August 2008 Archives
Running blindly with a pouch of Activa RM (provided by Veronica), I took a stab into the world of Transglutaminase (meat glue)! It has no flavor, but allows you to do things that would be close to impossible to do otherwise. After the enzymes have bonded the two proteins together, you have a sturdy single piece of protein to work with. One practical use is to bind two tenderloins together - this way, you don't have to deal with small tail portions. Everything can e uniform. Then you could use the 'glue' to bind a slice of bacon around each cut tenderloin. The bacon will not fall apart or unravel when cooking. But who said anything about practical - I want to experiment!
First up - Sketchy's attempt at chicken balls (gotta find a better name):
These were great -- they were crispy on the outside, and very juicy on the inside. I served them with asparagus tips, potatoes, and a reduction of potato and fresh roasted vegetable and chicken stock. We both really liked this, it will probably been seen again in our household.
Next up is the mythical dragonscale fish. OK -- it should be mythical - it was so good.
I took some cod, layered two on top of each-other, and bound them with the Activa. Next, I took thinly sliced spicy chorizo and wrapped the fish in the sausage (each slice brushed with Activa to promote the creation of a skin of chorizo). This was tightly wrapped and allowed to set up for overnight in the refrigerator. the next day, I pan seared the top and bottom, then tossed it in the convection oven until the fish was cooked.
The fish was unbelievably moist. The Activa bonded the sausage to the fish and created a kind of skin. This held in the moisture when it cooked in the dry heat. The fish had a great texture, and the addition of the chorizo flavor added so much flavor to the normally bland cod. I call it dragonscale because the layered effect of the chorizo makes it look like scales. They exposed parts of the chorizo were crunchy, while the covered parts were perfect.
I served this with an olive and tomato tapenade, honey glazed spicy carrots and red peppers, and a celery and cumin salad. The spanish flavors exploded from this dish, and the fish was simply amazing. This will definitely be making another appearance. Perhaps at a certain bbq taking place this month. Adding some smoked flavor to this would be amazing. I think I will have the guys at Belmont Butchery slice the chorizo for me, that will give me uniform thin slices and save me a TON of time cutting it with a knife.
What's next? Perhaps hammering some chicken pasta-thin and making ravioli with an unbroken egg yolks.
My latest experiment in molecular gastronomy had to do with carbonation. In the past, I've played with mixology and carbonating vodka, gin, absinthe, and other liquors, as well as the traditional seltzer water. I've read about carbonating sferes and other items. Based on an article on kymos.org, I decided to throw my two cents into the realm of carbonating fruit.
That's right -- fruit.
The result -- simply amazing. It is innocuous, it looks like normal fruit, it feels like normal fruit when you put it on your tongue, but when you bite the fruit, there is a sensation. It is hard to describe, but fun comes to mind. It tingles on your tongue. At first it is just a localized tingling sensation (almost burning - it is very concentrated), then the taste starts to some across. Some have speculated that the aeration of the taste enhances the fruit flavor, I'm not sure, but it sure takes a mundane experience and makes you smile.
The fruit is memorable. We've tried a few different combinations and I have suggestions to those who want to give it a shot. One -- the more dense the fruit the more carbonation is retained. Apples are a porous fruit, where peaches have a denser and moister flesh. Apples hold the carbonation for 10 minutes, but the amount of carbonation diminishes as it is exposed to normal atmospheric conditions. Peaches hold the high carbonation levels for twenty to thirty minutes. This is very nice, you can discharge the canister before company arrives without blowing the surprise.
Fruit with rinds reacted differently to the pressure changes. I peeled the apples and peaches, but I left the skins on the cherries and pummelos. This was an interesting experiment. The cherries cell walls burst when the pressure was released and the juice extracted from the flesh foamed in the isi gourmet whip. The cherries were delicious and fizzy, but we also had a light cherry foam to use a sauce with the mango sorbet.
OK -- to carbonate fruit --
1. get an isi Gourmet Whip
2. cut fruit and put it in.
3. charge whip with 2 C02 cartridges
4. let sit for at least 4 hours.
5. discharge whip SLOWLY.
6. serve.
It is so easy, the wife loved them, the little chef devoured as many as he could get his hands on, and I kept eating them and smiling. When is the last time you smiled after eating a small piece of peach or apple? At 60 cents a charge, this is an amazing way to add some zip to an everyday item that people don't get excited about.
Now on to the real challange -- what would happen if you carbonated fish? Horrible horrible idea, or would marinated tuna tar tar (ginger, soy, lime, tabasco) with carbonation be reminiscent of a ginger-ale? How about ceviche? Is this something I should avoid, or would it be an interesting experiment?
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