Alinea Recipe, pages 158-161. Continued from SQUAB, Watermelon, Licorice, Foie Gras (Part 1) Day Two Cured Squab Legs (Continued…) I removed the marinating squab legs from the fridge. The salt had drawn out much of their moisture. Rinsed off the …  Read More

Alinea Recipe, pages 158-161. “Absolutely delicious!” “Best dish yet…” These were the comments I received from dinner guests about this Alinea Restaurant recipe. And you know what? They were right. It’s a memorably balanced combination of flavors, sweetness and umami. …  Read More

Alinea recipe, pages 256-257. It looks like one of those meringue puffs you find in a plastic tub at the grocery store — and that’s what you’d naturally expect it to taste like. But this is Alinea. It surprises you …  Read More

Alinea Recipe, pages 200-203. Ahhhh, the tart sweetness of huckleberries! I remember the taste distinctly from my childhood in Oregon. And that of just-picked wild blackberries. This dessert recipe from Alinea Restaurant brings together a unique combination of flavors: berries …  Read More

Continued from TOMATO, Balloon of Mozzarella, Many Complementary Flavors (Part 1) Day Three Preserved Meyer Lemons I preserved some Meyer lemons for my first post on this blog, and am still using them. So I simply retrieved one for this …  Read More

Alinea Recipe, pages 200-201. Salad is sometimes thought of as a digestive aid, often times served after a large meal. This recipe from Alinea Restaurant takes the common side salad and transforms it into the totally unexpected texture of a …  Read More

Alinea Recipe, pages 148-149. A bite-sized chicken and mushroom “fritter” served on a bed of black truffle purée — this small appetizer, or amuse bouche, is kinda like a Chicken McNugget on crack. (The crack being truffles, of course. And …  Read More

Alinea Recipe, pages 194-199. Continued from BEEF, Elements of A1 (Part 1) Beef. It’s what’s for dinner (and lunch)! In celebration of this beef dish from Alinea, I thought I’d add a totally unrelated aside here about our recent pilgrimage …  Read More

Alinea Recipe, pages 194-199. Steak and potatoes with a little A1 on the side, it’s an iconic American meal. This four-day recipe is Grant Achatz’s playfully deconstructed take on steak and potatoes. And yes, it took me four days to …  Read More

Alinea Recipe, pages 146-147. This is a very tasty, light salad entrée, perfect for summer entertaining. You can prepare everything ahead of time and show off your grilling prowess at the last minute. I made this for guests as part …  Read More

Recipe, pages 80-81. Aaah, the flavors of the Great Outback! And I’m not even going to mention the Outback Steakhouse either, which has virtually nothing to do with Australia, is not owned by Australians, whose meat comes from American ranches, …  Read More

Recipe for DRY SHOT, Red Pepper, Garlic, Oregano, Alinea Cook Book pages 157-158. This is like a pizza-in-an-envelope! It’s got almost all your basic pizza ingredients (minus the cheese). So I decided to ‘accessorize’ by adding sun-dried tomato powder and …  Read More

Recipe, pages 262-263. I had another craving for sushi. So. here’s an alternate serving I did for KING CRAB, Vinegar, Aromatics, Seaweed. I incorporated sushi rice and saffron threads into the base of the vinegar gel cube, so that the …  Read More

Recipe, pages 144-145. Have you ever wondered how to “make” your own melon? In this Alinea Restaurant recipe we make kind of a melon, kind of a sponge. It’s a little bit of both. It has the classic combination of …  Read More

Recipe, pages 138-139. What’s a croquette? It’s a small fried food roll, from the French croquer, “to crunch.” In the Southern states, they have salmon croquettes: minced salmon with onion, breaded and deep fried. In the East, they have crab …  Read More

Recipe, pages 192-193. Ya know, ordinarily I would have used some fine cigar for this dish. But the last time I was exploring the local Asian market, Vien Dong World Foods Supermarket, I came across these bags of imported black …  Read More

Recipe, page 215. This is another super simple recipe from the Alinea Restaurant cookbook. The small frozen sphere of intensely flavored tartness is the perfect palate cleanser in between entrees, or as a refreshing end of meal. The only thing …  Read More