Ahhh parsley. That, slightly fragrant green herb that waiters use as a breath freshener, and chefs have used as a culinary smoke-screen to cover up mistakes in the food and or as a frugal way of adding a little color to a dish. Now when I say dish, yes, people still to this day (God, why?) still rim plates with this edible confetti.

 

I remember the day I had my first parsley salad, summer of 2000. I was eating at a very trendy restaurant in NYC on the lower east side. They had on their menu Roasted Bone Marrow with a Parsley Salad. I was one year in the business and remember having this parsley salad and saying to myself, wow this kicks some serious ass. The salad had capers, shallots, olive oil, lemon, sea salt. There were so many different crunch layers of which the parsley added to it with the leaves and the thin stems. So Awesome!

I'm pretty sure that this was inspired by the Roasted Bone Marrow with Parsley Salad dish served across the pond at the St. John in London by super nose to tail Chef Fergus Henderson. I was feeling so nostalgic while typing this story that I got up and checked out my copy of his cookbook The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating by Chef Fergus Henderson.

I can't believe that I overlooked this, but, after all these years I never realized that I owned an autographed copy of his cookbook. Oh man!

So what I did today was not as involved with the roasted bone marrow but rather I had a ton of parsley in the fridge and some wheatberries that I had prepared yesterday. I was real hungry, and this is what I made

Click on the thumbnail below for the massive version of this picture 

 

Parsley and Wheatberry Salad

2 cups of cooked Wheatberries

1 1/2 cups of roughly chopped Italian parsley

1 cup of shredded carrots

2-4 Garlic cloves minced 

1/4 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2-3 Tablespoons of Sherry Vinegar

Kosher Salt and Black pepper to taste

 

Disclosure: I am not, nor have I ever been a Murray's Cheese employee.

Okay yes the title does sound a little extreme but I was in Murray's Cheese (Yes folks The Murray's Cheese and Specialty Food Shop) kitchen today helping out a friend.

I needed to go change into my "kitchen pajamas" so I asked where the employee restroom was. Now I have worked in many a kitchen before where;

1)Bathroom was not available to the staff (this job lasted like 10 minutes)

2)Bathroom was so filthy that I could not even find a clean corner to stand on.

So let me say this, I found it!!! The kitchen world's cleanest and most wonderful "employee lounge"

Guys, the world is pretty cruel and many employee restrooms ring in at a below average score. So it thrills me to find the exception.

I mean check out these picks.

So please allow me to end with this: Rob Kaufelt, You Rock! And yes, I did wash my hands after taking the pictures.

-Erio

Now for those of you that don't know (where the heck have you been living?) Murray's is the place to go for your cheese when visiting NYC. If you don't have any plans to visit then you can order cheeses from their website. They supply all the major, high end restaurants in NY and the U.S. 

It doesn't stop there, they are also an affineur. Meaning, they get cheeses from around the world at a very young age and what they do is properly age and maintain the cheeses until they hit the right maturity.  This is all done in their caves located at the Bleeker street store.  The cheeses are stored in refrigerated units that have their temperature and humidity levels controled to bring out the best in the cheeses.  Additionally the fromagers also rotate and wash (brine solution or a watered down spirit solution) the cheeses, thusly improving their flavors.

My friend works at Murray's and I was able to get a behind the scenes look at their caves. Each cave holds a different type or style of cheese. Just to note if you are in the are you too can get a  tour of the caves.  You can purchase a pass on their site.

 

 

 It smelled so good in those caves. 

Thanks everyone!

 -Erio

technorati tags: Chef Erio G. Cavalieri, Erio G. Cavalieri, Erio Cavalieri, Chef Erio, Chef Cavalieri, Erio, Chilean Chef, Hungry Chef, www.hungrychef.com, Rob Kaufelt, Murray's Cheese, Cheese Cave, Affineur

My first experience with Yum Cha (Cantonese for drink tea) was over 15 years ago in Flushing, Queens, NY. In Flushing you will find "The Best" China town. It's a lot easier to maneuver through than the one in Manhattan. It is not touristy, far less crowded and not a lot of people selling you imitation designer purses. Do not worry though, flavor is not something that is missing in this mix.

Within the last five to eight years, the famous morning to early afternoon Chinese tea time ritual of Yum Cha, has enjoyed quite the attention. Unfortunately, I hear celebrity chefs on TV, and foodies all over calling dumplings, dim sum, this is only fractionally true. Dim Sum (Cantonese for order till your heart's content or touch the heart) is not one thing. Dim sum are small dishes of food that can be fried, steamed or pan fried. This can be your dumplings, true, but it is also, rice flour sheets wrapped around different types of fillingd (pork, chicken, vegetables, seafood), meatballs, turnip cakes, siu mai, steamed pork buns (bao), small plates of steamed vegetables, steamed pork spareribs with black pepper, crunchy spring rolls or sweet pork(char siu) wrapped in a flaky pastry dough. The list can be as vast as the chef's imagination.

Don't think that the only dishes served are just savory. There are many different types of sweet tooth friendly dishes. You will find sesame paste and coconut based sweets. Two of my favorite Dim Sum sweet dishes are a mango custard that I like to use as my palate cleanser and Dofu (creamy tofu). Whenever I see an ancient looking wooden bucket getting wheeled around I get very excited because Dofu is on it's way. The server uses a round looking bench scrapper to scoop out the very loose dofu into a small bowl. To that, a sweet, almost maple syrup flavored like sauce is ladled over it.

What looks like a parade is actually a hawking session. Dim sum gets to you via little modified carts. The servers walk around yelling out the names of what they are selling for the day.  Some carts have a steaming element inside of them, others have glass or plastic partitions on the outside to protect the tasty treats.  You will also find a cart that has a propane burner on top and the server will give their product a finishing touch on top of a griddle or sauté pan.  Since my Cantonese is rusty I just point or motion to lift the tops off the steamer baskets so I can peak inside and choose my dishes.

When ordering dim sum your servers will mark a card that has been placed on your table. The card is sectioned off by plate size (small, medium, large, or special). Sometimes a server will have their own stamp other times they will just initial the appropriate box. Do not be surprised if you are seated at a table with other people you do not know.  It's all part of the fun.

Like in most kitchens and front of the house situations there is a hierarchy (from what I have figured out from my countless feasting sessions) 

Dim sum server: The sweetest people you will meet. They are the ones that do the hard work.  Like peddlers, they wheel around carts, calling out their daily offerings. They are predominantly female, and nine out of ten times the do not speak any English.  They will however stay with you until they have figured out what you want, or get someone who can translate for them. They usually wear black pants, a white shirt and apron.  Lately I  have found a growing number of servers wearing modified sleeves (I think that they remove them from old baseball jackets) to protect their arms from getting steam burns when working with the steamer carts.

Waiter: Gets you situated when you sit down.  He or she will get you your tea, water, chili sauce and hot mustard and eating utensils (if you are not Asian, a fork will magically appear in front of you).  They are dressed in black dress pants, white shirt, black bow tie and a black vest (I have seen red).  The will also tally up your card and give you your bill.

Floor Manager: This person walks around making sure that everyone is happy and keeps an eye on the hard working staff.  They too will tally up your card and give you your bill. They also make sure that the flow in the dinning room is  running smoothly. They always wear a nice suit.

If you are in Flushing, Queens, New York visit Ti Yung Fung Seafood Restaurant at 135-29 37th Ave
Flushing, NY 11354 this is my favorite place.  There is a huge turnover and the food is very very fresh. Just get there before 11AM on the weekend and take the 7 train or Long Island Railroad into main street it will save you from getting the biggest headache ever.

So just to refresh, Yum Cha, is Cantonese for drink tea. It's the whole experience.

During Yum Cha you will eat, Dim Sum.

-Erio

Here at Hungrychef.com when we want good food we'll travel for miles and miles to satiate the urge. So living in Northern New Jersey and wanting to have breakfast in Brooklyn might seem a little odd to some. Funny, just as we were leaving we ran into a neighbor and when we filled her in on what our plans were for the day she said that we were crazy. 

Exactly!

Well, to be honest we wanted to go on a little culinary tour of Brooklyn, another one of my old stomping grounds back when I was a city boy. Now don't get me wrong, there are many fabulous places nearby that serve a great breakfast/brunch. We just needed a little change of scenery.

Here's the tour!

Diner restaurant

Diner restaurant in Williamsburg.

I started the day off with a Van Vleet cocktail. This is made with light rum, fresh lemon juice and maple syrup. What a refreshingly smooth drink for the late morning. The light rum did not over power and the maple syrup smoothed out the acidity from the lemon. I got the recipe from CocktailDB This is a great site for cocktail recipes. It's the internet cocktail database

Van Vleet Cocktail

We ordered:

1)Braised pork with polenta and it was served with two sunny side up eggs.

2)Biscuits and Gravy. Two delicious country style biscuits served with gravy and crumbled sausage and two poached eggs on top of the biscuits.

Look at all the heavenly goodness folks!!!

Sahadi's

We ran into Sahadi's on Atlantic Avenue for a few minutes. We were so excited to go in, unfortunately it did not meet our expectations. It was totally packed, but it was more of an all around gourmet store than a middle eastern specialty store

Damascus Bakery

Damascus Bakery, which is located next to Sahadi's, was more of the real thing. This place was rockin and a rollin. They bake their own pita, so you know it's fresh. They have a long front counter packed with sweets, spinach and meat pies. Damascus Bakery supplies restaurants and grocers around the U.S. with their products I am going to apologize now for not adding any more pictures. My mouth was salivating the whole time I was in Brooklyn. I forgot to take pictures after having brunch at Diner.

LeNell's

We headed over to LeNell's in Redhook to stock up on my favorite Kentucky whiskey, Bernheim. If you read my posting regarding the Slow Food walking tour of Redhook Brooklyn in 2006, then you know what I'm talking about. If not, click here to read the article.

We bought Sweet and Dry Vermouth from Vya. I have never tasted their products so I am looking forward to preparing cocktails with them. More to follow on that soon. Now, back to the Bernheim Whiskey, LeNell's had just receieved a new delivery yesterday and by the time we got there, they where down to the last two bottles. So we grabbed one and added it to our purchase. We hoped into our car (yes, we drove to Brooklyn) and headed out to Park Slope. We were probably about four blocks away from LeNell's when all of a sudden Laurie and I looked at each other and said "lets go back and pick up the last bottle of Bernheim". I'm happy to report that the twins are now safe at home with us.

Blue Ribbon Brasserie in Park Slope

It was now around 4PM when we started to get a little hungry. The plan was to go to Al Di La (They open at 5:30) and we had to make one quick pit stop. I really, really wanted to have the bone marrow at Blue Ribbon Brasserie, and what luck, they are a block away from each other. We grabbed some seats at the bar and each had a pint of beer.

Menu

Beef Marrow with Oxtail Marmalade

Dozen Malpeque Oysters

1/2 Dozen Little Neck Clams

Beef Marrow was so amazing. It was served with toasted bread and fleur de sel. You spread some of the marrow on the bread put a dollop of the oxtail marmalade (little chunks of oxtail meat mixed with a reduction of port and shallots), a sprinkle of the fleur de sel, and you are in business.

The oysters and clams rocked. They were the perfect size. Not a big fan of the oysters that are the size of Andre the Giant's hand. For Broiling or cooking on the grill that is fine, but I don't find eating a big fat raw oyster tongue to be very sensual.

To add to the raw bar experience, they were served them with the classic fixings. Mignonette and cocktail sauce. Blue Ribbon serves a homemade hot sauce made out of habanero peppers. It had a gorgeous orange color and perfect heat level. Rumor has it that there is a little carrot juice in it. I really had to control myself with the hot sauce or else I would hate myself later.

Al Di La Trattoria in Park Slope

I have not been to Al Di La in about four years, and I'm so happy to report that the service is still great, and most importantly the food is as memorable as it was back then.  Al Di La opens it doors at 5:30PM on Saturdays and they don't take reservations. By the time we were finished with our "snacks" at Blue Ribbon. and headed over to Al Di La the entire restaurant was packed at 5:40PM.  Now, if you follow the side of the restaurant and head down Carroll Street you will find their wine bar.  They serve the exact same menu.  Again we sat at the bar (there is room for about 6-8 people there). The rest of the bar probably holds about 20-30 people. In about 10 minutes what started off as a very quiet and spacious room turn into a very cramp situation, we were spared (early birds).

What did we eat??

Menu

Mixed Cured Olives

Baccala Mantecato with Grilled Polenta

Grilled Octopus with Ceci

Trippa alla Toscana

Casunsiei

Braised Brussel Sprouts

The Mrs. is not a big fan of offal products, but she is a trooper and does try tripe every time I order it at a restaurant. To date, this is the best tripe that I have had. Lovely texture, it melts in your mouth. 

Casunsiei is a ravioli that is stuffed with ricotta cheese and beets, served with a brown butter sauce and topped with poppy seeds.

I can't believe that I didn't take any pictures.  Oh well, I guess we have to go back soon!

-Erio