The Impatient Chef is Learning to Take Food Pictures

I have taken a few weeks off from regular posts for a two reasons.  

1. The pandemic makes it hard to write restaurant reviews.  
2. I want to learn how to take better food pictures.  

It is reason # 2 that I want to address here.  

The Impatient Chef is a side project, behind my main passion, which is photography.  I do mostly landscape photography.  As such, I have struggled with studio photography for years, not really seeming to make it click.  

As part of my photography business, I sell to stock photo agencies.  When the pandemic hit, I was less able to travel to the places where I love to set up my tripod.  Yet, I wanted to keep sending pictures into the agencies.  Something new was called for.  Why not practice food photography?  

So, I started taking food to the studio, and playing with lighting, and composition.  Here's a taste.  

 

That's a little taste of what The Impatient Chef has been up to in recent months.  More Recipes to come, and maybe some reviews of food carts.  Sounds like a plan.

The Impatient Chef.  

The Impatient Chef Presents: Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeño Yukon Golds

The Impatient Chef is at best, like all cooks, a recipe thief.  In this case, the thievery was done from a place in The Dalles, Oregon, called Rivertap.  The Impatient Chef has reviewed Rivertap favorably here.  This recipe should not, in any way, prevent you from eating there if you are within striking distance, and to be perfectly honest, theirs are better.  I made them based on my approximation of how they do it.  There is some secret to Rivertap's supreme yumminess which The Impatient Chef is in no danger of revealing in this post.  This recipe will get you part way there, though.  

These babies never fail to please.   

Makes 16.  

Ingredients:

• 4 smallish, roundish yukon gold potatoes (the more spherical, the better)
• 8 jalapeño peppers, cut in half lengthwise, and with the membranes and seeds removed
• 8 strips of bacon, cut in half
• Cheddar cheese, shredded
• Ranch dressing.

Equipment:

• A deep frier, or large cast iron dutch oven.  
• Thermometer
• fat skimmer, or other utensil to remove spuds during initial fry.
• 16 toothpicks

Directions:

1. Start your frier or dutch oven with the oil of your choice (peanut oil is preferred).  Heat to 320 degrees F.
2. Cut the spuds in half, and then the halves into thirds.  Try to get them as even as possible, but there is a workaround if you don’t. 
3. Fry the spuds for 8 to 10 minutes, getting them out after 6 minutes if they float.  Some may float too early because they will develop air pockets around the edges.  Use your better judgement in removing them when they are actually done.  
4. Once they are fried, remove put them onto a plate, and place them into the refrigerator while you prepare the jalapeños and cut the bacon.  
5. Increase fry temperature to 375 degrees F.
6. Once the spuds are cool enough to handle, place them into the jalapeño halves, and wrap with the bacon.  Skewer them with toothpicks, being sure to secure the bacon ends to both the jalapeños and spuds. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Once fry temperature is 375 degrees, fry the spuds until the bacon is crisp. 
8. When they are done, place them on a platter, sprinkle with the shredded cheddar, and serve with ranch dressing as a dipping sauce. 

Enjoy!  

--The Impatient Chef.

The Impatient Chef Food Frolic: The Anatomy of a BLT

The Impatient Chef: Anatomy of a BLT

Some would ask "why bother with the BLT?"  It's so simple.  It has 3, no wait, 4, ingredients including the bread.  But, there's mayo, that makes 5.  You can put onion on it.  That makes it  BLOT (pronounced as written).  Subtract Onion, and add avocado.  That makes it a BLAT (see previous pronouncement guide).  If you add both onion, and avocado, it becomes, yes, you guessed it, a BLOAT.  Add some salt and pepper...  BLOSPAT?  Well, you get the picture.

So, let's start this anatomy lesson with a simple listing of parts:

Basic Parts

Okay, that wasn't the one I was looking for. Let me see...  Ah!  Here it is:

The Correct List

Let's start with the essentials.  First: the bacon.  The bacon should be uncured.  There has been research that has pointed to chemical curing with sodium nitrites leading to cancer.  The jury is still out on this, but why take the chance?  In my opinion, uncured bacon also tastes better.

The other controversy surrounding bacon is thick slices versus thin.  I prefer thinly (but not too thin) sliced bacon for BLT's.  I've had thick bacon come out of the sandwich as a slab when I bit into it, and I don't want to have to rebuild my sandwich constantly.  I have learned over time that slightly thinner is better.

Pepper bacon versus just bacon.  Your choice.  Both are heavenly.

Next comes bread: I prefer a good sourdough.  You want a bread without a meaty crust for the same reason you want thinner bacon.  There's nothing more annoying than having your sandwich self-destruct as you struggle to gnaw off the first bite, and the first bite has other ideas.  BLT's are not internally self-adhesive.  Why make it even harder?  This being said, if you use mass-marketed, sappy white bread, you're missing out on a lot of taste.

Don't toast your bread too long.  I find that a lighter toast makes it easier to keep the sandwich together.

Mayo:  This is where I part ways with most foodies.  The best mayo in the world, other than what you can make at home, is available at any grocery store in the known universe.  West of the Mississippi it's called Best Foods; in the east it's called Hellmann's.  You really can't go wrong with it.  It has flavor while not getting in the way of the rest of the sandwich, and it isn't greasy.  Use Miracle Whip only if you have an allergy to regular mayo.

Lettuce:  Romaine.  Fresh.  Organic.  Experiment with spinach, arugula, or even some exotic lettuces, but romaine, even the crinkly type, is always an excellent choice.

Tomato:  I prefer locally-raised, and / or heirloom tomatoes.  I want flavor.  In the late summer to early fall, I get them from my itsy-bitsy garden.  Other times, I try to find any tomato that wasn't bred for shelf life.  The standard, supermarket tomatoes (you know the anemic tennis balls that taste like cardboard aspic) are simply not worthy of a good bacon.  I prefer brandywine tomatoes.  Warning, the juice from these will run down your chin, but... Oh. My. Lord.  They are good.  Experiment.  Find your favorite.  Skip the tennis balls.

Extras:  

Pepper: I have found that salt and pepper are not actually extras, but some folks may think they are.  I keep two pepper grinders in the kitchen.  One is set on coarse grind, and one on medium.  I use the coarse on BLT's to get a bigger flavor.

The Other Ones

Salt: I buy kosher salt, sometimes from Pensey's, and sometimes from whoever carries the large flake, or coarse version.  I use different coarsenesses for different purposes.  For the BLT, I want a coarse flake salt.  It adds an occasional little crunch accompanied by a salty goodness that brings out the best in the tomato.

As mentioned before, onions and avocados also go nicely on BLT's.  They are truly extras, and many times serve only to make the sandwich fly apart when you least expect it.  Despite the challenge that they provide, they can still be good on a BLT.  I prefer red onions and ripe avocados.

A barely ripe, or tack hard avocado is not edible.  Some attention must be paid to learning when one is ripe.  Usually, you find out that avocados are ripe in retrospect, as in "Oh, this was ripe yesterday.  Now, its a mass of blackened goo."  Getting your avocado fingers is kind of like getting your sea legs.  You have to give it time, and fall down a lot.

I hope this tour of the anatomy of the BLT has been helpful.

--The Impatient Chef.

The Impatient Chef Restaurant Review: Rivertap, The Dalles

Rivertap, The Dalles, Oregon

My notebook, and their bumper sticker

The second in my hopefully long-running series of Fish & Chips reviews will not start as the first one did.  I wore that joke out in the first paragraph (see the Baldwin Saloon review).  Instead, I will start this one by saying that I know Rivertap's secret to their unique batter flavor, BUT I'M NOT TELLING YOU.  Instead, I will say that if you live in the area, you must taste it for yourself.  

Why am I not revealing their secret?  First, I'm not certain that they would want me to.  Second, if you could do it yourself, what incentive would you have to stop in?  I will tell you that I figured it out, and the waitress confirmed it.  

As usual, I never review on my first visit.  I've been to Rivertap about 10 times over the last 3 years, and I've tasted a variety of their food, but I have never had the appetizer I ordered today.  Let me present to you... 

These 

Bacon-Wrapped Jalepeno Yukon Golds

These delightful bearers of ranch dressing and cardiovascular disease are put together exactly as they are named.  A wedge of Yukon Gold potato is very lightly breaded, and paired with a slice of jalepeno before being wrapped in bacon.  They are skewered, and then (I'm guessing) deep fried.  They get a light dusting cheese, and a decent ranch dressing.  If you were Odysseus, you would dash your ship to pieces on the rocks to get them.

Speaking of sea faring beings (see the segue, nice, eh?), we arrive at the main course, and the reason for writing this post.

I am a connoisseur of fine Fish & Chips.  If you have read my earlier fish and chips review, you will know that the batter should be crisp, the tarter sauce may not be too sweet, and the fries must stand up to the salt test.  The salt test is simply ketchup not being necessary.  We will hit these points in turn.

 Presentation

The platter arrives

The presentation was appealing.  I am fond of square and rectangular plates.  I'm also fond of not placing the fish on top pf the fries like some restaurants do.  Most fish batters wick a little fryer oil after being plated, and the top layer of fries arrive a tad too oily.  Rivertap's rectangular plates are perfect for the job of separating the fish from the fries.

The Fish

Golden and crisp

The batter was not flaky like I prefer.  In fact, it was a bit caky, which I usually don't like.  A slab of fish wrapped in a pancake is not appealing.  These were pleasantly tasty.  The halibut had flavor without being overpowering.  I like to actually taste the fish, by the way.  I don't want to taste the fryer oil, which was not a problem with these.  The tarter sauce was on the sweet side, but the lemon wedges handily cured that.

I mentioned a secret to the batter.  Well...

Here it is:

The secret is in the color

Note the yellow color of the batter above.   It's not corn flour.

I would rate Rivertap's Fish & Chips well above average.  On the Rose and Thistle scale, they are a 7 (Rose & Thistle is a Scottish restaurant on NE Broadway St. in Portland, and makes the Fish & Chips by which all others are measured).

Next comes...

The Fries!

Crisp and delicious

 The fries (chips) are immaculately conceived with light breading, and thereby swaddled in a crispy layer which blankets the potato.  These stayed crisp throughout the meal!  No ketchup necessary.

Lastly,

Rivertap's taps.

Rivertap IPA

I, sadly, no longer drink, so I have it on good authority (my wife, Gaia) that Rivertap's own house-brewed IPA was delectable.  I can tell you that it had a pleasantly hoppy nose.

Overall impressions.  This is one of the finest Fish and Chips experiences that I've had in a while.

The Impatient Chef Recipe: Scallop and Bacon Alfredo

Recipe:  Scallop and Bacon Alfredo.

With the abundance of bacon-wrapped figs, dates, hot dogs, steaks, so forth and so on, filling up recipe sites, I thought I'd try my hand at it a few months ago.  I pre-fried the bacon in the oven until about half done, let it cool, and then wrapped it around some monster scallops, sprinkled them with Buck's Zestier BBQ seasoning (Tony Chatcher's Creole Seasoning will work if you don't live in New York, or want to purchase 5 pounds of Buck's.  We go through 5 pounds in just over a year, so it's OK for us. [It's even good on ice cream]), and popped them in the oven for about 10 minutes.  After defending them from the cat, we sat down and enjoyed a proper artery-clogging treat.  I thought about making them again while perusing the fish counter at the local supermarket, when I decided that it was too late in the paycheck to buy the $20.00 per pound sea scallops, but the bay scallops were $8.99 per pound.  A concept was born of necessity.

At first, I was going to fry the bacon as I usually do on a tray in the oven (it just works better that way), remove the bacon, and throw the scallops onto the pan, sprinkle them with some Old Bay Seasoning (for variety's sake),  and bake them for a few minutes.  After that, it was drain the bacon fat, crumble the bacon over them, drizzle some pre-heated heavy cream over them, and serve.  Simple enough for the Impatient Chef.  Then my wife said, "Over pasta, right?"

Full stop.  Tire tracks.

She's had pasta front and center of her menu lately.  Everything from pesto to marinara to gravies to alfredo gets onto the pasta bandwagon, and takes a spin.  I was trying my hardest to resist, but we already had most of the ingredients.  Why not.

The rest, shall we say, is supper.

Let us begin.

Ingredients:

4-5 slices bacon (uncured is best)
3/4 lb bay scallops
1 pint heavy cream
8 oz fettuccini noodles (homemade is preferable)
3 tbsp flour (for roux)
4 oz freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp ground dried mustard
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt (plus 1 tbsp for pasta water)
Old Bay Seasoning
2 scallions

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Lay bacon out on a rimmed baking tray (this method works better for bacon in all circumstances), and put it onto the oven's middle rack.  Start pasta water heating, and stir in 1 tbsp kosher salt.

Pour the heavy cream into a small (but not too small) sauce pan.  Slowly heat it on low.  Stir in the dried mustard, remaining salt, and white pepper.  Stir often to keep it from crusting on the bottom of the pan.

Use this lull in the action to grate the parmesan cheese.  (Note:  If you use the grated parmesan cheese in the green can, The Impatient Chef will be very disappointed in you, however, this will still be delicious, so no worries).  Also chop the scallions.

When the bacon is done, remove it from the oven.  Baking times depend on thickness.  If you buy good bacon, it will likely take longer than the national brands.  Place it on a plate with a paper towel underneath.  The bacon must be crispy, but not burned.  Reserve 2 tbsp of the bacon grease in a small sauté pan (I use an old crepe pan for roux.  It works really well, but will no longer be suitable for crepes without re-seasoning), and leave the rest on the tray.  You will use this to bake the scallops.  When the bacon is cool enough, crumble it into small pieces.

Drain the scallops in a sieve.  I have found that the water that comes from thawing scallops doesn't help cream sauces.  Put the scallops onto the tray with the remaining bacon grease.  Toss them in it, and then arrange them in a single layer.  Dust them with the Old Bay Seasoning.  Bake for 5 minutes.

By this time the pasta water should be boiling.  Add the fettuccini, and stir to keep it from sticking together.

Heat the roux pan on medium low, and stir in flour.  Cook, stirring often, for at least 5 minutes, 10 if you can bear it.  Keep stirring, though.  This is a white roux for a white sauce.

When the scallops are done, remove them from the oven.  Drain the excess bacon grease off of them.

When the roux is done, stir in 1/4 cup of the heated heavy cream, and then add the mixture to the sauce pan with the rest of the heavy cream.   Use a wire whisk to smooth the sauce.  When the sauce is hot and thickened, but not boiling, add the parmesan cheese 4 batches, stirring until smooth after each batch.

When the noodles are about a minute away from being done, add the scallops to the sauce, and the bacon.  Stir.

When the noodles are done, drain them.  Add sauce.  Sprinkle scallions over top.

Serves 4.