visit Brooklyn and you'll be amazed at the fine Russian food restaurants there.

they are so good I will say actually better than in Russia itself.

 

Sadly it appears to be gone, but there was a place called Uncle Vanya in midtown Manhattan that was similarly amazing. Really good Russian cooking, in a comfortable but unpretentious environment. And Vanya was just the friendliest guy imaginable. His English was rough, but he'd take the time to walk you through the menu.

 

I had some polish stuffed cabbage dish not too long ago. i thought i was going to hate it, but it was actually quite good.

 

I could live off stuffed cabbage, and make it pretty frequently (my one grandmother was polish, the other Slovak/Hungarian). The real trick is a little brown sugar in the crushed tomatoes to cut the acidity and give it some sweetness. Some people try to do the same with raisins, but it's not the same.

 

By the way - the food in Russia itself is kind of meh due to ingredient quality , I much rather prefer Ukrainian, Georgian and Hungarian for both - flavor and quality of what goes into the dish.

If you like stuffed cabbage - there is an interesting variation called "Lazy stuffed cabbage" (alternatively called "unstuffed"). Another really tasty take on the traditional recipe is to cook them in a mix of tomato sauce and sour cream, sprinkle some shredded carrot and bell pepper on top of the whole thing before putting in the oven. This is by far my favorite.

 

 

I don't know what this dish is called. There's probably a fancy French name for it, but it's mostly something I came up with after reading a nice-looking recipe for Mushroom Duxelles, which I'd never done before, and thinking "I need to find something to use this in." Not quite a souffle, not quite a frittata, and not quite anything else... I'm going completely off the reservation here, and just making **** up as I go along.

This would probably also work well as a crêpe or a folded omelette, but frankly I don't have much experience with either of those, and wanted to keep variables to a minimum tonight.

.

• 1 lb mushrooms, minced
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• Sherry (or pretty much any bottle of wine you already have open.)
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 dozen eggs (Four of the yolks will be separated and go into the hollandaise, everything else will be scrambled and used in the main course.)
• Ricotta cheese
• Handful cherry tomatoes
• Dried oregeno
• Garlic
• 1 bunch green onion, finely chopped (will be used for garnish)
• Hollandaise sauce (I used a classic Julia Child recipe, in which I used buttermilk instead of water. I felt that this was in keeping with the spirit of her cuisine,)

Le prep:





I tried to do the full lb of mushrooms in a single pass in the Cuisinart, and wound up over-processing them. Came up with more of a puree than a fine chop. Next time I'll do two batches, but this still worked.

Into the skillet over medium-low go 1 tbs butter, the mushrooms, shallots and thyme:




The mushrooms are going to express a large amount of water as they cook, so this one needs to simmer for about an hour, stirring only occasionally.

While that's happening, start the Hollandaise. After it comes to consistency, it'll be fine sitting mostly unattended on the back burner at *extremely low* heat (like, the flame on the small burner is just barely staying lit), whisking occasionally.

Once the mushroom mix is mostly dry, add 1 more tbs butter, some black pepper, and a healthy shot of sherry (maybe 1/4 cup). Increase heat to medium, and continue until reduced again, stirring every few minutes.

Meanwhile, pour a bit of the scrembled egg mix into the bottoms of a large, oiled muffin tin:



Bake at 300° for about 8-10 minutes, until the bottoms just start to firm up, then remove to countertop.

Once the mushrooms are done, spoon them over the egg bases. Since this is experiment night, I filled three of the wells generously comme ils sont, and the other three more sparingly, which I then topped with a dollop of ricotta.




Cover with more egg mix, and then back into the oven for another 30-35 minutes, until firm. This is the secret to baking with egg; relatively low temp for a long duration. So long as the temp isn't too high, it's hard to over-cook them.

It's ok if you have some egg mix left over. The mushrooms and cheese are the stars of the show here. Let them poke through, and discard the rest, saying a brief prayer of gratitude to El Santo del Pollo Enojado.


Meanwhile, set the skillet back on high, put in the tomatoes, and spritz with olive oil. Turn occasionally until they start to blister:




Towards the end toss, in some minced garlic and oregano, and remove the instant the garlic starts to brown. Or don't. Personally, I like my garlic a tad blackened.


Plate, top with sauce, garnish with green onion.






And, as always...





This was a good one. Really good.

 

Appears to be on the keto diet, too.

 

@Joe Perez , do you find overcooking--sorry that's loaded-- do you find browning or blackening the garlic to make it bitter and acrid? I've not really ever seen or heard of that done. Usually it's only blackened and then removed to infuse something else.

 

I don't know that I'd call it bitter, but yes, it definitely gives it smokey, pungent character which I find enjoyable.

I'd describe it as being like the difference between a piece of meat that's been baked in an oven or sous-vide vs. one that's been charred over a high flame.

 

I have an admission to make. Prior to this weekend, I've never watched Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.

My interest in cooking shows has always veered towards Julia Child, with a touch of Jamie Oliver. To me, Bourdain had always seemed a tad... Gordon Ramsay. (Again, saying this from the perspective of someone who has heard of him, but never really experienced his point of view.)

Turns out that nothing could be further from the truth.

For a show that purports to be about food, this is turning out to be one of the best documentaries about global culture and socio-politics I've ever seen. Like, I would have expected this to be produced by National Geographic or BBC, not the NPC Network.

Julia Child will teach you how to cook. Jamie Oliver will teach you how to be dissatisfied with cooking. Anthony Borduain will teach you how to appreciate cuisine, as well as the culture which surrounds it.

 

Bourdain was amazing, and his shows were exactly that; finding something to enjoy anywhere you are, no matter how weird or even disgusting that may seem at first. This is something I live by; try the local living and eating habits whenever you visit. Especially food can teach you so much about a culture. And sure I have had gross moments, but the ones I actually enjoyed are way more.

 

What he did was show that everyone at heart it the same - we all strive for something, love, care and it shows in cooking - regardless of who or where you are. Food is one of the few things that brings people together regardless of other considerations. It was also plain fun to learn about others through "show about food". It makes everyone more human, not just a set of labels we put on them.

 

His previous show No Reservations is also worth watching, it's a bit more food than politics/history like Parts Unknown. One of the episodes of that show they were filming in Beirut in 2006 when Israel-Lebanon conflict happened.

 

plus bourdain probably did a show about a place near enough to you that you can go there and eat.

DC and the burbs around it:


the ethiopian place is great. I took my boys there to nosh on some injera. the owner was super nice.

 

Went to this thing last night.
https://capitalfoodfight.org/



They (Michael Curtain and Jose Andres) did a tribute and toast to Anthony Bourdain. Jose cried a little cuz that is just the type of guy he is.



There was a 10 minute timed cook off using secret ingredients. It was judged by various famous chefs, personalities, etc. You can't see them for the flowers but you can check the link to see who was there.


We chatted with this guy. A local restaurant owner and hitter of baseballs for the Nats. I may have photobombed my wife a bit. We also chatted with his wife about kids, which was fun.



After it ended, we got to go up on stage and Jenn (my wife) shmoozed with some of her food industry pals. We had a nice long chat with Tom Colicchio as well. I got to shake Jose Andres' hand, but I think he was a bit tired and a bit corona so he didn't have much to say. Regardless, Jenn handed out her business card to all the famouses for future contact and collaboration and potential extraness at their restaurants. I'm looking at you The Salt Line.

The food at all the (dozens) booths from various local restaurants was all fantastic. The libations were OK too, but too much ice. I like simple and neat, but I did give one mixologist props and recognition for naming her drink "Holiday in Cambodia" because that song is always stuck in my head. Unlimited free oysters are always bomb. Watching Jose and Spike Mendelsohn try to race each other to eat 5 was kind of ridiculous though.

Everyone we met was super nice and welcoming. Highly recommended.

 

Way cool.

 

I kind of forgot to take in-progress pictures tonight. Metallica and whiskey were involved.




Step 1: Prepare a basic Palek Dal. Make it thick and creamy. Use lentils and chickpeas and spices and chilis and stuff.

Step 2: Plate over brown rice.

Step 3: Top with something you find appealing.

 

Does someone make a cooking robot already? Sigh.

 

Ask and you shall receive.

Moley ? The world's first robotic kitchen