I retested the recipes for Gretchen's birthday, and they worked out a bit better from a construction standpoint. I'll be doing more prep next weekend. We went out to dinner on Sunday night, so I didn't do a lot of cooking last weekend. I expect this coming weekend, I'll be working on a lot.
Despite the problems below- it didn't taste horrible; just more of a bread than a cake. All of the flavors were fine- it's just that they were diluted by the overwhelming amount of flour.
Negative - Unfortunately I did the wrong volume to weight conversion in my head, and we ended up with twice as much flour as the recipe called for. I don't know why - I measure flour all of the time.
I kept thinking as I looked at the batter -' this is really dry'. It cooked and rose just fine, but the final product tasted OK but was quite dry.
This actually made me so annoyed I had a problem sleeping - yeah I'm crazy.
Apple Cake Bread Pudding
w/ Plain Yogurt
Positive - This was the solution to the dry cake. Since we were short sugar and fat in the final cake, I made a maple custard (used the basic custard from Ruhlman's 'Ratio') and added it to cubes of the cake and baked it again.
Overall - this was better than the dry cake; the yogurt helped to cut some of the sweetness.
Negative - It was a little dense - probably could have used more custard. I didn't get a lot of maple flavor, but overall it tasted like a decent fall desert
Short Rib Schnitzel
Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Parsnip/Potato Puree
red wine vinaigrette
Positive - Since last week this was kind of a wreck, I made it again. I think I did a better job of letting it set up and made better portion sizes.
We're both big brussel sprout fans, so with them being back in season we'll be eating them a lot.
I bought some red wine vinegar from the the Brooklyn Kitchen that they make there. I don't think I'm a vinegar expert, but it was really good.
I bought some red wine vinegar from the the Brooklyn Kitchen that they make there. I don't think I'm a vinegar expert, but it was really good.
Negative - The actual short rib by itself lacked the big flavors of last week. I didn't use a couple ingredients in the braise since this was just a run through.
The parsnip/potato puree should have just been parsnip, it just wasn't strong flavored enough.
The parsnip/potato puree should have just been parsnip, it just wasn't strong flavored enough.
Fried Egg over Mashed Parsnip Cake
grilled radicchio, scallions,
red wine vinaigrette
red wine vinaigrette
Positive - For some stupid reason I'm a sucker for grilled radicchio, that charred/bitter flavor is great - and this whole thing took me like 10 minutes. This was probably the best thing all weekend.
Egg was cooked perfectly, a rare occurrence around here.
Negative - The crust on the parsnip pancake thing could have been more browned. There was one piece of radicchio that could have been more grilled.
Mushroom Pate Schnitzel
w/ Sauteed Arugula
Positive - This tasted fairly good. I liked the contrast between the creamy pate center and the breading, but I think I need to make the pate more dense so it's easier to handle, it was on the verge of falling apart.
I did a much better job of frying this. Overall I think this tasted pretty good, but I think I'm going to make some changes to the pate mixture, for both flavor and texture reasons. I used onion, and plan on using scallions- it's just a slightly more refined taste.
Sauteed arugula - again one of those things I can't get enough of. Put grilled bok choy on that list too.
Sauteed arugula - again one of those things I can't get enough of. Put grilled bok choy on that list too.
Negative - There was something over-concentrated about the flavors of the pate/mousse, maybe less wine next time.
I also think I'm going to use a different alcohol - maybe a sherry or port to keep it more 'pate' like. I had white wine on hand, so I used that
The mushroom mixture was a little on the egg-y side, so I think more mushroom and maybe a little more flour to make the whole thing more stable would be ideal.
Some quick notes about this Williamsburg taquería.
Positive - The frying here is amazing. I had this pork brain quesadilla and Gretchen had a potato quesadilla. Both were amazingly deep fried.
Yeah - I went all offal here. I had the pig foot tostada. I don't always order only offal, and I don't want that reputation. Since I've never had pig foot prepared outside of my house, I figured I owed it to trotters to taste how it should be cooked; and how many times are you going to get calf brain. We'll find out in a couple years if I have mad cow.
Both of my dishes were good. The brain was similar to sweetbreads, maybe it had a less spongy texture, slightly more creamy. The pig foot had been cooked much longer to mine at home and had a smoother texture; something to remember for next time I cook it. The tostata was all richness; avacado, pig foot, a fresh cheese. The tortilla was crunchy; overall it was pretty good, it probably could have used something else to really set off the richness; but pig foot is kind of mild tasting, so I can see how that's hard to do with out overwhelming it.
Prices are good, portions are small - but that's a good thing, don't you like try more things? We got out of there for under 30 bucks total and we each got two items and shared the chips/salsas.
La Superior
Some quick notes about this Williamsburg taquería.
Positive - The frying here is amazing. I had this pork brain quesadilla and Gretchen had a potato quesadilla. Both were amazingly deep fried.
Yeah - I went all offal here. I had the pig foot tostada. I don't always order only offal, and I don't want that reputation. Since I've never had pig foot prepared outside of my house, I figured I owed it to trotters to taste how it should be cooked; and how many times are you going to get calf brain. We'll find out in a couple years if I have mad cow.
Both of my dishes were good. The brain was similar to sweetbreads, maybe it had a less spongy texture, slightly more creamy. The pig foot had been cooked much longer to mine at home and had a smoother texture; something to remember for next time I cook it. The tostata was all richness; avacado, pig foot, a fresh cheese. The tortilla was crunchy; overall it was pretty good, it probably could have used something else to really set off the richness; but pig foot is kind of mild tasting, so I can see how that's hard to do with out overwhelming it.
Prices are good, portions are small - but that's a good thing, don't you like try more things? We got out of there for under 30 bucks total and we each got two items and shared the chips/salsas.
Negative - Some items were under seasoned. Both our chips (which were a little thick and cardboard like) and Gretchen's black bean soup were under seasoned. I think that only the very best restaurants season every dish perfectly. In most cases you're going to get something that's over or under seasoned.
I wasn't a big fan of the green salsa that was served with both of my dishes. They both seemed to have some unripe plantain/banana flavors in there that stuck to your palate.
We got the salsa plate that came with about 7 salsas, some were better than others, but none really stood out. Maybe it's that tomatillos and tomatoes are out (or going out) of season.
OK - we live in Queens, why are we going to Williamsburg to eat Mexican street food?
CSA
Arugula
Carrots
Curly Cress
Potatoes
Bibb Lettuce
Radicchio
Peppers
Broccoli
Apples
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