The (Ad Hoc) French Laundry

Ile Flottante

2019-09-11T16:50:00.001-07:00

My project, it has been revived.

**

My very first post, I talked about needing a project to keep busy. A constantly moving mind (thanks adult-ADHD!) The other things I wanted to do that my husband was resistant to - buying a home (check), having kid #2 (check), going back to school and getting a LLM (check!). As I wrapped up my LLM program this May, I thought about this project. About my approaching 40th birthday. About goals. About change. Taking plunges, like opening my own law firm two years ago. Success. Unfinished business. And I decided my last year of my 30's was going to be dedicated to finishing things. Starting with... my French Laundry Project!

This revival has less pictures, despite my miles-prettier kitchen, due to having people sitting and watching me cook (photos feel awkward now). More and bigger courses. Pushing limits and traipsing into the previously-uneaten foods of which I am no longer scared. In four months i've hosted 4 dinners, with more than 30 recipes covered. I am a more confident cook than I have ever been. And my children go to bed on their own and sleep through the night, which certainly helps my ability to work through ambiguous-as-fuck recipes, such as "make a farce and roll it into skin".

**

Another goal with 40 approaching is to organize my life. Photos, mostly. I can't remember things, and it scares me. Probably normal aging, but my grandmother and two of her sisters have Alzheimers - at just over 80, my grandmother no longer knows who I am - and there are few worse diseases. But photos and writing spark memories. I had no memory of eating, yet alone making, a handful of the recipes. When I remembered and skimmed through my blog, it all came back. Which clearly shows I need to document it. Once I am done, it is all going into a shutterfly book. One I can pull out and show my kids, to show them when mommy did something adventurous and scary, to show them that they can take on big projects and to finish them (even if it takes a decade!) Expect a return to writing, even if the pictures leave something to be desired.

**

When I opened the 'post now', I found a partially-written blog post (amusingly, of one of the things I told my husband I had zero recollection of making). Without further adieu, pictures from a dinner I made in 2014! Five years later, I have no recollection of how hard it was, how it tasted, or what I screwed up. The photos do tell me that there were a lot of freaking steps, so I probably don't want to do it again.

Weird cookies. The bottom, probably:

Who doesn't love a little sugar cooked with egg whites. Into some sort of meringue-like thing, I think:

Moving on: ingredients for creme anglaise:

Gonna be honest, this looks like meringue. But that's not where it is in the photo order. Mixed up photos? Something else? Maybe creme? But why would that be whisked? Your guess is as good as mine.

Now this I know. Melting chocolate with hot cream. Did a lot of times, including (apparently) for this dessert.

On its way to being mint oil:

Ta-da, I finished it! You know, five years later, I still think I nailed it with the mint oil drops. But I have no recollection at all of what this tasted like, or how I got the chocolate to be shavings. Still, I clearly did it, so check!

Updates All Around, Dinner # I-Lost-Count

2012-04-30T12:05:00.001-07:00

So, my reader (again, singular) may have noticed my prolonged absence. Despite my lack of blogging, I have still kept cooking (kind of). Two more dinners since my last post, which I will blog about, someday. Likely while I am on maternity leave. Yep, we are having another baby, a little girl, and I cannot wait. Unlike with my first, I did not suffer from the kind of morning sickness that is utterly life-altering and renders one incapable of doing anything. But I didn't feel like eating much of anything, yet alone something squicky like oysters (which reminds me... need to get the raw oyster dishes out of the way while I can still beg off because I am pregnant!). So, an extended absence. But then I started reading all these things about how the sale of foie gras won't be permitted in California anymore, and I realized that I still have FOUR recipes that need foie, and I thought "I better get myself in gear." I did, and i'm glad I did. My husband emerges from a pool peaceful, like his soul is better for a swim. I emerge from a kitchen the same way (well, if you ignore the screams at my dogs to GET.OUT.of the way.)

And, so, for my most recent dinner, I loaded up on the foie:

Starter: Gruyere Cheese Gougeres
First: Gewurzterminer-Poached Foie Gras
Second: Lobster with Poached Figs and Foie Gras
Main: Pekin Duck with Corn and Morels
Dessert: Strawberry Shortcakes with Creme Fraiche. I can feel little E bouncing around in my stomach just thinking about this deliciousness!

Perail de Brebis with (Arugula) Aux Lardons

2012-03-19T13:30:00.002-07:00

This was simultaneously the easiest dish to make and the dish I would eat for dinner 3 times a week for the rest of my life. You know, if I kept things like quail eggs stocked in my fridge. I did make a minor change to the recipe, and substituted argula for frisee. Frisee tastes like dental floss. Argula tastes like peppery lettuce, except a thousand times better. No one complained about the substitution, and everyone finished their plate, so i'm guess that it was ok.

First, brioche! I had intended to make my own fresh brioche. Due to pesky work, it didn't happen... so Bread and Cie came through for me on Friday morning.

Slicing the brioche into 1" thick slices, and cutting holes out using my cutters took like 30 seconds. For all of them. AND I had some little 'cooks snacks' (leftover brioche rounds) that I got to nibble on as I prepped.

The dressing took like 2 minutes. Olive oil, sherry vinegar, mustard, along with a dash of salt and pepper. My friend asked me for the recipe like two months later, and didn't believe it was so simple because it was so good.

The dressing was unusual, in that you didn't use the mustard as an emulsifying agent. Instead, I whisked the mustard and vinegar together, then stirred in the olive oil with a spoon. Easy, easy stuff.

Right before serving, I cut the cheese into wedges (another 2 minutes), and tossed the bread rounds in a pan with some melted butter. Flip the round, then creak a quail egg in the hole. Drizzle dressing on top of the arugula. Total time: less than 5 minutes.

I realized after serving that I forgot to put the lardons on the salad part, so I brought them to the table and let people do it themselves. Unsurprisingly, no one complained, and there was no lardons left.

Seriously, if you have The French Laundry Cookbook and you are afraid to tackle something, start with THIS. It was amazing. Like, so good that I used leftover ingredients (well, subbing brie for the cheese) to make this for dinner twice that week. And each time, it was like a 15 minute dinner, start to sitting down to each - even with doubling the recipe to make it dinner-sized and cutting the bread into pretty circles!!!! AND it was easy to find all of the ingredients, except maybe the cheese (but it is easy enough to find a cheese close to perail de brebis). This isn't just on my "keepers" list, it is literally in my monthly list of "things I make when i'm busy." And, oh, have I been busy lately... but more to come on that.

Venison Chops with Pan Roasted Butternut Squash

2012-02-15T13:44:00.001-08:00

Like so many of the other 'firsts' involved in cooking my way through the French Laundry Cookbook, this was my first time cooking venison... AND my first time eating venison. I don't have anything against game, per se, its just that I don't really like meat that much, so I certainly wouldn't go for a good venison chop over, say, a nice steak.

The first step in making this, like with most of the meat dishes, was making the anything-but 'Quick Sauce.' Ideally, I would have had venison bones. I didn't. I couldn't find any anywhere (anyone in SD want to give me a hint about where this is possible?), so I got beef bones. I figured, if anything, it would hide the potential game-yness of the venison chops.

Mis: stock - chicken and veal, mirepoix, beef bones, and blueberries (my substitute for the also-unfindable huckleberries)

This time, when roasting the bones (and UNLIKE when I did the lamb quick sauce), I had a little splatter screen. It's amazing how much pain a little $3 accessory from Ikea can save a person.

Also as a result of the splatter screen, I was able to take some extra pictures - here, after the second 10-minute bone roasting when I added the mirepoix

Eventually, I cooked the bones, mirepoix, stock, and blueberries down and strained, then strained again, then reduced again. Yeah, not quick.

Next, I roasted the shallots. Super easy - shallots, thyme, and a little oil...

All tossed in a foil packet, then tossed in the oven

Next, I frenched the bones. The ruby-red meat was both a little freaky and beautiful.

The butternut squash! My very favorite vegetable, at least when roasted (and especially when roasted then make into a soup).

The instructions said to peel, then cut circles. But I seriously saw no point in doing this when my circles were smaller than the neck of the butternut squash, so I just cut them lengthwise, then cut out the circles (shhh.. don't tell anyone)

These were boil (not pictured), then pan-fried (also not pictured). And, most excitingly, they were scored, so that they had a little diamond pattern. Really wish I had a picture of that!

The finished plate (a little out of focus, sorry):

The meat was great - not gamey at all. In fact, I think its way less gamey than lamb, and I love lamb chops. The bacon was a perfect amount of added fat, since the dish was generally pretty lean. And it was super pretty when served - just look at the perfect circles and pretty bacon handle and stuff (but ignore that the sauce isn't that good a circle - i'm not great with making a circle using a spoon). Pretty delicious, and not that hard.

Tasting of Potatoes with Black Truffles

2012-01-17T17:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe a month has slipped by since i've last posted. It's been a busy month. Christmas, skiing, parties, working (boo!), and some exciting news to come helped December and the first half of January fly by.

Where was I with this dinner thing? Oh yeah, second course. Tasting of Potatoes. It doesn't sound that fancy when you read it - it's basically a recipe for glorified mashed potatoes. But after making potatoes this way, I never want to go back to plain ol' Thanksgiving mashed potatoes again (notwithstanding that this recipe is so finicky and exacting that it would be near impossible to make it as part of a dinner served all at once).

I started with the truffle chips. Unlike 'Tasting of potatoes,' truffle chips do *not* sound like something we would have at a holiday meal. They were surprisingly easy to prepare, but at the same time, had some issues with the cooking.

First I shaped a potato into something resembling an oval (look at how many scraps I had trying to get there!):

Then I thinly sliced potatoes and a truffle using my Japanese mandoline (and my new 'cut-proof gloves' - a worthy $15 investment if, like me, you need fingers to work), and laid a truffle between two potato slices on a buttered-salted sheet. Notice how the ones on the right are sliced much thicker. If you want the chips to cook in normal amounts of time, make them as absolutely thin as you can.

And, like an hour later, truffle chips! They weren't as crispy as I imagine they should have been. Were I to make them again (and I think i'm supposed to for 'Chips and Dip'), I would cook them in the over until they were really "stuck" then try deep drying them. Not that this is guaranteed to work, but it would take a lot less time than the HOUR they spent backing (with me examining them every 10 minutes saying '.... still not chip-looking, hopefully more time will do it.'

Extreme close-up!

The truffle chips were definitely the most time consuming step. Next I (gently) boiled some potatoes, put them through the tamis, and then basically created an emulsion with ungodly amounts of cream and butter. Best mashed potatoes ever.

Finally, I cut what felt like a million fingerling-type potatoes into tiny pieces, blanched, then cooked with some truffle bits, truffle stock, and brunoise until it got thick. Well, thick-ish. It said to blanch the potatoes for 3 minutes (an insanely short time, but it makes sense when they are all fingernail-sized), then to add vinegar/stock/etc, and reduce. I think it should have reduced longer, but I didn't want to spoil the potatoes or have them break, so we went with 'not-quite-thick' potato-topping-stuff.

See? Looks a little runny.

But it tasted delicious; earthy and rich. I really liked it. Not loved, though. I think that maybe, at heart, i'm just not a huge fan of truffles (blasphemy in the foodie world, i'm sure). It's funny, because I love mushrooms, but I just feel like truffles are overwhelming. I thought maybe it was just a white truffle oil thing - because that stuff IS overwhelming - but it applies to black winter truffles too. Still, the potato-emulsification was awesomeness, something that I am going to repeat (but never after a workout, because, dude! all the stirring hurt my arms).

White Truffle Oil Infused Custards with Black Truffle Ragout

2011-12-15T21:21:00.000-08:00

I have admired the picture of the completed custards over and over. I've contemplated cutting the shells, how pretty the standing chive chip would be, how delicious double-truffle custard would be.

Well, at least I got one of those right.

Let's start with the eggshells. I bought an egg cutter (against all instinct, because I thought I would be terrible at cutting eggshells). The stupid, stupid thing did not work (what a waste of $10!) But, I was right about the eggshells: I AM terrible at cutting them.

(and let us not even mention the number I broke. Luckily, I needed a lot of eggs for the dinner overall).

I knew the chive chips would be a challenge. I mean, i'm making chips out of potatoes squished together!

First, I prepped the sheets - two silpats, clarified butter, salt. Hint: don't put a ton of salt. The chips may have been pretty, but they were kind of like eating a salt lick.

I peeled the potato, cut it into a band-aid shape, sliced it thin on the mandoline. I laid a chive between two slices, and baked on low low heat.

The recipe said they were supposed to take 20 minutes. Um, more like an HOUR before they were golden brown and crisp-like - they never got crisp like a real chip, but at the least they were cooked. Some of this may have been me, since I did confuse the instructions and think that I needed to sandwich those between two cookie sheets. They were delicious, once I got past the salt lick thing.

Finally, a couple of hours before people were due, I made the custard. It was actually simple. There were only like four things in it - how could it not be??

I warmed the milk and cream to just under a boil, turned the blender on, and poured it in. Yes, turned the blender on THEN poured it in. I have to admit, I was scared - visions of scalding milk flying in my direction. But Thomas Keller said turning it on first would actually STOP splashing, and who am I to argue with TK? Unsurprisingly, he was right.

So, where was I? Oh yeah, milk/cream, blending, then I added a couple of eggs, salt, pepper, and (at the very end) white truffle oil. As i've said so many times, i'm not a huge fan of the smell of white truffle oil, so it didn't smell heavenly. Pour it into a spouted measuring cup, into the egg shells, which went into a big glass pan that I filled 2/3rds of the way with water. Baked for about an hour, perfect custards!

Finally, right before serving, I reduced some truffle-infused stock, a dash of vinegar, some truffles, and some brunoise. Beautiful stuff.

The finished dish:

The chip is standing! At least it did for a minute - it quickly wilted in the sauce/custard. Eating it... well, lets just say this is the 'playfulness' in this meal. I served them in these shotglasses (sake glasses?) I found when unpacking hubby's old high school pottery he made that had been boxed up for at least a decade. Innocent high school times, i'm sure. And to go with pottery shotglasses? Baby spoons. The only thing I could find that actually fit into the eggshells. Well, I found one espresso spoon, which husband used, because he said there was 'absolutely no way' he was eating off a baby spoon. Marked contrast to one male guest who told us about how he used to eat baby bananas and HIDE THE JARS and how eating off a baby spoon brought back memories. Hilarious things that come out when you have co-workers over for dinner.

I think the fact that I talked about the container and spoon for so long tells how I felt about the custard. I mean, it wasn't bad. But it wasn't my favorite. I was disappointed, after admiring the picture for so long. With so few disappointments so far, though, it only seems fitting that something wouldn't be the most amazing thing ever.

Dinner 11: New House, New Kitchen, New Outlook

2011-12-12T20:54:00.000-08:00

Well, maybe a readoption of an old outlook. I'm simultaneously gaining and losing steam. On one hand, I just planned and executed a FIVE course menu from TFLC. Five courses! And it wasn't even that hard (well, obviously this was due in part to the menu). I yearn to spend more time in the kitchen, learning, cooking. At the same time, i'm becoming less confident in my ability to do this. By this, I mean make it through The French Laundry. I've made it just shy of halfway (48% to be exact!), but, well, whole lambs are crazy. And pigs heads and feet are gross. Obviously, making it through The French Laundry will be the biggest challenge of the Keller collection (well, not sure how Under Pressure is, but Bouchon and Ad Hoc are both pretty simple after TFLC). Does this mean that i'm going to spend my next decade cooking Keller for my friends, family, and co-workers? I'm just not sure.

Musings aside, my five course menu for dinner!

Canape - white truffle oil-infused custards with black truffle ragout
First Course - tasting of potatoes with black truffle
Entree - Venison Chops with pan-roasted butternut squash
Cheese course - Perail de brebis with frisee aux lardons
Dessert - ile flottante

Sally Schmidt's Cranberry Apple Kuchen

2011-12-11T22:19:00.000-08:00

We've established that I have gone literally months - *months* - without cooking. Life is busy, deadlines, work, lawyer, blah, blah. We all get busy sometimes. Mine led to no cooking.

By November, I was really starting to have French Laundry withdrawals. Four months without using my round cutters or chinois! Four months without making a new flavored oil! Four months without worrying about accidentally setting my kitchen on fire! So, I insisted on having people over for Thanksgiving. It was a long, hard fight; I won. We had a small crowd (six people), so I stuck to traditions: turkey, mashed potatoes, grilled veggies, stuffing. I threw in one unusual item: pumpkin-thyme rolls (which were a giant hit).

And, I managed to seamlessly add a dessert from The French Laundry Cookbook. Since we didn't have cranberry sauce, since no one coming over really loved pie (except me and angry toddler), I decided apple-cranberry cake would be a perfect way to end the meal. It was. And easy to boot. I actually managed to prep it and cook it during the five hours that it took me to do all of Thanksgiving dinner.

The mis. Notice something unusual about this picture?

If you said 'granite counters, so that must be your new kitchen'... dingdingding! Good observation skills.

Next I peeled, sliced, and cored some apples.

To make the batter, I creamed some butter, sugar, and an egg, then added flour and baking soda.

I spooned that into a cake pan (or in my case, really a cheesecake springform pan, which is nice because it releases easy but can turn out poorly for a bunch of reasons I dont understand. I used it because it was the only cake pan I had that was anywhere near the right size) and arranged the apples in a pretty ring.

Sprinkling cranberries is fun!

With cranberries arranged around all of the edges and center.

Then I dusted with cinnamon/sugar/possibly nutmeg (I have no recollection of that, but looking back at my mis I see nutmeg and milk, which must have been in the batter)

Forty-odd minutes later, it emerged from the oven all beautiful. And without any natural light to make a pretty photograph, and with people who had just finished dinner clamoring for a bite.

I whipped up the hot cream sauce - which was basically fat, more fat, and a different form of something that will make you fat (ie, cream, butter, and sugar).

The cake was delicious, although I wished that I had used a slightly smaller cake pan, since the batter part of the cake seemed a little thin. It was a little tart without the hot cream sauce. The dessert-hater crowd was happy about that, since (1) they could pretend like it was healthier and (2) it wasn't really sweet. The hot cream sauce brought the sweetness up a tinge, and soaked through the batter to almost make it like a tres leches cake.

I thought it was delicious both ways. It definitely reheated better with the cream sauces as breakfast (and maybe lunch... and dinner) the next day. The combination tart-sweet seems like it would be a good holiday cake or like a nice cake in the summer, when its hot and you don't want to feel weighted down by something super sugary. It just occurred to me that cranberries are near impossible to find in the summer though - so maybe its more of a September/October in San Diego cake (when its still hot, but we like to pretend its fall.) Just find a time to make it. It will take less than an hour, including cooking time, and will get rave reviews.

Staff Lasagna and Dressing

2011-12-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

In addition to the gazpacho, I brought some lasagna along to whatever family gathering where I though lots of people would eat it (i'm thinking Father's Day, but not positive). Despite being the "staff meal," it still required a lot more work than *I* put into an everyday meal!

Mis - look at all those ingredients!

Now, part of the extensive work involved had to do with making my own tomato sauce. To be honest, i'm not sure if I had ever done this before (there isn't much of a point, since marina affects me more than any other tomato product aside from ketchup).

First up, I cut little x's and blanched a trillion tomatoes (notice how I didn't bother taking the stickers off? It was because I knew I had to peel them, so why bother!)

There are no peeled tomato pictures because my hands were burning. My sister recently told me she broke out in hives from eating half a slice of tomato. I know she breaks out in hives from touching ketchup (something hard for her to avoid being a waitress; I've avoided touching ketchup since hearing this). I'm pretty sure the burning hands were related to the whole allergy thing, which means its getting worse. Boo!

Burning hands aside, I cut them into chunks.

Next, I sweat some onions down with some tomato paste. It smelled heavenly.

Then, I tossed all of the peeled, seeded, chopped tomatoes into the mix, and cooked those down until it was sauce. It took a long time to get something that smelled right - like 1 1/2 hours. This may have been faster if I could have tasted it, though, since its a lot easier to adjust seasoning with tastebuds than, say, your nose.

While the sauce was cooking, I stirred some eggs and ricotta together. I've made a lot of lasagna (mostly with white sauce instead of marinara), but i've never added eggs before. I think that i'm going to use this in future lasagnas, since it made the ricotta a lot easier to spread evenly (plus, i'm pretty sure it held better once it was cooked).

Finally, lasagna! Noodles, sauce, ricotta mix, and oodles of mozzerella - the way lasagna should be.

Because the sauce took so much longer than I guestimated, I was really in a rush and forgot to take a picture of it done. Even worse (or better, says my body), we had two sets of plans, so we ran out before people had started eating -- so neither me or the hubby got to try it! I heard it was delicious.

Oh, yeah, what else... I made salad dressing and brought salad.

Here are the ingredients...

But nothing beyond that, whoops. It was standard salad dressing - blend everything, add oil very slowly to emulsify. I'm pretty sure the vitamix made fast dressing out of it. It was good, but nothing to write home about.

Gazpacho

2011-12-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

The disaster that was the verjus sorbet was also the last of many dinners that I would have at my old house. I knew this because... well, because the dinner was at the end of June, we were supposed to close on our new house in early July, and packing becomes ever more complicated as one builds a massive kitchen arsenal. I decided that I couldn't leave my French Laundry dinner party project on such a well, utter failure, note, so I decided to squeeze a couple of recipes in (with the intention of bringing them over to big family gatherings). The easy ones... like gazpacho!

Seriously, if you are looking for the easiest recipe to start The French Laundry Cookbook with, this is it. There isn't even any cooking involved. Well, unless you count the balsamic glaze, but I had some in my fridge, so no cooking!

The mis:

Basically, you cut everything up, put some tomato juice and vinegar in, and let it stew overnight.

The next day, I tossed the mix (minus the thyme) into my trusty vitamix....

And blended!

Now, wasn't that easy! (pictured without balsamic glaze - I was waiting for it to warm up still)

Now, those of you that have paid attention might question how I ate this, since i'm allergic to tomatoes. In truth, I only had a tiny sip. I would have liked to drink/eat the entire serving.... but my body wouldn't have appreciated it, so I abstained. The tiny sip was enough to realize the complexity of flavors, and that this would be a fantastically refreshing soup on a warm day. So, to recap: hot day, feeling lazy, make gazpacho!

Verjus... uh, soup.. with Poached Peaches

2011-12-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

There wasn't a lot to this dessert. In fact, I was so intimidated by the idea of cooking lamb AND foie that I intentionally chose an "easy" dessert.

So, of course, I screwed it up.

The peaches went fine - I made pretty slices...

Then I poached them in liquid with a pretty parchment lid, peeled them, and put them in their poaching liquid.

For the sorbet, literally all I had to do was combine verjus and some simple syrup, and put it in the ice cream maker. I didn't even take any pictures because it was so boring.

And I totally, completely, blew it. Backing up... I couldn't find any verjus. Anywhere. I gave up and got some honey mead that was supposedly supposed to taste similar to verjus (and had a super low alcohol content). Unsuprisingly to most, i'm sure.... the mead wouldn't freeze. WTF? I asked myself. Then: 'DOH! Alcohol!' So I boiled the crap out of it to get rid of the alcohol. But the bowl had thawed a bit, enough to make only a slightly slushy, vaguely alcoholic mix. (Slush that melted before I even made it to the table).

I present my poached peaches in "wine-sauce."

The peaches were fine. Most of us felt a bit more drunk after eating this, even though I contended (over and over) that there COULDN'T be any alcohol in it. I was validated in that it did finally freeze, after 12 hours in the freezer. I am currently 0 for 2 on sorbets, which are seemingly the easiest thing to make. Pox on your house, sorbet... I *will* conquer you!

The French Laundry!

2011-11-29T20:15:00.001-08:00

I was talked into running a half marathon back in San Francisco this past April. Well, technically talked into signing up for the lottery to do it, since the half marathon was so big that you can't just sign up. We got in. Ever since I heard, i've been planning on taking a couple of days and going to Napa/ The French Laundry after the race. Of course, I knew that it was near impossible to get a reservation, but I am persistent. I vowed I would find a way to get it.

I didn't. Darling husband and I both tried (each of us with two phones) for two days in August, as reservations opened up. [ADDENDUM: I forgot to mention my loyal secretary. She tried one day too!] The third possible day, I had a conference call and wasn't able to call. I was dejected. Adding to the dejection was the fact that I had planned on being nearly done with cooking my way through the book by October (rather than the halfway I am right now).

And then... we got a reservation! Party of 4, the last seating (not ideal), two days after the half (even less ideal, but it would work out nicely - spa day, wine tasting, sleeping in, fun times!). I got a babysitter for the three days. We had a plan! A plan for the French Laundry.

But, like so many other things, the couple of weeks before, it fell apart. Someone couldn't go, bringing it down to three. Another person might not be able to go because of trial schedules. And then... five days before, my HUSBAND found out he couldn't go because [well, there are a lot of things that could be said, but it sums up nicely with 'his boss is an evil witch.'] Back to dejected.

As with so many things, this got worked out. Friend with trial issues was able to make it. Her mom was going to come. The table was full enough. Then the morning of, her mom couldn't go. Back to two. Except... my husband found a way to make it! He got a friend to take angry toddler, he got a flight, a car, and dashed up to Napa. He didn't exactly surprise me, since he told me 7-8 hours beforehand, but I was still on cloud nine (particularly after all the on-off stuff). I worked in the morning, went to Mumm and had a flight of champagne (while listening to a group of four long-time friends sitting around talking -- making me realize that I NEED to do a trip like this with my friends!), drove around, had a snack at Bouchon, walked the French Laundry garden. It was a perfect day.

Why the long story? Because this set up the night to be truly amazing. And with that, our dinner! I was the tacky person who took pictures of each course (with my phone, since I wasn't all ready to bust out the big DSLR).

First up, the cheese gougere - as our table-mate said, 'There is a party in my mouth!' I can't wait to make these.

Second amuse, the cornet. I was thrilled to see that my cones were perfect! The salmon was a much much finer dice. On one hand, it looked prettier. But on the other, I like the texture of salmon tartare a little better when its not quite as finally diced (the salmon prep here and my finished ones here, halfway down).

Third, the real first course! Oysters and pearls. Much MUCH better than the oysters and pearls that I made. I don't know what about it was better (maybe the lack of gags around the table), but it was.

Fourth, a "salad." It was a salad in that it was mostly vegetables. But it sure didn't look like one. (somewhere on that plate is a potato... and I bet you would never guess which one).*

Fifth, a sashimi - loved the chili oil.

Heading into the "real" meal... I was getting full! Despite having nearly starved myself all day. I think that lunch is really the way to go for a nine-plus course meal.

Sixth, a lobster ravioli. I went into Toddler mode - mmmmm..... was all I could say. It was fantastic.

And as a bonus, one of my table-mates (who got the veggie menu) had agnolotti. My agnolotti looked just like it! (ok, maybe you can't tell from the picture, but it did) Validation!

Seventh up, a rabbit rilette. It was the first time I had ever had rabbit, but I dove in without hesitation (to be honest, it was because it was wrapped in bacon, and there is NOTHING bad wrapped in bacon).

Eight... is when I started to have the 'good lord, i'm still eating' shakes. I got past it. Snake River Farm Coelette be Boeuf Grillee. I also was a little squicked out from the gel-looking thing on the left (it totally reminded me of aspic, which is no bueno). Then I flipped it over, let the heat from the meat and plate warm it up... and it became Ah-mazing.

Ninth, the cheese course. This was the only thing that I didn't like. I LOVE cheese. I don't love olives and cheese - the olives in the dish just made the cheese taste rancid and competed with the artichoke in a bad way. I left most of it.

Tenth, a verjus sorbet. Obviously it was sorbet, so it was far superior to mine (oh wait, I think that is still to come). There was a candied cashew that was spectacular, even for a nut-hater like me.

Eleventh, (seriously, there is more!) the first dessert - Pommes Anna. Is there anything better than funnel cake? It's a close call, but Yes. It is called salted caramel ice cream.

Twelfth, nearing the end... Coffee and Donuts! Husband and I disagreed about this (a little), but I actually liked mine a teensy bit more. Mine were slightly lighter in texture. Plus, they only served the holes, and the whole donut is the better part.

This wasn't really an 'thirteenth' course, but there were also mignardises. I dove in for the chocolate-PB one (favorite combination). By that point I was so food-drunk (I had one glass of wine, but I felt woozy from eating so much!) that I couldn't bring myself to eat another. In hindsight, I wish I had asked for them to-go.

At the end of the meal, we got a "souvenir" menu, and some shortbread cookies. The kitchen had pretty much shut down, and I was absolutely exhausted, so no kitchen tour for me. Another time (you know, in a decade when I can go again). The price? I tried to forget. Then last week, I found the receipt in my wallet...and tried to bury it. Strangely, I can't bring myself to throw it away. It can hopefully be the occasional find, something that reminds me of the most amazing day.

* Somewhere around the salad course, I think, we were also served some pain au lait made at Bouchon. It was the most amazing bread i've ever had. I've been searching for a pain au lait recipe since then, but nothing had come anywhere near the amazingness of that bread. I cannot wait for the Bouchon Bakery cookbook (and hopefully a recipe for the pain au lait!!!)

Double Rib Lamb Chops with Cassoulet of Summer Beans

2011-11-26T19:50:00.000-08:00

It's funny how the simplest dishes can cause the most stress. Take this, my first 'real' meat dish (the first one out of the meat courses). I read the directions, a couple of times, and thought: this seems too easy. Then I went to the local awesome meat market (Siesel's Meats), and the guy looked at me like I was an idiot when I asked for double cut rib lamb chops (in my defense, I was asking for exactly what the book said to get!!). Apparently, you can have lamb chops, or you can have rack (or rib) of lamb, but you can't have both, at least according to this butcher. He also was in disbelief that I wanted two racks (i'll be straight: it was $140 for them) - he asked me like 5 times if I was 'positive' that I could spend that much. I think it was related to the fact that I couldn't give him a straight explanation of what I needed (THANKS a lot Thomas Keller). It could have also been that I was wearing yoga pants, a t-shirt, no makeup, a ponytail, and chasing a toddler around, and may have looked like a teenage mother as opposed to an attorney.

So, anyways, back to the rack: it was pretty easy. In fact, I think the hardest part was the injuries incurred while making the "quick" lamb sauce (hint: its not). The lamb bones were fresh, and still wet. So they splattered - a lot. Once in my face/all over my arm, leaving several actual burns.

The mis:

And... no other pictures, since I was too busy ducking the constant splatter from roasting/deglazing the bones. (And plus, looking at pictures of stock isn't really all that exciting).

Next I made the rosemary oil... but again, no pictures (doesn't all green oil look the same?)

Next up: the beans. I soaked some marrow and cranberry beans overnight, cooked them in some stock, leek, onion, carrot. They... were still rock hard. So I cooked them longer. And longer. Ultimately, I think I cooked them for close to two and a half hours. A bit longer than the instructions said.

The morning of, I blanched the beans - yellow, green, fava.

I couldn't find any fresh soybeans, so I ended up buying edamame - just had to pop them open and toss them into the mix (along with some bruniose).

Finally, I prepped the lamb - tied them up, wrapped some foil around the bones

After we had the cheese course, I cooked the chops. I browned them for about 4 minutes on one side, another three, then turned them to brown them all over. Then I tossed some garlic, butter, and thyme in the pan, then roasted it for a few minutes in the oven. Each minute desperately praying that I wasn't screwing up $140 of meat.

I didn't. The lamb was beautiful.

The overall dish was amazing. I love beans, and the mix of beans was awesome. The lamb sauce was rich and lamb-y, but not too gamey. And the lamb was perfectly cooked! (suck it, judgy butcher!) This was easy enough to actually make again. Overall: keeper.

Foie (Done Well) With Apples and Black Truffles

2011-11-17T19:49:00.000-08:00

As opposed to 'well done.' My biggest fear when I was reading the directions was burning it and wasting a $100 piece of meat. (Is liver meat, even if it comes from poultry? I just don't know). A gigantic piece of meat that felt like the fake wax fruit my grandma has in her "fruit bowl." Not a fan of how foie gras feels.

So imagine my debate about the 'picking out the veins' thing. See, The French Laundry Cookbook has this whole set of instructions about soaking it, cutting it down the center, following veins with a small knife, not being afraid of really digging them out because foie is like play-doh and it all comes together at the end.

But these instructions are with a different foie recipe. It's not at all clear whether you are supposed to go through all of these hoops when you cook it in other ways. I looked at it. Thought about it. And decided that it's probably best if I did it that way. If anyone knows any better, please tell me.

Elaborate pre-step #1: Soak it in milk. For like an hour. And more than once. But the time you are done, the foie resembled slightly soggy wax fruit.

Elaborate step #2: deveining. This is way way too messy to even contemplate photographing.

Elaborate step #3: put it back together. I really REALLY butchered the foie trying to get veins out (this is definitely not my forte). So after salting and peppering the foie, I wrapped it as tight as I could in some saran wrap. Then I wrapped it the other way. And the other way again. A roll of saran wrap later... i'm left hoping that it really does stick back together like promised.

So, you know the apples and truffles thing? Couldn't get any truffle. Unlike the last time I needed them and just was too cheap to go and buy them, this time I had the promise of a truffle. I had someone promise to set one aside for me. I had that someone leave work, apparently with the truffle not set aside for me. Then I had someone else sell my truffle. After discovering that I wouldn't have a Bristol Farms truffle after all (thanks a bunch!), and knowing that I didn't have a way to get one in time, I just decided to substitute an onion. Because clearly onions = truffles, right? (You don't need to answer that)

I basically just diced/sliced this all up and made a type of relish with it. People loved it. It was rather ugly, so I didn't take any pictures.

Time to cook the foie. I don't think I can portray how nervous I was. I mean, i've never eaten or even SEEN a whole lobe of foie, so I had no idea what it was supposed to look like (except for the picture in the book). And, again, $100 chunk of meat. I cut a little piece off, and melted down in the pan (pretty much all fat)....

Oh, yeah, wait: I made some little dry brioche croutons first.

Now, back to the foie. I unwrapped it. It stayed together. I scored it. It still stayed together. It was fantastic to score, since the scores stayed so nicely. Maybe this stuff really IS like play doh!

Then I got the pan really really smoking hot, and slid it in. I bided my time. i was patient. And when I flipped it over.... SUCCESS!!!!

Seriously, check out that gorgeous, gorgeous piece of foie. I cooked it more on the second side, slid it onto a platter, and brought it out. Forgot to take a final picture, but I really really think this will do.

So, how was it? Good. Not quite as squicky as the chicken liver toast my law school roomate made me try at ABC Kitchen (which tasted good, I just couldn't move past the texture). The texture here was luxurious, smooth, rich. It was good. Rich, oh so rich, that I could only finish maybe 2 toast points. And I was constantly a little squicked out by what I was eating. But, luckily, my husband and two other (male) guests just inhaled the rest. Thank goodness none of the $100 piece of meat went to waste!

Corsu Vecchiu with Carrots and Raisins

2011-11-16T19:48:00.000-08:00

So... cheese. I think you can't go wrong with cheese. Particularly with the cheese courses in The French Laundry Cookbook. Not only are they delicious, they are easy (well, easy is a relative term, but waaaay easier than anything else in the book). And with my favorite local cheese shop - Venissimo Cheese - easy to find the weird cheese.

This was no exception. Behold! Five easy pictures to get you to a beautiful composed cheese course.

First, I made the spice mix. After combining all of the spices in a bowl, I threw them in the vitamix. While it admittedly did not work as well as a spice grinder, my vitamix still rules.

Next I shredded some carrots. Thank you, Mr. Food Processor, for taking care of an otherwise time-consuming and arduous job in 10 seconds.

I also simmered down some carrot juice (bought in a gigantic jug from Costco, just because I happened to be there and saw it), added a little of the spice mix juice and shredded carrots, and tried some. It was like dessert! (now if I could only convince angry toddler this was true...)

Next up: raisins. Gently simmered in water with some lemon juice.

Then pureed... in the handy-dandy vitamix!

Because this was all so easy, I did the above steps in the morning.

Right before peopel were supposed to come over, I sliced the cheese.

And plated it. Pretty, even without the carrot powder (I had some, then it turned out to be funny-smelling, so I decided against using it) and the chervil (which is only found in like one freaking place in San Diego, and I didn't want to go to Specialty Produce just to get a garnish).

Tasty, although not astonishing. The sweetness of the carrots and raisins was a nice compliment to the "ripeness" (stinkiness) of the cheese. And it was easy! I don't think I can emphasize enough how easy. Lets just say... it took a total of 30 minutes of time. That's Rachel Ray-timed cooking, except without the insufferable abbreviations and shortcuts. Think about it... Thomas Keller or RR. I know which one i'd chose!

Chocolate Fondant with Coffee Cream and Chocolate Dentelles

2011-11-08T20:43:00.000-08:00

I think this was the most complicated dessert I have ever made in my life. Certainly the most steps ever. And despite reading the instructions twenty times, and despite something still going disastrously wrong at a vital point, this came together nicely. The best part: I got to use a BLOWTORCH! To cook! (maybe the fire extinguisher as a valentine's day gift wasn't so unwarranted)

Step 1: cookies. Mix the below

Cut out discs, freeze them. A nice start.

Step 2: Chocolate Fondant

See all of the ingredients? Pretty much each one had to be cooked separately. Bleh.

I started by melting some chocolate.

Whipping the hell out of some sugar and an egg white.

Until it turned into a beautiful meringue. Then I whipped some cream. Times like this really made me wish that I had a second mixer bowl.

Next, I whipped some butter. BY HAND. That is some hardcore stuff.

So I took the chocolate (cooled)...

And added the coffee.... then the whipped butter... and it seized. Ugh. This was the thing they warn about, the temp of the coffee and chocolate and not letting it seize up. I was totally kicking myself, but was determined to make it work (as an aside, I think my chocolate was maybe too warm and it melted the butter and just was bad).

But Brandon came to the rescue - he basically whipped the mixture as HARD as he could for like 5 minutes, and it smoothed out. Probably not to where it should have been, but it had to work (since I didn't have time to go out and buy more chocolate... a problem I will never again suffer since I have two grocery stores within 3 blocks, and a Whole Foods AND a Bristol Farms within 5 miles).

After working the chocolate out, I folded in the meringue and whipped cream...

Then spooned it into my (too tall) molds.

Step 3: ganache

Mmmm..... very few things beat chocolate and cream!

Melted and mixed into a delicious creamy mix.

But... remember the too-tall molds? Spooning and smoothing out ganache over the too-tall molds was a serious pain.

Step five thousand and ten:

Chocolate dentelles

I had no idea what these were when I read about them, but after making them, I realized that these were the same kind of cookies that my mom LOVED when I was a kid from this local bakery. They were half dipped in chocolate, and half lacey-butty-chocolately, and I thought they were weird (although pretty). Luckily with growing up, I have realized that - hello! - chocolate is never weird. Chocolate on rabbit (seen on Top Chef tonight) - yesplease! Because its CHOCOLATE.

So I basically tossed almonds and cocoa in the food processor.

Cooked the corn syrup and sugar and butter until it came to 220.

Then I stirred in the nut/cocoa mixture. Pretty, isn't it?

I poured this on some parchment paper, covered it, rolled it, and stuck in the in freezer.

To cook them, I just stuck the entire sheet in the freezer.

Not as easy: cutting rounds. Mostly because the cutter I had was completely inadequate for the job. But I got enough pretty rounds to make it.

Step OH MY GOD IT IS STILL GOING???

Coffee cream. Exciting to most, revolting sounding to me.

Milk, cream, vanilla: heaven.

Eggs and sugar: best supporting actor/actress nominees

I heated the cream, tempered in the eggs, cooked until it was a custard. Good stuff.

Then I strained it, cooled it, and added a touch of coffee cream (I think 'to taste' means 'as little as possible' when it comes to coffee)

Before the plated picture - the BEST PART: BLOWTORCH!!!!!! Unfortunately, some people (uh-hum, husband) were a little concerned about me using a blowtorch and a camera at the same time, so no pictures. But I got to take a blowtorch - a REAL ONE - and run it around the outside of the rings to loosen the fondant. I was convinced that I was either going to burn myself, or totally jack up the chocolate fondants. Or set something on fire... again. Luckily, none of those happened. Go me!

Plated: coffee cream, chocolate fondant, a dentelle. Isn't this pretty? (ignoring the strange little chocolate flecks in the fondant from where the mixture seized up)

Sometimes I impress even myself.

Dinner 10: The One Where I FINALLY Cook Some Meat!

2011-11-08T19:46:00.000-08:00

Yep, you heard that (read that?) right. I am finally, FINALLY, tackling a meat course. Two, if you count the Foie Gras as a 'meat' as opposed to a 'starter.' Quite frankly, I think it is remarkable that I avoided meat dishes for nearly half of the book.*

Here goes on the menu:
(1) Corsu Vecchiu with Spiced Carrot Salad
(2) Foie Gras with Apples and Black Truffle
(3)Double Cut Lamb Chops with Cassoulet of Summer Beans and Rosemary
(4) Verjus Sorbet with Poached Peaches

* As of right now, i've done 40 recipes (including a couple of unblogged ones coming at a future date). Almost halfway there!

Lobster Mac n' cheese and Creamy Lobster Broth

2011-11-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

I am now a lean, mean, lobster killing machine. I'm not ready to go all Julia-Childs-style and stab a lobster through the head to kill it, but I can now touch them without screaming. Take that, cockroaches of the sea.

Other than the killing lobsters/removing all the meat (which is a very time-consuming job), this dish was a snap. And it was a two-fer!

Lobster bodies:

I cooked the bodies for a couple of minutes...

... then added some rough cut tomatoes and carrots.

Then I added some water and gently simmer it for a looong while.

After that looong time simmering, I strained it, smashed the bodies to get some of the juice out, strained it again, then cooked the stock down. Eventually I added cream and cooked that down for a long time. I don't remember how long, but I do know that it pretty much took all day. And that is all there is to lobster broth.

In the meantime, I made "coral oil." I have to admit, I was skeptical. I'm not a big fan of roe (even though i'm learning to like caviar, so i'm getting there slowly). To make coral oil, all you have to do is stick the icky green roe stuff from the lobsters in the mixer with a little oil, and blend. Add some oil, blend more. The blender basically cooked the roe, so it quickly turned a much more appetizing coral color, rather than green.

(upon contemplation, I think its weird that I wouldn't eat green oil or that a I think coral colored oil is somehow better, since all the other oils I have made have been green. I guess its just thinking about the icky green stuff in the lobster that makes me feel this way.)

A very small amount of coral oil, but still enough for the lobster mac' n' cheese.

Next I cooked some orzo.

And chopped up the lobster.

And combined some lobster broth, chopped lobster, and a dusting of (something green.. chives?)

Lobster broth, served along the lobster.

And the mac n' cheese. One little (big) problem was that I wasn't able to really reduce the lobster broth for the mac n' cheese enough, so it was a little runny. A ring of coral oil around the orzo/broth/chopped lobster mixture, a lobster tail (gently warmed in butter), and a parmesan 'hat.' Even runny, it was still delicious. The coral oil held it in, so i'm glad I made it.

Hearts of Palm with Puree of Marrow Beans

2011-11-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

I had never had a heart of palm before this. I was a little nervous about this (with my two picky eaters)... but when my bro-in-law said 'Hearts of Palm? I frickin' LOVE hearts of palm,' I realized this was good to go.

Unanticipated? He didn't like BEANS. And neither does his fiancee. How is that even possible, to not like beans? I mean, aren't they like, a staple? One of the few things that you can keep dried or canned, and can really find a way to incorporate into anything? I mean, maybe its me, but... how can you not like something that you can eat with breakfast (breakfast burritos with black beans is a favorite), lunch (cold in salads or hot in soups), dinner (cassoulet, stews, anything mexican)??? I just don't get it.

This was a surprisingly multi-stepped meal, from what it looked like on the page. First up: mushroom stock. It was supposed to be truffle-infused mushroom stock, but I couldn't find any truffles locally (and I didn't remember to order one), so it was plain ol' 'shrooms.

Mis:

I blanched everything, diced it -

Then cooked it all together and added water. At least I assume I added water at some point, since it was stock.

Like all stocks, I strained it, strained it again, strained it again. You had to be extra careful with not dumping the whole thing through, since there was a lot of dirt/icky stuff on the bottom.

Next up: beans!

I soaked the beans for a long time (I don't remember how long, but it was like twice as long as the instructions said).

Then I simmer the beans, again for a very long time, with the aromatics.

Hearts of palm:

I had never worked with fresh hearts of palm before, and was totally surprised at how soft they were from the outside. If I didn't know better (having gotten them from Specialty Produce, best place ever), I would think they were cooked already. But, knowing they were raw, I cooked them more.

In the meantime, i got started on the filling: weighed the brioche (luckily I didn't need a lot, since me/angry toddler had totally ripped into the amazing Bread & Cie brioche when I bought it on friday morning)

Mis for the filling:

I processed the bread until it was crumbs:

Then added the mascarpone, salt, and pepper, and processed it more. I finished by drizzling the truffle oil into the mixture.

By this point, the hearts of palm were cooked and cooled, so I set about cutting them:

Then hollowed them out. The hollowing-out process sounded like it was going to be really difficult, but I found that my fingers (and fingernails) could actually poke the centers out pretty easily)

I picked the best out, then using a ziploc baggie and pastry tip, filled them (then leveled them off with an offset knife).

A few quick tomato diamonds and herbs for flavor...

Then it was time to cook the hearts of palm! Breaded in panko, then sauteed on either end... I wish I could eat ALL my food this way!

(not pictured: the quick sauce I made with the stock, cooked beans, hearts of palm, herbs, the tomato diamonds, and more white truffle oil, or the chive oil that I already had in my fridge)

Assembled!

It was pretty good, especially the hearts of palm/beans/mushroom mix, but I didn't love the overwhelming sense of truffle oil. Maybe it would have been better if I had the truffles that were supposed to be in the bean mix/stock. I think that i'm just not a fan. I love mushrooms, I love truffles, but truffle oil just seems.. fake... compared to truffles. In short: a lot of work for something that was 'eh'... not staying on the permanent list. You know, that list i'll make in 5 years, after i've cooked through all of Keller, when I will totally remember making this.

The French Laundry!!

2011-10-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

I had dinner there! It fluctuated from a near-disaster to fantastic. Even though I knew it was tacky and not becoming of a $____ dinner, I took pictures of each course. And I will post about it, with pictures, soon (although be warned: they are crappy pictures taken with my iphone and/or blackberry in a dark restaurant... so they are lacking in quality a bit).

It has inspired me to cook more. But then my 70-hour workweeks as of late have been a bit un-inspiring on the cooking front. So, we'll see when I do another dinner. At the very least, I still have at least 6 recipes to blog about, so maybe i'll catch up on that.

Or maybe i'll aim to get a night with 8 hours of sleep. Either would be satisfying.

Caesar Salad

2011-10-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

Let me start by apologizing for the fact that I absolutely cannot spell the word 'caesar.' I have to look it up every time. So I plan on covering my bases in this post by spelling it every way possible (I suppose spellcheck would be the other solution, but that just sounds so time-intensive).

With that out of the way... lets talk ceasar salad! I'm a little ambivalent about certain modern molecular gastronomy-type foods, and when I read the recipe for the caeser salad, that's what I thought I was getting. Weird stuff disguising as my beloved ceaser salad. Oh, and I *do* love ceasar salad. And my brother in law and his wife were coming for dinner, so I thought there was absolutely no way in hell that I would get them to even try a custard-looking thing that was supposed to taste like cheese, since they are quite possibly the pickiest eaters in the world. But... it was surprisingly good. So good that even the picky people ate it. So good that angry toddler ate THREE custards as part of lunch the next day!

The caesar dressing was not my favorite - it was more 'vinegary,' less of a 'creamy' dressing. I think that only a vinegar-based dressing would work with this dish due to the rick nature of the custard, though. I ended up throwing the dressing out later on (despite best intentions to eat the massive amount of leftover dressing I had), so if I ever made this again, I would definitely find a way to cut the dressing recipe.

Mis:

See these anchovies? Salt packed! I only got these (or, more accurately, was able to track them down at a market 5 blocks away from my work) thanks to Chowhound. I love the internet.

There are lots of and lots of measuring to do, so I did a true mis, rather than my half-assed mis of usual:

Basically, you puree everything except the oil and egg yolks together...

Then beat the egg yolks into the mixture....

Slowly drizzle in oil....

And, ta-da, dressing!

(and lets talk about how fabulously that emulsified. Patience is key here)

Next up: Parmesean custard. Parmesan is another word I can't spell right (and before people start judging: I may be college, and even law-school educated, and I did go to an excellent law school, but I have much more important things to do with my time - like watching t.v. - than worrying about spelling!) Because I can't spell it, and because it's waaaayy too long of a word anyways, henceforth on this blgo it will be "parm." I made this the night before dinner; it has to chill at least 2 hours anyways, so its a great thing to do well beforehand.

The mis:

I heated up the cream and milk, and "infused" the dairy mixture with parm by letting it sit, covered, for 45 minutes.

By parm didn't quite melt all the way, and I thought it was supposed to (its still unclear), so I heated the mixture up a teensy bit and whisked the hell out of out. Then I whisked the eggs and yolk:

And whisked in some cream mixture. Note the black pepper - even though I have 20 kinds of fancy salt, I somehow always forget to buy white pepper (and by 'forget,' I mean that I have a subconscious refusal to buy it so I never do)

I poured it into some fantastic silicon fluted molds that I bought on amazon (they are brioche molds):

And baked in a water bath

About a half hour before people were coming over for dinner, I made some baguette croutons, chiffonaded some romaine and tossed it with the dressing, and shaved some parm. I put a little extra because: (1) I knew picky eaters would at least eat the lettuce/dressing; and (2) I had a ridiculous amount of dressing and lettuce. I think I also unearthed some balsamic glaze from somewhere and put a pretty dot of it on the plate. I also think that I burned the balsamic when I made the glaze, and having it sit in the fridge really brought that out. But still... look how pretty it is!

The best part of this was that I was able to do all of it before people got here, so I just brought it out when I was ready to serve the first course (and it gave me a little more time to work on the second course right before people were coming over).

Overall, I really like it, but I don't know that it made enough of an impression to go on my 'repeats' list. I'm about halfway through the book now, so we'll see!

Dinner 8: Back from the Land of the Blog-lost

2011-10-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

That title? Is a complete lie. I actually made this well before I moved (for my husband's birthday... in June!)

But since i've done menus in advance for all of my other posts, here is the menu:

Starter: "Caesar Salad:" Parmigiano-Reggiano Custards with Romaine Lettuce, Anchovy Dressing, and Parmesan Crisps
First: Hearts of Palm with Puree of Marrow Beans and Field Greens
(yes, I realize this was two salads, but I also had two picky eaters, and thought salads might go over better)
Main: "Macaroni and Cheese:" Butter poached lobster with creamy lobster broth and mascarpone-enriched orzo
Dessert: Chocolate Fondant with Coffee Cream and Chocolate Dentelles

The fantastic thing about this was that I was able to make two entire courses beforehand (other than assembly)... and that I got to use a BLOWTORCH when cooking. You have no idea how I excited I was about that... but you will soon!

"Coffee and Donuts"

2011-09-12T09:41:00.000-07:00

Ah, donuts. Let me tell you about my love affair with donuts. When I was pregnant, I ate donuts at least once a week - the only time i've let myself go that much - and never tired of them. Once when I was left alone at home for the whole weekend, I bought a dozen donuts and ate them all. Actually, I think that was all I ate. Didn't get sick of them. It would possibly be accurate to say donuts are my favorite food in the whole wide world.

So, imagine my excitement when I actually made them for the first time! (actually, trepidation is more accurate, but it turned into excitement)

But first, the "coffee" - a cappuccino semifreddo. You know how I just waxed poetic about my love affair with donuts? I feel the exact opposite way about coffee-flavored anything. I despise coffee. I can't even stand the Starbucks candyland versions (things like caramel mocha something or the others) - too bitter. I once sent a piece of chocolate cake back at Spago when the waiter swore up and down there was no espresso in it. There was. I could taste it.

So, yeah. Love/hate relationship expected with this dessert. But at least making the semifreddo was easy.

First, a quick custard base - eggs, sugar, vanilla bean, whipped together.

Man, I love my mixer.

I added some coffee extract, then put to chill on ice.

Next I whipped some cream and sugar, and folded that in, followed by whipping egg whites and sugar, and folding that in.

Into a coffee cup and the freezer they went!

I tasted it as a custard (while it was cold, but not frozen). It was... not bad. But not something I was in love with.

Donuts, on the other hand... well, I was looking forward to this. Especially once I realized how EASY it was.

Just knowing how amazing a warm donut is, I decided to make a double batch so I could freeze them. It was a good call, since it gave me an "excuse" to experiment with cooking them prior to the dinner.

First, lets talk about compressed yeast. I didn't know what on earth it was, but I figured it wouldn't be hard to find. I didn't know where to look for it. I asked people in various stores (Vons, Whole Foods, Henrys), no one knew what I was talking about. The day before I was supposed to be preparing the donuts, I turned to the internet. Someone on some chowhound board posted about Stan at NY Bakers - a mail order place that is conveniently located in San Diego. I shot him an email, explained my predicament (namely: I needed it asap, and I knew he only shipped it on such and such days... but could I please pretty please come to his warehouse and get some?). Much to my surprise, he responded quickly, with a 'Sure, how much do you want?' Thanks to Stan, for helping my donut dreams come true.

I carefully weighed the compressed yeast...

Then mixed it in the mixer with some water, then flour, and combined for a while. I sat the spongy mixture to proof (crossing my fingers, since I kill every yeast-based dough)... and came back in a couple of hours to this:

Appropriately-risen dough. I was in business! So, I mixed some more compressed yeast, some other stuff (milk, flour, sugar, salt, egg yolks, butter - basically everything associated with baking), and eventually turned the sponge base into the dough forming in the mixer. It was really bubblicious and sticky and exactly what good yeast should look like.

I set this out to proof for another hour. It, too, rose in its bowl.

When the dough was appropriately proofed, I (heavily) floured my counter and went about rolling and cutting. (technical issue: I didn't have cutters that were the correct size, so I just scaled up) And rolling and cutting. Until I had TONS of donuts (some of which went into the freezer, others stayed out for cooking that night).

I had read accounts from numerous people that had issues with the non-stick spray and saran wrap thing for proofing. I read accounts where people had no issue at all. So I decided to try it both ways.

No saran wrap proofing:

Saran wrap proofing:

As you can (kinda) see, the saran wrap ones proofed a lot better. And the wrap came off without any type of issues. Success!

Into the deep fryer they went. My house smelled like fried bread... heavenly.

After cooking, I tossed in cinnamon and sugar.

Don't they look amazing? They were.

The day of the dinner party, I realized that I didn't know how to froth milk in my coffee/espresso maker. In my defense, its not exactly something i've ever done (except the one day in college I worked as a barista at a local coffee shop, then decided it was a terrible idea for someone who HATES coffee to try and make it). Steamed milk.... took a lot of experimenting. But I did it!

As for the pretty donut hole sitting the donut... I don't think that the donuts made it that long. I had a guest meet me in the walk way to get one. Others were gone before I got to the table. They were amazing. And, like I said, really easy. Like easy enough that i'm inspired to go make some (although I need more compressed yeast - I threw mine out in the move). The semifreddo? Eh... it was ok. I took a bite, decided it wasn't for me, gave it to the hubbs. That was ok though... I had more room for donuts!

The One In Which I Catch Up

2011-08-17T13:27:00.000-07:00

(or at least the entry in which I catch up)

Today's entry features... random musings on the state of things!

(1) I'm moved into my house, in most senses of the word. I'm missing some basic home essentials - like kitchen drawers and baseboard and walls without holes - but our renovations are coming to a close. At least in theory. And as soon as I have kitchen drawers, I can take the 'after' pictures for 'before' and 'after'!

(2) I'm insanely behind on the '1 year' goal. Never going to happen now, especially since my house is about to bankrupt me. But i'm almost ready to push on... just as soon as I have kitchen drawers.

(3) I remember reading Carol Blymire's blog about cooking through The French Laundry Cookbook, with the hilarious tagline about not being able to get a reservation. I think I need to adopt that tagline... since I have tried for three days straight and have failed. And in the process have probably used all of my rollover minutes (how many times can you get a busy signal in half an hour: 156. Per phone, and I had two. Plus my husband. Boo! My trip to Napa coincides with the Nike Woman's Half Marathon that I am running (ok, probably walking based on training as of late). No luck getting a reservation around then. So, if anyone has room for 2 at a table on October 16th, 17th, or maybe even 18th.... invite me!

(4) I'm contemplating my next dinner, even though I don't have kitchen drawers... i'm thinking a fig theme, since they will soon be out of season: Salad of black figs with roasted sweet peppers; (2) lobster with poached figs and foie; (3) squab with swiss chard, foie, and dried figs; and (4) vanilla roasted figs with vanilla ice cream. I thought i'd be able to make it marginally cheaper by stealing figs from the front of my old house. But, a couple of days before we moved, I came home to this (taken with my iphone):

I'm guessing that it won't have any fruit any time soon. Yeah, no such thing in life as a free fig.

Citrus Marinated Salmon with Orange, Caviar, and Pea Shoots

2011-07-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

Not in love with salmon, but I still eat it because I know its good for me. But this... I could eat it any day, any meals (the oranges even make it breakfast appropriate!). This was seriously the best salmon I have ever eaten. It turns out citrus gets rid of all of the fishy part of salmon that I don't like. Who knew. On the other hand, given that it is poached in oil, its probably not all that good for me... (then again, compared to the stick of butter in other things, maybe I should take that back).

First up, the citrus powder. I zested different citrus - lime, lemon, orange, grapefruit:

Then dehydrated it in my oven. Luckily, this did not take 3 tries like the tomato powder!

This is the fun part.... "grinding" it in my vitamix. Woooo!! See the awesome hurricane that it makes? I sat and stared at it for the 3 minutes the mixer was going, just watching the air patterns (and no, I wasn't on anything.... but I bet it would be even more fascinating if I was)

Ta-da! Citrus powder:

Now for the actual salmon part! First, more zest. Lots more zest, of all kinds.

So that I could make the citrus dry rub - zest, more zest, more zest, salt, and pepper:

All mashed together

After patting that only the giant slab of salmon that I had trimmed, I made orange confit. This was basically oranges, sugar, and water (apparently the secret way to make salmon delicious)!

I sectioned all of the oranges, which took a while. By the way, helpful hint for anyone that makes this: just get an extra orange, and don't worry about what you are wasting when you cut away the pith and skin. Makes things SO much faster!

Finally, the pea coulis, which consisted of blanched pea shoots, blended with some water until it was a coulis.

At this point, I poached the salmon in olive oil... a very large amount of olive oil. The temperature is supposed to be exactly 118 degrees, which I struggled with, since my oil got too hot, then too cold... then too hot. I'm sure its user error, but i'm blaming this on my inconsistent burners until proven otherwise! Because of the temperature variation, the salmon pieces weren't as 'bendy' as they should have been, I think. I (wisely) determined that serving squares was a much better idea than breaking them up by trying to make circles with caviar in the middle. I think it worked out ok.

No pea shoot coulis in the picture - I served it in the gravy boat like the book says - but oh my goodness, together, it was perfection. Without any doubt, this is my favorite non-dessert course i've made so far. And with salmon!