Fearless and Flourless

To all the gluten allergists (not to be confused with people who just decided to stop eating gluten) out there: I made this dessert and you can eat it and love it with no problems. I think that's pretty cool because from my understanding, you guys and gals have a lot of trouble with that restriction. It's also ridiculously rich, tender, and velvety, as though it were a cross between fudge and mousse. It's not THE easiest thing to make, but it only has eight ingredients (or six if you keep reading). You can handle it. Especially when the reward is as sweet as it is.

P.S. It's a flourless chocolate torte.

Free Day

A day off. A day off from school AND from work. I haven't had one of those since last Thursday. And before that it had been a couple months. It was something for me to celebrate, and celebration meant it was time for another great meal. I got to spend my morning at the market. I attended a coffee event there, won some incredible green beans, shopped around and ended up with some great looking bay scallops. I made a pearled barley risotto, steamed some asparagus and made a balsamic reduction to go with them. Appetizer was 2 small steamed and broiled artichokes with a creamy balsamic vinaigrette. Dessert was lemon chiffon pie.

 

Smokin'

My apartment is usually inhabited by four people. This can sometimes be... inhibiting to what I want to do. I've been wanting ribs for a while. And I didn't want to clown around baking ribs with no smoky flavor. But, living in Columbus, the weather is currently insane (I'm not even sure what season to call it) and I was sick of trying to predict it. The solution? An indoor smoker. I could only pull this off with no smoke alarms in place and I don't think my roommates would be entirely cool with that. Spring break arrived, meaning that it was the perfect season for my roommates to be gone and my smoker to be bellowing. So what did I do?

Baby back ribs, a grilled artichoke, steamed broccoli, seasoned mayonnaise for dipping those healthy vegetables in, and smoked maple crème brûlée.

The night before the meal, remove the silverskin from the back of the ribs (thin, tough membrane on the underside of the ribs) and rub down the ribs with this:

1/4 c. white sugar

2 tsp. coriander seeds

1 tsp. california paprika

1 tbsp. coffee grounds

2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tbsp. Himalayan pink salt

Honey drizzled on to coat the ribs

To start, set up the smoker apparatus. I used a pot lined with foil and with a strainer in it as a smoker basket. Wood chips on the bottom to smoke. Turn the pot on high and place your smoke-ables in the basket.

That's maple syrup in my picture. It's for the crème brûlée. Smoke that for about 5 minutes with cherry wood chips.

Take out the syrup and get the ribs started.

Smoke them for 10 minutes, then into the oven on a rack. Place a pan of water on the bottom of your oven and set it to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Place your ribs on the rack.

They'll bake for about 2.5 hours.

In the meantime, sauce.

1 cup dark brown sugar

5 small gala apples, peeled and sliced

1 medium yellow onion, quartered

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

1/3 c. apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp. cold brewed coffee (or to taste)

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. california paprika

1 tsp. crushed black pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

3 medium tomatoes, peeled and seeded, rough chopped

Any drippings from the raw ribs

Puree the apples, onion and vinegar together. Add a little water if necessary.

Melt the brown sugar in a pan and get it to 230 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the puree of apple and onion. Add everything else and stir. Reduce to a simmer and cook for at least 1 hour. Puree the sauce and it'll be ready. Sweet and tangy with a bit of heat to give intensity.

Get your artichoke ready. Steam it for 45 minutes or so in a steamer basket.

While that cooks, make mayonnaise as according to the recipe in Grand Entrance and stovetop crème brûlée. Add 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. whole grain dijon mustard, and red wine vinegar to the mayonnaise taste.

For the crème brûlée:

2 cups heavy cream,

3 tbsp. smoked maple syrup

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

pinch of salt

4 egg yolks

extra white sugar to dust for brûléeing.

Heat the cream to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, add the vanilla, syrup and salt. Whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Temper them by slowly adding the cream while continuously whisking. Pour the mixture into ramekins that are sitting in a large pan with a bit of water in the bottom. Place the pan on the stove over medium heat and cover. Check your custards at 20 minutes. If they tremble when bumped, they are likely done. If they look liquid, they're not done yet. They should be just solid enough to tremble but not be liquid. Once you've determined them to be done, remove from heat, cover with plastic wrap, place in the fridge for at least 2 hours to chill.

When the ribs are done baking; remove from the oven, spread sauce all over them, turn your oven all the way up, set your steamer up for broccoli (squeeze of lime juice at the end for the broccoli), and turn a griddle pan on high heat with a tablespoon of  butter and some salt and pepper. Cut the artichoke in half and put it onto the griddle pan, put your sauced ribs into the high heat oven, and steam the broccoli. All of these should finish in about 5-6 minutes. Keep an eye on it all. Once it's all off the heat, take out your custards from the fridge to let them warm a little bit. Eat your food while you wait.

Sprinkle the custards with a bit of sugar and break out the torch. Give 'em a burn.

The depth of flavor from the smoke is very interesting. And delicious.

Thanks for reading!

And special thanks to my friend Aaron for joining me for this meal. 

Late Night Lamb

I visited my home in Cleveland for my mother's birthday recently. During my brief visit I picked up a few things from the market. Some spices, some flours, some coffees, all fairly regular items... Until I walked past one particular vendor where I saw a rack so resplendent. Curves I would not--could not--pass if I were half blind. A rack of lamb

Going All Out

St. Valentines Day arrived once again. I saw this as any opportunity to make a fancy meal. No, I unfortunately did not have accompaniment, but that wasn't going to stop me from enjoying something delicious. Rather, it just allowed me to go all out and attempt even more elaborate dishes. I celebrate by cooking, and nothing is better to me than learning new preparations. 

I've never worked much with seafood of any sort and I've been itching to get into it for a while now. The perfect option seemed to be lobster. It's a delicacy, fit for celebration, and something completely outside of my realm of experience. I consulted with a chef friend and explored my culinary encyclopedia. The result was a 3-course meal. Garlic pasta lobster ravioli with cream sauce, Lobster à l'Américaine, and a lemon soufflé with a strawberry sauce. The main course didn't turn out quite as picture perfect as I'd hoped, (The sauce wasn't nearly the color I was aiming for), but it was delicious nonetheless.

So how did this come to be? The short answer is time. The awesome answer follows.

First course:

Pasta for the ravioli:

1-1/3 c. durum flour, plus extra for dusting

2/3 c. semolina

3 eggs

2 tbsp. finely minced roasted garlic

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

pinch of salt

Filling:

Meat from the claws of a 2-1/4 lb. lobster

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. cayenne powder

2 egg whites

2 oz. heavy cream

flour to thicken

Sauce:

4 oz. heavy cream

2 oz. chardonnay

1 tsp. lemon juice

tip of lobster tail

pinch of salt

ground pepper to taste

Second course:

For the lobster:

4 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. finely minced yellow onion

2 finely minced shallots (about 1/3 c.)

2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped coarsely

1 large clove of garlic, finely minced

~3 sprigs of tarragon, finely minced

~3 sprigs of thyme, finely minced

1/2 c. chardonnay

1/4 c. brandy

6 tbsp. butter

tail and body of the lobster

Broil asparagus, tossed with salt, pepper and oil.

Dessert:

Strawberry sauce:

~1 lb. strawberries, de-stemmed

1-1/2 tbsp. sugar, or to taste

pinch of salt 

Lemon soufflé:

1/2 c. whole milk, plus 2 tbsp.

2 tbsp. sugar

pinch of salt

2 tbsp. flour

3 eggs, separated

2 oz. candied lemon peel*

*candied lemon peel:

1 c. finely chopped lemon peel, about 5 lemons (use organic lemons)

3/4 c. sugar

1 c. water

1/2 c. lemon juice

Wow. Remembering all the ingredients, I see why this took so long to make. Anyways, let's get into cooking procedures.

For the pasta dough, mix the flour on a board and make a nest. A nest of flour. With cracked open eggs.  If you're not comfortable mixing a dough without a bowl, use a bowl. Using just the board is helpful in the interest of keeping dishes clean though.

Mix the dough in the well, slowly incorporating more and more flour, being careful not to knock down the walls of the well and spilling your eggs all over the place. Knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is firm and uniform.

P.S. I know my picture only has 2 eggs in it. I got hasty taking pictures.

Cover and let it sit while you do a bunch of other stuff.

Start with the filling of the appetizer, as it will have to chill for a little while. Remove the meat from the claws and put in a mortar and pestle along with the seasonings. Mash it up for a while, to form a paste. Add in the egg whites and continue mashing. Transfer to a bowl, add the heavy cream and stir until very smooth. Add in flour if the mixture looks too runny. I believe I used about 1-1/2 tbsp. Mix thoroughly and place in the freezer to chill for about an hour.

Now make some preparations for dessert. The candied lemon peel and strawberry sauce, in particular.

Peel the skin off your lemons, using either a zester or knife. Be careful not to cut too deeply. You want as little of the pith (white stuff) as possible. It's quite bitter. Chop the peel up, put it in a pan with the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes. You should be left with about 8 oz. of sweet, lemony joy. Put it in a jar, cover tightly, refrigerate.

 Do something similar with your strawberries. Mash them through a sieve to extract a juice into a sauce pan, simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until reduced to a syrup-like consistency. It will have very intense flavor. Also, feel free to eat the pulp that's left in the sieve. It's still good to eat, just not great for sauce.

 You can also start prepping for the lobster sauce. Cut up the onions, shallots, herbs and all that, but also get your tomatoes peeled. To do this, flash boil them for 30 seconds and immediately plunge into an ice bath. This should make the peels come off with ease.

 Now you can start processing the beast. I must say, the lobster has been the most intimidating ingredient I've used thus far. I've never killed anything as large, spiny and clawed as this. But that's something I'm working on, and I'm glad I went through with the ordeal. One of my life goals is to make a meal completely from food that I've personally foraged, grown, or killed. There's a certain intimacy in cooking that, to myself, is enhanced immeasurably by knowing another piece of the process that brings forth meals that are all too often taken for granted.

That being said, get out your lobster, put it on a board in a baking pan (or straight onto a baking pan or a board with edges to catch water from the lobster), and place your knife tip on the back of it, right in the middle with the edge pointing between it's eyes. Stab into its head and bring the knife down the rest of the way to effectively cut it's head mostly in half and killing the lobster. Now, this part messed with me a little bit. The lobster will continue moving for quite a while, even though it's dead. If you're comfortable just not caring about movement of this monstrosity, just handle it as though it's a plaything, cut off the legs, cut the tip of the tail off, twist off the tail, and twist off the claws. Since I really didn't know what I was doing, I spent a lot of time confused at the wriggling mass of armor that I had just stabbed in the head (a few times for good measure). Eventually it will stop moving if you're willing to wait it out. As you butcher it, liquid will pour out of the lobster. That's why you have it in a pan. That water is going into your sauce later on, as is the nasty looking green stuff called the tomalley, which is actually the liver of the lobster. Yes, I know it kind of looks like brains. It's not.
Anyways, now that you lobster is dead and dismembered, cut the head portion in half lengthwise. Heat a pan with 4 tbsp. of oil in it and sear the cut side of the head of the lobster in the oil. Remove.

 Add the onions and cook until very soft, then add the shallots.

 Then the tomatoes.

 Add in the chardonnay, brandy, tarragon, thyme, and garlic. Bring the liquid to a boil. Add the lobster pieces back in, cover and simmer for about 18 minutes.
In the meantime, roll out the garlic pasta dough for your ravioli. Cut squares and place dollops of filling on them. Fold the squares in half and press to seal.

Build the sauce. Place all ingredients in a small pan and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until reduced by half.
Boil the ravioli until they float, then remove to a plate. Pan fry until golden, about 3 minutes per side.
Sauce 'em up and enjoy. They were my favorite part of this meal, quite honestly. Slight garlic flavor in the pasta, rich creamy sauce balanced by the dry white wine, and inside, mousse-like lobster-flavored goodness. Incredible little bites.

To finish the sauce of the second course, remove the lobster and add the water and tomalley of the lobster from earlier. Boil until reduced by half. Remove from heat and add the butter in small chunks, whisking constantly. Sauce is done. Plate however you see fit.

And onto dessert. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. For the soufflé, whisk the 3 egg whites to stiff peaks. I do it by hand but that's not necessary if you have a stand mixer. Bring the 1/2 cup of milk, 2 tbsp. sugar and pinch of salt to a boil. Mix the 2 tbsp. of flour with the 2 other tbsp. of milk to form a slurry in a small container. Add the slurry and candied lemon peel to the milk and continue to cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and add 2 egg yolks, whisking constantly to avoid curdling. Add in one third of the egg whites and combine rather thoroughly. This is to lighten the texture of the cream base so that it doesn't deflate the whites when combining. Then, gently fold in the rest of the egg whites. It's preferred to have streaks of egg white over having deflated egg whites, so don't feel like your mixture has to be completely uniform in color. Butter and coat some souffle dishes (or mugs in my case) with powdered sugar. Bake for 13 minutes. Remove from the oven, drizzle with the strawberry sauce and consume immediately. It's a delight. My best description of the flavor of this is fluffy strawberry lemonade. Just enough sweetness countered by a perfect acidity with clean lemon and strawberry flavor delivered in a light and fluffy texture. You'll be amazed at how much flavor is in such a seemingly light bite.
*A side note on the dessert: You'll notice I have no pictures of it.  Mine turned out quite far from perfect. While I usually leave out recipes for things I don't make properly, I still enjoyed this one enough to share the recipe even though my technique is still flawed.

I'd like to extend thanks to the Larousse Gastronomique, my chef friend Jonathan, and my neighbor Sara for making this meal possible!

Thanks for reading!

Fancy French Filets

The three F's. That's my introduction to this post.

As for a real introduction, today I made a 3 day dry aged steak au poivre, a dish consisting of beef tenderloin cut to one and one half inch thick filets, crusted with peppercorns and pan-fried. Following that was a sauce made from the sucs (brown stuff stuck to the bottom of the pan after frying) with cognac and cream. I also made an herb salad with a balsamic vinaigrette, roasted asparagus, and more of the mashed potato medallions from my new years post (which, unfortunately, began to fall apart while cooking).

Ghetto Sous Vide: New Year, New Techniques

First and foremost, happy new year. Some people celebrated by getting crazy the night of the new year, but I did it during the day. I've been wanting to try to cook food a la sous vide for some time now but haven't had the money to buy a full setup. Well, the economic feasibility hasn't entirely changed, but my desire to do some sous vide hasn't. Thanks to information from my boss Scott, I'd found a way to try this method without having to drop $500 or so on a vacuum bagger and a box to heat water. The results were extraordinary.