Experiment: Chocolate Chip Cookies & Cornmeal

I had a bad batch of dough and thought, "What the heck, let's see what would happen." I was hoping that by lining my cookie sheet with corn meal (such as I sometimes do with bread), that I would add a nice textural component, and that the corn flavor would be a nice addition.

The splitting that you see is the bad dough, so ignore that. See the seepage on the 10 o'clock position of the lower cookie? That wasn't a good sign. It resulted in some clumped corn meal on the bottom, no flavor enhancement and no textural improvement. Result: Don't waste your time. I did eat them anyway.

Foraging

I'm getting closer to finalizing the next Tasting Menu (10/25). Two ingredients that I will be using are ones that I found in our backyard - not really our backyard, but out in the wilderness.

These are oyster mushrooms that we found on a recent walk in a riverbed. A tree had fallen and these large clusters were in tact, dried. I showed them to a local herboligist and she confirmed that they were in fact oysters, and she explained the flavor distinguishing factors of color. She stated that the darker the color, the more rich and caramely the flavor. I have two recipes that are vying for these shrooms.

Then we have these juniper berries. Large, picked just days before their prime. I'm anticipating these in a rabbit dish, and most likely a patè.

On an unrelated note, we have an eGulleter visiting from the Netherlands right now, and tonight she said to me, "You always do weird food." WEIRD FOOD! What the hell does that mean?! Besides that whole celery dessert kick (here, here & here), my food is normal. Everyone else's is weird!

What is Rob Making?

In case you've ever wondered what I make at the cafè, here is a Greek Salad that I made today. Nothing fancy, just a bed of organic greens, feta crumbles, kalamata, fresh tomatoes, a swirl of cucumber and some grilled pita. One of my favorites to make.

Seasonal Olive Oils

It's an interesting idea. Olive oils, specially blended to match the season of the year. This is from the Fall/Winter blend. I'm not so sure. This oil is a typical grassy French with a buttery middle tone and a very slight peppery finish - so it runs the spectrum. The lingering aftertaste is an almost sweet grass...almost tea. Its nice. I'm not sure how this fits into Fall and Winter however.

Pictures to drool over...

And as always, I encourage you to click on the pic to make it larger.

First up: Pistachio Cheesecake with Sour Cherry Glaze


And how about a Lemon Curd Tartlet with Blackberry Gel (layered below the lemon)


And for those of you without a sweet tooth, my sourdough, whole wheat boulè

Compliments & Congratulations

We've been hearing increasing compliments about our food which has been fun. One of our food distributors, yesterday, said that we've raised the bar for all the other restaurants and "you're making them look bad."

Moments after that comment a customer came back to the kitchen. She just finished lunch, and had also had a meal before closing the night before with her boyfriend (I heated a bunch of our gourmet-to-go items, finished with two prickly pear tunas stuffed with Hungarian sour cherries and lemon curd which they deemed amazing). Apparently, that set the mood because the couple left the store to walk in a local park at which point he dropped to his knee and proposed. The glowing fianceè thanked me for being a part of a perfect night.

Fall Tasting Menu Updates

A couple of exciting things happened today related to the Tasting Menu on 10/25. First, I secured our venue - a beautiful house just north of town. We might still catch a sunset or it may just be a star filled night.

Also, I met a woman who raises all sorts of interesting foods (interesting for this area anyway). She has Jerusalem artichokes, and heirloom beans. One in particular is a rust colored bean with white spots called a Four Corners Painted that was brought from an Indian reservation up north. I'm already thinking bao for that one. We'll see.