IDEAS IN FOOD

Eggs on Toast

Today we had our first Chef Portfolio shoot. Before we started taking photographs of someone else's food we took a quick shot of our breakfast. Cheesy cheddar eggs on onion rye toast. Plenty of fuel to get us to the delicious tastings we enjoyed throughout the day.

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.

Juicers

I didn’t grow up in a home that juiced oranges for breakfast every day. I wasn’t a fan of juice in the first place, except for a brief obsession with pink grapefruit juice in high school, until I realized that I should probably be saving those calories for something a bit more satisfying. The first time I used a mechanical juicer while was working in a restaurant. During my first week or two at Clio I was taken down the prep kitchen in the basement and introduced to the Champion juicer. It was a large, white, heavy piece of equipment. Given the fact that I only had to juice a couple of yellow peppers it seemed a bit intimidating. I also wondered how long it would take me to clean it when I was done. Then I tasted the pepper juice that emerged from its belly and I understood why it was there. That juice was the sweet essence of yellow peppers, vibrant, flavorful, and somehow alive on my tongue. The cleaning process was easier than expected and just like that, the juicer became an irreplaceable staple in my batterie de cuisine. In that kitchen we used the pepper juice, slightly reduced, as the basis for vinaigrette. In our kitchen juice is just the starting point. Juice is so much more than just something to pour into a glass. It’s a magic elixir that will make all your dishes into something special.

 

Juice is by definition a fluid naturally contained in plant or animal tissue. A juicer is a machine that facilitates the extraction of this liquid by breaking down fibers and cell walls, which allows the liquid to seep out of the structure. There are three basic types of juicers on the market. Centrifugal juicers are the least expensive. They are quick and relatively efficient to use. Centrifugal juicers contain flat blades resting at the bottom of a circular basket. The fruits or vegetables to be used are placed in the basket and the unit spins forcing the ingredients against the blades, which shreds them. The shredded pieces are then forced outwards to press against the sides of the basket while the juice falls through the holes in the basket and are drained from the machine using a spout. The downside to using a centrifugal juicer is that they are noisy, the quick speeds of the motor tend to heat up the juice, the spinning action introduces oxygen which can destroy nutrients and reduce the shelf life of the juice, and they are less effective with leafy vegetables and herbs. They are the economical choice for small quantities of juices that will be used immediately.

 

Masticating juicers work by using a slowly rotating auger to chew or crush the produce into small pieces. This process breaks down the fibers and cell walls of the fruits and vegetables to help release the juice. The chewed pieces are pressed against a mesh strainer and separated into juice and pulp. The two products are ejected from the machine separately. Most people simply use the juice and throw the pulp away, although in many cases the pulp can be utilized in recipes and treated as an ingredient on its own. Masticating juicers produce more juice than centrifugal juicers. The mastication process is much slower and introduces less oxygen than that of the centrifugal juicer. It produces less foam and oxidation, which in turn preserves more live enzymes and nutrients in the finished product.

 

The gold standard in masticating juicers is the twin gear or triturating juicer. They produce the highest yield and the most nutritional juice. The process works at the same speed as a masticating juicer. Instead of using a single auger, the triturating juicer has two stainless steel gears in very close proximity. The gears turn in towards each other and slowly crush the produce between them. As with the masticating juicer, the ingredients are then pressed through a screen and the juice and pulp are ejected separately. They are the most expensive juicers, in return they produce the highest quality and yield and have the ability to juice almost anything.

 

Both types of masticating juicers can be used to make things other than juice. They are very effective at pureeing ingredients and allow for attachments. Because of this you can make soymilk, baby foods, pastas, and grind meats, nuts, and spices. Even if you never make anything other than juice, a juicer would still be a great addition to the kitchen of any serious cook. The possibilities are endless. You can play around with juicing non-traditional fruits and vegetables and you can use the juices to flavor many different kinds of recipes from soups and braises to cakes and breads.

 

While the juice is the focal point, the pulp manufactured as a by-product during the juicing process creates some interesting possibilities, either on its own or combined with the juice. The grinding process creates a unique texture, especially when working with root vegetables. One of our favorite fall/winter recipes is a parsnip porridge made by combining the juice and the pulp of this sweet root vegetable and stewing it down to a delicious, velvety bowl of goodness.

 

Parsnip Porridge with Black Truffle

2.75 pounds/1.25 kilograms parsnips

16 ounces/460 grams heavy cream

3/4 teaspoon/4.5 grams salt

 

1.75 ounces/50grams black truffle

Armando Manni olive oil

Tasmanian pepper in a mill  

 

Preheat the oven to 170°F (75°C)

Wash the parsnips thoroughly. Cut the tip and top off the parsnip and peel them. Put the peels and the trimmings into a medium sized pot and cover with the cream. Use a masticating juicer to juice and run the parsnips through twice. Reserve the pulp and add the juice into the pot with the cream and the parsnip peelings. Bring the pot to a simmer over medium heat, cook for five minutes, turn off the heat, and cover the pot. Let the liquid infuse for twenty minutes. Set up an ice bath.  Strain the cream through a fine mesh strainer. Add the salt, cool the parsnip cream down in the ice bath, and refrigerate.

 

Lay the parsnip pulp on a silicone lined sheet pan. Spread the pulp evenly out in the pan and then place in the oven. Bake the parsnip pulp until it is completely dry, about 2 to 3 hours. Stir the pulp every thirty minutes. The parsnip will be dry and crumbly and a golden brown when it is finished. Remove the parsnip pulp from the oven and let it cool. When the parsnip pulp is cool, place it in a blender, and pulverize it until it resembles a course ground polenta. When the parsnip pulp is ground, add it to the cooled parsnip cream. Stir the mixture and refrigerate until you're ready to serve.

 

Transfer the parsnip porridge into a medium sized pot and place it on the stove over medium heat. When it is hot, spoon equal portions into serving bowls. Shave three large slices of truffle over each dish. Drizzle a few drops of olive oil over each serving and grind the Tasmanian pepper over each dish. Serve immediately.

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

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. 

Bread and Cheese

One of the tough things about being a chef is that we always feel like we should be cooking. There's a little bit of guilt involved when we go for easy meals like takeout, fondue, and our personal favorite: bread, cheese & charcuterie. It's almost too easy you see. We go shopping and come home with perfectly ripe cheese, local salamis, fresh bread or artisanal crackers and happily make that into a meal that all three of us enjoy. We're lucky that we have access to great purveyors who are getting to know us and understand what we like. Now that we've got an active toddler on our hands it gets tougher and tougher to get an elaborate or even a not so elaborate meal on the table. So at least once a week we indulge ourselves by slicing and unwrapping instead of cooking. It's not an easy thing to admit, and yet why should we be embarrassed to say that we indulge in amazing ingredients for dinner? Eating good food is more important than whether or not we cooked it. Occasionally it's nice to simply savor the work of others.

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.  

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.

Sweet Maine Shrimp and Potato Tapioca

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.

Toasted in a Jar

The trouble with cooking milk solids in butter or other fats is the fat. Sometimes we are looking for just the roasted and caramelized flavors and aromatics. We have toasted milk solids in the oven and the results were good if not a bit uneven. Today we employed our pressure cooker to toast some milk solids. We filled a mason jar with the solids and closed it tight. We placed the jar in a pressure cooker with some water and cooked the milk solids for ninety minutes. The results were wonderful: an even toasting with a dark rich flavor and aroma. The results also have us wondering about toasting and infusing other ingredients from seeds and nuts to spices and aromatics to be infused in fats.

Sugar + Sunshine

The best bakeries are happy places. How could they not be, people come to them when they are in celebratory moods, to order cakes or share some brownies and coffee. Even those who come in sad are there because they believe on some level the sugar will brighten their mood. How they feel afterwards depends on how much sugar they actually ingest. Alex had a craving for cupcakes and a little research sent us to Plainsboro, NJ to a bakery in a small retail strip. Upon entering the pink decor and happy staff were instantly welcoming.

 

The store itself was clean and homey and the baked goods arranged in the glass case were tempting. So much so that Alex returned to car with a dozen cupcakes and a cinnamon roll for the two of us and Amaya. Fortunately she had woken from her slumber so we took the warm cinnamon roll and his coffee back inside and added a lemon peel + ginger Mash soda and eventually a brownie. We ate and drank and Amaya happily wandered throughout and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. When we got home we discovered that the strawberry cupcakes were made with strawberry cake and frosting, which made us wonder why more places don't flavor their cakes, and their frosting was not as heavy as it looked, which was a good thing. The butter cream had the flavor of real butter and the chocolate frosted white cupcake was pretty darned edible. They were hands down the best cupcakes we've eaten in quite a while. The strawberry ones actually have us thinking about the perfect banana cupcake. Would the frosting be chocolate, caramel or peanut butter? In the meantime we've found a new bakery relatively close to our favorite Whole Foods and that is a very good thing.

Sweet Maine Shrimp

Every time we see sweet Maine shrimp I am taken back to cooking with Madhur Jaffrey during a cooks and books event when we were at Clio. Madhur sent up pamphlets of recipes ahead for us to begin preparing, some of the condiments needed time to develop. The condiment which stood out in my mind was fermented jalapenos, a recipe which took me years to find after the dinner. Somehow, let's call it youthful ignorance, I did not write or obtain a recipe for the time consuming condiment. The only reason I now have the recipe is that we ran into Madhur at Otto and I boldly interrupted her lunch with Lidia Bastianich to ask the for the recipe. She kindly and quickly pointed me in the direction of her book Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking. 

The condiment played an integral role in the dressing for a hot and cold sweet Maine shrimp dish. Oil and mustard seeds were heated in a pan with fresh curry leaves. When the mustard seeds started to pop the shrimp were added and lightly salted. The shrimp cooked quickly and were soon reserved on a warm plate. To compliment the shrimp, green mango were dressed with a vinaigrette of lime juice and minced fermented jalapenos. The shrimp were plated and the juices from the shrimp were added to the salad which topped the dish. The flavors were huge and deep and this balance of flavors, techniques and inspirations certainly guides how we cook today.

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...

Cabbage and Gouda

The cabbage is sauteed in butter and seasoned with Meyer lemon juice and sesame oil. The final grating of aged Gouda demonstrated the old adage the whole is often much greater than the sum of its parts.

Potato and Eggs

Monkfish, Gingerbread and Parsley

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.

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.

Fresh Ginger and Milk Chocolate Biscotti

Ginger is one of those ingredients that occasionally inspire actual cravings. It is floral and fragrant with a subtle heat that warms a body from the inside out. It is a rhizome, which is an underground stem that is capable of producing both the shoot and the root system of new plants. Fresh ginger can be beautiful with its silky texture and gnarly appearance. Good ginger is heavy for it’s size, indicating a high level of moisture and knobby-looking with a satiny mauve skin. It can be purchased in many different forms but the two most common are pieces of the fresh root and small jars of dried, ground ginger.

 

It is well known as an herbal remedy for nausea and upset stomach. Ginger ale and saltines are a standard remedy the world over for sick and queasy patients. Ginger candies can be very helpful during bouts of morning and motion sickness. For aches and pains my mother always recommends tying slices of fresh ginger in cheesecloth and submerging the package in your bathwater at home. A hot soak yields clear sinuses and loosened muscles. Pickled ginger is served with sushi for its antimicrobial and digestive powers in order to help counteract any ill effects that may occur from the raw seafood. For all its homespun magic, studies show that ginger can inhibit blood clotting in cancer patients. It’s potency and efficacy should not be underestimated by anyone with a compromised immune system.

 

In the wintertime when the weather is raw and damp, ginger root calls to me, begging for a place on the table.  Alex made his gingerbread sauce and I went with something sweet. Fresh ginger biscotti with chunks of milk chocolate.  These cookies are delicious and surprisingly addictive. Even if you manage to control the impulse to eat more than one at a time, the beauty of biscotti is their keeping qualities. A large batch will live happily in a cookie jar on the countertop for as long as you are able to keep them around. These cookies crumble nicely, making them baby friendly unless you can't stand the sight of crumbs. Of course if that’s truly the case these cookies won't be to your liking anyway. You’ll just have to find some other ginger recipe to play with…

 

Fresh Ginger and Milk Chocolate Biscotti

230 grams/8 ounces cold sweet butter

35grams/ 1 ounce peeled and sliced fresh ginger root

100 grams/1/2 cup sugar

100 grams/ ½ cup light brown sugar

100 grams/1/2 cup dark brown sugar

4 large cold eggs

510 grams/18 ounces AP flour

11/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 teaspoons baking powder

120 grams/4 ¼ ounces AP flour

230 grams/8 ounces milk chocolate chunks (Valrhona Tanariva Lactee Callets)

 

Combine butter, ginger and sugars in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is fully blended and looks like wet sand. There should be no visible chunks of ginger let. Add the eggs one at a time, pulsing to blend in each egg before adding the next. Whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking powder until well blended. Add all of the flour mixture to the food processor and pulse until the dough comes together.

 

Sprinkle the counter with the remaining 120g of flour and turn the dough out onto the flour. Sprinkle 1/3 of the chocolate onto the dough and use a bench scraper to fold the dough around the chocolate. Add the next third and fold it into the dough. Add the final third and fold it until the dough is smooth and the chocolate is incorporated. Divide the dough in half. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least four hours.

 

Preheat the oven to 350°F/ 325°F convection. Line two half sheet trays with parchment or foil.

 

Divide the first piece of dough in half and gently roll it out into a log approximately 10”x2” and place it on one of the prepared sheet trays. Do the same with the remaining half of the dough and place it on the other side of the sheet tray, leaving equal amounts of space between the two logs and from each side of the sheet tray. Do the same thing with the second piece of dough. Bake the logs for 23-28 minutes until the log are golden brown and cooked through. Slice each log on an angle into 1-inch thick pieces. Set the end pieces aside for snacks. Lay the slices out on the sheet trays and return them to the oven. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until the slices are golden brown and dry to the touch. Let the cookies cool on the sheet trays before serving.

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.

A Small Indulgence

Three ingredients. Osetra caviar, butter from the Vermont Butter and Cheese Company and salt roasted, organic yukon gold potatoes. Ok, actually four, thee sliced stem of parsley was also included. It may not sound like much, let me assure you that when you spoon each bite into your mouth the experience is pure indulgence. Osetra caviar fit the bill this evening. Tomorrow it may be scrambled eggs and buttered toast. All it takes to make a moment feel special for me is sharing something delicious with the two people I love most in the world. It's a small yet necessary indulgence that we can make happen every day. Dinner is over and as I write this Alex and Amaya are dancing to Tchaikovsky in preparation for bedtime. Lucky doesn't begin to describe the feeling. Small bubbles of happiness are softly overflowing. Take nothing for granted because these are the moments that make life special.

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.

Not Just for Chocolate and Pulses

 

The folks over at Cooking Issues have re-sparked our interest in wet grinders. Over at the Quenelle, Francisco mentioned using a wet grinder, actually a melangeur, to make and bring back caramelized white chocolate to its pre-caramelized smoothness. I was hooked and eager to get one at the time. Unfortunately chocolate making was not high on our list of things to do and we were in the midst of book writing.

Dave's recent piece mentioned making ketchup chocolate and shared his recipe here. I read this article just after we finished our brown butter workshop. Ideas connected. Ibet a wet grinder would do wonders on brown butter solids. And since we have continued using finely ground and flavored milk solids as the basis of a number of preparations from a cleaner gingerbread soup to toasted argan oil solids I felt it might be a good time to take the plunge into the wet grinder world. The wet grinder is designed for making small particles of legumes and pulses as well as breaking down cocoa into chocolate. Think about using the wet grinder to pulverize dry spices and then blend them with aromatics from herbs to spices to dried fruits, vegetables or meats. The finer the grind with the least amount of heat will produce incredible flavors and textures.

Now I just need to see if Santa can fit one on his sleigh.

Fat Film

We wanted to warm the fish to just cook it and simultaneously coat the exterior with a fine layer of flavorful beef tallow infused with vadouvan. The tallow is warmed so that it is pliable and then it is spread on the sliced fish. We put the fish into the c-vap for ten minutes to warm and cook and the fat gently melts onto and into the nooks and crannies of the fish. This approach allows us to use a bit less fat in the cooking process, we are frugal with our tallow, and still impart a rich savoriness into the fish.

 

In taking a look at the fish, I wonder what would happen if we chilled the fish and used a paint sprayer to evenly coat the fish in fat and then let it refrigerate for a day to allow the fats aromas to penetrate. We could then slide the fish into the c-vap or a low temperature oven and the fat film would melt and just coat the fish. I believe this approach may be an excellent refinement in our fat smearing fish.

 

In fact, it asks the question about what else would benefit from a fine fat spray?

Mussel Soup

Mussels

2700 grams clean mussels

 

Pick through the mussels, removing any of the coarse beards that may be sticking out of the shells. Place a rondeau or a heavy bottomed pot large enough to hold the mussels on the stove over medium heat. Add the clean mussels to the dry pot and occasionally stir from bottom to the top of the pile of shellfish. As the pot heats the mussel shells will begin to open and they will release their juices. Once about a third of the shells have opened, stir the pot one more time, cover it with a tight fitting lid and turn the heat off the heat. Let the mussels rest, covered for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and separate the mussels from the liquid. Strain the juices using a fine mesh strainer. Chill the resulting mussel juice and reserve for later use. Pull the mussels from the shells, trying to keep them intact. Discard the shells and place the mussels in a small bowl. Cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

 

Pear Stock

425 grams pear

175 grams onion

200 grams fennel

100 grams skinned hazelnuts

20 grams garlic

1000 grams water

 

Quarter the pears and remove the cores. Clean and slice the onions and fennel into pieces 3cm thick. Combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of a 6-quart pressure cooker. Cook at high pressure for 25 minutes.  Allow the pressure to dissipate naturally. Alternatively combine the ingredients in a heavy bottomed pot and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for one hour, skimming as needed. Turn off the heat, cover the stock and let it steep for an additional 30 minutes. Strain the finished pear stock through a fine mesh strainer. Discard the solids. Chill the stock and reserve until needed.

 

Chamomile Infusion

300 grams pear stock

1.5 grams fine sea salt

3 bags chamomile tea

 

For a vacuum infusion, combine the pear stock, salt and tea bags in a shallow container. Place the uncovered container in a chamber vacuum sealer. Turn on the vacuum sealer and watch the liquid as it rises to the top of the container. When it is within 5cm of the top, turn off the vacuum sealer. Repeat three times. Remove from the vacuum chamber and discard the tea bags.

 

For a cold infusion, combine pear stock and salt, stirring well to dissolve the salt. Add the tea bags. Cover the container and let it rest in refrigeration for 24 hours, stirring occasionally. After 24 hours the infusion is finished. Discard the tea bags.

 

Chamomile Foam Base

285 grams chamomile infusion

2.85 grams Methocel F50

0.375 grams xanthan gum

 

Put the chamomile infusion in the blender. Turn the power onto medium and create a vortex.  Sprinkle in the Methocel and the xanthan gum.  Increase the power to high to fully disperse and shear the hydrocolloids into the liquid. Turn the blender off and pour the mixture into a bowl sitting in an ice bath. Chill the mixture until it reaches 10ºC, the temperature at which Methocel is fully hydrated.  Reserve the chamomile foam base in the refrigerator.

 

Candied Hazelnuts with Miso

150 grams skinned hazelnuts

1255 grams sugar

5 grams instant miso soup powder

 

Line a sheet pan with foil and spray with non-stick pan spray or rub lightly with butter. In a heavy bottomed pot combine the sugar and the nuts. Place the pot over medium heat and let it cook undisturbed until the sugar melts around the edges and begins to form small bubbles. Using a heatproof spoon or spatula, stir the nuts and sugar until the caramel turns a deep amber. Remove from heat and add the miso powder, stirring well, Pour the hot caramel nuts carefully onto the prepared sheet tray. Set aside to let the nuts cool completely. Place the candied nuts in a zip top bag and use a paillard pounder to shatter the nuts into a coarse, crumbly texture and store in an airtight container until ready to use.

 

Mussel Mosaic

200 grams cooked, shucked and chilled mussels

2 grams Activa RM

 

Place the cooked mussels in a bowl. Sprinkle the Activa over the mussels and stir them to evenly coat the mussels with the powder. Divide the mussels between two vacuum bags and seal on high pressure. Use a meat mallet to flatten the mussels in the bag to an even 2mm layer. The pounded mussels will resemble a marble mosaic in appearance. Place the mussel sheets in the refrigerator and refrigerate at least six hours, or preferably overnight to allow the bond to occur between the mussels.

 

After the mussels have been bonded into a uniform sheet, cut them out of the bag and use a 7 centimeter round cutter to cut circles of the mosaic.  Lay the mussel rounds on a flat tray, cover them with plastic wrap, and reserve in the refrigerator until needed.

 

 

Mussel Soup

400 grams cold pear stock

400 grams cold mussel juice

200 grams cooked, shucked, chilled mussels

 

Combine all three ingredients in a blender. Blend until completely smooth. Strain the soup through a fine mesh strainer, place in a covered container, and reserve in the refrigerator until needed.

 

To Assemble

 

Mussel Soup

Mussel Sheet

Pear Chamomile Foam base

Mussel Sheets

Candied Hazelnuts

 

Pour the soup in a heavy bottomed pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  While the soup is heating, whip the pear chamomile foam base in a standing mixer with a whisk attachment until it forms soft to medium peaks. Place the mussel sheets n a sheet tray, brush them with a thin layer of mussel soup and place them in a 95ºC oven to just warm through. When they are warm, place a mussel circle in the center of each soup bowl. Sprinkle the equivalent of 8 broken candied hazelnuts on the right hand side of the mussel mosaic. Top the hazelnuts with a spoonful of whipped chamomile. Once the soup is hot, place it in a heatproof pitcher. Serve the soup bowls with the mosaic, hazelnuts and whipped chamomile. Pour the soup into the bowls tableside, in front of the diners.

Follow Your Nose

We know that the majority of taste is actually aroma. There are literally thousands of different aromas that can be interpreted by the scent receptors in your head. It’s a complex system that ties scent to memory in order to allow us to have a frame of reference for different scents and flavors. It’s not something that we think about often enough in the kitchen. Admittedly there are many chefs that use aroma to create an effect. Burning wood, blowing perfumes, even Mrs. Fields relies on the aroma of fresh baked cookies to draw customers through their doors. Unfortunately in the kitchen many cooks forget the importance of their sense of smell.

We always employ our noses to build flavors with spices. Instead of thinking through a flavor profile we like to actually sniff the spices and decide what to pair that way. It has led us to some unusual and wonderful combinations. The same approach works nicely with herbs, helping us determine what fresh green flavors will best compliment a dish. The smell of burnt sugar and fresh orange zest can take us in one direction while the earthy aroma of matsutake mushrooms and cinnamon send us down a different path. When we are stumped on the kitchen, taking a moment to close our eyes and simply breathe in a few different ingredients can reignite our creative juices and help light the way forward.