140F Manzanillo Sous Vide Halibut with Salsa Verde

Sous Vide is a great technique to employ with proteins when you're serving guests, as it allows you to attain consistent results and is forgiving when you're juggling to get the side dishes out and carry on a conversation.

For this preparation, I obtained 1/2 lb of bulk organic manzanillo olive oil from whole foods and 1 lemon. Using vacuum bags, I added 2 thawed Alaskan halibut portions with half the oil along with the zest of one lemon to each bag. This was sealed using the "wet" setting on the vacuum sealer, then into a large pot of water which had stabilized to 140F over low heat. In this case a gas burner might be more precise, but I used one of the electric glass top burners and just added water to a large pot until it settled at 140F for a few minutes. The halibut was left at this temperature for 1 hour. The results were very delicious, but I must say I'd advise against attempting to sear the halibut afterward as the texture is such that it will fall apart. The guests were please in spite of my grilling misadventure. The halibut was accompanied by a lemon juice salsa verde, which was as epically good with seafood as the red wine vinegar version is with steak.

Baked & Fried Fingerlings with French Onion Confit

A pretty random experiment, that yielded an interesting taste phenomenon. The idea was to make the fingerlings in a manner similar to french fries (twice cooked), and pair that with something sweet. While not visually that interesting, the surprise flavor that came across was PEANUTS!

From gastronomic guesswork

The fingerlings were baked at 400F until fork tender, cooled, and then deep fried in 2 inches grapeseed oil at 360F for about 8-10 minutes. The french onion confit involved slowly caramelizing sliced organic red onions with a touch of grapeseed oil and a dash of baking soda (to reduce the pH level to allow for a more complete caramelization). Once the onions took on a mahogany color and pretty much lost all structure, this was deglazed with organic sherry vinegar and mounted with a touch of butter and a dash of sea salt. The onions on their own evoked French Onion soup, and the fingerlings on their own evoked "home fries", but together flavors of vanilla and peanuts emerged, with the peanut flavor being very evident. Quite surprising, anyone out there have an idea of the volatile flavor compounds at play which may have given rise to the note of peanuts? In a weird way it reminded us of eating a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

Roasted Jalepeno & Garlic Marinated Flank Steak Tacos with Ancho Ricotta, Freeze Dried Corn Salsa Finished with Alderwood Smoked Salt

Every chef is guilty of creating a circus on a plate once in a while, here's my latest. Start by roasting some jalepenos and garlic (broiling, turning frequently).

From gastronomic guesswork

Destem the jalepenos, chop everything up, and coat a flank steak with the concoction to marinate for 90 minutes at room temperature.

From gastronomic guesswork

Grab some fresh ricotta (might be hard to find), combine with a dose of ancho chile powder and gujillo chile powder in a 3 to 1 ratio. You're going for a sweet heat here wherein the ricotta and ancho are about equally forthcoming in flavor. Reach into your bag of tricks and fetch some freeze dried corn and some alderwood smoked sea salt.

From gastronomic guesswork

Dice some red pepper, toss with cilantro, and at the last minute add the freeze dried corn. The corn will be very sweet and you want to avoid adding this too early to retain the dry crunchy texture this adds.

From gastronomic guesswork

Grill the flank steak to medium, finish with the alderwood smoked salt, then cut into strips. Combine everything in steamed white corn tortillas and devour.

From gastronomic guesswork

A lot going on here, but I think it works, hitting multiple textural and flavor notes - that smoked salt is killer with the jalepenos and beef.

Green Chili #21 with Za'tar Roasted Tortillas

Green Chili is something I've made at least 20 different ways, so from now on I'm just going to number these. After I got the hang of it thanks to my dad's recipe, it's been something that has a basic process but really is just a canvas to play with the dimensions of savory, sweet, and heat. I can tolerate pretty scorching chili (read Habaneros have found there way into many a pot), this version is a 7 on my scale of 1 to 10 (11 being much more torture than sustenance). The flavor profile has some smoke on the mid-palate and a caramel sweetness at the front, followed by substantial but reasonable heat.

From gastronomic guesswork

Chile Ingredients
3lbs whole pork loin roast (untrimmed, 1" cubes)
1lb double hickory smoked bacon (whole foods, made in the store)
3.5lbs frozen hot hatch green chiles (forgive me, from walmart because no one else has these)
3 large yellow onions (coarse chop)
1 teaspoon baking soda
16oz canned fire roasted tomatoes (muir glen)
2 quarts water
salt to taste
4 cloves garlic minced

Begin by rendering lardons of the bacon (1/4" square strips) for 3 minutes on medium heat. Separately toss cubes of the pork butt in flour with a little salt and pepper; brown these over medium heat with a little grapeseed oil, reserve. Add the onions and sweat to translucency. Add the baking soda and stir frequently until the onions become golden to medium brown and the bacon is cooked through though maybe not crisp; you're going for an onion confit here, this is where the caramel notes are created while the smoke comes from the bacon. Add 1 quart of water and raise to high heat. When the mixture begins to boil, add the frozen green chiles; return to just short of a boil, then add the tomatoes. Return to near a boil, add the pork and the second quart of water. Incorporate the garlic and simmer for 1 hour. Adjust salt to taste. The tortillas were lightly buttered and delicately dusted with the pungent Lebanese version of Za'tar (which contains sumac berries).

The results were great and closer to a traditional green chile than most I make as I almost always add tomatoes (in greater quantity than here) for a little sweetness, and I rarely use hatch chiles (just hard to come by most of the year, and fresh roasted are better). The family had it for dinner and then lunch the next day, it was even better the 2nd day. The Za'tar roasted tortillas worked really well as a flavor pairing with this green chili, elevating the savoriness. On their own the za'tar spice was a little intense, but smoky caramel flavors really played well with it.

"O's" Restaurant in Denver

As an avid reader of Food 102, I've been excited to experience the fun progressive cuisine that Ian Kleinman prepares for the Molecular Gastronomy tasting menu every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. O's is situated in the Westminster Westin, and the layout is chic and cozy. We finally had the opportunity to satisfy our curiosity with the Valentine's Day menu.

Here are my notes straight from the blackberry...

Execution falls slightly short, but the chef was in New York with Harold McGee on this visit (really good excuse)
Flavor pairing are ambitious, innovative, and scrumptious.
Textures verge on the experiential and are aptly technoemotional cuisine
Service is attentive and personalizes the experience
Value is extraordinary and worthy of a metro road trip

The menu was Shrimp with Warm Avocado and Papaya Salad, Corn and Jalepeno Consomme, Vanilla Tapioca Sous Vide Lobster, and Liquid Nitrogen Strawberry Sorbet. The shrimp were immaculately cooked, warm avocado danced in the mouth, and the forward heat of the chipotle spice was welcomed in this context; papaya strands and jicama played well, excellent dish composition and despite being aggressive with the heat, a well received symphonic movement in what we felt was, overall, a great meal. The Corn and Jalepeno consomme was nearly perfect, yet the last two tablespoonfuls were highly salty, less obvious in earlier dips of the spoon; my wife enjoyed, I first gave pause then abdicated to the salinity. Lobster was hit and miss. The flavor pairing and textural complement of the tapioca was exceptional, yet one of my tail portions (of the three) was overcooked and stringy, nearly leathery; two of my wife's shared the same perilous fate. The sublime smoothness of the rapidly chilled strawberry puree (prepared tableside) made me think this was the best sorbet I've had (unseating the pine needle sorbet at al Marcereto outside Sambucca, Toscana).

On balance, O's miscues were forgivable and overshadowed by the promising technique and inventive but highly approachable flavor pairings. We got our technoemotional foodgeek itch scratched, thanks Chef Kleinman and team, see you soon!

Cajeta on Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Cajeta is a Latin dessert delicacy which is essentially a goatsmilk caramel sauce. The key to achieving a rich brown caramel with cajeta is the use of baking soda to increase the pH balance and increase the level of the maillard reaction. This is not quick to prepare, it is time intensive and requires patience, but the results are very memorable.


The preparation is as follows... Put 4 cups goatsmilk (whole fat) into a chef's pan and place on medium heat. Separately place 1 1/2 cups sugar into a saute pan on high heat. Incorporate 1/3 cup cow's milk into the sugar at the start, then incorporate 3/4 tsp baking soda. Bring the sugar mixture to a froth (it will start to rapidly take over your whole saute pan), then remove from heat and combine with the goatsmilk. Bring the mixture to next to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. This is the tedious part ... stir occasionally (like every 2-5 minutes) for the next 60-90 minutes. What you want to avoid is scorching the mixture, so I erred on the side of caution. There might be a better way to improve the cooking time, but the outcome was perfect. My wife is a cajeta addict, and I had promised this to my little ones as a holiday treat, so everyone went to bed happy after this dessert.

Pork Rib Roast with Black Currant Tamari Gelee

A trip to the new Sprouts Farmers Market yielded some interesting ingredients such as dried flageolet and fava beans, 100% black currant juice, and a frenched pork rib roast. The flavor concept behind the dish was bitter + sweet + umami. Black currents most freqently show up in the description of red wines, but I doubt many people have even tasted real currants. These are bitter and immediately evoke flavor sensations found in big red wines, so the frequent use in wine descriptions is justified. Currants are particularly tannic, and give the same feel in the mouth as a young full bodied red wine (like a petit sirah). The tannin is perceived by the tast recepters as bitter, but the feel of the tongue changes in the presence of tannin as the chemical reaction with some parts of the tongue actually leatherizes cells in your mouth. Yes that's right, this effect of tannin in the wine world is called astringency; my info comes from my time in Claude Robbins class at the International Wine Guild.

Anyway, after testing a sip of the black currant juice (which incidentally is considered a superfood due to the high levels of antioxidants, potasium, and calcium), I had a shockingly immediate reaction to the very astringent elixir. I wanted to make a sauce that would preserve some of this bitterness, sweeten it up a bit, and put in a background note of umami via the tamari (wheat free soy sauce). As for a preparation, I decided on a loose gelee, thick enough to cling to the pork roast to glaze it and then as a finishishing sauce that wouldn't run all over the plate.


The pork roast was coated in olive oil, roasted at 450F for 20 minutes, glazed, then roasted for another 45 minutes at 300 and glazed twice more. The sauce was composed with 3 cups black currant juice, ~1 cup of brown sugar, a teaspoon of dried marjoram, and 1 tablespoon of tamari; the marjoram was to give the sauce an earthyness. The juice, sugar and marjoram were simmered for 10 minutes, then the marjoram was removed by straining and the tamari was added. As the sauce cooled, I evenly incorporated a couple decent pinches of xanthan gum and guar gum while whisking. This rapidly thickened the sauce to the desired consistency.


The sauce was used for glazing and then reheated to finish the flintstone looking cuttings that came of the roast. This was served with fava beans in a white wine vinaigrette, roasted onions and plum tomatoes drizzled with olive oil, and chili garlic bread (chili powder, minced garlic, unsalted butter, sea salt combined and applied to a fresh loaf of french bread). I really like this flavor pairing and so did my little sous chefs. My wife was less thrilled, mostly because she can't stand cooked fruit or gelatin-like textures (yah can't win em all). What I'll take from this is that there's some real undiscovered potential for black currants, after all, who'd think that they'd work with soy sauce?

Beef Tenderloin Medallions with Tamari, Real Wasabi, Scallions, and Primolio Olive Oil

For a recent neighboorhood wine tasting we hosted, my wife and I decided that rather than feed people a bunch of food and have a lot of leftovers, we'd opt for providing a few really high quality bites that were filling and most definitely wine food.

The inspiration for this preparation was just sort of a spontaneous combination of context, problem, and experience. The context was foodie-worthy wine food, and this being the main protein element, so it had to be satisfying; we opted for getting a whole beef tenderloin. The problem was that we had to feed 24 adults at the same time and I couldn't screw it up by having it become cold or overdone. The experience that weighed in here was that getting a whole tenderloin to medium rare / medium was not an issue, but evenness of cooking was a little challenging and portioning this up for 24 guests without it getting cold was about impossible. Experience with sous vide gave me the idea for how to make this all come together; the flavor pairings were also a product of experience with things that either work well together or things that work well with beef, in this case an eclectic combination of Japenese and Italian flavors seemed like a good idea.

After getting a whole choice tenderloin and fabricating this, I cut the meat into 1 1/2" steaks and then cut these into halves or thirds based on the size of the steak, attempting to come up with a close approximation to a fairly consistently sized medallion. These were then seasoned with black pepper and placed into 3 gallon zip top plastic bags, filling each to no more than half the volume of the bag. I removed the air from each bag, sealed, and then brought an 8 quart pot filled halfway with water to 125F. The bags joined the party and were pressed down with a metal bowl with enough hot water to weigh down the bags. The meat was sous vide cooked to 125F for 4 hours by periodically returning the pot to heat to maintain a temperature above 120F but no higher than 125F; this meant adding heat for about 2 minutes every 20 minutes.

As the partygoers settled in with some wine, I removed the medallions a bag at a time to finish these in a large saute pan with very hot grapeseed oil for 3 minutes to achive a maillard-like browned surface. The mini filets were plattered a bag at a time on a healthy drizzle of tamari on the platter itself (on which the medallions were plated), and finished with a topping of fresh 100% wasabi (rehydrated), a few shreds of fresh scallions, and a few drops of Giachi Primolio Olive Oil.

I couldn't have been happier with the results, as platter after platter evaporated as soon as these hit the table, with our guests devouring these and giving us many kind complements in the process. As daunting as the problem first seemed, this approach yielded an amazingly predictable, tender, evenly cooked and delicious product.

Walnut Marshmallows

The concept here is owed to the bothers Adria as documented in the book A Day at El Bulli. The El Bulli version used pine nuts, but I found it very difficult to obtain Pine Nut oil, an oil generally so elusive I missed it altogether on the first two versions of the post Culinary Fats; apparently it does exist and while relatively expensive, I found several examples on Amazon.

The goal of this was to be depetive, maybe a little provocative. You tell someone it's a marshmallow, they think sweet, they get marshmallow but it's savory. Admittedly this dish not go over well when served at a recent wine tasting we hosted. There were 3 or 4 people who thought it was really interesting and liked it, but most were put off a little by the radical nature of the concept. I was not able to give the finishing of the marshmallows as much attention as they probably deserved, so the concept is worth more experimentation in the future.

400g whole organic milk, chilled to 37F
120g whole organic milk combined with 18g gelatin powder at room temperature
45g walnut oil
2 cups toasted walnut powder

Bring the milk with gelatin to 105F-110F, begin whipping on high in a stand mixer for 30 seconds. Combine the chilled milk all at once and continue whipping for 3 minutes. Add the walnut oil and whip for an additional 30 seconds. Spread in an even 1" thick layer on a silpat lined flat sheet pan (one with no lip preferrably). Chill for 2 hours. Cut into 1" cubes, lightly salt and then roll in the toasted walnut powder.

The flavor was all walnut, though salting was key, you needed to be generous, but it was also easy to overdue the salt. Without salt, the marshmallows have only a faint walnut oil (maybe I need better walnut oil). The texture will be challenging to all but the most adventurous eaters. On the next go, it might be interesting to infuse some rosemary into the milk prior to chilling.

Insalata Caprese - A Classic Reimagined

Insalata Caprese encompasses the simplicity and flavor perfection so present in many classic Italian dishes. This modern reinterpretation of it is both compelling and so elegantly presented as to be about the coolest dish I've come across in the foodie blogospher in many months. Playing with Fire and Water's approach here simply speaks to me as a chef and eater.

Breaking New Ground on the Maillard Reaction

Killer stuff from Martin at Khymos (click the title above). Basically, making something more basic (raising the pH) with something like baking soda (very practical) increases how rapidly the maillard reaction will occur. I've posed a question to Martin about whether this may also improve predictability / completeness with this technique and will probably lead me to some of my own experimentation. If you don't know what the heck we're talking about here, you've undoubtedly tasted foods that rely upon flavors produced by maillard reaction. Martin's mention of the technique he's identified with dulce de leche will surely please my wife, as she is a fool for cajeta ... looks like I'll be making some dessert soon.

French Cognitive Dissonance

There's a movement to have the UN recognize French Cuisine as a world treasure, as highlighted in the recent NY Times article, Time to Save the Croissants. Hmm, so I'd agree that culinary skills can reach an artform, and if there was a Museum of Cuisine History (maybe there is somewhere), the last couple centuries would prominently feature French Cuisine. But on balance, as much as I'd like to see greater culinary art appreciation in the world, this plea to the UN seems to me as an act of denial by some great French Chefs, among the best in the world mind you, but as great as they are, these chefs and French Cuisine in the now are not commanding the same dominant mindshare as days past. I ran across this story through a post on Accidental Hedonist, wherein the conclusion was that this act was one of brazen French arrogance. My view is that this is more likely cognitive dissonance as the culinary world shifts dramatically away from the control of the French.

The last 200 years have seen Carême, Escoffier, mother sauces, demi glace, Haute Cuisine, Classic Cuisine (Cuisine Classique), and Nouvelle Cuisine ... all French. And now, the Slow Food Movement and Technoemotional Cuisine demonstrate there is far more than French food and French technique out there.

It cannot be denied how influential the French have been in codifying culinary method during this time, and how growing up in this as a French Chef could so embolden one with nationalistic pride. So when El Bulli, Mugaritz, Arzak, Fat Duck, the French Laundry (not in France), and Per Se are so prominently featured on the list of the best restaurants in the world (none of which are French restaurants or reside in France), it might cause some sub-conscious panic in the psyche of French Chefs.

The conspicuous omission of mentioning anything happening now in world cuisine makes this plea to UNESCO seem rather arrogant, but my sense is that these chefs really are in denial, and are simply trying to make their world make sense. What is increasingly tough to deny is that the influence of French cuisine is in decline, so if the context of this request was a recognition of the historical significance of French Cuisine (with implication that it had lost its grip, and should be posthumously honored), I might find this to be a semi-plausible request to UNESCO, which is a group that plays a role in preserving historical sites. But after re-reading the NY Times piece, my sentiment is that UNESCO and escpecially the UN have much more important things to worry about, and those French Chefs had better start to take note of what's happening in Spain (El Bulli, Mugaritz), Britain (Fat Duck), and the U.S. (Alinea).

Something Anyone Curious about Molecular Gastronomy should read

Timeless post on the fear and reality of food science, postmodern / technoemotional cuisine, and great ingredients.

God Help You Green Chile

Brought home some excellent pork from a whole hog roast party at our friends' house, and then the next morning ran across some Hungarian Wax Chilis that were pretty nasty hot. After making the chili, we enjoyed a late night snack. We had some artisan tortillas we also grabbed from the farmers market, so we rolled up some of the pork, coated with the God Help You hot green chili, and a few crumbles of good quality american cheese (not the processes stuff). Killer burrito, the chile was nearing absurdly hot on its own, but hugging that amazing pork it took on a deeply satisfying flavor.

Chile ingredients:

1 Tbsp Epazote
1 1/2 Tbsp Mexican Oregano
1 lb fire roasted Hungarian Wax Chilis (5000-15000 scoville)
2 lbs Anaheim Chilis
1/2 lb Poblano Chilis
3-4 quarts water
1 Tbsp Xanthan Gum
5 cups chopped white onion
8 cloves garlic, smashed & chopped
32 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
3 tablespoons annatto oil
salt TT

Started with the hungarian wax chiles (which are about 3x hotter than jalepenos), the onions, and water and brought this to a boil with a little salt for about an hour. I used the stick blender about 15 minutes into the process and fumagated the house so completely with capsaicin that everyone but me evacuated ... in circumstances like this, it is very important to know that capsaicin is only fat and alcohol soluble. After an uncontrollable coughing fit and a few rounds of sinus clearing, a cold beer and a piece of cheese eased the pain (a little). Really, just smelling this stuff constricted my airways and left an irritating resin in my nasal passage and throat. I got a small glimpse of what pepper spray must feel like.



After the first hour, I added the anaheims (raw, chopped), the poblanos, and the garlic. Next I added the annatto oil (made by steeping annatto seeds in olive oil for about 10 minutes on medium-low heat). The annatto gave the mixture a golden hue and a little earthiness. I gradually added the epazote and oregano tasting progressively after 5 minutes of incorporation each time. I wanted to have a little mint note in the background from the epazote, and temper this with the oregano in the foreground (which was easier said than done as the chile was wicked spicy). Finally I added the tomatoes and let the whole mess simmer for another 2 hours, allowing it to reduce by half. I blitzed everything with the immersion blender and then thickened the still liquid mixture with Xanthan once the right flavor concentration was achieved.

This was my first attempt at cooking with hungarian wax chilis, and while they don't have the forward flavor of poblanos, jalepenos, or habeneros, they give off a lot of heat and work well in combination with other Mexican flavors. Sure these are nowhere near the heat of an habanero, but they are eventually much nastier than serranos, the heat attack is late but very persistent. The xanthan was an excellent thickener, but make sure to use an immersion blender to incorporate evenly; thickening happens quickly, and clumping was easily remedied by the blender. I personally enjoyed it on its own, but this is not for the intermediate capsaicin enthusiast ... as my wife remarked "this is so hot it's just silly", so if you too attempt to eat it on its own, God Help You and have cold beer or glass of milk at the ready.



 

Flat Iron Steak Braised in Cassis, Port, Thyme, and Roasted Garlic

So this was a half hearted attempt at doing something different with a cheap cut of meat. Flat Iron steaks are not of the quality of ribeyes, filets, or in my opinion, even sirloins. But they are designed to be more tender than what shoulder meat is typically thought to be (though not free of collagen-rich connective tissue). So the thinking was really low heat braising would be a good way to go. On that note, I think the dish was successful, the concept that is. However, the dish failed on at least two practical fronts.

The first main reason for failure was the savory flavor of the meat was robust enough that something was just off, clashing if you will with the braising liquid. I seared the steak for about 1 minute a side in olive oil, applied kosher salt and fresh black pepper, and added port, cassis, french thyme and a head of garlic. I think the critical error here was putting the head of garlic in raw, rather than roasting it first. Roasted garlic has a sweetness that pairs well with other caramelized fruit sugars, and I believe should have worked with the port / cassis. The garlic was really great, but the roasted garlic flavor was entirely absent from the steak, instead it was just aggressively garlicly which did not work. I think the thyme was a distraction here as well, maybe adding fresh thyme at the end would have worked, but adding dried thyme at the beginning seemed to help the garlic to fight with the sweetness of the fruity braising liquids.

The second reason for failure was my oven and my neglect of precision; you need some precision to do low temperature braising. The process was 30 minutes at 250F, 30 minutes at 200F, and 60 minutes at 150F. I added a half a cup of water after each of the first 30 minute intervals, which should probably have been sufficient to keep the internal temperature of the meat near 150F. The concept was to avoid cooking past medium doneness while maintaining a sufficiently high temperature to break down the collagen that gives meat its toughness. More specifically, the goal was to keep the meat temperature between 151F and 170F, but as I was juggling 7 dishes at the time, and I neglected to use a temperature probe thermometer to obtain the needed precision. I'll need to determine how calibrated this oven is at various stated cooking temperatures, as I think it's running hotter than I specified.

The motivation for this approach came of a passage I read in Molecular Gastronomy by Hervé This ...

At 40C (104F) meat becomes opaque because the protins in it, initially folded into a ball, begin to unfold before they coagulate (thus becoming denatured); at 50C (122F) the muscle fibers begin to contract; at 55C (131F) the fibrillar part of myosin (a protein that, along with actin, is essential for muscle contraction) coagulates, and collagen (a protein that gives meats their toughness) beings to dissolve; at 66C (151F) various other proteins coagulate; at 70C (158F) myoglobin no longer fixes oxygen, causing the inside of meat to turn pink; at 79C (174F) actin coagulates; at 80C (176F) the cell walls are ruptured and the meat becomes gray; at 100C (212F) water evaporates; and at temperatures higher than 150C (302F) so-called Maillard (and other) reactions produce brown and flavorful results. - p.169 in Molecular Gastronomy



The results were gray meat, and a tougher texture than the sweet spot I was seeking would have yielded. I think the technique has some promise though, and is similar in concept to sous vide, but lacking the high degree of precision possible with an immersion circulator. I'll have to revisit this approach after figuring out how accurate my ovens are.

You might be asking why blog about the failures? Well I believe to some extent (and this is a gross over simplification), we learn through either disciplined indoctrination of what is produced by knowledge creators (experts), or through experience in our own experimentation which often involves failures. While most people don't have a high precision sous vide cooking mechanism, I'm hoping to maybe find similar results that are accesible to anyone with a pot, a thermometer, and some very fundamental technique. To paraphrase Hervé This, good food comes of love, art, and a technial element (technique).

 

Hydrocolloid Densities

Martin over at blog.khymos.org has put together a revised collection of information on hydrocolloids. It is a fantastic resource that keeps getting better. One thing he's trying to do is gather up densities for various elements used to create hydrocolloids (suspensions, gels, spherification), so as to allow more people to experiment with molecular gastronomy techniques through volumetric measurement (most people don't have high precision scales sitting around, so being able to use a teaspoon improves convenience).

Anyway, I wanted to contribute to this effort so took an hour to weigh some of the chemicals in my pantry. I used a 50g limit scale with 0.01g accuracy, and a childrens plastic medicine cup for the container. I've also noted the texture / consistency of each material, as it seems some will have greater variation than others when volumetrically measured (when I say sticky below, the substance tends to cling to the container's outside a bit, I brushed this off). I followed the steps to measure outlined on blog.khymos.org. These densities are meant to supplement Martins document here, specifically the table on page 60 in the appendix. If you happen to have some sodium alginate laying around the house, please take 10 minutes to weigh it as outlined, and help demystify these techniques for other would-be molecular cuisine people out there.

Sample container empty weight 2.66g
Sample container filled with water 29.12g
Inferred volume of sample container 26.46 ml

Sodium Citrate samples (gross) - 31.33g, 31.21g, 31.36g
average net sample weight - 28.67g
inferred density - 1.08352 g / ml
notes: not sticky, evenly sized crystals
brand: willpowder.net

Calcium Lactate samples (gross) - 20.92g, 20.82g, 20.93g
average net sample weight - 18.23g
inferred density - 0.68896 g / ml
notes: sticky, powder that when agitated is dusty
brand: willpowder.net

Calcium Chloride samples - 23.82g, 23.87g, 24.01g, 23.95g
average net sample weight - 21.2525g
inferred density - 0.803193 g / ml
notes: very uneven spherical granules, some stickiness
brand: willpowder.net

Calcium Lactate Gluconate samples - 17.90g, 18.07g, 17.88g
average net sample weight - 15.29g
inferred density - 0.577853 g / ml
notes: sticky and easily compacted powder, dusty when agitated
brand: willpowder.net

Guar Gum samples - 18.69g, 18.80g, 18.66g
average net sample weight - 16.056667
inferred density - 0.60683 g / ml
notes: very fine powder, not sticky
brand: bulk (vitamin cottage)


 

New Books

Should be receiving a few good ones tomorrow, including:

• The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten


• Molecular Gastronomy by Hervé This


• Kitchen Mysteries by Hervé This


• The Oxford Companion to Italian Food
  

Can't wait to dig into the works of Hervé This, a man who can correctly be called a molecular gastronomist, and who says the work of Ferran Adria and others is Molecular Cuisine. Steingarten's book will certainly have a few sharp witted laughs in it.

I've also preordered the following:

• The Flavor Bible by the amazing authors of Culinary Artistry and due out in September


• A Day at El Bulli by Ferran Adria and due out in October


• Alinea by Grant Achatz and due out in November

Should keep me busy for a while absorbing such diversity of culinary talent.

 

Molecular Gastronomy News Feed

For the food science geeks in the room, check out the right side of the page and notice the new links to various blogs that pay strong attention to molecular gastronomy, under the heading "molecular gastronomy news". This will be updated on an ongoing basis with new sources. So if I can't always satiate your experiential cuisine cravings, I hope this will help tide you over. Here is the link if you want to get the RSS / Atom feed, and here is a URL if you want to bookmark the feed for web viewing.

 

Pont-l'Évêque w/ Walnut Consommé Curd & Toasted Walnuts

Ok, this one is really out there. As a consequence of making the Walnut Crema, after poaching a couple cups of walnuts in salted water, I was left with a surprisingly nice walnut broth. I saved this for a couple days, clarified it by straining through a chinois, and then set about coming up with something to do with it.

I settle on a curd by combining the walnut consommé with a 10% (by weight) dose of heavy cream, a couple splashes of sherry vinegar, added 1% (by weight) of mono-calcium phospate, then heating this to 160F. I then poured this into blender, got a vortex going on medium high, then added 2% (by weight) of Low-Methoxyl Pectin (LM Pectin). I let the blender go on high for about 6-7 minutes, then poured the mixture into a small sheet pan that was lined with a silicone pad (smooth side up). I let this rest at room temperature for 20 minutes, then refrigerated overnight to set.

I love Pont-l'Évêque cheese from the Normandy region of France, and decided to pair this with the curd and some toasted walnuts for texture and different nutty note. The curd on it's own was not that palatable, interesting but intense. When eaten together, the walnuts, curd and Pont-l'Évêqu were really good. I'd call this experiment a qualified success, though my friend who sampled the curd called it "Flabby Salt" (ouch).



I think the ides of the walnut consommé deserves a more focused attempt rather than the leftover preparation herein, but still this was a fun first attempt at a curd from something quite different. The magic here is the use of a pectin that can tolerate low-acidic environments and still produce a gel. I have to say that LM Pectin will be making future appearances in my cooking. Kudos to Ideas in Food for the help on the %'s.

 

Sesame & Coriander Crusted Tuna w/ Strawberry Cilantro Gelée

This is a recipe inspired by the August Royal Foodie Joust over at The Leftover Queen. The challenge this month is to create a dish with the following ingredients: Seafood, Cilantro (coriander), and Sesame.

My approach was to accent a familiar flavor combination, like tuna and wasabe, with some contrasting textures and complementary flavors that might be unfamiliar to some. Specifically, I wanted to bring out the nuttiness and crunchy texture of sesame, and contrast that with a savory application of strawberries by marrying this with cilantro in a soft textural element. This is a small plate preparation designed as a early course in a larger meal, but you could increase the tuna portion and make this an entrée.



- 1 tuna steak, good quality maguro is best
- 1/4 cup white sesame seeds
- 1/8 cup black sesame seeds
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- kosher salt TT
- 2 tsp wasabe powder, rehydrated
- 1 lb very ripe strawberries
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 lime
- 7.5 grams gelatin

Finely chop 1/2 of a bunch of cilantro leaves, carefully removing stems (about 1/4 cup). Clean and destem the strawberries, then blend to liquify for 1-2 minutes. Pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer or chinois (recommended) to extract just the strawberry juice. Take 750 ml of the strawberry juice and combine with the fresh juice of 1 lime. Bring the mixture to a bare boil and whisk in 1 packet of unflavored gelatin (7.5 grams). Remove from heat and continue to whisk until the gelatin is fully incorporated. Combine the chopped cilantro and incorporate evenly. Pour the mixture into a small square plastic container (approximately 5" x 5"), and allow to set in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Toast a 1/4 cup of white sesame seeds in a medium hot non-stick skillet for 3-4 minutes, tossing frequently, until a light golden brown color begins to take shape. Reserve the toasted white sesame seeds. Toast a teaspoon of coriander powder in the skillet for about 30 seconds, smoke will start to form quickly so agitate the pan but give it 30 seconds. Toss the white sesame seeds with about half as many black sesame seeds and the toasted coriander to form an even mixture and then spread these on a large plate in an even layer.

Take a tuna steak that is about 1 1/2 - 2" thick, and cut cylindrical shapes out of it. Gently salt the tuna with kosher salt, just a little. Prepare a paste of wasabe, and coat the tuna cylinders completely with a thin coating; in this case I used 100% pure wasabe, sans horseradish, as it has a softer burn and almost fruity sweet flavor, a personal preference kind of like choosing good mustard over the yellow stuff. Then role the tuna in the sesame and coriander to cover completely.

In a small sloped saute pan, bring 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil to medium high heat. Place the tuna cylinders upright to begin searing. At the same time, tilt the pan toward you and using a small spoon, bathe the tuna in the grapeseed oil for about 90 seconds. Turn the tuna once and repeat the bathing for another 60 seconds.

Plate the tuna on the center of a small plate, a coffee cup saucer is perfect. Cut 2 circular portions of the strawberry cilantro gelée and place these slightly offset and overlapping from the center of the tuna.

The flavor of the strawberry and cilantro plays well with the sesame, tuna and wasabe with a toasted coriander note in the background. The textural contrast of the crisp crust, semi-firm meat of the rare tuna, and soft gelée was very enjoyable.

For the food science geeks out there, the strawberry / cilantro pairing is based on research from Khymos, and the gelée used a 1% concentration of gelatin.