Luxirare Crisp

I’ve always had a strange addiction to potato chips. The impulse usually clocks in conveniently when I’m in the mood to watch a marathon of SVU episodes. Olivia Benson with long hair please, not short.    The beauty of indulging in a big bag of chips is in its mindless repetition. I thought it was about time that I take this mindless repetition and turn it into something more mindful.
Chip flavors are always powdered into an imitation of what the flavor is supposed to taste like.  Sour cream and onion isn’t the same as tasting real sour cream and onions,  (Though I suggest Baked Lays Sour Cream and Onion, my favorite chip).  Sure, Imitation in itself has value. Just not all the time.  I want confrontational flavors. Cilantro chips, maybe even vanilla flavored chips- I could try several different flavors and see which one I like most…

Newly acquired spiral shaver below. I use it for cucumbers so that I can wrap my sushi rolls with them, but I tried it with a potato, and it started shaving out a long sheet of potato……….You can see I am spinning the wheel so the potato feeds through the blade.

It sort of looks like tissue paper. I’m holding the spiral shaved sheet of one potato in the picture below.. Its pretty long..

This long sheet above now becomes 8 small sheets, uniform in size and visuals.

Flavors; Red pepper thread, prosciutto + red peppercorn, cilantro, and Vanilla. Mr. Adria is well known for his Vanilla whipped mashed potatoes. I thought I could try this vanilla flavor for potato chips…Gross? Maybe. I quite like it. I had never tried Vanilla under the savory context.  My plan is to layer these ingredients in between two sheets, sort of like mummifying them or sandwiching them so they are “Trapped”.

Spreading the vanilla on the potato sheet.

So you can see in this image I just sandwiched the flavors in.

Baking rack. This is a waved baking rack made especially for baking french baguettes but I used it to create waves for the potatoes while baking them.  This rack is also good because it has a perforated wall which lets the steam from the potato disappear, allowing for a crispier chip.
I noticed Cilantro had the most moisture. Next time I will dry my cilantro first.

Sprayed with PAM, and baked at 250 F for 40-50 minutes. Its more like dehydrating and baking at the same time.

You can see I have a very strange fixation with Vanilla and potatoes…

I think these chips are good for snacking while drinking alcohol… before a dinner party. You know, when everyone just starts to get to your place and the food’s not quite ready yet but people are eager to drink…I think the potato+prosciutto combo is better than serving Beef Jerky. Why do I sound like Ina Garten right now? I’m much too young to be talking like this and I don’t even like dinner parties..

Luxirare Bento Box

The one in the middle with olives is a Dirty Martini, and the one next to it a Pomegranate martini with Pomegranate seeds stuck inside agar agar like a Damien Hirst Formaldehyde piece. Dirty martinis are my favorite, extra olive juice and extra olives.

In the middle, Kahlua and cream.

Labels for your loved one.

If you’re curious to know how these shots were made, here is the process. You need to get agar agar which is a flavorless jello like liquid (when heated). Right now they are dried up bars. First soak them in hot water for 30 mins and then boil for 10-15, and eventually it will turn into a liquid.

Choose your alcohol of choice, add the heated, liquified agar agar into the shot glass, and pour in the alcohol. The more agar you put in, the stiffer it will be, but in general its best to consume when its soft and liquid like so don’t pour in too much of it.

So let it cool for a while in the fridge.

Flip over your cup to test of it there is still liquid coming out. If it has turned somewhat solid, you’re ready to take the shot out of your mold, and here it is, liquid turning into solid. This is nothing new and its been around in China and Japan for ages now, they use it to mummify their fresh sushi and a bunch of desserts. Japanese people love this jello like stuff; you can find it online or at a Japanese Supermarket. Crazy food chefs like Arzak, Achatz, and Adria use this stuff too. Its real easy. Before you put it in the fridge is when you can other things like fresh fruit so that it floats inside.

Okay so now you’re done. You don’t have to decorate, its nice to just keep it plain too as I’ve done with the other courses. Again, I tried to take a more romantic approach in styling this shoot.

Yogurt Parfaits

I thought of several different flavors for this new parfait;

• Pomegranate Parfait
• Sweet tomato and Basil Parfait
• Carrot and Apple parfait
• Pina colada parfait
• Key lime parfait
• Blueberry + Hypnotic (alcohol) parfait

These are some major ingredients you’ll need; Sodium Alginate and Calcium Chloride.
Sodium Alginate is what turns the liquid into a slightly more gel like texture.
I customized my Granola for this yogurt Parfait according to the flavors. Here I used Rice Crispies morsels for its lighter texture, and rolled oats as well. I wanted to make a super super loose granola..
Major components of granola; a dried fruit component, a nut component, and a chocolate component. Instead of using regular chocolate morsels, I used chocolate coated sunflower seeds.
I love this freeze dried raspberry. It keeps the same form as when its fresh, and its very light and airy as opposed to normal dried fruits which can be very chewy and sticky.

This mixture is for the pina colada Parfait, with almonds, banana chips, coconut flakes, vanilla powder, chocolate coated sunflower seeds and Roll oats + Crispies combo.

A selection of yogurts, the key lime flavor is for the Key Lime Pie yogurt Parfait…Of course you can use whatever selection you prefer.

Granola mixtures for the different flavors…For the green one (key lime parfait) I used to dried kiwi bits and cashews along with crushed Graham cracker bits to add some more “pie-ish” flavor..

Raspberry and Macadamia combo for the pomegranate Parfait.

The last but most important component…The juices that will eventually be turned into Caviar Pearls that burst with gellified liquid when bitten into….
From left to right; Pomegranate juice, Sweetened Tomato juice, Carrot+Apple Juice, Pineapple juice + Rum (Pina Colada parfait), Kiwi Juice for key lime parfait, and Hypnotic for the Blueberry parfait…You can see the juices are directly related to the 6 original flavors..

The juices now end up in the syringes..They have been chemically altered with Sodium Alginates in order to achieve the right texture. The syringes here are not pictured for styling or decorative purposes, it needs to be used to make the caviar into balls as it drips out from the syringe. When it drops out, it falls into the Calcium Chloride bath which hardens the outer layer of the drop as it drips. This process is called “spherification” and has been done for a while now. Here is the best video demonstration I’ve found on the internet with the best recipe. In the beginning, it did not work at all..The liquid would not cooperate once it reached the chloride bath but I tried a different method where I placed the alginate powder into the juice and then boiled it…This worked. I also let it rest for 1 hour before using it because of all the bubbles you create when you mix the powder into the liquid. Figuring out how to make it work after failing so much was hard but once I figured out the right consistency of the juice it was incredibly easy. I can only imagine what it is like to try and invent this process.

I set up the Calcium Chloride bath and then decided to get a picture beneath the water and syringe so I had to place the tripod with the camera facing upward. It was hard to get it to focus clearly because I did not have proper control over the camera but it was a good learning experience.

It should turn into self encased pearls of juice when done properly….

Another droplet shot from under…

After taking the pearls out and draining them in clean water, you sift them out and this is what it should look like..You know its right if it
bursts with liquid when you poke it with a knife.

If it doesn’t burst with liquid then what you have is a caviar ball of hard jelly…which is okay but not the proper taste…If its too hard you’ve left it in the calcium bath too long.

The hypnotic caviar…

If the syringe is taking too long, you can also use a Caviar box dispenser to produce more pearls per second.

The juices are now made into caviar balls.

To serve and assemble; Your granola, caviar, and desired yogurt flavor. This one is the blueberry and hypnotic combo. The granola has nuts, dried blueberries and blue chocolate covered sunflower seeds…

From left to right, blueberry + hypnotic, key lime, pina colada, carrot + apple, sweet tomato with basil, and pomegranate.

My favorite parfait, Sweet tomato and basil..You can see the yogurt is flavored with Basil bits with the Sweet tomato caviar sitting above it.

I can’t quite describe how this tasted, but it was my favorite post I’ve done so far. It tasted really amazing and I realized that Ferran Adria is not some geeky food scientist but a person who really cares about taste. Instead of raw fruit, it was refreshing to taste these caviar bubbles when mixed into the yogurt…Upon first chew it immediately turned into juice. A lot of snazzy looking food may look “beautiful” but sometimes the taste does not live up to its look..This had both. I often like to think of clothing the same way. A garment can look beautiful on the rack, but the challenge is the ability to design something with an incredible fit that not only makes the woman feel beautiful but empowered and confident (something that Elbaz does incredibly well). I often find beautiful clothing to lack the latter component, much like a CDG garment that usually has an ill-fitted feeling on the body.

Another way to serve this dish…

You can serve the pearls alone as a cocktail, or inside a liquid cocktail…You can turn a 5 dollar candle holder (that I bought from Crate and Barrel) into a million dollar cocktail by doing it this way;

Surround the middle portion of the candle holder with crushed ice and mint leaves…

I used a korean Pomegranate wine for this cocktail..Of course you can use whatever you like…

 

Luxirare Pennoni à la Vodka

The canned tomatoes I use are by Coluccio. Their whole tomatoes taste the best I think. In any case, always be sure to look for the D.O.P stamp. That means they were canned fresh from Italy.

So my ingredients are prepped. I used a painter's dish from PEARL PAINT to seperate ingredients. Garlic, salt, pepper, red hot chili peppers, basil, tomatoes, tomato paste, Parmesan cheese and blah blah. I really love making my own sauces because the taste difference is night and day.

Olive oil..extra virgin..unlike me. ha ha ha.

Braseole and garlic sauteeing in Olive oil. Pancetta and sausage can be used in traditional vodka sauces, but I prefer the Braseole.

I've added the ravaged tomatoes, and hot chili flakes. If you add too many tomatoes it will be more like a marinara and less like a creme sauce.

Time for the white stuff. So silky I love the feeling of it pouring out of my hands into the sauce. So pleasurable.

Freshly grated Parmesan.

Now..time for the sauna. I've also added the vodka, the whole bottle which is about 1/2 cup. (The alcohol cooks off through the steam) You can add more; I like the strong flavor of the vodka. If you want to get drunk while you eat pasta I guess you could add even more at the end before the alcohol cooks off. At Luxirare inebriation during lunch hour is a-ok.

Pasta boils in salted water. Undercook the heck out of it, because the pasta will continue to cook in the sauce. This is called carry over cooking. Nothing is worse than Penne without Bite.

Divine. The alcohol has cooked off and its ready to blanket the pasta. But it needs a little herby greeny something.

Ahhh yes, basil.

Luxirare Ideal Cheese Tartine

Girolle goes to work. 360 degree blade. I imagine you can use this for other semi "hard" cheeses. No pun intended.....

Closeup Time. The shaving creates a flower like shape.

I spoon the shaved cheese. Soft and delicate like lace.

Second Part, I wanted to pair a Fig Compote to go with the bread and cheese. Since the cheese has a slight flowery scent, I decided to spice the figs..

Cinnamon, Clove, lemons, ginger rocks, and sugar crystals.

Dried Figs. It's good to score them so that the wine I'm about to pour in soaks into it.


Burn !!!

Bubbly goodness, all the flavors fornicate in a hot wine bath.

Time to setup, the bread I used was a soft butter roll from Big Red Tomato which is a Japanese bread store on St.Marks street.

So I just place the fig compote on top of bread with cheese but I also want to drizzle some more sauce on top.

I make ice shot molds at home so they are always ready for me when its 8 pm. You know how they sell ice popsicle molds? Well they sell shot molds too. My hand looks extremely creepy in this picture but I was trying to pour it at a weird angle. Sorry !

Devil's lubrication. Mixed drinks cause hangovers, this doesn't. Goodnight.

Luxirare Miso Cod

Ingredients snapshot. Miso paste, butter, ginger, honey, korean pear, sake, and soy sauce are used for the Miso Marinade. Ginger Flower and Enokitake Mushrooms (Flammulina velutipes) are side dishes. Truffle oil, soy sauce and butter are the side dish marinades. Of course the
star ingredient is, Black Cod- the fattier cousin of Cod.

Before I mix it, I grate the ginger and pear into the marinade. Pear adds another dimension of sweetness next to honey. Ginger neutralizes fishy stench.

This is the mushroom and ginger flower marinade, truffle oil, butter, and soy sauce. Very simple !

Fish should sit in Marinade for at least 2 hours.

I love these Enokitake mushrooms, they came all stuck together like a family, I kept it that way in the broiler.

Caramelization. I like for the fish to burn a little bit.

Meal snapshot. Soy sauce and shichimi (spicy pepper) are for the rice. Purple pickles, or Shibazuke are usually served for Japanese breakfast, but they also eat it at other mealtimes. I love it with rice, and its PURPLE ! You can tell the mushrooms are still together, but dead. Bamboo leaves are from Takashimaya in Japan.


I love to put soy sauce and shichimi with wasabe sesami seeds on my rice. Soy sauce and rice is just good for some reason.

Hana-Awaka is a very girly sake drink. They call it sparkling sake. Sort of a mixture between champagne and sake with a very flowery scent. I love the taste but if you want to get tipsy it will take you a very long time with these-this drink has a low alcohol percentage.

Party Time.

This was what I served the rice in. This wooden thing is also a sake cup, but what does the pine tree mean ? Well this is made out of pine wood and it diffuses sake with the clean refreshing scent of pine, and it does the same for rice. Japanese people always have the cleverest things.
 

Luxirare Blackberry Mojito (Park Hyatt Bar, Paris)

I love traditional mojitos but I've also had a fantastic blackberry mojito at the Park Hyatt bar in Paris. It isn't your most likely flavor combination (blackberries and lime ??) but it is really really delicious.
Recipe; rum, ravaged mint, whole mint leaves, lime juice+rind, club soda, powdered sugar or brown sugar, black salt, and blackberries

Robiola

The Cabbage is supposed to add a fresh veggie type flavor to the cheese, but I
had yet to experience this subtle flavor.

Nature's imprint always leaves a mark. The ridges are the imprints of the cabbage that is wrapped around the cheese for about 1-2 months to develop the soft and delicate rind.

The best way I can describe the flavor is this; think Brie cheese with the tangy mixture of a Chevre. It was so delicious, especially the buttery rind. As you reached the middle of the cheese it was harder and tangier, and I think this picture shows exactly that.

Health experts say this is the worst kind of cheese for you. The kind where it's runny and soft. The healthiest cheeses are the semi-hard ones. Do I care? No, I'm not about to considering the fact that I'd eat Steak Tartare for breakfast if that was socially acceptable.


Salami exterior. You can tell it's been through alot. The post-effects of using starter cultures such as sodium nitrate or Salt-peter which is also used in giving Pastrami their pinkish color.

Uh, don't even get me started. Distribution of fat to lean meat is pretty obvious.
I will remember these lardons when I'm 10 minutes into the elliptical. HELL! Working
out is by far the most viscious thing ever.

I love using this weirdo melon to balance the unctuous flavor of Salami+Cheese on bread. It tastes like sweet cucumbers and refreshes my palette.

July = Luxirare Purple Corn Tacos

Another snapshot of spices and variety of red pepper grinded. I also included "Sula" which is a Mexican version of sour cream. It tastes more like a combination of sour cream and Mayonnaise. Saltier and creamier. I prefer regular sour cream. Also included here is some Queso Blanco, authentic "white cheese".

Marinade for Chicken. As you can see I prefer the dark thigh meat over breast meat. It is juicier.

Some Alcohol for the chicken.

I wish you could smell this. Hopefully in the future they will have computers that spray aromas as you view pictures. I always wished my TV had an aroma spray for FOODTV.

Yikes. Spicy hot dried peppers for a mole/warm salsa sauce. I can take alot of heat. I don't know about you.

Decomposing.

Purple corn grinding. Oldschool style.

Purple corn powder, I worked hard !

After some warm water, and flour and purple corn maize, this is what you get.

Taco Machine, again oldschool.

Look at the little speckles that didn't get fine enough.

Okay so salsa with jalapeno, onion, cilantro, garlic and all the fixings is great. But I also like reallly simple finely diced tomatoes with onion juice and salt. Really fresh and you taste the actual tomato.

Green tomato, the OTHER salsa. Look at the greenscale !


Instead of guac, I like fresh avocados with fresh cilanto laid down on the taco.

All the fixings, along with some spicy chorizo browned up. Adds a little salty bite.