eG Foodblog: johnder - Bouncing Around Brooklyn

[Hiroyuki]

Amuse -- egg salad in wonton wrapper with spicy tobiko

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I'm curious, I'm not familiar with green tobiko. Do you have orange tobiko in the United States, as we do in Japan?

Is green tobiko wasabi-flavored?

[Vadouvan]

Johnny....how's that belly coming ?

[C. sapidus]

I didn't actually see much in the way of Mexican chiles.  Then again I am pretty spoiled, most of the Korean markets around my house carry a wicked supply of Mexican products, so I get most of them locally.

I'm envious. We have a couple of Latino markets in town, but their dried chilies are pretty, well, dry. There is a Latino grocery in Milwaukee that has the freshest, most pliable dried chilies I have ever seen. I'll try a mail order to see how Kalyustans compares.

According to this page on their website, they have those!

Awesome! Thanks for de-lurking.

Kalustyan's is awesome, and I have indeed seen dried ancho chilis there. I haven't really concentrated on that part of their offerings, though. I tend to get their wonderful mujadara, the Armenian string cheese (I like the kind with chili as well as nigella seeds), and some of their nuts and flatbreads.

Thanks, Michael. I can foresee many happy hours browsing their web site.

[johnder]

Amuse -- egg salad in wonton wrapper with spicy tobiko

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I'm curious, I'm not familiar with green tobiko. Do you have orange tobiko in the United States, as we do in Japan?

Is green tobiko wasabi-flavored?

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Yes, I should have made that clear. We have orange tobiko here, the green in the photo is wasabi flavored. With the eggs it was very mild, and worked well.

[johnder]

Johnny....how's that belly coming ?

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Sous-vida loca baby! I just hope my house doesn't catch on fire while the poor lauda circulator I bought off ebay is churning away for the next 40 hours!

[johnder]

Yay, more Pegu!

Ok, my plan of staying at Pegu until 8 didn't really work out. I ended up leaving at 10.

Donbert showed up and we had a few drinks.

I started with an Oriental cocktail

Donbert started off with a bang -- a sazerac. Which he nearly finished before I remember to snap a photo. I am not sure why this photo is so blurry. I took it before I even finished my first drink!

I ended up having a lil jig variation with Rye, which was smokin.

Donbert then had a Jamican Firefly

Donbert's cousin then showed up, just as I was getting ready to leave. This forced me to have another drink. Oh yes... I just was forced to have another.

Daniel (Donbert's cousin) had a Pegu Club

Donbert had a famos Ramos. Complete with Cardomom tinticure. (thanks to Donbert for taking this photo with his steady hand!)

And I had a Lil Jig variation with cucumber.

I feel like I had another drink, but I can't remember it. Hmm. That is a bad sign.

I also snapped a photo of the bar at Pegu. I don't remember seeing any photos here besides the drink. I figure people would like to see.

Donbert and I also when we arrived had the honor of sitting next to two of the great mixologists.. the beautiful Audrey and Dale DeGroff!

Only in New York.

[johnder]

So after a fun night at Pegu I needed to come home and devein and cure the fois for the torchon. First was make the cure.

Demerra sugar

Salt

Pink Salt

White pepper.

[johnder]

Things are happening fast and furious here. So I deveined the fois. I skipped the pictures on that because a) it is pretty graphic b) my hands were pretty greasy from the fois, so it was hard to stop and take a photo.

Here is the fois that was deveined, reformed into its shape (roughly) or as Keller would say, it is like working with play-doh! Lightly dusted with the cure. Into the fridge for 24 hours before poaching 90 seconds.

I also had a batch of Hess House bitters I needed to filter. I made this batch a few weeks ago but didn't get around to doing the final filter. I did filter this through a coffee filter, but it still was pretty cloudy. I heard that if you filter it through a Buchner filter you get a insane clear liquid. Basically a Buchner filter is a porcelin funnel that you put a very fine filter paper in. This sits on a beaker that you connect a small hand vacuum pump to. After you add the liquid, you apply a slight vacuum and it draws the liquid through the filter.

Behold...

Filter paper in place

Adding Hess and applying vacuum.

Residue left in filter

End product

[eje]

John,

Thanks so much for sharing bits of life in Brooklyn!

I'm totally impressed with your kitchen (mine is forever shamed) and the fact that you have actually purchased a Buchner filter setup.

So Cool!

Look forward to seeing more.

Cheers!

[eje]

Oh, hey, I just noticed we seem to have the same fridge. Not to mention some of the same hot sauce!

That's just creepy!

We find it sometimes freezes items if you overfill the top shelves. Have you had that problem?

Why does mine seem more full?

Edited September 29, 2006 by eje (log)

[johnder]

Oh, hey, I just noticed we seem to have the same fridge.  Not to mention some of the same hot sauce!

That's just creepy!

We find it sometimes freezes items if you overfill the top shelves.  Have you had that problem?

Why does mine seem more full?

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Hah! Great minds think alike! We have had a problem with stuff freezing on the top shelf, specifically if the fridge is very full. Don't worry, by tomorrow night the fridge will be bursting at it's seams.

I specifically didn't go shopping this week since we were eating out so much early in the week. Tomorrow is a major shopping day.

[Pam R]

Hey John. I've been following along all week - and really enjoying! What a great place to live - and your kitchen is gorgeous.

I spied something in your fridge that I'm very curious about. On the top shelf on the left you have some dairy product (Tnuva) - what is it? And are Tnuva products readily available?

[johnder]

I think I have done all I have the energy for tonight. As you know I have been meaning to roast coffee for the past few days. We are dangerously low on beans that are ready to grind. I have been perfecting the roast for the past few months and I am far from done. In order to try to find the perfect roast, I measure very carefully the amount of raw beans to use.

I use a mixture of 3 beans, all from Sweet Marias. 4.8 oz of Liquid Amber Espresso

4 oz of Indian Monsooned Malabar and .4 oz of Indian AA Robusta

I roast it all in the IRoast2

Here it is right after the first crack

Second crack

I set the roaster to cool about 20 seconds after the second crack.

After cooling you get:

Unfortunately you need to wait a 2 to 3 days for the beans to rest and give off all its gasses from the roasting process. Hopefully we have enough of the existing beans to last until then!

[Pan]

So... I just got back from dropping a cool buck twenty at Kalustyan's (pomegranate molasses, quince lemon syrup, tamarind syrup, 3 different kinds of bitters, black vinegar, rice wine vinegar, dashi ingredients, dried giant pozole, Mexican oregano, tumeric, etc.).

Anyone else inspired by this blog to visit Kalustyan's?  Am I the first?

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I had a reason to be in the neighborhood, anyway, but I got there just before closing time tonight, and spent $21.36 on a medium container of mujadara, a small container of dolmas, a bhujia (I think it was called - split pea fritter), and a pound of medjool dates. I finished most of the savory stuff for dinner plus a midnight snack, and my mother had the rest. Most of the medjools remain.

Edited September 29, 2006 by Pan (log)

[johnder]

Hey John.  I've been following along all week - and really enjoying!  What a great place to live - and your kitchen is gorgeous.

I spied something in your fridge that I'm very curious about.  On the top shelf on the left you have some dairy product (Tnuva) - what is it?  And are Tnuva products readily available?

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I picked that up at the Red Hook Fairway supermarket which is very close to my house. I noticed they had a very large selection of products I know nothing about and try to pick up to try (sometimes to my wifes dismay). I bought this to have in a greek style salad one night.

Of course it I bought the product after reading this side of the box:

I have no idea what it would be if I had to read this side

It was very tasty. I like how they give you this little basket inside the container to lift the cheese out of the liquid.

John

[Pan]

[...]Salad: Small Heirloom tomato salad with indonesian lemon vinegar[...]

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Do they grow lemons in Indonesia? Or is "Indonesian lemon" really some kind of lime, such as limau purut (kaffir lime)?

[johnder]

[...]Salad: Small Heirloom tomato salad with indonesian lemon vinegar[...]

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Do they grow lemons in Indonesia? Or is "Indonesian lemon" really some kind of lime, such as limau purut (kaffir lime)?

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Not sure. I will know more when I get the bottle tomorrow. I just bought it on the suggestion of Tyler. He said it was kick ass.

I will report back once I have it.

[Pam R]

I have no idea what it would be if I had to read this side 

It was very tasty.  I like how they give you this little basket inside the container to lift the cheese out of the liquid.

John

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All I could make out from the original picture was the top word - Tnuva. Thanks for the close-up! I've been trying to get Tnuva products for my store for about a year (even visited NY last year for that purpose). Israel produces great dairy products - if they happen to have any or their white cheese (spreadable), you should try it.

The baskets are brilliant. I carry another brand that uses them.

Thanks again!

[MarketStEl]

This is a very New York blog--it moves so fast that if you let it slip, you've fallen hopelessly behind.

I have to stay on campus tomorrow night to attend a screening of a new documentary film about critics that a member of our communications faculty made over the last year (Books? check. Music? check. Films? check. TV? check. Sorry, no food critics), so please hoist a virtual cocktail for me.

Lovely job you did on that kitchen!

"...making 4th Avenue into the new Park Avenue..." I thought 4th Avenue became Park Avenue years ago!

Oh, wait--you're talking Brooklyn...

[maher]

Things are happening fast and furious here.    So I deveined the fois.  I skipped the pictures on that because a) it is pretty graphic b) my hands were pretty greasy from the fois, so it was hard to stop and take a photo.

Here is the fois that was deveined, reformed into its shape (roughly) or as Keller would say, it is like working with play-doh!  Lightly dusted with the cure.  Into the fridge for 24 hours before poaching 90 seconds.

I also had a batch of Hess House bitters I needed to filter.  I made this batch a few weeks ago but didn't get around to doing the final filter.  I did filter this through a coffee filter, but it still was pretty cloudy.    I heard that if you filter it through a Buchner filter you get a insane clear liquid.  Basically a Buchner filter is a porcelin funnel that you put a very fine filter paper in.  This sits on a beaker that you connect a small hand vacuum pump to.  After you add the liquid, you apply a slight vacuum and it draws the liquid through the filter.

Behold...

Filter paper in place

Adding Hess and applying vacuum.

Residue left in filter

End product

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wow i think this is just the thing to finally get my homemade vinegar clear, where do i get my hands on this thing

[Catriona]

What is a ground husk cherry tomato? 

They look an awful lot like tomatillo's to me.

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From what I recall, they're not the same thing at all. In fact, I seem to remember reading somewhere that, in England, they peel back the husk and dip the "cherry" into fondant so that it looks like a little winged bon bon.

Ah, here is some info, with a reference to the fondant-dipping. ETA: they ARE related, but the ground cherry is sweeter.

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So I didn't actually buy any of these and the farmer was pretty busy so I didn't get to ask.

I actually was under the impression they were gooseberrys. Growing up in a scandinavian house, that is what I assumed they were.

Here is a picture of the cape gooseberry --or what they call a ground cherry

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They're one of the family of Physalis (lantern fruit, cape gooseberry).

My dear great aunt (source of some of the best melted-cheese related eating experiences of my life - she lives in Switzerland - used to call them Syphilis. It started off as a slip of the tongue, and then just became the new name for them. I have to think very hard before pronouncing the name. Kind of pffputting to offer your guests syphilis with fruit after dinner...

[Anna N]

They're one of the family of Physalis (lantern fruit, cape gooseberry).

My dear great aunt (source of some of the best melted-cheese related eating experiences of my life - she lives in Switzerland - used to call them Syphilis.  It started off as a slip of the tongue, and then just became the new name for them.  I have to think very hard before pronouncing the name. Kind of pffputting to offer your guests syphilis with fruit after dinner...

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Thanks a lot! Now I have to clean the coffee off my monitor!

[Catriona]

Glad it amused you, Anna. I've been banned from telling that story over dinner, and I had to get it out of my system before my (Parisian and very shockable) in-laws arrive this evening for the weekend.

[johnder]

So after a fun night at Pegu I needed to come home and devein and cure the fois for the torchon.  First was make the cure.

Demerra sugar

Salt

Pink Salt

White pepper.

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Hmm, I just realized somthing this morning. I woke up in the middle of the night and havd a cold sweat moment. The recipe for the fois cure called for pink salt. In my Pegu haze last night I used pink LAVA salt, as opposed to pink CURING salt (which I happened to own as well)

Oh well, crap.

[cakewalk]

How long does the roasting process take for your coffee beans? (They look great, I can almost smell them through the screen.)

Hope you're feeling better.