Keith's food album

[Keith_W]

I thought I would start a thread to ... ahem ... show off some of my creations

Stuffed quail with lentils. It's a bit more complex than it appears. The quail was tunnel boned - meaning the entire skeleton was removed with the skin and meat intact. I stuffed the cavity with mushroom duxelles and herbs then sowed up the incision with 5-0 surgical suture. 5-0 suture is thinner than hair, and once it is sown using interrupted sutures it is indistinguishable from meat. The quail was then glazed and smoked. What you see on the plate looks like an intact bird, but when you cut into it ... it is boneless

Keith's Fried Chicken. Not much technical skill involved, it's just my take on a classic Southern Fried Chicken.

Soft cooked nest egg. The egg was cooked so that the white was set and the yolk still runny. It was placed on a "nest" made from fried corn silk and flavoured with paprika, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, pepper, and salt. Here it is cut open to prove that the yolk was runny

Soft cooked egg yolk ravioli with mushroom and truffle. Again, cut open to show the runny yolk.

 

[FrantzM]

I thought I would start a thread to ... ahem ... show off some of my creations

Stuffed quail with lentils. It's a bit more complex than it appears. The quail was tunnel boned - meaning the entire skeleton was removed with the skin and meat intact. I stuffed the cavity with mushroom duxelles and herbs then sowed up the incision with 5-0 surgical suture. 5-0 suture is thinner than hair, and once it is sown using interrupted sutures it is indistinguishable from meat. The quail was then glazed and smoked. What you see on the plate looks like an intact bird, but when you cut into it ... it is boneless

Keith's Fried Chicken. Not much technical skill involved, it's just my take on a classic Southern Fried Chicken.

Soft cooked nest egg. The egg was cooked so that the white was set and the yolk still runny. It was placed on a "nest" made from fried corn silk and flavoured with paprika, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, pepper, and salt. Here it is cut open to prove that the yolk was runny

Soft cooked egg yolk ravioli with mushroom and truffle. Again, cut open to show the runny yolk.

Beautiful!

professional Chef?
If simple Amateur , I am utterly impressed and just invited myself to hear your system for a week-end ... Wherever you are

 

[Steve Williams]

my mouth is watering

 

[audioguy]

Australia is a long way to go for a meal and some music listening but I'm game. I have not yet had breakfast and now my stomach is screaming.

I'm impressed. My cooking skills are limited to burgers, chicken or beef on the grill.

 

[mep]

The quail was tunnel boned …

Uh, that sounds sort of kinky.

 

[FrantzM]

Uh, that sounds sort of kinky.

Those quips can only come from you

 

[JackD201]

I'm still scratching my head as to how Keith got an egg yolk into a ravioli!

 

[Keith_W]

Hi Frantz, amateur here! Actually I know quite a few audiophiles who take their other hobbies as seriously as audio. I mean, anyone who takes audio seriously has a degree of nerdiness about them. That nerdiness also infests other aspects of life ... in my case, food.

Here are a couple more

Stuffed lamb cutlets. To do this, I made a mince mixture with hot paprika, smoked paprika, cumin, garlic, and lamb mince. The mince was pressed against the cutlet and wrapped tightly with caul fat. It was then browned in a pan, allowed to cool, then smoked with hickory until perfectly cooked (i.e. my thermometer probe registered 52C). It was topped with a salsa verde then served. The mince protects the lamb from overcooking and locks all the juices in. Take a bite and your mouth is filled with succulent lamb juice.

Grilled hanger steak. Hanger steak is a flavourful cut of meat and nearly as tender as premium cuts. It can be a little gamey (like oxtail). If you do what I did - dry age it in the fridge, followed by a reverse sear on the grill - the gaminess is amplified. I served it with a red wine jus (not pictured) which does tone it down somewhat. Garnishes here - deep fried cauliflower, deep fried enoki mushrooms, asparagus, fava beans, and borlotti beans.

 

[Keith_W]

I'm still scratching my head as to how Keith got an egg yolk into a ravioli!

Quite simple Make a mixture of ricotta and parmesan and put it in a piping bag. Pipe out a circle on some pasta, then pipe another circle on top so it looks like a stadium. Carefully slide an egg yolk into the center. Brush egg white on the rest of the pasta, and lay a second sheet on top, pressing out all air bubbles. Press hard to seal, then cut with a circle cutter. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the pasta floats. Note that the pasta sheet has to be very thin otherwise it won't cook in time.

 

[JackD201]

You are my new amateur chef foodie idol.

Funny you mentioned the nerdy-ness factor. My friend's wife, also an uber amateur chef, is a molecular biologist.