Archives for November 2009
Arturo Bakes a Cake.
30 November 2009 | cake, chef | 11 Responses
My good friend and fellow Chef Arturo Lopez was quite suddenly and shamefully deported back to Mexico over a year ago. It was so sad the way it went down; one day he was there, the life of our kitchen, the backbone of it’s mise en place, the next he was gone. It was hard to shake the bottomless pit feeling of this for some time, hard to come to terms with an inconsiderate and fucked up system. In my mind it was the beginning of the end for my friend and mentor Jack Yoss at ten01. I know it just wasn’t the same for him anymore; this place that he and Arturo built together. Fortunately however, Arturo and Jack both still prosper on. Pictured below is some proof that my good Latino buddy is doing well. He sent me these pictures a few weeks ago and I just had to get them up here. This is him baking a cake for his new girlfriend. We miss you Arturo!!
Pootang 3.0.
18 November 2009 | Ten 01, chocolate, creative presentation of the week, delicious, faithful readers, plated dessert, recipe | 2 Responses
It’s funny how one idea leads to another and sometimes the most obvious idea is the best one. Looking at my Fat Spouse dessert, it was good; hell it was great even. What it lacked however was a warm element. Something to start melting that malted milk ice cream and pretzel bark. Something rich and fatty. Like pootang…BREAD pootang. All peanut butter chips and compressed devil’s food cake stratifying a rich brioche custard. There’s been some discussion of pootang technique in the kitchen as of late, and one thing again leading to another, I’m now pureeing my base. It creates an even, dense, almost cakey texture. The chunks of devils food are compressed in the vacuum sealer then diced. Finally a good use for that bomber technique. You can get cool potions this way, but a realized dessert was tricky. Now how about that fancy cruise ship garnish? I got the idea from a dish wifey had dining when we dined at Spago Beaver Creek. A simple piped lattice of tempered chocolate onto acetate, scored and bent in a PVC half pipe. The other tile of tempered chocolate underneath the ice cream is a buffer between the cold scream and the warm pootang. Cocoa nibs help it grip. I brought back the dulce dessert Watchmen blood drip plate saucing technique for good measure. This fucker gets oohed and ahhed every time it hits the table. Here’s the recipe for enjoyment of my faithful readers.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Bread Pudding
6 oz butter at room temperature
6 oz sugar
2 oz dark chocolate
4 oz peanut butter
5 eggs
3 cups heavy cream
12 -15 brioche buns
2 cups diced compressed devils food cake that has been diced
1 bag Reeses peanut butter chips
1. Cream the butter and the sugar with the paddle. While they are achieving light and fluffy in your stand mixer, melt the chocolate and peanut butter over a double boiler.
2. When the sugar and butter are light and fluffy, add the melted chocolate and peanut butter. Mix until well incorporated, scraping the bowl as necessary.
3. Add the eggs one by one, scraping and incorporating.
4. Switch to the whisk and add the heavy cream on low speed. Keep the machine going while you prep the bread.
5. Cut the bread into large chunks. Take the custard off the machine, add the bread and mix thoroughly. You need enough bread to make a messy paste. Too much and your pootang will be dry, to little and it will be a custardy mess. Cover the mix and let it soak over night. This is essential to chingon pootang.
6. Next day pull the base and puree it in the food processor. Transfer to a large bowl and mix in the chunks and chips.
7. Prepare one half sheet tray with sprayed parchment. Pour and spread the base into an even layer. It should ride the rim of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap, then cover with aluminum foil. This will create a nice even top.
8. Bake in a 300 degree convection oven for about 25 minutes, rotating once. It is normal for the pootang to souffle a bit while baking. When it is done it should be dry (baked looking.)
9. Cool completely before slicing to de-molding desired shape. Reheat portions in the microwave for 20 seconds.
Chicken & Broccoli Gratin, Bacon Fat Biscuits
9 November 2009 | bacon, eating, nomnomnomnom, recipe | 3 Responses
Just something I threw together for me and wifey on a Monday night. I’ve been cooking for her when I can, usually Mondays, and usually chicken. My lovely better half has a very refined palate; that is to say she won’t eat shit. So it’s normally chicken I cook, I’ve perfected my fabrication, brining and crispy skin. This Monday, however, I had breasts. In an attempt to church them up with limited resources, we’ve got this little dish here. I worked my way through a handful of recipes in J.O.C., and what I realized I wanted was a gratin. Saucy, cheesey crusty, etc. It’s was a rainy northwest winter day and after a haircut and a Fremer run I was drinking beers and cooking. My other big goals for the day involved blogging, flogging, and not jogging.
Bacon Fat Biscuits adapted from J.O.C recipe
1 3/4 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
5 bacon fat
1 tbslp butter
3/4 cup half & half
flour for dusting
1. Pre heat oven to 450. Sift the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Measure and freeze the bacon fat and butter. Micro plane it into the dry ingredients.
3. Mix the dough with the paddle attachment on low speed just into a loose wad begins to form.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a disk with floured hands.
5. Cut desired shapes and bake 12-15 minutes, again G.B.D.
Serve with:
Chicken & Broccoli Gratin
2 brined chicken breasts
2 cups blanched Broccoli
2 oz parmesan
2 oz cheddar grated
1 oz dolloped buitter
1 slice oven dried bread of your choice
1/2 cup candied walnuts
2 tblsp flour, plus more for dredging
1 cup chicken stock
1 tsp chicken demi
2 tsp sherry vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1. Brine the chicken breast and blanch the broccoli if you haven’t already. Drain and dry the chicken. Hold in the fridge with the blanched broccoli.
2. Pulverize the parm, bread, and walnuts in a food processor, reserve.
3. Dust the chicken with flour and sear it in a hot pan, finish in a 400 degree oven.
4. Remove the chicken from the pan and hold at room temp. Add the flour to the pan and it’s drippings, cook for two minutes. Add the stock stock and demi whisk smooth.
5. Cook the gravy for 5 minutes.
6. Slice the chicken and arrange it and the broccoli in the desired pan. Spoon on the gravy. Cover it with the crumbs, grated cheddar and dolloped butter
7. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn on the broiler. Broil until crust is G.B.D.
Some Shit I Wrote.
9 November 2009 | writing | No Responses
homeless observation
A crushing glow, a heavy wet light, I sheild my eyes in the sudden
bright. As fast as it came it’s goes, now a thundering hiss of
blades, a chopper cruising bent low with speed. It’s passing marked
by a thin loudness, a recorded whisper in full volume. Silent now
save the sound of voices, beneath the darkness. Why the light combed
here, at the edge, escapes me. Here there is nothing, here life sits
crowded and alone. This black corner is crowded with half smoked
cigarettes, sick smelling boots, human effluence submerged in mud.
Viewed with a disquieting double-take, perceived in guilty shrug, most
shuffle quickly on, back towards the light.
plane waiting
Grabbed the tab and fled from the muted cacophony; the combined noise
of low voice, clinking glass, tv and commerce. Decently buzzed I find
the gate; a silence now, a pressing tension of expectation and fidgety
anxiety. I fish out my ear buds, casting deep into cargo pockets to
reel in the one device. Soon I find music pounding my ears; calm
inside, attention distracted just enough. Beats loud enough to quell
the squirming squeal of a surly babe, the inane conversation of
scowling elders, announcements overhead; a metallic quack, all gone.
Flipping the glossy pages of comics, pulsing beat in ears dead to the
world.