Ratatouille Terrine, Piperade

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Grilled Texas Quail, Caramelized Pears, Sherry-Chipotle Gastrique

Little Caramelized Pear cones for a party....

Today's specials, Texas quail and French onion soup......

Nantucket Bay Scallop Ceviche

Nantucket bay scallop ceviche, with rice wine vinegar, champagne
vinegar, cucumber, pear and mint.

Wild Texas Quail with Frisee

wild texas quail with frisee and caramelized pearl onions, sherry-
chipotle gastrique

Pork Belly Photos

Pork belly how we done it....

To make the pork belly we went through 3 phases of its production.  First phase is to dry the belly well(or cure it if you are going for a milder sauce then our kobayaki) and after drying it to brown it and braise it as low as possible until meltingly tender.  Although we are going to put soy sauce into it, we still season the belly liberally with salt because all that fat will absorb it and it will take a good amoung.  we try and braise it as low as possible so that not to much fat renders out and the fat itself becomes meltingly tender and delicious.  in our case we braised the pork belly (skin on) with mirepoix, apples, and a mixture of 1 part soy 1 part mirin and 2 parts chicken stock (enough to almost cover the belly).  this took about 5-6 hours because of the size of our piece and the temperature(about 300 degrees in a standard oven).  That is part one.

Part two is to take the belly cool it down, and to press it (take it out of its braising liquid and keep that for the sauce)  by pressing it we not only create a prok belly that is uniform thickness but also forces meat and fat together to create not only distinct layers but also areas that have both meat and fat almost as if we forced the fat into the meat.  It then pressed overnight with about 100# of weight on it.  (a beer keg works well)

the next day we come back and cut the pork belly into thick strips in which we will cut out the portions.... in the pan with the belly is all this heavily gelatinized liquid which makes a great addition to the sauce(its kind of like when you confit duck and all the liquid settles to the bottom and reduces into a salty great jelly)  in this case that liquid is a mix of juice and liquid from the belly and collagen that was broken down.  now that we have our portions we reheat the belly with some sauce and chicken stock, adjust the seasoning of the sauce(most likely adding some sugar to balance the saltiness) and then once the belly is hot we sear the skin side after scoring it to crisp it and give another layer of texture.  THATS IT!

I know it seems like a lot but its obviously a 2-3 day process but the results are outstanding.  in our case we made a caramelized apple puree by cooking some apples in water, pureeing them mixing in a good amount of sugar, cinnamon and cayenne and then continuing to cook them until thick and caramelized like a quince paste.

If you ever need help or want some other ideas feel free to shoot me an email and I'd be glad to help!

Pork belly...

Pork belly turned out awesome, served with a caramelized apple puree spiced with cinnamon and cayenne, and kobayaki sauce (however you spell it)


Just awesome.


Tonight more pork belly and some grilled quail as well!

pork belly is pressing....

the pork belly is pressing, both figuratively and literally, in that it is being pressed to firm it up and give me many of its flavorful juices, but it is also pressing me for ideas on what to serve it with and what will make it shine its best...

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Pork belly here we come!

at the request.....

At the request of a certain person who is running all over spain ( no fun for the rest of us)  here ya go !

CIA

Great to see everything at CIA is still trucking along.  also nice to see all of my friends up there hold tight guys august will be here before you know it and so will your wines trip.  Have fun!

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Career fair setup.

On my way to CIA ....

CIA TOMORROW!!

Thats right i am headed to CIA tomorrow morning bright and early for career fair, looks like its going to be a good turnout! see you there and lets get the jobs flowing!

As well its turning out to be a good night here in Tula getting some guests in the door and out of the cold...


Come on in later this week for some wild caught quail with a sherry chipotle gastrique and a fingerling potato pavi.....  some other great ideas going to be coming this week as well!

Tula on Facebook!!!

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Interesting things at tula this week!

Just to let you know we are going to be getting in some great items at Tula this week!!  Niman farms pork belly for some great cripsy braised pork belly, some wild caught quail and just a whole lot of other interesting things!!  Come on by and check it out and while your at it check out Georges new cocktail the "Old Thyme Manhattan" with woodford reserve bourbon and fresh vanilla!

Sam

GREAT dinner at Elements Princeton

just wanted to tip my hat to the guys at elements this evening.  absolutely outstanding meal. great food great friends and a great time.  i think we had a total of 16 courses and it was great.  Again, bravo and thanks for everything.



Thanks Guys,

Sam

Toro 2 ways :) yum

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Pan Roasted Salmon, spiced lentils, beet creme fraiche, apple-ginger chutney

Caramel apple tart on our grand plateau of desserts

Tuna Tartare with soy, ginger, and wasabi tobiko

Tuna Carpaccio with mint and lemon oil, fleur de sel

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This is the launch of my new blog. here i hope to share with you the
everyday things that we go through and accomplish at the restaurant
and with food in general.

THANKS!!

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