Lucky Number 100

Who ever would have thought I would have made it to 100 posts before getting bored or distracted, but here we are. 

A while back, I had Bri and Bill over for dinner.  Apparently Bill had been a shadow reader of this blog for a while, so it was nice to have him over.  As such, I felt I had to impress him.  I had been eyeballing an Alinea recipe for quite some time, so this was the perfect time to give it a whirl.

The recipe called for the fat cap of a kobe ribeye, but I substituted that for a top roast that I got from the spectacular Whole Foods.  I know that is a bit like replacing a Bentley with a 1993 Civic, but the kobe was $50 per pound.  Next time I would use a more tender cut of meat.  Perhaps not a kobe fat cap, but maybe a regular ribeye or something.  Anyway, here is how I did it.

First, I made some lime rocks by whisking together some sugar, egg whites, kosher salt, citric acid, and lime juice.  I made the mixture into disk-like shapes and then put it in the dehydrator for about 12 hours.  I also tried putting it in the oven, but those browned and turned out quite poorly.  Once the mixture is dry, break it up into pieces and reserve.

Next, make a soy sauce pudding by mixing soy sauce with agar agar with an immersion blender and refrigerate.  Once it is gelled, slice it into cubes and put it in a blender and mix on high speed until smooth.  If necessary, add some water or soy sauce to get the mixture to be smooth like pudding.  Refrigerate until you need it.

Cut the steak into long, rectangular strips and seal in a vacuum bag.  Put the bag in 138 degree water for 30 minutes to make a perfect medium rare steak.  Once the steak is done, transfer the bags to ice water baths and let them cool for 15 minutes.  Once the meat is cooled, cut the steak into long, narrow strips.

Cut very long, thin slices of a cucumber on a mandoline.  Reserve.

Cut several dozen small planks out of a honeydew melon.  Reserve.

To assemble, heat a cast iron pan over high heat.  Put the strips of meat into the pan and cook until charred (about 1 minute).  Remove and slice the meat crosswise into small planks.  Make a long line of overlapping honeydew on the middle of each plate.  Cover the honeydew with some beef planks with the charred side facing the diner.  Drape the cucumber slice over the top of the beef.  Put the soy sauce pudding in a squeeze bottle and draw a line down the middle of the cucumber and pool some at one end of the dish.  Stick some lime rocks and pink peppercorns on top of the cucumber.  Enjoy!