For many of us spring has arrived. Sunny days and warm temperatures call for grilling, and tonight I just so happened to have access to a grill...and a steak.
Before grilling the sirloin steak rare I coated it with just a little bit of olive oil, salt, and fresh-ground black pepper. After the grill was nice and hot I cooked the steak for just a few minutes on each side, leaving it seared on the outside and tender and rare on the inside. After removing it from the grill I let it sit for a few more minutes before slicing it, allowing the juices to circulate and settle.
While the steak cooked and sat, I prepared an arugula salad as the final resting place for the lovely steak. Before I ate it, of course. The salad was simple--just baby arugula, chopped fresh cherry tomatoes, and finely chopped red onion. I tossed it all together with a vinaigrette composed of blood-orange olive oil, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, crush red pepper, and a raw egg yolk.
I tossed the dressing with the salad and topped it with the sliced steak. It's a simple and absolutely delicious dish for these delightful spring days.
Well, well, well--we've come to the last competitor in the throwdown. Pat busted out two pounds of bacon in an attempt to win over the judges. Because, come on, who doesn't love bacon? On his menu was German potato salad, pineapple-jalapeno margarita with candied bacon, and a steak slider with grilled peppers and onions and a blue cheese sauce.
I became seriously nervous when I saw that Pat had bought all that bacon. One pound went into the potato salad and the other was used for candied bacon. The idea for candied bacon on a pineapple-jalapeno margarita was brilliant. To make the candied bacon he just coated the pieces of bacon in brown sugar, lied them flat on a baking sheet covered in foil, and cooked them in the oven until the sugar had caramelized and the bacon was cooked through. The jalapenos added a nice heat to the margarita (though I added a little more to mine for an extra kick), and the candied bacon was certainly an interesting and delicious garnish. Candied bacon is definitely making an appearance at the next bacon party.
Pat used a family recipe for the German potato salad, and I hated to admit that it was one of the best potato salads I've tasted. He also grilled up some steak, onions, and peppers and the slider and created a lovely blue cheese concoction for the slider. The steak was cooked perfectly--nice and rare--and the sauce was . As I sampled and enjoyed Pat and Sonya's culinary creations I started to worry that I was about to be put to shame in this slider throwdown.
Portland, Maine, is filled with amazing restaurants serving up superb food, creative cocktails, and delicious microbrews. One such exceptional restaurant is Nosh, located at 551 Congress Street.
We hit up Nosh the other night for some drinks and eats. Since the rapture is upon us we decided to try the Apocalypse Now burger. This ridiculous burger consists of a pork and beef patty, American cheese, crispy pork belly, bacon, foie gras, house mayo, and cherry jam, served on a brioche bun. This burger may be the most over-the-top decadent and indulgent food I’ve ever eaten. We split it three ways and that was plenty satisfying—eating the whole thing would have probably been too much, although if you’re having a hard time sleeping it might be good to just devour one of these Apocalypse Now burgers. It’ll put you right to sleep, for sure.
Because the burgers have pork in them they need to be cooked throughout, which sounds unfortunate but the burger really doesn’t suffer much. And while I might be wary of putting jam on a burger it worked out perfectly—it wasn’t intensely sweet or anything and it added a nice flavor. You really can’t go wrong with the Apocalypse Now burger. Seriously. When a piece of foie gras falls out of your burger while you’re eating it, you know you’re in the foodie capital of the world.
As if the Apocalypse Now burger wasn’t enough, we also ordered the Pork Belly Poutine. The poutine was a combination of fries, gravy, melted cheddar cheese curds, and strips of pork belly. How absurd is that? Think about it—you’re sitting there eating your fries, enjoying yourself immensely, when all of a sudden you pop a fry in your mouth and realize it’s actually a piece of pork belly. How can you not be happy in that situation? The fries were nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and the gravy and cheese curds tasted phenomenal and didn't load down the fries too much.
In addition to the burger and fries we each had an oyster shooter. These shooters had an oyster swimming in vodka, clam juice, bloody mary sauce, and Sriracha, with a smoked salt and pepper rim. They had a really nice spiciness (how can you go wrong with Sriracha?), but it did overshadow the flavor of the oysters and was a bit overpriced.
For drinks I ordered a glass of Malbec, Sonya went for a Tempranillo, and Pat got Allagash Black. Allagash Brewery is located in Portland, Maine, and they make fantastic beer. The Allagash Black is a Belgium strong dark ale that is malty and chocolaty. I was perfectly satisfied with my Malbec, but after I had a taste of the Allagash I was a bit jeally—it was quite delicious.
Whether you are in the mood for tasting the apocalypse or just want some pork belly with your fries, Nosh is a great spot to hit up for on a night out. It’s one of the many must-eat-at restaurants in Portland that you’ve got to try if you’re in the area.
The last time I was in Maine I accumulated so much material for this blog...and then got caught up in this whole getting a doctorate thing and had to set aside my food writing. Well, I'm sitting in Maine once again, so I figure I'd better catch up a bit on the Maine food blogging before venturing out into the great city of Portland to devour more delicious food and beverages.
One of the highlights of my last trip was enjoying steak sandwiches for dinner made by the lovely Susan. I don't know what it is about her kitchen, but there's magic in the air. It's the perfect place to cook, eat, and talk, and somehow photographs of food are always stunning when taken there. One night she prepared these simple yet superb steak sandwiches. They were made with ciabatta, melted cheese, fresh greens, roasted red peppers, dijon, and very rare steak.
These sandwiches were truly a treat, and the photographs below will hopefully excite your taste buds and motivate you to make them yourself. Bon appetit!
If you’re looking for delicious Korean barbeque in New York City then you’ll definitely want to check out Woo Chon, located in Midtown at 8 West 36th Street. We had quite a crew that night, and Woo Chon was a great place for family-style dining. We ordered a ton of food, and left stuffed and satisfied.
First the servers brought out an array of Korean vegetable dishes. These included kim chi, bean sprouts, egg plant, radish, and dried seaweed. Just look at that spread—there was something for everyone.
And then the appetizers started filling up the table. First up was the Seafood Pajun—an incredible scallion pancake with mussels, squid, oysters, and mushrooms. It arrived at the table nice and crispy on the outside, fluffy and light on the inside, and simply exploding with seafood.
Next came the Mandoo Gui. These dumplings stuffed with beef, pork, tofu, and vegetables and fried until crispy were excellent, like little pockets of perfection that were great for sharing.
The server also brought over some Haemul Sun Tofu soup on the house. This spicy soup was prepared with seafood and soft tofu. There was lots of different types of seafood in the soup, and I was happy to discover some tasty tentacles.
I insisted on ordering grilled baby back ribs, which were flame broiled with a spicy marinade. These ribs were out of this world with their spicy and sweet sauce. One of the reasons I love ribs is tearing the meat off the bone—it makes me feel primitive (in a good way).
The Korean-style barbeque was one of the main reasons we decided to hit up Woo Chon. At each table there is a burner. The server turns it on and allows a metal grill plate to heat up. After it’s hot enough the meat is placed on the grill and allowed to cook through. We ordered Galbi (prime rib filleted off the bone) and Saewoo Gui (filleted shrimps). Both were served in the Woo Chon marinade and tasted awesome.
When the meat was ready we wrapped the pieces up in lettuce and a dollop of spicy sauce (next time I'll definitely be saving those assorted vegetables to wrap up the barbequed meat!).
We also ordered two types of Bibimbap. Bibimbap is a very popular Korean dish—it is often a mixture rice, vegetables, and meat served sizzling in a hot stone bowl. The ingredients are then mixed together in the bowl at the table. I don’t remember exactly what was in each of the bibimbaps that we ordered, but they were delicious. Bibimbap is great to eat, but it's also a lot of fun to say.
For drinks to accompany our meal I ordered some cold house sake while everyone else opted for the Korean OB beer.
Woo Chon was a great place to devour tasty Korean barbecue. There’s so much to choose from that you simply can’t go wrong. I recommend going with a large group so you can try lots of these delicious dishes!
