IDEAS IN FOOD

What if?

Today we are not trying new things, rather we are asking questions.  "What if" becomes quite a useful exercise when looking at, and working with food. It often helps in life as well. What if we listened more? What if we thought before we spoke? What if we decided to change directions mid-stream? What if we were able to see something from a different angle?  What if we substituted different ingredients in proven recipes? What if it worked? What if it didn't? What have we learned? What lessons are irrelevant? What have we ignored? What if we looked at ingredients, recipes, and situations as raw sketches to which we can add color? What if we consciously begin to approach each day as a chance to improve? What if we made it a point to try one new thing, in any aspect of our lives, every day? What would happen then?

a menu develops

Sake Cured Steelhead Trout Roe
crispy yogurt, arugula blossoms, banana jam

Artichoke Soup
comte, whipped horseradish, lump crabmeat

Squid Salad
lime, scallion, nasturtium flowers

Ivory King Salmon Tartare
pecorino crotonese, claytonia, minus 8 vinegar

Griddled Florida Shrimp
blistered ramps, bee pollen, meyer lemon

Seared Scallop
razor clams, petite potatoes, crispy zucchini

Pork Shoulder
corn chips, baked pumpkin seeds, cilantro

Duck Bacon
pumpernickel gnocchi, king trumpet mushrooms, pak choi hearts

Caseificio dell’ Alta Langa
musk melon, blis elixir, red amaranth

Sunflower Seed Pudding
red wine-rhubarb, golden raisins, ricotta

the list

zucchini puree
pumpkin seed baked beans
wolfberry Q
meyer lemon puree
roast chicken jus
minus 8 syrup
blis elixir
blis smoked roe
blis sake roe
claytonia
arugula blossoms
nasturtium blossoms
pork shoulder
avocado pudding and mosaic
red amaranth
whipped horseradish
manni olive oil
duck bacon
balsamic consomme
pecorino crotonese
fiore sardo
brioche sheets
pumpernickel gnocchi
yuzu oil
dry aged sirloin
ramps
miniature potatoes
hot red wine rhubarb
sunflower seed rice pudding
green olive puree
sun dried tomato-balsamic
crispy yogurt
slow cooked eggs
pac choi
kimchee
watercress sauce
braised purple artichokes
green olive cavatelli
bacon brine
wasabi
large and small squid
razor clams
king trumpet mushrooms
strawberries
crabmeat
wild white king salmon
sea scallops
large florida shrimp
fluke
long beans
basil
honeydew and musk melons
jalapeno
golden raisin
snap peas
smoked maple

I'm Sorry, It's a Secret

I could not believe it.  I still cannot believe it.  I went out for a quiet lunch with Aki and my mom.  We were catching up, something that a lunch without constraints allows.  We ordered a number of dishes to share.  Aki and I always share and Mom was game.  The food was tasty.  I was actually a bit winded during the beginning of the meal after having parked the car too far away and then running back to the restaurant while Aki and mom waited.  As it turns out, Aki waited the longest as my mom had an almost equally difficult time finding parking.  I, being me, and now having wasted too much time looking for a space was not going to succumb to a parking lot.  I was going to find a spot.  And I did, it was just at a one hour meter.  S**t!!!!  I could not take another parking ticket: its cost and Aki's lament, in the long run a lot is cheaper than a ticket.  So, I popped into a cute flower shop and asked the owner if he would mind feeding my meter?  He said sure.  I handed over the quarters, mentioned it was the green jeep and was off to lunch, where Aki and my mom were still patiently waiting.  Well, they did order a few bites in my absence although fortuitously the bites arrived at the table with me.

We ate, we drank, I caught my breath and took a moment to relax and catch up.   During our lunch, one dish we had was strikingly good.  It was based on a single ingredient, one which I stumbled across at Sunrise market, though I had not seen them in such fine, petite form, with such an exquisite taste as we had just enjoyed.  So, after lunch, I stepped over to the service area and expressed my pleasure to our waitress.  She said, she would ask the chef where the ingredient came from and where I could procure it.  I handed her a card for good measure.  I figured chefs share information.

Boy  am I f*%ing stupid.  She came back with a smile on her face.  She said, (in so many words) "the chef said it's a secret.  You might be able to get them from Sid Wainer, though ours come from a very special source."

I was floored, I still am.  Silly me.  What was I thinking?  Probably thinking too much.  But seriously, why on earth would someone keep an ingredient source a secret?  Truly why?  Alright, sure, to be the only one to have something.  That gets old quick.  Imagine if all the small farmers who provide truly great ingredients to restaurants and kitchens were never talked about?  They would go out of business. Think about chefs, creators, wine makers, china manufacturers who openly share ideas, techniques, and resources.  If everything is a secret, then how the heck can we get better, improve, challenge each other to do better, tackle new ideas, climb higher mountains and drink a better cup of coffee?

It is not a secret, it is merely an obstacle to overcome.

How Not to Sell Wine

Last week during our trip to MA we stopped in at a well known wine store in West Springfield. We had been to their sister store in Northampton many times and since they were temporarily closed for reconstruction we decided to check out their other location. Interestingly the places bore some physical resemblance to one another although our experiences were vastly different.

We wandered into the store and since the weather was warm I went straight to the sparkling wine section. I like to see what's available in the different wine stores and I was feeling the urge for something bubbly that evening. It looked like an impressive selection, an unusually long row of bottles stretching down the aisle. To give them credit there was a good selection of interesting bottles. Oddly though some of the bottles were repeated, so that halfway down the row I was experiencing deja vu. Didn't I just see that bottle a minute ago? That one too? They repeated several of the selections randomly and separated bottles by the same wineries so that a regular brut was six feet away from a vintage bottle and the rose from the same producer resided at the far end. It's a small thing. I just like to see all of the sparkling wines from the same producer closer together so that I can make an educated decision about which one to buy. It also seemed odd to repeat the same bottles in different places along the same row. Why not put them all together? Admittedly I no longer sell wine in a retail environment. The set up simply struck me as odd.

I went off to look for Alex and found him a few aisles over with a cart in hand that seemed to have quite a few bottles in it. As I walked towards him the salesman he was talking to enthusiastically threw a few more bottles in.  I quickened my step and arrived to hear a patented spiel about the benefits of unusual wine varietals. As I peered into the cart the salesman targeted me with a wide grin. He then proceeded to inform me that I would not be familiar with any of the varietals in the cart because he was focusing on unusual wines for those who were willing to explore wine. By the way, there was no white wine because he liked red but since I was there he would add some white wines and with that, he took off down the aisle.

"You don't just drink that same old Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc do you?"

"Well no, we drink a variety of different whites. This time of year we-"

"Great, I have some real beauties for you. Here's a Viognier, only $10.99, you'll love it!." Dropping it in the cart he grinned again and galloped off towards the Italian wines. "Wait right here, I'll be back with more."

I looked disbelievingly into the cart and furiously whispered to Alex. "What's going on? There's like fourteen bottles of wine here."

"He just asked me if I like wine and if I liked to explore. Once I said yes there was no stopping him."

I was sorting through the cart. "Malbec, three bottles of Malbec. We don't usually like Malbec. Carmeniere, there are three or four different bottles of Carmeniere. Are we doing a tasting or something? How much South African wine did he put in here. Are these all $10 bottles."

"I'd say it's more like a range of $8-$12 bottles."

"Did he even ask you what we like? Flavor profiles? Price range? Anything?"

"Nope, just went into his spiel and started throwing in bottles. I couldn't figure out how to turn him off. He's like a human steamroller."

The salesman headed back our way with three more bottles of wine, two of which were red. Thankfully another woman had questions for him and we were able to take our full basket and escape to the relative calm of the empty Bordeaux section. Before we left he advised us to save our receipt and take notes on the wines so we would remember what we liked. It was the best piece of advice he had given us and redeemed him a bit in my eyes. He was a salesman to the core but maybe he actually did love wine underneath the aggressive techniques.

We were irritated and frustrated with our experience. Worse, we had a full cart of wine that we would have to sort through and either buy or return to the shelves.  The salesman was still lurking in the aisles where we had wanted to shop, although the desire to buy wine had pretty much vanished by then. We had a brief debate about shopping or fleeing and precipitously abandoned the cart and headed for the door. I felt a little bad about that but we had no idea where all of the wine went and didn't want to face the salesman and have to explain our reasons for putting it back. It was a new sensation for us and not one I'd like to repeat.

Here's the thing, we went in there excited to buy wine. We knew that they had a good selection and we do enjoy trying new things. We're not wine snobs per se, although we enjoy good wines. There are not a lot of $10 wines in our collection, mainly because I'd rather spend on quality over quantity. We usually enjoy working with sommeliers and sales people because they know their inventory better than we do and can show us new treasures. Had the salesman asked us a few questions he could have helped us find some new wines and made a sale. Instead we slunk out of the store, almost beside ourselves with annoyance and frustration and without wine.  Not only that, we told the story over and over again to the people we ran into. Not to bad mouth, simply to get it out of our systems. We were pretty upset by the whole experience. It just goes to show you that in every profession, technique is so important.

Half Toast

I've been half-toasted tonight. It was a mellow day for me. I discovered Quinn. It' a freeware game for Macs that much resembles Tetris. Tetris was one of my favorite games way back when. I always thought it was to my benefit that I never owned it. That is until today when I downloaded Quinn.  Once I managed to get the keyboard programmed properly, the default settings were right-handed, the afternoon passed in a flash. Alex was out and about shopping in the city and I could play blissfully uninterrupted. I knew he wouldn't be particularly pleased with my afternoon's endeavors but he got a parking ticket and so had to bite his tongue.

Anyway, dinner was a quick affair. Seared flank steak in a cast iron skillet, arugula salad with marinated tomatoes, a beautiful cheese that Alex had picked up at Murray's and half-toast. What is half toast? It's what happens when you have beautiful, slightly past it's prime bread that calls for a delicate, crispy char to bring it back to life. Take a shortcut and only toast one side of the bread and you have half toast. All I can say is that I'm pretty sure my husband will never attempt to slip that past me again. Toast should be golden and crispy on both sides and that's all I'm going to say about that.

Happily Alex had a productive day shopping. We have gorgeous little ramps, fresh eggs, beautiful greens, fresh kimchee, and some delectable meats from Ottomanelli's. Something to  look forward to playing with tomorrow.

egg

Well, to add more thought to the world of egg cookery the book egg by Lyndsay and Patrick Mikanowski is now available in English.  That is a good thing for me because my foreign language skills are of a hunt a peck variety.  A culinary dictionary in hand trying to decipher recipes in foreign language usually results in me buying books twice, or becoming content with visual clues from pictures of dishes and ingredients.

The book egg, discusses many of the points of egg cookery which are currently being tackled by professional and amateur chefs alike.  It also brings together forty chefs and there own interpretations of an egg dish.  I have not read the book cover to cover, that is for later today, though in my brief skimming I have already begun to ponder many thoughts, from how the heck, to why did I not think of that, to that is just brilliant. 

The book also contains a number of egg-strordinary quotes which the chefs included in the book have found to be pointing.  And if the book seems a bit daunting remember, you can always just make an egg sandwich.

Brioche Gnocchi

I wish I had a clever answer as to why I wanted to make brioche gnocchi.  I do not.  Rather, we ended up at Balthazar bakery picking up some brioche for a friend who just needs the stuff.  I knew we were headed to the bakery on this mission and somehow as the thoughts of brioche bounced around my brain, the idea of gnocchi decided to join in.  Brioche gnocchi are really not that far of a stretch from our pumpernickel gnocchi or for that matter bread dumplings.  As the idea of being able to have gnocchi flavored like brioche grew in my head, I began to think of all the possibilities we now had.  Then it got really hot out.  I am not complaining, well not much.  It is just as I suggested pairings to Aki she would shudder and say too heavy, too rich.  Well, with Aki's mantra playing in the background, I set about making brioche gnocchi.  When the base was made, I poached the dough and tasted the result.  Heck if these little dumplings did not capture the essence of brioche.  Only one problem, too heavy, too rich, especially on an 80 degree day.  Then I wondered if we could saute the poached gnocchi, add some texture which would take away from the richness or at least fool the palate and mind into thinking they were lighter.  And so I did.  I poached the gnocchi and then browned the outside of them.  The browning increased the flavor of the toasted brioche and the inside remained tender with some body.  Today we paired the gnocchi with some shaved apple, tarragon and minus 8 vinegar.  Though in the future, I see these with roasted foie gras and summer fruits or in a stew of spring vegetables or as a side dish to a strawberry and rhubarb salad.  It just took the minor adjustment of browning the outside of these gnocchi to take them from the too rich, too heavy to a more approachable, palatable and easily integrated ingredient.

Whipped Yogurt Crisps: the recipe

By popular demand...

Whipped Yogurt Crisps

480g yogurt
270g water

300g water
50g isomalt
25g maltrin 100
5g salt

11.3g Methocel K100
2.26g xanthan gum

Mix the yogurt together with the 270g of water.  Set aside in a large bowl.  Bring the other 300g of water to a simmer in a pot.  Add the isomalt, maltrin and salt and stir till dissolved.  Whisk in the methocel and xanthan gum into the simmering water and when the powders are dispersed, whisk this hot mixture into the yogurt base.  When the two components have come together, place the mixture in its bowl over an ice bath and stir occasionally to facilitate the cooling process.

Take a two quart bain marie and fill the bottom of it with one inch of the yogurt base.  Meanwhile, place a pot of water filled one third on the stove and bring to a bare simmer.  Place the bain marie in the hot water bath and then use a hand blender with a whisk attachment to whip the yogurt in the bain marie over the water bath.  This will take some time, and an increase in heat will not expedite the process.  As the yogurt grows in volume it will slowly become quite similar to a whipped egg white meringue.  The yogurt mixture's volume should increase such that it almost fills the two quart bain marie.  When the mixture is whipped, light, airy and holds stiff peaks, take a spoon and place dollops on a silpat lined sheet tray.  Place the sheet tray in a 200 degree F oven to dry the crisps.  They take between 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the crisps.  The crisps are done when they are completely firm and are dry.  Remove the pan from the oven, let the crisps cool and then store in a ziploc bag.

Look What We Found

We just pulled back in from a quick trip to Philadelphia.  We were lucky enough to be Shola's guest and get an insiders culinary tour of the city.  One stop along the journey was the Reading Terminal Market.  While Scrapplefest 2007 made the market a true mad house yesterday, its quiet calm this morning produced some great culinary finds.  One of those was a pile of beautiful purple artichokes.  We just could not pass them up.  Here they are, in the sunlight of our kitchen window.  What will we do with these beauties?  A quiet night at home may allow us to relax and let the artichokes choose their own path in the morning.

Mushroom Bacon

Mushrooms and bacon are good for each other.  I can remember when I was first introduced to pear bacon by Ken at Clio just under ten years ago.  Pear bacon was made by thinly slicing pears, dusting them lightly in sugar and slowly browning and caramelizing the slices in a combination of bacon fat and butter.  The result was a sweet, salty, sticky fruit leather which brought a well deserved harmony between pears and bacon.  At the time, we served the pear bacon with roasted sweetbreads, a nest of warmed spinach and a warm pear vinaigrette.  Really just a delicious dish and an elegant and simple expression of flavors.

Back to today.  We were working on a cauliflower pudding which we wanted to enrich with some egg yolk.  Really we were inspired by the classic cauliflower polonaise.  Our pudding base contained some brown butter and as far as the egg was concerned I wanted to use a sheet of slow cooked egg yolk seasoned with cayenne.  Now, instead of bread crumbs, I wanted bacon.  Look, I like bacon.  And while bacon crumbs would have been tasty sprinkled on top, I wanted something earthy and light as well. 

Hence the evolution of mushroom bacon.  Thin slices of mushrooms are marinated in a warm bacon broth which has the addition of isomalt and glucose.  The addition of these two sugars allows the drained mushroom slices to become crisper and more brittle when they are patted dry and then dehydrated in the oven.  The dried mushroom slices combine the flavor of bacon and mushroom and have the texture of crispy cooked bacon without an excess of char and overcooking. 

Now, with the base assemblage of ideas together and in working order, we have a number of possibilities to look at.  First, does the combination of ingredients stand alone as a dish, or could we serve it as a component of something larger, perhaps with a braised lobster or warmed langoustines?  What else can we now do with mushroom bacon?  Certainly a slice of king trumpet mushroom draped around an oyster would not be all that bad.  And if we cut larger chunks of mushrooms like bacon lardons and infused them in the bacon broth and then cooked them as meaty chunks, they would certainly add some character to a stew of gnocchi and fiddlehead ferns. 

Coffee Cake Dreams

It seems I have breakfast on the mind.  More often than not, I crave breakfast.  And I am not just talking about at the normal breakfast time.  I could eat breakfast and elements of breakfast all day long.  I am also fortunate enough to not have to make my breakfast all the time.  In fact, when I make breakfast for myself I hardly ever eat it.  I either make too much or make it too heavy.  I don't know, when someone else makes you breakfast or coffee or a scone it just tastes better. 

The other day we were talking about coffee cakes.  I pulled out some butter to come to room temperature.  I figured I was doing Aki a favor, and she would make a great coffee cake for us both to enjoy.  As the butter softened, I went about my business of making the yogurt crisp base.  As I was just finishing up, I was alerted to the fact that Aki was quite hungry and the coffee cake had yet to be started, let alone baked, and well, I was the one who was supposed to make it.  Hmmm?  I missed something.  Apparently if you pull the butter out for a cake preparation, you will be the one making the cake. 

I popped my head around the corner into the dining room and looked at Aki.  She was serious, about both the hunger (not a good thing for me) and the fact that I was way late in getting the cake started because I was busy trying to make yogurt light and crispy, something that is not at all filling and would not calm the hunger in her belly.  I stammered a bit and said that I didn't have a recipe.  (Bad idea)  In a flash, she was up from her seat and to the book shelf.  Next thing I know, I was looking at an open Martha Stewart cookbook and her fingers were doing the walking, pointing out several recipes for coffee cakes with crumb and streusel toppings.  She paused, looked at me and said, "I am still hungry."

I grabbed the book and looked through it quickly.  I chose the classic crumb cake recipe from page 95 and the crumb topping from page 96. I basically followed the recipe substituting bananas for the berries and adding some cinnamon to the cake batter.  The crumb topping I made by hand, a truly great experience, especially if you are crumb topping freak like myself.  The butter, spices, sugar and flour appear as though they never to want to come together and then all of a sudden as you knead the mixture with your fingertips you have a perfect crumb.

Well, the cake was finally in the oven and I was able to distract Aki with a dog walk while it baked.  We returned home and the smell of spices, butter and sugar greeted us at the door.  I pulled the cake from the oven and smiled.  Now we had to wait as the cake cooled.  The wait was not unbearable although we probably cut into it a bit early (patience is not my strong suit).   

The result? Well I wish pictures were edible.  Oh yeah, and Aki is no longer hungry.

Hot Spring Egg, some more thoughts

And so the hot spring egg continues to wreak havoc on my culinary mind.  Currently this simple technique seems to have taken over restaurants.  Chefs continue to work on dishes , printing times and temperatures on menus and discussing the finer points of why this egg, once merely cooked in a hot spring, is truly the right way to cook an egg.  While I believe the a slow cooked egg has its merits, many of them, learning about the variety of temperatures at which egg whites and yolks cook, I have concluded that an egg cooked at 63.8 degrees celsius is just not for me.  When cooked in this manner the egg is a quivering, barely set orb. When it is touched by a fork, spoon or toast point the white gives way to a molten yolk which runs everywhere.  In many cases these eggs are served in broths and act as a liason for the dish. Similarly they are often seen precariously nestled within salad greens where they act as a warm dressing when punctured by the tines of a fork.  These preparations serve a purpose, I get that. I just feel the egg itself is often lost, disappearing into the many other components of the dish. To my mind, an egg should have some texture, a bit of bite, something to sink your teeth into.  With that in mind we revisited the slow cooked egg.  We increased the cooking temperature a bit so that the white would have a firmer texture and hold it's shape around the yolk.  We have mimicked a soft boiled egg where the white is cooked to a silky, yet solid consistency while the yolk forms a rich, slightly gooey center, rather like a Cadbury creme egg.  In this dish we have just topped the egg (cooked at65 degrees C for one hour) with shavings of Sprout Creek Farm's Toussaint cheese.

Crispy Yogurt

As we noted crispy and airy water or a version there of is interesting.  Our next step involved yogurt lightly flavored with vanilla.  I really like yogurt, plain and flavored.  Its rich tang and creamy acidity have a balance which just works.  And when we integrated the yogurt into our whipped base the result was truly fun and what we wanted.  A light airy crisp with an intense yogurt flavor.  What we do with the yogurt crisps is our next challenge.  A salad of young strawberries and nasturtium leaves paired with scallops and the yogurt crisp would come together nicely.  Similarly the yogurt will add a textural contrast to roasted sweetbreads with ramp kimchee and ginger syrup.  Also, now that we know the yogurt works, we can further explore our options.   As I mentioned foie gras would be nice.  Though so would sweet corn or rhubarb or a young goat cheese.

*oh yeah and what about crispy hollandaise sauce and its variations, crispy sabayon, and chocolate pudding

What if You Did Not Need a Freeze Drier?

More recently I have seen a number of innovative crisps and dried meringue-like products on dishes, menus and the like.  I believe these sightings are what sparked me to revisit our old friend foam.  Here is a link to whipped prickly pear which we then sauteed in a pan to crisp the outside and have the inside set.  It is kind of like a pancake to the extreme although in reality it is not a pancake at all.  It is a whipped product which we were able to saute.  The problem was the consistency.  It was really neat cutting through the outside, yet the temperature and the moisture in the inside made the texture a bit rough on the palate.  In fact, the prickly pear base before it was whipped resembled something off the set of Ghostbusters. 

Back to yesterday.  The rain was coming down and my mind was wandering.  I was thinking about our upcoming trip to Napa and sifting through the many ideas which we conceptualized and never carried through to completion.  One of those was the sauteed foam.  Then the two thoughts finally came together, the cross referencing the foam and the meringue-like crisps which had piqued my fancy.  If the foam could take the heat like a whipped egg white, then it could be baked in the oven, and if we did it slowly enough to remove the moisture, theoretically I would be left with a lofty flavored crisp.

And so into the kitchen I went.  I made a base flavored with mastic, whipped it and then spread it on a silpat and baked it in a 200 degree oven.  After several hours of baking the result was a light, crispy, delicately flavored product that actually melted on the tongue.  Really it almost has the texture of something freeze dried. Imagine the way that those dried, crunchy fruits and vegetables rehydrate and then seem to collapse in your mouth, the crisp had that same type of effect.  However, in actuality all we did was dry out flavored water.  It was a good first step, now we wanted something just a little bit more.  What if we used a passionfruit base or bacon or truffle or ginger or onion or...?  You get my point.  And then I wondered about using a thicker medium?  What if we blended in yogurt and dried that?  And if yogurt works, what other fatty, creamy mediums could then be used: foie gras, lemon curd, clam chowder, hot chocolate?  And since the final result is such an airy, fragile product which can be shattered and ground with relative ease, does that now allow us to make an infinite number of powders with flavors ranging from vinegar to maple syrup?

Walking the Dog

I've mentioned before the rather strange custom I witnessed (many times) in southwestern Colorado whereby people drive down dirt roads letting their dogs run behind the cars for exercise. Recently here in Forest Hills I saw a small family take this occupation to new heights. There were four people in a car, at passing glance it looked like parents in the front, a grandmother and a baby in the back. The car was moving slowly down 68th Avenue and running along about ten feet behind the car was a young girl in pigtails. She must have been somewhere between 7-10, running determinedly after the car which sped up and slowed down a few times, never getting more than a few houses ahead of the child. Finally the car pulled over, perhaps because we were openly watching the spectacle, and a hand reached out the open window and motioned sharply to the child. We heard the child huff "Ma-ma!"  She sped up and raced towards the waiting vehicle. We turned the corner and didn't see the actual reunion, New Yorkers hate to gawk, although the vision lingered in my mind. Was it a punishment, a training session, an object lesson? We'll never know. You just never can tell what you'll see when you're out walking the dog.

Rain

It's still raining. To some extent this has been a good thing. We've roasted chickens, savored good cheese with crusty bread and wine, and even made some old fashioned "gravy" slow cooked with country style pork ribs and poured over rigatoni. There has been fabulous chewy, butter drenched slices of toast and little chocolates from Jacques Torres (the milk chocolate dipped pretzels are so decadent and buttery), many cups of tea and a roaring fire in the fire place. We've caught up on our reading and cleaned the house from top to bottom. Patty has splashed through puddles and the cats curl up happily, purring in time to the drumbeat of the water hitting the roof. It's been a rather enjoyable couple of days. And now, now I'm ready for a little sunshine. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Drawing Book

On this cold and rainy day I have chosen to share another page from my book of drawings.  As I write down my notes on a scattering of post its,  I also scribble pictures.  They are visual inspirations which I then go over and bring together in my drawing book.  Many of these are the basis for our final dishes.  They help us work on the form and functionality of ingredients in a dish.  They are the building blocks help structure the dishes.  They are also a means in which I can express thoughts and ideas which I do not have a formulated answer.  They capture a vision which we can then come back to and work with.  These drawings allow me to forget, and that is a good thing.

Spice Blends

Spice blends are interesting.  There are so many out there it is interesting to see which ones are used and borrowed from and which ones lurk in the shadows waiting to called upon.  Like the ebb and flow of culinary trends so too are the roles of spices in cooking.  Yesterday's garam masala is today's vadouvan.  And then there is the extrapolation from these base blends.  Adjustments are made to pique flavors and accent ingredients.  Every kitchen has their way, the correct way to assemble these blends.  Furthermore chefs have their own secret spice blends, from BBQ rubs to blended nuts and spices for seasoning fish.  I truly enjoy spice blends, their creation and their history.  The combination of ingredients to create a unique whole is truly inspiring and well, fun.  Our most recent spice blend combines a short list of ingredients.  We toast up grains of paradise and lightly pulverize it with bee pollen.  We then add salt and sugar to season the spices and the result is an earthy and floral blend.  In this blend we keep the spices and pollen on the coarse side for texture.  And what would benefit from being seasoned with this blend?  Popcorn would sure be fun as would sweetbreads or hamachi.  A ragout of spring vegetables could be piqued or it could be used as a seasoning for a foie gras and melon salad or to top some whipped cream in a strawberry and rhubarb fool.

Simple Pleasures

We had an interesting conversation the other day with Ed. We asked him about why he took the Certified Master Chef exam and he replied "Because I just love to cook." He went on to explain that he never expected to pass (the first time he took the exam), he simply thought it would be a good experience for himself. Ed's a great guy, he's the kind of Chef that you would want to work for just to pick his brain and learn about food and cooking. The best part is that he's very open and willing to share his knowledge.  He told a story about a Chef that he respected but didn't really know who reached out to him as a young Chef.  The man invited him onto his kitchen and  took him under his wing. All these years later I could see how the experience touched him. Ed's still close to that first mentor and he still loves to cook. He shares that spirit of camaraderie among cooks that is crucial to our professional community.

The conversation made me sit back and pause for a while. Alex and I occasionally talk about what's missing from the food scene lately and there was my answer. What I perceive to be missing is often the simple joy of cooking. It may sound like a cliché because it's such an obvious concept. Unfortunately there are many challenges and obstacles that go into opening and running a restaurant. There are many who do retain their delight in preparing food, many more who do not.  It's a cyclical thing. There are also many more reasons for people to go into cooking now than there were twenty or thirty years ago. It's not always about being a good cook, it's also about becoming a personality and building careers on food. There are many different branches of the business that have flourished these past ten years. It's been a good thing for all of us. It's also changed the industry's personality in aspects both large and small. We've certainly lost and found the joy many times over the years. My goal this year is to savor it it more consciously. Frankly our lives have improved so much over the past few months that it is much easier to take pleasure in cooking, than it is to remember the stresses of the past. The real challenge is to retain the joy when times are not so pleasant and easy.

We've taken a private cheffing position for the summer. It will take us to Montana for five months, back to the mountains and the wilderness, trout fishing and big skies. Simply put, we took the job because we think it will be fun. There's plenty of cooking to be done and we're eager to be back in a kitchen on a regular basis. The property is beautiful and remote. We're in the process of trying to source out local products. We'll have a small staff to work with and learn from. Miss Patty will be coming with us to guard the kitchen door and we'll be back East in October.  It's the best of all worlds for that fragment of time and we'll keep posting from Montana.  Confidentiality precludes us from telling you who we work for or exactly where we'll be. On the other hand, the kitchen doors will always be wide open. We'll be driving across country right after Taste 3.

On another note we've been to the theater several times this winter season. Being in the city for a longer period of time allows us to be a bit more rounded and less food-centric in our diversions. I've struck out with my choices again and again, with Alex sitting through each production, musicals and drama, in his inimitable style, that is with relative good humor during and an acid tongue on the way home. Last night we finally found a winner. Allyson took us to see Wicked , her current favorite and a show that she thought even Alex could love. We both did. It was a wonderful production with an engaging story and first rate performances. It's a good illustration of how things can be different below the surface of what you experience. We ended our season on a high note. So if you haven't seen Wicked I urge you to go. Even the seats are larger and more comfortable than in your standard Broadway theater. It may not be the newest show on the block but it's definitely one of the best.

and what the heck I was doing

Several days ago I read a post by Seth Godin.  Read the piece.  Alright, now that you are back the blank page scenario makes a bit more sense.  For those who opted not to read the piece, the synopsis is that if you have nothing wonderful to offer, wait until you can create something great and then produce, publish, and sell it.  Last night we returned from more travels, this time Montana, and I was planning on writing about what we were doing, seeing, etc.  Yet, after airport delays and frustrations my voice was more apt to write "back from Montana."  Look, that would have been fine, but that is not me.  Well, actually at times it can be or has been me, but readers don't always need to experience it with me. 

So, back to the blank page.  Imagine a tasting menu where you are dining and everything is progressing well and then, for your next course, you get a blank plate.  It is empty, just white in front of you. It gives you something to think about, although not necessarily what you were expecting.  After some time a waiter clears the dish and the menu continues.  Look, that does not happen in real life, I know.  What if it did?  What if people were willing to edit themselves down to nothing when, at certain times, nothing produces a better result?  I understand this is a far fetched concept, though I believe the idea and the process of the examination of self and creativity are woven into the blank page concept. 

One more point, even though you are serving up a blank page, that does not mean that it is the only thing you have to offer. In the wings there can be pages of ideas, plans to be refined, dishes to be polished so that soon that blank page will be full, it will morph into something that is as creative and polished as you want it to be.

The Blank Page

Smoked Pasta and some thoughts on ideas

Now my brain is a babbling brook of ideas.  The smoked pasta was delicious as we served it here, with shrimp, garlic, Parmesan, marjoram, chile flakes and lime juice.  Yet, as with many ideas once it starts moving, it becomes a fun ride to see where we end up.  I am not talking ground breaking.  That just is not how our ideas develop.  I am thinking tasty.  Imagine a clam sauce with tons of parsley and garlic with these noodles.  What about shaved jalapeno and lump crab meat?  I could eat a bowl of smoked pasta with chopped tomatoes and shiso pesto.  If I altered Aki's recipe a bit the dough would be great for ravioli.  Then think of the possibilities.  In fact, the dough as it currently stands would yield wonderful sheets of pasta for making lasagna: wild mushroom, snail, traditional.  I really enjoy this part of an idea, when you get it and then get to work through the possibilities.

Smoked Pasta

It may not look smoked but you can't miss the flavor exploding on your tongue.  We recently received some hickory smoke powder from the Terra Spice Company, one of our favorite purveyors of spices and seasonings.  They carry high quality ingredients and this powder was a gorgeous toasty golden color with a smoky, fruity aroma and bitter, smoked flavor. After the initial taste I don't recommend eating the powder straight from the bag, as with many other foods the scent is much more alluring than the actual taste on your palate. On the other hand, its smoldering flavor and slightly edgy bitterness is perfect for blending with other ingredients. Our first creation was this smoked pasta dough.

Easter dinner at our house is always a blend of traditional ingredients and current innovations. This year we were a small group and so we decided to keep things simple. The first course was the smoked pasta paired with buttery, garlic-y shrimp which were splashed with key lime juice and generously showered with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. This was followed by thick lamb T-bones marinated in garlic, tea tree, rosemary, and the crumbling Meyer lemon blossoms from our window sill with a splash of Banyuls vinegar and soy sauce. We broiled these and served them with a salad of papaya, endive, onion and green olives. This was followed by three pies from Briermere Farm out on Long Island, because we're an indecisive lot, and whipped organic cream that was so silky and creamy that it could have been served by itself.

The wine was a Patton Valley Rose, from Oregon. It is the quintessential Easter/spring wine. It has a gorgeous pink color and an aroma that reminds me of cotton candy. The nose was fruity and floral, reminiscent of what we imagine a field of strawberries, raspberries and violets in bloom would smell like. It tasted as good as it smelled.  The rose was dry and surprisingly crisp which balanced out it's more delicate flavor characteristics. To me it actually tastes like spring time in a glass. It's what we refer to as a quaffing wine perfect for sipping on it's own or pairing with food as the mood strikes you.

We hope everyone had a great weekend. We're off to Montana for a very brief couple of days. This means dinner in the Denver airport tonight on our way to Bozeman. That means we'll be treated to a dinner theater of sorts, people watching in the terminal. You never know who or what you'll see. It must be throwback to high school when my friends and I would hang out on walls and park benches picking out the tourists in Manhattan. It's an inexpensive way to entertain yourself, making up background stories about the passers-by. For those of you who will be in your kitchens, here's the pasta recipe to play with.

Smoked Pasta Dough

3 tablespoons hickory smoke powder
1 cup of AP flour
2 cups of semolina flour
10-12 turns of a pepper mill
4 large eggs

Combine all of the dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process briefly to blend. Add the four eggs and pulse till the mixture comes together as a cohesive dough. You may need to add a bit of extra flour or water depending upon the size of your eggs. Turn the dough out onto the counter and knead without any additional flour until the dough becomes smooth and silky. Wrap with plastic and let it rest, at room temperature, for at least 30 minutes before rolling out the dough. 

Cacio e Pepe

I truly have a thing for noodles.  The slippery texture, the bite, the hearty nature and the silken texture.  My noodle love goes beyond just noodles.  It is really a pasta fetish.  Ravioli, lasagna, agnolotti, fideos, cavatelli,  the list goes on; heck even risotto falls into the mix.  That is not to say that I am a traditionalist.  Sure the noodles can be flour or starch based.  Thankfully pasta in its original form  is just the tip, the beginning, the spark. 

What can we do with the traditional?  How can what exists be the foundation for a variety of applications? What does it taste like and how can we exploit that taste?  What is the texture, does it change, can it evolve?  And, what is it not?  I think the last question has been truly useful.  In knowing what something is not allows for a greater understanding of what is and can be.  It also allows for a shift in thinking and many times a break or alteration from existing mind sets. 

Today we made a dish which has been gathering dust in my notebooks.  It is cacio e pepe made with noodles of papaya, dried papaya seeds (mimicking the peppercorns) and shaved pecorino Crotonese.  The dish is simple, like the original.  We have made a substitution or two which transforms a pasta dish which I have indulged in many of times to a lighter almost salad like dish of warmed papaya with cheese and its own peppercorn.  While today we served the noodles on their own I could also see the cacio e pepe component as a side dish or a component of another preparation.  For now, I am enjoying a plateful of slippery noodles slicked with olive oil and butter, seasoned with the pecorino and spirited by the dried papaya seeds.

Strawberries and...

Strawberries and black pepper.  Not that far of a reach.  The floral notes of the pepper go quite well with the fruity berry.  Strawberries and cream, even less of a reach.  Strawberries and vinegar, again nothing new.  Strawberries and dandelion, well perhaps a bit of a reach, and still the sweetness of the fruit is checked by the bitterness of the dandelion.  And so we went to work.  We made a delicate and bracing black pepper pudding to serve with strawberry fillets, dandelion greens, minus 8 vinegar and vanilla and smoke Maldon salt. 

Taste 3

What is Taste 3?

TASTE³ brings together more than forty of the most compelling writers, thinkers, chefs, winemakers, journalists, artisans, and executives as speakers and hosts, joining 300 attendees who are every bit as tapped-in. TASTE³ will thrill, tantalize, engage, intrigue, provoke, and inspire both its audience and its speakers. The single-track program is broken into themed sessions filled with hard-hitting, engaging short-format presentations. Sessions are interwoven with breaks with networking opportunities and interactive exploration.

      

TASTE³ is presented by Robert Mondavi Winery. In the spirit of founder Robert Mondavi’s vision, passion and leadership, TASTE³ aims to push the exploration and marriage of wine, food and art.

It's happening this May 6-8 in Napa Valley. We're especially excited about this year's Taste3 because we are going to be there. We're looking forward to catching up with old friends, meeting new people, learning something new, visiting some of our favorite wineries, eating well, and most importantly, creating something exciting for people to taste at the final celebration. It looks as though there will be a myriad range of topics relating to food, wine and life to explore. A special thank you to Richard Haake, the Chef at Mondavi Winery, for inviting us to participate. If any of you will be there please stop by and say hello. It should definitely be an event to remember.

Steak and Eggs

In our first steps with our egg yolk mosaic we had some missteps as well as some tasty bites.  We made a steak tartare with basil, Matouk's papaya based hot sauce, scallion, olive oil and salt and pepper.  We topped the tartare with the quail egg mosaic and served it with leaves of watercress and minus 8 vinegar.

The flavors are tasty.  In my next steps, I believe the mosaic should be thicker.  That way it will be a bit more durable and also the ratio of meat to egg will be in a more appropriate balance.  I may also look at other meats and fish to use instead of the filet which we used.  The base to the dish is there, now it just needs some refinement.

What's in an Egg

I went to the Chinese supermarket and bought some eggs.  I bought quail and duck eggs.  One thing I have been wanting to do is make a mosaic of egg.  I was not sure what egg I wanted.  I cooked the quail eggs at 65 degrees C for forty five minutes and the duck eggs for two hours.  I then cooled the eggs.  I started with the quail eggs.  I extracted the eggs from their shells, lightly seasoned them and compressed them between two sheets of plastic wrap.  I then froze the egg base as a sheet.  When it was frozen I trimmed it to the shape I wanted.  I used the trimmings to test the egg.  What I imagined did happen.  The egg whites weep moisture upon thawing while the yolks are creamy and decadent.  I have several ideas to solve that problem, from simply blotting the mixture before freezing, to integrating a product which will hold the moisture.  We shall see.

My next step was to see how the duck eggs turned out.  I cracked open the first one and...yikes, it was more than an egg, I had well, the reason for the egg.  I tried another and another and another.  I had what some consider a delicacy and I consider a surprise I was not ready for.  The duck egg experiments are currently on hold do to the fact that I have no duck eggs, just way too young ducks. 

Green Olive Cavatelli

The weather these past few days has been a dull gloomy gray. Although there have been patches of sunlight in the afternoon, the general effect has one of sluggishness and lassitude. It's the perfect time to go out in search of bold flavors to perk up our palates and our general outlook on life.

Alex created the green olive puree which is bright and acidic, complex and flavorful. It makes your mouth water and your fingers itch for flour and water, pasta and dough. Yesterday we made both, it was a celebration of wheat.  We enjoyed every last bite from the toothsome cavatelli to the crisp and tender slices of bread. Slightly tired looking peppers, celery, and a lime were transformed into a succulent crunchy salad to balance the complex marriage of crust and crumb. Paired with silky hummus and red wine this homely repast was feast in and of itself.

The other star of the day was pasta. Chewy green olive cavatelli paired with peeled baby tomatoes, spicy leaves of arugula, and Percorino Crotonese, a haunting sheep's milk cheese scattered in random shards across the composition.  Everything is easily assembled from market and garden, the only item not easily procured is the pasta. The puree, as mentioned yesterday is simply green olives and the citrus of your choice, pressure cooked and pureed to a smooth, spreadable consistency. If I had my druthers I might tart it up with a bit of spice and smoke, perhaps a ground up chipotle pepper or two swirled into the mix. However, this first incarnation was pure olive and yuzu, an elegant combination to form the flavor spine of my dough.  Making pasta is so simple that whether you do it by hand or by machine, you'll know it was worth the effort when you sit down to taste it.

Green Olive Cavatelli
3 cups AP flour
6 tablespoon green olive puree
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
5 ounces of warm water

Pulse the flour, green olive puree and baking powder i the bowl of  food processor. Add the water all at once and process to a soft, firm dough. Turn out onto a an un-floured counter top and knead until silky and cool. Wrap with plastic and let rest for at least 30 minutes before forming into cavatelli. Lay the finished pasta out on a lightly floured sheet tray and cook immediately or freeze. Once frozen, transfer the cavatelli to a ziploc bag and keep frozen until ready to use.

Green Olive Puree

I was walking through whole foods the other day, passing some unwanted time and ended up in the olive section.  One of the olives they had for sample, I knew they were for sample because all the employees were helping themselves as they walked by the bowl, was a green olive marinated with olive oil, preserved lemon and garlic.  I tried one.  Man were they tasty.  I now realized why those working at Whole Foods needed to make important trips to oversee the olive section.  I glanced to my right and saw some membrillo for sale and I immediately thought back to our tomolive-membrillo sauce.  I thought about making it with these lemon-garlic marinated green olives.  Then I remembered I had some preserved yuzu at home.  That would work better with the green olives.  I ended up buying some membrillo as well, though its use was yet to be determined. 

So, I left the inspiration for others to try and just bought some green olives in their brine.  I returned home and placed the olives, the yuzu, the brine, some sugar and water into the pressure cooker and let it go.  Actually I only cooked everything for five minutes.  When the pressure cooker relaxed, I opened the lid and smiled.  While the escaping steam perfumed the house with the yuzu-olive aroma, upon opening the lid I was greeted with a harmonious whole.  I placed the whole mixture into the blender and pureed until I had a silky homogeneous puree.  The resulting puree combines the citrus and pine notes of the yuzu with the green grassy qualities of the olive.  While the color of the puree is nothing to write home about, the taste surely is. 

With the base puree in hand, my mind began to wander.  Its first stop was cavatelli dough.  Aki adapted her recipe to integrate the olive puree.  The result is a pasta which captures and presents the essence of green olive balanced with yuzu in a tender and toothsome pasta.

Now that we have the pasta made, we are working on ideas in which to serve it.  That is our next hurdle.

In Memoriam

We'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who commented or emailed about Inky. We appreciate your thoughts and your willingness to reach out to us during a very difficult time.  Inky passed on Friday evening surrounded by people who loved him.  He was sweet and loyal and full of love. He was the best companion anyone could ever wish for. We were lucky to have him beside us.

We miss him.