Attack of the Killer Strawberries

You know, as much as I respect and admire and have stuck up for Alice Waters, I'm not exactly what you'd call dogmatic when it comes to buying our edibles only from local "producers." After all, if you wanna use Spanish olive oil, or Greek feta cheese, or French mustard, or Italian prosciutto or any of a million other delicious products, you're basically throwing the whole locavore schtick under the bus, aren't you?

Oh sure, in season I go crazy...coming home from the farmer's market with more locally grown and produced stuff than 2 people could possibly eat (even if one of them is Significant Eater), before my next shopping binge. But there's also stuff we want to eat when it's not in season locally, and strawberries happen to be one of those things.

Trust me, I get strawberries locally when they're available at the farmer's market...tri-star berries are the berries which get everyone excited - and any menu worth it's fleur-de-sel will have a tri-star berry dessert on it come strawberry season in these parts. Creative chefs will probably even have some on their non-dessert menus, and I can hardly wait.

I can find some pretty tasty berries from my local guy-on-the-corner-with-fruit stand, when they first come in season and are shipped up from Florida. I don't know what variety they are, but they're usually very sweet, smell great and actually taste like strawberries. A few weeks later they're not as good, but still, we like strawberries and they make a decent sorbet (with a little kick from Framboise or Kirsch or something similar). Oh, and they're coming in from Mexico and California instead of Florida, and maybe that has something to do with it.

Just the other day, I happened to see that corner-guy had some nice looking California berries at his stand - they smelled good too, which sometimes can be an indicator of how they might taste...but not always. So I took some home and now I'm wondering what the hell they grow these things in - because I've never seen berries that look like this...

In this picture, they don't look so freakish - they look pretty good, as a matter of fact. But, they're huge - on the scale these two berries weigh almost 5 ounces! Take a look at them next to a good size clove of garlic...

That probably doesn't worry you so much...how's this, though, next to a medium size onion...

Or near a couple of fingerling potatoes...

Yes, they're bigger than the potatoes. They even dwarf the potatoes...but maybe that's because the potatoes are grown locally? (By the way, the potatoes were delicious cooked in duck fat, but that's another blog).

Anyway, don't you wonder what they're using in that soil out in California when you get a strawberry that big? Alice I'm sure does - oh, face it - I'm sure she'd never serve berries like those in her restaurants.

The upshot: they didn't taste half bad once you've trimmed away the core and all the other cottony weirdness that's inside. For the rest of the season, though, I think I'll wait for the tri-stars.

Painkiller Opens - Trader Vic Lives On

Welcome to the neighborhood our new tiki bar, called Painkiller. Located right next to the Pickle Guys on Essex Street, in a space formerly occupied by the East Side Company Bar, Painkiller will help you do just that. Kill the pain, that is. Especially if you love tiki drinks...and who doesn't? For now, the menu is a simple placemat, no prices listed and picturing some tiki classics...

Even if you don't love a Mai Tai, or love a Zombie, or love any of the other delicious rum based concoctions the talented team of mixologists at Painkiller are stirring, shaking and blending, I also noticed gin, whisk(e)y, vermouth et al. on the back bar, so have no fear. Well, that is, unless you fear what rum at 151 proof might leave you feeling like (don't worry, you can only have one - that's a house rule).

Behind the stick you're likely to find Giuseppe Gonzalez and Richie Boccato, two fine tenders whose names are known to most anyone who has followed the resurgence of fine cocktail establishments in our city. Last night, which happened to be opening night, Mr. Gonzalez mixed up a delicious Martinique daiquiri for me, a variation on the classic daiquiri made with rhum agricole and maraschino and topped it off with freshly grated nutmeg; needless to say, it went down easily...

Daiquiri flights, scorpion bowls, swizzles, painkillers and drinks served in frozen pineapple shells were everywhere. And from what I could tell from checking out the happy crowd, everyone else's drinks went down as easily as mine.

Happy As A Clam

The other day, for the first time this year (bows head in shame), I got over to the green market at Union Square, one of my favorite food shopping destinations. As a matter of fact, I even walked both ways, combining exercise (a not favorite thing) with food shopping (a favorite).

While the market is not yet in full-speed ahead spring vegetable mode, there was plenty to be had...ramps (duh), asparagus, fingerling potatoes, greens of any and every sort, radishes up the kazoo, and some beautiful seafood from a favored Long Island fisherman. And in addition to a few scallops (simply pan-fried) and a pound of sweet squid (stir-fried with the aforementioned asparagus and ramps), I also picked up a healthy bagful of these beauties, freshly dug littlenecks...

Now, you can have Manila clams, or you can have Mahogany clams or you can certainly have those tiny, little clams they sell in Chinatown (feh), but to my taste there is nothing quite as delicious as a littleneck. Of course, if you're in Venice, the tiny clams they use to make pasta con vongole are amazing, but we're not in Italy right now, so...littleneck it is.

Provided they're stored properly, hard-shell clams will last quite a few days in the fridge...especially when they're as fresh as these. By stored properly, I mean in a bowl (even better, in a colander over a bowl) covered with a wet towel, topped by ice (I use blue ice - no melting) and in the coldest part of your fridge. Check 'em daily and rewet that towel - it will dry out in the fridge - and throw out any gaping clams. Even on the 3rd day after I'd bought them, not a single one of these clams was bad - and it was time to cook.

I only wanted something simple, easy and quick...oh, and that had pork in it, too. A classic combo on the Iberian peninsula, pork and shellfish go really well with each other. Since I had a couple of links of Spanish chorizo in the fridge, that was going to be my pork, so I sliced one of the links into rounds. I slowly cooked the chorizo in a tablespoon of olive oil, and added a chopped up clove of garlic after the chorizo had softened. Once the garlic was beginning to color, I added 1/2 cup of dry white wine, reduced that, then added a cup of chopped tomatoes -(canned San Marzano's, if you must know), a handful of chopped parsley and about 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Salt and pepper too, but be careful with the salt; clams have some of their own.

Let it simmer, uncovered, for a good 10 - 15 minutes, taste it, and if it tastes good, time to add the clams, which by now you've washed and scrubbed well; I suppose if you're really neurotic you've soaked the clams in a bowl of salt water overnight in the fridge with the hope of purging them of any sand inside. I never do as I find it unnecessary with hard shells like litttlenecks. Soft-shells, steamers, surf and razor clams are a whole other story.

Anyway, add the clams, turn the heat up to medium or medium high, cover the pan and wait. Give the clams a good stir after 2 minutes or so and after another 2 - 3 minutes, check and stir again. If they've started opening, it's time to take out the open ones, recover, and check again in another minute. Remove them as they open , otherwise they'll overcook and you'll be eating rubber. After a good 10 minutes, any that haven't opened probably won't, so toss those. It's worth noting that I have yet to get a single clam that didn't open from the vendors at the green market.

Once cooked, the clams will have released a lot of juice so reduce the sauce a bit and taste for salt, pepper, heat, whatever. Once it's to your liking, pour the sauce over the clams, throw some more parsley on top and serve with a spoon and some bread. A salad on the side can't hurt either, nor will an ice cold beer or a glass of dry white - like the wine you used for the clams. Enjoy.


Littleneck Clams with Chorizo

2 - 3 dozen littleneck clams, scrubbed clean
4 oz. chorizo, cut into rounds
1 T olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup high quality canned tomatoes (fresh ones in the summer), diced
1/4 cup parsley, minced
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method above. Serves 2 as a main course, 4 - 6 as an appetizer.
Easily doubled.