Blog - Flying Fourchette

Crabless Cakes with Hearts of Palm & Corn

August 14, 2015

Imitations of the culinary kind have not always succeeded, especially in the vegetarian world where ‘fake meats’ of questionable look and taste are often spotted. There are many exceptions though and I love to outline them to my vegetarian and non-vegetarian friends, to inject some variety into the former’s diet, and to prove to the latter there are other and healthier ways to enjoy some of their favorite dishes.

These crabless cakes are a wonderful example as their taste and texture resemble so much the original, you could almost pass them for the real thing. Hearts of palm (which I adore!) look just like fresh crab meat when broken down into shreds and the use of Old Bay seasoning and mayo gives it that authentic seafood flavor.

Whether or not you enjoy crab (or can eat it), these tasty cakes are sure to win your heart and make any meal feel ‘beachy’. You can either make them small and serve them as an appetizer or serve a few alongside a salad or soup for a light main course. Either way, this quick vegetable dish will be a crowd pleaser.

Crabless Cakes with Hearts of Palm & Corn

Recipe from Food & Wine
Active time: 45 min
Total time: 45 min
Makes around 14 small cakes, enough for 4-5 main courses

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for frying
2 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from 4 ears of corn)
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup minced green bell pepper
One 15-ounce can whole hearts of palm—drained, thinly sliced lengthwise and cut crosswise into 3/4-inch lengths
2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise (or regular mayo)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs, plus more for coating
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

In a nonstick skillet, heat the 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the corn, onion and bell pepper and cook over high heat until crisp-tender, 4 minutes. Scrape 1 cup of the mixture into a food processor and pulse to a coarse puree.

In a bowl, squeeze the hearts of palm to break them into shards. Add the puree and the remaining sautéed vegetables to the bowl, along with the Old Bay, parsley, mayonnaise, mustard and the 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs. Season lightly with salt and pepper and stir until evenly moistened.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and fill a pie plate with bread crumbs. Scoop scant 1/4-cup mounds of the hearts of palm mixture into the bread crumbs and roll to coat.

Form the mounds into eighteen 2-inch cakes and transfer to the baking sheet. (Make Ahead: The formed, uncooked cakes can be covered and refrigerated overnight.)

Wipe out the nonstick skillet, then add a scant 1/8 inch of oil. Fry half of the cakes over moderate heat, turning once, until crispy, 2 minutes per side. Wipe out the skillet and add clean oil before frying the remaining cakes.

Serve the cakes hot with a green salad.

[print_link]

New York Restaurants

Loosie’s Kitchen, Brooklyn

August 8, 2015

Opened just in time for the height of al fresco dining, Loosie’s Kitchen is a strong contender for Brooklyn’s best summer restaurant. Landed like a breath of fresh air in South Williamsburg just by the bridge, the New Orleans-inspired hotspot has a ridiculously good-looking patio you’ll want to spend all your evenings on.

The ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ entrance on South 6^th street is a flower-lined walkway leading you to a quintessential California courtyard with whitewashed walls and bright geometric designs. The elevated dining area is decked with communal picnic tables and plenty of leafy plants.

Looks familiar to you? It used to be Fatty ‘Cue, and you’ll find a few remaining items, like that pig chandelier in the corner.

Food-wise, expect Southern cuisine with a few twists and all the usual fried chicken, blackened catfish and oysters such a place beckons. You’ll want to wash it all down with one of their creative cocktails, like the spicy ‘Hurry-cane’ – banana-infused rum, spiced passion fruit, clarified lemon juice and coconut water.

‘Hurry-cane’ and a side of collard greens with bacon.

With a setting so charming and easy-loving food, there’s a strong chance Loosie’s will become your favorite hangout, you’ve been warned!

Seared octopus with charred romano beans, grilled okra, and fresno chili relish

Watercress & burrata salad – golden beets, watermelon, pecans with a chive vinaigrette

Blackened catfish served with corn macque choux and herb oil

Dark chocolate cup – rice pudding, cornflakes & crispies with whipped creme fraiche

Loosie’s Kitchen
91 S 6th St
(between Bedford and Berry)
Brooklyn, NY 11249
Map

Americas Travels US

Yosemite National Park, California

August 1, 2015

“The mountains are calling and I must go”, the quote from John Muir resonating as we drove from San Francisco towards the Sierra Nevada. I was finally going to Yosemite National Park, one of the country’s crown jewels and home to so many natural icons.

Route 41 going to the south entrance of the park

There are four ways to get into the park and we opted for the south road aka Route 41, mainly because we wanted to stop by the Mariposa Grove, home to 500 mature giant sequoias. It is now unfortunately closed until 2017 for restoration so we just made it in time!

Standing next to these prehistoric giants is awe-inspiring and the square-mile grove is surprisingly cool and quiet even on the busiest and hottest summer days.

A few specimen are worth seeking out such as the California Tunnel tree which was cut in 1895 to allow coaches to pass through it.

The south entrance to the park is near the grove so you can quickly get in and start making your way north for the hour-long drive leading to the Yosemite Valley and the village. In a little while you’ll be rewarded with one of your first glimpses of Yosemite Valley right after going through a tunnel, and what a glimpse it is… Unsurprisingly called the ‘Tunnel View’, it’s probably Yosemite’s most famous vista, packing in a lot of the park’s most famous landmarks such as (from left to right): El Capitan, Half Dome, Sentinel Rock, Sentinel Dome, and Bridalveil Fall.

Soon afterwards the road will start going down and the wow factor will continue as you reach floor level and look up at those sheer and high valley walls Yosemite is mostly famous for.

The mountain-climbing mecca of El Capitan rises more than 3,000 feet (900 meters) virtually straight up from the floor and on each side of the road you’ll be able to see waterfalls all the way to the village.

Accommodation in the park is probably the trickiest thing you’ll have to deal with, having only a few options between a tiny numbers of campgrounds requiring booking many months in advance and $400/night hotel rooms. It seems easier to go for the middle option and stay at Curry Village which offers basic tent cabins and a few eatery and shops for all your needs during your stay, and they usually have a bit more availability.

We settled in for an early night, ready for the big hike the next day.

There are plenty of day hikes here from the easy to the strenuous but for a first-timer, it would be hard to beat the Panorama Trail which offers spectacular views throughout of Yosemite’s most famous landmarks. It’ll take you around 5-7 hours to cover the 8.5 miles though it’s mostly downhill and considered a ‘moderate’ hike. The easiest way to get to the start is to take the shuttle from the valley all the way up to Glacier Point, 3200 feet above the valley floor, where you’ll stay transfixed for a while on panoramic views of the valley.

The hike starts nearby Glacier Point and slowly descend under open skies with postcard views of the Half Dome for the first half hour. The iconic dome looms high at over 4,800 feet and if it looks familiar, it’s because it became the official logo of The North Face brand a while ago.

You’ll soon reach an overlook of Illilouette Falls, a ribbon of whitewater dropping 370 feet.

A bit further down you’ll cross Illilouette Creek over a bridge, a nice spot to freshen up.

Next come the uphill portion of the hike in which you’ll climb 700 feet in about a mile and a half.

Once out of the forest you’ll come face to face with the granite dome of Liberty Cap.

It’s the perfect lunch spot so grab a seat by the frothy spout of Nevada Falls and enjoy the views as well as the last relatively uncrowded moment as starting from here a lot of popular trails meet up.

The Merced River feeds the falls before dropping nearly 600 feet down.

After crossing the river, turn left onto the popular Mist Trail and down a series of granite steps.

You’ll have side views of Nevada Falls as you go down.

Soon after you’ll reach yet another waterfall – Vernon Fall (317 feet high).

Mist sprays onto the hikers as they go down this section which gave the trail its name (the Mist Trail). Be careful as the rocks get really slippery.

Catch a last glimpse of Vernal Fall from downstream as you make you way back to the village, following the river. Time for a good beer and a snack and if you still have some stamina, biking around the valley is a great way to end the day and see some more sights.

Early morning rise and shine in time to see the fog lifting out of the valley. While Yosemite is mostly visited for its high vistas and cliffs, the valley floor itself is uncommonly pretty and deserves some exploration.

An easy trail is the one leading to Mirror Lake, passing streams and moss-covered forest.

The small Mirror Lake is incredibly scenic with a perfectly still surface reflecting the cliffs high above.

It is the last remnant of a large glacial lake that once filled most of Yosemite Valley at the end of the last Ice Age.

Tiny beaches off its shores are perfect resting places so bring a book, some snacks, and bask in the serenity of it all for a few hours.

A great and well-deserved refueling stop before heading out of the park can be found at the Ahwahnee Hotel and its 34-foot beamed ceilings dining room.

A fancy buffet brunch feeds hungry hikers like myself pretty well…

We took Tioga Road on the way out for more amazing vistas and the conclusion that we had to come back… Yosemite is truly a freak of nature and must be experienced at many different levels!

1 Comment

Appetizer Breakfast / Brunch Recipes

Blueberry Gravlax with Tarragon oil

July 24, 2015

Nordic cuisine has of late truly taken the culinary world by storm, thanks in large part to Noma, the Copenhagen phenomenon that has put the term ‘foraging’ on every foodie glossary and taken the No. 1 spot on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, twice. While all this fancy modernist cuisine is pretty good, I do think the Nordic’s greatest contribution to the world is gravlax, hands down.

Often the best things you can eat are the simplest and this is true of that humble and ancient recipe of cured salmon, originally made by fishermen who would salt the fish and bury it in the sand to cure. What is usually a fancy and expensive brunch item is remarkably easy to do at home, and the idea that I could do it myself had never crossed my mind until I stumbled upon this recipe.

To think that you can turn fresh salmon into a Scandinavian treat with only a simple mix of salt and sugar is mind blowing, and you’ll wonder why you’ve never done it before! The hardest part really is waiting…This recipe do call for the addition of a blueberry ‘coulis’ which couldn’t be more simple and creates a wonderful colour on the fish. I like it when my food looks good!

Unlike smoking, which dries and shrinks the fish, curing allows it to stay moist and full-bodied and it really showcases the wonderful fattiness of the fish. It’s a bit magical to see raw fish turn into this opulent appetizer, fancy bagel topping, or simple snack with so little hands-on work!

Blueberry Gravlax with Tarragon oil

Recipe adapted and translated from ELLE à Table
Active time: 15 min
Total time: 24hrs
Makes 6 servings

600g super fresh salmon
150g coarse sea salt
50g sugar
150g blueberries (or billberries if you can find them)
400ml olive oil
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 bunch fresh tarragon
Red wine vinegar
Rye or malted bread, for serving

Mix the salt and sugar together and pour enough to cover lightly the bottom of a glass recipient, large enough to fit your salmon fillet.

Place salmon, skin side down, and rub remaining salt mixture into top of salmon.

Puree the blueberries in a blender and pour over the salmon. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.

Scrape the mixture off salmon.

Using a knife with a long thin blade, thinly slice salmon diagonally at 45-degree angle from top of fillet toward skin.

In a blender, mix well the oil, garlic, tarragon (washed, dried, and chopped), a bit of salt and pepper and a filet of red wine vinegar.

Serve the salmon over rye or malted bread covered with the garlic/tarragon oil.

[print_link]

5 Comments

New York Restaurants

Mission Chinese Food, New York

July 17, 2015

Sometimes sequels are worth waiting for, at least that’s how I felt when leaving Mission Chinese Food the other night. I had been meaning to try this East Coast counterpart to the popular San Francisco restaurant for a long time, somewhat deterred by the wait often topping two hours at the dilapidated building on Orchard Street. And then it got shut down… Lucky for me, the new space on East Broadway is bigger (i.e. no wait when we got there at 6:30pm) and chef Danny Bowien’s rowdy cooking is still very much present. The two floors offer a different party atmosphere, with chandeliers and red booths adorning the main floor and the lower level resembling a disco basement with a ceiling of crinkled silver sheet and bright lights. The décor is the first hint as to the kind of cooking happening here – it’s in-your-face, loud, and pretty cool.

To get your bearings amidst it all, start with one of their creative cocktails while you take your time perusing their 7 pages long menu (a tad too long for my taste!).

The food could be best described as American-Chinese on the spicy side, and has an old-school feeling while throwing you punches in the face with its unorthodox flavor combinations. It’s playful, it’s daring, and it tastes pretty fantastic for the most part. I sometimes felt like I was served upscale version of takeout Chinese staples, not visually recognizing them but definitely savoring their comforting nature.

Ideally, you’d want to come here with a big group to sample as much as you can of the family-sized dishes. With most dishes below the $20 mark and considerably larger than what’s offered at the other hip hangouts in the area, Mission Chinese Food’s value is hard to contest. Come to feel your lips tingle, to laugh at the oversized personality of the place, and of course to enjoy a bunch of scrumptious oddities…!

Steamed oat noodles, charred eggplant, savory granola