Crispy Breaded Chicken Breast, Sous Vide

 At Palo Alto Grill, we have a really special way of cooking chicken.  It is crispy and breaded on the outside, yet the inside is tender and succulent, like poached chicken.  We achieve this using a technique called Sous Vide.

I am lucky to have been trained in the science of cooking sous vide by Bruno Chemel of Baumé Restaurant, who taught as the chef instructor of Joël Robuchon's School of Sous Vide in France.  Bruno has continued to practice and perfect the technique of sous vide for over 20 years.  Sous Vide is an interesting process and one which is currently highly controversial.  There are even certain states and cities which consider its use illegal.  Here in California, for a restaurant to cook sous vide, a Chef must first write a very complicated guide, detailing all the processes performed at that restaurant, a copy of which is kept on file at the Health Department.  Ironically, at the same time as all of these regulations get tighter and tighter for the professional, more and more cookbooks and tools are released to the home cook for sous vide cooking!

As most people are aware, in the time before refrigeration, almost all meats were prepared by braising or stewing at extremely high temperatures.  This, of course is if they weren't preserved through curing, confitting or smoking, etc.  Now that refrigeration is a common practice, people are more accustomed to eating meats cooked at a much lower temperature, (medium-rare, rare, raw, etc) a practice once considered very dangerous.  These days, we realize that cooking meat to a lower temperature results in meat which is more moist and more tender.  Sous vide is the next step in this evolution.  Instead of changing the temperature TO which meat is cooked, sous vide changes the temperature AT which meat is cooked.  The reason it is considered such a dangerous process is because many of the chefs who practice sous vide are not properly trained to handle the dangers and exercise the proper controls over these dangers.

Though it may seem small, one of the most important factors to consider in cooking sous vide is the wearing of sterile gloves.  On our hands are two types of bacteria: aerobic and anaerobic.  Most aerobic (oxygen-breathing) bacteria are relatively harmless to people, comparatively.  Because of competition with these stronger aerobic bacteria, anaerobic bacteria (non-oxygen-breathing) have a difficult time thriving and therefore rarely exist in dangerous proportions.  However, when oxygen is removed from an environment (as in canning or sous vide) the aerobic bacteria die and the anaerobic (such as botulism!) thrive.  Therefore, gloves are critical when cooking sous vide.  Most cookbooks and internet websites which teach sous vide miss out on many of these controls and dangers.

Back to the fun stuff:  Chicken.

<-This is a 38 North Brand Bassian Farms Chicken.  It is the finest animal I have ever had the opportunity to work with.  (38 North comes from the fact that these chickens are raised 38 miles north of the Golden Gate)  They are rich and flavorful and the skin adheres beautifully to the flesh, which is very important for this application.

Firstly, break the chicken down as such:

The whole breast will be poached sous vide, the legs grilled for our Chicken Salad on Croissant and the wings and spine saved for stock to make the Dijon Chicken Jus.

 (Note: if for some reason you do not have access to the equipment or materials necessary to prepare this chicken sous vide, a delicate poach or very light simmer in chicken broth for about an hour before chilling, carving and breading would produce an extremely similar product)

To vacuum the breasts, put them back to back, to prevent the bones from tearing the bags under vacuum.  Remember: Cut bones cut bags.

Sous vide the chicken at 145 degrees Fahrenheit for 2.5 hours.





Once it is cooked, chill the chicken in an ice bath before fully chilling in the refrigerator.

Once fully chilled, carve the breasts off of the chicken.

Marinade the breasts for at least 6 hours or overnight in buttermilk and your favorite dry rub or spice mix.  We use our cowboy steak seasoning.

Once the chicken breasts have finished marinating, dredge them in all purpose flour mixed with dry herbs and more spice mix.

 

The chicken can be fried now, but its still better to wait 2-3 hours or until the dredging looks soggy.

<-Like this

Once soggy, dredge lightly once more and fry at 350F until well browned.

Serve with Grilled Apples

 and Dijon jus-glazed Chestnut Biscuits

Halve, and present, moist and glistening, on sauteed greens.

By doing the initial cook on the bone, the chicken maintains its maximum flavor and moisture.

Finish with fleur de sel and baby sage.

Sauce liberally tableside with Dijon Jus.

Cool beans.

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.