Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The incredible, edible egg!
The incredible, edible egg. Many of you may be old enough to remember that advertising campaign. Proficiency at egg cookery is incredibly important in producing food which is not only edible, but sublime. It’s what makes many marvel at how creamy our “double caramel custard” is. One food/travel writer said he’s had caramel custards all over the world, and ours was the best he’s ever had. But that’s not the subject of this post. We’ll probably talk about egg cookery down the road. The subject at hand right now is physics. As everyone knows, chemistry is extremely important in the kitchen. Largely overlooked, however, is how physics enters into the equation. I encourage anyone who has a serious interest in cooking to take an introductory course in physics. Such a background can make you a better cook. But that’s not the subject here, either. Getting down to brass tacks, it’s physics as it relates to eggs...the shells in particular. As my wife would say “simple things amuse simple minds.” The next time you crack an egg, take the wider end and insert it (gently--you don’t have to smash it) into the smaller end. Now, hold the open end between your thumb and index finger or middle finger--whichever feels more comfortable. Point it nose first toward your garbage, or a sink, or whatever receptacle may be handy. Make it a few feet away to see what I’m getting at. Toss it toward the target and let loose. Make it more of a line drive than a pop-up. Boom! Straight from the fingers to the target! Eggshells are aerodynamically slippery! They go where you want them to go, and it’s always fun to see how well they work! It helps, too, that the center of gravity is moved toward the nose by inserting the one half shell inside the other. Granted, it took good aim, too, but my favorite shot was from ten feet away toward a beverage in a plastic two-cup measure that a prep cook had in front of him on the butcher block prep table. Aim, release, SPLASH! I don’t know who was more shocked! Give the egg a try sometime.
Kitchen Laws--originally posted 8/26/10
Many of you may already have a basic understanding of the way a professional kitchen functions thanks to the rising celebrity chef phenomenon and programming like Top Chef and the entire Food Network. The Rendezvous kitchen also makes use of the traditional French hierarchy. We are a small kitchen. We have Kim, the Executive Chef and owner, the Sous Chef (that's me! Hello, I'm Lindsey), and we have a dishwasher/ prep cook- Willie. Those of you that have dined with us will also be familiar with Mark, our intrepid front of the house representative. ;-P
Kim is very humble and does not request that we address him, "Chef", and in my time here I have had the privilege of working in a collaborative environment when it comes to creating wine dinner menus, regular and tasting menu contributions, and even in marketing the restaurant (i.e. a blog!).
There ARE, however, some inescapable, hard and fast, laws by which no man can deny. My personal ruling hand? Gravity. You name it and I have probably dropped it! Tongs clattering to the floor? The sound of muffled (possibly expletives) as someone falls in the background? My apologies. It was probably me testing my bond with the Law of Gravity. Let me tell you, Gravity wins every time. Kim has a much more genial relationship with this force and has been known to catch, with cat-like reflexes, as many things as I have dropped. This is not to mention his deadly accuracy when tossing a bit of wadded paper towel!
The other Primary Statute? Well, that one stems from a man named Murphy... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy%27s_Law). Murphy's Law- also known as the fourth law of thermodynamics- states that anything that can go wrong will. In kitchen terms there are many nuances by which this law expresses its power. Those curd pastries from the prep list that got pushed down the priority scale? You are going to be baking them on the fly because you are going to run out. That beautiful salmon that was just portioned this afternoon? The lamb will be ordered instead and at an alarming pace. Being AWARE of these event further complicates our understanding of Murphy's Law. If I know we have one order of short ribs to begin and evening and therefore call into account my prior experiences with Murphy and make a point to prepare more I am, in fact, provoking Murphy to change his strategy. Now I will either run short on the accompaniments for the short ribs or the short ribs will be a blind spot on the menu for our guests that evening. The more we endeavor to understand and predict how this law will play out the more bewildering its fallout. =) All in all Murphy's law is the greatest force in our kitchen. It keeps us on our toes. We have learned to prepare to the best of our ability and to never stop cooking even during service. As a result the food is fresh, rich, and our skills remain sharp. Of course, becoming quick and confident in this aspect probably means that we will use up all of our saute pans before the end of the first turn... ;-P We can only laugh (and do, often!) and enjoy the pursuit of those perfect nights of service. Still- sometimes- you just HAVE to provoke Murphy!
You too can be witness to this ongoing negotiation by joining us for dinner. Ask us about our Chef's table and join in the fun. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Posted by J&LDreamboard
Kim is very humble and does not request that we address him, "Chef", and in my time here I have had the privilege of working in a collaborative environment when it comes to creating wine dinner menus, regular and tasting menu contributions, and even in marketing the restaurant (i.e. a blog!).
There ARE, however, some inescapable, hard and fast, laws by which no man can deny. My personal ruling hand? Gravity. You name it and I have probably dropped it! Tongs clattering to the floor? The sound of muffled (possibly expletives) as someone falls in the background? My apologies. It was probably me testing my bond with the Law of Gravity. Let me tell you, Gravity wins every time. Kim has a much more genial relationship with this force and has been known to catch, with cat-like reflexes, as many things as I have dropped. This is not to mention his deadly accuracy when tossing a bit of wadded paper towel!
The other Primary Statute? Well, that one stems from a man named Murphy... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy%27s_Law). Murphy's Law- also known as the fourth law of thermodynamics- states that anything that can go wrong will. In kitchen terms there are many nuances by which this law expresses its power. Those curd pastries from the prep list that got pushed down the priority scale? You are going to be baking them on the fly because you are going to run out. That beautiful salmon that was just portioned this afternoon? The lamb will be ordered instead and at an alarming pace. Being AWARE of these event further complicates our understanding of Murphy's Law. If I know we have one order of short ribs to begin and evening and therefore call into account my prior experiences with Murphy and make a point to prepare more I am, in fact, provoking Murphy to change his strategy. Now I will either run short on the accompaniments for the short ribs or the short ribs will be a blind spot on the menu for our guests that evening. The more we endeavor to understand and predict how this law will play out the more bewildering its fallout. =) All in all Murphy's law is the greatest force in our kitchen. It keeps us on our toes. We have learned to prepare to the best of our ability and to never stop cooking even during service. As a result the food is fresh, rich, and our skills remain sharp. Of course, becoming quick and confident in this aspect probably means that we will use up all of our saute pans before the end of the first turn... ;-P We can only laugh (and do, often!) and enjoy the pursuit of those perfect nights of service. Still- sometimes- you just HAVE to provoke Murphy!
You too can be witness to this ongoing negotiation by joining us for dinner. Ask us about our Chef's table and join in the fun. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Posted by J&LDreamboard
Welcome!--originally posted 8/19/10
Welcome to our Rendezvous Inn & Restaurant blog. Our hope is that this will be an enjoyable venture for all involved. Please be aware, though, that while I love to write, I have little free time on my hands. I'm not a blogger, and nary a tweet has emanated from these fingers. Why the blog, then? Well, communicating with our supporters is fun. Also, many on-line comments--Zagat in particular--mention that I visit every table during dinner. This is an ideal-world scenario. More often than not, I'm unable to get out of the kitchen. Or, I may make the rounds in the dining room, and everyone's engaged in conversation, so I don't want to interrupt. Also, I tend to be an introvert. One recent night I cruised the dining room and didn‘t see anyone I knew. I continued on back to the kitchen and said to Lindsey, my sous-chef, "My gosh, I didn't recognize a single face out there." For me, that's scary.
So, let's get started. I'm not of the opinion that anything I have to say will be particularly important, and I hope none of it ever becomes self-important. I don't like the whole celebrity chef thing. Which, along with comfort, is one of the reasons you will almost never see me in a chef's jacket. Now, you may see Lindsey in a chef's jacket, or not. Comfort, I think. Certainly not pretension. She is both as good at what she does, and at the same time as unpretentious, as anyone can be.
Cookbook? Yes, maybe. The most frequently heard comment I get is: "You should write a cookbook." Like blogging, where's the time? I appreciate the comment, however, and consider it a compliment. To a certain extent, the groundwork has been laid, as I was fortunate enough to have someone in the kitchen who took it upon herself to type up all our recipe cards...an unimaginably formidable task. She's now close to finishing up the two-year program at the Culinary Institute of America back east in Hyde Park. In our eyes, she's one of the many Rendezvous "stars" we've been fortunate enough to have.
Recipes however, are in commercial-kitchen-ese, mostly in commercial quantities. Many of the procedural portions assume you're a professional chef. Sometimes an ingredient will be listed, with no clue as to where it's supposed to participate in the recipe. Frequently, too, we tweak recipes as we try to improve them. Since our cooking tends to be very seasonal, changes may be yearly. Thus a recipe for a wild mushroom soup, for example, will have the 2006, 2007 and 2008 versions all crossed out, and the 2009 version there. It can all get very confusing.
A couple of years ago, a lady from Iowa pleaded for the recipe for the sauce we serve with the rack of lamb. She wanted to give it to her husband for Christmas. The sauce takes us four days to make. Lamb stock, to lamb demiglace, to sauce which sits overnight to let the flavors meld, to reducing, thickening and seasoning. We had to execute the recipe four times in order to scale it down to home kitchen quantities, and deal with procedures such as "reduce to sauce consistency." While this may he an extreme example, you get the idea.
I think this may be enough for now...enough to get us started. Let us hear from you!
So, let's get started. I'm not of the opinion that anything I have to say will be particularly important, and I hope none of it ever becomes self-important. I don't like the whole celebrity chef thing. Which, along with comfort, is one of the reasons you will almost never see me in a chef's jacket. Now, you may see Lindsey in a chef's jacket, or not. Comfort, I think. Certainly not pretension. She is both as good at what she does, and at the same time as unpretentious, as anyone can be.
Cookbook? Yes, maybe. The most frequently heard comment I get is: "You should write a cookbook." Like blogging, where's the time? I appreciate the comment, however, and consider it a compliment. To a certain extent, the groundwork has been laid, as I was fortunate enough to have someone in the kitchen who took it upon herself to type up all our recipe cards...an unimaginably formidable task. She's now close to finishing up the two-year program at the Culinary Institute of America back east in Hyde Park. In our eyes, she's one of the many Rendezvous "stars" we've been fortunate enough to have.
Recipes however, are in commercial-kitchen-ese, mostly in commercial quantities. Many of the procedural portions assume you're a professional chef. Sometimes an ingredient will be listed, with no clue as to where it's supposed to participate in the recipe. Frequently, too, we tweak recipes as we try to improve them. Since our cooking tends to be very seasonal, changes may be yearly. Thus a recipe for a wild mushroom soup, for example, will have the 2006, 2007 and 2008 versions all crossed out, and the 2009 version there. It can all get very confusing.
A couple of years ago, a lady from Iowa pleaded for the recipe for the sauce we serve with the rack of lamb. She wanted to give it to her husband for Christmas. The sauce takes us four days to make. Lamb stock, to lamb demiglace, to sauce which sits overnight to let the flavors meld, to reducing, thickening and seasoning. We had to execute the recipe four times in order to scale it down to home kitchen quantities, and deal with procedures such as "reduce to sauce consistency." While this may he an extreme example, you get the idea.
I think this may be enough for now...enough to get us started. Let us hear from you!
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