Many of you readers will note that this dish is somewhat ripped off from Alinea. The main component that makes this interesting is the ball of mozzarella filled with tomato water. Alinea calls it a mozzarella "balloon," which is fairly appropriate. One way I could have put my own spin on it is by letting the diners have a tomato-water balloon fight. It would have worked, especially in a fine dining context, but the balloons are too labor intensive to make enough quantity of them for a reasonably long balloon fight. So I just served it as is, and kitted out the dish with simple, straightforward flavors, but presented in a refined way that improves the eating of the dish.

The simple act of peeling the tomatoes brings the dish from rustic to refined, as Shola says. These were gorgeous, delicious, pristine tomatoes from The Peach Farm (sungolds and some black cherry variety), Balakian Farms (green zebra and some similar yellow variety), and Everything Under The Sun (red cherry tomatoes). They were all scored, blanched, shocked, then peeled, which I got plenty of practice doing in my stage last month at McCrady's. Here's what I can recommend: cherry tomatoes, sungolds, and similarly-sized tomatoes should be scored by clipping off the very top (stem end). Larger varieties should be scored with an 'x' on the bottom of the tomato.

I had some lovely purple basil from White Crane Springs Ranch, which has all sorts of interesting herbs and flowers available, always meticulously picked and prepped, and some Genovese basil from I don't remember where. Chue's Farm? I used Lucero Ascolano olive oil which was a gift from a Lazy Bear-B-Que diner, some decent balsamic vinegar dripped from several feet above the plates to make some interesting splatters, Maldon salt, and some black pepper.

Now onto the star of the dish, the mozzarella ball. First, I made tomato water by pureeing some whole Early Girl tomatoes and adding some salt and Pectinex Smash XXL then letting it sit overnight in the fridge. Then I decanted to yield delicious tomato water. I adjusted the salt level of the tomato water, added some gelatin (500g tomato water to 3.5 sheets gelatin, per the Alinea cookbook), loaded it into a cream whipper, and charged it with one cream charger. Adding the gelatin ensures that when you fill the mozzarella, the tomato water (and hence, the mozz balloon) will keep its volume and stay filled with the tomato water. Otherwise you end up with a saggy ball with tomato water at the bottom. Anyway, the cream whipper then gets fully chilled.

For the mozz balls, I took mozzarella curd and added heavily salted, very hot water (boiling, actually). Using two layers of latex gloves, you stretch the mozzarella while it is still extremely hot. It doesn't take much stretching before it's ready, and you'll know when it happens--the curds will come together and will no longer be curds, but mozzarella. Working quickly, you take a small piece of the mozzarella and flatten it, then use it to cover the nozzle of the cream whipper. Holding it around the nozzle very tightly, turn the whipper upside down and slowly release some of the tomato foam. Once the ball reaches about 2.5-3 inches in diameter (that's much bigger than the Alinea ones, I think), pinch the mozzarella ball shut while sliding it a bit off the nozzle. Keep pinching it tightly for several seconds. If you've worked quickly enough and the mozzarella has stayed hot enough, it will seal to itself. If not, you lost that one; start over.

Here are a couple tips for this mozzarella process. First of all, after taking a small piece of mozz, flattening it, and getting ready to put it over the whipper nozzle, give it another dip into the hot water to keep it as warm as possible. Second, you have to keep shaking the whipper between balls, and then keep it upside down after shaking it. Otherwise the tomato stuff gets stuck and you'll get air bubbles. Third, because of (2), and because of the speed with which you must work, the process is much easier with two people. One holds the whipper, shakes it between balls, and keeps it upside down. The other works the mozzarella and actually depresses the lever of the whipper.

Anyway, the end result is a nice, plump ball of tomato-filled mozzarella. I served this dish in a bowl, and when the mozz was pierced, the tomato water spilled out into bowl, saucing the dish. I encouraged the diners to pick up the bowl and drink the juices that remained at the end, and many of them did. I certainly would have.

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/07/21 @ 21:11 | Comments (4) | Lazy Bear, Science, Technology, Veggies, Fruit, Grain, Cheese

• Delicious raw hamachi (yellowtail jack caught in San Diego, rather than shipped from Japan), sliced sashimi-style. Friday and Saturday diners got dorsal loin, while Sunday diners got ventral loin and belly.
• Crisp, tart dolly plums, sliced thin enough to be translucent. You have to slice by hand because even a very sharp mandoline will tear the skins.
• Dashi gelee. 20 grams kombu per liter of water, circulated at 65C for an hour, then kombu removed and liquid brought to a boil. Lots of katsuoboshi added and heat turned off to steep for another hour. Then gelatin incorporated at 2 sheets per 300g dashi. Set into a gelee, then broken up with a spoon into little nuggets.
• Roasted shishito peppers
• Japanese rice seasoning (wakame chazuke furikake)
• Sea beans
• Olive oil
• Buttermilk granita
  600g low-fat buttermilk (fat will inhibit proper crystal formation)
  65g glucose
  8g salt
  lemon juice to taste
  
  Mix all ingredients well to dissolve sugar and dry ingredients, then place in a (preferably thin, metal) container in the freezer. Stir well with a fork every half hour until completely frozen, approximately 4 hours.

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/07/21 @ 4:29 | Comments (0) | Lazy Bear, Seafood, Veggies, Fruit, Grain, Cheese

So delicious. It's a shot of intense "barbecue juice," with a couple balls of fresh peach, topped with a snack of puffed barbecue sauce wrapped in smoked peach leather and garnished with a hyssop leaf, barbecue sauce, and a peach puree.

The barbecue juice was a byproduct of making a ton of barbecue for an event I catered a few weeks ago. I took sixty-five pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, rubbed them with a dry rub (recipe below), hot smoked them for about an hour over mesquite charcoal and hickory chips, gave them a bit of char as well, then put them in hotel pans with some chicken stock and a bit of barbecue sauce. After an hour or so, they were falling apart. I pulled them, and made sure to add back in plenty of the braising liquid. Still, I was left with quite a bit of that awesome, smoky, barbecue flavored liquid. So I reduced it down from about 12 quarts to 3 quarts and froze it. That liquid, served hot and adjusted for salt, was this shot.

The diners were instructed to eat the puffed snack first, then sip the shot. The puffed snack was puffed barbecue sauce. However, normal barbecue sauce contains too much sugar to puff adequately. See here for details. So I had to make a mostly sugarless BBQ sauce. Not an easy feat. Here's the recipe I used:

Sugarless BBQ Sauce
70g tomato paste
70g apple cider vinegar
5g smoked salt
20g worcestershire sauce
15g soy sauce
10g Crystal hot sauce
20g molasses

I took that (full recipe) and added 250g tapioca flour to make a dough. After kneading a bit to make the mixture uniform, I roll it out flat, steamed it for about 17 minutes, then let it cool and cut into strips, then dehydrated the strips. Once dehydrated they'll keep indefinitely. To finish, fry them at about 335F. If you fry them at a higher temp (425F or so), they'll puff more, but then they'll burn too quickly before they are fully puffed.

I wrapped the puffs in peach leather:

Peach Leather
850g peach puree
175g sugar
5g yellow pectin
2g citric acid

Follow the usual method to incorporate and hydrate the pectin. Spread out the warm puree on acetate, then dehydrate only until flattened but still pliable. Apply some smoke, off the heat, then peel off acetate and roll up in parchment paper like a fruit roll-up.

Hyssop is a very medicinal herb up front but with a minty aftertaste. I knew it would work well with the BBQ flavors, so I asked Joseph from White Crane Springs Ranch if he had any. He did, so he clipped some and brought it for me the following week to the market. Indeed, it worked well, though I suppose it probably wasn't worth the extra hassle.

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/07/21 @ 4:10 | Comments (5) | Lazy Bear, Meat

This was the final version of this dish. I was pretty happy with how it turned out. It's really unfortunate about that previous version with the liver mousse and all. It was just not tasty at all.

Anyway, this was awesome. It's a luscious sweetwater oyster from Hog Island, here in the Bay Area.

It's topped with a very small piece of Boccalone (also Bay Area) lardo that has been torched to render some of the fat, alter the texture, and give it some char. The fattiness of the lardo plays really nicely with the fresh and silky briny qualities of the oyster.

Watermelon adds some sweetness and texture, while lovage provides some herbal notes. The lime added some acidity and, thanks to the inclusion of the peel, some bitterness. Finally, since the oyster lost a bit of its brininess with all the oyster flavors present (especially the fattiness), I added some back by sprinkling on some Maldon salt.

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/07/21 @ 3:51 | Comments (0) | Lazy Bear, Meat, Seafood, Veggies, Fruit, Grain, Cheese

I wanted to do watermelon and lovage. I started with this:

It was a layered gelee. The two layers were watermelon juice, and pickled watermelon rind puree. Sprinkled with black pepper, drizzled with olive oil, and with some lovage garnishing it.

However, it didn't work texturally, and was too sweet to start the meal. There was one more iteration involving a rabbit liver mousse. It was probably worse. The third time was a charm. I ended up with the final version, which I was happy with.

The melon juice was gelled using gelatin at 1 leaf (silver bloom) per 100 grams liquid. The rind was fully pureed, passed through a chinois, thickened slightly with xanthan gum, then gelled using the same ratio.

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/07/21 @ 3:33 | Comments (0) | Lazy Bear, Veggies, Fruit, Grain, Cheese

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/07/04 @ 0:17 | Comments (0) | Lazy Bear

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/07/03 @ 21:25 | Comments (1) | Lazy Bear

I announced the July dates just before going to bed, and all the reservations were claimed by the time I woke up! In light of the difficulty people have been having in getting a reservation, we are adding one more date so that more people can dine with us. So, Sunday, July 11 is now open as well. All other info is the same as for Friday and Saturday, as announced here, except that we'll start earlier on Sunday, probably around 6pm.

reservations@lazybearsf.com saying 1) that you want to come on Sunday, 2) how many people are in your party, and 3) whether any of you have any dietary restrictions.

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/06/12 @ 15:53 | Comments (2) | Lazy Bear

The next edition of Lazy Bear is hereby announced! If all goes well, this will be one of the last underground dinners we ever do in this format. If we can find the right space, we will be emerging from the cave, and going fully legit. So, here are the details. A tentative menu is to the right. Click for full-size version.

• Two nights available: Friday, July 9th; and Saturday, July 10th.
• Ten seats per night. Reservations required.
• 80/person suggested donation. BYOB.
• Sorry, no vegan/vegetarian substitutions this time.

To try for a reservation, email reservations@lazybearsf.com with all of the following information:

1. Which date you are reserving
2. The number in your party
3. Any allergies/intolerances/restrictions of any members of your party

If a reservation is available for your party on the dates you request, you will receive an email asking to confirm your reservation by making your donation via Paypal. In the event that one or more members of your party must cancel, we will attempt to fill the seat, and will refund your donation if we are able to do so.

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/06/10 @ 23:28 | Comments (0) | Lazy Bear

This is delicious fish, but the coolest thing about this dish was the discovery of these little, green, acidic Persian plums. They are roughly the size and shape of cherries, and started appearing in the market at about the same time as early-season cherries. They are firm but juicy, with a delicious flavor reminiscent of normal plums, but quite tart. You can use a cherry pitter to pit them, though you have to apply more force than with ripe cherries. Here I sliced them thinly (with a knife, not a mandoline, because a mandoline will catch and mangle their skins), as well as juicing some of them. I love the look of the "ends" of the plums--the first slices, that is--when laid on their flat sides with the vivid, rounded skins facing upward.

I also thinly sliced some Spanish black radishes (from Heirloom Organic Gardens). These work fine on a sharp mandoline. Then I marinated them in some of the Persian plum juice.

The local, line-caught tombo (albacore) tuna (from Shogun Fish Company) was sliced across the grain into planks, sashimi-style. Just before plating it, I gave it a dredge in the Persian plum juice. Not too early, because I didn't want the acidity to cure the fish, ruining the beautiful color.

I made a radish-shallot streusel by blitzing some of the radish with fried shallots in a food processor with the addition of some tapioca maltodextrin to absorb excess oil. It also included a bit of spice from some togarashi just because that was the most convenient source available at the time.

Finally, I drizzled the fish with some of the plum juice and then some fruity Lucero Ascolano olive oil that was a gift from a Lazy Bear diner who works for the California Olive Oil Council. When drizzling the juice and the oil for this and similar applications, I like to use a pipette so that I can be precise. It allows me to apply the liquids without wetting the streusel or spilling into the bowl.

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/05/30 @ 15:22 | Comments (2) | Food Additives, Seafood, Veggies, Fruit, Grain, Cheese

It's been a while, and it's going to be a little longer, so I think I should provide an update:

1. I have started a law firm along with a fellow food lover, Sheila Yazdi, to represent food-industry small businesses. We're calling it EatLawSF, which immediately communicates what it's about. www.eatlawsf.com. We started the firm because restaurants, carts, bars, and caterers generally don't have access to legal services since most attorneys bill at rates these businesses can't afford. Other industries use legal help throughout all stages of their life cycle but food businesses, for many reasons, never use lawyers until they're getting sued. By setting our rates at a level these businesses can easily afford, we allow them to get proper advice every step of the way, which will save them money in the long run.

   If you have a food/beverage-related business and think you could maybe use some help, even if it might have to be basically pro bono, please let me know. david AT eatlawsf DOT com.

2. Lazy Bear is not done--quite the contrary--but it has been on hiatus while I've focused on setting up EatLawSF. During this hiatus, I've continued doing some catering and private events. Very soon, however, dates for our next Lazy Bear dinners will be announced and reservations will open up. We expect these dates to sell out VERY quickly since it's been a while since our last events. Our public is clamoring for tasty morsels! To make sure you hear about it in time to get a reservation, make sure you get on our email list by emailing me at david AT lazybearsf DOT com.

3. We are looking into finding a more permanent, more legitimate space to hold Lazy Bear dinners. The plans are to have Lazy Bear dinners two nights per weekend, two weekends per month (e.g. Friday and Sunday of every other week). We have a space--and possible collaborators--in mind, but please let me know if you are aware of any other suitable spaces in SF with a reasonable kitchen, space to comfortably accommodate 16-20 people, a decent vibe, and availability at least one weekend per month.
   

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/05/26 @ 2:45 | Comments (2) | Life

A composed hodge-podge intended to accomplish three functions: 1) try out tableside broth frenching with these wide bowls I recently bought from IKEA; 2) be easy to chew--Jeanette had oral surgery yesterday; and 3) use up some leftovers.

The intended star was the intense pea shell consomme. I made this as part of the Bear-B-Que prep--I served an awesome pea soup that was fresh English peas pureed in pea shell consomme. It was the shells from an entire case of Iacopi Farm English peas in about 40 quarts of water, then reduced to 2 quarts! In fact, it was maybe a bit too intense. But if you've been throwing out your pea shells, give this a shot instead. They are very flavorful. Cover them in water in a stockpot, bring it a boil, simmer for about twenty minutes, then strain. You don't even need to clarify to have a clear consomme (though decanting helps).

In addition to the consomme, there were roasted, glazed carrots, carrot puree, excellent Cowgirl Creamery fresh chevre, crispy Boccalone pancetta, fried pie dough (leftover from strawberry pie for the Bear-B-Que. I garnished with garlic chive flowers from White Crane Springs Ranch, nasturtium flowers from my backyard, some Marin Roots Farm ancho cress, and Dirty Girl breakfast radish. And ALL of that was leftover.

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/04/23 @ 2:39 | Comments (2) | Veggies, Fruit, Grain, Cheese

This weekend's Bear-B-Que sold out within a day or two of announcing it. We've got a great crowd coming, and the food is turning out to be very tasty.

I made a bit extra of the sausage, and have more than I need, so if you're coming to the Bear-B-Que, you can take home a pack of four links of the lamb-leek sausage for $8 $5. It's delicious. The lamb flavor really comes through.

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/04/17 @ 3:52 | Comments (0) | Lazy Bear, Meat

This last savory course was awesome both nights, and it was one of the most classic preparations I've served at Lazy Bear yet. A simple rabbit saddle with boneless rabbit leg confit, served with a Yukon gold potato puree, Yukon gold confit, roasted spring onions, breakfast radish, and a rabbit reduction. Absolutely delicious. And I had lots of fun butchering seven rabbits!

Now, the preparation wasn't completely classic. The saddle is a roulade in which the flank of the rabbit is used to roll up the loins (and in this case, tenderloins and other lean meat). Typically it is sauteed to brown the outside of the roulade, then finished in the oven. However, the flank that forms the outside of the roulades seizes up like crazy when subjected to the high heat of a saute pan. if you don't pre-cook the flank, it will seize up and your nice roulades will be likely to come undone. To prevent that, chefs traditionally tie the roulades with twine and hope for the best. I did that, but I also did two non-traditional things. First, i used meat glue on the roulades. It isn't enough to keep the outsides of the roulades from coming undone, but it does provide a little extra hold. Second, I par-cooked the roulades sous vide. See, you can't pre-cook the lean meat of rabbit because rabbit turns mealy if re-heated. But when you roll up the loins and tenderloins of rabbit in the flank meat, the flank meat protects the lean meat inside. So I cooked the saddles sous vide at 64C (147F) for only eight minutes, then immediately plunged them into ice water to stop the cooking. It's just long enough to cook the flank, but not enough to cook the delicate meat inside. Once it's all chilled, I take it out of the bag and, like I said, tie twine around the roulades. Then at service I sauteed the roulades as usual. The flanks still seized up a bit more (since when sauteeing I cooked them to a much hotter temperature than the 147F), but the par-cooking, meat glue, and twine were enough to keep the roulades together beautifully. Once the outside were nicely brown I transferred to the oven to reach an internal temperature of around 135F. After resting, they'll be up around a perfect 140F.

The potato puree was straightforward Yukon golds, simmered until tender then pushed through a tamis and mounted with obscene amounts of butter and cream. The Yukon golds confit were cut out of baby Yukon gold potatoes by slicing in 3/4 inch slices, then cutting out rounds, vacuum-sealing with roasted chicken fat, then cooking sous vide at 85C until tender (about an hour and a half). You could do the same thing in an oven if you had tons and tons of roasted chicken fat to submerge the potatoes. The onions were simple yellow spring onion bulbs, seared then finished in a low oven to tenderize and mellow the flavors. The radishes were pristine breakfast radishes sliced thinly on a mandoline. And the thighs confit were rabbit thighs, cured overnight then vacuum-sealed with rabbit fat and roasted chicken fat, then cooked at 80C (176F) until tender (about 5-6 hours, but check it frequently).

For the sauce, I made a stock from the bones of all seven rabbits, and reduced it with some red wine to form a nice reduction. I didn't mount it with anything at service because there was plenty of fat already on the plate.

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/04/13 @ 0:54 | Comments (0) | Lazy Bear, Meat, Veggies, Fruit, Grain, Cheese

We haven't exactly been hibernating all winter, but we are nevertheless very excited about the arrival of spring! The produce is changing, the weather is beautiful (today notwithstanding), and the backyard patio is ready for some action. So, we're trying an all new format this time: Lazy Bear-B-Que!

It will be a four-course supper, with two options per course. The menu is below (though it's possible that some details may change). $50 suggested donation per person. Location is near Duboce Park in San Francisco. The forecast is clear so far, so dinner will be al fresco unless rain drives us indoors. Because it's on a Sunday, and because it's outdoors, we are starting earlier than usual. Here are the rules:

1. Twenty spots available. Reservations required. Email david@lazybearsf.com with the number in your party.
2. Arrive hungry at 5:00pm, rain or shine. Supper will start around 5:30pm.
3. Choose one soup, one salad, one entree, and one dessert.
4. Vegetarians get both salads, with a slow-cooked egg added to the asparagus salad as an entree.
5. $50 suggested donation via cash or Paypal to david@lazybearsf.com. Tips appreciated.
6. BYOB. We'll have water, coolers full of ice, and maybe some sweet tea.
7. Protect your plates from the elements.
8. Dress in layers in case the weather is chilly.

Here's the menu. Choose one option per course:

SOUP

• Spring Onion Soup with Nasturtium Pesto and Toasted Pine Nuts
  
• Chilled English Pea Soup with Mint Oil and Grilled Goat Cheese Toast

SALAD

• Local Asparagus, Grilled and Raw, with Almonds, Arugula, Parmeggiano, and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette
  
• Roasted Oyster Mushrooms and Miner's Lettuce, Black Bread Croutons, Poached Golden Raisins, Crispy Onions, and Sherry Vinaigrette

ENTREE

• Grilled Chicken with Mandarin-Green Garlic Mojo, Spicy Cannellini Bean Salad, and Pea Shoots
  
• Homemade Lamb-Leek Sausage with Du Puy Lentils, Slow-Cooked Egg, Grilled Leeks, and Arugula

DESSERT

• Strawberry Pie a la Momma Bear
  
• Meyer Lemon Cheesecake with Coffee-Graham Crumbs

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/04/11 @ 18:28 | Comments (0) | Lazy Bear, Menus