August 2011
1 post
5 tags
Strawberry tart
Pastry cream
2 cups milk
1/4 cup white sugar
2 egg yolks
1 egg
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heat up the milk and dissolve the sugar in a small saucepan. Whisk the eggs with the remaining sugar and cornstarch. Pour a little hot milk in the eggs to temper them little by little constantly stirring with a whisk. When half of the milk...
January 2011
1 post
7 tags
December 2010
1 post
August 2010
2 posts
5 tags
Nitrous Oxide infusions
I’ve thought of using this approach but never really had a crack to this technique. Apparently it works like a charm and it’s so versatile!
IDEAS IN FOOD: Aromatic Mozzarella And So Much More
More here.
6 tags
July 2010
25 posts
4 tags
6 tags
Akamiso, mint and Thai basil marinated black cod
This dish is as simple as it sounds. Simply marinate 4 black cod skin-on fillets with 1 heap tablespoon of akamiso (red miso), one teaspoon of a light extra-virgin olive oil and a few whole leaves of Thai basil and mint (not peppermint). Gently rub the fish fillets with the miso/oil paste, add the leaves (whole) and put them for a minimum of 24 hours in the fridge. I kept them two days but even...
4 tags
Pizza!
Thanks very much to Marco for hosting a terrific convivium at the San Francisco Baking Institute. Besides the inventive pizzas that many participants have created, I had the chance to refresh my palate with flavors such as gorgonzola and pears and Italian wild arugula (the pointy one) on top of an awesome focaccia di Recco (with Bellwether crescenza) and superb eclaires (recipe for the choux...
4 tags
Tomini elettrici
Soft cow’s milk cheese with herbs and crushed red peppers preserved under oil: most probably the most soul-touching food I miss from Piemonte (after truffled cacciatorini). The tragedy is that there’s no close relative being sold in the US and even fresh cheeses like farmer’s cheese are too grainy and lacking the twang of a real tomino from Piemonte. Needless to say, I undertook the challenge and...
3 tags
Mangialonga SF
Menu and path:
(A) Cantine Barbone - tomino elettrico - lingua in bagnetto verde - vitello tonnato Mutti Noceto 2007 Cortese Colli Tortonesi (B) Antica Prosciutteria - peperoni in bagna caoda - zucchine in carpione - tartine di polenta con crema di porri, fondue e bagna caoda - tagliatelle fatte in casa al castelmagno e ragu’ Bovio Barbera d’Alba 2005 (C) Pasticceria Baldini - brasato al...
5 tags
Limoncello math
My limoncello has won many blind tastings even when compared to some bottlings imported from Italy. I’m not bragging here… Basic recipe:
10 lemons (the most healthy, organic and unsprayed you can think…the thicker the skin, the better)
1 L 95º alcohol (Everclear in the US….only 75º)
400 g sugar
½ L filtered and purified water
Zest the lemons with a microplane and soak the zests in...
9 tags
Aperitivo sessions
One of my little dreams is to open an aperitivo spot, a little shack with finger food, great wine and Italian aperitifs. Just to remember the pairings I’ve been experimenting with great success:
Toasted english muffin (sliced in 2 and then 4 sectors)
homemade ricotta (thinned with milk and blended with freshly grated horseradish and ¼ tsp of mustard)
thyme/garlic marinated grilled red pepper
...
9 tags
Bagna cauda
A favorite from Piemonte. We topped some polenta cakes and red peppers with this earthy and dense sauce.
6 garlic heads, peeled and core removed
12 oz of salted anchovies, deboned and washed with red wine
4 cups of milk
2+ cups of oil
1 cup of whipping cream
Open garlic heads, separate cloves, peel them and cut longitudinally to remove the core. Place in a bowl, cover completely with milk...
3 tags
Beans
A few profiles:
Aduki Beans: coriander, cumin, ginger
Black Beans: bay leaf, chile peppers, cilantro, coriander, cumin, epazote, garlic, ginger, oregano, parsley, savory, thyme
Black-Eyed Peas: bay leaf, cayenne, chile peppers, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, ginger, turmeric
Cannellini Beans: parsley, sage, savory, tarragon, thyme
Chickpeas: cardamom, cilantro, coriander, cumin, fennel,...
3 tags
Using caul fat
Riding the wave of meat wonders, here is a fantastic tutorial on how to cook with caul fat.
4 tags
9 tags
Yumi's udon tsuyu
6 cups of water
1 piece of konbu 3×3 in
20g dried katsuobushi
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup light soy sauce
1/2 to 1/3 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
6 tags
Flash idea #2
Pan seared scallops lightly seasoned with sweet paprika topped with uni foam and cilantro microgreens. Base of black garlic vichyssoise. Neutral, slightly garlicky croutons.
6 tags
Walla Walla onions and leeks quiche
A staple of my oven, sometimes topped with crumbled goat cheese (or a edgy aged blue cheese like Stilton.
for the dough (for a 9 inches baking dish – 4 people):
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (although I like high-protein flours more)
½ tsp kosher salt
7 tbs cold butter (almost a stick)
2 tbs ice-cold water
I normally refer to this to convert butter content: ¼ pound = 4 oz = 115 g = 1/2 cup...
4 tags
Pickled daikon
Daikon, such a versatile radish. Less pungent and peppery than its brothers and more watery….
Had it pickled with sushi, loved it and reproduced it this way: (makes a ½ gal jar)
1 cup rice vinegar
1 cup filtered water (no chlorinated tap water)
1 cup sugar ½ tsp turmeric
4 juniper berries
1 lbs daikon kosher salt
Slice the daikon into ¼-inch thick rounds and cut them into semicircles....
4 tags
Veldhuizen Bosque Blue
Both I and my friend Amir Rosenblatt of Seattle’s Beecher’s loved this blue cheese from Texas at Slow Food Nation. Made from Stuart Veldhuizen, the cheese has tremendous density and creamyness rounded up by a gentle and earthy pungency. I think I’ll be ordering cheese online for the first time. Other bloggers fell in love with it too.
9 tags
Gnocchi alla Vigezzina
While not being a fan of tweaking recipes, sometimes you just need to substitute your ingredients. It would be actually difficult to find the right cheese even in Italy. On top of that you can skip the chestnut flour just because you may have a hard time finding it. But of course…what’s the point? Get going and find some, even online. The flavors stuck in my head since I visited val Vigezzo in...
9 tags
Dan Barber's corn ice cream
3 ears of corn, kernels cut from cobs and cobbs chopped (1-inch pieces)
1 quart whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup sugar
5 large egg yolks
Cook corn kernels with cobs, milk, cream and sugar in a large, heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally until sugar has dissolved. Simmer, uncovered, 1 hour.
Discrd corn cobs. Puree corn mixture in batches in a blender until smooth.
Lightly...
3 tags
Reverse spherification
2.5 % w/w calcium gluconate (+ 0.3/0.5 % w/w xanthan gum)
Immersion blender, rest to remove bubbles or vacuum.
Alginate bath = 0.5 % sodium alginate w/v
2-3 minutes
~ water bath
3 tags
Xanthan gum ratio
0.4 % w/w
1 tag
Crust math
3-2-1 w/w (flour / butter / water)
1 ½ cups flour / 1 stick of butter (cold) / 5 tbs ice-cold water / ½ tsp salt.
Bingo!
6 tags
Flash idea #1
Ginger juice/olive oil with beef tartare, toasted pine nuts, pecorino shavings and some peppery micro greens…. Will it work?
11 tags
Inauguration casserole
When asked to make a solid American dish for Obama’s inauguration, my mind pointed straight to a casserole from the 50-60′s. I’m not a big fan of cooked tuna in dishes so I decided to approach a solid tater tots casserole. While casseroles are absolutely spanning through all culinary cultures, the canning wave that started in the early 40′s in the US by Campbell’s pushed these dishes a little bit...
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Easy romesco sauce
Thanks to 2009 and 2010 Slow Food Crab Fest I had the opportunity to make another seminal change in my life. After Roy Yamaguchi turned me into a fish eater 4 years ago and I became a fan of offal, I think I became a close friend of crabs. You could tell from the pile of shells in front of me at the volunteers’ table. I probably always just had the wrong crabs, frozen and thawed who knows how many...