Category: Steak

Dining and Cooking in New Delhi With Friends, and Foie Gras and Mushrooms

A  mixture of fresh and dried mushrooms in a New Deli kitchen.

A mixture of fresh and dried mushrooms in a New Delhi kitchen.

Sean and I descended on the market armed with a mental menu and an abundance of rupee. We walked past the hardware vendors and the mobile phone stalls and entered the vegetable and meat areas, looking for mushrooms and onions, and we found some, and corn, and we had duck breast and some beef tenderloin. We were assembling ingredients for a dinner that evening and we had everything we needed.

Sean and Surya – our hosts – a friend of theirs whose name escapes me (David?), and Angela and I would be at the table. Sean and I transported our goods back to their apartment and started prepping in the kitchen, assisted by Angela and Surya. I took care of the mushroom bisque, using both fresh and dried mushrooms. I base my method on a Thomas Keller method (which you can read about here), and it is among my favorite things to make. On top of the bisque I placed a few pomegranate seeds, which Sean patiently procured.

Sean has his way with a pomegranate.

Sean has his way with a pomegranate.

A small glass of richness.

A small glass of richness.

A table graced with good lighting.

A table graced with good lighting.

A man and his knife.

Sean had some foie in a tin that a friend had left him, and he took care of that. (I had envisioned an amuse of seared foie gras with strawberries and a balsamic and Madeira reduction, and that is what we made.)

An appropriately rich beginning.

An appropriately rich beginning.

Sean and Surya’s kitchen is large, and has much light, which streams in from tall windows on the space’s rear wall. I liked cooking in that kitchen. We seared duck breast, and made a spicy corn and tomato “salsa” for the tenderloin. Sean grilled the beef to perfection.

Corn, tomato, and chili.

Corn, tomato, and chili.

Beef and arugula are always good company.

Beef and arugula are always good company.

Dessert was molten chocolate, ice cream, and strawberries. Surya enjoyed hers with relish.

Chocolate, strawberry, and ice cream closed the meal.

Chocolate, strawberry, and ice cream closed the meal.

A hostess can eat her dessert in any manner that suits her.

A hostess can eat her dessert in any manner that suits her.

Those days spent in Delhi in April of 2013 were good ones. The four of us shared other tables, most notably one at Indian Accent (about which more later). But no meal was more enjoyable than the one on that evening, when all was perfect and lively and warm.

Surya and Angela on the way to another table in New Delhi.

Surya and Angela on the way to another table in New Delhi.

In Which I Begin Cooking With Nathan Myhrvold

Seared with a torch, cooked at 170F ... (Brockhaus photo)

Seared with a torch, cooked at 170F. (Brockhaus Photo)

In 2012 I won a copy of a something I had placed on my wish list the minute it was published: “Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking”. It is a five-volume wonder that’s found in the collections of restaurants around the world; I first got my hands on it in Germany, when I was working at Amador. My copy was back in the U.S., at my parents’ house, where it had been shipped.

One of the first things I did when I returned to the U.S., in 2013, was open the box containing the books and dip into the volumes. (The volumes are stored in an acrylic case, and if there is someone you really love who loves to cook you should get this for them. It costs about $500.) I did not, however, have enough time to start cooking from it, so I put the books back into their case and the entire thing back into the box and vowed to, as soon as possible, begin using it in my kitchen.

Much to read, much to cook, much to eat. (Photo courtesy Modernist Cuisine)

Much to read, much to cook, much to eat. (Photo courtesy Modernist Cuisine)

That time has come. Yesterday I put a rib eye in the freezer, initial prep for Low-Temp Oven Steak. Today I took the steak from the freezer and seared it with a torch, making sure to pay attention to the fat on the sides of the meat. My gas oven’s lowest temperature setting is 170F – the method Nathan Myhrvold and his team perfected uses 160F – but that’s not an issue. Use 160F if you can; if not, just use the lowest setting on your range. I inserted the probe of my digital thermometer into the thickest part of the rib eye and set the unit to notify me when the internal temperature of the steak reached 134F.

Perfect temperature (overlook the imperfect plate and the large flake of Maldon I overlooked). (Brockhaus photo)

Perfect temperature (overlook the imperfect plate and the large flake of Maldon I overlooked). (Brockhaus Photo)

The steak was ready in less time that I anticipated, so I didn’t have time to make the spinach dish I had planned, but who cares? I removed the rib eye from the oven and put it on a cutting board, sliced it immediately, drizzled melted butter over it, then sprinkled some salt on top. It tasted very good – the searing with the torch created that flavor we all love on a steak, and the slow and low cooking resulted in extreme tenderness.

I am making a list of different cuts of beef to prepare using this method, and this is the “Modernist Cuisine” recipe that is up next at Brockhaus: 72-Hour Braised Short Ribs.

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