Eat Design

IDEATIONOur original ideas are documented below

Mushroom and cheese Agnolotti with broccoli and kimchi foam

taco mold? 

veggie tacos? mini, zucchini as shell? 

potato martinis w/ topping bar

grilled vegetable panini (panini “bread” made out of slabs of veggies)

spaghetti squash with tomato sauce, spinach pesto “sauce bar”

miniature baked potatoes with toppings

make your own wonton? 

Freeze vegetable juice blend into pop bars.

Dye noodles with veggie juice into different colors, when serving draw a funny face on the plate to interact with people.

Grilled veggie pockets, spinach, mushroom, red pepper, goat cheese, scrambled eggs

Grilled veggie kabob, substitute meat with kabob.

deep fried beet, potatoes, zucchini, carrot

bowls with:

sour cream

spicy mayonnaise

goat cheese sauce or foam?mini vegetable crepes? prepare fillings, make crepes on demand - spinach crepe

EXPERIMENTATION
We chose three items from our brainstorming session to try: Grilled vegetable paninis, spaghetti squash noodles, and a spin on the vegetable kebab made with Thanksgiving leftovers.

Grilled Vegetables

When grilling at 25o degree, it takes 60 seconds to warm up the grill. With the grill surfaced lightly oiled, zucchini slice gets done at 4 minute. Green pepper slices gets done by 7 minutes.
When the grill is at 400 degree, all veggie slices gets done within 2-3 minutes (raw peppers, uncooked beans, raw zucchini)­­
Conclusion: Vegetable slices will be grilled faster when put on the highest setting (400 degree). It does not matter that much whether the vegetables are precooked or not, it still take 3 minutes for them to get the char

Set the grill at 350 degree, peppers and green beans starts to get brown at 3 minutes. Zuchini gets done at 4 minute. Green beans take more than 5 minutes to be totally cooked.

Boil water and heat up the veggie slices for 3-5 minutes. Then place on grill. The veggies get the browning within 3 minutes. Determined the cooking for each item would be too difficult to coordinate and the guest would have to wait too long for their food, so this idea was scrapped. 

Spaghetti Squash "Noodles"
Split the squashes in half and scrape out seeds. Line an oven tray with aluminum foil. Season the spaghetti squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place flesh side down and roast for 30 to 40 minutes until fully cooked. Remove from the oven and let rest until cool enough to handle. Top with a sauce. This idea would have required a ton of spaghetti squashes. 

Thanksgiving Leftover Kebabs
After the experimenting above we decided to direct most of our attention towards the Thanksgiving leftover kebab idea. We met at my house on a Sunday to begin working. 

Shengjie cooking the green beans. While the balsamic green bean recipe used was tasty, it was really juicy and we anticipated it would be quite messy on a kebab. Plus, we were afraid of overcooking the beans and having an unattractive grey bean on our kebab, so we decided to blanch them to retain the color and prevent them from being limp.

            Randi in the lab experimenting with the kebab fixings on                 the George Foreman grill. Worked well, but ultimately                       decided there was no need to grill the vegetables. 

The results while tasty, lacked visual appeal. We were advised to cut the elements of the kebab into uniform pieces and rearrange their order on the stick to go from turkey > marshmallow (not marshmallow > turkey as we originally had it). Both great suggestions!

FINAL RECIPES
The recipes for each individual component for the kebab + cranberry sauce condiment are as follows:

Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

a 12-ounce bag of fresh or frozen cranberries

1 cup sugar

1 strip orange or lemon zest

2 tablespoons water

Prep:

Empty a 12-ounce bag of fresh or frozen cranberries into a saucepan and transfer 1/2 cup to a small bowl. Add 1 cup sugar, 1 strip orange or lemon zest and 2 tablespoons water to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the cranberries burst, about 12 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the reserved cranberries. Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste and cool to room temperature before serving.Retrieved from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/perfect-cranberry-sauce-recipe.html 

Dressing/Stuffing

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter plus more for baking dish

1 pound good-quality day-old white bread, cut with small square cookie cutter (about 10 cups)

2 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions

1 1/2 cups 1/4" slices celery

1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided

                                     2 large eggs

Prep:

Preheat oven to 250°F. Butter a 13x9x2" baking dish and set aside. Scatter bread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, stirring occasionally, until dried out, about 1 hour. Let cool; transfer to a very large bowl.

Meanwhile, melt 3/4 cup butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add onions and celery. Stir often until just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Carefully bowl with bread; stir in herbs, salt, and pepper. Drizzle in 1 1/4 cups broth and toss gently. Let cool.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk 1 1/4 cups broth and eggs in a small bowl. Add to bread mixture; fold gently until thoroughly combined. Transfer to prepared dish, cover with foil, and bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of dressing registers 160°F, about 40 minutes. DO AHEAD:Dressing can be made 1 day ahead. Uncover; let cool. Cover; chill.

Bake dressing, uncovered, until set and top is browned and crisp, 40-45 minutes longer (if chilled, add 10-15 minutes).Adapted from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/-Simple-is-Best-Dressing-51124210

Brussel Sprouts 

Ingredients:

1 pound Brussels sprouts, as uniform in size as possible
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves. Mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Shake the pan from time to time to brown the sprouts evenly. Sprinkle with more kosher salt ( I like these salty like French fries), and serve immediately.

Adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/grilled-brussels-sprouts-recipe.html and http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-brussels-sprouts-recipe2.html

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

4 pounds sweet potatoes

1 1/4 cups margarine

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

3 cups miniature marshmallows, divided

ground cinnamon to taste

ground nutmeg to taste

Prep:

      Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

     Microwave potatoes for 4-6 minutes (depending on size) slightly underdone. When cool use small circular cookie cutter to cut shapes from flesh.

3.    In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine margarine, brown sugar, 2 cups marshmallows, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook, stirring occasionally, until marshmallows are melted.

4.    Stir potatoes into marshmallow sauce. While stirring mash about half of the potatoes, and break the others into bite-sized chunks. Transfer to prepared dish.

5.    Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cover top evenly with remaining marshmallows. Return to oven and bake until marshmallows are golden brown.

Adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/grilled-brussels-sprouts-recipe.html and http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-brussels-sprouts-recipe2.html 

Green Beans

Rinse green beans, snap off ends and cut in half. Make sure all the pieces are similar in length so they cook evenly. For about 1 lb. of green beans bring 1 gallon of (16 cups) of water to a boil. Add one tablespoon of salt. Plunge the green beans into the boiling water. Let boil for at least 3 minutes. Depending on the size of the green beans this should be 3-5 minutes. Check for doneness. Immediately drain the green beans in a colander and plunge them into ice cold water to bring the temperature down. Drain/dry the beans well before using. Toss the green beans with 1tbsp lemon juice and 1tsp salt. 

Turkey

           We bought turkey breast at Costco and cooked it according to            the directions on the package. We then cut the                                    turkey into 1/2 inch slabs. From there, we used a small                      rectangular cookie cutter to cut individual pieces from                        the slabs. Once the turkey was cut we placed it on the                        George Foreman grill until there were grill marks. If I                          could do it over again, I think I would omit this step as it                      dried the meat out severely. 

After each individual item was prepared they were skewered onto the kebab.

We supplied cranberry sauce and gravy (out of a jar) as condiments for our kebabs. 

Each marshmallow was toasted individually with a handheld torch in front of the guest. 

Not a piece of cake!

I thought this project would be a piece of cake (pun completely intended). I follow theartofplating.com, love color, consider myself a proficient designer and thought I could rock this project no problem! Little did I know that no amount of carefully planned sketches guarantee a well executed 3D product. 

+ pages of stencilcentric design

The inspiration for my approach came from a baked good I created years ago. I successfully dusted cocoa powder through a stencil onto cookies with great results and the idea of using a stencil for this plating project got burned into my brain.The majority of my sketches involved negative and positive forms. I came up with a myriad of ideas that revolved around incorporating a stencil. I considered using an orange and brown (chocolate) color palette, a yellow and brown pallet and a purple and brown color palette and in the end decided to use pink and brown and incorporate raspberry and rose flavors.

I found an awesome stencil on amazon and started dreaming about
how I'd use it while I waited for the package to arrive on my doorstep. Once it was in my hands, I was sort of shocked at how small it was and foresaw its size causing problems for my envisioned my technique. However, I pressed on and began amassing goods to use in experimenting. 

I acquired a bunch of materials which included:

• two types of yogurt
• two varieties of fruit leather
• raspberries
• chocolate covered sunflower seeds
• raspberry jam
• chocolate chips
• a rectangular plate
• stencil dauber
• chocolate sauce

I also made a raspberry sauce, rose gelatin and chocolate "sheet".

Stencil experimentation

I experimented with different methods of cutting and applying the materials with the stencil. I created powders from: freeze dried raspberries, dried rose petals, chocolate covered sunflower seeds, and pink Himalayan salt. When using these powders with the stencil I applied a clearish "adhesive" (honey or corn syrup) within the stencil negative and dabbed the powder on top of the sticky substance. For the most part this worked. However, often removal of the stencil deposited powder in unintended areas.

The sauce I applied with a small paint dauber. The sauce had a tendency to bleed out under the stencil. 

I also used the stencil as a guide for cutting pieces out of a number of materials (fruit leather, gelatin, frozen chocolate sauce sheet).The most successful cutting involved fruit leather. 

After a lot trial and error I concluded that the stencil I had chosen was just too small and intricate for the methods I was attempting. Because the shapes within the stencil were so small and the spaces in between the shapes so slight, I was unable to devise a way to prevent powders and sauces from intermingling. I decided to switch gears slightly and determined that the only way I could work with a stencil was to select one with larger negative areas. Being that I was using rose as one of my flavors, I thought using a rose stencil would compliment the taste of the dish well. 

I found the Mackintosh rose and thought its dimensions
and proportions were perfect for a stencil! I cut out the negative shapes and began exploring this new composition. Below are two iterations. The one on the left is composed of all cut cake shapes powdered with raspberry dust with sauce resting under the cake. On the right the cut cake shapes comprise only a portion of the overall rose shape with the other shapes made from cocoa powder (representing the variety of powders I concocted and would use in the final). 

I felt the design that combined both

The final product

the "stenciled" cake shapes and the "stenciled" powders appeared crisper and cleaner. However, I think the with further tweaking the design implementing mostly cake shapes has a lot of potential. Overall, I think the downfall of my process was assuming that my ideas and 2D sketches would translate well through 3D materials. I attempted to exert too much control over unruly materials within a rigid structure.

Pleasant Pomes - Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda

I was excited for this project. Apples are one of my favorite fruits and I was eager to see what flavor combinations (beyond the obvious cinnamon, ginger, etc.) I might explore.

I had no problem coming up with ideas for potential 

(ideas - plus two more pages)

flavor pairings. Interesting combos included: apple + shitake mushroom, apple + wild rice + hazelnut, and apple + avocado + endive. However, I was stumped on what form the flavors would take!

After making a fennel, apple salad for my family, I determined I wanted to include fennel in my amuse bouche. By experimentation (lab) day I also had a clearer vision of the form - I knew I wanted to include a deep fried element. 

I brought many products to class and a several became deep fried goodies:

• fennel rings
• fennel straws 
• apples sliced two ways 
• smoked gouda (photo taken after it was devoured by hungry, curious classmates

What was discovered: 

• smoked gouda is seriously delicious deep fried
• deep fried fennel is slimy and not "anisey" enough
• battered apples are pretty darn good fried
• The combination of fennel, cheese and apple was satisfying 

Since the apple held up pretty well to frying, I decided to slice them to resemble thick cut fries. The batter on these bad boys was pretty thick. It resembled a pancake dough. I knew at this point I could execute the frying of the apples. But how to incorporate the fennel and cheese? 

Mike suggested I make a fennel ketchup

to accompany the apple fries. The plan was to juice the fennel, gel it and mix it with a bit of parsley juice (for color) with pickled fennel. I brunoised (a new-to-me cutting technique) a fennel bulb, then boiled vinegar, water, sugar and salt and placed everything in an airtight container in the fridge for a week.








I wasn't sure the batter was appropriate for the apples after all and decided to do a tempura batter for the final. Although, experienced with deep frying (my husband and I have mastered the beer battered cheese curd), I was upset that my apple fries turned out rather limp. However, I knew immediately (after the damage was done) what I could have done differently. In fact, in retrospect there are several things I would change if I had a second change. 

1. Keep tempura batter cold - add ice directly to batter if need be. 

2. Mix tempura batter ingredients lightly to prevent gluten development - it's okay if the tempura is lumpy. 

3. Salt tempura batter generously.  

4. Cut the apples into thinner slices. 

5. Dredge apple slices in flour prior to dipping in batter to help batter adhere to the surface of the apple. 

Below is the recipe adjusted based on the what I learned from the process. Although, I'm sure further tweaking and testing would be helpful. 

RECIPE - TEMPURA APPLES with FENNEL KETCHUP

Fennel Ketchup 
(Fennel Pickles + Fennel Juice Agar)

Juice enough parsley to result in 2 tsp liquid. Set aside.

Fennel Pickle

1 bulb fennel - brunoised

1 1/4 cup vinegar

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

Directions

Simmer vinegar, water, sugar and salt until sugar has dissolved. Cool slightly and place in an air tight container in the fridge overnight or up to one week. 

Fennel Juice Agar

1 cup fennel juice 

1 tsp agar

Directions

Bring fennel juice to a boil over medium heat. Slowly whisk in agar. Whisk until agar is dissolved, approximately 2-5 minutes. Set and chill in the refrigerator.

To make ketchup 

Using an immersion blender, mix gelled fennel juice with 1 tsp parsley juice, until a fluid gel consistency is reached. Stir in 1/2 cup fennel pickles and 2 tsp pickle liquid. 

Garnish with fennel fronds. 

Tempura Apple FriesIngredients
4-5 Granny Smith Apples  - 1/4"-1/2" julienned
2 cups ice
1 cup flour + 4 tbsp flour (separated)
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 cup extremely cold sparkling apple cider
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups vegetable oil (for frying)
1/4 cup freshly grated pecorino cheese

Directions

1. Spread 4 tbsp of flour on a plate.

2. Roll apple slices lightly in flour. Set aside.

3. Place ice in a large bowl. 

4. To make batter, combine 1 cup flour, cornstarch, cold sparkling apple cider and salt in a
    medium bowl. Mix lightly to incorporate. Place the mixture (still in bowl) into the large
    bowl of ice - batter needs to be kept cold, add additional ice to batter if necessary. 
5. Heat vegetable oil to 325F
6. Dip floured apples into batter. In batches of 4-5 slices, fry apples in oil until lightly browned. Remove apple slices from oil with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle fried apple slices generously with pecorino. Serve with fennel ketchup.