SELFIES

SELFIES

The family.

SELFIES ON YOUTUBE

DE GUSTIBUS

De gustibus non est disputandum.

Interesting wine labels in the Burlington Coop. 

DE GUSTIBUS

Burlington VT

Apr 2014

WHEN MISERY DOES INDEED LOVE COMPANY

A roundabout in Winooski Vermont is an unlikely place to find world class cuisine, one would think. Unless of course you have the practiced eye for interesting places my wife has, who spotted this gem on one of our daily pilgrimages into Burlington, where we were visiting our son. And what a spot!

Many years ago, Jon Landau of Rolling Stone wrote: I have seen the future of rock and roll and his name is Bruce Springsteen. In a strange kind of way, this creative eatery has broken the mold, and has built a new paradigm for a food lover's future. Descended from the experiences of seasoned food truck connoisseurs brother and sister Nathaniel and Laura Wade and friend/husband Aaron Josinsky, they have created a way of presenting food which is at the same time profoundly creative and somehow familiar. MLC (it has established itself enough to be referred to as an initial) describes itself on the sign: Luncheonette, Bar, Supper. An open plan kitchen/bar transforms itself from a jaw-dropping and reasonably priced purveyor of lunchtime sandwiches (for instance, a Reubenesque Dunnski or a take on fried chicken Frank's Buffalo Hot Sauce sandwich and the spectacular cholesterol-infused Filthy Fries which meld crispy fries, pork belly, parmesan dust and aïoli mayonnaise) into a highly, highly sophisticated restaurant at night. 

Misery Loves Company reminds me of two morphed tapas places which are favourites from my travels: Helsinki's Javintola Juuri ( which means root and spawned Sapas or Suomi Tapas) and London's The Shed, which has Mouthfuls, Fast Cooked and Slow Cooked tapas. MLC changes the format. You can either have small starters (Snacks $6-9), medium Plates ($12-15) or Full On Meat and Three ($38 up). The latter scared me off, until I saw the portions and realised this is feed-a-small-family fare and includes three generous side portions. But let's not quibble about the price. What price a lifetime memory?

Forgive me playing the Mr World Traveller foodie card.  This is astounding stuff. 

To wit, chicken wings marinated in fermented black beans and smoked in MLC's own smoker. Yubu cheese with fried soya milk film crisps (or some such, I got lost in the explanation by the voluble and friendly bartender). They make their own cheese, and the by-products are used as flavourings. For instance, in a dish called Aged Raw Beef, Brown Cheese, and Mustard Sprouts which had me scratching my head and wondering how the hell they do something so sublime, Chef Aaron explained. The brown cheese is whey from a Danish cheese they make which is reduced 90% to leave an acidic residue which they use instead of citrus. Yes, this IS rocket science. And art. And finger-as-squeegee food. We left not a single morsel. Not one.

  

So where does the misery come in? It seems the journey from food truck to restaurant has taken 11 years, and gaining this level of sophistication has been, well... Miserable with a capital M. Worth it if there is company to share the fruits of your labour with, I guess. There is a french saying which says: Pain is the art entering the apprentice. And make no mistake about this place. This is food art at the highest level. In Winooski, or anywhere for that matter.

Five stars. 

ATTITUDE TO LIFE

GENIUS.

DECIDE

DECIDE-

A poem for a friend.
A song by my son.
A picture for each memory.

TENNIS AT THE CHURCH OF FUAD

ANGRY SLEEP

Robber Barons of Sleaze

Flim-flam men

From the Temple of Greed

Bad seed

Shameless scammers

Whose veins course

With Bad Intent

Masked in bonhomie

They murder sleep

If you let them

Better to bleed words

On a page

And let them carry thoughts

Down a dark stream

To the black bay

And wash away

And wash away

To sleep

And start afresh

Another day.

STEEN'S 60TH

A memorable night which affirmed the saying: You can't make old friends. Lovely to share the moment with people we have had the honour of knowing from all over the world.

Missing in this photo are John, Lynn (Herb was ill unfortunately with a Asian bug), and Joyce, who took the picture because I was so lame I could figure out how the autotimer worked.

WHEN YOU HAVE A BEEF WITH BEEF: TRUST ANNE SERANNE

With Tobes thankfully home before he starts a new life in Vermont to become a doctor, the three of us have had a magical quiet time which revolves around food, hanging out, playing sports, going to plays, and sleeping.

Every year I have a pop at cooking the perfect roast beef, and invariably fail. Too rare...too well done. Tough when it should be tender....too this...too that. Last year was a close but no cookie. This year I decided to go off-piste and try a method I saw on the internet....the CLOSED OVEN METHOD.

Well glory be! It worked, and don't take my word for it. Two satisfied members of the clean plate club told me that this time it was smack on the money.

So it is worth sharing this incredibly simple method. All it requires is a small amount of math, the ability to follow directions, and the kind of patience which comes with FAITH.

1. Order Rib Roast on the bone (we had a two bone for 3 people, but we will be eating this for a while).
2. Remember the weight. Write it down. If it is in Kilos, then multiply it by 2.2 to get the pound equivalent. In our case it was 1.8 kilos, which works out to 4 pounds.
3. This is the math bit. Multiply the weight in pounds by five. 4lbs x 5 = 20 minutes. Simples. Retain this number in your brain.
4. About 2 hours before you cook the roast, get it out of the fridge and let it sit around to get to room temperature.
5. Whack the oven up to the top temperature (260 degrees C, 500F). DO NOT USE THE FAN.
6. Cut some banana shallots lengthways. Don't bother peeling them. No need.
7. Blanch some baby carrots in boiling water for about 2-3 minutes and then drain.
8. Put the former in a roasting tray, cut side down for the shallots. Glug over a bit of extra virgin olive oil.
9. Put the roast boneside down on the onions/carrots.
10. Score the fat a bit, and rub the roast all over with lashings of Coleman's English Mustard powder. Season with generous pinches of Maldon's Sea Salt and Ground Pepper.
11. Squeeze the juice of a lime over the roast.
12. Stick the roast beef in the oven. Remember the number you calculated (in our case 20)? THAT IS THE NUMBER OF MINUTES you cook at the top whack temperature.
13. After said period of time YOU TURN OFF THE OVEN. COMPLETELY. And you do not open it again for 2hrs and 30minutes.
14. I REPEAT, YOU DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN. Not even to peek. This is where the faith comes in.

If you are cooking Yorkshire puddings, do this in another oven. You have to allow 25 minutes for this (see below). If you only have one oven, after 2hrs and 30minutes take out the roast and cover with foil while you do the puddings. If you have a meat thermometer, stick it in....Should read about 130 for medium rare. Don't sweat it if you don't eat immediately. That is what au jus was invented for, to heat up the meat.

In the meantime, while you get everything else ready (beef drippings in a pan with a glug of red wine, a stock cube (I used chicken) and a few of the now softened shallots and boil at full whack on the gas to reduce by a third before straining. I had brussels sprouts which I blanched and then stir fried in a wok with olive oil, ponzu, chili flakes and finished with a knob of butter.  I also had roast potatoes which I had parboiled for about 8-10 minutes (Marist Pipers), shook to fluff up, then placed in a small roasting tin in goose fat (bought in a jar) in the top oven at 190C and turned occasionally for 1hr. Obviously you have to work your way back on the potatoes for timing. 

I did the potatoes and yorkshire pudding in the top oven. 

YORKSHIRE PUDS

We had a couple of guests at my book club JFDI and one was from Yorkshire. I mentioned I had never done Yorkshire Puds before and he simplified the whole process so that I didn't even have to write it down. 1:1:1, he said. 

1. Start with the eggs. 2 for 3 people. Put them in a measuring cup. Note where they come up to. 

2. Then measure out equal amounts of PLAIN flour and milk. 

3. Mix the three together. You may want to sieve the batter to remove any lumps. Let it rest and whisk it up to get it airy. 

4. 25 minutes before serving, whack up the oven to 220C and put a muffin tin with either a small amount of vegetable oil or goose fat (I used goose fat) in until the oil starts to smoke. Then ladle the batter into the muffin holes about 2/3 the way up. (You can put the roasting spuds on the bottom of the oven for the last 20 minutes)

5. Pop the YPs back into the oven and watch as they start to rise for about 20-25 minutes until they turn a nice shade of brown. As with the beef, DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN.

Heat the plates in the top oven, and then plate up.

The beef was crispy on the outside, and medium rare and tender. The fat near the surface was succulent and infused with the mustard/salt/pepper. The YPs went down a treat. High fives all round. 

A bottle of Merlot, BOB'S YOUR UNCLE!  Even if his name is not Bob.

Here is a picture from a website which (By Gum) LOOKS EXACTLY as the one I did. Credit where credit is due: Ann Serrane's Genius Rib Roast, which she wrote in 1966! Hats off to Anne, whoever you are! Where the hell have you been hiding for the past 47 years?

A DISAPPOINTMENT KEPT

A DISAPPOINTMENT KEPT

Friendship is a house built on words, thoughts, and deeds

Held together by bonds of mutual trust

Without the latter, it is nothing but an empty shell

Which will let in the icy winds of winter

And crumble to dust in the heat of summer

I believed you

And I believed in you

But now I hear a wind blowing through the cracks

Whispering...

Soplona.