Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Chef Dance

OH MY GOD. I LANDED MYSELF A SPOT IN A HIP HOP HOLIDAY SPECIAL MUSIC VIDEO WITH THOMAS KELLER, ERIC RIPERT, AND MICHAEL RUHLMAN. CHECK OUT THE MUSIC VIDEO HERE.

I think we make a great quartet if I may say so myself. I have no clue where Ruhlman learned those moves!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Sous Vide Supreme

My newest toy, a Sous Vide Supreme. Sleek and elegant, yet simply designed and easy to use, the sous vide supreme is my latest grubsession. Backed by Heston Blumenthal and coming in at $450, the Sous Vide Supreme is certainly a step above my previous sous vide contraption, and since I don't see myself neglecting to sous vide anytime soon, I think I'll be using this baby for a while.

But what is sous vide you say? What are its benefits? Why use it over traditional cooking methods? I've touched on this topic before, but I think it's a good time to go over it again, possibly with some additional information.
Sous vide involves cooking food in a vacuum-sealed plastic bag in a temperature-controlled water bath. In the bag with the food are often seasonings and fat. The food, often protein, is cooked for a certain period of time, sometimes even 72 hours, then served or chilled for later use. Invented in the 70's to minimize the fat loss of foie gras, sous vide has turned into a widely popular method throughout restaurant kitchen across the globe.

In my mind, the greatest benefit of sous vide is the precision it gives the cook. Cooking sous vide at a specific temperature, ensures that your food will come to that temperature and not go beyond. If you like your steak medium-rare, you cook it in a vaccuum sealed bag, maybe with some butter and thyme inside of it, in a water bath set at 135 degrees. When heated through, the steak will be a perfect medium rare throughout. The only problem is that the low temperatures necessary for sous vide cooking do not brown the meat, however once the steak is finished, simply browning it in an extremely hot pan for about a minute on each side can solve that.

Sous vide benefits meats like short ribs that are heavy in collagen as well. Typically, meats that are braised or stewed are served well-past well done, because the time and temperature used to dissolve the collagen and make the meat "falling apart tender" cause the meat's interior to rise well above 160 degrees. This drastic overcooking squeezes the moisture out of the meat. With sous vide, this problem can be averted. Fortunately, collagen begins to dissolve into gelatin around 131 degress (I believe) and therefore, tough, collagen-rich cuts can be cooked at 135 degrees for 72 hours (or however long it takes for the collagen to dissolve) and still be medium rare (meaning that there's still a lot of moisture in the meat).
Since the food is in a vaccuum-sealed plastic bag, sous vide also prevents flavor loss. Typically, a braised meat loses most of its flavor to the liquid around it. Not so with sous vide. Also, sous vide cuts down on the fat or liquid required to cook food, making it more economical than regular methods. Duck confit with normally requires tubs of duck fat, needs only a few table spoons when sous vide. More importantly, sous vide produces consistent results each time, and really takes a lot of the guesswork out of cooking.

I can attest to its awesomeness. I work at Lacroix where sous vide is used in excess, and for a year now, I've been using a special little machine and a rice cooker to cook sous vide with phenomenal results. Experimentation will be documented here. Can't wait to put this baby to use.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Sous Vide Supreme

Forget college, I just purchased a sous vide supreme for $450.

Posting will speed up next week when I'm on break.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Dinner Party

My birthday was last week on the 9th so now I'm 17. It's kinda hard to believe. Now I can see R-rated movies without parent supervision ;) I changed the blog name once again to Foodie at Fifteen (now 17), though I'll definitely have to change it for good. I really screwed myself over by putting my age in the blog name when I created it, but Foodie at Fifteen does have a nice ring to it. Something I'm considering is making it foodie since fifteen, but I'm not completely set on that yet. My friends keep reminding me that I don't wanna be Foodie at Fifteen (now 75) so i'll think of something.

Anyhow, the couple that I cooked for a little while ago just sent me the pictures from the meal that I cooked.
This is a kabocha squash soup that I made but roasting the squash then pureeing it with homemade chicken stock, roasted garlic, caramelized onion, baked apples, and a touch of brown sugar. I finished it with a bit of butter to order and some nutmeg grated tableside on top. You cant see it, but in the bottom of the dish is pulled apart chicken confit and sauteed shitakes.
Here's some homemade focaccia with olive oil.Here are seared scallops, roasted broccoli and chorizo sauce. The sauce was my favorite component of the whole meal.

This is homemade fettuccine with a pork shoulder ragu. I couldn't stop eating this ragu, nor the pasta. For the pasta I used Thomas Keller's egg yolk-rich recipe which you need until you bleed, and for the ragu I cooked down tomatoes with red wine, chicken stock, thyme and some veggies and then braised pork shoulder in it for about 4 hours. I pulled apart the shoulder in the sauce then tossed in the pasta with some pecorino and a large amount of ricotta along with butter olive oil and pasta water to order. I think I'll do a separate post where I detail the creation of this dish (post the recipe).
Here's an apple tart made with some beautiful honeycrisp apples that I saw at whole foods from Lancaster. The crust is all butter.
And here's the wonderful couple that I cooked for!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Latest School Paper Article

I wrote a very similar blog post a few weeks ago, but here's the article.

Wow. It’s hard to believe the holidays are upon us already. It’s the season of giving, but I find that often our giving is more out of necessity than true generosity. Or even if your giving really is a result of your kind heart, it can be pretty hard to show that with an Itunes giftcard. On the contrary, cooking your ChristmaHanuKwanza presents displays that you are willing to put in time and effort for the person you are gifting. Whereas say, a gift card shows that you are willing to simply spend money on someone, cooking displays legitimate caring, and I urge you, Merionite readers, to cook at least some of your gifts this year.
The questions thus becomes, what to make? And I believe I have the ultimate item. This treat provides a perfect blend of simplicity and scrumptiousness, affordability and portability, to be the perfect gift for anyone with even the slightest bit of a sweet tooth.
That treat is blondies, whose ease of preparation is only exceeded by their deliciousness. They truly are exceptionally easy to make—no special skills or ingredients are required—and the recipe is easy to memorize since it’s based around quantities of one (you’ll see what I mean when you read the recipe). Perhaps the best thing about blondies however, is how easy they are to customize. Blondies are delicious with nothing in them, but they can also serve as a vehicle for other ingredients. I recently made a batch where I just chopped up all my sister’s extra Halloween candy and threw it in—those blondies were delicious.
Anyway, I urge you to make these both for yourself and for others this season. Here’s a delicious recipe that will produce tasty, tantalizing, treats each time.

Basic Blondies
1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla
1 pinch salt
1 cup flour

1) preheat oven to 350
2) grease an 8w8 pan
3) melt the butter in a saucepan
4) add the sugar, then beat in the egg, vanilla and salt.
5) Fold in the Flour
6) Fold in 1/2 cup to 1 cup of anything you like!
7) Transfer to the pan and bake for about 25 minutes, or to your desired doneness.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Fond

Today after school (yes I'm in school) I'm job shadowing Tory Keomanivong, the manager at the new restaurant Fond. I'll write about it later.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Sweet Potato Salad


Roasted, in my mind, is the way that sweet potatoes should be eaten. Roasting just so transforms them; the outside caramelizes and crisps them and really brings out a sweet, complex flavor. The idea for the dressing for this salad came from a cauliflower salad they have at Lacroix that's dressed with a sage mayo.

The key to this salad is roasting the sweet potatoes long enough so that they are slightly crispy on the outside but they give way easily when pierced. They shouldn't be mushy, but there should be very little resistence when pricked. Otherwise, this salad is pretty easy to do right.

I don't really give exact measure of ingredients, because I really just eyeballed everything. Cook to your taste.

Three large sweet potatoes (cleaned)
Handful of golden raisins
Parmesan cheese
Handful of pine nuts
Sliced chive/Brunoise shallot (optional)
Salt
Pepper
Roasting oil

For Roasted Garlic-rosemary aioli
1 head of garlic (top cut off then roasted at 350 for 40 minutes)
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 tsp lemon juice
1 egg yolk
1 pinch salt
1 cup evoo

Preheat oven to 450
Cut sweet potatoes in 4ths lengthwise, then slice horizontally into bite size pieces.
Toss the sweet potatoes with oil and salt and pepper, then roast on a baking sheet for about 30 minutes.

As they roast, make the dressing.
Squeeze out the garlic cloves from the head and place them in the blender with the lemon juice, rosemary, egg yolk, and salt.
Blend until thoroughly combined.
Slowly, with the blender running, drizzle in a few drops of oil.
Then drizzle in a few more, making sure that the liquid is emulsifying.
Drizzle in the rest in a thin stream.

Back to the potatoes
When the potatoes come out of the oven and are still hot, toss with grated parmesan cheese.
Let them cool for 10 minutes, then mix them in a bowl with the raisins, pine nuts, and cut some slivers of parmesan cheese to mix in too (if you're using chives and shallots you can toss them in now too).
Add a few healthy spoonfuls of dressing then mix around and taste for seasoning.

And you're done. ENJOY BEFORE SWEET POTATOES GO OUT OF SEASON!

Monday, November 30, 2009

What do you think?

Posts like the last one aren't particularly fun to write, and I can't imagine they are to read either. What do you like about this blog? What don't you like? What should I do more of? What should I do less of or not do at all? What's your favorite post?

If you could e-mail me or leave a comment giving suggestions, I would be grateful :)

My contributions to Thanksgiving


This year one of the most discussed topics at the dinner table was our lack of a green bean casserole. Its absence, I think, pleased everyone except my grandmom, a rather strict traditionalist. And lack of tradition was somewhat of a theme of the meal. Sure there was turkey and stuffing, but most of the dishes were unique, and were pretty representative of the family member who cooked them. I think I like this. I'm always gonna want turkey and stuffing at Thanksgiving, but as long as we stay rooted in tradition, I'm happy to grow from there- and I think we should.
This year I made a whole wheat panzanella salad with prosciutto, goat cheese, arugula and a sage-sherry vinaigrette.

I also made a roasted sweet potato salad with pine nuts, golden raisins, and parmesan and dressed it with a roasted garlic and rosemary aioli. - This was really delicious, I couldn't stop eating it, and the leftover aioli is great for turkey sandwiches.

Finally I made an apple pie. And that's that. Can't wait till next year.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Thanksgiving thoughts?

Wow. Thanksgiving is in three days. Can you believe it? I think I'm still almost in summer mode, I feel like it's September yet I'm already hearing "Baby It's Cold Outside" on the radio. Not that that's a bad thing-- actually it's quite the opposite. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is just so happy and cheery. There's nothing better.

However I feel that all the images and stories of joyous times during the holidays and families opening presents kind of gives a false sense of happiness. I never feel as happy as these little kids do, I feel that holiday spirit emanating from everywhere but myself . I think it's because I don't really "suck the marrow" out of the season as much as I could or should. I think I need to appreciate the season more-- to really live it out, and it starts with a glass of this.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Candy Blondies


I like Halloween (it's capitalized because I do believe it should be a national holiday) candy, but it's really unsatisfying. It's like a rush of sugar that just leaves me wanting more. Even Reese's I feel just isn't substantial enough to be a dessert. I'd much rather eat a brownie, or a cookie. If I'm going to splurge on a treat, it has gotta be dense, gooey and indulgent and it must leave me satisfied.

Recently, I've been making blondies to satisfy this craving. They really taste too good for their difficulty level, and the time commitment is negligible (Total time minutes oven time=about 10 minutes). To add to that, they're made with basic pantry staples and they're infinitely adaptable to individual preference.

Just recently i made these with reese's peanut butter cups, snickers, and candy corn. I only eat brownies medium rare, so I left them very gooey in the middle. They were really fantastic. I gave one to this girl that I'm tryna impress. They were really that good.

Basic Blondie Recipe
(recipe is really easy to remember since it's all 1's)

1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla
1 pinch salt
1 cup flour

1) preheat oven to 350

2) grease an 8w8 pan

3) melt the butter in a saucepan

4) add the sugar, then beat in the egg, vanilla and salt.

5) Fold in the Flour

6) Fold in 1/2 cup to 1 cup of anything you like!

7) Transfer to the pan and bake for about 25 minutes, or to your desired doneness.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Pizza for lunch

Over the summer I made pizza non-stop-- it's just such a summery food and when smeared with pesto made from basil from the backyard, there's nothing better. I actually made plenty more dough than I could cook, so I have a lot of dough that's been lying around in a freezer and for the past few days, I've been thawing it, then making pizza for lunch.

Here's yesterday's pizza: pesto, avocado and chicken on whole wheat.

Monday, November 16, 2009

What they think about you

High School is really all about what other people think about you. It's true. It really is. You can either accept the system as it is, or drop out. Everyone is subject to it.

Generally people criticize this aspect of high school, saying this is superficial, that you shouldn't care what others think, that everything's different once you get out. Is it really though? And is it actually beneficial to stop caring what others think about you? Will this make you happier?

Whats other think of you is what defines you (if you're happy with whatever definition you get, well then you're above me). It's what makes you who you are and for most people, outside pleasure is what keeps them alive. It's pretty hard to just make yourself happy. Only caring about yourself can be a lonely place.

An example that comes to mind is a restaurant. If I own and make my living off of restaurant, I have to consider the customer first. "Cooking the food you wanna cook" is often more an ideal than a reality. The restaurant is likewise defined by critics and the gain or loss of a star can equate to thousands of dollars. If I'm the owner I better start caring what other people think if I want to be able to continue the lifestyle I'm living.

Thomas Keller is somewhat perplexing example. Throughout his early years he made sure that he was cooking the food he wanted. When he worked at Rakel, and the executive chef made the decision to make the restaurant more casual, Keller left because it wasn't the food he wanted to cook. Somewhat to the contrary, last year Keller changed Per Se to allow walk-ins and created an a la carte menu-- undoubtedly because of the struggling economy.

I think this moderate stance is best. It's unrealistic to completely not care what others think about you, yet it's detrimental and controlling to see yourself through others' eyes. The task becomes finding a happy medium.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Spicy Pulled Pork


Pork shoulder braised in chicken stock, harissa and jalapenos.

Pork shoulder is almost always delicious, but the spicy component just takes this to the next level giving your tongue another taste to tangle with.

Alright sorry for the minimal writing, but I gotta go write an essay about James Madison and Thomas Jefferson- who by the way, was a lover of all things French, especially the food.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Ideas in Food Dinner

Last Monday was great. I had no school the next day (staff development day?), the Phillies won their game, and I dined at Blackfish for the Ideas in Food Dinner. Though I love no school as much as the next guy, and I am an ardent Phillies phan, the dinner was undoubtedly the highlight of my marvelous Monday. It was a deliciously whimsical meal, and though I do have a few critiques, the meal was overall exciting and evoked new taste sensations.
Smoked Pumpkin Ice Cream with Wild Char Roe, Cranberry, Brittle Walnuts.
- I was really excited when I heard that they would be making pumpkin ice cream. Unfortunately however, the ice cream didn't really taste much like pumpkin. The flavor was overwhelmed by the smoke and by the char. The cranberry however, did a good job of cutting through the smoke and the salty roe to make it overall a good tasting dish.
Potato Chip Soup, Crab, Tartar Sauce.
- This may have been my favorite course, and though I'm not really sure I got the "potato chip" sensation, I couldn't just have one [spoonful]. It was luscious and creamy and the soft crab just melded with the soup very well.
Apple-Cheddar risotto with bacon.
-I thought the flavors in this risotto were spot on--the apples, which were slightly cooked were a porkfect foil to the bacon and there's really no other way to describe the risotto than cheesylicious--however the rice was slightly undercooked and I thought the risotto wasn't as creamy and emulsified as I'm accustomed to. But then again, it was cheesylicious, and that by itself made the dish delicious.
Scallop with chestnut fettuccine, kale (I think) and buttermilk biscuit broth.
- Scallop was perfectly cooked and the chestnut fettuccine were my favorite component of the whole dinner. The buttermilk biscuit broth didn't really taste like anything, and it really didn't add to nor take away from this dish.
Beef Cheek Bourguignon, "onion soup," mashed potatoes.
--This dish was very solid and tasted delicious, however at an Ideas in Food dinner, I expect something new and exciting. I've had these flavors together plenty of times and while they will probably never get old to me, they weren't what I wanted when I signed up for Ideas in Food. Also, some of my carrots were al dente.
Powdered Pierre Robert, pistachio gremolata, white chocolate sheets, bourbon cherries
-- I talked to a bunch of chefs at Lacroix who also had this dish and this was their favorite. They thought it was definitely the most well-balanced dish. I disagreed. I thought the cheese was awesome by itself, and I thought everything tasted awesome together, yet with everything else, I couldn't really taste the cheese.
Fluffernutter
This was my least favorite dish. I really got no sense of a fluffernutter. The foam tasted like air and the peanut custard was unsubstantial and didn't have a real strong flavor either.

Perhaps I complain too much, but as a chef at Lacroix pointed out to me, these really aren't complaints, they're critiques of some minor flaws in an overall outstanding meal. And indeed, it was great, largely because of its ingenuity. When I go out to eat, I want something that either I couldn't do or wouldn't think of at home. The majority of this meal satisfied both. My economics teacher would disagree, but I definitely consider this meal a wise investment.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Chorizo Sauce


Maybe you recall, back in September I wrote about a dinner I planned to cook for a couple describing their likes and dislikes, and asking you all for suggestions. Well I cooked their meal not this past Sunday, but the one before that and in my opinion and I think in the opinion of the diners it was a success. I would definitely go as far as to say that this was the best meal I've ever cooked. The thought, the work and the technique I applied to this dinner far surpassed anything I've done before.

Unfortunately, I can't post about it right now, because the pictures of the dishes are on the couple's camera, and they haven't sent me a cd with the photos yet. Instead, I'll talk about my chorizo sauce, my favorite part of the whole dinner not only because of it's taste, but because of the process involved in creating it.

There it was, a huge pot of chorizo and liquid in a massive pot just sitting in the kitchen. I'm actually surprised that I remember it this clearly, but then again, how could I forget. I was walking back into the kitchen from the dish room, and then I saw it, just sitting there, unattended. I grabbed a few pieces of spicy, delicious chorizo, before the creator of the sauce, Billy came over and said "no try the sauce." I spooned some out and it was incredible complex. It had some many layers of flavor. It was garlicky and slightly sweet- carrots and onions were definitely in there, and spicy from the chorizo. A touch of cream balanced all the flavors. I asked him how he made it while I scribbled instructions in my "chef's journal," where it lay dormant until just recently when it erupted with flavor on a plate with roasted broccoli and scallops.

Sauce making is involved. It takes skill and technique and experience. I remember before I had spent much time at Lacroix, I tried to make a bordelaise sauce from the French Laundry Cookbook--I failed. Another time I tried to make a chicken jus to accompany some roast chicken, and found myself virtually dipping my chicken into water. On an even simpler level, I remember a time at Lacroix when I was put in charge of the vinaigrette for the salad of the day, and I couldn't get it to emulsify. I just stayed broken and had to be scrapped. Average Joe off the street could easily sous vide a chicken breast, but it's much less likely that he would be able to create a thick, rich demi-glace.

Once you get a feel for it though (and I'm really no authority on sauce making) and get a hold of some basics, it's much easier to achieve your desired results. One other thing--using good chicken stock is very important. If you have a good gelatinous stock, your sauce will have nice body and will reduce down to a nice consistency. Store bought stock just won't give you the same body but if it's your only option, use it.

To make this chorizo sauce, render some fresh chorizo in a large pot (I used my beloved Dutch oven). I actually just took the chorizo out of the casing and got it really nice and brown. I then added some onion, garlic, and carrot and just sweated those veggies in the chorizo fat. I then roasted that at 450 for about 20 minutes. Then I deglazed with a little red wine, scraping up all the browned bits at the bottom and adding homemade chicken stock and some sage to cover the chorizo. I cooked it down until it coated the back of a spoon.

In the end I decided not to add any cream, I thought it was perfect as it was. I also decided to leave the chorizo in the sauce, because it was just so tasty. Once you understand the process, it's really all about you, the saucier.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Ideas in Food Dinner

Tonight I go to the Ideas in food dinner armed with my camera and my appetite

Thursday, October 29, 2009

More Lunch

It's been a rough week. I feel overloaded with school assignments. My week was improved today however, when I made a curious discovery in the cafeteria. Today, nudged up next to the choco tacos and chipwiches were little styrofoam containers of pumpkin ice cream. I got one and it was actually delicious! I'll just pray there's more tomorrow. Here are some more shots from the caf. I think I'll do posts like this every once in a while throughout the year. It's interesting no?




This is sarah with her lunch of peanut butter and fluff on soft white, a brownie, goldfish, gushers, and that coveted honeycrisp apple. Her "favorite." One of her close friends once told me that she subsists largely on a cheese and ice cream: an enviable diet if you ask me. Sarah also reads my blog, so she will probably ask me who said that in the near future.

This is Jake, one of the pickiest eaters I know. I'm actually really surprised that his peanut butter and nutella is on wheat bread. He's such the person to only eat white. His mom makes him his lunch every day, and every day it's the same thing. His lunch may be the most widely stolen in the cafeteria. People are constantly trying to get his peeled and sliced apples every day.

Here's Matt. The picture makes him look like a big tough guy but he's actually a softie. He's a soccer player and his lunch almost always consists of 2 Uncrustables. Today however, he went to Wawa and got this spicy chicken sandwich with lettuce, peppers, honey mustard, and oregano and some barbecue potato chips and some sour patch kids: a "guy" lunch.

This is Jesse. He's a goofball, all the girls think he's good looking and if they saw his lunch, they'd probably think it was cute too. I mean look at it. Peanut butter and grape jelly (his preference), an apple and some carrots. No he's not a vegan, but he is my boy.

This is Justin. He's just an overall real friendly kid who everyone gets along with. He also often has awesome sandwiches that he lets me taste. Today he's just got some turkey-- I caught him on a bad day.

And that's all for now. More from around the cafeteria in the future.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Can't update today-- loaded with homework and meeting with an SAT tutor and all.

Instead, check out this cool post on sous vide today from serious eats

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies



Nutmeg, at least for this part of the year, is my favorite spice. I mean seriously, just look at it. It looks like it's got cave paintings inside it.

Appearance aside, nutmeg's aroma is tantalizing. I even prefer it to cinnamon which I believe too often overpowers fall foods. When nutmeg and cinnamon work together with the correct amounts, the results can be masterful.

Such is the case with these pumpkin whoopie pies. While nutmeg is my favorite fall spice, pumpkin is my favorite ingredient. This recipe is from Martha Stewart's website who got it from Matt Lewis of Baked Bakery.

  • FOR THE PUMPKIN WHOOPIE COOKIES
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 tablespoon ground cloves
  • 2 cups firmly packed dark-brown sugar
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • FOR THE CREAM-CHEESE FILLING
  • 3 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. Preheat the oven to 350, and line 2 (recipe says 2, but I halved the recipe and I needed 2 so see what works for you).

2. Whisk together all the dry ingredients except the sugar.

3. Whisk together all wet ingredients.

4. Fold dry into wet.

5. Using a small ice cream scoop, or just two spoons, drop the cookies onto the parchment paper and bake for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (I actually left mine slightly underbaked, and they were delicious.

For Icing

1. Beat butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer.

2. Add vanilla and sugar.

3. When the cookies are cooled, spread a dollop on the flat side of 1/2 of the cookies, then cover with another cookie. Enjoy

Keep for 3 days in the fridge.

My Comments

Cookies tasted good--I could eat them on their own no problem-- but I'm not sure they were the correct texture for a whoopie pie. I like my whoopie cookies dense and kind of chewy, to contrast the soft cream.

These were really soft and delicate and therefore made eating them with the icing a "uni-textural" experience.

That not to say these weren't absolutely delicious- they were- but there's some room for improvement.


Wednesday, October 21, 2009

A Look at Lunch

Here are a few photos from round the lunchroom. This is really just a preliminary post, a preview. I plan to post additional pictures and more matter about my mate's meals in the future. And yes, to get these pictures I kinda walked around the cafeteria, asking people if I could photograph their lunches--might've been slightly weird, but for the sake of the blog...

First pic is my lunch of sweet potatoes that I roasted in bacon fat with sage and garlic, and a sous vide chicken breast that I crisped up in a hot pan the previous night.