eG Foodblog: BryanZ - Alchemy

[alanamoana]

Does anyone know what kulfi is?  It seemed like a richer, thicker, more frozen version of vanilla ice cream.

traditionally it is milk and sugar cooked and cooked and cooked (but slowly, over a low heat so there's no caramelization) until it is reduced down and then still frozen (meaning not churned). so it shouldn't freeze too hard because there is so much sugar in it. it should be almost chewy like a good gelato. a pretty standard indian dessert from what i understand. the original pastry chef at tabla was so awesome! she moved to california and worked for daniel patterson for a while and then at the raw restaurant (i think called roxanne's or something like that). her kulfi was to die for. don't know if it has changed, this was back in 1999 when i staged there for a day.

Shake Shack is exactly what the name suggests.  It's a shack in the middle of the park that sells burgers, frozen custard, and other American streetfood staples.  This place is ridiculously crowded, always.  I'll confess that I've never eaten there, but I can't quite see what the big deal is.

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well, i'm not going to extoll the virtues of the shack here as there's a huge thread about it in the new york forum...but i will say that their burgers are delicious and if you like ice cream, their frozen custards will knock you down. creamy richness, too thick to be a shake but too oozy to be on an ice cream cone, chunks of whatever goodness you love swirled in...hmmmm...perfect for a muggy new york summer day. sometimes it is a "you had to be there kind of place"...just perfect in the park, people watching...like the ambiance of a four star restaurant...

today's restaurant week lunches looked really good brian. is your girl from nj as well?

Edited July 13, 2006 by alanamoana (log)

[BryanZ]

Summer in the Northeast is known for its rapidly changing weather, specifically squall-like thunder storms.

We began our walk 40 blocks north in a light drizzle. "We're young," we thought, "A little rain never hurt anyone." Unfortunately, we forgot that a lot of rain can wreak havoc on travel and dining plans.

By the time the rain had truly started, cabs were nowhere in sight and the subway lines we needed were far out of the way. We also were fooled into thinking that the storm would quickly pass, that it would ease up, but no such thing happened.

Sharing one travel sized umbrella we trekked onward through this

On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the drizzle earlier in the day and 10 being the worst we experienced on our journey) this picture represents about a 6. I've rarely seen rain, thunder, and lightning this powerfully while in the city.

Needless to say were soaked for the rest of the evening.

Finally, after finding a subway to take us almost to our destination, we arrived for our reservation right on time. We were to join the Mother and the Sister, but the weather delayed their progress through the Lincoln Tunnel. To make matters worse, the car's trip computer read zero miles until empty two miles before they even enterted the tunnel. In order to conserve gas they put the car in neutral while taking advantage of the tunnel's natural downward gradient. All things considered, they made it without running out of gas in the tunnel so their trip was a relative success.

While waiting for them to arrive at JoJo, Jean-George Vongerichten's first restaurant and our dinner spot, I profusely apologized to just about the whole front of the house for the Girlfriend's and my soaked clothing and our missing dining companions. Needless to say, many drinks were ordered while we were occupying the table, waiting for the others.

An hour late, they arrived, and we began to eat. I had placed everyone's order toward the end of my second glass of wine, so the food was ready and waiting when they arrived. I was too stressed to read the menu in any detail so my descriptions are very vague.

Tuna roll

This was kind of like a good fusion sushi roll. Generally I hate this kind of thing but here it worked. Between the pastry and the tuna were little slices of ginger that added bright, acidic flavors

Goat cheese terrine

Sirloin steak, mushrooms, white asparagus

This dish also featured the strong flavors and vinegar and salt that JG is well known for.

Slow-cooked salmon, tomatoes, corn puree

Seriously, I should rename this blog "The Chronicles of Corn Puree." This was sweeter and "cornier" than smoked version I've had over the past two days.

Warm Vahlrona chocolate cake

The cake heard round the world. This is the inspiration for every "hot, molten, lava, souffle, melting, flourless, exploding" chocolate cake we've all every had. I know I've had about fifty separate iterations. I'm sure many of you are all the same.

Considering the events of the afternoon this was a nice meal in a classy, charming setting. The sister wanted a snack after this meal (she didn't have lunch), and while the idea of Korean BBQ was quickly mentioned (to which I even more quickly said no on the grounds of extreme fullness), she made a quick stop by at Bouchon Bakery to pick up another CB&J. My mother and I drove around Columbus Circle multiple times in the interim.

And that was the day.

[BryanZ]

Does anyone know what kulfi is?  It seemed like a richer, thicker, more frozen version of vanilla ice cream.

traditionally it is milk and sugar cooked and cooked and cooked (but slowly, over a low heat so there's no caramelization) until it is reduced down and then still frozen (meaning not churned). so it shouldn't freeze too hard because there is so much sugar in it. it should be almost chewy like a good gelato. a pretty standard indian dessert from what i understand. the original pastry chef at tabla was so awesome! she moved to california and worked for daniel patterson for a while and then at the raw restaurant (i think called roxanne's or something like that). her kulfi was to die for. don't know if it has changed, this was back in 1999 when i staged there for a day.

today's restaurant week lunches looked really good brian. is your girl from nj as well?

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Thanks for the kulfi information. It was exactly as you described.

Thank you for the kind words, I thought the pictures were better today, too.

The Girlfriend is from New Jersey. We went to high school together, she now goes to Brown.

[yunnermeier]

Wow, that all looks amazing, Bryan!

I wish my parents and boyfriend were more interested in food. My parents are but they'll only ever eat Malaysian food and Malaysianised western food.

My boyfriend (Dutch)... is a disgustingly habitual creature who eats spaghetti but only spaghetti meat sauce from a Knorr packet and Dutch food (ie meat and potatos).

I'd love to try some good restaurants here in the Netherlands *sigh*

[Pan]

About 20 years ago, I guess it was, JoJo was my family's favorite restaurant in New York. We haven't been there in quite some time now. How do you rate it by comparison with other New York restaurants you like?

[bavila]

I'm interested to see Eleven Madison Park. I went there during a restaurant week in October of 2001 (it was a let's-go-drop-cash-on-the-NY-economy trip after the attacks). It was great. And a great deal!

[BryanZ]

About 20 years ago, I guess it was, JoJo was my family's favorite restaurant in New York. We haven't been there in quite some time now. How do you rate it by comparison with other New York restaurants you like?

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The space itself is more charming than I had imagined. It really has some character, I think. In terms of the food, it's obviously not as cutting edge as it was at its birth. Based on my tastes, my favorite Jean-Georges-"lite" restaurant is Perry Street. The food there is more modern and smarter. Still, JoJo does accurately portray many of the key aspects of Jean-Georges' cooking.

I'm interested to see Eleven Madison Park.  I went there during a restaurant week in October of 2001 (it was a let's-go-drop-cash-on-the-NY-economy trip after the attacks).  It was great.  And a great deal!

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Unfortunately, 11MP won't be making it into this blog. While I've always enjoyed the place, it's more of a place you take out-of-town friends or perhaps your grandmother In many ways, the food was seconddary to the space and hospitality, but somehow that was OK. A few months ago they hired a new chef who more or less turned the kitchen upside down. The events are noted in great detail in the 11MP thread in the New York forum. Anyway, the food seems to have really improved, so I'm interested to get a teaser next week during Restaurant Week part deux.

Today, we cook. Lunch will be a significantly non-traditional affair. I'm trying a bunch of new things so you're just as likely to see failures as successes, but that's life. Dinner will be more of a summer family-style meal, hopefully eaten on our patio if it doesn't rain.

[MarketStEl]

The Girlfriend is from New Jersey.  We went to high school together, she now goes to Brown.

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An excuse to visit Providence! Beating Chris Amirault to the punch, I would strongly encourage you to use this excuse to do so and see what might just be the coolest small metropolis on the East Coast.

Having seen it back when the river that runs through the middle of downtown was still one huge parking deck ("the world's widest bridge," begun sometime in the late 1700s and expanded by accretion until it covered the entire river sometime in the 1950s), I can tell you that downtown Providence's transformation is nothing short of astounding--and they've done it beautifully. If you can, visit either late in the spring term or early in the fall term, when they light the fires in the river on <mumble> nights.

Of course, you will have to have a "New York System" wiener when you're there. Ask Chris how they got that name.

[Tess]

That tuna roll at JoJo does look good. How do they do that-- it must be an assembly job?

[MarketStEl]

You bring up some very good points.  I find most portioning in American restaurants to be heinous.  I guess I'm spoiled, but I have a VERY hard time ordering a la carte at even top restaurants.  I'm a huge believer in Thomas Keller's application of the theory of diminishing returns to food.  For me, the ideal portion size is probably five small bites.  Keller says three or four, but I like maybe one more to really seal the deal, so to speak. 

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Expanding on this with some more anecdotal evidence to weigh:

I'm a big fan of Buffalo wings, and a pub around the corner from me on Walnut Street happens to serve Philly's best. And unlike a lot of places that serve wing segments (probably from a big bag of IQF wing segments), this place serves whole wings.

Eight of them in a regular order (their only size), for $7.95.

Time was when I polished off an entire plateful of these in one sitting. On my two most recent visits to Moriarty's--both of them since starting to exercise regularly in Widener's fitness center--I've only been able to finish four. The other four end up either in roommates' or friends' stomachs or as a late-night munchie.

Now, I don't know whether this is due to the exercise changing my metabolism or my appetite, or something else, but I do know that eight whole wings is actually a lot of chicken, enough for two to share.

[Sneakeater]

FWIW, I find I eat MUCH less when I'm exercising regularly.

[mizducky]

Summer in the Northeast is known for its rapidly changing weather, specifically squall-like thunder storms.

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Oh god. You've just reminded me of a time, a few decades ago, when my music-lover friends and I had made our annual pilgrimage to Tanglewood (for those not familiar, the beautiful outdoor concert venue in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts where the Boston Symphony makes its summer home). Everyone was well along in the traditional pre-concert picnic when--you guessed it--one of those Northeast summer thunder-squalls materialized out of nowhere. For about 30 solid minutes it was like God had turned on the big-ass water spigot. I mean, you'd have needed gills to breathe out there. Oh, and the lightning and thunder! Man, you never saw people run for cover so fast. But they didn't forget their food!

You bring up some very good points.  I find most portioning in American restaurants to be heinous.  I guess I'm spoiled, but I have a VERY hard time ordering a la carte at even top restaurants.  I'm a huge believer in Thomas Keller's application of the theory of diminishing returns to food.  For me, the ideal portion size is probably five small bites.  Keller says three or four, but I like maybe one more to really seal the deal, so to speak. 

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Expanding on this with some more anecdotal evidence to weigh:

I'm a big fan of Buffalo wings, and a pub around the corner from me on Walnut Street happens to serve Philly's best. And unlike a lot of places that serve wing segments (probably from a big bag of IQF wing segments), this place serves whole wings.

Eight of them in a regular order (their only size), for $7.95.

Time was when I polished off an entire plateful of these in one sitting. On my two most recent visits to Moriarty's--both of them since starting to exercise regularly in Widener's fitness center--I've only been able to finish four. The other four end up either in roommates' or friends' stomachs or as a late-night munchie.

Now, I don't know whether this is due to the exercise changing my metabolism or my appetite, or something else, but I do know that eight whole wings is actually a lot of chicken, enough for two to share.

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Time was when I'd have been one of the people sniffing at the teensy portions at high-end restaurants, making smart-ass remarks wondering where the rest of my dinner had gotten to. But as my recent weight-loss thang has progressed, my appetite has shrunk. I mean, it feels like my stomach has literally shrunk--I can't put away the amounts I used to, because I actually start feeling uncomfortably full a whole lot sooner. So now those petite portions, especially as part of a multi-course meal, actually make sense to me. Funny how that works.

(Edited to fix randomnesses)

Edited July 13, 2006 by mizducky (log)

[Eilen]

Since there are constant alarms in the press about the rising tide of obesity in the US, and plenty of discussions here and elsewhere about just what is responsible for it--everything from fat to high-fructose corn syrup to carbs in general to Auto Age suburban development has come under the gun--might a campaign to get restaurants to downsize their portions have a bigger effect on reversing this trend?

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Have you seen this article? The government requested and funded a study on obesity prepared by the Keystone Center. A quote:

The government is trying to enlist the help of the nation's eateries in fighting obesity. One of the first things on their list: cutting portion sizes.

Not quite a campaign yet, but it seems to be headed in that direction.

BryanZ, just wanted to let you know that I'm enjoying your blog as much as everyone else. If you have the chance, could you talk a bit more about being young and in love with food? What I would really like to know is if you and "the Girlfriend" are pretty much the lone foodies in your age group (and your personal circle of friends), or if other young twenty-somethings also take an interest like you both do. It seems in my (late twenties) age group, hardly anyone even knows how cook nor do they care about eating well when dining out. Thanks!

[tupac17616]

Creamy polenta, wild mushrooms, truffle reduction

A Scott Conant classic.  Nothing new here but so unbelievably tasty that it hurts.  I'm not sure if others get this feeling but there are times when a dish just tastes so good that you can feel it in the back of your eyes.  This dish was like that.

Fresh pasta, tomatoes, basil

Another Scott Conant classic.  I include this dish not because it looks all that great or anything, but because it represents an incredibly simple dish done very, very well.

That simple dish of polenta (which I had at L'Impero...still need to try Alto) remains among the best dishes I've had anywhere in the city. It really is unbelievable.

And I remember having that fresh spaghetti with tomatoes and basil there, too. My friends' reactions changed from asking me what I was thinking ordering a plate of basic spaghetti & tomato sauce that cost that much, to begging me to let them have another small bite.

[BryanZ]

BryanZ, just wanted to let you know that I'm enjoying your blog as much as everyone else.  If you have the chance, could you talk a bit more about being young and in love with food?  What I would really like to know is if you and "the Girlfriend" are pretty much the lone foodies in your age group (and your personal circle of friends), or if other young twenty-somethings also take an interest like you both do.  It seems in my (late twenties) age group, hardly anyone even knows how cook nor do they care about eating well when dining out.  Thanks!

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I suppose I should start off by saying that I'm very thankful for the opportunities I've been afforded. I've been able to eat at places and try things that some people can only dream of. Even if I am paying for many of my own meals, it's because my parents are able to provide for me in most other regards.

With that said, many of my friends (especially from high school) are in similar situations, they just choose other passions or diversions. One of my good friends travels to Europe each year with his family to eat exclusively at two- and three-star restaurants where his extended family has been dining for decades, another has an apartment in the Trump International meaning he's only an elevator ride away from Jean-Georges. Despite their experiences, they only appreciate food as "good" but aren't true foodies in any sense of the word. I think being friends with me requires some respect toward food or at least an open mind, and when my friends are with me they do appreciate my love for food. Especially at school, dining out on a weekend with a large group of my friends has become a significant part of my college experience. While I've yet to meet anyone my age as obsessed with food as I am, I think I do a fair job of getting them to see the light. I recognize that sometimes I come off as pretentious or even spoiled, but in the end people see my love is genuine, and they therefore take something away from it.

[BryanZ]

Lunch today was a lengthy and experimental affair.

For those unfamiliar with sous vide, here's a quick rundown.

Making the bags with the FoodSaver

Duck breast in the "baby" water bath at 55C

After three to four hours, it looks like this.

You finish with a quick pan sear. I used the induction burner with a cast iron skillet today. It's soooo fast.

The first course today was shrimp noodles, a dish popularized by Wylie Dufresne at wd~50. The noodles are made of pure shrimp and are bound with transglutaminase, a meat protein binding enzyme

Activa brand transglutaminase

The shrimp and Activa food processed into a fine paste.

I flavored this with salt, soy sauce, and a bit of sake. It was subtle but nice.

Extruding

I made this shiboriki from items at Home Depot. A shiboriki is a Japanese kitchen tool used to extrude seafood noodles. In the traditional recipe the noodles are bound with egg whites.

Preparation for dessert included adding grapes and cherries into my iSi whipper, then charging the chamber with a CO2 cartridge. Afterwards we had a big bowl of carbonated fruit. Carbonated fruit is my new thing; it's very, very cool.

Carbonated fruit

Notice the bubbles. I had the fruit "charging" for a few hours in the fridge.

Plating

Shrimp noodles, tomato-horseradish emulsion, nori strips

Another plating, this time in an ice shot glass to greater emphasize the "shrimp cocktail" vibe

Duck breast cuit sous vide, pinot noir vanilla glaze, slow-roasted vanilla pickled plum, plum syrup

"Champagne cocktail" - Carbonated grapes and cherries, whipped cream, shaved chocolate

By the way, I used some xanthan gum to slightly thicken the glaze for the duck

I love this stuff.

I can talk more about the food from lunch if anyone is interested. Right now I have to run on an errand.

[alanamoana]

i've always liked the shrimp/seafood noodle idea, but how is the texture? it seems that with such a thin noodle and with shrimp being the way it is, it would be a bit rubbery...does the transglutaminase eliminate the issues with texture or is it solely a binding agent.

i love the carbonated fruit idea. you just dump the fruit into the isi chamber and charge it with CO2? i assume you discharge the gas before opening it to remove the fruit?! it just sounds simple and delicious, particularly if the fruit is already sweet like red grapes tend to be.

great lunch bryan. looking forward to dinner.

by the way, your trip to california sounds rather ambitious. bouchon for lunch and gary danko for dinner or the other way around? either way, you're looking at some serious driving that day , but seeing your restaurant week stamina i should know by now that you're more than able to handle it! food or driving...

if you haven't had in-n-out burger, you should definitely get some on your way up from LA...good road trip food (then again, with your view on shake shack, it might not be on your agenda ).

when you pass by the san jose area, give a wave out the window...i'll be waiting for your final blog posts!

[Shalmanese]

How did you make the shot glasses? I've been trying to figure out the best way to make ice serving vessels. But even with boiling and purified water, I still get unsightly bulges in the middle of my molds and unmolding is a major pain.

I would like to carve them but my freezer doesn't get cold enough for them to stay frozen long enough to carve.

[Hiroyuki]

In the traditional recipe the noodles are bound with egg whites.

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How does your version differ from the traditional one in texture?

[Kouign Aman]

posted by alanamoan:

if you haven't had in-n-out burger, you should definitely get some on your way up from LA...good road trip food (then again, with your view on shake shack, it might not be on your agenda  ).

I confess, I do not, after repeated samples, understand the fan-base for In-n-Out burgers. And their fries are simply a shame. I do have a fondness for their shakes, and their willingness to grill onions for the burgers, and I promise to try a burger animal-style, but after 30 years of eating there intermittently, I still dont comprehend the rave reviews.

Its a lot of fun seeing the results of playing with all your pretty toys. How did it all taste? Were you pleased? What would you change, if anything, for next time? What other fruit have you tried carbonating?

[bavila]

Re: baby bath at 55 degrees -- is the vacuum providing protection from microbial growth in the temperature danger zone for that long? I always thought of sous vide as sort of a parcooking method, not an extended prep method.

[H. du Bois]

My god, Bryan, that lunch looks amazing. You have a great sense of presentation as well - not everyone who cooks well can plate beautifully.

Question about dry aging the beef - is it refrigerated while aging, or does it lurk on the counter in its wrap?

Sorry you got soaked yesterday - it was a deluge. Bravo to you for keeping up with your schedule nonetheless.

And I still keep thinking about your Earl Grey creation.

[BryanZ]

i've always liked the shrimp/seafood noodle idea, but how is the texture?  it seems that with such a thin noodle and with shrimp being the way it is, it would be a bit rubbery...does the transglutaminase eliminate the issues with texture or is it solely a binding agent.

The shrimp noodle bites exactly like a really thin shrimp would. If anything, it's more meaty than rubbery, and not all that "pasta-like".

i love the carbonated fruit idea.  you just dump the fruit into the isi chamber and charge it with CO2?  i assume you discharge the gas before opening it to remove the fruit?!  it just sounds simple and delicious, particularly if the fruit is already sweet like red grapes tend to be.

I must admit I lifted the idea straight from ideasinfood. I had thought you needed a big pressure chamber to properly carbonate foodstuffs, but then they made a quick post about the merits of carbonated cherries. They didn't explain the method, but yes, you're understanding is right. Fruit in the chamber, seal, charge, "steep/marinate," discharge, open chamber, enjoy!

by the way, your trip to california sounds rather ambitious.  bouchon for lunch and gary danko for dinner or the other way around?  either way, you're looking at some serious driving that day , but seeing your restaurant week stamina i should know by now that you're more than able to handle it!  food or driving...

if you haven't had in-n-out burger, you should definitely get some on your way up from LA...good road trip food (then again, with your view on shake shack, it might not be on your agenda  ).

I'm very excited for the trip. I've actually never been to In-N-Out but have heard great things from friends. Naturally, it's on the list.

How did you make the shot glasses? I've been trying to figure out the best way to make ice serving vessels. But even with boiling and purified water, I still get unsightly bulges in the middle of my molds and unmolding is a major pain.

I would like to carve them but my freezer doesn't get cold enough for them to stay frozen long enough to carve.

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Yeah, we use these gimmicky little rubber shot glass molds we somehow procured as a product sample. I think they're kind of useless for most things, but it did work here. I get the same bubbly problem so they're never completely clear.

In the traditional recipe the noodles are bound with egg whites.

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How does your version differ from the traditional one in texture?

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I can't recall having the traditional version. I will ask my mother if I ever have or if she has.

Its a lot of fun seeing the results of playing with all your pretty toys. How did it all taste? Were you pleased? What would you change, if anything, for next time? What other fruit have you tried carbonating?

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Duck breast sous vide is one of my favorite things to cook. I'm also very into glazing the final slices as opposed to saucing them. Saucing seems a little too much for me and the gentle glazing at the end just imparts enough external flavoring. I would also like to re-emphasize how bad ass induction is.

One thing I wish I could change with the shrimp noodles is the extruding process. It's really hard to push them out and kind of a hassle. I would also like the noodles perhaps a little thinner, thus requiring a small hole. This would make extruding even harder.

Re: baby bath at 55 degrees -- is the vacuum providing protection from microbial growth in the temperature danger zone for that long?  I always thought of sous vide as sort of a parcooking method, not an extended prep method.

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Go to the cooking forum and read through the dozens of pages on "Sous vide recipes wanted" Probably the internet's best source of sous vide info.

In short, sous vide is nearly completely safe and an extremely powerful cooking method.

Question about dry aging the beef - is it refrigerated while aging, or does it lurk on the counter in its wrap? 

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Yeah, I thought about that as soon as I made the post describing the process. It most definitely goes back into the fridge.

[BryanZ]

Dinner tonight was something new for us. Perhaps more pedestrian in the big picture, but this was my first time doing Greek-inspired food.

The lamb in this meal came from a local farm. It's organic and grass-fed and free pasture and all that stuff.

Deboned and rolled leg of lamb after marinating for 30 hours.

Marinated in olive oil, red wine, mustard, herbs, garlic and some other goodies.

After grilling we plated it family-style with grilled onions, zuchinni, some frisse and grilled pita.

Tzatziki sauce

Yogurt, herbs, lemon, garlic cucumber, salt and pepper. Giving the sauce time to rest really lets the flavors sing.

Rasbery lambic to drink

I'm ashamed to say I love this stuff.

While this isn't my style of food it was still really tasty. And for our first try with grilled leg of lamb it came out very well.

[robert40]

Back off everybody! I got first dibs at adopting Bryan.

Edited to add.. Honestly Bryan you have done a wonderful job with this blog.

Bravo!

Edited July 14, 2006 by robert40 (log)