Oven Dried Tomatoes: Worth The Investment

First of all, happy belated New Year. It's been awhile, due partly to the fact that I'm lazy, and partly to the fact that I've been busy. Better late than never. So I blow the 2011 cobwebs off my blog, and dive headlong into awesomeness: home made ovendried tomatoes! Better tasting than you can buy in any store. Period. So extremely versatile. Last forever. Custom tailored flavour. Love it.

I start with a nice ripe selection of roma tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes lengthwise in half, then each half into quarters. Place these wedges into a large bowl. Add enough kosher salt to the tomatoes to begin the evisceration (sounds gross, akin to what a spider does to a trapped insect in it's web) process. I would suggest 1/2 cup of kosher salt to 12-16 whole tomatoes. Make sure the salt is evenly distributed, so as to result in an even cure. Transfer tomatoes to a collander over a sink. Allow to drain for 4 hours at least, moving the tomatoes around gently every hour or so, to move as much water as possible. Let gravity do its job.

To backtrack a little, allow me to explain: This salting process accomplishes 3 things: 1) Evisceration (dessicates, draws water from, dehydrates, etc.), which concentrates the natural flavour of the tomato, removing the natural dilution inherent from added water, and 2) Flavours. The water that is drawn from the tomatoes will be replaced with a curing agent, namely, salt. Finally, 3) Cures. Salt is a natural cure (preservation). It dries out things, so it virtually eliminates harmful bacterial invasion, namely the heterotrophic bacteria that decimates moist unliving things.

Once the tomatoes have drained to your satisfaction, lay them out on a raised rack over a cookie sheet (may need 2 or 3 depending on how many tomatoes you want to cure), as pictured above. Make sure they are evenly spaced. Things done evenly result in more even results... if that makes any sense.

If you have a convection oven, then great! Set it at it's lowest setting, maybe about 180F, and on high fan setting. Place the trays in the oven, and leave the door cracked slightly, to allow the steam from the drying process to escape. This step may take hours...it takes exactly 2.5 hours at 200F + High Fan in a commercial convection oven to thoroughly dry these tomatoes. For a normal conventional oven, I would estimate 140F, oven door cracked open, and the same time length. They can be left in a powered down oven overnight if they need more drying. The result should be a tomato that resembles jerky.

Uses: There are plenty, but only limited to your imagination. They are great when slightly reconstituted (hot water added to make them more pliable) as a snack, in a pasta dish. They are terrific in salads. A real showstopper. Friends will be amazed, and appreciate the time and effort it took to dry your own tomatoes. You can cure them with garlic (just a few bruised cloves that you throw in with the salting/draining process) or basil or any other flavouring you like. Oh, and they keep indefinitely. Another big plus!

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post below, or contact me directly.

Cheers!

-D

March of the Lobsters!

Oh Bison!

Pictured above is a feature I ran this past weekend: bison ribeye steak, with blueberry studded woodland mushroom ragout, roasted heirloom carrots, pommery mustard whipped Yukon Gold mashed potato.

Bison is one of those meats where you have to be careful how you prepare and cook it. Bison ribeye, for instance, has little intramuscular fat (read: very lean). It does, however, have a large fat deposit alongside the eye of rib, perhaps more so than beef ribeye. That being said, I would not recommend it to be cooked any further than medium-rare. Any further, and it will become expensive boot leather, due to the leanness. I find the raw preparation of bison ribeye needs to be trussed in order for it to retain it's shape, after it has been cut into portions. For example, once a steak has been cut from the loin, a length of butcher twine should be applied around the circumference of the ribeye steak, and gently tied, so that it may withstand the rigours of charbroiling, pan frying, or what have you. I have always found game type meats to be a little flabby for some reason, be it lamb, elk, muskox, or venison. So I tie them all up, to give them a little help. The benefits of this are reaped in the finished product, where presentation counts the most.

A fast cook method is what one looks for when grilling game steaks or chops. Bison lends itself to super-searing in a blazing hot skillet with a little browned butter. 2 minutes a side in the pan, let it rest for a few mintes, then... wunderbar! Charbroiling is also effective, and a little easier to control. Just be careful of flare-ups when that large fatty eye begins to melt!

Game meat dishes often benefit from a sauce, relish or condiment that is well balanced and built up with acids and reductions (gastriques)...tomatoes, full bodied red wine, aged vinegars, fruits (like blueberry, cherry, lingonberry, currants) accompanied with minced shallots. They play well off of the earthy and rich quality and texture of the game. A nice ladle of a homemade (of course) glace de veau (see blog entry on glace de veau) and a little pommery mustard is a nice way to bring that sauce together.

Cheers!
-D

Blue Cheese...or, Fromage Bleu, or...What Is That Stink?!?!

One of my absolute favourite things in the whole world is blue cheese. How something so potentially revolting and smelly could be a delicacy, one could only wonder. In the words of the legendary Jerry "The King" Lawler..."...it smells like someone's eating Gorgonzola in the septic tank of a slaughterhouse in here!" Definitely an acquired taste, and for advanced lovers of cheeses only, I reckon.  

Pictured above is the aforementioned Gorgonzola, one of the undisputed Kings of Blue Cheese (being one of the most well known). Gorgonzola is from Italy. The other famous Blues are Maytag (domestic, USA), Stilton (Britain), Roquefort (Caves of Roquefort, France) and Danish Blue (Denmark). These cheeses are very unlike one another...each has it's own signature appeal. Maytag and Danish Blue have strong citrus notes, are more firm and crumbly, and are excellent for serving as a garnish on a salad, or in a vinaigrette. Creamier Blues, like Stilton and Gorgonzola, are excellent melting cheeses, or for eating straight up. These cheeses are very pungent, but milder and more refined in flavour than the domestic varieties. This is reflected in the price per kilogram, as fine imported Gorgonzola runs more than $22/kg.

Pictured above is, quite probably, my favourite blue cheese. It is also the most revolting cheese I have ever seen (and smelled). If you look closely, you will see how slimy it appears. There ain't nothing in this world like the controlled spoilage of milk, let me tell you. This cheese is called St. Agur, from France. I bought the above sample (4 oz.) at the Hamilton Farmer's Market, for about $36/kg, or a buck an ounce, give or take. It is a wonderfully smooth and nutty tasting Blue, and it goes really well with slices of apple and spread on fresh baguette (also procured from said Farmer's Market). As off-putting as it's appearance and aroma may be to the uninitiated, it is one of the smoothest and mildest Blues I've experienced. If you are fortunate enough to find some in an artisan cheese shop, do your self a favour and pick up a few ounces. If you like blue cheese, this is one for the ages.

 
Another great Blue Cheese is the above illustrated hybrid, the German Cambozola. It features the appearance of a nice wedge of camembert cheese, with it's soft, bloomy and edible rind, and pale, creamy and lightly veined interior. It is classified (or I classify it, rather) as a hybrid cheese because it's origin seems to be made from two separate cheeses. First, as the name 'Cambozola' suggests, the body is made up of a round of double cream Camembert cheese. It is then pricked with needles across the top, needles which have been 'infected' with the penicillium glaucum (gorgonzola) bacteria. It is then left to age in cool cellars for about 4 months or so. This is an impressive cheese to bust out at a wine and cheese party.

A Case of National Pride, OR: Why I'm A Proud Canadian

And now for a break from our regularly scheduled program ...

Take a moment if you will and have a close look at the above picture. I'm not trying to draw notice to the wicker Kleenex box, or the baby wipes, or the fact that the Oilers lost to the Wild in a shootout last night. The Movember charity stat blew me away. The proud Canadian broadcasters from TSN, many of whom grew some beastly mo's, made it a point to illustrate the landslide stats of money collected for prostate cancer research.

We are a country of over 34 million people, and somehow we, as a country, managed to raise more than a buck a person for prostate cancer research. We absolutely decimated the United States, a country that boasts over 10 times our population. I was so floored I had to take a picture. I love this country. Pride is not even enough to cover it. To raise money by growing mustaches in November...astounding.

Speechless.

O Canada.

-chef D

Glace de Veau: The Mother of All Sauces

Pictured above is a beautiful rondo of perfectly reduced veal stock - glace de veau, or 'veal glaze' as it's translated from French to English. This sauce is the main mother sauce at my restaurant, forming the base for numerous sauce derivatives, like our white truffle sauce, our pink peppercorn sauce and our foie gras sauce. Decadent stuff. 

Making this sauce properly is no small feat. It requires time, properly prepared ingredients and a great deal of love. It takes, from start to finish, about 2 and a half days to make. The initial veal stock is put on in the morning of the first day, with properly browned veal knuckle and marrow bones, and a rough cut of browned mirepoix (diced celery, carrot and white onion), a few black peppercorns, bay leaves, parsley stems and tomato ends. The pans from the browning process are always deglazed (loosened, dissolved) with quantities of red wine, to include the sought after flavours and colour cooked onto the pans. This step is important, as it provides the stock with "body", and helps develop the dark brown colour that is the desired end-result. It is then set to a simmer, and left typically overnight. 

In the morning, the stock is strained into another pot, fat is skimmed, and the 'first boil' is set to reduce by half. This first boil is the 'colour and flavour pull'. The second boil consists of the spent bones and veg being brought up to a boil again with fresh cold water, and being left again to simmer overnight, thus repeating the process. This second boil is the 'gelatin pull', whereas the second boil action will break down the remaining collagen (constituents: gelatin and water, it is animal connective tissue). The result after an evening of playful, gentle roiling and simmering: a muddy, insipid beige liquid. Yuck...not exactly the dark, aromatic sex in a pot the first boil was...most of the caramel colour was taken away with the first boil. This liquid is then reduced by half, with tomato paste and red wine. The two 'pulls' are then combined, and reduced further, until sauce consistency has been reached.

Did I say it takes time? Yes. But well worth it. There is no product on the market that can touch the homemade version, and those places that do make their own sauces are always worth revisiting. The care, effort and attention the Chef has taken to make this from scratch is proof enough.

Bon Apetit!

OFF DAY: GREY CUP SUNDAY

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2011 GREY CUP CHAMPION B.C. LIONS!

I guess a day off work is a day spent watching the biggest professional football event Canada has to offer. It certainly did not disappoint. The CFL tagline of late 'No Lead Is Safe' was certainly evident here. Good game. When it looked as though BC was going to put a stranglehold on it, WPG found a way to claw back within a 2pt. converted TD. I'm no fan of either of these teams, but I certainly admire the tenacity, grit, poise and heart it takes to go to the end. Hats off to both teams for a great season.

SORE LOSER COUNTERPOINT: I firmly believe all post season CFL games should be played at neutral sites that have indoor facilities. I think the Tiger Cats should have played the Blue Bombers at the Rogers Center, indoors, where it isn't -25, like in Winnipeg. That way the cold would not have been a factor, and the Cats may not have shriveled up into frozen husks on Canad Inns field. Guess there's always next season. Oskee Wee Wee!