IDEAS IN FOOD

Edible Alcohol

2010-02-09T07:43:00-05:00

From these classics where can we go?

A Walk Through Brugge

2010-02-08T05:11:00-05:00

Milk Solid Miso

2010-02-07T09:33:00-05:00

It may not have been the next, but it sure was close to the front of the line. What we have that is amazingly different when cooking the milk solids in the mason jar in the pressure cooker is that the toasted aroma is much stronger and prominent and the taste of the caramelized solids seems fuller and richer. In fact, the rich aroma of the solids had us first looking into cupcakes (go figure) and blondies (which were amazing). Once my sweet tooth was calmed the savory arena opened again.

The toasted solids blended incredibly well with blond miso creating a decadent seasoning which can go in a number of directions. The first was a quick brine for meat and seafood which alternatively may be used to hydrate and cook noodles. Speaking of noodles we may just have to make some milk solid- miso noodle soup. The blending of these flavors has created a wonderful base which now joins our ever growing pantry of necessities.

Shrimp Salad

2010-02-06T05:00:03-05:00

We have taken to using our Cvap for cooking Maine shrimp. We cook them for twenty minutes at 55°C. The delicate moist heat allows the shrimp to be just set and easily peeled in their warmed state. The addition of aromatics to the shrimp is the next step to perfume them with delicate and dish specific notes. The shrimp are almost custard like in texture and in this dish are balanced by quick pickled onions, apples and parsley stems.

2010-02-05T18:43:29-05:00

We're waiting for the snow to start here at home and Alex is on his way to Brussels for a speaking engagement at The Flemish Primitives. Much as Amaya and I wish we could be there but we have some other traveling to do this month and a whirlwind trip to Europe did not work easily into our schedule. This time we'll be living vicariously through Daddy. Hopefully soon we'll all be traveling together again for work.

Anyway since he's traveling & Amaya is a bit under the weather tonight we're sending you some interesting reading that we've found around the web.

Here's an interesting piece on hydrocolloids in prepared foods.

An older and still relevant article on working with food gums.

How to make your own white chocolate.

Mind-controlled lights at the Olympics.

A thought provoking piece on innovation.

Roux in a Jar

2010-02-04T18:44:11-05:00

We actually cooked flour in the pressure cooker before we tried milk solids. Our first run had us cooking flour in a bag and the results were riddled with failure. The key being that the flour did nothing, it stayed a lovely white to cream color with no visible toasting or caramelization. With the initial failure we shelved the idea until recently. We were working on bridging the similarities between classic techniques and ones that are apparently but not actually new (like pressure cooking and sous vide) and decided a roux would be a fine point of illustration. To add fuel to the fire we were determined to make roux in a new way to us. We added flour and oil to a mason jar and placed it in a pressure cooker. We cooked the mixture for ninety minutes at high pressure and the results were a delicious peanut butter flavored blond roux. With the success of oil and flour we tested flour and butter. The results were equally positive and even more delicious because I like butter. It is the addition of fat that makes all the difference in cooking the flour. Using a pressure cooker allows for uniform, consistent results without having to stand over the stove. Progress is a beautiful thing.

Toasted in a Jar

2010-02-03T18:24:51-05:00

The trouble with cooking milk solids in butter or other fats is the fat. Sometimes we are looking for just the roasted and caramelized flavors and aromatics. We have toasted milk solids in the oven and the results were good if not a bit uneven. Today we employed our pressure cooker to toast some milk solids. We filled a mason jar with the solids and closed it tight. We placed the jar in a pressure cooker with some water and cooked the milk solids for ninety minutes. The results were wonderful: an even toasting with a dark rich flavor and aroma. The results also have us wondering about toasting and infusing other ingredients from seeds and nuts to spices and aromatics to be infused in fats.

Perfect Pearls

2010-02-02T17:10:15-05:00

We decided to pair the potato pearls with actual tapioca. Alex wanted to try out a technique he found in Francisco J Migoya's new book The Modern Cafe. We've been fans of tapioca for years. As a child I loved bubble tea and the slippery, chewy texture of the pearls. Later we took the method that we learned for finishing rice pudding back in the day from Ken at Clio. This involved having a cooked rice base that was finished a la minute with creme anglaise and whipped cream. When applied to tapioca the results are spectacular especially since the anglaise and the cream can be flavored in any number of different ways. As always it is one small step from sweet to savory and in this case we liked the idea of juxtaposing the large potato pearls with small tapioca ones.

The technique in question involved adding the tapioca to cold water and bringing it to a simmer, rinsing the pearls under cold water to remove any tapioca slime and repeating the process four times. It worked beautifully and is just one more reason to take a closer look at The Modern Cafe. (We were lucky enough to get a review copy.) The book is about opening a modern style cafe and is as thoughtful and well researched as one would expect from a book by Francisco.