In Lard We Trust: 2014

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Thirteen Desserts

The thirteen desserts are the traditional dessert foods used in celebrating Christmas in the French region of Provence. The "big supper") ends with a ritual 13 desserts, representing Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles. The first four of these are known as the "four beggars" (les quatre mendiants), representing the four mendicant monastic orders: Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinian and Carmelites. [Wikipedia]

    Raisins (Dominicans)
    Walnuts or hazelnuts[4] (Augustines)
    Dried figs (Franciscans)
    Almonds (Carmelites)

I am heading to a Christmas party, and it would be rude to show up empty handed, so I made.

1.        Raisin filled sugar cookies
2.        Candied Hazelnuts
3.        Fig Pinwheels
4.        Almond Cookies
5.        Dark Chocolate Tart
6.        Coffee and White Chocolate Tart
7.        Crème Brulee
8.        Apple Tart
9.        Cherry Clafouti
10.      Lemon Bars
11.     Cinnamon twists
12.      Pears poached in Mulled Red Wine
13.      Bacon Jigglers.

Fig Pinwheel cookies, Almond cookies, Raisin filled cookies and Hazelnut brittle.

Half dark chocolate, half coffee and White Chocolate tart.

Creme Brulee.

Apple Tart

Cherry Clafouti

Lemon Bars

Cinnamon Twists.

Pears poached in red wine

Bacon Jigglers. These were less than the crowd pleaser that I had hoped for...

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Turducken 2014

Step one, buy lots of meat. My local asian market, Hong Kong Market, was the source for the duck leg quarters, pork belly and pork shoulder. Also needed chicken thighs, ground turkey and bacon. Always need bacon.

Bones, removed. The ducky didn't need them anymore anyway.

Pork cut into chucks grinder sized.

When grinding meat it is very important to keep it cold. So into the freezer for about 15 mins until slightly frozen, but still pliable.

Once it was ground I worked out how much meat was going to go in each layer. Lean meats like chicken and duck need the extra fat from the pork belly in ratio of about 25% fat. Michael Ruhlman's book Charcuterie is an excellent resource for any cured meat question.

Salt is needed at about 1% ratio, and replacing some of the salt with MSG makes everything tastier. Curing salt, sodium nitrate, is added to the duck and andouille layers to help retain the pink color and add a sausage-y taste.

Dry milk powder is added as well, it keeps the meat moist, along with 25% pork belly. The meat once ground is put in the freezer for a bit, again, to make sure none fat melts in the food processor.

The mixture is spun up, not so much to 'chop' it, but the stirring action partially emulsifies the meat, assuring it will glue well to itself. When the mixture forms a mass in the food processor and starts rolling around the bowl, it is done.

The Andouille gets a bunch of spices; cayenne, oregano, paprika, liquid smoke and a whole bunch of crushed garlic. Chopped green onions make it pretty.

Cylinder rolled of meat that will be in center, chicken. By twisting the ends of the plastic wrap tight, it forces the meat to the center, making a nice smooth torchon. This goes in freezer for about 20 mins to firm up

The next layer, duck, is rolled out to a rectangle large enough to wrap around the inside layer.

This process is repeated for turkey layer, again taking a trip to the freezer to stay firm.

The Andouille stinks up the kitchen oh so lovely. And it looks so pretty too. The pork is ground course to give more texture to the sausage than the others. And the little flecks of green from the scallion contrast wonderfully with the meat.

No.... I don't have an unhealthy love of meat, my mother had me tested a child.

Wrap it up tight just as before.

The bacon is layed out on a sheet of plastic wrap, then sprinkled with Transglutaminase. This is an enzyme sometime referred to as 'meat glue' as that is pretty much what it does. It breaks proteins apart and allows meats to bond to each other.

This gets wrapped up tight, vacuum packed.

Then into the water bath at 145*F overnight to cook though.

When it is dinner time, pull out of bag, pat dry and into a 550*F oven to crisp up the bacon-y exterior. Serve with cranberry mostarda and pecan pie.

Maybe some vegetables too, if you have too....

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Square Root

Phillip Lopez is Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Root, Square Root and Root². Square Root centers on a contemporary kitchen design, where modern culinary techniques are the main attraction, along with impeccable service. http://squarerootnola.com/team/

Bourbon Manhattan

Chefs prepping first courses. Restaurant has seating for 16, and they serve two seatings each night.

Artsy black and white picture.

Rocking the stylish Motiva FitBit

Muffletta, savory meringue bun.

Vacuum coffee pot brewing menudo broth. Dandelion, rosemary, oregano and some other herbs up top.

Fried chicken with chicken fat cotton candy.

Menudo. Tripe, charred onions, hominy, nitro shattered lime.

Beef and Bone marrow.

Foie gras terrine with beet puree.

Orecchiette with squash. I don't remember what else was on here.

Tequila palate cleanser. Nitro frozen tequila and lime.

Lobster Mole.

Duck

Wagyu Beef.

Blur effect makes fancy too!

Kaffir Lime.

Chocolate mousse, satsuma.

I told the waiter, Rye, that I loved lardo, and that they could serve it for every course including dessert. He brought this special just for me as a final course. A little roll with lardo melted over the top.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Boudin Bourbon and Beer 2014

Boudin, Bourbon and Beer. What more could one need in life?

The Emeril Lagasse Foundation has hosted this event for a few years now. I have had the opportunity to attend in 2013 and this year in 2014.

Put together 50 New Orleans chefs, Abita beer, Buffalo Trace bourbon, amazing music and 500 of your closest friends, you know it is going to be a good time.

Food

Boudin Eggrool with Nuoc Cham by David Slater of Emeril's New Orleans.

Grilled Boudin on these awesome charcoal grills they shipped in from Singapore.

'Cowboy Cavier' from Liberty's Kitchen.

Candied Pork Belly Boudin Truffles, Tory McPhail of Commander's Palace.

Head Cheese with satsuma over rice from Michael Stoltzfus of Coquette.

Smoked chicken boudin balls from Alex Harrell of Sylvain.

'Chicken and Biscuits' from Phillip Lopez of Square Root. Country fried chicken, pickled satsumas, smoked biscuits foam and fried chicken cotton candy.