Chive Mayam Byalik

Cauliflower and Roast Garlic Soup

Torched Emmanthaler, Sauteed Broccolo Heart and Halibut

Chiptotle Powder

 

Messing Around with gels. Tried xantham and guar gum to make gel out of vinegar and oil.

Chive Blossom Gel (From Chive Blossom Vinegar) Worked well. Colored it a little more with water from red cabbage.

Dork Dayz

Went to the Seattle International Knife Expo. Saw some amazing knives. Looking forward to a larger group of makers next year. Definitely keeping my appetite moist for things cutlery. 

Also stopped in to Epicurean Edge and walked with a few things I have been fixated on. Namely a Kitayama 8000 grit whetstone and a stone base.

Also grabbed a instructional video from Murray Carter to further round of my understanding of sharpening and honing.

Finished with an Afghan buffet down the street. Pretty okay day.

Always need a little Dr Katz to mellow the mind.

Returning knives to 1000/6000 grits before polish.

New Kitayama ready to polish my Masakage.

My gear. Oihishi 600 grit. Naniwa 220 grit. Shun 1000/6000 grit. Wusthof super slicer. Chinese Cleaver. Wasabi Deba. Victorinox boner. Kitayama 8000 grit with Nagura. Sabatier slicer. Usuba. Shun Petty. Shun Paring. Shun 10 inch chef. Masakage 270mm gyuto. Ceramic honing rod.

Sis is enjoying the Miyabi Santoku which was replaced with the Usuba.

Ive had the stainless handle Shun for 10 years. I re profiled the edge and its taking a good polish now. The Kitayama is getting a nice mirror on all the edges. The Shuns are good workhorses although Im thoroughly enjoying the new Gyuto and the Usuba is taking a wonderful edge. Making intricate veggie work possible and fun.

 Really anxious to get a 10 or 12k stone for the best polish I can get. Also looking to experiment with natural stones if I come into money. Want to control myself. Its started to remind me of my bicycle component and frame purchasing of years past. The polishing is actually reminding me of some work I was doing on bicycle components IE stems and seat posts.

Lastly a little impromtu dinner yesterday. Uli's Chorizo. Rohtkol and Potatoes with Paella Seasoning.

Pretty good sweet and spicy and Savory.

Lastly realized I can make vinegar infused with chive blossoms. And it imparts a cool pink/red color.

Im going to let it go another day or two and make a vinaigrette thats hopefully got some color and flavor.

Cutlery Porn Weekend

Gonna be off Sunday for the love of christ. 

1st Annual Seattle International Knife Show

Freaking pumped.

Bob Kramer is gonna be there and also....

Carter Cutlery

Devin Thomas Damascus

Rader Blade

Maumasi Fire Arts

Should be some amazing stuff. Hopefully get to get hands on some stuff.

Portrait of an Idiot

BTW

Paaz Play

More obsessive vegetable practice.

Radish and Apple Salad with Sorrel

Easter color palette.

Baby purple and blue cauliflower in vinaigrette. Red, gold and chioggia beats. Pickled mustard seed. Lemon zest. Radish. Salad burnett and chervil. Almond

Usuba from NY

I just got a package. A carbon steel Usuba from a lady in NY. Not sure what the maker is. Seems not high end but it took a decent edge on a few stones and I can get some katsuramuki practice. Plus I gave my sister my Miyaba santoku so this will replace it. Kanji on the blade seems stamped and not engraved  and the handle and ferrule arent super flush so I assume its of lower quality. Probably going to be worth the 40 dollars or so I paid for it.

Im sure I will be obsessively practicing this on all types of shit.

Small radish.

Apple. 

Combine the two in oil and season for a nice garnish.

Got the Blue

So Ive been interested in blues in plating and dishes mostly because its absent in cooking in general. I believe I saw some interesting broth that was blue in the COCO book by some tea centric restaurant in Asia. Turns out red cabbage imparts the obvious color but can change blue by adding a small amount of baking soda. I think I saw a list of food/color reactions when certain reactive ingredients are introduced in Modernist Cuisine or some book like that. IE keeping green beans from turning brown and I think even changing the color of beets.

Well I had some small red cabbage in the fridge and some free time today so I have it a whirl.

Seems to work well. Im going to try and making syrups of both and infusing a portion with some flavor or another. Maybe garlic or rosemary or savory type thing. Or maybe citrus rind or some aromatic flower from the garden.

Apparently there are foods that use colors like this. One example being Pulut Tai Tai. A glutinous rice dish from Southeast Asia.

Food Tour

Been out with the band for about 10 days. Just got back to Seattle. 

Got plenty of good food and some great food. All up in the bay, LA, and Oregon. Points in between.

Check it out.

Tartine Bakery.

Chocolate pot de creme and kumquat fromage blanc.

1601 Bar and Kitchen. 

Sri Lankan influenced cuisine.

Octopus with a curried sauce and chili granita and smoked lime glee and amaranth.

Egg Hopper. with Sambols.

Scallops. Sunchoke puree. Pear Puree

Pumpkin seed crusted pork. Squash and Spinach.

Brassicas with lime pickle emulsion.

Pozole in San Luis Obispo

Le Pigeon in Portland

Salmon crudo with kiwi and herb broth. Green Almonds

Smoked foie gras with beet salad.

Crusted swordfish citrus oil and farfalle.

Duck confit . Chevre Hummus. Cilantro Puree. Avocado.

Foie profiterole with foie ice cream.

Rhubarb clafouti with maple chantilly and compressed green strawberry. Rhubarb milk and dust.

Pigeon choco.

Lucky to have had money let alone eat this well this tour. Looking forward to NYC and the East Coast this summer.