mm84321

How'd you like it? Made some interesting pumpkin ravioli tonight. The pumpkin is diced and cooked slowly for about 3 hours in a 275ºF oven, then mixed with diced mostarda di cremona (Italian mustard fruit), chopped amaretti cookies, grated parmesan, and nutmeg. Encased in a whole wheat dough, cooked and glazed in a reduced chicken consommé with butter, olive oil and sage. Served with seared lettuce and jamon iberico. Excellent melody of flavors.

Those look incredible. Could you send me some?

Hare au poivre with mashed potatoes..a dish by Frederic Anton..simple, focused and absolutely delicious..

Yes. A lot of the recipes in it are reprints from the magazines, only with more in depth instructions and pictorials. Not really sure if it's worth what it costs (more of a collector's item than anything else), but it would definitely be nice for a coffee table.

Magazine and 101 Creations. You are welcome to borrow the YAM it is in.

A bit more straight forward.. Grouse with celery root, foie gras and muscat grapes

Certainly. The grouse breasts are skinned, de-nerved and marinated in whiskey for 30 minutes. They are then layered in a ring mold, first the breast, then a mixture of the thighs, foie gras terrine, lardo, and porcini mushroom, all cut into a brunoise and bound in a chicken mousse, then topped with the other breast. This is cooked sous vide at 54C for an hour and 15 minutes, then chilled. The bones of the grouse are marinated in whiskey for a few hours, then drained and browned to form a jus with diced carrot, onion, thyme, garlic and black peppercorn. Deglazed with the whiskey marinade, flambéed, reduced, then a ladle or two of chicken stock is added and reduced to glaze, repeated three or four times, then chicken stock is added to cover and it is simmered for an hour. This jus is then passed and reduced, and finally thickened with pig's blood, and seasoned with a few drops of whiskey, salt and pepper. Once the grouse has been reheated at 85C for 10 minutes, it is cut into rectangles and glazed in this sauce. On the side are La Ratte potatoes cooked in salted water, crushed with a fork with some butter, and on top are potato chips (yukon gold sliced thinly on a mandoline and fried at a low temperature). It is really the greatest thing I have made and eaten. The flavors are pronounced and complex, the taste is rich, but balanced by the whiskey. Simply amazing. A dish from Yannick Alléno.

Grouse in whiskey, also known as the best thing I have eaten..

Thanks for all of the information. The McGee article was very helpful. To clarify a concern, I am not in the food business. I am simply a passionate home cook. That said, it is still my interest to operate on the highest level of sanity any hygiene as any professional restaurant kitchen.

Appreciate all of the input. Could someone please point me towards a few sources (scientific) that explain a bit more in depth as to why this is a necessary practice? I'm sort of in between thoughts at the moment, because I think 9 hours at 90C is enough time to consider the stock "pasteurized", therefore safe from harmful bacterial growth, but I also think, as a habit, rapid cooling is usually the best course of action. However, I really do not know enough about this topic to make a final decision. Thanks.

Thanks for reminding me about this! I heard about it then totally forgot to get one.

At a restaurant I staged in they chill stocks in large hotel pans. This is a bit problematic for me when making stock in a 25 qt. pot. Would anyone have any tips to the best way for efficiently chilling stocks in such quantity? I usually use up a bag of ice in the sink, which, by the time it is almost melted, has gotten the stock to "warm", not cold. I then will tend to stick it in the fridge at this point so that it does not raise the temperature as much as it would straight off the burner.

I make large batches of stock. I have always been in the habit of rapidly chilling these stocks once finished. It is usually fairly easy to do this during the wintertime in the Northeast, when it is below 30 at night and the patio outside my kitchen is sheeted with snow. Otherwise, I buy large 20 pound bags of ice to chill the stocks in my sink. I have just finished simmering a chicken stock for 9 hours, and am wondering, could I just let it chill overnight in the fridge? I realize the implications of putting a hot stock into a cold fridge, and the temperature adjustment, however I have a refrigerator dedicated to stocks, so I do not need to worry about other items being disturbed. I am also wondering if this habit of rapid chilling is absolutely necessary. I don't remember if I actually read anything saying you have to chill stocks in the same manner as you would proteins cooked sous vide. Thoughts?

2 minced shallots, 150ml of vermouth, reduced to a glaze, add two tablespoons of double cream and emulsify with 120g of butter.

Mine also, which prompted me to make this dish. It is one of my absolute favorites. The verbena is studded into the lobster tails with a larding needle, and then gently reheated in a sauce made of noilly prat. The verbena perfumes the flesh of the lobster, but does not overpower the flavor by any means. Some other leaves are deep fried, which add a nice textural contrast to the dish, and are delicious by themselves. I would definitely try making this dish if you can, or perhaps using the same technique with another mild white fish. I imagine it could work well with bass, cod, or halibut. If you'd like the full recipe, let me know.

Lobster studded with lemon verbena, new potatoes, chanterelles and dried apricots

Huiray, your bok choy look beautiful.

Thank you so deeply for this illumination.

The great fortune of an excess of caviar led to this..actually worked phenomenally well.. Warm salad of green beans, dandelion greens and Kaluga caviar

Those look lovely, Shelby.

Eggplant tortellini in a truffled tomato sauce

Yes. I found them at the market Saturday morning. First time seeing them all year.

Soba, do you have Alain Passard's book The Art of Cooking with Vegetables? His ratatouille recipe is the best I have ever tasted. It is cooked in salted butter, and, rather interestingly, finished with a touch of soy sauce.

Sure. These were cranberry beans (photo below) which were simmered in about half chicken stock/half water, with a small sprig of rosemary, two leaves of sage, and a muslin pouch filled with white peppercorns. Once cooked, it is pureed with a little milk, cream and olive oil, then finished with a touch of sherry vinegar. The ravioli are filled with a mixture of pecorino and mascarpone, poached in salted water, then glazed in chicken stock with butter and olive oil. Plate is garnished with some fresh sheep's curd, a parsley puree, a mince of rosemary and sage, and cracked black pepper. Giant green pasta, artichokes, basil and arugula

Pink cranberry bean soup with Tuscan Pecorino ravioli, pepper and rosemary