I finally received my copy of Modernist Cuisine a few weeks ago.  I actually pre ordered it in March through Barnes & Noble but they are the worst when it comes to pre orders.  They had no way of telling when it was going to ship.  They ultimately ended up losing my order.  Luckily they are no longer on back order and I had a 25% off coupon so I ended up saving over $100 on it and getting it within two days off reordering. I’ll stick with Amazon for future orders.

We all know the book is massive, it is after all 50lbs but the size comparison to other books is crazy.  I thought the ‘Grand Livre de Cuisine’ was big until it sits next to MC.

My first recipe I had to try was from Wylie Dufresne.  It was his sous vide egg yolks in tube form.  You blend the egg yolks put them in a sealable bag that is in 1 in x 10 in and cook them at 70c for one hour.  The result is a sliceable yolk with a texture similar to a slightly firm custard.

Bacon, Egg & Cheese

braised bacon / sous vide egg yolk / ricotta salata

Next up was the caramelized carrot soup.  I’ve heard a lot on this technique from the MC website and from Nathan’s lecture at Harvard ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcnW49luEGQ&feature=youtube_gdata ). First you peel and core carrots, I guess the carrot core is significantly more bitter than the rest of the carrot and removing it results in a much sweeter carrot flavor.  You then cook the carrots in a pressure cooker with butter, salt, and baking soda for 20 minutes.  The addition of baking soda and cooking it in a pressure cooker helps caramelize the carrots and they are not just caramelized on the outside, it is all the way through. Puree that and add carrot juice and a little butter and you have one of the most flavorful soups in under a half hour.  You can see the full recipe here ( http://modernistcuisine.com/cook/recipe-library/caramelized-carrot-soup/)

Caramelized Carrot Soup

63 degree egg / pickled carrot / fennel / bacon