Been shooting lots of video this past week for our Stella Bread Series that will supplement some of our upcoming audio lectures. This is a 70% hydration boule with about 10% whole wheat and leavened with a sourdough starter. The video turned out great, the bread was AWESOME, but first, we need to get through two more audio lectures to lay a nice foundation. Sorry to be such a tease!

Hard at work creating new videos for your educational enjoyment!

Jet Talmadge, Stella Sous Chef, with his patent pending pasta circle.

photos by Holly A. Heyser - www.heyserphoto.com

As a young cook I find myself charting growth and progress through milestones; sometimes you don't know their impact for months or years, other times it's immediately apparent. Last week's event with author/forager, "Hero" Hank Shaw, was a lot of both. His book, Hunt-Gather-Cook: Finding The Forgotten Feast is an amazing piece of work, released at a perfect time in my career. 

I'm a California boy, born and raised. As a chef, I'm spoiled rotten by our abundant farms and produce. While everyone else has been jumping on the "buy local bandwagon," Californians have the luxury of saying "yeah, so what?" We take it for granted that so much is farmed, raised, and produced throughout this state.

When Hank was preparing to release his book (that was based on his blog which I avidly follow), I reached out and did everything I could to bribe this two-time James Beard nominee to come up and do an event with us.  Hank threw down a challenge, one that would cause me to have nightmares and anguish unlike any other menu; make a meal that can only be produced in this time and place - Hyper local, hyper seasonal.

After pouring through his book (which inspired me to buy about five more guide books), I was astonished to find what an amazing array of edible plants we have in the Sierra Nevada mountains, Truckee, and the Tahoe Basin. Driving down the road I would find myself staring at wild flowers, wondering what it was, contemplating its taste and use. We all know the dangers of texting and driving, but after more people read Hank's book, we may need a few "PSAs" on foraging while driving.


Hank Shaw leading an educational hike that focused on local Sierra flora
photos by Holly A. Heyser - www.heyserphoto.com

I first met Hank in person the night before our event. I had just finished dinner service when I happened to spot a couple in our back parking lot closely studying all the wild vegetation that surrounds it. Hank was with his girlfriend, Holly, and they proceeded to point out an amazing array of wild flowers and greens that we had growing on the property including lamb's quarter, wild salsify, and yarrow.

We hit it off immediately, over a couple tumblers of whisky, and later a slight over-indulgence of wine. Hank prefers Jameson, while Holly drinks Jack-on-the-rocks. Needless to say, I liked them both very much. The conversation quickly turned to food, foraging, and the following day's activities including a dinner inspired by Hank's book. The initial nerves were eventually calmed by a few drinks, good conversation, and an unmistakable omen sent directly from the food gods. 

While the three of us were sitting in Stella after hours, sipping wine and discussing the following night's menu, in through the back door walks a big black bear. The bear proceeds to sniff my stock pot, mosey around for a second and then knock over my sourdough starter (prick!). After all that, he didn't even have the common courtesy to pose for a picture as I frantically tried to pull my phone from my pocket. Holly does a much better job of telling the story then I do, so check out her post if you want more details. Needless to say, it was a poetic start to an epic event.


(right) Stella manager Roger Slavin shaking an elderflower cocktail, (middle) Red and Rose from Avec Wine talking food with Hank, (left) Hank Shaw signing books and talkin' shop - photos by Holly A. Heyser - www.heyserphoto.com

The following day, Hank led a late morning hike on Sagehen Creek Trail teaching attendees how to identify Blue Camas from Death Camas, Sierra Yampa, Sweet Cicely, and Coyote Mint just to name a few. It was apparent upon their return, that the hikers had been bitten with the same "foraging bug" I had contracted a few weeks earlier. One thing we all have in common is that we eat on a daily basis; some just for sustenance, others for pleasure, and a few to experience it as an art. Once your eyes are open to this "edible world" around you, as Hank states in the opening line of his book, "there really is no turning back".

I think the common thread that we can all appreciate from Hank is his absolute passion for what it is he does. It's something you can't fake; either you have it or you don't. When he talks to you about foraging, hunting, fishing, his eyes light up with unadulterated delight, giving you the courage and desire to explore in more depth this "edible world."


crispy trout cake, spicy remoulade, shaved lamb's sorrel, fir tips
photos by Holly A. Heyser - www.heyserphoto.com

Later that evening, attendees sat down to a tasting menu that was inspired by Hank's book and the local plants of the greater Tahoe region. Since trout can be found all around us in the area's lakes and streams, it seemed appropriate to lead with this fish. That, and the fact that it was my only option if I was going to take "Hank's Challenge" seriously. On most tasting menus, it's almost a given that you start with a fish course, or at least serve one early on in the tasting. Since "the usual suspects" are, at best, fished from an ocean about 200 miles from Stella, trout was the only fish really appropriate for this dinner.

The trout cake was pretty classic if not damn tasty. It was topped with a spicy remoulade and garnished with a chiffonade of lamb's sorrel for a lemony bite and few spruce tips. The spruce tips were Hank's idea, and a brilliant one at that.


rabbit roulade stuffed with heirloom baby carrots, baby radish, carrot "caviar", yampa flowers and rabbit jus
paired with 2009 David Girard Viognier-Roussanne - courtesy of Avec Wines
photos by Holly A. Heyser - www.heyserphoto.com

The rabbit roulade was both mine and Hank's favorite dish of the night. For me, it was the distilled essence of my style with new influences drawn from Hank's book. Rabbits run wild all over Truckee; it's not uncommon to see them outside on my back patio, munching on all kinds of wild greens, looking simultaneously adorable and delicious as only rabbits can.

The funny thing is, it was impossible to source local California rabbit through my purveyors. My only option through traditional means was meat imported from China. Yes, that's right, CHINA! That sort of defeats the whole purpose of this dinner, now doesn't it?

Through extensive research I was able to find rabbit produced by Devil's Gulch Ranch in Marin County, and they were willing to ship direct. This rabbit was more then three times the price of the imported rabbit,  but the quality was absolutely amazing.

When removing the rabbit loin during the fabrication process, I was careful to leave the belly portion attached. This later allowed me to inlay heirloom baby carrots and blanched spinach along the loin and then wrap the belly around the filling, making a roulade. The left over rabbit carcasses were roasted and turned into a stock that was then reduced down to about one and a half quarts total before half a peach was added right at the end to give off a summery fragrance.

The plate was garnished with a baby French radish pulled from Stella garden that afternoon, yampa flowers and carrot caviar--carrot juice that was sweetened with a mirepoix simple syrup and then gelled into "caviar" using basic ionic spherification. I originally wanted to use yampa root in this preparation, which was prized by our local Native American population, but it is better latter in the summer and into fall, after the flowers have turned to seed. The flowers however have a subtle, floral aroma and the flavor of a mild parsnip with a slight back hint of celery; very appropriate for a rabbit dish.


madrone-brined duck breast, duck sugo ravioli, dehydrated brown butter, sage flowers, spiced duck reduction
paired with 2009 David Girard Grenache - courtesy of Avec Wines
photos by Holly A. Heyser - www.heyserphoto.com

This dish contained my new favorite ingredient; an ingredient that I had never even heard of until Hank's book: madrone bark. Madrone only grows in very select regions, one of which is the lower elevations of the northern Sierra Nevada mountain range. It most closely resembles a tall Manzanita bush and has red bark that bursts off the trunk during the mid-to-late summer months. The bark is most commonly made into teas with a wonderful aroma that's reminiscent of grandma's house after a Christmas Eve bake-a-thon.

Spurred by an idea in Hank's book, I brined the duck breast in the Madrone tea overnight and it turned out great. If I had to take only one new ingredient away from this dinner, it would definitely be the Madrone bark. You'll be seeing this unique ingredient worked onto the Stella dinner menu in the near future.

Also in his book, Hank has a great recipe for duck sugo, a meaty Italian sauce that traditionally consists of meat that is slowly simmered or braised in a tomato-based sauce. A portion of the meat is shredded, pulverized, and added back into the original braising liquid which acts as a thickening agent.

The moment I read this recipe, I was immediately inspired to turn it into a ravioli filling. The overall dish was simple; the duck legs and offal make sugo, which is then stuffed inside the ravioli and the sous vide duck breast is served on top. Hank made the suggestion of brown butter and sage, a classic flavor combination that is often served with raviolis. We ended up dehydrating the brown butter using tapioca maltodextrin to control its flavor release and it was serendipitous that the sage plants in our garden had just gone to flower, providing an eye appealing and fragrant garnish.


roasted venison rack, wild chanterelles, malabar spinach, currant demi glace
paired with 2007 Skinner Syrah - courtesy of Avec Wines
photos by Holly A. Heyser - www.heyserphoto.com

Venison is another animal living all over our area, but it was a battle for us to purchase anything locally- raised for the dinner. In fact, it was a battle that I ended up losing. When I Googled "California Venision Farm," the first five pages of results were all related to dog food; hardly the level of respect such a beautiful animal should receive.

Finally on page six, I not only found a venison farm in California, but in Grass Valley of all places. (A small town about 50 miles west of Truckee in the Sierra Nevada foothills.) I quickly called the number provided, only to reach a disheartened rancher that had sold off his heard the previous summer because demand for his premium meat had dropped off in the struggling economy. In the end, I decided to stay true to the overall "theme" of the dinner and was forced to import my venison from New Zealand.

I've used New Zealand venison before and the quality is always solid and reliable. But I do find it slightly ironic that even though things like rabbit, venison, and trout are our area's birthright, it's more "local" for a Tahoe restaurant to serve chicken, beef, and pork.

The venison rack was sauced with a currant demi glace (the currants being from our pastry chef's garden) and the flower blossoms of wild onions. The wild onion flowers have a crunchy texture and a flavor that closely resembles chives.


macerated blackberry tart, prickly pear sorbet, bourbon-blackberry coulis, pine nut brittle
paired with 2010 Noceto Frivolo Moscato Bianco - courtesy of Avec Wines
photos by Holly A. Heyser - www.heyserphoto.com

We finished the dinner with a simple blackberry tart topped with prickly pear sorbet and pine nut brittle. Blackberries grow wild all throughout the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada range, with the pine nuts being found as close as your backdoor if you're a Tahoe resident. Prickly pear is a Great Basin plant that grows in the arid, high deserts on the east side of the Sierra Nevada range. If you're interested in playing around with some prickly pear, there's a great little tutorial on how to prepare it in Hank's book. Do remember though, that it is a cactus and should be handled with care.


(left) ants busy at work on a blue camas seed pod, (middle) Hank digging a blue camas bulb, (left) me with a blue camas bulb that snapped my brand new hand shovel while attempting to dig
photos by Holly A. Heyser - www.heyserphoto.com

The following morning, Hank, myself, and Holly met up to see if we couldn't track down a nice large field of Blue Camas. We found a beautiful, secluded meadow on the way to Sierraville that had a few good size patches of Camas and a plethora of Sierra Yampa. Hank wrote a great post on the blue camas, which I highly recommend.

Thanks to Hank and Holly for helping us put on such a great event!  We're already hard at work planing for the next time they're able to come to town.

Wine dinners are always so much fun; an intimate environment where people can interact with the wine maker and share their passion for everything food and wine related. On Friday, June 17th, we hosted special guest, Ray Coursen, owner of Elyse Wines. While their home base is in Yountville, Ray sources grapes from different regions all over Northern California, including the Naggier Vineyard, which is located in the Sierra foothill’s town of Grass Valley.



When I visited Ray in Yountville and tasted through his wines, we discussed what kind of foods we craved with every new sip. With their complex finishes and sometimes unorthodox techniques, Ray's wines inspired a unique menu.

ahi-strawberry "nigiri"
Elyse 2010 Rosé

This course was originally supposed to be an amuse bouche of foie torchon with roasted apriums. Yet, as is my nature, I can't leave good enough alone and I've been retooling my torchon recipe using a couple different techniques. This time around, it didn't turn out how I wanted. Not to mention, because of our late start to Summer, apriums weren't yet available. But it all worked out for the best.



Ray generously donated a case of his 2010 Rosé. It has a beautiful, crisp mouth feel with a clean and refreshing flavor structure, especially when served chilled on a blistering summer day. There was a slight hint of strawberry and the tingling of the acid on my palate gave me the slightest perception of effervescent carbonation, even though there was none present in the wine.



I had just received some beautiful A+1 ahi from my fish guru, Domi. As you can see in the picture, the ahi is a dark, rich red; not that flaccid pink color you see in a lot of low-end sushi cases. That pink color, by the way, is set by smoking lower grades of ahi with carbon monoxide.



We butchered the Ahi into "saku" and then cut nigiri-style slices. We then trimmed up some strawberry halves to make a platform for the ahi, much like a mound of rice. Since pickled ginger was a little too harsh for this presentation, (it would have blown away the delicacy of the Rosé), we opted instead to serve a slightly pickled strip of cucumber as a "palate cleanser."



The whole thing was sauced with a little bit of our home made citrus teriyaki and a slight sprinkling of sumac to enhance some of the slight citrus notes I picked up in the Rosé. It was garnished with a little piece of fizzy, which will fizz and sparkle in your mouth, a beautiful sensation when followed by a sip of Rosé.



Ahi and strawberries are always a great combination, especially when strawberries are at their peek. It was also Ray's favorite course of the night. At the end of the dinner he commented, "Everything was great, but the ahi with the strawberries just blew my mind!"



hamachi belly sashimi, prosciutto di parma, dehydrated roasted sesame oil, melon salad
2008 L'Ingénue, Naggier Vineyard

Oh hamachi belly, my arch nemesis for this menu. I've served hamachi belly many different ways, but when it came to this menu, I just kept over thinking it. I had about three iterations of this dish, including two failed components that I tried to experiment with the day before the wine dinner. In fact, I spent the Thursday before futilely testing a new concept that would ultimately end up in the trash.



The day of the wine dinner, I took a deep breath and realized I was forcing it. I was trying to make this hamachi dish something that it wasn't, and quite frankly, it was fighting back. Hamachi belly is such a beautiful, succulent piece of fish - my job was to leave it alone and let it do its thing...for the most part.



After the hamachi and I came to an understanding, it ended up being my favorite dish of the night.



The L'Ingénu is a complex white wine with an uncharacteristically long finish. I wanted to play off of some of these finishing notes; the slight smoke and citrus would go great with the prosciutto di parma. The fattiness of the hamachi and prosciutto would be cut nicely by the wine’s acidic bite. The melon salad was there to round out flavors and make a bridge between the hamachi and prosciutto.



The sesame oil is mixed with tapioca maltodextrin, an extremely light weight bulking agent. The cool thing is, when it hits your palate, the maltodextrin melts away, rehydrating the sesame oil back into its original form. This is especially convenient when pairing with a wine, allowing the guest to try different components together without the sesame oil running all over the plate, possibly taking over the dish.


roasted duck breast, bing gelée, spring radish, seared rainiers, soy-duck glace
2006 Le Corbeau - Hudson Valley

In last month's newsletter, our featured seasonal ingredient was cherries. I wrote about a dish I did a few years back that consisted of a pan-roasted duck breast and a Bing cherry reduction sauce. It was simple, tasty, and an instant hit. While pairing duck and cherries isn't the most original idea ever, it's damn tasty.



When I first tasted the Le Corbeau, it screamed out for cherries. Mind you, it didn't taste like cherries; often when I pair food with wine, I'm looking for complimentary flavors, not foods that taste like the wine. Pairing a wine that taste like blackberries with an actual blackberry dish will often cause the two to cancel each other out. But if you pair with a contrasting yet complimentary flavor affinity, that can lead to an interesting and inspired dish.



Another thing that struck me about the Le Corbeau was its finish; it had a lingering spice. This is usually caused by "un-ripe tannins" that will completely dry out your mouth. But as I tasted the wine again and again, I realized that my mouth wasn't dry or being overwhelmed with tannins; yet this spicy note lingered on the finish.



"What is that spice on the finish," I asked Ray. "I know it's not tannin; I just can't place it."



"We coil up dried grape vines and pitch them in during the fermentation process."



"Is that a common practice?"



"No!" He chuckled. "No one else is that stupid."



And I'll be damned; it worked. It really worked. The spice was absolutely screaming out for duck, but it wasn't until a few weeks later that I was able to match that flavor with food. We were having a late Winter with almost no Spring in California which allowed us to buy some heirloom radish varieties that were much more mild then usual. Once the Summer sun starts to heat up, radishes become extremely spicy. Lacking the overbearing warmth of the sun, they still have a distinct radish spice, but it's much more subdued on the finish, allowing you to appreciate complexities in the radish that one simply cannot taste during the mid-summer months.



Wanting to control the amount of radish each guest received per bite, we parisienne balled a mixed case of radishes which yielded little spheres about the size of a large English pea. This was mixed with a frisée salad that paired nicely with the sweetness of the cherries, helping to tame the spice of both the radish and Le Corbeau.



petite rack of lamb, roasted broccoli salad, honey-anchovy aioli
2007 Howell Mountain Zinfandel

Looking at this dish, it lacks the panache and presentation of the previous three courses. Yet sometimes simple is good. As a passionate young cook I often find that self-editing will reveal the best possible dish. When I took a sip of the Elyse Howell Mountain Zin, this lamb preparation was simply what I wanted to eat with this wine. 



The rack of lamb was sous vide at 133°F/56°C for an hour and a half. After cooling the lamb, it was then seared to order and butter-basted to bring the core temperature back up, yielding a perfectly mid-rare piece of lamb with a beautiful roasted crust. It was served on top of a roasted mushroom and broccoli salad and dressed with a honey-anchovy aioli.



I know the aioli might sound a little weird, but think of it in the context of a Caesar dressing. In its emulsified state, Caesar is basically an aioli with parmesan, anchovy fillets and other ingredients incorporated. Now think of what happens when you take this same home made Caesar-on-steroids and add white boquerone anchovies and a 50 year aged sherry vinegar; only you add a little too much vinegar to really give it a tangy kick. That sour tang is then balanced with a dash of apple blossom honey to bring the dressing into focus.



Then imagine taking broccoli and wild mushrooms and frying them at 400°F, giving them a quick char, and dressing with this aioli. The dish is completed with a full reduction pan sauce, meaning that we don't use any starch thickeners. Instead, for this sauce in particular, we took about 5 gallons of veal and duck stock and reduced it down to about 2 quarts, reinforcing at each stage of reduction, straining multiple times, and finishing with a splash of Howell Mountain Zin and a few pats of butter.


"cheese & wine" - pierre rober, abbaye de belloc, livarot coupe
2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Morisoli Vineyard

Ahh, the Morisoli Cab. Ray produces a few different Cabernets, all from different vineyards. They way he puts it, "You're either a Morisoli Guy or a Tietjen Guy."



To make things even more interesting, the Tietjen Vineyard is directly across the street from Morisoli. What's more, Robert Parker and the Wine Enthusiast scored both wines an equal 90 points. I had to make up my own mind, which should be expected, but is none the less a daunting task when the wine maker is watching you taste from across the counter expecting you to choose a side; to decide "what kind of guy you are."



"I'm a Morisoli Guy," I finally concluded. "The Tietjen is great, but the Morisoli is what I want to pair food with and in my mind, that's what I always go back to. What wine do I want to 'cook for'.”?



"I'm a Morisoli Guy too," Ray admitted.



So what does this mean?



The Elyse Cabernet produced from the Tietjen Vineyard is what I would call an "instant gratification wine." If you want to drink a big, California Cab by itself, this is the wine to drink.



The Morisoli on the other hand makes you earn it. It's not instant gratification. Up front, it's subtle yet complex. The wine was so cohesive that it was hard for me to put my finger on any one flavor. But the finish; oh the finish! It went on for decades, complex and ever changing from second to second. A good food wine is all about the finish; the flavor structure that lingers on your palate, ready to enhance the next bite of food, at the same time, the food enhancing your next sip of wine.



Ray's pairing idea was brilliant. "With this, I think we should pair cheese."



"Absolutely!" I agreed. Wine and cheese are a time-tested pairing made in heaven. The problem was, finding cheeses that could not only stand up to this Cab, but enhance it.



I choose Pierre Robert, my favorite triple cream cheese, Abbaye de Belloc, a sheep’s milk cheese with a subtle pecorino tang without the salt, and Petit Livarot. Petit Livarot is a washed rind cheese with a distinct, "barn yard aroma" that is actually much milder on the palate then it is on the nose. Bite for bite, this was probably the best flavor pairing of the evening.



flourless chocolate cake, seared plums, cayenne, aged balsamic, smoked sea salt
2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Port

The Elyse port has an amazingly complex finish. While this port is definitely "sweet," it's not so overbearing that it kills your palate, making everything taste dull or sour in contrast.



It was Ray's idea to do a flourless chocolate cake which turned out to be serendipitous. One of the newest additions to the Stella team is Kevin, our executive pastry chef. This guy kills it on a daily basis. His techniques are incredibly solid only to be matched by his recipes.



I'm not a huge chocolate fan, usually too bold for my palate. Just a personal preference. And I'm especially not a fan of flourless chocolate cakes, which are usually dense, chewy pieces of formed chocolate. Yet Kevin has made me a convert. His flourless chocolate cake recipe is amazingly simple and will be posted in an upcoming article.



The chocolate cake was served with aged balsamic syrup and seared plum. The plum was sprinkled with a small pinch of cayenne to give depth and dimension to both the chocolate and the port. The cake itself was sprinkled with a little smoked sea salt; smoke always being a great flavor to pair with sweet.

Although prepping a salad is seemingly a simple culinary task, there are a few tips and tricks to keep in mind when selecting your greens and then later turning them into a delicious course.
 

1. When at all possible, try to use young, fresh greens. Young salad greens have a more tender and delicate flavor, where as older, “over-grown,” salad greens tend to be more fibrous, giving off a somewhat rubbery texture.
2. Slice your greens, don’t tear. There is a common misconception that for some reason tearing your salad greens is better than slicing them with a sharp knife. However, tearing salad leaves force you to grip them firmly, potentially crushing cell walls, which will ultimately cause bruising and wilting. Instead, use a sharp chefs knife to cut your leaves down to size if you feel they are too big.
3. Don’t wash lettuce leaves directly under running water. The pressurized water coming from the faucet has enough force to crush the lettuce green’s cell walls, causing bruising and browning. Instead, place the lettuce greens in a sink filled with cold water and agitate gently with your hands. Switch out the water when it becomes dirty and repeat until the salad greens are nice and clean.
4. Soak your greens for a couple of minutes in ice water, especially if they aren’t quite as crisp as you would like them to be or they’re showing signs of wilting due to age. Soaking them for a few minutes in ice water will replace any water-loss from their cell walls, bringing back their nice, crispy texture.
5. Use a salad spinner to dry greens. The centrifugal force of a salad spinner will make sure that salad greens are thoroughly dried. Patting dry with a towel is inefficient and could cause bruising. Also, salad greens that have too much excess moisture on the surface of their leaves will repel a vinaigrette, making it hard to actually dress the salad properly.
6. Store in a clean container, with damp paper towels. Wet some paper towels and then ring out the excess moisture until they are just slightly damp. Line the bottom of your storage container with damp paper towels, and then cover the top of the greens with more damp towels. Do not store in an airtight container or cover with plastic wrap. Salad greens need to breath.

In the SCS 15| Classic Salads & Creamy Dressings, we discussed three classical salads that are commonly found in U.S. restaurants. These salads are the Caesar, Louis and Cobb. Here is a quick break down on each salad’s components and their corresponding salad dressings.

Caesar Salad Components

• Romaine Lettuce, usually just the hearts. The romaine can be chopped, but was traditionally left whole and eaten with the fingers instead of utensils.
• Garlic Croutons: Don’t over think this one. Croutons are nothing more than toasted bread, in this case tossed with crushed garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper after being toasted. My favorite way to toast croutons is to fry them in oil, but you can also bake, pan fry or toast in a toaster oven.
• Anchovy Fillets (Optional): Not a part of the traditional Caesar salad but is now a common component in modern versions. I like to personally use whole, white anchovy fillets called Boquerones.
• Grated Parmesan Cheese: This can really be any hard, aged cheese that you desire. Parmigiano-Reggiano, aged Asiago, and Pecorino Romano are all good choices.

Caesar Salad Dressing Recipe and Technique

To better understand the process of making Caesar Dressing, first review this post on Understanding Emulsions. To make Caesar Dressing you will need:

• 2 Egg Yolks
• 6 Anchovy Fillets (Optional)
• 2 Cloves Raw Garlic
• 2 Lemons Juiced
• 2 Tbl Worcestershire  Sauce
• 1 1/2 Good Olive Oil
• 2-3 Ozs Grated Parmesan Cheese (Optional)
• Water to Thin

Process

1. Combine egg yolks, anchovy fillets, garlic, lemon juice, and Worcestershire Sauce in a blender and blend until smooth (about 10-15 seconds).
2. Add in grated Parmesan Cheese and blend until incorporated.
3. Slowly start stream in olive oil to for an emulsion. If the dressing becomes too thick before all oil is emulsified, thin out with a little splash of cold water.
4. Continue to emulsify olive oil until it is all incorporated. The final consistency should be that of a thin mayonnaise.

Louis Salad Components

The components of a Louis Salad will change from chef to chef. Really what makes it a Louis Salad is the dressing and the addition of either cooked crab or shrimp. Here’s I like to use in my Louis Salads.

• Cooked Crab Meat (dungeness is the best)
• Cherry Tomatoes, halved
• Sliced Avacado
• Thinly Sliced Red Onion
• Iceberg or Romain Lettuce: It’s important to use a sturdy, crisp salad green that will stand up to the weight of the Louis dressing.

Louis Salad Dressing

• Two Cups of Mayonnaise
• 1/2 Cup Chilli Sauce
• 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1 oz Minced Onion
• 1 oz Finely Minced Green Onion
• 1 oz Drained Pimento, Minced
• 1 oz Celery, Finely Minced

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix together until are ingredients are evenly incorporated.

Tip: To make sure the salad isn’t overpowered by the dressing, place all salad ingredients in an appropriate sized bowl, add a little bit of the Louis dressing, and gently toss with your hands. Add more dressing until desired flavor is reached, and then season with salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

Cobb Salad Components

• Chopped Chicken or Slices of Turkey
• Bacon, Cooked to Desired Doneness
• Hard Boiled Eggs
• Tomatoes
• Avocado
• Cheddar Cheese
• Crumbled Bleu Cheese (Traditionally Roquefort)
• Lettuce (Iceberg, Red Leaf or Butter Lettuce all work well)

Cobb Salad Dressing

1. 1/4 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
2. 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
3. 1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard
4. 1 Clove Garlic, minced
5. 1/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
6. Kosher Salt and Fresh Cracked Black Pepper to Taste

• Combine all ingredients 1-4 in an appropriate sized mixing bowl and whisk together.
• Continue to whisk while streaming in olive oil.
• Once olive oil is combined, season with salt and pepper to taste

Assembling Your Cobb Salad

Toss your salad greens of choice with the vinaigrette above. Place dressed greens in a salad bowl, and arrange ingredients from the component section in straight lines, side by side, across the top of the salad greens.

 

Further Information

• SCS 15| Classic Salads & Creamy Dressings
• Aioli - Basic Recipe
• Mayonnaise - Basic Recipe
• Aioli and Mayonnaise Overview
• Understanding Emulsions & How They Work

Since we covered so much ground in the French Mother Sauce Series, both on the blog and podcast, I figured it would be a good idea to place all the information in one, easy to find post. The mother of all mother sauce resources if you will.

So here it is; a list of the mother sauces with their corresponding podcast episodes, classical components, serving suggestions and how to posts.

But first, a quick history lesson.

A Brief History of The Mother Sauces

The French mother sauces were originally four base sauces set forth by Antonin Careme in the 19th century. Careme’s four original mother sauces were Sauce Tomat, Bechamel, Veloute and Espagnole. Then in the 20th century, Chef Auguste Escoffier added the fifth and final mother sauce, hollandaise, with its derivatives covering almost all forms of classical emulsion sauces including mayonnaise.

One Last Thing…

Some of the classical versions of these sauces use different thickening agents to bring the sauce to its proper consistency. If you’re unfamiliar with thickening agents such as roux, liasons, or emulsions, you can follow the corresponding links for more information.

Sauce Bechamel

• Base: Milk (Usually Whole Milk)
• Thickening Agent: White Roux
• Classical Flavorings: White Onion, Clove, Bay Leaf, Salt, White Pepper, Nutmeg
• Common Secondary Sauces: Cream Sauce, Mornay, Cheddar Cheese Sauce, Mustard Sauce, Nantua
• Classically Served With: Eggs, Fish, Steamed Poultry, Steamed Vegetables, Pastas, Veal
• Technique and Recipe: How To Make Bechamel and its Derivatives
• Corresponding Podcast Episode: SCS 11| Sauce Bechamel
• Video Technique: Culinary School Bechamel | A How To Video

Sauce Veloute

• Base: White Stock (Classically Veal, but Chicken and Fish Stock can also be used)
• Thickening Agent: Classically a Roux, but sometimes also a Liason is used.
  
• Classical Flavorings: None, used specifically as a base
• Common Secondary Sauces: Sauce Vin Blanc (White Wine Sauce), Sauce Supreme, Sauce Allemande, Sauce Poulette, Sauce Bercy, Sauce Normandy
• Classically Served With: Eggs, Fish, Steamed Poultry, Steamed Vegetables, Pastas, Veal
• Technique and Recipe: How To Make Sauce Veloute and its Derivatives
• Corresponding Podcast Episode: SCS 10| Sauce Veloute

Sauce Tomat (AKA Tomato Sauce)

• Base: Tomatoes (Raw, Tomato Paste, Tomato Puree, Stewed Tomatoes)
• Thickening Agent: Classically a Roux, modern versions commonly use a reduction or purees
• Classical Flavorings: Salt Pork, Mirepoix, Garlic, White Veal Stock, Salt & Pepper, Sugar (Just enough to balance acidity, not enough to make the sweetness perceptible).
• Common Secondary Sauces: Modern variations concentrate more on seasonings giving rise to sauces such as Creole, Portuguese and Spanish Sauce Tomat.
• Classically Served With: Pasta, Fish, Vegetables (Especially Grilled), Polenta, Veal, Poultry (Especially Chicken), Breads and Dumplings such as Gnocchi.
• Technique and Recipe: How to Make Tomato Sauce and Its Modern Variations
• Corresponding Podcast Episode: SCS Episode 12| Sauce Tomat

Sauce Espagnole (AKA Sauce Brune or Brown Sauce)

• Base: Roasted Veal Stock (Roasted Chicken Stock Is Sometimes Used In Modern Variations).
  
• Thickening Agent: Brown Roux
• Classical Flavorings: Mirepoix, Sachet (Bay Leaf, Fresh Thyme, Parsely), Tomato Puree
• Common Secondary Sauces: Demi-Glace, Bordelaise, Sauce Robert, Lyonnaise, Sauce Madeira, Sauce Bercy, Sauce Chasseur
• Classically Served With: Roasted meats, especially beef, duck, veal, lamb
• Technique and Recipe: How To Make Sauce Espagnole and Demi-Glace
  
• Corresponding Podcast Episode: SCS Episode 13| Sauce Espagnole
  

Hollandaise Sauce

• Base: Egg Yolks and Butter (Classically Clarified Butter)
  
• Thickening Agent: Emulsification
• Classical Flavorings: Peppercorns (Black), White Wine Vinegar, Salt, Lemon Juice, Cayenne Pepper
  
• Common Secondary Sauces: Bearnaise, Maltaise, Mousseline, Foyot, Choron…Also check out this post on How to Make Mayonnaise and Its Derivatives, which is based on the hollandaise technique.
  
• Classically Served With: Eggs (Eggs Benedict), Vegetables (especially Asparagus), light poultry dishes, fish, Beef (Bernaise Sauce)
• Technique and Recipe: How To Make Hollandaise: Guidlines and Techniques
  
• Corresponding Podcast Episode: SCS Episode 9| Hollandaise

With Turkey Day quickly approaching, there has been a lot of talk on the web about whether or not you should brine your bird. Although there are good arguments from both camps, I think it is first important that the science of brining is understood before making any decisions.

A traditional brine is a water based liquid that contains between 3-6% salt by weight. Along with salt, a brine will contain aromatic herbs, spices and sometimes vegetables (usually mirepoix, garlic, etc).

So Why Would You Brine Meat?

Brining has two distinct effects on muscle tissue.

First, the high salinity of the brine “disrupts the structure of the muscle filaments” (On Food and Cooking, Pg 155). At about 3% salinity, the brine will partially dissolve “the protein structure” which supports the muscle filaments that contract when cooked. The more these muscles filaments are allowed to contract, the tougher your meat will be.

At about 5.5% salinity, the muscle filaments themselves are partially dissolved. Since their contracting ability is hindered by the salt, the muscle filaments contract less, effectively making your meat more tender.

Second, they way in which salt interacts with protein, allows the protein to retain more moisture, which is absorbed from the liquid of the brine itself. According to Harold McGee’s on Food and Cooking:

The meat’s weight increases by 10% or more. When cooked, the meat still loses around 20% of its weight in moisture, but this loss is counterbalanced by the brine absorbed, so the moisture loss is effectively cut in half. (PG 156)

This is what allows brined meat to stay more moist, compared to its unbrined counterpart.

The reason why a lot of people prefer to brine their turkey for the big day is because turkey breasts are finished cooking at around 145 degrees F, and start to dry out at around 155 F. The legs on the other hand need to be cooked to about 165 degrees F, because they have a much higher amount of connective tissue (in the form of collagen), and collagen doesn’t begin to break down until about 160 degrees F.

So by the time the turkey legs are done, the breasts are overcooked and dried out.

The problem with brining a turkey is the drippings contain much more water, and are too salty to make a proper pan gravy. Harrold McGee actually doesn’t brine his Thanksgiving Bird, and he explains why in his New York Times Article “Miracle Cure or Just Salt Water?”

Also, check out this Stella Forum Thread on Brining.