The Boston Globe - 11.09.2019

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 The Boston Globe G5

Serves4

Last month, Popeyes and Chick-
fil-A were duking it out over who
makes the best chicken sandwich.
Other fast-food giants took notice
while Twitter went crazy, food writ-
ers tried to keep up, and just about
every restaurant that ever slapped a
piece of chicken between two halves
of a bun tried their own versions.
Popeyes’s newest menu addition is
based on a breaded and fried chick-
en cutlet set on a brioche bun with
pickle slices and regular or spicy
mayonnaise. It turns out to be fairly
simple to make at home. Instead of
breading and frying the chicken,
brine the breasts before seasoning
them with paprika, dry mustard,
black pepper, and cayenne. Then,
saute them quickly in a skillet. Few-
er calories, just as good. Layer a bri-
oche bun with Sriracha-mayo, pick-
les, shredded lettuce, and the
breast. This sandwich might not
have quite the same cache as your
favorite fast-food joint, but when
the local franchise slaps a note on
the door apologizing for its inability

to keep up with demand, you’ll

know what to do.

1 cup water

1 tablespoon salt

1 clove garlic, crushed

4 skinless, boneless chicken

breasts (1½ pounds total)

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 pinch cayenne pepper

¼ cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons chili-garlic sauce

such as Sriracha

1 tablespoon white miso

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 tablespoons butter

4 brioche buns, halved

horizontally

12 pickle chips

1½cups shredded iceberg lettuce

1.In a large bowl, combine water,

salt, and garlic. Stir well to dissolve

the salt. Add the chicken breasts,

and make sure they are fully sub-

merged. Refrigerator for 1 hour.

2.In a bowl, stir together the papri-

Chicken sandwich with spicy mayonnaise

Serves4asamaincourse,6asan

appetizer

The hot summer this year pro-

duced very sweet corn. Turn it into

a chowder with chunks of golden

potatoes, with poblanos and hot

sauce for a slight heat. It’ll bring a

warm finish to cooler evenings. A

bit of cream stirred in at the end of

simmering enriches the broth.

Thicken the chowder with beurre

manie (also called kneaded butter;

think of it as a floured neighbor of

the roux). For beurre manie, use a

fork on a plate to mash 3 table-

spoons of room temperature but-

ter with 3 tablespoons of flour un-

til they form a smooth paste. The

paste will give body to the chow-

der, without adding lumpiness,

and avoid giving it a floury taste.

While comfort is always in season,

this corn and potato chowder — as

a main course or appetizer — will

keep you firmly planted in sum-

mer nostalgia.

4 ears fresh corn, shucked

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, coarsely chopped

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 stalks of celery, coarsely

chopped

1 large poblano chile, cored,

seeded and chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 bay leaf

2 medium Yukon Gold or Yellow

Finn potatoes (1 pound total),

cut into ¾-inch dice

4 cups chicken stock

1 cup water

1 tablespoon liquid hot sauce,

or more to taste

½ cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons butter, at room

temperature

3 tablespoons flour

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons freshly snipped

chives (for garnish)

1.Set an ear of corn on a cutting

board and working from the thick

to the narrow end, cut off 2 rows

of kernels. Turn and cut off 2 or 3

more rows, and continue until all

the corn is off the cob. Repeat with

all the ears. Transfer the corn to a

bowl.

2.In a soup pot over medium-high

heat, heat the olive oil. Add the on-

ion with a generous pinch of salt

and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3

minutes. Add the celery and contin-

ue cooking, stirring occasionally, for

3 minutes more. Add the poblano

and cook for 2 minutes.

3.Add the garlic and bay leaf and

cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

4.Add the corn, potatoes, chicken

stock, water, and hot sauce. Bring to

a boil, lower the heat, and simmer

uncovered, stirring occasionally, for

8 to 10 minutes, or until the pota-

toes are almost tender.

Spicy corn

and potato chowder

5.Stir in the cream and let the mix-

ture simmer for 3 minutes, or until

the liquid reduces slightly.

6.Meanwhile, on a plate with a

fork, mash the butter and flour to-

gether to make a paste.

7.Turn the heat down to medium

so the chowder is barely bubbling.

Remove the bay leaf. With a rubber

spatula, scrape the butter-flour

paste into the chowder, stirring un-

til it is fully incorporated. Simmer

for 2 minutes more, stirring often;

the chowder will thicken.

8.Add the lemon juice. Taste the

chowder for seasoning and add

more salt or hot sauce, if you like.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with

chives.Lauren Allen

SHERYL JULIAN FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

SEASONAL RECIPES

WHAT TO COOK THIS WEEK

ka, mustard, black pepper, and cay-

enne pepper.

3.In another bowl, stir together the

mayonnaise, chili-garlic sauce, and

miso; refrigerate.

4.Remove the chicken breasts from

the brine and pat them dry with pa-

per towels. Sprinkle both sides with

spice mixture.

5.In a skillet over medium-high

heat, heat the oil. Add the chicken

and cook 5 minutes on a side, or un-

til a meat thermometer inserted in-

to the thickest part of the breast

registers 165 degrees.

6.In another skillet over medium

heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter.

Place 4 bottom halves of brioche,

cut sides down, in the skillet. Toast

for 1 to 2 minutes or until well

browned and warmed through. Re-

peat with the remaining 1 table-

spoon butter and the brioche tops.

7.Spoon the spicy mayonnaise onto

the 4 bottom buns. Add 3 pickle

chips to each and a sprinkling of

shredded lettuce. Top each with 1

chicken breast. Close the sandwich-

es with the top buns.

Karoline Boehm Goodnick

KAROLINE BOEHM GOODNICK FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

By Michael Floreak
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
It’s hard to remember a time before so-
cial media made instant celebrities of the
latest bistro, cocktail bar, or fast-casual res-
taurant, and the heavily tattooed young
chef behind them. Or when culinary inno-
vations originated in New York and San
Francisco, rather than Portland, Ore.; Pitts-
burgh; or Nashville. James Beard award-
winning writer Kevin Alexander remem-
bers. Alexander traces the seismic shift that
occurred in the American food scene be-
tween 2006 and 2018 in his new book,
“Burn the Ice: The American Culinary Rev-
olution and its End.”
Alexander looks at rapid changes of the
time by telling the stories of the people who
were part of it, from Gabriel Rucker’s Le Pi-
geon in Portland to Andre Prince Jeffries
whose family recipe for Nashville hot chick-
en inspired a national craze. Alexander,
who grew up in the Boston area and served
as the Boston editor for Thrillist in 2008,
spoke about the book from his home in
Northern California.

Q.Why did you choose to begin the story in
2006?
A.That was the year that social media really
started to take off, which gave
restaurants and bars this
megaphone to kind of guerrilla
market on their own. Television
in America dramatically
changed and improved with the
launch of “Top Chef” that year
and the second season of Antho-
ny Bourdain’s “No Reservations.”
That was right around the time
of the launch of all the food blogs.
Eater gave us 24/7 chefs as celeb-
rities and cultural coverage, and
Serious Eats was sort of the ama-
teur food nerd paradise.

Q.How did Portland in 2006 become the
model for so much of what came after?
A.The hottest restaurant group, Ripe, had
just imploded, so there was a lot of talent
wandering around. You saw folks scraping
around to do these creative small projects,
like Andy Ricker’s Pok Pok and Gabriel
Rucker’s Le Pigeon. I think when expecta-
tions are low and everyone thinks you’re
going to fail anyway, you can end up doing
really creative things, and I think that’s

what Portland captured. But it was that

aesthetic, sort of the bold, challenging dish-

es, the sautéed lamb’s brain with mustard

crème fraîche, and foie gras profiteroles

and all of that sort of stuff.

Q.How did things spread to every corner of

country?

A.I call it the New York food mafia, but the

big food magazines and food publications

that at that time really dictated what people

focused on. And they started to put their

sights on Portland, and those independent,

chef-driven restaurants with

that sort of aesthetic, the Edi-

son bulbs and the reclaimed

wood and the farm-to-table

food and the craft cocktails.

Those places really started to

blossom. Portland had no culi-

nary reputation. These other

cities like Austin, Texas, and

Nashville could see Portland

do it, and that kind of created

this template.

Q.Pretty quickly a lot of

young chefs and other cities followed.

A.They’re seeing people like Gabriel Ruck-

er, who’s 26 years old and getting named

like Food & Wine’s best new chef and get-

ting James Beard awards. And they’re like,

why do I have to wait staging and as a sous-

chef in these San Francisco and New York

restaurants? Why don’t I just go back to my

hometown, open my own place for cheap,

and do these things and get a name for my-

self? You kind of saw that mind-meld

spread all across the country. You could set

up shop anywhere where there were cheap

rents and enough young people and clien-

tele to attract. That was sort of this cool, ex-

citing, really wild-west time in a lot of these

second-, third-, fourth-tier cities.

Q.How has this food revolution changed

urban areas?

A.Beforehand you would say the best res-

taurants are going to be in the best neigh-

borhoods, because they were going to

spend the most money. What switched was

that these people, in order to be as creative

as possible with the food, needed the

cheapestrents.Andsothattheywouldgo

to places that you wouldn’t necessarily

think of as food destinations. So there’s al-

ways this line between revitalization and

gentrification. That was why I was really

fascinated by Freret Street (in New Or-

leans). In 2008 after Katrina, everyone

said, you’re crazy to go and buy this build-

ing to the guys from [cocktail bar] Cure.

And then by 2011 it was, wow, look at all of

these other places that have been built up

around. And in 2018, there are about 24

restaurants and you’ve got chains like The

Halal Guys and Blaze Pizza and you’ve got

the condos coming in.

Q.You say that some of the same factors

that drove the growth of this revolution are

driving its end. How so?

A.We haven’t had a recession in 11 straight

years. But what that means from a restau-

rant perspective is that landlords can raise

rents for 11 straight years. You think about

the rising food costs. You think about the

market saturation — there are 100,000

more restaurants in America today than

there were 10 years ago. Now that social

media spreads ideas very quickly, you can’t

keep your idea to yourself. If you have a

good restaurant idea, it’s going to be docu-

mented on social media within the first few

weeks of you opening. You don’t have a

chance to work out the kinks anymore, be-

cause everyone is documenting exactly

what you’re doing.

Q.As we move to whatever comes next,

how have things changed for the better?

A.There’s the overall idea of food as a part

of our culture. I think there’s a lot more

consciousness to the way we think about

where our food comes from, the way we

think about the quality of the food and the

diversity of food. I think that people are

much more open to eating non-Western

European foods. I’m excited about the level

of knowledge about food and the expansion

of curiosity and interest in foods from other

places. That’s not going to go away.

Interview was condensed and edited.

Michael Floreak can be reached at

[email protected]. Kevin

Alexander will talk about “Burn the Ice” on

Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. at Wellesley

Books, 82 Central St., Wellesley, 781-431-

1160.

Q&A
KEVIN ALEXANDER

LIZ DALY

‘Youcouldsetupshop

anywherewherethere

werecheaprentsand

enoughyoungpeopleand

clienteletoattract.’

Mapping

our culinary

revolution

VACATION IN

KENNEBUNK BEACH!

Ratesaslow

as$ 119 +tx

per night

844-253-2972 • franciscanguesthouse.com

Franciscan Guest House

Close to

•beaches

•shopping

• restaurants

❖A Four Course Dinner & Daily Full Breakfast

❖Three Days of Unlimited Golf

❖Health Club, Outdoor Heated Pool, Lake

House, Canoes, Kayaks, Hiking/Biking Trails

(Includes Select Weekends!) Call today!

(800) 654-0125

bethelinn.com

*Tax and resort service fee not included

3 DAY/2 NIGHT $

STAY &DINE FORTWO^396

Call us and mention the “Boston Globe”

for $50 of Resort Spending.

ENJOY FALL IN

KENNEBUNKPORT,

MAINE

277 Mills Road

Kennebunkport, ME

207.967.2483

sandypinescamping.com

SHELBURNE FARM

FRESH FRUIT AND HEALTHY FAMILY FUN!

Pick Your Own

Apples, Peaches

and Asian Pears

978-897-9287

Shelburnefarm.com

Live Music Weekends

Warm Cider Donuts • Caramel Apples

• Farm Store • Hayrides
  Weekends: Pedal Tractors • Hay Mountain


• Mini Haymaze • Farm Animals


• Moon Bounce • Ice Cream


• Applewood Fired Grill

Just 20 miles

from Boston

10 6 W. Acton Rd., Stow, MA

ExperienceGlobe.com

...

...

...

..