Book Review: "Charred and Scruffed" by Adam Perry Lang

I recently read Adam Perry Lang's "Charred and Scruffed" and really enjoyed the techniques he presented.

His background is quite impressive with classical chef experience as well as much time spent in the traditional BBQ circuit.  However, in this book he blows up typical notions about grilling and I was excited to test some of his techniques.  You can read the book for more and visit his website, but what I did was to test out his "board dressing" concept, which seems intuitive but is rarely something you come across in recipes.  Yes, a good pan sauce is common and makes a ton of difference in the kitchen, but when it comes to grilling, most recipes just suggest to let your meat rest and soak in its own juices before slicing--and that's it.

Lang's concept is to have a bit of sauce to spread on the cutting board before you let the meat rest, and "layering" on more flavor.  Here's a simplified approach I took:

First, I grilled some skirt steak with minimal seasoning (salt & pepper).  For the board dressing, I mixed some teriyaki sauce with garlic salt and chili powder, and spread it across my cutting board:

I then placed the skirt steak on the board to rest for about 10 minutes as you would normally do with steak:

Finally, I sliced the skirt steak across the grain (essential basic for skirt steak, brisket, etc.--look this up if you aren't familiar) and tossed the slices a bit around the "dressing":

This seems like a simplistic technique and an obvious thing to do, but I never read recipes that suggest anything like this (not that I go by recipes that much anymore).  What Lang does with his book is present a series of steps like this that he uses in a multi-step process that opens up a whole new set of flavors--even seasoned grillers should learn something from it.  He finishes the book with slew of great little side dish recipes that complete the meals.

I recommend this book highly and look forward to more food experimentation using the techniques!

Soft Chicken Tacos--Easy Weekday Meal

This is an excellent way to make fairly authentic Southwestern-style braised chicken for use in tacos or enchiladas.   This version came from "The Food of Santa Fe: Authentic Recipes from the American Southwest" by Dave Dewitt and Nancy Gerlach, a book of very simple but useful recipes with great pictures.  Years ago this book helped inspire me towards learning more complex dishes.

Simmer 2 bone-in chicken breasts (4 total pieces) for 30 minutes in roughly 1 quart of water with 1 chicken bouillon cube, 1/2 TBSP ground cumin, 1/2 TBSP oregano, and 1 TBSP onion flakes.

Pluck chicken out of the pot, let cool on a plate, then hand-pull and add back to pot and let soak for 5-10 minutes longer prior to using for taco filling.

Warm flour tortillas and prepare sides of shredded cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, etc. If you want to have a more Mexican-style flavor, use cilantro, chopped white onion, and use green salsa (and skip the lettuce and tomato).  If you serve with a wedge of lime and squeeze on plenty of juice, it adds a ton of flavor.  Serve shredded chicken with tortillas and sides and enjoy!

Buen Provecho!

Spain, A Culinary Road Trip by Mario Batali with Gwyneth Paltrow

I recently checked this book from the library and enjoyed it quite a bit, though for me it wasn't extensive enough with recipes and food technique to warrant a purchase.  Mario Batali, along with food writer buddy Mark Bittman, and foodie actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Claudia Bassols travel throughout Spain in various phases to sample regional foods, cook, and otherwise enjoy the country.

Batali and Bittman provide expertise and enthusiasm to the book, and Paltrow and Bassols add star power, which can be annoying in the text but also place well deserved attention to the food wonders of Spain (how relevant can Paltrow be when she refuses to eat pork, the national meat of Spain?). 

Having spent 6 weeks in Spain as a 19 year old, mainly in the Basque Country but also riding the trains throughout, I was taken back to many towns I'd visited.  Unfortunately, at the time I couldn't afford any of the food meccas mentioned in the book such as El Bulli and Arzak, but the book has only increased my interest in returning to see the sights and indulge in one of my favorite cuisines!

If you enjoy cooking real Spanish dishes, and already have some knowledge there, then you won't find much here that you won't already be familiar with.  Look up books by Penelope Casas or Pepita Aris for more depth.  However, it's worth checking out at the library and let Batali take you along on a enjoyable read!

Making of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman

I recently read a great book by Michael Ruhlman called "Making of a Chef--Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America".

It's partly about the Culinary Institute and it's rigorous approach to teaching classical cooking skills and churning out graduates highly experienced in all things food related.  It's also a journey by Ruhlman from being a mere writer covering the CIA to becoming a chef in his own right. 

Ruhlman, who has gone on to write a number of popular books about food, also is well known now for co-authoring cookbooks with world famous chefs such as Thomas Keller, Eric Ripert, and Michael Symon.  His blog site is www.ruhlman.com.

The book taught me personally many things:  a) the CIA is a massively influential force on the food industry as a whole, not just the restaurant world, b) I would never want to be a real chef in a restaurant working 60-90 hour weeks, c) Ruhlman and many of his co-horts in the book simply love food, and I do too!

I recommend this book and look forward to picking up a copy of his book on cooking ratios and how to enhance your own home cookery!

Buen Provecho!

I'm excited about Jose Andres' Made in Spain: Spanish Dishes for the American Kitchen.

I tried the Extremedura tomato salad alongside the traditional Spanish tortilla and had an excellent early spring meal! Great book, great recipes!

Baking vs. Cooking

I've always been interesting in grilling and cooking, but I've never done much baking. But I grabbed a copy of Julia Child's "Baking With Julia" and am considering trying a few things once I pick up the key ingredient in most of the recipes: active dry yeast. I guess this brutal winter has kept me inside long enough where I'd rather learn how to bake something than attempt to pull my frozen Weber kettle grill out of the deep ice and snow that encases it right now (ever since the Thanksgiving turkey!).

If anything works out well, I'll be sure to update these pages!

Great Reference Guide!

I spotted another book by James Peterson recently (he's the author who wrote Sauces, which I posted about a few days ago). This new one I have is called "What's a Cook to Do?" and is an illustrated guide of great little tips and tricks that he has noted over many years of teaching chefs and working in restaurants.

For example, the book outlines how to julienne carrots, how to fillet a fish, why you should throw out your roasting rack (cook atop aromatic vegetables instead), how to bake a perfect pie, and how to season a cast iron pan.

I am only 25 pages into but already highly confident that this guide will be invaluable for any home cook.

THE Classic Sauce Book

Check out Sauces, by James Peterson. This is the authoritative guide to classical saucemaking used as a reference by home cooks and restaurant chefs alike.

Mr. Peterson wrote up an article in Saveur magazine that provides a sample of his writing. Click here to read up on that issue's Charcutiere sauce; I tested it recently and found it delicious, but I had to substitute a 1/4 cup of beef bouillon for the demiglace, which is another classic base sauce that I'm eager to try.