BOERUN HILL
If Brooklyn restaurants were people, most would be a thirtysomething creative professional in head-to-toe Uniqlo. Saul, meanwhile, is the fiftyish law professor in a cashmere sweater. From the day he opened in November 1999, chef Saul Bolton has turned out “sophisticated” food, to quote his website, becoming one of only four Brooklyn restaurants to earn a Michelin star. (The other three are Dressler, page 141, Peter Luger steak house, and the River Café). For its tenth birthday, Saul got a big wet kiss of a review from the New York Times, which praised the restaurant for its sustained energy and inventiveness.
Sophisticated. That’s a word that few other restaurants in this book would use to describe themselves. In fact, many would be vaguely embarrassed. But it’s the perfect word for Saul, Brooklyn’s version of a fancy restaurant. The dining room is warm, airy, and elegant. The clean-shaven maître d’ wears a coat and tie. The white-shirted servers discreetly swap in new flatware between courses. (Mercifully, they do not do that architectural thing with your napkin when you go to the restroom.) And a typical meal goes something like this: amuse-bouche of pureed mushroom with white truffle oil and chives, rich and earthy, wonderful right off the spoon, even better sopped up with a soft, crusty slice of bread; seafood chowder of Manila clams, mussels, shrimp, and crispy little nuggets of smoky bacon in a light broth flecked with fines herbes; oxtail ragù with poached egg, homemade tagliatelle, and Parmesan cheese, which comes in a high-sided conical bowl that collects the egg, cheese, and pasta in the bottom, making for some intensely flavored final bites; and perfectly cooked squab with wild arugula, farro verde, and tiny disks of brightly flavored pickled artichokes.
Bolton, a native Ohioan who owns the restaurant with his wife,
Lisa, came to New York in the early nineties because he wanted to work with David Bouley. He accomplished that goal, then went on to stints at Le Bernardin and Verbena (now closed) before landing his first executive-chef job at Grove, also defunct, in the West Village. He toiled there for three years before opening Saul in November 1999, just two months after the Grocery appeared eight blocks south.
“So many people said it wouldn’t work,” Bolton recalls. “All the neighborhood people were like, ‘What are you doing? You need at least three television screens in here.'”
SERVES 4
For the pickled sunchokes
1½ cups seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 bay leaf
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Pinch of coarse salt
1½ pound sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes), peeled and diced
For the eggplant caviar (makes about 2 cups)
1 large eggplant
Extra-virgin olive oil for coating the eggplant, plus ½ cup
½ tablespoon whole cumin seeds
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)
1 teaspoon seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon spicy pimentón de la vera (smoked paprika)
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Boerum Hill has always had a Middle Eastern flavor, even more so when Saul Bolton opened his restaurant back in 1999. This dish is a nod to that region’s cuisine and to the neighborhood’s influence on Bolton’s cooking. Freekeh (sometimes spelled farik, frikeh, or just frik), is a roasted wheat grain that’s similar to farro and is common throughout the Arab word; the eggplant “caviar,” so named because the eggplant seeds resemble tiny fish eggs, is essentially a smooth and smoky baba ghanoush. True, there’s nothing especially Middle Eastern about the squab, but the dark silky meat melds perfectly with everything else on the plate. Be careful not to overcook it; there should be plenty of pink at the center when you cut into it.
1. To make the pickled sunchokes, combine the rice wine vinegar, coriander seeds, bay leaf, red pepper flakes, and salt in a small nonreactive saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the sunchokes, remove from the heat, and pour into a nonreactive container. Set aside to cool, then refrigerate until completely chilled.
2. To make the eggplant, preheat the oven to 425°F. Generously rub the whole eggplant with olive oil, place on a baking sheet, and roast, turning occasionally, until collapsed and charred, about 50 minutes. (You can also cook the eggplant on a grill over high heat for 25 to 30 minutes, or until soft. This will give the caviar a smokier flavor.)
3. Place the cumin seeds in a small, dry skillet over low heat. Cook just until fragrant, 2 or 3 minutes, shaking the pan often to prevent burning. Allow the cumin to cool, then transfer to a spice grinder and grind to a powder.
4. Slice the eggplant in half and scrape out the flesh, discarding the skin. Transfer the eggplant flesh to the work bowl of a food processor. Add the cumin seeds and garlic and puree until smooth. With the motor running, add the ½ cup olive oil, the tahini, rice wine vinegar, pimentón, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside until ready to use.
For the freekeh
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium Spanish onion, chopped
1½ cups freekeh, rinsed and drained, or farro*
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the vinaigrette
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons minced shallots
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil For the squab
4 whole squab, breasts and legs separated, trimmed of excess fat
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 fresh thyme sprigs
2 small bunches arugula, cleaned, dried, and stems trimmed
5. To make the freekeh, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent. Add the freekeh and stir to coat. Add 2 cups water, season with salt, and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper.
(If using farro instead of freekeh, sauté the onions and set aside. Add the farro to the pan with enough water to cover it by ½ inch. Season with salt and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover tightly and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. Drain off the water and mix the farro with the sautéed onion.)
6. To make the vinaigrette, in a small bowl, combine the sherry vinegar and shallots and let the shallots macerate for about 5 minutes. Season the shallots with salt and pepper. Add the olive oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified. Set aside.
7. To cook the squab, pat the squab dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. In a large sauté pan that can comfortably fit the squab, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the squab, skin side down, and cook until the skin is golden brown, 2 or 3 minutes. Add the butter and thyme sprigs to the pan. Turn the squab and continue cooking, flesh side down, for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the breast registers 120°F on a meat thermometer. (The squab will continue to cook while it rests and should be served medium-rare.) Remove the pan from the heat and tent with foil.
8. To serve, spread ¼ cup of eggplant caviar on each of 4 plates. Divide the freekeh among 4 plates, mounding it in the center. Top with two squab breasts and two squab legs on each plate. Toss the arugula with the sherry vinaigrette. Scatter the arugula and pickled sunchokes around the squab. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper.
“It’s just so freakin’ logical,” says chef Saul Bolton of this dish. “You have the spicy chorizo in there, which is fatty and bright red and just as tasty as can be (and it’s nice having it on the line so I can eat it all night long). You have the kale, which is incredibly minerally. (I grew up having kale stuffed down my throat by my mom, so I appreciate kale in a big way; that’s why I grew so tall.) You have the lemon in the pine nut condiment, which is like a reset button for the whole dish. And then you have the earth with the beans. You swish your fork through all that, take a sip of your wine … and hopefully you’ll be able to work your way through this dish without getting incredibly bored.” Be aware that you’ll need to soak the beans overnight.
1. To make the white bean puree, place the white beans in a large bowl and cover with room-temperature water by 2 inches. Soak at room temperature overnight.
2. Drain and place the white beans in a medium saucepan with the olive oil, garlic, celery, onion, and bay leaf and cover with water by 3 inches. Cook until the beans are tender, about 1 hour. Remove the bay leaf and drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid. Transfer the beans to a food processor and add ¾ cup of the bean liquid. Puree until smooth, adding more bean liquid and olive oil if needed; the puree should be the consistency of a thick milk shake. Season to taste with salt and pepper and reserve. Do not discard the remaining bean liquid; you may need it to thin the puree when ready to serve.
3. To make the pine nut condiment, soak the currants in hot water for 20 minutes, or until soft. Drain and reserve. In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and cook until soft, 2 or 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, add the currants, pine nuts, lemon zest, sherry vinegar, red pepper flakes, and thyme, and mix well to combine. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more sherry vinegar. Remove from the heat and allow to cool at room temperature.
SERVES 6
For the white bean puree
1 cup dried white beans
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 garlic cloves, crushed
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 medium Spanish onion, diced
1 bay leaf
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pine nut condiment
¼ cup currants
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup chopped shallots ½ cup toasted pine nuts
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, plus more if needed
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch Tuscan kale, about ¾ pound, cleaned, ribs removed, leaves roughly chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup chopped shallots
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the scallops
24 large diver scallops
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ pound chorizo, cut on the bias into 1/8-inch-thick slices
4. To cook the kale, prepare an ice bath and bring a medium saucepan of generously salted water to a boil. Add the kale to the boiling water and blanch for 2 minutes. Transfer the kale to the ice bath, drain, and squeeze out the excess water. Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until soft, 2 or 3 minutes. Add the kale, season with salt and pepper, and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
5. In a small saucepan, warm the white bean puree over low heat. Taste for seasoning and thin out with the reserved bean liquid, if necessary.
6. To cook the scallops, season the scallops with salt and pepper. In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the scallops and cook for 2 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn them over and cook for 2 minutes more. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Add the chorizo to the pan and cook until warmed through, about 2 minutes.
7. To serve, spread ¼ cup of the white bean puree on each plate. Place 4 scallops on top, arrange the kale between the scallops, and top the scallops with the pine nut condiment and warm chorizo slices.
* When Saul serves this dish at the restaurant, he often uses farro verde, a young farro available only to professional chefs, from Anson Mills in South Carolina. We suggest freekeh as the closest substitute; it can be found in most Middle Eastern groceries. (If you live in Brooklyn, it’s available at Oriental Pastry and Grocery on Atlantic Avenue.) But you can also use regular farro.
