Category Archives: posts by j

n/naka anniversary dinner #2

(please forgive the abhorrent focus issues – again. when will i learn?)

  • Conch, potato puree, dashi foam, yuzu fraiche, caviar
  • Whitefish ceviche: cilantro, tomato, cucumber, avocado, chip; egg tofu w/ crab (dashi/bonito broth); eggplant shishito in sweet miso sauce; Santa Barbara rockfish with lemon aioli and basil (?) puree; pickled cucumber with clear gel and sea anemone? (M loved the rockfish; then the eggplant)
  • Scallop, yuzu curd, avocado curd, nasturtium, radish (M’s favorite of the night and she doesn’t even like scallop) (nutty soy sauce)
  • Tomato soup, lobster cake, fennel (smoky; dashi or smoked tomato?)
  • Halibut, octopus, maguro, kanpachi, toro (salty, yeasty soy sauce)
  • Foie gras, shiitake, unagi(?) eel, balsamic vinaigrette soy glaze, strawberry (the foie gras was overcooked; the disaster of the evening)
  • Mussels, halibut (undersalted), basil oil, onion, bell pepper (a fusion experiment? We actually consider that she isn’t back there and has hired an executive chef…)
  • Shizakana: a different roe this time
  • Steak, watercress, carrot, beet chip, cauliflower, maitake mushroom, kabocha puree
  • Kumamoto oyster in ponzu with yuzu sake
  • Snapper (ponzu), black cod
  • Fried tofu skin, onion miso
  • Aji w/ onion (no photo!), big eye tuna
  • Amaebi, uni (both from Santa Barbara)
  • Blue crab hand roll (throwback to Azami days)
  • Watermelon granita and matcha
  • Cannoli, pistachio ice cream, matcha sauce, plum (ume) sauce, plum slices
  • Hojicha (naturally decaf)
  • Special: Orange pudding for our anniversary
  • Last: dark chocolate bonbon/truffle

pizza!!!

NOTE: our pizzas only took 3 minutes to bake, then we topped with chiffonaded spinach and basil and cooked for another 1 minute

INGREDIENTS
3 1/2 cups / 800 grams lukewarm water (100F or below)
1 tablespoon / 10 grams granulated yeast
1-1 1⁄2 tablespoons / 17-25 gramskosher salt
7 1⁄2 cups / 1080 grams unbleached all-purpose flour
~~~~~
85 grams tomato
85 grams fresh mozzarella cut into 1/2″ chunks
6 fresh basil leaves

DIRECTIONS
(PULLED THIS OFF THE INTERNET; THIS NEEDS TO BE MODIFIED)
Combine warm water (about 100F), olive oil, yeast and salt in a 5-quart bowl; preferably, in a lidded (not airtight) plastic container or food-grade bucket.
Measure the flour using a “swoop and sweep” method. Reach into the flour bin with your measuring cup, scooping up a full measure all at once, and sweeping it level with a knife.
Mix until all of the flour is incorpORated (kneading is not necessary) using a wooden spoon or a food processor with a dough attachment.
Cover with a non-airtight lid.
Allow to rise at room temperature for 2 hours.
DO NOT PUNCH DOWN! You want to retain as much gas in the dough as possible. A reduction in gas will make your pizzas and flatbreads dense.
Refrigerate and use over the next 14 days. Refigerate at least 3 hours before using.

ON PIZZA DAY

Prepare and measure toppings in advance.
30 minutes before you’re ready to bake, place a pizza stone at the bottom third of the oven and preheat it at your oven’s highest temperature.
Dust a pizza peel (or a large cutting board/flat cookie sheet) with enough flour or cornmeal to easily transfer the pizza over to the hot stone.
Pull up and cut off a 1/2 pound (orange-size) piece of dough.
Using a little flour (enough so it won’t stick to your fingers), stretch and shape the dough into a ball.
Sprinkle your work area with a little flour. Using your hands or a rolling pin, roll out and stretch the dough until it is approximately 1/8″ thick and 12″ wide.
Place the finished dough onto the prepared, floured pizza peel and add the toppings of your choice.
Carefully slide the pizza onto the hot stone (if it isn’t sliding, you will need to sprinkle more flour or cornmeal between the pizza and the pizza peel, until it moves.
Check for doneness after 8-10 minutes – it may take a few minutes longer. Turn the pizza around if the one side is browning faster than the other.
Allow to cool slightly on a wire rack.

espresso 101 foam

this morning, i researched why my steam wand might be screaching so much and found someone who said that to create foam keep the wand at or just below the surface. this is contrary to a previous resource that said submerge the wand to get microfoam. i pulled 2 lattes today and all i did was keep the wand at or above the milk surface. turns out, i got lots of foam both times. now, is this *excellent* foam? i don’t know. but it’s *significant* foam, for sure. and there was virtually no screaching (granted, i also expelled water/steam before actually steaming milk (like i have been doing to prevent screaching).

note, i also only heated the milk to 150 degrees F instead of 160, and i kept it swirling constantly.

Black beans with chorizo

Also known as Breville Fast Slow Pro recipe #2

Pantry time: Using the chorizo in the freezer and Kalinga Unoy rice, we used the Breville a second time. Again, the end result was very satisfying. And I forgot just how tasty the Kalinga Unoy rice is.
Quick and Easy Pressure Cooker Black Beans With Chorizo Recipe

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 ounces Spanish-style chorizo, split in half lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch half moons (see note above)
1 pound dried black beans
1 whole onion, split in half
6 whole garlic cloves
1 orange, split in half
2 bay leaves
2 quarts homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
Chopped fresh cilantro, for serving

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oil in pressure cooker until shimmering. Add chorizo and cook, stirring, until it releases its fat and starts to crisp, about 2 minutes. Add beans, onion, garlic cloves, orange, bay leaves, chicken stock, and 2 teaspoons salt. Cover and cook at high pressure for 40 minutes.

2. For extra-tender and creamy beans, allow pressure to release naturally. For firmer beans, use quick-release valve on an electric pressure cooker, or run a stovetop pressure cooker under cold running water until pressure dissipates. Remove lid and discard onion, orange, and bay leaves. Season to taste with salt and serve. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro at the table.

espresso 101

here are some things i’ve learned about my rancilio rocky and silvia (and weight scale and tamping). i’ve been using the spouted portafilter at about 16 grams on the finest grind. i have been pulling from about 15 seconds to 20 seconds (occasionally, 25 seconds) trying to achieve 2-3 oz of espresso.

  • to prevent screaching, surround the wand with a rag and steam until the light comes back on or water stops running through the wand
  • do this again just before you remove the pitcher from the freezer for about 3 seconds until steam escapes evenly
  • assuming that i get all the beans out of the hopper and i use a chopstick to clean out all of the grounds from the tunnel between the hopper and the ground coffee container…(this also requires that after the initial grind is completed and the tunnel is cleared, turn the grinder to a more coarse setting and turn it on to “spit” out more grounds)…then…
  • if i use 16 grams + 1 bean, i have leftover grounds; for the next cup, i use 15 grams + about 3-4 beans. this is getting closer to using all of the grounds.
  • i round the grounds out along the edge and i tamp probably more than 30 lbs. then i tap to settle the grounds and tamp again and spin the tamper.
  • there’s a small scratch on the collar of the grouphead; the portafilter inserts just to the right of that scratch mark

Breville Fast Slow Pro Recipe #1

Excitedly, we prepared our Ribollita toscana for tonight’s dinner. It. Was. Awesome. The beans were creamy, the savoy cabbage smelled great and the stems and kale still had some chew. It didn’t need the parmesan but the cheese was a nice savory treat. None of the veggies were mushy. And each serving is only about 215 calories. I want to pressure cook *everything* now.

1 onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
1¼ cups dried borlotti or cannellini beans, soaked and drained (see note)
100g tinned tomatoes
1 potato, diced
250g Tuscan cabbage, cut into thin strips
250g savoy cabbage, cut into thin strips
250g silverbeet, white stalk discarded and leaves cut into thin strips
150g stale bread without crusts, cut into large chunks
50g good quality parmesan, grated

Select SAUTÉ/SEAR function and set the timer for 10 minutes. Add 2½ tablespoons olive oil, onion, celery and carrot. Press START and sauté for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the beans, tomato, potato, 4 cups of water and 4 large pinches of salt. Select PRESSURE COOK and Medium pressure. Set timer for 15 minutes. Place lid on cooker and close the valve. Press START.

Once cooking time is complete open the valve to release all the steam before opening. Add the Tuscan and savoy cabbages and the silverbeet. Select PRESSURE COOK and High pressure. Set timer for 15 minutes. Place lid on cooker and close the valve. Press START.

Once cooking time is complete open the valve to release all the steam before opening the lid. Season to taste. Add the bread and stir through. Transfer to a large bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight to allow flavours to develop.

To serve, reheat and serve topped with grated parmesan cheese and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Note The dried beans should be soaked for a minimum of 8 hours in the fridge with at least three times the volume of water.

espresso again


Rancilio says 14g yields 3oz in 15-20 seconds. I returned to the spouted portafilter and tried 16g and a yield of 2-3oz in 15 seconds. I jacked the stopwatch of the first one but achieved zero channeling as far as I can see (photo above). I pulled 3oz. My second shot also resulted in zero channeling, was on the upper end of 16g (there was some water leakage due to being too full), and 2oz including crema. This was the better shot. As for my milk, there is little screaching but I’m still not achieving microfoam. 

Here’s my third try today with decaf:


17g in the portafilter; scooped out to a reading of 16g. ~2oz in 15 seconds. There was some channeling on the right hand side. Espresso tastes better but not quite there. 

espresso


18g of costa rica sonia vega newly opened after roasting on 1 july — 17g + 1 bean to make it 18g. pulled all the grounds out of the rocky grinder; weight of ground coffee in naked portafilter = 18g. ~18 sec brew/extraction. i’ve tasted worse. i did manage to keep the milk from screaching but it wasn’t super foamy.