French and Japanese cooking

[Hiroyuki]

And other suggestions for a sauce for the chicken?

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Hmm... MAYBE...

Soy and mirin sauce with chopped negi (make it spicy with shichimi if you want)

Soy and mirin sauce with grated daikon

Miso and mayo sauce

[chefzadi]

ok so it begins 

going to be doing a dry one of this menu for a few lucky friends this weekend  will take lots of photos and post them.

Just made a lovely pot of chicken stock using my "shuttle chef"

think i would highly recommend it to everyone as it saves so much electricty and time.

Anyway from the stock made a small sample of demi glace, a chicken jus and a rosemary and garlic jus. Out of the three i liked the rosemary jus the most as it had the strongest flavour although unsure how it will got with the chicken shiitake shiso ballotine and wasabi mash? 

And other suggestions for a sauce for the chicken?

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I'd have to taste your version to give a real answer. But theoretically the flavor combinations sound ok. But in French cooking the sauces are not strong.

Soy and mirin sauce with chopped negi (make it spicy with shichimi if you want)

Soy and mirin sauce with grated daikon

Miso and mayo sauce

I don't know about the grated daikon for a British audience. Miso and mayo sounds too casual too me. I have no idea what "negi" is.

[origamicrane]

The portions i'm making are going to be small tasting portions

so going to go for slightly stronger then normal flavour.

btw can I make the ballotine the night before?

as most of the menu i think i can prep several hours in advance

and the only thing i need to cook/attend in situ is the foie and maybe some of the vegs.

[touaregsand]

btw can I make the ballotine the night before?

How are you planning on constructing it, would be miy first question?

[origamicrane]

btw can I make the ballotine the night before?

How are you planning on constructing it, would be miy first question?

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1. debone a medium chicken making sure i don't tear the skin.

2. seperate the brown, white meat and skin.

3. mince the brown meat then mix it with breadcrumbs, shiso, fresh shiitake, fried pancetta, shallots, garlic, salt and pepper.

4. Trim the skin to roughly the size of an A4 sheet.

5. layer the chicken breast horizontally across the skin at a slight slant

6. mould the stuffing into a cylinder and place it on top of the breast.

7. roll it up in to a cylinder, cling film it and into the fridge until i need it.

When i come to bake it i will take it out of the fridge

let i come up to room temp,

then wrap it in a oiled and seasoned muslin and bake off.

The reason i'm not sure if i can make it over night is the fact i got salt in the stuffing worried it will either tighten up the meat or draw out the moisture.

So thinking i might actually go up to step 5 and tuperware everything and assemble when i cook it. What do you think?

also I'm also thinking about lightly marinating the chicken breasts in a little olive oil and a teaspoon of soya, ginger and garlic before assembling the ballotine.

Do you think this might be over the top? Do you think this is a good or bad idea? or the marinade will be too strong? or clash with the stuffing or sauce.

[origamicrane]

just a taster

Rock shrimp sashimi with a kiwi mirin vinegrette

2 ripe kiwi fruit

½ t mirin

4 T rice vinegar

1 T sugar

1 t salt

was actually planning to serve this in a martini glass half filled with the vinegrette

and the prawns half in, a garnish of topiko and a slice of kiwi.

But i don't have any martini glasses

Tuna tataki warm scallops potato crisp and green pea puree with roasted hazelniuts, white truffle oil and balsamic glaze.

Had no foie gras available so used Otoro instead

just salt pepper olive oil and seared.

By the way these photos are just me practising at home

Tomorrow is the actual dry run and some of my friends get to eat it

after all this effort i bloody better get on to that show!!!!

Edited March 19, 2005 by origamicrane (log)

[origamicrane]

Ok had the the dry run last night and it went beautifully

It was one of the easiest cooks i have done for a party of 6 very relaxing as I managed to spead most of the night in the dining room rather then the kitchen!

I also want to thank sizzleteeth, touaregsand, chefzadi and the rest of you for all of your helpful comments and suggestions.

But there is more to discuss, will pick all your brains a little later on

but first some photos with the comments from my taste testers.

1. Rock shrimp sashimi with a kiwi mirin vinaigrette.

Taste : Everyone liked it

Appearance: the girls liked it the guys thought it was pouncy (true).

Comments: better to serve it on a plate then a martini glass.

2. Yuzu miso marinated Black cod.

(sorry about the bad focus)

Taste: They loved it

Appearance: They loved it

Comments:They loved it

3. Tuna tataki, warmed scallops, potato crisp, green pea puree, white truffle oil and balsamic glaze.

( was meant to be foie gras instead of tuna tataki didn;thave time to buy the foie)

Taste: Sizzle you was right they thought the flavour of the scallopes were lost.

Appearance: The liked it

Comments: The Scallops got overpowered by the green pea puree and tuna.

either replace the scallops or replace the green pea puree. I think I might actually half sear the scallop to pronounce the flavour? I guess the foie gras might make it better?

4. Chicken Ballotine with a farcies of pancetta, shallots, shiso, shitake and a rosemary chicken jus.

Sides of sauteed oyster mushroom, baby asparagus, edamame and wasabi mash.

Taste: They loved it

Appearance: They liked it but weren't sure about the appearance of the oyster mushoom.

Comments: Originally I had a large white plate with a tower of mash in the middle, they said it looked like there was too much on the plate and that I should serve the mash as a side. Also they said I might consider have another side dish

in case we had people with big appetities.

BTW a personal comment the chicken is sooooo good with the shiso in !!!

5. Fresh grapefruit with mint ( was meant to be fresh pomelo with a candied cloud)

(couldn't find a pomelo might be out of season

and couldn't find any candy floss either! that might be out of season too!!

but you get the idea)

Taste: They liked it, good palate cleanser.

Appearance: They liked it

Comments: They said it would have looked better with candy floss and some dry ice vapour.

6. Molten Chocolate souffle with ice cream

Taste: unfortunately I overcooked it and it wasn't molten and a little dry but they like it.

Appearance: They liked it but I need some icing sugar rather then caster sugar and I need white vamilla ice cream rather then yellow

Comments: overcooked and dry.

So all in all pretty positive, just have to work on the third dish and to tweak a few little things.

Other comments were

I should put some nibble on the table like italian breadstick, edamame, etc and I should pair wines to the dishes.

So what wine would you pair with each dish?

I don't know much about wine or how to pair with dishes but here are some comments from last night.

I want to start with some good quality cold sake or a saketini with the sashimi

and end with champagne with the souffle to follow the japanese to french theme.

what would you pair with the black cod? a light dry white?

the foie gras? pinot grigio? or should I stick a red in with the foie??

and the chicken? chardonnay?

once again all constructive comments and suggestions welcome.

oh and I will post the full recipes up soon

domo arigato and merci beaucoup

Edited March 21, 2005 by origamicrane (log)

[touaregsand]

Rock shrimp- Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Bourdeaux white (usually a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes).

Yuzu Miso marinated Black Cod- Pinot Gris or Pinot Blanc. A Roussane from the Northern Rhone.

Tuna Tataki - French Colombard, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc

Chicken Ballotine- Syrah, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Grenache

Chocolate Souffle- Muscat or even port.

[touaregsand]

Origami-

So what's the latest word on your experiments?

[origamicrane]

Origami-

So what's the latest word on your experiments?

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well still waiting for the show to let me know if i am on or not so fingers crossed.

I done two practise runs for the menu and come to the conclusion that the foie is nice but really overpowers the other ingredients in the 3rd dish

also foie in the UK is just sooo expensive!!! and i don't think i be heading to France in the near future to stock up

so i decided to swap the foie for unagi eel. I wanted to make this dish the second course and the black cod the third course to build upon the strength of flavours course by course.

But i have found that because i only have one oven and grill combined it makes it very difficult to do this, so i will keep the courses as they are. All the other dishes are pretty much down now.

Not going to use the oyster mushroom with the ballotine as it doesn't look attractive plated up. Instead i will got for a trio of enoki, hon shimeji and shittake mushrooms with the asparagus, and a side of wasabi mash and edamame.

Still looking for a possible vegetarian course in the meal as want to cover as many bases as possible. Thinking of a vegetable terrine as i can premake that and it looks pretty. Or the vegetable spaghetti on puff pastry from Michel Roux Junior book Only The Best. not sure if either will fit in well with the rest of the dishes. Any possible veggy suggestions?

also will post the recipes for all the dishes in a moment

[origamicrane]

Click here for the photos

Sesames Menu #1

( Sesames is the name of the restaurant that i want to open one day )

Will serve 5.

1. Rock Shrimp Sashimi with Kiwi Mirin Vinaigrette

Prep Time: <5 mins

Equipment:

5 small martini glasses

5 forks

Hand Blender

15 Raw Rock Shrimp

1 ripe peeled kiwi fruit

½ t mirin

2 T rice vinegar

1 T castor sugar

1 t salt

Decoration : 5 lemon or kiwi slices and 20 grams topiko flying fish roe

Blend the kiwi, mirin, salt, sugar and vinegar to a puree and divide into the martini glasses. Place the shrimp into the glass and garnish with the kiwi/lemon slice and a sprinkle of topiko.

2. Grilled Yuzu Miso Marinated Black Cod

Prep time: 10 minutes. marinate for >24hour

Cooking time: 10 minutes

5 black cod /sablefish 1 inch fillets

1 shot yuzu miso

1 shot mirin

1 T caster sugar

decoration : 5 cucumber strips

Blend the yuzu miso, mirin and caster sugar then pour over the black cod and marinate for 24 hours, turn the fillets once.

Take out the fillets and gently wipe any excess marinade off the fillets.

Grill on high heat skin side down for 5 minutes then turn skin side up and grill a further 5 minutes. Grilling time will depend on the thickness of the the fillets.

3. Foie Gras Poele, unagi, seared Scallops with Green Pea Puree, Roasted Hazelnuts and potato crisp

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Green pea puree – shallot, peas, salt, pepper, boil and puree

5 Deep fried potato crisp

5 scallops

5 pieces pan fried foie gras or seared tuna or grilled unagi

Roast hazelnut

Truffle oil

Balsamic glaze

Balsamic glaze

1T balsamic vinegar

1T mirin

1t sugar

Into a pan and reduce to syrup.

Green pea puree

1 shallot

5T frozen green peas

salt

pepper

Boil the green peas and shallots for 4 minutes. refresh in cold water and puree with a hand blender season to taste. You can warm it in the microwave when you need it.

Potato crisp

use a round cookie cutter, cut a round out of a potato. Then using a mandoline make 5 thin slices.

Fry in butter until they have a nice golden colour and then into the oven to crisp.

Brush the scallops with garlic and butter and sear on one side with a griddle pan until you have some nice marks.

To assemble stack green pea puree, potato crisp, scallop and the foie or tuna or unagi or all of tehm if you want drizzle the balsamic glaze and truffle oil parrallell to the components.

4. Chicken Ballotine with a Farcies of Kurobuta Pancetta, shiitake, shallots and shiso. Mixed japanese mushrooms asparagus and rosemary jus

Prep time: 45 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes 30 mins@230C unwrap 10 mins@grill

rest 5 minutes

Equipment:

Fillet knife

muslin or cheesecloth

Food processor

Whole small chicken

75g fried Pancetta cubes

5 Fresh shiitake chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 Shallot

5 Shiso leaf

20g white breadcrumbs

Salt/ pepper

soya

Classic ballotine so debone a whole chicken retaining the skin as a whole piece and seperating the white and brown meat.

Take the brown meat and into a food processor with the garlic and mince. Then mix the meat well with the pancetta , shiso, shallots, chopped shittake, breadcrumbs, 1t salt, 1t pepper, 1t soya sauce. roll the stuffing into a cylinder.

Lay the skin out on the table and stretch it out. Layer the breast meat along the length of the chicken skin. Take your stuffing and place it on top of the breasts.

Envelope the breast and stuffing with the skin ( there a full lesson on this in the turducken thread) to make a roll. trim off any excess skin that overlaps.Take a muslin sheet soak with oil and then season the muslin on one side with salt and black pepper. put your ballotine on the seasoned side of the muslin and then just wrap it up trim of any excess muslin and secure with skewers or string. Cook for 30 minutes at 230C then take it out unwrap and then back under a grill to brown the skin. rest 5 minutes and slice.

Mushrooms - saute in garlic butter.

Asparagus - blanch and refresh and wearm through with a littler garlic butter before serving.

Rosemary jus - 500ml good brown chicken stock, 1T chopped rosemary, 1 clove garlic chopped, 1 shallot chopped. Boil this lot on high heat after 10 minute remove the herbs by pouring stock through a tea strainer. Then reduce the stock to a jus.

Sides:

Edamame - boil pod for 4 minutes

Wasabi Mashed Potatoes - 2 large potato boil and mashed. Mix with 2T butter, 1T wasabi, salt and pepper.

5. grapefruit sunset with Candied Clouds

prep 20 minutes

20 leaves of lemon mint

fresh peeled pomelo/pink grapefruit

shredded candy floss

Arrange the wedges into a circle. Put a piece of mint on each segment and then sprinkle the candy floss shreds on top.

6. molten chocolate souffle and green tea ice cream

prep 10 min

cook 8 min @ 220C

equipment

5 ramekins buttered and sugared

60 grams unsalted butter

120 grams +70% cocao chocolate

4 medium eggs at room temp

2 T caster sugar

decoration: icing sugar, mint sprigs, strawberries

melt butter and chocolate together into a ganache.

Whish the 4 eggs and sugar together until it holds its ribbon.

Fold ganache and eggs together.

Pour into the ramekins and bake at 220C for 8 minutes

serve with vanilla or green tea ice cream and decorate with strawberries and a sprinkle of icing sugar.

Edited April 1, 2005 by origamicrane (log)

[origamicrane]

sigh!!

I didn't make it onto the show as i live to far from the other contestants!!!

Sonuvabeach!!!

ho hum! guess i try anotehr show.

[chefzadi]

sigh!!

I didn't make it onto the show as i live to far from the other contestants!!!

Sonuvabeach!!!

ho hum! guess i try anotehr show.

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Well you have a set of dishes now and wines to go with them. Maybe you've even inspired a few readers.

Better luck next time.