Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas

Or at least a festive drink.

Friday Night Supper Club

Sous-vide steak with sweet pea puree, carrots, and an all-crust potato gratin from Michel Richard's Happy in the Kitchen. The gratin didn't turn out quite the way I expected. I need to try it again. Overall, dinner was very tasty.
Searing off the steaks. Thought it might be nice to include an action shot.

Testing New Equipment

Alder-smoked salmon made with a stove-top smoker, which worked great, and risotto made with a pressure cooker which didn't, though it may be because I have an electric stovetop.

Fun With Chemistry

Tomato juice gelled with agar, poached in olive oil, and topped with basil powder. The powder was created by mixing basil oil with tapioca maltodextrin. It was pretty tasty.

What Happiness Looks Like

Again with the orange

Orange roughy poached in Tazo Wild Sweet Orange Tea and a sauce made from the poaching tea mixed with xanthan gum, with an orange gel cube made of orange juice and agar, mixed greens salad with a lemon vinaigrette. The lemon was too pronounced. I should have watered it down some.

Sometimes It's the Simple Things...

Homemade wheat bread & a fried egg. That's good stuff!

First Attempt at Caviar

Most were nice & round, with the occasional blob. I used a pomegranate juice cocktail. timing is very important, as some of the caviar took on a rather nasty taste if they sat too long in the calcium bath. Definitely a technique that requires a bit of practice, but a lot of fun.

My Chemical Romance

No modern kitchen is complete without a few hydrocolloids around. These were purchased from Le Sanctuaire.

I'm sorry

I feel the need to publicly apologize to the chickens that I butchered in order to make stock for the first time. The stock turned out well, but man, those poor chickens.