The eternal question: Vitamix or Blendtec? Behold this chimera of a Vitamix base with a special Blendtec Rebel+ Jar. It’s the best of both worlds. The Blendtec jar is great – so great that Vitamix copied it. It’s short, easy to pour, and easy to clean. However, the controls on the Blendtec Total Blender are … Read more
Spring is rhubarb season. A rhubarb gin fizz with miracle berry is my variation of iNG Restaurant’s rhubarb whiskey sour. It starts sour then turns sweet, thanks to the miracle berry. The gin fizz is a laborious cocktail to make. It requires vigorously shaking a cocktail shaker to build up a good foam. Modernist tools … Read more
The treachery of food at WD-50, where an egg is not an egg. The egg whites are coconut milk infused with cardamom. The yolks are carrot juice and smoked maple syrup. The texture is remarkably similar to a real sunny side up egg. Recipe from Modernist Cuisine. For the egg yolks: For the egg whites: … Read more
Akelare cooks a lobster dish tableside in a coffee vacuum siphon. Here’s the recipe as listed in the Akelare book. My notes and substitutions are in parentheses. Ingredients: Special Equipment: Start by preparing the lobster stock. Humanely kill the lobster by slicing through the brain lengthwise. Dip the lobster into boiling water for 15 seconds … Read more
Chef David Chang made Momofuku Ko’s Puffed Egg in episode 9 of The Mind of a Chef, but the show did not provide a complete recipe. After some research and experimentation, here’s the recipe I compiled for my adaptation: The bacon dashi recipe is from the Momofuku book. You’ll need: For the puffed egg you’ll … Read more
Adapting Mugaritz’s edible soap bar via Modernist Cuisine. A literal palate cleanser! Ingredients: Special Equipment Modernist cuisine is an expensive hobby! The cost of the ingredients and equipment for this single dish is as much as a dinner at a Michelin star restaurant. I substituted orange blossom honey for wildflower honey because orange blossom honey … Read more
Here’s my attempt to recreate The Aviary‘s gin and tonic with encapsulated cucumber juice. The cucumber juice boba spheres are liquid on the inside and burst in the mouth. The drink is shown in the video below. Since the relative quantities of the ingredients weren’t mentioned in the video, I used the recipes for the … Read more
A “chocolate smore bomb with pop rocks shrapnel” is my combination of moto restaurant’s smore bomb and Modernist Cuisine’s exploding chocolate. It’s a liquid graham cracker contained within a chocolate shell, covered in pop rocks, and finished with a “marshmallow” fuse. Light the fuse, wait for it to completely burn down to the chocolate, and … Read more
I won dinner for two at moto restaurant and guest chef for a day at iNG restaurant in Chicago as part of the Scorcese Menu contest. There are many reasons why you should dine at iNG. The cuisine is delightfully imaginative. Flavor tripping with the miracle berry is sui generis. The service is excellent. And as … Read more
Fruit glue is an interesting technique that melds different fruits together using low methoxyl pectin and calcium. Fruits are infused with a calcium solution, brushed with a pectin solution, and then compressed together in a vacuum sealer. Low methoxyl pectin gels in the presence of calcium ions, gluing the fruit together. Melons used in today’s … Read more