America's Best Restaurants

 America is both a gourmand and foodie country.It's no wonder that we're home to some of the best restaurants. They're in the big cities. They grace small towns. They could be in your neighborhood. The bottom line is they offer delicious and memorable dishes.

Today's Wednesday's New York Times  Food section put out this fascinating guyide that not only mentions eateries in the US's big cities but smaller towns as well. Regular contributers such as Priya Krishna, Brett Anderson ,Kim Severson and Pete Wells to name a few. some are in big cities like Bonnies which is a favorite of Mr. Wells. Their specialty is Cantonese and Chef Calvin Eng adds American influences to his dishes like his salt and pepper squid with a hinese ranch dressing.Another Manhattan eatery  worth noting is Little Mad reviewed by Nikita Richardson. Its' highlight recipe is it' galbi, Korean grilled ribs. The city also offers The Musket Room which borrows ideas from everywhere from Spain to Lebanon to Japan. Los Angeles is another gourmand city. It has Here's Looking At You, which is favorite of contributor Tejal Rao. its' famous for its' frogs legs with salsa negra,LA. also is home to a fan favorite Kato which features Chef Jon Yao's Tainwanese dishes and tasty cocktails. Yes there are Chicago restuarants such as Dear Margaret which features the rare French Canadian menu. There is no poutine, that famed French fries and cheese dish. Instead Chefs Ryan Brousseau and lacey irby have created a smooth duck liver pate graced with pink lemon marmalade.

Smaller cities are also represented. Junco,Puerto Rico,a small town has Bacoa Finco + Fogon which features a rustic setting and good food. There is grilled shrimp over fideua with a crispy bottom. Way further north is Cafe Mutton located in Hudson New York, a bit south of Albany.It's a down home kid of place thanks to chef Shaina Loew -Bayanan's easy laid back style. You can try their fried  bologna or crepes with maple syrup.Arlington Texas has the famed Smoke "N Ash BBQ that's a fusion of Texas barbecue with Ethiopian fare thanks to owners Patrick and Fasicka Harris.Berbere spices are mixed into a spicy sauce called awaze and lacquered on brisket. Florida's sunny Coral Gables has Zitz Sim an interesting fusion eatery that Clumbian born Pablo Zitzman created. He grew up loving dim sum and teppnyaki restaurants in his native Columbia. His menu reflects it along with South Florida influences  with a guava hoisin slathered on brisket. ashland Oregon, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival offers Mas , a Japanese inspired menu with what Chef Josh dorcak calls Cascadian cuisine featuring the best of the region.

America is a food and foodie country. There are many great restuarants in this country. Check out the New York Times and visit one for a fun fall destination.

Gator Anyone

 Mention alligator at a tailgating party and people will automatically think of a mascot. Yet at Louisiana ones it means the main meat on the barbecue menu. It's usually served when Lousiana and Florida college go against each other on the football field. It's not hot dogs and burgers but it is supposed to be tasty.

Christina Morales, a new and regular contributor to the Wednesday New York Times Food section wrote about this Southern staple in today's issue.It actually started as a tease when Louisiana State University or LSU fought against the University of Florida Gators team twelve years ago. Now this is standard despite it being cruel. Tailgaters either bring ones they've caught or ones they've bought at an alligator farm!! The reptile can be char grilled, blackened, fried, stewed or even roasted whole, the last being done on a rotisserie powered by a windshield wiper motor. everyone always what the meat tastes like? Chicken. It has the taste and even the texture of it.It is a white , tender flesh that is usally brined

Many tailgaters also douse the gators with beer for more flavor. It has always been a food source in The Bayou state.The story started with the Indigenous tribe the Coushatas from the southwestern part of the state. They found a gator stuck in a hole of a dried up pond. The creature asked to be placed in a nearby rivet and would reward them, according to Eli Langley a tribal story teller for the Coushatas.

Of course the reward was its' meat. The Chitimacha People, another southwestern Louisiana tribe ate the meat fried in bear grease according to Chitimacha the tribal historic preservation officer Kimberly Walden.The gators were a convenient food source, being so large.They even provided a French government officials with an alligator feast. for the following Cajuns and Creoles the swamps became a pantry. If they killed it , they ate it according to Louisiana chef and cookbook writer John Foise. Now gator meat is served in a variety of ways at different local restaurants. At Prejean's  a Lafayette Louisiana eatery serve gator legs . They're marinated in buttermilk for three hours , then breaded and fried like chicken wings. Roux 61 in Baton Rouge goes for the more unusual. They blacken the meat and put into into spicy tacos. They gave the recipe to the article. If you're wondering where to get gator meat , especially in the New York area,  there are specialty butchers who do sell it. Try Wild Fork Farms or The Louisiana Crawfish Company which also sells turtle meat and crawfish too.

Alligators do make for an interesting meal.  They have a mild tasting meat, perfect for a host of different recipes. However it is cruel to eat them, farmed or otherwise. 

 

A Chef In The wild

You can't find many chefs in the wild. Maybe in a controlled grove or two hunting down truffles but never fully in a forest. Yet that's where chef Iliana Regan could be, somewhere in  northern Michigan. Is this usual?  For this unusual chef yes.

Kin Severson went to this beautifully wild area for an interview with chef Regan for today's New York Times Food section. This is an area located on Michigan's Upper peninsula in Hiawatha National Forest. It's not an area associated with fancy or trendy eateries and innovative chefs. Yet it 's a calming force in the chef's sometimes wild life and a quiet escape from her bad girl past. It's also a place where she can forage, something she's been doing since a child on her parents farm in Merrillville , Indiana, a farm region directly south of Gary Indiana, and Chicago. Both foraging and cooking could have been influenced by her parents, her father a steelworker who loved planting vegetables and her mother, a Gourmet magazine fan who made her own pasta. After a strange incident that involved a tornado, her father teaching to hunt for chanterelles and a child molester uncle Chef Regan  was introduced to cooking.She was saved from the uncle by a family friend while the mushrooms remained unharmed. Her father brought her into the kitchen sat her down on a stool and taught her to cook the chanterelles with red wine and butter. That was the deciding point that she go into cooking. She has no formal training. She worked in small town restaurants. Chef Regan did go to college, studying chemistry at Indiana University , Bloomfield but then found it wasn't for her.

Chef Regan wanted to write. She received a creative writing degree from Columbia College in Chicago. She also worked at restaurants between classes, eventually landing at job at Trio for famed Chicago chef, Grant Achatz. In 2008 she began selling food she made , including her butter infused beet pierogies which won her acclaim from Chicago Magazine. Two years later she started an underground restaurant and also in her apartment. Fans urged her to open a legit one, Elizabeth named for a beloved sister that died during a night in jail. Elizabeth is an expensive eatery with themed menus inspired by such shows as "Stranger Things" and "Game Of Thrones" . The last she pored through all five books , highlighting every food reference. She also opened up and then quickly closed Bunny The Micro Bakery and Kitsune, a mash up of Japanese cuisine and the American Midwest. Now there is Milkweed a B&B Chef Regan operates with her wife , Anna. It's limited lodging with only three rooms however visitors can also rent the tiny Airstream trailer that the couple took around the country in 2018 to cook pop up dinners. There's also a platform tent guests can rent too. Of course all food is foraged and cooked by Chef Regan and she was already cooking wall eyed trout at .

Chef Regan is a new kind of chef, incorporating foraging into her cooking. It's an ancient way of connecting the kitchen and land. The result is interesting and fresh dishes in a delicious and innovative way.

Make The Perfect Steak

Every steak lover wants the steakhouse version of their favorite meat - even at home.They are usually disappointed however and wonder why their cut is does not have a oozy pink interior and seared brown crust.However that's about to change.Anyone can create the perfect steak.It simply takes a pan, some salt and the right cut of beef. Julia Moskin has solved this in her extensive article in Wednesday's Dining section in today's issue of The New York Times.Even she ,with her experience and know how, had trouble creating the perfect steak.Later with advice and experimentation ,she gave her family a dish worth of any Manhattan chop house.The first step is getting advice from a butcher and a second or third generation one at that too.They know meat and what cuts work .Suggestions are looking for a cut that is marbled, that is laced with creamy veins of fat.Try to buy the USDA Prime.The types to look for are a New York or Kansas City strip.You could also buy flat iron,chuck and boneless rib eye.You could also try skirt ,flank and hanger,They will be naturally chewier than the other cuts but tender when sliced with the meat's grain.Another component in creating the perfect steak is having the perfect pan.Always use a cast iron one.It has depth and is perfect for quick pan frying. The last component in creating a mouth watering steak is the preparation.Raw steaks should be patted dry with paper towels.Afterwards line a plate with more paper towels.Place meat on top of them to dry further.Now place a heavy skillet on a medium flame, lightly sprinkling table salt (not sea) on the pan's surface.Resist the urge to add butter or olive oil.Doing this won't add to the meat's flavor or improve the cooking.By now your skillet should be smoking hot .Cook steak till sizzling for one minute.Using tongs, flip it over , moving it around the pan so both sides are evenly salted.Keep cooking and flipping every thirty seconds.NOw is the time to add an extra pinch of salt along with pepper.Stop cooking when the meat has contracted in size and has developed a nice brown crust.The meat's texture should be springy not mushy.You can insert a meat thermometer if you want.Now transfer the steak to a cutting board and tent with aluminum foil for five extra minutes.You can serve the cuts in thickly sliced pieces or whole.Remember when slicing to cut away from you body.If you have a flank steak cut with the grain. Surprisigly it doesn't take much to create a perfect chop house steak. You just need only two or three ingredient,starting with right cut of meat.If you have that then you've on the path to creating a memorable steak dinner.