eG Foodblog: mkayahara (2010) - Confessions of a culinary tinker

[nakji]

Miso butterscotch? That sounds excellent! How is it done?

[mkayahara]

Next, we had a Caesar Salad. I was pleased that it only took my guests a minute to piece this one together.

It's a Caesar cocktail, reinterpreted as an appetizer.

I like that kind of puzzle on the plate. Have you done other such successful reinterpretations?

The other one that really comes to mind was from a dinner I did last summer, where the main course was "carciofi alla romana." It was an artichoke puree (and I'm never pureeing artichokes again. What a pain!), croutons, roasted garlic chips, preserved lemon, and mint leaves, with a chicken breast as the protein component. Here's a pic of that one:

That whole meal looks wonderful... I really like the idea of the individual vinegar pearls adding another textural element to the oyster!

Very handsome pork belly as well- I just cooked some for the first time last week, but I just did a brine + roast. I'm planning on trying it again soon with a method more like yours (assuming that there's some pink salt in your brine, and then you cooked it sous vide!)

That's right; the pork belly is brined for three days in a brine that includes pink salt, cooked sous vide for 24 hours at 160F, then chilled and pressed overnight before being portioned and finished for service in a saute pan. The texture was wonderful, so I'd definitely do pork belly that way again!

Gorgeous, inventive and fun. In fact, exactly what I would expect of a Matthew dinner!

Thanks, Kim! I appreciate the kind words.

Miso butterscotch? That sounds excellent! How is it done?

The miso butterscotch is a mix of brown sugar, glucose syrup, butter and milk that's cooked to 225F, then cooled before white miso is blitzed in with an immersion blender. It's a wonderful balance of sweet and salty.

Edit: After a week with no problems, I can't seem to insert the picture into this post where I want it!

Edited November 22, 2010 by mkayahara (log)

[llc45]

I can't imagine the time and effort that it takes to put together a dinner like that. Your guests are very lucky! thanks for a great blog

[mkayahara]

I can't imagine the time and effort that it takes to put together a dinner like that. Your guests are very lucky! thanks for a great blog

Thanks for the kind words!

Since this topic will be locked soon, I just wanted to wrap up by saying thank you to the eGullet staff for asking me to participate in the foodblogs, and to everyone here who read, commented and asked questions. I've had a great time this week, and I hope you've enjoyed following along!

If anyone has any more questions or comments, I'll do my best to reply. Then I'm looking forward to sitting back and reading kayb's blog this week.

[Kouign Aman]

Thanks so much for blogging. What fun to see your creativity and skill!