nonkeyman

I am always curious how some chefs create their new dishes. I personally tended to either follow a bottom up or top down approach. So I would either start with one ingredient and build a dish, or start with a concept and build a dish. Does anyone else have a different method? How do you iterate, or track your ideas? One way to start bottom up is demonstrated by Grant Achatz below

That looks gorgeous!

I would recommend Anova. I am more used to using the Polysci, and we used to load baths up with 20 pounds of meat and then have hot water to add, just in case. In addition, if the bath was really big, we would have two circulators. It really depends on the amount of product. I would make sure to get an actual circulator that is temperature regulated. Otherwise, it is a crap shoot.

strawberries in winter! Hahaha, yes the list goes on forever! It is what happens when food becomes corporate.. Working at my last place was interesting because we were never allowed to use anything that wasn't PNW. In addition, once a year we ran a menu that limited all our products to a 100 mile radius of our location. We had to make our own baking powder, salt and a couple other things that were kind of a pain. I was so glad when we actually found a wheat that was grown locally that wasn't super coarse. I had spent the previous year working with flour that could barely develop gluten because of the grind...

Thank you...almost all the chicken I buy is ...well...questionable... I get it, it's been put in brine to keep it longer...but it also creates an illusion of size, and yeah...I can't get over the slime that comes off packaged chicken..

It's ok! You can send you anger to their complaints inbox.. and get a concerned canned email back! I remember getting the exact same email from a company when I tried to clarify what the first one meant a few days later. Maybe they wanted me to think that they looked at the problem(this was not a "Do not reply email).

That book looks awesome! I can't wait to read your future posts!

We used to take beef trim, roast it and throw it into stock. I can't say we did this we aged beef. However, we did it with aged pork products when we made brodo. Then would take hunks of cured and aged pork and throw it in..

Besides dilution, which is either using bland stock, or throwing a potato in(really, you are just add a product that requires a lot of seasoning, so it can help reduce the ratio of salt to other stuff). You could also try increasing the fat content, this depends on the soup. Adding cream both dilutes and also coats the saltiness on the palette). You can also try balancing it with some of the other major tastes e.g. sour, sweet and bitter. This won't reduce the salty flavor, it will just balance what you are tasting. Of course, it also runs the risk of making your soup to sweet, sour, or bitter. Dilution is probably the best method personally.

I think you are correct! Chew the meat and spit out the bones

Thank you! Those look great. I will switch them out either today or tomorrow! Yup those plates are made of bamboo...it was great because it made clean up easy. it was all compost.

Vacing a bunch of marbles in a bag for weight is genius!

Yup They did....I was asked before that happened.. My friend was one of their culinary managers

Yup! I loved it. It was a great way to just try things. I always thought of it like Googles 20% time.

Luckily the logistics was handled by the company who requested I do the dinner. My main job was to come up with the menu and execute. We charged $85, and the promotion was handled by the company. They already had a list of people who they knew would most likely want to come. I have been wanting to do this again, and trying to handle all the details is hectic.

Thank you! I took a lot from places I had worked, or dishes from my past. So some of them were pieces of My Sunday Projects, like the toasted chocolate and black sesame gelato, other things were dishes that I made in ways I thought were better.

I Thank you!

Nope, I have no idea who they were o.O! They were just Seattle Diners. I had just finished my 4 year degree at UW.

Yup! That is one of the reasons I picked it! I love crispy fish skin..I know some people don't like fish skin. I often think it is because they always cook it skin side up first... It is a great fish! and Thank you!

Thank you! there were a lot of things that went wrong and a lot of things that went right..

I recently did a pop up restaurant for 80 people I didn't know. Below are the pictures from the event. I also put a small bit of my speech before the menu went out... Let me know what you think! Here is an abridged version of my speech.. "When I graduated high school, I did a similar dinner for 8 people. I just graduated college and now I am doing a dinner for 80" I paused... "I guess when I get my PhD, I will have to do a dinner for 800" I believe I got a sympathetic laugh out of the quick "jokish". "The menu I prepared has a little bit from everywhere I have been, it has memories from school and memories from restaurants.The first course came from an organic chemistry class. I learned about the concept of chirality(I won't go into the details :)..unless you want me too.I am sure there are plenty of people on this forum much smarter than me who can actually explain this beyond my limited scope). The second course is because I love pasta and I love soup. They go great on any menu and most people love soup! The brodo comes from Cafe Juanita, where I learned about this funky liquid. It somehow tastes good and smells funky at the same time. Combined with the nutty flavor you get from caramelized cauliflower and the brightness from the fennel salad. It just wakes up the mouth. For the third course, it is kind of an homage to the first course I was put in charge of at the Herbfarm. It was a celery root tart with seafood on top. I actually kind of hated the course. Not because of the flavors, but because I felt I could never execute it perfectly. The crust was always too soggy, or the filling was too shallow. So I made it my own. I love panna cotta, and I think it goes great in savory dishes. This allows for a custard to be made without baking and keeps the celery root flavor cleaner (there is no egg, which always muddied the flavor). Then, I placed seafood and crispy potato chips to add texture. Fourth course is comprised of one of my favorite fish, bone marrow and some seared picked vegetables(I would have preferred grilled picked vegetables..try it some time!). Why is Black code my favorite fish?? Black Cod is great because it has a subtle fishy flavor, and it allows itself to be a canvas to other flavors. Combined with the dill, pickled vegetables and bone marrow it comes alive Finally, dessert! Well, when it comes down to it, I love gelato as the star of desserts. Not just a side to your cake, or pie. Nope, I like it as the focal point. For tonight it is Black Sesame with some toasted chocolate and Douglas fir granita" Asparagus Salad, Anchovies, Mint, Lemon Balm and Rye Caraway Bread Chicken Brodo, Caramelized Cauliflower and Fennel Salad Celery Root Panna Cotta, Clams, Sea Beans, Goose Tongue and Potato Chips(I should have had this cut smaller..it looks way to bulky...I wish it was 1/3 the width) Seared Black Cod, Emulsified Bone Marrow, Grilled Pickled Veg and Dill Black Sesame Gelato, Douglas Fir Granita, Toasted Chocolate, Coco Nib Sable and edible flowers PIC EDITING THANKS TO @dcarch ! Thank you. Here were the score from the 80 people...yup they scored it..If you feel like reading about how this came about. Feel free to check it out! My First Pop Up Restaurant The Menu

Singleton for some reason means something different to me..hahah But yes, very true. Why is it so hard to cook for one...even following recipes designed for one....

Recipes always seem to have interesting final quantities..usually more than I need. Are there any cookbooks you use where the recipes are the perfect amount in the end?

Only 2 eggs per serving! Hmm, maybe 4...hahaha. Also, I will have to definitely try this with a good bread.

Yes, then at least you can use the excuse...that you have earned it!