bilrus

As I mentioned last night, I am pretty close to running out of things to make ahead, but I'm kinda into this at this point and as I was watching TV and eating carry out Thai (I've been cooking my ass off this week, but haven't made a single actual meal), I found myself thinking about what I could be doing in the kitchen and what I could be posting about tonight. So I made one thing I knew I could do in advance and one of the items I wasn't so confident about. First up was the Parmesan crisps, which the book says can be made and stored up to two days in advance. This was very easy - the trickiest part was transferring them from the silpat to a paper towel to cool and completely solidify. If you make these, consider using more cheese per crisp than you think you should. Mine are pretty delicate and I added more at the last minute. Here are before and after pics. Considering my questions earlier I was a little hesitant about the cucumber jelly that goes with the crab salad, so I made these in advance in case I needed to adjust my gelatin to juice formula. I used 1/2 packet of Knox gelatin dissolved in a few tbs of warm water mixed with 1 cup of the cucumber juice. This ended up being a nice consistency, not too soft, but not like some "Jell-o Jiggler" chew toy like I feared. I made my cucumber diamonds, as instructed and added those along with the dill sprigs. Looks pretty nice, even without the crab and the rest. If they don't end up keeping well in the fridge, I can make them over pretty easily. The whole thing didn't take more than about 45 minutes (aside from the setting in the fridge). Tomorrow night I am going out for Happy Hour, so I can't imagine I'll be doing much when I get home. After that it is game day. I still want to plan out my schedule for Saturday which I hope to post tomorrow sometime. We'll see how well I can stick to it come Saturday.

I rehydrated one of the morels last night and I think I came to the same conclusion - it seemed too rubbery and the nibble I took was pretty tasteless for a morel. It had a slightly more earthy taste than a plain button or even porcini, but not all that great. I know Wegman's usually has a pretty good variety of mushrooms (they do often have morels, but not this week), so I think I'll pick out something fresh. We'll see what they have tomorrow night or Saturday morning. As for the wines that wattacetti asked about above - I'm still not there yet. My selection of reds is almost non-existent. We drink mostly whites at home, as jenrus is not a red fan. I'm planning on drinking the one below with the first two courses and finding something at a wine shop tomorrow - a red, but not too red, if you know what I mean, that would work with duck.

Having had the Vegetable (they do call it that, rather than Vegetarian) Tasting Menu, I'm sure it would be good using the vegetable stocks. I'm sur ethis isn't the first time they've had that request. Although, I'm also sure many vegetarians have happily eaten the Veg tasting menu without a second thought. FWIW - I thought the Veg menu was as good or better than the Chef's tasting menu.

I haven't been in probably three years, but I do remember liking my meal quite a bit. How's that for helpful advice? I'm sure someone else has been more recently and actually remembers what they ate.

It's likely that Keller recommends this, but immediately chilling the peas in ice water after cooking should keep the color fine. Then one only has to go gently on the reheating to keep the color. ← That is in the recipe. In fact he instructs to have the peas in ice water before and after cooking. ← Yeah, they'll hold their color for a while. You can do them early (but not the day before) and put them in the fridge to chill while you tend to other business. ← Unfortunately, I'm pretty much at the point where there aren't many more tasks I can do far in advance. I figure I can make the cucumber jelly in advance, and maybe make the vinaigrettes the day before. And I need to do a little more "sourcing" so I can have things as fresh as possible. I bought too many things early in the excitement of getting started without thinking about the implications. For example, I bought some frisee yesterday and this morning it was already looking a little tired. But I forsee a lot of activity in my kitchen on Saturday. And a lot of posting during my breaks.

It's likely that Keller recommends this, but immediately chilling the peas in ice water after cooking should keep the color fine. Then one only has to go gently on the reheating to keep the color. ← That is in the recipe. In fact he instructs to have the peas in ice water before and after cooking.

Or what she said in her intitial response to the original daSto discussion:

Thanks. I definitely have a scale - when I'm not cooking elaborate meals like this I'm trying to be on Weight Watchers, so a food scale (in addition to a regular one) is a kitchen staple.

I was actually just messing with this a few minutes ago when I think I discovered the problem. The dish I was using last night was a rectangular pyrex dish that was too big to rotate on the carousel. The carousel must have gotten stuck because the plastic piece that spins and holds the microwave dish in place was melted. I'm probably lucky that I'm not posting on the "Ever start a fire in the kitchen" thread that is going on now.

Everybody can just come by after Happy Hour at Corduroy - Cooking this for a dozen people would be the same as for 2, right?? Although if I don't plan things right the serving may take longer than an actual meal at French Laundry.

Tonight I knocked off a few more of the tasks I could do in advance, including re-tackling my new nemesis, the beet powder. Easiest thing I've done yet - Cucumber juice for the jelly to accompany the crab salad. Puree / cheesecloth / strain. If you plan on cooking from this book a lot, make sure you've got cheesecloth and lots of it. I've gone through one package already. I do have one question on the cucumber jelly - the recipe calls for 1 1/4 sheets of gelatin, but I have only found packets. Any ideas on how this would translate? I also prepared the tart crust, which I plan on freezing. This was, as suggested, a pretty easy step. I'm not much of a baker - in fact I had to buy the tart pan in preparation for making this dish. But the recipe in the book makes enough for three tarts, so I will probably make this again, assuming it turns out OK. Finally, I made more puree of the beets and put it in a 250 degree oven for about a half hour, per Rich's suggestion above. This worked pretty well in drying the beets out, but I probably could have put them in for a little longer, since when I put the dried pulp in my coffee grinder, there was enough moisture that it didn't entirely pulverize like I had hoped, but I let it sit for the rest of the evening and ran it through the coffee grinder again and ended up with a pretty good powder. Not quite the paprika-like texture I'd hoped for, but it will work for giving the plate color. (BTW - the finger is for size reference, not indicative of my photography skills). As you can see - just tonight I used my stand mixer, food processor (twice) and a coffee grinder. Very tool intensive. Thankfully I'm not ready to move onto the El Bulli cookbook anytime soon. It is interesting that I am, after only two days of this, obsessed with something as minute as this powder, or the peas above. Keller must be really good or is a tortured soul. I'm guessing the first, but this sort of perfection probably requires a little of both. Got to go check on the tart crust now.

I would have thought one of those food dryer things like the models Ronco used to hawk to make jerky (pre-Showtime infomercials). I have one of these things and use it to dry carrots and limes for powders, and other stuff for decoration. You get some pretty weird looks when serving a transparent slice of dried tomato. ← That's one gadget I don't have.

Thanks for the input - direct from the source. As I continue on this I'm becoming more orthodox in my following the letter of the recipes as best I can.

OK - here's my idea for the peas. I don't have the book in front of me, but I can't imagine that since I'll have all the ingredients in place it would be that much much harder to (I can't believe I'm saying this) make two versions - one with the fresh peas and one with some good quality frozen baby peas. I'll do a tasting (or better yet, have my wife do a blind tasting) and see if one is clearly better than the other. Pictures will be provided. I wonder how Keller (and other chefs) deal with this issue. I've seen the garden at French Laundry (albeit at night) and it doesn't look big enough to provide a sufficient quantity of peas (or other vegetables), at least on a regular basis, to make large quantities of a particular dish. And most restaurants don't even have the luxury of their own garden for herbs and the like. I assume they must getting fresh, just picked peas or other perishable vegetables delivered on a daily basis? Even then, is that fast enough?

The peas are small - like little BBs and tasted very sweet in the store. We'll see if I need to supplement for volume. I have a viogner at home that we bought specifically because we liked it at Per Se. I'm going to try to come up with two bottles that will bridge the courses. Despite being a terrible baker, I do have a silpat - I have a weakness kitchen gadgets.

Interesting article/thread here about the difference between the home and restaurant cook. This line from the article stood out to me in particular:

Just got back from lunch and Balducci's (a regional gourmet food store) did have English Peas in the pod - so looks like I can stick with my planned menu. Thanks for the beet, wine and duck bone suggestions. I never think about Asian markets unless I'm looking for something specifically Asian, but I do know that many on here tout some of the larger ones around the area for excellent, inexpensive produce, too. If I can avoid one chore I don't want to do Saturday morning I may add a stop at that Organic Market for Golden Beets after my stop at the farmer's market to look for morels. I've got a nice white Burgandy sitting on my wine rack at home. I've been waiting for the right occasion to drink it, so this may be the time. As for the salmon tartare - my wife didn't like the salmon at French Laundry (she doesn't really like the texture of raw fish) although she did like the tomato version that came with the veg menu at Per Se. But I don't need to be a hero. Let's stick with five courses this time around and maybe I'll go for the full chef's tasting menu with amuses, mignardises and a cookie plate to take home (or eat on the sofa) next time.

BTW - If any amateur (or professional) sommeliers have wine recommendations to go with this menu, I'd be interested in hearing them.

I moved into this house three years ago last week. My warranty through the builder was only one year. There is some sort of limited 10 year warranty - probably limited to exclude whatever this problem is, but we'll see - the repairman is coming on Monday. In the meantime it looks like Rich's oven solution is the route to go. I think the fresh peas I know I can get should be pretty good, but I may have a look through the book tonight to see about other options. I liek the idea that this can be a hot or cold soup. That is going to be a game-time decision based on the weather. I wish I had some of those wonderful sources of produce I remember from your foodblogs. Things are a little different here in the US exurbs.

Thanks. I would assume that would work in a similar manner to the recommended LOW power setting on the microwave - just watch it carefully. It's funny - I don't use the microwave much at home, mainly to heat up a few leftovers or melt butter. But I already feel quite lost without it. Of course it is also my over-stove lighting, my vent hood and my kitchen timer.

Thinking more about this - it does bring up a point about the whole process. Like most good chefs, Keller doesn't just randomly pick his courses before knowing not only what he can "source", but also what is exactly at its peak. In other words, he wouldn't (and he has the luxury not to) make, Pea Soup if he doesn't already have some pretty damn good peas at his disposal. When I was looking through the recipes trying to decide what to make, he specifies not only the ingredient, but the specific source or variety of ingredient to use. Alice Waters does this in the Chez Panisse cookbooks too, but her recipes are often pretty simple and all about the specific ingredient. Keller's are much more elaborate, yet he still is very specific about the ingredients, even for something as simple as a fairly tasteless red powder to sprinkle on a plate as a garnish. But at both French Laundry and Per Se, my wife and I were both struck by what we remembered after those meals. We remembered the main ingredients. It wasn't the preparations or accompaniments that stood out - we remembered the beef, the lobster, even the hearts of palm. So from this meal I want the Peas, the Crab, the Duck to be what stands out and what I remember. That will be one way to judge if my project was a success.

No, I am committed to making my own beet powder. It went from being a nice garnish on my cheese plate to a mission after the fiasco last night. And the peas from Wegman's aren't frozen - they're in the produce section and look pretty fresh.

I've not tired doing that, but it might be worth a shot. Probably not enough time this time around, but another time. I'm pretty fortunate to have a Wegmans, Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Balducci's within 10 minutes of my home and office, plus a pretty good farmer's market (in season) 15 minutes away, so if I'm willing to pay or drive around I can usually find most things. But this may test that theory.

I've not seen beet powder either, but maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places. What section or type of store would carry that?

The stock is going in the freezer in a few minutes, along with several others I've made over the last few months (I'm a big soup fan). As a matter of fact I think a little of my IRS refund is going to go towards buying a refigerator/freezer for the garage so I can always have lots of frozen stock around. As for the peas, neither Wegman's or Whole Foods had the peas in the pods, but Wegmans did have some nice looking packages of fresh baby peas. I'll keep looking and depending on my schedule I am going to try to hit the Arlington (Virginia) farmers market on Saturday morning. Maybe the mushroom lady will be there and I could score some fresh morels, too. If not, the Wegman's peas might be the best bet. BTW - the microwave is still f'ed up. I guess I'll need to call a repairman tomorrow. Or maybe more of that refund is going to need to go towards a new one. Good thing I'm getting a big one this year. I wonder what the people at the office are going to say when I bring in a new batch of beet pulp and cook it (on low) in the microwave in the kitchen there.