The Bazaar (and the Bizarre) by Jose Andres

On the corner of Collins Ave and 17th Street in South Beach, Miami is a place named SLS Hotel. 

Inside this hotel, there is a treasure. You won't find signs for it, you just have to know.

For those that have marveled in Jose Andres' groundbreaking, awe-inspiring cuisine as I have, this is a gem not to be missed:

The Bazaar by Jose Andres. 

I was recently stuck in Miami due to Hurricane Sandy. It barely hit us in Florida before it went up north and caused all the devastation. We still had a "Hurricane Party" the first night we were there!

And yes, I was stuck. 

Many people will say it's not fair to complain about something like this. I say, you try planning for a 4 day vacation and ending up having to stay for 8. There are things you just don't think about: 

What if you didn't over pack (as I luckily did and always do)? 

What if you take some kind of medication and you didn't bring extra? 

What if, God forbid, your family or house is in danger due to the weather and you have no way of getting home? We had three flights cancelled before we were able to get home. 

But yeah, being stuck in Miami wasn't the worst thing in the world! 

I went with one of my oldest friends, Lance Owen, and his parents. They were generous enough to treat me like a princess the entire time, paying for food and hotel accommodations. I don't think I'll ever be able to repay them the favor (short of marrying their son- and lets face it, that ain't gonna happen!) 

Throughout the trip, I acted as the self-proclaimed "culinary tour guide." I was in charge of locating the restaurant for each meal, preparing the group for what to expect in terms of the "best dish" or "specialty", and making the reservations, if needed. This was the best. job. ever. 

If I could somehow make a living going on vacations with people and telling them where to eat (while being treated to the meals myself, of course) I'd be in heaven. 

I couldn't have done it without my smartphone, of course. Apps like Around Me, Urbanspoon, Open Table, and Yelp! really made it easy. Otherwise, I wouldn't have even known about The Bazaar by Jose Andres. 

It was in a hotel literally three hotels away from ours. 

We dressed up because we knew this was going to be a special meal!

Our first course was a dish of the Baby Japanese Peaches. Apparently, they are so rare that not even the waitstaff are allowed to taste them without paying the $18 for the dish. Served with mozzarella "spheres" that pop in your mouth, hazelnuts, and a peanut sauce. Each dish comes with instructions on how to properly eat them, as well. It's almost like a performance. Much in the traditional Jose Andres style. 

Next I ordered the Croquetas de pollo, or Chicken-bechamel fritters. These I had to enjoy on my own, as the entire Owen family are vegetarians. Served in a glass replica of Andres' shoe, this dish is surely the oddest on the menu- and thats saying a lot! 

The shoe-croquettes were followed by smoked oysters- a beautiful display of one of Andres' signature techniques: flavored air. The server walked up to us, he cloche came off the dish and a huge cloud of smoke dispersed around us.

This dish is called the 21 Vegetable Quinoa. Little pieces of little veggies, a nice broth and some crispy crunchies on top. Delicious! 

There were other dishes, of course, all interesting, unique, and delicious in their own ways. 

And of course, the best part of the night (it always is)- Dessert!



We ordered the chocolate mousse with house-made coffee ice cream and the deconstructed key lime pie.

I could not get enough of the pie. 

Luckily, the chocolate was the favorite of all my meal-mates, so I was able to devour the key lime pie on my own! 

The blobs around the plate are meringue. The swirl in the middle is the pie filling, and the ends are piles of "crust". That bubbly-looking thing on the side is lime "air". I could have eaten two more of these, easily. 









We were full, happy, and entertained. I can't speak to the price of the meal, as I was treated. I think its the kind of place you visit on a special occasions. And thats what this was. 

Super special. Just like every meal at one of Chef Andres' restaurants. 

Cheers!

Key Limes, and the Pie

I recently wrote a post about some items that I'd received from Melissa's Produce. 
I have a feeling this will be an ongoing theme in my blog. 
I really enjoy their products and, as they have supported my blog, I will continue to support them!




My brother was recently diagnosed with something that has caused him to rethink his diet.
He can no longer comfortably eat chocolate, tomatoes, or alcoholic beverages (the poor guy!)
I was talking to him about what he has been eating and he told me that one of his go-to desserts, now that he can no longer eat chocolate, is Key Lime Pie.

I occurred to me that I procured a bag of Key Limes from Melissa's Produce at the IACP Conference.
In that moment, I knew it was my duty to learn about Key Limes and make him the best damn Key Lime Pie he'd ever had.

I started by looking up some recipes. I wanted to create my own take, but I don't know enough about anything yet to write my own recipe. I looked in one of my favorite produce books, Melissa's Great Book of Produce to see what I could find on the topic. Here is what I learned, both from the book and some other online sources:

• Key limes are sometimes called "Mexican Limes." They have smooth, thin rinds that are greenish-yellow. 
• Key limes are intensely aromatic and very juicy. 
• Traditionally, key lime pies were not baked. The acid in the lime juice was acidic enough to thicken and set the eggs contained in the pie. 
• Key Lime Pie originated in Key West, Florida. 
• Many traditional recipes for the pie were written before the days of refrigeration, hence the use of canned milk. 

So with information and recipes in hand, I set out to create my pie. 

Here is the recipe I used:

Adapted from The GourmetSleuth and Melissa's Produce

For the Crust

16 Graham Crackers, crushed

1/4 lb butter, softened at room temperature

3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp grated Key Lime zest

For the Filling

4 Egg Yolks

1/2 cup Key Lime Juice
(I had to squeeze the life out of almost 20 key limes in order to obtain this)

1 14oz can of Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 tsp grated Key Lime zest

Sidenote:

There are a lot of different ways to make the crust. I chose the easy graham cracker method, as it seemed to be the most appropriate for my brother and for his kids

Directions:

For the Crust

Place ingredients together in a bowl.
Using the tips of your fingers, mix them together to create a coarse texture.
Once everything is mixed, there should be no lumps of butter, and it should look like this:

When you have achieved the correct consistency, press the ingredients into a 9" pie pan.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 12-15 minutes, until the top of the crust is lightly browned.  

For the Filling:
Using a tabletop of hand mixer, beat the egg yolks until lighter in color and slightly thickened.
Turn the mixer off and add the sweetened condensed milk.
Turn the mixer to low and add half the lime juice.
Turn the mixer to medium and add the rest of the lime juice and the lime zest.
Mix only until all ingredients are incorporated. Do not over mix.
Poor filling into cooled pie crust.
Bake at 350F for 12-14 minutes.
Let cool to room temperature before refrigerating and serving.

The final product was beautiful. My entire family really enjoyed it. I have yet to hear from my brother, who, as it turns out, was out of town the evening of our dinner. 

We shall see what he thinks.