New York Adventure

Time to start doing the stomach exercises again. During the next week I’ll be eating in the finest restaurants in New York City. This involves taking pictures, stealing menus, taking notes and hopefully getting to take kitchen tours. Finally it’s here though, after great controversy of picking where to eat, we have all of our reservations.

At least once a year we try and go on one big research and development trip. Last year we went to San Francisco and I pulled many things out of that. It was the first time I started to really appreciate food. I’m really looking forward to New York though because now I work as a pantry cook and I’m becoming more fascinated with food.

We picked the following restaurants because these particular chefs aren’t just great today; they’ve evolved over the revolutions of food. I plan on going to the following restaurants.

· Daniel Boulud- Daniel, db bistro moderne
· Eric Ripert- Le Bernadin
· Jean-Georges Vongerichten- Jean Georges
· Mario Batali- Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, OTTO Enoteca Pizzeria

Working In A Kitchen

Working in a restaurant is a weird thing. At one moment you’re calm and working in the prep kitchen and the next you’re on the scorching line with twelve tickets in front of you. I’m pretty new to this type of thing; I’ve worked as an expo for four months and a pantry cook for a few months. I’ve been around food all my life though, from five pound sourdough to chocolate chip cookies to making Acras de Morue.

When people ask people what they want to be when they grow up, most say movie stars, doctors and so on. I say I want to be a chef and potentially own my own restaurant. My dad strongly discourages me to do such a thing. It’s funny though because he himself is in the business, but he says its fifteen years of shit hours and shitty pay. The question is though; if you love what you do does that really matter. My goals are to go to college then possibly go to the Culinary Institute of America. If all works out then I’d like to go work in France or Italy for four or five years.

I feel though, working in kitchens is very rewarding. I thoroughly enjoy making great food for the people in the dining room. Especially when the server comes back and says that the people at whatever table loved the Tuna Wontons or the Bruschetta. I also love the new challenge that is presented to you every night you work. Working in a kitchen, it’s always something different and you can never know it all but you can try. This is the real reason I like it.

I’ve been to great restaurants all over the country from Boulevard in San Francisco to Blackbird in Chicago. Every time I go eat at these places I think, could I be this talented some day. Could I be a Thomas Keller or David Chang? Only time will tell this story and in my future I hope great things are ahead.

Truffle Salt

Truffle Salt, where to begin. While at Dean and DeLuca buying the salt cod for the acras I ran across Truffle Salt. At first I thought it was outrageously expensive, but the other day I broke down and bought it. Immediately I took it home and air popped ½ cup of popcorn. After melting butter and drizzling it over the popcorn I delicately sprinkled the Truffle Salt over the popcorn. I’ve never had truffles so I had no idea what to expect. The second you open the truffle salt you smell this aroma that seems familiar but can’t put your finger on it. I savored the popcorn with every bite. I think the truffle salt will have many applications as I continue though my food experiments.

Cod

I began reading Larousse Gastronomique last week. A few pages in I found an interesting recipe, Acras de Morue. An acra is a savory fritter associated with salted cod. So, I went to Dean and DeLuca and picked up the 1 lb. of salted cod.

I prepared two recipes the original Acras de Morue and Thomas Keller’s Bouchon version with potatoes know as Beignets de Brandade de Morue.

Brandade de Morue began in Nîmes, but is commonly associated with Provence. Originally it was called branlade, which means “something that is pummeled.” The dish made it to Paris after the French Revolution and has never left. Once salt cod became more expensive, potatoes were incorporated to cheapen the dish, as with Thomas Keller’s recipe. The original Brandade though had no potatoes.

Larousse Gastronomique Recipe

Place about 500g (1 lb) salt cod in cold water for 24 hours to remove the salt, changing the water several times. Make a fritter batter with 200g (7 oz, 1 ½ cups) flour, a pinch of salt, and enough water to obtain a thick batter, and leave it to stand for 1 hour. Place the desalted cod with a little cold water and a bay leaf in a saucepan; cook gently for 10 minutes. Drain and flake the fish the mix it with 4 teaspoons olive oil, salt, and cayenne. Finely chop 2 shallots and 4 or 5 chives, add these to the cod, and mix evenly with the batter. Stiffly whisk 2 or 3 egg whites and fold gently into the mixture. Slowly drop spoonfuls of the mixture into hot oil and fry until crisp and golden, turning once. Drain and serve hot.

Larousse Gastronomique recipes are vague in some areas so inferring may have to be done. If you’d like to find the Bouchon recipe, you can buy the Bouchon cookbook which I highly recommend.


Salted Cod Fish
















1 lb. salt cod


Acras de Morue



























Tomato confit, roasted red pepper garlic oil, baby chives


Beignets de Brandade de Morue

























Tomato confit, roasted red pepper garlic oil, baby chives

Mélange À Biscuits Avec Morceaux De Chocolat

Today I was at Williams-Sonoma and saw the Bouchon Bakery Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix. I instantly thought I needed this. I mean come on its Thomas Keller, everything he makes is good. Also last year I was in Yountville, California and stopped in the Bouchon Bakery. So I paid the $18.00 for the cookie mix and went home. After reading the box I saw it made six large cookies or twelve small cookies. I decided to make the large cookies because I love enormous cookies.

The cookies are made with premium Callebaut Chocolate and Nielsen-Massy Vanilla. The cookies were fairly easy to make, just stick to the recipe. Once the cookies came out of the oven I immediately fell in love. They were a perfect golden brown and were saying “eat me.” The outer portion of the cookie was crispy while the inner portion was soft and chewy. This was truly food porn as Anthony Bourdain would say. Once again Thomas Keller is amazing.

Recipe

For best results, use a European-style butter with at least 83% butterfat.

10 ½ TBS. (5 ¼ OZ. / 165g) Unsalted butter
1 Sugar Packet (Included)
1 Molasses Packet (Included)
1 Egg
1 Cookie Mix Packet (Included)
1 Chocolate Chip and Chunk Packet (Included)

Have all the ingredients at room temperature

Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 375˚F (190˚C). If using a convection oven, preheat to 350˚F (180˚C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and molasses and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low, add the egg and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the cookie mix and beat until incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. Using a rubber spatula, fold the chocolate chips/chunks into the batter.

Shape the dough into 6 large balls or 12 small balls. Place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 3 inches (7.5 cm) apart. Bake until the cookies are light golden brown and just done in the center, 15 to 17 minutes for large cookies or 12 to 14 minutes for small cookies, rotating the baking sheet 180 degrees halfway through the baking time. If using a convection oven, bake 13 to 15 minutes for large cookies or 10 to 12 minutes for small cookies. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies to the rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 6 large or 12 small cookies.


Cookie Mix


















Dough


















Rounded Dough


















Fresh Cookies

Larousse Gastronomique

Recently I began reading Larousse Gastronomique. It is a classic French cookbook with approximately 1200 pages. The whole cookbook is a list of food, recipes and French cooking terms. One might ask why read such a book? I think it’s a very important book to read so one has a further knowledge of food. Cooking is all about knowledge and creativity, so why not help yourself out. I’m only on page 10 and have already found two recipes I’m going to try in the coming weeks. The first is a vegetable achar with lemon and the second is a salt cod acras. I’m very excited to read this book in the coming months to further my food knowledge.

Bluestem Brunch

Ever since I ate at Foreign Cinema in San Francisco, I’ve been looking for a superior brunch. I decided to go to Bluestem because their brunch menu was similar to Foreign Cinema’s. I thought it resembled Foreign Cinema’s but with a Midwest touch. I thought the most impressive dish was the biscuits and gravy with Campo Lindo Crispy chicken. The dish had an array of flavors making every bite different. Bluestem just keeps you guessing every time you come back. 

Biscuits & Gravy

Campo lindo crispy chicken, sausage, scrambled eggs

Spiced Apple Nut Stuffed French Toast

Cream, maple syrup

Gourmet Pizza

Recently we made an award winning pizza recipe. The recipe came from the Fedora Café which was open in the 1980’s in Kansas City. Gourmet pizza is still making it into the best fine dining restaurants. I’ve eaten pizza at Olives in Las Vegas, Chez Panisse Café in Berkeley, California and at Zuni Café in San Francisco. This pizza though is honestly the best pizza I’ve ever eaten.

This particular recipe hasn’t been made in twenty years. First we made an 18 lb. batch of the dough. Then we let it set for one hour letting it double in size. After doubling in size we knocked it down letting all the gas out of it. Once we rounded the dough we covered it with plastic wrap on a sheet pan to let it proof. Then came the challenging part of hand rolling the dough into thin round shells. After brushing the crust with olive oil and herbs we blinded baked the pizza on a pizza stone at 500˚ till it started to brown.

This may be the most crucial part of the whole procedure; ingredients. Everyone always wants to pile toppings on a pizza. The real key is a quality thin layer of ingredients. These pizzas were no “Meat Lovers Mess” smothered with ingredients. First we applied a thin layer of sauce. Then we put down a thin layer of cheese. Finally we put down our meats or other toppings. Then we topped it with a little more cheese. The whole idea behind this is quality not quantity. These pizzas are cooked on a pizza stone for the second time at 500˚.


Second Proofing

















Blind Baking
















Extra virgin olive oil, mozzarella, provolone

Baking Temperature

















BBQ Crispy Shortrib Pizza




























Sweet baby rays bbq sauce, fontina, provolone, parmesan, red onion

Fig Gorgonzola Pizza
















Fig Puree, Prosciutto, fontina, provolone, parmesan, gorgonzola

Pizza Margherita















Tomato sauce, fontina, provolone, parmesan, fresh tomatoes, basil, pine nuts

Chorizo Pizza
















Tomato sauce, fontina, provolone, parmesan, red onion, pine nuts