Garden 2009

Week 1- Tomatoes, Jalapenos, Cilantro, Oregano, Parsley

Experimenting With Spheres

I decided to see if I could recreate and even just experiment with making some flavorful spheres using molecular gastronomy. I used one of the recipes by Andi Phillips for Green Onion, Ginger, Sake Caviar as a base to make my rendition of Green Onion, Ginger, Jalapeno Caviar.

My substitutions were water instead of sake because all I had was some very good sake and I didn't want to waste it in case this didn't come out like I hoped. I also added a whole sliced jalapeno and some fresh cilantro leaves to the veggies. The salt was also adjusted at the end for a total of 1 tsp.

I successfully created some spheres with a bit of heat and some flavor. I made some caviar size and others an olive size. The sake probably would have added a another layer of taste missing in my adaptation. I didn't have a fancy way to serve them so my hubby and I just added the 'caviar' to our salads. It made for great conversation and didn't take anything away from the salad.

I will be making more spheres in the future. It was fun.

Green Onion, Ginger, Sake “Caviar”

1 T calcium chloride
5 cups water

6 ounces green onion, green part only
2 ounces peeled ginger, thinly sliced
(added 1 jalapeno thinly sliced)
(added a few sprigs of cilantro)
2 1/2 cups sake (substituted 2 1/2 cups water)
1 ½ t sodium alginate
½ t salt (added additional 1/2 tsp salt)

In a medium bowl, dissolve the calcium chloride in the 5 cups of water. Set aside for later use.

In a 2 qt saucepan combine ginger, onions, & sake. Bring to a rolling boil. Simmer on low for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Run mixture through the food processor until the vegetables are liquefied. This may need to be done in 2 batches if using a home style food processor. Strain solid matter out of liquid and discard. Measure 3 ¼ cups of the liquid and return it to the 2 quart saucepan. Bring it back up to a simmer. Dump in the sodium alginate all at once. Turn heat to low and whisk vigorously over low heat for one minute. Run the mixture through a sieve. Stir in salt. Transfer mixture to a squeeze bottle. Drop about 200 pearl sized drops into the calcium chloride bath at a time. Allow the pearls to sit in the bath for 1 minute. In order to strain pearls while retaining bath solution for further use, have another medium bowl at hand. Pour bath & pearls into a strainer positioned over the 2nd bowl. Rinse the pearls under cold running water. Transfer pearls to a sieve positioned over a 3rd bowl to drain for later use. Repeat jelling process until all of the alginate mixture is used. Discard bath water when jelling process is complete.

Sea Urchin, Jalapeno and Yuzu

While shopping in a local Japanese Market, Marukai located in Gardena I came across a package of Uni(Sea Urchin roe/gonads) in their fresh seafood section. Visits to my favorite Sushi bar often results in me ordering something Uni and at a pretty good price. These at Marukai were $6.98 for a 2 ounce tray and I couldn't pass that up. Now, what could I do with it? I found the below recipe on the Martha Stewart web site and today, this was my lunch treat. I didn't have Yuzu, so the next best thing was some fresh lemon juice* as a substitute. I used sour dough bread. Yea, this meal packed lots of calories and fat, but who is counting (today)?

Sea Urchin, Jalapeno and Yuzu*

Ingredients
Serves 2.

8 (1 1/2-by-1-inch) pieces black, rye, or sourdough bread
Butter
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup yuzu juice
8 to 16 pieces sea urchin
1 small jalapeno, thinly sliced crosswise
Maldon sea salt
Directions
1.Lightly toast bread pieces until crispy on the outside but still chewy inside; butter one side of each piece of toast and set aside.
2.In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water. Place 1/2 cup yuzu juice in a small saucepan and whisk in cornstarch mixture. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in remaining 1/2 cup yuzu juice. Pour yuzu mixture immediately into a bowl set in an ice water-bath. Let cool completely.
3.Top each piece of buttered toast with 1 or 2 pieces of sea urchin and a piece of jalapeno. Spoon over cooled yuzu mixture; serve immediately.
First published February 2008

This recipe for sea urchin with jalapeno and yuzu is courtesy of chef Gregory Brainin as published on the Martha Stewart web site.

KCBS BBQ Judging Class

If you ever wanted to learn more about BBQ and the skills involved in being a KCBS BBQ Judge, here's your chance! This class will be held on March 21, 2009 at Throwback's Sports Bar in Anaheim, CA.

Quen for Kids

At this class, you will receive instruction in KCBS* scoring, procedures, allowed and disallowed display techniques, 2009 new rules, and actually score competition entries in all four KCBS categories. After scoring each meat, scores will be discussed and you’ll receive feed back that will help you to more systematically score entries. If you are a new competitor, you’ll get some real insights into what constitutes a winning entry in the judges’ eyes.

Even though I have been competing since April 2006, I still feel this class will help me in future competitions. I plan to take this class and encourage anyone else with an interest in judging or competing to attend. The cost is $75 for non KCBS members (includeds membership) and $40 for KCBS members.

*KCBS = Kansas City Barbeque Society


In addition, stay tuned for the 2nd Annual "Quen For Kids" BBQ cookoff sponsored by Kristie's Foundation coming May 9th. Completion of the March 21st judging class will make you eligible to apply to be a judge at the May 9th competition event (see flyer below). More information on this event can be found at Quen for Kids.

Molecular Gastronomy

I recently went to a Molecular Gastronomy demonstration at my favorite restaurant supply store, Surfas. The recipes presented can be viewed on this link to Surfas. Sperification was the process that most intrigued me. Simply adding sodium alginate to a liquid such as pureed mango along with other liquid to arrive at the consistency and taste you want, filter out solids and then dripping into a bowl of calcium chloride results in the sodium alginate and calcium reaction to form a film around the liquid and thus a sphere. The sphere is filled with still liquid flavor you prepared. The reverse process is used for foods rich in calcium where you actually drizzle these in a sodium alginate bath. I am oversimplifying the process.

Spheres can be made in varying sizes (caviar looking to olive size or larger).

My interest in this was stimulated by a recent FoodTV demonstration by El Bulli chef, Ferran Adrian. The Youtube video is attached. The process used in this video is what was described as a reverse process by the chef providing the demonstration at Surfas. The process involves using very good olives, puree and filter them, the step missing from the video is what Ferran adds to the already calcium rich olives before forming the spheres. This is described in his book, A Day At El Bulli. It does include adding calcium to the olive puree with a thickener and then dipping the olive mixture in an alginate bath.

An Olive Made From an Olive



Other recipes using moleculary gastonomy can be viewed at this Surfas link. Select those added 3/2/09 for specific recipes addressed at the 2-28-09 Surfas demonstration.

Spanish Style Cocido Soul Fusion Style

Spanish Style Cocido- Soul Fusion Style



Cocido has been described as one of the national meals of Spain. It is a very hearty but basic meal prepared using some ingredients like chorizo, hamhocks, ham, chicken, beef, pork, etc., all simmered to make a deep rich broth along with some herbs, spices, chickpeas, cabbage, etc. Basically as many cooks as there are is how many different recipes you have for this meal.

The first time I saw a recipe for Cocido was in 1996. Emeril prepared this dish on one of his shows. I believe I copied the recipe from the Food TV internet file. I tried to search for it today but was unable to find it on FoodTV nor his own web page. Anyway, I still have my copy and though I use it as a base to remind me how to prepare the dish, I don't follow the recipe. I don't have quatities, just used my own barometer on how much I felt like adding of any ingredient.


Turkey carcus simmering to make broth. This turkey was frozen after a holiday dinner. I slowly simmered it to extract all the flavor from the bones and until the turkey fell off the bones. The bones were discarded.





Meats defrosting. This is a good example of meal that can be made from meats you may have stocked in your freezer. I used some italian sausage, holiday ham, chicken, flank steak sliced, sliced pork loin, kielbasa, and turkey from carcus.




Sliced Yellow Onions (1 large)





Minced Garlic (4-5 cloves)




Simmering meats, garlic, onion and spices to taste (red pepper flakes, bay leaf, salt, pepper)




Meats are removed from liquid.




Broth is strained and refrigerated overnight to congeal fats which are removed and discarded to make less fatty broth.



Shrimp, onions and garlic.




I also decided to make an additional side which could be added to the final presentation. I took fingerling potatoes which had been previously coOked and mixed this with shrimp, more garlic and sliced onions. This was sauteed and placed to the side.










I sliced some fresh green onions, cilantro and lemons for condiments. This is not a usal presentation for cocido, but is my Soul Fusion touch. This I took from presentation of soups such as Pho or even a gumbo presentation.

It was my intent that each diner would add what meats he/she wanted to a bowl. The shrimp and potatoes were also an option. the broth is added to the bowl and all is heated. Cilantro, green onions and juice from a lemon wedge could be added prior to eating.


Bon Appetit.

BBQ Spaghetti

With a refrigerator full of my smoked pulled pork and an invitation to a party, I decided to put together my version of BBQ spaghetti as a pot luck item. Such a simple preparation and use of competiton level pulled pork plus my own BBQ sauce, spagehtti, onion, garlic and some added seasonings.




Starting with 4 cloves of freshly minced garlic and one very large yellow onion diced.



8 ounces of frozen pulled pork was removed from freezer to thaw. Approximately 2 cups special recipe bbq sauce and 1 1/2cups tomato sauce (not pictured).



The onions were sauted in olive oil til softened and then the minced garlic was added. This mixture was sauteed for another 1-2 minutes.



The tomato sauce was added to this mixure plus about a half cup of water. Also added was 1 tablesppon dried parsely, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper and salt to taste.



The pulled pork is added and the mixture left to simmer for about 5 minutes.



The BBQ sauce is added and the mixture simmers for another 5 minutes.



The sauce is added to the cooked spaghetti and is ready to serve.



I felt the result was very good though the bbq sauce was a little sweet, I only hope the party guests enjoy.

My New Toys

My BBQ Team- Four Q, will be competing in a number of events in 2009. Kristie's Place-Wishland May 9th and Stagecoach Country Music Festivsl April 25th and 26th. A number of other contests are also planned, however these two events will require a bit more equipment and tools of the trade.

Weber recently released a 22.5 inch WSM (Weber Smoky Mountain) smoker which I figured would meet my needs for pumping out lots of pulled pork. I could easily fit 8-10 pork shoulders in this baby compared to my 18.5 WSM which has a capacity of only 4. Didn't take much to convince me to buy this smoker. It meets my needs for ease of transport and I can lift the individual pieces by myself.

This smoker is in demand across the country. Amazon orders take 1 1/2 to 2 months to ship. I ordered mine in early January. My order indicated that it would ship sometime around the end of February to the end of March. I received it early (this past week) and I noticed a number of folks on the web indicated their's also arrived this past week. You can get an idea of it's size compared to my two 18.5 inch WSMs in the photos.


















My urge to shop didn't end with the WSM. I'm doing my part for the economy. I found out at our last competition in Palm Desert that I didn't have the right tools to cook the chicken entry the way I felt was most competitive. One of our other team members usually does the chicken but he is intermittently available this year. I don't have a portable grill, so of course I went out and bought the 22.5 inch One Touch Weber Gold kettle. It's such a pretty blue.

Now to practicing with these new additions. I see a lot of "Q" in my future.

Time For Me

Over the last couple of weeks my hubby and I made the decision that I finally must retire from my full time good paying job. Yes, in this day and age of recession, many jobs lost and an uncertain economy, I am choosing to join the ranks of the unemployed. I do have a good retirement plan, so I will continue to have an income. More important than the income is that I will have time for me and be free of the stress that comes with management positions, dealing with upper management and all along trying to be the advocate and voice of your staff to assure their needs are represented.

What are you gonna do Sylvie now that you have all of this free time coming? I'm going to clean out my closets!

First Dance- At Last

We Are One! Inauguration Video

This video is what I experienced around me during the inaugural oath of office on the mall in Washington DC. We arrived at this site on the mall around 5:30am. It was very cold (around 20 degrees) and all I had was some handwarmers in my gloves, cap, scarf, thermo undies, layered clothing and my trusty down jacket. Some very nice ladies who laid their blankets next to where I sat on the cold ground allowed me to huddle with them and share the blankets they had along with their warm personalities. For the next 5 hours we passed the time away exercising, singing, dancing and just being supportive. (Thank you all).

I was fortunate to meet a great group of people around me who made this experience all the better as we supported each other during the cold frigid morning and through a momentous occassion. I also met folks from all over the country and some also from areas near me (Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach).

Please also see my Flickr Set of Inauguration for more photos and unedited video.

January 19,2009 Washington DC National Mall

One day before Barack Obama becomes the 44th president- We Are one.

Sylvie Is In DC Ior Inauguration Events 2009

Yes, I'm in the midst of witnessing the historic events leading to the inauguration of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States of America. See my Flickr photos of events leading to the inauguration.

Inauguration 2009

I have been overwhelmed with how wonderful it has been to be amongst the millions of Americans who have ventured to Washington DC to witness this event.

We Are One

Happy New Year 2009

My, how the years just seem to fly by. I am moving into my 4th year of blogging and still loving it. I wish you all another great year in food. I did do some cooking this past month and look forward to many more big cooks.

In 2009 my BBQ team, Four Q will continue to compete in varying events in the Southern California area. I'll keep you posted on these events. Maybe even some of you will come on out to see us.

My 2008 holiday photos can be viewed on my flickr site. See links below.

Happy New Year

Christmas

New Year

Smoked Meats

Holiday Cooking

It has been a busy holiday season for me. This has been one of the few years that I have worked at my day job through Christmas and New Years without taking significant vacation/holiday time off. Still I have been busy in the kitchen making my usual holiday treats and some other not so holiday fares.



Additional Christmas cookies filled with "Hope' for 2009.



G has also been very busy at work along with his staff. He requested I smoke some ribs for them. I smoked 7 racks on my WSM for them. Enjoy guys.



These are the spares cut St. Louis style. I also did some baby backs. The only thing they were missing was some of my Four Q team members special sauce.



Just to be different, I prepared a table top cooking meal of sliced beef, chicken, short ribs, seafood (scallops and shrimp)and veggies.


Chile! Four Q will be competing in a Palm Desert Competition in February. We have an option to also do a chile cookoff. Not sure if I have the right stuff, so this was my first practice. Actually turned out quite tasty. Lesson learned includes leave out the sugar and add more heat. No beans in this chile.



Cookie ornamemts on my Christmas tree. Secret- the cookies were made last year and the year before. Stored in an airtight container, the colors still look great. I wouldn't eat these but for ornaments, fantastic.



Another 22 pound vertically smoked turkey for Christmas dinner. Came out just as good as the one I smoked for Thanksgiving. A technique I am going to keep.



Happy Holidays to you all. Hope and change are coming in 2009. Hang in there, it is going to get better.

Always,

Sylvie

Christmas 2008- Getting Ready

Cookies Galore

Thanksgiving Meal 2008

My menu doesn't diviate very much primarily because my family has expectations that the holiday meal should be as it has always been. I can add a few more entrees but can never take away the standards. This Thanksgiving the standards included turkey and dressing, mac and cheese, corn pudding, greens and yams. I added monkey bread, brussel sprouts, cauliflower mash and a rack of pork.

Just a few pictures of our holiday meal.