Tasting menu - dumbed down version

[Anna N]

I've been reading about the French Laundromat tasting menu done by Really Nice! and three other chefs: this thread

here

and wondered about doing a much reduced (both skill-wise and cost-wise) and with only one cook - me!

I'd like to introduce me and The Dane to some new foods/flavours but in very small doses as we are not that adventuresome.

On Friday or sometimes Saturday nights we have a special meal with candlelight and wine and the whole works. Usually nothing more than an appetizer, an entree and a dessert. But I got to thinking that a selection of say 10 tiny courses drawn from a variety of cuisines could be a whole lot of fun.

Bear in mind that cost is an issue - we eat cheaply all week to splurge on one meal. And that exotic ingredients are a no-no. We live in suburbia and even fish sauce is pretty hard to find.And I'm no Thomas Keller!!

I thought an international selection would be fun - a bit Indian, a bit Chinese, a bit Thai, etc. etc.

I could spend all of Saturday shopping or cooking but want to spend most of the meal with The Dane - that's the whole idea of one special meal a week - catch up time for conversation.

What do you think - am I nuts? Could I pull it off? Any suggestions for the various dishes?

[Double 0]

Yes you can and no you're not nuts. How about a tapas menu. Some good olives in oil. Some thin sliced Jambon. Maybe a small stew of mussels, clams and sausage. Maybe some fallafel and lamb sausage. yougart with cucumber. Good bread with bean puree. Shrimp in garlic sauce. most of this stuff can be done in advance so you can have time with your man. The list goes on and on. Do some research on the internet and have a great time.

[torakris]

Anna,

That is such a great idea! I actually do something very similar with a friend of mine.

We both love to cook ( and to eat!) however between us we have 8 kids uder the age of six, so preparing "gourmet" meals for dinner is really out of the question. Although the kids are adventurous eaters there is the time and money factor.

Soooo, we get together every other Thursday from 9:00 to 2:00 (we each only have one baby at this time) and create a meal. Usually an appetizer or soup, a main dish, possibly a bread, and always a dessert. The person who is hosting that week decides the menu and does the shopping (we split the cost of ingredients).

Sometimes we stick with one cuisine or times we focus on one particular chef or cookbook. It is really a lot of fun to browse through cookbooks and look for recipes, I have even pulled recipes from egullet! We usually fax a copy of the recipes to the other person so we can both read them through and have an idea of how to proceed and in what order.

[Fish]

I've been reading about the French Laundromat tasting menu done by Really Nice! and three other chefs: this thread

here

As one of the 3 other cooks Really Nice mentions, my advice is basically "keep it simple". Lots of dishes = lots (and lots!) of work. I "only" had 3 courses (admittedly a single French Laundry recipe is pretty complex: I'd never made anything involving as much work as those darn agnolotti) but they were enough to keep me busy for more than an entire day of cooking. Pick your recipes carefully. Read them several times, and get a good idea of what you're going to need. Plan very well, do as much as possible in advance, and plan to spend a lot of time preparing and cooking: we spent 11 hours eating and doing final preparation. Give yourself time between courses to recover. As for costs, the things which cost a lot were: truffles, lobster, caviar and beef. Use the expensive stuff in moderation, and your costs should be manageable.

That said, it was an incredible experience, definitely *the* highlight of my cooking career, one which I doubt I'll ever be able to top. Go for it ! And write about it for us.

One of these days we'll have to do a proper write-up of the French Laundromat meal. Stay tuned for our next effort !

- S

[Anna N]

Yes you can and no you're not nuts. How about a tapas menu. Some good olives in oil. Some thin sliced Jambon. Maybe a small stew of mussels, clams and sausage. Maybe some fallafel and lamb sausage. yougart with cucumber.  Good bread with bean puree. Shrimp in garlic sauce. most of this stuff can be done in advance so you can have time with your man. The list goes on and on. Do some research on the internet and have a great time.

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm browsing my cookbook collection, egullet and the internet, making some notes and seeing what I can come up with. I like the idea of a small mussel stew and the garlic shrimp idea.

[Anna N]

Anna,

That is such a great idea! I actually do something very similar with a friend of mine.

We both love to cook ( and to eat!) however between us we have 8 kids uder the age of six, so preparing "gourmet" meals for dinner is really out of the question.  Although the kids are adventurous eaters there is the time and money factor.

Soooo, we get together every other Thursday from 9:00 to 2:00 (we each only have one baby at this time) and create a meal. Usually an appetizer or soup, a main dish, possibly a bread, and always a dessert. The person who is hosting that week decides the menu and does the shopping (we split the cost of ingredients).

Sometimes we  stick with one cuisine or times we focus on one particular chef or cookbook. It is really a lot of fun to browse through cookbooks and look for recipes, I have even pulled recipes from egullet! We usually fax a copy of the recipes to the other person so we can both read them through and have an idea of how to proceed and in what order.

What a great idea. Don't have any friends who are into cooking at present but used to do an Internationl dinner once a month with our best friends. But that was many years ago and we didn't know that International crossed any European borders!!!

The idea of sharing the cooking as well as the eating is so exciting. That part I envy - eight kids between you- no thanks! I raised three all born in less than three years and that period of my life is just a blur!

Many thanks for the encouragement. I will let you know how it all pans out.

[Anna N]

I've been reading about the French Laundromat tasting menu done by Really Nice! and three other chefs: this thread

here

As one of the 3 other cooks Really Nice mentions, my advice is basically "keep it simple". Lots of dishes = lots (and lots!) of work. I "only" had 3 courses (admittedly a single French Laundry recipe is pretty complex: I'd never made anything involving as much work as those darn agnolotti) but they were enough to keep me busy for more than an entire day of cooking. Pick your recipes carefully. Read them several times, and get a good idea of what you're going to need. Plan very well, do as much as possible in advance, and plan to spend a lot of time preparing and cooking: we spent 11 hours eating and doing final preparation. Give yourself time between courses to recover. As for costs, the things which cost a lot were: truffles, lobster, caviar and beef. Use the expensive stuff in moderation, and your costs should be manageable.

That said, it was an incredible experience, definitely *the* highlight of my cooking career, one which I doubt I'll ever be able to top. Go for it ! And write about it for us.

One of these days we'll have to do a proper write-up of the French Laundromat meal. Stay tuned for our next effort !

- S

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I hope you add to the story.

I wouldn't even attempt anything nearly so complex but I would have loved to have been there to see you all doing it! And staying long enough to taste it!

Mine will be much, much simpler and much, much more mundane, but if I can just stretch the two of us to move beyond the usual then I will be content.

Look forward to more of your experiences on egullet.

[Jinmyo]

I just thought I'd mention that it's actually "The French Laundry".

There are many interesting reports and discussion of FL and Keller in several places on the California board, by the way.

[Jonathan Day]

Yes, but wouldn't it be fun if there were a restaurant called "The French Laundromat"?

It could serve ultra-haute cuisine in those vending machines with little windows, like the old Horn and Hardarts.

[Simon Majumdar]

great idea

For the Indian dishes stick to simple finger food such as Pakora and Bhajia with raita and sambal

S

[Jon Tseng]

Oh yes, eminently do-able

A couple of tips:

i) Plan ahead - I don't go as far as critical whatchamacallit but I do break each dish down into individual tasks eg make a salad, make a sauce, prep a fish, make pasta dough and write these down. Then I just work through the list til everythings done

ii) You'll have to do lots of stuff ahead (and this is positively recommended) ie figure on prep of at least an afternoon, and more likely all Sat for Sat evening.

iii) Seperate the hot courses with cold ones so you don't spend all the time rushing around the stove (also helps out if the hot courses need a longer time to prepare). Better still minimise the number of hot courses - one or two is quite enough, especially if you're messing around with salads or cold puddings &tc

iv) Figure out what's cooking in terms of hobs, ovens &tc ie if two dishes need different temperatures can't be done at once! Try for something in the oven, something on the grill, a couple of things on top &tc

v) Make sure you're eating in the kitchen, not a seperate living/dining room! Otherwise it could be quite a lonely meal given the extra stove-time demanded during the meal!

cheerio

J

[Bux]

I just thought I'd mention that it's actually "The French Laundry".

There are many interesting reports and discussion of FL and Keller in several places on the California board, by the way.

Without checking out the link, I just assumed the French Laundromat was a reference to a do it your self take off on dinner at the French Laundry. I think six or eight courses is a lot of work for one person cooking for two. It would be easy if you had access to good precooked foods or no cook foods. I can't imagine it without many of the courses being served at room temperature or cold, so that they can be cooked ahead of time. Simple salads such as marinated mushrooms or mushrooms cooked a la greque will keep for a few days so you can knock them off during the week if necessary and have them ready on the weekend. A hot soup can be made ahead and reheated without too much attention.

[malarkey]

I just thought I'd mention that it's actually "The French Laundry".

Without checking out the link, I just assumed the French Laundromat was a reference to a do it your self take off on dinner at the French Laundry.

*ding* we have a winner. you are right Bux. We called it Laundromat as a satirical take-off. And yes, I was one of the 4 chefs. It was a blast. and yes, Fish isn't lying, it was an 11 hour marathon. After the lobster dish, 2 of us HAD to go for a long walk, or I was gonna burst.

[Really Nice!]

Here's the wine list from the Laundromat dinner. In case you didn't see the other post, the photos from the dinner are here.

Wine: Charles Heidsieck Brut Champagne 1990

Dish: Salmon Tartar Cornet with Red Onion Crème Fraîche

Dish: Cauliflower “Panna Cotta”with Malpeque Oyster Glaze and Osetra Caviar

Dish: White Truffle Oil—Infused Custardwith Black Truffle Ragout and Chive “Chip”

Wine: Puligny Montrachet Sylvain et Nahalie 1st Cru Contrôlée 2000

Dish: Blini with Roasted Sweet Peppers and Eggplant Caviar

Dish: Carrot Soup with Cream and Lulu White Truffle—Infused Clover Honey

Wine: Château d'Yquem 1990

Dish: Pan Seared Moulard Duck Foie Gras with Apples and Black Truffles

Wine: Puligny Montrachet (Continued)

Dish: Chestnut Agnolotti with Fontina and Celery Root Purée

Wine: Witness Tree Benchmark Pinot Noir 1997

Dish: Salmon “Chops” with Celery and Black Truffles

Dish: Butter Poached Stonington, Maine Lobster with Leeks, Pommes Maxim, and a Red Beet Essence

Wine: Château Lafite Rothschild 1983

Dish: “Yabba Dabba Do” Roasted Rib Steak with Chanterelles, Pommes Anna, and Bordelaise Sauce

Dish: Chaource with Comice Pears, Clove—Scented Oil, and Lola Rossa

Wine: Porto Rocho 1963

Dish: “Coffee and Doughnuts” Cappuccino Semifreddo with Cinnamon—Sugar Doughnuts

Dish: Meyer Lemon Sabayon Pine Nut Tart with Fireweed Honeyed—Mascarpone Cream

Anna, as Fish says, preparation is key. Read that one paragraph in my post about Mis en Place. Preparing for dinner as well as staying organized makes or breaks the experience. Also, I'm sure you've heard of, "Clean as you go." But you also need to "Put away as you go" to keep the sink area from becoming the bottle neck. If you can start preparing a few days in advance, that'll help. If you want to make it simple, try keeping the ingredient list to a minimum. For example:

Roast chicken: brine the chicken in kosher salt, season with pepper and roast.

Potatoes: peel and soak in a large amount water overnight; spin dry in salad spinner; season and roast with melted butter and rosemary.

Asparagus: get the pencil thin stuff; blanch and chill in ice water to stop cooking. Sear in a skillet and serve with a quick hollandaise sauce (if you can't make your own, buy an envelope of it in the spice aisle--nothing wrong with that!).

.

.

.

Planning is key!

Good luck and let us know how it went.

[Jinmyo]

Oh, I see.

That's amazing. The photographs are spectacular.

[Anna N]

Thanks to all of you for you support and encouragement.

I have printed out this topic as the first part of a "project" file and am adding recipes that seem "doable" but which I want to pre-test first - I can use my Tuesdays to do some cooking and still surprise The Dane on the big day. Obviously, that means it will be a few weeks away.

Two at most three hot dishes - perhaps one that can be made ahead and re-heated without losing any quality and two last minute things - such as sauteed shrimp - a few minutes in the kitchen is all that will take.

Two desserts - both make ahead will take some pressure off also.

Bearing in mind that The Dane scorns all vegetables except shiitake mushrooms and raw carrots, it will be a challenge to add veggies to the menu - suspect my best bet will be a salad.

Simon: Since veggies are pretty much out, I thought perhaps a grilled kebab would work as the Indian component.

Jon: Yes, I will make some notes on what can go in the oven and what on the stove top. Sorry can't do the eat-in kitchen idea - I have a galley kitchen with less than the proverbial room to swing a cat. But the dining room is at one end so I won't be isolated so much.

Really Nice!: Yes, Mis en Place will be a biggy including the serving dishes and cutlery on hand. I already have to deal with the problem of filling the sink up and keep a dish pan under the sink to hold dirty dishes and a large container to hold dirty cutlery. I also adapted Rachel's (30 minute meals) idea of a garbage bowl during prep - I keep two clean styofoam trays beside my cutting board - one for garbage and one for stock possibilities.

So I am very excited and will keep everyone posted on things as they develop. I just got the good news that The Dane is working both Saturday and Sunday next week so there's more time I can test out ideas. Two whole days!

Once again, thanks to all for your encouragement and advice.

Anna

[Jinmyo]

Anna, are photographs a possibility?

[Anna N]

Anna, are photographs a possibility?

I have no experience in that sort of photography and no digital camera. The Dane might be willing to have a go though. He's done a bit of photography but not sure we have the necessary lighting. I make no promises but will certainly do my best.

[Jinmyo]

That would be great. I don't have a digital camera either.

In any case, continuing to post on this adventure will be interesting.

[malarkey]

absolutely. we want to hear all about it Anna!

[Anna N]

absolutely. we want to hear all about it Anna!

Update:

We did a trial run with camera over the weekend and the film will go in for developing this week.

My "cooking weekend" just got bumped off the dial! Two days have to be spent getting the apartment ready for re-decorating! Place will be a disaster as we are doing kitchen, living room, dining room and hall! Help!

Am still collecting recipes and ideas and lying sleepless at night thinking about "plating" - what I know about this is zilch! Am collecting photos from magazines (and egullet!) and trying to imagine how I can use the tableware I own - can't afford to go out and buy new. Besides - I like what I have!

Did a couple of dry runs of stuff I'd like to try - a Thai curry - not bad - not great but potential is there. Fried some papadums for first time - think I might be addicted - don't know if I will incorporate these yet. Have pretty much mastered making "cheese" bowls for salad and think this will appear somewhere.

Having lots of fun - wish you were ALL here - you could help cook and grab a paint brush while you're at it!

[Jinmyo]

Anna's got a squeeze bottle

now she don't sleep at night...

Plating is very important. And much fun.

Even more fun is developing flavour/colour/texture profiles coherently throughout the meal as a whole.

Have you ever seen the actual French Laundry cookbook? The photographs are really thought-provoking.

[Anna N]

Anna's got a squeeze bottle

now she don't sleep at night...

Plating is very important. And much fun.

Even more fun is developing flavour/colour/texture profiles coherently throughout the meal as a whole.

Have you ever seen the actual French Laundry cookbook? The photographs are really thought-provoking.

No, Jinmyo, I have never seen the French Laundry Cookbook.

Essentially we are not "French Laundry" people - peasants - said with neither arrogance nor humility. It's just who we are.

Having said that, I find it all very interesting and amusing in a nice way.

Once we aspired to become something more and spent a small fortune to have a romantic weekend at a high class Ontario country inn. After two days of emu stuffed with strange and wonderful concoctions and wild game appetizers we were enormously glad that we could only afford two days there!

If this were a competition and I were to be offered a prize for pulling it off and egulleteers showed me three doors:

Behind Door#1 - an all-expenses-paid meal at the French Laundry complete with appropriate wine selections.

Behind Door #2 - a curry cooked by Suvir and served with some warm Indian flatbread and an icy cold beer

Behind Door #3 - a pig roast done by one of the egulleteer BBQ champs with all the crackling I could eat

I would teeter between doors 2 and 3!

If I pull this tasting menu off and most of the dishes are tasty and interesting, neither The Dane nor I will ask when we can do it again. But we will want to know when we can return to a bowl of home made soup and a cheese sandwich.

As Browning said: "A man's reach must exceed his grasp\Else what's a heaven for?" But my heaven is not what I reach but what I can then return to.

Having said all this, if the cookbook happens to be on my library shelf (not likely!) I will certainly check it out. I love to look at well-plated food providing it isn't unapproachable.

Thanks for you continued interest in this experiment of mine.