My fellow Rogue Estate residents and our friends have been making a concerted effort to seek out more of the Metro Detroit area’s uncommon culinary gems as of late and it’s a trend I’m thrilled to be a part of. We’ve been discovering some wonderful cuisine and making great new friends along the way.

Such is the case with Da Nang in Clawson, Michigan – a contemporary locale offering traditional Vietnamese menu crafted with quality ingrediants, decades of skill and much love. Every dish a work of art that pleases the eyes as well as the palette.

The backbone of any Vietnamese restaurant is of course the Ph? or hot broth and noodle soup. Da Nang’s is made in the traditional manner, providing clarified broth that is full of flavor but not full of fat. Several varieties are offered including beef, chicken and shrimp with all the usual condiments to really customize your dish. It’s a hearty, filling meal that is sure to please and a wonderful introduction to the culture for the uninitiated.

A beautiful array of starters, sides and other dishes await your discovery as well – two of note which I’ve had the pleasure of eating and can highly recommend are the spring rolls and the G?i ?u ??, an amazingly refreshing and flavorful shrimp and papaya salad.

I’m looking forward to my next trip to Da Nang and I hope you’ll drop in to visit Kim and her staff soon. Share your experiences in the comments.

Da Nang Vietnamese Restaurant is located at One South Main, Clawson MI. Call (248) 577-5130 or visit their website for a full menu and other information.

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I stress, therefore I bake.

There’s something very comforting to me about baking.  Maybe it’s the fact that I can take a handful of ingredients, throw them into a bowl, and know that in about an hour I will end up with something that, at worst, tastes okay or, at best, is toe-curlingly orgasmic.  Maybe it’s a control thing.  I don’t know.  I just know that I’m fairly good at it and there is a group of people who have been known to enjoy the fruits of my panic attacks on a regular basis.  I like to think that I’m only doing it because I’ve been commissioned by the IT department at work to make birthday cupcakes each month, but I suppose when the sh*t hits the proverbial fan, you will be most likely to find me in the kitchen covered in flour and eggs.

This month’s birthday boy made a request for a white cake.  My immediate response was utter annoyance that I would be asked to make something so… simple.  Boring.  Blah.  Well, if he wanted simple, I was going to give him simple.

I hit up my go-to source for simple, easy recipes – Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor – and settled on Cookies & Cream Cupcakes.  It starts with a white cake mix base, and then crushed Oreos are folded in for that little bit of extra oomph.  A nice basic buttercream frosting tops it all off, along with a little bit more of the crushed Oreos.

It ended up being anything but simple.  And yet, the simplicity of an Oreo cookie is something that any level of snack connoisseur can enjoy.  The cupcake is delightfully creamy and rich, which makes it the perfect companion to a tall glass of cold milk, much like the cookie that inspired it.

Lavender Potato Soup

I’ve agreed to come on as a co-conspirator and general ne’er-do-well in writing for the site and involving myself in the real world exploits of the group here. I thought I’d take this opportunity to introduce myself, and post a recipe. My name is Jack, and I’m a professional chef in the biz for over 18 years now, 13 of those spent in fine dining, and now I’m doing Sushi. Being a fellow food junkie and home brewer, Mac reached out to me to come on board as advisor/cohort/drinking buddy/like minded weirdo. Therefore, as a show of good faith (well, as “good” as I can muster, at least) I decided to post one of my favorite original soup recipes.

I developed this last year when I was lord and master of the kitchen in an exclusive lounge in one of the local casinos (you pretty much have to have Bill Gates money to even get in there). It was a small plate format, the photo to the left was from that period.

So, without further babbling and boring you to tears, here’s the recipe!

Lavender Potato Soup.  Yeild – approximately 2 gallons

Ingredients:
5 pounds Peruvian Purple Potatoes
2 large Spanish (Yellow) Onions, diced
2 Leeks, cleaned and sliced
half pound of your favorite bacon, chopped somewhat small
3 quarts good gelatinous stock (pale veal stock or chicken)
3 quarts heavy whipping cream
half pound of butter
half pound of flour
4 ounces crushed garlic
750ml bottle of good, drinkable red wine (Shiraz, Syrah, Malbec, or Merlot. Nothing too heavy)
3 bay leaves
1 ounce fresh Lavender (pull the leaves from one stem and set aside for garnish)
2 ounces White Truffle Oil (fresh is better, but due to it’s expense and rarity, oil will due)
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Procedure:
Melt the butter in a saute pan and whisk in the flour. Cook for 20 minutes on medium low heat, stirring constantly and refridgerate.

Lightly oil and bake the potaoes for 45 minutes at 350, start checking them at 40 minutes. When the point of a paring knife easily sinks all the way in, they’re done. In the meantime, in a heavy bottomed stock pot able to hold 3 gallons start cooking the chopped bacon on medium heat. Once the bacon is nearly crisp, add the onions and leeks and cook slowly on medium low heat until very soft, do not brown. Turn heat up to high and add the garlic, Saute for 45 seconds to a minute, or until the smell of garlic is strong. Again, DO NOT BROWN! Delgaze with the red wine, add the bay leaves and reduce by three quarters. Pour the wine reduction, onions bay leaves and all, into a blender and blend until very smooth. Return to the pot, add the stock and cream, bring to a simmer.

Once the potaoes are cooked, put them whole into a food mill (a.k.a. ricer) and crank them out over the pot. The food mill won’t pass the skins through, just the pulp, which should (by this point) be a nice rich purple. Wisk thoroughly and steep the lavender leaves in the soup for 15-20 minutes. For a satin smooth texture pass through a fine mesh strainer (chinoise, in chef-speak).

This is the point to adjust seasoning, color and consistency. If the color is too dark, add more cream or a little sour cream. If too thick add a little more stock. If too thin, I had you make a roux for the first step…. use it! And remember, when using a thickener, it will have to be brought back up to a boil, so add it gradually until you’ve achieved the desired thickness. Wisk in the truffle oil very last and simmer no more than 5 minutes, if at all.

Ladle into your favorite bowl, sprinkle a few of those Lavender leaves over the top, and maybe a spoon full of sour cream mixed with chives, salt, pepper and a little of that left over truffle oil.

Dig in!

Hope you guys like this one. If you try it and something doesn’t work out (I came up with this over a year ago, and I’m writing from memory) let me know, and I’ll correct the recipe.

I cannot recall a time in my life that I didn’t have at least one bottle of some kind of Soy sauce in the cupboard. I consider it one of the pantry staples that absolutely no kitchen should ever be without. In addition to it usefulness, it’s inexpensive and stored properly, it can be stored for quite a while.

What could be better? Last weekend I found the answer: Ponzu Shoyu. The tangy citrus of Ponzu and the rich umami of soy sauce combined into something so damn good I’m kicking myself for not having added it to my repertoire years ago.

Your best bet for purchase is your local Asian or Japanese specific market for the good stuff. Kikoman also offers an american version which is more likely to appear on the shelf in most grocery stores next to the soy sauce. If you can’t find it locally, don’t dismay – there is plenty available online from amazon and the like.

Where-ever you source your Ponzu Shoyu, I’m sure you’ll agree, it deserves a permanent home in your pantry or spice rack. Got a killer sauce to share? Let me know in the comments.

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Inspired by a menu board I passed in a local lunch dive last month and the abundance of warm autumn weather, I decided to concoct something involving pumpkins this past weekend. I included my current obsession with curry and really hit one out of the park

I won’t beat around the bush – this dish is phenomenal. Sweet, aromatic, full bodied, warm and filling with just enough spice to wake up the taste buds for more. This is everything I love in a hearty bowl on a cool evening. I hope you’ll find it to be just as wonderful.

The software:

• 16 oz pumpkin puree – unsweetened / additive free if you can find it or make it yourself
• 32 oz unsalted chicken stock (substitute vegetable stock for vegetarian types)
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp honey
• 2 medium potatoes, 1/2 inch cubes
  
• 3 carrots, thinly sliced
• 2 parsnips, thinly sliced
• 1 sweet onion, finely minced
• 1 pint of half & half (or heavy cream if you’re going for the gold)
• 2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tbl sweet curry powder
• 1 tsp Aleppo pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbl butter
• 1/2 lemon
• Sate seasoning to taste

For all the dry goods, I use and recommend Penzey’s. From my experience, their dried herb and spice products are extremely potent and my recipes are calibrated accordingly. [1]

The process:

Give yourself about 90 minutes from start to serve to make this one happen. Of course, having a little more time doesn’t hurt either, as time is the most important ingredient in any recipe.

Pour the pumkin puree, chicken or vegetable stock, soy and honey into your favorite suitably sized soup pot and fire it up on medium heat, stirring to combine.

Take a knife to the potatoes, carrots, parsnips and onions and stir it all into the pot. Cook for 30 minutes or so until the vegetables reach your desired tenderness. Add in the curry, aleppo pepper, black pepper, turmeric and garlic, stirring to combine and turn the heat down to a simmer.

Temper the cream or half & half into the stew, continuing to stir until everything is a consistent color. Add more turmeric if you want to brighten the orange color more and stir in the butter to give everything a great shine. Leave the pot on simmer for another 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat, stir in juice from half a fresh lemon. let sit for 5 minutes and then serve. Goes great with a hunk of warm sourdough baguette. The bolder amongst you can add Sate and additional curry to suit their tastes.

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as my friends and I have. Please do leave your experiences and suggestions in the comments.

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[1] If your spice collection came from the sun-drenched end cap of your grandmother’s grocery store, you may need to double or triple the amount of dry goods to get close in flavor. Better yet, throw the pencil shavings out and replace ‘em with Penzey’s. And no, they don’t pay me.