IDEAS IN FOOD

Squid Confit

Tuna and Chorizo

We took a few ingredients left over from our photo shoot and married them with a chorizo vinaigrette we were working on. The ingredients inspired the dish of tuna, potato, crunchy vegetables dressed with chorizo. It is always amazing how impeccable ingredients can be taken in so many directions; this being one option with what we had lying around.

Smoked Mussels and Celery

We hot smoke these mussels to cook them and then marinate them in their juices. They seem to become plumper and juicier after resting overnight, with the aroma of smoke mellowing and permeating the small nuggets of deliciousness. The recipe is for the book, sorry, but we have to share the fact that cooking the mussels so that they were just plump and tender enough to be pulled from their shells and then letting them marinate overnight in their liquor left us with an amazing bowl of briny goodness that spoke of the ocean and the sweet, creamy meat in a way that nothing else ever has before. Maybe serving a dish hot isn't always the best expression of an ingredient. It pays to shake things up once in a while and serve hot things cold and cold things hot, just to see what will happen.

Aroma

Taste and aroma are a tricky combination.  A pungent, stinky cheese tastes much better than it smells, while a poorly made cup of coffee will still smell delicious wafting across the room. When we are forced to ingest bitter or unpleasant medicine we hold our nose to tamp down the flavor and when we are congested and stuffy food loses its inherent flavor when we consume it. This is because it is the odor molecules in food that give it its flavor.

 

Wine tasters are given lessons in how to evaluate flavors, to taste consciously. It’s an interesting skill and one that most people could benefit from learning more about. At a wine tasting the first evaluation is visual. Truthfully you can smell a great wine as soon as it is poured into the glass but we file that scent away for a moment while we absorb the appearance of the wine. We make judgments based on visual cues. For example an older red wine that is tinged with orange at the rim is probably past its peak, the flavors will be on the downward slope, becoming more delicate and ethereal rather than fruit forward and complex.

 

Next we smell the wine. We take a moment to swirl the glass to release additional volatile compounds. If we taste a wine that is too cold, we may cup our hands around the glass to warm it slightly, although that is a faux pas in the normal course of events. We evaluate the aromas, considering other familiar scents that they remind us of. Finally we sip, making a point of drawing oxygen in with the wine and swirling the mixture around in our mouths, loudly or softly depending upon our personalities, before swallowing and exhaling. The length that the flavor lingers in the mouth is directly related to the perceived quality of the wine. The process of oxygenating and agitating the liquid in our mouths allow more of the odorant molecules to rise up through our nasal passages. That final sigh stirs up the last of the volatile compounds and allows us to experience them without the distraction of the liquid and fully appreciate the flavors of the wine.

 

The tongue can only detect so many flavor components. Most people agree that the five flavors now are sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. The sensations in the mouth also determine temperature and irritation to the tongue and throat. The ability to perceive irritants is considered a chemical sense. It manifests as the sharp unpleasant reaction to ammonia or the tingle of heat from a chili. When food is presented to us the first thing we experience is usually the aroma. Even before the food is close enough to see clearly, in many cases we can smell it coming. Odor molecules travel through your nasal passage and mouth to your olfactory receptors, located at the top of your nasal passage. When you sinuses are congested the molecules can no longer reach these receptors and you lose your sense of smell.

 

For many animals smell is their strongest sense. It alerts them to danger, helps them locate food and then determines whether or not it is safe to eat, and detects pheromones in other animals. Although humans no longer need their sense of smell to survive, it is an integral sense in experiencing many of life’s pleasures.

 

Aromas are highly complex messages being decoded by our brains. We have millions of odor receptor cells with approximately 1000 different genes. Each type of odor receptor is specialized to identify a few specific scents. Each aroma is comprised of hundreds of different odorant molecules that each react with specific odor receptors. The pattern of receptors that is activated determines our perception of a scent. In 2004 Richard Axel and Lind B. Buck won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for determining how the olfactory system works and proving that we can identify and form memories of over 10,000 different scents.

 

Aroma and memory are intrinsically tied together. It’s amazing how evocative a scent can be. The aroma of corn on the grill takes us to the beach and the smell of a turkey roasting in the oven brings Thanksgiving to mind. In the old restaurant Bouley in New York, David Bouley had racks of apples lining the entrance foyer of the restaurant. The smell immediately awakened and relaxed people even if they were unaware of what was happening. It was a clever use of aroma and design.

 

Scents are created as volatile compounds, which are organic compounds that have enough vapor pressure to evaporate into the air under normal conditions. Heat causes the compounds to evaporate more quickly, which is why hot foods tend to have more flavor than cold ones. Many of these volatile compounds can be distilled in the form of essential oils.  Chefs are beginning to work with food grade essential oils in the kitchen to enhance the flavor of their food. Commercial food processors are beginning to explore the idea of scented packaging to boost sales. Modern technology in the form of virtual aroma synthesizers are gaining popularity to test drive new flavors because aroma attraction has proven to be an accurate indicator of flavor preference and testers do not suffer the same level of sensory fatigue as they do when tasting a variety of new flavors.

 

Interestingly there is a new piece of equipment available to chefs known as the Volcano Vaporizer. We were given the opportunity to use one to see how it could benefit our culinary exploits. The vaporizer uses hot air to gently heat ingredients to the point where the essential oils are released as vapor. This vapor can be captured by the chef and used to infuse other ingredients with flavor through aroma. But don’t worry, you don’t need fancy equipment to use aroma in your cooking. It’s already there in everything in your kitchen. You just need a little imagination to help make your diners sit up and notice it.

 

Lavender Scented Fluke

 

2 fluke filets, approximately 18 ounces/510 grams

4 ½ cups/1000 grams water

5 ½ tablespoons/50 grams fine sea salt

 

Lavender blossoms

Freeze dried pineapple

Fleur de sel

Extra virgin olive oil (we like Manni)

 

Trim the fluke of bloodline and remove any bones. Cut each fillet lengthwise, down the center and remove the coarse sinew, which runs along the mid-line of the fish. Dissolve the salt in the water. Place the fluke in the brine for ten minutes. Remove the fluke from the brine and pat dry.

 

Turn the Volcano Vaporizer on at 266°F. Lay the fluke fillets on a small metal rack and place them in a zip top bag. Seal the bag almost completely, leaving a corner open to put the tube from the vaporizer. Fill the chamber of the vaporizer with lavender and insert the extension tube into the bag. Run lavender aroma into the bag for five minutes, then close the bag and refrigerate the fish. After 10 minutes in the refrigerator, pull the fish out and repeat the infusion process. Do this one more time, for 3 total infusions. You may have to add more lavender blossoms to the vaporizer. After the third infusion let the fish rest in the refrigerator for at least a half an hour.

 

Alternatively, if you do not have a vaporizer, wrap each filet in a layer of cheese cloth. Sprinkle lavender blossoms on the top and bottom of the cheese cloth and then wrap each filet in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the fish for 2 hours. Unwrap one filet and smell it. If the lavender has permeated the fish unwrap the rest of the fish, otherwise re-wrap and let infuse for another hour. Once the fish is infused with the aroma of lavender, unwrap and remove the plastic and the cheese cloth, re-wrap the fish, and store it in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

 

To serve, remove the fillets from the refrigerator and lay on a cutting board. On a bias, thinly slice the fluke and arrange the slices on plates. Use a microplane to grate freeze dried pineapple over the fish. Sprinkle the fish with fleur de sel and drizzle with olive oil.

 

Linguine with Crab Sauce

One of the first dishes I learned to cook was linguine with clam sauce. Over time it has been the go to dish when in a pinch for something delicious. When a bounty of king crab crossed our path we decided to update a classic.

Stuffed Bread

We have been working on a number of flatbreads. While this one does not appear flat its light, crispy, bubbly crust hides the molten cheese beneath. Other variations on the theme include a sesame-miso-clam and a breakfast inspiration. Time and taste will tell which ones make the final cut.

Ginger Bacon Croutons

Our friend Tony Conte was making these a number of years ago. He diced ginger and then fried it into croutons, starting them in cold oil. We remembered this when we were fortunate enough to have a bounty of bacon fat and were looking at the traditional frisee au lardon salad and wanted a bright and crispy element. Tony's ginger croutons were married with our bacon fat and the result was a smoky, meaty, spicy crouton, which cut through the rich components of the salad and gave us the luxury of substituting these delicious gingery bites for the traditional bacon lardons.

What's Your Number

We had proven results for hot spring, large chicken. eggs. It took a question from a client to spark another query. 

Quail eggs cooked at 75°C

Baskets

When you have an idea for the use of a tool, you only see what you are looking for. Taking a step back and looking again provides many more uses for what is possible with the equipment around.

These baskets are a useful example: from containing hot spring eggs to hydrating pasta were not what we initially desired them for.

Lemon Curd Ice Cream

In working on this ice cream we found that the addition of the cayenne makes the lemon flavor taste more lemony. We pair it with crispy chocolate mousse. The ingredients together form a harmonious flavor which independently would not be possible.

King Crab Terrine at the table

King Crab Terrine

black garlic, parsley, carrot, cilantro

King Crab Terrine

Some assembly required.

Cold, Cold Smoked Fried Chicken

We ran out of time last night and the sun set before we were able to get the chicken fried. Thankfully we were frying more than the three of us could eat and we had some left overs for a picture. 

The chicken, we buy just thighs, is cold smoked, buttermilk and hot sauce brined, flour dredged and shallow fried in a cast iron pan in rice bran oil (our new favorite oil for cooking). This is a dish a long time in the making and it appears to be commonplace and overdone as fried chicken seems to be the new molten chocolate cake or tuna tartare. Oh well, late to the party might as well enjoy the open bar.

Lemon Chicken

The idea was lemon chicken. After removing the chicken tails from a bounty of backs we roasted the backs and lemon wedges together. The roasting yielded charred lemons and foxy brown chicken backs. We placed them in a pressure cooker with some red wine, soy sauce and some water and after a twenty minute turn in the pressure cooker we had an incredible stock. We took this in several directions: a medium to cook the actual chicken tails, a base for a vinaigrette and gravy for a roast chicken a few nights later. 

Quality Inspires

Signs of spring are starting to emerge. When we came across some miniature morels at the market we smiled because with them in our kitchen the quantity of snow outside ceases to matter. The change in seasons has begun. What was particularly striking about these morels was their perfect appearance and heady aroma. The small honeycombed fungi smell of earth and forest, conjuring images of damp trees and moist soil. It's easy to picture small green shoots appearing nearby and imagine that fiddle head ferns and ramps are not far behind this first offering of Spring.

Fluke and Endive

This dish is still a work in progress. It started with a bounty of chicken backs, which is really code for chicken tails. The backs became the base for an intense lemon chicken jus which we in turn cooked shaved endive.

To get started, we were able to remove the tails from the backs with a bit of quick scissor work. The tails were then cooked separately from the backs so that we could cook them in the intense cuisson. The cooked tails were then de-boned and wrapped into small parcels. The fish was cooked in the Cvap and then coated with sliced parsley stems dressed in olive oil. The chicken tail packets were sauteed quickly in their own fat and the feathery tips of the endive accented the fish and added a crispness to the dish. 

We came away from this first run with a number of new thoughts and are looking forward to working with them as we tweak this dish and look at other possibilities.

Just Add Water

We know that in order to cook beans we must hydrate them first to cook them well. We know that we must do this even when we plan to use a pressure cooker. We have cooked many nuts, seeds and spices in the pressure cooker to achieve wonderfully tender and tasty results. Until today we had yet to hydrate these ingredients prior to cooking them.

Our lives have now changed. The simple principle of hydrating the ingredients before cooking them has shaved three quarters of the time off of cooking. It also allows us to impart a flavor into the ingredients: for instance pine nuts in rosemary tea and almonds in smoked water.

Coconut and Blueberries

Coconut Custard

 

 

Toasted Coconut Water

 

250 grams shredded Coconut

500 grams water

3 grams salt

 

Spread the coconut on a sheet pan and toast in a 176 degree Celsius oven.  Stir the coconut occasionally so it toast evenly.  The coconut is done when it is a dark golden brown.  Remove from the oven and place in a pressure cooker.  Add the water and salt, cover with the lid and cook on high pressure for thirty minutes.  When the pressure releases, strain the water through a fine mesh conical strainer and cool down.

 

Coconut Custard

 

395 grams coconut milk

150 grams toasted coconut water

 

3 grams salt

 

1.35 grams agar agar

0.15 grams Locust bean gum

 

200 grams white chocolate

 

Place the coconut milk and toasted coconut water in the blender.  Turn the blender on a create a vortex in the machine.  Sprinkle the salt, agar agar and locust bean gum into the vortex and blend to evenly disperse the ingredients.  Pour the blended ingredients into a sauce pan and bring to a simmer.  When the mixture reaches a simmer, continue to cook for five minutes.  While the mixture is simmering, chop the white chocolate into pieces smaller than a centimeter.

 

When the coconut milk mixture has simmered for five minutes, strain it into a clean blender.  Turn the speed on low and begin to add the white chocolate in six stages, allowing it to melt into the mixture between additions.  When the white chocolate has been fully melted into the coconut mixture, strain it into a twenty by twenty glass pan.  Place the mixture into the refrigerator to cool.

 

Infused Blueberries

 

320 grams blueberries

145 grams blueberry juice

35 grams yuzu juice

10 grams agave nectar

3 grams salt

 

Mix the blueberry juice, yuzu juice, agave nectar and salt together.  Pour the blueberry blend over the blueberries and place the ingredients into a vacuum seal bag.  Place the bag in a vacuum sealer and seal the blueberries and juices on a liquid setting.  Place the sealed bag in the refrigerator and allow to marinate for several hours.  Remove the blueberries from the bag.  Strain the blueberry juice and reserve.  Set aside 28 infused blueberries to finish the dish and coat with a light dressing of the infusion juice.  Lay the remaining blueberries on a plastic tray and place into the freezer.

 

Blueberry Spheres

 

295 grams infused frozen blueberries

185 grams infused blueberry juice

 

1.6 grams agar agar

0.18 grams locust bean gum

2 grams salt

 

115g diced cold whole butter

 

Place the frozen blueberries and the blueberry juice in the blender.  Let the berries thaw for five minutes in the juice, then turn the blender on low.  Increase the speed as the berries become pulverized and a smooth blueberry puree is formed.  While the blender is running and a vortex has formed in the center of the mixture, sprinkle in the agar agar, locust bean gum and the salt.  When the ingredients have been evenly dispersed in the mixure, pour the blueberry puree into a pot.  Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for five minutes.  After the mixture has cooked for five minutes, turn off the heat and pour the mixture into clean blender top.  Turn the blender on low and start adding the cold butter in four additions.  When the butter is fully emulsified into the blueberry mixture, strain the base through a fine mesh conical strainer into a bowl.  Allow the mixture to cool to seventy degrees Celsius, then fill a squirt bottle with the mixture.  Reserve extra puree in the bowl and fill the squirt bottle as needed.  Spray the interiors of a two piece, 32 cavity chocolate sphere mold with pan release and wipe out any excess spray.  Close the mold and then fill each cavity with the blueberry puree.  Once all the cavities are filled pour the remaining puree into a container to cool.  Place the sphere molds and the excess puree into the refrigerator to set.

 

Blueberry Puree

 

Reserved blueberry base from making blueberry spheres

 

Place the reserved blueberry base from the blueberry spheres into a blender.  It will have set into a solid mass and will need to be broken apart in the blender.  Once the set puree is broken, turn the blender on and let the mixture puree for five minutes.  The mixture will take on a granular look part way through the blending though the continuous blending will smooth the mixture back out.  When the mixture is smooth and glossy, turn the blender off and pass the puree through a fine mesh conical strainer.  Reserve in the refrigerator.

 

 

To Assemble

 

Coconut Custard

Blueberry Spheres

Blueberry Puree

Infused Blueberries

Bush Basil

 

Slice the coconut custard into 4 strips 2cm thick.  Cut each strip into 8cm lengths.  The coconut custard yields more custard than will be needed.  Unmold the blueberry spheres.  Place a spoonful of the blueberry puree in the center of each plate.  Use an off set spatula to spread the puree in a twenty degree angle towards the top of the plate.  Place one piece of custard straight up and down on the plate, just touching the spread of blueberry puree.  Place the second piece of custard on the left had side of the spread puree at a 45 degree angle laying on its wider side.  Place one blueberry sphere on top of the angled coconut slice.  Place one sphere 2cm below the straight up and down slice of custard.  Place the third sphere to the top right of the up and down slice of custard.  Arrange the blueberries: place one on the angled slice of custard opposite the sphere, one on the top of the straight slice of custard, one between the straight slice of custard and the blueberry sphere, one in the center of the blueberry puree and one a cm below on the plate, the final berry to the right of the sphere below the straight slice of custard.  Arrange bush basil leaves and small sprigs on the blueberries and one on the corner of the angled slice of custard.  

Points of Reference

Here at the resort where we're staying we've learned that menu descriptions are interpretive. It's an interesting twist that tends to throw people off because what you order may not be what you get. At dinner one night when someone was asked what he had gotten for dessert he replied "I have no idea." This is sometimes good and sometimes not. On the other hand as long as you know what you're getting into you can approach each meal with an open mind and a sense of adventure. You never know when you're going to stumble across something great.

 

As we were discussing the broad interpretations of the menu descriptions I realized that it wasn't so different from what many chefs in the States do. We ourselves are often knocked for our tongue in cheek menu descriptions that can seem disrespectful, if not downright sacrilegious, to others. We defend our right to creative expression but catch ourselves occasionally raising our eyebrows at others, especially when we don't enjoy the food offered. It's an interesting double standard and one that I hadn't realized that I possessed. The words "you can't call that a cannoli." came out of my mouth one night. But the truth is they can and they did. Certainly we've stretched classic culinary descriptions much further than that slightly soggy confection that resembled a taquito stuffed with barely sweetened cream cheese. Does being delicious make it any less disrespectful? And is it even about respect at all?

Philosophy at the table. I don't suppose there are any concrete answers although it did give me pause. We defend our use of classic culinary terms because they are a point of reference, giving the diner a sense of what they are about to receive even when what is on the plate is far removed from the original intention. In many cases we are paying homage to a well loved creation. If we lose the original definition then we also lose the analogy. On the other hand classics change with the times. Today's confit is not the same one that was created to preserve meat through the winter in France so many years ago. We can't shy away from evolution. Acceptance of change means acknowledging that everyone has a right to employ it.

Quandary

The terrine itself has a beautiful aesthetic. The shrimp and fennel flavors go wonderfully together and the harissa spice blend in the mix makes eating the terrine a delight. The issue arises when we look at serving the shrimp. A large block of shrimp is just not that easy to eat and certainly not something we want to serve. Consequently, we have hit a road block. The key is finding the proper balance between shrimp and the rest.

Often times stepping away from the subject and writing about the issue will spark ideas and reveals pathways. A salad of ripe and green mango and a puree of pine needle yogurt is one interesting avenue.Thinly slicing the the terrine like traditional charcuterie and serving it with a touch of mostarda fruit is another. Cutting the terrine into a large dice as the foundation for  small bite is an intriguing idea. The more we ponder, the further we get.

Sea Urchin Ice Cream

Often times when working with sea urchin there are pristine tongues and slightly beaten up or irregular shaped pieces. We believe in highlighting the beautiful seafood, sometimes lightly smoked, although the irregular pieces are often an after thought. When we were working with a large supply of sea urchin we started looking into finding ways to highlight the after thoughts. One delicious result is our sea urchin ice cream. It goes wonderfully well with soups as well as the base for raw fish preparations.

Sea Urchin Ice Cream

220g whole milk yogurt

165g Santa Barbara Sea Urchin

130g cream cheese

110g liquid glucose

3.5g salt

1 scraped vanilla bean

 

Puree all ingredients in a blender. Strain through a fine meshed strainer. Freeze the mix in a paco jet canister and then process or freeze in an ice cream maker.

Under (a Heck of a lot of) Pressure

When I was in Brugge, speaking at The Flemish Primitives, I became re-energized in my pursuit for exploring the uses of high pressure in cooking today (Download HPPFactSheet) . I have had conversations with a number of individuals prior to this event. My initial thought was using pressure as a cooking method for fruits and vegetables. We were only able to speculate on the topic and soon the idea grew dust on the shelf.  In Brugge I was finally able to eat the results first hand backstage and as part of the opening presentation. The seafood tasted, all raw, was plump and vibrant. The cockles were amazing while the mussels left me a bit hesitant. I had never eaten raw mussels before so that may have had something to do with squeamish feeling I got. High pressure processing is not new, what we can do with it is.

Currently we know of some folks using high pressure machines to remove the shells from King crabs and lobsters to produce an ingredient with more viable paths. One hesitation about high pressure processing is the results. The technology has been around for a long time although the refinement of it and the desired applications: from texturization, to infusing aromatics to enabling control in an exact cooking method are now not just coming into play. These reasons and results are some of the driving force sbehind creativity and execution in the kitchen.

The Simplicity Factor

There is an opportunity in every ingredient used and in each step along the way to heighten or diminish flavor. Making informed and calculated decisions in the processes, preparations and presentations allows for the seemingly simple and incredibly delicious to magically appear. In order to express any given flavor at any given time we must focus on what we are doing and why we are doing it. 

The programmed answers of intuition, inspiration and creative impulses are no longer adequate. Now we must have concrete knowledge to truly excel. Sure, at times it feels like we are just bringing ingredients together effortlessly in the same way that musicians appear to perform on stage. There is a feeling of wonderment when something comes together before our eyes. We forget how much time and effort goes into creating that experience. In most cases the simpler a great dish or an experience feels, the more work went into editing and refining to achieve that harmonious end.

Sweet Maine Shrimp and Potato Tapioca

Daikon Radish Greens

A pile of greens is a great inspiration. There are many approaches to dealing with an ingredient, or part there of, which is often discarded. Today we looked at the bush of greens and stripped through the excess. The result was a crisp stem with a flag of leafy greens which can be taken in a number of directions. Originally we worked on a complete daikon centric dish. That much daikon just does not come together properly. Tomorrow we shall take a closer look at which direction we shall go with these beautiful greens.

Milk Solid Miso

It may not have been the next, but it sure was close to the front of the line. What we have that is amazingly different when cooking the milk solids in the mason jar in the pressure cooker is that the toasted aroma is much stronger and prominent and the taste of the caramelized solids seems fuller and richer. In fact, the rich aroma of the solids had us first looking into cupcakes (go figure) and blondies (which were amazing). Once my sweet tooth was calmed the savory arena opened again.

The toasted solids blended incredibly well with blond miso creating a decadent seasoning which can go in a number of directions. The first was a quick brine for meat and seafood which alternatively may be used to hydrate and cook noodles. Speaking of noodles we may just have to make some milk solid- miso noodle soup. The blending of these flavors has created a wonderful base which now joins our ever growing pantry of necessities.

Shrimp Salad

We have taken to using our Cvap for cooking Maine shrimp. We cook them for twenty minutes at 55°C. The delicate moist heat allows the shrimp to be just set and easily peeled in their warmed state. The addition of aromatics to the shrimp is the next step to perfume them with delicate and dish specific notes. The shrimp are almost custard like in texture and in this dish are balanced by quick pickled onions, apples and parsley stems.

Roux in a Jar

We actually cooked flour in the pressure cooker before we tried milk solids. Our first run had us cooking flour in a bag and the results were riddled with failure. The key being that the flour did nothing, it stayed a lovely white to cream color with no visible toasting or caramelization. With the initial failure we shelved the idea until recently. We were working on bridging the similarities between classic techniques and ones that are apparently but not actually new (like pressure cooking and sous vide) and decided a roux would be a fine point of illustration. To add fuel to the fire we were determined to make roux in a new way to us. We added flour and oil to a mason jar and placed it in a pressure cooker. We cooked the mixture for ninety minutes at high pressure and the results were a delicious peanut butter flavored blond roux. With the success of oil and flour we tested flour and butter. The results were equally positive and even more delicious because I like butter. It is the addition of fat that makes all the difference in cooking the flour. Using a pressure cooker allows for uniform, consistent results without having to stand over the stove. Progress is a beautiful thing.

Perfect Pearls

We decided to pair the potato pearls with actual tapioca. Alex wanted to try out a technique he found in Francisco J Migoya's new book The Modern Cafe. We've been fans of tapioca for years. As a child I loved bubble tea and the slippery, chewy texture of the pearls. Later we took the method that we learned for finishing rice pudding back in the day from Ken at Clio. This involved having a cooked rice base that was finished a la minute with creme anglaise and whipped cream. When applied to tapioca the results are spectacular especially since the anglaise and the cream can be flavored in any number of different ways. As always it is one small step from sweet to savory and in this case we liked the idea of juxtaposing the large potato pearls with small tapioca ones.

 

The technique in question involved adding the tapioca to cold water and bringing it to a simmer, rinsing the pearls under cold water to remove any tapioca slime and repeating the process four times. It worked beautifully and is just one more reason to take a closer look at The Modern Cafe. (We were lucky enough to get a review copy.) The book is about opening a modern style cafe and is as thoughtful and well researched as one would expect from a book by Francisco.

Greens, Egg and Ham

This dish has been taking its own sweet time getting to the table. It combines the results of our work on staining our five minute and fifteen second eggs, with ham hocks cooked sous vide and the dark horse of the dish, braised collard green sauce. The finishing element is black bean sprouts. The staining of the egg blends a marbled appearance with the flavor of harissa, which we used as the backbone of the staining solution. The hocks yielded gelatinous and decadent nuggets of fresh pork and the collard green sauce has the deeper flavor of smoked ham married to the sweet slow cooked greens. The black bean sprouts add a fresh, green note and textural contrast to the final dish.

Meyer Lemons

Amaya loves her lemons. The first time we watched her grab one and sink her teeth into it we were slightly horrified. "This can't be be good" was the immediate thought that flashed through my brain. Amaya wrinkled her nose and shivered as she chewed on her piece of skin, then she gave us a big smile, spit out her bite, and promptly sank her teeth back into the fruit for more. Such is the power of a Meyer lemon.

When we were living in New York we had a Meyer lemon tree. It flourished for my aunt and sat in the a sunny corner of the dining room. It was much more than lemons, as the glossy green leaves and white flowers were cheerful and fragrant for much of the year. The Meyer lemon tree was originally imported from China and believed to be a cross between a lemon and a Mandarin orange. It is relatively easy to purchase dwarf trees for your home and theoretically they are quite easy to care for. Alex and I have managed to kill both a lemon and a lime tree so we can't honestly speak from experience on that. They are primarily grown in California here in the states and just happen to be in season and available in our neck of the woods right now.

When buying Meyer lemons we look for brightly colored thin skins and fruit that feel heavy in the hand. That's true for almost all produce as a light weight indicates dehydration from a long shelf life and excessive time spent in storage. As Amaya will contest they are on the sweet side with a bright floral flavor that perfectly complements their sunny complexion. It is rounder and smoother than your everyday lemon and on looks alone it will beguile you. The fact that they are utterly delicious and produce large amounts of juice for their size make them that much better.

Now that cold and flu season is in full swing we like to prepare a variation on Laurie Colwin's hot lemonade. Meyer lemon juice, hot water, honey and a cinnamon stick, blended to taste and reinforced with the spirit of your choice. We find that one lemon makes two generous mugs of lemonade. It's our variation on the rock and rye liquor that was mixed with tea and used to ward off the chill in times gone by. These Meyer lemons are just like sunshine in a glass. The drink warms you from the inside out and helps make the world feel like a better place on a damp and chilly evening.

Pearls of Potato

The question is which direction to take these individual bites.

Raclette, Chowder, Gratin...

Potato and Eggs

Cravings

There is nothing like a good steak. My sweet tooth blossomed with pregnancy, and I enjoyed desserts in a way that I haven't in years. I abhorred fish in any form except for a desperate craving for raw oysters and french fries, still unsatisfied as a matter of fact, that I sidestepped with fried oysters because I just wasn't willing to risk raw seafood during gestation. Anyway I digress, I'm talking about cravings and the only constant before, during and after pregnancy is my craving for a good steak. It hits periodically and although the actual steak may change with what's available, the desire for properly cooked red meat never seems to vary.

A great steak needs nothing else. The potatoes, spinach, salad, etc are simply decoration. They may be delicious on their own but beside a beautifully cooked piece of beef they seem to fade into the woodwork, taking up space in my stomach that could be filled with meat. I still stand by a simple cast iron pan, lightly coated with salt and heated till it just begins to smoke. Drop in a thick steak, lower the heat to medium, and turn often. I got this technique (the continuous flipping of the meat) from Harold McGee ten years ago and never looked back. Constant turning not only cooks the meat more quickly and evenly, it helps develop a beautiful, even caramelization on both sides of the steak. Let the beef rest on a warm plate topped with some good butter, pour a glass of decadent red wine, and then enjoy. The meat develops an almost crisp salty crust, giving way to the rich meat and mineral-ly juices. There's nothing else quite like it. The dry aged prime steaks pictured here are from our local Whole Foods (local being a relative term as it's in Princeton, NJ), our most recent go-to butcher, and they were delicious. Take my word for it.

Skate, Smoke, Savoy and Citrus

We brined the skate wing before we vacuum sealed it and cooked it at 55°C for thirty minutes. Then we chilled the fish down in ice water and laid it flat. There was a beauty to the white wing with pockets of savory fish jelly surrounding it.

In our first version of the dish we melted some butter in a pan and slid a piece of the wing and allowed it to brown on one side and heat through. We warmed our smoked clams and cabbage leaves in their mingled juices. A knob of butter, some Meyer lemon zest and a squeeze of the juice finished the ragout. We placed the wing on a plate, folding it over so that the diner could see part of the pristine white flesh and some of the caramelized side. The ragout and the lemony clam juices were spooned over the top.

The dish was delicate, the skate soft and meaty, the clams salty and flavorful like tender bacon lardons, with the cabbage offering a textural crunch paired with a sweet green grassy flavor. The touch of citrus accented the main elements and completed the dish.

The Savoy Cabbage

Savoy cabbage is a distinctive vegetable. Nothing else looks quite like it. It has the advantage of being ornamental and delicious. Its frilly leaves are softer and more pliable than those of any other cabbage. It is tender and sweet and notably lacking the sulfurous undertones that give other cooked cabbages a bad name. When it's cooked the greens deepen and it becomes even more alluring. It is perfect for stuffing and gentle enough for salads. It may not keep as long as other varieties although its versatility makes that unimportant. Savoy cabbage is a member of the Brassica family. It is fat free, cholesterol free, low in calories, and a good source of fiber and vitamin C. Of course we love it because it tastes good and the fact that it is beautiful and easy to use is just icing on the cake.

 

Here we have some Savoy Cabbage that has been brined and blanched sous vide. It's been prepped for a skate dish with smoked clams and gruyere cheese although truthfully it's ready for just about anything we can think of.

Flavor First

Compound or flavored butters are a staple in kitchens around the world. Keeping a knob of garlic butter on hand just makes life easier. You can make it yourself with your favorite butter, raw or cooked garlic, salt, cayenne pepper and fresh chopped parsley. It will make a quick pasta sauce, garlic bread, or baked potato. It can be used to baste fish or meat in the pan adding flavor and creating a wonderful pan sauce. It can be whipped and added as a finishing touch to clam chowder or any number of soups. It can garnish a risotto or make scrambles eggs something special. This is why we love flavored butters.

Today Alex decided to flavor the cream that he made butter from. He had a craving for XO sauce and mixed it into his heavy cream and let it infuse in the refrigerator for several hours before making it into butter. It's a small adjustment with great rewards. I can't imagine why we didn't think of it sooner. Instead of just butter, we ended up with flavored butter and buttermilk. Gotta love it.

Smoked Clams

Time to make some dip.

Corned Beef Croquette Revisited

We talked about these croquettes earlier this week. To make the corned beef hash Alex ground the corned beef with the slow roasted potatoes and onions that had been sweated down in with a pinch of smoked paprika. He formed the hash into roulades, sliced them into pieces and breaded them with flour, egg, and potato flakes. They were deep fried and paired with our 13 minute egg, powdered raclette cheese, and smoked ketchup. It was a fair amount of work for what was essentially a simple breakfast. Totally worth it though. That's why most people go out to breakfast after all, because even the simplest seeming meal requires a strict attention to detail that many are not capable of first thing in the morning. Pictured here, corned beef hash and eggs, Ideas in Food style.

What's in a Croquette?

cro·quette (krō ket′)

noun

a small, rounded or cone-shaped mass of chopped, cooked meat, fish, or vegetables, coated with egg and crumbs and fried in deep fat

Growing up both my aunt and my mother were fond of croquettes. My mother's version was a mixture of meat and potatoes, coated with panko bread crumbs and served with a dark, tangy, slightly sweet sauce usually eaten out in a casual Japanese restaurant. My aunt's version was also a mixture of meat and potatoes, dredged in bread crumbs and fried, served with a choice of two vegetables at an Amish restaurant off the PA turnpike that we frequented on the trip back home from Pittsburgh after a holiday pilgramage. Two very different cultural experiences that emphasized the same basic type if dish.

The other day Alex was muttering about corned beef hash made with salt roasted yukon gold potatoes. Today he was happily making...croquettes. (Don't tell him I said that.) Okay these looked like tater tots and were stuffed with an incredibly delicious corned beef hash. Still it was a variation on a very popular theme. It's kind of a beautiful thing. No matter where you come from or what you love to eat, chances are someone has made it into a croquette. It's the perfect balance of textures and flavors (when done well) and no matter how many people tell us it's unhealthy we all secretly or openly love our fried foods. They say that nothing fried can taste bad, and I can tell you that's absolutey untrue. At the other end of the spectrum though, something fried well can be something to remember for years.

Another Look

When we first started to create the taste of something in another form we always went about making the original and then changed its form. The results were good, unfortunately the process began to not make any sense.

For instance, if we wanted to make toast soup to serve with eggs and bacon we would first make bread, then toast that bread, then dry the toast further and use that to make a toast soup, perhaps enriched with some butter and maybe a toast stock made from toast steeped in water. The results were good. After we followed this process and applied it to multiple dishes we began to wonder about a better way. We know what toast tastes like. Why not use the knowledge to just make something which tastes just like toast? It can contain toasted elements and butter elements and pieces which complete the flavor profile without making the original. This process allows us to focus and fine flavors so that we can create more than just a representation of the original rather something which is greater than the inspiration.

We have made gingerbread soup. We used it to glaze squab and contemplated pairing it with lobster. The soup was good. Unfortunately it was heavy, a bit rich and lacked a clarity which we are constantly searching to achieve. We have revisited this preparation and focused on a gingerbread concentrate which uses toasted milk solids as its backbone. The results are amazing and bracing. The sauce is more of a concentrate which can be used as a stepping stone or a pillar for a dish.

Broken Beet Salad

Broken Beet Salad

Beet marinade

115 grams pure cranberry juice

80 grams Vin Cotto

50 grams soy sauce

 

Blend the ingredients together and reserve.

 

Broken Beets

450 grams peeled red beets

2 liters of liquid nitrogen

 

Beet marinade

 

Pour the liquid nitrogen into a Styrofoam cooler. Put the beets into the nitrogen and allow them to freeze solid. When the beets are frozen and beginning to crack apart from the extremely cold temperature, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the nitrogen into a large stainless steel bowl. While the beets are still rock solid, use a meat mallet to break and fragment the beets into chunks ranging in size from 1-3cm. When the beets are broken, pour the marinade over the beets and place the entire container in the refrigerator to thaw out. The beets will thaw and slowly blend their own juices with the marinade. When the beets are completely thawed, put them and the marinade in a vacuum bag and seal on high pressure. Place the sealed beets in a water bath set at 83 degrees Celsius. Cook the beets for one and a half hours. When the beets are cooked, remove them from the water bath and place the sealed bag into an ice bath to cool the beets. Once the beets are ice cold, cut open the bag and pour the beets and the marinade into a shallow pan.

 

Glazed Beets

250 grams beet cooking liquid

0.5 grams xanthan gum

 

Strain the beets in a fine mess strainer. Reserve 250 grams of the beet liquid and discard any extra. Place the beet liquid in a blender and turn it on low. Increase the speed until a vortex forms in the blender. Sprinkle the xanthan gum into the vortex in order to evenly disperse it. Once the xanthan gum is dispersed, turn the blender off and pour the thickened beet liquid into a shallow pan, which will fit in a chamber vacuum sealer.

 

To remove the air incorporated by blending the beet liquid, place it in a container so that it comes only one third of the way up the sides. Place the container in the chamber of the vacuum machine and close the lid.  The vacuum pulled on the chamber will begin to pull the air bubbles out of the beet liquid. The liquid will begin to climb the sides of the container and when it comes to just below the edge of the rim, shut the machine off. The chamber will then fill with air again and the beet liquid will shrink back down in the dish having dispelled many of its air bubbles. This process should be repeated until the beet liquid loses 95% of its air bubbles and changes from pale purple to an intense concentrated purple-red. Pour the beet liquid back over the broken beets and stir to cover evenly. The thickening of the liquid allows the pieces of beet to be uniformly covered in their own flavorful juices. Reserve the dressed beets in the refrigerator.

 

Black olive crisp

300 grams oil cured olives

 

Place the olives in a pot and cover them with cold water. Bring the olives and water to a simmer and turn off the heat. Pour the water off of the olives, and then pat the olives dry on a paper towel. This process will remove the excess oil coating the olives, as well as some bitterness and salinity.

 

285 grams blanched olives

205 grams cranberry juice

110 grams glucose

90 grams isomalt

 

pan spray

8 pieces of acetate 5 cm wide and 15 cm long

 

Place the ingredients into a pot and bring to a simmer. Cook the mixture until the liquid reduces to a thick syrup and glazes the olives. Turn the heat off and pour the hot olives and the residual syrup into a blender. Turn the blender on low and increase the speed. Puree the olives until they are completely smooth. During this process use a rubber spatula to scrape the olive puree down the sides of the blender so that everything is equally pureed. Once the olive puree is smooth, scrape it out of the blender top and into a fine mesh strainer. Press the olive puree through the strainer to remove any coarse pieces of olive. Place the olive puree into a container and reserve in the refrigerator until cold.

 

Spray the acetate sheets with pan release and then use a paper towel to wipe off the excess spray leaving a fine film. Lay the sheets on a flat counter and then use an off set spatula to spread a fine layer of the olive puree on the sheet. The layer should be just under a millimeter in thickness. Once all the sheets are evenly coated, place them in a dehydrator on medium and let dry until the surface is completely dry to the touch. When the top of the crisp is dry, peel the acetate from the back of the olive sheet and place the crisps back in the dehydrator to dry completely. The olive crisps will be flat, dry and delicate when they are done. Remove them from the dehydrator and let cool on a counter top for a minute, then place them in a container with several silica gel packs to prevent the crisps from getting soggy. Reserve the crisps.

 

Cashew Yogurt

225 grams raw cashews

400 grams filtered or spring water

 

375 grams swollen cashews

200 grams spring or filtered water

25 grams of agave nectar

2 grams salt

 

cheese cloth

 

In a bowl, cover the raw cashews with the water. Cover the bowl with plastic and place in the refrigerator overnight. The following day, strain the water off of the cashews and rinse the nuts. The swollen cashews should now weigh substantially more having absorbed the water. Place 375 grams of swollen cashews in the blender. Add the water, salt, and agave nectar. Turn the blender on low and slowly increase the speed. Puree the mixture until it is smooth and homogenous. Turn the blender off and pass the mixture through a fine mess strainer. Line another strainer with two layers of dampened cheesecloth and place the cashew puree in cheesecloth. Place the strainer in a bowl so that the cashew mixture in the cheesecloth is suspended and any extra moisture will drain out of the puree. Lightly cover the strainer with plastic wrap and place the cashew into the refrigerator to drain overnight. The following day, remove the thickened cashew yogurt from the cheesecloth and place in a squeeze bottle. Discard any drained liquid.

 

Cranberry Jelly

150 grams dried cranberries

130 grams dark rum

30 grams dark muscovado sugar

2 grams salt

 

245 grams cranberry base

150 grams cranberry juice

150 grams water

1.1 grams high acyl gellan

1.1 grams low acyl gellan

 

Put the dried cranberries, dark rum, muscovado sugar and salt in a pot and bring to a simmer. Tilt the pot to flame the rum and turn off the heat. When the flame subsides, place the mixture in a blender and puree until smooth. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer pressing on the solids with a ladle to extract as much cranberry as possible.

 

Weigh the cranberry base. It should weigh 245 grams. If there is extra base, subtract that amount from the water required in the recipe and if the weight is less than 245 grams add extra cranberry juice to supplement the missing cranberry puree.

 

Combine the cranberry base, cranberry juice and water in a blender. Turn the blender on low and increase the speed until a vortex forms. Sprinkle both types of gellan into the vortex and let blend for five seconds. Turn off the blender and pour the cranberry mixture into a pot. Cook the cranberry mixture, stirring constantly, until it reaches ninety degrees C. When the mixture reaches ninety degrees C the gellan will be properly hydrated and the mixture may be poured into a 20cm by 20cm square Pyrex pan. Pour the mixture from pot to pan quickly and smoothly because the presence of the gellan in the mixture causes the cranberry jelly to set very quickly. Place the pan in the refrigerator to cool.

 

When the jelly is cold, remove it from the pan and cut it into 32 rectangles 2cm long and 1.5 cm wide. Reserve these jellies on a tray in the refrigerator. There will be more cranberry jelly than is needed for this dish and extra may be reserved for another use.

 

To Assemble

 

Glazed Broken Beets

Cashew Yogurt

Cranberry Jellies

Olive Crisps

40 small purslane sprigs

 

Place a spoonful of glazed broken beets, 5-7 pieces depending on their size, in the center of a plate. Squeeze five dollops of cashew yogurt at 2, 4, 6, 10 and 12 o’clock positions in the crevices between the beets. Arrange purslane sprigs on the 10 and 4 o’clock dollops of cashew yogurt. Place one broken beet at the 12 o’clock position 6 cm away from the center. Squeeze a dollop of cashew yogurt on the far side of the beet, place a purslane sprig on top of the yogurt and lean a fragment of olive crisp on the right hand side of the beet piece. Place a second broken beet piece at the 2 o’clock position 3 cm away from the central pile of beets. Squeeze a dollop of cashew yogurt to the outside of the broken beet. Place a third broken beet at the 3 o’clock position 8 cm from the center pile of beets. Place a fourth broken beet at the 8 o’clock position 5 cm away from the central pile of beets. Squeeze a dollop of cashew yogurt on the lower side of the beet and top with a sprig of purslane. Place a cranberry jelly at the 6 o’clock position 4 cm away from the center pile of beets. Place a second cranberry jelly at the 3 o’clock position 2 cm away from the center pile of beets and top with a piece of olive crisp. Place a third cranberry jelly at the 10 o’clock position, touching the center pile of beets and just above the cashew yogurt in the 10 o’clock position. Place a medium sized olive crisp at the 12 o’clock position nestled into the pile of broken beets. Take a large piece of olive crisp, irregularly shaped though roughly 8 cm long and 4 cm wide, and top it with a cranberry jelly. Squeeze a small drop of cashew yogurt to the left of the jelly and top the yogurt with a sprig of purslane. Place this crisp on top of the pile of broken beets. Repeat with the other plates.

Sourdough Cavatelli

Sourdough Starter+Semolina+Salt

The first bites of this tasty pasta were adorned with butter and aged pecorino. I was going to share with Aki, except she was not in the room and by the time I found her the bowl was empty. Now we begin work on the application process where we search for the right match for this new kitchen staple.

Butter Burger Benedict

Happy New Year!!!

New Years brunch is often hectic, scrambling to drink champagne and make Eggs Benedict at the same time. Also, brunch is a balancing act between breakfast dishes and lunch. Benedict is usually consumed by me while Aki longs for something more lunch-like. When I suggested Butter Burger Benedict with Brown Butter Hollandaise for brunch, Aki raised her eyebrows, as only she can do, and said "sounds a bit heavy."

 

Fast forward to this morning. I set about cleaning a first cut chuck blade roast, adding the butter and onions and grinding the mixture for the burgers. Aki was willing to humor my vision and even began to encourage my Burger Benedict. Once the burger mixture was prepared I set about making brown butter blender hollandaise which I then placed in an insulated ISI canister. This allowed us to keep the hollandaise on hand while we cooked burgers and eggs. Normally poaching eggs for a group is not always an easy task. To solve that balancing act we prepared our 13 minute eggs, cooked to order. Once the eggs were cooking, Aki took over the cooking and fired up the griddle for the English muffins and the cast iron skillet for the burgers.

When the burgers were finished they were placed on top of the griddled English muffins. I cracked the eggs and nestled them in place and topped each one with the aerated hollandaise sauce. The benedict provided a happy medium for Aki and myself. Everyone else enjoyed them too.

A perfect way to start the brand New Year.

Snow Pea Salad

The snow peas are trimmed into rectangles and then brined for ten minutes. The wet peas are vacuum sealed and then blanched sous vide. The result is an intensely flavored snow pea, ready to be worked with. To complete the dish we add both young and old pecorino cheeses, a drizzle of green olive oil and some black pepper. The dish is void of traditional acidity, although the olive oil and the aged cheese point up the flavors in the dish in lieu of an actual acid.

XO, Butter and Clams

We have been working on a number of dishes featuring XO sauce and butter. A simple dish we prepared was clams cooked in an XO butter sauce. The pot of clams was delicious and the broth screamed for the crusty bread we had waiting in the oven. The XO butter sauce would work equally well with mussels and in the spring asparagus and peas.

 

Once we had the idea and taste of XO sauce paired with butter and clams in the brain we began working on a few more refined presentations. The first dish out of the gate used the XO butter and clams to create a sauce for creamed spinach agnolotti encased in preserved lemon pasta. A few young spinach leaves and a knob of sweet butter completed the dish. To serve and present the dish we looked to the shell of the Geoduck which works as a wonderful bowl and ties in nicely with the clam theme.

Red Hot Stock

With the aroma of mulled cider in the kitchen and an open bag of red hot candies on the counter it seemed only logical to marry the ideas. Really we are only making a simple mulled wine, however in using the red hot candies we gained a deeper flavor than that of using cinnamon and sweet spices. The stock is simple: red wine, red hots, water and salt. The flavor and color are amazing. The initial idea was to use it to poach quince and apples. After tasting the finished product I think we can do much more. This base stock can now be tweaked and enhanced with other flavors to fine tune individual dishes and component elements.

Inside Out

Looking at the individual fibers in a lobster claw got us wondering about how we were flavoring the meat. We have always taken the whole claws and warmed and seasoned the  from the outside in with butter or some other tasty flavoring agent. Take a close look at the skin holding the filaments of the lobster claw together. If we changed our approach and put the flavoring on the inside of the claw it would melt and wind its way between the filaments. Amazing what a closer look at what we are cooking shows us.

Pepperoni Miso

We found some great monkfish at the store and new that it could play a role in our 7 fishes dinner. I cleaned up the loins and wrapped them in cheesecloth. The cheesecloth wrapping allows us to marinate and even cook the fish in a thick paste and then remove the fish cleanly for serving.

I am back on my pepperoni kick and with that comes pepperoni miso. We blended white miso with pepperoni, olive oil, honey, soy sauce and coffee. We poured this mixture into a vacuum bag and added the loins. We sealed the bag shut and then let the fish marinate for four hours. Once the fish was marinated, we cooked it in the bag in the marinade/paste for forty five minutes at 55°C. When the fish came out of the bag we unwraped the cloth and the loins of monkfish are perfumed with the seasoning mixture with their natural color and structure intact. The meaty monkfish flakes along its seams and is deliciously rich with the melding of spiced pork and sweetened miso.

Infuse Your Fat

What if we treated fat like a stock? Enfleurage is a process by which odorless fats, like lard or suet, are used to extract essential oils and perfumes from flowers. It works because fats readily absorb flavors and aromas. The newly absorbed essential oils can be used to flavor other ingredients cooked with the fat. If we infused duck fat with cracklings and lime pickle then we would be able to impart these aromatics to whatever was cooked with the duck fat. Imagine lamb gently cooked in red pepper oil or goose flavored with rosemary-orange oil. This premise is a continuation of our fat film approach, as well as a derivative from a question about how to make duck fat more ducky to impart a richer flavor into the meat, rather than the meat flavoring the fat. Even infusing the fat for searing scallops and fish now presents a wide palate of tastes. Instead of adding herbs to the pan at the end and basting, why not infuse the fat with herbs at their peak of freshness and then use that to cook with or even as a finishing accent just before plating? There are lots of ideas to work with here. It's a relatively simple procedure that produces exponentially beneficial results.