Chef Daniel Angerer's Blog

GROWN-UP FOODS

My nine month old daughter Arabella likes all kinds of foods in fact the other day my spouse and I were eating a bowl of mixed olives spiced with oregano and lemon zest and to our astonishments she liked it too. Of course she had a pureed version of it not to have the seeds clogging her little airway.

Me being a chef this could not make me happier - our baby eats just about anything coriander spiced carrot puree with a touch of orange, roasted fall squash with apple cider spices and a hint of maple syrup. Sous-vide steak – chopped up into tiny pieces - she munches way with her seven teeth.

 

Every day family
If you have a kid of your own you know what I mean - if you don’t it will melt your heart when you see your baby munching happily away on food. They become a real part of your family eating experience at the dining table. We make sure we’re together at least once a day – it’s our together time which is so much fun.

(Kaiserschmarren - Austrian style pancake)

The seventh day diet
Eating should be fun so on the seventh day we enjoy not so organic and natural foods …for instance the swollen baked carrot muffins baked in a golden paper cup from the local bakery or ice cream which Arabella can’t get enough of -- hammering her little hands onto her baby dining chair demanding more of it. Smoothies and milkshakes are a part of her seventh day diet too and she gets to practice eating through a straw.

I remember growing up in Austria one of the popular dishes for us kids was Kaiserschmarren which is a shredded Austrian-style pancake with a royal history.  It was the emperor’s favorite breakfast or lunch dish which actually was created accidentally by one of the kitchen apprentices in the emperor’s kitchen. When the apprentice ruined the perfect spherical pancake he tore it up to make it look like it was intentional and the emperor (“Kaiser”) loved it.  And so the dish earned the name “kaiserschmarren” which means “emperor’s mess.” It’s a kid friendly heavenly fluffy pancake with the torn up mess already built into the design! 

 

Kaiserschmarren (Austrian pancake)
(recipe yields one large pancake)

½-cup unbleached flour
1/3-cup sugar
a pinch salt
1 cup milk
5 yolks eggs                       
5 egg whites                        
1 tablespoon butter
powdered sugar for dusting the pancake

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit.
2. In a bowl mix flour and milk with a wire whisk then add egg yolks.
3. In a kitchen mixer bowl beat egg whites, sugar and salt until stiff peaks have formed.
4. With a pastry spatula fold 1/3 of the whipped egg whites into the milk/egg yolk mixture then fold in remaining egg whites.
5. On medium heat setting melt butter in a skillet (9 to 11-inch diameter) add batter and cook for four minutes, then transfer into hot oven. Bake pancake (10-12 minutes or until cooked in the middle when pierced with a toothpick)
6. On top of stove tear pancake randomly into mouth sized pieces. 
7. Transfer torn pancake onto large plate, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

Chef’s note: Fold whipped, sugared egg withes carefully with flour/egg yolk mixture –this way lots of air will get trapped into batter and result in a heavenly airy pancake.

Chef’s tip: serve Kaiserschmarren with cranberry jelly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

VINAIGRETTES ARE NOT JUST FOR LETTUCE...

 

Ever wondered what it means preparing vegetable ‘vinaigrette style’ – I did. Basically vegetables are steamed or blanched then tossed in a mixture of your preferred salad oil and vinegar often with a bit of mustard. There are more elaborate vinaigrettes for fish and meat preparations such as chimichurri which is an Argentinian version of “vinaigrette.”

(Swiss chard with Champagne vinaigrette and red onions) 

 Over the years I have come up with different preparations for peas, beans, beets vinaigrette, among others.  But first let’s travel to Paris for a classic. 

My bistro nostalgia
It all started for me when I ate leeks vinaigrette in a bistro during my time apprenticing in Paris. It was a simple preparation of leeks in a log shape, doused in a light mustard Champagne vinaigrette. To my astonishment these leeks were meaty and fat in a textural way and really pleasant to my palate.

(house-made chicken sausage with potato salad and bacon fat vinaigrette)

A little bit about preparing leeks
Resembling a scallion, leeks are related to both garlic and onions though their flavor profile is milder and more subtle. They have a thick, cylindrical shape with a green leaved crown and their tightly rolled layers resemble a morning newspaper. Currently they are amazing at the Greenmarket. I hear a lot of people using them for soup, but I cook them in my “Parisian style”.

• I remove the first layer of the white stalk bottom and cut off the dark green crown – it’s a bit bitter and tough
• I suggest cutting the white base of the leek into 1-inch long rounds and soak them for 3-5 minutes in a shallow bowl filled with luke-warm water (this will rinse off any dirt)
• Sometimes blanching vegetables in boiling, salted water is a good way of tenderizing them but in the case of leeks I think it makes a big difference when they are steamed.  So, place the cut leek rounds next to each other in a perforated cooking insert/pan then steam over boiling water for 5-8 minutes (depending on the size of the leek or until tender in texture) then transfer to the kitchen counter and cool at room temperature. Steaming leeks in this way preserves the welcoming, natural oniony flavor and they look pretty in their original round shape versus falling apart when blanching.

(leeks vinaigrette with butternut squash, black walnuts and escarole salad)

Mustard Vinaigrette
(enough vinaigrette for four portions)

1 garlic clove

5 tablespoons water

½ teaspoon powder sugar

½ teaspoon sea salt such as Baline

½ teaspoon grainy Dijon mustard

two pinches cayenne

5 tablespoons rice vinegar

4 tablespoons canola oil

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Peel garlic then cut thinly (1/8-inch thick)
2. In a small pot bring water to boil then add garlic and boil for 30 seconds. Remove garlic/water from heat.
3. Combine garlic/water, powder sugar, salt, mustard, cayenne and vinegar in a kitchen blender
4. Process spice mixture (30 seconds) then add oils slowly (this will create a heavy cream like emulsion)
5. Toss warm leek rounds with mustard vinaigrette

Chef’s Tip: Don’t forget to try other vegetables vinaigrette-style like rainbow beets, meaty celery root, early Fall squash and all of Fall’s exciting vegetables being harvested now. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FEEL GOOD FOODS

I think food should evoke good memories or make you feel good in some way – sometimes you don’t even know why a certain dish has an effect on you. Well for me as a chef it’s important to find out all those little things that might trigger the nerve in someone’s brain to have THAT particular experience.
 
(left picture: organic chickpea dip with sourdough flat bread)
(right picture: eggplant dip with Italian parsley)
 
Dips & Spreads
That “comfort” or feel good feeling seems to go with the whole category of dips and spreads.  I love dips – and there are plenty of them: blue cheese dip for lightly fried chicken wings, aioli served next to that bouillabaisse spread over a crusty French bread, avocado smeared on some warm, soft tortilla wrapper.  Maybe it’s the end of summer nostalgia too – dips seems to suggest gatherings, family, friends.  You rarely dip on your own right? 

Hummus days
I went through a period with my spouse Lori where we’d have one pint of hummus every other night with a sip of wine here and there since we were working into the wee hours -- she as a lawyer on trial and me as a chef to take the edge off another hectic day. Don’t tell me you can’t admit to late night snacking!

I’ve been working on a few recipes lately and came about some divine concoctions…

(cranberry bean dip with red wine)

Cranberry Bean and Red Wine Dip
(Recipe yields about 3 cups - plenty for a snack for 4)

1-1/2 cups cranberry beans
2 cups red wine such as Chianti
Salt, to taste
Cayenne, to taste
1 sprig rosemary (4-inch long)
1 pinch clove ground
2-4 dashes Tabasco
3 tablespoons vegetable oil such as canola

1. Soak beans in water overnight or about six hours. Discard soaking water then cover with water and red wine in a pot. Cook beans on medium heat setting until soft then season with salt, pepper, cayenne, rosemary sprig, clove and Tabasco. On side of stove steep mixture 20 minutes or so
2. Discard rosemary sprig then pour mixture into a colander (save cooking liquid). Transfer beans into a kitchen blender then process until you have a puree texture and add canola oil (add saved bean cooking liquid as necessary to make a smooth textured puree)

Chef’s tip: serve dip with blue corn chips or a thin bread-wafer chip

(tofu with spinach dip)

Tofu & Spinach dip
(Recipe yields 3 cups - plenty for a snack for 4)

1 bunch spinach
2 tablespoons vegetable oil such as canola
1 pack tofu (4 ounces)
Salt, to taste
Cayenne, to taste
Fresh black pepper grindings, to taste

1. Put a dinner plate into the freezer
2. Rinse spinach with water then dry in a salad spinner. In a skillet cook spinach in vegetable oil on high heat setting. Spread cooked spinach over frozen temperature plate (in this way spinach will cool rapidly and retain green color).
3. In a kitchen food processor combine cooled spinach and rest of ingredients then mix until pureed smoothly.

Chef’s tip: serve tofu & spinach dip with rice crackers

Snacking memory
I remember eating nachos in a New York city SoHo bar on a cold winter Sunday afternoon -- a plate of tortillas distributed over a wide plate sprinkled with slices of seedless jalapeno – a tad spicy witch gave me a light tingle on the side of my tongue. All that was smothered with warm melting orange colored cheese. Was it any fancy cheese - no I don’t think so but believe you me it did the trick -- it was delicious. By the way the nachos were accompanied by a Bloody Mary with a terrific garnish - a thick slice of fresh cucumber a tiny spicy pepper and an extra large olive – to me that drink felt like eating “a liquid snack” on it’s own.

 

 

Caution Fire!
Peppers such as cherry, banana & jalapeno, among many others, leave a warm burning sensation, a tingle on your tongue. They deliver a pleasure-pain sensation.

(habaneros and jalapenos - caution fire)

They are actually considered a fruit and are part of the nightshade family. Many peppers have a mild sweet flavor (like red bell peppers) but in others it’s their seeds and white veins that cause a fiery sensation in your mouth. This is caused by capsaicin, which is a chemical compound that stimulates nerve endings in the skin (measured in scoville heat units). Sometimes it may even cause skin irritation when handling fresh peppers; certainly don't touch your eyes when you’re cooking with peppers as this leads to severe burning.

(spicy pepper bush - beautiful to look at) 

Tips to put the fire out
How many times have you bitten into a spicy dish, downed a glass of water only to feel completely unrelieved?!  Water does not put out this kind of fire.  Instead reach for milk or yoghurt (not the fat free kind), which are the best handy antidotes to overheating with hot peppers, because the fat in the dairy dilutes the capsaicin. That explains why many Mexican culinary combinations come with a dab of sour cream and in Indian cuisine may dishes are accompanied by yoghurt dip, called raita. Coconut milk in Asian cuisine has the same heat-calming effect.

Russian Roulette
I’ve done a lot of pepper cooking in the past two weeks and two kinds are a hot seasonal ticket right now – shishito and pimentos de patron peppers. They are both small - only finger or thumb sized, thin walled and bright green colored. A really simple "recipe" is to pan fry them and give them a decent sprinkle of your favorite sea salt. These little guys are fun to eat since every once in a while they are mildly hot and give you a sexy flavor – that tingle on the sides of your tongue - it's the Russian roulette of spicy pepper.

Every year the Galician village Herbon holds a festival celebrating pimentos de patron in the month of August. So,  our timing is right.

(pimento de patron with first of the season butternut squash) 

Pimento de Patron Snack
(recipe yields a snack for 2-4 people)

30 pieces pimento de patron
1/4 cup vegetable oil such as canola or grape seed oil
sea salt, to taste (I like French fleur de sel)

1. Rinse peppers with water then dry on kitchen paper towel.
2. Heat oil in a pot (1-gallon sized) on high heat setting then add peppers (the oil should be very hot but not smoking). Brown peppers 3-4 minutes.  At this point peppers start to blister, stir with a wooden spoon 2-3 times during cooking process.
3. Transfer browned peppers to a kitchen paper towel (this will dry off excessive oil) then sprinkle generously with salt.

(shrimp seafood sausage with confetti pepper succotash and black elderberries)