Chris Hennes

A few years ago I had a Duchesse de Bourgogne and hated it, but since I've been drinking a lot of Belgian- and Belgian-style beer recently, I thought I'd give it another shot. I now cannot remember for the life of me what I disliked about is! What a fascinating beer... unlike anything else I've had. Are there other commonly-available beers out there in this style?

The dark and stormy is my "OMG my brain is not functioning" drink: I use four ounces of whatever dark rum is on the front of the shelf to a bottle of ginger beer: you only have to measure one ingredient, it's hard to beat that.

I'm not sure why it would have ended up dry at 137°F (sous vide, I assume): I've done plenty of conventional-oven pork roasts pulled out of the oven at 140°F and been happy with the moistness. Was the color what you were expecting? 137F should still be quite pink inside.

I'm thinking the same thing here, that looks great. Might have to add it to this week's list...

Yeah, looks like the Magical Elves had other things in mind... we're always talking about contestants getting the "villain edit" (Marcel, anyone?). I'm not sure you got the villain edit: instead, you seem to get the "drama queen" treatment. I'm not quite on Doodad's page, I don't hate this season (yet), but if they don't start focusing a little more on the food I may have to give up on it.

Curried Chicken, Peppers, and Peas en Papillote (p. 221) Cardamom Rice Pilaf (p. 382) I know I've said that some of the above recipes were easy, but this one takes the prize: 30 minutes start-to-eating, 20 of which are spent in the oven. The flavor will be almost completely dependent on the curry powder you use, so make sure to find one you like. I made it with a spicy one, but I'm sure it would be fine with something a bit less so. The cardamom rice pilaf was a perfect accompaniment, though I found it slightly too moist for my tastes. I also had a bit of trouble getting this to plate up neatly: the chicken in the packets tended to clump together a bit. Dorie, do you have a solution to this? Try to put it in the packet more loosely next time, maybe?

At least, not in a reality TV competition format. Too much focus on the drama.

I just found myself in a heated discussion about the appropriate thickness for quiche: it seems that the argument hinged on the ideal ratio of filling to crust, if such an ideal even exists. In Bouchon, Keller endorses the notion of a two-inch thick quiche for optimal texture. I don't object to this thickness, though I typically make mine thinner. But my colleague's argument is that two inches is simply too thick, the balance is thrown off and you may as well leave the crust off altogether (but you better not call it a quiche then!). What do you all think? Is there an optimal quiche thickness? What is it?

Spinach and Bacon Quiche (pp. 160–161) I messed this one up, so this is a cautionary tale: make sure you roll your crust thin enough. If left too thick the strong buttery flavor quickly overwhelms the surprisingly delicate flavors of the spinach and it gets lost. Even the bacon seems subtle compared to the heavily-browned, super-buttery crust. Oops. I just didn't take enough care here, figuring this was a surefire winner and not worrying about the little details. Yes, I managed to screw up a spinach and bacon quiche... I bow my head in shame.

There's short blog entry over at SmartBlog on Restaurants about a study commissioned by Dunkin' Donuts: I was actually surprised by how LOW that percentage is. I always sort of imagined that the foodservice industry was basically completely fueled by free caffeine. Is that not the case? Less than half figure they would be as alert without their morning cuppa?

I think if you shredded the coconut a bit finer, the coconut cookies I posted about in the "Cooking with Fiesta at Rick's" topic would be a good starting place.

Quiche Maraîchère (p. 158) This was unlike any quiche I have ever had: it is probably 90% vegetables by weight, with only the tiniest amount of custard holding it together. To give you some sense of proportion, here is the unbaked quiche without the custard: So yeah: a LOT of vegetables. Here it is baked, fresh out of the oven: And served an hour later, cooled to lukewarm: Wow. Fantastic. I mean, you have to love vegetables to love this quiche. But if you do, cancel dinner tomorrow and put this on the menu, it was fabulous. I made Dorie's crust from the back of the book and found it tasty, but more finicky than my usual quiche crust: I think you could probably use whatever butter-based crust recipe you are used to working with. Or maybe lard, which would probably also be good.

Everything mentioned so far, plus peanut butter.

Is there anything to eat near the performing arts center in Downtown Tulsa? Preferably open late...

Chicken, Apples, and Cream à la Normande (pp. 218–219) Another very simple sauteed chicken dish, this time with apples, onions, and mushrooms, finished with Calvados and cream. I personally would have preferred the apples cut a bit smaller (the recipe calls for 1" chunks), but otherwise the dish was quite successful.

Presumably the steam oven works just like a combi-oven, right? That's what a lot of professionals doing large quantities of SV are using these days. I don't see why you'd want or need a water bath if you had one.

The Cow Calf-Hay (3409 Wynn Dr., Edmond, OK, 73013) Looking for some redemption after yesterday's burger debacle, I hauled up to Edmond (I live in Norman) to try out another recent recommendation from Eat Around OKC. I figured it was important to determine whether we have fundamentally different ideas of the "ideal burger," or if our disagreement over Nic's was a fluke. Happily, tonight's burger was indeed very good. I'm still not planning on making the 35-minute drive on a regular basis, but if I find myself in Edmond on a weekday at lunchtime, The Cow is a contender (yeah, the only night they are open for dinner is Friday, and they are closed on weekends). Let's start with the biggest difference between Cow and Nic's: the burger's size. I ordered the half pound burger, since my ideal burger is in the 1/3-1/2 lb range. I found this to be a well-proportioned patty: thick enough to retain some juiciness and thin enough to ensure that you had a good ratio of Maillardized surface area. The burger is served slightly overdone to my liking, but not terribly so, and I did not specify a doneness level (I don't know if you can, the waitress did not ask). The beef is plenty beefy: adding just a tiny bit of salt to the surface of the patty was enough to pull it to near-perfection. The lettuce was a large single piece of leafy green, which I vastly prefer to the shredded iceberg at Nic's. The tomato was unfortunately the same tasteless mealy crap you get just about everywhere these days: I guess I shouldn't hold it against them, but I believe that if you can't get an ingredient that tastes good, you should just leave it off. Of course, I could have requested that myself, but I hold this stupid, vain hope that someday I'll get a burger with a tomato slice that actually tastes like tomato. The pickle slices were large and not too thick, and the cheese was standard American and well-melted (which I liked a lot). The requested mustard was judiciously applied: enough that you could taste it, but not so much that you couldn't taste anything else. The bun was just thick enough to absorb all the burger's juices without falling apart: you could eat this burger with two hands, none of this "use a fork" BS. All told, a flavorful, well balanced, well proportioned burger. The fries were unfortunately not quite so stellar: perhaps a tiny bit better than Nic's, but that is only due to my personal preference for the thinner cut at Cow: they were still that flaccid texture you get from a single fry. On the plus side, they were well-drained, and on the minus side, they were not quite as fresh. Call it a tie, and don't waste the calories. If you are still hungry, order another burger!

I generally treat "modernism" as more of a thought process than an actual technique or procedure. All of cooking is chemistry and physics, of course: it's only when we start thinking about it in those terms that it becomes "modernism." One person's normal ingredient is another's "crazy chemical additive." One culture's outlandish technique is another's normal cooking procedure.

It's also important to remember that either blender will kick the snot out of the sub-$100 variety, in basically all culinary applications. It's only at the fringes (very thick/very hard) that the two blenders become distinguishable from each other. Both will make simple purees, etc. with equal aplomb.

When I was first considering a move to Oklahoma City, I joked that I could move anyplace with FedEx service. I don't actually have that many ingredients overnighted to me, however. This guy, on the other hand... From the GQ article: and this choice tidbit: Have you ever had a complete meal overnighted to you? Would you? What would it be? I've had pork overnighted, but never a meal.

I hadn't thought of that angle IndyRob: you're right, the early episodes will be much more watchable now.

It seems like it is more of a "second chances" show. Couldn't win the first go? Try, try again.

Nic's Grill (1201 N Pennsylvania Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73107) I'm always joking that Oklahomans measure quality in ounces: if it's bigger, it must be better, right? Nowhere is this attitude more evident than with the local love for beef. It is completely irrelevant whether the beef in question is high-quality, or tastes good. The only question to ask of a local burger joint is "how many ounces is your patty?" Nic's Grill is frequently cited as the best burger in Oklahoma City. The usually-dependable folks at Eat Around OKC rave about it, and Nic's gets some serious Twitter love, too. They have been featured on Food Network's "Diners, Drive-in's and Dives" for whatever that is worth, and there is always a line outside for lunch. You can see where this is going, of course: Nic's burger is crap. Nic's fries are crap. Nic's parking is crap. (OK, I only added that last one to obey the "rule of three," parking is OK). I'm not exaggerating to counter all the orgasmic Nic-lovin' out there: the burger is not simply mediocre, it is actually bad. The fries probably slide a bit closer to the mediocre, but they sure as hell aren't "good." Here's the problem with Nic's burgers: in their ludicrous focus on size (they are gargantuan), they have sacrificed all sense of flavor or eatability. A burger that manages to be tasteless despite well over 1/2 lb of ground beef is sad. The trouble with a massive pile of beef is you must season it before cooking, and you must integrate that seasoning to the interior of the patty: there is no way to add salt and pepper to that massive burger after the fact, and Nic's had none. Hell, they didn't even try to salt after: there was simply so salt. NEWS FLASH: Salt enhances flavors! Use it! To that, add stupidly large amounts of low-quality toppings (bagged shredded iceberg, mealy tomatoes, way too much mustard, etc.) and what you wind up with is just plain garbage. And garbage that must be eaten with a fork; despite my best efforts there was simply no way to get the bun to stand up to the onslaught, the burger disintegrated out of my hands. I'm sure it makes for good TV, but it sucks to eat. The fries are single-fried rather than blanched and finished, are also served unsalted (though at least with fries that is easy to fix), and are basically undrained: their plate-life is approximately 30 seconds before the remaining oil soaks back into them, turning them into a greasy, soggy mess. For that thirty seconds, though, they are OK: fresh-cut and flavorful. The best burger in OKC? Wow, I sure hope not...

Yet more press for this book, this time at the LA Times:

Upper Crust (First Impressions!) I ordinarily try to give a restaurant a few weeks before passing judgement, and certainly I try to visit more than once: so consider this a preliminary assessment, subject to further refinement. Upper Crust opened yesterday in their sexy new Classen Curve digs, right down the street from RePUBlic. Upper Crust sports two wood-burning ovens running at around 750°F, and burning a variety of different woods (you couldn't really smell the ovens, unfortunately: damn health codes forcing adequate ventilation!!). Hardcore pizza aficionados might suggest that temperature is too low, at least for a classic Neapolitan -style pie, and they would be right. But OKC is not known for its good pizza, so we take what we can get. I've been disaffected with The Wedge for some time now, so was really excited that some competition was moving in: my hope is that both places improve because of the rivalry. Tonight we started with an order of the garlic cheese bread and the "anti-pizza" (like "antipasto" 'cept for coming before the pizza... GET IT?!!!). The garlic bread was generic, but not bad. The anti-pizza was a mediocre selection of deli-quality charcuterie (not exactly fra' mani here) with too few olives and too much greenery. So, on the whole The Wedge's "Wedge Trio" is the vastly superior appetizer. We also had a bottle of wine: the wine list is pretty extensive here considering that this is a pizza joint, and very low-priced (hell, they had Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label for under 100% markup... show me THAT price someplace else in OKC!) . But you had damn well better like wine, because the beer list is pathetic. Maybe they would let you cruise over to RePUBlic to grab a pint... For the pizza I figured I had better start with the basics, so I ordered the Margherita. What arrived was not a classic pizza Margherita, but here in OKC that is hardly surprising, I don't think anyone in town even knows what that means. The Wedge's Margherita is awful, so it would not have taken much to beat it: however, Upper Crust's was actually quite good. It was undercooked by pizza-phile standards, and displayed no cornicione to speak of: it's not ever going to make a list of "Best Margherita" (it has toasted garlic on it, and is not made with fresh mozzarella: are you serious? This is Margherita?), but it was a pretty tasty pizza. So, is this the "best pizza in OKC"? hard to say without a couple return visits, but I'll say that at the very least they are giving The Wedge a serious run for their money. (On a side note: I'm not sure if they were just training new staff, or were trying to prevent opening-day snafus, but holy cow there were a lot of servers there tonight. Service was very good, and quite polished considering how new the restaurant is. Usually it takes a few days or even weeks to really dial that in, and these guys were pretty on-the-ball already.) ETA: Crappy cell-phone snapshots...