Apple-Celery Sorbet - A Refreshing Recipe with Many Co-Authors

Apple-Celery Sorbet

I was trying to decide on a sorbet flavor for an upcoming dinner party, and I ran across this Apple-Celery combination from Michael Laiskonis. That sounded like a good fit with the other flavors I had planned, and the apples are both seasonally appropriate (from storage) and local here in the Pacific Northwest. Read on to find out just how many amazing chefs helped me work out the details.

When I went to make the recipe the first time, I ran into a few issues that made it a bit challenging in a home kitchen. Chef Laiskonis' recipe is designed for a world-class restaurant, and calls for glucose powder, sorbet stabilizer, and commercial apple puree, none of which I keep stocked! So for my first try, I juiced Mutsu apples on our Champion juicer, substituted a guesstimate amount of corn syrup for the glucose powder, and omitted the stabilizer completely.

The result was absolutely delicious, exactly the flavors I was looking for. Bracing, totally palate cleansing, not overly sweet. Consulting with my very select panel of tasters, we decided to increase the apple to celery ratio a bit for next batch, but overall I was really happy with it. The only problem was that by the next day, it had gotten icy instead of smooth. Clearly my substitutions weren't going to cut it. Also, I found the yield to be a bit lower than Chef Laiskonis' recipe. I emailed with him, and we figured out the difference was probably due to the apple product and how much air gets incorporated in spinning. Oh, and it turned a slightly unpleasant brown color because my juice oxidized.

When I went to make the next batch, I searched out glucose powder and found it at Seattle Home Cake Decorating Supply. If you live in Seattle and bake at all, you've got to stop in there. I'd be shocked if you don't find a piece of gear you can't live without. And the owner is incredibly helpful and nice. They don't even have a website, just go.

Next, I checked with Dana Cree, pastry chef at Poppy and one of the real rising stars in American pastry and co-author of tastingmenu.com, to find out where I could buy sorbet stabilizer in our fair city. She gave me a much better idea - use xanthan gum instead.

Xanthan gum is a nice introduction to so-called molecular gastronomy. It is easy to find at natural foods stores because gluten-free bakers use it to improve texture. I love to use it to thicken sauces, because it gives you great control over viscosity without altering the flavor, and it hydrates at room temperature so you don't have to cook your product. It has good pseudoplasticity, meaning it will seem thick on the plate but thin nicely under pressure in your mouth. I didn't realize it would also work to stabilize a sorbet, but it worked a treat, as the Brits say. I've had a batch in my freezer for a week and it shows minimal crystallization.

Finally, out of pure luck I saw a tweet from my friend Traca of Seattle Tall Poppy where she mentioned that she was going to an apple tasting with Chef Jason Wilson of Crush. I asked her to request any hot tips from him. Mere hours later, I heard back from Traca that he said to use Pinata apples, strain it very thoroughly, and add calcium citrate to preserve the color.

I couldn't find the Pinatas, but I went to the University District Farmer's Market on Saturday, and had my own little impromptu tasting with Wynne from Jerzy Boyz Farm, and we settled on two heirloom apple varieties: Gold Rush and Golden Russets.

So, um, holy cow. Now I'm making a modified Michael Laiskonis recipe, with tips from Dana Cree and Jason Wilson, and apples direct from the grower. It is pretty amazing to me the way the blogosphere makes it possible to communicate and cross-pollinate ideas. And it results in a damn tasty sorbet, too. Thanks for all the help guys!

Apple and Celery Sorbet
Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free
Makes about 2.5 cups (600 ml), enough for at least 6 small servings as a palate cleanser

• 65 grams granulated sugar
• 35 grams glucose powder
• 110 grams water
• 2 pinches sodium citrate or citric acid
• 282 grams freshly made apple juice (requires about 3 pounds of apples, peeled and cored)
• 117 grams freshly made celery juice (requires about 1/3 head of celery)
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
• celery leaves for garnish

1. Bring the water to a boil with the granulated sugar and glucose powder. Boil for 30 seconds. Cool, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
2. Put the citric acid powder in a container and juice the apples directly into it. This will help prevent any oxidation.
3. Strain the apple and celery juices and combine them in a blender with the sorbet base. With the blender running on a low speed, carefully remove the top and sprinkle in the xanthan gum. Put the top back on, raise the speed to medium, and blend for 5 minutes.
4. Process in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. It should turn nicely pale when it is sufficiently aerated.
5. Garnish with a celery leaf.

Caramelized Raisin Sauce ala Michael Laiskonis

Caramelized raisin sauce

Michael Laiskonis is the executive pastry chef at Le Bernardin. He also manages to write two blogs in his "spare" time, which is awe inspiring. His Notes From The Kitchen tend to be somewhat philosophical, while the recently launched Workbook contains more off-the-cuff ideas. Both are required reading as far as I'm concerned.

Today in the Workbook, he posted a Caramelized Fig Puree, which he had arrived at from ruminating on agrodolce, the sweet-sour flavor combination most commonly associated with Sicily. It immediately brought to mind a half-finished experiment I'd done a couple of years ago, involving caramelized and pureed raisins, though my thought process had been based more on a rum-raisin concept. I only tried it once, because a certain member of my household holds raisins in approximately the same regard that you might reserve for, say, a nest of vipers under your front stoop.

Anyhow, I was compelled to revisit this sauce, and I have to say it came out wonderful. This time I added port, Mandarin juice and zest, brown sugar, and black pepper, and served it with vanilla ice cream and a strawberry/cinnamon powder. I think it would be incredible with a cinnamon ice cream or bananas. Hmm, or chevre ice cream.

By the way, you see that picture above? (Yeah, the one that looks like amateur hour at the plating factory?) If you serve it that way, you'll be bummed because it tastes way too good to have three little dots. When I finished taking the picture and went to eat it, I added another tablespoon of the sauce.

The base flavor is quite chocolatey, and could be taken in many directions by varying the spices and using any manner of high quality vinegar instead of the port and orange. Kaffir lime? Curry leaf? Habanero? Smoked paprika? Apple "balsamic" vingegar?

It is critical that you take the time to thoroughly sieve this puree. The flavor is great right away, but the texture of the raisin skin bits is unpalatable. When you push it through a fine sieve, suddenly it has this nice smooth shine and the textural distraction is gone. This might be less of an issue if you have an ubersonic blender.

Caramelized Raisin Sauce
Vegetarian, vegan (if you use margarine) and gluten-free
Yields about 1/4 cup, enough for at say 4 dessert servings

• 30 g. unsalted butter (about 2 tablespoons)
• 150 g. raisins (I used Thompsons)
• 10 g. brown sugar (about 2 teaspoons)
• big pinch of salt
• 2/3 cup port (something drinkable, please - there is some scary "port" out there)
• juice and zest of 1 mandarin orange
• big pinch freshly ground black pepper

1. In a saute pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the raisins, sugar, and salt and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. You want the raisins to be caramelizing but definitely not burning. They will grow humorously plump. (Carefully) taste one occasionally to see how the flavor is developing.
2. Add the port, zest, and juice, and simmer until reduced to a thick sauce. You should be able to easily leave a lasting line in the pan when you drag a spoon through.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the black pepper. Puree in a mini food processor or other violent instrument of your choice. You may need to add a bit more juice.
4. Push the puree through first a coarse and then a finer sieve. Taste and adjust seasonings and thickness.

A Few Of My Favorite Food Blogs, Part 1

The community of food bloggers is quite amazing. We've got professionals taking a break from their speed racks, newbies making their first stir-fry, vegans and carnivores, molecular gastronomists and hardcore traditionalists. I thought I'd start out the new year by sharing a few of the food blogs that I regularly read, whether it is for inspiration, recipes, photography or a chuckle. There are many more than will fit in a single post, so I'll make this an occasional feature of old favorites and new finds. Feel free to use the comments to let me know of other blogs I should check out!

In no particular order:

Chadzilla - Chad is a chef in a Miami hotel, where they do some pretty insane avant-garde food. The writing is often personal, about his team, the thrills and challenges of a large restaurant, and the "Paradigm" dinners that they create, with lots of snapshots of intriguing dishes. Check out these 5-taste "peacocks".

Foodbeam - Fanny is a wildy energetic, enthusiastic, and altogether charming 23-year-old pastry chef in France. I've followed her journey through school, internships at famous patisseries, and even gainful employment :). As if cranking out hundreds of buche de noel wasn't enough work, she also makes and sells art, takes amazing photos, and spreads joy throughout the blogosphere. Keep an eye, she's going places.

Frantic Foodie - Keren writes both for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and on her own site. If you eat in Seattle, you need to follow her for the latest on restaurants and special events, plus some great recipes. She's got a real talent for connecting people and sharing the news, so if you've got food-related info in the Puget Sound region, definitely holler at her.

An Obsession With Food - Derrick and I are both programmers by day and cooks by night. His posts are thoughtful and varied, but with a particular focus on wine - which makes sense given that he teaches a Fundamentals of Wine Study course at UC Berkeley, which I wish I could take. I liked his recent suggestion that a tactile, shared appetizer plate creates conviviality for your guests.

Ideas In Food - If I were on a dialup connection (the Internet equivalent of a desert island), this might be the blog I'd bring with me. Alex and Aki's site is aptly named, because they generate more ideas and questions before breakfast than most of us do all day.  Celery leaf gnocchi anybody? One of the most influential blogs for molecular gastronomy, but their food is grounded in flavor and texture combinations that please, not merely surprise. Their plating is stunning too. I'm even more amazed that they've been able to keep up the posting with their recent arrival.

I hope this list was useful! Let me know what you think, I'd love to share more of favorites.