March 10, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

I Know Not

알 수 없는

(unknowable)

miso caramel

matcha black sesame shortbread

lychee sorbet

black sesame brittle

This past week, I’ve been hemming and hawing over my WISE project.

We were assigned old journals to read and review, and I received a very strange journal which is not really relatable to my project.

I felt confused as I flipped through the pages; its author and I not only have very different projects, but very different writing styles and ideas of what a WISE journal should consist of.

Cue panicked tailspin.

The first thoughts through my head: Am I doing it wrong?!

What happens if I am?!

Why isn’t mine like that?!

I went and talked to my mentor, Mr. B.

He shut those ideas right down; relax, you’re doing fine, everyone’s different and all projects are different, I’ve seen lots of others, etc. Relax.

Breathe.

So here’s the thing, then: I know my journal is doing fine, and my weekly blog posts are alright, too.

I just can’t get this nagging voice out of my head when I sit down to write:

Are you doing it right?

Do you sound educated?

People will be reading this and judging you, you know.

Are you sure you want to say that?

No, no, no! Start again. Start over. Rewrite that sentence; rewrite that post.

I’m sorry that this post is so long overdue.

By now the dessert has run into the recesses of my mind; it has hidden in the depths.

I don’t know if my WISE project is right or good or whatever.

I can’t know; it is such a part of me that my own critical judgment falls by the wayside.

It is a part unto my whole, and it is thus that I am blinded.

“Freeing oneself from words is liberation.”

-Bodhidharma

I put the other journal away. I’ll read it sometime next week, perhaps next weekend.

For now, I will write.

알 수 없는:

for the miso caramel:
adapted from food52
ingredients:
25 g sugar
10 g water
20 g heavy cream, room temperature or slightly warmer
1 teaspoon shiro miso
directions:
Put the sugar and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil.
Allow to cook until the caramel is deep amber; remove from heat and immediately stir in heavy cream, whisking all the while.
Mixture will splatter and bubble and steam; beware.
Once all the cream is incorporated, stir in the miso.
If you want a slightly thinner sauce, you can stir in up to 2 tablespoons more heavy cream.

for the matcha shortbread:
ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons matcha powder
pinch sea salt
5 drops vanilla extract
5 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon milk
black sesame seeds for mixing in, if desired
directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream the butter and sugar together until very fluffy and pale.
Add the matcha, vanilla, and sea salt and mix to combine.
Add in the flour and milk and mix just until homogeneous.
Stir in up to 2 teaspoons of sesame seeds.
Roll out to 1/8- 1/4 of an inch thickness.
Cut small rounds using the back of a pastry tip.
Bake for 5-6 minutes, until fragrant and firm to the touch.
(Larger cookies will take longer; perhaps 7 or so minutes per batch.)

for the lychee sorbet:
ingredients:
1 can lychees in light syrup
directions:
Drain half the syrup, discard.
Purée the fruits and the rest of the syrup, then press through a sieve.
Freeze the resulting juice in an ice cream maker.

for the black sesame brittle:
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
directions:
Place the sugar in a small, heavy bottomed pan.
Line a sheet pan with a silpat (cannot use parchment).
Caramelize the sugar until it is amber colored; working quickly, stir in the sesame seeds and spread as thinly and evenly as possible on the silpat.
Take caution, as the caramel is extremely hot.
Allow to cool completely, then break up into organic shapes.

to assemble:
Schmear the miso caramel.
Add a few matcha shortbread cookies, then a few scoops of sorbet.
Finish with the brittle.
Serve immediately.

March 3, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

Field of Dreams

Ruby strawberries

gleam with early morning dew

oh! how they sparkle!

Gosh, for some reason it feels like forever since I’ve blogged.

(Separation anxiety! It’s been two whole days!)

This past week has been pretty hectic.

Now that I think about it, I made this dessert an entire weekend ago.

I found inspiration in the combination of celery and strawberry, which I first saw in one of Chef Michael Laiskonis’ desserts, whom I draw immense inspiration from.

At first glance, it seems awkward belonging more to the class of salads than desserts, I know.

But the slight floral undertones of the celery are play nicely with the sweetness of the strawberry, and the tartness of that same purée works magically with the ganache upon which it is splattered.

I am in love with Christina Tosi’s celeriac ganache. I tweaked it only a tiny a bit, to fit my own tastes and needs, and good Lord almighty, I did not expect to get what I got.

Silky, creamy, and dare I say unctuous.
Sweet, a tad spicy, and woody.

Milky, but with immense body.

I mean, goodness! If it’s the one thing you make from this blog, do it.

For you and for me and for Chef Christina.

Sandwich it between cookies or slather it on a cake or a pie or whatever. A cracker would suit me nicely, but I’m not below sticking my finger in the bowl and getting every last bit with a swipe.

It’s that good. It’s indescribably delicious. And I hate celery and celeriac, people!

But I l-u-r-v-e-d this.

Also, a quick update from this weekend’s work:

I had big plans for a dessert, one featuring classic flavors in unexpected ways.

It didn’t exactly pan out.

My blueberry caviar were, um, mealy- using a thick blueberry purée instead of a juice was not my best call- and because I was making caviar, I couldn’t freeze them for reverse spherification.

I braved onward, setting up a CaCl2 bath and attempting to incorporate some sodium alginate into the purée, but, it really, really did not work.

There were too many bits left in my purée, even after two passes through a fine-meshed sieve.

So, what did I do?

I gave up.

“Totally fine,” I assured myself, as I bookmarked my notes and my recipes for another day, “I’ll get it. Just not this weekend.”

(However, I did make an entirely new dessert today. I’ll post it sooner rather than later.)

Field of Dreams:

celeriac ganache

strawberry purée

white chocolate panna cotta

strawberry film

lemon ice cream

candied celery leaves

burnt pine nut brittle

Field of Dreams:

For the lemon ice cream:
adapted from Jeni’s
ingredients:
122 g milk
1 tsp cornstarch
75 g cream
33 g sugar
1 1/2 tsp glucose
Pinch kosher salt
11 g mascarpone
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Lemon zest, peeled with a vegetable peeler
Directions:
Mix the milk, cornstarch, cream, sugar, glucose, and salt together with an immersion blender until smooth.
Cook over low heat until thickened, about 6 minutes; drop the lemon zest in and let steep/cook along with it.
Meanwhile, cook the lemon juice and 1 1/2 tsp sugar in a small pan until a thin syrup forms, about 3 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Once the base is thickened, remove from heat and chill for at least 3 hours, until cold and even thicker.
Fish the lemon zest out and churn in an ice cream maker.
Pour in the lemon syrup while it churns.
Spread into a loaf pan and freeze.

For the white chocolate panna cotta:
adapted from Saveur
ingredients:
6 tbsp milk
1/4 cup cream
3 ounces white chocolate
Pinch sea salt
1/2 tsp gelatin
directions:
Bloom gelatin for 3 minutes in 2 tablespoons of the milk.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining cream and milk to simmering. Add in the bloomed gelatin and stir to dissolve gelatin.
Pour the hot milk/cream over the chopped white chocolate and salt in a bowl.
Allow to sit for 1 minute untouched, then whisk to combine and smooth.
Pour into molds and chill until firm, at least 4 hours.

For the celeriac ganache:
adapted from Christina Tosi’s celery root ganache
70 g celery root purée (from 1 small celeriac, peeled and chopped, roasted at 400 degrees F wrapped in an aluminum foil packet with a drizzle of grapeseed oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper for 30 minutes, or until mushy-tender, puréed in a food processor until silky, then passed through a fine meshed sieve)
35 g white chocolate
10 g butter
12 g glucose
20 g heavy cream
directions:
Heat the white chocolate, butter, and glucose up together in a microwave, gently.
Once mostly melted, mix with an immersion blender.
Drizzle the cream in while blending. The mixture should be very smooth.
Blend in the celery root; don’t overmix.
Stop when the mixture is homogeneous and very, very silky.

For the strawberry film:
ingredients:
80 g fresh strawberry juice, mixed with 40 g cold water
1/2 tsp gelatin
1.5 g agar
directions:
Bloom the gelatin in 50 g of the juice mixture.
Blend the agar into the rest of the juice with an immersion blender and simmer for 3 full minutes over medium heat.
Stir in the bloomed gelatin until dissolved.
Remove from heat and spread very thinly on a sheet pan lined with a silpat (has to be a silpat. Not parchment).
Let cool and solidify for 5 minutes; you can then peel , slice, and use the sheet.
To cover the panna cottas, cut out squares of film about the size of your panna cotta, then lightly drape over top. You can then cut the panna cottas into nice, even squares (Always cover the panna cotta with film before slicing.).

For the candied celery leaves and pine nut brittle:
Preheat oven to 175 degrees F.
Combine 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 tablespoon water in a small, heavy sauce pan.
Heat until the sugar dissolves and the syrup thickens, about 3 minutes on low heat.
Remove from heat and let cool to a warm temperature, cool enough that you will be able to dunk your fingers into it, about 8-10 minutes.
Dip celery leaves into the syrup (you can make lots, I made about 6 as that’s all I needed), and squeeze most of the excess syrup off with your fingers. It will be sticky; don’t scrape all the syrup off, though.
Place on a parchment paper lined sheet tray and bake until crispy, 10-15 minutes; the sugar will crystallize. I moved my leaves to a wire cooling rack on top of the sheet tray after about 8 minutes so that they would be crunchy all around.
With the remaining syrup, make pine nut brittle.
Heat the syrup over medium heat until it turns amber colored.
Working quickly, stir in a small handful of pine nuts and pour the whole mixture out onto a silpat lined sheet tray.
Smooth it out as evenly as possible; DO NOT TOUCH the sugar because it is incredibly hot.
Allow to cool to room temperature, then break up into small pieces.

To assemble:
Schmear a large portion of celeriac ganache onto the base of the plate.
Splatter strawberry purée in a random and organic pattern on top.
Place two small cubes of panna cotta onto the plate, then add a quenelle of lemon ice cream.
Garnish with a few small pieces of pine nut brittle and candied celery leaves.

February 23, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

L’Aube

Le soleil se reveille.

Les villes sont illuminées; le petit matin scintille avec des rayons de soleil.

On apprécie toujours les couleurs vives.

Le jaune clair se transforme et devient le jaune doré.

Le soleil s’étire et ainsi, le jour est réalisé.

The sun rises.

Cities are illuminated; the dawn sparkles with sunbeams.

The bold colors are always appreciated.

Pale yellow morphs and becomes gold.

The sun stretches and thus, the day is realized.

I’m dreaming of bright sun and warmth. The winter is dragging its feet out the door, and I’m ready for the transition from gray to green.

I mean, really.

This tropical produce-inspired dessert didn’t help much.

I don’t know whether my desire for a beach inspired the dessert, or whether the dessert inspired the desire.

Dessert-inspired desire or desire-inspired dessert?

These mango spheres, which look like farm-fresh yolks, were just short of mind-blowing.

You can actually handle them like egg yolks; they’re not overly delicate, but when they hit your tongue, they release a lovely mango purée, fragrant and sweet.

I was so enamored with them that I also whipped up a small batch of sticky coconut rice (black forbidden rice cooked in coconut milk with a pinch of glutinous rice flour, then topped with a reduced coconut milk and jaggery sauce) to serve underneath them as a pre-dessert; it was a textural play on sticky rice with mangoes, a popular dish where I live.

I wish the fennel purée had been a bit smoother, but the fibrous nature of fennel was working to my detriment. I was content with the flavor (mild, gingery, and a creamy foil to the acidic lime and pineapple), but I wish it had been just a bit silkier.

I know that root vegetables tend to make smoother purées, so in the future, I may stick to roots rather than bulbs like fennel.

I plated this dish to look like its namesake: a sunrise. I played around with the look of a sunny-side up egg, also an indicator of morning.

With a tropical flavor profile and nouveaux textures, this dessert wakes you right up.

L’aube

Ginger-fennel purée

Brûléed pineapple

Lime pâte de fruit

Coconut flan

Mango spheres

L’Aube

For the coconut flan:
ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
Big pinch sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degreees F.
Place 1/2 cup sugar in a heavy saucepan and heat until it caramelizes and turns a deep amber, about 7 minutes.
Immediately pour into a 9-inch cake pan, swirling to coat the bottom. If it hardens before you coat the entire bottom, simply heat the cake pan up over low heat on a burner until the caramel becomes liquid again.
Put a kettle on to boil.
In a bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla, and second sugar measurement together briskly until lighter yellow colored and foamy.
In another saucepan, heat the salt and coconut milk until simmering.
Whisking constantly, slowly stream the hot milk into the eggs until all is incorporated. Pour into caramel coated pan.
Place the pan in a deep roasting pan and pour the boiling water in until the water is 3/4 of the way up the sides.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the flan is set around the edges but still slightly wiggly in the center.
Leave in water bath for 5 minutes, then remove from the bath and move to refrigerator for at least 12 hours.
To turn it out, place a plate with a slight rim on top of the cake tin, and quickly flip over.
To cut circles, use a circular cookie cutter.
For the mango spheres:
100 grams frozen or fresh mango
2 g calcium lactate gluconate
For the bath:
1400 g low-calcium water
65 g sugar
6 g sodium alginate
Directions:
Purée the mango until very smooth; push through a sieve to remove any particulate matter; mix in the calcium lactate with an immersion blender.
Pour into a hemispherical mold and freeze completely.
For the bath:
Heat up the sugar and water until sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes.
Add in the alginate and mix very well with an immersion blender.
Allow to sit for at least 6 hours to allow any air bubbles to escape.
Remove the purée from the mold and place frozen spheres directly into alginate bath. Leave for 4 minutes; do not allow the spheres to touch each other.
Remove with a slotted spoon and place in clean water. (Do not serve immediately because the cores will still be frozen; wait at least 1 hour.)
To store, either store in clean water or water mixed with mango juice in the fridge. Can be stored for up to one week.
For the lime pâte de fruit:
Adapted from the October 2010 issue of O magazine
Ingredients:
1/4 cup lime juice
Zest of one lime
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon powdered pectin
1 1/4 cup sugar
Directions:
Lightly oil a 6″ pan.
Combine sugar, juice, zest, applesauce, and pectin in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching, until mixture reached 225 degrees F. Stir in some green food coloring, if desired.
Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle extra sugar on top. Allow to cool completely, then cut out small cubes, toss in sugar, and allow to completely firm up overnight.
For the ginger-fennel purée:
Okay. I’m going to be honest. I roasted a fennel bulb, threw in some grated ginger, added some heavy cream, some white chocolate, salt, etc, until I was satisfied. There wasn’t a… um… recipe per se. I just winged it; I’m sure you can do the same. Sorry!
For the brûléed pineapple:
Clean a pineapple, remove the core, and cut into desired shapes. (I did a rectangular prism). Sprinkle with sugar, brûlée, then flip onto the next side. Repeat for at least three of the longer sides so that all visible sides

To assemble:
Schmear the purée on the base of the plate.
Place 2 pieces of brûléed pineapple flush to the bottom of the plate.
Arrange 3 lime pâtes de fruit organically around the plate.
Slide a flan above the pineapple; do not let it touch the purée.
Finally, using a slotted spoon, transfer two mango spheres to the plate.

February 21, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

Yes, Chef

I’m still in shock, guys.

I managed to weasel my way into getting an interview with Christina Tosi.

Every time I say that, I do a double take. She has long been a source of inspiration and recipes for me. Her book, Milk Bar, is a wealth of ideas, and chock full of helpful hints (hello, 10 minute creaming? Best. Cookies. Ever.).

The pages of my cookbook are dusted with flour and occasionally stuck together with butter and bits of caramel. (Savin’ dat for later.)

Confession time: I read Milk Bar. Read as in, sit down with a cookie and read each and every recipe blurb and recipe. I don’t know how many times I’ve done this. It’s at least fifty. I still laugh at all of the jokes and funny memories written between those pages.
Thus far, I’ve only found one teeny-tiny typo. (This coming from someone who scours the Sunday NYT for typos and who usually finds one on the front page of the Style section…) Color me impressed.Sigh. I’m star struck.
The not-so-photogenic pie you see in the photos was the famed crack pie. What a fabulous recipe! My god, it’s like buttery gold. Worth every single calorie.
Without further ado, here’s the interview.

(I’m not including the recipe for crack pie as I want to encourage those who have any mild interest to purchase the book… Honestly, it’s one of the more useful and inventive cookbooks I own, and while it is no encyclopedia of baking, it still manages to pack in plenty of information and sugar. You can find the recipes online, I’m sure, but I for one am a proponent of cookbooks.)

Chef Christina Tosi is the pastry chef of the Momofuku line of restaurants, which are owned and run by Chef David Chang; she herself runs the Momofuku Milk Barline of restaurants. Her cooking style is self-described as “loud, delicious, textural, and fun.” She is a genius when it comes to flavor pairings; she invents combinations like thai tea, lemon, and marscapone, or celery root and white chocolate, which are surprising and arresting in a most delicious sense. In 2012, the James Beard Foundation named her Rising Chef of the Year; she was the only pastry chef in the category!

Rachel Sally: I think of you as America’s favorite pastry-chef-next-door, and as such, you have a huge influence on food trends; who or what do you view as your biggest influences?

Chef Christina: I think working in a broad range of bakeries, restaurants and food settings and situations really shaped me as a whole. I approached every job, even the ones I worked at for free as an opportunity to learn. Also, my grandmas, the sweet toothed ladies that recognized my love for baking and my genetic sweet tooth!

R.S.: Which cookbook or book has influenced you the most?

C.T.: The Magnolia Cookbook was one of my first favorite cookbooks as a teen when I was getting into the kitchen on my own terms. They had so many versions of cheesecake in there, breaking all the rules, adding whatever flavors and textures they wanted. I thought it was the coolest cookbook, and the best way to approach a classic like the cheesecake with reckless abandon!

R.S.: What one word would you use to describe yourself and your cooking style?

C.T.: Soothing with a sense of humor.

R.S.: Do you work well under pressure?

C.T.: I love working under pressure. I love being in just a little over my head. It’s how I function best. If you don’t like the same, you probably won’t like working at Milk Bar, but my feeling is if you can make IT happen under pressure, the sky is the limit.

R.S.: Where do you find inspiration for flavor combinations?

C.T.: Everywhere and anywhere. The grocery store, the bodega on the way home. The dinner around the corner. Magazines, airplanes, fancy restaurants, Dairy Queen, T.V. You never know when inspiration can strike!

R.S.: What is the most underrated flavor combination, in your opinion?

C.T.: Salt and pepper.

R.S.: What one ingredient could you not live without?

C.T.: Salt!

R.S.: What is your favorite food?

C.T.: Depends on my mood. I’d say this winter it’s acorn squash with butter, cinnamon and breakfast sausage!

R.S.: What is your favorite composed dessert that you’ve ever made?

C.T.: Cereal milk panna cotta with avocado puree, chocolate hazelnut, cornflake crunch. [Editor’s note: Ohmagah]

R.S.: How do you respond to negative criticism in regards to a dessert?

C.T.: I take every opinion seriously and to heart. Not in a negative way, but in a double check myself way. Is there truth in the comment, is there something wrong, could it be better, do I really stand behind this dish or dessert? Humility and the ability to curb your ego, especially when under criticism, are very important.

R.S.: What tweaks do you make?

C.T.: Doesn’t mean you have to change a thing. Just means you have to be open and willing to check yourself and/or stand up for yourself.

R.S.: Do you edit already existing and successful desserts?

C.T.: We always edit existing desserts.

R.S.: Why do you?

C.T.: [We] always look for room for improvements, updating inspiration points. Sometimes we change elements, depths of flavor. Sometimes we’ll test a ton of stuff and never change a thing.

R.S.: What is your best tip for dessert success?

C.T.: Stay true to yourself, your taste buds, your inspiration, your approach. But be open minded about feedback and criticism.

Still in disbelief. Thank you, Chef!

February 13, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

Brave New World

I find myself standing on a precipice, peering down, cookie in hand.
I find myself staring at a page the color of milk, devoid of text.
I find myself adrift on the oceanic interwebs, floating, but not peacefully.

I have lots to write about. My thoughts just won’t come out as crisply and concisely as they are in my head.
I’ll be honest. I’m apprehensive. Scared, even.
I don’t know what will become of my blog now that I’ve introduced these WISE posts.

How much more thought and time will have to go into a post? (As of now, one post, comprised of just the writing, photoshopping, and formatting, let alone the preparation of the featured food, takes me roughly 1 1/2 hours.)
I have tried, and will continue to try, to put meaningful thought and time into a couple of my blog posts.
I don’t want to say it’s true, but it is: now that my blog is becoming, on a once weekly basis, a school-tool, I am more nervous about writing.
Do I sound silly and shallow? (Always.)
Am I proper enough?
Can I use y’all? And lol?
What will become of my “diva” and “stupid” labels?
Are they off limits?

I pray that you, my lovely, lovely, readers (or lookers… I know many come for the food porn photos only, [Editor’s note re: food porn: perhaps too callous?] and that is totally one hundred percent fine by me), will stick with me as I branch out into a new and distinctive field: creating blog posts that I know my teacher will see.

I shall have to test the waters; the waters I shall test.

In the meantime, let me talk about what I know best: dessert.
The inspiration for this dessert came from the idea of “Mexican hot chocolate,” which involves cocoa, cayenne, and cinnamon. From there, my mind jumped instantly to cajeta, the traditional goat milk-version of dulce de leche, which is often spiced with a pinch of cinnamon.
By then, I was spinning off on a Latin American tangent: I wanted to include corn (I had seen the wonderful corn cookies from Milk Bar recently), avocados, limes, bananas, etc.
With a firm flavor base in my head, I edited components out.
I knew I wanted to do a sweet “guacamole,” in the form of a lime-avocado purée.
I knew I wanted to use corn cookies.
I knew I wanted an ice cream.
I knew I wanted fluffy sponge cake and bittersweet ganache.
Here’s the result.

Brave New World:

1. Avocado lime purée

2. Bittersweet chocolate cayenne ganache

3. Brûléed banana brunoise

4. Cinnamon dulce de leche ice cream

5. Instant chocolate sponge cake

6. Crushed corn cookies

Instant Sponge Cake

ingredients:

1 egg white

1/4 cup sugar, divided

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/4 cup flour

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons milk

2 paper cups (no plastic or wax)

directions:

Whip the egg white with 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Mix all of the other ingredients together, then fold the egg white into the batter. Poke slits in the bottom of your cups, and pour the batter in. Place on a plate and microwave for 2 minutes on high (This varies because microwaves are so variable. To check for doneness, touch the top of the cake with your finger. It should not be sticky and should not collapse; it should be fully cooked.).

For use in the dessert, rip into small, organically shaped pieces.

Avocado-Lime Purée

ingredients:

1/2 a hass avocado

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Juice of 1 whole lime

Big pinch salt

directions:

Mash the avocado into a rough mush like guacamole. Stir in the sugar, lime juice, and salt. Purée the entire mixture, either with an immersion blender or food processor, until very smooth. Be sure to add all of the juice of the lime; the acid is what keeps the avocado a beautiful green color.

Chocolate cayenne ganache

ingredients:

1/2 ounce bittersweet chocolate

3 1/2 tablespoons cream

Pinch of cayenne pepper

directions:

Gently heat all ingredients together, either in a saucepan over low heat or in 20 second bursts in the microwave, until approximately 2/3 of the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat, let sit for 2 minutes, then stir together until silky and shiny.

For use in the dessert: heat up until smooth and free-flowing by nuking it for no more than 15 seconds.

Brûléed banana brunoise

ingredients:

1 banana, peeled.

Sugar

Torch

directions:

Cut the banana in half right in the middle (across the skinny part of the banana, not the long way). Trim off the sides of the banana so that they are plumb and cut 1/8 inch wide planks. Take the planks and trim off the ends so that the edges are straight, and cut 1/8 inch wide matchsticks. Take the matchsticks and cut them into 1/8 inch squares. You will now have 1/8 inch cubes. Place them on a plate, sprinkle liberally with sugar, and brûlée them with your torch, until the edges are dark and the sugar is caramelized.

Corn Cookies

straight from the Milk Bar cookbook

ingredients:

225 g butter (8 ounces)

300 g sugar

1 egg

265 g flour

73 g freeze-dried corn, ground into a powder in a food processor or blender

3 g baking powder (3/4 teaspoon)

1.5 g baking soda (1/4 teaspoon)

6 g kosher salt (1 1/2 teaspoons)

directions:

Cream your butter and sugar together for 2 full minutes on medium speed. Scrape the sides, add the egg, and beat on medium high speed for 7 full minutes (set a timer). Scrape the sides of the bowl, add in all of the dry ingredients, and mix just until combined, and no longer- about 45 seconds. Portion out cookies with an ice cream scoop and flatten with your palm or a glass. Chill for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. When you are ready to bake them off, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 18 minutes.

To use in the dessert, once the cookies are cool, smash one or two of them into powder, either in a bag with a rolling pin or a food processor. Eat the others. Yum.

Cinnamon-Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

7 ounces (1/2 can) sweetened condensed milk plus 2 big pinches salt OR 7 ounces store bought dulce de leche (or cajeta!)

220 g milk

1 teaspoon gelatin+ 2 tablespoons cold water

160 g heavy cream

35 g corn syrup or 100 g glucose

65 g sugar

40 g milk powder

1 g kosher salt

directions:

Make dulce de leche with your sweetened condensed milk.

Let cool completely.

Bloom your gelatin in the cold water by sprinkling it lightly over the surface and allowing it to sit for 3-5 minutes.

Blend the dulce de leche with the milk, over low heat, until completely homogenized (the heat helps the dulce de leche dissolve).

Blend in the bloomed gelatin (use a hand blender).

Remove from heat and blend in the rest of the ingredients until super smooth and homogeneous.

Allow to cool completely; chill for up to 1 week.

Once you are ready to make ice cream, spin the mixture in an ice cream maker, and put in an airtight container for up to a week.

To quenelle, use boiling hot water to heat up your spoon and allow the ice cream to temper for about 2 minutes before scooping.

To assemble:

1. Place a dollop of avo-lime purée on the bottom of a plate, and, using the back of a spoon, swoop in an arc to create a schmear.

2. Splatter chocolate ganache on the plate.

3. Place your best cubes of banana onto the plate; pile them up into an organic pyramid.

4. Place a quenelle of tempered ice cream in the center of the plate.

5. Place 3 pieces of sponge cake around the quenelle; do not make them symmetric.

6. Sprinkle corn cookies halfway onto the quenelle and around the plate.

Serve immediately.

February 8, 2013September 13, 2013 by Rachel Sally

A Wise Man Once Said

My dearest readers, I have some frightening exciting news to share with you.

For the next four months or so, I will be embarking on a foray deep into the world of modernist cuisine AKA molecular gastronomy.

My best description goes something like this: modernist cuisine and molecular gastronomy sit squarely, and comfortably, at the crossroads of food, science, and art.

This weak explanation is strengthened by examples; the most highly sought-after and rated restaurants in the world, e.g. the late El Bulli, the Fat Duck, Alinea, wd-50, etc., are based in molecular gastronomy. These chefs are the best in the world, and they utilize precise techniques and unique flavor pairings to create transcendental dining experiences.

“But why,” say you?

This is a school assignment, that’s why.

A very unorthodox school assignment.

I am a second-semester senior in WISE English, a course which allows seniors to conduct sixteen weeks of independent study and research, in a field of their choosing.

Obviously, I chose dessert above all else.

Thus, I find myself making spreadsheets of costs of compounds like hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and calcium lactate gluconate, poring over endless lists of strange flavor combinations, and freezing and re-freezing my ice cream maker’s bowl.

There are many so-called “molecular gastronomy” techniques, but modernist cuisine is not all about tricks and chemicals. Much comes from the presentation of the food. Not every dish has to contain manipulated foodstuffs, but every plate has to be aesthetic.

Not to mention taste good!

I’m beyond excited. And terrified.

I currently have around 10 pounds of food-grade chemicals being shipped to my house. I have hemispherical molds and glucose and carbonated sugar and a .01 gram accuracy scale.

I think I’m ready; I’ve done my best to prepare myself.

I know that not everything will go the way I want it to, or the way it’s supposed to (see: my pitiful quenelles in these pictures. What is that strange pointy thing on the end?!? I haven’t the faintest.)

My goal is to have created many a fanciful and delicious composed dessert: not just a slice of cake or hunk of chocolate thrown on a plate with a schmear of sauce. I want to make high-quality restaurant desserts.

I want to push myself to try out as many techniques as I can: spherification, gelation, dehydration, carbonation, smoking, foams, making powders, etc. etc.

Sixteen weeks isn’t as much time as one would think; I’ll have to work quickly and in a timely manner.

So what does this mean for La Pêche Fraîche? Why am I even telling you this?

Because once a week, I will be sharing my thoughts, failures, and endeavors on this here blog, using it as part of my project journal.

This is not to say that my regular sweets won’t stick around; I’ll still post cookies and cakes and more pedestrian fare, but don’t be shocked when you click through and see something that doesn’t even look like food.

Whatever panic you might feel at that moment, rest assured that I’m feeling 10 times more.

I’m so glad to be sharing this with y’all. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Without any further ado, here’s my first shot at a composed dessert.

“Carly Simon”

espresso, chocolate, meyer lemon

(components, from base layer upwards)

bittersweet chocolate ganache

meyer lemon curd

firm chocolate and coffee grind “ganache” cubes

dark chocolate butter cookies

crumbled meyer lemon meringues

espresso ice cream with whipped cream “clouds” frozen in

fried meyer lemon zest

mocha dust

In the future, recipes will accompany. Right now, I’m just about ready to close this introductory post up, and that is just what I shall do.