IDEAS IN FOOD

"new" cuts

2012-01-26T20:50:47-05:00

These are three relatively "new" cuts of beef found in the shoulder of beef. (We marinated them with cocoa, soy sauce, smoked paprika, parsley, garlic and red wine vinegar) They are the market steak, the Denver cut and the Sierra cut. We were excited to work with these trimmed pieces of meat shaped like steaks. Unfortunately, just because something looks like a steak, and is called a steak doesn't mean it eats like a steak. The market steak is a tasty cut because it is really the last rib eye buried inside the chuck. The other two cuts look like a strip loin and a flank steak respectively, but don't come close on the texture delivery we expect from steaks. What we are learning from this exploration into "new" is that if we are going to work with these cuts we must find "new" ways to cook the meat. While the cuts appear to be new, someone must have used these cuts before and most likely fine tuned the cooking and preparation of them. A search into what has been done will allow us to move forward and create our own "new."

Years Past

January 26, 2005

Carrot Blossoms

2012-01-25T13:40:51-05:00

We love purple carrots because they are tasty and beautiful. There are very few preparations that highlight their unusual hue because once you peel them the purple disappears. We decided to continue playing with our technique of steaming and dehydrating, having used whole carrots and beets thus far, in order to play up the contrasting colors in our sliced carrots. We used the mandoline to slice them and then steamed them for 3 minutes. Then I laid the slices out on a tray for the dehydrator, staining my fingertips purple in the process, and dried them for about an hour. We call these carrot blossoms because as they dried they crinkled and curled up until they looked like small flowers.They are not completely dehydrated, retaining a slightly firm texture that yields instead of crunching. The sweetness of the vegetable comes through nicely and they have a wonderfully intense carrot flavor. The real question is what to do with them next?

Years Past

January 25, 2011

January 25, 2010

January 25, 2009

January 25, 2008

January 25, 2008 (2)

January 25, 2007

January 25, 2006

January 25, 2005

White Heat

2012-01-24T11:28:53-05:00

This is an iconic cookbook, the stuff of legends and dreams. Marco Pierre White was that chef that almost every young, ambitious (mostly male) line cook that I came up through the ranks with wanted to be. Alex has an old tattered copy of White Heat that he used to keep in his bag for inspiration. He eventually got Marco to sign it and then it was retired to the bookshelf for fear that it would get destroyed. In his youth Marco Pierre White was a passionate, driven chef who inspired many of us to push harder and do more. The food may look slightly dated today but there is no denying its inherent beauty and thoughtfulness.

It's not an overly long book, 126 pages in the copy I'm holding. It begins:

You're buying White Heat because you want to cook well? Because you want to cook Michelin Stars? Forget it. Save your money. Go and buy a saucepan.

You want ideas, inspiration, a bit of Marco? Then maybe you'll get something out of this book. I warn you though, it's a jigsaw, and there's a hundred pieces missing. What do you expect? I'm at the beginning of my career. You're not going to see the true Marco until I'm 35 or 40. I haven't even been to France yet. But what's here is me, 1990 vintage, built on a foundation of energy, honesty and quality.

I still have a huge amount to learn. Everything changes in the restaurant, every day. By the time you read this, by the time you start using my ideas, the recipes will have changed. I'm never satisfied with anything I do, never. Almost never. The tagliatelle of oysters, I'm satisfied with that. I can't do anything better with it. Or the pig's trotter - but that's Pierre Koffman's dish, that's his perfection. Everything else I'm still thinking about, I'm still working on. Why do you think I still wear a blue apron?"

There are seventy-three recipes and endless inspiration in White Heat. This week we're giving away one copy of the book to one of our readers. To enter to win please leave a comment telling us why you love the kitchen. One entry per person please, comments are moderated and will not appear immediately. The winner will be picked randomly on Friday, January 27, 2012 at 9am EST. This giveaway is now closed. The winner will be notified via email. Thank you for all your comments!

Years Past

January 24, 2007 (2)

January 24, 2006

January 24, 2005

Carrots And The Egg

2012-01-23T20:08:38-05:00

We have taken the technique of steaming and dehydrating vegetables which produced the tastiest beet ever and applied it to carrots and turnips. The turnips sparked the comparison to lychee fruit and a dish is currently in progress. With the turnips spoken for we set about working with the carrots. We had two striking colors to work with to highlight one another. We aligned the carrots alternating directions and flattened them into a pave. The sticky and chewy nature of the vegetables held them together and allowed us to trim uniform tiles. We seasoned the carrots with lemon oil, smoked Maldon salt, and grains of paradise. We topped the carrots with a warmed liqud center egg which was both smoked and stained.

Years Past

January 23, 2005

The Easiest Way To Shuck Clams

2012-01-22T19:44:31-05:00

1. Buy the freshest, most beautiful clams you can get your hands on.

2. Wash your clams well to make sure they are free of sand and grit.

3. Lay them out on a sheet pan and put them in the freezer for at least three hours until they are frozen through.

4. Move them to the refrigerator and let them thaw. As this happens they will slowly open up partway.

5. Use a spoon to gently scoop them out of their shells, holding them over a bowl to catch all of their juice.

That's it. The easiest method ever and it yields beautiful clams with abundant juice. It probably wouldn't be as fun to watch at a raw bar but for home cooks or large batches there's no better way to get them out of their shells quickly and easily. A little forethought goes a long way.

Years Past

January 22, 2005

Loaded Rice Krispie Treats

2012-01-21T19:48:20-05:00

We were talking about rice krispie treats because I needed to make some for a friend. Alex wondered what they would be like if we made them with potato chips and...he looked up at the fridge, Rolos. That bag of Rolos has been with us since before Christmas. They were actually intended to go with rice krispie treats though I never had time to make them. Rolos are one of the childhood candies that aren't quite as good as I remember them simply because the chocolate coating is not very good. On the bright side when you bake with them, this problem largely disappears leaving only the chewy goodness of the caramel. Amaya has discovered that she loves Rolos as much as I did when I was her age so we've been doling them out, 1-2 a day for the last several weeks. I love the combination of sweet and salty so his idea resonated with me immediately. In the meantime though, I made the plain rice krispie treats for my friend because there was a deadline involved and the idea of Alex's rice krispie treats percolated in the back of my head.

I didn't know if he intended them to be made with all potato chips but that concept didn't work for me. They definitely needed some puffed rice to hold everything together and ensure the proper texture. So when I had a lull this afternoon (sort of) I looked in the cupbord and found a 6-ounce bag of Kay and Ray's Dark Potato Chips. Perfect. I broke them up a bit so there would be different sized pieces scattered through the treats and folded them into the butter-marshmallow-rolo mixture. I didn't add any salt because I figured the chips would be salty enough but a quick taste proved me wrong. I reached for the fleur de sel and gave the top of the treats a light sprinkling. Now they were perfect. The hard part is not eating them all, by yourself, before anyone else gets home to share.

The name came from the addition of the chips. Loaded french fries are one of my guiltiest pleasures and after one bite of these the name popped into my head. We're giving you the recipe but don't blame me if you can't stop eating them. They're that good.

Loaded RIce Krispie Treats

56 grams unsalted butter

370 grams (1 13-ounce package) marshmallows

170 grams lightly crushed potato chips (your favorite brand of course)

200 grams rice krispies or other puffed rice cereal

325 grams rolos

Fleur de Sel

buttered 9x13-inch pan

Melt the butter over medium heat in a large pot. Add the marshmallows and stir until they are completely melted. I tend to do this over medium high heat so that the butter browns and the marshmallows toast a bit but if you have a short attention span lower heat or the microwave may be better options. Once the marshmallows are completely melted, add the potato chips and rice krispie treats. Add the rolos to the top and gently fold everything together with a silicone spatula. Once the mixture is well-blended turn it out into the prepared pan and gently press it into an even layer. Sprinkle the top with the fleur de sel. Let it cool to room temperature before cutting the treats. Store in a ziploc bag or airtight container for as long as they last.

Years Past

January 21, 2008 (2)

January 21, 2007

January 21, 2006

January 21, 2006 (2)

January 21, 2005

Bonnie Bassler on How Bacteria "Talk"

2012-01-20T19:02:02-05:00

Always nice to learn something new, that why we love TED.

Years Past

January 20, 2006 (2)

January 20, 2005

Say Daily

2012-01-19T20:29:17-05:00

We are hard at work on the next manuscript. I don't want to say that it's kicking our butts but... Anyway, earlier this week we did an interview over at the Say Daily. Unsurprisingly it's a little bit opinionated, a little bit informative and hopefully a little bit entertaining as well.

Years Past

January 19, 2005