Blini With Asparagus Caviar, When Three Year Olds Do Molecular Gastronomy

Asparagus Caviar

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So, I'm working more on dishes for my first Herbivoracious dinner party. I want the amuse bouche to be traditional buckwheat blini with creme fraiche and asparagus caviar. The caviar is made using the spherification technique pioneered by Ferran Adria. You need sodium alginate (derived from seaweed), and calcium chloride. (A good source for this stuff is WillPowder if you want to play). You can also make big balls, "raviolis", worms and so on.

The technique isn't really hard, in fact a three year old can do it!

When Kids Do Molecular Gastronomy in Their Jammies

... ok, well, maybe a 3 year old can't make perfect little caviar pearls, but believe me she can have good fun trying! Yes, I'm a proud Dad, but I was also thinking that my daughter is probably the only 3 year old in the world who at this exact moment is doing molecular gastronomy.

I wasn't totally happy with the asparagus balls because I really wanted them to be clear, but these came out opaque. If I filter the liquid to make it clear, there isn't much taste left. Oh well, more screwing around to come.

The basic schtick is:

• Puree whatever you want to spherify, and strain as needed. It can't be anything too acidic, for that you need a different magic powder.
• Add about 0.3% alginate by weight to the liquid and blend the heck out of it. Ideally let it sit for awhile so the bubbles come out.
• Make a solution of about 0.7% calcium chloride by weight of water. You don't need much, a small bowl is good. A bowl where you can fit a strainer (see pic above) works well so you can just lift it out and catch all your caviar at once.
• Have another bowl of clear water handy too.
• To make caviar, fill a syringe (with no needle) or a small squeeze bottle with the alginate mixture. Start dripping little drops into the calcium chloride solution. Experiment with how hard you squeeze, how high above the water you drip and so on to get nice little spheres.
• Drain and dip in the clear water to rinse off excess calcium chloride.
• Pop in your mouth and experience a sense of wonder.
• If it isn't working well, up the percentages as high as 0.5% alginate and 1.0% calcium chloride.

To do worms, put the syringe under water and squeeze. To do ravioli, fill a spoon with the alginate solution and kind of lower/tip it in. Play!

I tested the blini and creme fraiche separately, and just to have the asparagus taste in the mix I roasted one little tip. Tasted pretty good I think. I'll let y'all know how the final version comes out.

Blin With Creme Fraiche and Roasted Asparagus

Recipe: Chana Chaat in a Papadum Bowl

Chana Chaat in a Papadum Bowl

Chaat (or chat) is a whole family of delicious Indian snacks, served either as street food or in shops that specialize in these treats. and generally cold or at room temperature. They aren't very popular in America, but you can sometimes find a few items on a menu, especially at a South Indian restaurant.

I believe Udupi Palace in Bellevue, WA has Pani Puri, which is one of the all time great chaat items, though I don't see it on the online menu. Those of you lucky enough to live in the Bay Area can visit the legendary Vik Distributors in Berkeley, where you can load up on Indian groceries and have some of the best chaat snacks in the country. When I got a chance to travel to India, my coworkers Delhi Treats and Ayusman, among others, took me to some of the best chaat places in Delhi and I think I left my heart there, or at least my palate.

If you know of a great chaat emporium elsewhere, please add a comment below!

Anyhow, I was longing for those flavors, and I had the idea to see if I could do a slightly upscale presentation. The main trick here was to make a bowl out of a papadum. All you have to do is cut a pie shaped wedge and put it on top of a ramekin, then toast it in the toaster oven and carefully press down on it until it forms a partial bowl. I topped that with spicy chickpeas, yogurt and cilantro, and on the plate we've got a bit of tamarind gel and slices of crystallized ginger. Here's the recipe:

Chana Chaat in a Papadum Bowl
Serves 4
Vegetarian, vegan if you skip the yogurt

• 2 T. tamarind concentrate
• 2 T. boiling water
• 1 t. agar-agar powder
• 2 t. sugar
• 1 black pepper (or other flavor) papadum, cut into 4 wedges
• 2 c. cooked and cooled (or opened, rinsed, and drained) chickpeas
• 2 T. chaat masala (or mix your own)
• 1/2 c. high quality yogurt
• 1 t. mild chili powder
• sprigs of cilantro
• 4 pieces of crystallized ginger, sliced thin

1. Stir together the tamarind concentrate, boiling water, agar-agar powder, and sugar. Taste and add more sugar if needed. Cool in refrigerator. When gelled, whisk vigorously to make a viscous liquid.
2. Working one piece at a time, put a papadum on top of a small ramekin and place in a toaster oven. Toast for a few minutes until golden brown and blistering, occasionally and carefully applying slight pressure to form a bowl shape. Remove from oven and leave in ramekin for a few minutes to cool.
3. Mix chickpeas with the chaat masala. You could also add diced cucumbers, potatoes, or onions.
4. To serve, put a few drops of tamarind sauce on the plate with a medicine dropper, place a few slices of the ginger, add the papadum bowl and top with 1/4 of the chickpeas, 2 T. of yogurt, and a bit of the chili powder and cilantro.

Fun With Isomalt

I've been hearing for awhile about this product called isomalt, which is a modified sugar. It has the interesting property that it can melt and form into thin sheets like caramel without turning brown. It is only about half as sweet as table sugar too, so it is easier to use in savory applications.

Advanced molecular gastronomy wizards can make isomalt into paper thin vessels filled with liquids, and I had hoped to make a sort of creme brulee capsule at some point. But for my first foray, I thought I would make some simple croquants (think: peanut brittle) with various spice mixtures. The idea would be to garnish a dish with them, allowing the eater to snack on them directly or crumble over a dish.

You can see the results above and below. The top one has black mustard, fennel, and coriander seeds, suitable for use with an upscale Indian presentation. You don't need to toast the seeds in advance because they cook in the oven along with the isomalt. In the future I'd use less mustard because the flavor was a bit overwhelming.

In the pictures below I tried different flavors and forming three dimensional ribbons.  The one in the upper left is sesame and Maldon salt, and the one in the upper right has Japanese chili powder, black sesame, and pink Hawaiian salt.

The basic technique is:

• melt the isomalt in a saucepan to 260 degrees F. while stirring as little as possible
• pour out onto a silpat lined baking sheet and let cool - at this point you will have a thick, hard sheet of candy glass
• break into manageable chunks and grind to a powder. I used a coffee grinder.
• on a fresh silpat, create a stencil of the shape you want. I just laid down two chopsticks to form a rectangle
• sift the isomalt powder into the stencil. you can play with how thick or thin a layer to use.
• add the seeds, salts, or other flavorings
• melt in a 300 degree F. oven
• as soon as it turns clear, remove from oven
• (this is where it gets dicey) let it cool just a few seconds and then VERY CAREFULLY peel the shape off the mat, trying to neither burn yourself nor destroy the shape. Then, working quickly, apply any twists or shaping you want and set on a cool plate. If it cools before you can shape, try a very brief reheating.

There seem to be a whole host of more advanced techniques to try, including grinding in spices or other seasonings with the powder, adding some table sugar, doing a much more lacy, thin sprinkle, forming tubes or spheres, spinning, etc. I'll let you know if I have any success with them!

If you'd like to experiment yourself, you can purchase isomalt powder from ChefShop.com.

Cheese and Grapes Four Ways

Cheese and Grapes Four Ways

I'm not really sure what got me on this track. Probably reading the completely insane El Bulli book that Sarina got me for Hannukah, although I certainly don't mean to invite any comparisons! Anyhow I was thinking about how many different forms grapes can take, and that made me want to pair several of them with cheese on the same plate. And then I've also been germinating ideas of dishes that combine or contrast industrially processed and "normal" foods. Not necessarily in an ideological way, not to make fun of the processed food, but just to let it speak for itself.

Anyhow, here is what I came up with for a first try:

1. Feta with quickly sauteed grapes, olive oil, and fennel pollen
2. Morbier  with cubes of wine gelee (made with agar agar so as to be vegetarian)
3. Shards of pecorino romano with 15 year aged balsamic vinegar
4. Kraft singles with Welch's grape jelly on a Ritz cracker

By the way, if you have a chance please check out my photo page on tastespotting.com, it makes a pretty cool visual index back to all of the recipes.

Recipe: Pie Dough and Ganache Cookie Towers

Let's consider the problem:

1. I have a bit of leftover flaky pie crust dough
2. I really want something chocolatey, but quick
3. I'm obsessed with circle cutters

Solution:

The cookies above. Recipe: Cut out pie dough with a successive series of cutters, starting at maybe 2.5 inches down to the smallest size you have. Bake til golden brown. Heat up a small amount of cream, pour it over finely chopped chocolate, wait a minute, whisk, spread on the bottom of all of the circles except the largest, stack 'em up, watch Get Smart reruns while unstacking and experiencing mild glee.

Extra credit:

Use a squeeze bottle to decorate a plate with any extra ganache.

You Have Mousse In Your Freezer (I Think)

What if I were to tell you that you have chocolate mousse in your freezer this very instant? Am I psychic? Did I break in to your house and anti-burgle a delicious dessert as a complimentary gift for visiting my blog?

Nope, I'm talking about ice cream. I was recently struck by the idea that the ingredients in a good chocolate ice cream and a good chocolate mousse are pretty close. They both start with dark chocolate, heavy cream, egg yolks, and sugar. Some mousse recipes add beaten egg whites as well. So I've been experimenting with barely melting leftover ice cream and putting it in a nitrous-fill whip cream dispenser. It definitely works, you just dispense right into serving glasses, and chill for a little while. It comes out ultra-light and fluffy. You can add egg whites in there too, just give a good shake before dispensing and they will aerate beautifully.

Tonight I tried a version using espresso gelato and egg whites and folding it into cooled melted chocolate beaten with the yolks. Unfortunately I rushed the cooling of the chocolate and it turned grainy, so no picture! Clearly there are lots of other flavor possibilities both with the ice cream base and whatever you choose to add to it.

I haven't tried whipping with a blender or by hand instead of with a whip cream dispenser, but I imagine it would work fine.

However I don't want to claim this method is ready for prime time. The biggest issue I've had so far is that the resulting mousse tends to be a bit too sweet. So this is more of an invitation than a recipe. Anyone else up for giving this a shot and reporting back successes or failures?

On The Mathematics of Bran Muffins

A truism that I hear repeated frequently that cooking is an art, while baking is more of a science which requires accuracy and following recipes to the letter. I don't think that is necessarily true, I certainly improvise changes to baking recipes frequently and usually with good results. But I think there is an underlying element of truth, which is that with cooking you can generally imagine what will result from a change, whereas with baking it can be much more difficult for us amateurs to predict.

That got me thinking about just how many variations there might be for something as simple as bran muffins. Let's start with a bran muffin recipe I've used before with good success and try to calculate how many ways they could be made. Obviously there are actually effectively infinitely many variations - you could add just one more molecule of baking soda. My goal is to get a rough count of distinguishable variations that a sensitive human could tell apart.

To get started, here are the ingredients:

• 1.5 c. wheat bran
• 0.5 c. yogurt
• 1.5 c. milk (preferably whole milk)
• 1 egg
• 4 T. blackstrap molasses
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. all purpose flour
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt

Let's take the amount of wheat bran as a given, and then we can adjust the ratios of all the other ingredients to it. For the yogurt, milk, molasses, sugar and flour let's assume we could use 25% less, 12% less, the same amount, 12% more, or 25% more. Already that is 5^5 = 3125 combinations.  For the egg, let's say we could use 0, 1, 2, or 3, so that is a factor of 4. For the baking powder and baking soda let's assume 4 variations of each, and the salt is assumed to be equal to the baking soda, that's 16 more options.

Of course that is assuming a fixed set of ingredients. We could use cereal bran flakes or oat bran, whole, part skim or fat-free yogurt or sour cream, and the same for the milk, or soy milk, any of a dozen kinds of brown sugar, maybe 4 kinds of molasses and maybe 4 distinguishable kinds of white flour, not to mention that you could whole wheat, or spelt, or teff.. We could use honey or agave nectar or half a dozen other sweeteners. We could add some applesauce for additional moisture. That is 147546 more combinations, not even considering that we could add fruit or nuts or seeds.

Then let's figure that there could be at least 3 levels of how thoroughly we mix the batter, 3 of how big the muffins are (which affects the surface area to interior ratio), 4 types of pans, 6 oven temperatures, and 4 variations of how deeply brown we cook them to, for 784 more options.

That gives us a grand total of 23,135,212,800,000 ways to make a basic bran muffin! 23 trillion ways. And I believe those are legitimate differences, meaning that a reasonably sensitive taster could tell any two of them apart in a head-to-head comparison, and tell you which of the two they thought was better. And if anything, this is probably an underestimate given how conservative some of the assumptions above are.

So what conclusions can we draw from this? I guess one is that there is real value in a recipe. Someone has been willing to put a stake in the ground and say "this is the best bran muffin out of 23 trillion options!" And on the flip side, there is value in experimenting, as there is real reason to believe you can improve your baked goods. Since you clearly can't explore that number of variations, the best way to experiment is hold all other variables constant and change just one thing, like the milk or the type of flour over a few batches, and keep track of which one you like best. Of course that would miss any second-order effects like preferring whole milk with bread flour but skim milk if you used pastry flour. That is just the chance us muffin scientists will have to take!

Caramelized Pear "Cupcakes" With Blue Cheese Frosting

I was on my way out the door to work the other day and for some reason I said to Snacky Pants, "what would go with Blue Cheese Frosting?", and she gamely replied "pears of course". And then I was thinking of a great post (that I can't seem to find) that Dana had over at tastingmenu.com about a meal she prepared that was all sweet savories and savory sweets. I love the idea of that. Here's my first try at this concept. I used puff pastry and caramelized the pears in a skillet, making alternating layers. Then I added smoked Spanish paprika (pimenton dulce) and baked them in mini muffin tins. For the icing I mixed about 1/3 Pena Azul (a Spanish blue cheese) with 2/3 plain cream cheese and a bit of lemon juice, and topped them with a few grains of the red Hawaiian Alaea sea salt. Verdict: pretty good, not bad for a first try at a totally new area of cooking for me. Definitely fun but I think the flavors need a bit of refinement. Also I bet using phyllo instead of puff pastry would be appealing. I didn't have mini parchment cupcake wrappers, but that would add to the effect, and clearly I should take more care in piping out the frosting. I think the Pena Azul is too salt, I think I would try a Gorgonzola Dolce instead. You could serve them an appetizer with a good sherry. Here's an approximate recipe:

Caramelized Pear "Cupcakes" With Blue Cheese Frosting
Makes 6

• 1/2 lb. homemade or frozen all-butter puff pastry
• 2 ripe but still firm pears
• 1 T. sugar
• 2 t. smoked spanish pimenton de la vera (dulce) paprika
• 1/4 c. Pena Azul Gorgonzola dolce or other blue cheese
• 1/2 c. cream cheese
• 1 T or so lemon juice
• red Hawaiian Alaea sea salt for garnish
• butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 and butter 6 spots in a mini-muffin tin
2. Slice the pears about 3/16" thick, skipping the core
3. Find a couple circle cutters the approximate size of the top and bottom of your muffin tin. Cut 6 small and 6 larger circles of pear. You'll have lots of pear leftover to eat.
4. Heat a skillet on medium, add a bit of butter, and after it melts, sprinkle in the sugar. Add the pear slices and cook a few minutes on each side, til nicely caramelized.
5. Again with the circle cutters, cut 6 small and twelve larger circles of puff pastry.
6. Put a small piece of puff pastry in each muffin tin, top with a slice of pear, and add a pinch of the paprika. Repeat, and finish with a layer of pastry.
7. Bake about 15-17 minutes until golden brown
8. To make the icing, just warm both cheese in the microwave for 30 seconds or so until beatable, add the lemon juice, and go at it with a small whisk until smooth. Don't put any salt in the icing because you want to be able to garnish with it. Taste and adjust.
9. Cool the cupcakes, remove from muffin tins, and pipe on the icing with a pastry bag or cut the corner off a small ziplock. Top with a few grains of the red salt.

Dragonfruit, Dragon Fruit, Is That A Pitaya In Your Pocket?

... or are you just glad to see me? I'm glad to have made the acquaintance of this tropical fruit, known also as a Strawberry Pear, Nanettikafruit, Thanh Long, as well as the more common names of Dragonfruit (or Dragon Fruit), and Pitaya. Apparently it comes in several varieties and can be grown in many tropical parts of the world, but the organic one I spied today (costing a double-take-inducing $12/pound!) at Madison Market had red skin and and stunning neon-magenta flesh dotted with small black seeds.

The flavor and texture immediately reminded me of a giant kiwi fruit, although they are apparently not relatives. The dragonfruit grows on a cactus, while kiwi is from a vine. Nonetheless, the slightly grainy, watery flesh and seeds were very reminiscent. The flavor is mildly sweet and tangy, not particularly intense.

While tasty enough to eat out of hand, at that price I don't think many of us will be slicing pitaya up for an everyday breakfast. It would definitely be attention grabbing in a fruit salad or as a garnish. After puzzling about what I wanted to do with it, I landed on a quick sorbet that I served with a crepe filled with chocolate ganache. To make the the sorbet I just pureed the flesh with quite a bit of honey and a few grains of sea salt, and pushed it through a fine meshed sieve. You could put it in an ice cream maker, but I was in a hurry, so I poured it out on a baking sheet, set it level in the freezer, and agitated it with a fork every few minutes while I prepared the crepes, until it firmed up nicely. The sorbet developed a slightly gelatinous texture, which I liked but some (Snacky Pants, are you with me?) might find unappealing. That must be due to some chemical property of the fruit, but I don't know the technical explanation. I think it would also make a great ice cream, though of course the color would become pastel. If I made it again I think I would use agave nectar instead of honey for the milder flavor and the nice symmetry of using two cactus-based ingredients. Shot of tequila anyone?

Making Mozarella at Home

I've made ricotta and yogurt cheese a few times at home, but I've never tried to do anything that involved (vegetable) rennet before. I had read that mozzarella was fairly tractable, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Casting about google for recipes turned up New England Cheesemaking Supply which sells rennet, citric acid and anything else you would need to get started, as well as a pretty nice visual recipe.

First attempt: got my package in the mail and of course I had to make it the same evening. I ran over to our local market which has just started carrying some organic products, bought a gallon of whole milk and got started. And something went horribly wrong, the curds wouldn't set up but became something more like ricotta. It took me awhile to realize I'd bought UHT (ultra-high temperature pasteurized) milk in spite of the directions warning you  multiple times that it wouldn't set up. Bummer! I thought UHT milk always came in those brick cartons similar to soymilk, I guess not :(.

Second attempt: things went much more smoothly this time. Because I was a little skittish from the last effort, I did everything to the max. Maximum citric acid, maximum rennet, maximum resting time. Now I got nice big curds, and sure enough you cut them up, microwave them, knead them and pour off the whey, repeating a few times, and presto, you've got mozzarella! I have to say I was elated when the texture suddenly changed and it was obvious I'd really made cheese. Very cool.

This batch turned out more like a good grocery story mozzarella, really stretchy and stringy and suitable for melting on pizza, not something you would make an insalata caprese with. It tasted better after resting overnight, but still wasn't something that is probably worth the trouble of doing regularly.

Things to try for next time:

• Don't let the curds sit so long before cutting
• Knead more gently so more moisture stays in
• Reheat in hot water or whey instead of microwave
• Try using a culture instead of citric acid. I think this will give a better flavor and it is the traditional way
• Maybe use a little bit of goat milk in the mix? or better yet, water buffalo, but I don't think that is available in the Seattle area. I hear a rumor there are herds in Florida.
• Try making a burrata-style mozzarella, following the directions at Sex and the Kitchen