Baselerd

I recently made a modern (only in plating) tiramisu recipe (link to recipe)- very delicious and not too involved. Includes soaked sponge cake, espresso ice cream, espresso creme anglaise, mascarpone mousse, and Kahlua gelee.

A lot of the flexible ganache recipes in modern plated desserts make heavy use of sorbitol. Here's a link to an example.

I've enjoyed cooking with Bellwether Farms' sheep's milk yogurt as well. It's very creamy, great for sauces and dessert components. Not too cheap though.

I would separate the strip steak and tenderloin portions (tenderloin can be cooked rarer, I would make a tartare from it). My favorite way to cook steaks (olive oil poached): Heat a thin film of canola oil on a cast iron skillet until almost smokingAdd a clove of crushed garlic, a few sprigs of fresh thyme, a sprig of fresh rosemary and cook until fragrantAdd the steak and sear on both sides brieflyRemove from heat, add contents of skillet to a sous vide bagAdd a few peppercorns and olive oil to the bag and sealCook sous vide for w/e time temperature most appropriate for the cutFinish with another sear / torch to crisp the outside

A cool recipe I just cooked recently - grilled edamame (although it would work with english peas, snow peas, etc). Th general procedure involves making a flavorful glaze and then tossing charred edamame with the glaze. Ingredients 18-24 oz edamame (frozen or fresh, in pods) 1 2" piece Ginger 1 Thai chili 1 large shallot 2 bunches green onion .5 cup fish sauce .25 cup sugar .25 cup water 1 lime sesame oil chili oil Glaze -Add diced shallots, micro-planed ginger, minced green onions, thai chili to a dry saucepan over high and caramelize -Deglaze with fish sauce, add some sugar, water, and lime juice and reduce a bit -Strain and reserve Edamame -I boiled the edamame for ~5 minutes as normal, then let cool/dry. -Toss the edamame with chili oil, sesame oil, coarse salt, and cracked pepper to coat -Preheat a grill over high -Throw the edamame on the grill using a grill sheet and toss occasionally until all of the edamame is lightly charred/blistered -Reserve in bowl, toss with glaze

Keith - that roast chicken looks tasty! Benthescientist - nice plating. I recently made some boneless chicken thigh confit (cooked in pork fat, rosemary, and thyme for 1.5 hours at 148 F), asparagus (cooked with pork fat, thyme, peppercorn for 15 minutes at 185 F), glazed maitake mushrooms, mushroom-miso puree, asparagus cream fluid gel, fried bread, and pork jus.

That always seems to be a controversial subject - to soak or not to soak. I've read arguments for both sides of the argument that seem pretty convincing. I think it seems well agreed upon that if you can control the combustion by limiting airflow that is a better approach. I've also seen some material that claims soaking seasoned wood has negligible effect since the water can't penetrate more than a few millimeters for any reasonable soaking period.

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but a good smoking technique that requires no extra investment (from Eleven Madison Park Cookbook): Soak wood chips in cold water for ten minutes, then drainline the inside of an iron skillet with aluminum foil, throw some charcoal on topSet the pan over high heat until charcoal is ignited and white-hotAdd the wood chips ontop of the charcoalsOnce the chips begin to smoke, place in your skillet in your grill/oven on the opposite side from your foodYou may have to replenish the wood chips every hour or two, as neededObviously a system that requires no charcoal is more convenient, but I've had fun trying this out - it works pretty well.

Adding a small amount of pureed preserved lemons might give a little more of a lemon kick.

Because you often aren't getting dishes that are well rounded, and you don't get the same nuanced harmonies when everything is a bite and a half. I don't hate them, but there is a lot to question about how and what they really display about the food. Of course, a bigger problem is that they are a main component of the shift in fine dining away from the enjoyment of your friends and family accompanied by excellent food toward the wow factor presented by a prima donna chef while you are accompanied by your iPhone or table tripod. Wine pairings are even worse, with all of that "service" who has time to enjoy their fellow diners. Sounds like you've just been going to bad restaurants. Tasting menus aren't inherently any less or more "well rounded" than a la carte - if it's a good chef anything they put out will be "well rounded." It also sounds like you and your company are much too preoccupied by your food. Once again, at any establishment I've been to the tasting menu plates don't have any more "wow" factor than a la carte items. Sounds like you have some built up resentment - "iPhones and table tripods." That really has nothing to do with the food, restaurant, or menu and you are simply stereotyping. The joy in a tasting menu is going with good company and having the chef bring out his best food in a well balanced manner. You don't have to be bogged down by reading a long menu, or weighing your options. I would argue it's a more social experience under the right circumstances, although admittedly I've only been to a few (which I enjoyed thoroughly).

I made the fruit minestrone with some cucumber sorbet. It turned out delicious, especially the beans.

How can you dislike tasting menus? They're expensive, but what's not to like about having a restaurant bring you plate after plate of their chef's best?

It sounds like you may be over salting. I usually salt meat after sous vide, or brine it before hand to get the correct salt concentration. If you add too much salt to the bag, you are essentially curing the meat which will definitely cause dry meat. Read more about this here.

Awesome stuff people. Here's a dish I put together (inspired by the Modernist Cuisine's Pea vine salad): Crispy goat cheese, glazed green pea salad, cinnamon pea jus, pickled lemon, cured radishes, lemon puree, and ginger foam. The crispy goat cheese was made by incorporating some Wondra flour, lemon juice, and salt with some chevre. It was then dehydrated at 115 F for about 25 minutes and pan fried. The cinnamon pea jus was made by blending fresh peas with cinnamon infused water. This was strained, and then added to a mint-infused chicken jus (the jus was light on the chicken, with an emphasis on the veggies to make for a lighter flavor).

First off I think 72 hours is a bit long for the lamb - Modernist Cuisine recommends 48 hours at 144F for a tender, yielding texture. I prefer 133 F for a firmer, more steak-like texture. It's normal for meat to exude liquid during cooking.

Did using your dehydrator ... dehydrate it too much? I would imagine 40 days - even wrapped in foil - would be enough to dry them out.

Never made it before, but very interested to see how it works for you.

Thanks! I did use Peter's chocolate - my thought is that any chocolate that tastes good when softened should be good enough. The Peter's chocolate was definitely very high quality and it did not run when melted - it had more similar consistency to a soft ganache. I'm not a chocolate expert though, so take it for what its worth.

If you're looking for a "wow" factor in a vegetarian dish I might suggest having some high-quality, well prepared vegetables served in a flavorful broth. If you're looking to make it fancy, you can arrange your vegetables in a serving bowl in an artful manner and then pour the broth table-side. I've recently made pea broth with spring vegetables cooked sous vide, with fried goat cheese dumplings (goat cheese + wondra + salt) and ginger foam. Inspired by the recipe for the pea vine salad in Modernist Cuisine Book 4. -Here's another similar idea.

Dessert FourPlay by Iuzzini - I'm a big fan of this one. It has a lot of creative desserts - combining a lot of cool flavors in ways other than the usual classic french/italian pastries and cakes. Some of the recipes in this book require a few modernist gelling ingredients. You can get an idea of what's inside this book here - there's a few sample recipes very similar to those found in the book. Elements of Dessert by Migoya - a huge focus on the modern style desserts you find at high-end resaurants. Very technical though, so if you don't have some special equipment you may not be able to pursue all of the recipes. Namely, he uses a spray coater extensively, as well as distillation equipment and a plethora of modern thickeners and gelling agents.

The problem is double-fold. First, people tend to think in extremes, giving restaurants (or anything) a full score or very low. Moderate scores are seldom used. Additionally - and here's where I think the larger problem lays - the scores are not relative to each other. Someone living in a suburban area may give the best neighborhood sports bar full points, whereas they might never dine at a Michelin star restaurant. Obviously the quality of the sports bar would not live up to the high-20's score. This isn't just a Google reviews issue, but also Yelp, Urbanspoon, etc. It may make it more confusing due to the integration into the Zagat ratings.

18 minutes did seem short to me at first, but after several minutes of sauteing it turned out great.

I dunno what you're talking about Sigma - I've made the rabbit saddle from Under Pressure (Thomas Keller) before and it was excellent Sous Vide. He has you remove the loins from the saddle (one with the flank attached), score the meat, and roll it into a log. Wrap it with bacon, compress it in a vacuum bag, and Sous Vide for 18 minutes at 147 F. Finish it off on a saute pan with neutral oil to crisp all sides of the bacon. Some of the best rabbit I've had, much less made.

From the Eleven Madison Park cookbook (substituting shrimp for prawn): Poached shrimp, butternut squash four ways (bisque, puree, sous vide/charred, and pickled), bacon, glazed navy beans, toasted pumpkin seeds, and pumpkin seed oil. The book has you poach prawns in a entire pot of buerre blanc, however to extend the life of the dish I just made some buerre blanc (stabilized with xanthan gum) and kept it in the fridge. That way I can just throw a dollop of the sauce in a bag with the shrimp and sous vide them (from the frozen state) at 135 F for about 15 minutes.

Sticking with the Tiramisu theme, you could add some Kahluha flavor in the form of either a syrup, creme anglaise, or even a sponge cake. I would lean towards a nice sponge cake, they always seem to pair well with coffee in my mind.