Ko, the menu

Ok, here you are folks, the menu. I should first mention that since no cameras were allowed, I had to wait until after the meal to write down everything I ate. Thus, Gil and I raced to a coffee shop to write down what we could remember, so use your imagination.

Oyster: jalapeno

Trio course [all separate, left to right, 1-2 bites a piece]:
Lobster bisque, basil
Poached Quail Egg, hollandaise, chiccharones
Dry Aged Beef Tartare

Quatro course [4 types of sushi grade fish on a square, partitioned plate, order starts top left and eaten clockwise]
Marinated Chives, crisp scales, (fish? can't remember type unfortunately)
Mackerel, red cabbage pickled, apple
Fluke, bean paste cherry bomb
Scallop with pablano

Vegetable Crudo [again, three separate sides, partitioned on a skinny rectangular plate, left to right]
Turnip braised, turnip green puree, fried mustard seeds?
Cauliflower roasted, fish sauce
Feral eggplant in dark miso

Egg Souffle: benton's bacon dashi

Bento Box:
Grilled sushi rice in bacon
Halibut consome
Shaved brussels sprout salad in mustard oil
Pork spare ribs, grilled mild green pepper (not sure on variety, spicier than a green bell, but less than a pablano, size of 2")

Wild Mushroom Salad:
Maitaki, chantrelles, king trumpets, mustard sauce

Matsutake Ravioli: chive butter sauce with fried buckwheat

Matsutake tea with french toast maple, brown butter

Lobster salad: lobster mushrooms, white fungus, tumeric.....sauce

Charcuterie: Chicken pate, burned onion sauce, duck proscuitto, head cheese, pickled mustard seeds

Elysian Farm Lamb [two parts]
Lamb in pistachio puree salsify, burnt onion powder
Lamb neck cassoule with poached pistachios

Goat Cheese Sorbet: shiso

Pineapple Sorbet: root beer (house made), dried pineapple, dehydrated pineapple skin, micro cilantro

White Miso Sorbet: black puffed rice, sushi rice, rice waffle cone

....and that's all, at least what I remember :)
After a feast, we walked around New York City awaiting our second most extravagant meal, which was to be eaten three hours later at Wd-50. More to come on Chef Wiley.

Happy Drooling

Ko, Momofuku

East Village
163 First Ave., New York, NY 10003
nr. 10th St.

On a whim I decided to fly to New York City for a foodie adventure. After I purchased the plane tickets, I told my friends I wanted to get a reservation at Ko, a restaurant I've been longing to eat at under Chef David Chang. If you've read previous blog posts, you may remember my plug for his pork steamed buns.

Anyway, I was told by several chefs how difficult it would be to obtain a reservation with Ko. I even heard rumors that his own parents have been turned down, but who's to say that's actually true. Thus, my chances were bleak. But then, the morning before our departure, I decided to try one last attempt for a lunch reservation (more expansive than dinner and only offered on weekends). To my amazement, an opening appeared! It took me several minutes with computer glitches, but I managed to get two open seats for lunch!!! I immediately telephoned Gil and told him the good news. At first, no one believed me, especially since it's known how unlikely it is to eat there. Some people have to slave away at the computer and continuously check. Bon Appetit ranks Ko as the 9th toughest restaurant reservations in the USA.* With 12 seats at Ko and reservations only in a week advance, it's no wonder why seats are booked and difficult to obtain.

When the day finally arrived, we walked into Ko with great anticipation of indulging in one of the most amazing meals. Chef Michael Carlson, the executive chef/owner of Schwa, was nice enough to put Gil and myself in touch with one of Ko's Chefs, Jonathan Ory. He was kind and made sure we enjoyed ourselves [the following day he took us to DBDG, Daniel Bouldud's restaurant], even giving us take home treats of nagori wrapped vegetables and rice with korean spices.

The meal was unlike anything I've ever experienced, Japanese/Korean/American with unexpected flavors of burnt onion on salsify and house made charcuteries. In my next post, I will write out the menu with little detail. No cameras allowed, sorry folks.

Until then, keep those saliva glands producing. The best [in detail] is yet to come.



*http://eater.com/archives/2011/07/29/are-these-the-eleven-toughest-reservations-in-the-us.php, website for listing of toughest restaurant reservations in the USA.

Sweet Potato with Herbs de Provence Buns

Yesterday was my day, so I couldn't resist preparing something new and exciting, so I went to the store with the intention of buying Idaho's for rosemary potato bread. But when I got to the store, the sweet potatoes looked more appealing and inviting, so I changed my mind and grabbed one.

In New Zealand, kumara is the Maori word for sweet potato and is actually a different variety from those grown in the United States. Kumara is known to be healthier than most other types of potatoes. They are an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, are virtually fat-free, cholesterol-free and very low in sodium. Kumara have more fiber than oatmeal and provide many essential nutrients, including vitamin B6, calcium and iron.

Unfortunately, I do not have access to kumara, so I grabbed the only variety of red sweet potato I could find. Oh well, right?

Meanwhile, before I left for the market, I started a biga, which is a starter dough or pre-ferment. In Italy, nearly every pre-ferment including wild yeast or soudough, is called a biga. So if you are making a recipe from another source that calls for biga, make sure you check to see exactly what kind of biga it requires. In this recipe, biga refers to the particular ratio of ingredients:
11.25 ounces unbleached bread flour
.055 ounces instant yeast
7-8 ounces water, at room temperature

After 2-4 hours, the biga has fermented and can be used immediately; however, some prefer to git it an overnight retarding (in the refrigerator) to bring out more flavor. It is important to know that a pre-ferment's main purpose is to improve flavor and structure, so the overnight will improve the overall quality.

The base recipe I used was from The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. The only changes were the following substitutions:
1 cup sweet potato puree (in place of mash potatoes)
2 T herbs de provence (in place of rosemary)

When all was said and done, the bread turned out beautifully. The only adjustment I would make would be to steam the oven in the initial baking process. After putting the bread into the oven, spritz water a few times to create steam; this will result in a wonderful crust. Try it, you'll love it!

What exactly am I concocting at Sprout?

Most of my time these days are spent at Sprout, where I prepare elaborate, creative and unexpected flavors on a plate. Tomorrow I hope to try out a marshmallow recipe using glucose, granulated sugar, vanilla, water, gelatin and salt. The process itself is not difficult to understand, but it's the timing and temperature which can easily affect the end result.

When I was working in France, I prepared minted marshmallow's for the mignardise* plate, but I seemed to have lost the recipe. Thus, I will have to try the Joy of Baking recipe with the substitution of gelatin sheets and glucose for corn syrup. It was only but a couple weeks ago when I first used glucose as an ingredient in baking. It's especially helpful as it provides more stability to the final product. It can be used interchangeably in most recipes with corn syrup but they can/do react differently. The only real difference is that glucose being an invert sugar will not return to crystal form.

In the United States, Legislators allow domestic food manufacturers to call glucose syrup "Corn syrup" because the source of the starch is almost exclusively from maize. However, in other countries, wheat, barley, tapioca, potato, maize, cassava, rice, sago, and arrowroot starches are used to produce glucose syrup. In various proportions, several compounds usually exist in the solution, which include primarily glucose, dextrose, and maltose. After researching, I discovered the equivalence of 1/2 cup corn syrup plus 3 Tbs. water to 1/2 cup glucose plus 1/4 cup water will usually produce the same results.

Remember, each brand of corn syrup may be different, so it's best to read your labels and look at the ingredient list provided.

Well, back to the subject of Marshmallows. I will give the recipe a go, http://www.joyofbaking.com/candy/HomemadeMarshmallows.html
and see where it takes me. Gil advised me to stick with the plain marshmallow recipe first before experimenting. Hopefully I can resist the urge to replace the vanilla with something like elderberry or rootbeer. I guess it is best to get the recipe down first before having too much fun with it eh?

All this talk has me thinking I should do a blog on inverted sugars. Anyone interested in learning more?

*Mignardises are bite sized sweets served after dessert with coffee. The word is derived from the French word Mignard, which means small child or grateful, pretty and delicate.

Carrot Birthday Cake

A few weeks ago, I was visited by my dear mother Kathy and friend Marlene. It was short, but sweet for it was my dear mum's birthday! Being her absolute favorite indulgence is carrot cake, I thought it would be most appropriate to bake her a fresh cake. The recipe I used was from Nigel Slater's, Tender, cookbook. Chef Dale at Sprout happened to show me this particular book and highly recommended it to me. Coincidentally, I thumbed through the pages and stumbled upon his version of a carrot cake. Immediately I ran up the treacherous stairs to the 'loft' at Sprout and made a copy of the recipe. For those of you who don't know, the stairs are steep, narrow and make anyone and everyone re-think how to walk down a set of stairs; it terrifies me every time.

Anyway, after work, I biked to Whole Foods, bought my ingredients and peddled to my apartment to start the task at hand. I read through the recipe before starting and realized the procedure was unlike those of most carrot cake recipes. The main difference was the separation of egg yolks and whites. The whites of the eggs were meant to be whipped and folded into the batter. I suppose the idea's intention was to give the cake a lighter and less denser product. Putting all feelings and knowledge aside, I decided to ACTUALLY follow this part of the recipe. Most of you know I have difficulties in doing this, and it still shocks me to think I followed it precisely. However, in the end I did not think there was a noticeable difference in the density. This was my reasoning for obeying the procedure. I wanted to do a little experiment and test what I know to be true. And ah ha, I was right. The other ingredients in the cake are simply too heavy to allow the egg whites support. What happens in this case, is that the whites deflate and provide no extra structure.

But I must admit, I did change a few other components to the recipe. I increased the amount of carrots (I mean, come on, only 5 ounces of carrots in a CARROT cake?!? Ridiculous I tell you. This is a carrot cake right?), I added raisins and lastly, I changed the spice to Chinese five spice powder versus cinnamon alone. I will most certainly use this recipe again with my adjustments and ignore the part about separating the eggs. Perhaps the cake would have been fluffier and less dense if I had not made these additions, but to me, it's not a carrot cake without the raisins or an appropriate amount of carrots. The five spice was just something I wanted to play with, and I knew it would be an interesting substitute for the cinnamon.

In case you'd like to try it for yourself, here's the recipe with my adjustments.

Cake:
3 eggs
265 g all purpose flour (about 2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
Pinch of salt
200 ml sunflower oil (just shy of one cup)
250 g sugar (scant 1 cup)
carrots 220 grams (7 1/2 ounces), grated
juice of half a lemon
150 g walnuts, toasted (1.25 cup)
2/3 cup raisins

Frosting:
250 g Mascarpone cheese (9 ounces)
200 g cream cheese (7 ounces)
150 g confectioners' sugar (1.5 cup)
grated zest of a medium orange
walnut halves, about 3/4 cup toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter two 9-inch cake pans then line each with a round of parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, five spice, and salt. Beat the oil and sugar in a stand mixer until well beaten, then adding the eggs one at a time. Grate the carrots into the mixture, then add the lemon juice. Coarsely chop the walnuts and add them too. Fold the flour into the mixture with the mixer on low speed.
Divide the mixture into the two pans, smooth the top gently and bake for forty to forty-five minutes. Test with a skewer for doneness. Remove from oven and let rest for at least 10 minutes before turning the cakes out of their pans onto a wire cooling rack.
To make the frosting, put the mascarpone, cream cheese, and confectioners' sugar into an electric mixer and beat until smooth and creamy. It should have no lumps. Mix in the orange zest.
When the cake cools, sandwich the halves together with a bout a third of the frosting. Use the rest to cover the top and sides of the cake. A rough finish looks more appropriate. cover the top with walnut halves.

and then Eat

Canning Continued.....

And here's my current collection. I've sold about 10 jars this year and made about another 60, so I'm well on my way. Since I did nearly 100 last year, my goal is to do at least an additional 5 or 10, which doesn't seem like all that much. If you have canned before, you know how much effort, time and commitment that is, so you will understand why 5 or 10 is significant enough. Given I typically jar anywhere from 5 to 18 jars at a time on my tiny stove top, it will take me another 5 to 10 more rounds. Yikes! I best hop to it!!!

Canning

Apologies for the lack of writing; there's no excuse why I haven't written a single post in the last few months. But alas, I am back. Within the last month I have been canning like crazy. Everything from figs to tomatoes to peaches. Some of my new favorites include:

ginger fig jam
pickled green tomatoes
blueberry fig and lavender

If anyone has ideas or would like to something special jarred just for them, send them to me. I would be more than happy to practice my canning. My next projects include, but are not limited to......

pickled carrots
pickled turnips
radish relish
pickled beets (more, but this time golden)

It's interesting to note that there are limitations to hot water canning, which is my personal preference and method of choice. The hot water method takes longer for jars to process, must be adjusted according to altitude with each food item, does not allow for every type of food item to be processed (i.e. Cruciferous plants are usually unsafe to process), has an increased risk of burn injuries, and above all else, is the first method developed. My grandma Kirchner swears by the hot water method and taught me over this particular method for the first time. She had too many horror stories using the pressure cooking method, which was another reason for learning the hot water procedure. Frankly, I prefer to learn older procedures that have been around the longest. After all, there must be a reason why it is so widely used and continues to be used, right?

Last year was my first year, and I would say I ended up with about 100 jars in total of assorted edibles. Most are gone, with only but a few more jars of stewed tomatoes and pickled hot thyme carrots.

Some of you may wonder, what exactly is that picture and how does it relate to todays post. Well, fellow readers, it is one the dishes I prepare at Sunday's brunch at Sprout called the Lox. It consists of pickled items, gravlax salmon, potato tuile, homemade cream cheese, truffled yolk salad, figs and more. I wanted to display a picture of what you may be to pair with your pickled items at home. I hope this opens your mind to the endless possibilities.

There will be more to come on the wonderful world of canning.....

Seeduction Bread

Some of you may have discovered a bread at Whole Foods called 'Seeduction', and if you haven't, you must! It tastes sinfully good and will make you crave it for it's cake like moistness. After reading various forums, conversations, blogs and articles alike about this particular bread, I became obsessed with figuring out the formula. I wanted to bake it at home and not have to purchase it, so I took on the challenge.

To carry out this formula successfully, I knew that I must have a sound base of knowledge and understanding of each ingredient so that I could foretell the end result once all combined. The only ingredient I didn't know much about was millet [a now favorite grain of mine]. I learned from my research that it is best toasted before added to recipes to give a rounded flavor and more pleasing texture.

In the end, I was successful leaving me with the most beautiful, seedy, moist bread. After my last two failed attempts at a sourdough, I felt like a terrible baker. That is is until now; now I have restored my faith in myself as a competent baker. Take a look at my bread and drool, for I am far too protective over this recipe. Sorry, you'll just have to buy a loaf to taste the goodness.

Acorn Curry

Before Merima left MN, we had decided we were going to tackle our list of 'things to cook'. It was a compiled list from last summer of breads, entrees, and ingredients Merima wanted me to cook or use in cooking. Unfortunately, she left the list back home, so we brainstormed and remembered one of the items was curry. Thus I came up with this recipe 'on the fly' [kitchen lingo for not planned or in the spur of the moment] while preparing naan dough [another item on the list]. It was simple, but tasty. Merima even stated that it was one of the best Indian dishes she ever had and that it tasted very authentic. If you know Merima, this is quite the compliment. So you best try this one if you are a lover of Indian food. Enjoy my foodies....

an aerial view of naan and curry [sorry for the lack of a close-up]

Ingredients:

1 acorn squash

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 shallot, mined

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 chili pepper, dried

3 cardamom pods

2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds

1 tablespoon garam marsala

9 ounces tomatoes with juice (from personal canning collection)

2 cup beet greens, chopped

1 cup green beans

1 tablespoon cumin

2 pinches of sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Bake the squash in the oven at 375 for one hour, or until cooked, in a baking dish with water.

In the mean time, add the oil to a wok and heat. Once hot, add mustard seeds, cardamom, and chili pepper. Cover with a lid until the mustard seeds stop popping, be careful here not to get one in the face :). Then add shallot and garlic. Once translucent, add the green beans, tomatoes with sauce, garam marsala, cumin and sugar. Keep on a simmer and add the squash once cooked thoroughly.

Note: you will have to skin and cube the squash before adding to the wok.

Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 10-15 minutes until everything is cooked through.

Serve with naan and eat up!

If you try this recipe, comment on the preparation or taste. I am curious to know other's thoughts.

Kith & Kin

Steamed Grouper, Fava, Meyer Lemon Sauce, Zucchini

...one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago, Kith & Kin. When you visit Chicago, be sure to check out this wonderful restaurant where the food is innovative, exciting, rich in flavor, and fresh to the taste. Together, the three of us [Merima, Gil and myself] indulged in a plethora amount of food. Here were some of my favorites....

Beef, Blue Cheese, Mushroom Ketchup, Worcestershire Powder, Parsley Sauce

Lobster Bisque

Wood Smoked Oysters

Trio of Clam Rillette [horseradish, back left], Chicken Liver Pate [Dijon, Cornichon, back right] & Foie [Brioche and Strawberry Preserve, front]

The pictures are out of eating sequence, but I'm sure you would have guessed that. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmy

Pancake with Mandarin Ginger

Merima kept telling me all week that she needed her ginger fix, so I decided to treat her to these pancakes one weekday morning. I attempted to use the King Arthur pancake recipe, but could not follow it. It is difficult for me to follow a recipe most times, when I am cooking in the comfort and freedom of my own home. I will post the recipe from the website I used and mark the adjustments/additions with an asterisk.

• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1/3 cup sour cream*
• 3 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/8 cup wheat germ*
• 1/8 cup flaxseed*
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger, freshly grated*
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons sugar OR 2 tablespoons honey (mix with eggs)

Directions

1. Beat the eggs and milk until light and foamy, about 3 minutes at high speed of a stand or hand mixer. Stir in the butter or vegetable oil and sour cream.

2. Whisk the dry ingredients together to evenly distribute the salt, baking powder and sweetener.

3. Gently and quickly mix into the egg and milk mixture. Let the batter rest for at least 15 minutes, while the griddle is heating; it"ll thicken slightly.

4. Heat a heavy frying pan over medium heat, or set an electric griddle to 350°F. Lightly grease frying pan or griddle. The pan or griddle is ready if a drop of water will skitter across the surface, evaporating immediately.

5. Drop 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the lightly greased griddle. Bake on one side until bubbles begin to form and break, then turn the pancakes and cook the other side till brown. Turn over only once. Serve immediately.

Then, there's the sauce:

Mandarin Ginger Sauce

1/2 cup maple syrup

3-4 mandarin oranges, zested and segmented

1 tablespoon ginger, freshly grated

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pot and simmer for 15 minutes or until warm.

Goose Island Brewery

Monday's and Tuesday's have become my weekend, especially since Gil doesn't work at Alinea on those days. This last Tuesday Merima, Gil and I decided to spend one of our 'weekend' lunches at Goose Island Brewery. Each of us tasted 12 different beers and shared three entrees:

Lamb Burger with Poached Pears and Brie with a side of German Potato Salad

Walleye Fish and Chips

The Rueben Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries

This is a picture of Merima waiting for her food, giving me the hurry up and take the picture so I can drink my beer and get back to work look.

...And below is Gil drinking his first beer, the Green ale by Goose Island. It was nice for a light summer brew; however, the summertime ale was even better.

....then there's me, hoarding all my beer. Do I really need to share mine with everyone?! We decided in the end that everyone could taste every beer, but I knew I had to keep my eye on Gil. He's a big time beer drinker.

Merima Visits Chicago

Yay, my friend Merima left cold Minnesota by bus to cold and windy Chicago to visit and keep me company while I get my feet on the ground. Currently, I do not work often, so it does get lonely. Tomorrow Merima leaves and I will once again have to entertain myself developing new recipes. Our first night of extravagant eating was mussels over spinach linguine with a Meuniere sauce and a side of garlicky green beans.

Mussels over Spinach Linguine in Meuniere Sauce

We attempted to make thumbprint cookies, but were not pleased with the results. The recipe, I thought, was full-proof and tested from the Joy of Baking. Even after the cookies came out of the oven, they were too flat and tasted like a stick of butter. However, I managed to form them back into their intend shape and refrigerated them. A day later we tasted again, not wanting to trash our lovely cookies of apricot and almond delights. To our surprise, they tasted much better. Still buttery, but decent.

The picture on the left depicts me pulsing the roasted almonds in the food processor. Almonds were used to coat the cookies just before baking.

My apartment is quite small as you can see with only enough room for one body to manage the stove, sink and preparation area. I am actually standing in front of the island prep station with my oven and sink hiding behind.

Do you see all my canned/preserved goodies in the top of the picture? That is from my stock of 80 something jars. Neat eh?

This is the thumbprint batter. Nice and buttery. It definitely needed to be refrigerated; I believe it was for 45 minutes, not the suggested 30 minutes. It was far too soft to work at 30 minutes.

Day 2 of the Sourdough Adventure

When I first started this recipe, I felt it wasn't going to work since the description in the procedure said the dough should be stiff. Mine was not; however, once I looked at it this morning to add the bread flour and water, it seemed to be doing just as it should. After more thought, I wondered why the recipe was in ounces, rather than in grams. I mean, this is a French recipe from The Pouliane, right? Well, it probably is not, and it did need some tweaking. Initially, in the first day, I added an extra 2 ounces of flour so that the flour was evenly hydrated and not overhydrated. Today, on the contrary, I did not adjust any of the weights.

*Remember, when baking, it is best to measure by weight, rather than by amount and it is also best to weigh in grams than ounces. Grams are more accurate.

Bread? Bread! The Great Adventures of Sourdough

Tomorrow marks the official first day of my wild yeast sour dough starter! Boy am I pumped. I went to Whole Foods and bought the necessary ingredients, which just happened to be on sale in the bulk department. Speaking of which, buying in bulk must be a foreign concept to Chicagoland people. I have visited and shopped at several different stores, but have only found but one worth visiting. This particular Whole Foods store is located in Lincoln Park, foodie central. I went crazy and stocked up on dry goods since it is a bit of hike from where I live [...if traveling by bike with several bags of groceries that is].

Anyway, I now have all my ingredients to start my sourdough bread journey. It begins with organic rye flour and water for one day. Then, for the next four days, I feed my seed culture, more flour, only this time all purpose organic flour and more water. After this, I am then ready to prepare the barm, the 'mother' or starter for most basic sourdough recipes. The recipe I fancy to prepare first is a miche style bread from France. None other than Lionel Poilane, a famous French baker, is known for this style of sourdough. His recipe is in the book The Bread Baker's Apprentice, and I highly recommend purchasing this book if you are a serious bread baker yourself. If you want to read a bit more about Mr. Poilane, go to the following website:

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/feb2007/gb20070206_625846.htm

Ingredients

	1	cup (4¼ ounces) dark rye or coarse whole rye (pumpernickel-grind) flour
	3	cups (13½ ounces) unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
	2¼	cups (18 ounces) water, at room temperature

Steps

1. Day 1: Mix the rye flour and ¾ cup (6 ounces) water together in a bowl until they form a stiff ball of dough. Do not worry if the dough is very stiff, but be sure that all the flour is hydrated. Press this piece of dough into a 4-cup measuring beaker and place a piece of tape on the beaker to mark the top of the dough. Cover the beaker with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for 24 hours.
2. Day 2: The dough should not have risen much, if at all, during this time. In a mixing bowl, combine the sponge from Day 1 with 1 cup (4½ ounces) unbleached flour and ½ cup (4 ounces) water, mixing with your hand or a spoon until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough will be somewhat softer and wetter than before. Return this to the beaker, press it down, and replace the old tape with a new piece of tape to mark the spot. Cover with plastic wrap and ferment for 24 hours at room temperature. Do not be put off by the strong, unpleasant aroma of the dough; this will eventually brighten.
3. Day 3: Check to see if there has been a rise in the dough. There will probably be some fermentation but not a lot, perhaps a 50-percent rise. Regardless, discard half of the starter (or give it to a friend to cultivate) and mix the remaining half with 1 cup (4½ ounces) unbleached flour and ½ cup (4 ounces) water, just like on Day 2. It will be a little wetter. Again, return it to the beaker. It should press down to the same height as on Day 2. Re-tape the beaker to mark the top of the dough, cover, and ferment for 24 hours.
4. Day 4: The sponge should have at least doubled in size; more is even better. If it is still sluggish and hasn’t doubled in size, allow it to sit out for another 12 to 24 hours. Otherwise, repeat as on Day 3, discarding half of the starter and mixing the remaining half with 1 cup (4½ ounces) unbleached flour and ½ cup (4 ounces) water, returning it all to the beaker as before. Cover and ferment until it at least doubles in size; this may take 4 to 24 hours. It is OK if it triples in size, but because it is now fairly soft and spongelike, it will not be able to sustain that large of a rise without falling. If it falls easily when you tap the beaker, that is the sign that your seed culture is ready to be turned into a barm, or mother starter.

Momofuku Pork Buns

Well, I purchased the Momofuku book about a couple of months ago, but have been eyeing it up since my friend Bobby showed me his copy. One of the first things which struck me were the steamed pork buns. The actual amount of rendered pork fat is not colossal by any means, but rather scant overall. While making these I knew they were going to be worth the wait, for it took several hours until I could indulge in the soft, delicate buns.

During the fermentation and rest times, I prepared accoutrements playing off Momofuku's standard cucumber pickles, hoisin, pork, and green onion fixings. Instead, I prepared an edamame puree [see below], hoisin, sriracha, leek and pickled carrot.

Edamame Puree:

3/4 cup edamame, frozen is quite alright

pinch salt

pinch sugar

2 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp. wasabi powder

1/8 cup yellow onion

2 tsp. brown rice vinegar

1 1/2 cup water

1 tsp. oil

Saute onion in oil. Once translucent, add remaining ingredients and cook for about 30-40 minutes on medium heat covered with a lid until edamame is quite soft and skins of beans separate. Puree in food processor or blender. You may need to adjust the water content based on how much evaporated in the cooking process.

As for the Momofuku steamed bun recipe...well, I guess you'll have to buy the book. It's well worth the price.

Overall, the recipe was easy; it was just time consuming for the average person. However, I highly recommend trying this one at home. The flavor will send your senses into a frenzy and you'll be sorry you didn't make more.

Kimchi

According to my Joy of Pickling, "Korean scientists have found that fresh cabbage kimchi is actually more nutritious than unfermented Chinese cabbage....Its levels of vitamins B1, B2, B12 and niacin are twice what they were initially, and its vitamin c level equals that of fresh cabbage."

....And guess what? It tastes amazing! Unfortunately, for this particular recipe, I could not find Korean chili powder, so I substituted chili powder and chili flakes. My lovely friend Kelsey just happens to live in South Korea. I spoke with her while waiting for my cabbage to soak in the salt brine and told her about the kimchi. She was delighted and said I needed to make some for her arrival. Sure I would, just as long as she sends some of that spicy magic powder directly from Korea.

The recipe I used was from the Joy of Pickling, but I did tweak it a bit with more garlic and spice. Before I play around with too many variations, I thought it best to begin with the basics. Once I perfect the base recipe, then I will go on to add things like carrots or daikon radish.

Cabbage Kimchi

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon pickling slat
6 cups water
2 pounds Chinese cabbage, cut into 2-inch squares
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons Korean ground dried hot pepper (or other mildly hot ground red pepper)
1 teaspoon sugar

1. Dissolve the 3 tablespoons salt in the water. Put the cabbage into a large bowl, a crock or a nonreactive pot and pour the brine over it. Weight the cabbage down with a plate. Let the cabbage stand for 12 hours.

2. Drain the cabbage, reserving the brine. Mix the cabbage with the remaining ingredients, including the 1 teaspoon salt. Pack the mixture into a 2-quart jar. Pour enough of the reserved brine over the cabbage to cover it. Push a freezer bag into the mouth of the jar, and pour the remaining brine into the bag. Seal the bag. Let the kimchi ferment in a cool place, at a temperature no higher than 68 degrees F, for 3-6 days, until the kimchi is as sour as you like.

3. Remove the brine bag and cap the jar tightly. Store the kimchi in the refrigerator, where it will keep for months.

Makes about 1 1/2 quarts.

Chicago vs. Minneapolis/St. Paul

Well, I have decided to move to Chicago in search of more opportunities and change of scenery. It has been quite challenging on many levels, but feel it is a good decision. While in search of new jobs and apartments, I have discovered a plethora of eating establishments. There are foods from just about every type of cuisine with the addition of Chicago's hot dogs, of course. Hot Doug's is one the more famous local hot dog eateries that I have yet to enjoy. Just about everyday I see people stand in long lines outside, even in the windy, cold weather, waiting for their fill. I was not sure what to think at first, but then I discovered on-line that it was part of the Slow Food Chicago movement (http://www.slowfoodchicago.org). This website is now my go-to page to find participating restaurants. Another restaurant making the list was Green Zebra. My friend Niki, former Sous Chef of Corner Table, and I decided to eat there a couple days ago to indulge in a complete vegetarian affair with fresh burrata topped with crispy lentils, butternut dumplings, mushroom bread pudding and poached egg over smoked applewood mashed potatoes. Yummmmmy. The food was absolutely delightful. Several people had told me beforehand that it is quite possibly the best vegetarian restaurant in Chicago. I guess I will have to eat my way through Chicago and decide for myself.

After my experience at Green Zebra, I could not help but compare the restaurant/food scene of Chicago to Minneapolis/ St. Paul.* The two cities have quite the food scenes going on, each with different high/low lights, thus it is difficult to say which has better food. One thing I do like more about Minnesota and the Twin Cities is the local food movement. I do not have exact stats on how many and how much food the restaurants source locally, but due to the larger number of farms in Minnesota, it would seem more likely. If you think back to a post I wrote a while back on what local means, I mentioned the term 'local' has various definitions depending on who you converse with. Therefore, I must clarify what I mean when I speak about local foods; I believe local foods should refer to the mileage, the distance the food traveled from growth to consumption within a 100-200 mile radius. Most Chicago menus and websites I have browsed print 'local' when they source mostly from Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio. Yet, there are a fair amount of farms in Illinois, especially in the growth of various berries, asparagus, squash and dairy production, much like MN. Perhaps I have it all wrong; I would love to be proven otherwise that Illinois is well on it's way to providing local foods to local restaurants.

*I guess I should also mention that I had the fortune of eating at the only two 3 star Michelin restaurants in Chicago, Alinea and L2O, since this plays a vital role in comparisons between the cities.

Here are some quick notes on comparing the two foodie destinations:

Twin Cities:

Fewer restaurants (obviously) with less variety

Less creativity, all the food seems alike

Cheaper prices

Ingredients travel a shorter distance in terms of 'local' eating

Easy to go out, [free] parking is available

More country style comfort foods

Quieter

Less busy overall

Chicago:

More restaurants with more variety

Menus differ between restaurants with more creativity

Expensive to eat out

Heaps of community style restaurants

Adventurous eaters, here's your city

Restaurants here have a longer history

Michelin Restaurants: for food and entertainment (might have to explain that in another post)

No parking, unless you want to pay an arm and a leg [taxi]

Of course, these are my observations and options....to each their own.

Tchau tchau for now foodies.