Day 25 - Page 283 - Cereal Milk + Dining Out

Cereal milk is a brilliant idea. I remember how I used to quickly gobble up bowls of frosted flakes before the cereal became soggy and then would drink every drop of the sweet, corn flavored milk. That was the way I liked my milk. And it's still a good idea but 5 recipes, dozens of ingredients, and 3 days later, I'm not so sure that the sum is greater than all the parts that went into the making of this Momofuku dessert.

To make this dish I made several substitutions to adapt the recipes to my lifestyle. If, like me, you are a home cook who wants to do one-stop shopping at the local supermarket here is a list of my substitutions:
1. 1 1/2 packets of gelatin softened in a little milk for the gelatin sheets (dissolve the gelatin by heating in the
cereal milk until it reaches a simmer
2. Filberts are in the same family as hazelnuts and are much easier, at least on the west coast, to find in the
market
3. A Valrhona Caraibe Noisette bar (dark chocolate Grand Cru w/ split hazelnuts) for the gianduja
4. Lemon juice for the citric acid
5. Small bowls or parfait cups for the silicone mold or ramekins (take my word for it, you'll never be able to unmold the custard as cleanly as the one pictured in the book)

The first day I made the cereal milk, poured it into dessert bowls, and put them in the refrigerator to set. Then I made the praline paste:

The next day I caramelized the cornflakes and made the hazelnut thing by melting the chocolate with the hazelnuts and sprinkled the cornflakes on top.

On day three, just before serving, I pureed the avocado, and put it all together. It was good but a little disappointing for me. Maybe I was exhausted and still thinking of an earlier time when I was an innocent little kid eating frosted flakes for breakfast.

We rarely dine out but sometimes you read and read glowing reviews of a restaurant and decide that if you were to splurge, you would go there. So, as consolation for being denied an El Bulli 2010 reservation, we went to check out James Syhabout's (he worked with Ferran Adrià for a week) Commis in Oakland. It's on Piedmont Avenue, an unassuming neighborhood street that still has, of all things, a laundromat. The restaurant is a small storefront with bare walls and, except for silver and glassware, the few tables are bare too . The tiny kitchen where all the cooking takes place is in the middle of the room. You can sit at the counter if you want to see up close the chefs quietly maneuver around each other and watch them tweezer the food onto the plates.

The amuse bouche was an amazing 45 minute poached egg atop date jam and onion cream with a granola garnish. This was my favorite dish of the meal because it was beautifully thought out and tasted so dreamy.

I then had the salad with pork jowl and roasted sunchokes.

It got too dark to take photos so I can't show the saddle of lamb and the raw goat's milk panna cotta but everything was delicious and the three courses had us happy and very full.