IDEAS IN FOOD

A year ago we took some golden raisins and a bottle of vermouth and put them together in a milk jar and tucked it away. When we had Toronto Food Lab down for a visit we were fortunate that he brought along his rotary evaporator for us to work with. One of the ingredients we put through the machine was our raisin infused vermouth. What was key about this and really all of our explorations with the rotary evaporator was that we were concerned about what was left in the still pot. We wanted a controlled reduction, removing the alcohol and leaving a flavorful liquid behind. We were rewarded with our patience. The raisin-vermouthshine (forgive my typo on the labels) was a bit acrid and woodsy. The raisin-vermouth concentrate tastes like an intense sherry with the sugars of the raisins blending with the herbal notes of the vermouth. Would we have been able to get these results without a rotary evaporator? Unfortunately not. We do believe that controlled temperature evaporation allows for unsurpassed flavors, but the current cost of the equipment to achieve it is daunting for our kitchen. For now we will continue to work with the kindness with others until the rotary evaporator fairy leaves us one in the workshop.

June 1, 2011

June 1, 2010

June 1, 2009

June 1, 2008

June 1, 2007

June 1, 2006

June 1, 2005

Ashley Guacamole

2012-05-31T19:50:20-04:00

We have been working on a photography project for our friends at MouCo Cheese Company. This is one of the dishes which ended up on the cutting room floor. Even though it did not make it to the final round for their purposes we needed to share it. The blend of Ashley, their tangy ash rubbed cheese, cut up and folded into guacamole seasoned with our fish pepper-yuzu hot sauce is incredible. The consistency of the cheese and the avocado are similar and as they cross your palate the flavors change while the texture remains the same. The addition of mitsuba from our weed patch adds a crisp peppery note to the whole bite.

Years Past

May 31, 2007

May 31, 2006

May 31, 2005

Beef Flap

2012-05-30T19:07:07-04:00

We took a beef flap steak and cooked it sous vide with butter for 24 hours at 55°C. Then we cooled it down and portioned it into smaller pieces, which were sauteed in butter. Once the outside was nicely browned all over, we let it rest in a pan of brown butter seasoned with our homemade fish pepper-yuzu hot sauce. To accompany the meat is a bit of sauteed broccoli rabe, which we dressed with the same flavored brown butter. To add a creamy richness to the dish we add a touch of our coconut cream cheese seasoned lightly with fish sauce.

Years Past

May 30, 2005

Chive Blossom

2012-05-29T20:26:22-04:00

Every once in a while you need a bunt.

The chive blossom is that ingredient.

Guaranteed to keep the dish alive.

(I might have had a baseball game on in the background while writing)

Years Past

May 29, 2006

May 29, 2005

Spicy Ginger Ice Cream

2012-05-28T17:50:28-04:00

It's Memorial Day and I'm making ice cream. Ginger is one of my favorite rhizomes. It has an intense spicy flavor and I wanted to take full advantage of its heat to flavor some cool, creamy ice cream. In order to do this I used fresh ginger and a blender. It's everything I hoped it would be and now the trick will be keeping it around long enough to see how well its flavor develops over a couple of days. Wish me luck with that. At least I know I can always make another batch.

Spicy GInger Ice Cream

80 grams/2.8 ounces fresh ginger

200 grams/ 1 cup sugar

1.5 grams/ 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

520 grams/ 2 cups milk

240 grams/ 1 cup heavy cream

4 large egg yolks

Preheat a circulating water bath to 82°C

Slice the ginger and put it in a blender with the sugar, salt and milk. Puree until smooth. Whisk together the egg yolks and cream. Stain the ginger milk over the cream and mix them together. Seal the custard base in a vacuum bag (alternatively transfer to a medium pot and cook over medium heat until it coats the back of a spoon and reaches 82°C/180°F) and cook in the circulating water bath for 30 minutes. Transfer to an ice bath and cool the custard. Let rest in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and then freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's directions.

Years Past

May 28, 2005

Totally Tubular

2012-05-27T21:13:20-04:00

These noodles are tremendous tubes. They have the diameter of a drinking straw with a noodle wall thickness to support it. We have been after this larger bucatini style noodle for some time and are now thrilled to be able to extrude them. Last night we ate them dressed with bolognese sauce, a combination which brought me back to our time cooking at The Bradley Inn. I look forward to working further with this noodle in a variety of lengths and flavors to see what its texture brings to the dish.

Years Past

May 27, 2006

May 27, 2005