simon and his amazing technicolour dream coat
a couple weeks ago I was struck with some killer insomnia. you see I had dreamt a dream so vivid and lifelike that I simply could not get back to sleep. when I started to tell mila about this dream, she was most flattered, since she had returned from her tropical vacation that very morning and was touched that I had been dreaming of her return.
the thing is, I was dreaming about someone else. yannick, to be precise. now at this point mila was for some reason less than enthusiastic for me to continue with my decription of my dream. but I persisted:
I had dreamt that yannick, maitre d'hotel extraordinaire, had enlisted my expert dining skills to act as a secret diner at splendido. I believe I was discussing the merits of a comment card tucked inside the bill when I awoke from this fantastic reverie. actually, we may have been discussing a host/guest menu system. or perhaps it was whether david was resting his meat in salted or unsalted butter - I really cannot recall for certain. anyway as you can see this is seriously sweet stuff. I would not be jealous if someone dreamed of this instead of dreaming of me. who can resist meat rested in butter?
12 comments:
Simon:
Meat rested in salted butter? Have you gone bonkers? I really think this would not work at all.
Recall TK on the subject of resting meats:
"When the meats are done, they come out of the oven and are submerged in beurre monte--it's the perfect resting medium. It actually lowers the temperature of the meat, reducing what is called carryover cooking, then maintains it at a great serving temperature. But most important, the weight of the fat surrounding the meat keeps the meat juices from leaking out--they stay in the meat. So here, we use beurre monte as environmental control, and it enhances the flavour."
TK says nothing about salting butter. I wonder whether this would completely throw the seasoning off. Please discuss. Explain why you think this would be desirable.
I agree that Thomas says nothing about salting butter in his discussion of beurre monte nor in his discussion of resting meat. In support of your argument I further add that all Thomas' butter, unless otherwise specified, is unsalted.
However, my lamb saddle had a distinct salty butteryness on its exterior. I know I am telling you nothing new when I say that Toronto chefs (chefs in general?) cannot resist the urge to throw on that extra crystal of fleur as the plate flies through the pass - perhaps salted butter is simply David's way of turning up the salt, just a shade, and ever so diffusely. I must say, whatever he did, it worked. Sensational!
However, on further thought, I worry about the osmotic effect of salt in the resting medium. Perhaps it was unsalted after all in which David rested the young lamb.
boys, this discussion is riveting! absolutely fascinating! i wonder, was the butter salted or unsalted??? how will i be able to sleep tonight with this mystery weighing heavily on my mind?
if i was a blog moderator, i would move this post to foodphile.
sarcasm is the lowest form of humour.
and technical food posts are the lowest form of interesting.
Inspired by your dream, I concocted my usual basil-and-ginger-infused rack of soy ribs and proceeded to rest them in salted butter.
Alas, it was too rich for my liking. Moreover, drowning the fatness with a glass of Coke Zero only served to compound the problem rather than extinguish the flames.
Methinks I will be dreaming of the simple dishes of Rachel Ray tonight.
okay, see, here's your problem: soy ribs. may I suggest meat?
"Ribs" were not a cut of "soy" last time I checked.
I think clarification is muchly needed to shed light on this mysterious rib of soy.
By "soy ribs", I actually meant ribs that had been marinated in a honey, basil, ginger, lemon rind and SOY SAUCE glaze.
Nonetheless, I would not recommend resting said "soy ribs" in anything that remotely resembles salted butter. Although they are quite lovely on their own.
I risk incurring Mila's wrath at yet another technical food post; however, anynoynmous (and Simon)... obviously resting in butter something that had been glazed, marinated, or otherwise cooked in a flavouring agent would not be an advisable course! Think of the dilution! Besides which; again, I do not believe in the virtues of resting in SALTED butter (whether because of oversalting, osmosis, or anything else) nor indeed of resting in any butter meats that had not been cooked in a high/dry fashion (would you subject the crispy exterior of a perfectly roasted chicken or the delicate melting perfection of braised red meat to a warm butter bath?).
surely TK on occasion gives his meats a good rub of herb. you think he forgoes the butter rest in such situations? perhaps he simply prepares an appropriately flavoured butter for each meat. how beautifully laborious!
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