IDEAS IN FOOD

Sesame Seeds

I have wanted to put sesame seeds in the pressure cooker for several years now.  It is amazing how procrastination and other ideas can steer a desire off course for indeterminate amounts of time.  Today I came across bulk sesame seeds at a local store and took this as a sign to purchase a bag of seeds and bring them immediately home to the pressure cooker.

Aki and I conferred on how long to cook the seeds.  She believed that due to their small size we should dramatically cut down on the cooking time compared to our other seed cookery.  I was hesitant although she quickly convinced me that we should try her seven minute cook time.  I filled the bottom of the pressure cooker with an inch of water and then placed a trivet in the center.  I then took a small bowl filled with the seeds, some water, agave nectar and salt and placed it on the trivet.  I sealed the lid and set the timer.  When the seven minutes were up I let the pressure dissipate and I opened the lid.  The seeds were not cooked and definitely not tender.  I put the lid on and tried another seven minutes.  No success.  I tried another twenty five minutes.  Not yet.  I added another hour to the cooking time and finally had positive results.  The seeds have texture and a snap and pop similar to eating tobiko (flying fish roe).

I should also note that the seeds uniformly toasted during the pressure cooking.  They picked up a rich nuttiness which did not exist in the raw seeds we started with.  The tiny size of the seeds and the popping texture are really incredible.  I am not quite where we will go with these cooked seeds, though I am looking forward to the journey.

Beet Salad

How to season the inside of a vegetable?  In this case we start with a vegetable puree.  How to give a vegetable puree structure?  What is the desired texture of the vegetable puree?  There are a wide range of approaches to answer these questions.

In putting this beet salad together we were looking to create a beet sphere, which looks like a beet, with an intense and rounded beet flavor and the texture of a silky flan.  We paired the structured beet puree with raw compressed beet rounds infused with blood orange bitters and Blis Elixer.  The beet marinating liquid is reduced to a glaze while the crisp round is topped with Valencay goat cheese.  A few sprigs of wild watercress add a grassy spiciness to the finished dish.

Ribeye at Stir

It will probably surprise no one that three services became five. Here's the menu from the July 2, rib eye class at Stir.

Thyme Roasted Ribs

Steak and Cheese Tartare
porcini mushrooms, parmigiano-reggiano, celery leaves

Slow Poached Center Cut Salad
stone fruit, watercress, jalapeno

Tea Smoked Center Cut
rutabaga puree, roasted porcinis

Roasted Rib Eye Cap
pak choy, shrimp and mascarpone ravioli, fermented black bean barbecue sauce

Figs and Strawberries
sweet corn sauce

For those who need visual stimulation, there was a photographer present. Justin Ide already has a slide show, with music, up on his site.

Photos of McCrady's

Since we are usually too busy cooking to take pictures during service, we were lucky to have a couple of excellent photographers join us last week at McCrady's Restaurant. Paul Cheney and Jason Kaumeyer did a fabulous job weaving in and out of the controlled chaos that was service that evening. Feel free to take a gander at our evening with Sean, his crew and the many volunteers who came to give us a hand. It was a night to remember and now we have the pictures to prove it.

Sour Mix with a Twist

300 grams water
100grams lemon juice
100grams lime juice
3 grams salt
6.53grams Methocel F150
0.98grams Xanthan gum
150 grams simple syrup

Combine water, lemon juice, lime juice and salt in a blender. Turn the blender on low and gradually increase the speed to medium. Sprinkle in the Methocel and Xanthan gum and shear in the blender for 30 seconds until the powders are full dispersed. Chill the mixture to 10 degrees Celsius. Stir in the simple syrup. The sour mix can be whipped to soft peaks using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk or an immersion blender with a whisk attachment.

Incorporate the whipped sour mix into your favorite drink recipe.

Timing

Timing is essential and is often overlooked, in the preparation of food and also in our everyday lives.  If we paused and thought a bit more about timing, taking into account both the giver and the recipient, delivery of any offering would be more effective because it would reach an anticipatory audience. 

Without timing there is no punchline.  Without timing dinner service is a disaster.  Without timing there is no romantic kiss at sunset.  Without timing sun kissed and juicy fruit are either rock hard or mushy and rotten.  Without timing there is no slice of fresh baked pie.

Every day we learn a bit more about finessing our timing, some lessons are good, others, well let's call them life experiences.  What we've learned is that without good timing, even the best experience can fall flat. On the other hand, with some well executed timing, a bad experience can be turned into something spectacular. Just a little something to think on.

Cold Towels

Liquid nitrogen, not just for cooking.

The Menu...

Toasted Farro Ice Cream
wild char roe, honey jelly, borage leaves

Chilled Scallop
chanterelle mushrooms, apricot puree, sylvetta arugula

Stone Crab Claw
vadouvan, potato links, kimchee ketchup

Shrimp
cattails, juniper, yuzu

Crowder Peas
brown butter puree, black truffles, parmigiano reggiano

Foie Gras Fragments
green olive sugar, squash filaments, cornbread streusel

Griddled Crab Tail
corn blanket, chow chow, woodear mushrooms

Root Beer Short Ribs
tomato stew, garlic whistle emulsion, basil

Pork Loin
desiree potato puree, sungold tomatoes, pickled watermelon rind

Trefoil
charentais melon marmalade, nasturtium

Raspberries
eucalyptus sorbet, whipped whey

Peach Pie
butterscotch