Process Cheese & Kraft

I recently read an article in Invention & Technology (this was from a 2001 issue, which tells you something about the lag time associated with reading magazines in our house!) about the origin or process cheese. It turns out that in the late 1800s, cheese consumption in the US was very low because of inconsistent quality and very short shelf life. James Kraft was a cheese salesman, and when he became aware of the difficulties in selling cheese, began experimenting with heating cheese to kill the molds and bacteria that cause it to age quickly, and then adding emulsifiers to prevent the fats and solids from separating. He patented the process in 1916 and began selling this “process cheese” in cans, and hit it big during World War I selling process cheese to the military. He went on to creating Velveeta, pre-slicing, Cheez Whiz and Singles! An interesting factoid from the article is that annual cheese consumption in the US has increased from 3 pounds per person to over 30 pounds per person in the last century!

– Chris

Pasta Class at Ramekins in Sonoma, CA

I’ve tried several times to make my own pasta, and the results, while not catastrophic, have never been culinary delights. In fact, my most recent effort was to create an “inside out” beef stroganoff. A typical stroganoff involves braising some chuck steak for several hours with onions and mushrooms, and then adding sour cream to the meat broth and serving over noodles tossed with butter. My idea was to take the beef and onion mixture after its cooked and create a filling for a filled pasta like an oversized ravioli. The gravy is made as usual by adding sour cream to the beef broth, and then drizzling over the raviolis. Well, lets just say that while the idea was good, the execution was poor. The pasta was rubbery and falling apart, and the beef filling became saturated with water during cooking. Blech. Fortunately for the mouths that are dependent on me for survival, I had set aside some of the beef and was able to cook dried noodles from a box too create a facsimile of the traditional version of stroganoff.

It was this experience that headed me down the path of getting some instruction before I made another attempt. Dave and I took a class at Ramekins, taught by Carlo Cavallo, the executive chef and owner of Meritage in Sonoma. Chef Carlo is a dynamic, entertaining instructor and he managed to reduce pasta making to just a few key rules. First, we learned that the pasta dough can be made entirely in a kitchen aid mixer; just throw in the ingredients with the dough hook and hit the button and let it run for 3-4 minutes until a ball forms. When making the pasta sheets for filled pasta, the thickness is critical. Too thin and the pasta tears or the filling will soak through; too thick and its doughy and pasty. Making a coarse chop of the filling helps immensely in getting nicely shaped pastas that don’t tear; and don’t overfill the pastas! Using an egg wash to seal the edges of the pasta pillow was more effective than using water. And finally, the pasta only needs to cook for about three minutes to be cooked through and just the right amount of “chew” to the cooked pastas.

A few days after the class I whipped up a batch of raviolis, with two different fillings, one of crab and goat cheese and the other using shitake mushrooms. The pasta came out terrific, and when topped with a quickie “cream and blue cheese” sauce, tasted great. A major success compared to my stroganoff attempt!

– Chris

French Laundry – Part 1

The French Laundry is a famous restaurant in the California wine country (Younteville to be exact) headed by Chef Thomas Keller. The Laundry is renowned for servng only a tasting menu, many items of which consist of exactly one bite! In my search for culinary breadth, I decided to make a reservation and give it a try.

The website says the reservation line is staffed starting at 10am. I call at 10; busy signal. Again at 5 after 10; busy. For the next 2 hours, busy, busy busy! Woo-hoo! Finally about 12:30PM I get through! I ask for a reservation. “What day would you like to dine with us?” she asks. I tell her that first available works for me. “I’m sorry, we don’t have any openings.” What?! You just asked me when I wanted to eat knowing there are NO openings?!

Patiently, she explains to me that reservations are taken 2 months in advance, to the day. Call at 10am two months in advance of your desired reservation, and its first-come first-serve. (that explains the busy signals!) Oh, by the way, the price is $240 per person, NOT including wine.  And, the reservation must be secured with a credit card. (Does Chef Keller have a formula or what?)

Anyway, I’m checking my calendar two months out. Stay tuned…!

– Chris