A Wet Glass

“Stand up wherever you are, go to the nearest window and yell as loud as you can…”   Howard Beale (Peter Finch) in the motion picture Network

Never, in my wildest imagination did I ever anticipate writing about nightmarish restaurant experiences in this space devoted to the pleasures of food. Unfortunately, the time has come to stand up and shout, “I’m mad as hell, and I am not going to take it anymore.”

Over time, my expectations of the quality of food and service from the restaurants here in Southern Arizona have diminished to the point where I am pleased with merely “edible and adequate.” Most of the restaurants that I have tried in Southern Arizona have what I call a tourist mentality. They depend on the annual influx of temporary or one-time customers, such as part-time residents and tourists who change year after year. In other parts of the country, less dependent on “visitors” for their survival the restaurant’s emphasis is on building repeat customers all year long. When a tourist is displeased with the food or service in a restaurant, a different one will replace them next season. Conversely, a full-time resident is not likely to return after having several bad experiences. This is not a condemnation of our “snowbirds” or tourists; the area depends on them for its livelihood. It is, however, the business mentality of most of our restaurateurs, who rely upon a revolving door of one-time customers rather than building repeat business from full-time residents with quality food and service.

As a full-time resident in tourist areas such as Scottsdale and now south of Tucson, I have adjusted accordingly by ordering the most basic dishes on the menu, believing that any kitchen can produce a decent steak or hamburger. Regrettably, this has not always held true. I have also abandoned the notion of a drinkable glass of wine with my food since most of our area restaurants serve wine by the glass from bottles left opened for too many days or from ones that were never properly resealed. As a result, I found myself paying as much as twelve dollars for a glass of “swill” posing as wine. Having quietly endured this onslaught on my senses, the lack of anything resembling reasonable service has pushed me over the edge of silent acquiescence.

Recently, my wife Linda and I joined some friends for cocktails at a bar/restaurant in an upscale senior citizen community in Green Valley. We ordered our usual Dewar’s on rocks and our friends ordered two, ten-dollar glasses of wine. To my horror, one of the glasses of wine they were served was noticeably wet, inside and out. Adding to my chagrin, when I walked up to the bar asking for a dry glass, I received a “what’s wrong with this glass look” from the bartender. I was stunned. Obviously, the bartender did not see anything wrong with pouring wine into a wet glass and the server thought nothing of serving it that way. This act goes beyond the scope of my understanding. How can someone, who earns their living serving in a restaurant or bar, not know something as basic as—never serve wine in a wet glass!

The blame for this inexplicable act doe not lie with the bartender or the server alone. Management has a responsibility to ensure that their staff has, at the very least, a modicum of knowledge of what constitutes proper service. Patiently tolerating inexperienced wait staff is an unpleasant fact of dining-out in most restaurants in Arizona. Tolerating restaurant owners who do not know enough about the most basic aspects of service or care enough to educate their staff is unacceptable. Good food alone does not make for a pleasant dining experience, as good service does not excuse bad food. The combination of good food and proper service is what justifies the prices restaurants charge, not one without the other.

..........“I’m mad as hell, and I am not going to take it anymore!”

What Ever Happened to Pesto?

For those of us who were old enough to remember and have since forgotten and for those who were too young to notice, there once was a thick, dark green, luscious sauce gracing the plates of the chicest new restaurants in New York City. Scarcely a menue existed that did not have at least one or more offering of this flavor-rich addition to the fare. Tiny bits of minced garlic and pine nuts melded with chopped basil and pungent, grated parmesan cheese in lush olive oil to add distinction to the simplest servings of pasta. The lushest sauce of the hottest new restaurants then?—pesto!

The origin of the sauce we know today as pesto dates back to ancient Rome and was later refined in Genoa Italy. In New York City, during the late nineteen eighties pesto’s popularity grew to culinary acclaim. From the neighborhood coffee shop to the finest of restaurants, there was a pesto dish on everyone’s menu. Over time though, pesto has lost favor to today’s overwhelming assortment of herbs and spices in recipes. The mouth-watering pleasure of pesto is in its simplicity. It consists of five basic ingredients; fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Together they come together to produce a nutty, rich taste sensation to enhance otherwise less flavorful food. Frequently served over pasta or as sauce for pizza it is also a welcomed addition to broiled fish, grilled chicken breast or add a dollop to bowl of hearty minestrone soup for more savory richness.

Originally, pesto was prepared in a marble mortar by crushing the dry ingredients with a wooden pestle by hand. Today, a simpler, easier and equally satisfactory method is with a food processor. Finely chop the fresh basil, pine nuts, and garlic in a food processor separately; combine the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, add the grated parmesan cheese, mix thoroughly and then slowly pour in the olive oil while constantly stirring the mixture to achieve a smooth, thick texture.

Here are the proportions for the basic ingredients. As with any recipe, adjust the amounts of each ingredient to your personal taste preference or add an interesting new ingredient such as sun dried tomatoes for a hint of sweetness or substitute the parmesan cheese with a more pungent Grand Padano cheese.

2 cups fresh basil, closely packed
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons pine nuts
3 cloves garlic

Pesto is quick and easy to prepare, getting richer and tastier as it sits in the refrigerator waiting to titillate your palate. One of my favorite ways to enjoy pesto is by adding a spoonful on top of a golden brown omelet or spread it over a piece of toasted ciabatta bread accompanied by a glass of Soave or Vinho Verdi. Enjoy!

A Proustian Pizza Memory from the Grill

Savoring pizza cooked on an outdoor grill is an uncommon taste experience with singular rewards. The hot charcoal briquettes or lava rocks add enticing, smoke-filled aromatics to the pie that conventional kitchen ovens cannot duplicate. The taste of the crunchy piecrust, topped with bubbling hot, melted cheese is wistfully reminiscent of the pizza served fresh out of the brick ovens from my bygone New York City neighborhood pizzerias. It is a Proustian Memory from my youth that I still relish with each morsel of pizza made on a grill.

One of the fundamental steps to successfully cooking pizza on an outdoor grill is bringing the temperature of the pizza stone, an essential tool, to the same temperature of the grill’s cooking chamber. The hot pizza stone sears the outside of the piecrust for a memorable, crispy and crunchy homemade pizza. The other equally important practice is elevating the stone from the grate, about two to three inches, with a metal vegetable basket or some other similar device that will not block the heat from the pizza stone. Elevating the stone in this manner places the uncooked pizza in the higher and hotter area of the cooking chamber to melt the cheese in the same amount of time necessary to cook the thin pizza dough.

The rest is easy; preheat the cooking chamber to 450° with the pizza stone in place, in order for the stone to reach the same temperature as the cooking chamber, slide the pizza with your favorite toppings onto the stone using a pizza peel. Close the cover to the grill and cook until finished. Randy Wade, the owner of Tumacookery in Tubac Arizona and my grilling guru, recommends a wooden pizza peel for this. When your piping hot, fresh made pizza is ready, slip a metal pizza peel underneath the crust, remove and enjoy! Following these simple steps will ensure a perfectly cooked pizza every time and—the creation your own Proustian Pizza Memory.

Randy Wade’s Signature Vegetarian Pizza Topping

Spread two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and two tablespoons of a balsamic vinegar reduction, or an equal amount of both, sufficient to cover the pie dough. Then add chopped arugula greens, a sprinkling of raw pecans and dried cranberries; the proportions of theses ingredient are to individual taste preferences; start with a quarter cup of each and adjust their amounts and proportions on your next pizza or pizzas. Finish the topping with thinly shaved slices of tangy Manchego cheese, sufficiently spaced for each slice to have its own shaving of cheese.

This no-fuss, easy to prepare combination of sweet and savory flavors elevates an ordinary pizza into a gourmet treat. Try a glass or two of Pinot Grigio by Cavit or a Soave by Inama; both are inexpensive Italian white wines that harmonize perfectly with the taste sensations of Randy’s vegetarian pizza.

A Trilogy of Enticing Meals and Snacks

The culinary secret for making delicious and inexpensive meals is in the sauce! Every chef has their own secret weapon that brings out the best in all their meals. Some drizzle expensive truffle oil on the food for added flavor right before serving, others may have a secret spice or ingredient that they use. Most successful chefs simply spoon-on fresh made, delectable sauces to turn ordinary food into memorable dishes. Rich and savory, succulent sauces also turn boring leftovers into sumptuous epicurean creations, enliven raw vegetable plates and change plain grilled fare into gourmet meals.

The purpose of a sauce is not to mask or disguise the taste of food. Its task is to enliven or enhance the flavor of food or offset it with a countering flavor, such as sweet and savory food combinations. Here are three different, unique and easy-to-make sauces that will impress your friends and family with your culinary expertise.

Garlic Lovers Sauce or Dip

Fresh garlic is a great, natural seasoning that makes almost any dish or food taste better. I have added sautéed garlic to fresh cooked spinach, crushed it into omelets and used whole cloves to add more flavor to chicken stock. I do not know of any food or recipe where garlic would not improve its taste—except perhaps crème brûlée.

The following garlic sauce is not just for garlic lovers; everyone appreciates a flavorful, tangy condiment with their food. There are two ways to make this sauce. The first is for the brave-hearted who love the taste of spicy tangy garlic. The second version is a softer more approachable garlic sauce. Either way this sauce is a perfect dip for raw vegetables, a spread for cold chicken sandwiches, leftover meats and other poultry or as a condiment for whatever your taste buds fancy.

Ingredients

8-10 cloves of crushed garlic
½ teaspoon of salt
1 egg
3 teaspoons of fresh lemon
1 cup of olive oil

Mix all the ingredients, except the olive oil, in a blender or food processor. Then with the blender or processor running, gradually pour in the olive oil. Note, as with making fresh mayonnaise the olive oil should be poured into the blender or processor very slowly to incorporate all the ingredients.

The amount of raw garlic determines just how tangy the sauce will be. One way to keep the garlic flavor and reduce its natural spicy taste is to first sauté the garlic cloves until they are light brown in color and then crush them for the sauce.

The finished sauce is a heavy, creamy emulsion of pungent garlic and lush olive oil. It is perfect as a dip or a spread for sandwiches. My wife Linda loves to spoon a dollop onto her omelet and also dip her steamed broccoli into it. No matter how the garlic lover’s sauce is used, it will energize any food it accompanies.

Savory Green Sauce for Fish or Seafood

This is one of my favorite sauces. I first tasted it in an enclave of Portuguese restaurants in Newark New Jersey; know as the “Ironbound” section of Newark. Green Sauce is a delicious mélange of onions, garlic and parsley simmered in white wine and fish stock or clam juice.

Savory Green Sauce is the perfect accompaniment for almost any broiled, grilled, fried or poached fish or seafood. It is a great flavor enhancer for broiled catfish, filet of sole or any fish that does not have much flavor on its own.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 or 2 tablespoons of flour depending on desired consistency
¼ cup of finely chopped onions
3-6 cloves of minced garlic, to taste preference
1 cup of chopped fresh parsley no stems
½ cup of inexpensive white wine, preferably Sauvignon Blanc
½ cup of fish stock or broth or clam juice

In a saucepan, sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil until they are soft but not brown. Slowly add the flour, constantly stirring the mixture to keep it from lumping. (This mixture of oil and flour is the basis for most sauces. Once the technique is mastered, a whole new world of wonderful sauces will grace your table.) Now slowly pour in the white wine followed by the fish stock, broth or clam juice while stirring constantly with a wired whisk or wood spoon. Be sure that all the liquids are room temperature before adding to the onion, and garlic mixture of olive oil and flour. Now add the chopped parsley and simmer on a very low flame or heat for about 5-10 minutes, stirring constantly until a thick and creamy consistency is reached.

This is a tasty, easy to make sauce. Feel free to adjust the amount of garlic and onions to your personal preference (the more the better).

Rice and Chickpea Casserole......with a Surprise Ingredient!

Our desert spring season is here, bringing with it cold nights and warmer daytime temperatures. We may not get the Midwest or Northeast sub-zero temperatures but it is the perfect time to enjoy warm, hearty casseroles to take the chill out of the cool evening air.

Rice casseroles in particular are a great choice. They are economical, delicious, quick and easy to prepare. For the price of a cup of rice, approximately one cup of broth or stock along with other inexpensive ingredients we have a tasty and satisfying meal for two to four people. Add a crusty baguette and a glass or two of red wine and we have a wintry feast!
One of my favorite and more versatile rice casserole recipes is an unlikely mélange of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rice and our surprise ingredient—a thinly sliced, ordinary potato. When I first tried this recipe I could not fathom the need for a potato with rice and chickpeas; that was until I tasted the dish. The potato adds an intriguing, hard to define, “what is that”, subtle texture to the casserole. I have tried this recipe without the lowly spud and it is just not as interesting as it is with it.

The most important ingredient in this recipe though, if not the most intriguing, is the rice. This casserole recipe comes from Spain and all Spanish rice recipes use only short or medium grain rice which is plump and chewy. When cooked properly, one can almost bite into each individual grain. It will quickly become “the” rice staple for any rice lover who has not yet tried it. The best short grain rice, available here, are any of the ones from Japan that are sold in the local Asian markets. Unfortunately, they are also the most expensive. A less expensive alternative, which I use, is the medium grain, Safeway brand rice.

Rice takes on the flavor of the liquid in which it is cooked. The more flavorful the liquid, the tastier the rice will be. If it is at all possible, when cooking rice, use homemade stock or broth instead of a canned broth that is full of sodium or the tasteless “sodium free” or “low sodium” versions. We normally have plenty of stock stored in the freezer to cook with that my wife makes from our leftover chicken or turkey carcasses. If homemade stock is not available use the no-sodium broth and compensate for its lack of flavor by salting the broth to taste. Now let us cook our savory rice casserole with chickpeas and the surprise ingredient—the modest potato.

Ingredients in Cooking Order:
Olive oil
½ medium onion, chopped
1 large Roma tomato, chopped with or without skin
1-2 gloves of chopped garlic
1 small or ½ medium sized potato, peeled, sliced 1/8 inch thick (about the thickness of a quarter)
¼ teaspoon paprika
2 cups cooked chickpeas (fresh preferred)
1 cup short or medium grain rice
1½ cups of chicken broth or stock
Few strands of saffron (a small amount of saffron is not expensive and is available from Trader Joe’s)
Salt to taste
4 slices of 2 inch wide pimento strips, optional (homemade preferred)

On the stovetop, in a ten inch, shallow, ovenproof casserole (preferably earthenware), add enough olive oil to coat the bottom (approximately ¼ cup). Heat the oil over a moderate flame; add the chopped onion and sauté until wilted. Then add the chopped tomato and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the chopped garlic, sliced potato and sprinkle in the paprika; cook this for an additional 2 to 3 minutes longer.

Now combine the rice with the other ingredients and cook for approximately five more minutes. Stir this frequently, coating the rice with the moisture in the casserole. Add the chickpeas, then the warmed chicken broth (adding cold liquid to a hot earthenware casserole can crack the casserole), salt and a few strands of crushed saffron. (It is best to dissolve the saffron first, in the warm chicken broth, to disperse its rich, savory flavor throughout.) Bring this loose, liquid mixture of rice, chickpeas and the other ingredients in the broth, to a boil. Cook this on a low flame, until it is no longer loose or until most of the liquid is absorbed, but not completely dry. (The consistency we want to achieve is similar to creamy oatmeal, moist but not wet or loose.)

Before we place our casserole into the oven we can add about four slices of two inch wide pimento strips across the top. The red pimento will add an interesting touch of color to the casserole’s presentation.
Place the uncovered casserole into a preheated, 325° F oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cover it lightly with tin foil and let it “rest” and finish cooking away from the heat, for another ten minutes.
The rice should be soft but still chewy and not mushy. The key to making soft but chewy rice is to cook the rice until it is “near done”. Then, allow the rice to finish cooking covered away from the heat. This always produces firm yet tender and delicious rice.

Our meatless rice casserole is a meal by itself. Serve it with a tossed salad, crusty bread and a glass of light bodied red wine such as a Rioja (Marques de Riscal) or Tempranillo or a Spanish rosé, which I prefer. For heartier appetites add a grilled sausage or a small amount of sliced, grilled chicken breast to the plate or served separately on the side.
Enjoy!

Tempting Hot or Not

If the soup is being prepared a day or more in advance, store the potato leek mixture without the milk product in the refrigerator. On the day of serving, warm the soup first and then add the warm, not cold milk, half and half or heavy cream and slowly simmer for 5 minutes or until thick and creamy. Serve the soup as above with a thick pat of butter and chopped chives for color and taste.

Soups are great for quick, inexpensive lunches and light dinners accompanied by a salad and cheese. There is nothing more comforting than cozying up to a hot, steaming bowl of soup on a cold night or cooling down with a refreshing tureen of cold soup, on a sun-drenched desert day.
One of my favorite soup recipes, “Potage Parmentier” is a hearty, luscious soup that is satisfying in all types of weather. Served hot it is hearty and flavorful, with tiny bits of potato and leek swimming in the bowl. When this hot, savory soup is pureed and chilled it transforms into the mouthwatering and refreshing soup known as Vichyssoise.

The transformation from hot Potage Parmentier Soup into refreshingly cold Vichyssoise is the work of French Chef, Louis Diat, around 1917; who at the time was the head chef for the posh Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York City.

There are a many stories about what inspired Chef Diat to convert Potage Parmentier soup to Vichyssoise. Some say it was impulse others point to necessity. This story is my favorite. While the Chef was searching for an exciting, new recipe for the hotel’s summer menu, he recalled his childhood practice of cooling down his mother’s piping hot Potage Parmentier soup with cold milk. Remembering the creamy smoothness that the milk produced in her soup, he added heavy cream instead, for an even richer, more luxurious version, thus giving birth to a new summertime culinary staple called, Vichyssoise. The name “Vichyssoise” itself means “from Vichy”, the village in France where Chef Diat was born; adding his own personal history to the new soup.

Hearty Potage Parmentier soup is a classic French recipe from the country villages of France. It can also serve as a base to make other soups by adding watercress or chopped mushrooms, diced carrots, cooked beans, diced cauliflower or whatever your culinary imagination can conjure.

Potage Parmentier Soup

Ingredients:
2 medium sized leeks
½ tablespoon sweet butter
3 three medium sized potatoes, russet preferred, peeled and quartered
1 pint of chicken stock, homemade preferred
¼ cup of whole milk, half and half or whole cream
Salt
Pepper, white preferred
Chopped chives

Finely mince the white portions of the leeks. In a sauce pan, sauté the minced leeks in butter until soft, not brown, add the chicken stock and quartered potatoes, salt and pepper to taste. (Note, warm the chicken stock before adding to the sautéed minced leeks to avoid splattering.) Once the potatoes are cooked soft, remove the pot from the burner and mash them in the pot with a potato masher, wooden spoon or fork. Many recipes suggest rubbing the soup through a fine sieve at this point. I prefer the hearty bits and pieces of the potato and leek swimming in the soup and do not follow this part of the recipe. However, if you prefer a smoother version, now is the time to rub the soup through a fine sieve. Return the soup mixture to the pot and slowly add about ¼ cup of warm, not cold whole milk, half and half or heavy cream, stirring constantly; simmer slowly to thicken for about 5 minutes. Serve the soup in a bowl or a tureen with a thick pat of butter, which adds a nutty richness to the soup. Garnish the soup with chopped chives for added color and flavor.


Vichyssoise

To transform Potage Parmentier soup into refreshing Vichyssoise cook as above. When the potatoes are finished cooking, remove the pot from the burner to cool the soup down to room temperature; then in an electric blender or food processor puree with milk, half and half or cream. Refrigerate and served cold, preferable in chilled bowls or tureens, garnish with chopped chives, omitting the pat of butter. (Note, salt loses its flavor in cold food, adjust seasoning before serving.)

Whether it is hot Potage Parmentier soup or cold Vichyssoise, they are delicious and simple to prepare. The cost to make this delightful all purpose soup is the price of some potatoes, leeks, milk or cream and chicken stock. Enjoy it as an inexpensive meal by itself or as the basis for a light dinner accompanied by salad, cheese, some fruit and crusty bread. White wine goes best with either the hot or cold versions of the soup. I prefer Riesling over Chardonnay with this soup. Try one from Alsace France or the Riesling made by Hogue in Columbia Valley, Washington State.