Wylie Dufresne: Meat Glue is My Friend

On Monday night, I was lucky enough to attend the latest installment of Harvard's Science and Cooking lecture series.  As I mentioned before, Le Creuset is one of the sponsors of this fabulous lecture series and they invited me to attend the lectures as their guest.  My schedule has been jam-packed between work, events and traveling, so Monday night was the first lecture that I've had the chance to attend.

So who was Monday night's speaker?  None other than Wylie Dufresne, chef and owner of wd-50 in Manhattan.

If you don't already know, Wylie Dufresne is one of the leading pioneers in molecular gastronomy.  By understanding the physical and chemical processes that occur when cooking food, proponents of molecular gastronomy like Wylie experiment to test the boundaries of how to prepare food in ways you can't imagine.

Over the course of an hour, Wylie spoke passionately about his trials and errors using meat glue (also known as transglutaminase).  Meat glue consists basically of enzymes which binds proteins together.  By using meat glue in both a powder and slurry form, Wylie has managed to do incredible things like making spaghetti from shrimp, Wagyu flap steak, and barley blocks.

He even showed us some of his latest experiments - torched foie gras terrine, hybrid apples and Asian pears, and hybrid carrots and celery.  Wylie recognized that he has many critics who think he is "playing God" but Wylie simply want to use science to present the familiar in an unfamiliar way...or to present the unfamiliar in a familiar way.

No matter how you feel about the subject, it is definitely interesting to learn more about the science of cooking.  I am definitely not a science person at all but Wylie has inspired me to add trying out molecular gastronomy to my 30 by 30 list (my list of thirty things I'd like to accomplish before I turn 30!).

Thanks again to Le Creuset for inviting me to this amazing lecture.  For those of you who are interested, there are a few more lectures coming up.  While I was lucky enough to skip it, I recommend that you come at least an hour early because there are long lines for this free event (which is first come, first serve).

I'm still working on my 30 by 30 list...any suggestions on things I should try to accomplish before I turn 30?  It doesn't have to be food related...just something interesting!

Beef and Bean Chili

Bret and I have an unspoken rule that no matter what our weekend plans may involve, once football season starts, Bret is always unavailable if there is a Pats game on.  I usually join him in the living room to watch the games (with my laptop to write some blog posts) and if I'm feeling up to it, I'll make dishes that are easy to eat on the couch in front of the TV.  This past Sunday, I decided to make Bret a huge pot of chili, which is perfect football-friendly food.  Plus, it gave me an excuse to use my Dutch oven, which may be my new favorite toy in the kitchen.

I did a quick search on Epicurious and found this straightforward recipe for Beef and Bean Chili.  After a trip to Whole Foods, I pushed Bret out of the kitchen and got to work.

First, I chopped up two large red onions.

Then I washed and dried two jalapeno chilies, along with one long green chile pepper.

I chopped up all three peppers with the seeds and set it aside.

I then roughly chopped up six large cloves of garlic and also set this aside.

I measured out my seasonings - 1/4 cup chili powder, 2 tablespoons of ground cumin, and 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika.

My final step was to drain two cans of kidney beans and also set that aside.

With all of the prep work done, I got cooking!  I warmed up my Dutch oven on the stove at medium-high heat with two tablespoons of olive oil.  When the pan was warmed up, I added the onions and sauteed them until they were translucent.

I then added the chopped peppers and garlic and sauteed these with the onions for a few minutes.

I then added about two pounds of ground beef.  My beef was a bit leaner than the recipe called for but I wasn't too worried about the substitution.  I browned the beef with the vegetables and used a fork to help break up the beef.

I then added my spices and mixed it into the beef and vegetable mixture.

At this point, the kitchen started to smell fantastic!  I then mixed in a 28-ounce can of diced San Marzano tomatoes with the tomato juices.

I also added the drained cans of kidney beans.

And then I added my final ingredient - fourteen ounces of beef broth.  With each ingredient, I thoroughly mixed the ingredients in the pot.  I left the pot on the stove at medium-high heat and I stirred it from time to time. 

When the chili started to boil, I reduced the heat on the oven to low and let the chili simmer with the cover on for about an hour and checked on it to give it a stir every now and again.  While I let the chili simmer, I baked and cooled a pan of cornbread (blog post to come), which was perfect with the chili.

At game time, Bret and I sat down to a hearty bowl of beef and been chili.  The chili was definitely spicy and packed a serious punch.  Bret added some shredded cheddar cheese to his bowl to provide some relief to the spice but I preferred mine just the way it was.  While the game was a big disappointment, at least we had the chili to comfort us!

What do you like to make for those lazy football Sundays?  Also, have you voted yet for Boston's Best Local Blogger?  Voting is open until December 22nd and I would appreciate your vote here!

Fall Roasted Vegetable Medley

To take a break from my Portland re-caps (and there are more to come), I wanted to share a dish that I made on Monday night.  As I mentioned last week, the folks at Le Creuset very generously gifted me with my very first French oven.  I didn't get a chance to use it before I left for Portland so utilizing it was at the top of my priority list when I returned home.

On Monday morning, I took out two boneless chicken breasts out of the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge during the day.  I had a lot of great vegetables in the fridge, freezer and pantry that I wanted to utilize and decided to make a simple yet seasonal roasted vegetable medley to go along with my chicken.  After a long workout at the gym that evening, I was excited to get to my hands dirty in the kitchen.  Since Bret wouldn't be home until 8:30 PM, this would give me plenty of time to slowly prepare dinner and utilize my French oven.

First, I took out some Brussels sprouts out of the freezer.  I had purchased them last week at the farmers' market and put them in the freezer for future use.  I removed the outer leaves, gave the sprouts a quick rinse and let them thaw out while I prepared the rest of the ingredients.

I had the last of my sample dehydrated mushrooms (lobster and black trumpet mushrooms) in the pantry from Marx Foods and I decided to rehydrate them with a cup of hot chicken stock.  I put a dishtowel over the bowl and also set that aside.

I then halved and sliced one small zucchini that had been sitting in my fridge.

I also halved and sliced two medium white onions that I purchased from the farmers' market that day during lunch.  I had about six cloves of garlic left from a garlic bulb in the fridge and I also roughly chopped those up.

When I was done preparing my vegetables, I sprayed the French oven with cooking spray and also added a little olive oil to the bottom of the pot.  I warmed the pot up over the stove at medium heat while I got to work on my proteins.  I had four thick slices of smoked bacon in the fridge and I roughly chopped the bacon up.

I also trimmed and seasoned my now thawed chicken breasts with salt, pepper, herbs de Provence and cayenne.  

After all of this preparation, I was finally ready to get cooking!  I preheated the oven to 300 degrees while I dropped the chopped bacon in the pan and let the bacon slowly crisp up.

I kept an eye on the bacon and turned the pieces from time to time.  I wanted the bacon to start to crisp up but not cook all the way through.  When the bacon was ready, I removed it from the pan with a slotted spoon and set the bacon aside in a bowl.

Using the fat from the bacon along with the olive oil that I had previously added, I put my chicken breasts in the pan.  I didn't want to actually cook the chicken on the stove top but just give it a nice sear.  When the chicken was seared on one side, I turned it over and also added the chopped onions and garlic to the pan.  In addition to cooking the vegetables down a bit, I want to meld the onion and garlic flavor with the chicken breasts.  After the chicken breasts had been seared on all sides, I took them out of the pan and set it aside.

I returned my attention back to the onions and garlic in the French oven.  I seasoned the vegetables with salt, pepper, herbs de Provence and a healthy tablespoon of cayenne.  While I love roasted vegetables, I often find them to be bland so I like to add a little kick to it when I can.

I slowly added the zucchini, Brussels sprouts and back to the pan while repeatedly mixing the vegetables up.

I finally added the rehydrated mushrooms to the pan with the remaining chicken stock and gave everything a good stir.

I added the chicken breasts back into the pan and also added a small can of chopped tomatoes to add some color, sweetness and moisture to the dish.

I put the lid on the French oven and put it in the oven for thirty minutes.  After thirty minutes, I turned the chicken breasts over, covered it again and cooked it for another twenty minutes.  I checked the temperature of the chicken breasts and they were just a few degrees short of 170 degrees.  I turned the temperature of the oven up to 350 and put the pot back in the oven without the lid for another eight minutes.  I wasn't worried about overcooking the chicken, which would result in a very dry chicken, because there was a lot of moisture in my roasted vegetables.

Since the chicken breasts were thick, Bret and I decided to just split one.  We piled our plate full of the roasted vegetables, which turned into an almost ratatouille texture (in a really good way).  The chicken breast had a nice sear on the outside yet was still so moist.  But the vegetables, of course, stole the show!  The resulting sauce from the vegetables had such a sweet and smoky flavor yet had just a little bit of spice from the cayenne.  We couldn't help but feel really healthy while eating these hearty roasted vegetables.

Bret and I split the other chicken breast for lunch and of course took lots of vegetables too.  We ended up having a lot more sauce and vegetables leftover so we found a way to utilize them for dinner the next night by pouring it over spicy seasoned rice mixed with smoked turkey sausage.

My first attempt at cooking with my new Le Creuset French oven was definitely a success.  I'm thinking that my next attempt may be jambalaya...but I'd love to hear some of your recipes if you'd like to share!


Do you own a Dutch oven?  What do you like to cook with it?


If you have a chance, could you please vote for me as Boston's Best Local Blogger? I'm thrilled to be nominated and would appreciate your vote here!

Thursday's Thoughts

It's been a bit of a whirlwind week here for me! Bret and I have both been working maniac hours and we've honestly been too pooped to do a lot of cooking for dinner.  It is times like this that I am so grateful that I froze portions of my turkey and spinach lasagna or "kitchen sink" spicy vegetable soup.  They are a perfect alternative when I don't feel like cooking but don't want to eat take-out or bowls of cereal for dinner.  Honestly, they re-heat wonderfully for dinner during busy weeks like this and I only wish I had a bigger freezer to freeze more meals all the time!

While I haven't been cooking too much this past week, I did spend a decent amount of time in my kitchen this past weekend.  I haven't posted any of these recipes on my blog because I have been doing some cooking and baking for some guest blog posts I'm writing!  I'll definitely let you know when these blog posts are published on these other food blogs.  Until then, here is a bit of a teaser....

Breakfast Tacos

Salted Cashew-Crunch Cookies

In other exciting news, the folks at Le Creuset recently reached out to me to send me some information about Harvard University's Science and Cooking Lecture Series.  Le Creuset is one of the sponsors of the series and they are providing funding to help support this great lecture series.  Le Creuset generously offered me to not only attend some of these lectures, but they also asked me if I had any need for any Le Creuset products. Um, yes please!  I meekly asked for the one item that I have been drooling over for quite some time...and that I intended to ask for a gift for Hanukkah or Christmas.

Yes, Le Creuset sent me a complimentary 5 1/2 quart round French oven in cherry red!  I stared at the box all day in my office and I couldn't wait to get home to open it!  Thank you, thank you, thank you to Le Creuset for making my day and quite possibly, my month! I can't wait to start using it in my kitchen!

And finally, one other great news....the Boston A-List has nominated me for Best Local Blogger!  Voting doesn't open until November 1st (and I will definitely be reminding you again once it is open) but I would totally appreciate your vote for me! This is quite the honor and I'm truly excited to just be nominated!

I've got lots of other exciting things going on right now at work...with wedding planning...and with my friends.  I can't share all of these great things right now but I will once the timing is right and details have been finalized.
Until then, tell me...What exciting or good thing is going on in your life this week - whether big or small?

Fun and Fearless August Giveaway!

There are some definite perks to being a food and lifestyle blogger.  Not only have I had the pleasure to attend some fabulous blogger and social media events, I've also had the opportunity to try out some new food and food-related products.  Whenever I get the opportunity, I like to share the wealth to my wonderful, responsive and interactive readers.

So when the folks at CSN Stores offered to sponsor a giveaway to my readers, I of course jumped at the chance.  CSN Stores has some really fantastic items for your home at really great prices but what stood out to me the most was their selection of Le Creuset cookware.  

So, here's the giveaway.  CSN Stores is offering one of my lucky readers an $80 gift certificate to any of the CSN Stores.  I took a look online to see what I would buy if I had $80 to spend and I'd probably choose something like this practical set of Le Creuset baking dishes.  

And with money left over, I'd get this gorgeous mortar and pestle for all of my spices!

So how can you be the lucky winner of this $80 gift certificate? Take a look at the CSN Stores website and leave me a comment telling me what you'd like to purchase if you had $80 to spend at CSN Stores.  You must leave me a comment by 11:59 PM (EST) on August 15, 2010.    

Contest Rules: This contest is open only to U.S. and Canada residents and additional shipping costs may apply to Canadian residents.  A winner will be drawn (via Random.org) on August 16th and announced later that day.