Rosemary and Olive-Oil Focaccia

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Kathy

Have you ever planned a perfect meal and gotten all of the ingredients only to realize at the last minute that you forgot something crucial? Have you ever decided to forgo your whole meal because you forgot that thing, or worse go without? I have. And everytime I feel that way I yearn for the thing I had planned for. This happened to me recently with a darling friend when she came to Boston for a day of cooking, visiting, and drinking (we made the most magnificaent mimosas which I will share soon). As we wandered through H-Mart looking at quirky and adorable bowls and spoons I offhandedly mentioned my lack of eating much tofu in my life. My formerly vegan friend immediately demanded we get tofu, coat it in nutritional yeast and make sandwiches with it. I said fine and she went on a tofu and nutritional yeast hunt. Do you know how hard it is to find nutrional yeast? The only place I found it was Whole Foods on River St, seriously, why so anti-vegan?

We arrived home laden with bags of H-Mart shopping, China Fair (a kitchen supply store in Newton) shopping, and some groceries from Star Market. But we had forgotten bread for our sandwiches. We cursed our lack of wherewithal and I said that I would make some, since I had all the ingredients and I do so love to make bread. Also we were done with the being out part of the day and just wanted to cook and in general make a big kitchen mess.

I pulled out my Flour cookbook and turned immediately to the Rosemary and Olive-Oil Focaccia recipe. I bought this book at the end of April and I have already made this focaccia dough a handful of times (like 4) for pizza. It is the perfect recipe for pizza dough with its soft airiness, and as a foccacia it was DREAMY. I loved sandwiches on it, good thing too as I wasn’t such a fan of the nutritional yeast coated tofu (sorry, S – maybe if we had fried it up in some butter I would have liked it more). We made our sandwiches with tofu and there was still half a loaf of bread, ooh excitement. I saved it, squirrelled away in a big ziploc in the pantry and the next day made the most heavenly prosciutto sandwiches on that bread. Who knew?

Please take the time to make this dough – you won’t be sorry and your dining companions will thank you. Focaccia is a nice way to “swank” up those humdrum sandwiches you’ve been carting to work and it’s totally flexible; next time I’m going to stud it with sundried tomatoes and top it with some fresh grated asiago. Swoon.

Rosemary and Olive Oil Focaccia
Barely adapted from the Flour cookbook by Joanne Chang, it’s practically perfect as is, and mine wouldn’t be at all adapted if I kept bread flour around.

1 3/4 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 tsp active dry yeast
3 1/2 cup All Purpose flour
1 1/4 cup bread flour (this is my only modification, I don’t keep bread flour around so I used AP, it was wonderful)
3 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbs sugar
3/4 cup olive oil
Cornmeal
2 Tbs Rosemary, roughly chopped

Combine the water and yeast together and allow the yeast to get foamy (about a minute of sitting). If your yeast does not foam and just sits at the bottom of the water try again with slightly warmer water, if your yest still isn’t foamy it’s dead and you need new. Once your yeast is activated and happy pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the flours (if you are using both, if not then just use 4 3/4 cup of AP flour), 1 tsp of the salt, and sugar and turn the mixer on low, allowing the dough hook to bring the whole thing together. When the dough is a shaggy ball drizzle 1/2 cup of the olive oil into the bowl. Continue to knead the dough until it is a smooth ball – 4-5 minutes on a low speed. When the dough is smooth and supple turn the dough ball into an oiled smooth bowl. Cover the bowl with a lightly oiled piece of plastic wrap and let it rise somewhere war (70-80 degrees) until doubled in volume. Once the dough is risen you can do two things with it: either, split it in half and make two pizzas (NOMNOM) or make focaccia bread. To make the focaccia bread turn out the dough onto a 10″x15″ cookie sheet spread with cornmeal. Stretch the dough until it fills the cookie sheet and pock mark it with your fingertips. Brush the top of the focaccia dough with the 1/4 cup of olive oil and sprinkle the salt and rosemary on top. Bake the focaccia at 425 degrees farenheit for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown and puffed. Eat this focaccia as sandwich bread, it’s one of the best things you will ever do.

Wagamama and Why I Don’t Write Restaurant Reviews Often

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Kathy

I don’t write many restaurant reviews here and that’s not because I don’t eat out (I do, more than my bank account would like) but because a restaurant really needs to have a wow factor for me to acknowledge it here. You don’t want to read about the meal I had where the steak was overcooked and the potatoes pitch perfect – anyone can write that for you, or tell you in 7 words, in real life. For me to want to take my time to blog something I have to be over the moon about it and in this case I am. Confession, I have always been a bit over the moon about Wagamama. I like it as my guilty pleasure comfort food restaurant where the food is consistent and fresh, and like any other “chain” restaurant I can rely on my order, I like that sometimes.

MMM. Wagamama Glazed Ribs. Fall off the bone tender.

My first experience with Wagamama was FIVE years ago in Convent Garden London on a warm evening. I don’t remember my main course but I remember the ice cold Kirin in my hand and the way it commingled with the salty softness of edamame as I popped them one bean at a time from their pods and onto my tongue. I remember adoring the big communal tables and the raucous rugby team that was sitting next to us (BF, BF’s Aunt and I) as we ate our big bowls of noodles and broth. It felt right. We ate at that Wagamama twice over our one week stay in London, twice. When I came home I longed for the noodles I had had and the edamame. We went back to our small college town in rural Maine gushing about Japanese noodles from our trip to London, when not six months earlier we had been in Japan (and had not come home gushing about the noodles, possibly I should return).

Suribachi Chicken Wings – Sweet and Spicy, FORTHEWIN

I waited patiently for my return trip to the lovely British city – I wanted more noodles, needed them. Then on the phone with BF’s Aunt we were told Wagamama had opened a branch in Boston. I lit up like a Christmas tree and we came down for a visit. I ate lots of edamame and ginger-scallion noodles, perfect on that cold January afternoon. Fast-forward a couple years, BF and I have just graduated from college and are looking into moving out of Maine, we chose Boston as it was familiar and we had family here. Jobs were acquired and as we settled into a routine which included Wagamama, especially in the winter after a long day at work. It was comforting food that left us full and happy without emptying our wallets or threatening late fees on our student loans. It felt like an indulgence and wasn’t really.

Chicken Katsu Curry, the Katsu Curry is, hands-down, my favorite thing on the menu.

Now I am here, a blogger and occasionally someone who is lucky enough to get to eat those favorite things of mine for free and with favorite people. Tonight was one of those times. And when the hankering for Wagamama hits you just can’t ignore it, you might make those noodles or that curry feel neglected, and that, my friends, would be very sad indeed.

Bloggers Who Rock! Megan and Amanda. Aren’t they the cutest?

*Wagamama provided this meal free of charge to me but all opinions based here are strictly my own.

Pomegranate – Lime Chicken

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Kathy

I love roast chicken. It’s simple and requires minimal effort. So I try to remember that and roast them occassionally. This want to roast chickens is encouraged by my mom who manages to give me at least one bird everytime I see her, to be fair she has connections that leave me with a mighty tasty and local bird.

This is an especially simplistic chicken to cook and I love the method of cutting it down the breastbone and splaying it open. I won’t lie I was entertained by this method simply becasue I learned of it as spatchcocking the chicken and it was a phrase that amused me greatly. There’s something very fantastic and decadent about this chicken – but it’s neither, I didn’t even rub butter on this little bird before roasting it! I roasted this chicken because a: I had it and it needed to be used up and b: I had a LOT of POMwonderful juice in my fridge (not that I’m complaining, that stuff is delicious). I loved it. BF loved it; which is an accomplishment as he so rarely likes chicken and, in general, thinks it’s boring. This was a great mid week dinner paired with a simple side salad – seriously the simplest, some fresh greens (from Kimball Farms, keepin’ it local here) with vinaigrette on it. But it felt decadent.

Since there’s only BF and I our meals are typically very small with few leftovers (well I aim for that, most of the time) and roasting a whole chicken always leaves the “but what about the leftovers” question dangling; but a pomegrante glazed chicken was just too tempting an idea to pass up. We probably would have sipped the pan juices if we’d had the space after the actual food, they were that good. And the leftovers made a fantastic chicken salad the next evening.

Pomegrante-Lime Roast Chicken
Note: This is an entirely original recipe from ME! But I encourage you to make it for yourself, maybe with lemon, or some thyme.

1-8oz bottle POMwonderful, pomegranate juice
1 Lime, cut in half
1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt
1- 4-5 lb roasting chicken, gizzards removed and cut down the breatbone

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a roasting pan, I like the oval ceramic dish I have from Ikea but anything that’s about 2″ deep and will hold your spatchcocked chicken will work a 13″x9″ pan should do it, splay your chicken out rib side down, so all the skin is facing up. Rub the chicken all over the skin with 1/2 of the lime, making sure to squeeze all the juice out onto the bird. Cut the second half of the lime into rounds that look like wheels (see my picture) about 1/4″ thick and place them all over the bird. Pour the pomegranate juice on the chicken evenly making sure to coat everything with the juice. Sprinkle the whole thing with salt. Roast for 20-25 minutes per pound until the juices run clear, basting once about half way through with the pan juices. When it’s fully cooked the chicken will smell delicious and doesn’t need any work, aside from eating. Serve with the pan juices and a side salad of greens you got at the farmer’s market.

A bit from BF on Poutine and a Giveaway winner

Posted on June 6, 2011 by jprusik

BF is an aficianado of all things French-Canadian, including poutine and slightly bastardized French (he frequently pronounces oui as “waaaaay”, though I am under the impression this is just to annoy me :p). He was brought up in a tiny town in Northern New Hampshire where he could throw rocks across the border and spent a couple winter carnivals in Quebec City freezing his tuckus off and wishing he was old enough to drink a cane of liquor with his poutine. We both went to Saus and ate delicious food recently, this is his review (ode really) of their poutine.

Occasionally, a US eating establishment will claim to serve that most elusive and seductive of Canadian dishes: poutine. Ever the optimist, I inevitably order the dish, only to have my skepticism validated by whatever laughable forgery is placed in front of me. For me, poutine is a sacred dish, and must not be desecrated by a chef’s “interpretation”. Because you see, just as there is only one true way to pronounce the dish’s name (hint: it involves Quebec’s singularly unique pronunciation of French syllables), there is only one way to prepare True Poutine: Fries, canned beef gravy, and cheese curds. No, you may not substitute for another “lighter” type of cheese. No, you may not use seasoned fries or “potato wedges”. And god help you if you try to use homemade gravy; it comes in a can for a reason. If you want to add any other ingredients, that’s fine, but don’t call it poutine. This is how my various Quebecois friends’ mothers had prepared the dish throughout the entirety of my childhood and if it was good enough then, it’s good enough now; gooey, health-ravaging decadence and all. The only flexibility in poutine preparation lies buried in the ongoing conflict between the schools of ‘thick-fries-absorb-gravy-better’ and ‘thin-fries-are-crispier’.

I mention all this because I had pretty much resigned myself to the idea that I would never taste the delicious glory of poutine without traversing the border into French Canada. But against all odds, Saus has thoroughly trounced that expectation and delivered unto the world a damn fine US-located poutine dish. They do opt for the aforementioned thin-fries-are-crispier philosophy, which is a little easier to manage than the more fickle ‘thick fries’ (which become soggy and disappointing if not cooked just right), but what really shines here is, unsurprisingly, their sauce. While they cover the wide range of tastes with their fry dips (see Kathy’s comments on these; I still long for the day when I can purchase bulk quantities of their garlic-and-butter-suffused “Vampire Slayer”), they resist the temptation to force these innovations on their poutine and instead present it as it should be: with traditional, thick, savory brown gravy, just the way Nature always intended. In fact, I’m seriously re-considering the ‘gravy must be canned’ requirement. About the only qualm I have with their poutine is their naming choice, implying that it is a Belgian dish. While I accept that continental cross-pollination occurs with cuisine as a regular course of action, I simply cannot think of poutine as anything other than firmly Canadian. But I won’t quibble over titles, because call it what they may, it looks, tastes, and just plain feels like the classic comfort dish of our northern brothers. And in my book, that’s an unprecedented feat.

Also, The winner of the Saus giveawy for a $15 gift certificate is comment 15! Congrats Kimmy! You should email/text/IM/DM/Tweet/smoke message me when you get a chance 🙂

Saus, a love letter to frites and a Giveaway!

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Kathy

Belgian Sized Frite with a Deep Fried Egg

Dear Fries –
You and I go way back. I’ve loved you since those first homemade fries that my mom made came out of the fry daddy – soft, tender, and tasting of fresh potato; you were delicious. So I did what any sane person who is terrified of hot oil would do; I started to hunt for THE PERFECT FRY. I thought that it was a hopeless venture, perpetually leading me to fries that were overcooked or soggy. I wrote emails to my sister extolling the virtues and failures of fries ranging from mediocre, to unpalatable, to acceptable. Then in January, there was hope. I saw a tweet from @saus_boston; there was a Belgian frites shop opening three blocks from my office. I started to dream of the fries I ate in Europe – delicious morsels cooked in good quality lard and covered by at least five different toppings, all of which seemed to involve some sort of curry flavor. This was what I had been searching for all along.

Saus – From the Top:

Cheddar Duvel, Bleu Cheese (special), The Bost-onion

I waited patiently for the storefront to open, scouring local blogs and publications for an opening date and longing for fries that I could eat forever. I waited and waited until, finally, an opening date was set – a menu was hung on the website (eatfrites.com), and there were rumors of Saus opening in March. Then it was there. A tweet said the elusive shop was open and I made plans with BF, Amanda, and her hubs to go for fries. We started with some soda – root beer and cherry cream soda from Virgil’s, chose an exorbitant number of sauces (I think six) and gorged on a dinner of frites. These were perfect fries – crispy on the outside and fluffy within. They were hot without burning my tongue, and with every dip of fry in unique saus, whether it be the Cheddar Duvel or the humble homemade mayo, I was in heaven. I don’t think we spoke for ten minutes while fries were consumed. We were in states of pure bliss. Fries, gourmet sauces, and to top it all off, a crisp root beer. I wanted to move in.

Belgian Waffle with: Lemon Creme, Berry, Salted Caramel, and Nutella Saus

Then we realized there were Belgian-style waffles. Allow me to reiterate that: BELGIAN-STYLE WAFFLES. It was June after college graduation, and BF and I were running around Brussels looking for just one late-night waffle shop that would serve us. And there, in front of Manneken Pis, was one such place, an open window being run by a couple teenage girls just ready to close up shop for the night. We asked for one waffle with dark chocolate and tipped them one euro for being open and willing to hold off closing for us (and we got extra chocolate). As I ate my waffle, I fantasized about eating more and was sad that it was our last night in this town of publicly urinating statues. Now we were home, and finally after three years of longing for good waffles, there were some nearby. And they fit the criteria – crunchy, fluffy, saus-y and all around swoon-worthy (seriously, you should probably just get the Nutella saus to drink, or bathe in, as one friend suggested). I left Saus that night in a dreamy state of full, telling BF that we will be going back – sooner rather than later, when the cheese curds were in (they hadn’t gotten their delivery yet) and we could try the poutine.

So, dear humble french fry, I’ve finally found the one of you that is king. Stick around will you? My belly can hold more than a single batch of fries and I (along with BF) will be back for more, especially with those perfect saus-es (saus-ies? saus-i?). You should probably make sure you keep around your friend, the waffle, too. One without the other may be like Peanut Butter without Jelly at this point.

Love, Kathy and BF

Now the fun part! You have read through my review of Saus and have drooled over my pictures right? Of course you have. After my most recent visit to Saus I stopped and asked one of the owners, Renee, if they wanted to team up with me to give one of my readers some frites. She loved it! So we hashed out some details. I’m giving away a $15 gift certificate so that one of my lucky readers can go there and try the frites and waffles themselves! Yum! You can enter three ways, leave me a comment telling me for each entry:

1) Go to the Saus website and leave me a comment saying which dip you would most like to try, you can also check their twitter feed for a rotating dip, or two. (Mandatory)
2) Go to Facebook and like Kathy Can Cook and Saus and leave a comment (optional)
3) Follow @kathycancook and @saus_boston on twitter and tweet
“I want to try frites and waffles thanks to @saus_boston and @kathycancook! #eatfrites” and leave me a comment that you did (optional)

All entries must be received by Monday June 6 at 12 Noon. The winner will be announced by 5 pm that day!