|
|
|
"Ripe To Tell">
Wanna See My Beans Tonight?
October 26, 2007
Its rainy, its cold, its miserable…winter is making a
comeback.
Get over it, summer is gone and the “Big Chill” is here to
stay with us for a while. So why not let Ripe help “ease”
you into the frost without surrendering to the winter
blues, by dining on some of our “Stick To The Ribs” type
food that just conjures up images of a warm fireplace
snuggled up close to the spouse, or dog, or blanket, or
something you love.
Our specials are hot tonight!
Start with our appetizer of 24 hour marinated, Slow Roasted
Jerk Pork Belly in a Scotch Bonnet-Balsamic reduction, with
Sea Beans and Lie Miu greens.
What the hell are Sea Beans you ask?
Well, I found myself wandering in and out of restaurants
in NYC as I usually do on the only day I have to
myself--Monday (the restaurant is closed on Mondays,
remember?), and stumbled upon these very interesting
“so-called” beans on a plate cooked for me at a friends
spot.
They looked quite interesting, and got the side of me fired
up that is always on the lookout for new and exciting
ingredients to use at the restaurant.
The interesting thing about them was that they weren’t
particularly tasty on their own, but it was how it was used
in the dish that it was prepared with, that made them quite
impressive. The salty brininess of the beans was the
perfect compliment to the highly seasoned Oyster Risotto
that it was combined with. It was a real treat.
A new flavor dimension for my bored to death palate!
I barged into the kitchen (I earned my stripes, I’m
allowed) and “bribed” the Chef to give me some of the
spoils to try in my own kitchen. I may steal the Oyster
Risotto recipe one day and “Caribbify” it a bit for the
Menu at Ripe.
.
The Sea beans are also known as glasswort. Eaten raw or
cooked, its flavor tastes very much like the saltiness of
the ocean, with a sort of grassy, vegetal aftertaste. They
are crunchy like snap peas, and grow on beaches and in
marshes.
After a bit of experimenting, I decided to incorporate the
Sea beans into a dish I felt it worked well with.
I just add a quick sautéed stalk or two along with Chinese
greens to create a contrast to the tangy sweetness of the
sauce reduction that comes with the Pork Belly.
Let the “belly” settle in yours, and listen to the rain on
the zinc roof,(c’mon, use ur imagination, now!) while I
prepare a loving plate of USDA Choice Beef Short Ribs in
our rich Red Wine Brown Sauce for your main meal. I marry
it with garlic mashed potatoes “chok” full of all the
goodies like mama used to put-Cream and Butter---made from
scratch of course, with “REAL” Idahoan potatoes, not that
commercial spud maker gook you get in Mr. Greasyspoon’s
Diner.
So let’s have a rainy, intimate dinner in the dining room
tonight. If di food no warm yu up, den drink a rum!
Wray and Nephew is my poison, so buy me one when you reach
tonite!
As my granddad always said, “If you caant buy a likka, den
yu lik a buyer!”
Mi Deyah A Wait Pon Yu!
|
|
