corned beef tongue

If I were not such a procrastinator, this is what I could’ve served for dinner last Monday night:

corned beef tongue
sous vide homegrown assorted carrots
potato-stuffed brussels sprouts
braised leeks
colcannon puree
whole-grain mustard crisps
pickled mustard seeds
malt reduction

corned beef tongue
2-3 beef tongues
2 qts cold water
12 oz kosher salt
4 oz brown sugar
1/4 oz sodium nitrate (optional, but will give the tongue its pink color)
3 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic
2 tsps black peppercorns
2 tsps mustard seeds
1 tsp whole allspice berries
1 tsp dried thyme

corning: Lay tongues in a single layer in a non-reactive container. Bring water, salt, sugar and sodium nitrate to boil in a stainless steel saucepan. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Pour brine over tongues, it should cover them by a few inches. Add remaining ingredients and place a heavy plate on top of tongues to keep them submerged. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 6-8 days. Remove tongues from brine. Discard brine and wash container. Return tongues to container, cover with fresh, cold water and allow to soak overnight in the refrigerator to remove excess salt.
cooking: Remove tongues from water and place them in a large pot. Add 1 large onion, 2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery and enough cold water to cover the tongues by a few inches. Simmer tongues for 3-4 hours or until very tender. (The tongues can also be cooked in a pressure cooker for 1 hour.) Remove the skin while still warm. Wrap tongues tightly in plastic wrap and chill overnight. Slice thinly to serve.

playing with ricotta

Some days, I go to the playground, looking for fun, but find that it is deserted. I can see my good friends, Ideas and Inspiration, lurking in the shadows; just out of reach. As much as I coax and cajole them, they refuse to come out to play.
Then there are days, like today, when they are already there waiting.

This morning, while enjoying my breakfast of ricotta, fruit, and coffee, I was struck by the how the flavor of ricotta mingled with the coffee. I began to wonder if it was possible to unite these flavors before they hit the palate.
Ideas told me that this might be achieved by marinating the ricotta in coffee. Obediently, I brewed a fresh cup and stirred in some ricotta. A few hours later, I was dismayed to find that there was only a faint flavor of the coffee in the ricotta.
I was about to give up hope, when Inspiration suggested that because the ricotta was now a few days old, it had already ‘set’ and was not open to absorbing any more liquid, but that a fresh batch would still be porous. It seemed plausible, and because it is quick and easy, I made more ricotta.
While the fresh batch drained for the requisite 5 minutes, I brewed a fresh cup of coffee and stirred in the still- warm ricotta. This time, after only 20 minutes, the ricotta had taken on a rich brown color and tasted distinctly of coffee.
Before the ricotta cooled, I tried other flavors:

coffee caramel raspberry

Moving to the savory side, I had on hand some gelatin-filtered tomato sauce that I had infused with basil and garlic.
This tasted just like pizza!

I was having a great time playing with my friends (they get so wound up), but I had other things to do (like work). They did, however, convince me to try one more thing with ricotta before abandoning it for the day: ricotta caramel.
I cooked some sugar with a bit of water until it turned dark amber, then stirred in some well-drained ricotta. I had expected it to turn out hard and brittle, but instead it was soft and chewy, interspersed with flecks of curd. Interesting texture…more play for another day.

aerated chocolate

Heston Blumenthal has been described as a mad food scientist. If this is true, then his madness is borne of an exquisitely focused curiosity of food.
In his books "In Search of Perfection" and "Further Adventures in Search of Perfection", Blumenthal turns this curiosity to classic dishes that evoke fond memories and nostalgia. They are last meal dishes. He dissects them and goes to extraordinary lengths to execute each component according to his standards of perfection, which are high indeed.
There is much to be learned from these books; simple and practical lessons on how to properly roast a chicken, knead bread, fry potatoes. He almost had me convinced that he is not mad. Then he goes and vacuums chocolate with a Dyson.

special equipment:
whipped cream dispenser
3 N2O charges for dispenser
a vacuum sealer such as foodsaver with its large canister*
a plastic container that will fit inside the large canister

set up:
fill a small saucepan with 2" of water and bring to a simmer
place whipped cream dispenser in a bowl of warm water
place plastic container in large canister and surround with ice
attach hose from vacuum sealer to lid of large canister

step 1 (melt chocolate)

place 18 oz (500g) of good quality chocolate that has been chopped into small chunks into a metal or glass bowl. Add 1/3 cup (65g) peanut oil. Set bowl over simmering water in saucepan. Stir occasionally until completely melted and smooth.

step 2 (foaming)
pour the melted chocolate into the warmed whipped cream dispenser. Screw on the top and charge with 3 N2O charges. Shake vigorously and discharge into the bottom of the plastic container, stopping when the chocolate foam is halfway up the container. Immediately place dish on ice in large canister.

step 3 (aerating)

place lid securely on canister. Begin vacuum. When the chocolate has doubled in bulk, stop the vacuum. Remove the hose attachment and carefully transfer the canister to the refrigerator to chill.

step 4 (chilling)

let canister chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Remove and release pressure from canister. Remove plastic container from inside canister and unmold aerated chocolate by running a thin knife along the sides. If the chocolate does not release, wrap a towel that has been soaked in hot water around the outside of container.

* in ISoP, Blumenthal uses a plastic storage container to hold the foamed chocolate,then places it into a plastic baggie and inserts the nozzle of a Dyson vacuum into the opening.

honeycomb candy

Science was my weakest subject in school. Although I had not yet decided on an occupation, I knew that it would be in a creative field, to which science would be irrelevent. As it stands, I was wrong. Science and creativity are two sides of the coin that is cooking. Modern cooks understand this.
Despite my lack of interest in hypothesis and theories, the experiments captured my attention. One in particular was the effect of carbon dioxide when combining baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) with an acid. The voluminous foam that billowed out of the beaker and all over the lab table delighted and fascinated me.
I find myself now, many years later, reliving that experience. This time, the results are edible and delicious.

honeycomb
candy
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbspns water
2 Tbspns honey
1 1/2 tsps
baking
soda

Because the final steps must be executed rapidly, before you start cooking the sugar have ready: a baking sheet that has been well greased or lined with a silpat, a whisk and the premeasured baking soda.
Spread the sugar out in an even layer in the bottom of a large saucepan. Drizzle the water and honey over the sugar and place on a burner over high heat. Cook, without stirring, until it reaches 300F. You will observe the sugar melting, then the syrup forming small, tight bubbles, then the bubbles will become larger and looser and finally, the syrup will begin to take on an amber color. When it reaches 300F., immediately remove it from the heat. Quickly add the baking soda and whisk just until the baking soda is mixed in. In one quick motion, dump the foaming syrup onto the prepared baking sheet. Do not spread or disturb, as this will cause it to deflate. Let it stand until cool to the touch, about 10 minutes. Break or cut into pieces. Transfer immediately to an airtight container to preserve the crispness.

teacakes

                     "It has been said that tea is suggestive of a thousand wants,
                                 from which spring the decencies and luxuries of civilization"
                                                                                                               Agnes Repplier

Tea is a seemingly simple beverage, just water and leaves, yet look deeper and you will find that it is steeped in legend, ritual, history, geography, religion, and politics. Once available only to emperors and kings, it can now be found in the humblest of pantries around the world.
What you may not know about tea is that white, green, oolong and black teas all come from the same plant, Camellia Senesis. The difference lies in the stage at which the leaves are harvested, and in the way that they are processed. The simplest form being white tea, which is harvested from young buds before they open and quickly dried before oxidation can take place. The most complex (and rarest) is the pu-erh, which is allowed to oxidize, then fermented in a process similar to composting for up to a year, then compressed and aged further. One international hotel lists a 1949 Vintage Cave-aged pu-erh on its tea menu at $90 a cup and a 1985 Royal Reserve (that was hand carried out of China after a 5 year negotiation) at $300 a cup! Who knew?

matcha genoise
A genoise, or sponge cake, contains no leavening. Instead, it gets its lightness from whipped eggs. Because it contains no fat in the form of butter or oil, it tends to be dry, which can be corrected by soaking it with a simple syrup. I’ve found that the addition of a small amount of gelatin in the syrup helps it cling to the cake, producing a moist instead of wet texture. Matcha, which is the powdered form of green tea, blends in very nicely with the dry ingredients, lending the cake its vibrant green color and characteristic grassy flavor.

matcha genoise
orange flower syrup
honey ginger buttercream
meyer lemon ice cream
honeycomb candy

matcha genoise
1/3 cup sifted cake flour
3 Tblsps cornstarch
2 Tblsps matcha
2 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
2 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

syrup
2 Tblsps sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp powdered gelatin
1/8 tsp orange flower water

cake: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9" cake pan. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch and matcha. In a large bowl, beat the whole eggs, the yolks, and the sugar on high speed for about 5 minutes, or until thick, fluffy, and about tripled in volume. Sift half of the flour mixture over the eggs and fold in with a spatula. Repeat with the remainder of the flour mixture. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites just until foamy. Sprinkle on the cream of tartar and continue whipping to stiff peaks. Fold the whites into the batter, then pour into prepared cake pan and level off the top. Place in the oven immediately and bake for 25 minutes, or until the top springs back when pressed, or a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before turning out of pan to finish cooling.
syrup: Place sugar and water into a small saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and allow to soften for 3 minutes. Whisk the gelatin into the mixture an place over medium high heat until it comes to a full, rolling boil, and the gelatin and sugar are dissolved. Cover tightly and remove from heat. Allow to cool to room temperature and stir in the orange flower water. Brush or spoon the syrup over the cake.

rooibos butter cake
Rooibos is considered a tisane, or herbal tea, as it comes from red bush, Aspalanthus linearis, indigenous to South Africa, and not Camillia Senensis. It contains no caffeine, and has a naturally sweet cream and vanilla flavor with hints of sun- baked hay. For the color and flavor to permeate this cake, it will need to be finely ground (I use a coffee grinder), then steeped in hot water. Butter cake, as the name implies, gets its moisture and richness from butter, as well as eggs and sugar. In this recipe, I’ve used honey and brown sugar to enhance the flavor of the rooibos. The acidic buttermilk reacts with the alkaline baking soda to give the cake its lift, while the protein in the eggs and gluten in the flour give it structure.

rooibos butter cake
creamsicle marble
mango
tangerine caramel

rooibos butter cake
1/4 cup finely ground rooibos
1 1/4 cups hot water
2 1/2 cup sifted cake flour
1 1/4 cup muscovado or brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9" cake pan. Place the rooibos in a large bowl and cover with hot water. Stir well and allow to steep for 5 minutes. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. To the steeped rooibos, add the honey, the butter, and the eggs. Beat on high speed for 2-3 minutes. Beat in half of the flour mixture, then half of the buttermilk. Repeat, using the remainder of flour mixture and milk. Beat for 2 minutes more to aerate. Pour into prepared cake pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top springs back when pressed, or a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before turning out of pan to finish cooling.

chai financier
Chai is black tea to which spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and black pepper have been added. Financier is moister and denser than genoise or butter cake. Egg whites are used here because they contain more water than the yolks, yet have the same stabilizing protein. Finely ground almonds and browned butter add flavor and texture. Because the eggs and butter are used in liquid form, instead of whipped and creamed,there is less air in this cake, which contributes to it’s density, but also lowers it’s risk of oxidation. This means that the batter can be held in the refrigerator for up to a week (in fact, it improves upon standing) and is ready to be baked on a whim.

chai financier
kala jeera rice pudding
persimon "yolk"
brown butter powder

chai financier
3 oz. blanched almonds
1/2 cup plus 2 Tblsps sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 Tblsps cake flour
1 1/2 Tblsps finely ground chai
1/4 tsp salt
4 egg whites
1/2 cup warm browned butter

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour an 8" cake pan. Place the almonds and 2 Tblsps of the sugar in a food processor and process in short pulses until finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the remaining sugar, cake flour, chai and salt and stir until blended. Add the egg whites and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour in the butter and beat for 2 minutes more. Let stand for at least 10 minutes or up to 1 week in the refrigerator (in which case, the batter should be brought to room temperature and stirred before proceeding). Pour into prepared cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning out of pan to finish cooling.

sugar-crusted

Most of us are familiar with the salt crust method of roasting foods encrusted in a paste of egg whites and salt. When executed properly, the baked crust is cracked open to reveal a tender, moist piece of fish or meat, perfectly roasted. One would think that in this insulated enviroment the food would steam as it does en papillote or in a cocotte, but because the crust is porous and absorbs moisture, it does indeed roast.

What if we were to replace the salt with sugar? Would the sugar caramelize and transfer its aroma into the food which it is cooking? These are questions posed by Pierre Gagnaire and Herve This in their collaboration Art et Science, and the answers are yes.

Immediately, I thought of bananas, which have frustrated me in my attempts to achieve a balance between color and texture when roasting. With this method, although the color is light, there is an aura of caramel. The drawing away of moisture as it cooks leave the bananas firm with a texture that reminds me of roasted chestnuts.

Considering the possibilities sends my mind reeling…pineapple, pears, apricots, root vegetables, squash, onions, scallops, shrimp…to name just a few. And to take it to another level, the sugar can be infused with spices or aromatics.

unBloody Mary

Admittedly, I am not a huge fan of the cocktail. All too often they are overly sweet or sour. A well-balanced cocktail is quite another matter. Case in point: the Violet Fizz at Tailor, NYC. Even as I ordered it I was leery, but curious. No need, it was light, bright, and perfectly balanced.
Bloody Marys seem to belong in another category altogether. It may be due to their texture that they feel more like a fluid meal…something to sate your appetite, rather than pique it.
On a recent shopping trip, I was surprised to find young lovage tucked in among the herbs, something I have never seen in super markets in my area…surely a good sign. I cannot think about lovage without conjuring up a memory of the late Adelma Simmons "The First Lady of Herbs" at a lecture that I attended years ago at Caprilands Herb Farm. She was nearly 70 at the time, yet spoke passionately and extensively about herbal cultivation, lore and uses. She threw out one tidbit that I have carried with me since, but have never implemented: the use of lovage stalks as straws.
So, there I stood, at the market, with a bunch of lovage in my hand, and it spoke to me, and what it said was "Make me a Bloody Mary!"
When herbs speak, one must listen.

unBloody Mary
potato and salt cod cake
lovage and preserved lemon fluid gel

Gelatin Filtration is a technique that Harold McGee wrote about in an article in the New York Times in which gelatin is combined with a flavored liquid, frozen, and allowed to drain. The gelatin forms a net which traps fat and particles as it thaws, resulting in a clear liquid with pure flavor. This method can be applied to stocks, sauces, or purees and provides an alternative to a Superbag or the egg white raft method which, arguably, draws flavor from the liquid which it clarifies. It is groundbreaking in its simplicity, requires no specialized equipment or ingredients and provides infinite possibilities. The only drawback is that it needs to be planned ahead–its always been a 3 day process for me. You can read more about this and other progressive techniques at the highly innovative Ideas in Food.

Applying gelatin filtration to a Bloody Mary base of seasoned vegetable juice produced a light colored, crystal clear liquid that tasted identical to the base. To give a visual and textural reference back to the original cocktail, I added a sphere made from the base. In order to suspend it, I blended some Xanthan into the clarified liquid.

Spherification is another technique developed at elBulli in 2003 in which sodium alginate is mixed with a liquid base and dropped into a bath of calcium chloride. The alginate reacts with the calcium, forming an orb with a gelatinized membrane surrounding a liquid center, similar to a raw egg yolk. There is also Reverse Spherification, in which a base is combined with calcium in the form of calcium gluconolactate and dropped into an alginate bath. Spherification is now considered passe by some, although I continue to see it come out of cutting edge kitchens, I think largely because it offers a playful delivery of flavor. This process is explained in depth on the Texturas site (elBulli product line) and demonstrated by Martin at Khymos in this videoclip.

unBloody Mary
base
2 lbs. ripe tomatoes                                        lemon juice, to taste
3 stalks celery                                                 jalapeno hot sauce, to taste
1/2 cup lovage leaves                                        salt and pepper
2 scallions                                                       dash Worcestershire

Pass vegetables and herbs through a juicer or liquify in a blender with 1/2 cup of water. Add remaining ingredients, adjust seasoning to taste. Strain through a sieve. Measure out 4 cups of base and transfer to a saucepan, setting the rest aside in a covered container in the refrigerator and reserve for spheres. To the saucepan add 2 tsps. powdered gelatin by sprinkling it over the surface. Let stand for 5 minutes, then whisk it in over medium high heat until base just begins to simmer and gelatin has completely melted. Remove from heat, let cool and transfer to a bowl and place in freezer overnight or until frozen solid. The next day, line a colander with cheesecloth, pop out the frozen base and place it in the prepared colander, set over a large bowl and transfer to the refrigerator to drain for 24 to 48 hours. When it appears that the base has fully drained, remove colander and discard the solids. When ready to serve, add 1 part vodka to 2 parts of clarified base.

spheres                                                             bath
2 grams sodium alginate                                  2.5 grams calcium chloride
60 grams water                                              500 grams water
140 grams reserved base

spheres– place the water and base in a container with high sides. Sprinkle on the sodium alginate and blend in with an immersion blender. (This can also be done in a high speed mixer). Set aside in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours to allow the bubbles formed during blending to dissipate.
bath– combine calcium chloride with water in a bowl and stir until dissolved.
to form spheres– with a rounded spoon, scoop up some alginated base and slowly submerge into bath, tipping spoon to allow sphere to release. When skin has formed, lift sphere out of bath with perforated spoon and transfer to a clear water bath. Use immediately as sphere will continue to react and harden.
Note: because the finished cocktail has little viscosity, the spheres will sink to the bottom of the glass. If you wish to suspend them, blend 1 gram of Xanthan into 500 grams of finished cocktail.

mascarpone and caramelized milk

Mascarpone is a lovely substance…a thick triple-cream cheese that tastes of sweet cream with a tangy finish. It is far too rich to eat more than a spoonful or two straight up, but it is indispensable as an ingredient. A few spoonfuls stirred into a soup, pasta or risotto will elevate it from good to sublime. It makes an amazingly creamy and rich ice cream, tames the sweetness of caramel, and stabilizes whipped cream.

Mascarpone can easily be made at home from heavy cream (pasteurized produces a better product than ultra pasteurized) and tartaric acid (the primary acid found in wine–can be purchased online or at a wine-making supply store). It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare, but it must thicken and drain for 12 hours before it can be used.

Here’s how:

Mascarpone

2 cups heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon tartaric acid

Heat cream in a heavy saucepan to 180 degrees F. over medium-high heat, being careful that it does not scorch. Remove from heat as soon as it comes up to temperature and stir in the tartaric acid. Continue stirring for 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a glass or plastic container and refrigerate for 2 hours. At this point, it should have thickened significantly. Set a sieve over a bowl and line it with a triple thickness of cheesecloth and pour in mascarpone. Let drain for an additional 10 hours in the refrigerator.

Yesterday, I found myself with a fresh supply of mascarpone and a question that I have been pondering: Could mascarpone be caramelized?
I knew that I could stir in some burnt sugar and cook it down a bit , but I didn’t want to swing it that far into the sweet zone. What I wanted was to maintain the balance of sweet and tart, but deepen the flavor; make it more complex. But if I didn’t add sugar…would it still caramelize? Some would argue that the absence of sugar would instead cause the milk solids to toast (as in browned butter), but heavy cream does contain some sugar (16 grams per cup), so I got busy…

I packed mascarpone into a half pint mason jar, leaving an inch of headroom at the top, then sealed it with a lid and band. I then placed it on a folded towel in a pressure cooker and poured in about 3" of water, sealed the cooker and and brought it up to pressure. Worried about the water level, I decided to check it after 30 minutes. (My paranoia about letting the water bath dry out stems from a dulche de leche incident a few years ago involving a can of sweetened, condensed milk in a saucepan and one distraction too many…I’m still cleaning that mess up.) The water level had gone down about an inch, which I replaced, and it was just starting to take on color. I placed it back in the cooker for another 30 minutes. The color had noticeably deepened and it appeared to have retained its creamy texture, so I decided to stop there. As soon as it had cooled, I popped the lid and there it was…the sweet, nutty, toasty aroma and flavor that I was looking for. I now had a product that was familiar in texture and mouth feel, yet more complex and nuanced in flavor to play with.

Heady with success, I wondered what else could Be caramelized. I put every dairy product that I had on hand into mason jars and processed them in the same way. Here’s the results:

hits deepened color, taste and aroma, unaltered texture

whole milk
processed for 90 minutes

heavy cream
processed for 90 minutes

canned evaporated milk
processed for 90 minutes

misses deepened color, taste and aroma, altered texture

lebne
processed for 60 minutes
(formed soft curds that could be whipped until creamy, but remained slightly grainy)

sour cream
processed for 60 minutes
(formed firm curds; texture could not be restored by whipping)

conclusions It appears that the cultured products curdled under the intense heat/prolonged cooking, while the uncultured ones achieved the desired effect. This is just a rudimentary observation…I wish that I knew more about the science at play here. Regardless, I am happy with the 4 new products that I have here. I am especially excited about the versatility of heavy cream and what it can produce: flans, custards, whipped cream and maybe even butter. Back to ~~work~~ play.

UPDATE: Chemistry professor and author Robert L. Wolke writes in his book What Einstein Told His Cook, "the word caramelization should be reserved for the browning of sugar- any kind of sugar- in the absence of protein. When sugars or starches occur together with proteins as they do in onions, breads, and meats, the browning is mostly due to the Maillard reaction, not caramelization."
So. I guess that I should refer to these products as Maillard milk.