Category: home run

fig x3

Figtrio_009pspJanuary is not normally thought of as fig season, but I had about a dozen perfect specimens left over from a catering job. While I was packing up the car, I realised that I had not eaten and my stomach was beginning to protest. I put the leftover figs and some cheese within arms reach for the long drive home. I munched happily, marveling at how perfectly ripe the figs were, and began composing this dish in my head. The thing about serving different preparations of the same item on one plate is that they should each be unique in flavor, texture, and presentation in order to create excitement, yet there should exist some thread of continuity between them–they should relate to one another–otherwise, you will only create confusion and disparity. With this "rule" in mind, I decided on flavors and presentation and made mental lists, but when I went to reach for another fig, there were no more…I had eaten every one. I knew that I could not wait until next fall to execute this dish, so I decided to side track my route home to the store where I had purchased them with hopes that there would be more. I was lucky, there was one box left for me.


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Tangy, herbal

fresh fig, trimmed to expose soft interior, marinated in A L’Olivier Figue (great product), set on a bed of selvatica arugula, dressed with figue and marjoram oil vinaigrette.

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Salty, sweet, herbal

fresh fig, lightly poached with hibiscus and elderflower, split and filled with compressed ball of minced serrano ham, toasted hickory nuts and fresh marjoram, dressed with marjoram oil and sprigs.

                                                                   

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Sweet, tangy

sliced fig dome filled with dolce gorgonzola and caramelized mascarpone set on base of hibiscus soaked olive oil genoise, served with dehydrated rambutan


tequila sunrise

Ah, citrus…a ray of sunshine in the bleak of winter.

One of the first elaborate dishes that I recall making with citrus was a terrine in which supremes of various citrus were layered in a mold, ascending in color from dark to light. Each layer was set with its own gelled juice and when sliced, made a stunning presentation.  I served it as a dessert then, with white chocolate ice cream and a caramel tuile, but I have since used it as a component to other courses. In fact, I have come to rely on it as a bright, high note to play off of other elements such as lobster or ginger glazed duck.

I’ve been thinking about this terrine lately–how to refine it and simplify its form. When considering the translucency of the citrus slices, tissue paper came to mind. If you are me, when the brain connects food to a non food item, its time to play.

Tissue paper collage was my introduction to color mixing, learning how layering colors produces new colors and design. This concept, applied to food really excites me, because of the added element of taste. Imagine a collage of thin veneers of poached vegetables layered on a plate, each bite a different color and flavor…the mind reels with possibilities. Back to the task at hand…

Keeping the design linear produced an ombre effect. I couldn’t help but think of a Tequila Sunrise, which threw me in a new direction with flavors. Color is always foremost in my mind when designing a dish, and I decided that green was where I wanted to go with this. I auditioned different flavor combinations and chose pumpkin seeds (pepitas), green chili, and cilantro. I knew that texturally, I wanted a rich, creamy element and so I combined the ground pepitas with yogurt (I would have used kefir or labne if I had some on hand) and allowed it to drain overnight to produce a sort of cheese. The green chili and cilantro oil adds a counterpoint of heat and herb. 

What to drink with this? Tequila, of course…preferably a smooth, balanced anejo like Chinaco.

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                                 Citrus Pave

pave:
thinly sliced supremes of:
blood orange
ruby grapefruit
orange (reserve juice)
white grapefruit (reserve juice)
1/2 tsp gelatin
1 oz tequila
   On a sheet of plastic wrap, lay down overlapping slices of citrus starting at the top with the white grapefruit, in shingle-style rows, working down to the blood oranges. Keep in mind that the surface touching the plastic wrap will be the top.  Place in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly. Combine the reserved juices and measure  1/2 cup . Sprinkle the gelatin over and allow to soften. Heat until gelatin dissolves. Stir in tequila and let cool to room temperature. Remove pave from refrigerator and spoon a thin layer of the gelatin over the top of citrus, spreading to completely cover. Chill until set and repeat 2-3 times until  you have achieved an even, thin layer that will hold together the slices.

pumpkin seed- yogurt cheese:
1/2 cup yogurt
2 Tbsps finely ground pumpkin seeds
pinch salt
   Mix all ingredients together well. Make 4 small cones out of triangles of parchment. Snip the tip to produce a small hole for drainage and suspend them in tall shot glasses so that their tips are not touching the bottom, and fold back the parchment that rises over the glass. This is easier to do if you slit the excess parchment to the rims. Tie a string or rubber band over the excess to secure. Spoon in about 2 Tblsps of yogurt mix into each cone, being careful to not leave air pockets. Move to refrigerator and allow to drain overnight.

serrano-cilantro oil:
Flesh from 2 serrano chilies
1 cup cilantro leaves
pinch salt
3/4 cup avocado oil
   Place the chilies,cilantro and salt in a blender or food processor with a little of the oil until finely chopped. Drizzle in the remaining oil with the motor running.

to plate: Cut the pave to desired size. Invert onto plate using the plastic wrap. Unmold cones by peeling away the parchment. Arrange on pave and dot plate with oil. 

The call of the rainforest

While the temperature hovers around 0 degrees here in the Northeast, I should be thinking about hot, soothing soup, or a slow-braised joint of meat. Instead, I am finding comfort in dreaming of the tropics.

The rainforest fascinates me…an infinite and largely undiscovered source of plant and animal life. As a teenager, I spent a glorious month in Brazil, staying with family in Santos, but my stay was confined to the coast around Sao Paulo, and only skimmed the outer edges of the Amazon.

Perhaps the most celebrated chef in Brazil today is Alex Atala of D.O.M. Restaurante in Sao Paulo, which is counted among the top 50 restaurants in the world. Besides being a gifted chef and speaking 3 languages fluently, chef Atala is enthusiastic about discovering and sharing the resources of the rainforest, which he calls "a universe of aromas". This is no small feat, considering that the Brazilian diet is still tied to old customs and subsists largely on rice and beans and other imported goods.

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Having captured my imagination, I set out to weave together flavors/aromas from crops that are widely grown in rainforest climates…and I do mean weave in a literal sense…hey, if Wylie can tie foie in a knot, why not weave?  I edited a long list of possibilities down to those that I knew would work well together:
banana
coconut
lime
tamarind
coffee
vanilla
cashew

I began with a piece of grouper, which was seasoned and placed in a bag with vanilla-infused coconut milk and a piece of banana leaf, sealed under vacuum, and cooked sous-vide at 50C for 20 minutes.

Next, I separated the flavors and aromas into two agar sheets. I chose agar because of its heat stability–I didn’t want it to melt as soon as it came in contact with the hot fish–but I was careful to keep these sheets on the soft side, barely firm enough to manipulate. The first sheet (creamy, rich, slightly sweet)  was made by mashing bananas with lime juice(for flavor and to retard darkening), I added agar to the coconut milk, brought to a boil, then combined this with the banana mash. I then poured this out onto a plastic-lined flat container to a thickness of 1/4" and chilled until set.

The second sheet (aromatic, tart, bitter) was made using the same procedure, except the agar was heated with tamarind puree and a hint of vanilla extract, then combined with a pulled shot of espresso and molded.

After both sheets set up, I cut them into 1/2" strips and carefully wove them together, holding them in the refrigerator until just before service, when they were inverted onto the squares of grouper. To finish, a little sprinkle of ground cashews and lime zest.

So, you may ask, is this dish "a universe of aromas"?
No…but, maybe a microcosm.