Chef at Home

These birds were designed for the grill. When they are split down their backs and butterflied they open up plenty of surface area for marinades and seasonings to stick to. Our marinade consisted of miso, honey, low sodium soy sauce (because of the miso not our fear of salt), rice vinegar and rosemary from our weed patch. It took just a few hours for the marinade to blend with the birds. Then, a hot grill and some careful turning produced a caramelized and occasionally charred exterior with a moist and juicy interior. When we pulled the birds from the grill we let them rest for five minutes. The juices which exuded from the resting birds were a perfect dipping sauce as we finger carved the birds. (What is finger carving? It’s when you just start ripping into the ingredient at hand tearing and eating like a hungry savage.) The only change I would make would be to make a little extra marinade and keep it aside, uncontaminated, to pour on the birds when they came off the grill. That and perhaps a hefty handful of sliced green onions folded in would add to the enjoyment.

Happy Memorial Day and Make Sure to Get Your Grill On!!!!

With the weather warming and the book deep in copy edits it was time to face our weed patch/garden. Amaya and I dug in and removed the weeds we did not want to consume. In their place we planted a variety of herbs we picked up at the Trenton Farmer’s Market: lemon verbena, purple sage, globe basil, spicy basil, African blue basil, chives, and lemon thyme. We love herbs and they are not only accents to dishes they are the influences behind much of our cooking. Their aromas are captivating and smelling several of them at the same time provides the spark for combinations we may not have thought of. And then there are the flowers. Many of the herbs we picked up had some beautiful flowers. It was amazing to taste the flowers, more delicate than the herb itself and wonderful when a few are placed on the palate.

Here is a closer look at two versions of the melon-fava bean-smoked coconut mosaic we paired with soft shell crabs. We eventually chose to use the thicker melon to add more juiciness to the dish. The thinner melon slice with the mosaic on top shows promise for some tile preparations. We are looking into using this version done with beets to pair with fish. Time and results will shape this evolution.

We wrote about Chris Cosentino’s home of Tasty Salty Pig Parts when it first opened. We were thrilled at its arrival on the salumi scene and were equally disappointed it was 3000 miles away with a retail shop in the amazing food driven and cook-centric Ferry Building. A quick trip to the San Francisco/Oakland area gave me a great excuse to eat at Incanto and then bring Aki and Amaya a most wonderful souvenir, a bag full of cured meats. Forget the soft stuffed animals, go for the soft stuffed nduja. And nothing says love like lardo. Sure, I picked up a few of the pieces for me as well but this is a gift of love.

That’s my story and I’m Sticking to it.

 In Japan, Hamo or pike eel is a familiar fish for people of
Kansai, but not so common for people living in the Tokyo region and northwards.
It is a kind of sea fish similar to eel and conger eel that lives in warm seas. They fish for it of the coast of Japan from the Kii Peninsula to Amakusa
in Kumamoto, Kyushu. The name Hamo comes from hamu, an old word meaning
“to eat”, because the fish uses its sharp small teeth to eat almost
anything from shrimps and crabs to small fish. It is a seasonal summer
delicacy in Kansai, and an important part of the Tenjin Festival in Osaka
and the Gion Festival in Kyoto. 

I really enjoyed Hamo in Japan however it was cooked, over a robatayaki or poached in a dashi. The flesh combines sweetness, richness and firmness. It can be called “thousand bones fish” as in order to make the fish edible you have to mince the flesh widthwise every 1/16 of an inch to cut and break down all the tiny bones. An hamokiri knife is required to achieve the result. Of course you need some practice to be able to cut the bones without cutting the skin and the loin. At the restaurant we serve it grilled over binchotan (hard wood charcoal). The flesh is dusted with kuzu starch that will absorb moisture and bring more creaminess to the fish and teriyaki sauce.
 
 

 

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to my first In-N-Out Burger. I was excited because this would be my first time eating one right off the griddle. My previous experience with the burger was vacuum sealed and eaten at room temperature, an incredible experience, just not the same as eating at the restaurant. I ordered and sat back as they cooked my double double and fries to order. I was expecting greatness and the burger delivered. On the other hand I did not understand the fries. They were super crisp but chalky dry on the inside. If a french fry could have a stale texture this was it. And I did not know how this was done. I watched them cut and cook the fries right in front of me. So I left wondering and still excited to return. Next time I will just get another burger.

Beneath the charred and crackling crust of the onion are
layers of onion tender onion flesh, sweetened by their long slow exposure to
the heat of the grill. When we peeled back the skin I was expecting a soft
puree of onion flesh. What we found was an intact onion with its distinct
structure, just tenderized in texture and with a fuller and richer flavor. We
ended up removing the skin and roughly slicing the petals to serve warm with
butter steamed filet. Eating the two together sparked the idea of onion tartare.
The grilled and charred flavor of the onion could happily balance minced
cornichons, mustard seeds, shallots and hot spring egg-onion soup mayonnaise.

The question then arises, do we serve it on its own or as
part of another dish, a complimentary accent. We could even serve it with steak
tartare, a parfait or layered assemblage, which would then divulge distinct
flavors and textures as the dish is eaten.

The Thai noodles at L₂O have a story. Tai, one of kitchen staff, came to me one day, and said that he is going to make some cold noodles out of a liquid that he will set in a tube. I said OK. He got all the equipment he needed. A few days ahead he choose tomato water as the liquid and started the process. 

The process is not complicated but needs some explanation. You simmer the tomato water, hydrate the gellan gum (a hydrocoloid that will set when it cools down but doesn’t melt with heat). When the gellan is activated, you place the pot over a double boiler to keep it hot. You pull the liquid into a syringe, push the liquid into the a plastic tube (about 1/16-inch in diameter), and drop the tube into an ice bath. You charge a canister with CO₂, connect an adapter to the tube (Tai found it at Home Depot), then pressurize the tube to push the noodle out. 

The first try did not work, the noodle got stuck in the tube. The fix was to add a touch of grape seed oil in the tube before pushing the liquid with the syringe. Also, warming up the filled tubes quickly in simmering water allowed the pressure of the CO_{2 to push the noodle. The noodles were there, but they were flavorless and very bridle. We started discussing the options to improve. We decided to change the hydrocoloid to a mixture of agar and carrageen to get more elasticity and less brittleness.} 

_{In our team, all the employees participate in the preparation of family meal once a week. And I remembered Tai doing a Vietnamese meal with a wonderful Thai dressing that went with a cold salad. I told Tai that we should use those kind flavors for the noodle. The Thai dressing combines chopped garlic, Thai chili, sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and water. It is spicy, pungent and fresh. It took us a few more tries to get to the final result, but the noodles are now on the menu when the soft shell are available.}