tartare for dessert?

there is something magical about the transformation of quince.  from the pale, raw, nearly unedible fruit we begin with to the sweet, red-caramelized fruit we end up with, i can't help but be amazed at nature and what it produces.  most commonly made into membrillo, quince has so much pectin and such a wonderful aroma i am still surprised that many guests are unfamilliar with it. 
tossing the fruit in sugar, a sprinkle of orange zest and a douse of orange juice, a low temperature roast in the oven gives me the final red jam-like fruit i desire.  in looking at the diced fruit i was reminded of tomatoes or even tuna...which led me to a "tartare" style plate.  on a thin buttery sable, warmed chopped quince drizzled with olive oil is spread out.  what i like about traditional tartares is how the garnishes are spread about the main component so with every bite you pick up different flavor profiles.
candied meyer lemon peel, pomegranite seeds, spherified creme fraiche (to mimic the quail egg effect), whipped apple juice with earl grey tea, green apple sorbet, and apple croquant.

the tastes are what i want, the components come together nice, the presentation could be a little more refined and i definately need a new camera

seafood dinner

tonight we did a dinner highlighting our local seafood.  monterey is just 1.5 hours south of san francisco and about 4 hours north of santa barbara.  abalone, spot prawns, sea urchin, bass, squid, so many local sea creatures.  so in honor of these delights we like to do a dinner using only local seafood, it's also great to see our fish purveyors getting all dressed up, usually they just stop by smelling of the ocean as they dock a mere 10 minutes away from the restaurant. 
though this is wonderfully fun for the cooks, it leaves a lot to be desired for the pastry chef.  so my inspiration comes from a different source.  taking a cue from albert adria and his "natura" phase i decided to create a scene of our local coastline.  big sur, pebble beach,...amazing cliffs dropping into the crashing waves with amazing sand, seaweed feeding our cherished otters...

aerated praline ice cream to mimic the great cliffs, meyer lemon curd buried under a coconut "sand", meyer lemon "sea foam", chocolate twigs, shaved pistachio for "grass", micro cilantro, and seabeans and candied meyer lemon peel act as the kelp

don't know if the diners got the "picture" but they sure ate the scene.  every plate came back clean.

white chocolate-liquid raspberry filled truffles for mignardise...a final reprieve from seafood

i really need a bunch of these....

yesterday a mushroom hunter came by to drop off some porcinis.  now although they were beautiful porcinis i can't help to dismiss them after he showed me these apples he was groing.  didn't even tell me the name. i told him i would buy everything he had.  i got 3.  i was told i would have to wait a year until he had enough to sell.  the almost-whole piece is raw while the wedges were compressed with a touch of syrup and sat in the bag fro a mere 30 minutes.  they were crisp, tart, a hint of sweetness, and a slight downfall of tannin.

with apples like these, imagine the possibilites

getting lost

it's been a while since the last post and the truth is that i have been a little lost

i have always been a voracious reader, and since i started cooking i have been a little fanatical about obtaining cookbooks

as with any discipline, the more knowledge you have on that subject, the better your chances for progression

even with the "great and mighty" internet and all the knowledge it obtains, a good book is a beautiful thing

with so many new books in the last few years i seem to get a distracted

and sometimes it's better to just close the books and write your own story

adaption

i have been eating a lot of twix candy bars lately.  why? because they are good.  what i really like about them is how in one bite you get three contrasting textures:  creamy chocolate, gooey caramel, and crisp butter cookie.  as most desserts go, you can find some kind of similarity between that of a plated dessert and that of a candy bar.  those confectionary geniuses at the large candy manufacturing companies can sure teach us restaurant pastry kids a thing or two. 
adaptating those components is an easy tool in coming up with something familiar and unique at the same time.  i wanted to give the same sensation as eating my twix but with a new aesthetic. 

a rich buttery sable cookie, creamy 72% chocolate ganache, and inside is a runny passon fruit gel, not quite the thick caramel of the candy bar...something lighter on the palate and more acidic to cut through the richness. 

some dehydrated passion fruit curd chips, coconut cream, basil seeds (a slight mimic of passion fruit seeds), and cilantro to make it more confusing.  if i ran a candy Mars Co.  i would make candy bars like this...and eat all day.

new look

thanks go to Bianca for giving the blog a new look.

aerated ice cream

i am so excited...

after some helpful clues, a little research, and a few trips to Target (for purchases and returns), i figured out how to add a little air to my ice cream. yes the previous post was a picture of aerated cream cheese ice cream. i cannot say (like anything i do) that i invented it, but i am excited that i took the right steps to figure out how to do it, not just open a book...though there are clues out there.

alex stupak has his version at wd-50. i had some and knew i had to figure out how he achieved this feat. but that wasn't where it started. ideas in food had an aerated cheese, brie i believe, a while back, they made this with an isi siphon and canning jars. i initially wanted to make cheesecake like this, so my brain put one and one together and i made a frozen cream cheese that is aerated. that idea led me to carrot cake with a cream cheese frosting. all the other elements fell right into place. not the most original of flavor pairings, but sometimes you want to get the point across as plainly as possible.

torn carrot cake warmed a la minute, raisins with verjus, carrot puree, aerated cream cheese ice cream, walnut praline, carrot croquant, cinnamon fluid gel, and some herbs to take it back to the garden where the carrots came from.