playing with fire and water

black forest

bacon egg pineapple

Y'all must be tired of this croquant thing by now. I've had fun exploring the versatility of crispy ground fat melded with isomalt. And I haven't even delved into pork crackling territory, but with the changing season comes a new palette of flavors and inspiration. It's time to move on...

I thought that I would be moving on after the last post, but as I worked with the hot, pliable croquant, I realized it's structural potential. There was that, and the unfullfillment of the obvious bacon and eggs.

bacon croquant

frozen egg custard

pineapple caramel

hollow sea salt

Years ago, I made miniature ice cream cones for a catered event. En route to the venue, I realized that I had not anticipated a way to pass or present them. A detour to Home depot provided a solution. As the first guests were arriving, I was on a stoop outside of the kitchen drilling holes into a sheet of plexiglass. The lesson learned: always be prepared, and when you're not--improvise.

That's exactly what I did when I found myself holding this cone and facing the same problem. The ice cream was melting and there was no plexiglass in sight. In the time that it took to bake a new cone, I had fashioned a stand out of 12 gauge wire.

I doubt that it would meet Grant Achatz's standards for service ware, but I think that Martha would approve.

puff pastry

Flour. Butter. Water. Salt. No leavening. Or is there?

When these four ingredients are combined into a homogeneous dough, then rolled out and baked, you end up with a cracker or flatbread. Not much rise there.

Blend the same ingredients together but stop while the butter is still discernible-- about the size of peas. Now roll out and bake. You have a pate brisee or a short, flaky pie crust with unevenly puffed layers that may have doubled in height.

Now, take the same four ingredients, blend the flour, water and salt to make a dough. Evenly layer the butter throughout the dough through a series of rolling out and folding. Stop when you have made 6 "turns", resulting in 1459 alternating layers of fat and starch. After a final rolling and baking, you are left with pate feuilletee or puff pastry. This time, the finished pastry leaving the oven has risen up to 6 times in volume from the raw dough that went in.

Three products...sharing identical ingredients in similar proportions...with significantly different results. Do you know why?

Lacking chemical leavening, the release of gases is not responsible for the differences between the three pastry products. And with the absence of yeast, it cannot be attributed to fermentation. 

What caused the puff pastry to rise to glorious heights and the pie crust to puff to a lesser degree is the steam created by the melted butter. As the butter melts and boils, the gluten matrix in the dough hardens, trapping the pockets of steam. The degree of rise in the three products varies with the distribution of fat and starch.

Understanding this was an epiphany. So was grasping the unfolding of egg proteins. And the destruction of sugar to make caramel. And so on. 

These were my AH-HAA moments. They allowed me to analyse mistakes and to not only correct them, but to control the outcome. They liberated me from bondage to recipes, and with this freedom came a broader one: the freedom to create.

Modern cooking places an emphasis on science, when, in fact, chemistry has been at play throughout the history of food and cooking. Does a strong knowledge of food science make us good cooks? If that were true then scientists, by right, would all be chefs.

What about technique? Consider the baker who gets up at 3 AM every morning to bake bread. After some time, he can turn out hundreds of perfect loaves even while half-asleep. He may even have a grasp on the chemistry of his craft through extended observation of cause and effect. His talent and dedication may move him onto the saute line, where through repetition he learns to turn out a perfectly cooked piece of fish every time. 

But would he know what to do with a salsify? Would he even know what to serve it with?

At ICC, Jordi Butron of Espai Sucre gave a presentation about the process of creating desserts. A lot of what he said resonated with me. In it, he stated (from my notes) "Pastry is techniques...but technique has to service flavor. Technique is easy--it only requires repetition, but a library of flavors takes many years to acquire."

As a baker, I have made puff pastry countless times. Through muscle memory, I could even make it while half-asleep. Because of my understanding of steam pockets and gluten matrixes, I was able to effectively teach it to my students, passing on the AH-HAA moments. My familiarity with this product allows me to play and ask questions:

Why butter? (because it is fat and for it's flavor)

What else is flavored fat? (oils..but they won't work, they're liquid and here, the fat needs to start as a solid)

What else is solid, flavored fat? (pork fat, bacon fat, foie, cheese...)

Cheese? Which cheese? (needs to be spreadable and have a high fat content...a triple cream)

Saint Andre? Boursault? Brillat-Savarin? (no...too subtle for the flavor to come through)

l'Explorateur? (a triple cream, assertive flavor...yes, it will work)

That is how I have come to make l'Explorateur puff pastry; a product that pleases me.

Will it please everyone? Is it ground-breaking? Life-altering? No. No. And no.

It is simply a token of where I'm at as a cook/baker at this moment in time and a synthesization of what I know about technique, food science and my own palate.

Do these things make me a better cook? I'd like to think so. What I do know for certain is that by relying on their guidance, I am free to contemplate and to think about food; what it is...what it can be. 

And that, I believe, is the starting point for innovation.

peach tomato pie

blushing fragrant peaches

lightly poached in their own esters

orbs of sun gold tomatoes

brazenly liberated from their skins

hesitant at first the duo demurely waltz across the tongue

then break out into an intrepid tango

seamlessly balancing sweet with tart 

cinnamon basil ice cream joins the dance 

after a cool entry he busts out his spicy warm moves

a chaperone of flaky pastry

moderates the party of eternal summer

in the first days of autumn

translucent

phlox-lychee sphere

yogurt-filled longan and lychee

dragon fruit

sweet black sesame soil

phlox 

blackberry rose cashew

blackberry rose sorbet

Blackberries and roses belong to the plant family Rosaceae along with strawberries and raspberries. As the flavor of roses is largely dictated by their aroma, choose highly fragrant varieties such as rugosa or floribunda. Pick the petals in the morning, when they are the most fragrant , and remove the white heels, which tend to be bitter.
250 g (1 1/4 cups) sugar
100 g (4 oz) rose petals
230 g ( 1 cup) water
180 g ( 1/2 cup) agave nectar
350 g ( 1 1/2 cups) blackberry puree
�25 g (2 Tblsps) rosewater
Place sugar and rose petals in a food processor and process until petals are finely ground. Transfer mixture to a saucepan and add the water and agave syrup. Heat gently, just until sugar is melted. Cool to room temperature and stir in the blackberry puree and rosewater. Strain and chill in the refrigerator until cold. Transfer to an ice cream machine and freeze according to manufacturers directions.

blackberry yogurt ravioli

Low methoxyl pectin requires the presence of calcium ions to form gels that are firm and flexible with a bite similar to al dente pasta. Fresh blackberries contain 29 g of calcium per 100 g of fruit, which is sufficient to allow amidated, LM pectin to gel without added calcium. For a gel with jewel-like clarity, the blackberry puree should be strained several times. Freezing/thawing also helps separate the solids.

Greek yogurt

150 g clear blackberry juice
35 g sugar
3 g amidated, LM pectin
Pack yogurt into small, silicone hemisphere molds and freeze just until firm.
Combine the sugar with the pectin in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Place juice in a pan and bring to boil. Add sugar-pectin and stir vigorously 1-2 minutes while cooking to dissolve. Return to boil and remove from heat. Keep a pan of simmering water on the stove to keep the pectin warm and fluid.Drop Tablespoonfuls of hot pectin solution onto a ceramic or glass plate, forming discs, and allow to gel. Set pan in simmering water while proceeding. When discs are firm, unmold yogurt hemispheres and place one on each of the discs. Pour the remaining warm pectin evenly over the yogurt to completely encase. When gelled, cut away the excess gel with a round cutter that is slightly larger than the hemisphere. Chill.

instant cashew cake

Cashew butter can be found in health food stores
or can easily be made from roasted cashews with a high-speed blender. The plumpest, butteriest cashews are from Brazil.
For the recipe and step-by-step illustrations, see the post on instant chocolate cake, replacing the melted chocolate with an equal amount of cashew butter.

passion foam

TAZO's Passion Herbal Infusion is a blend of hibiscus, lemongrass, rose hips, mango and passion fruit.
200 g boiling water
1 TAZO Passion tea bag
12 g sugar
2.5 g gelatin
Make an infusion by pouring the boiling water over the tea bag. Allow to infuse for 2 minutes, then remove tea bag. Stir in sugar, then sprinkle gelatin over top and whisk in until dissolved. Allow to cool to room temperature. Pour mixture into a deep, wide container. Whip with an immersion blender until a thick layer of foam forms on the surface. To use, skim off the foam with a spoon.

methocel rose

For the recipe and step-by-step illustrations, see the post on roses. Alternately, the methocel film can be cut or formed into shapes when flexible, then baked for a crisp, melting texture.

blackberry cells

Another technique from Ferran Adria. At Madrid Fusion 08, he dropped black raspberries (amoras) into Liquid Nitrogen. The frozen berries easily broke apart into individual cells when struck with a mallet. Although LN is more efficient, this method also works with a conventional freezer. Blackberries are a little trickier to break apart because they still contain the core.

strawberry soup

I've been on a fruit soup kick lately. My juicer has been working OT. I promised him a break after this one.

The other night, I made a cold cherry soup infused with star anise and swirled with yogurt. I've never been to Morocco, but that soup took me there. Landed me in a souk in Marrakesh. With each spoonful, the saturated colors of silk and pottery intensified, the sounds of vendors haggling with buyers grew louder, the scent of leather and sweet spices grew stronger. By the time that I had finished, I half-expected to find my feet covered in dust and my house redecorated with exotic carpets and textiles, all purchased at the lowest possible price.

This strawberry soup, perfumed with Riesling and sweet woodruff sorbet, transports me to the Bavarian Alps, on the first day of May.

Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum) is a woodland herb  that grows prolifically in Northern Europe. In Germany, it is known as Waldmeister (master of the woods) and is steeped in white wine with strawberries to produce May Wine, traditionally served for May Day celebrations. It's primary aroma compound is coumarin, which lends it's characteristic sweet hay and vanilla flavor. Coumarin is also found in high concentrations in tonka beans; it's moderate toxicity is the reason why they are banned in the US. Fresh leaves of sweet woodruff have only a faint odor--they need to be wilted or dried to release the essential oils. In haste, a quick blast in the microwave does the trick.

 

Sour cream pearls couldn't be any easier when applying reverse spherification.  Dairy products already contain sufficient amounts of calcium to react with a sodium alginate solution (1 liter water + 5 g. sodium alginate). This technique produces stable spheres that remain liquid in the center and can be served hot or cold.

blueberry pie

It's been awhile since I've watched a movie. Aside from lack of time, finding one that my husband and I both agree on begins to feel like an enterprise. He likes the kind that entertain with fast cars, impending doom, guns and blood. I like the kind that dig in and stick. Our common ground is the ones that make us laugh.

That's what I thought I was getting when he dropped a DVD into my hands with a grin on his face. I was nonplussed that he had handed me a romantic film by Wong Kar-wai, a Chinese director known for visually stylized films. Looking over the cast, a name jumped out at me and it all made sense...if there's one thing that he likes more than cars and guns, it's Nora Jones.

The movie, My Blueberry Nights, was almost forgettable despite the stunning melancholic atmosphere created by Wong through roving shallow lenses and lush chiaroscuro. The minor key mood was a good fit for Nora, but Jude Law never convinced me as a marathon runner wannabe who settles for running a diner where he makes blueberry pies that no one ever eats. It was the pie, and the way that Wong committed it to celluloid that I will remember: tight macro shots of ice cream salaciously melting into mounds of lurid blueberries. It was so deliciously lascivious that I wanted to avert my eyes.

In the end, it was blueberry pie that brought the characters together and endeared Wong to me as a film maker and food pornographer. And it inspired this dish.

 

Blueberry Pie

blueberry cheese

When I put raw blueberries through a juicer, something unexpected happened: the juice began to thicken and clot as it poured out of the spout. As it began to turn brown, I heated it to set the color and noticed that the soft clots had broken down into small, firm curds that reminded me of ricotta. I decided to treated it as cheese and let it drain overnight in a cheesecloth-lined sieve. The next day, I had a firm mass that could be sliced or molded and retain it's shape. After some research, I'm still not clear what caused the blueberry juice to behave this way. I initially attributed it to pectin, but 73 g. of fresh blueberries only contain 0.3 g. of pectin, making them a  low-pectin fruit. However, blueberries do contain a significant amount of fiber, which in combination with the pectin, may have caused the juice to clot and form curds

blueberry sauce

Use the juice reserved from draining the blueberry cheese. Ultratex 8 is a modified food starch derived from tapioca that thickens liquids without applying heat.
150 g. reserved blueberry juice
8 g. agave nectar
2.5 g. ulratex 8
Place all ingredients in a bowl and blend with whisk or immersion blender until starch swells and juice has thickened.

sous vide blueberries

Cooking blueberries at a low temperature leaves them firm and intact, yet taste cooked.
1 pint raw blueberries
60 g. reserved blueberry juice
30 g. unsalted butter
10 g. agave nectar
Place blueberries in a vacuum bag and seal. Cook in a water bath at 63C (150F) for 1 hour. Make a glaze by heating the blueberry juice and agave nectar over low heat. Whisk in butter until melted. Remove bag from water bath and toss berries in glaze. Serve warm or at room temperature.

roasted flour nuggets

Roasting flour is a technique introduced by Pierre Gagnaire and Herve This in their collaboration, Art et Science. Cooking flour in this way brings out the toasty aroma and flavor of wheat but it alters its starch and gluten molecules, causing it to lose much of it's elasticity. While roasted flour may not be suitable for baking bread, it's perfect for baked goods with sandy textures such as sables.
40 g. all purpose flour
8 g. confectioners sugar
.5 g. salt
13 g. tapioca maltodextrin
30 g. unsalted butter, melted
Preheat oven to 325F (160C). Spread flour in an even layer on a baking sheet and roast in oven for about 45 minutes, stirring often until fragrant and golden. Cool completely. Toasted flour can be made ahead and kept in a sealed container.
Preheat oven to 350F (180C) Place the flour, sugar, salt and TM in a bowl and toss to combine. Slowly drizzle in melted butter while tossing with a fork. Remove rounded nuggets as they form and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes and allow to cool completely before handling.

lemon balm frozen yogurt

Greek yogurt makes a sublime frozen product that rivals the best frozen yogurt boutiques. If it's not available in your area, plain yogurt can be drained overnight in a cheesecloth-lined sieve with similar results. I've found that the best way to infuse ice cream (or any sweetened cream base) with herbs is not in the cream, but by processing them with the sugar. The hygroscopic property of sugar draws out the essential oils in the herbs, making them more available.
30 g. fresh lemon balm leaves
100 g. sugar
50 g. heavy cream
300 g. greek yogurt, well chilled
Place lemon balm and sugar in a food processor and process with 10 pulses or until lemon balm is finely chopped. Working quickly, as lemon balm begins to oxidize and turn brown, empty contents of food processor into a saucepan and add heavy cream. Set over medium heat and cook gently, just until sugar melts.  Remove from heat and pass mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. Chill until cold, then fold in yogurt. Freeze in an ice cream machine according to manufacturers instructions.

 

benzaldehyde

                            peach leaf blancmange
                            peach whipped gelatin
                            coffee fluid gel
                            sour cherry
                            toasted mahlab
                            coffee oil

Benzaldehyde is the essence of bitter almonds (Prunus Amygdalus var. Amara), which unlike sweet almonds (Prunus Amygdalus var. Dulcis) contain hydrogen cyanide, a potentially lethal toxin. It is a fragrant volatile molecule and a by-product of cyanide production. Pure almond extract is pure Benzaldehyde, without the cyanide. It is used in the making of marzipan, maraschino cherries, amaretto liqueur, and amaretti biscuits and occurs naturally in the fruits, leaves, flowers and bark of stone fruits. It is the eminent aroma compound in the complex flavor of peaches, apricots, and cherries. The highest concentrations can be found in the kernels of these fruits, which must be heated in order to destroy the toxin. Benzaldehyde is also present in beer (216 ppm), apple juice (294 ppm), roasted coffee (2008 ppm), tomato (8501 ppm), and white bread (40903 ppm). [ppm=parts per million]
 
The leaves of the peach tree, when very young, taste of Benzaldehyde. As they mature, they take on an unpleasant acrid pungency. It took me several growing seasons to figure this out. This year, I got it right.
The only reason that I know this is because I have a habit of tasting plants as they grow--not just the familiar parts-- all parts: flowers, leaves, roots, bark. I do this out of curiosity, not hunger, though it feeds my sense of discovery.
All plants are fair game--be they weeds, shrubs, flowers, or trees--if they are not harmful and taste good, then they have culinary potential. I rely on my knowledge of plants to steer me away from the toxic ones but I sometimes think that if I should die an untimely death, it could be attributed to having put something in my mouth that had no business being there in the first place. I could think of worse ways to go.

I also wanted to tell you about the fun I'm having making molds from silicone, but let me just say... get some. Trust me.

cake, fashion, and hydrocolloids

Recently, I was asked to make a custom cake, a request that I've not accepted for a long time...too many balls in the air, not enough hands. I used to make wedding cakes on a regular basis and I enjoyed it immensely, until it came time to deliver them. I had a rule in which the only people that were allowed to transport these cakes were:  the one who made it or the one who paid for it . Since the latter was rarely an option, it was often left to me. Gratefully, they all arrived intact at their destination, and on time, but I estimate that I've lost about 5 years off of my lifespan on the winding, hilly roads of Connecticut.

I accepted this request, mainly because the theme intrigued me; it was to reference the recipients' penchant for Gucci shoes.

I learned to sew at about the same time that I learned to cook. I never considered either of these skills as something that I could build a profession on...until I discovered haute couture; the extreme form of fashion. It is often the extremities of things that attract me to it, then allow me to find my own ground within it. After high school, I  headed to NYC to study fashion design at Parsons, long before Tim Gunn & company put it on the reality TV map. I had high expectations, perhaps unrealistic ones. I went there to explore the extreme, but found that they were peddling moderation in the form of ready-to-wear. In the ensuing years, I have found my ground in fashion design, even when I started cooking professionally, and to this day, I maintain parallel careers in fashion and food. I have designed and made many things, from dog collars to wedding gowns, but I have never made a pair of shoes...until now. It is not without irony that my first pair would also be edible.

It was through the extremities of avant guarde cuisine that I first learned of hydrocolloids and other chemicals. I don't deny that I was seduced by their possibilities, but I had questions. First up: "Are they safe to consume?" For answers, I turned to scientific data and independent studies and avoided all information that was tempered by agendas. Satisfied, I moved on to the next question, "What is the point?" Do they contribute to making food better, or are their applications just smoke and mirrors? I reconciled with this by examining the ingredients that I already use in making cakes. Baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, cornstarch, and gelatin are some of the processed additives that are commonly used in baking. The transformative effects that they produce in cake batters and other baked goods are undeniable and have stood the test of time.

The use of rolled fondant to cover cakes is something that I have struggled with. Although it is completely edible, I've never found it particularly good to eat...it brings to mind the centers of the drugstore chocolates that were abandoned after the first hopeful bite. It's only merit is that it provides a pristine and alabaster-smooth surface to apply decoration, acting like the gesso on an artists' canvas. I always point out these pros and cons to my clients when they request a fondant-covered cake. When they insist on it, I try to find the humor when the plates come back to the kitchen with peeled-away strips of fondant, like discarded rinds.

On the occassions when I am required to use fondant, I choose to make it from scratch. My recipe is based on the one found in Rose Levy Beranbaum's "The Cake Bible" and contains gelatin, glucose and glycerine, as well as shortening and confectioners sugar. For this cake, I swapped sodium alginate for the gelatin, remembering that it is sometimes used for the commercial production of this product. While it produced a more pliable and silkier fondant to work with, it didn't make it any more palate-friendly...don't think I'll be joining a fondant fan club anytime soon.