I’ve got a pretty good biscuit recipe… people regularly tell me it’s one of the best biscuits they’ve ever had. It’s a classic recipe with a few twists like shredding the fat on a box grater for optimum flakiness. In the interest of continuous improvement, I thought I’d see if I could apply some newly acquired kitchen technology and knowledge to improve upon my trusty biscuit recipe… here’s what I came up with.
My grandpa is 93 years old. He drinks a glass of brandy every night. Since purchasing my rotoary evaporator, I’ve wanted to make him some brandy… here’s what happened.
A roatary evaporator (rotovap) is basically a still… as in distillation, as in moonshine. Of course, like many modern cooking apparatus, it got it’s start in laboratories. Mostly scientists use it to boil off solvents thus purifying what remains.
For much more detail on how the system works, read this. But here’s the quick nitty gritty.
Today’s MasterChef Update… just two days away from the Season Premier of MasterChef on FOX (Monday, June 6 @ 8pm/7Central)… here’s another look into Room 217 of the Raddison!
Yeah, I said it… Surf & Turf-Dessert. No, I didn’t make Salmon Ice Cream a la Iron Chef America, but this one was hard! Again, I started with a sale item: strawberries. They looked very ripe and were a safe starting point for dessert, the tough part was the “Surf” component.
Kata Robata. If you want to know more about Kata Robata, feel free to check out their website… But I hope you’ll enjoy reading about my experience at this culinary gem.
I found out about Kata Robata at the YTAC “Kiss My Grits” competition a few weeks ago. I thought the Chef’s kimchee grits were interesting (in a good way) and made a mental note to try out their restaurant which I had driven by countless times.
A week later, while traveling for business I read through the YTAC program and landed on the Bio pages of Chef Manabu Horiuchi and Chef Seth Siegel-Gardner… Let me hit you with the highlights:
I like Pho. I grew up on the national dish of Vietnam. If you’ve never had it, I feel sorry for you. It’s got a light but flavorful beef broth flavored with five spice, lemongrass, ginger, and garlic. When you order it you get a side plate of lime wedges, thai basil, cilantro, jalepeno, and bean sprouts. If you’re at a proper Pho selling establishment, you’ll quickly receive a big bowl filled with broth and rice noodles topped with raw thinly sliced beef. The heat from the broth cooks the raw beef perfectly. I always order Pho with the beef raw and on the side to ensure that the kitchen dosen’t pre-blanch the meat for the american pallete. If your Pho shop won’t serve you this way, find another pho shop.
I like Chicken. I like waffles. I LOVE the combination of the two on one plate. The perfect forkful`– a balance of sweet, hot, crispy, salty… like American “Thai/Vietnamese” food.
So here’s a recipe… It’s the best version of this “classic” combo I’ve ever made… I dedicate it to Richard Blais who I was rooting on in the finale of Top Chef All stars while eating it tonight.