eG Foodblog: johnder - Bouncing Around Brooklyn

[johnder]

Given Donbert to0k almost 140 photos during the event, I went through and selected the best ones. Even with that, there are almost 40 photos to post. (You asked for it).

I want to thank Donberts help in taking the photos, as well as my sous-chefs Don and Sam to help in plating, stirring risotto, etc.

All set...

First, a mystery man with blazing hands double shaking a few juniperitivos.

So tasty.

So first the Venison raviolo, topped with a reduced veal / juniper infused jus, parm reggiano and a sage leaf.

Unfortunatley the dinner tonight started off on a sour note. I originally wanted to make the raviolo much smaller, but in a test run I did with a very small one, the size really didn't permit the ragu flavor to come through. Hence it was super sized. Almost to the point it was a course itself. I slightly undercooked the raviolo, and the pasta sheet was slightly too big. Flavor wise it was bang on, but could use some re-working.

Next up. The fois. First plating the torchon and the poached pear.

Then a few sunflower sprouts with a simple lemon vinagrette.

Searing off the fois.

The plated fois with the peach/bourbon/sichuan chutney.

I need some coffee, I will post more photos after I have some

[johnder]

Next up, the risotto. Here is about a pound of lobster mushrooms being added to the risotto.

Stir stir stir

Sauteing the chantrelle mushrooms to top the risotto. Simply cooking in some thyme with copious amounts of butte.

Mounting up the risotto with a wee bit of butter.

Plating up the ristotto

Finsihed, topped with a little veal jus reduction.

[johnder]

Yes, yes. I know everyone has been waiting and waiting for the pork belly. Well your time has come.

Crisping up the pork on a sizzle plate under the infrared.

See all that fat that came out from the crisping in the picture above? Can't let that go to waste! Let's use it in the sprouts.

Pork on top of the parsnip puree

Adding the bergamot soaked prune.

A little bit of veal stock, some cream that had some beragmot infused in it, along with some of the tea soaking liquid. Added a touch of lechitin

whipped it up with a bamix

plated

Man this was good. My only critique of this is that I had it under the broiler maybe a minute too long. While the extra time added more crispness to the dish, I think I sacrificed some of the jelly like qualityof the fat that came from the SV process. Regardless it was still good. The tea/milk/prune sauce was really good too, although the foam, even with the lechitin added didn't last very long.

[johnder]

Tomato salad. This was the opposite of every other dish. 4 ingredients.

Tomatoes

Salt

Olive Oil

Lemon Vinegar.

A good acidic palate cleanser after the rich pork dish.

On the subject of salt... Kosher, Fine Sea, Sea, Maldon.

Also Vadouvan's liquid seasoning.

[johnder]

Cheese. I passed off the cheese course to Donbert, former cheesemonger turned IT guy, part time cocktail master. I lost the piece of paper I had the cheese names written down on. One was a Gorgonzola, and the other was a raw milk sheeps.

Cutting the sheep...

Making some quenelles of the gorgonzola.

Served with some slightly under-ripe pears to have some acidity to cut through the rich cheese (which you remember I whipped up with a tad of french butter)

The sheeps cheese was put on top of some Luxardo cherries which were soaked in bourbon for a few hours.

Added some of the bourbon cherry liquid as a garnish.

Finished! (thanks Donbert!)

I will let Don fill you in on the specifics of the cheeses he brought. They were really awesome!

[johnder]

Dessert. My wife was responsible for the desert thankfully. She made a really amazing honeyed panna cotta, though to be truthful, she's made a buttermilk pc in the past that's a better recipe (first time with the honeyed recipe). Before service she topped each one with a spoonful of the pear poaching liquid and a sliver of a super ripe fig.

A great way to end the evening.

Finally, the wines... not bad. 8 wines, 8 people. (not to mention, uh, a few cocktails, just a few). As you can tell we had a lot of older California wines.

[johnder]

Fast forward to this morning. Giant coffee. Double espresso shot, iced, topped with Ronnybrook farms Coffee milk.

Leftover brioche, french butter, jam.

Even the Dune is tired after last night.

[Vadouvan]

Awesome John....looks great.

How did the cure length come out with the belly ?

cheers

[Chufi]

that is an amazing dinner and an amazing amount of food!

I have a real craving for sprouts now. I haven't had any sprouts yet, this season..

Edited October 1, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[johnder]

Awesome John....looks great.

How did the cure length come out with the belly ?

cheers

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The timing was good on the lenght of time, although as I mentioned I think I reduced some of the texture I spent so long getting with the SV by keeping under the broiler for about a minute too long. The spice mix cure was noticable in the final product, the flavors of the fennel and star anise really working nicely with the pork.

The fat was nicely jelled and melted in your mouth. Really a good cure / lenght of time I think. Next time just a little less final searing. But the recipe is definately a keeper. Having a great belly to work with surely helps too.

John

[racheld]

Just what we've all been waiting for---just spectacular. Is that the host lying on the floor before dessert?

Last night as we had our burgers from the grill, I imagined I could smell the delicious aromas from your kitchen. The colors had a life of their own, as well.

We're off to lunch, and after this, I hope there's no waiting. Wow.

[johnder]

Just what we've all been waiting for---just spectacular.  Is that the host lying on the floor before dessert? 

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I should have explained that. No, that is a guest. He needed to lie down befoe desert, he was a little overwhelmed.

[docsconz]

Fantastic looking dinner! Congratulations on pulling it off. Nice pic of Sam with both arms shakin'.

John, have you been to SK? The style is somewhat reminiscent.

[johnder]

40 minutes until cocktails start, 1:40 for dinner.  Here are the final photos until after the dinner is over. 

Plates for each course are setup.  Cheese garnish is ready, Tomato salad waiting to be dressed.  Weinoo, here is the espresso machine.  You were correct, it was next to the fridge.

Your square and rectangular plates are great. I adore square plates. Where did you get yours? Anybody have any reasonably priced suppliers?

Great blog, BTW - I'm so full from dinner I could burst, but you're still managing to make me salivate...

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You won't believe it, but the square & rectangle plates were from Target. Love that place.

[Catriona]

Having a great belly to work with surely helps too.

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*snort*

[johnder]

Fantastic looking dinner! Congratulations on pulling it off. Nice pic of Sam with both arms shakin'.

John, have you been to SK? The style is somewhat reminiscent.

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I have not been there. I can only dream to aspire to such greatness.

[johnder]

Some tasting notes on the cheese from the cheesemaster donbert.

Pyrenees Brebis

A pressed, uncooked cheese, made of raw sheep's milk, and aged for 4-6 months. Made in the Pyrenees, exactly the Basque country and the Bearn - the Ossau Valley. This small scale artisan production has a thick yellow/orange rind with a smattering of grey mold. The white or ivory paste is firm and dense but smooth with unctuous butterfat. Often best in the spring as the cheese produced from the fall milkings is more floral. Sweet, nearly caramelly, with grassy, nutty undertones. Wine can be full bodied red, even slightly spicy like Madiran,.... or sweet and white like Jurançon. Aged by Hervé Mons outside of Roanne, France. Legend has it that Aristee, the famous shepherd and son of Apollo, created the Ossau-Iraty cheese.

Region: Pyrenees-Atlantique

Departement: Aquitaine

Country: France

AOC: 1980

Type: semi-hard

Rennet: Animal

Milk: Raw Basco-Bearnaise or Manech sheep

Gorgonzola Cremificato

Cremificato is made from just the gently pasteurized morning milk of local cows. The blue cultures are added to the milk before coagulation, and the curd is left large, wet, heavy with moisture. So thick is the paste that when pierced, the curds cave in, minimizing the blue veining that can occur. The resulting flavor is rich, pungent and profoundly “sweet”. Frequently used in Italy in sauces or on fresh bread. Superb, too, for dessert with fresh pears, apples or simply drizzle with honey. THE BEST GORGONZOLA EVER!

Region: Lombardia

Country: Italy

DOP: Yes

Type: soft

Beverage: Riesling, Orvieto Classico, Merlot

Rennet: Animal

Milk: Pasteurized Cow

[H. du Bois]

I am in awe. I'd faint with pleasure if someone cooked me an amazing meal like that, too!

You're not just doing Brooklyn proud, you're doing our neighborhood proud, too. So nice to see Park Slope represented so well.

Er, what's SK?

[johnder]

I am in awe.  I'd faint with pleasure if someone cooked me an amazing meal like that, too!     

You're not just doing Brooklyn proud, you're doing our neighborhood proud, too.  So nice to see Park Slope represented so well.

Er, what's SK?

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Thanks for the compliment! I am flattered. Who knows, maybe when I recover from this dinner we can have a Brooklynite dinner. (Doc, we will have to bring you back down one day!)

Studiokitchen. Words can't describe it.

[johnder]

So today is a relaxing day for the most part. Just finshing up the cleaning at this point. Around 5 we are going to head into the city to stop by Gramercy Tavern for a drink to sample one or two of Jim's drinks. Hopefully pick up the recipe for the Champs Elysee for Katie.

After that we are going to head back and have a low key dinner at home. Any suggestions?

[edsel]

The sous-vide belly looks incredible. You mentioned the cooking time, but what temperature did you use?

[johnder]

I did it at 75C.

[johnder]

Did I mention that I am jealous of your kitchen?

Are you sure you don't want a six month sabbatical in San Francisco to redo mine?  I'd pay you in cocktails!

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Hah, paying in cocktails and doing good work may not go exactly hand in hand.

[KatieLoeb]

So today is a relaxing day for the most part. Just finshing up the cleaning at this point. Around 5 we are going to head into the city to stop by Gramercy Tavern for a drink to sample one or two of Jim's drinks. Hopefully pick up the recipe for the Champs Elysee for Katie.

You truly are my hero, for a hundred reasons. This is only one of them.

Say hi to Jim for me. He's da man.

[johnder]

So in my never ending quest for apricot liquor/brandy I decided to see what I could do with making my own. Well, let's just say it wasn't so great.

I took 2 pounds of dried apricots and added about a quart of vodka. Let it sit for 2 weeks and got this.

The apricots soaked up the vodka and got nice and plump. Straining off the liquid that was left over was easy.

The question was how do I try to extract more liquid from the plumped up apricots.

First I tried my juicer. I managed to get a small amount out, but not enough.

Next I tried grinding it up in the food processor.

Tried the juicer again. Bad idea. Big mess.

Ok, lets try this another way. Piled it all in a clean kitchen towel, put between two sticks and twisted. Probably got out another 1 oz of liquid. I really need access to a centrifuge.

I cut my losses, sending it through the filter. Once it all goes through I am going to add some brandy, a dash of simple and see what I can do with it.