IDEAS IN FOOD

Edible Alcohol

From these classics where can we go?

A Walk Through Brugge

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...

Ham Hocks

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 Wing

Brined and ready to cook.

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.

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.

Pastry Cream Improved

Francisco Migoya, author of Frozen Desserts and the The Modern Cafe, shares an incredible technique he recently learned for making pasty cream. I read his post several weeks ago and have been talking about the technique with anyone willing to listen. Somehow I overlooked writing about it until now. It brings the idea of the classic and somewhat tedious pastry cream back from retirement. Perhaps some stuffed croissants are in my future.

In looking at the process involved I am now wondering if we can apply this to a number of other applications?  That is for the time in the kitchen tomorrow.

*Francisco shares his working recipe here.

Parsley Puree

An essential element in our repetoire.

Simple and striking.

I am amazed at how this picture can bring such a smile to my face and remind me how much fun cooking well can be.

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.

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.

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.

Red Hot Snickerdoodles

Instead of the traditional cinnamon sugar used for rolling snickerdoodles we decided to grind up red hot candies and use them as our coating. The result was a spicy, hot pink snickerdoodle, perfect for the Christmas cookie tray. They may not be for everyone although we think they are delicious. Happy Holidays everyone! Wishing you a magical Christmas night.

 

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.

Bacon and Egg Chawan Mushi

The goal was simplicity.

Corned Beef Hand Roll

We are always surprised at what can be rolled between rice and seaweed. Today I ate our first corned beef hand roll. I say first because I think this and other non-traditional preparations have some real potential. I would not mind a bacon cheeseburger hand roll or a fried clam version with sea urchin thousand island dressing.

A New Source of Ideas

 

The weather certainly influences what we cook and even how we cook. The weather also affects what and how we eat. If we are designing dishes and bringing ingredients together, can we use the weather as a tool to help shape a dining experience? Furthermore, can we use specific moments such as sunrises and sunsets, rainstorms and blizzares to make a dish greater than just the food on the plate? If we created a dish around grilled lobster and before the course arrived showed a sunset on the ocean, have we brought the diner to a better place to enjoy the food? Smell and sound are always important. Sometimes we forget about what is right in front of us and what we can do to enhance the experience with what we see.

Sunrise

We do not watch enough sunrises. They happen everyday and we are usually awake when they take place. However, when the sun comes up we are busy. Making breakfast, writing notes, working on recipes, and on and on. Occasionally we remember to look up and around. The sights and sounds of dawn are amazing. Some mornings are soft and beautiful, others are striking and sharp. Each day is different and when we have the opportunity we should find a moment to savor the experience. Taking the time to observe and appreciate the everyday miracles provides a unique opportunity to experience the world. There can be more inspiration in the few moments when the sun breaks through the horizon than in an entire day’s worth of searching for ideas.

Happy Birthday

Round here we've got reasons to celebrate. Amaya passed her Aunt Barbara's criteria for walking into her first birthday party and her reward was this cake. Pretty cool. Thanks again to Barbara & Katie for their excellent work. Aunt Peg provided a second smaller cake just for Amaya. She graciously shared it with Daddy and simply took a few dainty bites. It's been an amazing year. She's starting the new one in style with a Holland America cruise from San Diego to Hawaii and back again. Starting tomorrow we'll be posting from the ship. Not to worry though, we'll be home in time for Christmas. Happy 1st Birthday Amaya! We love you lots.

As a Matter of Fat

 

If fat cannot penetrate water, can fat flavor water? Why yes it can. Aromatic fats have been used to make perfumes and even flavor alcohol. If that is the case, and aromatic fats may flavor water and water based mediums like alcohol, then the fat used in cooking matters. The fat may not penetrate what is being cooked in it but the aromatics of the fat and what is carried in the fat plays a larger role than we think. That is why cooking duck legs in a third generation duck confit fat taste more duck like. The fat is not penetrating the meat, its aromatics are. So, then is fat flavor or perhaps fat is aroma?

The Substitution of an Ingredient

When you go to the store shopping for ingredients and they do not have what you are looking for do you panic or look at as an opportunity? We often look for variations and substitutions in recipes particularly classics to spark ideas and explore tastes. The question arises, if you substitute ingredients can you still call the dish by its classic name?

For instance, we just made an herb paste to marinate fish with. The inspiration and driving force was the classic Italian salsa verde. Except instead of anchovies we used XO sauce. The flavor profile is similar, the result is delicious, the sauce is green. Whether or not we actually made salsa verde is questionable. In that case, what do we call the sauce? Because we often looks for points of reference we call the paste XO salsa verde. It combines a taste with the classic.

Right Cut Wrong Animal

In my quest for a first cut blade chuck roast I came across some beautiful lamb shoulder chops. These chops were in fact the cut of meat I was looking for, just from the wrong animal. The individual pockets of meat, divided by connective tissue, called out and I took pause in my need to procure the chuck roast. Instead we were treated to a delicious cut of meat which I ordinarily would have passed over. A brief bath in feta brine and a pita crust did not hurt the cause.

Broken Beets

Rather than dicing the beets we had some fun with liquid nitrogen and an overnight marinade. The cryo-blanch and the infusion allow us to bring the often overlooked beet back into the limelight.

Nothing

There are days when nothing goes right. Nothing, it speaks of emptiness of misfortune of times to avoid. And still nothing can be wonderful. When nothing goes wrong everything goes right.

Nothing, like everything is all about context and application. The key is getting everything out of nothing. Turn ideas and approaches on themselves and see something different. These observations may provide insight and they may waste time. It all depends on what angle you are looking from.

The Cure

Methocel and the aroma of corked wine often go hand and hand. This affinity to a terrible aroma and smell has led us to often overlook it on the shelf of ingredients on hand. Thankfully a fine chain of events has happened. First, we are putting the finishing touches on our book and therefore are knee deep in everything. Second of all we still make time to read. Unfortunately, we were preoccupied when this article on wine, written by Harold McGee , first came out and had to wait until recently to read of using plastic wrap to cure corked wine from the adventures of Cooking Issues and Harold McGee.

 

The essential quote is here:

 

“Mr. Waterhouse said that the obnoxious, dank flavor of a “corked” wine, which usually renders it unusable even in cooking, can be removed by pouring the wine into a bowl with a sheet of plastic wrap.

“It’s kind of messy, but very effective in just a few minutes,” he said. The culprit molecule in infected corks, 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, is chemically similar to polyethylene and sticks to the plastic.”

The idea mulled in our head because we have certainly poured a number of corked bottles down the drain.

As we said, we are doing a lot of writing and cooking. The trigger was the article. Something about the aroma of corked was bothering me. I was refining our Methocel recipes. I came across that stupid corked aroma.

 

Ah ha!!!!! Let’s see if the old corked aroma plastic wrap trick works with Methocel. I took our base, wadded up some plastic wrap and mixed the two together. Slowly it went away. The aroma, that obnoxious taste was no longer there. Methocel with the addition of the cure is now high up on the list again.

Olive Brined Artichokes

We continue to be amazed at how flavors that we are surrounded with are often overlooked until the right time. As we have been looking to simplify the process of cooking artichokes while accentuating their flavors a jar of olive brine took charge and solved the problem. Green olive brine and artichokes are a match we should have been working with for years and have only just recently experienced. Now we have tasted and there is no looking back.

 

Cool Tool and Adaptations

The link to this kitchen tool is not for those faint of heart. It is a device used for the quick and painless killing of fish and we believe might be really good for working with lobsters. When Dave and Nils from Cooking Issues became obsessed with the Ike Jime fish preparation technique and, as they do, went to extremes to refine and document the process, including locating and utilizing fish anethesisa, we sat up straight and began extrapolating ideas. Their research sparked ideas of what other fish and crustaceans could and should benefit from this sort of handling. My first thoughts were to lobsters and crabs. It turns out that they too had similar thoughts and have refined a technique, which they hang before us like a carrot tantalizing a horse here.

In any event, we have been working on lobster cookery and investigating a kinder killing method. The tool which caught my fancy is the Iki Jime tool, a curved spike used to totally destroy the brain of a fish instantly. If the spike works and can easily be applied to a lobster we may have a better way for killing lobsters for cooking. The technique is intended to delay rigor mortis, which in lobsters would include tail curling and flesh tightening. This may then allow for an incredibly succulent raw lobster preparation and excellent benefits in low temperature cooking.

*edited to add here is another piece of kitchen equipment which might do the trick as well

Triple Crust Pie

The idea for the triple crust pie came about by accident. We thought we saw a baked apple pie with streusel baked on top of the top crust. How cool is that? It turns out we saw what we wanted to see. The glorious inspiration was really a coffee cake with a streusel topping. This closer examination did not deter us from chasing down the unheard of triple crust pie.

 

We found it and devoured it in our kitchen. Now we need to fine tune the ginger ice cream to go along with it.

Reading Boxes

Recipes and ingredient lists are constantly printed on packaged goods boxes and wrappers. The information contained there is often glossed over and even thought of as fruitless or at least pointless details. I regularly read boxes and packages, not specifically to gain insights, rather I get bored standing in line at the grocery store. While my motivation may be skewed, the results are not. This mindless reading of lists and simple recipes designed by manufacturers regularly sparks thoughts and begins idea avalanches. Today we were working with non-fat milk powder and it was Aki's turn to read the box. She read a recipe for whipped milk using the non-fat milk powder and water. The results were astonishingly good. The ideas, well you may imagine what we are thinking. Besides being pleased with the results it started another conversation about the proteins in non-fat milk powder and the hows and whys of whipping and furthermore our options for utilizing this knowledge.

 

All of this from a box of dried milk before breakfast was even over today.

Sea Smoke

Sometimes a fog rolls in. You may not see it coming. A fog clouds your vision. It also forces you to use your other senses in ways you may not have foreseen. A fog can be good if you are willing to pay a bit more attention.

 

Butter

A golden orb which illuminates our kitchen.

 

Texas toast and butter steamed eggs have never had it so good; neither have our palates.

Popovers

The popover is not just a vehicle for cheese, despite what I may have wanted to believe. This morning Aki insisted on making popovers, oh what a hardship for me, and furthermore she insisted they were to have no cheese. Really, no cheese I thought? I begrudgingly accepted this horrific compromise.

 

It is a good thing too. First of all, I saved myself from having to apologize for not believing. Secondly, a number of new ideas blossomed by following her lead. Aki's no cheese policy for the popovers left them as blank slates for sweet cream butter and Kitty's strawberry jam. My first bite of this combination had me asking why popovers have been missing from my breakfast table for my whole life. While I slathered, chewed and smiled, ideas began to blossom. The first was to dig out some creme fraiche and Steve's caviar. What a wonderful vehicle the popover would become. The next was to expand on Wylie's idea of filling gougeres with aerated scrambled eggs and make a wonderful breakfast surprise. What other goodies have we overlooked and perhaps not thought enough about?

Tis the Season

With the chill in the air, an actual frost last night, the aroma of poached fruit is needed to help warm the house and the soul. The aroma of poached quince is a marriage of apples and pears with tropical undertones hooked up to an aroma amplifier. The one caveat is that in the time it takes to cook quince the finished fruit has given its aroma to kitchen and the fruit is lacking. We have sought to help the aroma permeate the fruit by cooking it with aromatics which remind us of the fruit. The plan is to supplement the aroma of the quince in order to keep it intact for the eating process.

 

Believing this Changes Everything

 

Mac & Chz

 

Everyone has their own recipe and approach. Here we've used rigatoni with a combination of pepper jack, cheddar and gruyere balanced with some creme fraiche and bound with a touch of tapioca flour. The key is to enjoy it with good company and great wine. On those rare occasions when all else fails, good mac and cheese is enough by itself..

The Colors of Fall

 

an autumnal color swatch

crab applesauce

red cabbage-marmalade

parsley

eggplant-tallow

Similar

In looking at garlic cloves we noticed they look quite similar to the muscles on frog legs. Large cloves take the shape of the quadriceps while the smaller cloves are eerily close to the calves. In both cases the visual association between garlic cloves and frog legs is supported in the culinary world by their hand in hand nature on the plate. At first we planned to serve a ragout of leg muscles and garlic cloves, the two looking so close that the diner would not really know the difference in what they were eating. That approach actually seems quite silly. If the diner cannot tell what they are eating, what does it matter what they consume?

We decided to look at the picture again. Often times frog legs are supposed to taste like chicken. If they taste like chicken, why bother to get frog legs when chicken will do? That was not the answer, yet is posed a solution. Why not gently cook garlic cloves in an intense roasted chicken bouillon. The cloves would still resemble a frog leg in appearance while acquiring the rich decadence of a roasted chicken. No, these are not frog legs, they are similar, they faux-g legs.