tasting menu 19

Tasting menu

Pineapple cous cous, candy ginger, eggplant, coconut

Artichoke puree crispy broccoli, parm air

Sou-vide tiger shrimp
Mandarin orange, puffed rice, avocado


Banana
Bread, syrup, ice cream
Made with liquid nitrogen

Special wine dinner

We are doing a benefit for: Give the Gift of Speech Dinner Benefiting Judy Haigh Speech Rehab Trust on February 9. cost is 150$ with wine.

Wine dinner
February 10
SOLD OUT

Selection of test tubes
Pomegranate, butternut squash, quince

Mandarin orange
Red curry, tiger shrimp, guava

Truffled puffed wild rice in liquid nitrogen

Organic chicken noodles
Saltine cracker consommé, sou-vide root vegetables

Peach sorbet
Merlot caviar, frozen thyme

Organic beer braised pork belly

Cauliflower puree, elephant garlic jam, danelion reduction

Rosemary yuzu pound cake
Blueberry caramel ice cream made with liquid nitrogen

Valentines day 08

I always use the same ingredients when I write the menu for Valentines day. These ingredients have been proven to get the sparks flying if you know what I mean. They are cocoa, asparagus, almonds, avacado, chilies, chocolate, figs, honey and oysters. We will offer our regular dinner menu with these specials:

Appetizer

White Asparagus
Grilled oyster, cotija, warm walnut mayo
$12

Soup

Alaskan crab bisque
Tarragon, Fig caviar, Fig air
$10

Entrée

Sou-vide Maine lobster
Chili, honey consommé, avocado gnocchi
$32

Dessert

Rose pedal syrup
Sexy fruit, almonds, piped chocolate
$8

Tasting menu 18

I am trying some new techniques this week. I have been working on my vegetable purees with the carrgeenan. Peanut butter and jelly has got to be my all time favorite combination

Tasting menu

Greek salad
Olives, tomatoes, oregano

Pineapple consommé
White soy noodles, miso air

Snake River pork belly
Cauliflower, morels, beer

Peanut butter meringue
Jelly ice cream made with liquid nitrogen

Red onion glass

Tasting menu 17

I got the inspiration for the menu this week from my 6 year old daughter. We were at chucky cheese watching a gang of kids swindling the machines for tickets when I asked her her 4 favorite foods. They were Pizza, Mac and cheese, pears and ice cream. These will be my base dishes this week throwing in some tricks.

Tasting Menu

Pizza
Tortilla, tuna, siracha caviar

Mac & cheese
Grilled noodles, king crab, lemon fondue

Pear
Hibiscus foam, pancetta, radish

Sweet corn ice cream made with liquid nitrogen
Candy crimini, frozen tarragon

What is Molecular gastronomy

First I think everyone needs to know this is food and not science fiction. People think we have some kind of lab set up where we a draining blood from cows and ejecting into rabbits. I would define molecular cuisine as cooking and analyzing food on a cellular level. If grilling a piece of fish is not the best way to cook it, why not experiment scientifically to find the best result. I thought traditional ice cream making was the best, but now I will never make ice cream without liquid nitrogen. There is no doubt that it is creamer and has an insane mouth feel. I thought grilled salmon could never be topped but salmon sou-vide at 131 degrees with dill butter and yuzu is the best piece of fish I ever had. Humans are always looking for the next best thing, we never settle. We are always looking for better. That is how our planet evolved to where we are today. To those who say that molecular cooking is a fad I say: try some molecular techniques on your food. You will yield some amazing products. Not everything made this way is good but that is the fun of experimenting and learning. Ounce you stop learning your dead . This is a list of some of the chemicals we use. Next time you are in the supermarket read the ingredient labels. You already consume all of the products we use. All we are doing is using these ingredients in gourmet food applications to enhance textures, flavors and presentations. Have fun and be open

Liquid nitrogen- A colorless, flavorless liquid that has a temperature 0f -320

Gellan- Similar to gelatin but it can be heated and item will keep its structure

Agar- A thickening gelling agent used in the orient for 1000 of years

Activa- A protein glue used to stick different proteins together

Sodium alginate- Used to make caviar. Added to liquid to thicken

Calcium chloride- Used in caviar making to set or cook caviar

Calcium Gluconate- Used in the reverse specification process. Added to liquid and dropped into sodium alginate solution. Sometimes thickened with xantham

Xantham gum- Used to thicken and is added to emulsions so they don’t break

Sodium citrate- The sodium salt of citric acid

Citric acid- An organic acid used to give sour qualities. Can replace lemon juice

Guar gum- A thickening agent and stabilizer works well with xantham

Ascorbic acid- Found in citrus fruits it is excellent for keeping natural colors in blanching

Lecithin- Found in egg yolks it is used to thicken and create air textures. Best when stabilized with xantham

Glucose- Used to help stabilize cooked products to make them stable

Isomalt- A pure form of sugar that won’t crystallize when heated

Glycerin- Properties are like glucose. Used in bubble gum production

Methylcellulose- Derived from plant fibers this product has many different uses. When used in baking, it will help to increase crumb. Other applications are to trick food textures. We have used it in hot ice cream, gnocchi and sour cream noodles.

Tapioca maltodextrin- Used to turn any fat into a powder

Carrageenan- A natural extract from seaweed, used to make incredible textures

Cauliflower chips

We are using these chips on the vegetable tasting course on the menu. They are made by steaming cauliflower for 3 minutes and shocking them. We then slice thin length wise and place them on a silt pad with truffle oil. The chips are baked at 190 degrees for 65 minutes. They come out nicely brown and compliment the dish with a woodsy flavor

Alot of press this week

Fun With Molecular Gastronomy
Insider trading: experts' secrets to the perfect stock
Denver International Wine Festival-Taste of Elegance Competition
Review: Ian Kleinman mixes food and science at O’s in Westminster

Tating menu 16

Had a few days off this week to spend with my girls and my wife. Working on a side project for a friend that is going well. I just got the morimoto cook book. He has some amazing ideas and pictures in his book. When I did the Aspen food and wine festival this last year I got to meet Morimoto and Jean Jeorge,Two of my favorite chefs. The candy salmon technique came from his book with the liquid nitrogen ice cream from our kitchen. Should be a very busy week in hotel. People are starting to travel for business again

Tasting menu

Grilled tuna
Yuzu fruit cocktail, avocado foam

Vegetable tasting
Beet gelee, peeled grape tomatoes, crispy cauliflower,
warm mushrooms in sage Parsnip fries, dried sweet corn sheets

Asian pollen dusted tenderloin tempura
Roasted eggplant, dandelion reduction

Candy Salmon
Crème Frâiché ice cream made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Frozen chocolate air

New menu

It is slow this week in the hotel so we have been working on some new menu items

Shrimp ceviche

Guava ice cream with grilled pineapple and jelly meringue

Cartoon of elbulli spoon and ravioli

Boulder daily camera review

A great review from this Boulder newspaper. http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/jan/03/dining-mister-wizard-ian-kleinman-mixes-food-and/

Tatsing menu 15

Had a huge new years eve. It was a little sketchy doing so much molecular at ounce. We are used to doing 4 dishes and this was around 25. A good lesson I will use when I write a menu for my next large event. I got a camera so I won't be using my camera phone anymore (hopefully an improvement)

Tasting menu 15


Avocado Noodles
Scallop ceviche, tomatillo, piped tomato

English Pea Soup
Carrot caviar, shaved toast

Buffalo Short Rib
Elephant garlic jam, corn, blackberry

Honey Lavender Baklava
Curry coconut ice cream made with liquid nitrogen