Cooking with Michel Richard's "Happy in the Kitchen"

[FoodMan]

I made another side dish from this book. I need to make a good main dish soon...

This was the green brussels sprouts in a sauce made from pureed peas. He advises to use frozen brussels sprouts becasue they cook fast and they do not get mushy. I loved these guys and will be making them for T-giving this year. Maybe add some crisped pancetta too.

[FoodMan]

I really need to make a whole meal from HitK..anyways I thought this one was so good I had to share it. I am specifically talking about the red beet potato puree. It is just a gorgeous way to use this underutilized vegetable. It looks great and tasted fantastic. Here I served it with pan seared mahi mahi and spinach balls cooked in butter (these are inspired by a French Laundry Cookbook dish).

[Chris Amirault]

Elie, what would you compare the texture and mouthfeel of that pureé to? Not puréed potatoes, I'd imagine. Applesauce?

[FoodMan]

Elie, what would you compare the texture and mouthfeel of that pureé to? Not puréed potatoes, I'd imagine. Applesauce?

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I, like you, thought the same thing. This was going to be more like a stiff applesauce. However, Richard here uses equal amounts of potato and beets (by weight), but instead of the waxy yukon gold we normally associate with potato puree he specifies 'baking' potato. So, the final product is actually sturdy enough and starchy enough to be called a potato puree. I doubt anyone would not know that this is a creamy potato puree flavored intensely with beets (no butter or cream here either...just olive oil and some balsamic). I bet the same thing will be true with the very green potato puree he has a recipe for (basil and chives I think).

[ariggsby]

faux gras

Everything worked well mechanically.  All tasted good except the faux gras.  It wasn't actually bad, but it was undersalted (which, in my experience, really hurts such dishes), and given the method, it's hard to catch that in time.

I made the faux gras about a month ago, and it turned out fabulous. I didn't think it was undersalted at all,and I am not shy with salt.

Christine

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That was mostly my fault. He did a class here last month, and I asked him how to check the seasoning on something so liquid with raw poultry in it. He pointed out that you could put a small amount on a plate and microwave it. You wouldn't want to do the actual cooking that way, of course, but plenty good for testing.

He made the asparagus salmon, the carbonara discussed above, potato risotto (the first dish of his I ever made, though I didn't realize it at the time), and chocolate covered grapes. It was all great.

Andrew

[sadie4232]

I received this book for Christmas and highly recommend it. It's so much fun to read and the photos are stunning. Was so intrigued, I've already tried the following recipes:

Jolly Green Brussel Sprouts - fabulous!

Asparagus Salmon - looked beautiful, tasted great.

Stuffed Onion Shells - really yummy, but does take a goodly amount of time to prepare. Worth it though just to see how the ground chicken worked as a binder (who would have thought?)

A batch of the Lemon Confit (pg.193) got made just today. Can't wait to taste the end result in a month or so. Next up: trying out the Figgy Piggy, Spuddies and Neo Chicken Salad.

[dockhl]

I got it this summer and promptly forgot about it. This inspires me to pick it up again now that life has settled down a little and start cooking !

[Chris Amirault]

Welcome, sadie4232!

Stuffed Onion Shells - really yummy, but does take a goodly amount of time to prepare. Worth it though just to see how the ground chicken worked as a binder (who would have thought?)

Where did the prep take time?

A batch of the Lemon Confit (pg.193) got made just today. Can't wait to taste the end result in a month or so. Next up: trying out the Figgy Piggy, Spuddies and Neo Chicken Salad.

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Do let us know about that confit -- and the Spuddies!

[MikeHartnett]

Next up: trying out the Figgy Piggy, Spuddies and Neo Chicken Salad.

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The Figgy Piggy is delicious. You'll be impressed.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I got it this summer and promptly forgot about it. This inspires me to pick it up again now that life has settled down a little and start cooking !

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There is some synchronicity at work here... I also got the book this summer at this event in Los Angeles. I had forgotten about the book until a few days ago and finally thumbed through it, inspired by all the vegetable recipes! I made the Le Kit Kat and can attest, it is pretty fabulous!

[sadie4232]

Welcome, sadie4232!

Stuffed Onion Shells - really yummy, but does take a goodly amount of time to prepare. Worth it though just to see how the ground chicken worked as a binder (who would have thought?)

Where did the prep take time?

It took me awhile to pull off the translucent membrane from each layer of baked onion and get all the roasted peppers cut into the recommended 1/4-inch-wide strips -- maybe because both were a bit slippery to work with. Combine that with the 2 hours to roast the onions and the 1 1/2 hours to cook the onion/pepper combo, all the other pieces and parts that the dish requires, not to mention the half hour to bake the final product and, well, you've eaten up a good part of the day. To be fair, Chef Richard does make it a point that it does take some time to prep in the very first paragraph and it can be made in stages if one chooses. But still in all, it's a dish I would highly recommend.

A batch of the Lemon Confit (pg.193) got made just today. Can't wait to taste the end result in a month or so. Next up: trying out the Figgy Piggy, Spuddies and Neo Chicken Salad.

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Do let us know about that confit -- and the Spuddies!

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[FoodMan]

The spuddies are great. They do take some time to make, but they are the best tater tots I've ever had.

[Abra]

Somehow I've missed hearing about this book until now. The recipes sound delicious - but seeing as I'm in France without much in the way of kitchen gadgetry (food processor, knives, food mill, that's about it) should I get it anyway? Or is it gadget-intensive enough that I should wait until I'm reunited with my kitchen stuff?

[sadie4232]

The spuddies are great. They do take some time to make, but they are the best tater tots I've ever had.

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Made these last night, as a matter of fact. They are certainly a far cry from what you get in the frozen food aisle. I think we might have over cooked them just a bit on the second fry, but definitely plan on making them again. Next time, I would like to play around with adding some additional spices. Was also wondering how little bits of sun-dried tomatoes would taste.

P.S. Also made the Neo-Chicken salad and it was awesome.

[sadie4232]

Somehow I've missed hearing about this book until now.  The recipes sound delicious - but seeing as I'm in France without much in the way of kitchen gadgetry (food processor, knives, food mill, that's about it) should I get it anyway?  Or is it gadget-intensive enough that I should wait until I'm reunited with my kitchen stuff?

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While some recipes require some special equipment (meat slicer, madoline, turning veggie slicer, etc.), there are lots of others that don't. So far I haven't had to pull out anything but my standard kitchen tools to make the brussel sprouts, the stuffed onions, and chicken salad. Heck, if you have a food processor, a baking sheet and plastic wrap (you may be surprised how often he uses plastic wrap), you can make the Spuddies!

[sadie4232]

Next up: trying out the Figgy Piggy, Spuddies and Neo Chicken Salad.

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The Figgy Piggy is delicious. You'll be impressed.

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Did you ever approach a recipe with some trepidation? Harbor doubts about the blend of ingredients and/or the cooking method? Dive in and make the dish only to have it come out exceeding your wildest expectations -- to the point you could hug the chef who came up with the recipe after tasting the first bite?

Well, that’s what happened to me when I made Michel Richard’s “Figgy Piggy.”

When I read that one takes a pork tenderloin, browns it on all sides, slathers it with honey and cinnamon, rolls it up in plastic wrap, marinates it overnight, then poaches it for an hour, and then browns it again, I was already eyeing the leftover pizza as our backup for dinner last night.

But as soon as I took the first bite and the pork practically melted on my tongue, all thoughts of day-old pizza were banished from my mind. The cinnamon/honey coating not only lent beautiful color and caramelized nicely with the last sear, it lent a luscious compliment to the port wine sauce. I may never cook pork tenderloin in any other way from this point forward. Chef Richard, you are a genius!

[FoodMan]

Next up: trying out the Figgy Piggy, Spuddies and Neo Chicken Salad.

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The Figgy Piggy is delicious. You'll be impressed.

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Did you ever approach a recipe with some trepidation? Harbor doubts about the blend of ingredients and/or the cooking method? Dive in and make the dish only to have it come out exceeding your wildest expectations -- to the point you could hug the chef who came up with the recipe after tasting the first bite?

Well, that’s what happened to me when I made Michel Richard’s “Figgy Piggy.”

When I read that one takes a pork tenderloin, browns it on all sides, slathers it with honey and cinnamon, rolls it up in plastic wrap, marinates it overnight, then poaches it for an hour, and then browns it again, I was already eyeing the leftover pizza as our backup for dinner last night.

But as soon as I took the first bite and the pork practically melted on my tongue, all thoughts of day-old pizza were banished from my mind. The cinnamon/honey coating not only lent beautiful color and caramelized nicely with the last sear, it lent a luscious compliment to the port wine sauce. I may never cook pork tenderloin in any other way from this point forward. Chef Richard, you are a genius!

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Thanks for the update Sadie. I was looking at Figgy Piggy (I do like saying that) last night and thinking about making it. Now, I really, really should.

Also as common Lemon Chicken is, I am tempted to try his mehtod of making this dish. I am preserving some lemons tonight, so this will have to wait a month or so.

[Abra]

Ok, I might have to get the book just for the Figgy Piggy. The plastic wrap really sucks, but I think it would work in this recipe as you describe it. It sounds beyond delicious.

[MikeHartnett]

Ok, I might have to get the book just for the Figgy Piggy.  The plastic wrap really sucks, but I think it would work in this recipe as you describe it. It sounds beyond delicious.

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Using the plastic wrap is really quite easy. It sounds like a lot of work, but it was a fairly simple dish to prepare.

[alexthecook]

Has anyone tried "sous-viding" the meat with a Foodsaver instead of plastic wrap? Does it work just as well?

[FoodMan]

Has anyone tried "sous-viding" the meat with a Foodsaver instead of plastic wrap? Does it work just as well?

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I can't think why that would not work. It will make sure no water at all leaks into the meat.

[alexthecook]

So I tried yesterday and it does work! My first sous-vide style dish! Yess!

I have to say though that since the vaccum is not very strong, some juices leached out (maybe one tablespoon out of one pork tenderloin), which made me sad.

Nonethelss, the meat was evenly pink inside and crusty on the outside...! Next time I'll do it, I'll try the plastic wrap method to see if it makes a difference.

[adey73]

Hey Alex don't be hard on yourself, fluid leaches out of any protein over 50c even when it's under a very strong vacuum.

Tenderize with a hand held Jaccard, as NathanM recommends in the Sous thread.

[MikeHartnett]

It works quite well with plastic wrap, and it was my first try with sous vide. I'm sure it will work well for you.

[FoodMan]

Here is my first entry in my Happy in the kitchen project on my blog. Click on the recipe name below for more info and pictures.

Duck-Duck-Beet

The Tasting Notes:

Let’s get rid of my quibbles first. The wonderful beet chips did NOT stay crispy after three days in the ‘air tight container’, especially the slightly thicker ones. The thinner chips were sort of in between crispy and chewy. That still did not prevent me from demolishing them all. They are that good and worth making again. The duck breast, as I hinted above felt a bit bland compared to the marvelous braised legs. I would certainly have appreciated some more seasoning on it or a marinade.

Overall the dish was very good. The legs were sublime, meaty, meltingly smooth and full of flavor after cooking in that red wine duck beet stock and shallots. The sauce itself was amazing with a rich mouthfeel and taste. It went so well with the rich duck. I would certainly make this again just using duck legs and braise them in the same way. I’d of course serve them with extra freshly-made beet chips too.