Experimenting with Tapioca Maltodextrin - Recipe

Caramelized banana
Lime zest
Virgin coconut oil powder
Long pepper
Black sesame mochi
Mango foam

I was in the mood for caramelized banana (not a rare event). So I ransacked the kitchen for ingredients that could head in a tropical direction, and this is what I came up with. It isn't a dish I'd call service-ready. The banana was good of course, and I liked the lime zest and long pepper. The foam was just ok, and that was my first time making mochi, which clearly wasn't up to snuff. Have to get back to you on that.

But the coconut oil powder was a really good component. I made it with tapioca maltodextrin and virgin, unrefined organic coconut oil which are both interesting ingredients.

Tapioca maltodextrin is a modified food starch. Instead of thickening water-based liquids, it thickens and dries up oils, turning them into powders. Absolutely fascinating stuff. It is just an incredibly light powder, and you simply stir it into any fatty substance, like olive oil or peanut butter, until it is dry and then push it through a fine sieve.

The most amazing part is that when you put the powder in your mouth it just instantly melts back into a luscious liquid. It makes a very entertaining element on a plate. I recommend working with it in a bowl in the sink to keep the powder mess to a minimum. I haven't found it necessary to measure it, just start with maybe twice the volume of the fatty ingredient, and keep stirring it in until the magic happens.

Virgin coconut oil is tasty stuff. It is solid at room temperature, and has an enticing coconut aroma and a slightly sweet flavor. Spectrum Organics makes a good one, readily available at Whole Foods and good natural foods stores. Raw-food folks are really into it for various health benefits. I don't know much about that, but I do know it tastes really good. To use it with the tapioca maltodextrin, you need to melt it first, which can be done conveniently on low power in the microwave, or with a double boiler.

So there you have it... an experiment to start the week.

Grape, Honey, Yogurt - Recipe

Driving home from work the other day, I was musing about whether I could make a plate with cheese and grapes swapping forms. I figured I could make an agar gel of the grapes and spherify a triple-cream cheese. I still like the idea, but I couldn't quite envision what other components it needed.

That got me thinking that maybe an even simpler transformation of the grapes would be interesting. What if I simply peeled them and diced them fine? I tried a couple and found it really compelling. The juxtaposition is interesting because it is such an everyday flavor but an unexpected texture, yet natural, not so forced as a lot of "molecular" tricks can seem. I think I would serve it in a cold metal spoon as an amuse bouche on a hot day. 

For this plate, I spun the grapes in a Middle Eastern direction. The other components are honey with harissa spices, a brik dough roll with dukkah and sesame seeds, and reverse-spherified Greek yogurt cheese (lebni / labneh) with rosewater and lemon zest. The combination has sweetness from the grapes and honey balanced by the savory pastry and yogurt, and a pretty intense spice level. It certainly wouldn't be a normal dessert but could act as a cheese course. What it dish could use is a bit more of a focal point. As it stands, the ingredients all kind of have equal billing. They play well together but I need to decide who is the star, and who is the supporting cast.

This dish is actually very simple to make and comes together in less than 30 minutes. The hardest part is tracking down the ingredients. The odd ones you will need are a dry harissa mix (but you could also make your own), brik dough (you could use phyllo), dukkah (again, fakeable), Greek yogurt cheese (you could drain regular yogurt in cheescloth), and sodium alginate. No faking that last one.

I've played with spherification before, but this is my first time doing reverse spherification. In the "normal" process, you blend sodium alginate into your ingredient, then drip it into a calcium laced bath, which causes a skin to form. Though cool, the downside to this technique is that the alginate can add an unpleasant texture to your pristine product.

In reverse spherification, the calcium is in your product (and can be naturally occuring as in this case with the yogurt cheese), while the alginate is in the bath. You get the same type of skin but the flavor and texture is much better. (Many chefs have also use a agar and cold oil technique, which forms solid instead of liquid pearls. I haven't tried that yet).

Grape, Honey, Yogurt
Vegetarian; not vegan or gluten-free
Serves 4

• 12 green seedless grapes, peeled, finely diced, and chilled
• 6 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon dry harissa spice mix (or a combination of crushed red pepper flakes and toasted cumin, coriander and caraway seeds, crushed moderately in a mortar and pestle)
• 4 pieces of brik dough, 4" by 12" long
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon dukkah
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup thick Greek yogurt
• 6 drops of rosewater
• 5 grams sodium alginate
• a few strips of lemon zest
• flaky sea salt (Maldon!)

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Mix the honey with the harissa and set aside to infuse.
3. Brush each piece of brik with melted butter, dust with the dukkah and roll into a cigar shape. Brush the ouside with more melted butter and sprinkle on the sesame seeds. Bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes.
4. Combine the yogurt and rosewater. Taste and add more drops as needed.
5. Shear the sodium alginate into 1 liter of water using an immersion blender.
6. Form the yogurt into shapes about the size of  a grape and drop into the alginate solution. I found the easiest way to do this was to make quenelles with a teaspoon and make the last turn right over the bath, allowing them to slide in gently. You only need 12 to serve, but make some extra in case of breakage.
7. Leave the yogurt to sit for at least five minutes, moving them about gently once after three minutes to make sure all sides are exposed to the bath. Gently remove them with a slotted spoon to a bath of fresh water. You might want to try one before removing all of them to be sure it has set sufficiently.
8. To serve, brush each generously with the honey. Place a pile of the grapes at one end and top with a few grains of the sea salt. Place a brik cigar in the middle. Remove the yogurt "spheres" from the water, again carefully with a slotted spoon, allow the water to drain and place at the far end of the honey. Top with a couple of strips of lemon zest and serve.

How to make an Inside-Out Egg - Recipe

So, when I did the faux inside-out egg post last week, I originally just planned to do it as a dessert recipe. For some reason as I was writing it up, the urge make it look as real as possible and publish it as a joke was irresistible to me. From the comments, I see a few of you believed it or thought it was an unborn egg, etc. (The Japanese video link in the comments was great too.) My apologies if I took you in! Obviously it is hard to tell when all you can do is look at a single picture.

The inside-out egg was actually made from mango (set with agar-agar) and coconut cream, and molded in a plastic easter egg. Quite delicious if you like tropical flavors. I think Stefan made something similar on Top Chef, with panna cotta instead of coconut, and right-side out. And Michel Richard has a tomato and mozzarella version in his amazing Happy in the Kitchen.

So, can I make it up to you with the recipe?

Follow @michaelnatkin on twitter for more serious and delicious vegetarian recipes. Check out my other most popular recipes, or sign up for our RSS feed so you never miss a post.

"Inside-Out Egg" with Mango and Coconut
Makes 4
Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free

• special equipment: 4 plastic Easter eggs, the kind that split in half
• 250 ml. smooth, fresh mango puree
• 1 teaspoon agar-agar powder (not the pre-sweetened kind)
• 1 can full-fat coconut milk, not shaken
• 200 ml water
• 1 teaspoon agar-agar powder

1. Set up the molds like you see above. I used chickpeas to balance them, but rice or whatever will hold them upright is fine. Spray the insides with cooking spray (aka pan release).
2. Bring the mango puree to a boil and sprinkle in the agar. Whisk for 20 seconds, then turn off the heat. Whisk for another 30 seconds, then pour into the molds, and seal them. Place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. (Agar sets really fast!)
3. Without shaking, open the can of coconut milk and spoon out the creamy part at the top. Reserve the  liquid part for another recipe.
4. Unmold the top half of each egg.
5. Carefully spoon out a hollow in all 8 halves and fill just below level with the coconut cream.
6. Bring the second part of the water and agar to a boil, whisk and quickly brush it on the mango rim of both halves of each egg. Put a top half on each bottom and press gently to allow to bond. Refrigerate for 15 more minutes.
7. Remove from the molds and serve.