Better Late Than Never

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I Forgot To Mention...

in all my *ahem* years of existence, tonight was the first time I've ever come across a maraschino cherry pit.

Act of Desperation or Stroke of Genius?

Why not both? Wanting a cocktail, but out of ice, I decided to use some frozen peaches that as an ice substitute. It added a nice taste to my Manhattan, and now I have some lovely bourbon-soaked peaches to make ice cream with.

Spring Fling Experiment

This was really tasty, though not yet in its final form. It's a mango gel sheet, pineapple coconut pearl tapioca, raspberries, maraschino brulee, and lime sugar. Wild Sweets Chocolate has a recipe for a hot fruit gelee using agar and gelatin. When warm, it should make a wonderful wrap. The pineapple and coconut may end up as separate components as I'm not particularly happy with how the tapioca turned out. More than likely I'll end up doing a coconut jelly and just brunoise some pineapple. Over all, a pretty successful experiment that I'll be trying again soon.

It Feels A Little Like Christmas

Martin Lersch at Khymos has updated his hydrocolloid recipe collection. It's a wonderful resource for learning how to use the chemicals commonly associated with molecular cuisine. Download it and start playing with your food today.

Smoking In Manhattan

...is illegal, but smoking a Manhattan is perfectly acceptable. To make sure some of the smokiness made it to the drink, I first placed the ice in a Mason jar, laid it on its side, and smoked the jar with cherry wood. Then I placed it in the refrigerator to absorb some of the smoke. I went ahead and measured out my liquor, some wonderful Maker's Mark bourbon (as an ambassador, I say unto you, when drinking bourbon, drink Maker's Mark) and sweet vermouth, trying to minimize smoke loss when it came time to open the jar.

Since I didn't have any maraschino cherries, but I did have the juice, I mixed it with some sodium alginate, and decorated the glass. I also bruleed a bit of the mixture and used it to rim the glass. The maraschino brulee was pretty damn tasty on its own. I'll have to find another application for it sometime.

Next I popped the lid to the jar, poured in the liquor, then tilted the jar and smoked it one more time. An appropriate shake time, and then sweet inebriation. It's a little more work than I care to put into every cocktail, but the smokiness and the maraschino brulee added a little extra something to the first Manhattan of the evening.

Smoked Salad

Sometimes you just can't help playing with your toys. In this case I made a fairly simple spinach salad with bacon, mushroom, and cheddar cheese. I usually add pecans, but since I didn't have any, I decided to smoke the whole thing with pecan wood. I let the smoke infuse for about ten minutes. The smokiness was pretty subtle, though a little more pronounced when I took a bite with mushroom. The bacon was cooked on the stove top on medium heat so as to render the fat. I deglazed the pan with an appropriate amount of apple cider vinegar so that I had a nice warm vinaigrette. While not ready for fine dining, still a damn fine dinner.

Smoked French Fries, The Second Time Around

So I was feeling lazy and hungry and succumbed to the temptation of fast food, in this case Mcdonald's. Since I got some fries, I thought I may as well smoke 'em. I dumped them in a bowl, covered in plastic wrap, and smoked them with applewood. They were even better than normal. Now to figure out if it worked this time because the fries are thin, because they're actually fried as opposed to baked, because I used a different smoke, some combination of all these, or none of them.

Pesce & Peche

Orange roughy, peaches, tea caviar & spaetzle. I cooked the fish & peaches sous-vide, 15 minutes at 125 degrees. The tea caviar is the tea/alginate mixture left over from the other night, dropped into a 1% calcium chloride solution for a minute, then fished out and rinsed with cold tap water. The spaetzle is just a basic spaetzle recipe. It's garnished with a little chili oil and mint oil. I'll have to try this again, but low roast the fish & peaches instead, perhaps adding a bit more liquid. That's the problem with having to use a FoodSaver instead of a fancy commercial vacuum sealer. Sure, I could freeze any liquid before adding it to the bag, but I don't always have that kind of prep time.

Putting It Another Way

I strained the coconut milk and reheated it, placed it in an N2O siphon. It thickened up slightly, but I think I may not have allowed it to sit long enough to achieve whipped cream consistency.


The cellophane noodles were softened in warm water and sauteed in chili oil. Not the best idea I've had as I now dread having to clean that skillet.


While not terrible, it didn't stand up to the previous night's version.

In The Mood For Food Porn?

Today I received the book Wild Sweets Chocolate by Dominique & Cindy Duby, and all I can say is, WOW! Even if I never actually cook anything from it, I feel I am a better cook for just having seen the beauty and ideas contained within its pages.

Coconut-Poached Catfish

Catfish poached in coconut milk, garlic, cilantro, lemongrass, coriander seeds, cloves, Chinese fivespice, and the lemon sugar mixture left over from the tea experiment. The fish was seasoned with salt & cayenne for a little bit of heat. After the fish was ready, I reduced the liquid down to use as a sauce. Served with cellophane noodles, this was a wonderful dish worth making often.

Needs Work

The tea/alginate solution wasn't quite thick enough to allow me to make the ravioli-like spheres that I wanted. Hopefully a night in the chill chest will give me better results tomorrow. The adornment is a lemon zest & sugar mixture.

Smoked French Fries

An idea from ideasinfood, I used a recipe for oven fries from Cook's Illustrated and added hickory using the handheld smoker. The hickory didn't add as much flavor as I would have liked. The other issue is that smoking the fries like this is that they steam when wrapped up, losing some of their crispness. Next time I'll try smoking the potatoes before baking.

Ratatouille You Might Not Recognize - Iterations 1 and 1.5

Eggplant, zucchini, red bell pepper, onion, tomato, & parsley, all ingredients in a traditional ratatouille. I pureed the bell pepper in my trusty Vita-mix, strained and added 1%, by weight, sodium alginate. Then the puree gets spread out and misted with a 5% calcium lactate solution. Next I juiced some onions, then mixed the juice with agave nectar. This was necessary since onion juice has a bit of a bite, and not the sweetness onion takes on when cooked. This mixture is brought to a boil and tapioca pearls are added. Pearl onions! Andrew from Top Chef deserves a nod for hipping me to tapioca pearls. The zucchini is cut into matchsticks and pickled in lemon juice and rice wine vinegar. I used the caviar from the tomato, since it is supposed to be high in umami. The parsley coulis is taken from The French Laundry Cookbook. The eggplant was marinated in balsamic vinegar in a FoodSaver Marinator. This thing is nice since the vacuum forces apart the tissue, or in this case the fiber, of whatever is being marinated, allowing deeper penetration of the marinade. Then I fried it.

Overall it was okay, but needs tweaking. The bell pepper had the texture of Ethiopian bread, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The pearl onions didn't cook all the way through, which is. The ingredients when combined on the fork just didn't do it for me.

Here we have mostly the same ingredients, but I didn't fry the eggplant, and I accidentally left off the pearl onions. This iteration definitely tasted better. So frying is not the way to go.

While preparing this dish, it occurred to me that there are few different techniques I would like to try out, such as dehydrating the bell pepper, and roasting the onions before juicing. So you will be seeing this dish again.

On a philosophical note, how much can you deconstruct and reconstruct a dish and still have it be the same dish?

Semi-Successful Experiment

Colorado Bulldog in foam form. I mixed an ounce of vodka and an ounce of Kahlua with half a pack of gelatin. Substituting cream for milk, I add four ounces and two ounces of cola. Put it in an N2O siphon, and let it chill for an hour. It may have been enough just having the cream in the mix, because the final product was too thick to be dispensed properly with the siphon. I'll definitely have to try again, as it was like eating coffee-flavored alcoholic Cool Whip.

Overheard Today

"I need a knife skills class for meat. The only vegetable I need to know how to cut is a french fry."

Bravo For Blais

OK, bad pun, but it was nice to see Richard Blais win not only the Quickfire Challenge, but also win, along with Dale, the Elimination Challenge on this week's Top Chef. His dishes are always interesting and inspiring. Hell, I even went out and finally purchased Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory after the film food episode. It would be awesome to one day have the opportunity to work for him.

We're Gonna Need A Bigger Bowl

I finally found a handheld electric smoker at a local head shop. Fans of Top Chef may have seen Richard Blais use a similar model, as well as Katsuya Fukushima during Iron Chef America Battle Goat. I need to get a bigger bowl for the thing as the one it came with isn't quite large enough. I broke out the aluminum foil and improvised one. It worked better than I expected.
Sous-vide mahi mahi, braised swiss chard, lemon powder. The fish wasn't bad though it probably would have been better prepared another way, but I felt like playing. The chard was just braised with lemon juice. The powder is lemon oil and tapioca maltodextrin. After plating the chard and fish I wrapped the plate with plastic wrap and smoked it with the same Tazo tea that I have previously used to poach orange roughy. I let it stay wrapped for about five minutes. When I removed the film, the nice aroma of the tea wafted out after imparting a subtle flavor to the fish.
For dessert, I melted some chocolate, and using balloons, I made little bowls. I mixed some strawberries and 8-year old balsamic vinegar, tossed them in a siphon, and added some CO2 to carbonate them. Some superquick strawberry ice cream and creme fraiche, et voila, a really good ending to a meal.

Chemical Cocktails

Apple Martini gelled with agar. Not so good.

Colorado bulldog. Vodka and Kahlua thickened with xanthan gum, milk gelled with iota carrageenan, cola caviar.

While I liked the presentation of the shotglass, serving on the spoon is a better idea, being easier to ingest.

Cola Caviar

Preparing for an excursion into molecular mixology, I made some cola caviar following a recipe from the hydrocolloid recipe collection on khymos. They turned out very well, though I did have to strain the cola/alginate mixture to remove some clumps. While I made them to go in a Colorado Bulldog, it was pointed out to me that they would also go well with vanilla ice cream, playing with the idea of a coke float.

Night of the Living Leftovers

Porc au poivre, applewood-smoked potatoes, chipotle-pomegranate molasses. Still tasty.

Apples & Cream

Applewood-smoked potato puree, spinach, porc au poivre. The pork loin chops were prepared in the manner of Alton Brown's steak au poivre, with the chops taking the place of the steaks, and Calvados instead of Cognac.
The potatoes were first peeled and cut into eighths, then boiled in salted water until tender. They were then placed in a stovetop smoker with applewood chips. I smoked them for about 25 minutes, then used a ricer. Next I worked in warm cream and butter while working the potatoes over with a stick blender until proper consistency was achieved.
This was also the first time I flambeed. Usually I substitute apple juice for Calvados, but I thought I'd try something more adventurous. I say that because I have a small apartment kitchen where the possibility of unintentional damage is high since the microwave is mounted a scant 18 inches above the stovetop. I lit the brandy using a match held in a pair of tongs, and was glad that I didn't try to hold the match in my hand, as that would have ended badly. As it was, I think I let the alcohol burn too long and should try to swirl the fire out earlier next time.
After all that, the flavors were good, the pepper and smoke played really well together, though such strong tastes run the risk of blowing the palate out. A peach sorbet would have been a nice way to end.

Flank Steak With Chipotle-Pomegranate Reduction

Flank steak roasted then seared with a blowtorch, sauteed black beans and roasted red peppers, cellophane noodles, chipotle-pomegranate reduction, chiffonade of cilantro.
I was lazy and used roasted red peppers from a jar. Fresh definitely would have been better, as they would have added a needed crunch. And while the chipotle gave a nice heat, the sweetness of the pomegranate was a little more prominent than I would have liked. I probably used too much of the reduction, though that was because the sauce was not as thick as I wanted it to be. I unfortunately didn't have time to let the sauce rest before plating. Ah well, it's a learning experience.

Something Like Eggs Benedict

Purple asparagus, whole wheat toast, pork loin chop, fried egg, and of course, hollandaise sauce. Not exactly the transmogrification that got Wylie his third New York Times' star, but still a damn good dinner.

My Practical...

went very well. The instructor enjoyed my cream of mushroom soup with black truffle whipped cream, and the asparagus with hollandaise. I finished that with a little lemon-infused fleur de sel. While she was tasting my preparations, she asked me if I worked in a fine-dining restaurant. I told her I did not. She then asked me if I had any interest in working in one, to which I wanted to reply "hellz YEAH!!!", but I probably just said, "I would love to."
On a different note, I have two recommendations to make. First, if you're looking for a REALLY good scotch, I highly recommend MacAllen's 17 year old. I'm not really a scotch drinker, but this was so good...
The other thing is if you're looking for a wonderful dining experience in Memphis, TN then by all means check out Erling Jensen.

SUCCESS!!!

After three attempts, I was finally able to make a hollandaise that didn't break. Since I wasn't sure how it would turn out, I didn't make anything to have it with, so I just scrambled some eggs. Honestly though, I would have been happy just having it with a spoon.

Hollandaise Work

The reason for the clarified butter. Making it wasn't bad. The recipe did contain a step that makes no sense to me. After reducing some champagne vinegar with salt and cracked peppercorns au sec, I'm supposed to remove from heat and add cold water. Then I pass the reduction through a fine strainer into a bowl. Makes sense so far. But then I'm suppose to use a spatula to make sure I transfer all the flavoring material into the bowl. If I do that, what was the point of straining? The sauce had the consistency of homemade mayonnaise, which makes sense given that hollandaise is essentially a warm mayonnaise. It looks good in the picture. It broke five minutes later. Ah well. Better luck tomorrow. Next time, I'll have to try this, or, you know, not screw it up.

Something Beautiful

The beginning...


and the end. Clarified butter is a beautiful thing.

Practice 2.0

Tonight's soup was FRIGGIN' AWESOME!!! If I do say so myself. I used a different chicken stock (unfortunately not enough time for fresh homemade), a saute pan instead of a saucepot, added a little nutmeg, and damn, it was tasty. The black truffle cream was a nice touch to put it over the top.

Practicing For The Practical

Cream of mushroom soup is one of the three things I have to prepare for my practical exam in my basic food prep class. This first practice batch, while edible, I feel lacked the appropriate body. While making a truffle whipped cream to top it, I discovered rancid white truffle oil, well, it don't taste so good.

The Mother Sauce Equations

White roux + Milk = Bechamel
Blond roux + White stock = Veloute
Brown roux + Brown stock = Espagnole
Egg yolks + Butter = Hollandaise
Roux (optional) + Tomato(s) = Tomato Sauce

Thank you George Clinton

What We've Made In Class So Far

Ratatouille - rustic style, not the confit byaldi Remy makes in the movie.
Deep-fried chicken breast strips
French fries
Clarified butter
Basic white stock
Basic brown stock
Minestrone
Fumet - fish fumet is redundant.
Puree of split pea soup
Cream of broccoli soup
Beef consomme
French onion soup gratinee
Shrimp bisque
Crab chowder with basil
Bechamel sauce
Macaroni & cheese
Chicken veloute
Cream of mushroom soup
Sauce Espagnole
Vegetarian tomato sauce
Eggplant Parmigiana

One Of The Great Things About Food...

there are no mistakes, only discoveries. And sometimes they're even edible!
While trying to make an apple foam, I accidentally use 4% methylcellulose and xanthan gum, instead of .4% as prescribed by Wylie Dufresne on the Next Iron Chef. So I just kept adding apple juice until I got a consistency that I liked, poured the mixture into a silicone demi-sphere mold and froze it. It had a texture similar to a granita, and tasted like apple sauce. Something I will definitely have to try again, maybe with the strawberries left over from Valentine's.

Valentine's Dinner

Sous-vide salmon, following the advice of Sean Brock, with orange-basil sauce, porcini rice with spinach.Coffee foam, chocolate-covered strawberries, champagne & strawberries. I tried to make chocolate cigarettes, but alas, that didn't work out so well.

New Food Science Column

The Washington Post has an exciting new column called The Gastronomer.

Superquick Ice Cream

Beautiful in its simplicity, amazing in its obviousness (once I heard about it), Ferran Adria's recipe for superquick ice cream is one of the greatest things I've found. While written with frozen strawberries, any pound of frozen fruit will do. For that matter frozen vegetables would probably work too, though I am not yet ready to try broccoli ice cream. I have tried strawberries, peaches, and blueberries, pictured here. All were delicious.It would be interesting to try using frozen corn and sour cream, instead of strawberries and yogurt, to create a garnish for chili.

A Strange Combination, And Yet...

My favorite grocery store recently had a coupon for seafood that I felt I had to take advantage of, and so I purchased some Arctic char. Having never cooked char before, I turned to the internet for advice and recipes. I decided to go with this one, as I do rather enjoy chipotle and lime. Alas, I had no ground chipotle, so I used ancho instead. I also had to use the broiler method because, well, I don't have a grill. It turned out alright, though I think 2 tablespoons of salt is a bit too much.
No big surprise, the ancho and lime got me to thinking about Latin flavors. I had purchased some avocados to experiment with, and now seemed a perfect time to try something a little peculiar. I cut up and mashed an avocado, and then mixed in a packet of hot chocolate. A quick Google search shows that this is not that odd a combination, but it's a pretty safe bet that the manner I used is not a normal one. I suppose I thinking about guacamole, with emphasis on the mole. This was not the most appetizing-looking thing, so I added a bit of food coloring.
This was used to coat some egg noodles. Dinner was finished with corn seasoned with salt and liquid smoke.
Overall, I think it was pretty tasty. All the flavors played well with each other, especially when all the components were on the fork at the same time, but could probably use a bit of tweaking.

Kitchen Zen

Always remember, "A falling knife has no handle."

Does this make it Pop Punk Cuisine?

A local community college has a good culinary program, and so in an effort to better myself, and learn proper technique, I have enrolled. I still plan on continuing with my own experiments, so not all my DIY cred is gone, but I am now an official culinary student.

Meat, and how to cook it

Occasionally, I'll pick up a cut of meat from the grocery store that I'm not entirely sure how to best prepare; should it be braised or broiled? Can I grill it? Thanks to this site, now I don't have to wonder as much.

Sur Sous Vide

Since an actual immersion circulator is a bit out of my price range, I make due, quite nicely I believe, with a probe thermometer and a 12-quart stockpot. Circulation is provided by my left arm and a wooden spoon.
Again I made steak (I AM from Texas, after all). I vacuum-sealed it for my protection with my handy-dandy FoodSaver, and following their suggestion, I heated the water to 165F. They also suggest that cooking for 10 minutes will give you a nice medium-rare steak, though I left mine in for 12 minutes, since the last time I did this 10 minutes got me rare instead, which I prefer but I know it's not for everybody.
Out of the water, but still in the bag. You can see all the juices that would have been lost if I had used more traditional methods. Now to hit it with a blowtorch, and voila!
Cut it open, and...

OOOOOO, pretty!!!
Worth checking out is this thread over on eGullet.