Crossing a Culinary Threshold

The truffle is one of several varieties of edible mushroom. Its culinary usage dates back to the early Roman Empire where they were considered a rare delicacy created when lightning struck warm, wet soil. Truffle hunting continued in Europe past the Fall of Rome with the wild mushroom gaining vast popularity among the aristocracy during the Renaissance. Resistant to cultivation efforts, pigs were used to sniff them out in the vast forests of Italy and France. The 18th century French lawyer and foodie Jean Anthelem Brillat-Savarin dubbed them "the diamond of the kitchen".  Now I know what all the fuss is about.

The Wegman's in Abingdon carries truffles. Sometime while I was in Italy, my counterpart decided that one day we would venture into this new world of true delicacies, price be damned. And the per pound price is pretty hefty - usually between $300-$600 per pound. But truffles are fairly light, and at the high end of the price spectrum, you can still get them for about $10 each. A little goes a long way, so one or two at a time should be sufficient.

Last night we took the plunge and have now joined the limited population who have had cooked with actual truffles. They are truly unique in flavor and texture. If saffron tastes like sunshine, truffles taste like the forest. They are dark and woody and bitter and add something mysterious to the food. I don't think they are ever the main course, but as a flavor enhancer, they are really quite amazing. For our first truffle experience, Gareth prepared duck breast and eggs with a hollandaise sauce. About half a truffle was grated into the eggs at the very end of cooking. While it was indeed superlative, we both agreed that perhaps eggs weren't the best vehicle for the truffle. We used up less than half of one of them, so we have plenty of opportunity to try again.

The price tag is a little intimidating.......

........But the actual cost per seems reasonable enough

Proper storage of truffles is important - rice absorbs the excess moisture

Pan-seared duck breast - my favorite

Reserve some of that nice duck jus to cook the eggs in

A little brie for the eggs

Lemon zest for the hollandaise

The finished sauce

Nice and rare - just the way I like it

Adding the truffles to the eggs

Dinner - cheffy eggs with brie and truffles, seared duck breast, sauteed leeks, and hollandaise sauce

What's New in Harbor East

With October's travels behind me, I started November by returning to my regular work routine only to discover that there had been some changes in the neighborhood. Before I left, the Curbside Cafe - home of the curried chickpea burrito bowl - had closed and The Silver Platter had re-invented itself to mixed reviews. GrrChe and Souper Freak had also made limited engagements and seem destine to never return again (they both set up shop on Fleet Street almost directly in front of one of the neighborhood's established restaurants. I posted a recommendation to go around the corner to Central Street to no avail). This week I discovered that The Silver Platter had broken camp altogether and had left their Central Street lot for Timonium. It appears that the Summer of the Food Truck in Harbor East has come to an end.

But all hope is not lost as two venues have expanded their offerings.

October 20 saw the opening of the long awaited Manchurian Rice Company Asian Grill. Located at 1010 Aliceanna, it occupies the space vacated by Harbor East News where I used to get my photography magazines. They offer a modest selection of Chinese take-out with the claim that each order is fresh and made to order. After several days of soup and juice, I was feeling more like myself on Thursday, so I gave them a try.

The space is actually a two-story space with the counter, grill and a few seats on the first floor, and most of the seating upstairs. And the grill is not actually a grill, but a line of about half a dozen woks with their own individual heat source and water tap. And the food really is made to order. The area is open so you can watch them if you like. There is also a television showing Asian game shows, a nice touch and bizarrely entertaining.

Also behind the counter is the welcome, smiling face of the proprietor of the short-lived Elevation Burger franchise in the neighborhood and the Harbor East Deli currently in its place. With a wide variety of pizza and sandwiches, he brought a staple of the America culinary scene to us in a straight-forward, no-nonsense manner that is much appreciated in an area known for its pretension (many of us remember when it was a vacant field strewn with broken bottles and used paraphernalia and now every restaurant around here is gourmet dining.). His deli and pizzeria has the liquor license he wanted for his Elevation Burger location and has become quite the after work hang out as well. What he did for pizza, he appears to be trying to do for Chinese take-out, another one of America's dietary cornerstones. I always find it easy to trust a restaurateur with one successful endeavor to his credit, especially one who seems to enjoy what he is doing.

This week, I selected what looked to be the spiciest dish on the menu - Topan Shrimp with white rice. It's interesting to note that white rice is free, but fried rice and lo mien are upgrades and are priced as such. I am a fan of neither. I also got a side of the Crab Rangoon, my litmus test for Chinese. The shrimp was indeed hot. I grabbed some extra hot sauce to go but ended up not needing it. The sauce was spicy and rich with a slight flavor of rice wine, but just a little. The vegetables - carrots, onion, broccoli and cabbage - were cooked just enough so that there was still some crispness left in them. The mushrooms and shrimp were also still firm and not tough or chewy (or "swamped" as one of my professional friends says). The more I ate, the saltier it tasted, which is why it is nice to have white rice on the side. It's also where the Crab Rangoon came in handy, although these were sadly inferior to what I have been getting a Wok To Go. The wrapper was tough and the filling was thick and tasted more of cream cheese and barely of crab. Still, it helped absorb some of the salt from the shrimp and was an adequate complement.

The other opening is a new venture by the Bagby Restaurant Group, owners of another pizzeria - the Bagby Pizza Company located in the old Bagby Furniture Factory on Fleet Street. Their latest is the TenTen Bistro at 1010 Fleet Street in the former location of the Dutch Connection florist. I was their first take out customer.

If the guys at Harbor East Deli are unpretentious, the guys at the Bagby Restaurant Group are only slightly more so. Bagby Pizza emphasizes fresh, local, organic ingredients, and so does TenTen, although their menu is more focused on high-end salads and sandwiches (including a bistro burger and an interesting take on the cobb salad), plus a quiche of the day. They also have a full bar with a short list of designer cocktails developed by their bar master.

I ordered the crab cake with fries. It tasted broiled, not fried, and came on one of the best rolls I've had in Maryland. It was dense and chewy and very hearty and was the first time my crab cake has been paired with a roll that could support it. And the crab cake was thick and meaty with crab meat and very little spice or filler. It came with a couple of slices of plum tomato and a leaf of butter lettuce, both very good choices, plus a ramakin of mild horseradish sauce that was a fine partner to the sweet crab. The fries felt and tasted hand-cut. They were lightly dusted with Old Bay and not at all greasy.

I was satisfied with both lunches and an glad to see a couple of local teams expanding.

Topan Shrimp from Manchurian Rice Company with Crab Rangoon

Crab cake from TenTen Bistro with the saddest pickle ever served.