Mustard tips and Cheese Mustard

I love mustard.  Can't get enough.  At my house, I have Chinese hot mustard, smooth dijon, whole grain mustard, yellow mustard, sweet hot mustard and sometimes others in my fridge at all times.  I love all of them differently, and cannot use them interchangeably.  At Palo Alto Grill, we have many kinds as well, and we even make two of them ourselves: Cheese Mustard (recipe follows) and Chipotle Mustard (Recipe).  We use it in everything from Caesar Dressing to Dijon Demi-Glace on our Fried Chicken dish.  There are two basic ways to make mustard, depending on whether you want to start with powder or seed.  The choice determines the final texture of your mustard.

The mustard, (powder or seed) is usually hydrated in a combination of water, vinegar, beer, and/or wine.  

For seed mustard, hydrate in a combination of the above liquids and allow to hydrate for at least 8 hours before blending to desired texture.

Mustard as a raw ingredient has a few interesting properties.  When it is first mixed or pureed, it has a bitter character which gradually ripens and dissipates over time.  The spiciness in mustard comes from compounds too chemically bound for us to taste, but over time, as fermentation allows those bonds to simplify, we perceive an increased spiciness in the mustard.  To allow this spiciness to develop, avoid refrigeration or the addition of salt until desired spiciness is achieved.  Both refrigeration and salt will stop the development of mustard's kick.  It may need to ferment 1-5 days for proper flavor.

When guests arrive at Palo Alto Grill, our gift to them is our bread course, comprised of fresh, house-baked baguette as well as one of our specialties - Epi Pretzels.  (Epi referring to their shape, like sheaves of wheat)  To accompany these pretzels we make a cheese mustard, and here's how its done:

Ingredients:
1 cup Dry Mustard Powder
1 each Beer
4 each Eggs
2 Tbs Sugar
1/2 cup Malt Vinegar
1.5 pounds Cream Cheese
1 cup Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup Malt Vinegar
2 each Egg Yolks
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt, to taste.






First, mix the whole eggs, sugar and mustard in a bowl with a whisk.  Add the beer and the first 1/2 cup vinegar.  Cook over a double boiler until thick, about 25 minutes.

Once thick, add the cream cheese in chunks and whisk smooth.

We add more cheese flavor by making a parmesan puree.  This is done by pureeing the parmesan, second 1/2 cup malt vinegar, egg yolk and Olive Oil until smooth.

Whisk the two cheese sauces together and adjust salt to taste.

The Epi Pretzel is a signature part of the Palo Alto Grill experience.  Our pastry chef bakes loads of them fresh every day.

Sick, right?

See you soon...

Prelude to Palo Alto Grill part 7 - Creamed Kale and Restaurant Kitchen

Exciting news! This last weekend, we were finally able to begin cooking inside the kitchen of Palo Alto Grill.  We are right on schedule for an end of the month opening.

Some beautiful photos were taken of the dishes we were able to demo on site, I've included some here.  The rest will be debuting on http://www.paloaltogrill.com soon, so stay tuned...

It seems that there's a great deal of disagreement lately about the health value of different foods and food groups.  There is, however one thing that people can universally agree upon.  Kale is crazy good for you!  High fiber, vitamins, antioxidants and it can lower cholesterol levels.

In lieu of that steakhouse standard, the creamed spinach, at Palo Alto Grill, we will be offering creamed kale.  Here's how we're putting it together:


Ingredients (serves 6)

3 bunches Kale (about 15 leaves)
1 tablespoon Butter
4-5 cloves Garlic, minced
2 large Shallots, diced
1/4 cup Pernod liquor (more on Pernod to follow)
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
Salt and Pepper to Taste

- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt heavily

- Blanch kale until tender, about 30 seconds.  Shock in ice water.








- Sautee the garlic and shallots in butter until translucent.

- Deglaze pan with Pernod 

and simmer until reduced.

- When Pernod has simmered almost dry, add cream and reduce by half.

















- After reduction of cream, add blanched kale, stir to combine and heat, check seasoning with salt and pepper.

Palo Alto Grill Creamed Kale - coming soon..

A little bit more on Pernod, for those unaware.  It is an anise liquor, the flavor is very similar to fennel.  It has been made in France for over 200 years and was originally very similar to absinthe.  It is drunk with a mix of ice and water, but I find it best suited for its culinary applications.  Pernod is an indispensable ingredient in Creamed Spinach (or Kale), Escargot, Bouillabase, etc.

We finished a few more new dishes for the menu.  Including what I think will be a very unique steak execution: the Turf and Turf.  Inspired by the combination of bacon and pork loin, this is our take on the beef version of that combo.  Because of the pepperyness of pastrami, we decided to use it as an anchor for our version of a pepper steak as well.







Peppercorn sauce is made with green peppercorns, which are a really cool ingredient, but not typically useful for much else.  They come in brine and look a lot like capers.  They have a lot of flavor, and the finer they are chopped, the more it is released.















We caramelize the peppercorns with shallots and reduce along with beef stock, a small amount of cream and brandy.

The grilled steak is topped with the sauce, onions pickled in pepperoncini, and smoked pastrami.

Lastly, the first of our fish entrees was finished... Grilled Mediterranean Branzino with grilled lemon, blistered swiss chard and fingerling potatoes.

Cool beans.

Prelude to Palo Alto Grill part 6 - Pot Pie, Steaks, etc.

More cooking in the last week.  We managed to execute a rough "cross-section" of the menu, including finally some STEAKS!

We had long planned to do a Vegetarian Pot Pie Entree for the restaurant.  There are certain concerns with executing a pot pie for a restaurant.  If one were to cook the pie in the traditional way, it would take an unacceptable amount of time from ordering to serving.  Possibly even an hour.  We had to come up with a way to be able to put the pot pie up within 15-20 minutes.  This way, as long as the guest were to order a salad or soup as a first course, there would be no perceivable wait.

We achieve this with two kitchen tricks.  First, we pre-bake the bottom crust.  For this we use a blitz puff pastry, which is somewhere between fancy puff pastry and regular pie crust.  I'll give a recipe for this down the road, but you can see the large lumps of butter that we begin with to the left <-.  The dough is then folded over on itself until the butter is roughly dispersed between layers of pastry.

If one wishes to try this pie at home, feel free to use frozen puff pastry dough from the supermarket, it works quite well.

We lay out the bottom crust in the vessel it will eventually be served in.  In order to prevent the pastry from over-puffing and filling its own cavity, we need to use a baking weight.  Beans are traditional, but some chefs have recently turned to coins, because they conduct heat better.



This gets baked at 375 until very golden brown.


Ingredients for the filling:

1/2 pound Button or Crimini Mushrooms, quartered

2 each jumbo Carrot, sliced

3 each ribs Celery, sliced
8 each Pearl Onion, halved and peeled

5 cloves Garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons  fresh Sage, chopped

1 Tablespoon fresh Thyme, chopped

1 cup frozen Peas

1 each Kabocha Squash, cubed (or other hard squash)

6 each Baby Rose Potatoes

1 each Bay Leaf
2 Tablespoons Grapeseed Oil

1/4 cup White Wine

1 Tablespoon Constarch

1 cup Milk

Salt and Pepper TT

Begin by lightly sweating all
vegetables and herbs in
Grapeseed Oil until fragrant.

Add White Wine and
Water to cover.  

Simmer until the Kabocha and Potato are just tender.

Mix Cornstarch with just enough water to create a slurry and drizzle into stew.

Repeat until thickened.  Add milk to finish and season with salt and pepper.

The second trick we use to finish the pot pie quickly is to fill them hot.  When filling is finished, but still hot, pour into pre-baked bottom crust.  Top with a square of puff pastry, glazed with egg yolk and garnished as desired with designs of puff pastry.  We use stars, echoing the PA Grill logo.

Broil on medium heat until well browned.  This is the aforementioned 15-20 minute step.

Mmmm..

Another successful upcoming dish is the octopus appetizer.  We simmer the blanched octopus in olive oil until tender.  We finish it on the grill, and serve with potatoes, garlic and preserved lemon sauteed in olive oil.

Chopped basil finishes the dish.

We further feature the grill with our mixed grill Entree, which is comprised of Coulotte Steak, Confit Chicken Wings, Prawns Marinated in Yogurt and Cevapcici Sausages.

The Palo Alto Grill Cowboy steak is a rubbed Ribeye, with charred blistered peppers, roasted garlic and smoked potatoes in garlic aioli.

One of the things we wanted to showcase at Palo Alto grill which sets us apart from many steakhouses are flavor profiles, chosen by the kitchen to accent particular cuts of meat.  We also wanted to showcase a Steak Frites (french fries) - that French bistro classic.  For this execution of frites, I use a method developed by Heston Blumenthal - triple cooked fries.  This ensures every fry has a delicate, glassy coat and a fluffy interior.

One can see the lightly marred surface of the
blanched fries, this is what will eventually give
them a glassy crunch.

First, the potatoes are blanched in water until just tender and allowed to cool rapidly in the freezer.







Once the fries are near frozen, they are simmered in 300-315 degree oil until the skin is leathery and near-brown.  They are then re-frozen until ready to serve.






The final fry happens at 375 degrees, this is where the fries gain their true golden color and crunch.

Steak frites with Bordelaise, Aioli and Frisee Lettuce.

This last week, we also found our preferred execution of Quail (in this demo, the part of Quail will be played by cornish game hen)

The quail is marinated in 5 spice, soy and honey before being grilled and served over sauteed snap peas and carrots.

The dish is finished with a Balsamic Reduction.

Our first side dish, confirmed for the menu will be a Sun-dried tomato Mac and Cheese.

Coming soon....


Cool beans.