Note: The picture at left is the emblem on The French Laundry chef jacket...
Quick story... It was 9:00 in the evening and the second seating had just begun. I was in the kitchen supporting the chef de partie on cheese when I was asked to procure mustard blossoms. I inquired as to where I would find them and I was told, pretty matter-of-factly, that they are in the garden across the street. Remembering that the night was well into its third hour of blackness – I know that my eyebrows went up and I almost laughed out loud – I gladly rose to the challenge. As I rounded the back of the restaurant and headed towards the gardens (remember the 42, 30’ x 30’ plots of tillage…from a previous blog, that is) I wondered aloud how the heck I was going to FIND ANYTHING IN THE DARK. I was not provided with a light nor was one offered. As I rummaged I thought of bringing my car around to shine on the field but that would not have illuminated enough acreage. It was then I had an “Ah hah!” moment. My cell phone. Sure enough, when I opened it, it cast enough light so that I could cruise up and down the paths between the plots. Of course, I had to bend over and hold the phone about six inches away from the growth… It must have been a funny scene.
I found the necessary mustard blossoms and was ecstatic with myself for solving the problem. I wonder if it was just a test to see if the new guy could get it done…
Notes on the food from my pocket notebook:
· Virtually everything is vacuum-sealed in cry-o-vac. A beastly machine that sucks the air out of specially designed bags containing anything from foie gras, truffle coins or Wagyu beef to bean paste, peeled cucumbers and vanilla ice cream base. Gotta get one of those. Beats the hell out of my seal-a-meal from Costco.
· 90 egg shells cleaned every day. The whites and yolks vacuum packed. The eggs are cut with the egg topper; tops removed, and then soaked in hot water and vinegar bath to remove the lining. Used for egg custards. The attrition rate is about 20-25% but getting better.
· Butter rounds have been mastered. 36 g of specialty butter from Andante Dairy shaped into perfect discs inside cheesecloth, which is later removed, for bread presentations.
· Brunoise fine (1/16t” x 1/16t” x 1/16”) carrots, leeks and turnips. Blanched, shocked, and dried. Every day. 2 deli containers (each container is one pint).
· Garlic confit is blanched 5 times, in new water each time, and then cooked until very soft in clarified butter…
· Sous vide lobster tails, claws and knuckles in beurre monte at 59.6 degrees C until meltingly sensual. This was part of family-meal yesterday. It is as good as it sounds…
· Burn skins of red bell peppers with blowtorch in order to just remove the skin and apply no direct cooking to the pepper meat. Outside skin will peel off under cold running water. Brilliant.
· Muscat de provence. A dense, melon-sweet pumpkin from northwestern Italy. Use for hundreds of parisienne rounds. Vacuum pack the remainder for soup, tomorrow…
· Crones. A tiny (one-inch or less) tuber that resembles a grub-worm, in shape only…. The very thin skin must be wiped off with a green 3M pad and then brushed with a paring knife. 2 deli containers took two of us 2 hours to peel, pare and wash. Cooked last evening in clarified butter to caramelize and they are delicious. Just 5 on a plate, among other components.
· Black trumpet mushrooms – UMAMI – for garnish and vegetables. Trimmed, washed, squeezed and air-dried on a rack, draped with linen, and suspended over a sheet pan atop five over-turned deli containers. BTM are black chanterelle mushrooms (or Girolles).
· The various mignardise (chocolate candies, chocolate and nut truffles, tiny éclairs, jellies, mini-fruit breads, lemon cured-filled meringues, macaroons and other sundries – are breath taking. I am allowed to work in the patissiere and delight in handling these wondrous creations (more on this in another blog, I’m sure).
· Diane St. Clair butter as an accompaniment in the cheese tasting. Nutty, rich, smooth and totally lingers on the palate. INCREDIBLE.
· Rendered 35# of wagyu (domestic Kobe beef cattle) fat. Freeze the fat and grind (through a small die) and then cook clarify in a rondeau, topped off with water until the fat separates from the impurities. As I was grinding the fat a front-of-the-house employee inquired as to what I was working with. He said he wondered why I was grinding the fat - and then he remembered where he was working. Fat is good.
· Petite Rabbit Racks. Think rack of lamb only reeeeeaaallyy small – with the little ribs protruding just like the big boys do… Three bones per rack on a serving. Probably 25 g… Very cool.
I found the necessary mustard blossoms and was ecstatic with myself for solving the problem. I wonder if it was just a test to see if the new guy could get it done…
Notes on the food from my pocket notebook:
· Virtually everything is vacuum-sealed in cry-o-vac. A beastly machine that sucks the air out of specially designed bags containing anything from foie gras, truffle coins or Wagyu beef to bean paste, peeled cucumbers and vanilla ice cream base. Gotta get one of those. Beats the hell out of my seal-a-meal from Costco.
· 90 egg shells cleaned every day. The whites and yolks vacuum packed. The eggs are cut with the egg topper; tops removed, and then soaked in hot water and vinegar bath to remove the lining. Used for egg custards. The attrition rate is about 20-25% but getting better.
· Butter rounds have been mastered. 36 g of specialty butter from Andante Dairy shaped into perfect discs inside cheesecloth, which is later removed, for bread presentations.
· Brunoise fine (1/16t” x 1/16t” x 1/16”) carrots, leeks and turnips. Blanched, shocked, and dried. Every day. 2 deli containers (each container is one pint).
· Garlic confit is blanched 5 times, in new water each time, and then cooked until very soft in clarified butter…
· Sous vide lobster tails, claws and knuckles in beurre monte at 59.6 degrees C until meltingly sensual. This was part of family-meal yesterday. It is as good as it sounds…
· Burn skins of red bell peppers with blowtorch in order to just remove the skin and apply no direct cooking to the pepper meat. Outside skin will peel off under cold running water. Brilliant.
· Muscat de provence. A dense, melon-sweet pumpkin from northwestern Italy. Use for hundreds of parisienne rounds. Vacuum pack the remainder for soup, tomorrow…
· Crones. A tiny (one-inch or less) tuber that resembles a grub-worm, in shape only…. The very thin skin must be wiped off with a green 3M pad and then brushed with a paring knife. 2 deli containers took two of us 2 hours to peel, pare and wash. Cooked last evening in clarified butter to caramelize and they are delicious. Just 5 on a plate, among other components.
· Black trumpet mushrooms – UMAMI – for garnish and vegetables. Trimmed, washed, squeezed and air-dried on a rack, draped with linen, and suspended over a sheet pan atop five over-turned deli containers. BTM are black chanterelle mushrooms (or Girolles).
· The various mignardise (chocolate candies, chocolate and nut truffles, tiny éclairs, jellies, mini-fruit breads, lemon cured-filled meringues, macaroons and other sundries – are breath taking. I am allowed to work in the patissiere and delight in handling these wondrous creations (more on this in another blog, I’m sure).
· Diane St. Clair butter as an accompaniment in the cheese tasting. Nutty, rich, smooth and totally lingers on the palate. INCREDIBLE.
· Rendered 35# of wagyu (domestic Kobe beef cattle) fat. Freeze the fat and grind (through a small die) and then cook clarify in a rondeau, topped off with water until the fat separates from the impurities. As I was grinding the fat a front-of-the-house employee inquired as to what I was working with. He said he wondered why I was grinding the fat - and then he remembered where he was working. Fat is good.
· Petite Rabbit Racks. Think rack of lamb only reeeeeaaallyy small – with the little ribs protruding just like the big boys do… Three bones per rack on a serving. Probably 25 g… Very cool.
Peace.
~R
