Recently in menu building Category
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.
I've finalized my thanksgiving menu. It is somewhat traditional, but I am trying some new things, and stepping outside of the box on my dishes, but trying to stay true to the flavors of the holiday. Last year my uncle and I served a duo of soups ying-yang style in the bowl. I'm doing that again, though I've tweaked both recipes. This year I am trying out the spice rubbed turkey recipe from Cooks Illustrated. I've got the giant bags for the turkey brine, and the salt/pepper/spice brine ingredients ready to go.
I think I will have a bold and flavorful turkey. I'm borrowing tips from Christopher Kimball and Alton Brown again. I'm taking some of the flavorings from the rub and the side dishes and stuffing the turkey with them. Alton Brown talks about this on his show Good Eats -- you take the ingredients and nuke them in the microwave - half a pomegranate, half a pear, lemon wedges, orange half, and cinnamon stick - then you stuff the cavity with them. It leaves room for air to circulate, and the warm fruit does not add to the cooking time.
To balance the flavor of the turkey, I am making a pomegranate sauce and a traditional gravy. There will be two cranberry sides - one with seeds, and one without. The one without seeds will be a standard cranberry sauce, the one with seeds will be more of a chutney. A little more savory then the traditional sauce. The addition of shallots and garlic to the pears and cranberries should balance well with the brown sugar and ginger.
We will have an apple and pear bread dressing, some warm chorizo cornbread, and dinner rolls. Hrm.. that sure is a lot of bread... I might cut out the dressing, and turn the cornbread into a dressing. In that case -- I need some celery, andouille, some red bell peppers, and an onion. I'll check at the butcher to see what type of fresh sausage they have.... And I need to make two batches of skillet cornbread after dinner tonight.
Instead of a sweet potato casserole or roasted squash, I'm going to make sweet potato/roasted acorn squash gnocchi with an apple cider sauce. I made a variant of this a few days ago, and the wife and kid liked them. The sauce has some garlic and shallots in it, so there is a hint of savoriness in it, the acidity of the apple cider and a little vinegar, and a dash of cayenne pepper for bite.
And to round off the meal I needed something green. I stepped way outside the traditional box for this one. I'm going to make some mustard greens. This recipe is a variant of Alton Brown's sesame honey glazed mustard greens. I'm replacing a few of the flavors to meld with my menu.
For dessert we will have the traditional spiced pumpkin cheesecake, limoncello, and my wife might bake a pie.
I think I will have a bold and flavorful turkey. I'm borrowing tips from Christopher Kimball and Alton Brown again. I'm taking some of the flavorings from the rub and the side dishes and stuffing the turkey with them. Alton Brown talks about this on his show Good Eats -- you take the ingredients and nuke them in the microwave - half a pomegranate, half a pear, lemon wedges, orange half, and cinnamon stick - then you stuff the cavity with them. It leaves room for air to circulate, and the warm fruit does not add to the cooking time.
To balance the flavor of the turkey, I am making a pomegranate sauce and a traditional gravy. There will be two cranberry sides - one with seeds, and one without. The one without seeds will be a standard cranberry sauce, the one with seeds will be more of a chutney. A little more savory then the traditional sauce. The addition of shallots and garlic to the pears and cranberries should balance well with the brown sugar and ginger.
We will have an apple and pear bread dressing, some warm chorizo cornbread, and dinner rolls. Hrm.. that sure is a lot of bread... I might cut out the dressing, and turn the cornbread into a dressing. In that case -- I need some celery, andouille, some red bell peppers, and an onion. I'll check at the butcher to see what type of fresh sausage they have.... And I need to make two batches of skillet cornbread after dinner tonight.
Instead of a sweet potato casserole or roasted squash, I'm going to make sweet potato/roasted acorn squash gnocchi with an apple cider sauce. I made a variant of this a few days ago, and the wife and kid liked them. The sauce has some garlic and shallots in it, so there is a hint of savoriness in it, the acidity of the apple cider and a little vinegar, and a dash of cayenne pepper for bite.
And to round off the meal I needed something green. I stepped way outside the traditional box for this one. I'm going to make some mustard greens. This recipe is a variant of Alton Brown's sesame honey glazed mustard greens. I'm replacing a few of the flavors to meld with my menu.
For dessert we will have the traditional spiced pumpkin cheesecake, limoncello, and my wife might bake a pie.
Like many old restaurants, most Thanksgiving dinners consist of dishes that were made twenty years ago, and have not been changed. For many, these dishes are outdated and tired. Yes, that green bean casserole recipe might be your great grandmothers, but do you really need to serve anything that comes out of a Campbell's soup can to your family on Thanksgiving?
On Thanksgiving, you could walk into a random hose and predict what they will be serving. Most of the time you would be correct. Here is the typical menu
Many will complain if this menu is not made. People expect, and sometimes request, the old and bland food of years past. Many associate this holiday with a set menu, and put the food above the company. I enjoy having my family over for a large dinner. I have the day off, so it is a special event. I take it as an excuse to entertain, and I can cook for more then just my immediate family. If I'm going to cook for 7 to 12 people, I'm going to cook how I want to.
It's easy to take that traditional menu and modernize it. You can still roast a turkey, but explore some new flavors. Last year I made a herbed roast turkey. I worked an herb paste under the skin of the turkey, then placed a few lemons, an orange, and herbs in the cavity (microwaved first to heat up ). There was a wonderful herb flavor through all the meat. If you don't want herbs, try a spice rub, or deep frying. There are so many possibilities that can be explored when cooking a turkey.
The same goes with cranberry sauce. Ditch the can and go for fresh. It's such a simple recipe, the flavors are so much better, and it can be made in advance. If you really want standard, you just need water, salt, and sugar. but with a few extra steps, you can make something spectacular. This year I am thinking about ginger, star anise, lemon, and possibly currants.
The same goes for all the other dishes server at thanksgiving. You can modernize the Thanksgiving menu without sacrificing what people want to eat. You can still throw in your own touches. Make it a day long event, prosciutto and melon while people watch a movie, cold cucumber dill soup when the house is 500 degrees, limoncello and biscotti long after dinner.
I try to make my menu ahead of time, I will try some dishes a month in advance, then make a few alterations to the recipe to make everything flow. I think the goal is to make the day memorable, not a menu that hasn't changed in 50 years.
On Thanksgiving, you could walk into a random hose and predict what they will be serving. Most of the time you would be correct. Here is the typical menu
- Turkey
- cranberries (canned)
- stuffing (Pepperidge farm)
- sweet potato casserole (marshmallows on top)
- mashed potatoes with gravy
- rolls
- sweet potato pie or pumpkin pie
Many will complain if this menu is not made. People expect, and sometimes request, the old and bland food of years past. Many associate this holiday with a set menu, and put the food above the company. I enjoy having my family over for a large dinner. I have the day off, so it is a special event. I take it as an excuse to entertain, and I can cook for more then just my immediate family. If I'm going to cook for 7 to 12 people, I'm going to cook how I want to.
It's easy to take that traditional menu and modernize it. You can still roast a turkey, but explore some new flavors. Last year I made a herbed roast turkey. I worked an herb paste under the skin of the turkey, then placed a few lemons, an orange, and herbs in the cavity (microwaved first to heat up ). There was a wonderful herb flavor through all the meat. If you don't want herbs, try a spice rub, or deep frying. There are so many possibilities that can be explored when cooking a turkey.
The same goes with cranberry sauce. Ditch the can and go for fresh. It's such a simple recipe, the flavors are so much better, and it can be made in advance. If you really want standard, you just need water, salt, and sugar. but with a few extra steps, you can make something spectacular. This year I am thinking about ginger, star anise, lemon, and possibly currants.
The same goes for all the other dishes server at thanksgiving. You can modernize the Thanksgiving menu without sacrificing what people want to eat. You can still throw in your own touches. Make it a day long event, prosciutto and melon while people watch a movie, cold cucumber dill soup when the house is 500 degrees, limoncello and biscotti long after dinner.
I try to make my menu ahead of time, I will try some dishes a month in advance, then make a few alterations to the recipe to make everything flow. I think the goal is to make the day memorable, not a menu that hasn't changed in 50 years.
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