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2009/03/09
Sunday is a big dinner party for charity. People bid on Jeanette and I making them a dinner, with us matching the extravagance of the meal to the size of the winning donation. The winning donation was higher than expected, so the meal is going to be pretty ridiculous. Here's the tentative menu, with some notes. A couple of these courses will be cut because I won't get to all of them (depending on work situation), and also may not be able to find one or two things at reasonable prices.
I've been super busy at work lately, so posting has suffered. I haven't been cooking anything interesting. It's been a lot of takeout lately.
Charity Auction Dinner
March 15, 2009Kumamoto Oyster | Granny Smith Apple | Jalapeno | Maple-Cider Vinegar Foam
Foam will be whipped with Methocel F50.
Asparagus Crisp
Pureed and hydrated with Methocel, probably A4M, whipped slightly, spread, then dehydrated. UPDATE: Asparagus flavor didn't come through enough. I'm abandoning this.
Dungeness Crab Sabayon | Sea Bean | Chive | Pimenton
Kind of like oysters and pearls, but with dungeness crab and sea bean, and no tapioca. Okay, not really like oysters and pearls. UPDATE: Serving this one cold, in an appetizer spoon.
Breakfast Radish Salad | Red Grape | Chicory | Cucumber | Sherry Vinegar
Cucumber will be a sorbet.
Butter-Poached Sous Vide Lobster, Curried Carrots, Coconut Milk Meringue, Roasted Peanut Powder
As I posted, but coconut milk will be fully whipped and torched. I may not be able to find the lobster at a reasonable price, though, so this may get replaced by a pasta dish.
Sunchoke | Baby Leeks, Charred and Confit | Spring Onion | Green Garlic Chip | Buttermilk | Pumpernickel | Spanish Olive
Sunchokes sous vide then roasted, and a bunch of spring allium. Baby leeks, confit and charred, spring onion reduced to a syrup, green garlic strands weaved into an isomalt chip, green garlic puree, thickened buttermilik in some form, dark brown bread if I can find it or else I might have to make it. UPDATE: The buttermilk will be incorporated into a sunchoke puree.
Gumbo Consomme | Andouille Oil
Directly ripped from Chadzilla. Andouille oil is just what rendered out when browning the andouille. It's delicious.
Rabbit Rillettes and Loin | Kumquat | Balsamic | Arugula
Rabbit rillettes (UPDATE: cylinders, bound slightly with methocel), possibly bound slightly with methocel to facilitate the reheating and keeping its shape. Pan-roasted loin. Candied kumquat zest, kumquat jam, raw kumquat puree with pith. Balsamic film with Pure Cote. Wild arugula raw and in a puree.
Deep-Fried Brussels Sprouts Two Ways:
1. Pine Nut Puree | Pine Oil | Lemon
2. Bacon | Coffee | Honey
Coffee will be a fluid gel.
Sweetbread McNuggets | Smoked Ginger Aioli | Soy BBQ Sauce
As posted, but with nicer boxes.
18-Hour Pork Belly | Blood Orange | Lemongrass | King Trumpet | Puffed Rice | Edamame | Pickled Daikon | Nasturtium
Pork belly 18 hours @ 160F, blood orange and lemongrass terrine set with a mix of gums, seared daikon pickled in sherry vinegar. I just discovered nasturtium growing abundantly in my backyard.
Lamb Tenderloin | Kennebec Potato Vichysoisse | Beet Confetti
As posted, but slightly larger. Beet sliced thinly, cut into little squares, dehydrated. UPDATE: With truffle?
Caramelized Pineapple Popsicle
Basically, that crazy translucent pineapple from Under Pressure. Seared in caramel, then poached in white wine. Then cubed and frozen. UPDATE: It actually tasted and ate better with just raw pineapple, frozen.
Creme Brulee | Maple | Maldon Sea Salt
Miniature, as posted, plus Maldon.
Cheesecake | Meyer Lemon | Vanilla | Coffee | Cocoa | Thyme
More or less as posted, only not low-carb this time!
Mignardises: Chocolate Pistachio Nougatine (UPDATE: Yum, I used no peanuts) | Cara Cara Pâte de Fruit | Five-Spice Candied Peanuts (UPDATE: Yum, plus five-spice) | Cardamom Macaron
Posted by Barzelay on 2009/03/09 @ 11:23 | Comments (9) |
Comments
(1) Wow, that sounds like a lot to do.
(2) Your website is still telling me I can't comment because "text was entered incorrectly."
How do I enter text correctly? I don't know!
Posted by: lsmsrbls at March 9, 2009 1:38 PM
Damn, I miss your dinner parties. Looks like you're going all out, as usual.
Posted by: Aaron at March 9, 2009 1:41 PM
Christy, that generally happens if you take too long to submit your comment. The captcha image is only good for so long, then it'll make you refresh to get a new image. It just doesn't explain itself well. At some point I'm going to work on that.
Posted by: Barzelay at March 9, 2009 1:58 PM
You're insane, buddy.
I work in restaurants, and did a six course catered and plated lunch with just my girlfriend helping, with only two moderately complicated courses, and THAT was too much work. Good luck.
Who are these people bidding?
Posted by: The Gourmet Pig at March 9, 2009 4:48 PM
It was a silent auction for charity run by Jeanette's firm. We donated a dinner cooked by me and served by us, and included some pictures of food I've done. Five people she worked with grouped up and bid for them and their significant others, and beat out some other groups with their (flattering) bid. A couple of them had come over for much simpler dinners before then.
I've done dinners like this in the past, though with fewer courses. But keep in mind, I've got an entire week to prep this (albeit only at night, and obviously not everything can be done in advance). You'll notice that most of the components are things I can make ahead. The most problematic course for me, actually, will be the oysters, because I am shit at oyster shucking. But still, I can do that an hour in advance and keep them on ice. Things like creme brulee involve about 30 seconds with a blowtorch. Other things, like the pork belly course, will be tougher, so I precede it with an easy course--just deep fry sweetbreads and serve with pre-plated sauces.
It'll be complicated, to be sure, and I'll probable screw some things up. There will be some unanticipated delays. It'll last almost 3 hours. But hey, it's for charity.
Oh, one major trick is to simply have enough dishware that you don't have to wash stuff much.
I actually thought long and hard about asking if you wanted to help out. But I figured it would be insulting if I didn't offer to pay you, or demeaning if I did offer to pay you. But hey, if you think it would be fun to help out Sunday night, let me know.
Posted by: Barzelay at March 9, 2009 5:41 PM
What are the different forms of methocel good for? Just making foams? Why use one over the other and how is Methocel better at foams than other hydrocolloids?
Posted by: sygyzy at March 9, 2009 6:17 PM
sygyzy, there could be a treatise on that question. Start here, with Linda's Methylcellulose primer. As far as I know, all the types of methylcelluloise will form foams. My experience has been that methylcellulose foams are more reliable than lecithin or versawhip, both of which seem to be completely ineffectual with even a bit of oil or fat in the liquid. Methylcellulose also suffers a bit, but I think it works better. I've mainly used F50 for foaming, because I saw it somewhere, tried it, and it worked.
It should also be said that methylcellulose forms very different foams than lecithin. Methylcellulose, more like versawhip, actually allows something to whip up the way heavy cream whips up into whipped cream.
Posted by: Barzelay at March 9, 2009 10:54 PM
Thanks for clarifying the odd issue with submitting posts! As for your dinner...holy cow man. Even with a week to do this, it is still quiet an undertaking. It all sounds excellent, so best of luck and looking forward to seeing the results.
Posted by: e. nassar at March 11, 2009 12:05 PM
Hey my friend is a cook....
this blod will be helpfull to him.......
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