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| Lamb Is Out; Turkey's In Chef's Challenge: Frank Morales By Emily Kaiser
It's 1 a.m. at the 24-hour Giant in White Oak. The only customers: a construction crew, a few stragglers and Frank Morales, head chef of Zola in Washington's Penn Quarter. Morales is a transplanted New Yorker with stints on his résumé at high-wattage restaurants such as Le Cirque, Union Pacific and, in Washington, the Oval Room. Tonight, however, he's shopping for our chef's challenge -- cooking a meal for a family of four on a budget of $10. He can't find a calibrated scale in the produce department to tell him how much his four red bliss potatoes cost. He wanders over to the meat department to try to overcome a problem: a spring lamb stew he had hoped to make is too expensive for his budget. The quiet of the night shift is broken with a happy whoop. "I couldn't afford my menu," he said. Then he saw turkey bacon at $1.09 for a package. "I was psyched." At Zola, Morales builds his menus around American classics, with a modern twist. Inspired by his $1.09 discovery, he decided on a homey bacon-wrapped turkey meatloaf with mushroom gravy, accompanied by roast potatoes, blanched green beans and, for dessert, a ginger-infused lime gelatin topped with whipped cream. Triumphant, Morales took his groceries home to Silver Spring, where he and his wife, Beth, live with their two young children, Sophie, 4, and Justin, 1. Their 1950s rambler has a roomy, well-lit kitchen with a picture window that opens onto a yard of azaleas that bloom in the spring. The next morning, some of his ingredients were arrayed on the table when I arrived: beans, potatoes, cucumber and eggs nestled in separate glass dishes, a few pans waiting on his electric stove. The order was partly illusory. "It's ridiculous," he confessed. "I hardly ever cook at home. Before you got here, I was desperately trying to figure out where Beth keeps the cutting boards." "Ah, the irony of it all," he muttered later, as he plunged an overheated pan beneath cool water to stop its scorching. Matching the knob on the stove to the burner it controlled proved particularly confounding. He compensated for the confusion by working calmly and cleanly. He used just one chef's knife for everything, from peeling ginger to opening the box of gelatin. He washed most things as he went along. "The only thing I really miss is my dishwashers," he said, when his bowls started to pile up. After setting his potatoes to boil, Morales tackled the gelatin. Before bringing the water to a boil, he added a two-inch nub of peeled ginger. "It could just as well be a stalk of lemon grass, or a bunch of mint or a tablespoon of lavender," he said. "I'm just giving the [gelatin] a little extra flavor." And then: "I love this part." After the water boiled, he removed the ginger. "White powder, add to water, poof! Green!" The gelatin went into the fridge in a thin layer on a tray (if he had used ice cubes, it would have set even faster), and out came the ground turkey. Morales measured out the turkey, set it off in a bowl, and chopped the onions and garlic that would flavor the meat. In went the eggs and cream. "Stir it until it binds together," he said. "It almost emulsifies." Morales lamented the high price of fresh herbs. "I'd put in some thyme if I could afford it." He put the meat back into the fridge, then lined the pan for the meatloaf with bacon. "I'd like to form a mushroom if I can, leaving some hanging off the sides" of his circular ceramic mold. His cat padded across the kitchen floor, showing interest in the action on the counter. Morales nudged her into another room and closed the door, and as he turned back to the stove, he started pointing to and counting his pans to check his progress. The meatloaf was soon in the oven, and it was on to the gravy. "No calls from the restaurant. That's a good sign," he said. Morales drained his potatoes, filled the same pan with fresh cold water, and dropped in the three remaining eggs for a hard-boiled egg and cucumber salad. Sliced mushrooms simmered in their juices, and the smells of cooked bacon and garlic started to fill the kitchen. The eggs came out, and beans went in. While they bubbled, he peeled and sliced his cucumber and arrayed the salad. Next, he halved his spuds and browned them in butter. The rest of his family arrived home, and with Sophie hanging happily on his leg (and Beth taking in the scope of the dishwashing still to be done), the chef whipped the last of the cream to assemble the dessert. Sophie approved, and Morales brought out the meatloaf. The mushroom had turned into a perfectly spherical, bacon-striped orb, dripping with browned juices and piping hot. An hour and a half after starting, his meal was ready for the table.
4 servings plus additional for leftovers This moist loaf has a much milder flavor than traditional meatloaf. It still takes well to gravy or ketchup. 1 tablespoon olive oil
Makes about 1 cup gravy Prep time: 5 minutes This quick gravy is thick with diced onion, bacon and mushrooms. 6 medium button mushrooms, stems removed 1. Slice the mushroom caps into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
4 servings Prep time: 5 minutes Boiling potatoes before searing them in butter ensures that the interior is airy and the exterior is crisp. 4 medium to large red potatoes, preferably red bliss 1. Wash the potatoes and place them, unpeeled, in a large saucepan filled with cold water and a little salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium or medium-low and allow the water to bubble gently. Cook until the potatoes are almost cooked but not entirely, so that they still offer a little resistance when poked with a paring knife, 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the size. Drain the potatoes and cool a little. Halve the potatoes lengthwise.
4 servings Prep time: 10 minutes 1/3 pound green beans 1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the beans and cook until bright green and slightly tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Lime-Ginger Gelatin Prep time: 10 minutes 1 cup water 1. Steep the ginger in the water: add both to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Whipping cream, optional 1/2 cup heavy cream 1. Combine cream and sugar, and beat until stiff. Dollop over gelatin. |
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© 2001 - 2008 Emily Kaiser |
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