IDEAS IN FOOD

Removing Air

It is amazing what small improvements in techniques can mean to the final product.  We have been working on a melon soup and wanting to keep the bright, intense flavor of the melon intact.  When we pureed the melon it captured huge amounts of air and the flavor and color became muted.  Thankfully, we were patient and had a chamber vacuum machine on hand and were eventually able to remove the air bubbles.  The resulting soup was incredibly potent in both color and flavor. It was the essence of melon, perfectly chilled and refreshing on a hot summer's day.

Inspirations Found Elsewhere

Every so often we come across some interesting stuff on the internet and feel compelled to share. This week has been a good one for procrastinating while surfing the net...

Every summer for practically forever my family has rented a house on the beach in Rhode Island for a week in August. Among the many culinary delights available there is one of my favorite things, Rhode Island clear chowder. It is exactly what it sounds like, a clear soup, briny and redolent of the sea, studded with clams and potatoes. It's not something I've found in any other state and so I make sure to get my fix whenever I'm in the vicinity.  Apparently I'm not the only one who loves it, over at Leite's Culinaria there's a recipe for this regional specialty.

Fresh cheeses are another favorite. Making them at home is easy and very rewarding. Tartelette has a beautiful write up of making Petit Suisse in tandem with Canelle et Vanille, another wonderful, dessert oriented blog.

This week I stumbled across Straight from the Farm and discovered 17 random fact about honeybees. This completed a theme as I had just finished reading about bees in Gourmet magazine. The loss of the honeybees to colony collapse disorder seems to be a clear warning sign that all is not right with the world. The idea that bees are succumbing to an illness that bears a disturbing resemblance to AIDS in humans is a sobering one.

Last but not least, over on The Chocolate Life you can check out some very cool silicone molds, ostensibly for chocolate but really useful for whatever else your imagination can dream up as well.

*Last minute addition, there's an amazing post over at Jaden's Steamy Kitchen on how to make Xiao Long Biao, steamed soup dumplings. It will make you want to run right into your kitchen, or at least to your nearest dim sum fix.

Just Dug

Garlic is a supermarket staple. The heads you can find at your local store are usually somewhat aged as evidenced by their light weight and the prominent green germ at the center of each clove. The garlic we picked up last week at the farmer's market is a totally different product. The bulbs were smooth and heavy with a beautiful purple and white skin. There was a long stem through the center of the bulb which translated into fewer cloves. This was more than made up for by the quality of the garlic. The individual cloves were almost luminescent, shiny and smooth, crisp and juicy, with a sweeter, cleaner flavor than any other garlic we've tasted. If you see fresh summer garlic at your local green market, don't hesitate. Grab it immediately and use it as soon as you can. You won't be disappointed.

Cool it Down

We do not have a limitless supply of ice in our home kitchen to cool down pots of sauces and not-stocks.  When we need large quantities of ice we have to run to our corner store and buy a bag or three. What we do have on hand is a dewar of liquid nitrogen. Last evening we tested liquid nitrogen's cooling ability on a batch of Bolognese sauce. (Chef's have to eat.)

It should not have been a giant leap to use the nitrogen as a functional cooling tool.  When we deliberately tried liquid nitrogen cooling for the first time and were able to take extremely hot sauce to temperatures under four degrees Celsius in five minutes, a new benchmark in efficiency and safety became apparent. While liquid nitrogen cooling may not be the most cost effective method, it is certainly the most time efficient technique that we have come across. 

*The liquid nitrogen that we stirred into the sauce to cool it down evaporated completely out of our mixture. There are no toxicity issues with this technique and no reason to be afraid to use it.

Shrimp Powder

We had another simple breakthrough yesterday.  While we've looked at using liquid nitrogen to finely grind nuts, grains, legumes and vegetables, we overlooked proteins.  It turns out that powdered shrimp is not only promising, it is achievable. Our first tests, tastes, were with a shrimp sheet flavored with bush basil and cayenne which we ground into a light powder with the help of liquid nitrogen and a blender.  The fine and uniform quality of the pulverized shrimp is amazing. It is also exciting to note that there is little to no syneresis in the powdered shrimp as it thaws from frozen to cold.

Of course if it works with shrimp it will work with other proteins as well. Imagine being able to use strongly flavored proteins as the final seasoning for a dish.  You could accent dishes with intense flavor without using large amounts. Years ago we would freeze smoked foie gras and use a hand-held Mouli cheese grater to flake it over a cube of seared, center cut ribeye. Now we can think about an even more refined presentation and we may branch out to powdered uni or aged cheddar or chorizo. This is especially intriguing in the summertime when courses are smaller and meals are lighter in general. It also makes sense in this economic climate, as the price of luxury ingredients edges ever higher. Freezing and grinding with liquid nitrogen may be a very useful technique in the modern kitchen.

Negotiations

We all have our ways of dealing with constructive criticism or suggestions. Personally I tend to reject new ideas at first. I don't always come right out and disagree with them, I usually request some time to get used to an idea before making a decision. Experience has taught me that once I get comfortable with an idea or a person, they become much more appealing to me.

We used to have an employee who was wonderful to work with 90% of the time. She was thoughtful and reliable and very set in her ways. She would make suggestions and easily discuss any ideas for change within the system. Once we actually implemented any changes, somehow they, along with any prior discussions about said changes, would simply vanish from her memory. Any time you reminded her of the new policies it was as if they had never before existed. "Oh really. I don't remember that at all." Short of calling her a liar there was no way to really combat this approach. She was a wonderful woman but it was a bit of a relief when she decided to move on.

I'm thinking of her because of a discussion with Alex about how to structure some writing that we're working on. He was explaining what he thought we should do. I listened and then added a few suggestions/changes that I thought would improve his idea. He then proceeded to re-explain his idea. I explained the reasoning behind my suggestions a bit more fully. At this point he became very frustrated with me and accused me of not understanding his basic structure. I responded by explaining that I did understand, I simply didn't agree with him. There was a moment of silence as he absorbed that information.

Fortunately the nature of a partnership means understanding how to work well together. He took a minute and realized that I actually was listening to him and we agreed to disagree for the time being. We'll pick the discussion back up tomorrow. Experience tells me the conversation will go better on both sides because we'll have had time to absorb each others ideas and flesh out the best way to make things work. Now in  kitchen and classroom scenarios we don't always have this luxury. Usually in the heat of the moment one of us has to give, on a good day it's the person who is less invested in the change. That point where our different opinions intersect is not always easy to find. The process of getting there is what defines what we do together. Picking a partner is easy. Learning how to negotiate with each other is a constantly evolving art. I have to say though, the results are definitely worth the effort we put into it.

Smoked Tallow

We've been talking about this for months but somehow I don't think we ever got around to writing about it here. We often do classes featuring rib eye in three (or more) services. It's one of our favorite cuts of meat and although we know it's expensive, utilized properly there is little waste on a three bone cut.

Cooking meats in their own fat is an old idea. James Beard used to write often about the old Coach House and it was one of their favorite tricks to increase flavor. A rib eye gives you lots of fat or beef tallow to work with. Rendering it is easily done, simply dice the fat, place it in a large pot with a bit of cold water over low flame and let it melt out over the course of a few hours. Every so often give it stir so that things don't stick to the bottom and soon you'll have some beautiful beef fat to cook with. The possibilities are endless and I won't list them all here, but we all know why McDonald's french fries used to be so damned good.

When we do rib eye in three services, we often smoke some of the meat. The richness of the cut allows the meat to stand up to a bit of smoke and tea smoking is a favorite of ours. We do it on the stove top, starting with cold meat and then finish by searing it either in a cast iron pan or on a griddle. It was only one short step to smoking the tallow. It doesn't need much time, 30-60 minutes depending on your palate. It's an amazing transformation as long as you don't overdo it. We actually like to smoke the fat before we render it, though if you already have tallow on hand do not let that deter you.

The tallow keeps well, vacuum sealed in the refrigeration and it adds amazing flavor to anything you cook with it. French fries cooked in smoked beef tallow are a revelation. So are juicy beets that have pressure cooked and then seared in the smoked fat. The smoked tallow is fun because it adds that extra layer of flavor a la minute, allowing cooks to have that smoky taste to a dish without a lot of muss or fuss from short ribs to oysters topped with morels roasted in the smoked fat.

Valrhona at the Institute of Culinary Education

One of the benefits of being chefs is that occasionally we get invited to educational demonstrations like the one we attended today at the Institute of Culinary Education. The demonstration was hosted by Valrhona chocolate and featured Philippe Givre, Valrhona’s French pastry chef and assistant director of L’Ecole du Grand Chocolat; and Derek Poirier, Valrhona's North American Pastry Chef. It was a four hour presentation featuring four recipes and some of our favorite chocolate and definitely time well spent. 

As chefs, continuing education is incredibly important. The world of food is ever-changing and it's easy to get set in our ways and forget to keep pushing our horizons outward. French pastry is not either of our fortes, we tend toward more American style desserts and so it was a lot of fun to be exposed to this very different approach to desserts. Yes there are classic recipes and techniques that span international style, but the perspectives and the approaches can be very different. I love being able to look into someone else's world and see glimpses of where their inspirations come from.

The recipes that were demonstrated were very solid, with an attention to detail that we both appreciated. I've already been inspired to go back and rework yesterday's sorbet technique for a slightly more labor intensive approach that will yield more consistent results. I'll update the post when I finish this tonight. 

One of the very best ideas that we took from the demonstration was caramelized white chocolate. Let me state that again, it was caramelized white chocolate. The chefs at Valrhona roast their white chocolate at 266 degrees Fahrenheit/130 degrees Celsius for approximately 45 minutes, stirring occasionally until it reaches the desired color and flavor. Obviously you can adjust cooking times to your own taste. The caramelized white chocolate is simply amazing. The flavor is rich and creamy and almost like butterscotch.  Too my taste and nose it was all brown butter, I had to resist dipping my finger in the bowl of melted caramelized white chocolate as it was passed around for us to observe.

Of course we couldn't leave well enough alone. After much discussion on the drive home, Alex fired up the pressure cooker. We chopped the chocolate and sealed it in a bag and cooked it at high pressure for 30 minutes. The results were much darker and deeper than the version we tasted this afternoon. Of course here too, you may adjust the cooking time to suit your own taste. There is definitely something to be said and recipes to be made at both ends of the cooking spectrum. Caramelized white chocolate, oh the places we'll go...

Chocolate Cardamom Sorbet

It's a typical New York summer, hot and and humid. Luckily we've done most of our cooking with liquid nitrogen for the past few days because applying actual heat to food holds little appeal. It may not be healthy to live on ice cream alone, but some days I'm tempted to give it a go. Fortunately (or not, depending upon your perspective) the fact that I'm eating for two keeps me at least partially in line. Still, a little bit of chocolate sorbet is never a bad thing. I'm lucky enough to have a dewar of liquid nitrogen on hand so making my own is almost instant gratification.

Chocolate Cardamom Sorbet

200 grams chopped chocolate
500 grams water
175 grams sugar
2 grams salt
2 grams ground cardamom

Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl over a simmering water bath. Once the chocolate is melted, turn off the heat but the leave the bowl over the warm water. Bring the water, sugar and salt to a boil. Add the water to the chocolate in small increments, briskly stirring in each addition with a rubber spatula before adding the next. Continue until all of the water has been emulsified into the chocolate. It may look broken in the beginning but it will come together. Stir in the cardamom. Blend the mixture for one minute using an immersion or stand blender. Cool the sorbet base over an ice bath and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least four hours before freezing.

I have frozen this base with liquid nitrogen and using a Paco Jet with very good results. I have not tested it in an ice cream machine although it should work without any issues. This base makes for an extremely tasty beverage if you freeze it in an ice cube tray and puree in a blender, a dollop of whipped cream is simply icing on the cake.

Chocolate Rubble, Sour Cherries and Malted Yogurt

The pieces of a puzzle do not always fall into place all at once.  The dessert we have been working on has forced us to refine some older ideas, look at some new ones, and perfect the final presentation of the dish.  The chocolate rubble looks sharp and harsh on the plate though it is soft and melting on the palate.  The peeled sour cherries offer another tender element to the dish although their bracing flavor adds structure to the chocolate.  The sour cherry jelly is a balance of sweet and sour with a striking and natural color, generated from the poaching of the fruit.  The malted yogurt adds a creamy tang and its counterpart, the whipped malted yogurt, is a lighter and more acidic counterpart to the smooth yogurt puree.

These ingredients come together in an array of tender textures, all structured in different ways.  Instead of adding crispy textures, acidity is used to highlight the soft bites and rich flavors.

Malted Yogurt

I wanted to combine malt and yogurt for a dessert. Little did I realize what the results would be. I blended yogurt and barley malt syrup and let it drain in a cheesecloth lined strainer overnight. What was exciting is that both the yogurt and the bi-product, the liquid drained from the yogurt, proved delicious and useful. The drained liquid retained the tang of the yogurt with a gentle, toasted sweetness from the malt. We reserved the liquid to whip into a foam which we used in our chocolate rubble dessert. The drained yogurt itself was also destined for this dessert.  What was really interesting is that the drained malted yogurt tasted almost identical to our caramelized yogurt. In this case the yogurt is never heated and the texture is smooth and rich on the palate. Is one preparation better than the other? That answer is still to be decided. What is for certain is that malted yogurt is destined to become a staple in our pantry.

Sunflowers, More Than Just a Pretty Face

Sunflowers are one of summertime's gifts. Everyone knows that the seeds are edible and even the oil is gaining popularity because it is rich in vitamin E and low in saturated fats. Yet how many people realize that you can also eat the flowers?

They are considered to be at their best while still in their unopened bud stage. These young specimens can simply be steamed and their flavor will be remarkably reminiscent of artichokes. We have been playing with a more developed flower because that's what's available in the market now. As the plant develops so does its inherent bitterness. The flavor of the more mature hearts speaks of pine sap and artichoke hearts with that underlying nutty flavor of the sunflower itself.

The sunflower buds pictured here were braised with lemon juice, shallot flowers and saffron. They are tender, bittersweet, and herbaceous. The only question now is what to serve them with tomorrow?

Chocolate Pudding Pieces

We recently adjusted our slice-able chocolate recipe and eliminated the additional calcium.  We've also changed the mixing process.  We now heat the water, add the pectin and hydrate it and then add the chocolate to the hot pectin water.  The hot solution melts the chocolate and allows it to become fully incorporated.  Once the chocolate is melted into the pectin water we pour the mixture into a plastic wrap lined container and chill it for several hours, preferably overnight.  The simplification and adjustment of the recipe came about because we were looking to streamline the process and eliminate any superfluous ingredients or steps. 

Initially the calcium was added to ensure the pectin would set.  After making the chocolate base several times we decided to ask the question, is the calcium actually necessary?  It turns out that the answer is no.  The second change came in the hydration process.  What if we could just melt the chocolate in a hot pectin bath?  Originally we felt a need to heat everything together and then add the pectin.  Taking a moment to step back and examine the process allowed us to see the technique from a different angle.  Thankfully we were open to the change.

While slicing this intense chocolate is useful, I believed we could serve it in a more unusual form, a chocolate rubble, so to speak.  The pectin in the chocolate should, in theory, prevent syneresis if the base is frozen.  This idea was first discussed during one of our classes when we were talking about ice cream stabilizers.  All we needed to do to test the hypothesis was to freeze the chocolate and thaw it.  In order to freeze the chocolate we first cut it into slices and then dropped it into liquid nitrogen.  When the slices were rock solid we pulled them out of the nitrogen and placed them in a bowl.  A light tap with a spoon caused the chocolate to break into numerous irregularly shaped pieces.  With the chocolate in a new shape we needed to see how it thawed.  We placed a few pieces on a plate and and left them at room temperature to thaw.  We put the rest of the now broken chocolate into the freezer for future use.  The chocolate pieces on the plate slowly warmed and returned to their original texture, which was dense and smooth. Upon tasting the results they melted nicely on the palate into an intense interpretation of a rich chocolate pudding.

Cold Cooking with Liquid Nitrogen at Astor Center

There are certain ingredients that are just fun to play with. Liquid nitrogen is one of them. We've found that when there are tanks of it in the kitchen an infinite number of possibilities unfold. Somehow playing with nitrogen and it's smoky reactions tends to bring out the inner child in chefs and cooks everywhere. Over 78% of our atmosphere is made up of nitrogen. It is colorless, odorless, non-toxic and non-flammable. Liquid nitrogen is the chilled, condensed version of the gas and boils at temperatures of -324 degrees Fahrenheit or -210 degrees Celsius. It is prized for its ability to freeze things instantly, a surprisingly useful technique for preserving and manipulating the flavors and textures of food across the entire spectrum of sweet and savory, liquid and solid.

On August 26, 2008 at 6:30pm we will be teaching a demonstration class on liquid nitrogen at Astor Center in New York City. We will talk about what it is and how to safely use it. We will be exploring several different techniques, from cryo-blanching vegetables to creative cocktails, and how the application of liquid nitrogen can refine ingredients, improve textures and help create great food. The class costs $125 per person and our readers may use the promotional code: nitrogen to get a 10% discount on tickets. 

Buttermilk Burrata

There's something about Burrata. This variation of mozzarella cheese with its slightly elastic skin breaking open to reveal soft curds and cream. The flavor is soft, sweet, slightly earthy, with a gentle tang that lingers on the palate. There's no other cheese like it.

That tang brings to mind buttermilk. It just so happens that we have discovered an excellent source of buttermilk at the green market. It is Hawthorne Valley Farm. We have been buying it by the quart and using it for a variety of different preparations. Last week Alex became obsessed with the idea of creating buttermilk burrata.

Actually he started by making a buttermilk curd with buttermilk, half and half, agave, egg yolks, agar agar and locust bean gum. Once he had the flavored curd, the idea of the buttermilk burrata took hold and the hard part began. He had to figure out how to recreate the texture and shape of burrata using the ingredients at hand. At an impasse in the process he sent out an email to Wylie asking for his thoughts. Wylie responded with his technique for forming curds by creating a gel, making some of it into a fluid gel and chopping up the rest, and then combining them to create a texture that resembles fresh ricotta. Alex ran with that idea and took his base and divided it into thirds. He followed Wylie's technique with the first two thirds to create the filling for the burrata.  He then filled sphere molds with the curds and froze them. Then he melted down the remaining third of the base and dipped the frozen spheres in the hot gel to form an outer skin. Once the spheres were coated he let them defrost in the refrigerator and the burrata were ready to go.

I have to say that I was pretty impressed with the results. His buttermilk burrata is soft and creamy with a delicate tang. Paired with baby tomatoes, Tri-Star strawberries, bush basil, chocolate mint and nasturtium leaves it made for a beautiful and delicious summer salad.

Okra Pearls

Vacuum Sealed Cookie Dough

I think that everyone in the city has read last week's article by David Leite on the Quest for the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie. One of the main tricks from the article is to rest your dough for 36 hours before baking the cookies in order to improve the flavor. In my work as a chef I have often made cookie dough in advance and baked to order. I knew that refrigeration had beneficial effects although I had never tested the theory to the extent that David Leite did for the article. I just knew that well rested and chilled cookie dough made better cookies.

Now that I no longer have cookie dough at hand, when the craving hits I look for more immediate satisfaction. The article succeeded in awakening my craving for warm, soft cookies, I just wasn't entirely sure I wanted to go through the process of making the dough and then have to wait 36 hours to bake off the cookies. Fortunately I remembered the vacuum sealer in our kitchen. In the past we had used the vacuum sealer for pasta doughs. The process sped up the process of moisture absorption, allowing us to create silky doughs with less liquid. This seemed similar to the process described in the article of allowing the flour to fully absorb the liquid from the eggs during it's resting period. Perhaps if I vacuum sealed the cookie dough I could speed up the entire process and end up with better cookies in less time.

I used my standard chocolate chip recipe. I did not make a test batch of cookies with unprocessed dough so this was an entirely unscientific experiment. What I can tell you is that the dough darkened and became fully saturated, similar to the way that the dough usually looks after a couple of days in the refrigerator. It also changed the texture of the dough, making it a bit more elastic to the touch. The just made dough was too soft to shape and needed to chill, so I left in the fridge for about three hours before baking.

The resulting cookies were pretty damn good. They had a slightly cakey texture in the center with chewy yet crisp edges and rich buttery, caramel flavors. It was impossible to eat just one and I was thankful that I had not baked off the entire batch. Were they better than David Leite's? I really couldn't say. On the other hand I think it was clear that vacuum sealing did have a positive effect on the process, and from now on plastic wrap is out and vacuum bags are definitely in.

*This technique opens doors for other dough preparations from pie to biscuit to cracker to puff dough bases which would be able to be made and formed with very little working of the dough, just compression and nearly instant hydration.  In fact, in looking just at the process of hydration perhaps compression can and should be applied from nuts to legumes.

Sour Cherries

I did not have plans for the cherries I bought at the green market.  The baskets of bright red fruit screamed out to me.  "Buy me, pick me, choose me!"  I tasted one and succumbed.  When I returned home I popped another cherry in my mouth.  They were tender and tart, not too sour, although their name did not disappoint.  As I mulled the idea of sour cherries I held the fruit in my hand.  I wondered why I had never tried peeling cherries before.  I picked up a pairing knife and slowly started peeling the skin off the fruit.  The bright red skin came off easily and revealed a yellow veined flesh underneath.  I placed the cherry in my mouth and the exposed tender flesh seemed to melt on my tongue, leaving just the pit as a reminder that it had been there.   I picked up another cherry and peeled it.  This time I removed the pit with a pair of needle nose pliers.  The stone eased out relatively easily and left me with beautiful, tender cherry flesh.  In looking at the cherry it reminded me of a miniature pitted lychee.  I ate the pitted and peeled cherry and the taste and texture was revolutionary.  I never appreciated the subtle texture of a sour cherry before.  The tart flavor was equally enlightening as it provided structure through taste rather than texture. 

I peeled yet another cherry and removed its pit.  I placed it on a spoon and it looked just like a raw egg yolk.  Interesting.  I took the spoon to Aki and had her eat it.  The response, whoa!  Apparently  the sourness in that cherry was a bit more intense or her taste buds continue to be hypersensitive, something we have noticed as of late.  What she did not mention was the peeled aspect of the cherry or the fact that it did not have a pit.  I asked why and her response was simple, "I expected that from you."  Interesting.

I went back to the kitchen and set about peeling and pitting half of the cherries.  The other half of the cherries I reserved for a jelly.  Once the cherries were prepped, I took Aki's first response as a sign and lightly seasoned the fruit with a drizzle of agave nectar and a sprinkling of salt.  Then I infused them in the vacuum sealer to draw in the seasonings.  As it turned out, the seasoned cherries are more balanced than the unadulterated variety. 

I have plans to pair the sour cherries with a buttermilk curd, though we shall see in what other directions we  will travel.

Mashed Potato Croutons

I have often pondered ideas about starch.  In our Methocel potato tubes we use traditional mashed potatoes to make the base.  The starch is present and despite an extensive amount of shearing in the creation process, the tubes are tender and soft, the bit of bite present is due to the Methocel.  That led me to looking at ways to keep the starch available when making Activa bound potato gnocchi.  Unfortunately, when I followed the exact recipe for our twice cooked potato gnocchi, except for the twice cooking, I was left with a potato soup rather than a dough or farce.  Since the potatoes were fluid, I decided to pour them into a plastic tray and set them in an even layer, since piping into tubes was out of the question.  In retrospect, I could have poured the potatoes into a variety of molds, though for my first run, a large plank made sense.

After 18 hours in the refrigerator, I checked the potato plank.  I pushed on it with my finger and there was a bit of spring.  I pulled out the tray and cut a piece off the plank.  It was potato puree with a set structure.  I then heated up a saute pan and browned a piece.  The results were a crispy exterior with a soft and tender center.  If we set this puree in cube forms we would have amazing potato croquettes.  In fact, we could set a molten center into the potato cube and when it is fried and cut open, it will ooze a beautiful sauce: perhaps hollandaise sauce or black truffle fondue.  That is now on the to do list.

Since I did not plan the results of the potato plank I used recent inspiration to spark the next idea.  In the comments on Seasoning a Potato the idea of mashed potato gnocchi was mentioned.  I guess I had mashed potato on the brain, as I was cutting the plank the idea of dicing it and sauteeing the pieces in butter to create mashed potato croutons became irresistible.  The potato puree plank cut easily and I was able to quickly dice a handful of small cubes.  While I was doing this, I put a pan on the stove to heat up.  When the pan was hot I added a small amount of olive oil and butter.  When the butter was melted I added the potato puree cubes and then slowly sauteed them, gently rolling them in the hot fat in order to evenly toast their exterior.  When the croutons were uniformly colored, I removed them from the pan, drained them on a paper towel and seasoned them with salt.  Thankfully Aki was quick with the camera because I was almost as quick at devouring these delicious, little bites.

Pumpernickel and Summer Squash

It was time to revisit our pumpernickel gnocchi.  We were successful in making the gnocchi with the aid of Methocel.  Unfortunately, do to the nature of Methocel the gnocchi were reliant on thermal stability which detracted from their all around functionality.

With our continued use of Activa Y-G we felt we might be able to re-work the approach to the pumpernickel gnocchi and create a product which remained true to the term gnocchi while increasing the functional and textural properties.  In fact, when making our new gnocchi we were pushed in a slightly different direction than we had planned.  Our initial goal was to make a gnocchi base which we could extrude and once it had set, allowing the bond to occur, we would cut the dough into individual pieces, gnoccho.  However, when we made the puree of pumpernickel and ricotta a dough developed.  We took this result as an opportunity and rolled the dough into logs which we cut into pieces and finally shaped into gnocchi.  We let the dough, bound with Activa, rest for eighteen hours in the refrigerator.  Once the dough had rested and the bond was fully activated, the gnocchi were ready to heat and serve. 

To serve the pumpernickel gnocchi we sauteed them in butter and paired them with a squash blossom puree and a zucchini puree.  A few shavings of aged Gruyere seasoned the dish and some nasturtium leaves from our garden added a spicy note to the dish.  The gnocchi were crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, a hybrid of gnocchi and just baked bread.

We are looking forward to carrying this technique through the seasons, varying what is paired with the pumpernickel as well as working on other bread dumplings, bound with the combination of Activa and their own gluten.

Seasoning a Potato

I am a bit of a potato fan, otherwise know as a fanatic.  I enjoy potatoes in their many guises and equally enjoy trying to highlight and really show off their potential.  After our recent trip to Charleston where we were humbly reintroduced to the flavors, tastes and textures of locally grown and expertly cooked potatoes, I became re-inspired, perhaps jolted into action, which prompted me to pay closer attention to our own potato cookery.

A dish we prepared several years ago featured a decadent potato puree seasoned with assorted herbs and spices.  In culling through and sharpening our repertoire, I felt this was an opportune time to revisit that dish.  We set the potato puree with methocel so that we could apply some texture and shape to the puree.  Once the form was decided we looked to our garden, pantry, and palates for seasonings.  The potato puree ended up being seasoned with: two types of basil, two thymes, mint, juniper, togarishi, fleur de sel, sesame oil, chorizo, Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese, and smoked balsamic vinegar.  What is exciting is that the potato, while in the spotlight, may act as a vehicle for whimsy, ideas and kitchen spontaneity.

Looking the Same

Does color matter?  Certainly.  If you associate a color with a flavor or even an experience or aroma then when the color remains consistent and the flavor is different you pay attention.  The mind wakes up.  I went to the store with plans of buying honeydew and cantaloupe melons for a dish.  I believed the two singular flavors and their equally striking colors would allow for a simple arrangement of taste experiences centered on the juicy and floral melons.  Unfortunately, I did not pay close attention to all of the details when buying the melons.  I checked for ripeness and signs of bruising as I selected the fruits.  What I failed to notice was a small sticker on the honeydew which stated that it had orange flesh.  When I cut into the melons the surprise was on me.  What was even more striking was that the orange fleshed honeydew melon tasted exactly like a green honeydew melon.  The cantaloupe was also orange and tasted of cantaloupe.  I wondered what would happen if we served two pieces of melon, which looked identical and tasted strikingly different.  We were not going to alter the fruit, save for a bit of vacuum compression and simply some mint, salt and pepper.  I wanted the fruit to be seasoned yet still be the essence of itself.

In eating the melons the contrast is truly startling.  If your start with the cantaloupe, you are quickly lulled to into believing the next bite will be cantaloupe.  The flavor of the honeydew in the second bite shakes the mind and palate back to attention, as if to say, wake up and taste your food.  On the other hand, if you start with the orange honeydew you are forced to ask a question about what you're eating.  The second bite is taken with a cautious approach as you analyze flavor and texture.  In fact, since the second bite is now cantaloupe the mind and palate are jostled to further attention and forced to deal with a slightly confusing situation.  Were they actually different melons or were they the same?

Could we try this with gold beets and pineapple?  What about compressed watermelon and tuna?  Even mozzarella and tofu might produce exciting responses.

Coconut and Blueberries

Recently, we have been spending a fair amount of time working in the sweet world.  The vast quantities of blueberries which have become available at stores combined with my yearly affinity for coconut have inspired a coconut and blueberry dessert.  We made a blueberry puree which we enriched with butter to mimic the flavors of baked blueberry pie.  We infused fresh blueberries with a blend of blueberry and yuzu juices to enhance the flavor of just cooked blueberries.  The forms and variations of blueberry were paired against sliced coconut milk.  The final accent in the dish are bush basil leaves, a spicy and aromatic herb which blends nicely with the coconut and blueberries.

A Finer Grind, A Smoother Puree

Liquid nitrogen is not just for freezing.  We were introduced to its refining attributes during our time in the McCrady's kitchen.  Sean introduced us to cryo-juicing/pureeing.  Our first execution of the technique was with raw peanuts.  We put the peanuts in the liquid nitrogen and when they were rock solid and beyond cold, we strained off the nitrogen and ran the peanuts through a Champion juicer  with the puree plate in place.  By keeping this piece in place the peanuts or any other ingredient running through the machine becomes a silken puree.  Since the peanuts are ice cold there is no heat generated in this masticating process allowing the peanuts to retain their uncooked, green flavors and still transform into a smooth and silky puree.  While the raw peanut butter did not make the menu, the technique has left an enormous impression on us both.

We also used liquid nitrogen to generate a finely ground powder of sandy green olives.  To make the sandy olives we pit them and then dehydrate them until they are completely dry.  Once the olives are dry we toss them with sugar.  When the olives were coated with sugar, we placed the mixture in liquid nitrogen.  The frozen olives were strained and placed in the blender.  Within thirty seconds we had a fine powder of olives and sugar.  Since the olives and sugar were so cold, they were able to be ground without releasing any of the residual oils and moisture from their flesh.  We used the resulting powder to season the foie gras fragment dish which did make the menu.

These two new uses for liquid nitrogen have inspired a list of ideas: from making a pure chorizo puree in the style of the raw peanut butter to grinding licorice candies into fine powders.  I also believe we may grind purees and condiments into fine powders which will allow for an exacting application of ingredients from chocolate pudding to guacamole and even ice cream.

Another more common use of the liquid nitrogen which we were able to integrate into the dinner was the creation of eucalyptus dippin' dots, a sorbet we paired with incredible local raspberries and whipped clear whey.

 

Pectin, Not Just for Jelly

Just an FYI, our latest article on pectin is live over at POPSCI.com.

Garlic Scapes

This is the first year in almost a decade that we've really played with garlic scapes. Actually, this is the first year in almost a decade that we've been around New York for the summer season and therefore able to take advantage of the bounty of produce available at the Union Square farmer's market. Garlic scapes are just one of many newly discovered and quickly adored ingredients that we've become acquainted with over the last couple of months. The garlic scape is actually the flowering shoot of the garlic plant. It is also known as the garlic whistle and pigtails. They are harvested while still young and tender so that the plants energy will be concentrated in it's roots, which in turn creates the garlic bulbs that are a staple in kitchens throughout the world.  If you would like to utilize them in their raw state, look for smaller stems that have not yet begun to curl. If the only ones available are already twisted around themselves, not to worry, a bit of applied heat will tame their sharp, pungent flavor. Simply trim off the woody ends and the tips of the flowers, which burn easily, and give them a rinse.  Now you're ready to start cooking.

The verdant tangles of garlic scapes may be juiced, creamed, sauteed, fried, pickled, pureed, and dried. Like regular bulb garlic, they require gentle cooking and will become unpalatable if scorched. They have a greener and grassier flavor than cloves of garlic and their brief window in markets forces cooks to explore all kinds of possibilities during their limited period of availability. They are happily substituted in any recipe calling for garlic with only minor modifications. On the other hand, they are absolutely delicious simply sauteed in some duck or bacon fat and served alongside creamy scrambled eggs with a dollop of creme fraiche. 

Sesame Seeds

I have wanted to put sesame seeds in the pressure cooker for several years now.  It is amazing how procrastination and other ideas can steer a desire off course for indeterminate amounts of time.  Today I came across bulk sesame seeds at a local store and took this as a sign to purchase a bag of seeds and bring them immediately home to the pressure cooker.

Aki and I conferred on how long to cook the seeds.  She believed that due to their small size we should dramatically cut down on the cooking time compared to our other seed cookery.  I was hesitant although she quickly convinced me that we should try her seven minute cook time.  I filled the bottom of the pressure cooker with an inch of water and then placed a trivet in the center.  I then took a small bowl filled with the seeds, some water, agave nectar and salt and placed it on the trivet.  I sealed the lid and set the timer.  When the seven minutes were up I let the pressure dissipate and I opened the lid.  The seeds were not cooked and definitely not tender.  I put the lid on and tried another seven minutes.  No success.  I tried another twenty five minutes.  Not yet.  I added another hour to the cooking time and finally had positive results.  The seeds have texture and a snap and pop similar to eating tobiko (flying fish roe).

I should also note that the seeds uniformly toasted during the pressure cooking.  They picked up a rich nuttiness which did not exist in the raw seeds we started with.  The tiny size of the seeds and the popping texture are really incredible.  I am not quite where we will go with these cooked seeds, though I am looking forward to the journey.

Beet Salad

How to season the inside of a vegetable?  In this case we start with a vegetable puree.  How to give a vegetable puree structure?  What is the desired texture of the vegetable puree?  There are a wide range of approaches to answer these questions.

In putting this beet salad together we were looking to create a beet sphere, which looks like a beet, with an intense and rounded beet flavor and the texture of a silky flan.  We paired the structured beet puree with raw compressed beet rounds infused with blood orange bitters and Blis Elixer.  The beet marinating liquid is reduced to a glaze while the crisp round is topped with Valencay goat cheese.  A few sprigs of wild watercress add a grassy spiciness to the finished dish.

Ribeye at Stir

It will probably surprise no one that three services became five. Here's the menu from the July 2, rib eye class at Stir.

Thyme Roasted Ribs

Steak and Cheese Tartare
porcini mushrooms, parmigiano-reggiano, celery leaves

Slow Poached Center Cut Salad
stone fruit, watercress, jalapeno

Tea Smoked Center Cut
rutabaga puree, roasted porcinis

Roasted Rib Eye Cap
pak choy, shrimp and mascarpone ravioli, fermented black bean barbecue sauce

Figs and Strawberries
sweet corn sauce

For those who need visual stimulation, there was a photographer present. Justin Ide already has a slide show, with music, up on his site.

Photos of McCrady's

Since we are usually too busy cooking to take pictures during service, we were lucky to have a couple of excellent photographers join us last week at McCrady's Restaurant. Paul Cheney and Jason Kaumeyer did a fabulous job weaving in and out of the controlled chaos that was service that evening. Feel free to take a gander at our evening with Sean, his crew and the many volunteers who came to give us a hand. It was a night to remember and now we have the pictures to prove it.

Sour Mix with a Twist

300 grams water
100grams lemon juice
100grams lime juice
3 grams salt
6.53grams Methocel F50
0.98grams Xanthan gum
150 grams simple syrup

Combine water, lemon juice, lime juice and salt in a blender. Turn the blender on low and gradually increase the speed to medium. Sprinkle in the Methocel and Xanthan gum and shear in the blender for 30 seconds until the powders are full dispersed. Chill the mixture to 10 degrees Celsius. Stir in the simple syrup. The sour mix can be whipped to soft peaks using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk or an immersion blender with a whisk attachment.

Incorporate the whipped sour mix into your favorite drink recipe.

Timing

Timing is essential and is often overlooked, in the preparation of food and also in our everyday lives.  If we paused and thought a bit more about timing, taking into account both the giver and the recipient, delivery of any offering would be more effective because it would reach an anticipatory audience. 

Without timing there is no punchline.  Without timing dinner service is a disaster.  Without timing there is no romantic kiss at sunset.  Without timing sun kissed and juicy fruit are either rock hard or mushy and rotten.  Without timing there is no slice of fresh baked pie.

Every day we learn a bit more about finessing our timing, some lessons are good, others, well let's call them life experiences.  What we've learned is that without good timing, even the best experience can fall flat. On the other hand, with some well executed timing, a bad experience can be turned into something spectacular. Just a little something to think on.