Oh, You Little Dumpling!

I just returned from dinner at a place here in San Francisco called Shanghai Dumpling King, where Michele and I enjoyed their famous Xiao Long Bao, or, as it’s also known, Shanghai soup dumplings. I got the tip from my friend, Amy Sherman, from Cooking with Amy, and she was not kidding. They were so incredibly good.

The photo is of some crab and pork dumplings I just posted on Instagram (btw, if you want to follow my foodie adventures in all their photographic glory, you should get that app). When I got home, I went to YouTube to try and find a how-to video for it, and lo and behold, there was a great one…shot in the exact same restaurant we had just left! I love when that happens.

Anyway, this comes from the fine folks at Chow.com, and features chef Andrea Nguyen, author of the celebrated cookbook, Asian Dumplings, and Shanghai Dumpling King’s chef and owner Lu Kuang. Enjoy!

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Creamy Wild Mushroom Ragout – A Triple Threat of Fungi Flavor

This very easy mushroom ragout, not only looks and tastes great, but it one of those magical recipes that shines equally as bright whether you serve it with breakfast, lunch, or dinner. We call these dishes, “triple threats,” and they’re important weapons in any cook’s arsenal.

Imagine this under a perfectly poached egg for breakfast – the golden yolk slowly running into the hot mushrooms and creamy sauce; all sitting on a thick slab of crispy toast. It’s almost too perfect to comprehend. I said “almost,” so try to comprehend it.

For lunch, I can’t think of a better meatless meal than this and a cold, crisp green salad. You could score bonus foodie points for using the same vinegar you used in the ragout, to make the dressing.

For dinner, the possibilities are endless. There are very few meat-based main courses this wouldn’t make a very handsome side dish for. Or, used as a sauce for those meats, or even just over a plate of pasta.

As I mentioned in the video, literally any combination of fresh mushrooms will work. If you can’t get fresh wild mushrooms, you can always use the trick of adding some dried porcini or morel to plain button mushrooms. These are now sold at virtually every large grocery store, and their funkier flavors will permeate the porous flesh of the regular ‘shrooms.

Anyway, I’m not in the habit of threatening my readers, let alone triple-threatening them, but I really hope you all give this outrageously delicious mushroom ragout a try soon. By the way, don't forget we showed you all how easy it is to make you own creme fraiche in this video. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lbs mixed mushrooms, sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp butter, divided

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup minced shallots

1 tbsp champagne vinegar, or other wine vinegar

2 tbsp cognac, brandy or sherry

1/2 cup crème fraiche

1/2 cup chicken broth or as needed

1 tbsp fresh herb

toasted bread

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Leaving New Orleans, Heavier and Happier Than When I Got Here…

And that’s saying something, since I was pretty damn happy when I left. You can tell how much fun a city is, and how wonderful the food is, by how much I post while I’m there. If you notice, there’s been nothing on the blog since Friday, and there are dozens of great reasons for that – busy eating plates of fried oysters like this one, from the Acme Oyster House, being just one. Anyway, I’ll be back in San Francisco tonight, after a great IFBC. Stay tuned for a brand new video recipe tomorrow!

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Hello from New Orleans and the 2011 IFBC

Just a quick hello to let you know I’ll be in New Orleans this weekend for the 2011 International Food Bloggers Conference. For some background on this event, you should check out my recap of last year’s conference (which, by the way, I wrote high on cold medicine). Seen here is Barnaby Dorfman, CEO of Foodista, kicking off the festivities. These guys literally invented the food blogger conference, for which I’ll be forever grateful. 

The food down here is ridiculously awesome; so don’t be surprised if you see some new Cajun and Creole inspired video recipes in the near future. I’ve already had some amazing fried chicken on bourbon-spiked sweet potatoes, and also tempted fate by eating raw oysters in August. My new friend, David Aman, from DocNO Productions, took me out for some oysters and beer at Pascal's Manale, and you can see the visual proof of my culinary courage below. 

Apparently, it’s fine to eat oysters in the summer, and that old safety warning is leftover from the days before refrigeration, when there was a real danger. I’ve done no independent scientific research, but they tasted fine to me, and I feel great.

I’ll be back in San Francisco on Monday. In the meantime, enjoy!

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Trippa alla Romana – Do I Expect You to Swallow This Tripe? Yes!

On a scale of 0-to-Chris Cosentino, when it comes to cooking and enjoying offal, I come in at around a 5. I’ve never been big on kidneys, brain, and heart, but I do enjoy fried sweetbreads, grilled tongue, and this Roman-style tripe.

Let’s just get this out of the way now – tripe is the lining of a cow’s stomach. Not sure which one, as I remember from grade school that cows have a bunch of them. You could always Google for more info, but really, what else do you need to know?

This recipe is inspired by three different sources; Mario Batali, where I learned the trick of adding vanilla to the cooking liquid; my grandfather, who I believe made me the first tripe I ever ate; and a great neighborhood restaurant, Locanda, where I borrowed the idea of adding garbanzo beans.

I’m not sure how “tripe” ended up being used as an expression for “something poor, worthless, or offensive,” but culinarily-speaking, it’s none of those things. When prepared in this method, it’s has a pleasantly mild, but distinct flavor.

The spicy, garlicky tomato sauce is spiked with lots of fresh mint, which has a magical affinity for the tripe. When it comes to great sauces for dipping crusty Italian bread, it doesn’t get any better than this. If you like tripe, you’ll definitely love this version.

If you don’t like tripe, or have never tried it, I implore you to chef-up, and give it a try. Hey, no guts, no glory. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

For the tripe:

2 1/2 pounds honeycomb tripe

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons salt

1 bay leaf

5 quarts cold water

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 oz pancetta

1 onion, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups marinara sauce

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 cups tripe cooking liquid, more as needed

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated

1 bunch mint leaves, finely chopped

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Up for Bid: The Chef John Experience – Spend a Day Creating a Recipe Video with Me!

You may have read about the sudden and tragic loss my friend Jennifer Perillo recently suffered, and how the food blogger community was rallying around her via #apieforMikey.

In an inspired effort to turn that love and compassion into something even more tangible, Shauna Ahern from Gluten Free Girl, and Maggy Keet from Bloggers Without Borders, have created #AFundForJennie. Bloggers are auctioning off goods, services, and artwork to raise funds that go directly to help Jennifer and her two girls in this time of need.

To support the effort, I'll be auctioning off what I'm calling, "The Chef John Experience." The winning bidder will get to spend a full day with me planning, cooking, filming, and editing a video recipe that will air on Food Wishes. This will include three fabulous meals, and all the bad puns you can handle. Not to mention, the greatest re-gifted swag bag in the history of re-gifted swag bags.

I will take care of all related expenses (you will be seriously spoiled), but you do need to get to San Francisco to enjoy what I promise will be a very entertaining day. I will show you all my secret production methods, and share stories that will shock and amaze – several of which will be true.

If you would like to participate, simply leave you bid in this comments section. You can also send me your bid via email. I'll add a deadline to this auction eventually, but for now I just want to start the process and see where it goes.

If your not interested in this particular auction, but want to help anyway, click this link, or the BWOB DONATE button above, and contribute now! Thank you!!

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Grandma Kelly’s Good Old Fashioned Pancakes Really Measure Up

I was looking over a list of the all-time most popular recipes posted on Allrecipes last week, and there it was at number one…”Good Old Fashioned Pancakes.” Since I’ve never done a classic American pancake recipe video, despite countless food wishes for just that, I decided it was an omen that could not be ignored.

This is from Dakota Kelly, who claims to have found it on a well-worn card in her Grandma's recipe book. Well, Grandma Kelly, if that is your real name, this recipe makes one fine stack of pancakes. Not too thick, not too thin, tender, light, buttery, and delicious.

I’ve always used those exact same seven ingredients, as do 90% of all pancake makers, but like many “pros,” I simply throw everything in a bowl, and stir in enough milk, until the batter feels “right.” I never bothered to write down the formula.

So, as much as I hate to admit it, it was actually kind of fun to use an exact set of measurements, knowing I’ll now be able to repeat these results again and again. I know that boxed mix is convenient, but every once in a while you need to make this kind of recipe from scratch. I hope you give them a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 12 small pancakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

3 tablespoons butter, melted

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