Auf Wiedersehen.

This will be the final post on this blog.  A little over a year ago the original Studiokitchen blog was archived during a transfer from Typepad to WordPress. The intent was to transfer and combine old and new. Unfortunately that proved to be rather annoying and the WordPress platform does not really  fit the aesthetic and future growth of this blog. We have therefore decided to delete the entire blog and move it to a new subscription platform with much more potential for changes in the new year highlighting the blog, collaborations we have formed with certain manufacturers and chefs, Individual and group workshops and electronic commerce.

New blog = end of January 2012.

This current version will be slowly deleted over the next 30 days.

The new blog link will be released on Twitter and updated to any  links from other websites or blogs.

Thanks for the comments and shared discussion.

Happy holidays and New Year.

Bemuse-Bouche

The macaroon appears to have universal appeal even if you make it with radioactive isotopes therefore it is the perfect vehicle for absurd flavor combinations. I have a bored scientist friend with a huge freeze dryer who likes to eat good food and it makes for an excellent quid pro quo. He freeze dries whatever I send him…I cook for him. The operative ingredient is green coriander powder which requires you to do the following.
1. Plant a whole bunch of Cilantro.
2. Treat it like your first born child until it actually goes to seed.
3. Let is seed generously.
4. Remove the ENTIRE plant including the roots from the growing medium or soil. (This was hydroponic obviously since it is december on the East Coast of USA)
5. Wash it well and freeze dry the entire plant and roots.
6. Grind it to a powder.

The powder above in the initial grind was just a mechanical grinding in a huge      BLIXER          but was eventually cryo-milled into a fine powder with liquid nitrogen. It has all the complexity of cilantro plus the floral sweetness of fresh coriander seeds.
The final preparation was a Green Coriander Macaroon with Pistachio-Kosho (Green Yuzu Kosho + Sicilian Pistachio + Agave Syrup)

Your bouche unfortunately will be more bemused than amused but it is a rather curiously odd assembly of flavors. It is topped with    LONG PEPPER.

Creme Fraiche – Dill Brioche

While the realm of “breads” made through the     ISI GOURMET WHIP SIPHON        and microwaved have a fantastic fluffy texture they lack the intrinsic fermentation flavors of properly risen bread. The simple solution is to include either a brioche or sourdough starter or “biga” in the blended mixture of eggs-flour-sugar-salt-butter-milk. More complex dairy products could also be used in addition to cheese or dairy powders such as buttermilk and sour cream. A measured amount of properly blanched and pureed herbs of choice in this case dill make a fantastic herb brioche. It is interesting that resting the batter for 10 minutes before cooking results in a much more delicate “bread” with larger pores.

Senape Extract.

Maple Elixir.

1. (LEFT) Maple Syrup SONICATED with Bourbon. All or most of the alcohol removed with evaporator centrifuge including some moisture loss resulting in a very intense bourbon flavor and deeper maple flavor that still retains it’s complexity without any burnt notes. It could certainly be used as is but is absolutely perfect when diluted to taste with the original maple syrup to balance out the flavor.

2. (RIGHT) Maple Syrup SONICATED with Vanilla. Really intense maple-vanilla flavor. As above dilution yields the perfect balance but can be used as is.

Best way to decant seems to be to let it flow directly into a mason jar slightly smaller in Dia. than rocket bottles giving maximum yield. The remainder is rinsed out with very hot water and used for a brine.

Brown Buttermilk Brioche Pancakes.

Eggs + Buttermilk + Butter + Flour + Brown Butter Solids + Salt + Sugar

Poured into ISI canister.

Cooked like EBELSKIVER which are just the finest expression of a pancake.

“Pedigreed Maple Syrups”

I think one should use all tools and thought within their reach to just see “What If”. Unless you try you don’t know. I love maple syrup in it’s most natural form and with the recent proliferation of pedigreed maple syrups on the market with things like vanilla bean infusion, aging in bourbon barrels or crystallizing into powder I am trying to see what maple syrup tastes like when it is reduced carefully at various states of intensity much like German dessert wines. One could certainly just boil it down in a pot however indications are that too much heat for too long may fundamentally change the nature of the syrup and not for the better. While I gravitate between cooking carefully chosen high quality ingredients with a balance of interesting elements as the underlying cooking philosophy, I find MODERNIST CUISINE to be a fantastic public service by the MC team in terms of exposure to new tools and ideas. Referring to the second book “Techniques and Equipment” page 392. we are reducing maple syrup by 30 and 50% to compare to the original using the Genevac Rocket Evaporator.

We started with 2 exceptional syrups Grade A-Medium Amber and Grade B directly from a reputable farm.

Load up the evaporation bottles.

Reduce the samples.

On a different note since the centrifuge cavity has room for 6 bottles we decided to also “wash” a good maple syrup with bourbon after cavitating it with oak barrel woodchips. All the alcohol washed out but most of the bourbon aroma and flavor remains simulating a more intense version of standard barell aged maple syrup which does take several months…..Total time here…about 3 hrs.

Turkey Gravy

The most important thing about historical food oriented celebrations is tradition. However forced restraint does not allow creative thought to blossom. While determined to make an entirely traditional turkey gravy for thanksgiving, sauce making is a particular interest so we decided to make some wavy gravy.

Essentially (we did not measure)

TURKEY GRAVY with UNI.

Standard Butter + Flour Roux.

Cook to blonde Roux.

Add brown Butter Solids (made from cooking milk powder in Butter)

Add Sea Urchin (West Coast Santa Barbara)

Add turkey stock and pan drippings.

Cook as per standard gravy technique and emulsify with Bamix or other stick blender.

Season (salt + White Pepper)

The result is an incredibly luxurious veloute that clearly tastes like fantastic turkey gravy with a mysterious complexity.

FYI..if you have a        THERMOMIX       ….which is how we really made it….transfer everything to thermomix after adding turkey jus.
Cook in thermomix and then blend for service with 1 egg yolk.
You get a crazy velvety turkey sabayon.

The Useful Influence of Technology

Last August I wrote about Lime Cordial    HERE     with slightly updated tweaks to the      NEW YORK TIMES RECIPE.     If you read the recipe it finishes with a 12 to 24hr maceration time to allow the flavors to blend. As we suspected in revisiting the recipe a Sonicator completely eliminates the wait time and it is simply processed for 10 minutes resulting in a cordial that tastes as good or better. Perhaps this can apply to other tinctures and bitters in a creative cocktail program. Time is money.

Roasted Potato Brine.

Roasted Potato Brine…for a pre thanksgiving roast turkey and roast chicken experiment.