Monthly Archive for March, 2008

Meyer lemon curd

Published
by
marc
on March 30, 2008
in Brunch, Dessert and Ingredients
. 10 Comments

Meyer Lemon Curd

As you probably know by now, I’m all about making simple things. If a recipe has too many ingredients, involves too much prep, or looks like I’ll get too many pots and pans dirty, I probably won’t make it. Lemon curd is the perfect example of this laziness-turned-innovation. Most recipes will have you cream the butter in an electric mixer, then do all kinds of crazy things with a double boiler.

Rather than accept such non-sense at face value, I set out to simplify this recipe. First I remembered an old trick for getting melted butter to combine with other liquids without clumping up. This eliminates the need to beat it in a mixer. Then I decided a double boiler isn’t necessary as long as you use a heavy bottomed pan over low heat. Voila, 1-pot, 1-bowl lemon curd in less than 30 minutes.

Update: I love Meyer lemons for their intense sweet lemony flavor, but they are much more delicate than regular lemons so they’re not so supermarket-friendly. If you’re in California they’re available all over the place, but for those of us in other parts of the country/world, try looking at “gourmet” groceries or at a farmer’s markets while they are in season (late winter - early spring). You could substitute for regular lemons, but you may need to increase the amount of sugar.

1 stick unsalted butter (1/4 lbs)
2-3 Meyer lemons zested
1/2 C Meyer lemon juice
3/4 C sugar
2 extra large eggs separated

Drop the whole stick of butter into a heavy bottomed saucepan over low heat and let it melt (the pan should be just warm enough to melt the butter). Once it’s mostly melted turn off the heat.

In a medium bowl, add the sugar and zest a few lemons into it. Then squeeze about 1/2 C of juice and add it to the sugar.

Separate the eggs, dropping the yolks into the pot of melted (but not hot) butter and the whites into the sugar mixture.

Whisk the yolks and butter together until well combined. Then take the whisk to the sugar mixture until well combined. Pour the sugar mixture into the pot with the butter and whisk it all together.

Turn the heat back on to low and use a heat-proof silicon spatula to constantly stir the mixture, scrapping the bottom and sides of the pan to make sure nothing burns. If you have an instant read thermometer, just get the temp up to 170 degrees and you should be golden. Otherwise, just keep stirring until the curd thickens enough to coat the spatula. Make sure you don’t over cook it!

As soon as it’s done, take it off the heat and pour it into another container.

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Creamed corn and sharp cheddar souffle

Published
by
marc
on March 30, 2008
in Appetizer, Dinner and Vegetable
. 4 Comments

Creamed corn and sharp cheddar souffle

I’ve always avoided making souffles telling myself that they were too complicated. Somewhere in the back of my mind was a voice telling me how easily they can go wrong.

I had a late lunch today and wanted something light for dinner. A picture of a light fluffy corn souffle entered into my head. Before I had a chance to dismiss it as a misplaced thought, another part of my brain thought about it for a second wondering how hard could it be?. After all, it’s been decades since I’ve ruined a sponge cake (I think I was about 10), and how hard could folding some whipped egg whites into a béchamel be?

As it turns out, souffles are actually quite forgiving. For this one, I make the béchamel with buttermilk which makes the cheddar taste extra sharp. Together with the corn and shallots it makes for a pot of fluffy goodness that goes nicely with a salad. Though delightful on its own, in retrospect I think this would have gone well with a pureed fresh tomato, or maybe some pico de gallo.

Now that I know how simple these are, my mind is buzzing with ideas. Tomato basil mozzarella, curried cauliflower, apple brie honey… and those are just the savory ones! For desert I’m thinking chestnut maple, coconut lime, or mexican chocolate!

3 eggs separated

1 Tbs shallots minced
1 Tbs good quality olive oil
3 Tbs flour
3/4 C buttermilk (or milk if you want it less “sharp”)
1/2 C creamed corn

1/4 C freshly grated parmesan
1/2 C freshly grated aged cheddar
1 Tbs chives chopped
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 375 degrees and butter 6 ramekins, then put them into a pan thats big enough to hold all of them.

Separate the eggs whites into the bowl of an electric mixer and put the egg yolks into a large bowl. It’s important that you don’t get any egg yolk into the whites as it will not fluff if there is any yolk or oil in it.

In a saucepan, fry the shallots in the olive oil until lightly browned. Add the flour and cook for another minute or two.

Turn down to low and whisk the buttermilk into the roux and get all the lumps out. Add the creamed corn and cook until it thickens.

Pour the béchamel into the bowl with the egg yolks and whisk together. Add the cheese, chives, then salt and pepper to taste.

Boil some water.

In a clean, dry bowl whisk the egg whites until firm peaks form. Put a third of the egg whites into the other bowl and use a silicon spatula to gently fold it to combine. Repeat twice more until it’s all well combined.

Spoon this mixture into the ramekins, flatten off the tops and put them in the oven. Tempting as it may be, do not open the oven until they are done. While most ovens don’t actually stay at the temperature you set it for, your souffle should take about 20 minutes to bake.

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Pain perdu (real French toast)

Published
by
marc
on March 30, 2008
in Brunch and Dessert
. 3 Comments

Pain Perdu

I first came across this dish at Landmarc in Tribeca. It’s somewhere between “French” toast and bread pudding and with a caramelized buttery exterior and a custardy interior it makes for a sinful Sunday morning brunch.

I used some good sandwich bread this morning (pictured), but this really works best with a crusty baguette. If custard dipped, butter fried bread isn’t quite rich enough for you, try putting some crisp bacon on top and drizzle maple syrup over that during its last few minutes in the oven.

2 pieces of baguette or other firm bread about 4″ x 3″ x 2″ each

3/4 C whole milk
1/4 C cream
1/4 C sugar
1 extra large egg
1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbs butter

The night before you want to eat this, whisk the milk, cream, sugar, egg and vanilla together until smooth. Put the bread in a large ziplock bag and pour in the custard mixture. Make sure the bread is well coated then squeeze out as much of the air from the bag as you can (without squashing the bread) and seal the bag. Put it in the fridge and turn it over once after a few hours.

The next morning, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Then heat an oven proof pan large enough to accommodate both pieces of bread over medium heat. Drop the butter in and let it melt.

Take the bread out of the bag and place it in the pan. Once it’s brown on that side, turn it to another side. Depending on how many sides your bread has, repeat until all flat surfaces of your bread is browned.

Pop it in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the middle of the bread reads 170 degrees. You can also tell if it’s done or not by cutting a little slit into the middle of the bread and squeezing, if liquid custard mixture comes out it’s not done.

Give it an ample dusting of powdered sugar and serve with a wedge of lemon or some maple syrup.

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Shiso wrapped bass dumplings in dashi

Published
by
marc
on March 29, 2008
in Japanese, Seafood and Soups & Stews
. 3 Comments

Shiso wrapped bass dumplings in dashi

While dumplings can be a little labor intensive, they don’t have to be hard. Using whole pieces of marinated bass make this very simple to prepare and the results are definitely worth the effort. Since the fish is well marinated I go light on the salt in the broth and it makes for a light refreshing 1 bowl meal.

Shiso has a fresh flavor that compliments the bass nicely covering any fishiness (which it shouldn’t have if it’s fresh). You should be able to find it at any Japanese grocery, or if you don’t have one near by, try asking your local sushi restaurant as it’s commonly used as a garnish. If you still have no luck, you could try using something else such as mint, a little shredded ginger or a little lemon zest.

I served this with a bowl of quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), which is a healthy, gluten free alternative to rice. It’s somewhere between brown rice and cous cous and has a slightly poppy crunch similar to tobiko.

for dumplings
stripped bass or other white meat fish cut into 20 small pieces (1/4″ x 3/4″ x 1/2″)
Japanese marinade
10 green shiso leaves cut in half lengthwise
gyoza or wonton wrappers

for soup
3 cups dashi
1 Tbs mirin
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
2 shitake mushrooms
1 scallion sliced thin

Marinate the bass in the Japanese marinade for 15 minutes.

Combine the dashi, mirin, soy sauce, salt and mushrooms in a small saucepan and keep at a low simmer until ready to serve.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Wrapping the dumplingsShiso wrapped bass dumplings in dashiFill a small bowl with water. Wrap each piece of bass in a piece of shiso and then place it in the middle of a gyoza wrapper. Dip your fingers in the bowl of water and get the outer edge of half the wrapper wet. Fold the wrapper in half over the bass and seal the edges well while trying to make sure you don’t trap too much air. Repeat with the rest of the bass.

Place the dumplings in the boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes.

When the dumplings are done, add the scallions to the soup, plate the dumplings then pour the broth over the dumplings. Garnish with a little lemon zest.

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Make fresh ginger last

Published
by
marc
on March 29, 2008
in Ingredients
. 1 Comment

Vodka preserved ginger

Fresh ginger is great, but it’s something I don’t use all the time and it usually goes bad or dries out by the time I want to use it again. Since I almost always use it in cooked food, I’ve found a good way to preserve it.

Just peel and cut up the ginger, put it in a tupperware and cover it with vodka. It will keep in the fridge forever. When you cook it the alcohol burns off so you can’t tell the difference and you also get some ginger infused vodka out of it that you can use for cooking or for drinking:-)

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