LaurentGras

Homemade Yogurt

For one of our dessert we are serving a yogurt sorbet and of course this means we have to make the yogurt in-house to be able to use organic whole milk. It is a fairly simple recipe, and you can hold the mixture at 115-degrees Fahrenheit for eight hours. 

The first step is to heat the milk to 185-degrees Fahrenheit, then cool it down to 115-degrees Fahrenheit to mix in the starter. We use half a gallon of milk for a quarter teaspoon of yogurt starter. It is poured into a mixing bowl and placed in a combi oven for the eight hours required to set the mixture.

Peking Duck, Rosting the Duck

Since we last posted about the duck preparation,  we have changed few steps. The first change is the maltose syrup, which is now mixed with brown rice vinegar and red wine vinegar, then thickened with corn starch. The second is that we hang the ducks in the smoker for four days at 30-degrees Fahrenheit. The combination of these two steps pulls more moisture from the skin and makes it even it crispier.

The cooking process has two steps. We first roast the duck in a combi oven on dry heat at 280-degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes until the thickest part of the breast reaches 120-degrees Fahrenheit. Then duck rests until pick up.

The last step is the turkey fryer. We actually deep fry the duck at 360-degrees Fahrenheit until the thickest part of the breast reaches 140-degrees Fahrenheit. The peking duck has to be fully cooked otherwise it is tough to eat. 

The duck is carved in the dining room. The skin is pulled from the breast and sliced, then the breasts are removed from the bone, place on the plate and covered with the skin.

  
 
 
 

Like a S'more, Foie Gras

If there are similarities, seared foie gras and marshmallow have the same consistency and texture. But being from opposite worlds, they are complimenting each other very well. A cold smoked marshmallow lightly "burned" over a robtayaki grill works even better. Raspberry is a component that I do like very much in the savory world, especially if the are treated like a salad. Seasoned with raspberry vinegar, olive oil and Murray salt they can loose their favorite place on the raspberry tart. So the flavor of the marshmallow become raspberry, the chocolate becomes a chocolate gnache with olive oil and salt. The last part was the cookie. Graham crackers  are great but maybe not in the middle of the meal. So we decided that philo dough will be the substitute to achieve the s'more.

 

Graham Cracker

Graham cracker history from Wikipedia: Graham crackers were originally marketed as "Dr. Graham's Honey Biskets" and were conceived of as health food as part of the Graham Diet, a regimen to suppress what he considered unhealthy carnal urges, the source of many maladies according to Graham. Reverend Graham would often lecture about the adverse effects of masturbation, or "self-abuse" as he called it. One of his many theories was that one could curb one's sexual appetite by eating bland foods.

We are working on a graham cracker. The only component we are keeping is the honey to flavor and bring the caramelization. After the initial idea, the goal was to put all the components together. First finding food grade wood, cutting it into 3-inch sticks, then soaking them in grape-seed oil to keep the dough from sticking after baking. The philo dough is cut into strips, brushed with clarified butter and honey; then rolled around the first stick and overlapping the following from bottom to top. Placed over silpat it is baked in the oven until browned, re-brushed with honey and finally removed from the sticks. JJ (Jason Junior) took complete control of the project and manages well the "86 crackers" during service.

 
 
    

Dumpling

 

When the dumpling arrives in front of you, you ask the same question "how is the filling going to be?" There is an emotional time gap, between the moment you see it and when you finally eat it. How is it going to be? Fabulous, disappointing or just ok. From the outside dumplings all look the same, but the filling is the key. Balance of flavors, fat and moisture make the filling the winner or the loser. Shanghai-style dumpling are my favorite. They are just extremely hot inside and you have to wait a little bit for them to cool down. The pork bouillon and the rendered fat in the filling fully satisfy your mouth with the density of the mix. 

We made the dumpling dough with rendered wagyu fat mixed with green onions to flavor and color it. We used a taco press to make the dough very thin, then a combi oven on full steam to cook them. As we are experimenting with the product we started the dumplings for amuses with very various filling. 

Here in the picture it is a pork filling flavored with ginger and served into a bouillon infused with katsuobuchi. We now use it as a component of an halibut dish. It is a flat dumpling that covers the fish and is filled with arugula, baked tomato and green onions. It does not have the pork fat, but it is very tasty.

 

Scallop Shell

Scallop shell is a beautiful natural vessel to bake and serve the scallop in. To use them, the first step being shucking the scallop to remove the muscle, the delicious white and delicate meat, and the second part is cleaning the empty shell. Scrub it with an abrasive pad under running water, blanch them a couple of times in salty water, and the finale is an overnight baking at 100˚C to kill all the bacteria and remove any smell. Then they are stored in a box until use. 

For the scallop meat, we grill the top side of the muscle, place it over the shell with a touch of fresh butter and bake it until it is half-way cooked. Then place a slice of "snail butter" over it and finish the baking until it is medium-rare.

Noe Shaping the Bread Part 2

Noe Shaping the Bread Part I

Meyer Lemon, from Zest to Zest

If you peel a Meyer lemon you will smell the intense fragrance of the natural oil content in the skin. It is so fresh and vibrant that the scent gets carried through the whole space of the kitchen. I like to preserve these skins with salt, grate them over a cooked fish or mince them into a lamb tartar. But I also distill the skins, blended into a liquid state with lemon juice, to then be able to extract all the essence through the evaporator. A clear liquid drips down into the receiving flask with the essential oil floating over it. The essential oil can be extracted from the top of the liquid and used in many ways. I can be mixed with a neutral oil and used flavor, or the liquid itself can be used as a poaching liquid for a protein or as part of a component for a sauce. Here, below, we set the liquid in a small sphere mold and roll them in Meyer lemon zest powder. (The zest are blanched, cooked in water and a bit of sugar, and air dried on a tray for few days, and then finely ground.)

   
 

 

Tuna Taccito

If it is not yet a classic on our menu, it is on the way to becoming one. A two bite "taccito"  or small taco, that is only on our tasting menu for several weeks already.  It is a dish with deep and bold flavors that you can only like. The tuna is chopped and mixed with an ancho chili emulsion. The tortilla is made from a bouillon of fresh corn, passilla chili that is set like a film on a tray. When cold it is cut and peeled from the tray. The tuna mixture is place in the center, garnished with cucumber and freeze dried corn. As an accompaniment, a drop of salsa verde (from Wednesday's post)  brings acidity and greenness from the limes and the wild green onions.