Pears and Stilton
I have been back in Los Angeles for a few days now, and I am encountering my first west coast springtime. John and I spent our first weekend together since January in Central Coast wine country, where we checked into a hotel for the romantic getaway we were denied on Valentine’s Day. On the central coast, winter’s last weekend was foggy and chilly, with extremes of rain and sun by turn. Winter hangs around a bit longer up there, but it is a California winter of ski trails through snow-capped mountains and wine bars in rustic lodges. The waitress at one of our favorite restaurants was glad to explain it to us as she poured the wine. The same micro-climates that yield grapes that equal and some say surpass French berries are the reason for both the extremes in weather and the highly location-specific nature of them. Nighttime proved to be as frosty as a New York City October, but in a land where everything is about oenoculture, humans adjust to the needs of the grapes, and consider it not just an obligation but a privilege to do so. Given the gift that the grapes return to your wine glass, it is not too much to ask to put on a sweater and appreciate the scenery of mountainside, in the valley, and along the Pacific Coast Highway.
On that night, I tweeted that the Hitching Post II is one of my favorite restaurants in the world, and I was not exaggerating. It really is that good. If you saw the film Sideways, you’ve seen the Hitching Post onscreen, as you have if you follow food tv and have watched pretty much any broadcast about steak. The Hitching Post is known for steaks grilled over a fire of California wine oak and dusted with a proprietary blend known as magic dust, and for bottling their own superb pinot noirs. It is a true western steak house but absent the cowboy kitsch of a Texas roadhouse. I have written about their pinot noirs here, and have served them at Thanksgiving dinners where not a drop was left by the end of the meal.
Back in Los Angeles, I cannot praise Jar effusively enough. Fans of food tv already know Suzanne Tracht, whose kitchen sends perfect grills to a dining room so handsome it should be a movie star in its own right. The wine list is perfectly matched to the food, and the bar is staffed by talented mixers. Just as Musso and Frank stirs the martini by which all others are measured, so does Jar stir the exemplary Manhattan.
Speaking of exemplary and Manhattan, back in New York City, Chef Harold Moore serves an exemplary Steak Diane at his great restaurant Commerce, which also features a wonderfully curated wine list and the best bread basket in town. Commerce is as true to the New York experience as the Hitching Post is to the central coast and Jar is to Los Angeles, inhabiting an old speakeasy with a room dominated by WPA murals. Another Village institution, the Knickerbocker, is perfect for ducking into on a quintessential Village Saturday night. In this town of great steakhouses, Peter Luger, the Palm and the Old Homestead deserve their reputations, but no place equals Keens. To read about this spectacular historic chop house, click here.
Wherever you get your steak, it should be a special dining experience. Make the most of it by learning about the steak house you’re going to. It is good to know where they source their beef, which cuts they feature, which preparations they are known for. Though steakhouses are for the carnivorous, most of them offer other entrees to accommodate differing palates, and these should be presented with the same intention of making your meal a special event as are the steaks. In addition, though the steak should be the core of the menu, most steakhouses develop a few menu selections outside of the beef for which they become known. At Peter Luger, it is the steak sauce and the tomato and onion salad. At Keens, it is the iceberg lettuce wedge with blue cheese dressing. At the Old Homestead, it is the Caesar salad. At the Hitching Post, it is the pinot noir and the grilled artichoke. At Jar, it is the deviled eggs and the butterscotch pudding.
Almost every steakhouse has a dessert menu, but true carnivores feel like the kitchen failed if there is room for dessert. Offered along with the cakes and the ice cream should be a list of after dinner drinks, to include (though by no means be limited to) port or brandy and which, in earlier times, would conclude the meal in the company of an expensive cigar. A tradition has evolved of serving port with Stilton, the majestic English blue cheese that uses cheddar as the terroir for the mold that gives blue cheese its character. Cheese plates are often dressed with honey, jam, or conserves, but for this specific kind of cheese plate, the delicacy of the pears and the pungency of the Stilton are correctly in counterpoint to the port, and need only a splash of balsamic vinegar and a few grindings of fresh black pepper to finish the plate. The showcase remains the cheese, and a good port such as Bonny Doon Viognier Port.
PEARS AND STILTON
Though you can sometimes find Stilton at the supermarket, it is worth going to a cheesemonger to ask for a recommendation for the best Stilton in the case. If you have a Stilton scoop, bless you, but if not, you can serve the cheese with a good sharp knife. Look for pears that are soft without being mushy, and that display no yellow, brown or black discoloration.
Two fresh pears, such as D’Anjou, Bosc or Bartlett
1 8 – 10 ounce wedge Stilton
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 lemon
Freshly ground black pepper
On that night, I tweeted that the Hitching Post II is one of my favorite restaurants in the world, and I was not exaggerating. It really is that good. If you saw the film Sideways, you’ve seen the Hitching Post onscreen, as you have if you follow food tv and have watched pretty much any broadcast about steak. The Hitching Post is known for steaks grilled over a fire of California wine oak and dusted with a proprietary blend known as magic dust, and for bottling their own superb pinot noirs. It is a true western steak house but absent the cowboy kitsch of a Texas roadhouse. I have written about their pinot noirs here, and have served them at Thanksgiving dinners where not a drop was left by the end of the meal.
Back in Los Angeles, I cannot praise Jar effusively enough. Fans of food tv already know Suzanne Tracht, whose kitchen sends perfect grills to a dining room so handsome it should be a movie star in its own right. The wine list is perfectly matched to the food, and the bar is staffed by talented mixers. Just as Musso and Frank stirs the martini by which all others are measured, so does Jar stir the exemplary Manhattan.
Speaking of exemplary and Manhattan, back in New York City, Chef Harold Moore serves an exemplary Steak Diane at his great restaurant Commerce, which also features a wonderfully curated wine list and the best bread basket in town. Commerce is as true to the New York experience as the Hitching Post is to the central coast and Jar is to Los Angeles, inhabiting an old speakeasy with a room dominated by WPA murals. Another Village institution, the Knickerbocker, is perfect for ducking into on a quintessential Village Saturday night. In this town of great steakhouses, Peter Luger, the Palm and the Old Homestead deserve their reputations, but no place equals Keens. To read about this spectacular historic chop house, click here.
Wherever you get your steak, it should be a special dining experience. Make the most of it by learning about the steak house you’re going to. It is good to know where they source their beef, which cuts they feature, which preparations they are known for. Though steakhouses are for the carnivorous, most of them offer other entrees to accommodate differing palates, and these should be presented with the same intention of making your meal a special event as are the steaks. In addition, though the steak should be the core of the menu, most steakhouses develop a few menu selections outside of the beef for which they become known. At Peter Luger, it is the steak sauce and the tomato and onion salad. At Keens, it is the iceberg lettuce wedge with blue cheese dressing. At the Old Homestead, it is the Caesar salad. At the Hitching Post, it is the pinot noir and the grilled artichoke. At Jar, it is the deviled eggs and the butterscotch pudding.
Almost every steakhouse has a dessert menu, but true carnivores feel like the kitchen failed if there is room for dessert. Offered along with the cakes and the ice cream should be a list of after dinner drinks, to include (though by no means be limited to) port or brandy and which, in earlier times, would conclude the meal in the company of an expensive cigar. A tradition has evolved of serving port with Stilton, the majestic English blue cheese that uses cheddar as the terroir for the mold that gives blue cheese its character. Cheese plates are often dressed with honey, jam, or conserves, but for this specific kind of cheese plate, the delicacy of the pears and the pungency of the Stilton are correctly in counterpoint to the port, and need only a splash of balsamic vinegar and a few grindings of fresh black pepper to finish the plate. The showcase remains the cheese, and a good port such as Bonny Doon Viognier Port.
PEARS AND STILTON
Though you can sometimes find Stilton at the supermarket, it is worth going to a cheesemonger to ask for a recommendation for the best Stilton in the case. If you have a Stilton scoop, bless you, but if not, you can serve the cheese with a good sharp knife. Look for pears that are soft without being mushy, and that display no yellow, brown or black discoloration.
Two fresh pears, such as D’Anjou, Bosc or Bartlett
1 8 – 10 ounce wedge Stilton
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 lemon
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Fill a bowl large enough to hold the pears halfway with water. Add a few drops commercial produce cleaner to the water; swirl to combine. Gently remove stickers if any from the pears and place the pears in the water. Swirl the pears in the cleaning water.
2. Clean the lemon under cool water (if the lemon is not organic, use a commercial produce cleaner, following the label directions). Once the lemon is clean, roll it along the counter under your palm. Use a sharp knife to cut the lemon in half.
3. Place a colander in the sink and a lemon press near the colander.
4. Remove the pears from the cleaning water and place them into a colander. Rinse the pears under cool water.
5. Working one at a time, place each pear stem-end up on a clean cutting board devoted to fruits and vegetables. Cut each pear in half from top to bottom. Halve each half to form quarters. Use the knife to remove the stem, seeds with their hard core and the blossom end. Cut each trimmed quarter in half to form eighths.
6. Place the pears in the colander.
7. Position a lemon half into the lemon press. Hold the lemon over the colander and use the press to express some lemon juice onto the pears. You shouldn’t need much; you are just preventing discoloration. Toss the colander so that the pears are coated with the lemon juice; leave the colander in the sink to drain.
8. Measure the balsamic vinegar into a small bowl. Add several grindings of fresh black pepper to the vinegar.
9. Unwrap the Stilton and position it on a serving plate large enough to accommodate the cheese and the pears. Dress the plate where the pears will be placed with several grindings of fresh black pepper.
10. Give the colander containing the pears a final shake. Carefully arrange the pears in a fan on the plate next to the Stilton.
11. Serve the cheese plate with the bowl of peppered vinegar
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