one spoon quenelle

obstacle1

2012-01-26T20:33:00.000-08:00

i have a lot going on and unfortunately this is one thing that is not a priority, so i am going on a blog hiatus.
this blog has been a lot of fun. i have met (internetly! if that's a real word) a lot of people through it. i hope that it has inspired, intrigued, or even made some upset. as long as anyone looking at it has taken something away from it.
if any readers and seekers have questions about techniques or recipes, feel free to give me an email.
thanks to all out there looking....

stutter

2011-12-18T21:02:00.000-08:00

one of the great things about working in such a small restaurant with a minimum staff is the spontaneity of everything.

in going through the assorted mise en place on hand, i found that I had some extra product that seemed to fit well together to form a fun first course for the tasting menu.

meyer lemon sponge cake soaked in meyer lemon syrup, white chocolate infused with pine oil, candied buddha hand, roasted banana sorbet, yuzu meringue, and fennel fronds.

cosmik debris

2011-11-18T01:10:00.000-08:00

one day i am going to make a very clean, straightforward looking dish. i remember being taught in culinary school to give things height. people eat first with their eyes...
but most of the time i just want to smash things up and lay it as they fall.

some may see chaos, but i see elegence.

lime curd, pineapple sorbet, pineapple compressed in pine, long pepper anglaise, pine gelee, shiso, mint, cilantro, lime meringues, pineapple croquant

a porcini

2011-11-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

last night was our mushroom dinner for our Food for Thought dinner series.
i made a porcini.
two meringues using porcini powder...one chewy and tiny dehydrated ones.
tonka bean ice cream stood as the stem for the mushroom, hazelnut crunch snagged from the awesome milk bar cookbook, whipped porcini cream buried underneath, and some greens to round out the dish.
it was simple but the effect worked well.
why not have fun with your food, right?

you and whose army

2011-10-27T23:26:00.000-07:00

got a great write up for our restaurant at http://www.qliweb.com/food/Aubergine_Carmel.

if you don't know about QLI, you should follow the link and check it out. Felix Hirsch is the main guy that runs it. he and his group travel the world and write about restaurants/wineries/etc.
they have a great layout, take amazing photos, and have a huge collection of restaurants to look through.
i was lucky to cook for them and they were really genuine guys who love dining.
excellent!

phantom limb

2011-10-27T01:29:00.000-07:00

had an amazing time in manhattan last week. dinners at eleven madison park, babbo, corton, dessert tasting at wd-50, 10 course lunch in the salon at per se...il laboratorio del gelato, milk bar (twice for the aptly named crack pie and the no slacking candy bar pie...a few morning jogs through central park, at stop at jb prince...shake shack pit stops...i'm feeling such a longing to return already.

time to go back to work

going blank again

2011-10-17T23:19:00.000-07:00

wow, where have i been?
two weeks ago we did our "food for thought" dinner. this one featured potato.
4 courses featuring potato.
i kinda took the easy road and grabbed the sweet potatoes....actually, yams.
but they are sooo goooood.

sweet potato ice cream set in gingerbread liquid sable, lemon marshmallow sauce, huckleberries, and coffee-caramel.

for the mignardise portion of the night, a simple potato chip (ha, i wanted to make pommes souffles but i am only a wee pastry cook and don't have those skills yet) dipped in chocolate and dusted with local fennel pollen, and honey powder

like a daydream

2011-09-23T00:13:00.000-07:00

i really can't believe this. the new zagat's came out and my restaurant Aubergine was rated in the top 5 for food in the SF Bay area. up there with the likes of The French Laundry, Gary Danko, Manresa, and Cyrus.
that is amazing....such an honor to even be on the same printed page as those heavy hitters.
check it out here:
http://www.zagat.com/lists/best-food-tops-restaurants-53

sympathy for the strawberry

2011-09-21T01:07:00.000-07:00

came across that great sonic youth title and figured i should do a post...or maybe the post was coming first and the song came second...anyway.
here are two versions of what could be considered a strawberry vacherin
strawberries, lime curd, meringue dusted with matcha, coconut-shiso sorbet, micro shiso
which one do you prefer?

the meringue is an amazing recipe/technique that i learned from Valrhona Chef Derek Poirier. it is par-baked and then thrown in the blast chiller. it has a crisp exterior while keeping a gooey interior...my new favorite cause i love meringues.

thanks Derek.

still life

2011-09-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

something for the summer...a little refreshing.
compressed melons, melon broth, olive oil, yogurt spheres, yogurt snow, herbs, tapioca pearls

i find that so many people love to eat melon, but given a choice between and chocolate dessert, a strawberry dessert, and melon...melon is the least favorite.
oh well...it's a very clean finish to the meal

2011-08-12T09:36:00.000-07:00

white chocolate namelaka, compressed nectarines, vanilla bean meringues, lemon verbena ice cream....

and nectarine consomme

candy apple grey

2011-06-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

here is the latest macaron...green apple and celery leaf.

instantly one of my favorites.

infused cream with celery leaves, blend. make ganache with white chocolate and celery leaf cream, add freeze dried apple.

freeze dried apple is also in the meringue base, along with some malic acid to give some acidity.

hopefully i'll make some again another time.

all of the ways

2011-06-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

our second go from the "food for thought" series dinners happened last night and went exceptionally well. the purpose was to do a monthly dinner that focuses on a single ingredient or family of ingredients. last month was the pea family.
last night we did stonefruits. 4 courses with wine pairings for $75. not a bad deal for a restaurant where our check average is about $180 per person.
the best thing about it for us chefs is how we fight over who is doing what with each ingredient.
the chef used peaches with foie gras, plums with lobster, and cherries with duck.
i opted for apricots.

the dish started off with slow roasted apricots. the seeds were added to almonds to make an almond milk. the almond milk tasted so good i turned the dish into an interpretation of cereal. the almond milk was thickened with a touch of xanthan to give that whole milk feel without any dairy. apricots were pureed and dried in the dehydrator to make a croquant. other apricots were gently cooked sous vide for 2 hours. yogurt clusters were made from rice krispies, pop rocks, yogurt powder and white chocolate...sort of a new rocher. financier croutons and broken gaufrette flakes finished the dish with an addition of nasturtium flowers.

the guests were served with small pitchers of the almond milk to pour as generously as they liked.

the concept worked well, mimicking a bowl of breakfast cereal with apricot and almond flavors.

sittin' here wishin' on a cement floor...

2011-05-23T00:52:00.000-07:00

well, the title comes from the brilliant pixies song "cactus".
the sherbet below is made from cactus...
both are great

it really reminds me of the wood sorrel i had been using.

raw cactus blended with simple syrup and finished with a touch of milk and lime juice.

fresh, clean, slightly vegetal.

i thought it was a brilliant idea until rosario in the kitchen said they have been doing that in oaxaca for years....nothing is new

i've been tired...

2011-05-14T01:29:00.000-07:00

it's been a long time since the last post. easter, mother's day, cooking classes...i really need to put some new dishes on the menu.
to change things up a little on the tasting, i whipped this dish up with some mise en place laying around. the odd thing is, every night i get comments from guests about how much they enjoyed it.

rose ice cream, raspberry meringues, warm milk chocolate mousse.

there's a piece of flourless chocolate cake, some chocolate streusel, feuillatine, and a pinch of freeze dried raspberry powder.

also odd how many people ask how i make rose ice cream.....rosewater, anyone?

everythings gone green

2011-05-04T00:44:00.000-07:00

tonight we started our first in a series of dinners titled "food for thought".
the first tuesday of every month we do 4 courses based on a single ingredient or family of an ingredient.
our first dinner featured the pea family. favas, spring peas, pea shoots, snap peas, fava shoots....

it is a fun way for the chefs to do something different to break up the monotony of standard service.

sweet pea cremeux, white chocolate ice cream, yogurt sponge cake, yogurt sauce, chocolate mint, pea and matcha croquant, grated lemon peel

next month is stone fruits...almost seems like 4 courses isn't enough

4 courses with wine pairing for $75. not to mention amuses and mignardise, not a bad deal

pardon my friends

2011-04-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

here are the recipes for the dish for the c3 contest. because i it is busy with cooking classes and easter weekend, i will just copy and paste my prep sheet i took to france with me. the recipes are pretty basic but don't hesitate to ask how some things are done.

c3

1. cremeux
180 Manjari	make cremeux
400g cream	freeze 1 hour
70g glucose
2 gelatin sheets
70g water
1.5 agar

2. clove ice cream
900 milk	steep ice cream base 20 minutes
200 cream
100 milk powder
150 sugar
30 glucose
4 stabilizer
10 cloves, toasted

3. cocoa paper
150 water	blend, spread, bake in 300F oven
150 sugar	1 hour
15 glucose syrup
150 cocoa powder

4. clove ice cream	finish ice cream, freeze in paco canister

5. coconut milk pudding
400 coconut milk	combine everything, bring to boil
140 water	set in tray in cooler
40 sugar
20 lime juice (half lime)
8 agar

6. vanilla-clove gel
400 water	steep 15 minutes
50 sugar
4 cloves, toasted
1 vanilla bean
2 low acy gellan

7. chocolate sable
112 butter	make paste, roll between parchment
150 sugar	bake at 300F until dry, 30-40 minutes
1 egg
5 vanilla extract
25 crème fraiche
150 flour
25 cocoa powder
3 baking soda

8. finish clove gel	strain, shear gellan, boil, set in pan

9. chocolate cake
165 butter	make cake, fill 1/2 sheet tray
425 sugar	bake @350F for 18 minutes
8 eggs
120 cocoa powder
6 salt

10. croquant base
200 fondant	cook, cool, grind with banana
100 glucose syrup	make croquant
25 FD banana	reserve airtight

11. blend coconut pudding	fill bag w/tip, reserve cold

12. cocoa paper	break into shards

13. grind sable	make streusel (sable, paper, pearls, salt)

14. portion cake	break into irregular pieces

15. spin i.c.

16. prep station
coconut pudding
cremeux
streusel
vanilla-clove gel
broken cake
banana croquant
ice cream
cocoa paper
ground clove
herbs/flowers

i switched you

2011-04-12T21:43:00.000-07:00

wanted to play with the presentation of a current dish.

nothing new at the market yet so it just makes me play around with what i already have.

lime bavarois, white chocolate, pineapple, matcha, vanilla

rhythm and soul

2011-04-10T01:17:00.000-07:00

saveur magazine is having their "Best Food Blog Awards". Here is the link.
http://www.saveur.com/2011-best-food-blog-nominations.jsp

if you enjoy this blog, cast a vote.
if not, at least cast a vote for something, 'cause it's a cool thing to support.

2011-04-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

back from an amazing trip to france. the people at Valrhona did an awesome job in hosting us six american chefs. we did some dining, some cooking, a lot of hanging out together.
maybe that is the best part of the whole event...getting to meet and know people whom i may not have had the opportunity otherwise. i think the competition was even and we all did a great job.
sad to say i will not be going to the finals in madrid, but i am happy with the dish i submitted and how i executed it. my downfall may have been the minimalist approach to a "chocolate" competition.
here is the submitted dish that i had to recreate in Versailles.

coconut milk pudding, Manjari cremeux, clove ice cream, vanilla bean-clove gel, flourless chocolate cake, banana croquant, cocoa paper, chocolate streusel

the state i am in

2011-04-02T20:47:00.000-07:00

lime curd, pineapple croquant, kiwi, pineapple, white chocolate ice cream, matcha

off to France....

three imaginary boys

2011-03-31T01:10:00.000-07:00

off to paris in three days.
very excited. very nervous about the tasting. i know it's going to be fun.
i have 1.5 days to myself in paris and versailles. don't have any concrete plans.
want to visit Pierre Herme, Aoki, Hugo & Victor, Patisserie des Reves...
should i act the tourist and visit the catacombs? louvre?
any suggestions?
above are some mignardise: Caramelia truffle, praline fudge, orange-bay leaf macaron

the specialist

2011-03-19T00:14:00.000-07:00

we took some quality photos the other day in the kitchen for PR purposes and i was blown away by how this one turned out.

aerated cream cheese ice cream, tangerine granita, tangerine meringue, tangerine sauce, vanilla bean sauce, wood sorrel.

thanks dan duran for the photos

balloon

2011-03-17T01:17:00.000-07:00

here are the balloons filled with chocolate pudding to make the pudding "truffles" in the previous post. it is an awesome technique and i have been wanting to try it for some time now. learned about it through Alinea. they were setting lemon curd in the balloons.

i have been wanting to do a creamy chocolate pudding with a crisp chocolate shell and that technique hit me.

perfect.

especially when you don't have a lot of hemisphere molds.

fill the balloon with fluid chocolate pudding, submerge in ice bath to set, freeze, dip in chocolate/cocoa butter shell.

guess i could spray it at this point but i like the matte finish.

think i'll make some filled easter eggs with this technique.

(straight down to the ) bitter end

2011-03-10T00:13:00.000-08:00

chocolate pudding truffle, peanut butter, passion fruit meringue, milk sherbet, rosemary blossoms.
last course on the current tasting menu.

paris, je taime

2011-03-07T21:03:00.000-08:00

wow!
just got an email today telling me that i qualified for Valrhona's C3 competition. i submitted a dish in february and now i am privileged to go to Paris and prepare the dish at Versailles for the judges.

http://www.cercle.valrhona.com/cercle_des_chefs/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=47&Itemid=176

above is the link to their site.
i want to say congratulations to the other chef's from North America who will be going.

Sally Camacho-WP24 Los Angeles
Meg Galus-Sofitel Chicago
Sarah Kosikowski-Trump International Chicago
Bin-Mar Leto-Nobu New York
Lance Whipple-Four Seasons Phoenix

have fun everyone.

future perfect

2011-02-28T00:28:00.000-08:00

wood sorrel and it's flowers in the bath. couldn't be luckier than to find these growing wild all over my yard. going to throw them onto a creamsicle remake in a day or two. can't wait.

love on the march

2011-02-19T20:11:00.000-08:00

valentine's day menu was based on aphrodisiac ingredients. it was funner than just coming up with random dishes.

avocado sorbet, pineapple, lime curd, tapioca, basil seeds, white chocolate, mint

carrot cake, cream cheese, nutmeg, cilantro, almond

creme au chocolat, passion fruit meringue, condensed milk, hot coffee milk foam, rosemary blossoms

turn into

2011-02-08T00:41:00.000-08:00

components are gathered together to form a dish. they play well together, they form relationships with each other, flavors meld, creating a singular vision...
then i go and muck it all up and move everything around.
i just can't leave things alone

it began with grapefruit curd, burnt meringue, gingerbread, clove sherbet, grapefruit sauce, fizzy white chocolate powder, milk meringue, mint

then turned into

grapefruit bavarois (made from the curd), clove sherbet, grapefruit meringue, and pretty much all the rest of the previous dish.
i find it difficult to think that a dish is done. there is always a different road to take.

trompe le monde

2011-02-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

sometimes it is all about appearances.
watching top chef last night was quite interesting. the quickfire challenge was to create a dish that was visually appealing and would be judged on looks alone. it was interesting how the "savory" chefs conceptualized that idea.
i think within the sweet world, that is always a factor. mainly in part because most of what we put on the plate we make ourselves. if i make a bavarois, i have to think about how i want it to look before i even begin to make the recipe.
the shape, the mold, the size.
in stating that, how do we move beyond our ordinary perceptions of what "the shape, the mold" should be.
without rambling on too much, i will eventually get where i want to go...

here is the chocolate cremeux recipe i have been using for awhile:
180g 72% Valrhona Araguani
400g cream
70g glucose
70g water
1.2g agar
2 gelatin sheets
bring water and agar to boil, reserve warm
simmer cream and glucose, emulsify with chocolate little by little
add softened gelatin sheets, add water/agar mixture, emulsify

usually this is poured into a mold or onto a tray and cut, but this time i wanted to try for a different look.

i wanted to give the appearance of something solid, like stone, when really it is creamy and melts in the mouth.
cremeux poured on a tray, frozen, broken, then tempered.
earl grey ice cream, kumquats, kumquat croquant, tangerine sauce, cocoa paper, wood sorrel, chocolate streusel

2011-02-02T01:15:00.000-08:00

i wanted to thank Chef Santos for coming in to stage last week. she was a lot of help and a very good sport about hearing be babble on every day. hopefully she learned some things and i can't wait to go up to visit her at her restaurant.
during the week we made some macarons so i had her choose the flavor: green cardamom...they came out much better than my pistachio. if you want the recipe you will have to call her at Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsberg. ask for Yulanda.

salad days

2011-01-29T00:48:00.000-08:00

had a couple of diners tonight enjoying the tasting menu. they both had dairy allergies, which makes it difficult for dessert, but even more so where the cheese course should be. are there any dairy less cheeses? didn't think so.
i jumped at the chance to make a transitional "salad" between the meat and dessert courses.
thought about the components and was really happy with the color scheme of greens and yellows.
it just looks light and fresh.
candied fennel with vanilla, compressed granny smith apples, celery ribbons, wood leaves and flowers, celery leaves, fennel fronds, and olive oil.
i did make them a vegan chocolate mousse using Herve This' technique that came out pretty good but forgot to take a picture.
maybe next time

just one fix

2011-01-17T20:17:00.000-08:00

i really like when people order the tasting menu. not only because the diner trusts enough of the chef to just cook for them, and not just because it allows the kitchen to show off a little by sending a lot of food out,
mostly i like the tasting menu format because within the many courses, the portion sizes are reduced and the dishes become minimized.
there is no longer the need to make a substantial portion. most times i feel that a dish is lost or muddled because the chef needs to "supersize" the dish in order to make the diner's experience worth the money.
a few components, various textures, three bites at the most, only what is necessary

rhubarb sherbet, coconut water tapioca, powdered white chocolate, aromatic herbs

new dawn rising

2011-01-08T01:13:00.000-08:00

it's a new year and there is so much to offer. some things to look forward to/some things i want to work on

new chef
liquid nitrogen (need to get some in the kitchen this year)
lime pickle (started experimenting, any ideas?)
new plates
tasting menus
monthly dinners based on a single product (citrus, berries, roots, alliums, tomatoes,...)
eat out more
try some travelling
modernist cuisine book
music as influence
tim burton exhibit at LACMA this summer (got my tix already)
make some good food

( )

2010-12-26T01:42:00.000-08:00

the hazards of working at a small luxary hotel are all the holidays that you have to work because the restaurant never closes.
so today i worked, but before that i opened one gift.

making holiday menus always throws me for a loop. i try to simplify things but also keep them interesting, at least to me.

pear bread pudding, walnut ice cream, creme fraiche, caramelized pear chips

meyer lemon curd, iced milk, burnt meringue, gingerbread, candied lemon peel, fizzy white chocolate powder

and an unfinished dish, i guess i never got a photo of the finished plate. chocolate sauce, grand marnier, tangerine gelee, (missing) aerated milk chocolate parfait, cocoa paper

recipe for disaster

2010-12-09T01:17:00.000-08:00

some people were asking for some recipes from the previous post. so here they are.

whipped milk chocolate ganache (aerated)
225g milk
50g glucose
300g Valrhona Tanariva, semi melted
580g cream
bring milk and glucose to a simmer, emulsify with chocolate
once fully emulsified, add cream, blend, and reserve cold overnight
whip to soft peaks, place in foodsaver container, aerate, freeze 4 hours
original recipe from l'ecole du grand chocolate Valrhona

tangerine sorbet
60g sugar
4g stabilizer
900g water
300g sugar
40g glucose powder
40g trimolene
40g milk powder
1200g tangerine juice
pinch of salt
make sorbet syrup with sugars, stabilizer, water, glucose powder, trimolene, and milk powder, reserve for a few hours
add tangerine juice to syrup, add pinch of salt, reserve overnight
process in ice cream machine...pacojet for me
i wanted to try a recipe from the amazing Michael Laiskonis and it worked well, forget what the original flavor was
when i first learned to make sorbets, i was taught to do it by taste just by using simple syrup and juice or puree, this way is a little more consistent

candy cap cream
500g milk
40g dried candy cap mushrooms
50g sugar
6g agar
10g maple syrup
steep milk with candy cap mushrooms, strain
bring to boil milk, sugar, agar, and maple syrup, simmer one minute
pour into tray, cool until set, blend in a blender until smooth, strain
i make most purees this way, adjusting the amount of agar depending on how thick i want it

maple meringue
200g maple syrup
200g egg whites
4g egg white powder
60g sugar
blend together maple syrup, egg whites, and egg white powder
whip in mixer until thick, add sugar and whip until stiff peaks form
spread on acetate and dehydrate overnight, break into pieces and reserve in airtight container

enjoy.

the perfect kiss

2010-12-05T00:25:00.000-08:00

at the market, citrus is almost in full effect. the first to hit the stands were some tiny, sweet tangerines. after 9 years of doing pastry i still find it difficult not to make some play on a creamsicle with tangerines. though now with my wandering imagination that creamsicle takes some mighty big leaps. i really can't place the train of thought that brought me here. i just know that i wanted something that looked heavy (physically) but in reality was full of fluffy light textures.
tangerine sorbet, milk chocolate ganache aerated, blis maple meringue, candy cap mushroom pudding, celery leaves, tangerine juice

thanksgiving

2010-11-26T01:23:00.000-08:00

here are the desserts i did for thanksgiving today. since we do 3 turns during this service, i try to make the dishes a little more simple to execute.

pumpkin ice cream, warm marshmallow cream with meyer lemon, raisins, speculoos streusel, speculoos croquant

walnut financier, apple butter, apple cider ice cream, sliced apples, candied walnuts

milk chocolate pudding, cranberries poached in honey and banyuls vinegar, blis maple syrup, maple meringues, and a "streusel" made of ground cookie crumbs, cocoa paper, and Valrhona chocolate pearls. went great with the banyuls wine that was poured with it.

the staff meal after service was the real highlight though.

i'm waking up to us

2010-11-19T01:11:00.000-08:00

so many things get overlooked. in life, in work, even things that are right before your eyes. i really enjoy making macarons...the flavors are limitless, fillings and colors are only limited by your imagination. but sometimes you forget the simplest of pleasures. this time around i was wondering what flavor to make and realized i had never made a vanilla macaron.
what a wonderful awakening.

lines in the suit

2010-11-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

piping out lines of sauce is a fun practice. it gives a sense of fluidity to a plated dish. some movement.
i started with a great base recipe from Valrhona for a praline cremeux. this dish is pure chocolate and praline. chocolate ganache is poured over praline fuillatine and left to crystallize at room temp for a few hours. the feuillatine is never refrigerated so it remains creamy and crunchy which melds with the ganache wonderfully. almost like a fluid tart base.
milk sherbet, bitter cocoa pudding, Maldon salt, and stevia leaves.
i have probably done this dish before, but just by piping out the praline cremeux makes it feel different and new to me.

red medicine

2010-11-07T23:58:00.000-08:00

i thought that this dish would evolve into something else, so i hesitated to post it. it started out as a quick way to use those beautiful red apples that i was getting.
cheesecake set with agar in cylinder form, then cut into bite size portions. red apples compressed and tossed in a ginger syrup, apple-shiso sorbet, speculoos crumbs, red apple croquant, milk croquant.

i got the word yesterday that my apple grower no longer has these red apples. guess i have to come up with something else now. quince is at the markets......

where is my mind?

2010-10-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

the train of thought went like this.....baked yams or sweet potatoes (fall is starting), yams with marshmallow topping, marshmallow turns into a meringue, if i make a sweet potato ice cream and place it on a sponge cake i can turn it into a baked alaska, still using the sweet potato and meringue/marshmallow idea, all the while keeping the "baked" aspect.

i don't care much for the piped meringue look, it is too contrived. so i just dipped the cakes in the meringue and let it swirl naturally with a little help from an offset spatula. the cakes are baked in the oven for 3 minutes to give the meringue a little crunch. meyer lemon and buddha hand fruit give the flavor balance i need to counteract the sweet potato and meringue.

sweet potato ice cream, meyer lemon genoise, meringue, genoise croutons, meyer lemon peel puree, buddha hand fruit(julienned), pomegranate seeds, pansy petals

inbetween days

2010-10-23T01:02:00.000-07:00

actually i feel like we are inbetween seasons. but here are a couple of things i am playing with.

buddha hand fruit and meyer lemons from the farmers market

red fleshed apples from our guy named fred from santa cruz

celebrated summer

2010-10-16T01:17:00.000-07:00

the end of summer is hitting me hard. walking through the farmers market i feel like i am in limbo. i see the ghosts of summer in the now flavorless strawberries, the blueberry vendor's empty stall, and the plump stonefruit that takes a little extra something to extract any flavor.
this dish should be off the menu in a couple of days (as soon as i think of what to replace it with).
continuing with the peach consomme, yogurt panna cotta is set in alginate to make spheres. vanilla bean tapioca, compressed peaches, sliced plums, candied meyer lemon peel, various herbs and flowers, and that peach consomme poured at the table.
i do enjoy the concept because when the spheres are broken, the yogurt mixes with the tapioca to make a tapioca pudding of sorts.
maybe something to look into more..............

start wearing purple

2010-10-12T10:21:00.000-07:00

here are two versions of the "purple" dish. they are similar but with slight variations. the dish actually kept changing as i would try a technique using the fruit or juice of the fruit to color the preparation. some things worked (sauce, croquant, cake, meringue), some didn't work (mostly aerated techniques...they turned to a dull grey, and blueberry namelaka became an ugly grey).

there was also the concern regarding balance of flavor. when everything is based off the same fruit, it is difficult to not make the dish monotonous.
the one non purple component became a yuzu parfait, after that everything became a garnish that was built around the parfait.

it is interesting to see how different techniques promote individual colors which then make the overall dishes take on a different vibe.

the question is how fast

2010-09-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

here is the warm praline profiterole dish. i think the concept is good. it acts as a coulant of sorts. the filling could be anything. crisp exterior with warm creamy interior. i thought about setting it up in a more "bistro" style with sauce poured over the top, but upon looking at the profiterole i was reminded of a large boulder in the sand. the flavors started with tart raspberries playing against sweet and slightly bitter praline.
caramelized white chocolate is added to praline paste and turned into a sandy powder with tapioca maltodextrin. milk chocolate namelaka infused with lime zest bring more balanced sweetness. the raspberry ice cream is rolled in the sandy mixture to mimic another rock. caramelized white chocolate croquant, braised raspberries, and basil leaves round out the dish.

been busy at the restaurant these last few weeks. our chef has moved back to france after accepting a wonderful position in biarritz, which leaves me to run the kitchen until another chef is found...anyone looking to move to central coast california?
so i'll be a little slow putting some stuff up for awhile. wondering how i could still keep desserts exciting while simplifying at the same time...................................

you say tomato, i say...ice cream

2010-09-21T01:26:00.000-07:00

the company i work for owns three restaurants. two here in carmel and one in yountville in the napa valley. once a year the chefs get together here in carmel and have the four chef's tomato dinner. the chef from each restaurant and me (the fourth).

we have a great farming family, the swanks, donate tomatoes for the event. i opted to use green zebra tomatoes because they remind me of tomatillos...and i love a good tomatillo salsa with lime and cilantro.

not having any control of what the other chefs made, i thought the best route to go was light and refreshing. to balance out the tart tomato, white chocolate became the counterpoint.

aromatic herbs joined in to keep it fresh

green zebra tomato ice cream, white chocolate namelaka infused with lemon basil, green tomato marmalade, effervescent powdered white chocolate, pistachio croquant, aromatic herbs: mint, fennel, basil, lemon basil, cilantro

2010-09-15T01:02:00.000-07:00

here is the filled praline profiterole. filled to order and warmed in the oven for 4 minutes. the "cream" doesn't break or run because it is basically a fluid gel. i really like this idea.
it is almost like a coulant. crispy exterior with a warm creamy interior.

300g milk
100g water
10g gellan F
200g Valrhona praline
pinch of salt

blend gellan in water, add to milk, bring to boil, emulsify with praline and salt. pour into tray and leave to set.
blend to make a smooth puree.

memory serves

2010-09-13T22:40:00.000-07:00

i did this peach dessert last year. interesting how it is somewhat similar to the one this year. slice thin, compress. maybe i haven't moved forward very much, or maybe it is just a great way to serve ripe peaches at the height of their season.
mimicking a carpaccio.
yellow peaches, lemon verbena ice cream, raspberries, raspberry meringue, dried black olives.

tears on fresh fruit (sparklehorse)

2010-09-09T23:00:00.000-07:00

i really wish the diner would appreciate a dish like this as much as i do. aside from the olive oil sherbet, there are no pastry techniques, merely a compressed stone fruit salad (peach, plum, nectarine; compressed, some pickled). small pearl tapioca infused with vanilla, various herbs, santa chiara olive oil.
not shown is the peach consomme (gelatin filtration) that is poured tableside.

sensations

2010-09-08T02:13:00.000-07:00

of all the books in french that i own, this is the one that i wish i understood more of. i don't speak much french, but i could get through most cookbooks with enough understanding that there aren't too many recipes or instructions lost in my meager translation.
Philippe Conticini Sensations is a wonderful book with so many great recipes that i know i am only using this to about 15% of its true potential. when i was in paris this past spring i stumbled upon his shop La Patisserie des Reves. within the shop i found an amazing interpretation of a paris-brest.
going through the book i found his pate a choux recipe and thought how could i interpret the famed paris-brest. the recipe works like a charm.

a beautiful profiterole with a crunchy exterior.

now to turn it into a paris-brest for the restaurant...in spirit at least.

that's just peachy

2010-08-31T11:55:00.000-07:00

finally got these peach chicharrones to work. peach juice with tapioca starch, steamed, dried, fried.

tossed in powdered sugar and dried ground peach skins.

gonna bag'em and sell'em.

the color purple

2010-08-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

i have been getting great blueberries at the farmers market. everyone knows that blueberries stain and give such a vibrant purple color. i want to do a dish that is "stained" in purple with blueberries. so far i have braised blueberries, blueberry microwave cake, and blueberry croquant.

anyone have any other suggestions on how to get more purple in the dish (without food coloring)?
how many techniques/textures can we get?
i am reminded of oriol balaguer's textures of chocolate dish.

tried/failed

2010-08-06T01:50:00.000-07:00

loveage macaron

i have been wanting to try to make macarons with a flavored meringue for a long time now. using egg white powder and juice of some sort. finally i mustered up an attempt. rummaging through items on hand, i found in the freezer some loveage puree sealed away. thinned with a little water and blended with egg white powder (using the ratio on the manufactures label) i left the vibrant green meringue to rehydrate overnight.

the next day i began whipping while doing the rest of the mise en place for my future macarons. unfortunately this meringue just didn't have enough stability (even with the cooked syrup method) to hold stiff enough peaks to complete the recipe.

the hopeful loveage meringue just didn't hold up. maybe the ratio was off, maybe it wasn't thought out enough.

actually, the remainder of the day didn't fare much better, with many failed recipes and even a broken glass. not the best day in the kitchen.

still thinking about how to get the most flavor out of a simple macaron, i will come back to this fight another day...here are some other macarons to view

rose-raspberry, lemon basil, blackberry-cassis, peppermint, earl grey tea, foie with pink peppercorn, shiso, citrus, raspberry-meyer lemon

(not so) strange request

2010-07-30T02:31:00.000-07:00

tonight during service when the server was taking the dessert order for a table, a diner asked if i could do something without any fruit at all. she said that fruit is for people who diet. nothing wrong with a little gluttony. the funny thing is that over the last 8 years, every dish i have done is based on fruit from the market or local purveyor. it may not be the main component, but it is buried somewhere on the plate. that's growing up in the california culinary world.
so i threw this together with mise en place from other dishes and some items i had on hand.

chocolate cremeux, peanut butter powder, chocolate sauce, vanilla bean ice cream, amaretto gelee, Valrhona pearls, popcorn croquant, chocolate tuiles, herbs..

i almost put apricot ice cream on the plate but realised what the task at hand was

i think it needs lemon....damn

purple rain

2010-07-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

blackberry with creme de cassis. had some blackberry puree that i made sitting around. so i made a ganache with white chocolate and creme de cassis. the color is an incredible purple.

i forget sometimes how much blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries "stain" other foods and transfer their color. need to remember that.

books about UFO's

2010-07-21T00:46:00.000-07:00

just got our first copy of the new Relais & Chateaux cookbook. very excited about it.

my first published dish. can't believe my name is in the same book as Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, Jean Georges, Joachim Splichal and many others.

i think the book comes out in october, maybe i could get myself a copy.

broken

2010-07-16T23:05:00.000-07:00

i really like this picture. it is abstract. looks nothing like food. yet it has shape, movement, texture. almost takes action.

it interests me greatly the differences in what people find appealling. i guess that is the basis of all art.

what seems good to me is not the same for you. music, painting, architecture, literature, film...

so many mediums.

within the food world, a matter of perspective also applies. i have worked in restuarants where everything must be exact. i have seen carrots peeled, cut into similar sized rounds, and then punched out with a small round cutter to make perfect coins. amazing to look at when you see a plate with 3 or 4 carrot buttons on a plate that look like they were stamped out of a machine let alone a whole nights mise en place of those same carrot buttons.

on the opposite end of the spectrum, there is something equally beautiful as seeing those same carrots as nature intended them to be. each one an individual, with its own twists and curves, some fat, some slender, long and short. there seems to be more going on.

in pastry, mostly everything is produced by us. we control the shape. so many molds and forms that sometimes i want to smash the product just to give it another life....a story to tell.

so i made yuzu meringue, shaped with acetate and dried it in the dehydrator. once removed from the acetate, they looked like PVC piping. with a nod to the skateboard days, i smashed them up.

the rest of the dish they accompany is fairly standard.

raspberry cream, vanilla bean panna cotta, raspberries, yuzu meringue, raspberry shaved ice (thanks Pacojet) and some basil

it's summer, i'm trying to take it easy

mignardise

2010-07-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

here are the current mignardise.
citrus macaron...yuzu juice, meyer lemon juice, lime zest
cocoa marshmallow

hey!

2010-07-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

i don't know if someone at Valrhona is working on this or not but maybe they should jump to it.

or maybe it is the job of the cook to produce this themselves. i am sure by now that most pastry chefs know about it. at this point i just make about half a bag of Ivoire just to have on hand so when i feel like using it, it is there.

going to combine it with popcorn and strawberries

drool collection

2010-07-06T01:01:00.000-07:00

i have always liked white chocolate-raspberry ice cream. with little chunks of chocolate mixed in.

so here is my plated version.

raspberry sorbet, white chocolate parfait (aerated), ground white chocolate, rosewater gelee, chocolate mint (thanks brittany), those cool little Valrhona chocolate pearls, chocolate "twigs".

the dish is finished with a loose raspberry fluid gel (the modern coulis).

...this is the key to aeration.

i might be wrong

2010-07-01T00:17:00.000-07:00

still wanting to keep the flavor profile of chocolate/apricot/bitter almond, i replaced the cake with a chocolate cremeux. using a technique i did last year, i set a frozen disk of apricot gel in the center of the cremeux. as the chocolate sets, the gel thaws and becomes a creamy apricot center.

and then i did something wrong (or right).

i put the cremeux in the microwave for 15 seconds.

i have been watching Heston Blumenthal's In Search of Perfection show lately. in one episode he was making a baked alaska (next on my list to play with). Chef Heston wanted to have a frozen exterior with a warm interior...so he threw it in the microwave. it worked, but he didn't find the result as useful as he intended.

that was stuck in my head while plating up the cremeux. what if the center was warm?

well it worked. though because it is only a limited amount of filling, the temperature difference is minimal. so maybe i'm wrong in trying it. but you never know what will happen if you don't try things.

the new cremeux/coulant. will keep on working with it.

dirty dream number two

2010-06-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

-ranting-
"seasonality, local, sustainable, market-driven"....key words that have become such a marketing language that to my ears sound as boring as Top 40 music. shouldn't all musicians write their own songs? shouldn't all chefs create menus derived from what the farmers are growing?
what are the responsibilities for pastry chefs? maybe a different story entirely, a craft based mostly on technique...but technique has no season. you can't buy technique at the farmers market.
a dream would be to see a pastry shop based around those same restaruant ideals.
i'm talking about high end pastry/confections, not a "rustic" bakery.
i want to see all the chocolates infused with herbs and flowers, ganaches made with fresh fruit and vegetable juices. pumpkin eclairs in fall and boysenberry in the spring. no berry tarts in winter and surely not chocolate covered strawberries for valentine's day...who thought of that? who has good strawberries in february.
seasonal tarts and cakes, seasonal croissants and danish.
my first collection would be a selection of macarons taken from the farmers produce and wild foragers.
above is a lemon basil macaron with basil seeds. i bought it from a stall not knowing what to do with it, but later realized i needed a new macaron for mignardise.
the rest of the collection may include strawberry and nasturtium, peach and lemon verbena, tomato and plum jam, an earthy porcini macaron with caramel, peanut butter and celery leaf...
the rant is over for now

jumping someone else's train

2010-06-29T01:16:00.000-07:00

here is the restaurant's current amuse.

tomato sorbet, tomato dice with watermelon and basil seeds, and tomato water poured tableside.

of course, the pastry guy (me) has to scoop the quenelle.

when will they learn?

soft effects

2010-06-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

there is so much produce to play with during the summer that the technical aspects of pastry seem to fall by the wayside. this is a dish that i could have done six years ago, and probably did in some form.

i have about an 8 minute drive to work (luckily very close) and along the way there are so many batches of wild nasturtium that i can't keep from using them in some way. so i made an ice cream with the flowers.

peaches are cooked sous vide, pureed, and cooked again with gellan to set into a semi-firm gelee. crepes are spread with pastry cream and rolled around a slice of peach gelee. these crepes are sauteed a la minute with clarified butter and finished with syrup to glaze.

ollaliberries are warmed to order in their own jus that is finished off with local olive oil.

crushed black pepper croquant is sprinkled on top of the crepe to give crunch.

compressed peaches and nectarines, fennel fronds, and nasturtium flowers garnish the rest.

cake

2010-06-23T13:18:00.000-07:00

last week was busy with the US Open happening next door in Pebble Beach. knowing our cover count was going to be tripled, i decided to "simplify" some things..or at least make them easier for me production-wise.
taking from Ducasse's Dessert book...a simple chocolate cake with apricot.
in this case, devil's food cake, creamy chocolate ganache, chocolate glaze.
amaretto gelee, apricot dice, bitter almond pudding, apricot ice cream, apricot tuile

gone golfing

2010-06-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

US Open in Pebble Beach is going on in my backyard. we are slammed. i was more excited about the Lakers winning.

this is a cake made for the room service ammenities...my version of the 18th hole.

i picture it more like miniature golf......

like strawberries and cream its the only way to be

2010-06-15T23:30:00.000-07:00

strawberries and cream, strawberry shortcake,...
when i was in culinary school, two books got me through those slow days. Charlie Trotters' first book, and the French Laundry cookbook. one dish in the FL book that really stood out was the strawberry shortcake dessert. don't know if it was Chef Durfee or Chef Keller that came up with that ( i would like to think it was Thomas' idea with Durfee's execution). it was simplicity, comforting, and elegent. guess that sums up the food there.
last week we got our first red currants at the market, we buy them all. i instanly wanted to combine them with the strawberry tapioca i was making. still thinking about strawberry shortcake and strawberries and cream, i combined them with a yogurt microwave cake, vanilla bean ice cream, shaved rhubarb, rhubard sauce, and strawberry croquant

obstacle 1

2010-06-13T00:02:00.000-07:00

currently i am making way too many items without doing anything with them. previously there was the rhubarb consomme.

now its strawberry tapioca.

with a surplus of strawberry jus, i add agar and dropped them into cold oil. they have a slight chew (like tapioca) with a strawberry perfume.

i should just pour that consomme over them with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. i am too dumb to do something that simple......

nude (big ideas)

2010-05-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

agar clarification. first try. rhubarb juice. the one on the left is clarified. hope you can tell. taste is the same. rhubarb juice and a little simple syrup. not too bad. there is still a little bit of solids when you look really up close. what to do with it now?

shiso

2010-05-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

the next macaron. shiso with black sesame. blended cream with shiso, used shiso milk to make a ganache with white chocolate. black sesame for texture and color. it tastes very much like matcha tea.

the sweets

2010-05-24T16:49:00.000-07:00

i was craving something sweet and gooey. the one thing that i think rises to the top of that definition is the english sticky toffee pudding. a cake made with brown sugar, butter, dates, beer, and soaked in a brown sugar/butter toffee sauce. could it get more gooey and sweet.

at the market there is a lady who sells wonderfully plump dates. next to her is another lady selling kumquats. what luck, within four square feet are the makings of a dish. dates with a bitter orange flavor lead me to pistachios which guide me to cardamom and the flavors are done.
the toffee pudding cake is warmed to order and soaked in the toffee sauce. kumquats are blanched and candied with vanilla. green pistachios are chopped. some of the kumquats are pureed and to it passion fruit juice is added to balance out the flavor and give some acidity. that is made into a sauce and a croquant. an eggless cardamom ice cream adds a cool creamy texture. finish with a chiffonade of shiso.

"you'll feel better if you have a cookie"

2010-05-20T21:40:00.000-07:00

a really good cookie is all it takes

earl grey tea macaron

2010-05-18T00:48:00.000-07:00

switched over to the cooked syrup method for meringue in macarons. need to get used to it, after 7 years of making a traditional meringue. we'll see how we go from here

a means to an end

2010-05-17T01:21:00.000-07:00

damn it took a while.
i have changed the components of this dish for two weeks now. now i am a little happy with it. it started with the whipped milk chocolate ganache recipe i got from the Valrhona sessions. it has a great texture, close to a chocolate chantilly, but with a little more body. i had to use it. though i think the final result isn't quite what the people at Valrhona had in mind.
whipped, spread between acetate, frozen, broken into shards, and then kept frozen. on the pick-up they are arranged on the plate. because they are thin, within about two minutes they are no longer frozen but creamy.

to give it a fuller chocolate flavor, chocolate mint (thanks brittany) is blended with cocoa to make a fluid gel. raspberry meringue is dried and broken. rooibos tea is set into a gelee. fresh raspberries and chocolate mint, raspberry sorbet.

a cool down

2010-05-10T00:57:00.000-07:00

i have been trying the ice water tempering method for chocolate. been wanting to do it for a while now.

essentially you fill a container with ice water, not too much ice, just really cold. when the chocolate hits about 40C, pipe it in. this shocks the chocolate into setting up, but there is a window of seconds where the chocolate is firm but maleable.

after shaping the chocolate, you let it sit in the water for a few minutes (that time is what i am playing with) until the cocoa butter crystalizes and it holds the shapes you made.

you then remove it from the water and keep it cold (or frozen maybe).

what i like about this technique is that it offers you the ability to create 3 dimensional shapes with an organic twist.

the longer you leave it in the water the more it loses color, which is kinda cool, it really gives it a "rotten wood" look

if anyone has any ideas, tips, or suggestions with this technique than please speak up, i'd love to hear what others are doing with this

recipe for success

2010-05-07T01:31:00.000-07:00

i got a request for the namelaka recipe. i do have to give credit to Chef Philippe Givre. he is Head Pastry Chef at Ecole du Grand Chocolat.

200g milk

zest of 2 lemons (or other zest)

10g glucose

3 sheets gelatin (depending on what you are doing you can increase or decrease gelatin)

340g Ivoire chocolate

400g cream

rehydrate gelatin sheets, reserve. warm chocolate to 40-45C and add glucose, reserve. warm milk, infuse with zest. return milk to simmer, add gelatin, strain. emulsify with chocolate. once fully emulsified, add cream, mix. allow to crystallize in fridge.

do want you want with it now. let me know, forward pics. interested to see what others do with this.

that is what the internet is for, yeah?

we're just...a minor threat

2010-05-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

while at the Valrhona factory, we saw how they make their praline paste. a very interesting site indeed (no photos allowed within the working factory!). they have a giant copper kettle that the caramel is made in, nuts are added and the mixture is turned until cool. it is poured out and there is one dude that breaks it up with a giant mallet, drops it into a bucket, and places the small broken pieces into the grinders. similar to the conching machines for the cocoa beans, the praline is ground and crushed until a fine paste is formed.
the awesome thing about that process as well as with the chocolate paste is that they control the measurement of the grinding so that it is just small enough so that your palate cannot detect any grains. they actually have a measurement and setting for that.
not much different than a fluid gel i guess. grind it up enough to where it feels smooth on your tongue.

i was initially wanting to make ground up caramelized walnuts, but i walked away from the praline for a minute too long and so a paste was forming. seeing an opportunity to compete with the big guys at Valrhona (ha ha) i kept it going about 10 minutes until a smooth paste was formed.

the toasted walnut with bitter fruit flavor was great. very earthy. still wanting a powder form and not liquid, i added tapioca maltodextrin.

now i had a soft powder with that amazing sweet toasted walnut flavor.

it's actually way better than just the ground caramelized walnuts i was starting with.

namelaka

2010-05-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

the name is a japanese term for "creamy texture". it is a great technique/recipe taken from the Valrhona school. basically a ganache made with milk, emulsified, gelatin added, and finished with cream. a few hours to crystalize in the fridge and what you have is a wonderful creme au chocolat.

i have been infusing mine with lime thyme and lime zest. though it is made with white chocolate, all the extra dairy in it tames the sweetness, as opposed to a traditional white chocolate ganache.

the namelaka can be scooped with a spoon (as in this photo) or piped as i do on the plated dish.

another great technique to help enhance a dish

rites of spring

2010-05-03T02:07:00.000-07:00

upon returning from france i set a goal on myself to incorporate into new desserts as many recipes from the Valrhona class as possible. i thought to myself how much of a shame it would be to go all that way and not utilize anything that was shown to me and the other chef's. though the finished dishes were nothing like what i would do, the beauty of it all is that the finished product is only part of the process. it's the journey that takes you there; the techniques, the inspiration, that i sometimes find more rewarding.

one of the recipes was of a sponge scented with lemon verbena. basically a firm gelee set with gelatin and whipped in a mixer. there is a lot of gelatin in it but when it becomes aerated, chilled, and cut, the sponge just dissolves on your tongue like a memory.

it's not a new technique, but one i seemed to have passed up on using in lieu of others. this one is made of lime juice and infused with lime thyme from my garden.

we are in full swing with spring and there are finally berries at the market. not quite the best yet but some of the stands have a few winners.

compressed strawberries, lime sponge, strawberry sorbet, white chocolate namelaka, strawberry gel, strawberry croquant, fennel and cilantro

more on the white chocolate namelaka later.....

2010-04-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

i obtained my copy of Pastry in europe 2010 just before leaving for France. i hadn't really had a chance to look through it until just recently. it is a great addition to many reference books i own. there are the obvious spotlights on classic regional pastries throughout europe. (something that would be difficult to mimic here in the states as we don't really have that rich history in pastry)

what i enjoy most about the book are the chapters on techniques. picking specific techniques such as meringues or marshmallows and giving a number of examples and uses for them is a great idea.

i am always looking to explore a technique and see how far i can take it, or abuse it as i sometimes do.

there are also chef spotlights within the book. ironicaly in this edition there is a chapter on Maison Pic's pastry chef Philippe Rigollot. we met him in Valence and had the pleasure of eating his food. flawless technique. so check the book out, many hidden treasures to be found.

getting back into the groove of things at work, working on some new dishes. we'll see how they come out.

be back soon

thanks Valrhona

2010-04-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

phew!
returned from my whirlwind france trip. had an amazing time, met some great people, learned a lot, and ate some awesome pastries. the trip was essentially set-up by the great people at Valrhona chocolates. i have pretty much used Valrhona exclusively for 9 years and i guess it finally paid off. but honestly they are an amazing company and incredible hosts. took a 3 day pastry class with Chef Phillippe and Chef Derek at the factory and school.

there were 11 chefs in total. here is the final days' presentation.

it is great working with other people, sharing ideas and experiences, and learning some new techniques.

one of my favorite parts of the kitchen were these shelves

i think at one point when i used up a bag of chocolate, i stupidly asked.."do you have any more Caramelia?"

well maybe, we are only at the factory where all the chocolate they make for the world is produced.

do they ever really run out?

2010-04-03T01:14:00.000-07:00

it's late, i've got a lot to do, but i just had to finish posting with the last two dishes on the current menu.

milk chocolate pudding, peanut butter feuillatine crumbles, peanut butter powder, pomelo granite, and broken pomelo segments. along side is served a few peanut butter tuiles. the real reason for this dish is so i could practice using my iota carrageenan. i think i reached a texture that is similar to pot de creme but much easier to make.

though i am not much for serving items "on the side", the peanut butter tuiles are super tasty, i think i eat 3 a day.

an extension of the previous pineapple dish.

shaved compressed pineapple, pickled green papaya, vanilla bean cream, aloe vera granite, white chocolate-coconut powder, raspberries, and cilantro

this dish is so easy but it tastes very refreshing.

what i like about it is that it really has nothing to do with "pastry". there is not cake, no ice cream, no sauces even. i wanted to make something in the spirit of carpaccio. thin slices, with a few garnishes for flavor and texture.

so i am off to paris and the Valrhona factory in tain l'hermitage tomorrow. if i am enough of a wizard i will try to post on the road, but i don't know if i have the skills with my little HP.

bon soir

guest request

2010-04-01T00:17:00.000-07:00

a diner requested a fruit plate instead of dessert. i tried to make it interesting. at least for me.

i feel bad though because we are inbetween seasons and so the fruit just isn't the greatest. what deity do i have to worship to bring summer's bounty.

compressed apples, shaved pineapple, banana, compressed strawberries, raspberries, a little meyer lemon sauce, and some herbs and flowers

comics for kids

2010-03-30T00:14:00.000-07:00

two nights ago i helped with an event in pebble beach.

it was full of all the local monterey peninsula restaurants and their chefs. i made about 350 portions for the dessert banquet.

goat cheesecake, braised blueberries, tapioca, and meyer lemon meringue

skate a bowl

2010-03-29T01:36:00.000-07:00

during the "rad" days when i used to skate, i would mostly ride in the streets. curbs, planter, handrails, schools, parks, whatever. every once in a while i had the pleasure of skating a pool. i wasn't very good with that format, actually kind of scared. but it was thrilling. the thing about a bowl is that you are contained. some would say trapped even. all of your tricks are executed in a small space, your reflexes are put to the test, and your mind races ahead of your body to the next move in anticipation. yet there is an extreme sense of beauty and purity in that containment.
i feel the same about food in bowls.

all the ingredients contained in a small space, but still trying to pull out some tricks. it makes for very interesting eating. the diner is almost forced to mix and eat everything together. maybe there is also a certain sense of fear for the diner too. all the ingredients are not displayed for them out on a plate. surprises are found and hopefully enjoyed. the difficult part is making it look nice.

in the last Michel Bras book, with everthing so amazing to see, what really made want to eat the pages were the four or five pictures of soups. so many textures, a minimum of flavors, beautiful simplicity within a contained environment.

warm bitter chocolate espuma, horchata sherbet, cara cara orange gelee, coffee meringues, some ground chocolate cookie crumbs, and candied peel.

simple techniques, easy to execute, harmonious flavors....just what i need on the menu before i skip town.

lullaby

2010-03-26T00:59:00.000-07:00

in 10 days i will be on a plane heading to paris....for the first time. i am truly excited about this trip (especially as the germany trip didn't quite pan out).
a wonderful opportunity was offered to me through my specialty goods purveyor chef's warehouse. me and 9 other pastry chefs are going to Valrhona's Ecole du Grand Chocolate. after flying in to paris we are taking the train to the Valrhona factory in Tain l'Hermitage for a 3 day professional chocolate course.
i'll be the first to admit that i'm no chocolate wizard. i know how to make a few desserts with chocolate but i am really excited to see what some masters have planned for us.

moving ahead of the introduction to this post, my real dilemna regarding this trip is "how does a pastry chef with no pastry staff take time off while simultaneously running a tasty and creative menu?"

i have been trying to make a menu (4 dishes really) that is tasty, creative, and can most importantly be executed correctly in my absence. i will be gone for 14 days...i don't think i have ever had 14 days off of work..ever.

so running through some familiar techniques with an ease in plating (no one spoon quenelles for awhile) was the modus operandi for my task.

above is the first finished dish. aerated cream cheese ice cream (seen before with carrot cake), braised huckleberries with tapioca pearls, candied meyer lemon peel and sauce, gingerbread crumbs, and some pansy petals.

by the way, i am loving the pandora function on my blu-ray player. joy division station takes me to the cure, radiohead, new order, interpol...just what i need at 1 in the morning :)

nothing

2010-03-16T00:29:00.000-07:00

sometimes there seems to be nothing going on...or at least just the same things happening. prep, service, prep, service, napa, prep, drive back, more prep, more services...nothing new.
it was slow yesterday for service so i made something for the kids (staff).

bacon and maple cream puffs.

ever been to beard papa? a store that sells only cream puffs. these were really good. bacon pastry cream with maple syrup, profiteroles dusted with bacon sugar and powdered sugar.

wonder if these would sell well.

remake/remodel

2010-03-09T00:09:00.000-08:00

the chef bought a new toy. a japanese vegetable slicer usually used to make long strands of potato.
i needed a garnish for the frozen sweet potato pie. after a couple of experiments with the fried sweet potato, i think it works out great.

treating it almost like a funnel cake, the potato is quickly blanched and drained. upon pick-up they are fried and dusted with vanilla powdered sugar

after not really conceptualizing the dish (as with most dishes they are always a work in progress) i feel much better about the end results here.

sweet potato ice cream in a gingerbread liquid sable, yuzu marshmallow, candied peanuts, condensed milk pudding, yuzu coulis, maple gelee...think that's it for now

2010-03-04T12:13:00.000-08:00

off to yountville for a few days to work on cantinetta piero desserts. wish there was time to dine but i don't think it's going to happen.

oddballs

2010-03-02T01:19:00.000-08:00

my two biggest passions as an adult are cuisine and music. through cuisine i am able to be generous (being a part of making memorable experiences for others) and creative (bringing together technique and raw ingredients to make something that i have some emotional stake in).
i would be the first person to admit that outside influences play a major role in my creativity(i am a pastry staff of one, not much group brainstorming here) but i always try to make the finished product mine somehow.

frank black (of Pixies fame) released an album titled "oddballs". it was comprised of b-sides and covers. on the sleeve after each song were his words....trying to be Dylan, trying to be the Stones, trying to be Bowie,...a few said trying to be me.
each song had influences, but he made them all his own.

maybe that is how dishes should be titled...trying to be Stupak, trying to be Kahn, trying to be Adria, trying to be Bras, trying to be Laiskonis, oh man that list would be long

trying to be me trying to make an ice cream pie using a liquid sable (Stupak?Kahn?) with sweet potato ice cream (Kahn?, though a simple google search will show plenty of old fashioned sweet potato ice cream recipes).

i do like the idea of punching out the bases and cutting strips of sable to form the sides and sticking them together to form a traditional tart shell. the texture of ice cream and liquid sable work very well together. ColdStone Creamery will be making these things in about 5 years, maybe they will have protestors too.

sorry if i've offended anyone with my lack of originality

last of the menu

2010-02-22T00:25:00.000-08:00

these two dishes are the last of the current menu that i have not posted.

a frozen sweet potato pie made of gingerbread liquid sable shaped in a traditional tart shape filled with sweet potato ice cream, blis maple syrup, drizzled and foamed, torched yuzu marshmallow, yuzu curd, candied peanuts, and wood sorrel

grapefruit sherbet, candied grapefruit peel, chocolate pudding, brownie chunks, and tarragon sauce

thanks go to my guests from los angeles who came in just to sample my desserts. i felt really honored. hopefully the dishes were worth the drive. thanks.

i saw the light

2010-02-19T01:17:00.000-08:00

been so busy at work.
still i try to take notice of the little things that make this career a fun ride. always new things to learn, always old things to remember. here are a couple of pictures that made me reflect and enjoy my job.

what a great way to make meringues, so many possibilites. pineapple juice mixed with egg whites and egg white powder, whipped with the addition of sugar, piped onto ground coconut, baked in the dehydrator overnight. so flavorful and light with a nice crunch

simply candied grapefruit peel, julienned, blanched twice, simmered in syrup until completely reduced, dryed on a tray. makes me think that the best garnishes aren't difficult tuiles or fancy chocolate shavings, but the natural beauty of fruit and all it's complexities.

creamsicle

2010-02-16T12:11:00.000-08:00

next week i am going to Germany for the Rheingau Gourmet & Wine Festival. i will be absent from my kitchen for about 15 days. i needed to make a menu here that could be executed easily with basic preperations. the problem is i still want to keep certain flavor profiles and not dumb down the aesthetics.

this preperation looks simple and feels simple but has a very satisfying appeal.

frozen powdered white chocolate and frozen mandarin powder bury a tres leches cake soaked with mandarin juice, whipped vanilla cream, and carbonated mandarin segments. various herbs finish the dish.

2010-02-16T01:48:00.000-08:00

here is what i did yesterday. it was a one day menu so i tried to make the dishes easy to execute, which was a good idea because everything came at once and i worked it by myself for the most part. wanted to have every dish with a heart, had bigger ambitions but i settled for something i could actually do.

white chocolate mousse with red velvet sponge, raspberry sauce-every room received these

tapioca pudding, pistachio ice cream, grapefruit, rosewater foam and meringues

white chocolate ice cream with raspberry, powdered white chocolate, raspberry gel, mint, chocolate pearls

chocolate pudding, red pepper gel, toasted cinnamon ice cream, piquillo pepper croquant

second seating tasting menu got tapioca followed by chocolate

2010-02-12T23:43:00.000-08:00

i used to do a lot of croquants using the glucose/fondant/isomalt method where they are cooked to 155C and dried, ground and remelted. it is still useful, but i have a dehydrator now. currently i try to make croquants with purees and juices, adding sugars and drying overnight in the dehyrdator. the next day i put the brittle sheet on parchment, heat in the oven, cut, rewarm and shape. while warm they have a wonderful flexibility, when dry they have such a delicate crisp with a full flavor

apple croquant, compressed apples, walnut milk ice cream, walnut streusel, yuzu coulis (gel), goat cheesecake (not baked)

no longer on the menu, never got around to posting this...........

coolin' by sound

2010-02-12T10:50:00.000-08:00

goin' for something a little more cooling and refreshing. glimpses of spring are in the air and at the markets but we are not quite there yet. so we are gonna do something a little tropical, familiar.

version 1

shaved pineapple, dehydrated pineapple chunks, microwave coconut sponge, lime ice cream, coconut pebbles, coconut pudding, cilantro, and a soy caramel poured tableside

version 2

pineapple three ways: compressed and shaved, marinated and dehydrated, and meringue. coconut cream, coconut pebbles, lime ice cream, cilantro, and soy caramel poured tableside (not pictured).

i am sticking with version 2 on the menu. the meringues add a lightness and crunch while also allowing me to use all of the pineapple.

customer comment

2010-02-03T00:14:00.000-08:00

hopefully this is positive

once more with feeling

2010-01-28T00:36:00.000-08:00

finally got around to this aeration preperation. it took four different places of influence for me to figure how i wanted to go about this.

in the wonderful chocolates & confections book there is an aerated dipped chocolate using a siphon, the fat duck

does aerated chocolate in a shell, in the new and fun coco book chef mads fefslund creates an airy pine needle chocolate, and finally from the tuxturas line they create a chocolate bar with white chocolate, freeze dried fruits, and yogurt powder

i was thinking of making some traditional mendiant but substituting freeze dried fruits for nuts. with that spirit, i added freeze dried strawberry and mango, poprocks, yogurt powder, bergamot oil, and citric acid to white chocolate, put it in my little food saver canister and added air. once set they were broken into nice little "rocks" and served as mignardise

sweet, tart, airy, with a finish of poprocks....awesome

chocolate and cherry is next

win some lose some

2010-01-27T01:49:00.000-08:00

it starts off quite simply...

the flavors are what i wanted, a gelee of Pernod, some grapefruit segments

a tonka bean pudding hugging the thread of gelee

some thickened grapefruit juice

a black sesame sponge cake made in the microwave, a very soft and spongy element

with a deep toasted and smokey flavor

grapefruit meringue spread and dried on a tray and broken into shards to add crunch

the original starting point is the grapefruit parfait surrounded by grapefruit ice, frozen into a cylindar and cut

some micro cilantro to add freshness and a cleansing quality

probably should have stopped there

then i added a frozen white chocolate powder, why? because i wanted the white chocolate to bring together the grapefruit, sesame, and licorice

and finally finished with some pomello juice frothed up.

all the flavors are what i wanted, there are various textures to keep the mouth interested

and the colors really stand out on the plate...but it just really feels like a trainwreck.

sometimes the idea really outweights the execution. maybe tomorrow i will keep all the flavors and change all the techniques