This is a take on my typical cheese sauce, and one that I laid out in a comment on one of the posts, but it's so good it deserves it's own entry. This is one of those things that's so easy and yet so good that you'll find yourself thinking "I'm a freaking wizard!". Mac and cheese is an obvious usage, but it's good on baked potatoes, eggs, hash browns, or wherever else you want cheesy goodness. Just remember that the final sauce is only as good as the cheese you start with.
2 1/2 C whole milk
22 g sodium citrate*
2 small onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2
T butter or bacon grease
2
T dijon mustard, or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
8 oz smoked cheddar cheese, grated
Cayenne to taste
Saute the onion and garlic in the butter/grease
until translucent. Add the milk and sodium citrate and bring to a simmer. Add
the cheese, a handful at a time, allowing it to melt in while stirring
frequently. Blend the cheese sauce either in a blender or with an
immersion blender. Add the mustard, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Adjust
seasoning as necessary.
*Note: a lot of the cheddar you'll find out there is actually labeled as "cheese product". Check the label; if it contains sodium phosphate you probably don't need the sodium citrate (they both emulsify the sauce and keep the fats and liquids from separating).
Showing posts with label molecular gastronomy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label molecular gastronomy. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Arugula, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Salad with Duck Confit
A rich salad, but one that takes some work because you'll have to make the duck confit (recipe to follow) yourself if you want to get the full richness of the dressing.
For the salad:
1 bunch arugula
1/2 head of frisee
1 1/2 C toasted walnuts, chopped
4 legs of duck confit
2 C dried cranberries or dried cherries
1 1/2 C crumbled blue cheese
Dressing:
2/3 C olive oil
2 T red wine vinegar
2 T sherry vinegar
1 1/2 T Dijon mustard
2 T shallot, chopped
2-3 T of confit fat*
3 T of confit jelly*
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 t liquid lecithin (optional, but it emulsifies the dressing well)
Preheat your oven to 425 F, then warm up the duck legs for ~12 minutes. Cool slightly, then separate the skin before shredding the duck. Crisp up the skin in a skillet as you would bacon.
Microwave the confit fat and jelly to liquify, then combine with the other dressing ingredients in a blender, and pulse to combine. Check for seasoning; if you omit the confit fat and jelly you'll probably need to add a fair amount of salt. Adding lecithin ensures that your dressing doesn't break as easily and makes it thicker and creamier; liquid lecithin can be found relatively cheaply in most health food stores.
Shred the arugula and frisee, then add the walnuts, blue cheese, and cranberries; top the salad with crumbles of crispy duck skin.
*Note: these are things that you can only get by making the confit yourself; after curing I confit my duck legs in a mixture of bacon grease and either lard or duck fat. When you get done with the confit you can separate out the fat from the liquid that comes out of the meat while being cooked. The liquid that comes out develops a LOT of flavor and gets a lot of gelatin from long slow cooking (it will set up like jello in the fridge making it easy to separate the fat and liquid). Both the fat and the jelly bring a lot of flavor and salt, so if you don't have these your dressing will be flatter and need more seasoning; it also won't have the same body, even with the lecithin.
For the salad:
1 bunch arugula
1/2 head of frisee
1 1/2 C toasted walnuts, chopped
4 legs of duck confit
2 C dried cranberries or dried cherries
1 1/2 C crumbled blue cheese
Dressing:
2/3 C olive oil
2 T red wine vinegar
2 T sherry vinegar
1 1/2 T Dijon mustard
2 T shallot, chopped
2-3 T of confit fat*
3 T of confit jelly*
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 t liquid lecithin (optional, but it emulsifies the dressing well)
Preheat your oven to 425 F, then warm up the duck legs for ~12 minutes. Cool slightly, then separate the skin before shredding the duck. Crisp up the skin in a skillet as you would bacon.
Microwave the confit fat and jelly to liquify, then combine with the other dressing ingredients in a blender, and pulse to combine. Check for seasoning; if you omit the confit fat and jelly you'll probably need to add a fair amount of salt. Adding lecithin ensures that your dressing doesn't break as easily and makes it thicker and creamier; liquid lecithin can be found relatively cheaply in most health food stores.
Shred the arugula and frisee, then add the walnuts, blue cheese, and cranberries; top the salad with crumbles of crispy duck skin.
*Note: these are things that you can only get by making the confit yourself; after curing I confit my duck legs in a mixture of bacon grease and either lard or duck fat. When you get done with the confit you can separate out the fat from the liquid that comes out of the meat while being cooked. The liquid that comes out develops a LOT of flavor and gets a lot of gelatin from long slow cooking (it will set up like jello in the fridge making it easy to separate the fat and liquid). Both the fat and the jelly bring a lot of flavor and salt, so if you don't have these your dressing will be flatter and need more seasoning; it also won't have the same body, even with the lecithin.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Bacon Mac and Cheese
Yet another mac and cheese post, this one is more of a classic mac and cheese with a little bacon thrown in; you could leave out the bacon, but bacon rocks.
1 1/4 C whole milk
1/2 lb macaroni or shells
3-4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
11 g sodium citrate
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 T butter (or use the fat from the bacon)
1 T dijon mustard, or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
Cook the pasta according to package directions until just shy of al dente. While that is cooking saute the onion and garlic in the butter until translucent. Add the milk and sodium and bring to a simmer. Add the cheese, a handful at a time, allowing it to melt in while stirring frequently. Blend the cheese sauce either in a blender or with an immersion blender. Add the mustard, bacon, salt, and pepper. Adjust seasoning and add the pasta to the sauce. Cook while stirring just until the pasta has reached al dente.
1 1/4 C whole milk
1/2 lb macaroni or shells
3-4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
11 g sodium citrate
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 T butter (or use the fat from the bacon)
1 T dijon mustard, or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
Cook the pasta according to package directions until just shy of al dente. While that is cooking saute the onion and garlic in the butter until translucent. Add the milk and sodium and bring to a simmer. Add the cheese, a handful at a time, allowing it to melt in while stirring frequently. Blend the cheese sauce either in a blender or with an immersion blender. Add the mustard, bacon, salt, and pepper. Adjust seasoning and add the pasta to the sauce. Cook while stirring just until the pasta has reached al dente.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Chipotle and Chorizo Mac and Cheese
Another take on mac and cheese using sodium citrate to make a perfectly smooth cheese sauce. This one mixes a little spice and smokiness in with the rich and creamy cheese sauce. This makes and excellent side dish, or you could just fill a bowl and eat it for a meal. If you left out the chorizo and pasta this would also make an excellent sauce for burritos.
11 g sodium citrate
8 oz hot pepper cheddar (or white cheddar), shredded
3 chipotles in adobo sauce, minced
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 C half and half
2 T butter
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 t smoked paprika
1/4 t mustard powder
1/4 lb Mexican chorizo, browned
2 C dry macaroni, cooked according to package directions
Melt the butter and saute the onions and garlic until just starting to brown. Add the half and half, sodium citrate, chipotles, paprika, and mustard. Bring to a simmer and add the cheese a handful at a time; once all the cheese has been incorporated mix with an immersion blender. Add the chorizo and adjust seasoning as needed. Mix in the pasta and serve.
11 g sodium citrate
8 oz hot pepper cheddar (or white cheddar), shredded
3 chipotles in adobo sauce, minced
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 C half and half
2 T butter
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 t smoked paprika
1/4 t mustard powder
1/4 lb Mexican chorizo, browned
2 C dry macaroni, cooked according to package directions
Melt the butter and saute the onions and garlic until just starting to brown. Add the half and half, sodium citrate, chipotles, paprika, and mustard. Bring to a simmer and add the cheese a handful at a time; once all the cheese has been incorporated mix with an immersion blender. Add the chorizo and adjust seasoning as needed. Mix in the pasta and serve.
Friday, February 7, 2014
Vegan Mayonnaise
No, I haven't radically altered my dietary preferences, I still love roast beast, but I got to thinking that by playing around with lecithin I could pull the eggs out of mayonnaise. That not only makes it vegan, but keeps it from going bad, unlike most homemade mayonnaise; this stuff should keep indefinitely in the fridge, and it may not need refrigeration since none of the ingredients has to be refrigerated (that's an experiment in progress...). At the least you won't have to worry about keeping it on ice for a picnic.
4 T vinegar (some of this may be replaced with water if you don't like it as tangy)
1 T dijon mustard
1 t liquid lecithin
1 C oil
salt to taste
Mix together the vinegar, mustard, and lecithin in a food processor (or in a bowl with a whisk, but you're gonna get a workout if you got the whisk method), then slowly drizzle in the oil while the food processor runs (or while you whisk until you think your arm is going to fall off).
Note: I don't call out what type of vinegar or oil to use, but this is just a place to get creative. My first batch was 50/50 red wine vinegar and sherry vinegar, with 1/4 C of walnut oil and 3/4 C vegetable oil. Play around with it, and you could also use citrus juice in place of vinegar; I may try blood orange and lemon juice mixed with avocado oil for my next effort.
4 T vinegar (some of this may be replaced with water if you don't like it as tangy)
1 T dijon mustard
1 t liquid lecithin
1 C oil
salt to taste
Mix together the vinegar, mustard, and lecithin in a food processor (or in a bowl with a whisk, but you're gonna get a workout if you got the whisk method), then slowly drizzle in the oil while the food processor runs (or while you whisk until you think your arm is going to fall off).
Note: I don't call out what type of vinegar or oil to use, but this is just a place to get creative. My first batch was 50/50 red wine vinegar and sherry vinegar, with 1/4 C of walnut oil and 3/4 C vegetable oil. Play around with it, and you could also use citrus juice in place of vinegar; I may try blood orange and lemon juice mixed with avocado oil for my next effort.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Smoked Gouda and Chorizo Mac and Cheese
This is my riff on the mac and cheese from Modernist Cuisine at Home, and one of my first forays into what is often called molecular gastronomy. You'll probably have to get the sodium citrate online, but using it means this is actually less work than the typical roux based version while giving a more pronounced cheese flavor. What the sodium citrate is doing here is preventing the protein in the cheese from aggregating, so it keeps the cheese sauce from breaking into fat and clumps of protein. It also helps emulsify the milk with the cheese. The basic idea can be used with other flavors, just change the type of cheese and change out the chorizo for some other flavoring.
1 1/8 C skim milk
11 g sodium citrate
1/4 lb smoked gouda, grated
1/4 lb white cheddar
1 inch piece of Spanish chorizo, in 1/8" cube, or crisped bacon
2 C (1/2 lb) dried pasta
Over medium low heat cook the chorizo to render the fat and crisp it up, remove from heat.
Cook pasta in salted water until al dente, drain and reserve.
Combine the milk with the sodium citrate and bring to a bare simmer. Add the smoked gouda a handful at a time and whisk in or use an immersion blender. Add in the reserved chorizo and the rendered fat, whisk to combine then adjust seasoning; you may also want to whisk in a little water if the cheese sauce is too thick.
Combine the cheese sauce and the pasta and serve.
1 1/8 C skim milk
11 g sodium citrate
1/4 lb smoked gouda, grated
1/4 lb white cheddar
1 inch piece of Spanish chorizo, in 1/8" cube, or crisped bacon
2 C (1/2 lb) dried pasta
Over medium low heat cook the chorizo to render the fat and crisp it up, remove from heat.
Cook pasta in salted water until al dente, drain and reserve.
Combine the milk with the sodium citrate and bring to a bare simmer. Add the smoked gouda a handful at a time and whisk in or use an immersion blender. Add in the reserved chorizo and the rendered fat, whisk to combine then adjust seasoning; you may also want to whisk in a little water if the cheese sauce is too thick.
Combine the cheese sauce and the pasta and serve.
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