Restaurant Review: Posh

 Posh "Improvisational Cuisine" - picture from Posh Website

 

I went to Posh in Scottsdale AZ with a couple of friends back in early March and had an unforgettable time.  Certainly one of the most unique dining experiences I've encountered.  Also one of the most expensive.  But the meal was so incomparable that the amount of money I had to shell out was worth it.  Of course I won't be able to afford eating there again anytime soon.  I'll just have to rely on wonderful memories of a one-of-a-kind meal.

The most unique aspect of Posh is that they don't have a set menu.  You get a card with some animal ingredients listed - mostly strange and outrageous, including frogs legs, wild boar, sweetbreads, and foie gras (for an extra charge).  You have the option to mark off anything that you don't want to eat.  Then you decide how many courses you want - anywhere from 3 to 11 (or the full tasting menu which I assume was something more than 11).  There is also a space to add in anything you don't like or food allergies.

I embraced the experience wholeheartedly.  I didn't mark off any of the protein possibilities and ended up doing a six course meal with a foie gras course.  It was amazing.  Unfortunately I didn't get to take many pictures because I was so busy being infatuated with the food. We all got different dishes for each course which made the experience even better.  Lots of sharing and tasting.

My meal started with a popcorn soup, which sounded really strange but ended up being fantastic.  Then I had a course of a beautiful whitefish with leeks.  I also had braised venison, fried sweetbreads with a slice of beef aspic (a fantastic first for me!), wild boar bacon, an unforgettable bruleed foie gras with strawberries, and a decadent dessert course.

 Bruleed Foie Gras with Strawberries

 

The foie gras was the most memorable aspect of the meal. It was the first time I'd ever had foie gras and it was a fantastic mix of rich and creamy. It was so creamy and sweet (from the brulee topping and the spun sugar) it could have been mistaken for an ultra-rich crème brulee but for the unmistakable animal fattines. 

The desserts were amazing as well. They tasted exactly like the candy bars they were made to emulate but had so much more depth of flavor and texture that my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

 Trio of desserts - a take on candy bars (Kit Kat, Almond Joy, and Snickers) 

Posh was a once in a lifetime experience and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone up for adventurous eating.  Just take plenty of money.  And take plenty of pictures.  This is the kind of meal that needs to be shared.

An Unexpected Feast

When my husband and I started dating 10 years ago, we both hated seafood.  I was worse than he was - I wouldn't even think about eating shrimp or crab, not to mention the horror of all horrors - sushi (which he loved).  But with my ever-increasing love of food I've done a complete 180 and now enjoy everything from the sea.  It's taken my husband a little bit longer, but he's come a long way.

We may not be able to have fish for dinner, but mussels are now on the menu!  Definitely an unexpected feast.

I love Mussels in Wine this time of year.  It's a nice transition from winter to summer; a beautiful warming broth reminiscent of cold weather and clouds and fresh seafood and ripe tomatoes hinting at hotter months to come.  Served with sourdough toast and a glass of the same wine it was cooked in it's the perfect light meal for a spring evening.

Mussels in White Wine

1 lb. frozen precooked mussels (or use fresh - just adjust cook time)
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 medium shallot, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine (Chardonnay is a favorite in our house)
handful of Italian parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

Saute shallot and tomatoes in olive oil over medium heat 1-2 minutes, then add mussels, garlic, and white wine.  Cover and simmer about 5 minutes to heat the mussels.  Remove lid and let juices condense, cooking about 10 more minutes.  Serve with sourdough bread or french baguette to sop up juices.  Serves 2

Book Review: Garlic and Sapphires

I just finished reading Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl.  The book is about Reichl's experiences as the new restaurant critic for the New York Times.  Reichl talks about the great lengths she went to so she wouldn't be recognized, describes experiences at several major New York restaurants (both in disguise and not), and imparts some insights about food, restaurants, and life in general that she gained in the process.

The book is witty and captivating.  I didn't want to put it down and finished it a little too quickly.  Reichl talked mostly about food and being a foodie, but also about being a mother and wife and friend and food in the broader context of life.  Several of her own recipes are scattered throughout the book and although I haven't tried any yet, they all sound delicious.

The deepest message I found in the book was the idea that we all really have several personalities inside us.  We collect ideas and traits throughout our lives which create unique personalities.  Reichl found that the people she became really were versions of her own self mixed with people she'd had contact with.  It was interesting that while in disguise every aspect of her changed, including her mannerisms, appearance, and even the way she related to the food she ate.

It was disconcerting the way people treated her differently depending on her disguise.  I would like to think that people are treated equally regardless of the way they dress or speak or carry themselves, but the book points out the obvious disparity between this view and reality.  Especially in the world of fine dining it seems that it decidedly does matter who you are, what you look like, and how you carry yourself.

Garlic and Sapphires offers a unique glimpse into the life of a food critic.  I'm jealous.  How do I get her job?  I'd recommend this book to any aspiring foodie.  The glimpse of a life completely immersed in food is refreshing and exciting.  Definitely worth the read!

Poblano, Potato, and Corn Gratin

This is how we do Easter in the Southwest!  Grilled juicy flank steak and southwestern marinated shrimp with a side of hallelujah! (and by hallelujah I mean Poblano, Potato, and Corn Gratin - who ever said food couldn't be spiritual?)

Flank Steak and Shrimp with Poblano, Potato, and Corn Gratin

The gratin was amazing; a symphony of heavenly potatoes and cheese and a kick of spicy peppers to bring you back to earth and make you grab for a margarita!

The only way I really changed the recipe was by adding 2 jalapenos to the mix - my husband and I really like spicy food so I had to kick it up a bit.

Poblano and Jalapeno Peppers

Otherwise, very uncharacteristically of me I tried to follow the recipe exactly, even weighing out the 1 1/4 lb. of potatoes on a scale.

While I was making it, I was worried that there wouldn't be enough potatoes to make the full casserole so I rationed them a little too much and had a lot left at the end.  If you try this, trust the recipe!  It won't let you down!
 

Poblano, Potato, and Corn Gratin
From: Bon Appetit, April 2010

3 tsp. olive oil, divided
2 lg. fresh poblano (also called pasilla) peppers, stemmed, seeded and cut into strips
1 1/4 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8" thick rounds
1 c. frozen corn, thawed
1 c. grated Oaxaca or mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 c. half and half
2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Preheat oven to 400F.  Rub 9 1/2" diameter deep dish pie dish or cast-iron skillet with 2 tsp. oil.  Heat remaining oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add peppers and saute until tender.  Remove from heat

Arrange 1/3 of potato rounds, overlapping slightly, 1/3 of peppers, 1/3 of corn, and 1/3 of cheese.  Repeat until casserole is complete, reserving the last 1/3 of the cheese.

Whisk half and half, flour, salt&pepper together and pour over potato mixture.  Press potatoes down to submerge.  Cover dish tightly with foil.  Bake 30 minutes.  Remove foil; sprinkle remaining cheese on and continue to bake until potatoes are tender and cheese is golden brown, about 25 minutes more.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

I just finished watching a mostly great TED talk given by Jamie Oliver, the crazy (and gorgeous!) British chef who's trying to change the way America views food.

Jamie Oliver's TED Prize Wish - Teach Every Child About Food

Some of the great parts:

• There needs to be a revolution in the home - the home used to be a place for passing down food culture to one's children, but this isn't the case anymore.  Now a lot of the time we're just passing down bad habits like eating junk food sitting in front of the t.v.
• School lunch programs need to change.  It is the responsibility of schools to keep children safe while they are at school.  Why doesn't this apply to what they're feeding the kids?  As Jamie pointed out in his talk, more people die of obesity every year in this country than all other causes combined.  That's scary stuff.  Schools need to be held responsible and expected to feed children correctly while the kids are in their care.
• I also really like the idea of teaching kids about food in school.  If they know what vegetables are and how to cook and how to grow food, their lives can be changed!

Some of the not so great parts:

• I don't believe that it's the job of the corporations to change the way America views food.  Yes it's awful that big food corporations mislabel things.  Yes it sucks that fast food chains are so pervasive and have managed to get most of us addicted to things that will kill us.  But in my opinion the responsibility lies with the consumer.  We have to know for ourselves what's good for us.  We have to look at the label that says low fat and know that the fat flavor was just replaced by a truckload of sugar.
• Along the same lines I don't think the government should police the food industry.  For instance the idea that the government should involve itself in how fast food companies market their food and what they're allowed to serve is pretty ridiculous to me.  It isn't the job of the government to save us from ourselves or make all our decisions for us.  Those things should be left up to the individual.

Overall I agree with Jamie.  Our country needs to change how we look at food.  We need to learn more about it - where it comes from, how to grow it, how to cook and eat it.  We need to pass down our food culture to our kids.  But we need to take our health into our own hands and not expect government to police the food industry so we never have to think for ourselves.

Burnout

Last night a friend of mine grilled me about why I hadn't posted anything on my blog in so long.  And I didn't really have an answer for him.  We left the conversation with a promise from me to post something soon (here you go!).  I think the conversation weighed on me in my sleep because as soon as I woke up this morning I started thinking about my blog and why it had been so long since I'd posted anything.

My conclusion: burnout.  For the most part I think my last job in the food industry just sucked me dry of all my passion for food.  I've been at home for two weeks now.  And since that time I've barely gotten up the energy to cook at all.  When I do cook it's been the easy stuff, the stuff I could throw together in my sleep.  The stuff not worth mentioning here.  Not only that but I haven't eaten out anywhere since then.  It's like someone zapped me with some energy gun and took all my love for food away.

Another issue is that I'm getting ready to move to Taipei for 8 months.  This is a really recent development - we didn't even know about it until a few weeks ago.  As a foodie I should be really excited about the move.  I know Taipei is going to be thrilling and have more amazing food to eat than I might ever get around to.  But for some reason it's just adding to my burnout.  Especially with gardening.  Right now I should be feverishly working on my spring garden, but we aren't going to be here in a month or two so it would be pretty pointless.  I'm definitely fueled by my garden.  And it just depresses me now to look out at the mostly empty space where only a few winter vegetables are clinging to the soil for dear life, heartlessly neglected.

I have to get out of this funk.  I miss being excited about food.  I miss the thrill of putting together new combinations, trying new ingredients, eating at new restaurants.  There has to be something I can do to fix the situation.  I'm thinking that something drastic might be in order.  Going on a restaurant binge.  Buying live animals from the Asian market.  Maybe a new kitchen tool to shake things up.  Anybody out there have any suggestions for me?  I'd love to find my passion again...

In The Kitchen

I started the day full of nerves. The coffee I'd chugged to jolt me awake for my 6:00AM start time was making my stomach rumble - a tempest brewing. My first day in a real commercial kitchen was going to be a tough one.

I'd been hired a few months before for catering - I was told that I'd be doing mostly front-of-house stuff (setting up tables, polishing glasses and silverware, decorating, serving) but that I might work in the kitchen sometimes too. So after two months of only working front-of-house, my day had finally come. Except now that the real thing was upon me, I wasn't so sure I wanted it. The friend who got me the job wasn’t working my first day and I'd be in the kitchen with four guys I didn't know well. I had terrors the night before, remembering stories from Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly about the harassment that happens in the kitchen.

I walked in that first day full of fear. I clocked in and followed the executive chef to his office where he gave me a chef coat, apron, and baseball cap (to keep my hair out of the food). As soon as I put on that jacket I started getting pretty excited. This was really happening! I was wearing a chef coat!

That's about where the fun ended. I got a list of things to do. Well it wasn't a physical list. The executive chef kept coming over and saying "you cut the fruit", "you make 6 dozen cookies", etc., not waiting for one task to be done before he told me three others, not explaining how he wanted the fruit cut, where to find anything I needed, how to work the ovens or the fryer, expecting me to know all this.

I asked a lot of stupid questions. I did a lot of things the hard way. I didn't cut the fruit right. I couldn’t find anything in the walk-in cooler. I had no idea what a 400 pan was. I made a huge mess trying to sear 500 pieces of chicken. I basically felt like an idiot all day.

I went home that day after 6 hours in the kitchen and felt completely exhausted. My feet were throbbing. My back was aching from bending over the too short metal countertops. All I could smell on myself and around me was that ever-present scent of fryer oil. All I could think about was my 10 hour shift coming up the next day.  I felt physically, mentally, and emotionally drained

Over the last month I’ve spent in the kitchen I’ve gotten a little bit more used to things. I know much more now than when I started. But there are still things I don’t know. And a lot of times the work isn’t very fun. Although there are some things I enjoy. A few days ago I got to teach some of the chefs how to make Indian food properly (no one else knew some of the things I did). And every now and then when I’m making a cheese tray or plating desserts I stop and think to myself "wow, I'm really getting paid for this."

The biggest problem I've had with working in catering in general is that I come home too tired to do anything else. And cooking all day at work drains me of any desire to cook at home (probably the main reason I haven't been blogging much lately - sorry!) I've had fun and learned a lot about making food for 100 or 300 or 500 people, but I really miss cooking for 2. I miss getting fresh produce from my garden and coming up with new recipes to try. I miss being in love with food.

My stint in the kitchen and in catering is almost over. I’m leaving in a couple of weeks to move on to other things. Overall I’ve learned a lot. I’ve had a lot of cool experiences, met some really interesting people. I know how to cook for a crowd. But I also know now that I’d rather cook for just a few. I’d rather have energy at the end of the day to go out and weed my garden or take my dog on a walk. I’d rather be a foodie than a chef.

Homemade Pasta

A couple of years ago I bought this nice little pasta maker.

It's easy to use if your dough is good.  If your dough is bad it will stick, and stretch, and tear, and not get cut all the way through.  Until a few weeks ago this had been my regular experience.

A few weeks ago I finished reading Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany (Vintage) by Bill Buford, which is a fantastic book if you can get through the rather slow middle section.  Buford talks about working in Mario Batali's kitchen, going to Italy to learn to make pasta, and going back to Italy to learn to be a butcher from that great Tuscan Dario Ceccini. 

Near the end he talks about the right ratio for pasta - it has to do with the balance between eggs and flour.  According to him, if you have good eggs water shouldn't even be necessary.  I ended up using a little water, but the result was fantastic anyways.  For the first time my dough rolled out smoothly - no sticking, no ripping.  It cut perfectly into thin strips, which I made into Fettuccine with prosciutto and cherry tomatoes and basil (from the garden).

If you've never made pasta from scratch, I recommend going right out, getting yourself some flour and eggs, and throwing some together.  You don't really even need a pasta machine - you can just roll it out with a rolling pin and cut it by hand.  The results will amaze you!

Potato Corn Chowder

I've either been working like a dog or sick for the last several days, and it feels like I haven't blogged in forever!  At long last I've had a couple of days off in a row, so yesterday I decided to make myself some soup.  I needed a hot steamy bowl of comfort to ease my achy bones. 

I know dairy isn't good for colds and I should have gone with straight up chicken soup, but I had a couple of potatoes and some really beautiful peppered bacon and couldn't resist doing a little potato corn chowder.  Unfortunately I didn't really write down a recipe while I was making it, I just threw a bunch of things together. I'll try to recreate the recipe here, but I would say just go with whatever sounds good to you and what works.

For me it worked out really well.  The salty bacon and creamy potatoes instantly made me feel better (if not in my body at least in my mind and spirit!) 

Potato Corn Chowder

2 potatoes, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 medium onion, diced
about 1 cup corn
about 4 cups chicken stock
about 1/2 cup cream
salt/pepper/garlic/tarragon to taste
Crumbly bacon and chives to top

Sweat the onion, carrot, and celery (don't let it get brown).  Add potatoes, stock, and seasonings and cook until potatoes are almost tender.  Add corn and cook until it comes to temperature.  Add cream and turn off heat.  Serve with bacon and chives on top.

Fez, Phoenix, AZ

Fez Phoenix - Picture from their website: www.fezoncentral.com

We were welcomed by warmth as we walked in the door despite the concrete floor and frosted glass that greeted us.  The table was already waiting for our party of six, set in a modern style like the rest of the chic, low-lit restaurant.

First, drinks.  Fez has a large selection of unique cocktails and although they offered some interesting looking "wine fusions" we all went with cocktails.  I ordered the Go Green, a mixture of crisp cucumber and cilantro cut with lemon and vodka.  It was different and refreshing but a little sour for my taste.  My husband got the Key Lime Pie and was smitten - he's still trying to re-create it at home.  The drink was a foamy blend of lime and sugar flavors with a playful ring of graham cracker. A friend got the "Fez-Tini" which was a cherry red mix of champagne and other unique flavors - a celebration in a glass.  The biggest problem with the drinks was the decidedly limited wine list (27 unique cocktail creations but only 18 wines available).  If you are a wine enthusiast, Fez may not be your type of restaurant.

After drinks came appetizers.  We tried the "Fez Lettuce Wraps" which were a little dry but had great flavor that came from the dried pears, dates, and cherries that were scattered throughout.  Someone at our table was allergic to nuts and the kitchen gladly made the dish without the usual almonds (although I'm sure the almonds would have been a fantastic addition).

The main course was where the true genius lay.  I had the "Lamb Kisra" a grilled flatbread (more like foccacia than pita), topped with brilliantly seasoned lamb meat that resembled gyro.  On the lamb lay baby spinach which gave a great crunch and tomatoes and the whole thing was topped with crumbly and creamy feta cheese and a fantastic lemon basil dressing that I'll never forget.

Lamb Kisra

I also tasted my friend's amazing dish - the "Go Green Pasta" with chicken.  The real genius of this dish was the sauce - an incredibly tasty pesto that had just the right amount of salt and garlic to make it perfect.  The chicken on top was perfectly juicy and tasty as well.

Go Green Pasta with Chicken

One damper on the night was service, which was slow and confused. We waited quite a while after we were seated for our order to be taken.  We also had to sit around and wait for our server to appear with the bill for what seemed like an hour after we were finished with our meal.

Despite the flaws in service I'm looking forward to our next trip to Fez.  Not only did the restaurant have fantastic and unforgettable food and drinks, the prices were very reasonable.  The Fez menu can be found at http://www.fezoncentral.com/menus.aspx