Cooking with "Modernist Cuisine" (Part 3)

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks to a pagination juxtaposition in the Kitchen Manual and the availability of all ingredients, I decided to prepare a version of the Russian smoked salmon cured with the pastrami rub as the spice base. My family is inhaling it.

[Robert Jueneman]

Has anyone outside of the MC staff prepared their starch infused French fries using an ultra-sonic bath?

I've ordered a Branson B5510DTH 2.5 gal ultrasonic cleaner and a perforated tray, and am currently waiting for it to arrive. It was about half the price of the one used in MC, and should certainly be large enough. Too bad it won't be here in time for the SuperBowl!

Meanwhile, I thought I'd ask if anyone had some particular tips. I assume the fluid used for the ultrasonic fries (which are sealed in a SV bag) is just water?

I've done Heston Blumenthal's triple-cooked Pont Neuf fries a couple of times. Next time, I will probably use the dehydrator/dryer function on my JennAir oven, rather than risk getting a lot of water vapor into the oil of my chamber vacuum.

Any other advice?

Edited February 3, 2012 by Robert Jueneman (log)

[ddelima]

One of the El Bulli books recommends cooking chicken wings in a little olive oil at 140F for 24 hours...

Kenneth, thanks for the inspiration :-). I made the 24 hours slow cooked wings this weekend and the result was a success. The wings went on a bag with salt, pepper and duck fat, sous vide for 24 hours at 140F and then went to the freezer. I then fried them at 375F for 10 minutes. They were moist on the inside and super crunchy on the outside. To go with the wings I made a blue cheese sauce, sriracha sauce on the side and some guacamole.

[KennethT]

Looks great... next time, try taking the bones out - nothing like crunchy boneless wings! Especially if you make it for unsuspecting people - because it looks like a normal wing - so people get a kick out of trying to figure out how you got the bones out.

[lesliec]

I've done Heston Blumenthal's triple-cooked Pont Neuf fries a couple of times. Next time, I will probably use the dehydrator/dryer function on my JennAir oven, rather than risk getting a lot of water vapor into the oil of my chamber vacuum.

Robert, I'm getting jealous of your toys!

My usual technique when making the triple-cooked chips is to do cook #1 as early as I can on the day I'm planning to serve them, keeping them (after they've cooled down) in the fridge all day on a rack. Such was my plan a couple of days ago, but circumstances, in the form of something more perishable, intervened and delayed the the steak I had planned until yesterday. The chips therefore spent an extra 24-odd hours in the fridge and were eventually among the very best I've done.

Not saying I wouldn't use other techniques (vacuum, dehydrators, etc.) if I had them, but a long rest in the fridge between the first and second cooking gives a great result. Good luck with the ultrasonics - we expect reports.

[Markm]

Made the green apple and banana hot gels today. Didn't take long, the banana was a little light on flavor, wept, and was fairly rubbery. The apple was way too tart. I tried adjusting, but was worried about throwing the ph off. I made a caramel sauce to go with them which helped balance them out. Anyone else tried these?

[ScottyBoy]

Tried the sous vide octopus tonight for a dinner I have tomorrow. The test I would say was a bit of a failure. 185 for 4 hours still left the 2 inch thick legs of raw octopi still very chewy on a thin cut...anyone else have this experience or tips? I'm still searching for the tender octopus that I have read about. Previous attempts of long braising have left a bad mealy texture. Right now I'm dealing with defrosted fresh.

[nickrey]

Seems you need some treatment before cooking to tenderise them. Many of my Greek friends put the thawed tentacles in milk overnight in the fridge to achieve a better texture. I'd then try cooking as described. This may invoke cries that it is unscientific and won't work but why not experiment by putting one lot in milk and another not and seeing what happens. If it works, the science can catch up with the facts later.

[ScottyBoy]

After this botched attempt I looked over online articles and I got everything from the famous cork boil and radish beating methods to throwing them in a cement mixer or dryer for 45 mintes!

This it pretty much the biggest debate on an ingredient I've ever seen.

And now ever more incredible I can add soaking in milk to the list.

If I don't get it right tomorrow morning I'll have to resort back to scallops for my seafood course.

Edited February 8, 2012 by ScottyBoy (log)

[ChrisTaylor]

I've also heard of freezing them and then thawing them, the idea being that the freezing/thawing process breaks something down and helps tenderise them.

[nickrey]

They had already been frozen and thawed Chris, it needed something more.

[mkayahara]

Pressure cook: 30 minutes at high pressure. Best octopus I've ever made.

I've also heard of sous vide at 91.6C for 3 hours, but haven't tried it yet.

[Toufas]

In greece when we used to catch octapus during my holidays the usual treatment to tenderize it was to bash it on the rocks for like 15-20 minutes.

[ScottyBoy]

Yeah mkayahara, a new pressure cook is on the list of next purchases...

[mkayahara]

Yeah mkayahara, a new pressure cook is on the list of next purchases...

I guess that doesn't really help you, then. When you get one, do give it a try. It was absolutely a revelation, and when I served it last weekend, it converted a non-octopus-eating friend of mine. I can't imagine cooking it any other way, except for experimental purposes.

[valereee]

Pressure cook: 30 minutes at high pressure. Best octopus I've ever made.

I've also heard of sous vide at 91.6C for 3 hours, but haven't tried it yet.

What are you cooking it with? (What recipe are you using that converts well to a pressure cooker, I mean )

Edited February 9, 2012 by valereee (log)

[mkayahara]

The recipe I was making was in VOLT ink. It calls for 3 x 3-lb. octopuses cooked in a litre of water with 70g red wine vinegar, a diced onion, bay leaves and black peppercorns.

[Robert Jueneman]

Has anyone outside of the MC staff prepared their starch infused French fries using an ultra-sonic bath?

I've ordered a Branson B5510DTH 2.5 gal ultrasonic cleaner and a perforated tray, and am currently waiting for it to arrive. It was about half the price of the one used in MC, and should certainly be large enough. Too bad it won't be here in time for the SuperBowl!

Meanwhile, I thought I'd ask if anyone had some particular tips. I assume the fluid used for the ultrasonic fries (which are sealed in a SV bag) is just water?

I've done Heston Blumenthal's triple-cooked Pont Neuf fries a couple of times. Next time, I will probably use the dehydrator/dryer function on my JennAir oven, rather than risk getting a lot of water vapor into the oil of my chamber vacuum.

Any other advice?

Today/tonight I made the starch-infused ultrasonic French fries from MC, and my wife and I agreed that they were absolutely the best we had ever eaten, bar none! They were deliciously crunchy on the outside, and soft and succulent, rather like a baked potato, on the inside.

Even thought the initial cost was about $75 per fry considering the cost of the Branson ultrasonic cleaner, I think it will be well worth it over time.

Because I don't have a combi oven, I cooked three potatoes (750 g, divided onto two bags, after brining them) in a big pan in water on the stove, in two SV bags.

I then drained them and let them cool in the freezer for about 20 minutes, while I made up the potato starch mixture.

I drained the original water mixture and transferred the potatoes to two new bags, and added the potato starch mixture, then put them in the Branson ultrasonic cleaner, which had been degassed and brought up to 64C. After 20 minutes, I flipped the two bags over, and gave them another 20 minutes.

I then put the fries on a rack, and put them in my JennAire oven on the dryer function at 100F for about 20 minutes. After that, I transferred the fries to a rack, and put them in my chamber vacuum and ran it it five times at maximum vacuum. Several times it timed out, unable to reach 99% vacuum, so I had to stop and restart it.

Then I put them in my Krups Professional Deep Fryer at 330F for three minutes, and afterwards put them on rack in my cool garage, with an electric fan blowing on them to cool them.

Then finally back in the deep fryer at the maximum setting ( 375F), but unfortunately this isn't quite hot enough. So instead of merely 3 minutes, I had to give the fries closer to 6 minutes to reach a nice goldren-brown color

Served with ketchup and Boar's Head Creole mustard, together with two SV lamb shoulder chops, with rosemary and garlic confit, the results were absolutely worth the effort!

Bob

[Chris Hennes]

I'm hoping to try the sous vide lentils this week or next, but I need some timing advice. The recipe calls for them to be cooked at 90°C for 1h15m: my new Sous Vide rig tops out at 85°C: I seem to recall that for stuff like legumes you can simply adjust the cooking time to compensate, but I can't recall the formula. Can someone point me in the direction of the required adjustment?

[Tri2Cook]

Today/tonight I made the starch-infused ultrasonic French fries from MC, and my wife and I agreed that they were absolutely the best we had ever eaten, bar none! They were deliciously crunchy on the outside, and soft and succulent, rather like a baked potato, on the inside.

Even thought the initial cost was about $75 per fry considering the cost of the Branson ultrasonic cleaner, I think it will be well worth it over time.

Because I don't have a combi oven, I cooked three potatoes (750 g, divided onto two bags, after brining them) in a big pan in water on the stove, in two SV bags.

I then drained them and let them cool in the freezer for about 20 minutes, while I made up the potato starch mixture.

I drained the original water mixture and transferred the potatoes to two new bags, and added the potato starch mixture, then put them in the Branson ultrasonic cleaner, which had been degassed and brought up to 64C. After 20 minutes, I flipped the two bags over, and gave them another 20 minutes.

I then put the fries on a rack, and put them in my JennAire oven on the dryer function at 100F for about 20 minutes. After that, I transferred the fries to a rack, and put them in my chamber vacuum and ran it it five times at maximum vacuum. Several times it timed out, unable to reach 99% vacuum, so I had to stop and restart it.

Then I put them in my Krups Professional Deep Fryer at 330F for three minutes, and afterwards put them on rack in my cool garage, with an electric fan blowing on them to cool them.

Then finally back in the deep fryer at the maximum setting ( 375F), but unfortunately this isn't quite hot enough. So instead of merely 3 minutes, I had to give the fries closer to 6 minutes to reach a nice goldren-brown color

Served with ketchup and Boar's Head Creole mustard, together with two SV lamb shoulder chops, with rosemary and garlic confit, the results were absolutely worth the effort!

Bob

I think that's awesome but I have to ask if it really produces a fry that is that much better for the equipment and time involved? I've been a proponent and hack practitioner of molecular-gastronomy-until-the-backlash-changed-the-name-to-modernist-cuisine for a pretty long time. I'd be lying to say I was in on the ground floor but I'm definitely not new to the idea. I'm all for experimenting and bettering but occasionally I can't help wondering if sometimes we do things more for the idea than the result. I'm not doubting what you did, I'm just having a bit of trouble wrapping my head around it... and I consider myself very open-minded when it comes to food. I spent some time after reading your post thinking about all of the very best examples of fries I've made or tasted and what could be better about them that would make me feel happy about the time, work and expense involved with doing them the way you outlined. I can't find that thing. I'd really like to hear more about what specifically elevated them to that level for you if you'd be willing to share.

[Robert Jueneman]

I think that's awesome but I have to ask if it really produces a fry that is that much better for the equipment and time involved? I've been a proponent and hack practitioner of molecular-gastronomy-until-the-backlash-changed-the-name-to-modernist-cuisine for a pretty long time. I'd be lying to say I was in on the ground floor but I'm definitely not new to the idea. I'm all for experimenting and bettering but occasionally I can't help wondering if sometimes we do things more for the idea than the result. I'm not doubting what you did, I'm just having a bit of trouble wrapping my head around it... and I consider myself very open-minded when it comes to food. I spent some time after reading your post thinking about all of the very best examples of fries I've made or tasted and what could be better about them that would make me feel happy about the time, work and expense involved with doing them the way you outlined. I can't find that thing. I'd really like to hear more about what specifically elevated them to that level for you if you'd be willing to share.

Very fair question, Tri2Cook!

Now, I've made double-cooked French fries for 40-50 years or so, and they are certainly OK -- especially when right out of the fryer. But as someone said, even a monkey ought to be able to make hot, fresh, French fries that taste good right out of the fryer -- the real question is what happens after they cool a bit, and what they "feel" like. Certainly there are lots of fast food joints that fall down in that regard.

To my mind, taste isn't the only important factor -- auditory and other sensory "crunch" factors are also important to the overall dining experience. And it was the extra delicious crunch, plus the soft, mealy interior that made those fries so appealing.

That said, I've only done this once, and I just bought nine big Russet potatoes to see if I can improve on the recipe, or at least reduce the prep time.

Stay tuned -- this is a work in progress!

Also see my recent post, "Ultrasonic fruit and vegetable cleaners, " for a potentially cheaper solution, and one that might offer additional benefits.

Bob

[EnriqueB]

Hi, as dry ice is easier to buy than liquid nitrogen, I was thinking about using it for a home version of cryosearing, e.g. for the "perfect hamburguer". Has someone tried it? Any issue I should anticipate?

[Chris Hennes]

I haven't done it, but it's similar to the technique for cryosearing the duck breast they present, so you might have a look at that recipe for pointers.

[Chris Hennes]

For those of you who've made the sous vide lentils... did you assume that the quantity of bay leaves (2g) was for fresh? The entire jar of dried bay weighs in at 3g, and putting in 2/3 of it seemed like an awful lot of bay, so I just put in a couple leaves.

[rotuts]

WoW

you have inspired me to look into SV lentils

unfortunately

here green (FR.) are hard to find in 'bulk"