the freezer until well frozen (not sure how long is needed--I froze mine for 5 hours and it was fine but Epicurious recommends overnight).

5. Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 500 F. Bake desserts until meringue is set an lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Serve immediately.


Brown Butter Cake
Adapted from Browned Butter Cake with Cinnamon Chocolate Frosting, Honey & Jam

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/8 tsp baking powder

1. Heat a small saucepan over medium heat, add butter and cook until it turns a fragrant, nutty brown. Remove from heat.

2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter, line with parchment and flour a 9 x 9 inch cake pan. Beat eggs and sugar together until slightly thickened. Add milk, vanilla and brown butter, beating until combined. Add flour and baking powder and combine with a spoon until just mixed (some lumps are okay). Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 25-35 minutes. All cake to cool completely. Run a knife around the edge and invert the cake to remove it from the pan. Discard the parchment.


Cinnamon Toast Crunch Ice Cream
Inspired by Momofuku Milk Bar and Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams

4 cups Cinnamon Toast Crunch
4 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. cornstarch
1 1/2 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used one of those single-serving Philadelphia brand cream cheese tubs, which is slightly less than what this recipe calls for, but it worked fine)
1/8 tsp. salt

1. Pulse cereal a few times in a food processor to break it up a bit. In a large (4 qt.) saucepan, heat milk and cereal over medium heat until it starts to bubble, remove from heat and allow to "steep" for about 30 minutes. Strain cereal mixture, pressing with a spatula to get out as much milk as possible, to yield about 2 cups (add extra whole milk if you end up with less than 2 cups).

2. Whisk together cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of the cereal milk in a small bowl. Whisk together softened cream cheese and salt in a large mixing bowl. Have a large bowl with ice water and a large (gallon) freezer bag ready.

3. Add cereal milk, cream, sugar and corn syrup to saucepan. Bring to boil and cook at boiling for 4 minutes, watching carefully to avoid boiling over. Remove from heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch and milk. Return to heat and boil for about a minute, whisking constantly as the mixture thickens. Remove from heat.

4. Slowly pour the hot milk/cream mixture into the large mixing bowl while whisking it to combine with the cream cheese. Set the freezer bag in the ice water and pour the mixture into the bag. Let it cool for 30 minutes and then put it in the refrigerator to completely cool. Process in an ice cream maker following maker's instructions (may not need as much time, given that it's pretty thick). Put in freezer and freeze until hard.

Summer Vegetable Pasta

This recipe shouldn't be considered exact. I used what I had on hand from a recent trip to the farmers market. When shopping such markets, it's so easy to pick up things that "look good" without having a sense of how they should be used. Pasta dishes like this are a good way to make sure they don't go to waste. Feel free to switch in our out vegetables, use other greens or herbs, add sausage, etc.

Since they are thicker, remove stems from greens like chard and sauté them first with other vegetables.

Summer Vegetable Pasta

1 lb. pasta (rigatoni)
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 zucchini (yellow and green mix)
6 rainbow chard leaves (stems removed and diced; leaves roughly chopped)
3 garlic cloves
6 red scallions, red and light green part chopped
2 cobs of white corn, kernels sliced off
2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
Seasoned salt and fresh-ground black pepper
1/3 cup dry vermouth
1 cup fresh ricotta
Fresh basil leaves, cut into ribbons
Parmigiano-reggiano (to taste)

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente. Drain and set aside.

2. In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute zucchini and chard stems until softened, 8-10 minutes. Add garlic, scallions, corn, tomatoes, dried herbs, salt and pepper, and cook another 2-3 minutes. Add the chard leaves and cook until the leaves begin to wilt, about 2 minutes. Add vermouth and reduce heat to simmer, stirring to incorporate flavors. Gently stir in the ricotta, then add the pasta and stir to combine and coat with sauce. Serve topped with fresh basil and parmigiano-reggiano.

Hot Mexican That Leaves You Cold

2015 Update: Bandolero has closed.
2019 Update: Empellón Cocina has closed (other Empellón restaurants remain open)

Recently, The New York Times ran a story about chefs who cook cuisine from a culture that isn't their own. It's a list that includes big names like Portland-based Andy Ricker (Pok Pok) and Top Chef first season winner Harold Dieterle (Kin Shop), both of whom are turning heads for their Thai cooking.

The article also featured Alex Stupak, the former pastry chef of notable modernist restaurants Alinea in Chicago and WD-50 in New York, who last year made a career shift to head chef of his first restaurant, Empellón Taqueria in the West Village. Its sister restaurant, Empellón Cocina, opened earlier this year.

The story could have also mentioned Mike Isabella, the two-time Top Chef contestant whose Graffiato was one of D.C.'s hottest openings last year. Like Stupak, Isabella is now also trying his hand at Mexican, having opened Bandolero in Georgetown earlier this year.

Both restaurants have their pluses, with Stupak showing particular creativity in Empellón Cocina's kitchen. However, I left both restaurants feeling like neither lived up to their (considerable) hype.

Bandolero's chicken taco with barbecue sauce

Bandolero's tacos were a definite highlight. The suckling pig taco is a house favorite, served with diced apple and habanero mustard. But equally good was the chicken taco with barbecue sauce, poblano pepper and fried plantain sticks.

The dishes that followed, however, were a mixed bag. The short ribs with mole negro sauce were excellent, but I found the alambres--steak skewers with chimichurri sauce--lacking flavor. Also a bit bland were the tuna tartare taquitos with ginger and sweet potato. I know that sounds potent, but the tuna was buried amongst the other flavors, and frankly I couldn't taste the ginger.

Other starters were better. The guacamole was good, although good guacamole is nothing special these days. At least they don't feel the need to prepare it tableside (I'm looking forward to the day that guacamole making returns to the kitchen, lest servers start grilling steaks tableside). I liked that in addition to the corn chips, Bandolero threw in some chicarrones, crisp pork skins.

The house margarita, El Bandolero, comes on tap with white tequila, lime and a touch of Grand Marnier. Also good is La Flaquita, a margarita made with reposado tequila and mezcal. Smoky mezcal makes an appearance in a number of cocktails actually, many of which sound quite interesting.

We enjoyed Bandolero, even if we weren't blown away by it like we were with Graffiato. In contrast, I found Empellón Cocina a disappointment.

Again, we began the evening with guacamole, and Empellón's was rather good, studded with pistachios and slices of spicy jalapeño. Along with it, we also ordered smoked cashew salsa, which was perhaps the single best thing we had that night. Graciously, Stupak shares his recipes, and our check arrived with the smoked cashew salsa recipe on a card, so I might try to make it sometime (he also shares recipes on his website and printed the ingredients to all his salsas on the dining room's back window looking into the kitchen). The dips were served with masa chips, Stupak's original creation that isn't really a tortilla chip but more like a dried corn wafer, with a thicker crispy texture. They were good, although greasier than I would have liked.

Cocktails were another highlight, and like Bandolero, Empellón's bar shows a keen interest in mezcal. The Darkest Corner of Oaxaca mixed smoky mezcal with fresh orange juice and the mildy spicy Pasilla Oaxaquena. For a more fiery drink, try the Rooster's Claw, with reposado tequila, mango puree and habañero chile. Chris ordered this, and it was so hot we had to switch. We also had the house margaritas, which were good.

The dinner proper was where things went downhill. First off, I'd read that Empellón served small plates, so I was a little surprised when I saw that the menu's dishes were priced $15-$30. But the server confirmed that they were in fact small plates, raising my expectations that the food better be good.

Empellón's tomato with crispy pig ear and mustard

While there was much creativity in the dishes, there was little that found particularly satisfying. I liked that our salad came with raw summer squash shavings, a beautiful presentation, but the squash blossom buttermilk didn't add much flavor, and the dish would have benefited from something else, such as a more acidity or some pepitas for crunch. I was also underwhelmed by the heirloom tomato with crispy pigs ear and achiote mustard. The tomato wasn't particularly flavorful, or if it was, I couldn't tell, since it was so overwhelmed by the spicy mustard. The whole package is needlessly wrapped in a plain flour tortilla.

We also had the lamb barbacoa, which wasn't particularly memorable. I did enjoy the chanterelle mushrooms with tamal colado, another interesting masa creation.

Despite our disappointment with dinner, dessert was nice. Pastry chef Lauren Resler, Stupak's wife, serves up a delicious chocolate cake with mole dulce and masa ice cream. The cake was particularly good. I'm a big mole fan, and the sauce's traditional spiciness was a welcome enhancement to the dark chocolate cake.

Between the two restaurants, I would recommend Bandolero over Empellón Cocina, however, for better overall value and satisfaction, I would probably rather head to a restaurant serving more traditional Mexican fare (recent meals at El Centro D.F. and Agave, for example, were both more satisfying).

Bandolero. 3241 M Street NW (just west of Wisconsin Avenue), Washington, D.C. (Georgetown). (202) 625-4488. Reservations: City Eats.

Empellón Cocina. 105 First Avenue (between 6th and 7th Streets), New York City (East Village). (212) 780-0999. Reservations: Open Table.

Roasted Pattypan Squash with Basil

The other morning at the farmers market I ran into my neighbor, who was picking out some pattypan squash. After I told her I'd never tried them before, she kindly gave me one.

Here's what I did with it, plus a couple more that I picked up to have enough for a side dish. It's flavor is much like a summer squash. Roasted with butter, garlic and topped with fresh basil, it was quite tasty.

Roasted Pattypan Squash with Basil

Adapted from Buttery Patty Pan Squash with Basil, Food Renegade

3 pattypan squash

2 tbsp. clarified butter, melted

2 garlic cloves, minced

Sea salt, to taste

Fresh-ground black pepper, to taste

2 tbsp. shredded basil leaves

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Cut squash vertically into 1/4-inch thick pieces. Place cut squash in a 9 X 9 baking dish. Mix the garlic with the melted butter and pour over squash. Season with sea salt and then stir to coat squash more or less evenly. Grind a little bit of black pepper on top.

3. Bake for about 30 minutes, until squash is soft and some pieces are lightly browned around the edges. Top with shredded basil.