Monthly Archives: December 2009
Luxury Ingredients
| December 30, 2009 | Posted by admin under Uncategorized |
Caviar, Foie Gras, Lobster, Sea Urchin, Kobe Beef, Blue Fin Tuna, Truffles…the list goes on to include many name farms that demand a premium for the meticulously hand groomed products. As chefs we sometimes get carried away and try to utilize every single item at one time in the form of New Year’s Eve menus. We try to figure out how to incorporate all of these ingredients while still presenting a menu that won’t be 15 courses and cost the same as a mortgage payment. So this year as I sat down to write the menus for Zola and Potenza the first thing that popped into my head was “man I get to pack two menus chock full of these items… this is great!” Once I got over myself and realized that was not the correct approach, I wrote menus that I felt would be true to who we are and represent what we do very well. If some of these luxury items hit those menus great: however, if they didn’t, I was not going to try to figure out how to force them on it.
By taking this approach we have New Year’s Eve menus that will work not only for the restaurant but the guest will be able to have more freedom in their selection and have more options. I will say that as we started tasting the menus over the past couple of weeks I truly did realize that, like everything else, we do we need to evolve the way we think of these luxury ingredients. I found that just having the flavor of foie gras on a dish brings me to a good place. If I’m able to have a foie gras emulsion more frequently (because it is an affordable and healthier way to eat the fattened liver) then I can forego the 4 oz. chunk that cost me $28 as an appetizer. I would also much rather enjoy a few thin slices of fresh truffle when they are in the height of season then to try and get my fill when they are at their highest price. And then there is caviar. I really enjoy that crisp pop of flavor. Why has it always been banished to one night a year so that we gorge ourselves by shoveling 1 or 2 ounces for that sitting? Why not enjoy an ounce with friends as an enhancing element on an appetizer more often?
For me I know that I would rather enjoy these exotic and distinctive flavors more frequently so I will be taking the less is more approach to these ingredients so they are here to enjoy on a regular basis for those who want a little luxury every day.
Happy New Year!
Turkey Not Just for Thanksgiving: Making the Perfect Bird
| December 22, 2009 | Posted by admin under Uncategorized |
Executive Chef, Bryan Moscatello
I went in search of the perfect bird. Usually I remove the breasts and legs then bone roll and tie the thighs. Once the meat has been removed from the bones I roast the bones and make gravy. The breasts and thighs are the seared brushed with butter and herbs then roasted. The meat rests and is then ready for slicing. I have always done this because I really want the bones for gravy and I feel that this is the best way to have a moist breast. This year I was able to experiment with a variety of cooking techniques.
Method A: Traditionally Whole Roasted
Brine the whole bird over night then stuff the cavity with citrus, herbs and mirepoix. Smear an herbed compound butter underneath the skin and Set the bird on a bed of mirepoix and roast for about 2 ½ -3 hours at 325 basting every fifteen minutes with additional butter and the rendering turkey fat. Once the bird is cooked remove it from the oven and cover it with foil so it can rest for about 30 minutes to allow the muscle to relax and the juices to settle.
Method B: Frying the Turkey
I have heard about the magnificence of a golden hued fried bird for many years now and was excited to try one. This starts in the same way as a traditional bird by brining it overnight. The next morning you simply remove the turkey from the brine rinse it and allow it to dry. Once the bird has had time to dry you submerge it in 325-350 degree oil for about 30-35 minutes. Then again pull the bird and allow it to rest. If you choose this style you will need to make sure that you use a very strong brine with all of the flavors that you would normally roast in the cavity.
Method C: Sous Vide
For this style you do need an immersion circulator in order to maintain water at a constant low temperature that is continuously in motion. For this I removed the breasts, skin removed and marinated them then I put it in bag with mirepoix, herbs and seasonings. This bag is then vacuum sealed and then placed in a water bath. I cooked the breast for about 4 hours. Once the time is up you pull the bag and let it rest for 15 or so minutes so the muscle can relax. Remove the breast and pat it dry then place the breast in a pre-warmed sauté pan with butter that was just about to brown. Sear the entire outside over medium heat constantly basting with the browning butter. Once it is golden brown let stand for a couple of minutes and your ready to go.
The Score card
The whole roasted bird has great presentation and very good flavor, breast was moist and the thighs were nice as well. The fried bird had the best thighs- man they were unbelievable moist tender simply the best. As for the breast I was not the biggest fan. The sous vide breast was perfect, it was perfectly tender and the flavors from the mirepoix and herbs really infused into the meat to make it such a stand out. So in the end next years bird will be sous vide breast and fried thighs. And since my leftovers are gone im already getting a little anxious.
Feast of the Seven Fishes
| December 16, 2009 | Posted by admin under Uncategorized |
Executive Chef, Bryan Moscatello
The Feast of the Seven Fishes is the Christmas Eve meal that many an Italian households participate in. The premise is simple- you have a feast which includes seven different types of fish. When I was growing up these meals would include a selection of scungilli, bacala, calamari, mussels, clams, shrimp, sardines, octopus and a fin fish sea bass, tuna or grouper. Usually the shellfish were braised in marinara, the shrimp prepared with garlic, the sardines cured, the octopus charred and the fin fish grilled. We had pasta and bread to soak up the seafood flavored marinara.
This year I am excited to be serving the Feast at Potenza on Christmas Eve and I will also be doing a class at Zola Wine and Kitchen tonight 12/16. The two events will vary but one thing is for sure there will be plenty of fish to go around. At ZWK we’ll learn to make variations of bacala, calamari, mussels, shrimp, anchovies, clams, bronzino and tuna.
At home I haven’t kept up with this tradition for so long. I do however know that I will change in the years to come. I think it will be fun to challenge myself to come up with a completely different feast every year that can’t include any of the fish from previous years. I wonder how many years I will be able to keep that up. There you have it a completely different feast annually and looking to the future I see periwinkles, langoustines, orata, Spanish mackerel, cuttlefish and bringing back some childhood favorites such as eel and octopus. This is going to be great delicious fun.
See you at Zola wine and kitchen and Potenza!
All I really want for Christmas is a great steak
| December 9, 2009 | Posted by admin under Uncategorized |
Executive Chef, Bryan Moscatello
OK the above statement probably isn’t true because I’ve had my eye on a pair of excellent Prada winter boots. Since the boots most likely won’t be under my tree I’m hoping to at least enjoy a great steak. So what qualifies as a great steak? Good question and I think the answer varies depending upon who you ask. But either way there need to be certain requirements that get met. As far as I’m concerned the primary factor in a great steak is the steak itself, so the marbling must be magnificent, and by that I mean I want to see thick veins of white. The marbling or fat will break down during the cooking process and not only flavor the steak but it will keep it very moist and tender. My next factor is on the bone or off the bone? For this one I prefer on the bone. Then there is the matter of thickness. I feel that the great ones are always at least 1 ½ inches thick.
Now that we have taken care of our three primary requirements for our steak the obvious question is what cut is it? My great steak will be a shell steak, bone in New York strip. I go with the shell steak because I am not the biggest fan of the tenderloin, even though I have had some excellent ones in the past, which rules out the T-bone or Porterhouse. I really enjoy the way it cooks on the bone; just a little less cooked right next to the bone and on the opposite side the fat is charred and crisp. That leaves the meat slightly out of the elements tucked nicely between the bone and the fat.
When cooking the meat nothing beats a hard wood fired grill for this task. So a very liberal sprinkling of salt and pepper then a brush of oil and onto the grill. I am lucky enough to have someone who is a slave to his craft and will undoubtedly be basting this meat throughout the cooking process with herb infused butter. So bring it to a perfect medium rare and let it rest before it gets placed in the center of Bernardaud Square Tonga Plate with nothing more than a Norwegian Smoked Sea Salt, Sel Gris and some of that browned basting butter. Oh Yeah and I should be sitting directly in front of a picture window that frames the Grand Teton in Jackson Wyoming.
A couple bottles of Gaja would only add to the enjoyment
King of Soups
| December 4, 2009 | Posted by admin under Uncategorized |
Executive Chef, Bryan Moscatello
I really enjoy a good soup. Now that the weather has officially turned soup consumption across the board is on the rise. Many people will argue about which soup should be crowned king of soups. For me its an easy call, but before we get to that lets go through some of the contenders. Tomato soup with a garnish of mini grilled cheese croutons, although this is iconic and an amazing combination, for me there are too many variants for it to be considered the king. It is however a great snowed in soup. Loaded baked potato, this one is a variant of the more traditional potato leek soup I enjoy this one more than the traditional version because there’s more going on in it and it of course is finished with crisp bacon lardons. Then there’s corn chowder a wonderful rich, sweet vegetable rendition of the all important new England clam chowder. These soups are great and when I’m chilled to the bone I jump right in but still as far as the king goes I think they’re slightly off the mark. For the southwestern lover, chicken tortilla soup, deliciously spicy with a crunch from the fried tortilla garnish again an excellent contender but again this one doesn’t take the crown. What about an “all day” white bean soup with ham hock? This one if you finish it with smoked pepper oil it comes close to grabbing the title. The beauty of this one comes in the form of all day braised ham hock, the hock is so flavorful and rich and the beans are a blank canvas for that flavor add the smoked oil on top and that just completes the soup so perfectly. I am going to have to get some of this later. Susan’s chicken noodle soup made by Sue Keating, the secret to this beauty is 2-3 inch sections of spaghetti and the shredded organic chicken.
All of the soups listed above a terrific and I do enjoy them on a regular basis but for me the king of soups is matzo ball soup. A great matzo ball soup is second to none. This is truly a beauty the recipe that I was able to obtain requires patience. Day one you make your broth by poaching whole chickens and mirepoix slowly until they are perfectly tender. The chickens are then removed and the meat shredded and put back into the broth, the mirepoix is discarded. This is allowed to sit overnight. On day two the fat will have hardened and is removed from the top of the chicken broth and used in the making of the matzo balls. The matzo ball mix is made and allowed to sit overnight. Day Three New mirepoix is perfectly diced quarter inch squares and sautéed in some of the chicken fat until tender then the soup is poured over it and brought to temperature. The matzo ball mix is scooped into balls I use a golf ball size scoop, because they will expand greatly. The matzo balls are then dropped into the soup allowed to simmer until ready. I like to finish this soup with a bit of fresh thyme. The secret for the soft tender matzo ball is club soda.
