SBNation.com User Blog: Eli Kirshtein

Super Bowl food questions you were afraid to ask: nachos

Eli Kirshtein — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:21:36 -0000

In the final installment of Super Bowl Food Questions You Were Afraid To Ask, chef and food consultant Eli Kirshtein explains how you are destroying your nachos, how not to destroy them in the future, and why you should become an unbearable person and make your own pickled jalapeños. Oh, and CONTROVERSIAL CHIP RANKINGS at the bottom.

Nachos are a very complicated dish to get right. They can be horrible featuring stale chips and nasty burned cheese, or they can be glorious with a lot of texture with dipping and mixing abundance. Here are a few keys to success in your Nacho bowl.

Don’t open your chips till you are about to use them, or get fancy and make your own. Just take corn tortillas and cut them up, and fry ‘em. If you already have a fryer set up for wings or something, this is a great opportunity to do it. To class them up a bit, toss them with a little lime juice and/or zest, and maybe a light dusting of chili powder right when they come out of the fryer.

For cheese, get something good and melty. Go to your local Mexican grocer and find Oaxaca cheese. It’s similar to mozzarella in stringiness. Get it and tear it up over the top before you stick the whole thing in the oven. Other things like jack cheese do work just fine also, just don’t make the mistake of trying to use slices meant for lunch sandwiches. Really search for the right cheese. If you put some effort into it, you might be able to achieve a proper Mora-style meltdown over your chips.

For garnishes, the only must in my book is pickled jalapenos. And in a purist’s sense, this is accurate according to the alleged history of nachos. To make your own start by slicing fresh jalapenos into 1/8th inch slices. Bring 2 parts white vinegar and 1 part dark brown sugar to a boil. Pour it over the jalapeno slices, toss in a couple cloves of garlic, and let them sit in the fridge over night.

Magically, you will start being a huge prick immediately when you start telling everyone how you made them yourself.

If you do decide to go the route of putting meat on them, while you are at the Mexican grocer, pick up some Mexican Chorizo. It’s a smoky seasoned sausage. Cook it up and crumble it on top. Way better than the half-assed move of cooking up some burger meat in a pan and putting a little taco seasoning on it.

The most important thing: don’t overdress them, and get them eaten quickly enough that they don’t get soggy. Also, do a big batch and have some people over like Rita Rodriguez does.

And of course, the obligatory Southern Hip Hop shout out. Plus I think there is a recipe in the chorus, or it might be some drug dealing reference ... not sure.

Based on a very sophisticated algorithm as well as totally ignoring everyone else’s opinion, here are the late January, early February, chip and chip-like snacks power rankings.

Flaming Hot Cheetos - With their raw power of deliciousness and amazing crunch, they lead the board. Far superior to their standard counterpart. But the single most amazing thing about this is that something from Texas is on top of a power ranking.
Funyuns - Interesting onion-like flavor, unique shape, and have a glowing endorsement.
Deer Antler Chips - Their stock has soared this week.
Kettle Cooked Chips - Nothing witty about it, things are just damn good.
Combos - With many flavors (including a limited edition Buffalo Blue Cheese) and some bizarre continuing ties to car racing, you have to respect this one.
Pork Rinds - No explanation needed.
Pirates Booty - With the advantage of being allegedly “healthy” and being like popcorn without the annoying skin pieces, they had to make this list. Plus I can totally imagine the Bucs get this stuff for free in the locker room.
Fritos - With a great crunch, as well as a crazy amount of time for them to go stale, they are great for when you open them and then pass out, still good to eat when you rise.
Corn Nuts - With Latin American roots, and the totally amazing ability to crush a ton at any given time, always a good go to. Plus, this is way too amazing.
Zapp’s - Great flavors, totally insensitive to allergies by being cooked in peanut oil, and I felt it appropriate to put something associated with The Saints and LSU at the bottom of the list. GO FALCONS.

Dropped from the previous rankings that never existed: Chip Kelly, Chip Kell (dude who was obviously most pissed by the rise of Chip Kelly), and CHiPS (but really only Erik Estrada).

You can and should follow Chef Eli Kirshtein on Twitter.

Super Bowl food questions you were afraid to ask: Wings

Eli Kirshtein — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 21:59:32 -0000

To assist in the run-up to your Super Bowl festivities, we have enlisted Atlanta chef, consultant, and former Top Chef: Las Vegas contestant Eli Kirshtein to answer some basic questions about cooking. Today's basic thing you might be screwing up: wings.

Chicken wings are almost unequivocally the most venerable of all bar foods. Everyone has an opinion of what makes the best wings, but the hallmarks most people are looking for are juicy, and crispy, and typically a lot of them, especially if you make it to the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.

Let's talk about the wings themselves, take a little pride in them and get them whole and cut them yourself. Also, bigger does not translate to better.

If they are more than a couple ounces apiece, you will have a hard time cooking them evenly.

Now, you can basically sum up wings into two basic categories: fried and not fried. I'm going to throw you three techniques/recipes for wings. We will attribute each to a different, appropriate football player. Don’t hate: you can make pretty amazing wings that aren’t fried. Sometimes you could hold off on the fried foods. You know who you are.

So, I think the best way to start on smoked/grilled/baked/roasted wings is to marinate them. You can do something really simple and just marinate them in a basic vinaigrette, or try something a little more out there and do a Southeast Asian thing. We will do these flavors to entice Manti over to the non-fried side.

Mix together:

1 tbls Minced Ginger
1 tbls Minced Garlic
3 tbls Fish Sauce
3 tbls Sugar
3 tbls Lime Juice
Sambal Chili Paste to taste

Take some wings and toss it in this sauce and let sit overnight. Then you can cook them as you wish. They can be really good on a charcoal grill. When they are done, toss 'em with a little bit of lime juice and some sliced scallions and cilantro.

Now, I know some of y’all want a recipe for typical fried wings, Buffalo style. The key to the sauce is to do more to it than just take Frank’s Red Hot and butter and mix ‘em. That is about as predictable as Georgia Tech and that silly silly flexbone option. If you want to do a buffalo style sauce start with the hot sauce of your choosing, and season it. Add some honey, some Worcestershire, and then a little bit of butter to help the texture. If you just play around with it a bit, think about what you are doing -- like Harvard grad Ryan Fitzpatrick would -- and then you can come up with something solid.

Finally, these go out to Hines Ward. These are my personal favorite type wings, Korean. The sauce is a little complicated and will take a little searching for products, but totally worth it. They are a little more labor intensive, but totally worth it.

Mix together:

3 tbls Minced Garlic
1-1/2 tbls Minced Ginger
3 tbls Soy Sauce
5 tbls Gojujang (this is Korean chili paste, go search it out, it will change your life)
1 tbls Rice Vinegar
1 tbls Toasted Sesame Oil
1 tbls Honey

You can make a big batch of this ahead and leave it in the fridge pretty much indefinitely. You can toss this on straight up fried wings or take the full next step and get the crispiest wings ever.

Combine:

2/3 cup Flour
1 tbls Cornstarch 2/3 cup Water
This will make a loose batter.

Dip the wings in and put them into a 350 degree fryer and let 'em cook for 8 minutes. Take them and rest 'em on a paper towel for about 8 minutes. Put them back in fryer for another 8 minutes. Then you will have super crispy, twice cooked wings in all their glory. Then toss them in the sauce above, or really any other good savory sauce.

And of course, DJ Paul has some advice also.

Y’all’s questions:

@ecalof Dear Eli, is it true that bacon makes everything better? Or is that merely a myth?

Total Myth, I do love me some bacon, but people take it too far.

@DrewLog best pulled pork method with no smoker?

I like to confit it for that purpose. Take a pork shoulder or butt, season liberally with salt and a bit of sugar. Cook in fat in an oven at 250 degrees until you can shred it, probably 8 hours. This is one application where bacon can help you. Throw a few pieces in with the shoulder and it will help give a smokiness to it.

@JD24 Ribs. Sauce vs. Dry Rub. Smoking methods etc.

I like dry rub and slow smoke. Sauce can be good, but the meat should speak for itself first and foremost. With sauce I like things that are high acid to help brighten up the flavors.

@IAmSpilly My Pork Meringue Pie is always too greasy. How can I cut that down and still keep the crushed Cracklins on top?

Add more grease, and once you get to critical mass, it will start to regress and become less greasy.

Super Bowl food questions you were afraid to ask: The noble hamburger

Eli Kirshtein — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:34:42 -0000

I have been asked to give a survival guide to basic culinary issues that tend to arise for sports-minded individuals during the Super Bowl time of year. Let's start with the most basic of basics, burgers, then take a few questions from y’all.

Burgers.

I put burgers into two basic different types: burgers you cook to temp (fat patties),  and burgers you cook well done (skinny, patty melt types). Don’t be arrogant. If you like your burger well done, make thin patties and stack them up, as many as you want. This will really help prevent them from coming out dry.

For big patties, make them much wider than you think you should, like a good 4-5 inches across. This will help prevent them from shrinking up and becoming more than the shape of a ball.

If you want to cook them to temp. Here is a general guide for knowing when you are there (all temps are in Fahrenheit):

Rare - 120-130
Med Rare - 130-135
Medium 135-150.
If you go under 120, the thing will still be mooing.
If you go over 150 you're going to get something pretty dry. But do as you wish.

For the meat itself: you can go all out elaborate and grind your own. I recommend equal parts chuck and brisket for that, or buy something pre-ground. If you grind your own you can get creative also, add some bacon to the grind if thats your style, or a piece of Andy Reid’s walrus fat if you have good resources (I hear it tastes like a 13-year-old Philly cheesesteak covered in KC Masterpiece).

If you buy pre-ground I usually worry less about the cut and more about the fat content. Don’t go with lean meat, please. Get the one that has the highest fat content, since thats the whole point here: making it tasty and juicy.

Want to keep them from falling apart? Start by mixing the meat a little bit more with your seasonings. Developing a little "stickiness" will help them hold together a good bit more. Don’t over work it, but the extra mixing helps a lot.

In terms of cooking, there are two basic ways. The fancy way (and I think far superior way) is to do it over charcoal. I know it sounds clichéd, but the flavor is much better.

The other way, which is great in a tight home/fancy downtown loft type use, especially for a small number of people: get a panini press, or in a real pinch a Foreman Grill. Hell, maybe just because you're lazy and because it's an amazing creation, go with the Foreman. I know it sounds weird, but if you cook the patty directly on the press, you will get a nice crusty sear on both the top and bottom. Plus the cleanup is easy.

Either way don't be scared of the heat, you want a little bit of crunchies all over the patty. These are a good reference point for almost anything like sausages, chicken, etc. Same techniques, same results.

Lets talk about buns. The fancy way is to go to a bakery and get a nice beautiful brioche bun. The ghetto-ass dirty south style is to go get a potato bun at the quickie mart. I am personally more a fan of the latter. Make sure you get a potato bun and not just some generic brand of buns. I like Martin’s brand myself.

Do toast the bun. That will help keep the overall burger together. It's basic engineering.

When people are dressing up burgers they usually make the mistake of just tossing stuff on haphazardly. Think about what you want and get creative. I think you gotta have onions, cheese, and mayo. Those are my only mandatories, mainly as two of them represent adding more fat to it. You can get all fancy and put more fattening things on, also: think bacon, a fried egg, slice of foie gras, or another piece of Andy Reid. Pickles are nice too.

If you buy the pre-made burgers at the meat counter with weird cheese and nuggets of broccoli or whatever they put in it, I am not responsible for your burger sucking. You gotta realize that a great burger is about the flavor of the beef, not a bunch of other crap, so if it doesn’t add to to the fattiness and beefiness of the burger, cut it loose. -

Don’t be that guy. Don’t be the dude telling everyone in the house how you make the best burgers in the world. News flash: you don’t and most likely never will. If you make a good burger let it speak for itself; it doesn’t need to be an extension of your ego. In Atlanta it's Holeman and Finch's burger, in Napa it's Taylor's Refreshers, and in NYC it's possibly Burger Shack. But really, the perfect burger is a unicorn. It doesn't exist.

Misc questions from y’all:

RT @CowboyCane "how to cook a steak on a gas grill, because i don't have enough money for your GD Big Green Egg!"

Cook it the same way, just make sure you let it sit nice and long on each side to develop a good brown. Or just do it in a cast iron pan on the stove. Gas grills are kinda boo boo.

RT @TomFornelli "I have trouble understanding why non-Italians even bother trying to cook."

I have trouble understanding why people in Chicago think that deep dish is real pizza.

RT @PMGabby "how do you effectively scoop off the fat from your homemade stock (chicken, beef)?"

Actually a good question. Strain the stock and let it cool overnight and scrap it off the top, or if you’re in a rush, get a tall narrow container (think like a big gulp 520oz cup or something) and pour it in. The fat will rise to the top in a thicker layer and it easier to take it off. You could even use a turkey baster for that.

RT @Jordan_Clark "How can I cook pork cutlets in a pan and not have them turn out like shoe leather?"

Well, you’re almost for sure just overcooking them. Don’t be scared to serve pork medium, this isn’t the 1800’s and botulism really isn’t around that much any more. And also try brining them: they might end up with more of a "ham" like texture, but they will be juicier.

RT @tamattes "Cutting board sanitation! Wood, plastic, other?"

Very important: I go thick plastic every time. Clean well between uses with hot water and soap.

Eli Kirshtein is a chef and consultant who lives in Atlanta. You may also know him from Top Chef: Las Vegas. He can be found at Twitter at @EliKirshtein. He would like you to cook at home, and also not to kill anyone while doing it, and therefore encourages you to use online resources with sound information about cooking safely. Resources like this:

DJ Paul and Eli both wish you bon appétit!