bobag87

Ok, with the tamale ingredients prepped, on Sunday it was time to actually make and steam the tamales. Corn husks are boiled in a large pot outside. The hydrated masa base is mixed with lard, pork stock (reserved from the prep of the meat), and spices until is is like a thick cake batter. This is then spread in the softened corn husks. The meat and chile filing is put in the middle and the tamale is wrapped up and tied. They are then steamed. Photos of the mixed masa and meat and chile filling (with my helper) and the finished product.

Finally, we mix masa harrina, roasted blue corn meal, red chile powder and water to hydrate the masa base for the tamales. We let this sit for at least 24 hours before mixing our masa for the tamales. Here are photos of the masa base and the meat and red chile mixture. This was the end of Friday night. On Sunday we actually made the tamales. Happy to keep documenting this year's chile roast if there is interest, but also do not want to over do it. Let me know if this is of any interest.

The Dried Red Chiles are roasted in the oven for a few minutes and made into a sauce by blending with hot water and spices. This sauce is mixed with the simmered meat after it is shredded.

The first step in making the tamales is prepping the meat. Pork shoulder is cubed and simmered with spices until tender. We prepped 45 pounds.

Here are the ingredients for our first preparation for next Saturday. We make blue corn tamales with red chile and pork shoulder. We make them the week ahead and freeze them. On chile roast day, we re-steam and serve them, especially to all of those that are manning the grills roasting chiles.

Here is a photo from last years effort to give an idea of scale. I will try to post some pictures as we go through the next week getting ready. For the most part it New Mexico cuisine based on traditional recipes. We also have Texas BBQ and even a few modernist touches such as modernist queso and chile infused tequila.

Ok, we are starting our prep for our annual Chile Roast. Our dried red chiles arrived. We will use these in Tamales, Carne Adovada (Red Chile Pork), Posole, Salsas and in a Red Chile BBQ Sauce that is served with smoked brisket and pork shoulders. We usually buy ristras of red chile, but this year we also bought some bulk pods from a company in New Mexico. Our green chiles will arrive next week right before the roast. Friday night of this week is when we will make our Tamale filling with pork and red chile. Then on Sunday, we will finish off the tamales and freeze them in advance of re-steaming them as needed on the day of the roast.

One of the problems with those claiming the chiles are bland (and please note in New Mexico it is "chile" for the peppers not "chili"), is that the commercial stores selling the chiles in August are getting an earlier crop that has not developed. Traditionally in New Mexico, you would not really see chile season in effect until after labor day. Central Market and Whole Foods bring in an earlier crop that is too young to have developed flavors. Mid September is ideal. You want to see some of the chiles starting to turn red and that is when the flavor and heat is developed. That crop tends to stay in New Mexico for local consumption. My family is from New Mexico and, although now in Texas, we do a chile roast every year. We have 275 pounds of chiles arriving for an October 4 roast. It is a big event that requires weeks of prep with tamales, chicos (a rare traditional Native New Mexico corn dish with green chiles), posole, and all kinds of other dishes with red and green New Mexico chile. We also do brisket and pork shoulder on the smoker as we are now in Texas with a New Mexico twist. As we are late in the season, part of the chiles will be 50 lbs of fresh red chiles (fresh chiles that have turned red, but are not yet dried), a true New Mexico delicacy that is only available for about two weeks every year. In New Mexico, you roast the chiles and then freeze. Whether you are crazy enough to peel them all before freezing is a matter of motivation. With 275 pounds, we roast and freeze with skin on. When thawed we remove the stem and skin. If interested, I can try to post about our preparation for chile roast over the next couple of weeks.

Most folks in New Mexico roast chiles, then freeze them skin on. When thawed they remove the skin and then use. I now live in Texas but we still have an annual Chile Roast. We roast 300 lbs. and there is no way you could peel and prep them prior to freezing. We freeze skin on and leave the prep to the back end. I will say the chiles absolutely have to be roasted prior to freezing. Raw chiles do not freeze well at all.

Mesa - it is Veracruz cuisine and a great restaurant.

The idiazabal gnocchi recipe inspired from Mugaritz and in Modernist Cuisine uses this starch. It makes an unbelievable light "gnocchi", but it is hard to work with in the form I have found it in which is chunks.

Nickrey I Agee 100 %. I just did not want anyone to be confused by previous posts that suggested that this was vastly different than other modernist books. I love it and think it is highly inspirational. I also don't want someone buying it with the wrong impression.

While I think the Sat Bain's cookbook is outstanding, I would point out that my review indicates that a large number of recipes call for specialized items such as a centrifuge, pacojet, modernist ingredients (although relatively approachable ones) and very localized produce that is not readily available in the U.S. I would definitely recommend it, but the recipes are not much different from the Alinea cookbook, or, for that matter, many in Modernist Cuisine.

Another vote for one for each volume. Thanks

You will not be the only one in a tie. You would also not be the only one in jeans. It is fairly easy going when it comes to dress code.

We had dinner at Mesa tonight. Traditional and artfully presented Veracruzana food. I had the rabo de res (oxtail) and it was great. The sides of enmoladas and enfrijoladas were fantastic. House made corn totillas soaked in either mole or black bean sauce, folded and topped with queso fresco. The drinks were great as well. This is a great new addition to the Dallas dining scene.

I called two months in advance and got a Saturday night reservation.

I will try to wrap this up in a final post. Following the great Short Rib dish, we had one of the classic fried dishes wiht multiple components. Hamachi, West Indies spices, Banana, Ginger This was a fried cube of Hamachi with the other ingredients served on a vanilla bean skewer. The dish was rich, hot and texturally perfect. It was slighlty salty to me, but not overly so. The batter was great, light and crispy. The next wine pairing was Behrens & Hitchcock "Kenefick Ranch Cuvee' Napa 2000 Prior to this dish, antique crystal glasses had been brought out with beautiful engraving of birds. The dish was the now well known ode to classic French food. Agneau, Sauce Choron, Pomme de Terre Noisette -- This was served on antique china and presented in an elegant "old school" fashion. The lamb was not our favorite component of the night, a little thickly cut and difficult to deal with. However, the sauce and the rest of the accompanyments were outstanding. The tiny pearls of pottato in the lamb stock were incredible. It was a dish that was very successful in reminding us of the history and context of a meal like Alinea. Black Truffle explositon, Romaine, Parmesan -- Another classic dish that does not need a description. As a transition to desert the next course was an ice dish served in a unique and new serving dish. Unfortunately, due to either the amount of wine or the change in light, most of the desert pictures did not come out. Snow, Yuzu -- This was a clay cone shapped dish with a metal insert in the middle of the cone that had been frozen in liquid nitrogen. A yuzu ice was frozen around this insert. It was light, fine textured and a great palette cleanser. Next wine pairing -- Nittanus "Premium" Beerenauslese, Burgenland, Austria NV Sweet Potato, Cedar, Burbon, Pecan -- This dish was served on burned cedar platters that had a great charcoal smell. The sweet potato was in the form of a custard. The Burbon was spherified in spheres around the plate. Covering the top was a cayenne cotton candy. This was an incredible dish and one of my favorites from the night, even though I completey ruptured one of the spheres all over my shirt. Lemongrass, Dragonfruit, Finger Lime, Cucumber -- This was the tube presentation with a plastic tube filled with liquid and the other ingredients. We were instructed to ingest from one end in a complete gulp. The liquid was delicious, but the various ingredients were a little tough to deal with. It was a great flavor combination, but not our favorite of the night. Finally, a white silicon table cloth was brought out for the table plating of the final desert. The final wine was perhaps the greatest of the night -- Toro Albala "Don PX" Gran Reserva, Montilla - Moriles, Spain 1982. Chocolate, Blueberry, Honey, Peanut -- As many know, this dish is plated on the table. I was worried that it would be more of a gimmick than a great desert. I actually could not have been more wrong. The precision of the plating and the art that went into it were fascinating. Sauces were plated with precision by the chef (not Achatz tongight) with minimal but education explanation. The design was great, but more importantly, the dish was outstanding and watching our table and the others around it, this brought it all back home. Everyone had fun while eating this dish. You could not help it. At the end of this meal (following a wonderful coffee and great staff service getting a cab) we were both left to compare it to our only two other dining experiences that come close (Arzak and Mugaritz). First, one has to ask was the meal worth it -- cost of travel to Chicago, Hotel, and the price of the meal. The answer to this is unequivocally yes. I go back to the concept of fun. We had a blast. I think it some ways it was an adult foodie Disneyland (in the best way). While an unbelievably refined meal, the staff was loose, the food had many fantastical components and at the end of the meal we noted how many times we were laughing and having fun throughout. I would return as often as I could afford and arrange it. Still, in my mind, Arzak remains on top. Perhaps, because it was our first really outstanding dining experience, and partly because it was slighlty more casual and of course it was in Spain. However, I cannot say enough about how great the night was and hope to make it back to Alinea sometime soon.

Lets see if I can get the Mushroom dish picture up. Next was the classic Hot Potato Cold Potato which has been written about enough on here. I will note it was a great contrast of temperatures and a fun dish. Fifth Wine - Costers del Siurana " Clos de L'OBAC", Priorat 2004 Short Rib, olive, red wine, blackberry - This dish used the past flags that had been set on the table earlier in the meal. The pasta flags were flavored with tomatoe and black garlic. The servers brought out a complex plate, to be assembled that consisted of a top plate of garnishes (olives, blackberries, smoked cream, cherries, salt, a vinnegrette, pearl onion, black garlic and others). You put the pasta on a cradle made out of braces contained in the plates and the server added braised short rib. You then added the garnishes and wrapped it up like a taco and ate the dish. Fun, and flavorful. This was a really neat presentation. I will try to finish my post tomorrow.

Continuing on: Venison, cherry, cocoa nib, eucalyptus -- This was another Alinea classic using eucalyptus as a frangrant background for a small cube of perfectly cooked venison that was accompanied by the other spices. Interstingly, the vennison was room temperature. Fourth Wine - Domaine des Lambrays ' Clos de Lambrays' Morey-St. Dennis 2006 Wild Mushrooms, Pine, Sumac, Ramp -- I have said it before on here, I am a strange person who is not a big mushroom fan. I cleaned my plate on this and did not cringe. My wife who likes mushrooms thought it was great. There were Morrels (huge) and a tiny beautiful white mushroom. It was a striking presentation and great flavors. I appear to be having technical difficulties so I am going to break again.

After many years of talk, we finally made it to Alinea for our tenth wedding anniversary tonight. After a problematic dinner at Topolobampo on Friday night, we anxiously got in a cab to head to a meal we had perhaps overly hyped. First, with respect to Topolobampo, a restaurant that we have been to a couple of times and have loved, I sincerely hope it was an offnight. The guacamole and maragaritas were excellent, as always. However, we were very dissapointed in the quality of the rest of the meal. This is uncharacteristic of Mr. Bayless' cooking that I have had before so I chalk it up to a bad night in a very crowded place. Now, on to Alinea. As noted, my fear was we had built our expectations up to a level that could not be satisfied. I am pleased to report that our high expectations were met at every turn. We arrived five minutes early and were promptly seated. We were worried as the room had a hushed tone and both wait staff and customers seemed to be very cautious. However, as the meal began, eveyone warmed up and the staff, while attentive and discreet, were also humerous and charming. They made light of any spills (or spherification explosions in my case) and while noting that no one had ever had a Buffalo Trace burbon sphere explode over their shirt before at Alinea, handed me a Shout Stain Remover napkin artfully arranged on a white plate. Bottom line is that this meal was fun. It was delicious and serious food, but it was fun. For several dishes, my wife and I were actually laughing. Laughing at how good the food was and laughing at what it reminded us of. The Yuba and Shrimp dish reminded me of the $2.00 fried egg rolls we get at our local Vietnamese Restaurant in Dallas. Obviously, we were dealing with a more sophisticated product, but (as I say when we go to the Vietnamese Restaurant), I could eat a dozen of these. They were delicious in both a familiar and unfamiliar way -- this was a fun theme that ran throughout our 2 hour and 30 minute dinner. For a brief run down on the dishes and wines, here is the menu: First Wine -- Cocktail of Pierre Gimonnet Brut wiht chrysanthemum liquer and bitters. Steelhead Roe, dijon, rutabaga, grapefruit - A great starter with rutabaga custard type discs. There was also a black liquorice caviar in the dish. Yuba, Shrimp, Miso, Togarashi - As noted, I loved this dish. While my comparrison does not do it justice, the yuba and shrimp were like a great, delicate egg roll. The sauce with miso was unbeliveable. Next was three courses in one -- Oyster Leaf, Scallop, Razor Clam. The leaf (a la El Bulli) was simply served in an oyster shell with salt and a light mignonette. It tasted exactly like a great oyster. The scallop had a wheat beer foam and was very good, but not as great as the leaf. The Razor Clam was in its shell with many Asian flavors. All of these were good fun with both the leaf and razor clam truly standing out as master dishes. Second Wine was Emmerich Knoll "Kellerberg" Riesling Smaragd, Wachau, Austria 2004 Urchin, Green Garlic, Vanilla, Mint -- This was a classic Alinea presentation with the urchin encased in a gel of vanilla. Spices, etc. were placed on this gel cube and it was served over a bowl of brothy liquid with foam. The urchin and gel was fantastic with the liquid/foam in the bowl providing a nice contrast. Next Wine was Niepoort "Redoma Branco", Douro 2009 Rabbit, Parfait, Rillette, Consomme -- This dish was served in the Alinea three part bowl with the parfait on top. The parfait was a mouse with fried sweet potatoes and apple and cinnamon flavors. This was a dish that cause both of us to laugh out loud and it may be, together with the Foie Gras and Apple dish at Arzak, one of the single greatest bites of food I have ever had. My wife felt the same way. This was followed by the Rillette which was great with similar flavors, and the consomme, which had a hot stone to keep it warm and a cinnamon stick which added nice spice to a perfect rabbit broth. More to come, but I am going to break off the post here. I appologize for the quality of the photos, but we were trying to not be over the top with our photo taking.

I made it and I don't remember much excess. I will note that the ice cream seemed to our tastes way too sweet so maybe I missed a step.

I didn't want to offend anyone by noting that serving cold queso can get one shot down here in Texas.

By basic recipe I mean the Mac and Cheese recipe above. We just did not add the Carrageenan. I also second the comment above that thickness is dependent on temperature. For our queso we served it warm and it was not too thick. I definitely thickens as it cools so if you are looking for a thinner texture at room temp, you may need more liquid.

We had great success making Queso Blanco using the MC basic recipe with white Mexican cheeses (Asadero and Chihuahua). We did not add any Karageenan as we made the queso in a sauce pan and trasferred it to a crock pot to remain heated, thus no need to gel it. We simply added the cheeses to the liquid and sodium citrate mixture and then added a large amount of roasted New Mexico green chile. Everyone loved it. I will note that the burning point of the queso is much lower than that made with milk and Velveeta and so we had to turn the crockpot way down to keep it from scorching.