November to February = Luxirare Truffle Fish & Chips

 

On a contemplative note, keeping an online diary about fashion and food is questionable. How does one categorize such disparate subjects and why does Luxirare think its ok to combine the two? This idea came to me after having overdosed on Shrimp Lo Mein with mysteriously translucent shrimp, rolling around in total fatassery with cold noodle remnants stuck onto my sweats. I thought, Hey I'm probably not the only person who is obsessed with flavor and fabric. After all, isn't this the very fate practiced by our predecessors? Sewing and searching for gastronomic perfection? Isn't that what our grandmothers did? Make food and sew? In fact, through reading other blogs I am understanding that this food and fashion obsession is pretty common. I wonder what Margaret Thatcher would think of this self sufficient collective. We need more DVFs, or more Chanels, or more Kawakubos, or even more DKNYs of the fashion world. I've had it with the men designing for women thing. Women know better..or do we...? I sometimes wish Margiela was not Martin but Martina.....Sadness.

Fish and chips, but truffled. I always need an excuse to add truffle flavor to food. The same way Masa chef adds truffle flakes to his sushi...I am not sure how authentic these are, but I have a great deal of respect for traditional British food despite its horrible reputation.

All white fish is good, I chose Tilapia. But Cod is pretty common as well. Potatoes are for frying, and the lemons will be pillaged for their juice and zest.


This is where the truffle action comes in. Truffle flavor infused two ways; I add the truffle oil to the fresh mayo, and then add the truffle cream to the batter for the fish. Both of these truffle products extremely potent. One cannot afford fresh truffles everyday. Flour with salt, cayenne and garlic powder + Cornmeal for fish.....


I've had my fair share of frustration for catching the elusive, extra crispy, Stand-the-test-of-Time potato fry. I went to Pomme Frites with my ex friend during my sophomore year of college, almost everyday. They had the best thick cut english fries ever. But one day I caught a glimpse of their SECRET and we realized that the potatoes were actually BOILED before they were fried. Secret to extra crispy fries? Boil them first, freeze them, and the fry them twice.


North Korea vs. South Korea, they will never be together again....
So these are the eggs, separated both the egg yolk and the whites for this recipe. Egg yolks are for fresh mayo. Inside yolk mixture is lemon juice, grated rind, and white wine vinegar...I'll explain why the whites are needed in a bit...

While the food processor works on the yolks, pour in White truffle oil slowly. It will turn into a thicker, mayo-y mixture. I've added horseradish as well.


The egg whites need to be beaten into foam for the fish batter.



A bit of flour, and the White truffle cream for the batter. Mix time. After trying several attempts at making perfect batter for frying, I found that fluffed egg whites make for the crispiest texture. I've tried beer as well but I didn't find that as effective. Ultimately it's the air pockets and protein structure of the egg whites that makes the batter "stiffer" when fried. Also fish is dipped in cornmeal before being drenched in batter.


Frying Machine.

How to tell when your oil is ready......Place a chopstick in the middle and wait for the bubbles....




Lightly floured potatoes after they were boiled, waiting to be fried as well. I start out with a really high heat frying temperature for the first fry, and then fry them again at a LOW&SLOW temp. Fries should have a visible Crust with a soft interior.

Little portions. Fish 'n Chips with truffled mayo + horseradish.

Novembre à Février = Luxirare Black Gnocchi

Black Gnocchi

Main Entry:
he·do·nism

Pronunciation:
ˈhē-də-ˌni-zəm

Function:
noun

Etymology:
Greek hēdonē pleasure; akin to Greek hēdys sweet — more at sweet

Date:
1856

1 : the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life
2 : a way of life based on or suggesting the principles of hedonism

There is no difference between truffles, or heroin. Both provide immediate forms of pleasure without having any lasting financial, intellectual, or artistic value. The smell of a truffle is elusive, its that one second of "clicking" between your taste buds and nose that goes away after a 1-2 chews. To try and hang on to this "flavor" is nearly impossible. Trust me I have tried.

Truffle season is almost over, and I picked up a few from the store at a relatively cheap price, each one costs about between 40-60 which was alot better than what the internet was offering me. On an interesting note, COSTCO was selling cheap truffles (fresh + whole) on the internet but they immediately sold out before I could get my hands on one...

Black gnocchi infused with black truffle cream with whipped egg emulsion and fresh truffles.


Black truffle cream, or I see it more like ground truffles preserved in oil.




Before adding the truffle cream, I added a touch of black food coloring.




From the S.O.S food store on Avenue B between 6th+7th street. This store shelves hard to find, rare cuisine ingredients and it is the only place I buy my truffles.

Truffle fanatics like myself all know this ; must preserve truffles in rice.

Egg + Butter + Salt + touch of Lemon emulsion. Otherwise known as Hollandaise, a classic french method.

April t September = Luxirare Sherbert, Basil, Prosecco, Strawberry

Fraises au Basilic (strawberries & basil)

I found a good flavor pairing for some sherbert I had wanted to make in my new Robuchon Cookbook. In one of the dessert recipes, I noticed this description; "pureed strawberries with basil and wine". I guess it functioned more as a dessert sauce than a dessert itself, and then I thought how refreshing would a strawberry and basil sherbert be for spring/summer? And then, as I got even more committed to this idea I thought, why not add an excuse for some much needed libation while enjoying such a dessert? In comes the faux champagne, Prosecco. I found this in a store recently for 9 dollars and it tastes SO amazing that I doubt I'll invest for another 60 dollar bottle of Rose Champagne again. Recipe for this is in the comments section.

I wanted to make a sherbert instead of an ice cream because sherberts require no eggs and generally taste a bit lighter which I think go better for basil and strawberries but you can definitely make this into a full blown, full fat ice cream.

Base Ingredients for sherbert; Pink Prosecco, strawberries, and basil....





Fizz for Sherbert...

















Basil Infusing. Take the basil out when done..


This is the final mixture. Milk infused with Basil, strawberry juice which was sifted, sugar and then CORN SYRUP. Corn syrup is something that one must NOT skip out on for sherbert as it gives it the smooth silky texture. I finish this mixture off by adding the prosecco and then chilling it until the mixture is completely cooled.



Raging Feminists would chastise me for owning a Kitchen Aid.











What's inside...




I like to scrape the sherbert after I scoop it into the cup so that it is completely flat when I serve it.
Ok, so you're not exactly SATISFIED with the amount of social lubricant inside your sherbert. Ok fine, so scoop some drops of sherbert into a champagne cup and then add some more Prosecco so you have a nice & cold cocktail..JEEZ.

All year long = Luxirare Quail's Egg wrapped in a potatoe sculpture

At this point I realized I must experiment with this - make it my own. 
I proceeded to think about how to make a real breakfast meal with complex flavors. I thought about the skeletal structure of eggs benedict; Hollandaise sauce, english muffins, eggs, and cured meat. I decided I would use fresh buckwheat blinis (little pancakes served with caviar) instead of english muffins. Then, I'd replace the canadian bacon with Lox, add some creme fraiche flavored with chives instead of Hollandaise, top it with the egg in its own nest, and decorate this with some salmon roe on top. This is my version of eggs benedict. Whether this meal will land an engagement ring on your finger is another story.



Left to right; Creme Fraiche, Salmon Eggs, Buckwheat blini batter, chives, eggs (I used quail egg
for presentation purposes), and Potato.


Buckwheat Blini Mixture.





Crevices of a batter with Baking Soda and Baking Powder.



Ever so slightly boiled eggs. It took me 3 previous eggs to de-robe the shell of the egg.  The rarer the egg, the harder it is to peel of the shell.  The eggs were so tender that they just kept bursting.  Chaos  always creates a result.



Potato Angel Hair device. This turns a whole potato into Angel Hair spaghetti. It is from Tokyo.



BladeRunner



Preparing the nest for the egg..





Wrap and Trap your boyfriend





When frying, I wanted to keep the round shape. In order to do this I had to hold this egg and potato sculpture half into the oil and half out. If I had dropped this in automatically the potatoes would have unraveled.



The sound of Food frying, the sound of scissors cutting. The best sounds ever on earth..This is why I like to cook and make clothes.



Chive and Creme Fraiche mixture.



Building the layers of New Eggs Benedict.



Lox, yes the lox was not pictured in the ingredient vials. That's because this lox really comes from the salmon egg.



Egg nest....Birds Nest. Plant a seed with your man and watch them grow.


I wanted to use Beluga Caviar but this is the cheaper route..



When I boiled the eggs they had to be really undercooked as they continued to cook when fried...I like my eggs slightly runny.

Toute l'année = Luxirare Sandwich

The filet sandwich is really Ina Garten's recipe, she also did a roasted filet sandwich with parmesan, arugula and truffle butter, but I just ended up using the white truffle cream that was left in the fridge. I seriously love clean-out meals where you're able to use whatever ingredients are lingering in your kitchen. Sometimes Garten is deceivingly clever ; replacing a roast beef which takes hours to cook with a quick cooking filet mignon ? Filet tastes better anyway.
So let's start with some fresh bread shall we?



This dough has been sitting for a bit, and you'll notice little air pockets that start to form. This is a good thing as it forms the crumb structure of the bread.
I like to make a flatter rounder shape for the sandwich rolls and poke little holes in it, and then flavor it with rosemary and salt. The garnished the sweet bread with rock sugar.




Baked bread, sweet and and savory....


Before I go on to show the process, here is a snapshot of ingredients. Roast beef, arugula, parmesan, and truffle cream for the savory sandwich, and Monk's head cheese, creme fraiche, cinnamon, and figs for the dessert sandwich.



Close up of the steak before it hits the oven. I salt and pepper it generously and used room temperature butter to cover it...
The milk solids in the butter help brown the steak so I wouldn't skip this step.



I set my oven up at 450 and cooked it for 20-25 minutes but it really depends on how you like your meat. I like mine medium rare....
MMMMMMM you could just f**k the sandwich idea and eat this as it is...Seriously I was tempted..



After waiting a tempting 20 minutes in hell, I finally slice the sandwich. Its a good idea to wait for the meat to reconstitute it's juices so that when you slice it it doesn't lose all its flavor. I'm suuuurre you guys have heard this on the food channel 1000 times.
Slicing the monk's head cheese, I was almost able to finish the whole round.



It should look like a bouquet, these slices are all for the dessert sandwich with figs..



Bread, opening...with steam....





Parmesan slices, I like a lot.





So onto the dessert sandwich...I start by slathering a good dosage of Creme fraiche.





Monk's head cheese from before....



Figs and honey...



Cinnamon



Dessert Sandwich.

Novembre à Février = Luxirare Truffle Ice Cream

I'm starting the Creme Anglaise here, which is the base for many ice creams. Its a custard base used for desserts, consisting of heavy cream or milk, egg yolks and sugar.



I grate the truffles into the milk, before steeping the milk so the flavor of the truffle truly blossoms.







This was the egg and sugar mixture, that sort of liquified into one compound. I pour it into the chilled bowl, especially designed for ice cream making. This bowl is a separate part you buy that has a double wall and inside it is filled with water. You're supposed to freeze the bowl so that the water inside becomes frozen and your ice cream can start to chill with the mixture spins.



I also add the truffle/milk mixture. This smell, the smell of the heat coming from the milk and truffles infusing, should be made into a perfume called "Milk & Truffles".





At this point, the ice cream is ready to be spooned into its compartment.



You can see its still very soft, which is why it needs to be frozen again. You could eat it as is but it will be incredibly soft.








You can see after its been sitting in the fridge it adds a yellowish tint. This is most likely from the truffles.

Août à Décembre : Luxirare Pizza

This specific pizza combines possibly the perfect pairing of ingredients; Arugula, Pear, Bleu cheese, Mascarpone cheese, and Truffle Honey. There is always that one ingredient that "makes" the dish and in this specific pizza, its definitely the truffle honey. Something about the salty bite of the bleu cheese with the sweet honey...and the fragrant arugula makes this my favorite combination.....

I urge all of you to try this for yourselves as I went to my neighborhood pizza joint to purchase this dough. They charge anywhere from 2-3 and I prefer to eat fresh, customized pizza at home. This pizza took me all of 5-10 minutes to put together before it hit the oven.



Truffle honey is actually the easiest thing to make. Its just honey with a truffle slice.





I just pressed the dough with my fingers and poured olive oil on top.



Elusive bubbles...I usually want a lot more bubbles but the dough has a character of its own. The more you try to get more bubbles by pressing with your fingers the flatter the dough will be.



First layer of mascarpone cheese.





I also added red salt, bleu cheese, and pear.



I think the foam was coming from the Mascarpone. I tried to get a decent oven shot but this was the best I could do before my camera was about to melt.



Arugula addition



My favorite part, adding the truffle honey.





 

Novembre à Février = Cocotte de Rocamadour aux truffes

Pour 4 personnes - 4 Rocamadour AOC/AOP - Des truffes - Mascarpone - Huile de noix - Sel, poivre   Daniel Chambon, Hôtel Restaurant Le pont de l'Ouysse à Lacave Tel : [phone]

Préparation
1 – Prendre une cocotte individuelle, mettre une cuillerée de mascarpone, du gros sel, un peu de poivre, une goutte d'huile de noix.

2 – Couper la truffe en deux et l'émincer.

3 – Coiffer le mascarpone avec des fines tranches de truffes et déposer dessus le rocamadour. Presser un peu.

4 – Mettre le couvercle de la cocotte et faire chauffer au four à micro-onde 2 mn. Déguster !

Le conseil du chef: Utilisez le four à micro-ondes, au four traditionnel, ça ne marche pas !

Mars à Juin : Agneau Allaiton de l'Aveyron à la tapenade de Lucques (Michel Sarran, Toulouse)

Pour 4 personnes 2 carrés d'agneau Allaiton découpé en 8 côtes. 4 feuilles de pâte à brick Pour la tapenade : 100 g d'olives vertes de Lucques 5g d'anchois 5g de câpres 20g d'huile d'olives 1 gousse d'ail rose de Lautrec quelques gouttes de jus de citron sel, poivre Pour la polenta: 80g de lait 20g d'eau 50g de polenta fine sel, poivre Pour le boulgour: 1 pincée d'échalotes ciselées 10g de beurre 1 cuillère à soupe de blanc de poireaux émincés 80g de boulgour 240g de bouillon de poule sel, poivre

Préparation
Parer les côtes en les manchonnant. Avec les parures, confectionner un jus d'agneau. Saler, poivrer et saisir les côtes rapidement sans les cuire. Les réserver.

Réalisation de la tapenade de Lucques.
Mixer tous les ingrédients de la tapenade au robot afin d'obtenir une pâte homgène

Réalisation de la polenta:
Faire bouillir les liquides (lait + eau) puis verser en pluie la polenta. Laisser cuire environ 20mn à petit feu. Ajouter hors du feu 2 cuillères à soupe de tapenade et assouplir si besoin avec de la crème fraîche. Laisser refroidir.

Réalisation du boulgour:
Faire suer au beurre les blancs de poireaux et les échalotes ciselées. Ajouter le boulgour et mouiller au bouillon de volaille. Terminer la cuisson en ajoutant un peu de jus d'agneau.Saler et poivrer.

Tartiner les côtes de polenta et les enfermer dans une demi feuille de pâte à brick, badigeonner d'huile d'olive. Dorer à l'huile d'olive dans une poêle en surveillant rigoureusement. Dans une assiette placer au centre le boulgour, puis déposer dessus les côtes bien dorées. Terminer avec un cordon de jus.

> Agneau fermier élévé sous la mère

Les Agneaux fermiers Label Rouge produits en Midi-Pyrénées, première région française pour la production ovine, sont regroupés sous l'identification commune "Agneau del Païs" qui fédère cinq marques :  Agneau fermier des Pays d'Oc, Agneau fermier du Quercy, Agneau fermier de l'Aveyron, Agneau "Sélection des Bergers" et Agneau "Lou Paillol".

La viande de ces Agneaux est  tendre, de couleur rosée, d'une senteur douce, faiblement prononcée. Elle bénéficie d'un léger gras de couverture qui, après cuisson, contribue à parfaire son exquise saveur.

Les différents bassins d'élevage correspondent à des terroirs difficiles au sein desquels la production ovine associe le maintien de l'activité agricole à celui de l'architecture vivante des paysages. L'Agneau Fermier del Païs est essentiellement élevé au lait de sa mère. Sa ration quotidienne est complétée  par des céréales et du fourrage. Les éleveurs privilégient les races rustiques locales. Les bergeries, aussi tièdes en hiver que fraîches en été, sont claires, spacieuses et bien ventilées. La traçabilité du produit est totale pour que tout consommateur puisse identifier l'origne de la viande d'agneau qu'il consomme. Chaque éleveur est également très fier de pouvoir apposer sa signature sur son produit, issu d'un travail de très haute qualité.

• Label Rouge depuis 1990
• Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP) pour l'Agneau Fermier
  du Quercy et l'Agneau Fermier de l'Aveyron en 1996

> Ail rose de Lautrec

L'Ail Rose de Lautrec se présente sous forme d'un bulbe dont les gousses (ou caïeux), d'un joli rose plus ou moins soutenu, ont une longue période de dormance qui confère naturellement au produit d'exceptionnelles qualités de conservation, à l'état sec.

Prince des condiments à la saveur particulièrement recherchée par tous les gastronomes, l'Ail Rose de Lautrec peut être consommé cuit ou cru, pelé ou"en chemise"et donne du caractère aux plats les plus simples comme aux plus raffinés. Au-delà de ses remarquables qualités gustatives, l'Ail Rose de Lautrec est réputé pour ses nombreuses vertus thérapeutiques, connues depuis l'Antiquité. 

Les producteurs cultivent l'Ail Rose de Lautrec avec un soin attentif et veillent à le récolter à parfaite maturité pour préserver sa grande aptitude à la conservation. Les bulbes une fois récoltés et liés en bottes sont suspendus sous hangar en vue d'un séchage qui va leur faire perdre environ le quart de leur poids. Les têtes d'ail sont ensuite pelées avec précaution, puis triées et calibrées, avant d'être conditionnées notamment sous forme de grappes appelées"Manouilles". L'Ail Rose de Lautrec Label Rouge est alors prêt à s'offrir au consommateur.

• Label Rouge depuis 1966
• Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP) depuis 1996

A noter qu'en Provence, les olives sont cueillies en Novembre : cette recette serait donc "anachronique" si on souhaite respecter les saisons... il convient donc d'utiliser des olives en saumure pour faire la tapenade.