Go Terk Yourself

I have to admit it. I adore Michael Ruhlman. His book The Making of a Chef is wonderful, as are his blog and, the book I’m reading now, The Soul of a Chef. A couple of months ago he posted some photos and a recipe for mayonnaise on his blog. I filed it in the back of my head and promised myself to try it some time. Today was that day. It was more whisking than I’m used to but the work and sweat (it was hot today!) were worth it. I’m going to try the “food blogger” approach to things here so I took pictures as I went.

Kerri and I had dinner, a bit on the spur of the moment, at L’Espalier last Tuesday. It was our one year anniversary. I just got the menu from Cole over at L’Espalier and I figure I’ll post it here for the sake of saving and sharing. Sadly, I did not bring a camera. I had the Summer Degustation, Kerri the Vegetable Degustation.

Summer Degustation:

1. Butter poached Maine lobster with braised pork belly and sweet corn
2. Torchon of foie gras with candy striped beets and Muscat gelee
3. Air-dried Muscovy duck with grilled escarole, scallion johnnycake and watermelon
4. Pan roasted East Coast halibut with black quinoa, pea shoots and Pat’s baked clams

Vegetable Degustation:

1. Twice baked potato leak soup with shaved black truffle
2. Summer succotash with grilled apricots
3. Roasted cauliflower with patty pan squash, feta and green garlic risotto
4. Herb potato gnocchi with grilled nectarine

In addition to the lists above (all of which was delicious) we also had the following:

• An appetizer of smoked salmon
• Amuse Bouches
• L’Espalier’s signature sorbet.
• Dessert (panna cotta and a flourless chocolate cake)
• Petit fours

I call it 7 1/2 courses.

I’m a big fan of pizza and I like to make it at home. Something I’ve noticed the past couple times I’ve made a sauce though is that it ends up bitter and acidic. Jeff Varasano has what is probably the most comprehensive review of making pizza at home and on his site he talks about something he calls “Tomato Rinsing”:

Tomato Rinsing: All cans have some bitterness. To lessen this I have developed a process that I call Tomato Rinsing. Strain the tomatoes in a fine mesh strainer.. If the mesh is fine, the water will be mostly clear with very little tomato escaping. If the water is very red, pour it back on top of the tomatoes and continue straining. Eventually the water will run almost completely clear. Here’s the key. The water that comes out is completely bitter. Taste it. What I do is pour fresh water on top of the strained tomatoes and strain them again. Taste this second batch of water. It’s also bitter. You are removing bitterness and acid without losing a drop of red tomato. You can repeat this several times if you like, but once or twice is usually fine. The net result is that what is left over, which is all the red tomato solids, is sooooo sweet and yummy.

I can’t wait to try the technique and see if it works.

I recently ordered some books - The French Laundry Cookbook, Irreligion and In Defense of Food - and they shipped the other day! How very exciting.

The main bit in this order is The French Laundry Cookbook. A couple of weeks ago I stumbled on The French Laundry At Home blog, specifically the entry on Maine Lobster Pancakes with Pea Shoot Salad and Ginger-Carrot Emulsion and thought to myself, “self, you have to make that.” So I finally ordered the cookbook and now need only set aside enough time to make the damned thing.

Since foie gras is being banned in cities across the country, foodies need a new delicacy. Today I introduce that delicacy: reverse foie gras.

I made a souffle last night. It was fun and exciting and went better than I expected:

I also made some bananas foster, which were delightfully good. Sadly, I don’t have a photo of the flaming saute pan.

Kerri and I had dinner at La Carreta at the Colony Mill in Keene, NH tonight. They bill themselves as “authentic Mexican” and, for central New Hampshire, it is (although it doesn’t hold a candle to La TaQueria La Mexicana here in Somerville). I had a plate with a cheese enchilada, a bean burrito and a cheese, bean and lettuce chalupa. It was very very good. The food is more Americanized than La TaQueria but, by American standards it was very authentic. The flavors were not overstated or bland and the portions were enough to fill us up quite nicely. The prices were very reasonable to boot!