Mystery Box Challenge

Had a little mystery box challenge at home....This is what I came up with!!

Walnut crusted tilapia, pickled radish and carrot, prickly pear and strawberry gastrique, carmalized Anaheim pepper fluid gel, parsnip purée, mandarin orange balsamic reduction. Compressed orange with mint oil, and compressed apple with allspice.

I think this maybe my nicest plated dish yet. Also one of the best in flavor!!

Smoked salmon

This is the dish that helped get me my job at the hotel.

A play on bacon eggs and hash.

Stovetop smoked salmon with crispy skin, 2 min poached egg, on top of risotto with asparagus and an asparagus purée. Topped with a dill hollandaise sauce.

I also did this dish for my American regional final and got a 99% on it!!

Berry Trio

Decided since the sous vied berry yogurt was such a big hit I wanted to try to do more sous vied berries in different textures.

 Raspberry yogurt spheres, chocolate mousse, blackberry sorbet, blackberry tuile, strawberry fluid gel, peanut butter powder with gram cracker powder with Merlot cinnamon and nutmeg.

This was a huge hit!! I sous vied all the berries and it really brought out an amazing flavor!! 

Plating for tasting!!

Yogurt Parfait

Sous vied berry yogurt.  Compressed orange and apple with red wine cinnamon caramel, granola tuile

Second plating with some changes (to make it easier to eat and separate the flavors)  caramelized banana with strawberry yogurt, red wine caramel orange and raspberry and  the lavender honey with the apple and blackberry yogurt.

Molecular Spring Roll (recipe contest)

Molecular Spring Roll Recipe Contest for http://www.molecule-r.com/

I finished in 5th place out of 34. Really happy with the results!!

 

Tomato Water “Shell”

vine ripened tomato    200 G
Garlic     1 G
Basil     1 G
fleur de sel salt    To Taste
Agar Agar    2 G

Cilantro Oil Powder

Cilantro (blanched and drained  50 G
Vegetable oil    130 G
Salt     To Taste
Tapioca maltodextrin    27.5 G

Sambal “Caviar”

H2O (distilled)    8 OZ
Sambal     16.5 G
Calcium lactate    4 G
Black Lava Salt   1 per caviar

Jicama Air

Jicama     100 G
H2O (distilled)   400 G
Garlic powder .05 G
salt to taste
Soy lecithin    2 G
Alaea sea salt 4 pieces

Salsa “grape tomato”

red onion (soaked 20 minuets) 10 G
vine ripened tomato   125 G
Ground cumin    .2 G
Oregano    .2 G
Lime Juice    5 G
Calcium lactate    1.4 G
H2O (distilled)   50 G
Xanthan Gum    .76 G
salt pepper to taste

Sodium Alginate Bath

H2O (distilled)   16 OZ
Sodium Alginate   1 G

Spring roll filling (for each spring roll)

Red pepper brunoise    1.3 G
Yellow pepper brunoise   1.3 G
Jalapeno pepper brunoise   1.3 G
Radish Sprouts    4 Each
Crab (recipe follows)   5 G


Crab

Fish stock    48 oz
Onion     8 oz
Celery     4oz
Carrot     4 oz
Red pepper    2 oz
Yellow pepper    2 oz
Jalapeno pepper   2 oz
bay leaf    1 ea
mixed pepper corns   1 tablespoon
Old bay    1 tablespoon
Blue crab    1 ea

Fried avocado

Avocado    1
Salt pepper    to taste
flour     as needed
egg beaten with tablespoon water 1
panko bread crumbs   as needed
 

Tomato water “Spring roll wrapper”

Combine first four ingredients into food processor. Puree. Line a fine strainer with two layers of cheese cloth. Place strainer over bowl and pour in puree. Let set in refrigerator till you have 135 G of water in the bowl. Add the agar agar. Bring to boil. Pour half of liquid into 3.5 inch by 10 inch rectangle plate. Let set till hard. Cut into 3 inch by 3 inch squares.

Cilantro Oil Powder

combine first three ingredients in blender. Blend on high for one min. Pour into container and seal it. Let it set for 1 day in the refrigerator. Strain through fine strainer till you have 50 grams. Add the 50 grams and the Tapioca maltodextrin into food processor mix till you have fine green powder.

Sambal “Caviar”

Combine first three ingredients and blend with hand blender. Pour into squeeze bottle. Drop a few into sodium alginate bath. Gently make some waves till the sink then swirl them around for 30 seconds and pull them out. Rinse them off in a bath of pure H2O. Place black lava salt on top right before it is served.

Jicama Air

Combine first two ingredients in blender. Blend for 2 min on high.  Strain out 250 grams of liquid with fine strainer. Add the next three ingredients blend with a hand blender. Scoop a table size scoop of foam out. Place it on the plate add Alaea sea salt right before it is served.

Salsa “grape tomato”

Combine first seven ingredients in blender. Blend 1 min. Strain with fine strainer. Blend in Xanthan Gum with hand blender. Pour into squeeze bottle. Fill a tablespoon half way with sodium alginate bath. Squeeze out a small sphere let it set for 30 seconds. Then gently flip it into the big sodium alginate bath and create waves and swirl around the bath till it sets. 1-2 min.

Sodium alginate bath

combine ingredients and let set in refrigerator till the bubbles are gone. 12-24 hours.  


Crab

Combine first ten ingredients and bring to a boil. Add crab. Boil 5-6 min. pick crab meat.


Spring roll filling (for each spring roll)

Take one tomato water wrapper and place the crab down along one edge. Then place peppers. Then radish sprouts. Gently roll up. Careful not to break.

Fried avocado

Slice avocado. Season. Flour, egg wash, bread crumbs. Heat pan with vegetable oil. 210 F. fry till golden brown.

The Start

My name is Kyle Zaccagni. I am half way though culinary school, The Art Institute of Colorado. I'm also the breakfast cook at the largest hotel in Colorado. I work part time for a molecular gastronomy catering company. I have only been cooking for about 4 years but I am currently surrounded by some of the most inspirational chefs and co-workers I have ever had the pleasure to be around. My goal is to come up with a dish every week for my chefs to try. I have been given permission to use any products in the hotel ,within reason, to play/create new dishes. I have created this blog to help document what I come up with. I will end with a quote from Thomas Keller.

"When you acknowledge, as you must, that there is no such thing as perfect food, only the idea of it, then the real purpose of striving toward perfection becomes clear: to make people happy, that is what cooking is all about.”
― Thomas Keller, The French Laundry Cookbook