From Denny: CBS The Early Show sponsors the Shoestring Budget series where chefs compete to see who can come in under $40, serving four for a meal. Yeah, and we get the benefit of the stellar recipes!
This week's chef is Chris Santos of the very popular New York City restaurant, The Stanton Social, that has been a New York mainstay for six years running. Be sure to check out his awesome menu because I sure did. I always look at the desserts just to see how innovative, creative and attuned a chef is to most people's taste buds. Are they ridiculous over-worked creations or are they destined to become wonderful standards? Santos passes The Denny Test. :) Santos has a newer eatery, called the Beauty & Essex, already one of the hottest eateries in the city. This chef is definitely on the move.
At Stanton Social he shows his eclectic colors where he offers to locals and tourists tastes. He offers standards like grilled cheese and tomato soup dumplings to more exotic lobster tacos.
Check out Chris' three course meal for an inexpensive dinner. He even shows you how to make your own marshmallow fluff for the Whoopie Pies. I like the way this guy thinks!
Recipes Featured:
Salt and Pepper Shrimp
Tangerine Barbeque Glazed Baby Back Ribs
Whoopie Pies
FOOD FACTS (from Epicurious.com and BonAppetit.com)
Szechuan pepper: Native to the Szechuan province of China, this mildly hot spice comes from the prickly ash tree. Though not related to the PEPPERCORN family, Szechuan berries resemble black peppercorns but contain a tiny seed. Szechuan pepper has a distinctive flavor and fragrance. It can be found in Asian markets and specialty stores in whole or powdered form. Whole berries are often heated before being ground to bring out their tantalizing flavor and aroma. Szechuan pepper is also known as anise pepper, Chinese pepper, fagara, flower pepper, sansho and Sichuan pepper.
Paprika: Used as a seasoning and garnish for a plethora of savory dishes, paprika is a powder made by grinding aromatic sweet red pepper pods. The pods are quite tough, so several grindings are necessary to produce the proper texture. The flavor of paprika can range from mild to pungent and hot, the color from bright orange-red to deep blood-red. Most commercial paprika comes from Spain, South America, California and Hungary, with the Hungarian variety considered by many to be superior. Indeed, Hungarian cuisine has long used paprika as a mainstay flavoring rather than simply as a garnish. All supermarkets carry mild paprikas, while ethnic markets must be searched out for the more pungent varieties. As with all herbs and spices, paprika should be stored in a cool, dark place for no more than 6 months.
Sriracha: Nicknamed "rooster sauce," this exotic-sounding condiment is made in Southern California. Say it sir-ra-cha, and get a bottle in the Asian foods section of the supermarket, from amazon.com, or even at Walmart to taste what this hot trend is all about. The genesis of the sauce's popularity in the United States is straight out of the immigrant-success-story textbook. David Tran came to the U.S. from Vietnam, eventually landing in Los Angeles in 1980. He couldn't find a chili sauce that he liked, so he decided to make his own, which he sold out of the back of his van. As his following grew, he moved into a processing facility in Rosemead, a Los Angeles suburb, and began adding other sauces-sriracha, named after the traditional Asian chili sauces from the seaside town of Si Racha, Thailand, was by far his most successful. Tran's Huy Fong Foods now sells more than 10 million bottles of it a year.
Salt & Pepper Shrimp
INGREDIENTS:
20 small shrimp, cleaned
2 scallions
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon minced ginger
Salt Rub (equal parts)
salt
Szechuan pepper
smoked pepper
five spice powder
METHOD:
Heat peanut oil in a pan. Toss shrimp in the salt rub and toss into the hot oil for 60 seconds. Remove the shrimp and using a small bit of the remaining oil, add chopped scallions, shaved garlic and minced ginger (as much as you like of each) until lightly sweated for a couple of minutes. Add shrimp back into the pan and gently toss. Saute until shrimp have cooked through. Serve immediately.
Tangerine Barbeque Glazed Ribs
INGREDIENTS:
2 half racks of pork
1 1/2 oranges, thinly sliced
1 cup orange juice
2 1/2 cups barbeque sauce (any of your favorites would work)
1/4 cup of mint, coarsely chopped
1/2 red onions, sliced
1/2 cup sprite soda
The rub (equal parts):
black pepper
onion powder
smoked paprika
sriracha
orange zest
METHOD:
Pat the rub on the ribs. Char ribs on the grill or sear in a pan to develop the smoky flavor. In a deep oven-ready pan, layer the ribs and orange slices along with a sprinkling of the mint leaves. Pour the barbeque sauce and orange juice over the ribs and add sliced red onion to the top and enough Sprite just to cover the ribs.
Bring to simmer on stove top and then cover and place in a 300°F oven to braise for three hours or until the meat is fall-of-the-bone tender.
Whoopie Pies
INGREDIENTS:
8 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
METHOD:
In stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy, slowly adding egg and vanilla. Add half dry ingredients and half buttermilk mixing slowly, add rest of dry ingredients and buttermilk and mix to combine. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix well. Fill a piping bag with batter (or scoop with mini cookie scooper) and pipe 1 1/2 inch circles on parchment (on sheet pan). Bake at 325°F for 5-8 min until top springs back when touched.
Marshmallow Fluff Filling
INGREDIENTS:
2 egg whites
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 sheet gelatin
METHOD:
In stand mixer with whisk attachment, whip whites, corn syrup and vanilla until doubled in volume. Slowly add sugar and salt. Bloom gelatin in water, strain and dissolve, add to whipping whites. Whip until fluffly. Chill for 30 minutes in fridge, pipe onto cooled whoopies, and sandwich.
So, how did Chris fare in The Early Show's "How Low Can You Go?" competition?
Salt & Pepper Shrimp
Shrimp $4.00
Scallions $.69
Garlic $.39
Ginger $.35
Szechuan pepper $1.59
Five spice powder $.99
Total $8.01
Orange Glazed Ribs
Pork ribs $11.98
Oranges $1.18
Orange juice $1.99
Barbeque sauce $2.09
Mint $1.99
Red onion $1.27
Sprite $.50
Onion powder $.89
Paprika $.89
Sriracha $1.99
Total $24.77
Whoopie Pies
Cocoa powder $2.85
Buttermilk $2.29
Gelatin $1.79
Total $6.93
Grand total: $39.71
Our early Leaders Board:
1. Michael Lomonaco $36.82
Porter House
2. Patti Jackson $38.52
I Trulli
3. Chris Santos $39.71
Beauty & Essex
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