Coconut Spaghetti
Coconut Cream Sauce, Fried Shrimp & Shell, Green Onion
Coconut Cream Sauce, Fried Shrimp & Shell, Green Onion
Monthly Archive for March, 2012
Here is a new dish that I came up with today. I had been watching the video from Del Posto Restaurant in NYC for their dish Bigoli con L’Anatra & Goose Liver. Check out the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McoBfXD3axQ I was hoping to have my bigoli die in time for this pasta but the damn thing is still on back order. The cherry spaghetti itself was good but it still needs some work. I was hoping for a stronger flavor and for it to be a dark red color but it wasn’t quite what I wanted it. I have an idea on how to get the results I want so round 2 will be happening soon. However, I felt the dish as a whole was very flavorful and balanced.
Dark Cherry Spaghetti
Duck Ragu, Duck Skin, Foie Gras
I have been wanting to make porchetta di testa for awhile now. I finally decided to go for it last week. I followed Chef Chris Cosentino video and recipe on the process. Video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nByH6yPWYj8.
Pig Head
After removing the meat from the head, roast the skull in the oven to make a rich flavorful stock.
Pig face
Tuck the fat part of the tongue under the snout. Fold ears through the eye holes. Season heavily with salt, and spices. Place in fridge over night.
All tied up
Vacuumed sealed and ready for it’s 14hr water bath at 87.5c
14# pig head just fits inside the sous vide supreme. After its finished cooking submerge in ice bath and let cool. Place in fridge for 1day to let fat congeal and for porchetta to set.
Remove from bag and carefully peal gelatin and fat away. After you get as much off as you can with your hands, rinse under water and pat dry. You are now ready to slice. This is something that needs to be sliced very thin so a slicer is much needed but it can be done by hand.
The finished results were good but not where I want them to be. I’m going to give it another try in the next few weeks with a new plan of attack. After deboning I am going to brine the meat overnight in a pork brine. I will then season it more heavily than this time, roll and tie and let it sit in the fridge for two days before finally cooking it sous vide at 87.5c for 14hrs. I think that the brine and longer dry cure is going to help build the intense flavors you want and expect from a porchetta.
We received two new pasta dies for our Rosito Bisani extruder the other day, lasagna sheets and penne. The lasagna die was a little confusing at first. Lets just say that we made a nice hand torn pasta dish with the scraps. Once I figured out you could change the thickness of the sheets it turned out great results. This is going to be an essential die for production of lasagna sheets & pappardelle. Below is a dish we came up with after we figured out what we were doing.
Free Form Raviolo
Mushroom, Fresh Ricotta, Egg Yolk, Brown Butter
Mushroom, Fresh Ricotta, Egg Yolk, Brown Butter
Last month I received my pasta extruder for Ariccia. I have been playing around with it a lot figuring out the right ratios for each pasta shape and just learning the in’s and out’s of the machine. I have the traditional pasta recipes down so I thought it was time to experiment with some new flavor combinations. The first one I had to try was ‘Beer & Pretzel’.
The pasta required a little more hydration than the traditional pastas I’ve made, which I think is due to the ‘pretzel flour’. The results were amazing. The pasta had strong nutty caramel notes on the nose. The smell permeated throughout the kitchen even before the pasta was cooked.
Here is the composed dish.
Beer & Pretzel Spaghetti
SoNo Hong Kong Habanero Mustard Cream, Beer Braised Bratwurst
This pasta and dish was a surprisingly huge success and I might have just come up with a new signature dish. Gastro Bits received a sample of the pasta and you can check out his review here http://www.gastrobits.com/2012/03/beer-pretzel-pasta-ariccia-clobbered.html. Stay tuned for new flavors coming in the next few weeks.
