Author Archives: jethro

Modernist Cuisine At Home: Oxtail Pho Broth

03 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in MC at home, pressure cooking, recipes

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

, , ,

Pho Bac

My Neighborhood Pho Place

Spring is taking its time arriving this year, and there seem to be more cloudy days than sunshine.  But that’s not a problem – while I wait for the outside to warm up, I can just warm up my insides.  With a Vietnamese pho, to be exact. Cooking Asian food can seem so different than what I’m used to making in the kitchen.  Can my soup match the dish at my favorite local spot?  I turned to Modernist Cuisine to help me in my quest.

Note: It’s way too easy to play on words with the pronunciation of the word “pho”, which is “fuh”.  For instance, we have a chain of restaurants here in Seattle called “What The Pho?“.  I will try to abstain.

Continue reading →

Jet City Gastrophysics Goes To Alinea

23 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in blow shit up, i ate there

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , ,

Jet City in the Windy City

Jet Windy City Gastrophysics

I hear it’s pretty hard to get into high end restaurants.  I’m not so sure – either the problem is exaggerated or I have an awesome lucky streak.  My dinner for Next:Childhood?  I just got online and reserved a ticket.  Benu in San Francisco?  I put in a request on the waiting list and a table cancelled.

So when I wanted to get into Alinea, considered the best restaurant in the US, and even the world (depending on who’s ranking), I called their reservation line.  It was busy.  I called again.  It was busy.  I called again.  They answered and I made a reservation.  I wouldn’t call that persistence.  I guess it’s either not that hard or the food gods want my taste buds to do some worshiping. And if all else fails, of course, you can always rap battle.

Continue reading →

Modernist Cuisine At Home: Tomato Basil Spheres

16 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in centrifuge, emulsions, MC at home, spherification

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, ,

Tomato Basil Sphere

It’s been a long time since I’ve tried my hand at spherification, and I thought it was time to revisit the technique.  I’ve done it three times before: the first meeting of Jet City Gastrophysics, my cooking session with Chef Ian Kleinman, and another time when I made some coffee caviar. One of the iconic photos from Modernist Cuisine is their Tomato Basil Spheres, so that seemed like a perfect place to give it another go around.  It’s basically an Insalata Caprese that’s been liquified. Welcome to the future.

Continue reading →

Modernist Cuisine At Home: Liquid Center Egg

08 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by in MC at home, sous vide

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , ,

Liquid Center Egg

I was invited to an Easter brunch yesterday and thought I should bring something along, as is custom.  Although a bottle of champagne for mimosas would have been good enough, I wanted to bring a dish as well.  Of course, there is Easter ham, but I wanted to do something different.  As luck would have it, the crew at Modernist Cuisine put up a riff on traditional Chinese tea eggs to create a special Easter dish.  Perfect!  I went to the store and went at it in the kitchen.

Continue reading →

The Explore Taste Adventures: Eric, Scott And Friends Forage An Epic Meal

15 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in blow shit up

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Last summer, the owners of Sahale Snacks took a few people out into the San Juan Islands here in Washington State to cook a meal that used ingredients that they found there.  Scott and Eric went along with Jennifer Adler, an expert in seaweed, and Langdon Cook, an expert in foraging.  A culinary adventure ensued with all the requisite plot points – sailing on the sea, trekking through the forest, even the unfortunate drama of illness and a helicopter rescue.

Continue reading →

We Want To Be Liked, So We’re On Facebook Now.

09 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by in blow shit up

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Like Us On Facebook!

Short story: ‘like’ us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JetCityGastrophysics.

Long story: So we thought it would be good to have a place to update you on various topics that orbit around Modernist Cuisine but not specifically to it.  From gardening to restaurant news to events and whatnot, our Facebook page will keep you informed on things we find interesting that are going on.  It’s a lot like our separate Twitter accounts (here, here and here), but all three of our food interests combined into one big superpage of food awesomeness.  What’s not to like?

The JCG Crew

Read These, Watch This.

27 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in blow shit up

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

I’ve been assaulted by all sorts of great food related things to indulge in and I think you should indulge as well:

International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science

International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science

Dry technical white papers on high end gastronomy?  You know me too well.  This is the first edition in a type of publication that is long overdue.  Want to learn about priprioca and its contributions to gastronomy?  How about the recipe to Mugaritz’ edible stones?  It’s here.

Continue reading →

Roses in Chicago: Experiencing elBulli At Next

15 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by in i ate there

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

Next:elBulli

For the next three months, Grant Achatz’ Next Restaurant will feature a 30 course meal from the recipes of Ferran Adria that he created at elBulli.  I was lucky enough to get a ticket on the opening week to what is literally the hottest reservation on Earth at the moment.  With thousands of people vying to get in, how did I manage to pull off the impossible?

A rap battle, of course.

Continue reading →

Rotary Evaporation In The Emerald City

10 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in homogenization, rotary evaporation

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

,

Buchi Rotary Evaporator

My old band mate was telling me about this guy he knew who is really into the same kind of cooking I’m into and that I should get in contact with him.  I was caught up in other things and forgot about it.  Last month, this guy, who we will now call Chris, contacted me and suggested we meet and talk food.  It turned out that indeed, Seattle had yet another home cook passionate about Modernist Cuisine.  He has a centrifuge, a liquid nitrogen dewar, immersion circulators, chamber vacuum sealers, the works.  Plus, something I don’t have: a rotary evaporator.  A chance for distillation?  Yes, let’s do this.

Continue reading →