Love brussel sprouts. I usually sprinkle parm on asparagus after roasting. Will def try this!
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I’m guessing this requires some time but do we get to see the final result 
? This looks so fun.
Airline Chicken Breast, Sunchoke Puree, Flowering Broccoli, Salsa Verde
Been a stupid and busy week for me, and I finally had a chance to cook a nice dinner, so I wanted to try a technique that I’ve never done before - Ladle frying. The chicken was first cooked sous vide at 145 for an hour or so, then left to cool and dry out in the fridge. Then I rigged up an elevated rack inside a pot, with a separate pot of oil heating up. Once the oil reached temp, I ladled the oil over the chicken until the skin crisped up. Here is the only pic I took of that process
The results were good, but I underestimated the amount of oil I would need, and had to pull a dangerous transferring move that luckily worked out. To me, this is something that I provably wouldn’t do again in this fashion, but the skin was crispy and I see how this technique would work much better in a restaurant setting.
The puree was another experiment, but this worked out even better. I roasted sun chokes in a hot oven really hard, almost burnt on the edges, then let that cool a bit and scooped out all the flesh and set aside. I also added in a little bit of the skins and burnt bits but discarded most. Then in a separate pot I caramelized some shallots in butter until they were nice and sweet, then added the sunchokes, covered with milk and let reduce. Then I blended and mounted with butter. This was an amazing puree with a ton of depth of flavor.
The Salsa Verde was a little atypical, as I added both cilantro and celery leaves to it, along with the standard caper, anchovy, garlic, lemon. A great condiment to an otherwise rich dish.
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I like the ladle frying for a number of fish preps. My friend @Christine_Huang recently crisped an entire rib roast, I think, which was very impressive. She doesn’t post much here, but I wish she would as I’ve learned a lot from her.
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^Exactly this^
Have noted several videos of chefs I admire doing this with fish, good to know what it is called!
Not anything I cooked but a friend of mine sent a pic of the produce she pulled from her garden in Philly last night.
She makes some of the best salads ever and this is probably why. Seems amazing to me that she is getting this mid December from a garden plot in the middle of Philly.
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Good thing she pulled it last night as it is snowing this morning!
I’m guessing that’s why. Got to say I’m wishing they came down so I could have some!
We had a usually long autumn in northern NJ — I still have the last few grape tomatoes from our garden on the counter.
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Did you blanch the sprouts before you put them on the Parmesan bed or just put them on there raw?
Raw, tossed the steaks on the grill then put the sprouts in a 375° oven. Pulled them when I brought the steaks in the house.
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Lots of greens are tolerant of cold and some become sweeter with cold as increasing sugar content is a strategy to avoid freezing damage to cells. You can quite easily cover beds/rows to extend growing time well into the winter. I like the Easy Tunnels from Haxnicks–well made and last for many years.
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We had arranged to have a very exciting leg of cured mangalitsa pork delivered, so decided to do a Spanish themed lunch around it. In the event, the leg didn’t show up, but we proceeded with the other dishes.
We began standing around the kitchen island with some excellent olives and marcona almonds (not pictured) while Chef Jonathan was putting the finishing touches on various dishes.
First up was a heaping plate (or two!) of Atlantic razor clams, cooked stovetop and finished with lemon juice, butter, olive oil and lime zest. I thought they came out beautifully - thick and meaty, just cooked through, with a nice sweet briny taste. These were fantastic with albarino and manzanilla.
Second was the vegetable course of crimini mushroom cooked with olive oil, garlic, oregano, parsley, sherry vinegar, manzanilla, and some amazing little potatoes with mint and chorizo, dressed with lemon/olive oil/mustard/sherry vinegar. We had some very good bread on the side to soak up juices.
We moved to the table next for a dish of super fresh sardine fillets stuffed with a melange of pine nuts, herbs, jamon, golden raisins, red onion, garlic, and manzanilla. @Zachgoldstein had the idea of putting some remaining toast to work, here, but Jonathan and I had already finished our fish! Luckily, we always make one extra in case a portion doesn’t come out right, so we both had seconds on toast.
Finally, the piece de resistance, one of my favorite dishes Chez Kirschbaum/Read - skin on pork belly rubbed with sugar/thyme/garlic/bay leaf/white pepper/salt, pressed for 24 hours, then slow braised in chicken stock. Meanwhile, make a sauce of fresh made almond milk/cream/lemon peel. Recombine after straining for another hour of simmering. Final sauce is reduced, and a splash of amaretto is added. We are used to doing pork belly crisped on top, which is wonderful, but there’s something deliciously unctuous about the soft texture in this dish. I wish I had room for seconds!
We ended the evening sitting around the coffee table in front of the fire for some excellent manchego, followed by fantastic chocolate chip ccokies made by Hayley. The end of a bottle of house amaro from a now-closed bar in Amseterdam put a nice cap on the evening.
Edited to add leftovers, this time with the lemon zest/thyme/cinnamon topping we forgot last night.
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Thanks Sarah! I’ll post it later today.
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Roasted fish with spiced butter an dtomatoes over brown beech mushroom risotto. I used garam masala as the main spice in the butter, with garlic, lime zest, fresh herbs on top, added fried shallots after the pic was taken. Normally I make this dish with roasted potatoes but when inspired I go for a risotto instead, and brown beech mushrooms are perfect for it as they are a much more subtle flavor profile than baby bella or other ‘normal’ mushrooms, which take over the flavor profile of the dish.
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Guanciale!!! Man, I love that stuff SOO much
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