Innehållsförteckning för September 2017 från Bon Appetit

DESAYUNO Güero in Portland, OR, produces the perfect spicy mouthful of braised beef and pickled jalapeños. JERSEY SUB SPECIAL The exemplary version from Seattle’s Mean Sandwich layers salami, capocollo, and ham on a seeded roll. EGGPLANT SANDWICH Smearing tangy tomato jam on charred eggplant at Res Ipsa in Philly gives this combo a piquant flavor. FRIED BOLOGNA Bucktown in Providence, RI, covers this throwback in melted American and piles it on a potato roll.…

I’M PRETTY good about getting rid of clutter, but I admit freely to hoarding peakseason fruit. This is particularly true when it comes to plums, which you should eat only when they are peaking, plentiful, and widely available in many varieties. Since I was a kid, I’ve always preferred plums that were ripe but firm, with just the slightest crunch when bitten into. Now that I’m an adult (and overambitious farmers’ market shopper), the panic induced by overstocking has led me to find ways to cook them. I appreciate their sweet but brightly acidic flavor, which suits them for both sweet and savory dishes. —CARLA LALLI MUSIC “There are also hybrid types, like Pluots and Peacotums, which you could use in any of these recipes. If it looks like a plum,…

1-GO HALFSIES Place a rack in the lowest position in your oven and preheat to 425°. Halve 2 lb. small Yukon gold potatoes lengthwise. Potatoes about 2" long will yield the ideal ratio of browned surface to creamy interior. 2-JUST ADD WATER Arrange potatoes, cut side down, on a large rimmed baking sheet, spacing evenly. Pour in 1½–2 cups water—enough to cover the surface in a thin layer but not so much that it spills the second you move the sheet. 3-SEAL TO STEAM Cover baking sheet with a double layer of foil, crimping sides very tightly to seal well. This will trap in steam and prevent water from sloshing out if you accidentally jostle the sheet. 4-BAKE AND TEST Bake until a fork or a skewer slides easily through…

→ I REMEMBER the exact moment I was introduced to the Benriner mandoline, a.k.a. the tool that changed the way I cook. I was 16, cooking on the line alongside a much wiser cook named Tamar Adler (who went on to write An Everlasting Meal). After spooning warm brandade onto toast, she pulled out her plastic, mint-green mandoline and slid a fennel bulb against the blade. The bulb gave way immediately into feathery, sheer wisps—the visual and textural topper I didn’t even know the dish needed. A decade, five restaurants, and three test kitchens later, I can say without a doubt that, after my chef’s knife, the mandoline is the tool I reach for most. With a swipe against the blade, vegetables that are otherwise a pain to prep turn…

Ahi Poke at MW Restaurant For a casual lunch, chunks of succulent tuna get paired with spicy Korean pickles, crispy mochi balls, and cucumber-studded quinoa. Fried Soft-Shell Crab Poke at Da Hawaiian Poke Co. The piping-hot crustacean has been fried to order. It’s served with extras like kimchi cucumbers and potato salad; try it with a side of seaweed. Aku Limu Poke at Tamashiro Market Aku, a fattier alternative to traditional ahi, is crowned with limu seaweed at this seafood market. Every bite tastes like the ocean! Hamachi Poke at Tamura’s Wine & Liquors This liquor store is as beloved for its take-out poke counter as its unrivaled booze selection. Pair this yellowtail with a Longboard lager. Abalone Poke with Pork at Alicia’s Market Plate lunches are popular here, but…

I DON’T OWN A SINGLE piece of Cubs paraphernalia. I don’t have Chicago’s fourstar flag tattooed on my forearm. I don’t care if you put ketchup on a hot dog. But there’s one thing from my hometown that I will absolutely go to bat for, and here it is: Chicago is clearly America’s most exciting city to eat in right now. As a Chicago native who covered the city’s food scene for years as a local restaurant critic, I’m obligated to tell you that my hometown has always been able to hold its own against the best food cities in the country. But I can’t remember a time that I’ve been as psyched to eat there as I’ve been this year. Where other cities fall into soulless trend cycles, Chicago…

“We go to great lengths to dry-age our prime rib because the quality of the meat is just as important as the technique you use to cook it.” —JOSHUA SMOOKLER, CHEF AND OWNER, MU RAMEN “My mom grew up between Taipei and Oxford, so prime rib was a big part of her life. And then mine. Serving it at my restaurant is my way of sharing those memories with others.” —ANGIE MAR, THE BEATRICE INN TAkЄ IT FROM MiMI SHӘRATON, SHE'S BEЄN EATiNG PRiMӘ RiB fOR 83 YӘARS… IF SOMEONE MENTIONS prime rib, I instinctively counter with “very rare, very thinly sliced,” and I might even add “please”—a reflex when ordering this kindest beef cut of all. Delighted by the current resurgence of prime rib in the face of vegan-vegetarian…

Don’t spend the entire meal with your face buried in your smartphone. —KRISTA KERN DESJARLAIS, The Purple House, North Yarmouth, ME Order something healthy. Craveable salads, wholesome entrées, and veggies that actually taste good are on menus everywhere now. —BROOKS REITZ, Little Jack’s Tavern, Charleston, SC Eat just enough. (I always order way too much food.) —BRANDON JEW, Mister Jiu’s, SF Seek out smaller places—50 seats or fewer—where the chef does the cooking. You should feel like you’re visiting a trusted friend in her home. —JOEY BALDINO, Palizzi Social Club, Philadelphia Chat with the chef after your meal so he or she can thank you for coming in. —CAROLINE GLOVER, Annette, Aurora, CO…

Black Plums These guys are on the slightly larger side, round, and sometimes even a bit squat. They have that biting skin in a deep purple that lends them their name. Their flesh is golden-hued and particularly sweet. Red Plums Similar to black plums, but they tend to be a bit tarter and have a deep rosy skin, with an ombré running from pink to golden on the inside. Italian Prune Plums Also known as Empress, these have an almond-shaped body that tapers at the end. They’re on the smaller side, hold up well, and the pit comes off the flesh easily, all of which makes them especially good for baking. Greengage Plums These ones are an almost luminescent green color from skin to flesh (sometimes you’ll see a purplish…

Apple Cider Doughnuts MAKES ABOUT 18 Let’s talk texture: Starting from the outside, each bite is a journey, from sweet sandy sugar through a burnished crusty surface into an airy, tender center. Bring it! 2 3" cinnamon sticks 3 cups apple cider ½ cup store-bought apple butter ½ cup buttermilk 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. kosher salt ¼ tsp. baking soda ¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg 1 tsp. plus 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon 3½ cups all-purpose flour,plus more for dusting 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter,room temperature ¼ cup (packed) light brown sugar 1¼ cups granulated sugar, divided 2 large eggs Vegetable oil (for frying;about 4 cups) SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: A 3."-diameter cutter, a 1."-diameter cutter, and a deep-fry thermometer Bring cinnamon sticks and apple cider…

WORKING IN A KITCHEN THAT DOESN’T HAVE ITS ACT together won’t doom your cooking. It will, however, make you a little sad. That doesn’t mean that in order to make decent food at home you need a fully outfitted showroom (like what I imagine Daniel Boulud or Martha Stewart have at their houses) or a state-ofthe art professional setup (like the basement of the big fancy restaurant in Manhattan where I toiled away subterraneanly until not so long ago). My kind of upgrade is less showy and way more useful. Stocking your joint with the following tools will, you know, just make life easier. NONSTICK COOKING SPRAY While working at the big fancy restaurant, I developed an insatiable appetite for Pam. The spray both sticks and releases, a paradoxical miracle…

TRAVEL PLANNER R.S.V.P. pp. 16–22 FLORA BAR 945 Madison Ave., NYC; 646-558-5383; florabarnyc.com HART’S 506 Franklin Ave., Brooklyn; 718-636-6228; hartsbrooklyn.com KISMET 4648 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles; 323-409-0404; kismetlosangeles.com MAMALEH’S 1 Kendall Sq., Cambridge, MA; 617-958-3354; mamalehs.com STARTERS pp. 25–50 BASTION 434 Houston St., Nashville; 615-490-8434; bastionnashville.com DESTROYER 3578 Hayden Ave., Culver City, CA; destroyer.la THE GRILL 99 E. 52nd St., NYC; 212-375-9001; thegrillnewyork.com LIL’ DEB’S OASIS 747 Columbia St., Hudson, NY; 518-828-4307; lildebsoasis.com PLEASE 1405 Clay St., Cincinnati; 513-405-8859; pleasecincinnati.com THE RIDDLER 528 Laguna St., San Francisco; 415-741-1729; theriddlersf.com SINGLE THREAD 131 North St., Healdsburg, CA; 707-723-4646; singlethreadfarms.com WHITFIELD 120 S. Whitfield St., Pittsburgh; 412-626-3090; whitfieldpgh.com CITY GUIDES: HONOLULU pp. 89–94 AHI ASSASSINS FISH CO. 2570 S. Beretania St.; 808-439-4045; ahiassassins.com AJI LIMO TRUCK 57-512 Kamehameha Hwy., Haleiwa; 808-364-4023; ajilimotruck.com…

TOAST For breakfast, sprinkle them over an open-face sandwich to give creamy avocado slices or hard-boiled eggs some crunch. STEW Impart a deep flavor to beef stew and curry by stirring in the seeds with their oil before portioning into bowls. TOMATO SALAD Just before serving, use the seeds to garnish fresh beefsteaks. Their spicy kick complements the fruit’s tanginess and adds great texture. CREAMY DRESSING Whisk them into yogurt or coconut sauce to balance the fat. An added bonus: The dark speckles look cool swirled into milky liquid.…

Special Restaurant Issue Edition! Everything but the Food There’s so much more to a meal than what’s on your plate, from servers’ baller Tom Ford tuxes (yes, really) to plates as pretty as the food that’s served on them. We look at all that goes into the restaurant experience right now LOVE LETTER 1 Bucket List At The Riddler, Jen Pelka has a vintage Champagne bucket collection as strong as her wine list ⊲ When I decided to open a Champagne bar, I really doubled down on collecting buckets for serving. Most places buy off-the-shelf ice buckets, and that can be pretty uninspiring. The Riddler [in SF] is small, loud, and, in many ways, casual, so I want something that, like Champagne, makes a regular Tuesday afternoon feel like a…

Tomato-Lemon Tart Preheat oven to 375°. Roll out 1 thawed sheet frozen puff pastry (one 14-oz. package or half of a 17.3-oz. package) on a sheet of lightly floured parchment paper to a large rectangle measuring about 15x10". Prick pastry in several places with a fork, leaving a 1" border around the edges, then slide parchment paper onto a rimmed baking sheet. Combine 1 finely grated garlic clove and 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a small bowl and brush pastry with garlic oil, staying within border. Thinly slice 1 lemon into rounds (a mandoline works great) and remove seeds. Arrange lemon in a single layer over pastry. Scatter torn basil leaves on top. Slice 1 lb. ripe tomatoes (about 3 medium) ¼" thick; pat dry with paper towels. Arrange tomatoes…

MY SIX-YEAR-OLD, Simone (whom we affectionately call Neen), is an especially picky eater. But if there’s one thing she’s guaranteed to scarf down, it’s waffles. The idea to put corn in her waffles came to me after picking up an abundance of ears from the farmers’ market. I didn’t want a waffle with a hint of corn— I wanted one jam-packed with delicious end-of-summer kernels. I sweetened the deal with an agave-and-strawberry sauce. First, I hulled and sliced 1 lb. strawberries, then I put ¾ cup agave in a medium saucepan and brought it to a boil over medium-low heat. As soon as it started to boil, I removed it from the heat, stirred in half of the berries (and saved the rest for serving) and a pinch of kosher…

BEFORE EVERY MAJOR U.S. CITY GOT A POKE SPOT, sushigrade raw-fish bowls were how Hawaiians refueled after any beach day. In Honolulu, poke is on every corner, as easy to find at hip spots like Mahina & Sun’s as it is to devour at supermarkets and even gas stations. On the island of Oahu, locals have prepared poke—which means “to cut crosswise” in Hawaiian—since at least the 1700s; more recently, Asian immigrants made their mark by adding soy sauce, sesame oil, and other seasonings. But unlike Chipotle-style chains popping up stateside, poke is simpler in its place of origin, more elemental. These bowls could teach the mainland a thing or two. ORDER LIKE A LOCAL Different from the build-yourown- bowls, Hawaiian poke is often just raw tuna, salmon, or other…

ON DECEMBER 23, 2013, Mason Hereford posted a sandwich pic on Instagram. There was nothing particularly remarkable about it: sliced turkey, mayo, a red condiment of some sort, white cheddar, and lettuce on a French roll. Mason ate this exact sandwich from a deli in his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia, twice a week for 11 years while he was growing up. It was a perfectly acceptable lunch but not exactly the road to culinary enlightenment—unless you’re Mason Hereford. He captioned the photo: “The sandwich that started it all #turkeyandthewolf2016 #herbmayonnaise and #cranberryrelish.” No, he isn’t clairvoyant; Mason just knew that three years later, he would open the restaurant of his dreams. Fast-forward to 2017, and there I was sitting in Mason’s newly opened sandwich joint, Turkey and the Wolf, in…

ACROSS THE COUNTRY , SӘCONd - GЭN CHiNЭSE - A MӘRiCAN CHEfS ARЄ RECLAiMING THE DiSHЭS ThEY GREШ UP ШiTH — AND MAKi NG THӘM THЄIR OШN . BUT FЄW ARӘ DOiNG IT ШiTH THӘ PASSiON OF BRAND ON JEW OF MiS TЄR JiU’S MiSTӘR JIU’S RAiNBOШ DUMPLiNGS Chef Brandon Jew’s dumplings are like none we’ve had before. “I ate a lot of pork and cabbage dumplings growing up,” Jew says, “and I still love that combination.” But at the restaurant, he takes them in more surprising directions, using local produce to dye the wrappers of these Technicolor offerings. —ASHLEY MASON RED Beet-dyed wrapper with rainbow chard and chicken filling ORANGE Carrot-dyed wrapper with dandelion greens and lamb filling GREEN Spinach-dyed wrapper with fava leaves and lamb filling PURPLE Purple…

YOU DON’T NEED A NONNA to love cheesy, golden stuffed shells. And you didn’t have to grow up in a house that made Sunday gravy to crave saucy, garlicky braciole. The affection for red-sauce cooking is strong among chefs right now, and they’re answering the call for classic Italian-American fare at restaurants like L.A.’s Cosa Buona, Austin’s Juliet Italian Kitchen, and Philly’s Palizzi Social Club, No. 4 on our Hot 10 list. The South Philly eatery is chef Joey Baldino’s resurrection of a rules-driven social club started by Italian immigrants in 1918; the old version counted his uncle and other relatives as members. Now Palizzi has become a way for Baldino to pay homage to the past while, for the first time, inviting the rest of us to celebrate the…

A true artist suffers for his art, and actor Steve Coogan knows the struggle well. For The Trip to Spain, the third installment in the mostly improvised comedic culinary road-trip series (see also 2010’s The Trip and 2014’s The Trip to Italy), Coogan and costar Rob Brydon were pushed to the limit. The mission: to play semifictionalized restaurant-reviewing versions of themselves (Coogan’s character is on assignment for the New York Times; Brydon’s for the UK’s Observer) and eat at the most celebrated Spanish restaurants—over and over again, sometimes for eight hours a day. “To shoot full scenes, we were served meals three times,” Coogan says of the film’s intricate tasting menus, like the one at Michelin-starred Asador Etxebarri in Basque Country. “You want to wolf it all down, but you…