Thanks everyone! Alan, those are indeed Kumamoto oysters, hard to tell from the photo but they were typically small. The recipe actually called for something meatier, but the small size was good so you could easily make it all (including the cucumber capellini) one bite.
Remarkable looking dinner. I’ve cooked a handful of recipes out of the book (using Ad Hoc At Home and Under Pressure much more), but I can’t imagine cooking a whole meal of them - the prep work is enormoous. How long before the meal did you start prep?
Great job!
just piling on at this point, but, Wow! Great job.
+1000 but it’s merited. this is some impressive shit. full stop. thanks for doing it and sharing.
Yaacov,
These guys that hang out in that circle all have incredible skills. Jimmie (aka Beercan), Brad (aka Biskuit) and Matt (aka Rowdy) are all superlative chefs.
Michael Bowden (aka Legend) is not bad either as is Dennis (aka Decatur WineandFood Dude).
They are right up there with our best chef’s in the city really for execution. Just incredible what these guys can accomplish.
Hyperbole alert! Thanks, but I wouldn’t put myself anywhere near the level of an actual talented chef, even for execution alone. Rowdy is another story though : )
Chris, we did pretty well in getting everything done in two days - with shopping on Saturday morning for the Sunday night dinner and prep work basically Saturday and most of the day Sunday. Yes, it was a weekend of cooking (with a few breaks to sit back and enjoy a glass of wine).
While we’re sharing favorites from the French Laundry cookbook… a few other courses from previous French Laundry at home meals that I highly recommend tackling for anyone playing around with the cookbook…
By far the best bang for the buck in terms of amount of prep work required (not that much) vs. deliciousness, this black sea bass with vanilla saffron sauce is a knockout, the sauce and the parsnip puree combine to make it heavenly:
In a similar category as the cones - a dish that really impresses visually and more than delivers, “eggs” of truffle custard with truffle ragout, also heavenly, but a ridiculous amount of work to cut and clean the egg shells:
And I screwed that one up and forgot to add a key visual element, chips with chive tips embedded in the middle - they were supposed to be standing up in the egg to be used as a “scoop.”
In the dessert category, most of the ones I’ve tried have been really excellent, these two are my favorites so far…
“Peanut Butter and Jelly” - peanut butter dark chocolate truffles with concord grape “jellies” - basically pate de fruits - served with a glass of cold milk, if you like PB&J (and who doesn’t) this is killer:
I also did a home hack on these and tried to combine them into one PB&J truffle, which worked pretty well, though less than stellar visually:
Finally, one that is not that impressive visually (though the trick of being served a cold coffee dessert in a coffee cup is kinda nice), but just really really good, “Coffee and Donuts.” Cappucino semifreddo (like an ultrasmooth gelato taste-wise) served with foamed milk and donuts, I departed from the recipe a bit and did orange/cinnamon dusted donut holes, which worked well:
Full photo sets of two other big French Laundry meals that included these dishes:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaplanbr/sets/72157600210905325/" onclick=“window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaplanbr/sets/72157603697458801/” onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Simply wow. And the video was very cool. Thanks for posting the link.
Amazing stuff – well done… Out of curiosity, is the Gougeres recipe as complicated as most?
I’m not Brad, and I don’t play him on TV, but the FL Gougeres are not in anyway complicated in imo.
One of the easier FL dishes. Butter, water, flour, cheese. Pipe it out…fun stuff.
Yes, thanks Dennis, those gougeres are very easy. Having a silpat to cook them on really helps. And it calls for a pastry bag with tip but I just use a gallon size ziploc and cut out a corner and squeeze, very easy.
That’s what I’ve always done, too.
Brad - just be gentle when you are piping the mounds.
Yes, the French Laundry cookbook is full of unintentional euphemisms for unsavory acts. “Piping the mounds” may be the best!
Chris, we did pretty well in getting everything done in two days - with shopping on Saturday morning for the Sunday night dinner and prep work basically Saturday and most of the day Sunday. Yes, it was a weekend of cooking (with a few breaks to sit back and enjoy a glass of wine).
I think that is amazing to be able to put this together with only two days work. Bravo.