Seedless Red Currant Jelly

Red currants, the beautiful ruby red berries pictured above, make the perfect tart jelly. Growing in grape-like clusters on small bushes, the fruit has become a rarity in the United States. Mistakenly thought to promote a tree disease, currant bushes across the country were systematically uprooted in the early 1900s, and production was prohibited for many years.

Currants are high in vitamin C and taste tart but pleasant when eaten. Commonly red and black currants are made into jellies. In fact black currant jelly or jam is very popular in England. I remember that while studying abroad in London, no matter how hard I looked, I could not find Concord grape jelly for my peanut butter sandwiches, so black currant jelly became my unusual but greatly liked substitute. Red currant jelly is practically the same color as black currant jelly, so after making this you really won’t tell the difference.

Every year we pick every last red currant berry off the small bushes in my parents’ yard and make jelly. It has been a summer tradition since I can remember. I really appreciate that we have the berries available at our fingertips.

The Amateur Gourmet has a good recipe for red currant jam that leaves in the seeds. But here is any easy—but it can be a bit messy—recipe for seedless red currant jelly. Use the delightfully tart jelly for filling pastries or simply spread it on toast.

Seedless Red Currant Jelly

3 pints red currants (about 6 cups berries without stems)
2 cups granulated sugar

Combine the currants and the sugar in a large pot and set over medium-high heat. The berries should release their liquids and begin to bubble and foam. Stirring occasionally, simmer slowly, and allow it to reduce in volume by half. Let the mixture cool.

Into a medium-size pot strain and press the berry mixture through a fine sieve or chinois. Put the pot back onto medium-high heat and reduce by half again. Let the mixture cool.

Fill a sterilized canning jar with the cooled berry mixture. A quart-size Mason jar should do. Leave a 1/4-inch space between the jelly and the top of the lid; tighten on a self-sealing lid. Process the jar for about 5 minutes in a boiling water canner. The jelly can be stored in the pantry for up to a year.

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Restaurant Week All Year Long: 25 Restaurants for Under $30

New York City Restaurant Week Summer 2008 starts next week, from July 21-25 and July 28-August 1. Restaurant week only happens twice a year in New York, February and July. It's a time when participating restaurants get swamped with reservations, some made almost a month in advance. People seem to get desperate around this time of year, like I usually do, making multiple reservation just to get in to those high-priced restaurants.

During restaurant week this past February I was only successful in getting in to two restaurants, Nougatine and Porter House New York (both have prix-fixe lunches all year round and made this list). But this time I made sure I got in to a few more. I tried to get a reservation at Le Cirque but did not succeed. It was probably booked way in advance. Unfortunately there are only a few restaurants on the restaurant week list that are actually the biggest bangs for your buck. But what most people don't realize is that many restaurants offer prix fixe lunches all year round. So when restaurant week rolls around, the menu tends to remain the same.

I've complied a list of restaurants with prix-fixe lunch menus available all year round. All of them are priced at under $30. Of course there are restaurants with prix fixe lunch menus over $30, but I wanted this list to offer affordable lunches at spectacular restaurants. You won't find any burger joint or such on this list. These restaurants are the heavy hitters of New York City. Most have two- or three-course menus. Some of the Asian restaurants offer bento-box lunches. You can't go wrong with any of these choices:


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1. Abboccato $26 Mon.-Sat. 12-3
2. Aquavit Cafe $24.07 Mon.-Sat. 12-2:30
3. Asiate $24 Mon.-Fri. 12-2
4. Blue Water Grill $24.07 Mon.-Sat. 11:30-4
5. David Burke & Donatella $24.07 Mon.-Fri. 11:45-2:30
6. Fleur de Sel $29 Everyday 12–2
7. Jean Georges $28 Mon.-Fri. 12-2:30
8. JoJo $24.07 Everday 11:30-4
9. Maze $28 Everyday 12-4:30
10. Mercer Kitchen $24.07 Mon.-Fri. 12-3:30
11. Molyvos $25 Mon-Sat. 12-3
12. Morimoto New York $24.07 Mon.-Fri. 12-2:30
13. Nobu $24.07 Mon.-Fri. 11:45-2:15
14. Nougatine $24.07 Mon.-Sat. 12-3
15. Ocean Grill $24.07 Everyday 11:30-4:30
16. Olana $29 Mon.-Fri. 11:45-2:30
17. Perry St $24 Mon.-Fri. 12-3
18. Porter House New York $24 Everyday 11:30-3
19. Riingo $24.07 Mon.-Fri. 12-2:30
20. Spice Market $16.50 Everyday 12-4
21. Tabla $25 Mon.-Fri. 12-2
22. Telepan $22 Wed.-Fri. 11:30-2:30
23. Tocqueville $24.08 Mon.-Sat. 11:45-2
24. Town $27 Everyday 12-2:30
25. Vong $20 Mon.-Fri. 12-3

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The Load of Politics in the Average Glass of Wine

Why is French wine so expensive? Why is the label on a bottle of French wine so hard to understand? Why are almost all American wines from California? These are the questions Tyler Colman answers in his new book, Wine Politics: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink, just published this month. Colman, a.k.a. Dr. Vino of the award-winning Web site DrVino.com, spoke Wednesday at the Beard on Books event at the James Beard House.

The book focuses on France and the United States, specifically the regions of Bordeaux and the Napa Valley. Beginning with France, Colman outlines the history of the appellation d’origine contrôlée system, which was begun in 1935. The AOC system, of which now about 55% of wine production adheres, controls yield, vine density, and irrigation among other things. Ultimately the resulting wines are judged by a tasting committee, which has the power to pass or fail a wine. Passed wines are allowed to be sold under the appropriate AOC label, but failed wines can be declassified to either vin de pays, a one-varietal wine, or vin de table (table wine), which can bear no distinctive label. Interestingly, the pass rate has recently reached 99%.

As recent as 2005, wineries in the region of Bordeaux have seen tough times with more than five hundred bankruptcies per year. The difficulties result from the politics of the AOC system, which puts a ceiling on production, so that wineries are punished for bounteous harvest years. This crisis affects both low- and high-end wine production. According to the AOC system, surplus wine must be distilled into ethanol. Can you imagine running your car on Cabernet? Prince Charles recently converted his Aston Martin to run on ethanol made from surplus English wine.

According to Colman, the theme of U.S. wine production has always been overcoming challenges. Americans have been unsuccessfully trying to make wine for four hundred years, but finally succeeded only in the past forty. First the English King James I had trouble getting the colonists to grow wine because they preferred growing the more successful and profitable tobacco. Then Thomas Jefferson tried to bring wine culture to the U.S. but was unsuccessful in growing European varieties. The root of the problem was that European grapes and American grapes were two different species, vitis vinifera and vitis labrusca respectively. Vitis vinifera is better for making wine, whereas vitis labrusca is better for making jams and jellies. Plantings from the European vines were too susceptible to disease in the colonies, while the hardy American grapes made inferior wine.

The perfect climate for vitis vinifera was in California. The California Gold Rush inadvertently brought winemaking to California, increasing the population and bringing in European immigrants with an appreciation for wine. In California vitis vinifera was successfully planted and thrived in the Meditteranean-like climate until its ruination by the phylloxera epidemic arriving from france in the late-nineteenth century. Phylloxera attacked the roots of the vines, causing the plant to slowly wither away. Grafting the vitis vinifera onto phylloxera-resistant vitis labrusca rootstock proved to be the only way to stop the disease. Interestingly, more than 90% of American wine is made in California.

Later it was the temperance movement and prohibition that set back American winemaking by almost fifty years. The prohibition years between 1919 and 1933 left little for wineries, except that winemaking was still allowed for sacramental wine, medicinal purposes, and grapes were sold directly to consumers for home winemaking. All resulted in expanded acreage, but unfortunately the vines planted were vitis labrusca, which degraded the quality of wine, not to mention professional production skills suffered.

When prohibition was finally repealed in 1933, states were allowed to make their own laws about alcohol and wine. Unfortunately, the effects of prohibition are still felt today; there is still a patchwork of state laws. For example: It is a felony to ship wine to residents of Indiana. Wine can only be purchased at restaurants in Utah. And in other states, wine cannot be purchased on Sundays, or purchased in grocery stores.

While wine consumption in France has been declining because of various reasons, such as advertising bans, anti-drinking campaigns, etc., the consumption of wine in the U.S. has been rising for fifteen consecutive years. Wineries in the U.S. have seen spurred growth. By the end of this year, the U.S. will be the largest wine-consuming country in the world.

After reading this book, a glass of wine will never be the same. You will learn to be your own critic instead of depending on Robert Parker. And you will be more informed about the wine you are drinking in your glass. I know that I will be. I can attest that I no longer am afraid of French wine labels, and that I now know that most of the French wine in my measly cellar is vin de pays. I only have one bottle of AOC Bordeaux, which I will now cherish.

On July 22, Tyler Colman will be signing books at Powell’s Books, Cedar Hills Crossing in Beaverton, OR.

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Bar Q

Bar Q is definitely not your Dallas BBQ. It is a hyper-stylized white space that seems more of a boutique than an Asian-fusion barbecue house as it's billed. Further underlining the boutique look, the restaurant is made up of two combined premium West Village store front spaces, which splits the restaurant into two sections. One side has the bar nook along with an oyster bar. The other section has small square tables with white-leather high-backed booth seating along the main wall, horseshoe shaped booths in the front window nook, and light maple wood finishes all around. There is also an exterior space covered in glass panels resembling a greenhouse.

The cocktail menu, ranging in price from $11 to $13, is filled with fun Asian-inspired drinks: pickletini, bubble tea on the rocks, lychee cocktail, Filipino spritz, etc. A yuzu cosmo, which tasted pretty much like any other cosmo, was easily downed as no more than a spiked sweet fruit juice. A shiso julep was basically a mint julep made with the Japanese mint, but was good nonetheless.

For appetizers, the menu features many unique items; of particular interest were the lobster spring rolls, eel and scallion fritters, baby back ribs, grilled squid salad, and spit-roasted pork belly, which was my immediate favorite. I’ll take pork belly any time. The pork was roasted to the point where the skin was ultra crackly, but the meat was a bit dry and under seasoned. But it was redeemed and nicely complemented by kimchee, takuan (daikon radish pickle), and a silken tofu dipping sauce. You assemble all the components by stuffing them into a steamed bun wrapper and then stuff them into your mouth like a taco.

I generally do not care for miso at all. The smell of miso soup brings about dry heaves, but to put caution to the wind I tried my friend’s miso-glazed eggplant dish, a soft and succulent grilled eggplant. In my opinion, it made use of an undesirable ingredient in a good way. And there’s really no wrong way to prepare eggplant.

My dish of the Australian lamb, the most expensive item on the menu, was a grilled loan served with the specialty of the house, battered and fried garlic infused milk alongside a heap of bok choy sautéed in garlic. The waitress said that no one can resist ordering the fried milk. The loin was marinated in chili, which made it sour and tart, disguising the natural taste of lamb in a good way. This dish would be great for those who are touch-and-go with the taste of lamb, which can sometimes be gamey. The lamb was cooked medium—the waitress did not ask how I wanted the meat prepared—and I thus found it a bit dry for my taste.

The side of the fried milk was truly unusual. An Asian street-food specialty, the outside of the fried milk is a crunchy tempura-battered crust while the inside is custardy like silken tofu. But the texture can be off putting for some—I wasn't too sure about it at first. For a Westerner, I think the dish is the kind that needs to grow on you. It is offered as a side dish too. I recommend eating it on its own, because too me it seems like a dish that shouldn’t compete with the flavors of other bites taken.

Other quite sensationally sounding dishes on the main menu include tea-smoked chicken, tea-smoked duck, and stuffed spare ribs. I think they all sound incredible.

For dessert, there are many unusual items including a cold coconut soup and a warm walnut one, but the desert that immediately caught my attention was the chocolate peanut butter tartelette with pandanus ice cream. The dessert is rather small and simple. It is one layer of chocolate wrapped with another layer of peanut and rolled up like a Ho Ho and sliced. The ice cream, made from pandanus (a prickly globe-shaped, pineapple-like fruit), was a clean tasting refresher, like pickled ginger is to sushi. It made a good counterpoint to the chocolate-peanut combination. It was served on a bed of ground graham crackers, taken altogether with the chocolate and peanut butter swirls, the dessert reminded me of Reese’s peanut butter cups on an elite scale.

Bar Q
308-310 Bleecker Street, between Grove Street and 7th Avenue South
New York, NY 10014
212-206-7817
Open Monday through Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Appetizers range in price from $8 to $16 and entrees from $19 to $29.

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