Memento Meal - Penelope's Ancestry Edition

Tonight, Marcy & James hosted the latest edition of Memento Meal at their Tacoma home. The theme this time around was the ancestry of their daughter, Penelope - with each course representing one of the nationalities that make up her heritage.

Our gracious hosts whetted our appetites with some charcuterie and cheese, and plenty of wine, of course, before introducing the first appetizer.



Accompanied by Marcy singing the Luxembourg national anthem, the course was a hearty serving of Mussels in a wine sauce with onion, shallots, thyme, and tarragon, accompanied by a bowl of creamy potato & leek soup. A very decadent, rich start to the meal.





Next up were the guests for this round - Lyssa & Andrew - with a tribute to French Canada. These two really brought it - with music of Quebec in the background while they served us Bootlegger's Lemonade - a pink lemonade spiked with homemade ginger syrup and a bottle of gin (passed around the table so each guest could control the amount of gin in their cocktail).



Then the plates arrived, with crisp, gluten-free homemade crackers perched across the plates, stacked high with maple baked beans, slow roasted tomatoes, bacon, and basque salt. The flavors were really wonderful, each standing out and marrying together with the others simultaneously. The baked beans seemed to strike a familiar note with a lot of folks, Dan included - reminding them of baked beans of their own childhoods.



Dan & I then served our Italian "Salad" course. Italian Salad said one thing to Dan & I: Insalta Caprese - the classic salad of sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, often drizzled with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt & pepper. Dan had the great idea to reimagine it as a chilled soup, something like a gazpacho... and then I got involved.



I placed some orders with Le Sanctuaire and Amazon.com for a variety of food grade chemicals and additives, to enable a molecular gastronomic take on a chilled caprese soup. My thought was that since the original inspiration is a deconstructed dish to begin with, I'd maintain the integrity of that by making the soup deconstructed - also adding in the element of interactivity as the guests combine the components together to create the soup on the fly.

We started with ramekins (a nod to the dish that would follow us), and filled them half-way with a simple chilled gazpacho of peeled & seeded vine-ripened tomatoes, garlic, onion, salt and white pepper. We topped that with an espuma of basil created using my Isi charger and the help of soy lecithin and xanthan gum. (Oddly enough, an ingredient also found in the dish preceding us - in the crackers.) The ramekin was then covered by a balsamic tuile (a sweet, crisp, thin cracker), again mimicking the next dish of the night. On top of the tuile was a pile of powdered olive oil (made using tapioca maltodextrin), and then a sphere of liquefied Buffalo mozzarella created using 'reverse' spherification via calcium lactate and a sodium alginate bath.

Somehow I failed to get a shot of the full dish, or the dish after each guest broke through the mozzarella sphere and the tuile to mix all the components together. The bright pink of the tomato and the brilliant green of the basil were set off nicely by the brown, cream and white of the other ingredients, and beyond being beautiful, it turned out to be tasty, too. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, but if I ever make it again, the mozzarella sphere will be bigger (or there will be multiple), as there just wasn't enough mozzarella for more than "one perfect bite".

Accompanying our dish was a bubbly Prosecco wine.



For the first entree course, Anna & Jason took us to Ireland.



We started with a Black & Tan, and were presented with a placemat made especially for the occasion, depicting the "Irish Food Pyramid".





Then a gorgeous and delicious plate of food arrived, featuring a lamb shepard's pie (a family recipe), soda bread, orange marmalade, and homemade butter topped with sea salt (and in the shape of flowers, with little raspberry drupes.





Next up were Gerald and Robyn with a tribute to Penelope's Germanic roots - in the form of homemade veal and pork sausage, braised in beer (of course), and served with saurkraut and homemade spaetzle topped with orange zest, plus a honey mustard for dipping. I ended up eating all of mine, plus half of Carolyn's sausage, and licking the mustard bowl clean.





As the meal wound down toward it's finish, Carolyn and David served up decaf in three French Presses, accompanied by fresh whipped cream.



They had run into challenges with their Spanish dessert course - possibly the most challenging combination, given none of us could think of a dessert that epitomized Spain. But the end result of the difficult process was wonderful.



Visually, it appeared to be a dense, crisp dish, but when I cut off a piece and put it in my mouth, the airiness of their Almond cake with orange reduction blew me away. Made using whipped egg whites, it was akin to a angel food cake in consistency, but to a French macaron in flavor. It was served with a dollop of almond whipped cream, as well. It was a perfect light finish to a meal that took us all over the map, in many senses of the word.



Watching the proceedings from her perch on high was one of Marcy & James cats, who it turned out was eagerly awaiting her own dinner.



In preparation for the next Memento, Dan and I put together some packets to inspire our fellow chefs.



A few Memento meals ago, the idea came up of a Science Fiction theme - which Dan & I loved. I measured out 5 gram quantities of 8 different food chemicals, put in small food grade zip lock bags, and all placed in mylar food grade envelopes. On the front, I put a Star Trek logo with a whisk added, and altered the classic opening voice over of the original Star Trek show with a more culinary version:

Food: The Final Frontier. These are the dinner parties of the Supper Club Memento. Our June 25th, 2011 mission: To explore strange new ingredients, to seek out new techniques and new flavors, to boldly go where no chef has gone before.

(though now I realize it had a typo)



I'm excited to see how our friends intepret "Science Fiction" in their dishes. Despite my Star Trek leanings, science fiction is a broad concept - from post-apocalyptic dystopia scenarios like Mad Max, to space drama like Stargate, to things like Lost - and is as much a literary genre as it is a film and TV genre. Each dish could really represent something very, very different. We'll just have to wait to see!



Mozzarella Spheres
220 g Buffalo Mozzarella
150 g Mozzarella whey (the liquid from the tub)
5 g Calcium Lactate

Combine well with an immersion blender.

1 L Purified Water (with little or no mineral content)
5 g Sodium Alginate
5 g Sugar

Warm on stove an blend with immersion blender.

Using a large measuring spoon or a ice cream scoop, spoon balls of the mozzarella mixture into the sodium alginate bath, and let them sit for 5 minutes, turning once gently with your fingers. Remove from the bath and rinse gently with cold water. Store in a airtight jar of water in the refrigerator.

Olive Oil Powder
80 g olive oil
60 g tapioca maltodextrin
3 g sea salt

Whisk to combine, adding tapioca maltodextrin until a powder forms. If a finer powder is desired, press through a chinoise. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Balsamic Tuile
30 ml balsamic vinegar
30 g organic sugar
10 g butter
40 g flour

Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend all ingredients together well. Spoon onto a silicon baking sheet lined sheet pan, and spread with the back of a rubber spatula until thin and in the desired shape. Bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

Basil Foam
500 ml water
1 bunch basil
5g Lecithin
5g Xanthan Gum

Blanch basil in boiling water for 30 seconds, then shock in ice water. Pulse in blender with enough of the blanching water to create a paste. Strain the paste through a chinoise back into the blanching liquid, pouring some of the liquid over the paste to extract as much of the flavor and color as possible. Chill. Add liquid, lecithin and gum to Isi and charge. Keep chilled until serving.

Caviar Experiments, Part III

In preparation for tomorrow's Memento Meal potluck, I ordered a pound each of Sodium Alginate and Calcium Chloride from Le Sanctuaire.

By creating a 2% solution of Calcium Chloride in water, and a 1% solution of Sodium Alginate in water, and dripping, squirting, and dunking some of the latter into the former, I was able to create spheres and noodles and all sorts of odd little shapes that have a gelled exterior but a liquid center. When the two chemicals come in contact, the Calcium replaces Sodium in the alginate, resulting in a gel. (The chemistry is described much better by Khymos.)

This technique differs in that way from the previous method I played with using agar agar powder, which solidified all the way through. This technique leave the center filled with liquid that hasn't touched the Calcium Chloride, so the shapes will break open on the tongue, releasing the liquid. If that liquid is flavored, then a burst of flavor comes out.



It took some adjusting to get both the molality and the consistency of the solution correct, but once it was I was able to play around a lot. After making lots of little balls, I wondered if I could dye a little bit of the Calcium Chloride and inject it into the liquid center using a 1/2 CC hypodermic needle, creating solid shapes inside the liquid center. I tinted some of the solution green, and then injected it. It reacts so quickly that it creeps along the needle, creating little spiraling strips through the center, and looked a lot like marbles I used to play with as a kid.



I also got curious what types of liquids could be added. I had read that acids and anything with Chloride ions would cause trouble by throwing off the chemical reaction, but didn't read anything about not being able to use alcohol. I grabbed a bottle of blue Curacao, and mixed it with a bit of my alginate solution, and was able to create spheres of the liquor that burst open in your mouth - like tiny jello shots with a liquid center.



Of course, I wondered if you could create a whole shot this way, filled with orbs, so I made a bunch of the blue Curacao spheres, then made some Bacardi light rum spheres, and put them together. I added a little water, and found that since I had whipped the light rum mixture more, it had air bubbles that caused those spheres to float a bit, whereas the Curacao spheres sank to the bottom of the glass.



I can't wait to play more! Some key things I learned this round were:

* My scale only measures to the gram, so when it showed 4 grams, it could be anywhere from 3.5 to 4.5 grams - which isn't quite accurate enough for creating specific molality solutions.

* 2% alginate is too much, creating a thick gel, not a liquid, but by creating a 2% solution, you can add liquids to it to thin it out to the right consistency.

* Despite all the precision, it's all pretty flexible and forgiving - except the consistency. If your solution is too thick, you'll get teardrops, not spheres, because the liquid won't become a sphere while it falls.

* You can use and reuse the Calcium Chloride solution.

* Calcium Chloride dissolves readily in water, but Sodium Alginate clumps and even whisking it doesn't help. I tried a hot water bath, but that didn't do the trick, so I resorted to blending it up, which created lots of air in the mixture. Air's okay - it doesn't seem to impede the chemical reaction - but you'll have little bubbles in the finished shapes. If you let it sit for a few hours, though, the air bubble work their way out.

TGRWT #16 - Really Rosie Chicken Soup with 'Rice'

When I was in elementary school, I distinctly remember a day at school when we watched the TV Special, Really Rosie - a story of a confident little girl with big dreams, who decides to cast her friends in a play to entertain them all on a rainy day. The show was based on a series of books by Maurice Sendak called The Nutshell Library, and features music by Carole King.

The song that still stands out the most to me, after all these years, is Chicken Soup with Rice- a song Rosie (voiced by King) sings about her little brother 'Chicken Soup', and about eating chicken soup with rice each month of the year. It became my favorite because that day at school we all ate chicken soup with rice together, and sang the Chicken Soup with Rice song.

A year or two ago, our friend D'arcy was talking about the show and the songs, and about her idea to produce the play version with adults. Given that those of us who grew up on Really Rosie are now in our 30's and 40's (the books were published in 1962, and the TV special was aired in 1975), it seems like a great time to revisit that great work - and I decided to buy the CDand the bookfor D'arcy, to help keep her inspired.

All that might explain why, when this month's "They Go Really Well Together" challenge was announced at Supernova Condensate as Chicken and Rose, it took me little time to make the connection: Chicken & Rose. Chicken Soup. Really Rosie. Chicken Soup with Rice. Perfect!



I've been playing around with the technique Ana from Céu da Boca described in her TGRWT post last month, about making simple spheres of any liquid using agar powder, and decided to apply them to rose water (tinted with a little red food coloring).



Thus, for my TGRWT #16 entry, I've created rose water 'rice', which I've placed in a bowl of chicken consomme, creating my Really Rosie Chicken Soup with 'Rice'.

The golden broth by itself is very beautiful, but when I added the rose 'rice', I was surprised to see that they floated in the soup, just below the surface, giving the consomme the look of being lit up by dozens of tiny glowing pink lights, as the edges of the orbs became fuzzy under the surface. It gave off a rich chicken aroma, with only the slightest hint of rose - it being mostly trapped inside the spheres.



I put the first spoonful in my mouth and my tongue was immediately enveloped by the silky smooth broth with a strong chicken flavor - then the rose 'rice' began bumping into my tongue. As the broth slipped down my throat, my tongue was left cradling a pile of spheres, and the aroma of chicken began to blend into a rose scent - the latter becoming more distinctly identifiable. The balls gave some resistance before breaking as I chewed them, the sound of their bursts popping in my ear, at which point the rose flavor and odor became much more prominent, like a second wave of flavor and scents. It was a fun experience to eat, and the flavors, and perhaps more significantly the scents, seemed very complimentary.



For a control, I sipped some of the leftover consomme which hadn't touched any of the rose 'rice', and found the chicken flavor to be good, but more 'bawdy', not nearly as delicate as it was with the subtle rose perfume balancing it.



Rose Rice
100ml of Rose Water
1 g of agar powder (a little over 1/4 tspn, in my case)
Red food coloring

Prepare a small bowl of oil, a fine mesh strainer, a medium bowl, and a large bowl of cold water. Bring the rose water to a quick boil in a small saucepan, then whisk in the agar and 1-2 drops of red food coloring. Lower the heat to medium and, using an eye dropper, suck up some of the liquid and begin dripping it into the oil, being careful not to let the drops touch. Continue until you run out of space in the oil. Set the strainer over the medium bowl and gently pour the oil and rose spheres into it. Rinse the spheres in the cold water to remove oil. Repeat as needed.



Chicken Consomme
1 chicken drumstick
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1/4 of a white onion
2 egg whites
2 cups of chicken stock

Remove the skin of the drumstick and discard. Remove the meat from the drumstick and combine in a food processor with the carrot, celery, and onion into a paste. Crack the bone in half and set in the bottom of the pan. Mix the two egg whites into the paste, then spread the paste in the pan evenly. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer, stirring a bit. When the solids have formed a 'raft' on the surface, lower the heat to retain a very low simmer (with only periodic bubbles), gently poke a hole in the center of the 'raft', and allow it to simmer uncovered for 1-2 hours. Strain the liquid through cheesecloth to remove any solids.

(I read several consomme recipes, which varied greatly in ingredients and technique, but I combined them and did it my own way to create a very small volume for this purpose - my first attempt at consomme, so I'm sure I have a lot to learn. Any tips from the pros out there would be much appreciated.)

Caviar Experiments, Part II

After lunch, we all headed up to Culinary Communion to see if there was anything left of their equipment sale - a sad result of them going out of business. Everything was pretty picked over, but I found a slightly worse for wear metric measuring cup for $1. It was melted about half way up, but I only really needed the 100ml mark - so I grabbed it.

While Dan went for a post-lunch run, I decided to play around with agar again, and see what else I could learn. The Tang Caviar experiment was fun, but I was concerned the odd after-taste was from the agar, and wanted to test it out again with water. I also wanted to see if the caviar would re-melt, even partially, if submerged in soup-hot water for an idea I have for the current round of TGRWT. And finally, I wanted to see if I could tweak the ratio of water to agar to get less firm, more truly fish egg like caviar.

I found that the aftertaste was indeed from the Tang - so I'm in good shape there. But I also found that the agar spheres don't remelt if put back in hot water - which I tested by putting food coloring in the agar mix, then dropping the completed caviar into hot water. None of the food coloring spread out into the water, as I'd hoped. Finally, I reduced the amount of agar, but found the balls still ended up very firm.

I have more to test, but was glad to sneak in a little bit of experimenting today.

Tang Caviar

In reading about Molecular Gastronomy a bit, I've been most fascinated by people creating perfect spheres (or 'caviar') out of liquids. The method I first ran across involves using Sodium Alginate and Calcium Chloride - two ingredients not usually found in the grocery store - so I hadn't had an opportunity yet to play around with that method.

But when I read about the TGRWT #15 entry from Ana at Céu da Boca, in which she created white pepper caviar using Agar, I knew I needed to give it a try. Agar, a type of powdered seaweed, is something I knew would be available at Uwajimaya. Dan had to run down there today to pick up some Ti leaves and poi for dinner tonight, so I asked him to pick up some agar, too.

For my first attempt at 'caviar', I decided to use something flavorful, but cheap, to avoid wasting ingredients if it was a total failure. I made up some Tang, measured a 1/2 cup (roughly 100ml), and put it in a saucepan to boil. I tried to measure 1.5 grams of the agar powder, but discovered my kitchen scale doesn't read below 1 gram, so I had to kinda wing it. I poured what seemed like about 1.5 grams into the Tang, whisked it in, and then pulled it off the heat. I had already put a small bowl of olive oil in the fridge, which I pulled out. I used an eye dropper, and sucked up some of the Tang agar mixture, then dripped it into the olive oil. As the mixture drops through the air, it forms a perfect little sphere, then it hits the olive oil and cools. Since agar is solid at room temperature, the balls solidify as they drop and enter the olive oil. I found that they float initially, but then drop to the bottom of the bowl as more drop in, breaking the surface tension a bit, so I could keep making 'caviar' for awhile before I had built up a pile in the bottom of the bowl. At that point, I poured the olive oil and caviar through a strainer (reserving the olive oil in another bowl), and then rinsed the caviar off with cold water.

The result are brilliant orange, glossy spheres that taste a bit like Tang. I think the ratio of agar to liquid was too high, resulting in very solid balls. Also, they tasted a little chemically, which is either from the Tang getting boiled, or from the agar. I'll need to try out plain water next, to test that theory. I'd also like to try out the other method, to see if it results in spheres with a liquid center, which I think would be preferable.