one ingredient and its array...

[KendallCollege]

I'd like to start a topic that explores any single ingredient and what you've done (or would like to do...or could brainstorm doing) with it.

The idea started when I thought about Carrot tops. I realized that "stretching" an ingredient as far as it can go is a wonderful idea because it allows for flow, harmony, creativity, and cost-control.

ChefJohnny talked about a "study of carrot" in the CarrotTop post and he really kick started this post for me.

So, without wasting any time...

I'll post a description of a special that I ran at the end of this past summer/early fall in order to "set the pace"...

Grilled Sea Scallops.

corn whipped potatoes.grilled corn compound butter.red corn scatter.corn beurre blanc.

[Joisey]

I like doing this with Duck, because it's so versatile. Had a 3 way duck item on a past menu: Seared Breast, Confit, Five Spice Duck Springroll, Sweet Potato/Brussel Sprout Hash cooked in Duck fat, Duck Jus Lie. Since I started on the charcuterie kick, I might throw some house made duck sausage or a duck galantine in the mix.

Foie Gras lends itself well to multiple prep/same dish plates, too.

[KendallCollege]

Duck is, as you said, really versatile...Your dish is spot-on with what i'm talking about.

I thought that I'd add ChefJohnny's "Carrot Dish" as an interesting filler:

"I called it "Textures of Carrot". It was Carrot Agnolotti (Carrot farce in Fine herbs pasta dough), carrot top puree, carrot foam, and carrot powder. It was a great dish, now that I think about it. Anyway, it was the "pasta" course of a 9 course vegan menu we did a while back."

What ingredient is GREAT for stretching and what would you do with it?

[ChefJohnny]

Thanks for the compliment of starting a new thread because of my post! This is actually something I LOVE to do a lot! It's a great way to be creative in quite a simple & cheap way. The thought behind it, at least for me, is to take one PERFECT ingredient, whether an apple, or a carrot, a tomato, bacon, beef, etc., and use it in as many ways as possible. Stretch you mind to the walls.

I like to start with the phases of matter; liquid, solid, and gas, and go from there. Lets take a beautiful heirloom tomato from this past summer. How can I use it as a liquid? Tomato water! How can I use it as a solid? Keep is whole? Maybe punch it into plugs like Michel Bras? Dry it and use it as a chip or grind it into a powder? Can I take the pure essence of a tomato and turn it into a foam or cloud?

This is my thought process when I want to do something like this. it works with basically anything. A little different when it comes to proteins, but you get the point.

"Expand your food by expanding you mind."

-Chef Johnny

[EDIT] BTW, some of my favorite ingredients to do a degustation with are tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, pork, beef, ramps, asparagus, and corn, among others.

Edited November 30, 2006 by ChefJohnny (log)

[Shalmanese]

I did this the first time I cooked with rabbit as I wanted to really understand the animal. Basically started from first principles with no reference from any cookbook and tried to figure out what rabbit was all about. Took out the two loin muscles, herb-breaded them and deep fried them. Took the back legs, marinated and roasted them gently to break the connective tissue. The front legs went into a stew and the bones were browned and made into a jus. The whole process was a bunch of fun as it really forced me to go all the way back to first principles and imagine how a rabbit would use all of it's different muscles and how best to bring out a particular quality I wanted to emphasize.

[KendallCollege]

I did something similar with Rabbit. I cooked the hind legs, sous-vide, with juniper berries/chicken fat. The front legs were braised in a really nice veal-stock. The ribs were simply seasoned and passed over the grill. I slow-smoked the loin over a bed of pecan wood, pine needles, juniper berries, and star-anise.

The legs were de-boned and served on three piles of leeks (melted down in a vacuum-bag with butter/salt) and three fluffy potato-pancakes on the bottom of each. The dish was scattered with bias-cut slices of the loin and individually cut rabbit ribs. It was finished with a sauce made from mangos that were cooked in a vacuum bag with juniper berries and finished with the nice veal-stock used to slow-cook the front legs.

It'd be interesting (but not cost-effective) to do an all-leg dish or an all-leg menu...Frog Leg, Quail Leg, Squab Leg, Duck Leg, Rabbit Leg, etc.,.

And you're quite welcome, ChefJohnny.

[KendallCollege]

since its that time of year...

how far would you "stretch" a turkey?