ChefJohnny
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I cant really imagine how much "flavor" carrot tops can impart to a stock. But, I have done a carrot top puree. Used it as part of a vegan tasting menu. Just blanch the tops until they come apart when you rub them through your fingers and puree them with enough bottled still water for it to spin. Pass through a tamis and youre good to go.
-Chef Johnny
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But, trial and error is as good a teacher as anything else. Speaking from experience. lol
-Chef Johnny
LOL, indeed. The results were nearly laughable but still tasty. Pretty much everything that people said could have gone wrong, did. By taking it apart as I did, I do think I damaged it too much structurally. As a poached torchon, it was fine, but maybe it was the intense heat of the oven that kind of made it fall apart, despite the fact tha I rolled it pretty tight. I also took it out of the oven too early so the doneness wasn't quite even. Think liquid foie outside and still cold inside.
Again, I was using grade A and the shape was nice and even, but having not worked with truly top notch foie I can't compare how vein-y this was.
I ended up serving the foie on crackers with some sour cherry relish (that was really good).
Let's just say this whole experience was a learning process. Until I can figure out what I'm doing and afford really great foie, I'll stick to poaching and searing slices. For now I've got some leftovers that will make a tasty breakfast.
That a boy! Its good to see people going into the unknown with a running pace. Like I said, trial and error is great if you know how to use it. Keep up the good work, Bryan.
-Chef Johnny
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The only stock we ever press in the kitchen is lobster stock. When we strain the lobster stock, we MASH everything through a china cap into a cambro... then strain that through a chinois. For beef/veal stock, its not much of an option, at least for us, since we use mostly the knee bones. Never press chicken stock, for it results in a cloudy, icky mess of a stock.
-Chef Johnny
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I know this is probably a little late, but what I proposed is what IVE done in TK's kitchen. Thats how I was taught and thats what Ive done. Granted, the book says roasting at high temperatures, but keep in mind the book was written for the HOME COOK in mind. Im sure the home cook would not want to baste the every 10 minutes. We do many things differently in the kitchen than whats said in the book. The end result was great and Ive repeated it many times. But, trial and error is as good a teacher as anything else. Speaking from experience. lol
-Chef Johnny
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You definitly want to devein the lobes... noone likes veins in their foie. Split the lobes as per usual and carefully devien. Once youre all done, put the lobes back together and chill for at least 6 hours so it retains its original shape.
Once chilled, score the ENTIRE foie gras and sear on all sides on high heat, just as you do with portioned foie. Add some crushed garlic cloves and thyme sprigs and roast at about 250, basting with the foie fat, garlic and thyme every 10 - 15 minutes until desired doneness.
Thats right from the TFL kitchen, as Ive done it with TK many times. Enjoy your whole roasted foie... im jealous.
-Chef Johnny
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We use pickled fruits and vegetables ALL the time at our restaurant. They are one of my absolute favorite additions to any plate. Depending on the season, we pickle strawberries, raspberries, pearl onions, red onions, cucumbers, ramps, cherries, fennel, rhubarb, grapes... just about anything we can find. We almost always pair foie gras with a pickle.
-Chef Johnny
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One of the TFL recipes we use quite ofter in fall, is glazed quince. Goes great with lamb or game or pork.
First, make a quick gastrique with brown sugar and honey. Add the quince and reduce until a syrup consistency. Add a splash of sherry vinegar and some finished veal sauce or boredlaise. Drop into a 300 degree oven and baste every 10 minutes or so until soft.
This makes a great addition to any savory fall dish... the TFL way.
-Chef Johnny
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Good luck trying to find a PAID externship at a french restaurant. Typically, those in that echelon still go by the traditional brigade system, with "apprentices/externs" holding down the bottom of the totem pole. And dont count on getting on the line of any of the top places as an extern. It just doesnt happen.
I hope this isnt discouraging, but its the truth. I externed at TFL for almost 5 months. It was by far the hardest work Ive ever done. In the kitchen at 5am SHARP, not leaving until 6,7,8 at night. My Chef Commis was an Autsralian D*CKHEAD. Made my life hell. But I learned an incredible amount and wouldnt change anything. I wasnt paid... ran through most of my little bit of savings, but now im with one of the sous chefs from TFL just KICKING ASS.
So be prepared to make some sacrifices, but in the long term, its totally worth it. Hang in there and stick with it.
-Chef Johnny
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Its good to see a fellow culinary school grad (or soon to be) with the passion to push yourself to get into the top restaurants. Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend Per Se, Thomas Kellers NYC place. I had the great opportunity to do my externship at The French Laundry. I then returned right after graduation from JWU in Rhode Island. Im heading to Per Se the end of December to hopefully be the chef de poisson.
Good luck with your search. If theres anything I can help with, let me know.
-Chef Johnny
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ChefJohnny, you are in NoCal....
Where the heck are you? Want that truffle-encrusted one now!
lol. Our restaurant in in Sonoma. www.eldoradosonoma.com. I invite anyone in the general area to come by. FYI, get the tasting.
-Chef Johnny
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Since we're on the subject of foie gras, Id love to know how everyone here likes to prepare it. Hot or cold? With what accoutrements? I happen to love foie gras and its one of my favorite things to work with. I have pages and pages of preperations and such that Id love to share, so I thought this is a good way to start.
More recently, I did some torchons TFL style. I took some sous-vide Frogs Hollow peaches, a peach reduction, and some vanilla powder to finish. Served with warm broiche. We have also done black truffle crusted torchon with pickled strawberries and vanilla pain purdue and balsamic reduction. Back in spring we did sauteed foie with a warm rhubarb tart and rhubarb ice cream with pistacio crumble. Heres some pics....
heres our torchons hanging in the walk in:
Yea, thats foie gras crusted in black truffle:
Heres the truffle foie with pickled strawberries and vanilla pain purdue:
This is the sauteed foie with rhubarb tart and 2 "broken vinaigrettes", sans the ice cream:
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Can anyone give me a good technique for that classic combination? I have been experimenting with carmellized apples, calvados and foie gras or just plain old duck liver (shallots, butter mount etc.) and have not been satisfied.
Thanks
How are you preparing it? hot or cold? Sauteed or torchon?
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This one is quite a bit different than whats been suggested thus far. But, its really incredible if you have the patience... and a vacuum sealer. Essentially, you "braise" the endive sous vide until soft, normally about 35-45 minutes @ ~180F. Give it nice quick chop. Serve it on teaspoons with a quenelle of black mission fig marmelade and garnish with a plouche of chervil. The bitter/sweet/acidic flavors in the mouth are fantastic. You can even go as far as making a black pepper gastrique to add some spiciness. If you, or anyone, want the recipe, Ill be more than happy to provide.
-Chef Johnny
You had me at hello but you lost me at "ploufe"
It sounds lovely but I think it would be lost on this crowd, I don't have a vacuum sealer and more importantly the patience that such a delicate art would require. I think I'm voting in favour of nut/cheese/fruit combinations as has been suggested here using a blue or gorgonzola, walnut or pinenut and pear or apple. I also have some fig preserve not unlike ChefJohnny's suggestion that wuold pair well. The tuna tartare is a great idea but as I have limited financial means can't see doing it for 60 people cost-effectively.
Now would it be enough to pulse the ingredients in a food processor quickly or better to layer them individually?
The plouche is just a techincal French term for a leaf of something used for garnishing. It could be chervil, chive, parsely, or whatever. When you work in French kitchens long enough, these things just become second nature. Another way to do the endive is to use a ziplock bag and just push out as much air as possible. I would not use a food processor... it tends to just kill th delicate endive and turn most of it into juice.
-Chef J
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This one is quite a bit different than whats been suggested thus far. But, its really incredible if you have the patience... and a vacuum sealer. Essentially, you "braise" the endive sous vide until soft, normally about 35-45 minutes @ ~180F. Give it nice quick chop. Serve it on teaspoons with a quenelle of black mission fig marmelade and garnish with a plouche of chervil. The bitter/sweet/acidic flavors in the mouth are fantastic. You can even go as far as making a black pepper gastrique to add some spiciness. If you, or anyone, want the recipe, Ill be more than happy to provide.
-Chef Johnny
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Question, though. Most of the readers of my web site in Korea don't have ovens. Is it possible to come out with similar results by stewing the trotters on the stove top rather than braising them?
Thats totally do-able. Ive done it before when all of our ovens were full. Just keep the flame low and keep a close eye on it.
-Chef Johnny
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I know im still a noobie here and all... but this is the coolest thing EVER! You cant imagine my amusement when I saw "ChefJohnny's Braised Trotters." I hope you enjoyed them, both eating and making. Thanks for the compliment!!
Cheers!
-Chef Johnny
I was happy to find that pig's feet are fairly cheap in Korea, as opposed to soup bones, which are so expensive you'd have to get them on layaway.Either I miscommunicated with the lady at the butcher, or she just ignored me because I was a stupid foreigner, but she told the butcher to chop it into four sections and split the feet.
It actually turned out to be a blessing because it gave me an opportunity to try two different techniques.
German Roasted Eisbein (basted in dark beer)
And trust me. Kimchi goes great with German food. Korean sauerkraut.
ChefJohnny's Braised Trotters
DISCLAIMER: Actually, I based it on ChefJohnny's recipe -- followed it in spirit with what I had available. And I was too lazy and hungry to make rillettes.
Question, though. Most of the readers of my web site in Korea don't have ovens. Is it possible to come out with similar results by stewing the trotters on the stove top rather than braising them?
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The French Laundry?
Correct. Thats just our "slang". lol Kinda like how we call Thomas either "TK" or "The Old Man".
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Heres how we do it. Its pretty much the TFL way, but a little different. Thoroughly season the bird with salt and black pepper. Sear the bird at high heat in a saute pan on all sides. Roast UPSIDE DOWN (i.e. breast DOWN) at 350-375 until juices run clear, about 40 minutes or so. Remove from oven and add a gooooood handful of butter, good bunch of fresh thyme, and 4 crushed whole garlic cloves and baste. Remove to a rack to rest 10 minutes. Simple. Perfect. Nothin better.
-Chef Johnny
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Secret to perfectly silky smooth scrambled eggs.... strain them through a chinois. Works wonders!
P.S. - If someone already said that, i apologize. Im just a little lazy at the moment to look through the 4 pages of replies... Just got home from work.
-Chef Johnny
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At my restaurant, we are blessed with a great old fig tree in our courtyard that we look forward to every spring/summer. We always make fig marmalade. We also do a great amuse bouche of caramelized figs with parmesan reggiano, port redux, creme fraiche and vanilla powder. Our guest really love to watch us damn near climb this tree and then serve them the figs that I just risked my life for.
Anyway, for those interested Ill give you guys the recipe for the marmalade: Fig Marmalade
100 g Shallots, minced
250 g Red onion, minced
1 kg Figs, 1/4" dice
200 g Red wine vinegar
100 g Sugar
1/4# Butter, unsalted
-Sweat shallots and onion in butter
-Add figs and saute
-Deglaze with vinegar
-Add sugar -> make gastrique -> reduce/cook to proper consistency
-Spread on sheet pan and cool
Note: we reduce ours pretty far so that we can quenelle it, but its up to you.
-Chef Johnny
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chefjohnny I love pigs feet too! My recipe is pretty basic Southern style, but tasty. Your recipe is off the hook. However, for some bizarre reason I've been craving pickled pigs feet. Any chance you have a recipe for that? Every recipe I've found calls for cooking them, but I don't think they're actually cooked, just pickled as the ones I've eaten are still kind of, well, pink.
Any and all advice is appreciated.Sorry Diva, but I dont have a recipe for that one. Im sure there is one somewhere, just gotta find it!
On a side note, I hail from the Richmond area. Nice to see another Southerner!! YAY-Chef Johnny
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ChefJohnny, thank you for the great recipes. I have a question about the belly - 110 gms is a lot of pink salt! Are you sure it's not 10 gms? How long do you brine it for? Is that recipe for one whole, skin-on belly?
That recipe is for about 3-4 bellies. My apologies for not stating beforehand. The 110 g is correct, given the amount of water and number of bellies. Brine the bellies for roughly 12 hours, or overnite. You can omit the curing if you like, with results just as good!!
-Chef Johnny
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Thank you so much for the recipies. And congratulations on the NY job (where I live, and would love to snag a reservation). I do have three questions. 1) How far do you reduce the cuisson? It will be very viscous from the gelatin of the meat. 2. What is Beurre pomade? 3. For the cassoulet, do you bake all the ingredients with a bread crumb crust or do you assemble the cooked ingredients together without further ado.
Thanks for the congrats!! Wish me luck. LOL Anyway, 1) I reduce the cuisson by half, or, depending on the application, reduce to a glace. And you are correct about all the gelatin, so be careful not to reduce it too much. 2) Beurre pomade- Take a pound of butter and let it sit out to room temp. Next put it in a big mixing bowl and lightly whip it with a spatula until very soft and creamy. It acts as a binder of sorts. 3) For the cassoulet, start with the white beans and just a little chicken stock/water in a pot. Bring to a boil and slowly emulsify some butter, essentially making beurre monte a la minute. then add the rest of the ingredients and serve hot. Hope that helps!
-Chef Johnny
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Does anyone have the recipe for the pigs feet salad at Bistro Jeanty in Napa? I think that it's made with both the hocks and feet as it is very meaty.
Or for that matter, does anyone have any good pigs feet recipies of any ethnicity?
This wonderful, inexpensive cut seems to be unpopular in this country.
MMMMM.... Trotters!!! One of my favorite things to cook AND eat! So cheap. So simple. Yet sooooo much amazing flavor if cooked correctly. Ive got a great recipe for braised trotters we used to use at The French Laundry. If you, or anyone would like it, Id be happy to PM or email it to you. Its quite large (yet incredibly simple), hence my reason for not wanting to post it. We actually just broke a whole 90# pig the other day. On that note, we are doing a "Degustation of Birkshire Farms Pork." Crispy Braised Belly, Roasted Chop, and "Tete du Couchon". Simply amazing. On a side note, Gene Simmons is coming in this Saturday for his birthday and this is on his tasting menu! ROCK ON KISS!!!
Anyway, back to the subject at hand, the trotter recipe is basically a white braise, then cooled in the cuisson, then broken down. Id be happy to provide some more suggestions on how else to serve it.
-Chef Johnny
I would love to have the trotter recipe as well as the braised belly if you would be willing to part with them. It's worth posting my email for. Where are you a chef?
jhabermann@msn.com
OK, heres the belly recipe... its a little bit more involved than the trotters, but well worth the effort!! And, BTW, I am currently Chef de Poisson @ the El Dorado Kitchen in Sonoma CA. Before that I was at TFL, and Ill be Chef de Poisson @ Per Se starting in January!!
Pork Belly
Brine:
6 L Water
600 g Kosher Salt
600 g Honey
110 g Pink/Curing Salt
3 heads Garlic, split
3 bn. Thyme
6 ea. Bay leaves
1 tbsp. Black peppercorns
*REFER TO TROTTER RECIPE FOR WHITE BRAISE*
-Take belly off cure -> rinse
-Sweat mirepoix in EVO
-Add white wine -> reduce to sec
-Cover with HOT chicken stock -> bring to boil
-Braise @ 325F until tender
-Cool in cuisson
-Clean belly
-Press between hotel pans with 4 or 5# of weight
-Portion belly -> Score fat side -> High heat -> Fat down -> Flip -> Add pat of butter, thyme sprig, and crushed garlic clove -> baste -> drop in oven for 2-3 minutes
Again, any questions, just ask!
-Chef Johnny
Meyer Lemons: Recipes and Storage
in Cooking
Posted
If you have access to a cryovac or vacuum sealer, the quick way to preserve meyers is to cut them top to bottom 95% through, put them in a bag with equal parts sugar and salt and vacuum away. we do that and then keep them in the freezer and pull them as needed.