If the Brick Oven Bistro were to have a patron saint, the Earl of Sandwich would certainly be in the running for canonization.  After all, when it comes to summer, it’s hard to beat sitting under an umbrella on our patio with a frosty brew and a hearty sandwich.

Over the years, we’ve taken the zest for adventure that informs our menu and tried to find new ways to deliver that experience between sliced loaves of fresh-baked sunflower wheat and savory Italian breads.  To date, here’s a quick litany of some of our more innovative creations.

Let’s start with the San Francisco Beef Salad Sandwich.  We begin with a familiar comfort food, strips of beef sirloin, then take it to the next level with a creamy oriental star anise dressing, and garnish with fresh tomato and lettuce and marinated English cucumbers (ah, those English and their cucumbers).  

I left my heart in SF...but not my sandwich!

For more pedestrian appetites, there is our ever-popular Turkey Club Sandwich, the sandwich that launched our search for the perfect slab cut bacon – and eventually to a contract with a small meat packing company in Minnesota that resulted in what today has been popularized as Applewood Smoked Bacon…a culinary wonder that has since been picked up on by numerous other restaurants.  Another of our favorite twists on the classic turkey sandwich is our turkey slawich – a meeting on bread of two perennial picnic favorites that screams “welcome to summer!”

You say you like chicken salad?  How about our Cashew Chicken Salad Sandwich, or our more exotic Chicken Tarragon Salad sandwich?  For the latter, we start with that delicatessen staple that we all know and love, then add tarragon to it and serve it with tomatoes and lettuce and marinated English cucumbers -- with the optional touch of red onions and a jalapeno pepper on the side, just for that extra kick.  

Now you're talkin' turkey.  The Turkey Slawich, that is.

If you have a yen for something hot and spicy, there’s our Tuscan Meatball Sandwich.  You like beef?  Howzabout our Beef Peppers & Onions Sandwich?  We start with thin, hand-carved slices of roast beef, pile it on our Italian or Sunflower Wheat bread slathered with horseradish mayo, then add fresh lettuce, tomato, and cucumber, then top the glorious mess with sautéed onions and red peppers.  

Hummus is one of those foods that in the years since we first opened our doors has gone from being esoteric to darn near a pub food standard.  One our managers brought us the recipe that we use, and we put a bit of a Mediterranean twist on it by using kalamata olives and lots of garlic.  The sliced cucumbers on the sandwich compliment these flavors quite nicely.

And of course, with any of our sandwiches, if you want to kick it old school (aka, picnic style), we add some coleslaw and Rum Pot Beans on the side.  And we’d undoubtedly disappoint Bar Gernika owner Jeff May if we failed to at least mention our class Reuben Hamwich.  Doesn’t it make you wish summer could last all year?  Earl of Sandwich, we salute you! 

The wonder of the Reuben Hamwich

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 3:34:50 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0] 

Our pork roast with mashed potatoes, burgundry gravy, baked apples, and kale

Move over free-range chicken and Kobe beef and make way for “the other white meat.”  You may have noticed that for awhile now, the Brick Oven Bistro has been featuring kurobuta pork on its menu, courtesy of local provider Snake River Farms.  Kurobuta (Japanese for “black hog”) has a nearly 300-year history, going back to the discovery of Berkshire hogs by the army of Oliver Cromwell.  

While things didn’t turn out all that well for Ollie and his gang, Berkshire hogs set the industry standard for pork for their consistently exquisite taste.  When the British gave a gift of the hogs to a Japanese diplomat, the meat that was to become Kurobuta Pork soon took its place beside Kobe beef as a celebrated cuisine icon. 

So, how good is Kurobuta Pork?  How’s this?  Awhile back, the National Pork Producers Council conducted a taste test based on 25 quality traits --and Kurobuta Pork ranked #1 in 19 of them, including tenderness and juiciness.  Those of you at the 2010 Savor Idaho event probably got a first hand experience of what the National Pork Producers Council discovered if you had one of the pulled pork sandwiches prepared by AB Foods Executive Chef, Alan Turner.  Of course, you can experience this same treat almost any day on the Brick Oven Bistro menu, where we we are especially proud to be offering this delicacy from a great local source.  Come and experience kurobuta pork for yourself, and see what all the fuss is about.  

Chef Alan Turner of AB Foods serving up some mean pulled pork sandwiches at Savor Idaho

Monday, June 14, 2010 9:19:20 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0] 

We all know the cliché about the three things that make a successful restaurant, right?  Location, location, location.  Given the Brick Oven Bistro’s box seat on Ground Zero of Boise’s downtown scene, The Grove, we certainly can’t argue the role that geography plays in a restaurant’s success -- although 8th and Main wasn’t much to write home about some two decades ago.  Nevertheless, we’d have to consider rewriting that cliché as “service, service, service”.

Which is why we take a lot of pride in our servers.  Sure, people have lots of great things to say about the food we serve, but quite often they spend just as much time praising the friendliness of our staff.  And although we put a lot of time into training our folks to be welcoming and attentive without being in your face, we’re pretty picky about whom we hire to begin with.

One of the folks whose personality generates as many smiles as the food we serve is Rebecca Wright – who in addition to appearing regularly as a Brick Oven Bistro server will now being performing on our patio during First Thursday in her “secret life” as the lead singer for The Decade Blues Band.

Rebecca’s musical journey is an interesting one.  As the daughter of missionaries, she spent half her life in Japan.  The other half was spent in Nampa, Middleton, and Caldwell.  Not surprisingly, she first began singing in church.  As she puts it, “you couldn’t be a part of the Pentecostal Church and not sing.”  Outside the church, Rebecca seized any opportunity to get up in front of an audience.  Aside from gospel and classical music, her major influences were women who inspired her -- a list that includes Joni Mitchell, Diana Krall, Rita Coolidge, Natalie Cole, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmy Lou Harris – although she also admits to a fondness for Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.

In her church family, pop music wasn’t banned, but it wasn’t encouraged either, and one of Rebecca’s prized possessions as a kid was the transistor radio she kept under her pillow at night to tune into the more secular sounds of good old American R&B.  

Rebecca first fronted a band out of Nampa known as Highway Robbery.  “We did a lot of gigs in Parma and out of the way places,” she recalls.  For awhile, Rebecca went through what she describes as “a run of bad luck and disappointments” in pursuing opportunities to perform.  Her response was to create her own back up band through a musical accompaniment “kiosk” that she describes as “the tower of song”.  It wasn’t the same as a live group, but “it beat sitting at home crying, and it least this way I could be heard and maybe attract some sympathetic musicians.” 

Ultimately, it wasn’t the tower of song but Craig’s List that delivered the goods for Rebecca.  After placing an ad for a microphone she no longer needed, she asked as an afterthought if any local bands were looking for a singer.  The Decade Blues Band contacted her, and she auditioned soon afterward.  The rest, as they say, is history.

While the blues gives you a wide musical swath to cover, Rebecca and her band mates gravitate toward folks like Sam Cooke, Janis Joplin, Bo Diddly, and Susan Tedeschi.  While these might seem like pretty big musical shoes to fill, Rebecca and the band are always up to the challenge.  “You can’t let a cover intimidate you,” she says.  “You just have to make that song your own, and I’ve got some amazingly talented musicians that I’m working with.”  

Every First Thursday through this summer, Rebecca and The Decade Blues Band will be performing on our patio, and hopefully making their songs part of your summer soundtrack.  Their recent set list at the Sunshine Lounge should give you an idea of what that soundtrack encompasses: Rock Me Right, Route 66, Blues is My Business, Jet Airliner, Every Day I Get the Blues, and Little By Little.

We’re thrilled to have “one of our own” appearing at a time honored Boise summer venue: the Brick Oven Bistro patio on The Grove…and we’re thrilled that Rebecca can find yet another way to put a smile on your faces.  

If you'd like to pick up on what The Decade Blues Band is putting down, check them out on MySpace!

Thursday, June 03, 2010 4:47:00 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0] 

In the second in our Tour of the World wine classes, instructor Brad Cowan took us “down under” to explore the wines of Australia and New Zealand – both of which are wine regions that have truly come into their own over the past couple of decades.  During the course of an evening spent munching on mini quiche, cheese, fresh veggies and fruit, (did we mention Brick Oven Bistro hummus?), we sampled five different wines: Chasing Venus Sauvignon Blanc and Walnut Block Collectables Pinot Noir from the land of the Kiwis, and Pillar Box White, Yard Dog Red, and Hentley Farm Fools Bay Dusty’s Desire.

It may be hard to believe, but Australia is currently the fourth largest exporter of wine in the world – even making inroads in “old world” wine-producing countries such as France, Italy, and Spain.  And if you can trust a chef that likes his/her own food, then it should tell you something that the Aussies consume just as much wine (400 million liters a year) as they export!

Vine cuttings from the Cape of Good Hope were first brought to the penal colony of New South Wales in the late 1700s, and despite a challenging climate for vine cultivation the first Australian made wine available for sale domestically was in the 1820s.  Not long after, Australia began its first wine exports.  Half a century later, an Australian wine won a gold medal in the 1882 Bordeaux International Exhibition, followed by yet another gold medal at the 1889 Paris International Exhibition.

The wine industry in Australia was all but destroyed by the phylloxera epidemic, and it wasn’t until just a few decades ago that Australia regained its earlier reputation as an exporter of quality wines.  Exports to the US rose from 578,000 cases in 1990 to 20 million cases in 2004!  

There are about 130 different grape varieties used by commercial winemakers in Australia, with the major varieties being Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Riesling.  A crowd pleaser at our wine class was definitely Dustys Desire, a big, bold Shiraz from Hentley Farm Fools Bay.  Australia’s success with Shiraz is underscored by its most famous wine, Penfolds Grange – whose 1971 vintage won first prize in Syrah/Shiraz at the Wine Olympics in Paris.  Wine Spectator named the 1990 vintage “Red Wine of the Year”, and awarded the 1998 vintage 99 points out of a possible 100.  Good on ya, mate!

Like Australia, New Zealand’s wine history also goes back to colonial times, with its oldest winery having been established by the Roman Catholic Church in 1851.  It wasn’t however, until the late 1960s and early 1970s that the wine industry really took off, and today New Zealand is home to what many wine critics consider the world’s best Sauvignon Blanc.  Oz Clarke, a well-known British wine critic, wrote in the 1990s that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc was “arguably the best in the world.”  During our class we imbibed a Sauvignon Blanc from Chasing Venus…and we were mighty glad to have “caught up” with it.  At less then $12 a bottle, it’s a heckuva deal, and while modesty forbids us from going the full length of what one critic described as the experience of drinking ones first New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (“like having sex for the first time”), we do have to admit that it was good for us too.

New Zealand’s wine regions are mostly located in free draining alluvial valleys.  One of these, Marlborough, has been called “the best place in the world to grow Sauvignon Blanc grapes”.  We sampled a pinot noir from the Marlborough-based winery Walnut Block – so named for an old walnut tree in the vineyard dating back to 1898.  Pinot noir is described by Brad as a “fickle grape” that is especially problematic in hot weather areas.  In general, New Zealand red wine tends to be forward and early maturing, fruit-driven and with restrained oak – and Marlborough Pinot Noirs are notable for their ripeness and fruitiness, which was certainly the case with our Walnut Block pinot.  

With spring almost behind us, we hope you’ll join us on June 29th as we roar full-throttle into summer with our “Summer Whites” class.  At $15, it’s a screamin’ deal, and a great way to spend a summer evening.  We’ll see you on the patio! 

Tuesday, June 01, 2010 6:23:09 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0] 

OK, so fine wine is probably not the first thing you think of when your thoughts stray to the Brick Oven Bistro.  We can live with that.  After all, how many fern bars or shi-shi watering holes serve up a mean Yankee pot roast -- not to put too fine a point on it.  But that isn't to say that pairing our menu with great wine and beer isn't important to us.  Au contraire, Pierre!  

As you stand in our serving line facing the sometimes overwhelming challenge of deciding whether or not to opt for an old favorite or boldly go where you've not yet gone with a daily special, it's easy to overlook that the fact that right in front of each serving station we've posted signs with recommended beers and wines to go with our specials.  Just look at the line up from this past week.  For wine recommendations we had had pinot noir, Sun Garden Reisling, Alberti Malbec, Hell's Canyon Chardonnay, Zhoo Zhoo Syrah, Paso Creek Cabernet, and a pinot grigio.  For you lovers of fermented grain and hops, our beer pairings included Jackamo (a great IPA out of Abita, Louisianna), Anchor Steam (on tap), Longboard, Samuel Adams, Zonker Stout, Fat Tire (a perennial favorite from New Belgium Brewing Co. of Colorado), and the ever popular Stella Artois.  

Our commitment to enhancing the experience of our menu with fine wines extends even further than our menu.  It's one of the reasons we host our wine classes.  If you think of wine as food, we want to be sure that our tagline, "New Adventures in Comfort Food" extends to the fruit of the vine as well.  And if our classes and daily wine recommendations can add an extra dimension to your appreciation of the food we serve, we're living into our mission.

Bon Appetit!

Friday, May 28, 2010 5:12:15 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0] 

You might wonder what pork posole stew is doing on the same menu with Yankee pot roast, citrus chicken, and meatloaf.  Of course, if you do wonder that, perhaps you haven’t noticed that our tagline is “New Adventures In Comfort Food”.  If you ever have the good fortune to travel to the state of Jalisco in Mexico, you’ll find that this savory combination of pork, butter beans, hominy, chilies, and tomatillos is about as comfort food as it gets, south of the border.

It was our own travels to Jalisco that first introduced us to this Mexican classic…but it was the exigencies of the restaurant business that induced us to put pork posole stew on our menu.  Like so many things in the restaurant world, inspiration grew out of the simple need to get the most out of a key product: in this case our kurobuta pork shoulder (thank you, Snake River Farms!).  In our search for a menu item worthy of this product, we reminisced about the pork posole we’d had in Mexico – and as we so often do as cookbook junkies, we plunged into our culinary library.

Among the different recipes we looked came yet another inspiration: Diana Kennedy…the woman who a prominent London newspaper once referred to as “the Brit who saved Mexican food”.  If that sounds like hyperbole, I think you can safely say that when it comes to the English-speaking world, Diana Kennedy has done for Mexican cuisine what Julia Child did for French cooking.

Kennedy first moved to Mexico in the Fifties to marry a New York Times Mexico correspondent, and she has since spent more than three decades tracking down traditional recipes from the farthest reaches of Mexico.  

Now in her mid-eighties, according to a 2003 London Guardian story on Kennedy, “the best-selling author of eight Mexican cookbooks still drives her truck around the country 'auditioning' unusual recipes and recording the fascinating stories behind them. In America she is a household name among foodies and in Mexico she is revered - she has been awarded the coveted Order of the Eagle for her promotion of Mexican food. Virtually unknown in her native England, she achieved recognition last year when Prince Charles came for lunch at her eco-house in rural Michoacán to award her the MBE for services to Mexican-British relations.”

If you’d like to read the complete text of the story on Diana Kennedy, here is a link.  We’d like to think that she’d be pleased with our take on pork posole stew, and her story reminds us that nothing bridges cultural divides like comfort food – no matter the origin of the recipe or the person who follows it.  Diana Kennedy, we salute you, nuestra amiga! 

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 10:43:30 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0] 

Our first World of Wines class on Tuesday, April 27 focused on wines from South America.  Our instructor, Brad Cowan from BRJ Distributing, brought five wines to illustrate the characteristics of the region.  Two of wines were from Chile, and three were from Argentina.  Limiting the sampling allowed us to focus more on each wine, which were labels that you won’t often encounter in retail outlets.  To accompany our wines, we served up a variety of hors d’oeuvres, including our kalamata-infused hummus, an artichoke frittata, artichoke and spinach dip, and a Spanish cheese and smoked Gouda. 

Argentina

It may come as some surprise that the Argentinean wine industry is the fifth leading producer of wine in the world.  It has its “roots” in Spain, where the first vine cuttings came from in 1557.  Historically, Argentine winemakers were more interested in quantity than quality, which should come as no surprise given the fact that Argentina is also the 20^th largest consumer of wine in the world and knocks down 90 percent of the wine it produces (that’s 12 gallons a year per capita based on 2006 data – not that we’re keeping score or anything). 

In the 1990s, Argentine wines started being exported, and today the country is the second biggest wine exporter in Latin America behind Chile.  Due to the high altitude and low humidity of its main wine producing regions, Argentine vineyards rarely face the problems of insects, fungi, molds and other grape diseases that affect vineyards in other countries.

The three wines we tasted were the La Yunta Torrontes (2009), the Durigutti Bonarda (2007) and the Salentein Reserve Malbec (2007).  Torrontes is a typically Argentina grape and is found mostly in the provinces La Rioja, San Juan, and Salta, and is a member of the Malvasia group that makes aromatic white wines.  Interestingly, the owner of La Yunta hails from Bend, Oregon.  While you can’t judge a book by its cover, the La Yunta label depicts two alpacas…or maybe they’re llamas…or vicunas, which are just stinking cute.  There is a taste of green melon and white peach, with a nice acidic finish.  Our other Argentine wines were both reds.  The Durigutti Brothers, Hector and Pablo, are something akin to rock star winemakers, and their Bonarda is from the Mendoza region and comes from vines originally from Italy.  Our other red was the Salentein Reserve Malbec.  Grown at high altitude, the Malbec vines produce a small grape with concentrated flavors and a lower yield that makes it a pricier wine than Bonarda, but the most widely grown grape in Argentina.

Chile

Chile also has a long viticultural history dating back to the 16^th century when the Spanish conquistadors brought vitis vinifera vines with them.  In the mid-18^th century, French wine varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were introduced.  The number of wineries in Chile has grown from 12 in 1995 to more than 70 in 2005, and Chile is now the 5^th largest exporter of wines in the world, and the ninth largest producer. 

Chile’s success as a winemaking region is reflected in the awards its wines have garnered in international competitions.  For example, at the Berlin Wine Tasting in 2004, 36 European experts blind tasted wines from two vintages each of the top 10 wines from France, Italy, and Chile.  The first and second place wines were two Cabernet-based reds from Chile. 

While Chile is mostly known for its red wines, we tasted a Luis Felipe Edwards (considered the Chilean version of Robert Mondavi) Sauvignon Blanc (2009).  With hints of grapefruit and gooseberry, the wine reminded Brad of New Zealand whites, and it makes a wonderful summertime pour.  Our red was the Peralillo Arenal Camenere (2008).  Interestingly, when the vines of Chile were studied, it was found that what was considered Merlot was actually the ancient Bordeaux wine grape, Carmenere, which was thought to be extinct.  Fortunately, the flavor of this wine is very much alive and kicking.  Quoting from the label, “intensely dark and violet in color with bold, sweet, floral aromas of blackberry and plum jam which combine with red pepper spiciness.”

We look forward to our next wine class, coming up May 25, when we’ll explore wines from Australia and New Zealand. 

Friday, April 30, 2010 3:02:53 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0] 

A few days ago, one of our customers thanked us for “keeping your menu the same” for so many years.  I in turn thanked him for the compliment, and then asked him if he’d by any chance tried our etouffee.  Turns out he’d never heard of it.  After setting him straight, he got very excited and insisted on bringing his wife with him to the restaurant on Friday (etouffee day) to share this “new” dish with her.

My reason for sharing this anecdote is merely to point out that while we’ve earned a loyal following over the past 26 years with comfort food classics that folks have made a part of their lives, we’ve done anything but keep our menu static.

Case in point: take our menu specials from last week.  In a three-day period they ranged from the familiar (chicken tetrazzini) to the more exotic: Hummus Sandwich, Pork Chili Verde, and Jamaican Chicken Dinner.

By way of taking a little culinary excursion, let’s take a closer look at how these last three items made it into our menu, shall we?

Hummus is one of those foods that in the years since we first opened our doors has gone from being esoteric to darn near a pub food standard.  My first experience with hummus goes back to my upbringing in the Philippines, where I was introduced to it by our Moslem friends.  The Philippines has a long history of Arab influence that continues to this day, and that influence extends to the cuisine of the islands.  Our manager, Anna, brought us the recipe that we use, and we put a bit of a Mediterranean twist on it by using kalamata olives and lots of garlic.  The sliced cucumbers on the sandwich compliment these flavors quite nicely.

In our travels throughout Mexico, Jeff and I have encountered a number of different chili verde recipes, and we’ve borrowed from the ones we liked best.  Our chili verde requires a two-day process to create.  One the first day we sauté pork that we buy locally from Snake River Farms, then chop it up.  On the second day we cook two kinds of chilis and some tomatillo to prepare the sauce that the pork simmers in.  On the third day we rest.  Just kidding.  We never rest.

Our Jamaican Chicken Dinner with Bob Marley Sauce was inspired by an apple/almond stuffed chicken that we buy from one of our suppliers.  Boned chicken thighs are wrapped around apple/almond stuffing, and in searching for an appropriate sauce to serve with it we decided that Jamaican jerk sauce would be just the ticket.  While the Caribbean offers up a number of versions of jerk sauce, the common flavor denominator seems to be allspice.  Rather than using chicken stock for the liquid, we use marsala – which explains the nod to Jamaica’s favorite son, the dreadlock king of reggae.  We serve this dish with rice and greens, which would most likely be how you would enjoy it in Trenchtown, mon.  

So, while we have every intention of keeping those tried and true comfort food classics coming your way, you should also expect that our love of travel and mania for cookbooks is going to continue to influence our menu with the comfort food traditions of other cultures as well as our own.  After all, man cannot live by Yankee pot roast alone…although we suspect that burgundy mushroom gravy is a life essential.  

Monday, April 19, 2010 1:30:55 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0] 

You might think that the demands of running a restaurant for 25 years (make that 26) might detract from the joy of cooking, or that perhaps ones zeal for great food could become somewhat muted.  That could easily be the case, except for one thing: among the customers we serve every day there are some pretty remarkable cooks; and interacting with them helps keep our passion alive.

Cooking for people that love to cook is like being a “musician’s musician” – if you can please them, you know you’re on the right track.  And every now and then, they return the compliment by inspiring us.  Take Justin Boggs, for example.

We met Justin a few months ago when Behind the Menu recorded a podcast during which we talked about our mutual love for Cajun cuisine over a bowl of jumbalaya.  It turns out that Justin, who is a construction management student at Boise State University by day, has been relentlessly pursuing the ultimate red beans and rice recipe.  We’ve been cooking red beans and rice for years, and as tradition warrants, it has been a part of our Monday menu – Monday being “washing day” according to regional custom.  

While we talked about the chefs and recipes that have most influenced our approach to the cuisine of Louisiana, Justin revealed that his grail quest had led him to make his own andouille sausage.  It turns out that nothing he had found commercially available quite nailed the flavor he was searching for.  We have to admit that he seemed slightly obsessed, but to paraphrase Barry Goldwater, “extremism in the defense of culinary authenticity is no vice.”  We ended our conversation by inviting Justin back to the restaurant to share his recipe with us, once he felt he had achieved his goal.

We knew Justin was making progress when he posted a story on a local food blog, “Mundovore: Eat the World”, detailing his adventures in making his andouille sausage from scratch.  You have to give it to the man…he’s a machine.  We sensed that a reunion would not be long away.

The other day Justin came by with a container of the fruits of his labor.  We took it back to the kitchen, heated it up, and brought out a bowl of our own rice to serve with it.  Now, before I go any further with this tale, let me make something clear.  We’re not food snobs – but we’ve been around the culinary block a time or two, and we’ve had some damn good food over the years -- some of it we’ve cooked, and much of what we’ve learned has gone into our menu.  But Justin’s red beans and rice, particularly his homemade sausage, raised the bar for us when it comes to this traditional favorite.  In a word, we were blown away.

By the time we “licked the platter clean”, we were working out a deal with Justin to provide him with 20 pounds of pork for his next run of andouille sausage…in return for some of the final product.  Who knows…we might share some of it with the rest of you.  Consider it our way of saying thanks for not only bringing us your business, but your inspiration as well.  To all the Justins out there, we salute you! 

Thursday, April 08, 2010 7:42:27 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [1] 

When we talk about "comfort food", soup and a sandwich would certainly seem to fill the bill.  But when we talk about "new adventures in comfort food", we have to dig a bit deeper into our culinary bag of tricks.  Fortunately for us, that's something we love to do.  Take our recent lunch special: tarragon chicken salad sandwich with sweet potato and star anise soup.

Chicken salad is a delicatessen staple all over this great land of ours.  To give it a slightly more exotic flair, we add tarragon to it, then serve it with tomatoes and lettuce, and the optional touch of red onions and a jalapeno pepper on the side, just for that extra kick.  But in this ensemble, it's the soup that plays the starring role.

We love sweet potatoes, which make a wonderfully creamy and sweet (duh!) soup...but the idea of using star anise as a flavor counterpoint came from the cookbook, "Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia", by Jeffrey Alford and his wife, Naomi Duquid.  The couple spent months traveling down the Mekong River, collecting cooking ideas and recipes from villages along the way.

For this soup, which we adapted from the intrepid authors who combine their love of food with an interest in anthropology (makes sense to us), we start by cooking star anise with our sweet potatoes -- then we add cream and puree the mixture. We end up soup whose creamy sweetness is balanced by the licorice notes of the star anise.  But we don't stop there.  We add a generous dollop of a ginger-infused creme fraiche before serving.  Our creme fraiche is created by letting buttermilk sit over night to essentially become a clotted cream.  We then grate fresh ginger into it.  When added to the soup, it introduces a sourness that accents the sweetness of the sweet potato, while the star anise and ginger add some delightful complexity to the flavor.

You have to admit...this sure beats opening a can of chicken noodle soup, doesn't it?

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 8:52:10 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)    Comments [0]