IDEAS IN FOOD

Evolution

At the end of 2006 our tenure at Keyah Grande will come to an end.  Although we know that Colorado is not the place for us any longer, we have met some wonderful people and had some great experiences here. We have invested an abundance of time and effort in developing the Guest House and it will be difficult to leave it all behind with the New Year.

It is our goal to have an incredible season this year. We want to make our last season in Colorado absolutely the best one yet. Keyah Grande made Conde Nast Traveler’s Hot List for 2006, which should boost our exposure and help increase the property’s recognition on a national level. Since we are the only staff members who have been with the property since the beginning, we take a lot of pride in its evolution. As the Directors of Operations, in addition to being the Executive Chefs, we have had a hand in every aspect of the business and are happy to see things beginning to come to fruition. We have a very special relationship with the owners, a friendship that we expect to continue for years beyond our tenure at the ranch. We are expecting to see great things continue to happen here long after we’ve left the premises.

Our second priority is to create a new venue for our food. Obviously, Ideas in Food will travel wherever we do. The trick now is to figure out where we are going. We are focusing our search on the East Coast because that is where most of our family is located. After several years in the west we are looking forward to returning to our friends and family, the ocean, the cities and having proximity to the lifestyle that we both grew up with. We are especially excited at the opportunity to create a very welcoming, high-end experience where food, service, accommodations and location become equally balanced and dependent on one another.

We are looking at locations near many of the major cities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coastal region: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC and more.  The key is to be close enough (within a few hours drive) to attract weekend traffic but not in a city itself. We are focusing on small inns, preferably with a full service restaurant or the capability to create one within the existing structure. Our goal is to be able to expand on Ideas in Food with cooking classes and workshops at the new property. These interactive forums will bring together like-minded people who want to explore cooking, food and wine together in a relaxed atmosphere while being an integral part in the development of great new ideas.

We are sharing this adventure with our readers so that you can be involved in the journey with us. We have spent numerous hours looking at properties for the last several months and finding a venue is not going to be easy. Mind you, that is only the first step. Speaking of which, if anyone happens to come across an interesting property for sale, please drop us a line and let us know about it. Hopefully you will find our evolutionary process to be an interesting extension to the discussions on food and dining.

It is a dramatic change to move from working for someone to establishing your own business. It is also an enormous learning experience. Everyday we are learning: new approaches to what we don’t know, new ways of looking at what we thought we knew and new tactics to incorporate and make adjustments with. Our brains are whirling with all of the recent information that we need to absorb in a relatively short period of time. We’re exhilarated and nervous and excited although we knew it was time to make the leap. It’s time to stretch our wings and see how far we can fly without the safety net. Wish us luck!

Use Your Notebooks

It dawned on me today.  Use your notebooks.  I spend hours writing and working through ideas and compiling them in notebooks.  And yet many times I overlook referring to them during the creation and execution of a dish.  That is just downright stupid.  There is nothing wrong with spontaneity and improvisation.  I am a strong proponent of both.  However, failing to draw from the resources you create and build is merely cutting your own legs out from underneath. 

Sure, sometimes an ingredient is unavailable or not of a desired quality.  If that is the case make substitutions.  Yet, use the outline or script from your notebook.  Time in the kitchen is for the execution of ideas.  I know other thoughts and concepts begin to spark during the creative process and that is good.  What happened today showed me it is better to just write down the ideas and work through the process of dishes that are at least partially formulated.  Nothing came together.  Yes components were arranged but at the end of the day the dishes failed.  The reason is because I opted to work without rehearsal.  As we have noted, the key to improvisation is the rehearsal process, working through scenarios in order to avoid disaster in the heat of the moment.  Well, I forgot and paid for it today. 

The one relief is that tomorrow does exist.

Olive Chip Ice Cream

Here is a simple ice cream which truly explodes with flavor.  As we have noted olives and their derivatives have been used in many forms from savory to sweet.  In this recipe we sit on the fence and allow the ice cream to be used in either application.  Today we served it with slow cooked king salmon, olive oil poached asparagus and powdered rhubarb.  Oh yeah, the ice cream flavor is olive chip.

Olive Chip Ice Cream

150 g extra virgin olive oil
140 g Lyle's golden syrup
216 g mascarpone
2g salt
dried olive crumbs to taste*

Puree the first four ingredients together until smooth.  Place in ice cream maker and freeze until just past the soft serve stage.  Fold in the dried olive crumbs and then place the ice cream in the freezer to mature.

Scoop and serve.

*Dried olive crumbs are made by pitting olives and then soaking in warm water to remove excess olive oil.  After the excess oil is removed the olives are dried in a low oven (180 degrees F) on paper towels until dry and crumbly.

Inexpensive Lens Cleaning

Most of the photos on our website were taken with our Canon Digital Rebel. It's a great camera and although there is a newer version on the market we are still very happy with the  original. It's taken several months but we've finally found a lens cleaning system that really works for us. The best part about it is that it cost less than $10. We recently purchased the Nikon Lens Pen Cleaning System. It has a retractable brush on one end and a soft lens cleaning sponge (for lack of a better description) at the other end. It's about the size of a marker which makes it light, portable and efficient. We love that.

Great Ingredients Inspire

We are continuing to work on new dishes.  Truthfully, I am trying not to mess up pristine ingredients.  Today some giant Key West Pink shrimp arrived along with some ramps from West Virginia.  I had spent the morning making some caramelized yogurt for an upcoming dish as well as making green tea-almond croquant and a port licorice sauce.  Actually, we had even more coming to fruition from powdered rhubarb to the beginnings of corn gnocchi.  Anyway, when the shrimp and the ramps came in we new we wanted to assemble a dish that spoke of the ingredients and my ability to show restraint.  We split the shrimp down the middle and removed its intestinal tract and then simply cooked it on the griddle.  Similarly, we charred the ramps on the griddle.  We then brushed some olive oil on the shrimp and assembled the ingredients with a side of our green tea-almond croquant.  Simple.  And yet I was not quite satisfied.  I went and got our ricer and took the griddled head and placed it inside the device with a piece of lemon.  I squeezed the juices over the shrimp and the dish was done.

Now I need to find someone to make a small duck press or a version there of so that I can press shrimp and langoustine heads table side and adorn the dishes with the natural jus.  In fact, we could then use the miniature press for other applications like saucing roasted squab with a crustacean jus.  Oh well, for now I have a ricer and it gets the job done.

Personality

Have you ever noticed how the little things can make a lasting impression? We had an amazing meal this year at Per Se, the food and the service were top notch. Unfortunately the thing that pops into my head when I think of the meal is the jackets.  Every server who came to  our table that wintery afternoon had a dirty jacket. It was startling and so much more noticeable because every other aspect of our meal was so carefully orchestrated. It was a lone jarring note and yet it's what I remember most about the meal.

We tell all of our servers to assume that guests in the dining room can hear every word they say. That way nothing inappropriate is ever inadvertently uttered in the dining room. When we dine out alone we are an unusually quiet table. Not because we have nothing to say to one another, we are quiet because we are soaking in the atmosphere. We look at every aspect of a restaurant from the view to the greeting to the menu, the service and the food. We prefer to dine alone at places we are intrigued by so that we can get the entire experience. Dining out with companions is a different kind of pleasure which is more about the company than the restaurant. We still go to places we hope will be great but the restaurant takes a secondary role in the experience.

Oddly during our experiences in New York it appeared that servers at many restaurants either felt that diners were deaf or so self absorbed as to be completely oblivious to the conversations taking place around them. We are exceptionally attuned to the staff on a dining room floor but it still amazed me how often I heard conversations about tables, tips, kitchen snafus, managerial upsets and the personal lives of the staff in explicit detail. I suppose to some these tantalizing tidbits adds to the spice of eating out but in an upper tier restaurant it seems out of place. Discussing guests by table number is no guarantee that they won't be recognized, in fact it can spur on the listener to look more closely at the dining room in attempt to see who is being difficult enough to warrant the hissed discussions in the service station.

At Gilt, another of our top dining experiences in the city, the floor staff was curiously unwilling to ask questions of the kitchen. When asked what an ingredient in a dish was comprised of there were educated guesses based upon previous showings of the dish in question. Since the kitchen was doing a modified menu for us there was a bit of scrambling as the courses came out. More than once we were told "I think that was..." but there was no offer to ask the chef directly.  Food runners stood at attention on the sidelines with trays of food, casting desperate glances at the captains until they were noticed and relieved. A dropped knife resulted in multiple apologies, the first from the poor soul who dropped it, the others by various superiors who seemed to be making a point more than an apology. The service was generally very smooth and polished to the point of being unctuous. There were a few genuine personalities brimming with a quiet enthusiasm for the chef's creations although overall it felt like a show. It seemed as though upon close inspection the facade would crack revealing an intricately detailed, inexplicably empty shell.

On the other extreme, dining at the bar at Balthazar was a delightful experience in spite of the crowds and the chaos that go hand in hand with that particular restaurant. The bartender in question was professional and friendly without being either cold or overbearing. The food was very good and the people around us were friendly and quite personable. It made the constant buzz all around us fade into the distance and allowed us to focus on enjoying the meal.

The Strip House was definitely theater like with it's dark lighting and red walls. The lady who served us was extremely busy and friendly in the tolerant way of an overworked mother. We sat at a crowded table in the tiny bar seating area, squinting at each other and straining to hear in the club-like setting. After initial misgivings we relaxed into the atmosphere and enjoyed basically well cooked steaks and a surprisingly good chocolate cake. The restaurant made no bones about who and what it was and the experience was straight forward and ultimately quite fun.

I'm sure that these stories are like comparing apples and oranges to some, but the common thread is about personality. Every restaurant has it's own distinct personality woven from the threads of all the people who work there. The style may be dictated by the ownership, the colors chosen by Chefs and managers but the details are filled in by each employee. We often say that a kitchen is only as strong as its weakest cook. A restaurant is only as personable as its least welcoming staff member. As we noted in earlier posts a cold greeting can be a portent of things to come. On the other hand it could just be an unusually tough night for a restaurant that tries hard to generate magic in it's embrace. I can especially sympathize with places in New York City. Rents are so high, hours are long and staffs are so large that it can be difficult to motivate everyone and track all of the details. The places that do on a regular basis are nothing short of amazing.  A truly great restaurant can make the world fall away as it cocoons you in it's own inimitable experience.

Wood Ear Mushrooms

I had not worked with fresh wood ear mushrooms before.  I had interesting memories of the dried variety used in a number of Chinese take out dishes over the years and had wanted to work with the fresh version.  As luck would have it, we received a phone call from a purveyor who had fresh wood ear mushrooms.  My one question was about quality.  The answer was that they were impeccable.  With that kind of support I responded with send them.

The mushrooms arrived in great condition: clean, dry, firm and delicate.  We used them in a simple dish of artichokes, smoked potato gnocchi and the sauteed wood ear mushrooms as a means to let all the ingredients shine.  Since then, we have been working with the mushrooms, preserving them and using them  in dishes in place of the more expensive and rarefied morel mushrooms.  Today we made buttermilk oatmeal enriched with sugar snap pea puree and topped with a ragout of wood ear mushrooms, mango and scallions.  The dish is light and delicate with a woody headiness coming from the mushrooms.

The mushrooms have an extremely unique texture, quite similar to that of a thin version of braised pigs ears with the meatiness and delicate snap of braised cartilage.  Anyway, the use of these mushrooms is limited only by the imagination.  A couple of current thoughts include candying, brining in olive brine, tempura as a garnish to foie gras and as a chilled salad with raw fish.

Our Universal Potato

The second thing I did when we returned west was fire up our smoker.  Not too difficult because it is electric and all I need to do is feed it a few wood chunks and turn it on.  I revisited smoked peppercorns for I had several grand ideas to work through which depended on actually perceiving the smoke on the peppercorns.  Similarly, I wanted to fine tune our smoked potato bread.  My half of the deal is to prepare the potatoes and smoke them.  I then hand off the baton to Aki to finish the project.

Yet, since I was making potatoes I figured I could make a few extra and work on another project as well, a hot potato terrine.  I prepared the base of potatoes in the manner which is described in Jeffrey Steingarten's book The Man Who Ate Everything.  Once the potatoes were twice cooked I put them in the smoker for twenty minutes, set some aside for the bread and passed the rest through a tammis.  At this point I returned the potatoes to a dry pot and folded in butter.  When the butter was incorporated, the potato base was ready for further applications.  I kept the potato base warm as I prepared the other ingredients for the terrine.

Universal Smoked Potato

908 g smoked potato base
227 g water
14.18 g Methocel E4M
11.3 g gelatin
6g salt

Bring the water to a simmer.  Sprinkle the Methocel Food Gum into the water and whisk till dispersed.  Add the bloomed gelatin to the hot liquid to melt and then pour over the potato base.  Whisk the two parts together and then place in a food processor and pulse the combined base to combine the ingredients.  Do not over mix.  When the mixture is combined, lay it out on a plastic wrap lined sheet pan and smooth to a uniform thickness.  Cover with another piece of plastic wrap and let chill in the refrigerator for several hours.  When the base is chilled you will be able to be cut though it although it will remain soft.  The applications for this base are numerous.  In fact, we ended up molding it in cylinders and baking to make roulades of smoked potato.  We were able to put the mixture in a piping bag and form smoked potato gnocchi.  We also cut pieces of the potato base and sauteed that as a hot potato terrine.  The texture is light, delicate and creamy. It varies somewhat depending upon the cooking method but retains an intense smoky potato flavor. The applications for this base recipe are endless.

Granita Margarita

Back in Colorado, with the season fast approaching, it's time to take a hard look  at the cocktail list.  We need something new and fresh this year. It's definitely time to make some changes. Having just spent two weeks cruising the Pacific Ocean, frozen drinks are on my mind. As a little girl on vacation in the Caribbean, virgin daiquiris and pina coladas were a favorite indulgence. Nowadays, kids can get smoothies on every other street corner but back then the only frozen drinks, aside from those at the ice cream parlor, were alcoholic.  That made even the non-alcoholic versions seem like illicit contraband made even more delectable by their scarcity in my everyday environment.

The problem with frozen drinks in the restaurant  is the blender. The noise that it emits while creating these sensual delights is earsplitting and obnoxious.  In a bar as small as ours is, the noise is inescapable and jarring resulting in the banishment of frozen drinks in the past. The challenge this year was to come up with a frozen drink that would have great flavor and texture without the noise.  The solution is our new menu of granita based drinks. We have created a series of flavored granitas to serve as the bases for these cocktails.  The alcoholic portion of the drink is chilled and mixed separately, then poured over the granita and garnished. The granita melts slightly and disperses through the drink so that sip is slightly different. Some are smooth and purely icy liquid, some are grainy with ice particles and occasionally you can catch a small snowball against your tongue to be crunched or savored as fancy dictates.

Granitas are easily created at home, with no special equipment so there is no reason why our readers cannot share the experience.  We've been talking margaritas lately and got a tip from Steve Stallard for using a splash of cream soda to liven things up. The flavor of the soda is echoed in the vanilla salt rimming the glass in the first of our granita cocktails, the granita margarita.

Granita Margarita

Granita:
4 ounces mixed lemon & lime juice (approximately 2 limes & 1 lemon)
2 ounces agave syrup
6 ounces cold water
a few grains of salt

Mix all ingredients together and taste for desired flavor.  Add additional sweetener or citrus as needed.  Pour into a shallow bowl or sixth pan and place in the freezer. After an hour ice crystals should be forming in your granita. Scrapes the pan thoroughly with a fork and place back in the freezer. Repeat every half an hour or so until the mixture is fully frozen.  If it seems to solid, just break it up with your fork to the desired consistency.

Granita Margarita (serves 2)

2 Martini glasses
Vanilla salt (optional)
Lime slices
Citrus granita
3 ounces tequila
4 ounces cold cream soda

Rim the martini glass with lime juice and salt.  Fill glass halfway with granita.  Combine tequila and soda in a shaker with ice. Shake thoroughly and pour over the granita.  Squeeze lime slice over the drink and drop in to finish.

Parmesan Water and the Artichoke Soup

What the heck is Parmesan water?  It is literally what it sounds like.  We took two litres of water and 1000 grams of aged Parmesan and simmered on a low heat.  We seasoned the water with a pinch of salt, though the salinity and flavor profile of the Parmesan carried through the water.  We then let the mixture rest and finally  strained the milky broth with its fine layer of dairy fat on top.  We reserved a third of the Parmesan base to cook our artichokes, the rest we will clarify and use in other forms.

Parmesan Water

2 litres of water
1000g of Parmesan
pinch of salt

Combine cheese with cold water and salt.  Bring to a soft boil and simmer for 20 minutes.  Strain.

In order to cook our artichokes we broke away from tradition and yet we were inspired by it as well.  In the past we have cooked artichokes in an acidulated broth flavored with vegetables, herbs, wine and chile flakes.  Today we tossed aside what has worked for us in the past and cooked our cleaned artichokes in the Parmesan water which we seasoned with a pinch more salt and a dash of Crystal hot sauce.  The sight of the Parmesan water reminded me of a blanc, a flour based poaching medium used for cooking vegetables that you did not want to oxidize.  In recent years chefs have just added a hunk of bread to an acidulated cooking broth and called it a blanc.  We were inspired by the visual and the result was delicious.

Poached Artichokes

4 cleaned artichokes cut into eight sections
750 ml Parmesan water
salt
Crystal hot sauce

We added the artichoke pieces to boiling Parmesan water and simmered them until they were tender.  Use a pairing knife to test for tenderness, it should sink easily through the flesh but the chokes should not be mushy.  When they are just tender turn off the heat and let the artichokes cool in the cuisson.  The chilled artichokes can be used in a salad or as the base for a ragout for artichoke soup.  The reserved liquid will have married the flavors of artichoke and Parmesan.  This liquid can be enriched with a knob of butter and a few sections of the poached artichokes.  Puree these ingredients together and season with black pepper.  Strain the soup, aerate one final time with blender and serve with the warmed artichoke sections. 

This soup can also be used as a poaching medium for chicken or shellfish or as a sauce for pork or veal.  Similarly, the soup can be left light without the addition of pureed artichokes and used as a delicate froth to finish a savory oatmeal preparation.  It can be thickened with a touch of cream or creme fraiche and paired with seared red mullet or cod to add savory richness to the tender fish.  It can be turned into a chowder with the addition of potatoes and leeks and then showered with fresh herbs for a savory vegetarian stew.  The chilled poaching liquid can be strained and then used as a base for a vinaigrette which would be lovely with cold poached chicken, tomatoes and the chilled artichokes.  The possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

So I Ended Up Making Fourme d' Ambert Cavatelli

Our first day back and we are able to taste the fruits of our ideas. 

Fourme d' Ambert Cavatelli

250 g AP Flour
174 g Fourme d' Ambert
125 g Ricotta
56 g whole egg
pinch of salt

Puree all the ingredients except the flour until a smooth paste is formed.  In a large metal bowl, fold this wet mixture into the flour.  The mixture will become gluey then sandy and then come together.  Knead the dough until it is silky.  You may have to add a dusting of additional flour.  The key is the dough being a silky ball.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for thirty minutes.  Roll the dough out till it is one cm thick and an oval in shape.  Cut the dough in one cm strips and then run through the cavatelli maker (bottom of page, though the other products are cool as well) .  Place a sheet pan under the cavatelli maker to catch the pasta.  Freeze the pasta on the sheet pan and then bag in freezer bags until ready to use.

To cook boil in salted water until tender and toothsome.  The pasta will be gluey when it is undercooked and mushy when overcooked.  Make a quick sauce with brown butter or whatever you like. 

Here we have the fourme d' ambert cavatelli with sake preserved turnips, shaved shrimp, jalapeno and a tart cherry-ancho chile puree.

Roquefort Cavatelli

I briefly touched on the idea of miso cavatelli and look forward to making it as soon as we get back to our western kitchen.  In the meantime my mind began to juxtapose other ingredients.  What if we replaced the ricotta cheese with Roquefort and even bumped the flavor with powdered blue cheese.  These pasta bites would explode with a creamy, salty, blue veined  flavor and still have the toothsome bite of cavatelli.  And what then would be a suitable foil for this intense pasta:  arugula, skate, tuna, sea scallops, roasted pear steak?  The idea is young.  Furthermore, are there other juxtapositions which would make the common unique?

Road Trip

Well, we're finally headed back West, bet you thought it would never happen.  What that means is that 36 hours and a good night's sleep from now we will be unpacking the many boxes we sent back to Colorado ahead of us and back in the kitchen.  We can't wait to get started.  There's still lots to write about from our trip back East and once we get back home, we'll actually have some time to write it.  I think there's one short post scheduled between then and now but otherwise it will be radio silence until we get back West.  We make the trip quickly though, a fully loaded car with two dogs and a cat tends to motivate you to reach your destination quickly.

dinner at wd-50: April 14, 2006

After writing about the experience of wd-50 in "three services" I wanted to share the menu Wylie and his team put together for us. 

habanero infused cider, smoked maple syrup, rum
sparkling wine, vodka, cherry puree

Condrieu, Philippe Faurey 2002

tuna, powdered coconut, green mango, peppers

café con leche, liquid milk, coffee jelly, crumbs

false egg, coconut white, carrot-smoked maple yolk

octopus, duck skin, orange soil, chamomile yogurt
roasted foie gras, watermelon, gingered basil seeds, lovage

poached oysters, caramel foam, peanuts, kaffir lime

rabbit confit, pickled rack, english peas, preserved lemon granola

huevos rancheros, slow cooked yolk, egg white skin, salsa paper

Rioja, Campillo Gran Reserva 1994

miso soup, shiitake mushrooms, instant sesame-tofu noodles

ocean trout, cucumber noodles, pita puree, falafel spices

chicken, chopped liver parcels, sake soubise, green apple and olive

sirloin, smoked pepper tart, water spinach, whipped horseradish

Riesling, “Ultima” Elk Cove Vineyards, 2002

carrot cake, coconut-cream cheese ice cream, carrot foam and cake crumbs

tonka bean crème brulee, marcona almonds, dried cherries and puree

cocoa-banana ravioli, coffee soil, mustard ice cream and greens

wd-50: in three services

Wylie.  You mention the name in culinary circles and you get responses from "the shrimp noodle guy," to "demigod," to "what the hell is he thinking?"  And the funny thing is I have not even given a last name.  Wylie and I have become friends over the years, working as culinary sounding boards and a voice of reason now and again.  In fact, Wylie was the reason I purchased and now will not let out of my sight a gram scale.  Disclosure aside, I do not always get why, how, and what Wylie and really Sam, the pastry chef and integral part to the cuisine at wd-50, are doing.  Though at the end of a meal or even a phone conversation I am full of questions, ideas, sparks and critiques.

These are our experiences. 

The day before Valentines

In our time east I have spent three evenings at wd-50.  The first was the day before Valentines Day.  What they do not tell you is that while Valentines day is busy, the day before is equally so though restaurants do not always prepare for the onslaught of last minute reservations, walk ins and fellas needing to make good because they forgot Valentines day and needed to do something quick to unf*%k there relationships. 

I did not know this and I can only speculate the restaurant did not as well.  Mind you, the day we were dining at wd-50 was the day after the storm.  The streets were slushy and we had spent all day in the city checking out restaurants and chocolate shops.  It happened to be the theme of the day.  We arrived early, about ten minutes to six and asked if we could take a seat at the bar.  Our feet were soaking, it was getting chilly and all I wanted was a cocktail.  The cocktails have a range, where each one relates to distinct personalities.  We were coldly informed that we could not come in, sit at the bar, have a cocktail or even remain in the building until six when the restaurant opened.  I asked again if we could just wait out of the cold and again was informed that the staff needed to have a meeting and that we should leave.  And so we did.  I was a bit perplexed because this scene did not match Wylie.  A restaurant is in many ways an extension of its creators. 

At seven we returned for our reservation.  We had a Guinness at bar around the corner and griped about being thrown out in the cold.  I guess we could and perhaps should have said we were friends of Wylie's but at the time in the moment it did not seem right.  Unfortunately our evening progressed along the lines of our greeting.  No, it was not a total disaster.  But the restaurant, more precisely our experience was wrong.  And I was frustrated. 

It is very difficult to tell a friend when something is wrong or off in a restaurant.  It is even more difficult when multiple things happen.  Fate sometimes has a way of giving situations a push.  I happened to run into Wylie as I was going to the bathroom and he asked how everything was going.  I paused and mentioned the flat bread tasted off.  His response was a bit expletive so I will not quote, though he explained he had been fighting with his sesame seed purveyor.  Furthermore, he commented on the comedy of errors which were happening in the kitchen and this happened to ice the cake.  I returned from the bathroom and explained my downstairs meeting to Aki and our friends.  We all have had nights like that in restaurants and cringe at them happening again.  In the meantime, our flat bread was taken away and was replaced with white sesame flat bread, the black sesame seeds were the flawed taste culprit, as well Dewey--Wylie's father and the floor manager--came over to thank us for pointing out the flaw and allowing them to correct the problem.  And our meal progressed and concluded.  I was disappointed, not because of the greeting and the culinary hiccups along the way but because it did not speak of what Wylie strives to create in terms of food, ambiance and experience.

March 2, My Stage

I arrived at the restaurant around noon.  As I mentioned culinary banter is good and if you can do it face to face all the better.  The restaurant was quiet, I had shown up an hour before Wylie said I should.   I still get edgy and wanted to explore the ins and outs of the kitchen and experience the first hand workings of wd-50.  I was greeted and shown where to change.  When I came back upstairs I was given the task of cutting Asian pear triangles for a hangar steak tartare dish.  No one really knew me.  I was just another stage eager to work for free so that I could take away ideas and concepts that have taken months to create.  And really I was.  I am always looking for ideas, ways to make food better, cleaner, more efficient.  I was there also to work through ideas.  Sure I did menial tasks, but in doing so I was free to look around, ask questions and think.  By the way, if no one did menial tasks there were be no food.  The work has to get done.  And Wylie's staff is equally open about ideas and sharing information.  Sure I was a stage but if I asked how, why, what, when, where and who I was given detailed open responses.  That was striking.  The kitchen truly is a learning center.

I also had time to work on some cavatelli.  Last year we made miso noodles a la chitarra.  We served them with roasted foie gras and had many other thoughts for there uses.  And I thought of miso gargenelli and other pastas as well.  I over looked cavatelli.  That is when I kicked myself when Wylie mentioned he had the thought of making miso cavatelli.  Brilliant.  I truly enjoy cavatelli-traditionally a ricotta based rolled noodle.  I had made many thousands of cavatelli at the Park Avenue Cafe and even more at Keyah Grande where we used fromage blanc and goat cheese instead of the ricotta.  So Wylie and I worked out a base recipe for miso cavatelli.  To be honest, this is the first time I had scaled all the ingredients for a pasta dough and in the end was quite happy that I did.  The cavatelli base was a good start and would take a few alterations but the base was solid.  That is how we have white miso cavatelli emerging on our Spring menu.  I look forward to seeing what directions Wylie takes with the cavatelli.  And my day and night progressed in this manner, mixing minute details with menial tasks in an open forum.  That is how the kitchen works and is able to break ground on many interesting ideas.  This is also where I divulged the story of our meal.  Wylie noted that our meal must have been pretty horrible if we had not written about it on our website.  As I was rolling out pasta dough I explained our evening in detail.  Wylie was verbally, visually and mentally upset, disappointed and frustrated.  He said "that is not what we do here.  I feel horrible and need to fix these errors." (I use quotes here though his exact words may have been slightly different.)

My second service  concluded with me cleaning skate wings with the fish cook at 12 am getting them ready for the skate cake--a method in which the skate wing is layered in order to cut uniform slices of skate for consistent cooking and presentation.  On this day I was able to be involved in someone else's world of making sure the small things were done well.  I left the restaurant with a smile and a desire to come back for dinner with Aki.

April 14 Dinner

We were supposed to go to dinner at wd-50 earlier in the week but life changed our plans.  In fact, we had to change our plans three times and were finally able to steal away for a quiet dinner just Aki and myself.  We arrived at the restaurant soaking wet, the sky's opened as we were walking from the subway station.  A bit of an ominous beginning to an evening though fate and superstition had the night off.  We were welcomed at the restaurant and our coats were whisked away to hopefully dry.  As we sat down I looked at Aki and said I need a cocktail.  The menus were presented and I saw what I needed.  A rum based drink with habanero infused cider and smoked maple syrup.  Aki had a cocktail "The Royal Blush" with cherry puree, vodka and sparkling wine.  I then took a moment to pop into the open kitchen to say hello.  Wylie and I chatted briefly and then he asked what we were going to do for dinner?  I asked if he would mind just cooking, and a smile crossed his face.  We then discussed wine and we both concluded that white would go best with his food, at least for the beginning of the menu.

I returned to my seat to enjoy my habanero cocktail and the meal began.  We started with a piece of tuna with powdered coconut, green mango puree and bell peppers.  Tasty.  I will write the whole menu in a separate presentation.  We saw, tasted and experienced an array of dishes, only a few of which were on any written menu.  The meal progressed and we were laughing and truly enjoying ourselves.  We were there it seemed to enjoy our time and completely erase the experience of our prior meal.  And we did just that.  The only hiccup of the evening was that two thirds through the meal our service slowed.  The kitchen faced an onslaught of orders and because of this the previous routine of getting a new dish every ten minutes slowed to twenty minute gaps.  Is this a huge issue?  Depends who you are and what is going on.  We were in Wylie's hands and happily relaxed with our wine.  But I mention this for several reasons.  Wylie still works a station every night in the kitchen.  That means he is both cooking and overseeing the entire dining rooms food from the the thick of the kitchen.  That means when you eat at wd-50 Wylie is cooking your food.  That means that when the kitchen is knee deep in orders trying to make the food perfect the chef is not only overseeing but cooking it as well.  Aki and I have been in small restaurants where we cook everything.  That is because we have been in remote locations in intimate settings, not New York City cooking for 90 to 120 people each evening.  I had time as our meal evolved to wonder if the food and entire experience at wd-50 would be elevated to a new level if Wylie gave up the reigns of a station and created one of his own where he could finalize everything, no questions asked. 

What I came away from my three experiences is that Wylie is manically passionate about what he does and puts on the plate.  No it does not always work, service can slow the pace of a meal but overall he is to be watched and learned from.  He is doing it his way and must be acknowledged for not letting the world at large knock him off course.

A Belated Farewell

I am terrible with goodbyes.  Actually I tend to avoid them.  I dislike the idea that I probably will not see someone again, especially if I have particularly enjoyed their company.  It's quite ironic because the more I like someone, the more likely I am to duck out on a goodbye.  I mention this because I was called on it recently.  We sent a note to Peter, the Executive Chef on the Amsterdam to let him & everyone else know how much we enjoyed getting to know them and appreciated their help.  He replied that they were happy to hear from us because they had been disappointed that we did not make the rounds to say goodbye before leaving the ship.  I could make all sorts of justifications for why that happened but the truth is simple, I hate saying goodbye because it makes me feel sad.  But I'm realizing that my evasive tactics are probably not a positive thing for anyone involved so I'll do my best to learn from this and make my farewells in the future.  People deserve to know that they are sincerely appreciated, no matter how brief the relationship may have been.

In the meantime, it's been a week and I've had some time to absorb my experiences on the cruise.  I can honestly say that I think the people we worked with on the Amsterdam were some of the nicest people I've ever met.  It takes a certain kind of personality to work on a cruise ship.  Obviously you need to like the ocean but more than that, you need to like working with people.  Imagine months at sea with very little time off where you are surrounded by people who need something all of the time.  The faces may change every week or two but the responsibilities do not.  We arrived on the ship during a difficult period, code red is a LOT of extra work for the staff, and everyone was incredibly gracious under the pressure.  The team on the Amsterdam were a cheerful group and there was much singing and laughter to be heard whether the passengers were present or not.   The second maitre'd Roderick stands out in my mind, not because we knew him very well, but because he was always smiling.  Every time we saw him on the floor during the first week someone was telling him off for something he probably had no control over (he was in charge of the seating for the main dining room), but even when we met him behind the scenes he was genial and warm.   

Peter, Renee (our liaison & Chef of the Pinnacle Grill) and all of the cooks we encountered were unfailingly helpful and informative.  They were able to source difficult ingredients before we arrived and made us feel truly welcome in their kitchens.  Renee and Alex are the about the same age and it was great fun to learn about ship life from his point of view.  Our dining steward Muhaiman, affectionately known as Mr. Haimie was amazing.  He and Alex had the same sense of humor and after the first couple of nights we settled into a comfortable routine of pointed repartee and the resulting giggles.   We had the late seating so he would let us know what looked the best each evening before we ordered and he made sure there were always mashed potatoes on hand to get my husband through the meal.  Roberto and Darwin took great care of the beverage service and help us find the hidden gems on the wine list.  The Ocean Bar was our favorite place for cocktails with live music and very personable bar staff who knew to keep Alex well supplied with hors d'oeuvres before dinner.  The Strings that played after dinner were our favorite musicians although we enjoyed  all of the performers throughout the trip.  Jenn helped us with all of the demonstrations, Linda and Victoria got us settled in the beginning, Mikey the cruise director made sure we made it onto the daily schedule, the tech guy at the Wang Theater filmed the demos and burned copies for us, Tony our ever smiling cabin steward kept our room in order, the front desk staff helped us with keys and accounting and whatever else we could think of, the list of people goes on and on and I'm sure I won't remember everyone as I sit here typing in the middle of the night.  We just wanted to say thank you to everyone for a memorable and successful trip across the ocean.

Last but not least I wanted to mention our other daily companions, the passengers.  We were lucky to meet some wonderful people on the cruise.  I got plenty of tips on how to keep my husband in line from women with decades of experience.  People were commenting on the fact that there was an unusually high percentage of older people on this trip.  Apparently the longer cruises attract more retirees because they have the time and there were a fair number of canes and wheelchairs in the hallways.  I kind of enjoyed it.  These people were there for the experience.  They may not have wanted to hike up to the volcanoes or surf at Waikiki but they were there to have a good time.  I loved watching the couples dancing at the Ocean Bar before dinner.  They were of all ages and skill levels and they were having such a good time together.  That was the best thing I took away from the cruise, a reminder to savor each experience.  Definitely enjoy every moment as much as you can because who knows what tomorrow will bring.

The Kitchen Agrees with You

Due to an interesting twist of circumstances I am writing this post from a hotel room in Portland, Maine.  We drove in last night and picked up a room at the Hilton Garden Inn .  The last time we were in Portland this place was still under construction.  Fortunately the two places tucked in it's shadow remain, Fore Street and the Standard Baking Company.  Both are old favorites and we will be picking up breakfast at the later in just a few minutes.

We had dinner at Fore Street last night.  It was, as always, an enjoyable meal.  Sam Hayward's food is simple, rustic and flavorful.  He uses a variety of offal on his menu, local ingredients, strong flavors and a warm and cozy atmosphere dominated by the wood burning oven in the center of the room to create great experiences for his diners.  The service is sometimes harried but always friendly and the food is consistently very good.  Last night was no exception although there were a couple of missteps.

Over the few months (mostly) on the East Coast, there have been a few times when we have had to send something back to the kitchen.  Sadly overcooked pasta that had never been exposed to salt of any kind, crunchy undercooked pasta that was saltier than the ocean, raw lamb sausages and and incredibly large and expensive steak that was sadly overcooked.  The standard response was "Let me check with the kitchen." as a dish was whisked away.  This was usually followed by a triumphant return by the the server exclaiming "The kitchen agrees with you!  We're getting you a new dish." 

My response to this is usually somewhat dour.  It's nice to validated I suppose, but what if the kitchen didn't agree with me?  I still wasn't going to eat the dish and I would probably be even more unhappy to have to make my case to the management.  Mind you as a Chef I am never happy to see a dish come back to the kitchen, but I do realize that everyone's taste is not my own.  Sometimes there has been a mistake and a dish is definitely flawed,  sometimes someone just doesn't like it.  A good eighty percent of the world orders their meat medium when they really mean medium well to well done.  Some people can't tolerate salt, some can't stand even a hint of bitterness and some people need a good dousing of hot sauce before anything on their plate is deemed edible.  Some nights it seems as though everything comes back for no apparent reason and sometimes everything comes back because a kitchen or a cook is off their game and things that should never make it through the swinging doors end up in the dining room.

Perhaps letting the guest know that the restaurant agrees with the problem is a way of taking control of the situation.  Maybe they think that it allows a wait person or manager a to gracefully handle a customer complaint.  Frankly to me it smacks of superiority.  I don't need someone to validate the fact that I was served an unappetizing plate of food, I just need someone to fix it.

Anyway, this rant should not necessarily reflect on the dinner we had last night.  It is one among a sea of places where we heard some variation of the magic phrase.  In one New York restaurant we were told that the kitchen probably intended the dish to be undercooked, this in response to raw sausages, but that the server would bring it back to find out.  FYI, the kitchen did not intend to serve raw ground meat and proceeded to take an additional 15 minutes to char the sausages into blackened lumps in some misguided retribution for us having the audacity to point out their error.  Such are the dangers of sending something back. 

We had some very good food at Fore Street.  Most notable were a dish of sauteed chicken livers that were delicately crisp on the outside, pink and creamy on the inside with port deglazed pan juices and wilted spinach and sliced scorzonera (a type of salsify...sort of) and a dish of  wood grilled calamari paired with marinated red onions and a thyme vinaigrette whose delicacy and petite size was the counterpoint to the heartiness and generous portions of the liver.  And now we're off to the bakery.  Although it may be overcast and gray outside, I know some warm bread and good coffee will brighten things right up as we prepare to explore the Maine coast once again.

Fluke

We are seeing more flat fish in the markets these days.  Fluke, flounder and sole are firm fleshed but delicate in texture and taste.  They have a nice richness which gives them substantial body.  The simple nature of these fish allows them to be quite versatile.  We use these flat fish in a number of preparations.  One dish we made last season is in the style of onion soup.  We serve the fish with a ragout of roasted onions and a crust of griddled bread and comte cheese.  We adorn the plate with balsamic vinegar and then pour an onion broth at the table.  I am looking forward to working with these fish again and seeing the different preparations evolve.

Passionfruit-Tomato Shortbread

From buttercream I leapt to shortbread.  We ate dinner at Gilt last evening where chips, crisps, croquants and more adorn many if not every dish.  We have used similar components in many of our dishes in the past and it was intriguing to be on the receiving end of many of these elemental garnishes.  It also  sparked several new thoughts--savory shortbread-- and reminded us of the importance of taste.  Aesthetically these components are a great compliment to a dish though taste, texture and delicacy must be balanced in order to allow the component to add substance rather than just sparkle.

This afternoon we worked on a passionfruit shortbread.  I used brown butter instead of softened butter and mixed passionfruit juice with sugar before blending in the flour.  To finish the shortbread I dusted them with tomato powder and togarishi, a Japanese chili flake.  We used the savory shortbread to add a buttery texture and bright acidity to a green asparagus salad with cherimoya-tequila vinegar puree.

Buttercream

And so my mind was wandering and it tripped on a stick in the ground.  Buttercream.  Years ago I went through a stage of needing to ingest buttercream.  I think what helped me kick the habit was searching for the perfect wedding cake and the endless samples we tried.

But, before I lost my longing for buttercream, we used to play with many flavorings to compliment fillings.  One of our more outrageous flavors was balsamic buttercream with a yellow cake and fresh figs.  It was aesthetically a disaster but taste was off the hook.

As I said, my mind tripped on buttercream today.  What if we brought it to the savory world?  Truffle buttercream with olive oil cake to compliment lamb with pesto and peppers.  Foie gras buttercream on griddled corn bread with arugula jelly.  And how good would green or black olive butter cream be?  These ideas are still raw, unfiltered and not polished.  I am just working through the initial thoughts.  Herbal buttercreams like lovage, basil and tarragon hold promise in both the savory and sweet world.  Just a few more thoughts on this idea: do we need to use butter in the buttercream?  what else could be integrated?  how can we extract and deliver intense flavors not overwhelmed by sweetness?  These are a few questions and challenges to work with.  I am excited to work through this idea.

A Refreshing Leap

Well, as I am continuing to learn, not everything needs to be food related to be inspirational.

*Just wanted to let everyone know that this video was taken by Alex as he jumped off a bridge on the side of the road in Hilo.  According to the people we were traveling with, jumping off that bridge is a rite of passage for the high school students in the area and Alex simply couldn't resist trying it out for himself.  Since we had the new camera, a jumper's view can be shared with our readers.  Now that we've figured out how to put video on, we'll work on the demonstrations, but as they were about an hour long each  I think we'll have to learn how to edit before we put them up here.  We also have plans for making some culinary short takes when we return to Colorado at the end of the month.
 

Incredibly Easy Ice Cream

This particular recipe was inspired by a combination of events.  When we  were first getting to know Barbara and Alan, we discovered that ice cream was dear to her heart.  As a child and beyond, Barbara's mother would make home made ice cream which was beloved by the entire family.  Barbara passed the recipe on to us, and never one to let a good thing go untampered with, we took the recipe and tweaked it a bit.  The original recipe was for a vanilla ice cream based on condensed milk.  We simplified it, made it less sweet and served it in various guises in the restaurant.  It was a huge hit.  Not having been exposed to condensed milk as children, we never realized how universal a flavor it is.  It's popularity crosses global boundaries and evokes memories of distant people and places.  It was a simple step during our coffee demonstration to make the leap to Coffee Condensed Milk Ice Cream. 

Condensed Milk Ice Cream

1 quart organic heavy cream (If you prefer sweeter ice cream, you can reduce this by up to a pint.)
pinch of sea salt
1 can condensed milk

Whip the cold cream with the salt to stiff peaks.  Fold in the condensed milk.  The cream should still be light and form soft peaks.  Place in a shallow, covered container in the freezer for at least four hours.  Scoop and serve with whatever suits your fancy.  If the ice cream seems too hard, let it rest for 15 minutes at room temperature before scooping.

Coffee Condensed Milk Ice Cream

1/2 cup your favorite coffee beans
1 quart organic heavy cream (If you prefer sweeter ice cream, you can reduce this by up to a pint.)
1 pinch sea salt
1 can condensed milk

Coarsely chop coffee beans and combine with salt and cream in a heavy sauce pan.  Bring to a simmer, cover and let steep for 30 minutes.  Strain the cream and chill it for at least three hours or overnight.  Whip the cream to stiff peaks  and fold in condensed milk. The cream should still be light and form soft peaks. If there are a few streaks don't worry, they will add texture and flavor to the finished product.  Place in the a shallow, covered container in the freezer for at least four hours.  Scoop and serve with whatever suits your fancy.  If the ice cream seems too hard, let it rest for 15 minutes at room temperature before scooping.

Parting Shots

Spring 2006: works in progress

Artichoke Soup
rock shrimp gnocchi, kimchee crisps and sabayon

King Trumpet Mushroom
shishito pepper marmalade, yuba strudel, ponzu ice cream

Squid Rings
white anchovy tartine, honey mustard, green mango

Foie Gras Terrine
crystallized fruits and vegetables, smoked potato bread

Warmed Hamachi
cucumber-sour cherry relish, barbequed eel, charred onion vinaigrette

Lamb Sweetbreads
waldorf salad

White Miso Cavatelli
dungeness crabmeat, broccoli rabe, toasted garlic

Sea Trout
meyer lemon sauce, nasturtium leaves, hot coconut pudding

Axis Venison
baked rhubarb, chorizo-chicken skin crumble, fava bean relish

Blended Oatmeal
morel mushroom stew, english peas, sweet woodruff

Veal Neck Schnitzel
ramp green spaetzle, papaya pesto, hearts of palm barigoule

Grilled Rib Eye
key lime pickle, basmati rice, powdered lassi

Key West Pink Shrimp
smoked kataifi, young turnips, banana-tamarind

Skate
arugula, warm cauliflower panna cotta, passionfruit ketchup

Wahoo Tartare
fried tartar sauce, smoked malt vinegar

Pork Belly
avocado marble, green goddess dressing, pressed watermelon

Country Duck Ham
pickled lychee, smoked cashews, celery leaves

White Asparagus
scrambled hollandaise sauce, preserved chanterelles, razor clams

Chicken
soup dumplings, fermented jalapeno, water spinach

Frogs Legs
buckwheat fideos, dandelion greens, bagna cauda sauce

Crispy Tuna Belly
chipped mojama on toast

Lemon Sole
onion rings and syrup, epazote

Photographs of our Rib Eye Demonstration

Today we concluded our last demonstration on board the Amsterdam.  We worked with a rib eye which we presented in three services.  It has certainly been an educuational experience preparing and executing these five demonstrations.

Macadamia Nut Demo

Improvisation and Experimentation in the Kitchen
Demonstration Three: Cooking with Macadamia Nuts

This is a copy of the recipes that we handed out for this demonstration.  The fact that there are no quantities listed is not an error, we are trying to encourage people to think creatively and use the recipes as guidlines rather than rules.  That way people can shop to their own tastes and desired portion sizes.

Garlic and Macadamia Nut Soup
Fresh garlic
Milk
Salt
Roasted Macadamia nuts
Ground nutmeg
Ground cinnamon
Ground cardamom
Ground allspice
Seedless grapes
Sliced scallions
Raisins
Bay scallops
Butter
Smoked paprika oil (pure olive oil, smoked paprika)

Clean fresh garlic cloves removing all skin and any green shoots in the center of the clove.  Place in a small pot with skim milk to cover.  Bring to a simmer and pour out the milk.  Repeat two more time with fresh skim milk.  Transfer garlic to a medium sized pot and add macadamia nuts, sweet spices, a large pinch of salt and skim milk to cover.  Bring to a boil and puree in a blender.  Taste and adjust additional milk or seasonings as needed and strain soup through a chinois.  Chill soup covered in the refrigerator for at least three hours before serving.

Soak raisins overnight in water to cover ( a splash of brandy in the water is a nice addition if you are so inclined).  Combine pure olive oil and smoked paprika in a small pot with a pinch of salt.  Slowly bring to a simmer, cover and set aside to infuse.  After one hour strain the oil through a fine sieve and set aside.  It will keep covered in the refrigerater for a couple of weeks. 

Just before serving slice the seedless grapes into quarters vertically and toss in a bowl with raisins and sliced scallions and a pinch of salt.  Sear bay scallops in butter in a heavy saute pan.  Remove from pan and let rest on a warm plate with a drizzle of smoked paprika oil.  Place a small spoonful of the fruit in the bottom of the soup bowl.  Spoon the chilled soup around the ragout and add the warm scallops on top.

Macadamia Crusted Wahoo with Mango-Arugula Pudding
Ripe mangoes
Arugula
Wahoo fillets
Lightly roasted macadamia nuts
Sea salt
Panko bread crumbs
Melted butter
Fresh cilantro
Fresh chopped parsley
Sliced green onions
sherry vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil

Blanched arugula in boiling, salted water and shock in ice water.  Squeeze dry and set aside.  Peel and roughly dice the mangoes.  Place fruit in a food processor with arugula, lime juice and salt to taste.  Puree until smooth and strain through a fine sieve.  Let chill covered in the refrigerator for at least three hours to thicken and set. 

Cut the fish into into 1/2 inch thick steaks, coat thoroughly with olive oil, sprinkly with salt on both sides and place in a shallow pan in a low (250 degrees F)  for approximately ten minutes until just firm to the touch.  While the fish is in the oven, make the crust by combining macadamia nuts, salt, panko bread crumbs, butter, cilantro, parsley, green onion, and a splash of sherry vinegar in a food processor  and pulsing to create fine crumbs. Pull the fish from the oven and lightly coat the tops of the steaks with the crust.  Broil at a low setting until golden brown to finish. The fish is served simply with a swirl of the mango-arugula pudding and the fish offset against it on a flat plate.  Grate roasted macadamia nuts over the top with a microplane to finish.


Roasted Venison with Papaya Salad, Celery-Macadamia Nut Puree and Chorizo Cracklings
Venison loin
Pure olive oil
Papaya, diced into 1/2 inch chunks
Green olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
Sweet onions, finely diced
Lime juice
Celery leaves
Roasted macadamia nuts
Skim milk
Dried chorizo
Chicken skin

To make the papaya salad combine the papaya, green olives, sweet onions, lime juice, and salt to taste. 

Blanch celery leaves in boiling salted water and set aside. Combine roasted macadami nuts with skim milk to cover in a small pot with a pinch of salt and bring to a simmer.  Pour into a blender and add blanched celery leaves.  Puree till almost smooth, if the puree is too thin it can be strained and the liquid added back to the solids until the desired consistency is reached. Chill until needed or place puree in a small pot and keep warm until ready to serve.

Dice chorizo and dehydrate in a low (250 degrees F) oven until crispy.  Place chicken skin in a pot with cold water to cover.  Bring to a simmer and cook for five minute.  Shock in ice water, dry thoroughly on paper towels and fry in olive oil until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels and season lightly with salt.

Pan roasted venison, seared in pure olive oil on all sides and finished in a 350 degree F oven to the desired temperature.  Let the meat rest for five minutes before serving.  To serve, place macadamia nut puree on the plate with sliced venison fanned out over it.  Sprinkle with cracklings and tuck some papaya salad alongside.

 

Macadamia Nut Demonstration

Today we had our macadamia nut demonstration.  As Aki previously mentioned we are now able to prepare tastes for the guests of our demonstrations though we are unable to do cooking classes.  What that means is we have a larger audience to share with, though the guests lose the intimate aspects of hands on cooking classes.  It also takes more front end work on our part to make sure the demonstrations come off seamlessly, rather than being able to rely upon the students to do their fair share of the cooking.

Today also marked the first time I have been targeted by mechanical malfunctions.  My microphone would not work.  Some people may have found that as a blessing and Aki surely did as she was able to get a word in.   However, trying to be heard in a medium sized auditorium over kitchen hoods and Aki is quite difficult without the help of a microphone.

In preparing today's demonstration we became more aware that we were on a ship.  Ingredients are becoming harder to come by and we have had to make numerous substitutions as we redesign dishes.  Though the limiting factors on board are also the exciting ones for that force simplification and spontaneous idea development.

With regards to pictures of the dishes, only one dish was photographed, though if I can ever figure out video and computers I may have more resources to draw from.  Later on we shall post the recipe portion of the macadamia nut menu.  For now here is Venison with chicken skin-coppa crumbs, papaya-green olive salad and macadamia nut and celery leaf puree.

Code Yellow

Since some of the feedback from our code red discussion was a bit concerned, we wanted to assure everyone that it was not a major emergency by any definition of the word. We just found the situation interesting and wanted to share. We have been downgraded to a code yellow. What that means for us is that we can serve a sample of one of the dishes from each demonstration, which is great news. As I mentioned before, it was a very strange feeling to cook something for a group of people who could only look longingly at the dishes without actually tasting them. Our first demonstration under the new code is tomorrow and we will be focusing on dishes with macadamia nuts. Speaking of which, we tried Tom's tip of dark roasting with the nuts from Sysco on board and he was right, the extra roasting time makes all the diference in the world. You should definitely try it in your kitchen.

Everything feels much more relaxed on the ship now. Self-service has been re-established and although we are still confronted with hand sanitizers at the entrance to the dining rooms, all culinary amenities have returned. When we have cocktails at the Ocean Bar they pass little hors d-oeuvres, there are fruit bowls in the cabins, the hot tubs are open and little tidbits have appeared everywhere you look. It’s amazing what a difference it makes in the atmosphere on board among the crew, as well as the passengers.  Things feel much more cheerful and relaxed.  We even heard that the crew party, which had been postponed from the last cruise because of the code red, is going to happen tonight.  They definitely deserve a bit of fun because everyone on board works incredibly long days to make things comfortable for the passengers and they manage to keep smiling while they do it.  It's not easy trying to please everyone.  It's not even possible most of the time.

It's been an interesting passage. We definitely haven't posted as much as we wanted to but we're using the time away to wade through personal issues.  This year we're going to make some changes and stop being so passive about what directions we're headed in.  We have clear goals and it's about time we started hitting some of our marks.  It's time to go out on a limb and see if it will hold us. Not to worry though, you can be sure that food will be involved in whatever plans we make for the future.