Bruno's Adobo - Thai Night - Jackson

Last Monday, I was on the prowl for something interesting for lunch and despite Jackson’s growth in culinary diversity in the past few years, interesting is not always readily available.  A busy work schedule added the difficulty of needing to stay near downtown so I turned to Facebook to see what Luis Bruno’s Adobo had for a lunch special. What was initially elation at the sight of a pad thai special turned into the crashing disappointment of arriving at Adobo to find the special was sold out. But there was a silver lining to this somewhat banal little tale, Luis, with the help of Su Kennedy, was planning a special Thai Night.

For those unfamiliar with Luis’ background in the Jackson culinary world, the man seems to be constantly on the move. From his eponymous restaurant in the French Quarter on Lakeland, Bruno moved to the position of personal chef to Governor Barbour to head chef for the Jackson Hilton to chef at the Museum of Art and now his restaurant on Roach Street. That little jaunt through history finished, let’s take a look at the meal for which I convinced Stephen to cheat on his successful Paleo diet.

The first part of this four course meal was the appetizers portion and it came with four choices: crispy sesame balls, kra thung thong (chicken curry and potato cups), sweet sticky rice with coconut shrimp, or roti. Rarely seen in Jackson, I went with the sweet sticky rice.

It’s certainly a departure from your average white rice.

All coconut and sugar, it was hard to discern the shrimp in this cup.

Like the rice in this foil cup, this black rice was served cold but kaffir lime leaves dominated the flavors in this serving.

Stephen was kind enough to let me take a few pictures and bites of his appetizer choice.

This was a well rounded curry flavor to this chicken curry but like my rice, it arrived at the table quite cold.

The second course was a choice of soup or salad and for both Stephen and me, the Thai wonton soup beat out the salad kheg.

Frankly I would be elated if this became a regular feature on the Adobo menu. Even without the Hoisin bbq pork and wonton, this broth was delightfully rich, silky, and imbued with a dense chicken flavor accented with hoisin sweetness.

Aside from the broth, the wontons were large and packed with ground pork while the hoisin pork was an extra meaty bonus.

With the entrée course, we could choose between khoa mok kai (rice biryani), hor mok (salmon), or khoa mun som tum (green papaya salad). Since this was a cheat night, Stephen went for the gusto and chose the khoa mok kai.

Saffron jasmine rice, chicken with five spice, turmeric, fried shallots, and raisins made for heady mix of flavors. While I couldn’t taste much five spice on the chicken, it was juicy and well cooked and paired beautifully with the sweetness of the jasmine rice. A sprinkling of the sweet chili and fish sauce condiment added just the right chili heat and salinity.

As good as Stephen’s biryani was, I think I came out ahead by choosing the som tum.

Bruno’s version had shredded green papaya, carrots, tomato, dried shrimp, lime juice, fish sauce, palm sugar, and thai chilies with a side of coconut rice.

Each bite of this salad was a balance of salty, sour, sweet, and spiciness with a hearty vegetal crunch for good measure. This was not a dish for those who dislike fish sauce but for me, the combination of green papaya, fish sauce, and chilies was sublime.

Although I was hoping for another portion of som tum, the next course was a green tea custard layered on a chiffon cake with sweet honey crème anglaise.

The best way I can think to describe this cake was lustrous and silky. Luis was happy to point out this cake had been cooked with a bain marie and it had the texture to prove it.

As good as the green tea flavor of the custard cake was, everyone was captivated by the lokk chupe. These treats were made from marzipan flavor bean paste and they were , clichéd as it sounds, almost too pretty to eat.

Despite a bit of a slipup with the first course, Luis Bruno and Su Kennedy were firing on all cylinders for their special Thai night. As a parting gift, there was even the assurance that a few of these dishes will make it onto the regular Adobo menu. I suppose I’ll wait to see if that comes to fruition before I write a full review of Adobo but in the meantime, I’ll try not to miss any more of Luis Bruno’s special nights at Adobo.

Bruno’s Adobo Address & Information

127 South Roach Street, Jackson, MS 39201 // Bruno’s AdoboFacebook // Bruno’s Adobo Menu

Cardamom Hill - Atlanta

Despite its bounty of spices, regional variety, and cross cultural interpretations, Indian food or the more readily available Anglicized version is rarely my first choice for a meal. Although an episode of Top Gear will occasionally put me in the mood for a chicken curry with plenty of Glaswegian gravy, I tend to stay farther east for my Asian cuisines. However, this is no denying the allure of a well fried piece of chicken and it is fried chicken that brought me to Cardamom Hill in the first few days of 2013.

As I understand the story, Chef Asha Gomez began the Spice Route Supper Club in 2010 which led to acclaim for her Kerala fried chicken at The Atlanta Food and Wine Festival and ultimately the opening of Cardamom Hill in early 2012. (For more in depth background stories, Kessler, Lauterbach, and Foodie Buddha are fine sources). But before focusing on the influence of coconut oil on Cardamom Hill’s most popular dish, there was the matter of pork vindaloo and bhajia.

First, the bhajia, a sweet potato and onion fritter with tamarind sauce and a fruit salad.

Not quite the loose bundle of fried rings onion bhaji that I was expecting, these bhajia dense, a bit doughy, and packed with onion flavor.

Complimented by the tart tamarind dipping sauce, the onion and sweet potato were well balanced.

When I do make it an Indian restaurant, vindaloo curry is one of my top choices but this was my first time seeing pork as the feature ingredient.

Taking a bite of this vinegar laced pork and appam, I quickly realized this was unlike any vindaloo I had ever encountered.

Each piece of pork was exceedingly tender and carried a complex vinegar flavor with a chili laced tail that lingered but didn’t overwhelm.

As for the appam, the edges were divinely thin and crunchy and the sweetness of the rice-coconut crepe meshed well with the vindaloo.

Appetizers done, the entrees began with the star of the show, the Kerala-style fried chicken.

Beneath the thick and delightfully crunchy skin was a silky and moist chicken that was packed with a host of spices and flavors.

There was a definite heat to the chicken’s spice but nothing that clouded the other flavors, but what I did find surprising was how similar the taste of the skin was to the bhajia from earlier in the meal.

Described as the spiciest entrée on the menu, the spicy fish curry was, per our waiter, a golden pomme frite simmered in curry flavored with kodampulli.

According to the menu, kodampulli is a Kerala ingredient that is also known as Malabar smoked tamarind; there was plenty of slightly sour tamarind flavor in this curry.

The trickiest part of this entrée was the mix your own approach, but one awkward pour later, I was treated to a pleasant combination of tamarind sourness and budding chili heat.

One highlight was the vegetal crunch of the rice and vegetable thoran, but I did find the fish edging towards overcooked.

While the spicy fish curry may have been the hottest entrée on the menu, the hottest dish was by far the spicy green beans.

Besides a toothsome texture, these green beans were joined by a caramelized onion sweetness that gave way to a genuine heat that had me draining my water glass.

Far from being an authority on Karalan cuisine, I can’t attest to Chef Gomez and Cardamom Hill’s authenticity but I could well wax poetic on the bounty of spice and flavor combinations that I encountered during this meal. However, more to the point, Cardamom Hill is miles from your average strip mall house of curry and is worth a meal if only to try their fried chicken and the pork vindaloo.

Cardamom Hill Address & Information

1700 Northside Drive, Atlanta, GA 30318 // 404-549-7012 // Cardamom Hill Website // Cardamom Hill Menu // Cardamom Hill Reservations

El Barrio - Birmingham

If there was one thing I brought back from the wedding in Lexington, aside from a greater appreciation for Kentucky’s fine spirit, it was a recommendation for a new Birmingham lunch spot. By some curious twist of fate, one of the first people I met at the cocktail hour was a newly minted doctor who now calls Birmingham home. After whole heartedly agreeing that Frank Stitt did not have a bad restaurant in his lineup, we got down to the brass tacks of where else in Birmingham was worth a visit. Her first suggestion was El Barrio, a new Mexican restaurant with lines out the door. Fortunately, it was little more than a month later, while driving from Atlanta to Jackson for the holidays, that I had a chance to try El Barrio for lunch. It was time to see if Martha Mae’s recommendations were worth their salt.

Though it may well be far from authentic to any regional Mexican cuisine, there is no escaping the allure of chips and queso or, in this case, queso fundido with roasted peppers and chorizo.

Per the description, this queso fundido included tequila, goat cheese, and chipotle, but what I found was a thin and watery dip that had the flavors of cheese for a foundation but not much else.

There were a few precious pieces of chorizo bobbing in the dip but hardly enough to justify the extra cost.

For dipping, the tortilla chips were crispy but lacking even a dusting of salt.

Wanting to try at least one dish from the taco section of the menu, the al pastor taco fit the bill nicely.

Exceedingly tender, the pork was dominated by caramelized pineapple. 

While all the flavors were augmented by a squeeze of fresh lime, this was a fair taco that left me wanting more from the chili-marinated pork.

Being mid December in the South, there was a break in the summer weather and a little winter chill was gripping the region. Knowing that braised dishes are always good in fighting against the cold, one order of beef “barbacoa” was soon at my table.

Although listed as boneless short ribs, chorizo, white beans, ancho, and citrus on the menu, there were a few more items at work in this bowl.

One thing that stuck out with this “barbacoa” was the contrast in texture. The boneless short ribs fell apart at the slightest touch while the greens provided a vegetal crunch to each bite.

Aside from chalky and undercooked beans, there was the issue of the braising liquid. Even though it was densely flavored, this dish seemed to be verging on a beef and vegetable soup. A piece of the jalapeno cornbread would have been an apt solution but that was left to the pork chili verde.

Three dishes down and I was having second thoughts about Martha Mae’s lunch recommendation. While there were some well crafted flavors at work with the short ribs of the barbacoa, the taco al postor failed to make an impression, the queso fundido was a watery mess, and it’s hard to forgive the chalky texture of poorly cooked white beans.  By and large, I left El Barrio unimpressed and wishing that I had driven the few extra blocks to Stitt’s Chez Fon Fon. Maybe Martha Mae’s next recommendation will strike gold.

El Barrio Address & Information

2211 Second Avenue North, Birmingham, Al 35203 // 205.868.3737 // El Barrio Website // El Barrio Menu

Bar-B-Q Shop - Memphis

It was mid-November and there was just a taste of winter in the air when I left Nashville. Travelling southwards towards Jackson, I pulled into Memphis with bbq on my mind. As fate seemed to dictate, I was once again out of luck with Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous by virtue of their refusal to open for Monday lunch. Hoping to console myself with equally well-smoked pork, I pulled up the directions for Bar-B-Q Shop on Madison Avenue.

Why did I choose the Bar-B-Q Shop? The long answer, as you might expect, is that the name makes a consistent appearance in any Memphis bbq discussion. The short answer is that on my restaurant list for Memphis, Bar-B-Q Shop was the first one I hadn’t already tried. That out of the way, I took advantage of store front street parking and stepped into the burgundy colored rooms of the Bar-B-Q Shop.

Once my order had been placed, the first thing out the door was a bbq beef bologna sandwich.

As numerous bloggers have commented before me, the lightly browned Texas toast is a unique feature of Bar-B-Q Shop.

Between the Texas toast slices was a hearty slice of crispy edged bologna with plenty of cole slaw and bbq sauce for toppings.

The best feature of this bologna sandwich, by far, was the combination of textures; from the silky emulsified interior of the bologna to the pepper laced and chunky crunch of the cole slaw, the sandwich was brought full circle with the mustard and vinegar twang of bbq sauce on top.

I was barely two bites into the first half of my bologna sandwich when the star of the lunch hour arrived, the Bar-B-Q Shop special.

A small mountain of meat, the half wet, half dry portion of ribs in the middle was flanked by chopped pork on one side and brisket on the other.

Starting with the chopped pork, this was a welcome portion of well smoked and still juicy chopped shoulder.

There was the odd dry piece scattered in the pile, but drizzle of bbq sauce on top covered any faults and complimented the smoky richness of the pork quite well.

The brisket was a separate story. It’s been a few months since I ordered this plate and I can’t quite remember why I chose bbq brisket as one of the plate components. I can only say that it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Finely chopped, overdone, and with a dry texture, this brisket was poor on its own but it went downhill when mixed with the bbq sauce. Eerily reminiscent of ketchup, this bbq sauce and brisket combination is one best left untouched.

With the chopped pork and brisket tried, it was time to move along to the ribs, starting with the wet ribs.

Two ribs dry rub and two ribs wet with sauce, just enough to get a taste of the two styles.

It took a nice tug before the ribs pulled apart but the effort was rewarded with a well-formed smoke ring. Texture wise these ribs were a little overdone but still had a silkiness that made me wish I had gone for a rack of ribs instead of the combo platter. When it came to the sauce, the thick tomato sauce seemed to do more to hamper the ribs’ flavor than help them.

Finished with the two wet ribs, the dry ribs, from a little farther down the rack, were a bit more fall of the bone tender.

Another dose of smokiness and that hard earned smoke ring worked beautifully with the salty and sweet dry rub. Pleasantly reminiscent of the bottom of a bag of bbq chips, the captivating flavors of the dry rub made it clear which part of this four component platter reigned supreme.

Hoping to take full advantage of my relatively rare trips to Memphis, there was one last part of this meal, an order of bbq spaghetti.

After trying it several times before, I’ve never been completely sold on the idea of bbq spaghetti and this example didn’t make a very good pitch.

Essentially a bowl of completely overcooked noodles, a fair amount of chopped pork, some sauce, and enough grease to start a fire, this was an oily and generally unpleasant end to the meal.

With my leftovers packed in Styrofoam and my bill paid, I had at least three hours ahead of me, plenty of time to reflect on what Bar-B-Shop had to offer. However, before I walked out the door, I knew one thing was far certain, the brisket and bbq spaghetti were the glaring exceptions to an otherwise immensely satisfying bbq lunch. With the brisket, these bad experiences happen far too often but I keep hoping I’ll find quality bbq brisket outside of Texas. As for the spaghetti, this is the third version I’ve tried and I still can’t see the appeal to a bowl of limp noodles, grease, and a few pork pieces for consolation. Outside of those two letdowns, Bar-B-Shop puts out a fine bologna sandwich and dry rub ribs that are worth a second visit if not a third as well. While I may not get to Memphis terribly often, until the planets align and I’m there when Rendezvous is open, Bar-B-Q Shop will be a serious contender for a rib-centric bbq lunch.

Bar-B-Q Shop Address & Information

1782 Madison Ave. Memphis, TN 38104 // 901.272.1277 // Bar-B-Q Shop Website // Bar-B-Q Shop Facebook

Cooking the Book - The Soup Peddler's Slow and Difficult Soups - Hungarian Goulash

For reasons quite unknown to me, I have a great affinity for cooking seasonal foods very much out of season. The glowing July sun can be roasting every one of us poor Mississippians and I will inevitably decide that it’s a good night for stick to your ribs beef stew or that everyone needs to break a sweat leaning over the steaming nabe for a shabu shabu feast. I like to imagine that it’s wishful thinking and by preparing wintery foods that the heat will soon disappear and a bone chilling wind will takes its place. Fortunately, when it comes to summer foods in winter my good sense typically prevails as there are few things as insipid as a winter tomato. However, with February drawing to a close and one last good week of tweedy weather in the forecast, I decided that it was time to cook seasonally for a change and began looking for soups and stews.

Although my bookshelves are beginning to groan under the weight of my cookbook collection, I don’t have many books that are dedicated to soups. While there are soup recipes dotting many tables of contents, I haven’t had that much success in finding truly satisfactory soup cookbooks. David Ansel’s The Soup Peddler’s Slow & Difficult Soups is a potential exception. After finding the title in an old Chowhound thread, I bought a copy and have enjoyed pretty favorable responses to his recipe for Chao Tom but for this weekend, I skipped the shrimp and fish sauce and went straight for the Hungarian Goulash.

While combing the pantry and spice drawers for the necessary ingredients, I couldn’t remember ever eating goulash, or at the very least one with a distinct caraway seed flavor. Mulling that over, it didn’t take long to prepare the mise-en-place and soon I was ready to begin.

-1 ½ pounds chuck cut into 1 inch cubes (Ansel calls for stew meat but I try to stay away from mystery meat packages)

-1/4 cup ap flour

-3 tbs vegetable oil

-3 tbs sweet paprika

-2 onions sliced lengthwise into quarter moons

-3 tsp dried marjoram

-8 cups water

-6 oz can tomato paste

-3 potatoes diced

-1 ½ tsp caraway seed

-salt

-egg noodles for serving

Fortunate for timing and unfortunate for pictures, I took Ansel’s advice and used a pressure cooker for this recipe. That aside, it’s a fairly straightforward recipe.

1. Coat the beef in the flour, heat the oil over medium-high heat and sauté the beef for roughly 10 minutes

2. Scrape the fond to ensure that it doesn’t burn and then sprinkle the paprika over the meat. Sauté the meat and paprika for roughly five minutes and be sure to add extra oil if the meat begins to stick.

3. Add the onions, two teaspoons of marjoram, stir and add water to cover.

4. Stir in the tomato paste. I found this more difficult than it should have been. My advice is to fill a small bowl with the goulash liquid, add the tomato paste, and stir until dissolved. Without that step, I spent far too long making sure the tomato paste was incorporated and not forming a clump at the bottom of the pot.

5. At this point you can either bring things to a simmer, cover and simmer for an hour or do what I did and put the pressure cooker lid on, bring to pressure and have a drink for the next 20-25 minutes.

6. Release the pressure completely, remove the lid, add the potatoes, remaining marjoram, caraway and the rest of the water. Bring everything to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are easily pierced with a sharp knife.

7. Season to taste with salt, simmer and serve over egg noodles.

Just how did this first batch of goulash turn out?

The answer is a little spicier than I expected.

Scrounging through my spices, I found that I didn’t have enough sweet paprika to cover the recipe requirements. Not wanting to miss the chili flavor, I used Spanish smoked to fill out the three tablespoons. That decision made a very forward flavor that went straight to my nose.

Although I enjoyed the tender beef, paprika spice, and the unmistakable flavor of caraway, I was surprised at the watery consistency of the stew. While I would have preferred a thicker result, it was still a peppery and meaty remedy for the February cold. As for Ansel’s book, the stories of his Austin neighborhood alone make the book worth buying but I’m not 100% satisfied with his recipes so far. However with only goulash and chao tom under my belt, I still have more than 30 slow and difficult recipes to go. I’ll need to try a few more before this can become my go to soup book