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Each month the Daring Cooks take on a challenging new recipe to test out abilities and comfort zones. I was granted the honor of hosting the July challenge. I opted to go for one of my own culinary passions - Molecular Cuisine. Many people are afraid to even broach the subject in the kitchen, or have decided they don't like the cooking style - having never attempted or tried the resulting food.
I chose something that would introduce the Daring Cooks to the style of cooking without requiring expensive tools or exotic ingredients (no chemicals required). An oven or microwave would prepare most of the ingredients. All you needed that was 'different' - a coffee/herb grinder, or a morter and pestle.
For July, I delved into a fascinating cookbook and pulled out Skate - Traditional Flavors Powdered. This is a dish from Grant Achatz, found in the Alinea cookbook
Skate, Traditional Flavors Powdered - with changes
- 4 skate wings
- * Beurre monte
- * 300g fresh green beans
- sea salt/kosher salt
- 1 banana
- 454g butter - 4 sticks
- 300g lemons
- 5g citric acid/vitamin c tablet
- 150g cilantro
- 150g parsley
- 100g dried banana chips
- 300g spray dried cream powder (or powdered milk)
- 100g cup minced red onion
- 200g capers (brined, not in oil)
caper / onion
lemon powder
cilantro/parsley powder
'brown butter' powder
Powders once dried, all powders should be pulsed in a coffee grinder/spice mill/morter and pestle then passed through a chinois or fine mesh strainer.
Citrus powder
300g lemons
1000g simple syrup
5g citric acid/vitamin c tablet
Zest 300g of lemons (10.6 oz), remove the pith from the zest and poach in the simple syrup three times. dry with paper towels and move to a dehydrating tray. 130 for 12 hours. pulse the zest in a coffee grinder, pass through chinois, and mix with citric acid/vitamin C powder. If you do not have a dehydrator, place in microwave for 8 to 10 minutes at medium powder. Once dried, follow the other instructions.
150g cilantro
150g parsley
Blanch the parsley in boiling saltwater for 1 second, submerge the leaves in ice water for 3 minutes. Dry on paper towels and place on dehydrator tray. 130 for 12 hours. grind and pass through chinois. If you do not have a dehydrator, place in microwave for 30 seconds, turn over leaves and microwave for another thirty seconds. They should be dry by now, pulse in coffee grinder, pass through chinois and reserve.
Onion powder
100g cup minced red onions
dehydrate - 130 for 12 hours microwave at medium power for 20 minutes. pulse in grinder, pass through chinois
200g capers (get the ones packed in brine/vinegar)
Run the capers under cold water for two minutes to remove some of the brine. dry on paper towels and dehydrate for 12 hours at 130 degrees. microwave instructions are unclear. Dry them as much a possible with paper towels, the microwave on medium for 1 minute. Check the moisture content and stir them. repeat for 30 second intervals until they are dry. If you use this method, pleas post the time needed to dry the capers. Once dry, pulse and sift the powder. Mix it with the onion powder.
100g Dried banana chips (unsweetened if possible - many are coated in honey - the freeze dried ones would be brilliant)
300g spray dried cream powder
If you cannot find the cream powder, you can substitute Bob's red mill non fat dry milk powder, or even carnation instant milk powder. The substitutions will alter the flavor a little, but you will still get the general idea. preheat the oven to 350 degrees, sift the cream powder into a fine layer on a silpat or on parchment. bake for 4 minutes, then remove for heat. If it bakes for too long, it will burn.
Be very cautious with all powders in the oven. They all go from browned to burnt in a few seconds. grind the banana chips in a coffee grinder and mix with the toasted cream powder. Pass this through a chinois and reserve.
* For green beans, slice each beans into very thin rounds (2 mm)
* Beurre Monte - 454g butter (4 sticks, 1 pound) cubed and cold, 60g water. In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in the butter 1 cube at a time. This should from an emulsion. Keep this heated, but under 195 degrees. The emulsion will not break - this is your poaching liquid.
Skate
Prepare the skate - 50G v shaped cuts are recommended Bring 100g water, 100g beurre monte, and green bean rounds to a boil over high heat. Cook until the water has evaporated (about 3 minutes), when the pan is almost dry, remove it from heat and season with 3g salt.
Bring 300g water and 300g beurre monte to simmer over medium heat, add skate wings and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and flip the wing over and let rest in pan for two more minutes. Transfer to warming tray lined with parchment and season with 5 grams of fine sea salt.
Plating
Take the tip of a small spoon and make a small mound of the citrus powder, the onion-caper powder, and the cilantro parsley-powder. Swirl these around in a hurricane type pattern. I found that it is easier, and you get finer lines if you lightly shake the plate to flatten out the mounds, then swirl the spoon through it to get the pattern.
Peel the remaining banana into very think slices (3mm) fan three slices on the plate, place green beans on top and place skate wing portion on top. On the tall edge, sprinkle the brown butter powder.
We've been getting packages for a few weeks, and for the most part, they are great. The vegetables are excellent. Swiss chard, asparagus, sugar snap peas, beets, radishes - so many vegetables. They are in very good condition, and lost a long time if you store them properly.
This makes it very interesting when planning meals - what veggies will we get today!
The only complaint I have it the fruit. So far, we've gotten very little, and what we get is not in the best condition. The strawberries were small and overripe - to the point where they 'splattered' when tossed into the sink. The only reason this was an issue - the Ashland Berry Farm had a festival the same weekend - giant strawberries in great condition. I thought - why can't we get these strawberries. We had around 6 usable raspberries in the last shipment. And with a 3 ½ year old, we tend to eat fruit every meal.
But the vegetables are excellent. I'm looking forward to when they activate the options on the website to add/remove certain items to your order. I wonder if the fruit is damages in transit - it tends to be near the bottom of the package (instead of on top) or if the 'newness' of the company is affecting their ability to get the best fruit available.
Local company, local produce - if you are in Richmond, check it out
from The Essence of Chocolate
makes about 3 dozen sandwich cookies
Cookie:
- 1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (dutch process if you have it)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 15 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 3/4" cubes, at room temperature
Filling:
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 8 oz. white chocolate, chopped
1. For the Filling: In a small pan, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute, then whisk to melt the chocolate until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, and let stand for 6 hours to thicken up.
2. For the Cookies: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low speed. With the mixer running, add the butter, a piece at a time. The mixture will be dry and sandy at first, but over 2 minutes, will form pebble-sie pieces that start to cling together. Stop the mixer and transfer the dough to your board.
3. Preheat oven to 350F. Seperate dough into 2 pieces. Roll each piece of dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper to 1/8" inch thick. Using a fluted cutter, cut into rounds. Scraps can be pieced together and rolled out again. Place 1/2" apart on baking sheets lined with Silpat liners or parchment paper.4. Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating halfway through baking. Remove and cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Cool completely.
5. To Assemble: Lightly whip the white chocolate cream to aerate and fluff up. Transfer filling to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4" plain tip. Pipe about 1 1/2 tsp in the center of half the cookies. Top with another cookie to sandwich. Gently press down until the cream comes to the edges.
6. Cookies can be stored in a container for up to 3 days. Loosely cover
When buying cheese for this - look for the imported Parmesan. In the US, we have very lax rules for cheese naming. In europe, Parmigiano-Reggiano is regulated under the name Parmesan. American copies of the cheese have to be sold as pamesello italiano, or some other name. Pamesello italiano is what Kraft sells as Parmesan. American Parmesan has a larger sodium content, is mechanically pressed, and lacks the complex flavors that are achieved by the long time in the brine solution.
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
egg whites
preheat oven to 340 degrees (convection)
tools needed - 2 silpat mats, microplane grater, rolling pin, and parchment paper.
Shave the cheese with a microplane, add the egg whites and mix with a spatula until the mixture resembles pasty dough. Transfer this to a silpat and spread evenly across the middle. Place the second silpat over the paste and evenly spread around with a rolling pin. You want a very thin, even layer of cheese across the entire silpat.
Place this into a preheated oven and bake for five minutes
Remove from oven and carefully remove the top silpat. I used an offset spatula to loosen and unstick any cheese that didn't want to release. Place a sheet of parchment over the cheese and flip over. Remove the remaining silpat and reduce the oven to 320 degrees (convection). Place back in the oven and cook for another 4 minutes. If you do not have convection, you may have to cook this for longer. You want the entire crisp to brown. If there are white spots, they will sag after you cut them.
When it is evenly browned, remove the crisp from the oven and cut immediately. You want them to be long and skinny. If you wait for the cheese to cool down, it will shatter when you try to cut it. Once cut, allow the crisps to cool to room temperature on a flat surface. I ended up using a chef's knife for slicing; the pizza wheel didn't do the trick. Serve in a dish or cup that will show off their height. They stay crisp for a long time. We ran out before they got soggy.
The little guy helped me make them; he ate so many of the crisps. I had to move them so he didn't finish them off.
This will be my first installment of Molecular Gastronomy Techniques for the home chef. I'm going to focus on the recipes and my experience with it. I'll try to keep the science talk to a minimum, but give enough for those interested. My first technique will be sferification. I think this technique goes to El Bulli Restaurant/labs, if I'm wrong, someone feel free to correct me, and I'll update this little point.
I started with caviar because it is one of the easier things to attempt. In the last week and a half I've attempted this five times. My first attempt was using the wrong chemical bath, so that was a mess, my second attempt was a success, three and four were a mess and a pot of gooooooo. My fifth attempt worked great. I've determined it is all about measurements, pH, and timing.
- Measurement is the first critical thing. I need a scientific scale, something that can measure a tenth of a gram.
- pH is the next critical thing. I think I need to buy testing strips. If the pH is too high, it will not work, if it is to low, it will not work. I already have chemicals to alter the pH, but I need a way to test the solution before I proceed.
- Third is timing, this is the easiest. If you let your sferes sit for too long, you get a solid gel. If they don't sit long enough, they break.
There are two processes for sferification. I will focus on the standard process, and explain the reverse process in another post.
First, you need the right chemicals: Sodium Alginate, Sodium Citrate, and Calcium Chloride.
Apple Caviar
8 ounces Apple Juice
1/2 tsp Sodium Alginate
1/8 tsp Sodium Citrate
2 cups of water
1/2 tsp Calcium Chloride
One or two water baths.
Mix a third of the apple juice with the sodium alginate. You need to use an immersion blender for this to work (a stand blender would also work). Heat this mixture to 205 degrees - this helps remove the air bubbles formed from blending. Add the rest of the apple juice and sodium citrate, mix to combine. Chill. This part can be made in advance and held for service.
Mix the water and calcium chloride in a large bowl.
When you are ready to 'cook' the sferes, transfer the apple mixture to your dropping apparatus. Syringes can be purchased at CVS, specialty equipment can be purchased from your chemical vendor, and you can use a squirt bottle. I have a 96 pipette dropper, and a squirt bottle. For speed, the dropper is amazing, but I prefer the slightly larger sferes that the squirt bottle makes.
(This is where the timing comes into play)
When you drop the mixture into the water bath, the reaction is instantaneous. The longer the sfere is in the water, the thicker the shell. As the chemical reaction takes place, the apple is gelling; if it sits too long, you have a solid sfere, instead of a liquid filled sfere. Thirty seconds to 45 seconds is the time the sferes need to cook. If they are in there much longer, they will solidify on you. Remove the sferes with a slotted spoon, strainer, or skimmer and dip in the water bath. I use two baths: one for the first dip, and the other ice water bath to cool the sferes (I used them in a cold dish).
You now have apple caviar.
If you want to make raviolo, fill a round teaspoon with the apple mixture and place the spoon under the water. Rotate the spoon over and flip the apple out of the spoon. It will naturally take on a sphere shape in the fluid as the bonds are formed. Let these rest for sixty to ninety seconds. Then remove and dip in water baths to remove the chemicals from the outside.
DISCLAIMER: You NEED a stand mixer!
12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) sugar
1 cup corn syrup
3/4 oz gelatin *
1 cup ice water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
Take 1/2 cup of the water and add to the gelatin in the bowl of the stand mixer.
Add the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and the remaining 1/2 water to a pot, heat on medium, covered, for 4 minutes. Remove lid and attack your candy thermometer. You want the sugar to reach 240 degrees. Do not mix the sugar with a spoon, it can create crystals. When it reaches 240 degrees, remove from heat and remove the thermometer.
While the sugar is whipped, prepare your pan. Take a 13 x 9 pan. I've used glass and metal. If you can find a straight edged metal pan (I got mine from sur la table) you will get better edges. I've not had problems turning marshmallows out of either pan. Back to the pan preparation. Mix the powdered sugar and corn starch. Spray the pan with non stick spray, then dust the pan with the corn starch mixture. Make sure to get the coating on the sides of the pan. Collect the extra powder and save for later use.
From here on out, non stick spray is your friend. Marshmallows are the stickiest things I have ever worked with, but they are afraid of the non stick spray, so it's your friend :D Spray a spatula with non stick and turn the sticky mess into your prepared pan. Spread the mixture evenly around the pan. If your spatula begins to stick, clean it and re-spray it. An even layer will make for attractive cut marshmallows. Once in the pan, dust the top of the marshmallows with the cornstarch mixture and let them sit uncovered for a minimum of 5 hours, I let mine sit overnight.
When you are ready to cut them, flip the brick out of the pan onto half of the remaining cornstarch mixture. Pizza cutters are your friend at this point. Dust both sides of the pizza cutter with corn starch and begin to cut a grid into the marshmallows. Once you have them cut, pull strips apart and dredge in the cornstarch. Every side needs to be covered, so I do strips at a time, then I separate the individual marshmallows and dredge the remaining sides. These will keep for 3 weeks in a ziplock.
There are two ways to add flavor to marshmallows. First is to use extracts. At the thirteenth minute, when you add the vanilla, you can add other flavors. To make the lavender ones I added 1/2 tsp of lavender extract, 1/2 tsp of lemon extract, about 20 fresh ground lavender blossoms, and 1/2 tsp of finely minced lemon rind. You could also add other flavors here. Orange extract works exceptionally well, as does spearmint, cinnamon, etc.
The second way to flavor marshmallows is to substitute ingredients. For the honey lavender, I subbed out 1/2 cup of sugar for 1/2 cup of fresh honey from lavender fields (near our house). When I made the peach marshmallows I subbed out all the water for fresh peach juice. I took 5 peaches and attacked them with an immersion blender ( I cut them up first). I strained the larger parts out and ended up with 1 cup of liquid. Half of that went in the gelatin, the other half went in the pot with the sugar. The peach was quite interesting. Half of the juice was cooked in the sugar, while the other half was flash cooked when it came in contact with the sugar syrup. The peach flavor was surprisingly strong, and did not have a cooked peach flavor.
When making this dish, the flavors are the most important thing to think about. You want something that will stand out, and the flavors need to meld together. I don't serve this dish with a sauce - so you want strong and vibrant flavors. Fruits, vegetables, and spices that are intense work very well. In the past, I've done sun dried tomato basil pesto, red pepper curry, basil pesto with provolone and olives, sun dried tomato olive tapenade, and a few fruit based variants.
Once you have the skills down, this is an easy dish to prepare. The most difficult thing is flattening the pork out, and that's pretty easy. Well, I guess I should start the recipe :D
Sun Dried Tomato-Olive Tapenade Pork Roulades
Filling Ingredients:
- Sun Dried Tomato-Olive Tapenade
- 5 1/2oz Olive Medley
- Sun Dried Tomato Paste
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 sprigs oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ground black pepper
- horseradish
- 1/4 dried chipotle pepper (minced)
- 1/2 red pepper
- 2 tsp sweet smoked Spanish paprika
Mince the red pepper, olives, and garlic together. Mix it with the sun dried tomato paste (this will help bind it together), chipotle, thyme, black pepper, and oregano. Mix very well and reserve for the pork. This can be made a day ahead of time. Set the horseradish aside for later.
Prepare a baking pan with a wire rack fit into it. Spray the rack with nonstick oil. Next, we butterfly the pork. Cut it down the center, but do not cut it in half. You want the knife to come about 1/4 of an inch from the bottom. You want to repeat this two more times. One for each half. If you still have a really large section, butterfly it again.
When you decide to stuff your pork, you need to think about your ingredients and how they will cook together. Ingredients that separate when cooked are a bad idea (cheddar cheese). since you are working with pork, you can get away with fruit based stuffings, as well as savory stuffings. Apples and apricots go well with pork. you often hear of people eating applesauce with their pork, or serving pork chops with an apple and bread dressing. This dates back to pre-supermarket availability. The livestock was killed in the fall, and it was served with locally available ingredients. Apples were harvested the same time the animals were 'harvested'. I personally like the balance of apples and pork, so this was the basis of my dish.
I wanted the sweetness and tartness from the apples in my dish, but I also wanted a touch of spice and savory feel for the entire dish. I've had pork that tasted like it was bathed in candy, I wanted this dish to have the apple flavor, but not be overpowered by the sweetness of the apples. I off-set the sweetness with shallots, black pepper, cayenne pepper, ginger, and aniseed. No - there was no licorice flavor in the dish. The aniseed mingled well with the ginger and made the dish quite spicy.
I coupled this with tart and spicy mashed butternut squash. I wanted to balance out the four S's for this dish. I steamed the butternut squash, then I mashed it with some sour cherry preserves from a local farm. To finish off this side, I added a few drops of Tabasco Sauce and a little salt. I plated it with some finishing black sea salt. The larger salt crystals provided a nice crunch, and a little burst of flavor.
Pork Tenderloin Apple Roulade
- 1 pork tenderloin
- 1 granny smith apple
- 1 honeycrisp apple (you can use any red apple variant here)
- 2 small shallots
- 2 tsp fresh peeled ginger
- 1 tsp aniseed
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- salt
- pepper
- Canola oil
Prepare the filling first. chop the apples into little bits - avoid the cores, but leave the skins. Dice the shallots and ginger, mix in with the apples. Add the spices, a little salt, and pepper. Toss to combine.
Pat the tenderloin dry and butterfly the tenderloin. Lay the tenderloin between two sheets of plastic wrap and hammer it flat with a meat tenderizer - you are aiming for 1/4 inch think. Spread the apple mixture across the cut side of the tenderloin. Roll up and place the seam on the work surface. Spray a wire rack with non stick spray and place in a baking sheet with raised edges. Line the bottom of the pan with aluminium foil for easy cleanup. Coat the pork with oil with one hand, use your other hand to salt and pepper the outside.
If you are only roasting one (Convection Roast - 450 degrees) - it should be done in 20 minutes (145 degrees). Remove the pork and tent with foil for 5 minutes. The carryover cooking will raise the temperature to 150 degrees. Slice the pork into 1/2 inch slices at an angle.
If you are cooking two - rotate the pork halfway through cooking.
Spicy Mashed Butternut Squash
- 1 Butternut Squash
- Salt 1 tsp
- Pepper 1 tsp
- Tabasco sauce
- Sour cherry preserves - 1/2 cup
- Finishing Salt
Fill a large pot with enough water to almost touch your steaming tray, Bring the pot to a simmer.
Prepare the butternut squash. There are many different ways to do this - I should write a post about this. In the end, you want to have cubes of raw squash 1 inch by 1 inch square (no rind). Place the squash on the steaming tray and steam for 30 minutes. Remove the squash from the steamer and place into a bowl. Add the other ingredients and mash with a potato masher. Plate and finish with the black sea salt.
Pan seared chicken cutlets with a White wine rosemary lemon sauce.- 1 large or 2 small chicken breasts (enough to serve 2 (1/4 pound per person))
- Canola Oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1/3 cup Dry White Wine
- 1/3 cup Chicken stock or low sodium chicken broth
- lemon
- sprig of fresh rosemary
- 3 Tbsp butter (cold)
- 4 thin lemon slices
- rosemary oil
This goes very well with Parmesan mashed potatoes, and you could finish this meal with some bread and a roasted relish of tomato and sweet corn.
