cia – Page 83 – Writing With My Mouth Full

L’Ecole at the French Culinary Institute

462 Broadway corner of Grand Street
212/219.3300
about $120 for two, with four drinks, with tip
♥

L’Ecole’s five-course dinner is probably the city’s lowest-priced prix fixe at $40, but at that unbelievable price, how does the food taste? Well, like $8 apiece. The restaurant prides itself in using sustainable seafood but I missed any information about their meat and vegetable sources. I assume they buy everything from the farmers’ market, but I wonder how they afford to charge less than $10 a plate if that was the case.

An appetizer of asparagus with crumbled chorizo sounded great but came out tasteless. I understood that the pan tomate with Manchego cheese was included to round up a Spanish-inspired dish, but they were disconnected here and the triangle of a sandwich needed to spend a little more time on the grill press.

The scallops were presented well in a row of shells topped with roe. They would have made great amuse bouches as they were actually lighter than the ones we received made of pancake batter.

I looked forward to my trout served in a curried mussel broth on a bed of baby bok choy, but the fish was under-seasoned and no amount of curry rescued it from blandness. The fluke was immemorable with braised cabbage and mushrooms. My Cornish hen needed some sauce to make the white meat taste like something. I thought the rhubarb that came with the duck would have been a perfect accompaniment because I’ve always cooked and eaten Cornish hens with tarty flavors like pomegranate. The duck triumphed as the best dish of the night. The duck breast was perfectly seared while the leg was braised with rhubarb presented, oddly, like Lincoln Logs. However, the bottom half of a side of rice was dipped in the leftover duck sauce and was an unnecessary addition.

We were pretty much satiated with mediocrity by the time we had to order our desserts, so we opted to share the cake with blueberry compote because it came with olive oil ice cream. We just didn’t want to waste any more food.

At L’Ecole, the ingredients used were not a problem. I’m sure there are talented students at the International Culinary Center, but they need to tighten their execution and add some finesse in their cooking to translate what they want to convey on their diners’ plates. I half-expected a professor in the kitchen tasting everything before going out, but it seemed like the students were pretty much on their own. Our waiter was really accommodating, but his every move was ruined by the too-lazy busboy who haphazardly stacked up all our utensils on our plates before briskly taking them way after each course–he just couldn’t wait to get out of there. We couldn’t either.

Chicken Canzanese

I was attracted to this 1969 recipe Amanda Hesser featured in The New York Times a couple of weeks ago. There is no browning involved and I immediately thought that chicken can’t be pretty without a golden brown crust. But then I remembered Hainanese chicken, a dish from the Hainan Island of China but perfected by those who immigrated to Singapore.

This style is Canzanese–Canzano is in the Abruzzo region in Italy–but it’s poached with wine instead of its juice alone. The pancetta gives the chicken some soul (Anthony Bourdain once said, All roads lead to pork), while the fresh herbs give it a fragrant smell as soon as you take the lid off and let out some steam.

Ingredients:
3 chicken pieces
1 thick round of pancetta, cut into strips
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 sprigs rosemary
2 sage leaves
2 bay leaves
3 cloves
1 clove garlic, sliced lengthwise
2 peppercorns, crushed
1 dried red chili, crushed
salt

1. Place the chicken pieces in a mixing bowl; cover with cold water and add 1 tsp of salt. Let stand 1 hour. Drain and pat dry.
2. Arrange the chicken pieces in one layer in a frying pan fitted with a lid and add the rest of the ingredients over the chicken. Add 1/4 cup water. Cover and simmer until the chicken is nearly done, about 40 minutes. Uncover and cook briefly over high heat until the sauce is reduced slightly.

Savory Kale Pudding

Continuing my current love affair with kale, I followed another recipe Stacie of chowbaby.com recommended. I’m a bigger fan of savory rather than sweet and this pudding was just right up my alley. The bakery uptown didn’t have brioche in stock when I stopped by, so I picked up a loaf of challah instead. Before tearing them into smaller pieces, I just tried to remove as many of the poppy seeds as I could. I also topped it with grated Gruyere cheese when I realized I still had some leftover in the fridge.

The pudding cooked while I leisurely read The Sunday Times. It was such a low-maintenance pudding with a large yield. And even with the milk and cream, it tasted pretty healthy.

Ingredients:
1 bunch kale, leaves torn from stalks, washed thoroughly
half a loaf of challah bread, torn into smaller pieces
2 medium leeks, thoroughly washed, chopped
a sliver of Gruyere cheese, grated
3 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 eggs
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 sprigs of thyme
salt, pepper, oil

1. Preheat oven to 450º. Toss kale leaves with a little olive oil. Spread out on baking sheets and roast for about 10 minutes. The kale will wilt and become slightly crispy. Transfer the kale to a bowl and set aside. Lower the oven temp to 400º.
2. In the meantime, sauté the garlic and leeks in butter until leeks are soft but not browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, milk and cream together with the thyme and the bread with some salt and pepper. Fold in the kale and the leek mixture.
4. Pour the pudding mixture into a rectangular baking dish. Place the baking dish into a larger roasting pan filled halfway with water. Put the pans carefully into the oven. Cover the baking dish loosely with foil. Bake for 20 minutes.
5. Carefully take the pans out of the oven. Continue baking the pudding for another 20 minutes without the pan filled with water. Check to see if the pudding is cooked by inserting a toothpick in the middle. If the toothpick comes out clean, your pudding is done. Remove from oven, let cool slightly and serve.

Wildwood Barbeque

225 Park Avenue South at 18th Street
212/533.2500
about $40 each for four, with a pitcher of beer, with tip
♥ ♥

Sorry, we’re out of the pork spare ribs.

A long pause from our table and then, what do you mean you’re out of the pork spare ribs? Well, you can try the Memphis-style baby back ribs instead. What time is it? Almost 7:30pm. And you’re out of the ribs already? Seriously?

I wanted to try Wildwood Barbeque because “Big Lou” Elrose of Hill Country was going to be handling the meat. You can say I was very disappointed when the dry-dusted pork spare ribs with Lou’s sugar and spice rub were already out by 7:30pm. Between the four of us, we ended up sharing everything else in the pit barbeque menu. The Texas-smoked brisket, cooked “low and slow”, was pretty good but it was even better with the house sauce. The Carolina pulled pork made my night because of the vinegar sauce that came with it. Both weren’t as moist as I would have liked but delicious enough to enjoy with a side of smoked sausages and a pitcher of local beer. I tried not to eat too much of the corn bread to make room for the meat but I couldn’t help but pick from the cast iron skillet it came in. The mac and cheese was indeed cheesy and it was definitely favored over the baked beans.

The portions looked small though I felt like I had enough by the time the three smores came for dessert. Maybe it was good that I didn’t have a tray of meat in front of me ala Fette Sau or Hill Country because I know I would have stuffed myself silly if that was the case. But not even a month old and they already can’t keep up with the demand? I would have liked the option of saying no instead of being said no to.

Sardines and Celery Salad

When did sardine get a bad rep? When I mentioned that sardines were in the lunch menu, I got a mixed reception. From the wrinkle-of-the-nose kind of expression to the straight forward Ewww, I wondered what it was about sardines that turned some people off. It was different for me growing up. Sardines were affordable in the Philippines and if they weren’t bought fresh from the market and then fried, they came in a can with spicy tomato sauce, eaten straight up or sautéed with onions.

Fresh Portuguese sardines are pricey here in New York so to stay under budget and still cook for fifteen people at work, I stayed with Trader Joe’s canned sardines in spring water. There was no salt added so the dressing here was quite perfect. Whatever seasoning the two mustards added, the celery’s bite balanced off. This will remind you of a simple tuna salad, only a tad more sophisticated especially if served with rye crackers or warm flat bread.

Ingredients:
2 cans of sardines in spring water, preferably unsalted, drained
1 bunch of celery hearts, finely chopped
a handful of parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp grainy mustard
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 small red onion, finely chopped
juice from half a lemon, plus some of its zest
oil, salt, pepper

1. In a large salad bowl, mix the parsley with the olive oil, the grainy and Dijon mustards, red onion, lemon juice and zest. Add in the sardines, crushing a bit, and toss in the celery. Season with salt and pepper, adding a little bit more oil as necessary.