So, this is all pretty funny and slightly embarrassing.

Today I went to a casting call for a new Gordon Ramsay show, MasterChef. They're supposedly looking for the best amateur chefs around, and I still qualify. After a ton of people sent me links to the casting calls. All the applicants had to fill out a very long application in advance, and had to bring a dish to be plated at the audition, at room temperature. I hated the idea of serving something cold that is supposed to be hot, even if they will take that into account for the judging. I decided to do a chilled scallop dish.

I ended up getting the maximum possible score in the judging, and was supposedly the only person to get that score in San Francisco. I'm through to interviews on Tuesday, and I have to bring a bunch of pictures of me in the kitchen and with finished dishes. So, when I got home and had lots of mise en place left, I decided to plate the dish again to get some photos. We also took some photos of me plating. Ha!

This is a scallop poached sous vide in olive oil for half an hour at 50C, then chilled. Served below room temperature. While in line and waiting to be seen, I held them in a container on ice.

I served it with, basically, a beet and citrus salad. There are little cubes of roasted beet, little cubes of raw daikon, a bit of thyme, and little cubes of Meyer lemon gel set with gellan. I don't know the percentage because--get this--my scale broke a couple days ago when I dropped it, so I had to just eye it with the gellan! I couldn't measure. Based on the firmness with which it set up, I'm guessing it was about .6-.7% gellan. Perfect. I was actually really lucky with that, and proud that I'm experienced enough with gellan to just guess like that.

I sauced it with a kumquat puree. To make that, I slice kumquats in half and fish out all the seeds, then throw the entire kumquat halves into the blender. I add a bit of lemon juice, orange juice, and water (just enough liquid with a fairly neutral citrusy flavor to get everything to spin fully in a blender). Let it blend for at least a few minutes, then adjust the salt, sugar, and acid. Finally, push it through a chinois with a ladle.

Last, I garnished with some nasturtium leaves, good olive oil, and Maldon.

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/01/25 @ 2:12 | Comments (11) | Food Politics and Culture, Life, Sauces, Condiments, Seafood, Veggies, Fruit, Grain, Cheese

Comments