IDEAS IN FOOD -The single most engaging food blog on the web.  The information and inspiration that this site provides is huge amenity to the food world.  The frequent updates from this husband and wife teams blog entice my tongue and stretch my perceptions of what can be done with food.  A recent post about short ribs still has me drooling.  Check out their ideas on Foie Gras and Hot Ice Cream. Chefs Aki and Alex write a web column for Popular Science, called Kitchen Alchemy, and can also be followed on Twitter.  They even appeared on Food Network.  Congratulations to these two brilliant Chefs on their new baby!!

eggbeater-  When you Google “Pastry Chef Blog” the first hit you get is eggbeater.  Shuna fish Lydon a gift to this planet.  Her words, so often, have spoken right to the heart of me; seen me.  I have also learned a ton from her.  Be sure to explore her recipes, read her posts on Chefdom, and Visit her Flickr page.  You can check her out on Twitter, as well.  From what I gather, she’s just moved to London, and is running a retail operation.  I feel Shuna…I think that’s why I enjoy reading her blog so much.

Line Cook- high up in the rankings for Google search “line cook,” you’ll find this great blog.  Intuitive musings about restaurant life, pictures of the good food at nopa in San Francisco, and just good reading.  On a personal level I don’t know much about Line Cook’s author, I think his name is Richie.  I know he owns a rabbit and writes this kick ass blog. He cooks delicious looking food.  His writing has made me pensively reflect on my career, and wax poetic about where it will lead. He has a knack for describing kitchen situations vividly, using cook jargon fluidly.  His post about pastry certainly struck a chord. I know Ruhlman, Shuna, and even Micheal Laiskonis all read, so your in good company.  Read into the archives, you’ll find a lot of good stuff. This blog is creating a buzz on the web, and I couldn’t be happier.  If you work in a kitchen, you should be reading this.

David Lebovitz-  I have benefited greatly from this blog, as well as the man’s book The Perfect Scoop.  His down to earth approach to writing and great recipes have given me great ideas.  His Salted Caramel Ice Cream is one of my favorite recipes of all time.  I’ve used it as a base for both raspberry and apple.  He loves eating as much as I do I think, and writes about it often.  He also lives in Paris, of which I am jealous.  His site contains an extensive recipe section, blurbs about his books, and of course tons of great interesting content. He’s also tweeting like crazy, and who isn’t these days?

Ruhlman-  The dog-eared copies of his book The Soul of Chef are passed around among cooks everywhere, seen almost as frequently as Kitchen Confidential. He sometimes judges Iron Chef America, was one of the judges of Next Iron Chef.  He went on to write The French Laundry Cookbook with TK, and book with Eric Ripert from Le Bernardin. He has also written one of the most definitve volumes on Charcutertie, the art of cured meats.  He latest book with TK, the eye-popping Under Pressure, I covet highly.  As you might imagine, a blog written by this guy has got to be good.  And it is.  Frequently updated and packed with great recipes, insights, and pictures,  it’s well worth the bookmark.

Michael Laiskonis- Last but not least, the blog of one of my personal heroes, the pastry chef at world reknowned Le Bernardin in New York, Micheal Laiskonis.  His posts are always well written and packed with information and insight, as well as glimpses of whats it’s like at Le Bernardin.  His desserts are amazing, and when he posts a recipe, I always pore over it repeatedly, trying to glean what it is to be a world class pastry chef.  I have a special file on my computer for his recipes.  Apparently, he was thinking of quitting the blog, but instead started a second one. His blog is a benchmark for Chef’s everywhere.  Great photos, exceptional writing, profound insight and luminous inspiration.

So there’s my list peeps, hope you enjoyed it.  Now go back to reading Reddit.  Or Digg, if your one of those types.

Mark Dunleavy showed me this process.  He’s kind of a dick.  Since he created the Chorizo Burger however, I’ve paid attention when he talks about food.  Except for that one time with the Consomme, when I wasn’t paying attention at all.  Anyway, he’s a keeper. He told me he learned the following technique from the pastry chef at Blue Hour, where he worked as a pastry cook.  I respect Mark’s resume.  I mean here he was, grinding herbs for ice cream down the street, making desserts, then he simply wheels around the block, and starts working saute at the restaurant.  Y’know…cooking happy hour and shit.

So here’s what you do weigh the sugar and the herb you want to use into the Robo-Coupe and grind it into a paste. Place this paste in your sauce pot and add the dairy product.  Bring to a boil and cover the pot, killing the heat.  Steep for thirty minutes.  Temper in your yolks cook to nape, stirring, scraping often with a spat. Pour the base into a hotel pan to cool in the fridge.  I usually ripen the base overnight in a cambro. It’s not imperative but does increase the flavor.  Next day strain that shit into your Gelatoo-D2 unit and spin to a stiff sour cream consistency.  The base recipe was adapted from AB’s, but Mark taught me the herb-paste bit. I imagine it works so well because it really opens up the herbs, and prepares to steep. You also achieve a bright, herby color this way.  I want to say something about surface area but I don’t know if that’s right.  It works great for Mint Chip and any other herb you might like to try.  I’ve also used this herb grinding to make a Rosemary Pine Nut Tart for TXGV,  but that’s another story.

Herb Ice Cream

yields 2 qts.

6 cups half & half

2 cups heavy cream

18 oz sugar

2-3 bunches herbs (sage, mint, basil, etc.)

16 egg yolks

1.  Grind the sugar and herbs to a paste, and place them in a sauce pot with the dairy products. Bring to a boil and cover, kill the heat and steep for thirty minutes.

3.  Seperate the eggs into a bowl, whisk vigorously.**

4. Temper the hot liquid into the yolks.  Cook over medium heat unit it thickens up, or about 165 F, if you want to get fancy. Scrape and stir often with a rubber spatula.  It should coat the back of a spoon when its ready.

5.  Pour the base out into a shallow pan to cool rapidly under refrigeration.

6.  Once thoroghly chilled, trasfer to a storage vessel for overnite ripening.

7.  Next day strain into your ice cream machine and spin accordingly.  Serve with a famous dessert.

**In the original AB recipe, he whisks the sugar with the yolks, thick and pale.  This created a really good texture in the finished ice cream.  I remember that Good Eats episode now, and it was something about protein.  Next time I make this, I think I’ll use a portion of the sugar to do this.

This is certainly my most exhaustive Photoshop effort to date. This silly thing took at least five times as long to make as the gnocchi, and isn’t half as delicious. For this recipe I used Ile de France goat cheese, the second installment of product they wanted me to eat and write about. The last cheese they sent me I basically ate straight, so I thought it better to cook with this one. The cheese had a creamy texture and showcased that distinctive goaty taste. The flavor carried through to the gnocchi, and was exceptional. I liked this cheese better than the last one they sent, it had a little more personality. I also found the packaging more pleasing, this time with a picture of a goat rather than a picture of cheese. Still a bit flashy for me but a step in the right direction. This company is bringing some great cheese into the country. I hope some more of it finds its way to my doorstep. I chose gnocchi because I have always wanted to try it. I’ve seen Perez and before him Arturo making these things three times a week for the past eight months. I had the process memorized just by seeing it done so many times. I won’t include a detailed recipe because I’m quite sure there isn’t one. You basically knead the ingredients into a dough, form it into a wiener, and you’re good to go. You’ll have to forgive the penis humor, faithful readers, but I gotta be me.

I eat good at work. At about nine-thirty, or ten o’clock, I’m about to get fed. One night Perez made me this slider, it had foie torchon and a fried quail egg. I practically inhaled it. Arturo loves to cook for everybody. One morning when we were all hungover he cooked up some rib tacos with black bean sauce. Perfect hangover food. One night, at the end of service, he brought me this tasty pork loin dish, it had this great spicy salad on it. Niell also cooks for me sometimes, like stuffed chicken breast and bacon shallot mashies. I asked him what he could throw together for me real quick and he shows up with a perfectly seared, feta stuffed goodness with smooshy taters. It made my night. He made me a big fat steak one night, too. Still another night, Tony 2 Fingers had a duck tit mac-e-chee for me, with stinky blue cheese. He’s always got some project going for me to taste, like a bacon wrapped terrine. One night I ate this delicious duck confit, Perez made that one, too. But you know, I get hungry. Doing what I do, you can catch an appetite. The kind of appetite that requires a healthy portion of mayonnaise, butter, duck fat or cheese. I wonder what my cholesterol looks like these days. I imagine a delicious looking sludge pumping through my veins, a river of fetid creaminess that would make a good sauce were I to mount some butter. Ah, gluttony…GIMME A RIB!!

Another Spirit dinner hosted by Kelley Swenson and Timothy Davey. The two passionate mixologists poured Italian bitters, and Jack and Anthony were cooking in the street. The sun sunk low in the sky and filled The Cleaners with an ethereal light. At the door we were handed a tall orange cocktail which refreshed us thoroughly. We sat at he head of one side of the large L shaped table. Godfather footage was being projected onto the wall. The Chefs laid down some sweet courses and the bartenders offered educational interludes with the drinks. A bright and fresh tuna tartare with rhubarb and pine nuts, a tea smoked duck breast that I can still taste if I think about it. A Compari cocktail that I knew Tony 2 Fingers was drinking in the back. Jaybill and I enjoyed the food and cocktail pairings, the conversation at the table was nerdy, and laughing, we sipped our drinks. Third course was a trio of scallops, Foie, and pork belly paired with three shots. This was a really fun dish. The richness of each of the items washed down with a syrupy spirit. The infused herbs and vegetables in the bitters trumped us. My head was buzzing with delight. I felt an elation that would last the rest of the night. As our lamb T-bone floated over, I floated in my seat. Elbows hit the table, and the tiny bones were chewed clean without looking up. I almost forgot my drink as I took a breath. Delicious!! A weird sensation coursed through me as I thought about my day so far. Getting to work and spinning ice cream and baking cookies, I picked mint as Jack and Tony prepped. I helped Jack set up the Foie mousse, and when my brother met me at the restaurant I carried it down the street. A few months ago I was thinking about getting out of this business, and now I’m carrying little votives of pureed Foie Gras across Burnside. Attending a nerdy white tablecloth foodie dinner where I actually know a few people. Chef introducing me to the crowd as I sit there half-drunk, waving. “That’s right…I make the cookies!” Jack waved me over to verify mint plouche placement. We fell into a methodical rhythm of plating. I smiled as Chef scooped, and Tony and I sandwiched the cookies onto the plates. I returned to my seat and gulped at my mini Fernet cocktail. I took a bite of the ice cream sandwich. I slowly nodded my head. Then we peaced.

In Beaune, France, I visited a real pastry shop. Near our hotel there was a spot with delicious smelling individual pastries, all smart and clean and made similar modular molds and built in frames. I bought a triple chocolate mousse cake. The delicate chocolate garnish on top caught my eye, and the barely gelatine-ized mousses melted easily in my mouth. I felt myself getting closer to Paris as I ate my little cake in the park. My mecca of food and cooking was on the next horizon. I felt it all deep-like. We visited the local cheese shop, the smell of moldy funk filling the air, the streets. Viva fucking France, Man!! For lunch, we wandered an open air market We bought cheese, bread, tapanade, and fruit. We ate by the merry-go-round and people watched. Our dinners were good in Beaune, everything from snail shaped foie to burger and fries and carpaccio. We played cards at night and talked while drinking local wine. We woke early one morning and boarded a train to Paris. I knew soon I would be eating at Pierre Herme’s shop, the epicenter of my pastry dreams. A few days later, in a jewelery shop style setting, precise desserts were handed to me by white gloved employees who openly mocked my poor French. OK, maybe they didn’t have white gloves, but I couldn’t get my mind around this perfect pastry shop. I could barely take it in. I was all jittery, starstruck. Perfect soldier-like rows of macrons and chocolate masks. 60 euro boxes of truffles and what looked like loaves of quick-bread. I ended up buying a chocolate dome called Plentitude and two macarons. The two cookies we ate while walking through the Tuileries Gardens outside the Louvre. One cookie was olive oil, the other salted caramel. Kate found a huge wrought iron spider. Later, inside the Musee Dorsay, I ate the chocolate mousse dome. We saw several great paintings and cool sculptures. I saw paintings by Van Gogh and Degas. Pierre Herme’s mousse cake left a more lasting impression than either. Fractal shapes of uber-thin chocolate fit into a seemingly random pattern, covering the dome. Underneath, a glossy ganache coated a luscious dark chocolate mousse and a crisp cookie base. I went back a second time, and bought more delicious stuff. More macarons of course, and in Luxembourg Gardens, I ate another dome. This one had a creamy salty caramel center and milk chocolate mousse. A chocolate macaron made a base for the tempered chocolate hemisphere. I have got to get me one of them molds. I also visited Laduree in Paris, and had a fine meal. Seared Foie with crisp brioche and foie fat. Veal Sweetbreads with parsnip puree. Kate had Scallops with Black Rice. My first taste ever of sweebreads left me drooling and the foie was cooked perfectly. Kate cleaned her plate and we ordered dessert. An opera cake sort of, and a chocolate passion fruit tart. Both were cleanly executed and delicious…but I still had Pierre Herme’s in tongue-memory. The macarons we bought on the way out weren’t nearly as good. I could feel myself getting fatter and I didn’t care.

We ate twice at the Stockhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland. We arrived in town on the Glacier Express in snow storm. Big flat flakes blew everywhere. An overgrown golf cart picked us up from the station and brought us to the Albatross Hotel. After checking in, we inquired about the local fondue joint. A short walk from our hotel landed us in a stinky cheese cellar. Travel weary and eager to relax, we ordered wine and beer. Shortly afterwards, a salad and charcuterie plate arrived at our table to our delight. The meat was fatty without being greasy and had nice spice. Steaming and stinky, our cheese fondue was delivered next with toasted bread. Garlic and white wine filled the air, and a slight aroma of vinegar. Drool flooded my mouth as it wafted into my face. There was more melted cheese than we could possibly eat but dammit, we had to try. As we dipped towards the bottom, our pores oozed with oily cheese. I knew the best cheese was burned to the bottom of the crock, all crunchy and dark. I chiseled with my fork to get those last few bites. After eating our fill, we waddled back to the hotel in hopes of hot tubs and glasses of proseco. The following day the hotel served a buffet style breakfast. I ate three croissants, scrambled eggs, bacon, cottage cheese, two kinds of dried meat, yogurt , and buttered bread. Afterwards, we frequented swiss bakery fuchs, where the smell of chocolate lured us into to melty heaven. We sat around our hotel most of the day, sporadically venturing out for snacks. We wanted to catch a glimpse of the Matterhorn, but as much as it teased us we never did. We watched old Frank Sinatra movies and BBC sitcoms while drinking and playing cards. Our hotel room in Zermatt was one of the nicest we stayed in. Later that night we wandered down to the StockHorn again. We sat in the upstairs dining room this time, with a great view of the fire place. Here all the proteins were cooked. A server would bring up little plates of raw meat from the kitchen. Dude would then toss them all into a bain of marinade for a few minutes , then throw them on the grill. I ordered beef tenderloin (44 francs,) and sure enough, right into that sticky sauce, then onto the grill. As we watched it leave the flames, a server dished out sides from a chafing dish near the grill. Au gratin potatoes and sauteed veggies met the steak on the plate. It all came to the table moments later with a crock of garlicy compound butter. Kate and I split the perfectly temped beef and side salad. As the night got rolling, dude flew through his orders, a blur of motion. A little intercom on the mantle kept him in touch with the kitchen. This guy cooked fifty or so steaks plus chicken, as we ate and watched. The night winded down and we drank more wine. We walked dreamily back to the hotel for more chocolate and sleep. The following day we would travel to France.