Fight For Your Right to Poultry: Ludo Lefebvre's Foie Gras LudoTruck Pop-Up

*Post by Mark.

California's foie gras ban may be officially on the clock (California foie eaters have just six months left to enjoy those fattened duck livers) but that doesn't mean LudoBites chef Ludo Lefebvre is shying away from serving it. To help promote his new LudoTruck menu, Ludo pulled the truck outside of Domaine wine shop on Melrose this past Friday evening for a one-night only 'pop-up'. While the truck's new menu will feature a Messy Shrimp Po Boy, Black Truffle Chicken Sandwiches and Provencal Buttermilk Chicken, the 'Foie Gras Friday' menu read more like a big middle-finger to the fast approaching ban. Foie gras everything. 

Many of Chef Ludo's cultish followers were already lining up before the truck opened its windows. A French-speaking camera crew was rolling tape. And surprisingly, no foie gras protestors were anywhere in sight. We took our place in line, nestled between different generations of Ludo followers. Some knew Ludo from the early days of LudoBites pop-ups, while more recent followers seemed only familiar with him and his wife Krissy as the stars of the reality show 'Ludo Bites America'. 

After a good half hour in line we'd worked up the appetite to try all three items on the special 'Foie Gras Friday' menu: foie gras and corn soup, foie gras beignets and a foie gras terrine sandwich.

It's no easy task to do foie gras dishes at food truck prices. Only someone with the magnetic appeal of Ludo could actually pull off Foie Gras Beignets for $12. Yes, this little fried ball of dough and foie cost twelve bucks. Yes it was hardly enough for a bite for each of us. BUT...that bite was sweet, deep-fried decadence. Discluding the cost, it was the perfect way to bridge the gap between haute and food truck cuisine. 

The foie gras soup ($8) was a more restrained, elegant mouthful, with a rich, deep flavor studded with sweet corn morsels - not the kind of dish you expect to be served out of a truck, but perfect for warming up on a chilly evening.

The foie gras terrine sandwich ($15) was relatively small, but featured a not insubstantial slab of velvety foie gras terrine with crispy chicken skin and a curry slaw on top of a Breadbar bun. A home-run favorite for us, we almost wished we'd foregone the beignet and just ordered two of these. Or three.  

Portions on the foie products had been small, so it was fortunate that we'd also ordered some of Ludo's famed Buttermilk Fried Chicken. Definitely some of the better fried chicken you'll ever have, the succulent meat was coated with an almost impossibly crisp, flaky, slightly spicy breading, and carried with it the strong aroma of rosemary. The chicken comes with a side dipping sauce of your choosing - and you can't go wrong with the spicy mayo.

Everything we ate made us happy to have bundled up and made the trek to the truck. The final countdown for foie may be upon us in California, but that doesn't mean we'll take it sitting down (or on an empty stomach). If you missed 'Foie Gras Friday', chances are there will be plenty more of the stuff to be had when LudoBites pops up for its 8th incarnation in January.

It's hard to imagine a LudoBites without foie gras, so as long as there's a ban threatening to take the duck product away from us, we'll continue to fight for our right to poultry.

Chicken and Dumplings

*Post by Angela.

While we both love food, Mark and I come from very different food backgrounds in terms of what we grew up eating. For me, home-cooked meals were often of Asian origin, usually Chinese. I can't remember ever having meatloaf, sloppy joes, or any other traditional American comfort foods. Mark, on the other hand, grew up with the classics, including chicken and dumplings, something I had never really had until I tried it at dinner at his parents' house. I found this recipe at Simply Recipes, and though it didn't turn out quite as well as I wanted, I liked how hearty it was, great for a chilly fall/winter night.

 

List of ingredients:

• 4 pounds chicken thighs and legs (Family Pak, baby!)
• 8 tbsp olive oil, divided
• Salt
• 1 quart chicken stock + 2 cups water
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large leek, white and light green parts only, chopped and well rinsed
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 pinch turmeric
• Ground black or white pepper
• 2 cups cake flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 3/4 cup half and half
• 1/4 cup minced fresh herb leaves (I used parsley and tarragon)

 

First I brought the chicken stock and the 2 cups of water to a gentle simmer in a medium pot, and heated 2 tbsp of the olive oil over medium-high heat in different (bigger pot). I browned the chicken pieces in the heated oil, placing the pieces skin-side down first (about 3-4 minutes per side).

 

 

I peeled the crispy skin off the chicken pieces, ate it, then chucked the rest of the meat into the simmering stock to cook for about 20 minutes (after that, I used tongs to remove the meat, leaving the stock simmering, then stripped the meat off the bones and chopped it up into bite-sized pieces). In the meantime, I brought the bigger pot back up to to medium-high heat and added the onion, celery, carrot and thyme and sautéed until soft, but not browned, about 4-5 minutes. I added the garlic and cooked just a minute or two more, then removed the veggies to a bowl.

 

 

 

 

I heated the remaining 6 tbsp of olive oil in the big pot, then added the 6 tbsp of all-purpose flour and whisked to create a roux, cooking for about 2-3 minutes. 

 

 

 

 

I added the vegetables back into the pot with the roux, along with the sherry, bay leaves and turmeric. Then I added the hot chicken stock a ladle at a time, stirring constantly, until it was all added. Then I added the chicken back in, seasoned with salt and pepper and continued to simmer.

 

 

 

 

At this point, I was ready to put together the dumplings. I sifted together the 2 cups of cake flour, baking powder, and about 1 tsp of salt in a medium bowl, then mixed in the chopped parsley/tarragon mixture. I added melted butter and half and half to the dry ingredients, and just did a quick mix with a until mixture had just come together.

 

 

 

 
I dropped dumpling batter in heaping teaspoonfuls into the stew, attempting not to overcrowd any one particular spot, then covered the pot tightly and simmered over medium low heat for about 20 minutes.

 

 

 

The texture of the dumplings were odd - kind of spongey and dense, instead of fluffy, like I wanted. Though I liked how herb-y they were, I may use Bisquick next time. The stew itself, though, was really tasty, thick, velvety and downright, well...comforting.

Lemon-Garlic Chicken Thighs

*Post by Angela.

On any given day, there are a handful of ingredients that you can find in my refrigerator: massive amounts of garlic, a yellow onion or two, lemons, chicken broth and more and more often, chicken thighs (they're cheaper and more delicious than any other poultry, in my opinion). Add to this list the flour, crushed red pepper flakes and bay leaves that always occupy my cabinets, and what you come up with is the makings for this recipe from Emeril Lagasse. It's simpler than his usual recipes, with their never-ending ingredient lists. It's also a little more boring, but it's still fairly tasty and very easy to make quickly, making it a pretty decent weekday meal to have in your back pocket.

List of ingredients:

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• Salt & pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 cups thinly sliced onions
• 30 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• Cooked white rice (or alternatively, 1 lb angel hair pasta, tossed with butter)

First, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees, then seasoned the chicken liberally with salt and pepper. I mean liberally, too, otherwise you'll end up with a very bland end product.

I poured the flour into a shallow dish, then lightly dredged the chicken in the flour and set it aside.

In a pot with high sides (to prevent splashing), I heated the oil over medium-high heat, added the thighs and cooked them on both sides until golden brown, 3-4 minutes per side. I removed the chicken from the pan and set it aside.

I added the onions to the oil and cooked, scraping up the browned bits, until the onions were just starting to soften, about 5-7 minutes. I added the wonderous amounts of garlic, crushed red pepper, a dash of salt, and the bay leaf and cooked a minute or two more.

I poured in the lemon juice and chicken broth, and added the chicken back to the pan, then brought it to a simmer. I covered the pot, then slid the entire thing in the oven to bake for 20 minutes. I then carefully removed the lid to cook an additional 15 minutes, until the chicken was completely cooked through.

I served it over rice, but buttered pasta would also be really nice, as would a nice bed of steamed spinach. Honestly, you could adapt this recipe a million different ways that would make it amazing. Or you could just stick with the basics and have yourself a solid, pretty cheap meal in under an hour.

 

Green Curry Chicken

*Post by Angela.

I'm very lucky. I don't have kids and I typically have an 8:30 am to 6:00 pm work day, so generally, I have the time and the resources to make most of our dinners at home from scratch. And while I understand other people's affection for the show, and though my feelings on the subject don't quite reach the epic emotions expressed by Anthony Bourdain, I gotta say that Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee is really not for me - the few episodes I've watched did nothing to convince me to forsake my commitment to using mainly fresh ingredients in my kitchen. 

All that aside, there are a few prepared items that I lean on from time to time to help me make a good meal. Prime example? Green curry paste, available in most grocery stores in the Asian food section. Buying the individual ingredients to make my own can run up the grocery bill quickly, and for the most part, green curry paste (I use Thai Kitchen brand) is made up of real ingredients (chili, lemon grass, garlic, galangal, salt, onion, pepper, rhizome, lime and peanut oil) rather than artificial/chemical ones. And the result is a practically restaurant-quality Thai curry dish.

List of ingredients:

• 2 tbsp oil
• 4 green onions, minced
• 3 cups coconut milk
• 3 tbsp green curry paste
• 1 tbsp chicken bouillon granules (or 1 cube)
• 3 lbs chicken thighs, cubed into roughly 1" pieces
• 1 large handful cilantro leaves, roughly chopped and divided in half
• 1 tsp salt
• Cooked white rice

First, I heated the oil in a wok over medium high heat and tossed in the green onions, sauteeing about 30 seconds.

I added the coconut milk, green curry paste, and chicken bouillon granules, stirred until well combined and brought the mixture to a boil.

I added the chicken, half the cilantro, and the salt, lowered the heat to a simmer and cooked about 12 minutes, until the meat was cooked through.

Then I removed the wok from the heat, stirred in the remaining cilantro, and served the curry over some steaming hot white rice. For me, there was very little difference between this and the green curry we get from the Thai restaurant around the corner - creamy, yet not too heavy, and absolutely delicious on rice. Is homemade green curry paste better? Sure. A little. But I'm probably not gonna give up my store bought paste. If you see me make that kwanzaa cake, though, I give you leave to hit me in the face.

Honey Mustard Curry Chicken

*Post by Angela.

Yeah, you read that right. Honey mustard curry chicken. Honey and mustard are often compatriots, but curry? Surprisingly, it adds just the right amount of warmth to this dish, which I found at allrecipes.

 

List of ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup whole grain mustard
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 3 lbs chicken thighs and legs

First, I preheated the oven to 350 degress, and whisked together the butter, honey, mustard, salt and curry powder in a small bowl.

Next, I placed the chicken, skin up, in a roasting pan, and poured the honey mustard curry mixture over top, making sure that each piece of chicken was thoroughly coated. The sauce-drenched chicken went in the oven for an hour and 15 minutes, with me basting the pieces with pan juices every 15 minutes.

I served up the chicken with some bacon-braised Brussels sprouts. I really loved how the sweet sauce caramelized atop the chicken skin, and the dark meat chicken stayed nice and juicy throughout the cooking process. And like I said, the curry adds a little something special. Looks like honey and mustard may have found themselves a new playmate.