IDEAS IN FOOD: 31 entries from January 2017

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31 entries from January 2017

Vegan Banana Bread Doughnut

We get a number of requests for vegan doughnuts each week. I was always disappointed in myself because we did not have a doughnut to make these people happy. It took me way too long to wrap my head around creating an excellent vegan doughnut. Finally I made the time to work on it. I wanted a doughnut that was as good as the all of our others. I started with our base doughnut recipe, removing the dairy and substituting oil and bananas. The first attempt was a hot mess. So were the second and third. I was chewing through bananas and time. Our original doughnuts depend on eggs to hold the delicate balance of butter, flour and liquid dairy together. My straight formulaic substitutions were not the answer. But I was learning. I was seeing the results of what the ingredients were doing to our dough. I stripped the dough down to a leaner version of its original self. In the fourth version I found what I was looking for. It was perfumed with banana and vanilla. It had a lightness and slight chew. The exterior has a delicate crispness and the inside is moist.

With the new model in place, now I can really get in and tinker with the details.

Years Past

January 31, 2007 (2)

January 31, 2006

January 31, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 31, 2017 at 06:27 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (3)

My Daily Doughnut

What is your favorite doughnut? What is your most popular doughnuts? What are your freshest doughnuts? Why doughnuts?

Years Past

January 30, 2005 (2)

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 30, 2017 at 04:49 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Re-Thinking Challah

I have fond memories of challah bread. Growing up it was definitely one of my favorites. I loved the pretty shape of the loaves, the sweet flavor, and the soft yet firm, tender texture. It was a staple at the local diner and their deep fried challah french toast was a thing of beauty. When Aunt Marie would bring home fresh loaves all I wanted to do was tear them apart and eat them with my fingers. Sadly that was not the way we ate challah. It was usually cut into thick slices and eaten, fresh or toasted, with a slather of salted butter. The first time Amaya was old enough to appreciate a loaf of challah she immediately pulled it apart with her tiny fingers before taking a bite. This made me so happy. Classic challah should be a tactile experience for those who play with their food.

Unfortunately a loaf that has been pulled apart can be challenging to use for sandwiches and toast. Although I enjoy irregular, craggy chunks of bread with crisp dark edges and tender insides, I seem to be in the minority there. So in the interests of efficiency I have been playing with a challah loaf. Baked in a pan de mie pan, it makes for beautiful sandwich bread and toast. Right out of the oven the crust is crisp and almost crunchy and after a period of rest it softens into something tender and resilient wrapped around the tender crumb. I'm still working out the kinks in the recipe to find my balance of toothsome and sweet but this loaf was a happy success. I'd like to make a batch of dough that allows for a perfect pullman loaf and a small braided loaf just for me. That would truly be the best of all worlds.

Years Past

January 29, 2006

January 29, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 29, 2017 at 12:46 PM in Approach to Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Perfect Loaf

Okay, let's be real, there's no such thing as the "perfect" loaf. I hate that term and you see it everywhere on the internet. "The Perfect ___" is everywhere you look. My version of perfect very rarely matches up with anybody else's version of perfect. My version of delicious, on the other hand, can match up with many others. Words matter. Everybody's writing for SEO and to bring traffic into their websites, and sometimes it leads to sloppy writing. I would rather read something real, that comes from the heart, than something designed to drive traffic. And yes, I do realize that those two things can co-exist, it just doesn't seem to happen very often.

We've been baking a lot of bread lately. It's been fun and the only real clunkers have come when I've tested other people's recipes. Not because they weren't good recipes, but because some of the conversions were off. Interestingly I've found that it's rare for all of the conversions to be wrong, there's usually one or two in any given recipe, which is just enough to throw the entire loaf off kilter. It's been a wake-up call for me because I know that we've missed conversions here and there in our books. Sometimes they start out correct and get changed through the many, many editing passes, and sometimes we look at them for so long that we see the right number even when it's wrong. Considering the number of times a manuscript is read and the number of people that read it, it's amazing that any mistakes make it through the filter. But it happens to the best of us.

Here are a few things I've realized about bread baking over the last few weeks. Don't make it harder than it needs to be. Just because it's a no-knead recipe doesn't mean you can't use the mixer. Some of these doughs are still hard to mix by hand so let the paddle do the work and then follow the recipe as described. No one will be able to tell the difference. Technique matters. We used the no-knead pizza dough from our book Ideas In Food to make a country loaf. Stretched thin and baked quickly at high temperatures it makes delicious pizza. Proofed as a loaf in an oval pan and then transferred into a hot dutch oven and baked at 450°F for 30 minutes covered, followed by 25 minutes uncovered, it make a gorgeous country loaf. Formed into a tight log and proofed in a loaf pan, it makes a nice loaf of bread, to which you can add bacon or cheese or olives or nuts or whatever your heart desires. A good basic bread recipe is very versatile, depending on the steps you take towards baking it. Like so many things in life, you can shape it into whatever form suits your fancy. So don't stress the bread baking, just let loose and have fun with the process.

Years Past

January 28, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 28, 2017 at 11:48 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Return to Rösti

The rösti potato, a thick shredded potato pancake with a crispy crust and molten potato interior, has been chiseled into my culinary foundation. I learned to make a rösti at Park Avenue Cafe. It was trial by fire and every day I was burned. From shredding 100 large potatoes to rinsing the starch to finding, (well earning and chiseling out space) on the flattop to for 50 cast iron skillets to begin production of over 75 rösti. I cooked the potatoes in clarified butter. If I rushed a step then the rösti would transform from idyllic hash browns into clear evidence of a young cook's shortcomings. The key to the rösti is paying attention to each step and not rushing the process. I learned that I needed to get to work earlier to provide myself with the cushion needed to perfect the potatoes.

After Park Ave, I landed in the kitchen of Clio. Ken wanted to serve a rösti with roasted cod. Except he upped the game. He wanted his rösti stuffed with fresh cod brandade. A brilliant idea. And I was back on rösti duty. While the amount of production was less, my overall workload was more. Once again I learned to get to work even earlier.

Recently I was tasked with looking at the rösti again. My culinary experiences forced me to look clearly at the elements of the rösti: what kind of potato, how big, what kind of pan, what kind of fat to cook it in, and to ask if we should stuff it? Having the basics pounded into me and having intimate acquaintance with the flaws of the process allowed me to look in new directions that I might not have considered without the weight of my experiences behind me.

Years Past

January 27, 2007 (2)

January 27, 2006

January 27, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 27, 2017 at 07:00 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Crisp, Crunchy, Tender Cookies

The "Years Past" footer on our blog posts is as much for our benefit as it is for yours. We enter it manually on each post and it forces us to look at back at what we've done in the past. This can be very helpful at times. On January 26, 2016 we were playing around with using cream cheese dough rugelach dough for sugar cookies. It reminded me that I happened to have some rugelach dough in the fridge that was supposed to be for Alex's fig newton project but had been forgotten in the midst of several other projects that had taken precedence. I had been meaning to test out rolling this dough in powdered sugar for a couple of years now and it seemed like an opportune moment.

Back in the days when we worked at Clio, there was a dessert made with layers of brik (or feuille de brick) dough. The dough was simply cut out in rounds, brushed with butter and dusted on both sides with powdered sugar, before being baked in and under sheet pans. They came out as little burnished disks that reminded me were thin, crisp, buttery, and sweet. I love the idea of rolling out sugar cookies in powdered sugar to get and extra crisp texture but most dough are too sweet. Rugelach dough is not overly sweet and it has the perfect texture to create a simple cookie that you can sink your teeth into. So today I rolled some dough out in powdered sugar, dusting it heavily on the top and bottom, and then added some raw sugar on top for extra crunch. Then I baked them at 300°F for 20-22 minutes, in the style of our Bordeaux-Style Cookies in Maximum Flavor.

When I tasted one I was transported back to high school. A french bakery had opened up on Austin street, just down the block from the subway station, and we walked past it every day on our way home from the train. They had these cinnamon twists, which were long sticks of puff pastry that were impossibly crisp and buttery, with the warm heat of cinnamon and a crackly sugar coating. These cookies reminded me of them, sans the cinnamon, in all the best ways, only better. I realized that memory was what I had been chasing in the first place. The cookies had risen slightly and were crisp-tender, with the sweetness of butter and little tang from the cream cheese in the dough. The sugar gave them a delicate crunch and they were sweet without being sickly. They had a richness and full flavor that is often lacking in sugar cookies and they had a sweetness that lingered on the tongue making me want to reach for another bite. Darned near perfect, if I do say so myself.

Years Past

January 26, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 26, 2017 at 09:58 AM in Approach to Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mocha and Fruit Punch Cereal Clusters

We continue to play and explore in the doughnut kitchen. Over the weekend we dressed two new cluster doughnuts. We glazed one doughnut with our coffee glaze and topped it with our milk chocolate and cocoa pebbles crumbs, creating a mocha cluster. We topped the other with our freeze-dried red fruit glaze and sprinkled our toasted cornflakes and white chocolate crumbs over the top, creating a fruit punch cereal cluster. Both doughnuts grew from pleasurable points of reference: from coffee balanced with sweet milk chocolate to breakfast cereal studded with sweet and vibrant freeze-dried fruits.

Years Past

January 25, 2009

January 25, 2008 (2)

January 25, 2007

January 25, 2006

January 25, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 25, 2017 at 06:49 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Crazy About Carving

When I first started cooking I was exposed to large roasts carved on a Sunday buffet. The roast was an enormous beast. As my first summer of cooking continued, I was the one thinly slicing the meat for guests as they walked by. The carving station can be a place to mindlessly slice and serve meat. Or it can be the point in the process where we add an additional layer of flavor. When we have the opportunity we prepare thick cut steaks rather than chops. It allows for more browned bits and an overall faster cooking time. It allows us to carve, slice, trim and chop smaller manageable pieces of meat on the cutting board and dress them. We add herbs, flavored oil and roasted garlic cloves to the board. We slice the meat and mix it with these flavorings and its own rendered juices, creating, as Adam Perry Lang calls it, a board dressing. We add a generous dose of coarse salt and the meat is served. We serve smaller and manageable pieces of meat dripping with goodness. For the guests it removes the awkward nature of trimming meat on a smaller plate. As cooks it allows us to serve the best possible bites.

Years Past

January 24, 2007 (2)

January 24, 2006

January 24, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 24, 2017 at 04:52 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sprouted Wheat Loaf

As we dive into our daily loaf we are keeping everything constant and changing only one variable, the flour blend. In our first loaf we used 100% all purpose flour. In today's loaf we used 30% sprouted whole wheat. Past experiences would have had us adjusting the water to compensate for the usage of the sprouted grain. But that would have not allowed us to see what the results of incorporating the grain into our loaf would do on their own. Too often we make secondary and tertiary adjustments based on knowledge, perceived knowledge, and gut. While these modifications may produce delicious and, at times, unplanned positive results, they don't always properly assist us in identifying the benefiting factors.

Controlling our instincts to make more than one modification and then patiently explore the controlled results allows us to clearly identify the ramifications of each change on the original recipe. From there we can stack adjustments and see how multiple alterations benefit, degrade, or wash out in the process. In today's loaf the substitution of flour produced an equally delicious loaf to the original. It challenges the idea that additional water is needed in the formulation of our no-knead bread when using a percentage of alternative flours in the (formulation) recipe.

Years Past

January 23, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 23, 2017 at 04:44 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (2)

Large Format Loaf

When everyone likes to do something a certain way, I usually want to run in the opposite direction. Now that hard, dark crusted loaves of bread have become so commonplace that nobody's really talking about them anymore, I was ready to dive into the fray (and drag Aki in along with me). We're using our classic no-knead pizza dough recipe from our book Ideas in Food, Great Recipes and How They Work, because we know it's delicious, and focusing on the shaping and baking technique to change the finished product. This first loaf is 100% all-purpose flour, the next one will have a percentage of sprouted wheat. The classic round form is now part of the culinary vernacular, everyone seems to make round loaves in their dutch ovens. We prefer a longer oblong shape because the slices are easier to use and the crust to crumb ratio is more suited to our taste. Now is the time to explore the importance of this technique and see what we have intentionally overlooked for years.

Years Past

January 22, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 22, 2017 at 06:39 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mustard and Pumpernickel

The blending of flavors fascinates me. Changing the form of what is expected is inspiring. When we are manipulating flavors and forms we work to return to an idea that will connect with diners. What would you serve with mustard and pumpernickel noodles?

Years Past

January 21, 2008 (2)

January 21, 2007

January 21, 2006

January 21, 2006 (2)

January 21, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 21, 2017 at 06:40 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (3)

Extruding Corn Sheets

We took our corn noodles for another spin. This time instead of a specific shape we set about making rolls of corn noodles. This allows us to pick our direction from lasagna to extra wide pappardelle to hand torn rags. And with a few modifications we could have a fun hybrid tortilla.

Corn Noodles

1200 grams semolina flour

600 grams corn flour

200 grams instant masa

6.5 grams salt

6.5 grams baking soda

680 grams water

Put the semolina, corn flour, instant masa, salt and baking soda into the pasta machine and mix to distribute in the hopper. With the machine running, drizzle the water into the machine. Mix the dough for 6-7 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough after four minutes. It should begin to resemble course streusel. Squeeze the dough together in your hand. Break the dough apart. If it breaks cleanly the dough has enough water. If it crumbles, add additional water in 20-gram increments. Once the dough is the right consistency let it knead in the machine for a few minutes. If you are in a hurry you could begin extruding immediately but it's better to let it rest for in the machine for 10 minutes for ideal hydration.

Years Past

January 20, 2006 (2)

January 20, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 20, 2017 at 06:25 AM in American Noodles, Balancing Tastes | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sourdough Spaghetti

In our first book, Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work, we utilized sourdough in creations from spaetzle to waffles. Over the years we have drifted away from a commitment to sourdough. The life cycle of sourdough in an everyday kitchen leads to a fair amount of discarded starter. As we continue to pay more attention to ingredients and appreciate there value we are reminded of the importance of resourcefulness. We have made sourdough noodles before, using day old bread and water to make a paste to hydrate the semolina. In a recent workshop we fine tuned sourdough noodles using a vibrant sourdough starter as our primary hydration. We needed to add some water to the dough to fully hydrate the semolina. The noodles had a funky developed floral acidity. They were not astringent nor were they super toasty as in our bread based creations. The noodle flavor builds as you eat, remaining crush-worthy and addictive.

Years Past

January 18, 2009

January 18, 2007 (2)

January 18, 2006

January 18, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 19, 2017 at 08:22 AM in American Noodles, Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (1)

Preserved Lemon and Fresno Chili Pepper Noodles

As a whole we love lemons and spice. Preserved lemon noodles are part of our repertoire. Preserving lemons with chili flakes and onions is another staple in our kitchen. Time and circumstance lead to the combination of all the ideas in a noodle form. We pureed the lacto-lemons rather than juicing them. We strained the liquid and adjusted its amount with water to allow for a 30 percent hydration of our noodles. Once the dough was mixed we added 1 percent ground fresno chilis to the mix. The result was a redish pink noodle with a bright clean heat and a delicately rounded acidity. The noodles were a delightful improvement on our original exploits.

Years Past

January 18, 2009

January 18, 2007 (2)

January 18, 2006

January 18, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 18, 2017 at 08:42 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Best Thing About Angel Hair Pasta

...is frying up the leftovers. I love cooking lunch for one. There are often small amounts of leftovers kicking around that can be turned into very satisfying meals. In this case I used the leftover chickpea aglio olio pasta. I added a healthy does of greens, a dash of hot sauce, and an egg.

In this case, over easy is the way to go, ensuring that the white cooks while the yolk stay runny, and you still get nice crunchy noodle bits. It was not beautiful, it was savory and tasty and fun to eat alone in my kitchen. There were lots of flavors and textures happening in each bite, You'll have to take my word for the fact that the yolk was beautifully runny because once I start eating the camera is down. It was the final flourish, coating the noodles and adding it's rich goodness to the overall party for one.

Years Past

January 17, 2008 (2)

January 17, 2007

January 17, 2006

January 17, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 17, 2017 at 11:32 AM in Approach to Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fresh Milk

Fresh milk is often judged by the date stamped on the carton. Perspective changes when the milk arrives from Jersey cows with a thick creamy head in a metal milk pail on a weekly basis. The milk is alive. It has a sweetness. The bubbles in a latte appear tighter and finer. When your eyes are open to the sources and possibilities of what can actually be, a momentous shift occurs in how you see the world.

Years Past

January 16, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 16, 2017 at 08:43 PM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Weeknight Aglio Olio

Aglio Olio is a classic Italian dish. It consists of pasta, olive oil, and garlic. Many chefs also add red pepper flakes and cheese. From that base there are approximately 2.3 million variations. In our house pasta aglio olio is always different depending on who's cooking and who is eating.

This week Alex is in CA so Amaya and I immediately decided upon angel hair. This is not one of his favorites and we almost always have it when he is away. Amaya is under the impression that she doesn't like garlic so instead of the sliced garlic I would normally use, I micro-planed the fresh garlic into a generous amount of good olive oil and set it over low heat to gently warm and soften. She loves beans so I added a generous quantity of chick peas and salt to slowly cook with the garlic. When the pasta was ready I added the freshly cooked angel hair, about 1/2 cup of the cooking water, and a generous handful of parmigiano-reggiano.

I garnished the dish with more cheese, and in my case, some freshly ground black pepper. With the addition of a salad, dinner was on the table in about 15 minutes. It was rich and flavorful with a variety of textures and a bright, salty, savory bite.

Years Past

January 15, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 15, 2017 at 01:19 PM in Approach to Cooking | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tourist at Tartine Manufactuary

Years Past

January 14, 2007 (2)

January 14, 2006

January 14, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 14, 2017 at 08:35 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (1)

The More You Learn

Years Past

January 13, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 13, 2017 at 02:15 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Refining the Cruller Process

Practice and repetition are essential in evolving and fine tuning a process. Since we debuted the curiosity cruller several weeks ago we have created a growing fan base. On the production side I have been slow as molasses. My original process was to make the dough, chill the dough, let the dough come back to room-ish temperature. Then I would put the dough into a piping bag and pipe 4 doughnuts at a time onto sheets of cut parchment paper. I place the doughnuts into the fryer at 375°F and fried the doughnuts for 2 minutes. I removed the paper and fried the doughnuts for an additional 2 minutes. Finally I flipped the doughnuts and fried them for 1 minute more. I drained the crullers on a rack and dipped them in our vanilla glaze while they are still hot. I repeated the slow process. This was a tedious path to an ethereal result. I needed to improve my process.

I looked at my steps and realized I was being repetitious. I utilized the fact that the dough became firm when it was cold to allow me to handle it. To improve my process I took the warm dough and piped it onto parchment lined sheet pans that I sprayed with pan release. I cooled the dough and wrapped them in plastic wrap. When I was ready to fry the doughnuts I lifted them off the parchment and slid them into the fryer, still using my same frying times. The dough had firmed up and was easily handled when it was cold. I could lift the rings and place them easily into the fryer. I was also able to get a full dozen doughnuts into the fryer, not having to worry about pieces of parchment paper.

The resulting doughnuts were more consistent in size and shape. I was able to deliver full trays of the crullers to a wanting audience rather than dribbling out 4 at a time. Now I need to see how many crullers our audience can consume.

Years Past

January 12, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 12, 2017 at 07:15 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doughnut Dog v3

The doughnut dog continues to evolve. In v2 we used doughnut cuttings pressed together with the sliced hot dog to form a frank-fritter. The slicing of the dog, coupled with the light cornstarch coating and the pressing together with dough pieces produced what I thought was going to be the final version. Fortunately I was wrong. When I made v2 I used doughnut cuttings that I then needed to weigh to equal a doughnut. I used these pieces to randomly organize the cornstarch dusted hot dog slices between them. The form was a fritter. But it was not an efficient process. And the doughnut trimmings I had used were generated because of a weird short week at the shop and would not be readily available in our existing processes.

I was cutting doughnuts and contemplating our next steps when I looked down at a tray of our doughnut clusters, our assemblage of eight doughnut holes into a flower-like doughnut. I realized I could use these beauties as the base for the dog. I was slicing the dogs into eight pieces and the clusters were comprised of eight holes. Serendipity. I cut the dogs up, dusted them with cornstarch and pressed them into the clusters. I covered the doughnut dogs and put a single sheet pan on top of them to put some light pressure on the dogs to set them in place in the doughnut. I refrigerated the doughnut dogs overnight. The following day I set about frying them. The dog pieces held in place as the dough grew and rose in and around them. It appeared as if our clusters were blooming hot dog flowers and, like a certain blooming onion, you can pull apart these clusters into individual bites of hot dog and doughnut for easy sharing or devouring.

Years Past

January 11, 2011

January 11, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 11, 2017 at 06:43 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (1)

Morning Routine

Usually I wake up at 4:30 in the morning. Sometimes my internal clock beats my alarm. I stumble, bleary eyed to the bathroom and then downstairs to press the button on the coffee machine. I check texts, twitter, email and instagram with sleep clouded eyes as the coffee brews. (The digital world has a solid grip, addictive yes, on my daily routine. I consider working on addressing the problem and then guiltily discard the thoughts for another time.) I do 50 push ups, with 50 more to follow after my cup of coffee.

The previous day I will have emailed myself photographs of ideas, inspirations and stuff we are working with that I will examine and write about on our website. The day, or days before are the collection step in my morning writing process. The stumbling block is if I have not captured anything or have run down my resources of ideas. Those mornings are tough. The draw of the digital world quickly pulls me away from my writing and drives me to distraction. I easily go for the ride because my mental reserve is empty.

I work to draw myself back into the writing. It is not easy. The digital world is easy. Click, scan, scoff, repeat. My process starts by taking a thought, an idea, a path and following it. Exploring the observations and insights we come across and connecting them to other ideas. It's a process and one that has its ups and downs. The key is doing it every morning, making it a habit, having a routine. It keeps me focused and I have found that this small change has allowed me greater freedom in the rest of my day. I generate enough material so that an odd day spent floating through the internet doesn't derail the entire process. My routine gives me freedom and that gives me the incentive to stick with it.

Years Past

January 10, 2007

January 10, 2006 (2)

January 10, 2005

Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work

Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table

Posted on January 10, 2017 at 04:43 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Combining Candy Bars

Traditionally we eat one candy bar, followed by another, and then another. Especially if it is the miniature versions left in candy bowls around the holidays. The leftover candies are either dispersed or put into a container to be used for some higher purpose. Inevitably that higher purpose is to be chopped up and baked into a cookies, brownies, blondies, cakes and pies. The combination of candies and baked goods in often dependent on what is around and what is currently being craved.

The other day I was hit up with the request to make chocolate pudding topped with whipped cream and either butterfingers or heath bars. The choice was mine. The candy was supposed to provide textural contrast and flavor bombs in the pudding. As I contemplated the options I wondered why not use both? The two candies, that I would rarely if ever combine on my own, sounded amazing together. The flaky peanut butter combined with the harder crunchy toffee of the the Heath. The more I thought, and fantasized, the more I wondered why we had never tried this before.

I went to the cupboard to see if we had either candy bar stashed away. We did not, so i went to the store on my mission. I returned home with more bars than we needed. I was driven and consumed by the idea. I gave one of each bar to Amaya and said "Hulk, smash." Actually I gave her a spoon and said "please smash these bars perfectly, without destroying the packaging." Her response, "Daddy, nothing is perfect." Amaya set in on her task. When the bars were crushed to mine and her satisfaction we opened them into a bowl and mixed the coarse contents together. We tasted the combination and we both smiled. The blending of Heath Bars and Butterfingers was one of those matches made to happen. It only took a few years to get there.

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January 9, 2016

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January 9, 2008

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Posted on January 09, 2017 at 04:52 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Teetering On The Edge

Cooking is all about execution. Give five people the same recipe and access to the same ingredients and no two dishes will turn exactly the same. It's a fact that we are constantly making small changes and adjustments as we cook, even if we don't realize that we are doing it. The small details are where we express ourselves. Our ability to push the edges are what define the meals we cook. Many of us know that the most flavor is to be found in those few seconds before the garlic burns. How close we are willing to come to that flavor line is up to the individual. Many people will err on the side of caution, going for a lightly toasted or even golden brown color that adds flavor without emphasis. Many will push too far and face the decision of whether or not to throw away the contents of their pan and start over or risk an acrid bitter flavor permeating the dish. But those who can sense the edge and pull the pan just shy of burning are rewarded with deep flavors that can elevate their dish into something truly special. Greatness can be achieved at any level, it's the individual who decides how close to the edge they want to live.

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January 8, 2016

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Posted on January 08, 2017 at 05:58 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thinly Sliced Jalapeno

We thinly slice jalapeno peppers with our cucumber slicer. The slicer has been an essential tool in our kitchen for years. It allows us to slice jalapenos, and other vegetables transparently thin. The extremely thin and consistent slices allow us to blanket foods, like my omelette, in fresh, spicy jalapeno. Each bite has a bright, grassy, hot bite of raw pepper. In the past our hand cut or mandolin-sliced peppers have been a little too thick and led to sensory overload. By slicing the peppers as thin as properly sliced prosciutto the experience improves from a pepper-dominated mouthful to a memorable flavor exchange.

Years Past

January 7, 2016

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January 7, 2009

January 7, 2007

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January 7, 2005

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Posted on January 07, 2017 at 06:10 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Creme Brulee Doughnut

It was a small step forward to apply our caramel glass to our vanilla pudding stuffed doughnut, creating our creme brulee doughnut. Using the caramel sugar enables us to apply an even layer of caramel. Since the sugar is already caramelized we only need to re-melt it into place rather than hammer it with heat to caramelize it. You get to experience the three layers of crisp sugar, creamy pudding, and tender doughnuts in each delicious bite. Using the pulverized caramel is functional and delicious and allows us to recreate a classic dessert as a new doughnut experience.

Years Past

January 6, 2016

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January 6, 2005

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Posted on January 06, 2017 at 06:15 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS, Curiosity Doughnuts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Caramel Glass Doughnuts

We made a medium amber caramel and poured it into a sheet pan to set as a large sheet of glass. When it was cool we pulverized the caramel into a fine granular sugar. We sprinkled the sugar on the doughnuts while they were still warm. The caramel sugar stuck to the doughnuts. Afterwards we used a blowtorch to melt the caramel again. It formed a fine crisp layer of caramel on the outside of the doughnut. A shiny layer of sweet caramel glass to sink your teeth into to get to the tender insides.

Years Past

January 5, 2016

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January 5, 2005

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Posted on January 05, 2017 at 04:45 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doughnut Dog v2

The original doughnut dog did not delight me. I believed that combining two delicious elements would magically created a super delicious result. Form plays a large factor in the flavor perception experience. For our second version we interlaced sliced hot dog and doughnut cuttings into a doughnut dog fritter. The assemblage allowed the dog and the doughnut to be separate and together. The flavor of the dog infused the doughnut. The doughnut supports the dog. Both became crispy on the outside and tender and decadent on the inside.

The difficulty is sharing the dog with our audience. The idea is still a bit over the top, if not delicious. Actually it's not the sharing with the audience. I believe it is more of a connecting with the audience and having the audience want to indulge.

Years Past

January 4, 2016

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Posted on January 04, 2017 at 04:31 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (4)

Stuffed Cookies

When I was first exposed to these cookies, Aki made them with frozen marshmallows inside. As they baked, the marshmallows melted and busted out, creating a two toned appearance and chewy texture. I wondered about how they would be made with peppermint patties? Aki humored my call.

When they baked up the patties did not melt out like the marshmallows. The cool two toned appearance was not there. I was disappointed. Until I took a bite. The patty was hidden perfectly in the center. A surprise that brought a smile to my face. Now begins the trials of what else we can hide inside a cookie? Perhaps, another cookie.

Years Past

January 3, 2016

January 3, 2015

January 3, 2012

January 3, 2006 (2)

January 3, 2005

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Posted on January 03, 2017 at 05:43 AM in Approach to Cooking, Cookie Counter, INSPIRATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0)

Burnt Sugar Syrup

Burning sugar is not usually part of the plan. But it does happen. Then we can take the opportunity to examine it more closely. Inhaling the aroma and peering into the depths of its darkness. If we don't toss the pot immediately, we can take some time to see the possibilities in the essence of burnt sugar. In fact there is a product called burnt sugar essence that seems to be a pale imitation of the real thing. Simply adding some water to burnt sugar to rehydrate it into a syrup creates a new ingredient to explore.

Where do we use sugar? What are we using it for? Would we prefer a sugar with a more robust flavor and a bitter edge? When cooking vegetables many chefs add a pinch of sugar to bring out the sweetness. We often shy away from this in our own kitchen because adding sugar seems to make them insipidly sweet in a way that steaming or caramelizing the natural sugars in the vegetables does not. The use of burnt sugar syrup allows us to add a deep range of flavor, with sweetness being the last element to hit your tongue, rather than the first. The syrup has a dark complexity. It adds backbone to cocktails and sauces. It is no wonder caramel color is added to many prepared foods and drinks. In our case the dark caramel color is actually a flavoring that punctuates the preparation.

Years Past

January 2 2016

January 2, 2015

January 2, 2012

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Posted on January 02, 2017 at 05:11 AM in Approach to Cooking, Balancing Tastes, CULINARY EVOLUTIONS | Permalink | Comments (2)

Printing Ravioli

When I spent the day in the Arcobaleno test kitchen I was given the opportunity to begin to learn how their bigger machinery works. I was given a hands-on tour of their multi-function machine, the AMF 160. It is designed for serious pasta production, revolving around sheeted noodles. The machine mixes and extrudes rolls of dough. It can then cut noodles and form ravioli of many shapes and sizes. What is the purpose of playing with this machine? To learn and to discover. I had no idea about the functional simplicity of the technology. The machine is huge, efficient, and easy to clean. If I was entertaining making ravioli and large scale pasta production I would be all over this machine. Of course, looking at its size and capabilities, I do wonder if it's possible to make one smaller that would fit in our test kitchen.

Happy New Year's everyone! Thanks for joining us here at Ideas in Food. We are looking forward to a new season of change, creativity, and inspiration. Warmest wishes for the new year!

Years Past

January 1, 2016

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Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work