Motivation
I'm in the mood to spend an hour and a half standing in front of the stove and we need a starch with dinner. This risotto is excellent, but it was the motivation behind getting cork flooring in the kitchen.
We've modified the recipe to no longer be vegetarian.
Ingredients
5 cups chicken broth
3/4 lb fresh asparagus
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp oil
1/3 cup finely minced onion
1.5 cups Arborio rice
1/5 cup dry white wine
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (DO NOT get the pregrated stuff)
Mise en Place
Bring the broth to a simmer in a saucepan.
Cut the asparagus into 1 inch pieces, reserve tips separately from stems.
Grate the cheese.
Method
Heat oil and 2 T. butter in a 4 qt. pot. Saute onions until softened but not brown. Add the rice and stir to coat. Add the wine and stir until completely absorbed. Stir in asparagus stems.
Add broth to the rice mixture 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently. Allow each addition to be almost completely absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup. After 12 minutes, add the asparagus tips.
Once down to the last 1/4 cup of broth, remove from heat, add remaining broth, butter, and parm, stirring to combine. Serve immediately.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Mandarin Chicken
Motivation
Bill got this recipe from his father. This was one of the first dinners he ever cooked for me. A good move, that. Even after years of studying and experimenting with food, the recipe has remained largely unchanged. I think we took out some salt and canned bamboo shoots. Fresh bamboo might be a good addition.
Ingredients
2.5 - 3 lb. chicken, cut up (we usually use thighs or drumsticks)
1/8 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp oil
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. water
1 cup (11 oz can) drained mandarin oranges
1/2 cup (5 oz can) drained sliced water chestnuts
2 cups prepared rice
Mise en Place
Combine cornstarch, sugar and water.
Method
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown in oil in a large frying pan.
Add onion, broth, and soy sauce. Cover, simmer over low heat for 36 - 40 minutes or until chicken is tender. Flip chicken half way through. Remove chicken and set aside.
Add cornstarch mixture to pan, stirring until it thickens. Add oranges and chestnuts. Heat through, about 5 minutes. Pour over chicken and serve with rice.
Bill got this recipe from his father. This was one of the first dinners he ever cooked for me. A good move, that. Even after years of studying and experimenting with food, the recipe has remained largely unchanged. I think we took out some salt and canned bamboo shoots. Fresh bamboo might be a good addition.
Ingredients
2.5 - 3 lb. chicken, cut up (we usually use thighs or drumsticks)
1/8 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp oil
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. water
1 cup (11 oz can) drained mandarin oranges
1/2 cup (5 oz can) drained sliced water chestnuts
2 cups prepared rice
Mise en Place
Combine cornstarch, sugar and water.
Method
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown in oil in a large frying pan.
Add onion, broth, and soy sauce. Cover, simmer over low heat for 36 - 40 minutes or until chicken is tender. Flip chicken half way through. Remove chicken and set aside.
Add cornstarch mixture to pan, stirring until it thickens. Add oranges and chestnuts. Heat through, about 5 minutes. Pour over chicken and serve with rice.
French Onion Soup
Motivation
I made French Onion soup every weekend for about two months until I built a recipe I was happy with it. I knew what I wanted from a French Onion soup and I ended up stealing bits and pieces from other recipes to get something that matched my mental profile. I wanted it to really taste of caramelized onions and be thick and hearty (which doesn't seem like too much to ask).
The traditional way to serve this soup is to shred the cheese over a crouton and then broil the whole bowl of soup to make a melted cheese surface. Which is awesome. However, if you don't have oven-proof bowls or you want to save a bit of time and fuss you can use my less impressive, but reasonably decent stand-in method described below.
Ingredients
1.75- 2 lbs Yellow Onions (~6-8 small-medium onions)
4 tbsp Butter
1/2 tsp dried thyme (or a couple of sprigs fresh if you have it)
4 cups Beef Broth
1 baguette French Bread
Balsamic Vinegar
Gruyere Cheese
Mise en Place
Slice onions. I have a granton edge santoku knife that I really like for this. Cut tops and bottoms off of onions. Slice in half. Peel off skin. Lay onion flat-side down and slice thinly parallel to top or bottom edge.
Slice baguette into 3/4" - 1" medallions. Plan on 2-3 per bowl depending on girth of baguette. Place on cookie sheet on top of a sheet of parchment paper or aluminum foil and dry out to make croutons. (The warming draw of my oven does this well, but a oven set on 250-300 will also work).
Cut another 6-8 medallions from baguette. These will be used later to thicken the soup. Cut these medallions into small cubes.
Method
Melt butter in a small stock pot over medium heat. Once button is finished foaming add sliced onions and caramelize. Basically walk over and stir onions every couple of minutes until they have reduced to dark golden brown strands. Plan on doing this for about 30-40 minutes.
Once onions are caramelized add brandy to the pot and cook off the majority of the liquid. Remove most of brandied caramelized onions from the stock pot and reserve. Add beef broth to pot and bring to simmer. While the broth is warming up toss bread cubes into the pot and use immersion blender to pulse bread into broth thicken it up. You can add bread in stages if you want to control how thick the broth gets. Once bread has been blended into broth return onions to the pot and add thyme.
Simmer soup for a couple of minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. I often add a splash of balsamic vinegar to add a bright acidic note.
Cut slices of Gruyere cheese and place on top of the baguette croutons. Place under broiler to melt cheese.
To serve ladle soup into bowl and place push 2-3 cheese croutons down into soup so that cheese is level with the surface of the soup.
I made French Onion soup every weekend for about two months until I built a recipe I was happy with it. I knew what I wanted from a French Onion soup and I ended up stealing bits and pieces from other recipes to get something that matched my mental profile. I wanted it to really taste of caramelized onions and be thick and hearty (which doesn't seem like too much to ask).
The traditional way to serve this soup is to shred the cheese over a crouton and then broil the whole bowl of soup to make a melted cheese surface. Which is awesome. However, if you don't have oven-proof bowls or you want to save a bit of time and fuss you can use my less impressive, but reasonably decent stand-in method described below.
Ingredients
1.75- 2 lbs Yellow Onions (~6-8 small-medium onions)
4 tbsp Butter
1/2 tsp dried thyme (or a couple of sprigs fresh if you have it)
4 cups Beef Broth
1 baguette French Bread
Balsamic Vinegar
Gruyere Cheese
Mise en Place
Slice onions. I have a granton edge santoku knife that I really like for this. Cut tops and bottoms off of onions. Slice in half. Peel off skin. Lay onion flat-side down and slice thinly parallel to top or bottom edge.
Slice baguette into 3/4" - 1" medallions. Plan on 2-3 per bowl depending on girth of baguette. Place on cookie sheet on top of a sheet of parchment paper or aluminum foil and dry out to make croutons. (The warming draw of my oven does this well, but a oven set on 250-300 will also work).
Cut another 6-8 medallions from baguette. These will be used later to thicken the soup. Cut these medallions into small cubes.
Method
Melt butter in a small stock pot over medium heat. Once button is finished foaming add sliced onions and caramelize. Basically walk over and stir onions every couple of minutes until they have reduced to dark golden brown strands. Plan on doing this for about 30-40 minutes.
Once onions are caramelized add brandy to the pot and cook off the majority of the liquid. Remove most of brandied caramelized onions from the stock pot and reserve. Add beef broth to pot and bring to simmer. While the broth is warming up toss bread cubes into the pot and use immersion blender to pulse bread into broth thicken it up. You can add bread in stages if you want to control how thick the broth gets. Once bread has been blended into broth return onions to the pot and add thyme.
Simmer soup for a couple of minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. I often add a splash of balsamic vinegar to add a bright acidic note.
Cut slices of Gruyere cheese and place on top of the baguette croutons. Place under broiler to melt cheese.
To serve ladle soup into bowl and place push 2-3 cheese croutons down into soup so that cheese is level with the surface of the soup.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Roast Chicken in a Pan
Motivation
I saw this recipe in Cook's Illustrated (Sept & Oct 2011) and I was immediately intrigued. I hate roasting pans. I hate cleaning them and the roasting racks that nest inside them. I hate maneuvering them around the kitchen. I hate trying build a sauce in a monstrosity that doesn't really fit well on my stove top. This recipe suggested that roasting a chicken in a pan without brining it could produce a good roast chicken in less than an hour. I am happy to report that this recipe delivers on its promise.
Ingredients
1 Chicken (3 1/2 - 4 lb if possible)
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp pepper
fresh herbs (if available)
Sauce Extras
Flour
Butter (maybe)
Chicken Stock
Herbs
Balsamic Vinegar (maybe)
Mise en Place
This is dead easy. Place a oven safe pan large enough to hold your chicken in the oven (check to make sure the pan will have enough head room once a chicken is in it) and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with the pan inside.
Meanwhile mix salt and pepper together in a small bowl that you won't mind contaminating with your raw chicken hands. Rinse chicken off and pat dry with paper towels. Rub olive oil all over the surface of the bird. Sprinkle salt and pepper and rub into skin. Insert the probe of a probe thermometer into the thigh portion of the chicken (from above so pan won't interfere with the probe).
Method
When oven is preheated remove hot pan and place chicken inside. It should start to sizzle immediately. (Part of the theory behind the recipe is that the hot pan gives a jump-start to the legs and thighs which require more heat than the breast portion of the chicken.) You might want to chunk some fresh herbs into the pan with the chicken if you happen to have them laying around (it's not crucial). Place pan and chicken back in oven.
Cook until probe in thigh registers 135 degrees F (25-35 minutes). Then turn the oven off. Avoid opening the oven so as to not let the heat out. Let bird continue to coast up to 175 degrees F (another 25-35 minutes).
When bird is done transfer from pan to a plate and let rest for 20 minutes. Turn your attention to the pan and the drippings left therein and think about making a sauce. I usually adjust the amount of fat in the pan (add butter if you need more) and toss in some flour to build a roux. Brown roux a bit then add chicken stock to deglaze the pan and thicken into a gravy. Adjust salt and pepper as necessary. I add a bit of balsamic vinegar to it if it needs a bright acidic note.
I saw this recipe in Cook's Illustrated (Sept & Oct 2011) and I was immediately intrigued. I hate roasting pans. I hate cleaning them and the roasting racks that nest inside them. I hate maneuvering them around the kitchen. I hate trying build a sauce in a monstrosity that doesn't really fit well on my stove top. This recipe suggested that roasting a chicken in a pan without brining it could produce a good roast chicken in less than an hour. I am happy to report that this recipe delivers on its promise.
Ingredients
1 Chicken (3 1/2 - 4 lb if possible)
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp pepper
fresh herbs (if available)
Sauce Extras
Flour
Butter (maybe)
Chicken Stock
Herbs
Balsamic Vinegar (maybe)
Mise en Place
This is dead easy. Place a oven safe pan large enough to hold your chicken in the oven (check to make sure the pan will have enough head room once a chicken is in it) and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with the pan inside.
Meanwhile mix salt and pepper together in a small bowl that you won't mind contaminating with your raw chicken hands. Rinse chicken off and pat dry with paper towels. Rub olive oil all over the surface of the bird. Sprinkle salt and pepper and rub into skin. Insert the probe of a probe thermometer into the thigh portion of the chicken (from above so pan won't interfere with the probe).
Method
When oven is preheated remove hot pan and place chicken inside. It should start to sizzle immediately. (Part of the theory behind the recipe is that the hot pan gives a jump-start to the legs and thighs which require more heat than the breast portion of the chicken.) You might want to chunk some fresh herbs into the pan with the chicken if you happen to have them laying around (it's not crucial). Place pan and chicken back in oven.
Cook until probe in thigh registers 135 degrees F (25-35 minutes). Then turn the oven off. Avoid opening the oven so as to not let the heat out. Let bird continue to coast up to 175 degrees F (another 25-35 minutes).
When bird is done transfer from pan to a plate and let rest for 20 minutes. Turn your attention to the pan and the drippings left therein and think about making a sauce. I usually adjust the amount of fat in the pan (add butter if you need more) and toss in some flour to build a roux. Brown roux a bit then add chicken stock to deglaze the pan and thicken into a gravy. Adjust salt and pepper as necessary. I add a bit of balsamic vinegar to it if it needs a bright acidic note.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Broccoli Soup
Motivation
I originally saw this recipe prepared on Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares and thought it looked simple and cool (the color is intensely green). Later when I did a search for it I found that Gordon had recorded a video of him preparing the soup that wasn't just a clip from the Kitchen Nightmare episode. It's dead simple. Be careful when paring it with other dishes because the flavor is very delicate.
Ingredients
1 large or 2 medium heads Broccoli
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Pepper
Mise en Place
Wash broccoli and cut florets off the stalk. You don't have to worry about being too exact. Meanwhile bring a stockpot of water up to a roiling boil.
Method
Salt the water with a few pinches of kosher salt. Add broccoli florets. Add a bit more salt and then cover the pot. Simmer for 4-5 minutes.
Fish florets out of the stockpot and place in a blender. You could also strain the water, but if you do be sure to reserve the simmering water. Once broccoli is added to the blender, fill blend a quarter of the way with reserved simmering water. Place lid on blender, make sure to put some force on it because it will want to jump off when you start blending. Blitz the blender a few times to get things going. Then process until smooth. If consistency is too thick add some more simmering water. Season to taste and serve.
I serve it with a cheesy crouton in the bowl and the soup almost but not quite covering the crouton.
I originally saw this recipe prepared on Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares and thought it looked simple and cool (the color is intensely green). Later when I did a search for it I found that Gordon had recorded a video of him preparing the soup that wasn't just a clip from the Kitchen Nightmare episode. It's dead simple. Be careful when paring it with other dishes because the flavor is very delicate.
Ingredients
1 large or 2 medium heads Broccoli
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Pepper
Mise en Place
Wash broccoli and cut florets off the stalk. You don't have to worry about being too exact. Meanwhile bring a stockpot of water up to a roiling boil.
Method
Salt the water with a few pinches of kosher salt. Add broccoli florets. Add a bit more salt and then cover the pot. Simmer for 4-5 minutes.
Fish florets out of the stockpot and place in a blender. You could also strain the water, but if you do be sure to reserve the simmering water. Once broccoli is added to the blender, fill blend a quarter of the way with reserved simmering water. Place lid on blender, make sure to put some force on it because it will want to jump off when you start blending. Blitz the blender a few times to get things going. Then process until smooth. If consistency is too thick add some more simmering water. Season to taste and serve.
I serve it with a cheesy crouton in the bowl and the soup almost but not quite covering the crouton.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Onion Fluid Gel
Motivation
I remembered reading about a onion gel somewhere. After a bit of investigation I tracked it down to Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck Cookbook. For a Fat Duck recipe, the gel is pretty simple.
Ingredients
30g Butter
250g Onions, finely sliced
1g Sprig of Thyme
200g Milk
95g Whipping Cream
150 Beef Stock (or Chicken)
2.7g Gellan F
Method
Melt butter in sauce pan, add onions and thyme and sweat for about 5 minutes until onions are soft and translucent. Add milk, cream, and stock and simmer another 5 minutes. Remove thyme and pulse a few times with an immersion blender. Strain through a fine sieve and add salt to taste (if needed).
Weigh out 400g of the onion milk. Place in a sauce pan, add gellan, and heat. Whisk often to dissolve gellan. When onion milk reaches about 80 degrees C (on the IR thermometer) remove from heat, pour into another container and place container on ice. Blitz with immersion blender everyone so often until mixture is cool.
Keep refrigerated and deploy as called for. Gel should be heat stable if you want to rewarm it.
I remembered reading about a onion gel somewhere. After a bit of investigation I tracked it down to Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck Cookbook. For a Fat Duck recipe, the gel is pretty simple.
Ingredients
30g Butter
250g Onions, finely sliced
1g Sprig of Thyme
200g Milk
95g Whipping Cream
150 Beef Stock (or Chicken)
2.7g Gellan F
Method
Melt butter in sauce pan, add onions and thyme and sweat for about 5 minutes until onions are soft and translucent. Add milk, cream, and stock and simmer another 5 minutes. Remove thyme and pulse a few times with an immersion blender. Strain through a fine sieve and add salt to taste (if needed).
Weigh out 400g of the onion milk. Place in a sauce pan, add gellan, and heat. Whisk often to dissolve gellan. When onion milk reaches about 80 degrees C (on the IR thermometer) remove from heat, pour into another container and place container on ice. Blitz with immersion blender everyone so often until mixture is cool.
Keep refrigerated and deploy as called for. Gel should be heat stable if you want to rewarm it.
Ramen Gnocchi
Motivation
I saw this recipe in a new food (or should I say foodie) magazine called Lucky Peach. To quote the magazine, "this recipe is a riff on a French riff on the fluffy, soft potato gnocchi you see all over Italy." I remembered it when preparing an Italian inspired appetizer and gave it a try.
Ingredients
2 cups Milk
2 packages Instant Ramen Noodles (ditch the seasoning packets)
4 Egg Yolks
2 tbsp Butter
Mise en Place
Crush the ramen noodles a bit in the bag and remove the seasoning packet. Bring milk to a boil and remove it from the heat. Dump all the noodles into the milk and let them soak for 1 minute. Strain the noodles reserving the milk (I just fished them out of the pan with a spider). Place noodles and 1 cup of milk in the food processor and process for 30 seconds. (The recipe called for a blender, but I found it didn't work very well and transferred over to a food processor). Add egg yolks and continue to process until smooth.
Transfer batter to a gallon ziplock bag (you'll be using this as a pastry bag later) and place in the fridge while you're waiting for a stock pot of water to boil. Uh, fill a stock pot with water and start it boiling.
Method
Cut a corner off the ziplock bag to make a hole about an inch in diameter. Working in batches, pipe gnocchi out of the bag over the stock pot and cut the batter into inch long logs. When gnocchi start to float they're ready to fish out. Place on a greased plate or tray (I used a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper). Gnocchi can be cooled and refrigerated for up to a day.
When ready to eat, melt butter in a saute pan. When foaming subsides, add gnocchi and cook them stirring occasionally until a brown crust forms on all sides.
I saw this recipe in a new food (or should I say foodie) magazine called Lucky Peach. To quote the magazine, "this recipe is a riff on a French riff on the fluffy, soft potato gnocchi you see all over Italy." I remembered it when preparing an Italian inspired appetizer and gave it a try.
Ingredients
2 cups Milk
2 packages Instant Ramen Noodles (ditch the seasoning packets)
4 Egg Yolks
2 tbsp Butter
Mise en Place
Crush the ramen noodles a bit in the bag and remove the seasoning packet. Bring milk to a boil and remove it from the heat. Dump all the noodles into the milk and let them soak for 1 minute. Strain the noodles reserving the milk (I just fished them out of the pan with a spider). Place noodles and 1 cup of milk in the food processor and process for 30 seconds. (The recipe called for a blender, but I found it didn't work very well and transferred over to a food processor). Add egg yolks and continue to process until smooth.
Transfer batter to a gallon ziplock bag (you'll be using this as a pastry bag later) and place in the fridge while you're waiting for a stock pot of water to boil. Uh, fill a stock pot with water and start it boiling.
Method
Cut a corner off the ziplock bag to make a hole about an inch in diameter. Working in batches, pipe gnocchi out of the bag over the stock pot and cut the batter into inch long logs. When gnocchi start to float they're ready to fish out. Place on a greased plate or tray (I used a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper). Gnocchi can be cooled and refrigerated for up to a day.
When ready to eat, melt butter in a saute pan. When foaming subsides, add gnocchi and cook them stirring occasionally until a brown crust forms on all sides.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Dinner Riced Out - Jambaliar
Motivation
It's a week night and I don't want to spend 2 hours cooking and dirty every pot we own.
Ingredients
Rice maker:
1 prepackaged rice and red beans mix plus the listed amount of water
1 bag frozen okra
1-2 Tbsp dried onions
1-2 tsp dried garlic
1 can of corn (optional)
turkey sausage to taste
chicken to taste (optional)
beef to taste (optional)
Garnish:
cooked shrimp or scallops (optional)
Frank’s hot sauce to taste
Mise en Place
Cut up the sausage and other meat.
Put everything but the garnishes in the rice maker in the order listed. Set it to "quick cook."
Method
When the rice maker is done, mix in the seafood and hot sauce and serve.
I’ve done a version where I added the seafood raw to the rice maker. It cooked just fine, but the overall flavor of the dish was fishier than I wanted.
It's a week night and I don't want to spend 2 hours cooking and dirty every pot we own.
Ingredients
Rice maker:
1 prepackaged rice and red beans mix plus the listed amount of water
1 bag frozen okra
1-2 Tbsp dried onions
1-2 tsp dried garlic
1 can of corn (optional)
turkey sausage to taste
chicken to taste (optional)
beef to taste (optional)
Garnish:
cooked shrimp or scallops (optional)
Frank’s hot sauce to taste
Mise en Place
Cut up the sausage and other meat.
Put everything but the garnishes in the rice maker in the order listed. Set it to "quick cook."
Method
When the rice maker is done, mix in the seafood and hot sauce and serve.
I’ve done a version where I added the seafood raw to the rice maker. It cooked just fine, but the overall flavor of the dish was fishier than I wanted.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Ribs
Motivation:
This rib recipe is based on GFW's 3/1/1.5 recipe which I found here. It uses a three stage process for cooking ribs: 3 hours smoke, 1 hour braise, 1.5 hours smoke. I have altered the original recipe to suite my tastes.
I usually play fast and loose with spice rubs and finishing sauces. Sometime I build a rub from scratch using salt, chili powder, brown sugar, garlic powder, black pepper and whatever else catches my fancy. Sometime I just use a prepackaged rub that has most of those ingredients in it. Sometimes I brush the rubs with barbecue sauce in the last step, other times I'll blend honey and soy sauce together and use that. It just depends on my mood and what's on hand.
Ingredients:
Ribs, St Louis Cut
Spice Rub (made on the spot or purchased)
Finishing Sauce (BBQ or Honey + Soy Sauce)
1 bottle Beer
Wood chips for Smoke.
Mise en Place:
Prepare ribs by removing the silver membrane on the backside. Liberally coat with spice rub. Fanatics will insist this is done the day before. I usually don't get around to it until about an hour before I start the grill.
Method:
Heat grill to 250 degrees (I have an electric grill stoker to ensure a consistent temperature throughout the day). I have a plate setter for my egg that is essentially a raised pizza stone that I cover with aluminum foil to ensure a clean cooking surface. I don't have a rib stand so I just make the ribs stand on their own using a couple of bamboo skewers. Works well if you're only smoking 2 or 3 racks. Place ribs in the grill and let smoke at 250 for three hours. Occasionally I'll go out and throw some wood chips on the fire for extra smoke.
After about 3 hours it's time to braise the ribs to make them tender. I take two large sheets of wide aluminum foil and lay them on top of each other (I'm planning on making an aluminum pouch to braise in). Fold one of the long edges a few times to join the sheets. Take skewers out of ribs and lay them on the foil. Be careful not to puncture the foil. Fold foil over and seal in the ribs. Before sealing the last side pour about 2/3rds of a beer in the pouch so there is some moisture to braise with. Seal the last side and transfer back to the grill for another hour to an hour-and-a-half. (If you puncture the foil you can always just wrap it in another sheet of foil.)
After braising, take ribs out of the aluminum foil and return to the grill. They should be noticeably more tender. At this point I brush the ribs with a finishing sauce like BBQ or a honey + soy sauce concoction. Smoke the ribs for another hour. Serve immediately (but left overs are amazing)
This rib recipe is based on GFW's 3/1/1.5 recipe which I found here. It uses a three stage process for cooking ribs: 3 hours smoke, 1 hour braise, 1.5 hours smoke. I have altered the original recipe to suite my tastes.
I usually play fast and loose with spice rubs and finishing sauces. Sometime I build a rub from scratch using salt, chili powder, brown sugar, garlic powder, black pepper and whatever else catches my fancy. Sometime I just use a prepackaged rub that has most of those ingredients in it. Sometimes I brush the rubs with barbecue sauce in the last step, other times I'll blend honey and soy sauce together and use that. It just depends on my mood and what's on hand.
Ingredients:
Ribs, St Louis Cut
Spice Rub (made on the spot or purchased)
Finishing Sauce (BBQ or Honey + Soy Sauce)
1 bottle Beer
Wood chips for Smoke.
Mise en Place:
Prepare ribs by removing the silver membrane on the backside. Liberally coat with spice rub. Fanatics will insist this is done the day before. I usually don't get around to it until about an hour before I start the grill.
Method:
Heat grill to 250 degrees (I have an electric grill stoker to ensure a consistent temperature throughout the day). I have a plate setter for my egg that is essentially a raised pizza stone that I cover with aluminum foil to ensure a clean cooking surface. I don't have a rib stand so I just make the ribs stand on their own using a couple of bamboo skewers. Works well if you're only smoking 2 or 3 racks. Place ribs in the grill and let smoke at 250 for three hours. Occasionally I'll go out and throw some wood chips on the fire for extra smoke.
After about 3 hours it's time to braise the ribs to make them tender. I take two large sheets of wide aluminum foil and lay them on top of each other (I'm planning on making an aluminum pouch to braise in). Fold one of the long edges a few times to join the sheets. Take skewers out of ribs and lay them on the foil. Be careful not to puncture the foil. Fold foil over and seal in the ribs. Before sealing the last side pour about 2/3rds of a beer in the pouch so there is some moisture to braise with. Seal the last side and transfer back to the grill for another hour to an hour-and-a-half. (If you puncture the foil you can always just wrap it in another sheet of foil.)
After braising, take ribs out of the aluminum foil and return to the grill. They should be noticeably more tender. At this point I brush the ribs with a finishing sauce like BBQ or a honey + soy sauce concoction. Smoke the ribs for another hour. Serve immediately (but left overs are amazing)
Monday, June 20, 2011
Dinner Riced Out - Steamer Stir Fry
Motivation
It's a week night and I don't want to spend 2 hours cooking and dirty every pot we own. Also, the garden is making a ton of eggplants.
Ingredients
Rice maker:
1 cup rice (white or basmati)
1 bag stir fry vegetables
1-2 Tbsp dried onions
1-2 tsp dried ginger
1-2 tsp dried garlic
candied ginger to taste
1.75 cu chicken broth
.25 cu black vinegar/soy sauce 1:1 mixture
Stir Fry:
chicken thighs or pork chops
eggplants
olive oil
chicken broth
soy sauce
black vinegar
honey
Mise en Place
Put everything in the rice maker in the order listed. Set it to "quick cook."
Chop up meat and eggplant separately.
Method
Fry eggplant slices in olive oil until they start to soften. Splash with a little soy sauce and chicken broth. Steam until tender. Remove from pan.
Fry meat in olive oil to brown outsides and cook mostly through. Add chicken broth, black vinegar, soy sauce and steam until cooked through. Remove meat, but not liquid.
Add honey and reduce to a thick sauce.
When the rice mixture is done, add the eggplant, meat, and sauce to the mixture and serve.
It's a week night and I don't want to spend 2 hours cooking and dirty every pot we own. Also, the garden is making a ton of eggplants.
Ingredients
Rice maker:
1 cup rice (white or basmati)
1 bag stir fry vegetables
1-2 Tbsp dried onions
1-2 tsp dried ginger
1-2 tsp dried garlic
candied ginger to taste
1.75 cu chicken broth
.25 cu black vinegar/soy sauce 1:1 mixture
Stir Fry:
chicken thighs or pork chops
eggplants
olive oil
chicken broth
soy sauce
black vinegar
honey
Mise en Place
Put everything in the rice maker in the order listed. Set it to "quick cook."
Chop up meat and eggplant separately.
Method
Fry eggplant slices in olive oil until they start to soften. Splash with a little soy sauce and chicken broth. Steam until tender. Remove from pan.
Fry meat in olive oil to brown outsides and cook mostly through. Add chicken broth, black vinegar, soy sauce and steam until cooked through. Remove meat, but not liquid.
Add honey and reduce to a thick sauce.
When the rice mixture is done, add the eggplant, meat, and sauce to the mixture and serve.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Duck Breast with Juniper Berry Sauce
Motivation
I found this recipe as a recommended sauce for venison. I've not tried it on deer, but I dearly love it on duck. I think the trick for getting the sauce thick enough is to let the base reduce down before adding the cream.
Ingredients
For Duck Breast:
2 Duck Breast
Salt
Pepper
Dried Thyme
For Sauce:
1/2 cup Duck Broth, Reserved from Sous Vide bag
1/8 cup Brandy
1 1/2 tsp Dried Juniper Berries
1 tbsp Red Currant Jelly
1/4 tsp Dried Thyme
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
Ground Black Pepper
Mise en Place
Take frozen duck breast out of it's air tight plastic bag, season heavily with salt, pepper, and thyme. Then reseal it in a sous vide bag. (I always feel silly unwrapping the duck just to reseal it a minute later... but the extra seasoning is worth it.) I often do this the day before and let the duck breast defrost in the fridge over night.
Place duck breast in sous vide at 360 degree F for 5-6 hours (a bit longer if still completely frozen).
Method
Once duck is done cooking take out of sous vide and reserve broth for sauce. My experience is two duck breast make about 1/2 cup of broth. Sear duck breast in a hot skillet. Remove breasts and deglaze pan with brandy. When brandy has mostly cooked off, add broth, thyme, jelly, and juniper. Reduce by half. Add cream and continue reducing until sauce thickens to desired consistency. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.
Pour over duck and serve.
I found this recipe as a recommended sauce for venison. I've not tried it on deer, but I dearly love it on duck. I think the trick for getting the sauce thick enough is to let the base reduce down before adding the cream.
Ingredients
For Duck Breast:
2 Duck Breast
Salt
Pepper
Dried Thyme
For Sauce:
1/2 cup Duck Broth, Reserved from Sous Vide bag
1/8 cup Brandy
1 1/2 tsp Dried Juniper Berries
1 tbsp Red Currant Jelly
1/4 tsp Dried Thyme
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
Ground Black Pepper
Mise en Place
Take frozen duck breast out of it's air tight plastic bag, season heavily with salt, pepper, and thyme. Then reseal it in a sous vide bag. (I always feel silly unwrapping the duck just to reseal it a minute later... but the extra seasoning is worth it.) I often do this the day before and let the duck breast defrost in the fridge over night.
Place duck breast in sous vide at 360 degree F for 5-6 hours (a bit longer if still completely frozen).
Method
Once duck is done cooking take out of sous vide and reserve broth for sauce. My experience is two duck breast make about 1/2 cup of broth. Sear duck breast in a hot skillet. Remove breasts and deglaze pan with brandy. When brandy has mostly cooked off, add broth, thyme, jelly, and juniper. Reduce by half. Add cream and continue reducing until sauce thickens to desired consistency. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.
Pour over duck and serve.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Cornbread
Motivation
I like to buy blue cornmeal so I can make purple cornbread (obviously). Recently the cornmeal bag has changed the cornbread recipe from the awesome bare-bones recipe to a fancy-smancy recipe with sugar and such. My stance is that cornbread shouldn't have sugar in it because you're going to slather it with butter and honey eventually anyway.
Ingredients
1 cup Cornmeal (blue preferably)
1/2 cup Flour
1 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Baking Soda
1 cup Milk
Method
Place cast iron skillet in oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Whisk all the dry ingredients together. When oven is preheated add milk to dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Spread batter into hot cast iron skillet and bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve hot.
I like to buy blue cornmeal so I can make purple cornbread (obviously). Recently the cornmeal bag has changed the cornbread recipe from the awesome bare-bones recipe to a fancy-smancy recipe with sugar and such. My stance is that cornbread shouldn't have sugar in it because you're going to slather it with butter and honey eventually anyway.
Ingredients
1 cup Cornmeal (blue preferably)
1/2 cup Flour
1 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Baking Soda
1 cup Milk
Method
Place cast iron skillet in oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Whisk all the dry ingredients together. When oven is preheated add milk to dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Spread batter into hot cast iron skillet and bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve hot.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Mocha Gel Scallops with Coffee-Mole Sauce
Motivation
I got the idea for this recipe from one of Heston Blumenthal's recipes in the Fat Duck Cookbook. He poaches a salmon in a black licorice gel. I love licorice but hate salmon. Everyone else I know loves salmon but hates licorice. I thought the idea was cool, but the ingredients could be made more palatable, so this is what I came up with. I knew scallops and coffee chocolate worked well together.... so I put a new spin on it.
Ingredients
For Scallops
Seas Scallops
27oz Water
4 tbsp Cocoa Powder
3 tbsp Instant Coffee
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
7g Gellan Gum
1.5g Gellan Gum Low Acyl
For Coffee-Mole Sauce
Mole Sauce
Black Coffee
Mise en Place
For Scallops
Mix all the ingredients except for gellan gums (and scallops) in a medium sauce pan and heat. When mixture comes to simmer, turn off heat and add gellan gums. Blend with an immersion blender to ensure that gums are well incorporated. The gums will begin to set when the mocha mixture reaches about body temperature. While mocha mixture is cooling skewer each scallop with a toothpick to help dip it in the mocha mixture. Continually text mocha mixture by dipping a finger in it. When your finger comes out well coated dip each scallop in the mixture for 5-10 seconds. Scallops should be coated with 1-2 mm of gel. Place coated scallops on a chilled plate. Timing is important, once mixture gets too cool it will set and you won't be able to coat scallops.
Immediately transfer coated scallops to the fridge to let gel finish setting. Later transfer to a zip-lock bag and suck as much of the air out of the bag as possible (I use a drink straw to remove air). Don't vacuum seal because it will smash the scallops and ruin the gel coating.
For Coffee-Mole Sauce
I bought the mole sauce that comes in a paste. I basically brew a pot of coffee (French press in my case) then slowly add and incorporate coffee into a bowl with a lump of mole paste in it until I get a thick sauce consistency. Transfer to a zip-lock bag and chill until needed. Right before I use it, I warm it up a bit in the microwave, then cut the corner off the zip-lock bag and treat like a pastry bag and pipe the sauce onto the plate where I need it.
Method
Set sous vide for 132 degrees F. Once water reach temperature, place scallop zip-lock bags in sous vide and cook for 20 minutes. Carefully remove cooked scallops from bag (the gel is delicate) and plate. I place a small dollop of the coffee-mole sauce on the place first and put the scallop on top of it to keep the scallops from sliding around on the plate. I garnish the scallops with a bit of espresso powder and some sea salt. They kind of look like chocolate truffles on the plate.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Thai Chicken Salad
Motivation
This is a recipe from the October 2010 issue of Cuisine at Home ever-so-slightly tweaked. We've had it in both lettuce wraps and sandwiches. I'm in love with the sauce and thinking of new ways to re-purpose it into other dishes.
Ingredients
For peanut sauce:
3 tbsp Peanut Butter
2 tbsp Soy-Sauce
2 cloves Garlic minced (or 3-4 through garlic press)
1 tbsp Lime Juice
1 tbsp Water
2 tsp Honey
1 tsp Fish Sauce
1 tsp Sriracha sauce (or more if you please)
For Chicken Salad:
1/2 - 1 Rotisserie Chicken, stripped for meat
2 cups Broccoli Slaw Mix (Publix often has this)
2 tbsp Peanuts, crushed
Large Lettuce Leaves
Method
Whisk together ingredients for peanut sauce.
Toss chicken salad ingredients with peanut sauce. Served chilled.
This is a recipe from the October 2010 issue of Cuisine at Home ever-so-slightly tweaked. We've had it in both lettuce wraps and sandwiches. I'm in love with the sauce and thinking of new ways to re-purpose it into other dishes.
Ingredients
For peanut sauce:
3 tbsp Peanut Butter
2 tbsp Soy-Sauce
2 cloves Garlic minced (or 3-4 through garlic press)
1 tbsp Lime Juice
1 tbsp Water
2 tsp Honey
1 tsp Fish Sauce
1 tsp Sriracha sauce (or more if you please)
For Chicken Salad:
1/2 - 1 Rotisserie Chicken, stripped for meat
2 cups Broccoli Slaw Mix (Publix often has this)
2 tbsp Peanuts, crushed
Large Lettuce Leaves
Method
Whisk together ingredients for peanut sauce.
Toss chicken salad ingredients with peanut sauce. Served chilled.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Coal Miner's Pasta
Motive
This recipe is based on a tried and true Rachael Ray recipe. My spin was to add basil and oven roasted tomatoes to the original.
Ingredients
1 lb Rigatoni
1/3 lb Pancetta
2 tbsp Olive Oil
4-5 cloves Garlic
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 cup Chicken Stock
2 Egg Yolks
3 tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Handful of Basil
Grape Tomatoes
Salt
Black Pepper
Mise en Place
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Half grape tomatoes, toss in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and lightly salt. Place on a baking sheet (I use a half-sheet pan covered in aluminum foil and a sheet of parchment paper).
Bake tomatoes for 30-45 minutes. Check occasionally. They should be wilted but not burnt.
Method
Bring stockpot full of water to boil for the pasta. When water is rolling, add salt and pasta and cook to al dente, about 8-15 minutes, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water.
Beat together egg yolks, cheese, and while whisking vigorously, stir in a ladle of the boiling pasta water. Beat in parsley and pepper and set aside.
While pasta cooks, heat large skillet over moderate heat. Saute pancetta in a drizzle of oil until it browns, 3 to 5 minutes. Add extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, and crushed pepper flake. Saute garlic 2 minutes. Add chicken stock to the pan and reduce liquid by half, 2 minutes.
Drain pasta. Add pasta to pan with sauce. Toss pasta with pancetta, then add egg mixture and toss 1 minute, then remove from heat. Add oven roasted tomatoes and a handful of basil roughly torn. Continue to toss until sauce is absorbed by and thickly coating the pasta.
This recipe is based on a tried and true Rachael Ray recipe. My spin was to add basil and oven roasted tomatoes to the original.
Ingredients
1 lb Rigatoni
1/3 lb Pancetta
2 tbsp Olive Oil
4-5 cloves Garlic
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 cup Chicken Stock
2 Egg Yolks
3 tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Handful of Basil
Grape Tomatoes
Salt
Black Pepper
Mise en Place
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Half grape tomatoes, toss in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and lightly salt. Place on a baking sheet (I use a half-sheet pan covered in aluminum foil and a sheet of parchment paper).
Bake tomatoes for 30-45 minutes. Check occasionally. They should be wilted but not burnt.
Method
Bring stockpot full of water to boil for the pasta. When water is rolling, add salt and pasta and cook to al dente, about 8-15 minutes, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water.
Beat together egg yolks, cheese, and while whisking vigorously, stir in a ladle of the boiling pasta water. Beat in parsley and pepper and set aside.
While pasta cooks, heat large skillet over moderate heat. Saute pancetta in a drizzle of oil until it browns, 3 to 5 minutes. Add extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, and crushed pepper flake. Saute garlic 2 minutes. Add chicken stock to the pan and reduce liquid by half, 2 minutes.
Drain pasta. Add pasta to pan with sauce. Toss pasta with pancetta, then add egg mixture and toss 1 minute, then remove from heat. Add oven roasted tomatoes and a handful of basil roughly torn. Continue to toss until sauce is absorbed by and thickly coating the pasta.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Chicken and Dumplings
Motivation
To be clear, this recipe is for the type of chicken and dumplings where the dumplings are big fat noodles, not the kind where the dumplings are delicious icebergs the bob around. Both types are legitimate dumplings.
For me, this recipe is all about the broth. With top notch broth this is comfort food that's hard to beat. With thin broth its just so-so. The broth has to be unctuous and packed with chicken flavor. In short, the stuff out of the can isn't going to cut it - you need to make a stock.
I've tried a number of ways to make stock over the years. My current favorite is stock made out of the left over carcass of something that has been roasted, grilled, or smoked. What's included here is about the least hassle way I've come up with to get banging good stock. Basically I buy precooked rotisserie chickens from the local grocery store. Strip the meat and use the carcass to make the stock.
Ingredients
For the stock
2 Rotisserie Chickens
1 Onion
For the dumplings
2 1/2 cups Flour
3 Eggs
Pinch Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
~1/3 cup Water
Mise en Place
I usually make this dish over two days. Make the stock on day one then then dumplings on day 2.
Remove meat for rotisserie chickens and save to added to the final dish. Two chickens ought to result in more meat than you need for this dish, so there will be some spare meat to use in something else. This is not a bad problem to have.
Throw wing tips, bones, and any other part of the rotisserie chicken that isn't chunks of meat into a stock pot and add water. Be careful not to add too much water. I usually add just enough to barely cover my chicken carcass parts. Quarter the onion and throw into stock pot. In my experience this is all that is really necessary. You can add other vegetables if you wish. Carrots and celery are popular. Herbs like rosemary and thyme are nice too. In my opinion lots of extra veggies don't make all that much difference to a good meat stock. Simmer stock for at least 3 hours. I usually cover it so I don't have to replace evaporated water. Strain stock and chill.
Method
In a food processor fitted with a dough-blade add all the dumpling ingredients. Try adding less than 1/3 of cup at water and adding more later if you need it. If you start by dumpling all the water in you'll probably end up with dough that is too moist and needs extra flour (voice of experience talking). Pulse the processor until a dough ball is formed and let rest for 15 minutes under a moist towel.
Bring stock to a simmer.
Kneed a few times then roll out dough into a thin sheet and cut into noodles roughly an inch wide and 2-4 inches long. Add noodles to simmering stock a few at a time. I don't always use up all the dough. It depends on how much stock I have and what sort of dumpling ratio I'm in the mood for. Once all noodles are added, add reserved chicken from the rotisserie and cook until thoroughly heated. Serve.
To be clear, this recipe is for the type of chicken and dumplings where the dumplings are big fat noodles, not the kind where the dumplings are delicious icebergs the bob around. Both types are legitimate dumplings.
For me, this recipe is all about the broth. With top notch broth this is comfort food that's hard to beat. With thin broth its just so-so. The broth has to be unctuous and packed with chicken flavor. In short, the stuff out of the can isn't going to cut it - you need to make a stock.
I've tried a number of ways to make stock over the years. My current favorite is stock made out of the left over carcass of something that has been roasted, grilled, or smoked. What's included here is about the least hassle way I've come up with to get banging good stock. Basically I buy precooked rotisserie chickens from the local grocery store. Strip the meat and use the carcass to make the stock.
Ingredients
For the stock
2 Rotisserie Chickens
1 Onion
For the dumplings
2 1/2 cups Flour
3 Eggs
Pinch Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
~1/3 cup Water
Mise en Place
I usually make this dish over two days. Make the stock on day one then then dumplings on day 2.
Remove meat for rotisserie chickens and save to added to the final dish. Two chickens ought to result in more meat than you need for this dish, so there will be some spare meat to use in something else. This is not a bad problem to have.
Throw wing tips, bones, and any other part of the rotisserie chicken that isn't chunks of meat into a stock pot and add water. Be careful not to add too much water. I usually add just enough to barely cover my chicken carcass parts. Quarter the onion and throw into stock pot. In my experience this is all that is really necessary. You can add other vegetables if you wish. Carrots and celery are popular. Herbs like rosemary and thyme are nice too. In my opinion lots of extra veggies don't make all that much difference to a good meat stock. Simmer stock for at least 3 hours. I usually cover it so I don't have to replace evaporated water. Strain stock and chill.
Method
In a food processor fitted with a dough-blade add all the dumpling ingredients. Try adding less than 1/3 of cup at water and adding more later if you need it. If you start by dumpling all the water in you'll probably end up with dough that is too moist and needs extra flour (voice of experience talking). Pulse the processor until a dough ball is formed and let rest for 15 minutes under a moist towel.
Bring stock to a simmer.
Kneed a few times then roll out dough into a thin sheet and cut into noodles roughly an inch wide and 2-4 inches long. Add noodles to simmering stock a few at a time. I don't always use up all the dough. It depends on how much stock I have and what sort of dumpling ratio I'm in the mood for. Once all noodles are added, add reserved chicken from the rotisserie and cook until thoroughly heated. Serve.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Curried Apples with Coconut Curry Mousse (Beta)
Motive
I've been trying to think of a fun way to incorporate curry into dessert for a while now. I know that curry pairs well with sweet things, I just couldn't think of the right angle to approach the dish from.
Right after Christmas I tried some coconut curry cashews. They were horrible. I thought they tasted like play-doh. I spit them out and tried my best to forget them.
Finally, a couple of weeks later the two neurons ran into each other and realized that while those cashews were awful, the coconut and curry flavor pairing might be just what I need to make my dessert. This is my first attempt at this savory/sweet dessert. Beta 1.0 if you will.
Special Equipment:
iSi Whipper
Ingredients
For the mousse:
1/2 cup Coconut Milk
2 tsp Curry Powder
1/2 tsp Coconut Extract
3 tbsp Powdered Sugar
~1/2 cup Heavy Cream
For the candied pecans:
Handful of Pecans
1/2 tsp Curry Powder
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
1/2 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp Corn Syrup
For the curried apples:
1 tbsp Butter
2 Apples, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 tbsp Crystallized Ginger
2 tbsp Brown Sugar
2 tsp Curry Powder
1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
1/8 tsp Ground Nutmeg
Mise en Place
The mousse needs to be made a head of time so it has time to chill. Fill a glass measuring cup with coconut milk and nuke it for ~30 seconds to get a bit of warmth in it. Add all the dry ingredients and whisk it together. Add cream until the measuring cup reads 1 cup of volume. Whisk contents then strain through a fine mesh sieve into the iSi whipper and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
The candied pecans can be made a head of time. Toast pecans in a small skillet. When you smell toasted pecan add the butter to the pan. Once the butter melts add corn syrup, curry powder, and brown sugar. Mix until the pecans are well coated with the sugar then remove from heat and let cool. Stir nuts occasionally so they do not clump together.
Method
Peel apples. Core and slice as if preparing apples for an apple pie filling. Place a skillet over medium heat. Melt butter and add sliced apples and crystallized ginger. Cook until apples are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and continue to cook and stir until everything is well incorporated.
Place apple mixture in a small bowl. Top with coconut curry mousse from the iSi whipper and garnish with candied pecans.
Verdict
The coconut curry mousse's texture was very light, more like whipped cream. The flavor profile was spot on though. I'll be making that again.
The apple mixture should of been more complex. I think the ginger and cloves dominated it. Next time I need to hold back on the spices a bit.
The candied pecans didn't taste very curry. I need to bump of the spices in them.
Overall the dessert has an interesting mix of textures and temperatures. I think it was a good first attempt.
I've been trying to think of a fun way to incorporate curry into dessert for a while now. I know that curry pairs well with sweet things, I just couldn't think of the right angle to approach the dish from.
Right after Christmas I tried some coconut curry cashews. They were horrible. I thought they tasted like play-doh. I spit them out and tried my best to forget them.
Finally, a couple of weeks later the two neurons ran into each other and realized that while those cashews were awful, the coconut and curry flavor pairing might be just what I need to make my dessert. This is my first attempt at this savory/sweet dessert. Beta 1.0 if you will.
Special Equipment:
iSi Whipper
Ingredients
For the mousse:
1/2 cup Coconut Milk
2 tsp Curry Powder
1/2 tsp Coconut Extract
3 tbsp Powdered Sugar
~1/2 cup Heavy Cream
For the candied pecans:
Handful of Pecans
1/2 tsp Curry Powder
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
1/2 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp Corn Syrup
For the curried apples:
1 tbsp Butter
2 Apples, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 tbsp Crystallized Ginger
2 tbsp Brown Sugar
2 tsp Curry Powder
1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
1/8 tsp Ground Nutmeg
Mise en Place
The mousse needs to be made a head of time so it has time to chill. Fill a glass measuring cup with coconut milk and nuke it for ~30 seconds to get a bit of warmth in it. Add all the dry ingredients and whisk it together. Add cream until the measuring cup reads 1 cup of volume. Whisk contents then strain through a fine mesh sieve into the iSi whipper and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
The candied pecans can be made a head of time. Toast pecans in a small skillet. When you smell toasted pecan add the butter to the pan. Once the butter melts add corn syrup, curry powder, and brown sugar. Mix until the pecans are well coated with the sugar then remove from heat and let cool. Stir nuts occasionally so they do not clump together.
Method
Peel apples. Core and slice as if preparing apples for an apple pie filling. Place a skillet over medium heat. Melt butter and add sliced apples and crystallized ginger. Cook until apples are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and continue to cook and stir until everything is well incorporated.
Place apple mixture in a small bowl. Top with coconut curry mousse from the iSi whipper and garnish with candied pecans.
Verdict
The coconut curry mousse's texture was very light, more like whipped cream. The flavor profile was spot on though. I'll be making that again.
The apple mixture should of been more complex. I think the ginger and cloves dominated it. Next time I need to hold back on the spices a bit.
The candied pecans didn't taste very curry. I need to bump of the spices in them.
Overall the dessert has an interesting mix of textures and temperatures. I think it was a good first attempt.
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