Jack's Birthday Bash

[jackal10]

Looks great Jack.

How did you find the truffles? Any sort of good truffle flavour comming out of them, and did you order direct?

Cheers

John

p.s - Happy Birthday!!

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The truffles were in the local market, on the same stall that sold the wild mushrooms. They were around $50/kg, compared with something like $2000/kg for French ones.Internal texture and colour are identical to European truffle but only a faint hint of flavour - you get some of that truffle smell when you first open the closed container they were stored in the fridge but its very elusive. Apparently you can tell the difference if you look very closely at the surface pits,

I put truffle oil in the butter to compensate

Edited January 13, 2007 by jackal10 (log)

[Daniel]

Looks awesome.. Happy birthday and congrats..

[Gifted Gourmet]

Very impressive, Jack! Happy birthday and may you live and cook til you are 120 years old! Mazal tov on your culinary abilities and thanks for the terrific photographs!

[insomniac]

Happy birthday Jack, gorgeous; where did you get the Dexter?

[jackal10]

Happy birthday Jack, gorgeous; where did you get the Dexter?

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Cruickshanks in Comberton, my local butcher. Excellent people.

I ordered it before Xmas, and they held it for me.

They are accredited by http://www.rbst.org.uk/rare-breeds-meat/main.php

P & S Cruickshank

10 South Street

Comberton

Cambridge. CB3 7DZ

Tel: +44 (0)1223 262212

As it happens they graze on a farm near my house.

I might just have to have a beef sandwich (on spelt bread) for supper...

Edited January 13, 2007 by jackal10 (log)

[little ms foodie]

Happy Birthday Jack!!

That dinner looks fantastic! the champage jelly is just gorgeous, also the roast beef! wow that is a large peice of meet. and your pig trotter shot has me very curious to try that!

[Pan]

I can only add to all the accolades. Your birthday was very happy for all your guests, I'm sure!!!

[Lori in PA]

Happy birthday to you, indeed! Are your guests:

1. clueless about cooking themselves but appreciative consumers of the results of your efforts?

2. serious cooks who understand just what a gift they were given?

Thing I'd most like to taste: the pig trotter

[jackal10]

Happy birthday to you, indeed! Are your guests:

1. clueless about cooking themselves but appreciative consumers of the results of your efforts?

2. serious cooks who understand just what a gift they were given?

Thing I'd most like to taste: the pig trotter

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Some of both: old and dear friends.

The pigs trotters are really easy, Cheap - the butcher would not charge me for them, as he normally throws them away. You will, however have to find a butcher that has them, or that cuts his own animals.

The original Kauffman recipe, and most professional recipes bone them before cooking. I find that very difficult and bone them after. However that means the skin tears more, since it contracts in cooking, and the bones dont.

For 4 trotters:

Put whole in heavy casserole with

2 Tbs soy

2 Tbs Mirin (or sweet wine or sweet sherry or Madeira)

2 Tbs vinegar

2 cloves garlic

2 spring onions

2 slices ginger

1 star anise

Omit the Chinese spicing you you prefer.

Put the lid on and put in a low (200F/95C) oven for 24 hours, turning occasionally

They will make lots more juice.

Let them cool to where you can handle them. If you put them in the fridge there is so much gelatin there they will set solid and you will have to re-warm them before working.

Take out the trotters, and strain the liquid. The liquid is the basis for the jus.

Make up a chicken mousseline (recipe follows) or any other stuffing you fancy. I've even used sausagemeat.

Put a piece of clingfilm on your chopping board or working surface. Put a trotter on it.

Remove the bones from the trotters and discard. They just fall out. You are only really keeping the skin and a few bits of meat, and any larger lumps of gooey piggy goodness that were once cartilage. Run your fingers over it all and remove any hard lumps and small pieces of bone. Spread out the skin, outside down, on the clingfilm and put a dollop of the mousseline on it and spread it out. Put in the middle any extra bits of meat or other filling I used a duxelle of pied de mouton and trumpet de mort mushrooms and some ends of truffle. The original used sweetbreads and morel. Roll up into a sausage shape, and twist the ends.

Poach gently for 30 mins or so, to set he mousseline,

Can be cooled and reheated for service.

Chicken Mousseline.

Easy now with food processors, and very versatile. The secret is to keep everything cold, so the emulsion does not split.

250g skinned and boned chicken breast (about 1 large one) COLD - straight from the fridge

1 egg white

12g salt

a little white pepper.

Whizz together.

Blend in 1/2pt (250ml) heavy cream.

Keep cold, ideally on ice.

As Escoffier says "May be prepared with any kind of meat, poultry, game, fish or shellfish.

Incomparably delicate results are obtained by this process, while it also furnishes ideal quenelles for the purposes of garnishing soup. In a word, it may be said of mousseline forecemeat that whereas it can replace all other kinds, none of these can replace it."

Edited January 14, 2007 by jackal10 (log)

[racheld]

Does the stuffing reach far down into the foot, yielding a nice slice, or do you save the little piggy-toes for Cook's Treat? This is fascinating. Like a Gucci jar of the pickled pig's feet that sat in every refrigerator of my childhood. I can still smell the porky/vinegar tang in the air when that lid smicked open.

Your party was divine. And all those wines---did you remove glasses with each course?

[fou de Bassan]

Happy birthday! I hope your year is full of good things. I'm tempted to try those trotters this winter. And that champagne jelly makes my gold slipper gene tingle.

[Digijam]

A belated happy birthday Jack! All looks great - really nice to see some of the classics. (Takes me right back to catering school.) Can I ask what method you used to prepare the foie?

[jackal10]

Rachel: We left the piggy toes to give shape to the bundle, and cut them off when slicing. Cook ate them, and the left over mousseline for supper next day.

Digijam: The foie came in a tin from Harrods (a present). I slid it out of the tin, chilled and sliced it.

The pigs trotters before boning:

Edited January 15, 2007 by jackal10 (log)

[Shaya]

Happy Birthday to you...I love to see people celebrating their own special occasions in a big way, and this is some great cooking. I have very little experience with gelees, and I notice they played a large role in this dinner - is this a new kick for you?

[Waterzoy]

A very happy birthday to you....the whole meal looks spectacular. A spelt bread and beef sandwich sounds like perfect leftovers.

[jackal10]

Happy Birthday to you...I love to see people celebrating their own special occasions in a big way, and this is some great cooking.  I have very little experience with gelees, and I notice they played a large role in this dinner - is this a new kick for you?

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Gells are a good way of carrying flavours and changing texture. They are a culinary technique, like say a creme, but not as rich

There weren't that many, or that prominent,

Foie Gras with a sweetish wine aspic is a classical combination. The gell cuts the richness.

The coffee and garlic warm gell (Agar-agar) was just some frivolity, but added deep flavour notes to the pigs trotter.

Trifle would not be trifle without the raspberry gelly

I think thats all the gells. The foam had gelatine in it as a thickener. Some of the chocolates had turkish delight centres, which is a starch gell.

A sandwich:

Edited January 15, 2007 by jackal10 (log)

[Mottmott]

Happy Birthday. What a great feast. The food and drink look wonderful. But when you explain how simple it was to organize it all, I'm in total awe.