Archive for January, 2010
Crystal Blue Persuasion
January 24th, 2010
I’m not kidding about the color in Brittany. Everything is blue. It’s a cinematographer’s wet dream, a palette of dark blues, light blues and blue grays that forces everyone to unconsciously dress to match the surroundings. Against a background of ocean and sky, I look around at my crew and realize that all of us are appropriately and exclusively garbed in near matching shades of navy and gunmetal. You don’t think about it. When you wake up in Brittany, somehow, the color orange never occurs to you. Heading out the door in yellow or bright green or even brown would feel disrespectful of the elements.
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Sourdough Waffles
January 23rd, 2010
When you have a sourdough starter at home you eventually realize that there is only so much bread you can bake. We have enjoyed looking at other uses for "the beast" and breakfast was a good starting point. Make sure your starter is well fed and thick for making this waffle batter. The lactic tang in the first bite jars your taste buds and the last of the sleep left in you departs as your senses demand that attention be paid to the meal at hand. The waffles themselves are a starting point, happily supporting sweet butter, maple syrup, honey, fresh berries, softly whipped cream, dark chocolate, salty caviar, and almost any other ingredient you fancy at your breakfast table.
Sourdough Waffles
1000 grams thick sourdough starter
110 grams whole egg
50 grams butter
50 grams maple syrup
5 grams salt
5 grams baking soda
Place the butter and the maple syrup in a pan. Put the pan
onto the heat on medium to just melt the butter. Wisk the egg yolks together
with the salt and then stir them into the sourdough starter. Once the eggs are
incorporated stir in the melted butter and syrup mixture. Finally add the
baking soda and stir the mixture to combine.
Cook the waffles in a waffle iron until golden brown. Serve
with butter and syrup.
Cravings
January 22nd, 2010
There is nothing like a good steak. My sweet tooth blossomed with pregnancy, and I enjoyed desserts in a way that I haven’t in years. I abhorred fish in any form except for a desperate craving for raw oysters and french fries, still unsatisfied as a matter of fact, that I sidestepped with fried oysters because I just wasn’t willing to risk raw seafood during gestation. Anyway I digress, I’m talking about cravings and the only constant before, during and after pregnancy is my craving for a good steak. It hits periodically and although the actual steak may change with what’s available, the desire for properly cooked red meat never seems to vary.
A great steak needs nothing else. The potatoes, spinach, salad, etc are simply decoration. They may be delicious on their own but beside a beautifully cooked piece of beef they seem to fade into the woodwork, taking up space in my stomach that could be filled with meat. I still stand by a simple cast iron pan, lightly coated with salt and heated till it just begins to smoke. Drop in a thick steak, lower the heat to medium, and turn often. I got this technique (the continuous flipping of the meat) from Harold McGee ten years ago and never looked back. Constant turning not only cooks the meat more quickly and evenly, it helps develop a beautiful, even caramelization on both sides of the steak. Let the beef rest on a warm plate topped with some good butter, pour a glass of decadent red wine, and then enjoy. The meat develops an almost crisp salty crust, giving way to the rich meat and mineral-ly juices. There’s nothing else quite like it. The dry aged prime steaks pictured here are from our local Whole Foods (local being a relative term as it’s in Princeton, NJ), our most recent go-to butcher, and they were delicious. Take my word for it.
The Teapot
January 21st, 2010
As opposed to the tea kettle. The tea kettle being what you use to boil water for your tea. There’s one I have my eye on but I haven’t taken the plunge yet. On the other hand I really needed a good teapot. Winter is in full swing and there’s nothing like a cup of tea to warm my bones on a chilly afternoon. I had a few requirements. It needed to be insulated so that tea wouldn’t cool off before I could drink it and it needed to do its job well and be easily cleaned. The solution was the this teapot from Bonjour. It’s not perfect (is anything?) but it does make a damn fine cup of tea. I’ve only had it for a few days but it has already brewed several cups for me. One of the hazards of having a toddler is that more cups end up cold on the counter instead of warm in my tummy.
The teapot has a stainless steel, perforated well in the center for the tea leaves and a plunger that allows you to stop steeping when the tea is strong enough to suit your taste. The plunger can be a bit awkward and in spite of this, the teapot works beautifully and I have no complaints. It’s on the expensive side, as teapots go, although I considered it an investment. If I’m going to spend the money on premium tea leaves I ought to have a proper pot to brew them in. Now I do and not a moment too soon because it’s the little pleasures that make my day feel special.
Skate, Smoke, Savoy and Citrus
January 20th, 2010
We brined the skate wing before we vacuum sealed it and cooked it at 55°C for thirty minutes. Then we chilled the fish down in ice water and laid it flat. There was a beauty to the white wing with pockets of savory fish jelly surrounding it.
In our first version of the dish we melted some butter in a pan and slid a piece of the wing and allowed it to brown on one side and heat through. We warmed our smoked clams and cabbage leaves in their mingled juices. A knob of butter, some Meyer lemon zest and a squeeze of the juice finished the ragout. We placed the wing on a plate, folding it over so that the diner could see part of the pristine white flesh and some of the caramelized side. The ragout and the lemony clam juices were spooned over the top.
The dish was delicate, the skate soft and meaty, the clams salty and flavorful like tender bacon lardons, with the cabbage offering a textural crunch paired with a sweet green grassy flavor. The touch of citrus accented the main elements and completed the dish.
Cocoa Nib-Buckwheat Pannacotta, Honey Marshmallows, Cocoa Brownies, Milk Chocolate Crunch Candy & Shuna’s Famous Hot Fudge Sauce
January 19th, 2010
Cocoa Nib-Buckwheat Pannacotta, Honey Vanilla Bean Marshmallows, Cocoa Brownies, Milk Chocolate-Cocoa Nib-Buckwheat Crunch Candy, Fried Kasha & Shuna’s Famous Hot Fudge Sauce
Chocolate.
they say it’s easy.
Chocolate. Who doesn’t love chocolate?
Most people love chocolate. They don’t like it, they adore it. They lust it. They obsess over it. They travel thousands of miles for it like Valhalla. They write off the carbon footprint. Because, really, who can grow chocolate in their back yard?
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OK, so there are people who don’t like chocolate. But they don’t just not like it. They hate it.
Chocolate.
See my point? Chocolate is passionate. Opinionated. Strong. Beautiful. Dark. Libraries of flavour; nuanced, swathed in translucent layers, nude underneath. Just beyond reach. All sex and no awkward in the morning. Pleasure without excuse.
Chocolate.
It’s iconic. Brick solid. No, more so. Marble granite earth volcanic lava black loam river silt blood deep sea ocean black. Solid. Deep. Inexplicable. Ineffable. Chocolate has more metaphors than love & hate together.
C H O C O L A T E
Fuck you and your chocolate self. O I know you can handle it. You’re chocolate for g-d’s sake. No last name. Just Chocolate. See, you can’t even put ‘just’ in front of chocolate. Won’t stand for it. Won’t allow it. Bounces back like rubber. Puts up one hand. Stares you down.
You melt. Into nothing. It’s you who can’t handle chocolate. Not the other way around.
And so. Exhausted. Beaten. Into submission or malleable, tempered, molecular-ly re-aligned, surrender you go, dragging your weary humble self to chocolate. ‘hello,’ you manage weakly, ‘what will you let me do with you?’
And if.
if you’re really lucky. if chocolate is having a good day. if chocolate thinks you’re good enough. if chocolate thinks you’re humble enough, she may allow you
to think you’re in charge. for a minute. ha!
O Chocolate you do beguile! You do bewitch. You have led men, women and in-betweens better than I up those steep Mayan stairs… Those stairs like fish hooks– designed to enter swiftly, designed to climb up, designed to come out tearing flesh, designed for ascent only.
Chocolate, I tip my hat to you. I curtsy. I call you Mistress. You will forever own me.
Chocolate. I will be your apprentice. Will you allow me?
You may think me dramatic. But. I’m not. Chocolate is the conundrum of a pastry chef’s life, menu. For most of the public thinks there’s only one recipe you should have on your menu. Warm Chocolate Cake. Molten Chocolate Cake. Liquid Center Chocolate Fondant. Whatever you want to call it, it’s the same. Same as all McDonald’s French Fries the world over. One recipe. Easier than hopscotch, more cliched than calling your lover ‘Honey,’ as boring as missionary style. One fucking recipe.
So pastry chefs like me. Completely uninterested in cliches. So over warm chocolate cake they could plotz, are faced with the dilemma. What will their chocolate dessert be?
Because you know what, dear dear readers of eggbeater? Your chocolate dessert will sell even if it’s the worst plate you construct. Diners will eat salmon and tuna until even farmed fish are extinct. And they will order chocolate even if all the other components are ones they despise. They will move aside garnishes, sauces, flourishes and innovations. To get to the heart of the matter. The important bit.
You guessed it. Chocolate. uh huh.
So anyone who knows me knows this: my chocolate desserts introduce. My chocolate desserts keep you on your toes. My chocolate desserts are about the breadth of chocolate. Because I loves me some chocolate. A lot. And I, like the rest of us, loves me some warm & hot chocolate, creamy chocolate, dark and milk chocolate, cocoa nibs, Dutched and Natural cocoa. Give me chocolate and I am happy. Or happier.
This dessert is not spectacular. It doesn’t shock or stand tall or do something never done before. But it’s chocolate in all sorts of ways. It’s chocolate as a multi-personality’d experience.
I infuse/cook buckwheat groats and cocoa nibs with cream, steep and then blend for a long long time in a mightily powerful blender. I, just barely, set this liquid into pannacotta with as little gelatin as I can get away with. The buckwheat helps by lending its thickening starchy power to the mix. This is really fun to play with, should you want to experiment with it in your own kitchen. A little can go a long way with flavor & viscosity.
The brownie recipe is miraculous. It’s dark and moist and chocolatey and has not a gram of actual chocolate in it! Check out Alice Medrich’s cocoa brownie recipe. Soft, pliable brown brownie brownieness. And so easy. Marshmallows are for whimsy. I slow fry buckwheat groats in canola oil until they’re cooked enough to eat out-of-hand. {Be very careful– they burn easily!} If this turns you on, try tossing them in various salts or spice mixtures. I learned about this method from Anna Hansen at the Modern Pantry in London. Then, because I love high cocoa content milk chocolate, I make a quick crunchy candy with cocoa nibs, more buckwheat crunchies & feuillitene.
And to finish, at the very last minute before plate leaves my station, ’shuna’s famous hot fudge sauce’ is poured on. It’s the sauce that transports all the dark chocolate you might be missing from the rest of the plate. And, because it’s hot, it begins melting everything it comes into contact with.
Chocolate is not impossible. Not even close. But because it’s a lead singer without a last name or need for fellow musicians, it can pose a challenge. As a pastry chef you’d be hard pressed to hear a lot of negative critique about your chocolate dessert, unless it’s truly god-awful or your diners hold a molten chocolate cake gun to your head.
Chocolate dominates. Chocolate is, and will always be. Chocolate. There are few flavours that can bed chocolate, and be noticed themselves.
And so. If that’s the case. Play dress up. Tie a bowtie for the first time. Hook in cuff links. Wear red lipstick, go commando, let her get on top, flirt with possibility, entertain new ideas, throw That One Recipe Away and reinvent, remake, realize and never, never ever rest on your laurels, on cliches.
Chocolate deserves better. And you know it.
Skate Wing
January 19th, 2010
The Savoy Cabbage
January 18th, 2010
Savoy cabbage is a distinctive vegetable. Nothing else looks quite like it. It has the advantage of being ornamental and delicious. Its frilly leaves are softer and more pliable than those of any other cabbage. It is tender and sweet and notably lacking the sulfurous undertones that give other cooked cabbages a bad name. When it's cooked the greens deepen and it becomes even more alluring. It is perfect for stuffing and gentle enough for salads. It may not keep as long as other varieties although its versatility makes that unimportant. Savoy cabbage is a member of the Brassica family. It is fat free, cholesterol free, low in calories, and a good source of fiber and vitamin C. Of course we love it because it tastes good and the fact that it is beautiful and easy to use is just icing on the cake.
Here we have some Savoy Cabbage that has been brined and blanched sous vide. It's been prepped for a skate dish with smoked clams and gruyere cheese although truthfully it's ready for just about anything we can think of.
Flavor First
January 18th, 2010
Compound or flavored butters are a staple in kitchens around the world. Keeping a knob of garlic butter on hand just makes life easier. You can make it yourself with your favorite butter, raw or cooked garlic, salt, cayenne pepper and fresh chopped parsley. It will make a quick pasta sauce, garlic bread, or baked potato. It can be used to baste fish or meat in the pan adding flavor and creating a wonderful pan sauce. It can be whipped and added as a finishing touch to clam chowder or any number of soups. It can garnish a risotto or make scrambles eggs something special. This is why we love flavored butters.
Today Alex decided to flavor the cream that he made butter from. He had a craving for XO sauce and mixed it into his heavy cream and let it infuse in the refrigerator for several hours before making it into butter. It's a small adjustment with great rewards. I can't imagine why we didn't think of it sooner. Instead of just butter, we ended up with flavored butter and buttermilk. Gotta love it.
Smoked Clams
January 18th, 2010