Sketchy's Kitchen

not dead, just busy

2008-09-28T17:36:33Z

Here's few shots of some of the things I never got around to posting!

And somewhere there is a passionfruit-mirror top chocolate opera cake I need to load up

Eclairs... better late then never

2008-09-02T12:35:48Z

I'm late on my post -- I'll pull the work card. I started a new job last month, I get to work from home, but they are working me to death :D As I post this - on a holiday weekend, I am doing work on my work computer at 11:48 PM on a holiday! We're supposed to calm down in about a week, but so far, the first months has been a bundle of work!

I did manage to get this months Daring Bakers challenge completed, but I missed the post date -- so here's my post. And thanks to this months hosts Tony and Meeta.

I enjoyed this challenge, my only complaint - after the challenge was complete, I had a large volume of unused material. Mostly made with expensive chocolate. Sure, having a few cups of chocolate sauce is not a bad thing, but at the price, I'd rather have the money and some cheap Hershey's syrup. After making the recipe, the glaze and sauce could have been halved. I also had a lot of the chocolate pastry cream left over, but most of that got eaten.

The pastry came out brilliantly. I had large gaping air-pockets and everything was evenly cooked. These were light and fluffy, filled with chocolate and covered with chocolate. The short lifespan on these made my neighbors very happy.

Dragonscale fish and chicken balls

2008-08-08T00:22:26Z

Some say there are no practical uses for molecular gastronomy. I have to disagree. You might have to get creative, but we have great resources to give you inspiration. WD~50 has a dish where they wrap chicken breast in chicken thighs ad wrap the bundle in chicken skin. Well, I took that as my first challenge. There are no recipes, there are no instructions oh how to make it, just a tiny 1 inch picture on a website.

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.

Playing with fruit

2008-08-05T03:13:42Z

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?

cake - looks pretty...

2008-07-31T00:25:14Z

This months Daring Bakers challenge had all the signs of being something I would love. Hazelnuts, chocolate, praline, etc. Good ingredient after good ingredient. Well, I made the cake - followed the somewhat frazzled instructions, and wasn't very happy with the outcome. The cake tasted fine, the icing was ok, the chocolate was chocolate, but when everything was put together it didn't work for me at all.

I felt the cake was too heavy, all the flavors were very strong and overpowering. Even with a light and airy cake, the multiple glazes and heavy buttercream, and chocolate were just too much. M y wife felt the same way. Even with tiny little slices, the cake was too much. It didn't taste bad, it was just too heavy. I didn't think the opera cake was too heavy, I think the addition of mousse lightened the overall texture and feel of the cake, This one was just buttercream and buttercream.

Chris from Mele Cotte picked the recipe - it was a little tough following the instructions, but the final product looked good. Just read and reread the recipe a few times. You might want to print it out and organize it by sub recipes, and make sure you know how they will be used together. Here is a list of others who participate in the Daring Bakers Challenges.

One thing that I did learn -- I should not be given a piping bag. I need to find a class and learn how to use those damn things!

SO - in summary - didn't like it, so I can't recommend it to others. I know other bakers had much better experiences with it, maybe I just don't like cakes like this? Who knows?

Molecular Gastronomy? Why? Why!? WHY!?!?!

2008-07-24T17:14:12Z

Someone posed this question to me today:

Molecular Gastronomy? Why? Why!? WHY!?!?! It just seems so ridiculous and over the top for no reason except shock value to me.

I think this attitude comes from a misunderstanding about the whole concept of Molecular Gastronomy. Most of the general public's only exposure to molecular gastronomy comes from Top Chef and Iron Chef America. You have people like Marcel using foams on every dish, and chefs making monstrosities of dishes on Iron Chef. Hell, Anthony Bourdain thought this way - it's all for show, useless for the cooking world. Well, that was until he spent some time with Ferran Adria.

My wife and I watched Decoding Ferran Adria:Hosted by Anthony Bourdain a few days ago. This was an insightful look into the mind, kitchen, and lab of the world's leading molecular gastronomist, and still reigning holder of the title of the worlds best restaurant. It was a fascinating video behind the process of the dishes they prepare at elBulli, but it also explains the world of MG in a way that can be absorbed by they television watching public.

When trying to explain my fascination behind MG, I often need to explain the concepts behind it. Most people think it's about foams, sferes, gells, and chemicals. Well, that is partially right, but the part they fail to see is the science part. The priceless work of Harold McGee, Herve This, and other scientists and chefs. McGee and This have spent years finding out why things work the way they do. Why does food brown when seared, why does acid break certain sauces, why do eggs whip, what is a hydrocolloids and how do they work?

For the average home chef, you never think about why whipped egg whites form stiff peaks, or why flour sauces thicken when they cool. You just follow the recipes and hope for the best. This is one area I find so interesting. Once you understand the mechanics behind the chemical bonds, proteins, and emulsifications, you can take that knowledge to the experimental side. This is the other side of Molecular Gastronomy. I prefer to think of this as the application of the knowledge gained from the research.

There are many facets to this side of cooking. Some are considered standard techniques, some are considered exotic and radical. A few days ago I made a tomato consommé. The traditional consommé involves egg whites, rafting, and other steps. The MG solution involves a few grams of sheet gelatin, a coffee filter, and time. It was cheaper ingredient wise, and you get a purer flavor in the end. Gelatin filtration was discovered in 2004, and is still relatively unknown to the home cook. You can use this technique for anything, and you get a clear liquid from whatever you use. Fruit, stock, vegetables, bread, cookies - the gelatin will hold all the particulate matter, so all you end up with is clear liquid.

Most people only see the foams and caviar side of molecular gastronomy. Every now and then you have someone who is making ice-cream with liquid nitrogen. I want to explore those aspects of MG, but I also want to try the things people aren't familiar with. I want to do this for a few reasons. I want to know more about the ingredients and how they work, but I also want to be able to surprise company with things they are familiar with, but served in a totally foreign way. Is the taste any better - in the case of caviar and ravioli - no, it tastes the same. Is the experience different - yes. Most people find these experiences enjoyable, where the traditional experience is just eating.

In this quest for knowledge, I have come across ways to make dishes I have made before even better. Parmesan crisps - melt the cheese on a silpat, then form when it is still warm. when it dries, you have a lacy crisp. Well, I have a recent post about a new way to make these. The addition of egg white makes a much more refined crisp. It is lighter and more delicate. The egg white acts as a binding agent for the cheese and allows it to be manipulated in a way that straight cheese will not allow.

Currently, I have two pouches of Activa (transglutamase) taunting me at home. One is the powder form, the other should be used as a slurry. This chemical has large purposes in the industrial food industry, and has been used for a few years in a few restaurants. It is meat glue. It is used in every chicken nugget, formed meat patty, and in many vegetarian dishes. The enzyme binds meat proteins together and forms a permanent bond. The real challenge is to find an interesting application, with regard for cook times. You could bond a chicken breast to a NY strip steak, but the cooking temperatures will not jive together. You'd end up with cooked chicken and overcooked beef.

This is the fun challenge with the application molecular gastronomy. Finding ways to execute dishes that taste good, while using these new techniques. Some may ask - why not cook it like you've always cooked it. Some people may not like change, but I love change. There's a place for everything, but there's no harm in trying something new. What happens if I add some dehydrated orange powder to my meat rub? Will the added sugars in the orange powder assist the Maillard reaction on the pork, or will it add an off flavor? If it creates a nice flavorful brown crust, I might have discovered a new ingredient to include in all my meat rubs.

I keep track of all my kitchen adventures on this blog, and in a little black leather book next to the kitchen computer. Each time I try an elBulli recipe, I write notes on what worked, what didn't work, and what I added/took away from the recipe. I've tried more then a handful of marshmallow recipes. Some with egg whites, some without, some with sheet gelatin, some with powdered gelatin. Different ratios of sugar, egg white, gelatin, water, juice, extracts, etc. When I take these recipes and the knowledge I have acquired from reading about the molecular bonds that are formed, and the chemical reactions that take place as the ingredients combine and cook, I have come up with a foolproof recipe that I can call my own and be proud of.

When I give my people my marshmallows, I typically get this one reaction: Oh WOW.....mmmmm... I don't think I can eat store bought marshmallows ever again.

See if you can get a hold of Decoding Ferran Adria. It is a great way to get a little knowledge behind the true concept of Molecular Gastronomy.

REPOST - Business woes

2008-07-22T18:49:22Z

A few weeks ago I was talking about starting a business. Well, after much research, standing in line, and talking on the phone, I discovered that we would never pass the health inspection. We have 4 cats, and three of them have access to the kitchen. There is a open clause that says "No domesticated animals may remain in the food preparation area."

Well, we have an open house layout, so we would need to put up new walls and doors to block off the kitchen, but I like the openness in the kitchen, and I could not close it off. So - no business. We would need to convert part of the garage, or build an addition to the back of the garage. I would love that, but you'd be talking six or seven thousand for appliances, couple hundred fro plumbing, electrical, and AC/Heating. then you have the Sheetrock, floors, waterproofing, storage, cabinets, countertops, and if we expand - new siding, small trusses, and shingles. At least ten to twenty thousand to convert the garage/expand.
I'd so love to expand a little, but I don't think that will happen.

So -- things I have learned:
   No cats
   If you have cats, they can never get in the room
   If they can get in the room, they must be shaved
   If you want to sell at the farmers market, you don't need a business license, but you need a health inspection
   you cannot pass an inspection if cat hair can float into the kitchen

Some people mentioned getting space at a community center, but almost everything I am cooking involves multiple days and long rest periods. My sourdoughs require two days, and the barm is a living creature that would need to live in the kitchen full time. Marshmallows need to sit for at least 4 hours, but 12+ is better.
So, no matter how clean you keep the kitchen, if they might find cat hair, they can take away your license and hit you with a misdemeanor. When I do eventually start this business, I want it to be legit. I know it's a yearly inspection, and they might skip your house, but I would want my customer to know that I care about how their food is being prepared. So -- for now, there is no business. If you want to eat my marshmallows, cookies, cakes, or breads, you need to come to my house, work with me, or move in next to me.

------------------

thanks to those who left comments before the upgrade. I'm sorry I lost your posts.

Busy Saturdays and dinner parties

2008-07-02T23:22:51Z

This last Saturday we had company over for dinner. Aidan and Finn ran around and exhausted each other while I ran a marathon in the kitchen. Piet, his wife (and their son), brought over some excellent gravlax and sauce. I made some sourdough pumpernickel bread. This was my first time making pumpernickel, it was surprising that so few stores have pumpernickel flour. I tried Ukrops, Krogers, The Fresh Market, and Elwood Thompson's. As a last attempt, I tried the organic section of the Ukrops by my house. They had a small bag of dark rye flour, this is not pumpernickel flour, but it was really close, and closer then anything I had found. The addition of coffee and the molasses from the brown sugar made a very dark crust, and a deep, rich colored crumb.

Next was a little kitchen science. This was my first attempt at the elBulli staple: Liquid Pea Ravioli. This is a simple mixture of peas, mint, and two chemicals, topped with a tiny mint leaf and a bit of sea salt. This was interesting, the texture of the peas is much thicker then the fruit juice mixtures I've been doing. It took a little experimenting to get a clean release from the spoon, but once that was solved, we had a handful of pea ravioli to munch on.

During this entire time, we were sipping miscellaneous drinks. We had carbonated Bombay Sapphire Gin, foamy absinthe mojitos, and passionfruit whisky sours with passionfruit foam. The mojitos were made in the soda siphon, and the passionfruit foam was made in the gourmet whip. We broke up the red wine and white wine for dinner.

I had been rolling and cutting pasta all afternoon. The KitchenAid attachment makes this so easy. If you like to make pasta, I highly recommend the attachments. No hand cranking, variable speeds and size settings. I've rolled pasta by hand, without the aid of a crank machine, and they all produce the same quality, but the amount of work involved in making the pasta is minimal with the automated tools. Once the pasta was rolled and cut, it rested for a few hours in the refrigerator. Next up was more food prep. Pancetta and bacon from Belmont Butchery. The smell of cured and smoky pork. Mmmmmmmmm.

This was sauteed in white wine, then tossed with the hot pasta with eggs, parmegianno reggiano, pecorino romano, and garlic. More commonly known as Pasta alla Carbonara. This was accompanied with some sundreid tomato, basil, and parmigiano sourdough bread. We had a fresh heirloom tomato and olive oil topping for the bread. The pasta cooked in two minutes and thirty seconds, one of the nice things about fresh pasta.

I had a intermediate course planned, but we were all full from dinner. I'll discuss this down at the bottom of the post.

For dessert, we had a chocolate tart with caramel and peanuts. This was my second recipe from the Baking with Dorie cookbook. This came out very well. I made ti a few hours before company arrived, and have been enjoying it for dessert each night this week.

The skipped course. I was planning on sfering some cantaloupe and serving it with prosciutto. Sunday night, amid the thunderstorms, I was in the kitchen. Like Dr. Frankenstein, I was making something come to life as the lightning struck around me. Drip Drip Drip Drip. One by one, droplets of melon were going into a waterbath and being transformed into melon caviar. I've made fruit caviar a few times, and I have the technique down.

Moving forward into untested waters

2008-06-24T00:48:17Z

My blog has always been a hobby. I guess getting notice that you will be unemployed in two months will trigger odd things in you. I've decided to start the task of getting Sketchy's Kitchen official. I don't know if I'll ever make enough money to do it as my job, but a business license would allow me to sell things by demand on the web and to local business and families. It's for two reasons. One, I love to cook, and I end up giving away half of everything I make. Two - I need something to fixate on so I don't stress about looking for another job.

For those interested, I am an Oracle DBA, Remedy ARS programmer, Cold Fusion and PHP coder, and I have a lot of experience with project management, SPC/Metric Reporting, and change management.

OK -- back to baking, cooking, and trying to start a business! On Friday afternoon we went down to the county govt. facility and started the process to turn me into a home based internet/retail bakery. There are TONS of forms. I'm still finding ones I need to fill out. After getting the run around, we had the Federal Tax ID, and we went upstairs to the zoning office. they asked me i we had an food safety inspection yet. I told them no, and they sent me downstairs and across the street. When I showed up across the street, they told me there was no such office here.

Well, we gave up at that point. I had things to do for the dinner we were having at Piet's place the next night. I had cakes to bake, pastries to cook, bread to bake. Yep, I buried myself in flour and sugar. I kept myself very busy, and slightly intoxicated. I think I managed to not get a shot of the bread. It was a sourdough boule with crushed cocoa nibs, and a touch of cayenne pepper. The Chocolate flavor is very minimal, the nibs have an almost nutty taste to them.

I made the cake on Saturday. The cake looked great at our house. I loaded it into a cake transport thingie, and we drove across town for dinner. As we were driving I told Jen that she was not a good cake driver. Fast accelerations, sharp breaking, fast turns. As we were driving, the cake began to lose it's height. It reminded me of a cake my mother made when I was a kid. It looked great at first, but as the day went on it started to look a little sad. Well, Jen said she thought the cake looked better, she liked the stripes. I explained that the cake was not supposed to be zebra striped. Between the stops and the starts, you could watch the top of the cake slide around the cake holder. I was so depressed about this.

By the time we arrived at the house I no longer had a cake. It was The Thing. a glob of icing and three discs of cake. I tried to make it look presentable, but there was no hope for that anymore. We took half the cake home, the next day I went to cut a slice for dinner - total disaster. It was like a train wreck. Three layers, all exposed. I took them, added some heavy cream and turned them into a ... paste.. in the food processor. Cake and icing, ground into a mush and spooned into ramekins. They taste pretty good with the caramel whipped cream. Bus as far as cakes go: spectacular defeat with the assistance of Jen's driving.

OK -- back to starting a business. I spoke with Veronica - she's already done this! She found the phonenumber to the State Agriculture department. I called them and stated that I am trying to start a home bakery. They put some documentation in the mail. Once I fill that out, I call them back and they will see if I need an inspection (I have to pay for the inspection if they show up or not). At first, Jen and I were worried that I couldn't get a license because of our cats, but we are pretty sure we can. We are not catering, so the rules are a little more lax in that regard.

Once I figure out all the forms that are needed to get setup in VA, I will post about them. The process is a little taxing,especially if you are in a bad mood. But keep at it.

Carbonating Vodka?

2008-06-20T23:33:08Z

Normally, people buy soda siphons to carbonate water. They make seltzer, that's about it. When we were at WD~50, Jen had a drink that was made with carbonated vodka. Sure, you can cut vodka with seltzer, but it dilutes the vodka, and dilutes the c02 distribution in the drink. After scouring the web for ways to carbonate alcohol, I found a solution. I figured my wife might not like a 50 pound c02 tank under the sink, so I had to find a smaller alternative. I knew soda siphons carbonated water through a c02 charger, but could it do alcohol? Would that muck up the dispersion system? Are other people doing this? If so, where are their posts?

This was actually pretty hard to find. I guess people don't play with mixology. I found one guy who was carbonating apple juice for his kids. If the siphons can do apple juice, they should be able to do alcohol. A quick test with water shows you one thing: you don't want to serve the alcohol under pressure if you want it to stay fizzy. Water gets everywhere if you fill the cup at the wrong angle. To remedy this problem, I removed the stem and charged the canister. Well, the stem is a two part device. Remove the straw part and put the plug back in place, then close and charge the canister. The top part of the stem forms a seal around the top of the canister. Without it, all the air escapes! You can use up to two cartridges for a full bottle.

Shake the canister for a few seconds, then place in the refrigerator. After two hours, retrieve the alcohol bottle and a funnel. Dispense the c02 in the canister by depressing the trigger, remove the top and plastic seals, then [b]slowly[/b] pour the alcohol back into the bottle. If you pour it too quickly, it will fizz all over the counter. With a quick rinse, the siphon is ready to make carbonated water again.

Last night I decided to take the Soda Siphon to another level. With help from an El Bulli recipe for a mojito, I transformed my siphon in to a kitchen beast with endless possibilities. I need to check the ratios, but take your mojito mix (I used mint from the back yard, limes, sugar, and rum), disperse 1 ½ sheets of gelatin in water, then strain and pour everything into the soda siphon. Once charged, it comes out frothy! It was a tasting experience. The foam is so punchy with the lime, but as it disperses into the liquid in the bottom of the cup, the flavor mellows.

Jen commented on how strong the flavors were in the foam, but how they were very balanced by the end of the drink. I guess this has to do with the air molecules in the liquid. The gelatin is unnoticeable; the drink feels the same on your tongue, well, except for the foam part. This technique can apply to just about any drink.

The only problem with the siphon is that we seem to run out of water when Jen goes to get a glass for dinner. Aidan loves sparkling water in his juice

Parmigiano-Reggiano Crisps

2008-06-16T20:55:04Z

To continue with my Molecular Gastronomy posts, this one will address the texture of a commonly used item: cheese. Parmigiano-Reggiano to be precise. I found a great, and simple, recipe from the 1998 - 2002 El Bulli Cookbook. It involves cheese, a grater, egg whites, silpat mats, and a rolling pin. Most people are familiar with the traditional parmesan crisp. Baked cheese, sometimes it has a lacy appearance. This recipe is just as easy to make, but you get a more refined, delicate, crisp.

When buying cheese for this - look for the imported Parmesan. In the US, we have very lax rules for cheese naming. In europe, Parmigiano-Reggiano is regulated under the name Parmesan. American copies of the cheese have to be sold as pamesello italiano, or some other name. Pamesello italiano is what Kraft sells as Parmesan. American Parmesan has a larger sodium content, is mechanically pressed, and lacks the complex flavors that are achieved by the long time in the brine solution.

Parmigiano Crisps

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
egg whites

preheat oven to 340 degrees (convection)

tools needed - 2 silpat mats, microplane grater, rolling pin, and parchment paper.

Shave the cheese with a microplane, add the egg whites and mix with a spatula until the mixture resembles pasty dough. Transfer this to a silpat and spread evenly across the middle. Place the second silpat over the paste and evenly spread around with a rolling pin. You want a very thin, even layer of cheese across the entire silpat.

Place this into a preheated oven and bake for five minutes

Remove from oven and carefully remove the top silpat. I used an offset spatula to loosen and unstick any cheese that didn't want to release. Place a sheet of parchment over the cheese and flip over. Remove the remaining silpat and reduce the oven to 320 degrees (convection). Place back in the oven and cook for another 4 minutes. If you do not have convection, you may have to cook this for longer. You want the entire crisp to brown. If there are white spots, they will sag after you cut them.

When it is evenly browned, remove the crisp from the oven and cut immediately. You want them to be long and skinny. If you wait for the cheese to cool down, it will shatter when you try to cut it. Once cut, allow the crisps to cool to room temperature on a flat surface. I ended up using a chef's knife for slicing; the pizza wheel didn't do the trick. Serve in a dish or cup that will show off their height. They stay crisp for a long time. We ran out before they got soggy.

The little guy helped me make them; he ate so many of the crisps. I had to move them so he didn't finish them off.

Next time I make these, I might add some smoked Spanish paprika into the mix. Depending on when you add it, and how thoroughly you incorporate it, you could end up with streaks of dark red in the crisps.

Ventures into the unknown

2008-06-11T01:23:16Z

This will be my first installment of Molecular Gastronomy Techniques for the home chef. I'm going to focus on the recipes and my experience with it. I'll try to keep the science talk to a minimum, but give enough for those interested. My first technique will be sferification. I think this technique goes to El Bulli Restaurant/labs, if I'm wrong, someone feel free to correct me, and I'll update this little point.

What is sferification? Sferification is the process of making liquid caviar and pasta-less raviolo. With the use of chemicals, one can take a food liquid (anything from fruit, vegetables, meat juice, or chicken stock), submerge it in another liquid, and a gel will form around the liquid through ion transfer. OK -- if you want the science behind this, send me a mail and I'll send you some resources.

I started with caviar because it is one of the easier things to attempt. In the last week and a half I've attempted this five times. My first attempt was using the wrong chemical bath, so that was a mess, my second attempt was a success, three and four were a mess and a pot of gooooooo. My fifth attempt worked great. I've determined it is all about measurements, pH, and timing.

Measurement is the first critical thing. I need a scientific scale, something that can measure a tenth of a gram.
pH is the next critical thing. I think I need to buy testing strips. If the pH is too high, it will not work, if it is to low, it will not work. I already have chemicals to alter the pH, but I need a way to test the solution before I proceed.
Third is timing, this is the easiest. If you let your sferes sit for too long, you get a solid gel. If they don't sit long enough, they break.

There are two processes for sferification. I will focus on the standard process, and explain the reverse process in another post.

First, you need the right chemicals: Sodium Alginate, Sodium Citrate, and Calcium Chloride.

Apple Caviar

8 ounces Apple Juice
1/2 tsp Sodium Alginate
1/8 tsp Sodium Citrate

2 cups of water
1/2 tsp Calcium Chloride

One or two water baths.

Mix a third of the apple juice with the sodium alginate. You need to use an immersion blender for this to work (a stand blender would also work). Heat this mixture to 205 degrees - this helps remove the air bubbles formed from blending. Add the rest of the apple juice and sodium citrate, mix to combine. Chill. This part can be made in advance and held for service.

Mix the water and calcium chloride in a large bowl.

When you are ready to 'cook' the sferes, transfer the apple mixture to your dropping apparatus. Syringes can be purchased at CVS, specialty equipment can be purchased from your chemical vendor, and you can use a squirt bottle. I have a 96 pipette dropper, and a squirt bottle. For speed, the dropper is amazing, but I prefer the slightly larger sferes that the squirt bottle makes.

(This is where the timing comes into play)

When you drop the mixture into the water bath, the reaction is instantaneous. The longer the sfere is in the water, the thicker the shell. As the chemical reaction takes place, the apple is gelling; if it sits too long, you have a solid sfere, instead of a liquid filled sfere. Thirty seconds to 45 seconds is the time the sferes need to cook. If they are in there much longer, they will solidify on you. Remove the sferes with a slotted spoon, strainer, or skimmer and dip in the water bath. I use two baths: one for the first dip, and the other ice water bath to cool the sferes (I used them in a cold dish).

You now have apple caviar.

If you want to make raviolo, fill a round teaspoon with the apple mixture and place the spoon under the water. Rotate the spoon over and flip the apple out of the spoon. It will naturally take on a sphere shape in the fluid as the bonds are formed. Let these rest for sixty to ninety seconds. Then remove and dip in water baths to remove the chemicals from the outside.

DISCLAIMER: These are not completed dishes, they are just examples of technique.

]]> To make this into a finished dish, come up with a creative way to augment a dish, or create a new one. I suspect they would be good on ice cream. The larger raviolo can be served on a spoon with accompaniment. The apple raviolo with a measure of cream anglaise, a dot of caramel, resting on a circle of pie crust would make an interesting mini dessert.

This is all about altering the texture of things we know and creating new experiences.

What I learned from this recipe -- by itself, the apple caviar is bland. It all makes sense when you think about it. It's just apple juice, a tiny sphere of apple juice. To punch up the flavor, reduce the apple juice and mull it. Reduced apple cider sounds much better. A concentrated blast of flavor is your goal.

Mango - Melon Caviar and Raviolo

150 grams of mango
100 grams of musk melon (cantaloupe)
4 grams of Sodium Citrate
Sodium Alginate

500 grams of water
5 grams of Calcium Citrate

The recipe is identical to the one above. Mix, cook, mix, drop into bath, rinse, strain, serve.

The difference -- this mixture was thicker, more vibrant, and had much more flavor. The mango shines through, and the melon plays a strong second fiddle. The raviolo has the texture, color, and viscosity of an egg yolk. The caviar floats in drinks. Initially, it will sink to the bottom, but slowly, they all start to float up to the top of the drink. It's like bubble tea, but they slowly start to infuse the drink with the flavor. It's very subtle, but my gin started to have a melon scent and mango flavor. It was quite nice, not the least bit overpowering.

The mango raviolo can be used as an egg yolk in presentation. A mound of coconut rice with a hole in the middle, filled with 2 or three ravioli would look like you are trying to make pasta. A smaller dish of mango and coconut rice could be served on a spoon, just mound the rice behind the raviolo and squirt a streak of caramel over the two domes. The goal with the ravioli is to make it a one bite dish. A single raviolo with burst and coat everything else in your mouth with its contents. Think of it as encapsulated sauce.

What have I learned? One: The mystique of sferes fades as you research them and make them at home. I'm still making them because I have much to learn. They will be special occasion fare; guests are almost always amazed by them. I think we have to travel to Washington DC to find the closest restaurant with them. They still hold their novelty when you see them made right in front of you.

Some things to remember if you decide to venture into this side of the kitchen. Read, re-read, and re-re-read your recipe. Make sure you have everything you need ahead of time. Make sure it is all clean. When you search on the internet for recipes, don't get discouraged. There is a lot of talk about making sferes, but most people only talk about how they made them, not what went into the recipes. The technology has been affordable for the home cook for about two years, so we are starting to see new concepts and ideas with the sferification process. The El Bulli Texturas line is nice, but way overpriced. Check for other vendors, I found the powdered food grade chemicals for pennies compared to the El Bulli branded products. Food grade chemicals are regulated by the FDA, non regulated chemicals may have impurities and fillers that will throw off your mixtures.

Coming up next:

Lavender in Bloom

2008-06-07T12:59:57Z

The lavender is flowering, so I need an excuse to use some. I decided on marshmallows, honey-lavander-lemon marshmallows. Most people are amazed that I make marshmallows, but they are not that hard. I often find myself rattling off the recipe at request, so I've decided to post it up for you. The recipe makes basic marshmallows, but it is easy to add ingredients to drastically alter the flavor. I will give credit to the great Alton Brown for coming up with the base recipe.

DISCLAIMER: You NEED a stand mixer!

Basic Marshmallow Recipe:

12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) sugar
1 cup corn syrup
3/4 oz gelatin *
1 cup ice water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup corn starch

Take 1/2 cup of the water and add to the gelatin in the bowl of the stand mixer.

Add the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and the remaining 1/2 water to a pot, heat on medium, covered, for 4 minutes. Remove lid and attack your candy thermometer. You want the sugar to reach 240 degrees. Do not mix the sugar with a spoon, it can create crystals. When it reaches 240 degrees, remove from heat and remove the thermometer.

Attach the whisk attachment to your stand mixer, on low speed, slowly pour in the hot sugar mixture. When all the mixture is in the bowl, turn the mixer on high and whip for 13 minutes. NOTE: hot gelatin is the most foul thing you will ever smell in your kitchen. I've done it with sheet gelatin and powdered, both smell foul.

While the sugar is whipped, prepare your pan. Take a 13 x 9 pan. I've used glass and metal. If you can find a straight edged metal pan (I got mine from sur la table) you will get better edges. I've not had problems turning marshmallows out of either pan. Back to the pan preparation. Mix the powdered sugar and corn starch. Spray the pan with non stick spray, then dust the pan with the corn starch mixture. Make sure to get the coating on the sides of the pan. Collect the extra powder and save for later use.

As the gelatin and sugar mix in the bowl, the temperature goes down, and the gelatin begins to set. At minute 13, stop the mixer and add the vanilla extract. Turn the mixer to low speed until the vanilla is incorporated, and raise the speed back to high. Whip for 2 more minutes. Now your marshmallows are ready to be formed. I'm only going to cover the rustic look here, if you want to read about the piped marshmallows, I will refer you back to the Good Eats listing.

From here on out, non stick spray is your friend. Marshmallows are the stickiest things I have ever worked with, but they are afraid of the non stick spray, so it's your friend :D Spray a spatula with non stick and turn the sticky mess into your prepared pan. Spread the mixture evenly around the pan. If your spatula begins to stick, clean it and re-spray it. An even layer will make for attractive cut marshmallows. Once in the pan, dust the top of the marshmallows with the cornstarch mixture and let them sit uncovered for a minimum of 5 hours, I let mine sit overnight.

When you are ready to cut them, flip the brick out of the pan onto half of the remaining cornstarch mixture. Pizza cutters are your friend at this point. Dust both sides of the pizza cutter with corn starch and begin to cut a grid into the marshmallows. Once you have them cut, pull strips apart and dredge in the cornstarch. Every side needs to be covered, so I do strips at a time, then I separate the individual marshmallows and dredge the remaining sides. These will keep for 3 weeks in a ziplock.

Now that we have that out of the way, how can I make flavored marshmallows, like the honey lavender lemon ones, or peach?

There are two ways to add flavor to marshmallows. First is to use extracts. At the thirteenth minute, when you add the vanilla, you can add other flavors. To make the lavender ones I added 1/2 tsp of lavender extract, 1/2 tsp of lemon extract, about 20 fresh ground lavender blossoms, and 1/2 tsp of finely minced lemon rind. You could also add other flavors here. Orange extract works exceptionally well, as does spearmint, cinnamon, etc.

The second way to flavor marshmallows is to substitute ingredients. For the honey lavender, I subbed out 1/2 cup of sugar for 1/2 cup of fresh honey from lavender fields (near our house). When I made the peach marshmallows I subbed out all the water for fresh peach juice. I took 5 peaches and attacked them with an immersion blender ( I cut them up first). I strained the larger parts out and ended up with 1 cup of liquid. Half of that went in the gelatin, the other half went in the pot with the sugar. The peach was quite interesting. Half of the juice was cooked in the sugar, while the other half was flash cooked when it came in contact with the sugar syrup. The peach flavor was surprisingly strong, and did not have a cooked peach flavor.

*Gelatin use. I used powdered gelatin for the peach recipe (and all previous batches). I used sheet gelatin for the lavender marshmallows. The powdered gelatin was much more fluffy and light then the sheet gelatin. The texture of the sheet gelatin is not bad, just more dense and chewy. Both batches were light and fluffy, but the powdered was fluffier. Based on the cost, I'd stick to powdered. 3 packs of powdered gelatin is 3/4 oz, 15 sheets is also 3/4 oz.

Teaser post

2008-06-06T04:27:58Z

After a few nights of messing it up (wrong ingredients!)... I have something to show!

Off to the Opera

2008-05-28T12:10:24Z

Well, close enough. This months Daring Bakers challenge was to make light opera cake. For those unfamiliar with these cakes, they are made with a joconde-dense almond cake. The cake is very eye friendly. There are alternating layers of the almond cake, flavorful syrup is spread on each cake layer, and between each layer is either a buttercream, or a mousse. Finally, there is a chocolate glaze poured over the cake. Typically, the cake is very heavy. Chocolate, coffee, and almond flavors are the normal flavor combination. Our challenge was to make it more spring like. No chocolate, no coffee, no chocolate, did I mention no chocolate?

Since the recipe is SO LONG, I will link to it, instead of displaying the entire recipe.

For us daring bakers, the biggest challenge was picking flavor combinations. Since we were thinking spring time, light, fruity flavors were at the top of most people's minds. Others were immediately sucked into the green tea realm. I immediately wanted to use orange. Then Galliano came to mind.

Galliano has a very light citrus taste, along with some vanilla, anise, and some herbs. Its dominating flavor is anise, like Sambuca or Pernod. I built the flavors around this. Orange-vanilla buttercream with hints of Galianno and Drambuie, the syrup was Galliano flavored, and the liquid used in the syrup was infused with star anise. The mousse was white chocolate, vanilla, and honey. And the final glaze was white chocolate, Galianno, and a hint of limoncello for some additional citrus.

This is a complex recipe. Not overly difficult, just time consuming. If you can balance your time, and the recipe, over a few days, this can be accomplished by anyone.

I made the cake and syrup one evening. The next evening I made the buttercream and mousse. I assembled the cake and cooled it overnight. The next day after work I made the glaze and poured it over the cake. Once cooled, I squared the cake. This is a presentation cake. There is no icing on the sides, so the layers can show. You see them in bakeries all the time.

I loved this recipe and this concept. So did my neighbors. They were willing tasters, and this makes a lot more then two people can attempt to finish before the cake starts to head south. Once square, you can get 12 or more rectangle slices from the cake.

As many of the other Daring Bakers recipes, I did this one twice. Not because I screwed up on the first one, but because I had so much fun making this. We have new neighbors, so I figured this would make a great 'welcome to the neighborhood' gift. They told me they were chocolate lovers, so I approached the recipe a different way. I avoided the coffee flavors, but I gave them as much chocolate as they could stomach!

For my second opera cake, I made chocolate joconde (almond cake), I made a Grand Mariner and limoncello syrup, orange-grapefruit buttercream with a hint of vodka, a raspberry lime bittersweet chocolate mousse, and a chocolate glaze infused with vanilla and Grand Mariner. I also ventured into new territory and made a stencil of my logo.