farewell dinner for B and J

nicolae!

muscovy duck, stuffed with peaches and oranges and rosemary. really yummy.

harold mcgee ..

is a caltech alum !!

he gave a talk at the SF monthly alumni luncheon and i totally missed that!

why does the souffle rise?

last few weeks, i spent a good amount of time studying the physics behind the rising of souffles for my aph225 final project. it was fun, and there were actually some "surprising" results!

"... most souffle recipes suggest beating the egg until it is “stiff”, but over-beating should be avoided. the definition of stiffness remains ambiguous. it is thus of my interest, both as an amateur chef and a phd candidate in engineering and applied sciences, to investigate the physics causing the rise of this delicate structure, with the ultimate goal of making a perfect soufflé."

it turns out that ideal gas expansion of the gas bubbles is not enough to explain the rise. water evaporation must take into account.

what does that imply about the optimal stiffness required? to find out, click here.


Some cool pics from the project:

the egg white must be stiff:


what the whipped egg white looks like under the microscope. the vertical bars are separated by 1mm:


finally, the rise:

bertolli says ... ...

black truffles should be mixed in with the food, e.g. roasted hen stuffed with truffles under the skin, instead of being shaved on top of egg pasta (which is suggested with white truffles).

this is b/c the aromas of black truffles are not as effusive as white truffles, and it takes time for the scents to mingle.

that explains the blandness of the black truffle on egg dish in SF some time last year - for the longest time i thought it's the regional factor (the black truffles we got were from oregon). yet to try them the way bertolli suggested though..

(sorry the photo is out of focus..)



p.s. bertolli is the chef and owner of oliveto (one of my fav) in oakland, CA ; used to be at chez panisse.

new year's eve

The Menu


Lettuce salad with green apple, avocado, tomato, and cucumber, served with Sueann"TM" salad dressing.

Scottish salmon with Gravlax sauce, and a-bit-over-toasted bread.


Pan-seared Muscovy duck leg* in lettuce wrap with chopped tomato, carrot and onion bedding.
Choice of sauce: yum-yums from caramelized duck skin; yum-yums with sesame oil; yum-yums with sesame oil and sesame seeds; sesame seeds ground in wasabi.
*Duck massaged in lemon zest, cilantro, sage, thyme, olive tapenade, and something else i forgot.


Fresh home-made ravioli with shitake and portobello mushroom stuffing,
tossed in "cream" sauce with sage and pine nut.
Choice of ravioli shape: whatever you can do with a pair of kitchen scissors.


Prosecco, with accidental strawberry.


In an egg shell, Macha souffle.

photos courtesy of sueann and my sister.

backstage - new year's eve dinner

this semester has been crazy -- haven't had time to cook at home much since sept. but tonight (or yesterday night) -- i had my redemption -- we were cooking from 6pm till almost midnight 2006, with 6 courses and really nice pinot grigio, super tuscany tinorso 98, and prosecco. For most of the dishes we didn't even bother digging up recipes - improvisation is more fun :)

The only regret though, is that i forgot to drizzle truffle oil on my raviolis. what a shame!

rolling out dough with rolling pin -- a pasta machine is the next to-get. can't find semolina flour yet. all-purpose flour for now. also the dough really should be done the night before. my lab schedule is to blame.


raviolis cut into really cute shapes :) it's a bad idea to go shopping 1 hr before savenor closes - most mushrooms got really dry - only portobello and shitake are in reasonable shape.


One minute in boiling water is enough for freshly made pasta.


the strawberries are so nicely arranged that taking any piece away would destroy the overall harmony. courtesy of sueann (both the strawberries and picture).


sueann using chopsticks to save our drowning strawberry!


a promising one.


a scary one.