I'll be popping up with open faced sandwiches at the next installment of Found Sound Nation at Pioneer Works on Friday, March 27th. More details and RSVP here. $10 suggested donation for admission.
Here's what I'm cooking:
Venue: 501 Union, Gowanus Neighborhood, in Brooklyn
You never know the power of social media referrals. Brooklyn design and internet lady swissmiss (aka Tina Roth Eisenberg) tweeted that she needed a caterer. My dear friend Sam answered right back that she knew someone. I really got an email, I really did. I was jumping up and down!
When we decided to meet, it was literally the next office building away from mine in Dumbo. We talked about the party. Tina was throwing herself a prom in 1992 because she’d never been and that was the year she would have gone. I threw out my entire proposal and started from scratch. The 90’s are my JAM. I hit Facebook with “90’s snacks, go!” status and my friends delivered….Gushers, Squeez-its, Hot Pockets, even Dunk-a-roos!
The menu had to be practical and fun. I wanted it to be somewhat adult, too, since there was going to be a bar.
Whenever anyone asked me about the pulled pork, my answer was “What? It’s timeless!”
The event itself was unlike any prom I had been to. Amazing DJ, outrageous dresses and hair; it was a dream! All of the event staff wore shirts with Kelly Kapowski on it. I added some extra 90's sweetness with jars of Push Pops and Ring Pops for everyone to take home.
I love theme parties, so if you're throwing one and you need custom snacks-- holler at me!
This past Christmas, I went down to Tampa to hang out with Eric's family. We met up with his brother Jeff, who was transporting a bunch of cooking tools to their parents' house. One of the hefty packages was a smoker! I couldn't contain myself. We set out a plan of smoking every since thing, from cheese to tomatoes, the Christmas beef roast and breakfast bacon. I've made bacon before and used nitrate salt (which can be controversial). This was my first opportunity to have a truly smokey hunk of meat for Christmas.
First, we obtained a quality slab of pork side with the skin on. Three days before we would have Christmas breakfast, I put the slab in a large zipper plastic bag with the salt, sugar and pepper. I then placed the bag in a small sheet tray in case it leaked anywhere. When you have a lot of food to prepare, dad or mom can mistakenly stack things on top; so it's good to take the precaution.
Every 8 hours, I'd flip it over and massage the meat so the brine got all over. It starts dry but after a couple of hours, it starts to release water.
The day before Christmas breakfast, I drained the bag and patted the pork dry with paper towels. We stuck it in the hot smoker for about 4 hours, until the outsides were a little red and the internal temperature read 150 degrees F.
Here it is, skin side up:
And the under side!
The side! Look at the stripes!
I let it cool in the open air and then wrapped it to rest in the fridge. The next morning, I cut thick slices and we par-cooked them in a cast iron on the range and finished them in the oven. It was a little too salty, but nothing a little egg and toast couldn't fix.
It's not crispy "commercial" bacon because it's cut so thick, but it does have this addicting cracklin rind that is fun to chew on. My original brine proportions were 1:1 ratio of salt and sugar (measuring 1/2 cup each). I've adjusted the salt in the ingredient list below but if you fry up a piece and it's too salty, you can boil the other slices in water for 5 minutes to tone it down. Pat dry and store for up to a week (if it'll last that long). Or if it's not salty enough, add some in the frying pan.
Don't use any oil to cook these. It will have its own natural fat. You can also save the fat for frying other things later on!
| Things you'll need: | |
| 2lb slab of pork side with skin 1/3 cup of kosher salt 1/2 cup of sugar Freshly cracked pepper |
Large zipper plastic baggie Sheet pan Smoker (optional) |
If you don't have a smoker, don't fret! The bacon is most of the way there after curing in the fridge. If you aren't against liquid smoke, you can brush a little on each slice before frying. Otherwise, it's still perfectly satisfying to slice up and cook without the smoking part.
What proportions do you use for bacon brine at home? Let me know so I can try it and adjust.
A sampling of my work with Roquette Catering. And a story...
It wasn't like any other Craigslist job posting. From what I remember, it asked for a paragraph on why you'd want to take on freelance catering in Red Hook, Brooklyn. My 2015 self is cringing at the informality of my response and all of the exclamation points:
Hi there !
Just came across your craigslist post!
I'm interested in freelance catering this summer because I'm currently enrolled at the French Culinary Institute and cannot commit to a full time job yet. I just want to get as much supplemental opportunities and hands on experience as I can because I'm just a student and will be interning at Murray's Cheese shop (on Bleecker!) starting in August. I have a mediocre knowledge of wines, but I can learn quickly. I'm currently reading Stephen Jenkins' Cheese Primer (kind of an encyclopedia of CHEESE!) and it lists bunches of wine pairings.
My goal in life is to cater small scale and local music events, so I'd welcome any chance to work with you! My resume is attached. Thanks for the consideration!
However, it must have worked because I had a job interview that week. It was a gorgeous May day and I was an hour early for the interview. I was shading my bag as best as I could because along with copies of my resume, I had a wheel of Mt. Tam Cowgirl Creamery cheese. What could go wrong if I bribed an employer with cheese?
Everything went right.
Upon entering Tini Wine Bar (now known as Home/Made), I gasped at the color palette and flower arrangements. It was a cozy 10 seat restaurant, one of the table settings was a couch with a low coffee table. I was very honest about my lack of experience but Monica and Leisah took a chance on me. I had two weeks of shadowing Monica in the kitchen and she let me fly solo.
For the next 4 years, I'd embark on a challenging yet super rewarding apprenticeship through restaurant service, a restaurant move and dozens of weddings under the name Roquette Catering. I admired the Roquette style because they balanced beauty and flavor. Where most weddings failed with food and quality, Roquette was a burst of sunshine with abundant appetizer displays, fresh-out-the-oven flatbreads and family style piles of yummy short rib.
Sometimes Monica would also book herself as the wedding florist. I'd arrive at the venue, survey the kitchen, unload the truck and then check in on the menu. We worked so well together that I'd wander over to Monica while she had buckets of flowers around her and I'd talk through timing for the day. Little did I know that independence was a real life job skill. I also started calling Monica and Leisah my moms.
My favorite memories include the several times a bride and groom didn't want to cut the cake, so I awkwardly cut it in front of everyone. Several family members would try to stop me and say, "Isn't that bad luck?" and I'd squeak back," It's what they wanted!"Or the Thanksgiving party where a big guy said my knife "didn't work" as they were cutting the turkey. And I ended up carving up 4 turkeys with another cook. Our knives most certainly worked. Or the time no guests danced at a wedding and all of us working staff broke it down on the dance floor to "Brick House."
I did have my "Ugh not again" moments, for sure. I'd finish cleaning a package of mushrooms to discover there was a whole case of them. Or breaking my 3rd wine glass that week. But I'd persevere, biking the 4 miles from my house to work so I could cut the brunch potatoes. Many "culinary school graduates" would come and go during my tenure and I couldn't quite articulate it then, but they just didn't have what it took to manage a small kitchen on their own. Many moved on to be line cooks at larger places or as I would refer to them, "cogs in the machine." I was perfectly happy taking notes and learning so I could eventually own a catering business, too.
I've since moved on from full time work with Roquette but I come in every now and then to help with the big weddings. In fact, it all came full circle when Monica and Leisah tied the knot this past fall. It was poetic and wonderful to see two ladies who have catered hundreds of weddings, finally enjoying their own. And I, their culinary padawan, along with a few other alums ran the kitchen while they enjoyed the party.
Seriously, it was one of the most fun weddings, ever. It was flipped on its head: it started with the reception with a small intermission for the 10 minute ceremony. Instead of vows, they toasted each other and I went running around with champagne bottles, filling everyone up. The rest of the food came pouring of the kitchen and from a Neopolitan pizza truck. We had a cut off time for the kitchen staff, we threw off our aprons and joined in.
How lucky am I to have found family through a Craiglists ad in 2008? Even now, my goals and enthusiasm from that first email still ring true.
I met Victoria and Greg at the PGC Alumni Party in December. It hard to forget anyone who hangs around the food most of the night. We were really happy to hear that they needed food for their housewarming.
| Our menu: | |
| Crudite with Lemon Hummus Whipped Goat Cheese Dip Cheese Boards with Dried Fruit, Nuts & Jam Pork Charcuterie with Toast Points |
Adobo Beef Skewers Chicken Skewers with Herb Butter Grilled Vegetable skewers with Onion, Pepper & Mushroom |
It was a classy gathering in their brand new East Village apartment with great music and snuggles from Jess the dog.
Here's what Victoria had to say:
Thank you for making this house warming party a 200% success! Your service was exceptional, from being punctual to setting up with care and attention these gorgeous platters of food. All the ingredients were chosen to be pleasant both for the sight and the taste. Everybody complimented me on the food and the presentation, and you can be sure I'll spread the word.
If you'd like us to cater your housewarming party, sends us a note!
I had to talk Jeff out of soaking the beans with wood chips. He was on a smoke kick. He wanted every ingredient to be smokey for the then upcoming Brooklyn Chili Takedown. It was going to be tricky. We both were traveling on family business the two weeks prior to the contest, so we started three weeks early. Charred leeks? Nah. What kind of beans? Something new! This would be better if we had a smoker...
We landed on a recipe we were ecstatic to share and dubbed it THE SMOKEMONSTER (yup, from LOST). Also, not sorry that I made this dumb video:
Beans take forever. That is my only takeaway from this. If you don't have a smoker, you can dry the tasso in the oven on low, the door held open with a wooden spoon.
| Things you'll need: | |
| 1 pack of Roman beans 1 jar of Pepperoncini (de-stem, chop and keep juice) 1 can of peeled tomatoes 1 onion, chopped 2 jalapenos, stemmed and chopped 1 chile de arbol, soaked in hot water 1 guajillo pepper, soaked in hot water |
2 lbs of boneless pork shoulder Allspice White pepper Kosher salt Slow cooker Smoker (optional) |
"I want everything to be smokey" Jeff said again.
I broke down each component in a Google Doc. How can we infuse smokiness in every single level of our competition chili? It had to start with our protein. Been a while since we cured anything, so I headed straight to my copy of Charcuterie. The recipe for tasso ham sang out at us and we had to test it.
When we took it out of the fridge from the cure and dusted it with the rub before the smoker....
After the smoker!
Basically you make a curing salt rub and leave the meat in the fridge for a day. You rinse it and coat it in a thick rub consisting mostly of allspice. It goes into a smoker and then you can dice it up for any gumbo or in our case, chili. The only real modifications we made were in the rub, where we put in a diluted mix of ghost pepper powder and breadcrumbs.
We were lucky enough to have access to the smoker at Montana’s Trail House in Bushwick (thanks Nate!). If you don’t have a smoker, don’t worry, you can still accomplish stellar tasso in an oven on the lowest setting with a wooden spoon propping the door open.
The test beans!
Our final beans.
When we tested 6 types of beans, our hands down favorite was the Roman variety (better known as the cranberry bean). It is very similar to a pinto bean but this Italian strain has a thicker skin. We liked that it didn’t disintegrate after long hours of cooking and still had a chewy yield.
Our beans were soaked overnight and rinsed. Don’t ever cook beans in the soaking liquid because it includes the indigestible sugars that makes you toot toot. But if you value flavor over gaseous comfort, by all means!
We threw the beans into the slow cooker with a can of whole peeled tomatoes, a whole jar of pepperoncinis (juice and all) and water to cover. As they were finishing, I charred the onion and jalapeños in the broiler, mashed those up and stirred that into the beans. Took the chile de arbol and guajillo, took their stems off and pureed them. Mixed that into the beans, too.
For competition day, I diced the tasso and tossed them in sugar for a quick broil before throwing them at the last minute into our chili. Usually I would advocate for putting the tasso into the beans right away to meld together, but I knew we’d have at least 2 hours of standing heat at the venue.
We ended up getting 2nd place, people's choice! Hooray!
Would you like us to make you a batch for your party? Let us know.
Allow a whole day for this recipe. The cook time is 12 hours! There are popular recipes to cook short ribs for 72 hours, but let's take it slow, right? I hope you don't mind the egg on egg on egg on egg nature of this sandwich.
| What you'll need: | |
| 1 pound of Short ribs 2 Sous vide egg yolks, chilled 2 cloves of garlic 1/4 of an onion |
1 sprig of rosemary Slider buns Sir Kensington's Sriracha mayo Sous vide circulator |
Place the short rib, garlic and onion in a vacuum sealed bag (or cleverly squished ziplock). Slow cook the short ribs at 185 degrees F for 12 hours. If you aren't watching it cook or are planning to go to bed, make sure your sous vide set up is partially covered with a lid or plan to check on the water levels. The worst thing that can happen is that the water runs out at the sous vide circulator stops and the meat becomes totally unsafe to eat!
When it was all done, I cooled the meat in its juices in the fridge. When I was ready to eat, I drained the jus (save it, oh god SAVE IT), salted the meat and seared them in a pan. The meat fell off the bone but was not quite melty -- like a 72 hour short rib would be!
This is key, I saved the jus, because I don't waste anything. I usually make gravy but I wanted to use the Sriracha mayo instead.
So, this is what happens when you sous vide eggs and keep them in the fridge. If you don't "revive" them in hot water, the yolk becomes SPREADABLE! Imagine the thickest, creamiest natural mayo, ever.
Now it's time to assemble! Cut up short rib, spread the, cold sous vide egg yolk on one side of a slider bun, and slather Sir Kensington's Sriracha mayo on the other..
Was this too much egg? No? Yes? Ok, well let me know what you think on the @Randwiches Twitter, Instagram or Tumblr.
Warning: your patience will be tested with this recipe. I urge you to remain calm and refrain from flailing too much or you may rupture an egg yolk. I repeat, no flailing. It will be worth it and then once you've eaten it all, only then, can you flail.
| What you'll need: | |
| 7 eggs Flour Panko or coarse bread crumbs Frying oil Arugula 1/2 a Lemon Olive Oil Salt and Pepper to taste |
For the crumble: 1/8 cup of parmesan cheese, cubed Handful of walnuts, toasted 2 cloves of garlic 1/2 teaspoon of dill Sous Vide Circulator or preferred soft boiling technique. |
For the crumble:
Smash the garlic with a mortar and pestle, mezzaluna knife or very finely with a sharp knife. Crush the rest of the ingredients together with the garlic until it forms a rough sand, like from a rocky beach.
For the eggs:
Slow cook 6 of the eggs with the sous vide circulator at 148.1 degrees F for 60 minutes. Ready a bowl with room temperature water in it. Once the eggs are done, rest them for at least 10 minutes in the bowl of water.
This is a very exaggerated gif of what an older generation Nomiku sous vide circulator looks like in action. In fact, it was mostly just me—shaking with excitement about these eggs. But let's be clear, I wasn't flailing.
While you wait, prepare your fry station! A muffin tin may help you with this. Place a bit of flour in one cup, then the last uncooked egg (jostled with a fork) in another and then panko in the cup next to it. If you don't have a muffin tin, 3 shallow bowls work as well.. Prep a small pan with 1 inch of frying oil. Find a piece of bread to use as a test piece.
Whoa! So when you sous vide an egg, the whites cook at a different rate than the yolk. When I picked it up in my hand, the whites fell away and there was this semi-solid yolk leftover. It is more custardy than soft boiled, but still delicate. Separate the whites from the rest of the eggs and save for another project (or eat with furikake and soy sauce, cause YUM?!).
Working slowly with another plate, dust each egg yolk in flour, dip it in raw egg and then finally toss in the bread crumb. Once all six egg yolks are dredged, test your fry oil with a piece of bread. If the bread is golden, then you're ready. If it disintegrates or turns black, turn that damn heat down! Slowly slip the egg yolks, one at a time, into the fry oil. Don't play with them. Let them cook for a minute before flipping them.
When the yolks are done, drain them on a paper towel. If you 're just going to eat one, sprinkle a little kosher salt on top.
To assemble:
Squeeze the lemon over the arugula and toss with a swig of olive oil., a pinch of salt and a few twists of pepper (because you use a grinder, right?). Place a yolk crouton on top and finish with parmesan crumble. When you crack into its bready crust, the yolk will act as a silky addition to the citric dressing. Enjoy it, as I did!
Let me know if you try this by tagging @Randwiches on Instagram, Tumblr or Twitter.
Onsen eggs originate from Japan, where eggs are slow cooked at a low temperature in the Onsen Hot Springs. The eggs are traditionally served with a dashi broth, soy sauce and scallion. It's such a simple dish if you can get over the slow cooking part. Possibilities are endless for breakfast! Think about swapping out the broth, toppings or even the cook-time of the egg.
| Things you will need: | |
|
Eggs Leftover short rib jus* White Miso paste Scallion Smoked Maldon** Black truffle (Optional) Rustic bread, toasted Sous Vide Circulator*** |
*Or any roast drippings. If you haven't made a roast recently, try beef broth reduced to half. **Any chunky sea salt with do. No table salt. No, not ever. ***I'm currently using a Nomiku, but there are others on the market. If you don't have one of these devices at all, go for a soft boiled egg! |
First, you'll need sous vide soft cooked eggs. Set your circulator to 148.1 degrees F and cook 6 eggs for 60 minutes. Rest them in a bowl of tepid water for 10 minutes. Or, if you're like me, store in the fridge for later.
Here are a few guides!
Make your "broth" by straining the jus and mixing it with a half teaspoon of miso paste. Taste it for saltiness. Dilute with water to your taste.
Toast your bread. If you like to use the oven, use the residual heat on the range to heat the broth lightly. If you've stored your eggs in the fridge, revive them by pouring boiling water over them and let sit for about a minute for them to warm through.
To assemble, crack a sous vide egg into the lightly warmed broth. Top with scallion, a few flakes of salt and the truffle (if you're fancy).
Enjoy with toast! I prefer wedges of SCRATCH Bread bourbon wheat.
Other potential toppings: crunchy onions, roasted garlic, furikake or even toasted sesame seeds!
Let me know if you try this with another broth or topping by tagging @Randwiches on Tumblr or Instagram.
Photos by Heather Phelps-Lipton | Web | Wedding Portfolio
We were really happy to be introduced to Ben & Lucy last Summer. Together, we brainstormed a menu to feed two hundred people at their October 2014 wedding. Our venue was Pioneer Works, a large indoor gallery with a backyard garden and grill.
It was a team effort with Lucy's sister who made six assorted cakes for dessert and her mom who coordinated salads as well as jars of pickled goods; peach salsa, beets, cucumbers, piccalilli, and dilly beans. Fort Defiance, a local restaurant, handled the bar and cocktails.
| Ben & Lucy's Wedding Menu | |
| CHEESE PLATTER Sliced baguette, crackers, jam, dried fruit, fresh figs, bitter greens and nuts. MEAT PLATTER Prosciutto, bresaola, speck, chorizo, salumi and pate Sliced baguette, mustard, cornichon PULLED PORK sandwiches on focaccia Hot pepper vinegar & herbal raita |
CORNISH HENS with herb butter SHRIMP SKEWERS with lemon ZUCCHINI SLAW with pesto, lemon and kohlrabi CUCUMBER PICKLES SPICY KIMCHI |
Imagine large wooden boards, abundant with colorful food. Sizzles and smoke swirling into the night sky in a dewy garden alongside a bluesy brass band. It was quite a night!
Interested in working with us? Head to our Inquiries page to tell us more about your event.
