Alineaphile

CHOCOLATE, Warmed to 94 Degrees

March 22, 2012

Chocolate, Warmed to 94 Degrees – Alinea Restaurant cookbook recipe, pages 294-295.

“This is the best Alinea recipe so far!” — The first words uttered by my daughter, after she came up for air…

I’ll have to agree. It’s the most delicious Alinea dessert I’ve cooked so far. Port-braised figs in warm bergamot tea, topped with chocolate mousse crisp, warmed dark Valrhona chocolate and mint, and served with a quenelle of cassia-bud ice cream. Yuh-MEEE !

Braised Figs
I used dried figs for this, and it turned out deliciously savory and sweet. I bet you though, it would have been even better with fresh black Mission figs. I sliced each fig in half so they’d all soak up the wine faster. Mise en place:

I mixed the wine, port, sugar and glucose together in a medium sauce, then brought it to a boil. I burned off the alcohol and then added the figs, lowering the heat to a simmer. Let the figs braise/port reduce for twenty minutes or so until it had thickened up. Then removed it from the heat to cool to room temp.

Ingredients
Black Mission figs
Ruby Porto wine
Dry red wine
Liquid glucose, or KARO corn syrup
C&H cane sugar

Bergamot Tea
This is simply Earl Grey tea, with some extra figgy goodness added. The traditional English flavor Earl Grey is black tea infused with oil of Bergamot. Some brands you can buy are much more potent than others, depending on how much oil they infuse into the tea leaves. I prefer Hediard from Paris, or Bigelow’s, which is easy to find locally.

What is Bergamot?

It’s an Italian orange (Citrus bergamia). Earl Grey tea is infused with the oil from it’s rind, and was named after Charles Grey, British Prime Minister in the 1830s.

Mise en place for bergamot tea:

I combined some water, sugar, glucose and a dash of salt with the dried figs and brought them to a simmer. Removed from the heat and added the tea leaves to steep. Then strained.

Added the Utra-Tex 3 starch and sheared into the tea with an immersion blender, strained and kept warm.

The tea will be poured onto the dessert from a small pichet I bought at Crate&Barrel, which is really a creamer from their Madison line of dinnerware. Look how cute!

Ingredients
Dried figs
C&H cane sugar
Water
Liquid glucose, or KARO corn syrup
Morton’s kosher salt
Bigelow’s Earl Grey tea
Ultra-Tex 3, from l’Epicerie

Cassia Ice Cream
Mise en place:

I toasted the cassia buds in a hot, dry skillet, until they released their oils. A light cinnamon fragrance filled the kitchen, like I was a baking fiend. But who’s kidding who? I’m a bad baker. But that’s another story…

Then brought the whole milk and cassia buds to a boil, and let steep.

After they had steeped, I strained, then mixed in the sugar, powdered milk, glucose, condensed milk, brought the cinnamon-infused ice cream base to a simmer, removed from the heat and added the bloomed gelatin sheets and ice cream stabilizer. I mixed it up with an immersion blender, then strained into the chilled ice cream maker.

Let it go to thicken up, and voila! Cassia ice cream! Very yummy, subtle cinnamon taste…

Ingredients
Cassia buds
Alta-Dena whole milk
Nonfat powdered milk
C&H cane sugar
Morton’s kosher salt, to taste
Rousselot “silver” gelatin sheets
Glucose powder
Rousseau STABI 3000 ice cream stabilizer, from L’Epicerie

Dehydrated Chocolate Mousse
Mise en place:

Whipped the eggs and sugar for the meringue.

I melted some Valrhona chocolate over a boiling pot of water.

Folded in the meringue.

And dehydrated until it was crispy.

Ingredients
Chocolate, 72% cacao
Egg whites
C&H cane sugar
Morton’s kosher salt
Egg yolks

Warm Chocolate
I broke up the dehydrated chocolate mousse into large, irregular pieces and placed them on a sheet pan. Then broke up some dark chocolate, and placed these on the mousse pieces. Popped them in a warm oven and waited until the chocolate melted just enough to gain a sheen. Evidently, the optimal temperature to serve this chocolate dessert is at precisely 94ºF…

Ingredients
Dehydrated Chocolate Mousse, reserved from above
Valrhona dark chocolate

To Assemble and Serve
To serve, I added some braised figs to the bowls. Then quenelles of cassia ice cream. Laid the chocolate chip over all. Then to serve, I brought out the dessert dry and poured warm bergamot tea into the bowl.

Then enjoy! It’s the best combination of flavors so far!

Ingredients
Bergamot flowers, or bergamot orange mint leaves

Equipment
Cutting board and kitchen knife
Salter digital scale
Strainer or sieve
Saucepans
Cast iron skillet
Kitchenaid mixer with wire whisk attachment
Oster bar blender
Spoon
Ice cream maker
Rubber spatulas
Stainless bowls
Wire whisk
Spice grinder
Measuring bowls, paper towels, tweezers

Serveware
9-Inch Cuisine Vortez bowls, from Crate&Barrel
8-Ounce Madison creamer, from Crate&Barrel

Yields: Easily enough for 8 servings, with plenty of dehydrated chocolate mousse chips left over.

Posted in Autumn, Recipes | 2 Comments

Cooking Sous Vide

March 1, 2012

What is sous vide anyway?

Sous vide (SOO veed) is French for “under vacuum”, or the simple technique of cooking food sealed in a bag in a hot water bath. And recently, it’s being used more and more. You can control how your food comes out much more accurately with sous vide. Steak cooked to a certain temp in a waterbath will not overcook, and will be consistently the same color, texture and temperature throughout (as compared with grilled meats dry on the outside and juicy on the inside).

When you roast/grill beef the traditional way and take it off the heat, the meat still cooks. You let it “rest” for a while before carving or serving. But I remember many a time on the line, plating a top sirloin, only to have it sit and bleed out while we waited for servers to actually serve their food. Then have it come back as being too well done! Damn, I hated that…

With sous vide, once meat reaches the temp of its waterbath, it’s not going to keep cooking beyond what you want.

American Chefs Thomas Keller and Grant Achatz are strong proponents of the technique, Keller so much so, that he came out with Under Pressure, a seminal book on the subject. I highly recommend this book, as it goes into every detail of the sous vide cooking method, including history, safety tips, best practices, methods and recipes.

There are many ways to cook sous vide. And people have been cooking en sous vide for hundreds of years. Heck, I’m sure your Mom even boiled some rice in a bag when you were a kid! I’ve been using a pot of water and a digital thermometer for years, with passable results. The trick with that old-fashioned way is to try and keep the temperature constant — nearly impossible. Other, more accurate methods involve water and electricity — a time-honored favorite of many cooks, chefs and serial killers…

Many of the recipes I’m cooking from Achatz’ Alinea Restaurant cookbook include sous vide cooking, so I recently broke down and got the SousVide Supreme water oven and vacuum sealer package, and am loving it. Sure beats that pot o’ water!

Products

Here are some commercial sous vide cooking solutions out there now. I have not listed the DIY rigs you can make with a rice cooker, but those are still viable options if you just don’t want to spend the money on any of these.

SousVide Supreme™ water oven from Eades Appliance Technology
Turn-key sous vide solution. The SousVide Supreme “water oven” easily fits on a countertop, comes in two sizes: the SousVide Supreme, the SousVide Supreme Demi, and is available in several colors/finishes. Prices range from US$299.00 to $459.00.

More info…

Pros:
Most affordable option.
All-in-one design.
Easy-to-use electronic panel.
Stainless interior components are easy to remove and clean.
Available in 8.7-liter and 10-liter capacities.

Cons:
You’re limited to its fixed size (But I fit a whole duck in the SousVide Supreme)
Temperatures only programmable to within 0.5°C (for example, you can only come close to 80.7°C, but really…)

Sous Vide Professional™ Chef Series immersion circulator from PolyScience
Compact and attractively designed, this thermal immersion circulator from CuisineTechnology.com sells for US$799.95. Second generation product is prettier than the original Sous Vide Thermal Circulator.

Download a Sous Vide Temperature Reference Guide.

More Info…

Pros:
Clean design.
Easy-to-use electronic panel.
Heats and circulates up to 8 gallons of water.
Temperatures accurate to within 0.09°F (0.05°C).
Comes with a carrying case.

Cons:
Not self-contained — you need a vessel (and lid) for your water bath.
More expensive.

Sous Vide Thermal Circulator™ from PolyScience
The original, laboratory-equipment design by PolyScience was adopted by chefs for sous vide cooking. An immersion circulator circulates the water. A thermal immersion circulator circulates and heats the liquid. Still selling strong, this thermal immersion circulator from CuisineTechnology.com sells for US$1,022.00.

More info…

Pros:
Easy-to-use electronic panel.
Heats and circulates water in a bath.
Temperatures accurate to within 0.09°F (0.05°C).
Available with a protective metal shield for circulator coils, and an optional hard carrying case.

Cons:
Not self-contained — you need a vessel (and lid) for your water bath.
Circulator coils are exposed and may get dinged.
Much more expensive.

Posted in Equipment | 4 Comments

MAYTAG BLUE, Grape, Walnut, Port

December 22, 2011

Maytag Blue, Grape, Walnut, Port – Alinea Restaurant cookbook recipe, pages 166-167.

It’s Alinea’s whimsical take on the all-American party favorite: an inside-out cheese ball with nuts, wine and celery!

Day One

Walnut Milk
I toasted some walnuts in the oven until they were fragrant and had released their oils. In a medium saucepan, I combined the whole milk, sugar and a touch of salt, and brought to a boil to dissolve the solids. I let this cool a bit then transferred to a bowl with the walnuts, then let them steep, refrigerated, overnight.

Ingredients
Walnuts, shelled and halved
Alta-Dena whole milk
C&H cane sugar
Morton’s kosher salt

Grape Juice
I juiced the green grapes in my Breville Juicer, then strained into a container.

I combined the grape juice, sugar, citric acid and salt to taste in a medium saucepan, and brought to a boil to dissolve the solids.

Ingredients
Thompson green seedless grapes
C&H cane sugar
Morton’s kosher salt, to taste
Citric acid

Day Two

Walnut Milk (Continued)
I removed the walnut milk from the fridge and strained into a clean container, reserving it for later…

Grape Sponge
I re-hydrated the gelatin sheets in cold water, and squeezed out the excess. Then I brought some of the grape juice to almost a simmer, and added the gelatin sheets, whisking to dissolve. Then whisked some more, placing my bowl in an icebath to speed up the process.

Then whisked the juice on high with my KitchenAid mixer.

Enough until it turned white, thickened, and formed stiff peaks. Then I put it into a pastry bag, so I could fill some hemispheric molds….

Speaking of hemispheric molds, I found the perfectly sized one right in front of my nose — the plastic egg basket in my fridge — check it out!

I piped the juice-sponge-foam into the molds (over-filling them so I could later top them off cleanly ) and popped into the freezer.

After they’d set up, I heated a metal spatula with a brulée torch and sliced off their tops, flush with the mold.

Then used a small Parisienne scoop to hollow out the insides.

Now to assemble the spheres. I melted the “equator” edges of one, and pressed another hemisphere to the first, holding for a minute until the edges bonded. You have to make sure there are no gaps. This ball has to hold liquid, so the more complete the seal, the better.

Ingredients
Grape juice mixture, reserved from above
Rousselot ‘silver-grade’ gelatin sheets<

Port Gelatin
Two ingredients: wine and gelatin. That should be easy. I used a bottle of Sandemann’s Ruby Porto, which I like — you could use any that you prefer. Especially because you’ll only be using a portion of the bottle — and you don’t want to let the rest go bad. So drink it while you cook!

I rehydrated the gelatin sheets in cold water and measured out the Port. Next, I reduced the wine in a saucepan. Reducing (evaporating) the wine intensifies the flavors, increases the its natural sweetness and thickens it. I gently tipped the pot to ignite the alcohol, and burned it off. Fun for pyros!

Removed it from the heat and whisked in the gelatin. I transferred the port gel mix to a small stainless bowl set over an ice water bath to cool.

After It had set up, I used a spoon to loosen it up into rough pieces, then reserved to the fridge.

Ingredients
Ruby Port wine
Rousselot ‘silver-grade’ gelatin sheets

Celery Slices and Leaves
There are two kinds of celery slices in this dish: the regular, and long, shaved strips. For the first, I used a new mandolin to slice the celery as thinly as possible.

For the shavings, I used a vegetable peeler and sliced long strips off the stalks. I reserved these in ice water, which curls up the strips (not unlike wood shavings).

I also reserved some yellow and green celery leaves in ice water.

Ingredients
Celery stalks
Ice water

Celery Seed Salt
The recipe says to make your own by toasting celery seeds and grinding them up with kosher salt. But I already had a package or ready-made celery salt, so I used it instead.

Ingredients
Celery seeds
Morton’s kosher salt, or
Tampico celery salt

Frozen Maytag Powder
I had previously put a wedge of Maytag Blue cheese in the freezer to harden up so I could grate it into a powder.

This component recipe uses an Antigriddle from PolyScience to freeze the grated cheese (US$1235.00, available directly from their website, or US$1,199.00 from JB Prince). It’s a wonderful product you may have seen on TV, that freezes things put on its super-chilled griddle top. I don’t have one. But I MacGyvered a substitute together with a frozen sheet pan placed over a slab of dry ice.

I removed the cheese and sheet tray from the freezer, placed the tray on a flat slab of dry ice, and quickly grated the cheese in a fine layer onto the frozen surface. I had to work very quickly, as the heat from my hands melted the cheese as I held it. Then quickly replaced the tray into the freezer.

What’s all the fuss about Maytag Blue Cheese?
There are many types of soft cheese with ribbons of blueish penicillium mold running through them. But when you talk about cheese, bleu cheese from the Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, France immediately comes to mind. The word “Roquefort” is a PDO-controlled name, just like “Champagne” — meaning you can’t call your product Roquefort or Champagne unless it really comes from there.

The United States has their own blue cheeses, and that from the Maytag Dairy Farms in Newton, Iowa has recently become a frontrunner, due not only to their aggressive marketing efforts, but to its popularity with chefs desiring a home-grown favorite. You’ve probably seen it on a menu in the last couple of years.

And yes, its that Maytag. Frederick and Robert Maytag, grandsons of the founder of the Maytag appliance company started making blue cheese in 1941. They perfected a technique using homogenized milk from their dairy cows, making the manufacture of the blue cheese more consistent than previously possible. More info…

Grape Syrup
I took some of the fresh grape juice I had previously made, and brought it to a simmer in a small saucepan. I reduced it until it coated the back of a spoon, then removed from the heat to cool.

Ingredients
Grape juice, reserved from above

Walnut Crumbs
I toasted the walnuts on a sheet pan in the oven until they’d browned and released their aromatic oils. The recipe says to use walnut halves. I hammered mine in a bag with the kitchen mallet to make it more of a course powder. Then mixed in the grape syrup in a stainless bowl, and salted to taste. This is very yummy and should be used to top all things…

Ingredients
Shelled fresh walnuts
Grape syrup, reserved from above
Morton’s kosher salt, to taste

To Assemble and Serve
Mise en place:

I used the Alinea ‘Craters’ plate, designed by Crucial Detail, for this dish. No matter what plates you choose, it’s important to chill them before service. A warm plate will only melt the blue cheese, and we don’t want that. I started with a trail of grated blue cheese long the length of the plate. I spooned some more in the center of the plate, to serve as a foundation for the grape sponge. And added a line of celery salt. Then I added random dollops of port gelatin and walnut crumbs, followed by celery ribbons, slices and leaves.

I tossed the hollow walnut sponges in some walnut oil, took the sheet pan of Maytag Blue out of the freezer, then rolled my balls in grated cheese.

Taking a turkey basting syringe, I injected the spheres with the walnut milk. It was a bit hard to judge when to stop, and there was some spillage. But not too bad. I filled the needle marks with blue cheese. Then put them in the freezer for a few minutes to harden the grated cheese up again.

Ingredients
Walnut oil
Green and yellow celery leaves

It was a delicious combination that everyone loved. The unexpected pleasure comes in eating the dish. Everyone was surprised when digging into the grape sponge — an explosion of walnut milk squirts out!

Equipment
Cutting board and kitchen knife
Salter digital scale
Breville juicer or wine press
Cheesecloth and strainer or sieve
Saucepans
Cast iron skillet
Kitchenaid mixer with wire whisk attachment
Oster bar blender
Spoon
Offset and rubber spatulas
Stainless bowls
Wire whisk
Creme brulée torch
Hemispheric mold
Parisienne scoop
Mandolin (and perhaps a fiddle)
Spice grinder
Large turkey basting syringe
PolyScience Antigriddle, from JB Prince, or
sheet pan and dry ice
Measuring bowls, paper towels, tweezers

Serveware
Alinea ‘Craters’ plate by Crucial Detail, from JB Prince

Yields: Enough for about 16 servings

What to do with the leftovers?
We didn’t have too much left over this time. The grape sponges didn’t keep very long, but I did not freeze them. The walnut crumbs were good on waffles the next weekend. And the blue cheese? Great in an arugula salad with bacon!