Demi Glace

PART ONE
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The Brown Stock

In restaurants, making demi glace may be a regular occurrence, but no matter where or who making it, it's no doubt a labor of love. And for good reason, because the final product that is yield from this process is a wonderful silky smooth sauce, guaranteed to enhance any meat dish. The rich brown sauce in French cuisine can be used by itself or as a base for other sauces. The word glace is french for icing or glaze in reference to sauces. It is a combination of equal parts brown stock, and sauce espagnole, which is on of the five "mother sauces" in classical french cuisine.

At the restaurant (Trax Cafe), making the stuff is routine, and must be done in order to compliment the wonderful meat dishes prepared such as Filet Mignon, Rack of Lamb and other specialty meat dishes. The process of making the brown sauce and espagnole is an all day and into the next day job. Unless of course, you happen to have extra brown sauce hanging around or that you prepared earlier and froze.

For me, getting the veal bones for the brown stock is challenge enough and once I make it, there is more than an abundant quantity for my personal use so this is truly a rare occurrence for me or any other home chef. Check with your local butcher for the availability of veal bones.

I begin by making the "brown stock", as this is also used to make the espagnole (French for Spanish, although the sauce has little connection with Spanish cuisine). The brown begins with the roasting of the bones, veal bones have a higher degree of collagen than beef bones and adds more body in the form of gelatin to enrich the stock.

The bones are roasted alone first to begin the break down process of the enzymes in the marrow for about an hour. The roasted bones are then coated with tomato paste and other vegetables (mirepoix) are added, carrots, onions and celery (some chefs omit celery as they claim the flavoring is too aggressive). The bones and mirepoix is then roasted for about another half an hour to help the tomato paste begins to aide the breakdown of cartilage and other connective tissue.

After further roasting the bones and mirepoix, transfer the bones from the roasting pan into a large stock pot. With the rest of the mirepoix in the roasting pan, add a little wine and water to deglaze the the pan, scraping up the brown bits (fond) on the bottom of the pan.

Add COLD water to cover the bones in the stock pot. Cold water dissolves certain proteins (albumin) which helps clarify and keep the stock clearer. Now add the deglazed mirepoix and contents back to the stock pot with the bones. Add enough water to cover the entire contents about 8 quarts. To the stock add a Bouquet Garni, a bundle of herbs tied together with string, to add flavor and the string helps facilitate removing later. The Bouquet is usually made up of fresh bay leaves, rosemary, thyme and parsley. I bundled it up in a jacket of leeks.

Bring the mixture to a boil and lower temperature to a simmer. Now comes the reduction process, with the stock at low heat, simmer for 6 hours or more, I simmered the stock for 10 hours, frequently skimming the top of frothy scum as it rises. The longer you simmer the more intense the flavor and body. After a while the liquid will assume a nice deep dark color. The reduction process obviously removes liquid so be sure to keep the liquid level to 4 quarts.

After the simmer reduction, remove the bones (you can retain these for another round of simmering or a remouillage ). Strain the stock through a sieve or cheese cloth. Place the stock in a sink with cold water to reduce the heat to 70º after simmering to avoid the growth of bacteria. Now you're about ready to move onto the Espagnole, the other half of the Demi Glace.

Check back for Part Two, the Espagnole

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Chicken Katsu チキンカツ

Chicken Katsu is a variation of the popular Japanese Tonkatsu dish, which is a deep-fried pork cutlet. It's a form of Japanese comfort food that was invented in the late 19th century. It was originally considered a type of yōshoku—Japanese versions of European cuisine. I think it's a combination of the sauce and the japanese style bread crumbs, known as Panko flakes that makes this dish so tasty.

The bread crumbs are light and crunchy and makes a delightful crust when pan fried or deep fried. In this dish I've substituted chicken breast cutlet for the pork cutlet or loin. The sauce that makes this dish is a thick, dark, fruity, intensely sweet and salty. It's made with the usual suspects, soy, vinegar, tomato, carrot and onion puree, corn starch, applesauce and of course, garlic. The cutlets are sliced to bite size and usually served over a bed of shredded cabbage with rice and sometimes with a pickled radish. This not exactly a low calorie dish, but like I said it is tasty and easy to make.


After a seasoning with salt and pepper, the chicken dredged in flour, then dipped in a egg and then into the panko flakes before hitting the pan. I simply use canola oil with a splash of sesame oil for a little flavor. Cook until a nice golden brown color is achieved remove from heat to drain on a paper towel over a pan. Let rest for a minute or two for the juice to reassert itself, slice across the grain and plate on a bed of sliced cabbage or lettuce. Serve with rice and vegetable side of you choice.

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Chicken Corn Chowder

Hmmm hungry for a hearty bowl of chicken corn chowder? Fall is the perfect season to enjoy a bowl of hot creamy chicken corn chowder, and when I went to my local vegetable market, and saw the fresh corn on the cob, I knew exactly what was on the horizon.

I also happen to have some chicken that was needing a recipe to fill. So in a large heavy bottom pot, cook the bacon and keep the fat rendered, remove bacon for later. Add the onions, carrots, celery saute until tender then add the red and green peppers. season with chili powder, salt and pepper. Slowly add the chicken stock and deglaze, being careful to pick all the brown bit on the bottom of the pot. So much of the smokey flavor is picked during this process and makes the chowder so tasty.

Continue to add the stock and re-season with salt and pepper. Add the corn, thyme and Bay leaves and hot sauce. Let simmer for about hour. Add the chicken, stir well and slowly add the half and half until rich and creamy. You can add a quick rue with two tablespoons of flour and two tablespoons of butter in a small sauce pan, cook thoroughly to remove floury taste and add to the the soup. Stirring constantly, bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes, you can add some cheese if you like for even more creamy chowder at this point.

I got these wonderfully rustic sourdough bowl breads to pour the chowder into. Cut open the top and pullout the inside to create a bowl for the chowder. Sprinkle the chowder with the bacon bits and garnish with a little chopped parsley or scallions.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups chicken cooked
• 3- Ears corn on the cob
• 3- Strips Bacon cut into one inch pieces
• 2- Russet or Yukon Potatoes
• 1- Red Pepper
• 1- Green Pepper
• 2- Stalks Celery
• 2- Sticks of Carrots
• 1- Vidalia Onion
• 2- bay leaves
• 1- teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1- teaspoon Rock Salt
• 1- teaspoon Coarse Black Pepper
• 1- teaspoon chili powder
• 1- Pint Half and Half
• 3- Cups Chicken Stock/Broth
• 1/2 teaspoon Hot Sauce
• 2- Tablespoons Flour
• 2- Tablespoons Butter

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Sweet Pepper Coulis Scallops

This is actually a very simple dish I had a craving for. The making of the sweet pepper coulis was a mission on it's own, but when it all came together it was a wonderfully delicious sweet tangy dish.

The Sweet Pepper Coulis is the hero of this dish and it takes a little time to make, so you might want to make this a day in advance. Seed a good size red bell pepper, be sure to remove ribs and cut into strips. Chop half an onion and three stalks of scallions. In a sauce pan add the oil and saute the onions, peppers until nicely wilted. Add garlic and season with salt and pepper, add chili powder. Add the cider and chicken stock along with the scallions, reduce heat and simmer until sauce is reduced by half about two hours. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and discard the the solids. Simmer the sauce for another hour, in a small bowl or dish add the corn starch with equal parts water and mix. Add the corn starch to the sauce until sauce thickens.

The scallops are pretty straight forward, take the dry ingredients and and mix well. In a separate pan, add a touch of olive oil to the scallops and sprinkle with old bay and salt and pepper. Coat the scallops in flour mixture. Add oil and heat pan, when oil and pan reaches add scallops and sear on both sides careful not burn them. Place the scallops on plate and and spoon coulis over scallops, I made a wilted spinach salad topped with broccoli sprouts and bacon bits. Add a touch of balsamic reduction and enjoy...


Ingredients:

Scallops

• 1lb Sea Scallops
• 1/2 cup Flour
• 1 tsp Old Bay
• 1/2tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2tsp Pepper
• 1/2tsp Kosher salt
• Pinch Paprika
• 1tsp Olive Oil

Sweet Pepper Cider Coulis

• 1lrg Red Pepper
• 1/2 Onion
• 3 Stalks Scallion
• 1/2 cup Apple Cider
• 1/2 cup Chicken or veal stock
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 2 tblsp Sweet Chili sauce
• 1 tblsp Hot Sauce
• 1 tsp Chili Powder
• 2 cloves Garlic chopped
  
• 1 tsp Coarse Black Pepper
• 1 tblsp Corn Starch

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Asian Fusion, Lo mein, Bulgogi, Sweet and Spicy Shrimp

A lot of Asian food share similar qualities, and yet still remain distinctive to their native origin. The again, who's to say who originated what? So why not just mix them up a bit to create a fusion dinner. Which is just what I did here, and on many other occasions.
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Lo mein

Lo mein is a pretty traditional Chinese dish which I eaten all my life. It's basically a noodle dish that contains vegetables and some kind meat, fish or poultry. The term lo mein comes from the Cantonese lōu mihn (撈麵), meaning stirred noodles. It has over time been Americanized, and people expect to have a soft noodle that's been stir fried in wok with a brown sauce with an assortment of vegetables like carrots, onions, scallions, snow peas, bean sprouts, bok choy and others. The dish is defined by it's main meat component such as roast pork (Char Siu), chicken, beef, shrimp, lobster and any combination thereof. The dish could be considered a meal in itself, but when I was growing up, it was considered a side dish.
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Bulgogi

Beef Bulgogi is a very popular Korean meat dish. The thinly sliced sirloin is marinated with a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and other ingredients. Bulgogi is traditionally grilled, but pan-cooking is also common practice. This is sort of Korean style teriyaki, where the sweet salty marinade is used to infuse the meat with a distinctive flavor. Bulgogi literally means "fire meat" in Korean, which refers to the cooking technique—over an open flame—rather than the dish's spiciness. I pan cooked my Bulgogi and added firm tofu, onions and scallions for a bit of color. You can add other vegetables to the process like sweet red bell peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms etc. I kept my version fairly simple. You can make your own sauce and marinate overnight, or if you're lucky, you have a Korean market nearby that's got it all ready for you.
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Hot & Spicy Shrimp

Who's to say where this dish originated and how to prepare it is as equally diverse. There are Hunan versions, Szechuan versions, Thai versions and so on. This one is my own interpretation, using a chili sesame oil and canola oil. This really simple dish to prepare and the results are well rewarding. The trick is to be careful how hot you make it. A common method for making Chinese style (Szechuan) spciy shrimp uses a technique called "velveting" where the shrimp is submerged into hot oil for a moment or two before going into the wok to be stir fried. I added sweet red and green bell peppers and onions.

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Kiwi Coolada

Warning, do not try this at home unless you are very hot and thirsty and dying for something cool, fruity and refreshing.

This could very well be the best Hot Summer Day fruit drink I have ever ingested. It makes perfect sense, with all the trimmings of a Pina Colada with the addition of the tangy Kiwi fruit makes for an extraordinary thirst quencher. Use fresh pineapple whenever possible, but any will do even from a can (Dole brand of course). Add a little cream of coconut, a few good shots of Midori and Bacardi Dark Rum, some ice into the blender...

You're gonna be licking the blender for more... so make plenty...

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Poached Pears

I love pears, I like them fresh, crispy and cool. I also like them poached, soft, tender and sweet. I've been looking at a lot of different recipes and wanted to try something different. I was tempted to do a simple wine based poaching, but I was afraid to do a red wine version, and white wine just seemed ordinary. So I decided to use a recipe that called for green tea.

I didn't go crazy here, but to be sure, there are quite a few green tea options. I just used what I had and brewed a strong pot for my poaching, because as a twist, I also added fresh squeezed orange juice along with a little zest and Seville Marmalade. Of course the other big deal is what kind of pear to use. I've seen recipes for virtually every kind of pear, but the most common seemed to be Bosc, with Anjous also being very popular. I happen to find some really nice looking Golden Taylor's which were very sweet and succulent. These pears are a little rounder in shape and don't have that narrowing at the top. They have a similar outter skin to bosc, no sheen and brownish yellow or gee golden colored. The bosc pear was a logical choice, and they are generally fairly sweet, they are firm and peel very nicely to enhance their lovely classic shape. I kept the stem on. So peel the pears to let the fruit absorb the liquid. I left a little bit of skin at the tip for aesthetic reasons. Unfortunately the Golden, did not have long stems but peeled nicely.

I cut the golden in half and cored it, while I cut the bottom of the bosc at an angle so it would stand up and cored it from the bottom. I added 3/4 cup of sugar to the brewed tea and about two tablespoons of marmalade. I squeezed the juice of one large orange and included some zest before adding the pears. I simmered the pears for about 30 minute making sure they stayed submerged and rotating them in the liquid. The golden is a bit softer and more porous than the bosc and consequently poached faster, I kept it in for about 25 minutes and they were nice and tender.

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Kiwi Lime Cream Pie

I have been searching for a easy but tasty cream cheese recipe that didn't involve baking. I think I found it, and it's as creamy and tasty as you can imagine, without a single egg. I used sugar to sweeten, but I suppose you could use a sugar substitute like Splenda. Otherwise, I kept the recipe to fat free cream cheese, non fat cool whip and lowfat yogurt. I cheated and added a little mascarpone cheese for creaminess.

Filling Ingredients

• 2 - 8 0z Packages no fat cream cheese
• 4 - oz of marscapone cheese
• 3 - limes for juice and zest
• 1 - 6 oz KeyLime Kiwi Low fat yogurt
• 2 - tablespoons coolwhip
• 1 - Packet Knox gelatin

Glaze:

• 3 - Tablespoons marmalade or apricot preserve
• 1/3 - cup water 1/4 - sugar - optional

Crust:
I used a ready made gram cracker crust, but make your own. This recipe is meant to be a bake free to save a little time...


Bring cream cheese to room temperature and simply mix yogurt, marscapone, lime juice and zest until smooth. I did it by hand but your mixer will be better hehehe... fold in the cool whip. Prepare the gelatin as directed and add to mixture, incorporate completely, pour in to the pie shell and place in the refrigerator to cool. In the meantime you can prepare the glaze, in a sauce pan, add the water, sugar and marmalade until smooth and simmer to a boil, remove from heat. Peel and slice the kiwi and whatever other fruit topping you want to use. After pie has cooled, top with the Kiwi and other toppings, brush the glaze over the fruit to prevent it from browning. When ready to serve or present, add whipped cream. Or you could use a stabilizer in your whipped cream to keep it stiff longer.

There you go... a low fat, Kiwi Lime Cream Cheese Pie.

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Sushi

I've had sushi all my life, growing up in Hawaii, where it's a staple. As a kid, I remember being able to get maki rolls and cone sushi (Inari) for 25¢. They weren't fancy, in fact in some instances, the Inari was simply plain sushi rice in the abura age (fried tofu packets). Sushi, was and is pretty common in Hawaii so I never thought much of it , being able to get just about about anywhere.

It really wasn't until I moved to New York City with my high school sweetheart that I began to crave sushi, and become aware of the more exclusive nigiri type sushi. For me sushi and Japanese food was about as synonymous with Hawaiian food as I was gonna get in New York. But the 30 years ago, Japanese food in the City was not nearly as prevalent as it is now, and in most major metropolis cities in the U.S. at least.

Nigiri sushi is composed of hand formed rice usually with a swab of Wasabi applied to the rice and a piece of "fresh" raw fish laid on top. The variety of nigiri sushi is as wide as the kind of fish available to make it with. Sushi making has been nearly been elevated to a high art form, with practical and talented hands and finger techniques for forming the rice pods or rolling the maki in nori. Apparently sushi chefs spend many years perfecting the finger and hand techniques to properly form sushi rice.

One of the popular kinds of sushi I enjoyed as a kid, is the cone sushi or inari sushi which is rice stuffed into a fried tofu pocket. The simplicity of this sushi, with it's sweet taste of the rice with the tofu wrapper is unique and satisfying flavor. In this sample I inserted a a finger full of spicy japanese seaweed (Goma Wakame), and topped it with fine chopped carrots and scallions. Toasted black and white Sesame seeds is also an attractive and tasty garnish.

The Maki rolls are almost equally diverse in kind. Maki rolls use Nori, a kind of seaweed made by a shredding and rack-drying process and comes as thin as paper. You place the rice and the fillings on the nori and roll it up using a special bamboo mat made for the job. You could wrap just about anything fresh in the rolls, here I used cucumber, carrots scallions and salmon. I had some yellow pickled radish (Daikon) that I meant to use, but forgot, it's also a popular ingredient in maki rolls.

As the popularity of sushi has grown, so has the innovation in the ingredients and methods. A popular new kind of sushi is the California roll which is rolled into a cone sushi using the nori wrap and usually containing a certain amount of avocado and crab meat. In Hawaii, local favorite is known as Musubi, a kinda nigiri using fried spam as the topping. We even have a Philadelphia roll, using... you guessed... Philadelphia cream cheese as a filling ingredient

For the rice

• 2 cups short/medium grain white rice (I used Nishiki brand) Do not use long grain
• 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the fillings

8 ounces Fresh fish (sushi grade) of your choice 4 crab legs (Kani) or immitation crab meat
3 stalks scallions (green onions)
1 cucumber - julienne
1 large carrot - julienne
1 Avocado - sliced 1 Daikon pickled radish
1 Tablespoon wasabi - more or less to taste

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Sample kinds of fish used for sushi and sashimi

Tuna - Maguro
Salmon - Sake
Yellowtail - Hamachi
Shrimp (cooked) - Ebi
Red Snapper - Ma-Dai
Sea Bass - Suzuki
Mackeral - Saba
Butterfish - Ibo-Dai
Octpuss - Tako
Eel - Unagi
Squid - Ika

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Island Inspired Macaroni Salad

Every once in a while I really get a craving for Hawaiian style, plate lunch macaroni salad. I think the utter simplicity of the salad is what is so appealing, basically elbow pasta with mayonnaise and a little sweet vinegar, maybe a few shreds of carrots, celery and onions, that it. Well a little salt and pepper too.

Well in this recipe I deviate a little, but not too much. First off, I use medium shells instead of elbow macaroni, and I also included fresh English peas, cause I love peas. Other than that, it basically Island inspired macaroni salad. I let the pasta go a little longer than usual, so it is definitley not al dente. Turns out the Hawaiians knew a little trick, the pasta is slightly over cooked so it is soft and pliable, but more importantly, it's more absorbent, soaking up all the liquid.

The tangy, slightly sweet salad is light and not too filling. I used low fat products to try to keep it somewhat healthy, 1% lowfat milk and a lite mayonnaise for the liquid mixture. I used white granulated sugar, but you could use your preferred sweetner or agave. To avoid curdling the milk, I added about three tablespoons of rice wine vinegar directly to the pasta after I rinsed and drained.

There's not a lot to it, but the taste is wonderful and a treat with local island favorites like BBQ terriyaki meats. In the islands, typical plate lunches come with a scoop of macaroni salad with two scoops of white rice along with the main course, sometimes served on a bed of shredded cabbage.

Ingredients

• 1 Box Medium Shells
• 1 Good size carrot diced
• 1 Stalk celery diced 1/2 Onion diced 1/2 cup green peas
• 3 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
• 1/3 Cup lite mayonnaise
• 1/2 Cup Lowfat milk (optional)
• 3 Tablespoons sugar (substitute sweetner of your choice)

Directions

Cook the pasta (Shells) as directed on the box. I let the pasta go just a minute or two longer. Drain and run cold water over the pasta to prevent further cooking, let stand while you combine the wet ingredients. If you're using fresh peas like I did, blanch them now while the pasta is cooking.

Wisk together the sugar, mayonnaise, and milk until smooth and incorporated. Place the pasta in a large mixing bowl and add the rice wine vinegar. Mix the pasta well with the vinegar and then add your chopped vegetables. Finally add the wet ingredients and fold the pasta until all the ingredients are uniformly coated. Let cool in refrigerator for at least an hour before serving. Add chopped parsely, green onions or chives for garnish.

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LaLupe Mexican Restaurant

After a long time of wanting to go to one of the many Mexican restaurants in what used to be predominantly the Italian Market section, I finally did. I brought my daughter with me to a little place that was quaint looking from the outside, called La Lupe, on 9th, right near the famous "Geno's" steaks. I was really looking forward to trying the food at the place that announces it's the "Very Best Mexican Food in Philly" right on it's colorful awning.

The place has a definite ethnic feel to it, and it seemed appropriate for a Mexican restaurant. The open air seating gives it a welcoming and airy feeling as the front of the restaurant opens onto the sidewalk, where there's also tables for dining al fresco. On this night, it was pretty quiet and there seemed to be more take-out orders than seated customers.

Both Em and I headed over the glass refrigerator where there is a large selection of beverages to choose from. The array of colorful fruit drinks and Mexican soda's is very appealing and there's also regular drinks like Coke, Snapple and Fuze. We both settled on Boing Guava juice which was quite good, however Emma, did point out that is still not as good as the Guava juice you get in Hawaii.

So I decided to order some Guacamole with our chips as I had just made a fresh batch of guacamole at home, and I wanted to compare. Well unfortunately we were both disappointed and while it was okay, it was no where near as good as the batch I made. Firstly, there was way too much cilantro in it and it simply overpowered the avocado. The mixture was runny and not very thick leading me to believe that their avocados were not fresh, and maybe even pre-packaged. We had just bought fresh avocados at the produce store in the Reading Market so we comparing it to that level of freshness.

Em, just ordered two tacos ala carte, one Bistec (steak) and Pollo (chicken), and they came wrapped in soft flour, tortillas stuffed with more cilantro, diced onions and guacamole. On the plate there were two slices of cucumber and radish. Em said she never saw an option for soft or hard shell tacos, but when we were leaving, we noticed another customer had, what appeared to be hard shell tacos which actually looked better.

I ordered the "Mixed" Fajitas combination platter, which included bistec, pollo and camarones. The platter also comes with arroz and frijoles, I was looking forward to this as it had been a while since I had a simple Mexican style dinner with rice and beans. There is no shortage of Mexican restaurants in the city and they seem to be popping up more and more. But I was gunning for a more rustic or common, street style Mexican food, not the nouvelle cuisine influenced style that Mexican restaurants now serve. While La Lupe delivered on this notion, the quality of the food was less than perfect. My Fajitas came out on a hot cast iron sizzle plate, but the contents came out steaming rather than sizziling. It's as if they had sauteed all the ingredients, including onions, corn, green beans, peas, carrots and mushrooms and then poured it onto the sizzle platter.

Though bountiful, the meat and veggies were not grilled, and the shrimp were pretty darned tiny. While the flavor of the combination was alright, there nothing notable about it. It was almost like a stir-fry and everything sorta mixed together with no separation of meats. I suppose fajitas, are really not an authentic Mexican dish and is more of a Tex-Mex concoction, so I am not sure what I was expecting. Perhaps I should have ordered a more typical selection, enchiladas or burritos and tacos.

Well it's unclear if I will make my way back to La Lupe again, as my first impression sadly, left me uninspired and even disappointed. There are other Mexican restaurants in this area of town, but I am not sure their offerings will be much better.

La Lupe Mexican Restaurant
1201 S 9th St, Philadelphia PA 19147
(215) 551-9920
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