Whipped cream comes in all shapes and sizes. You can go softer, lighter, or, in the case of one that has to sit atop warm things, like a pancake, super strong. If you make a softer, more normal mix, it will melt too fast.
Charles Atlas Vintage Ad
In the 20th century, Charles Atlas, a bodybuilder who claimed that he was a “weakling,” as a kid, ran ads that promised the “puny” guy that, if you used his bodybuilding method, you, too, could become a muscle hunk, and kick sand in the face of the beach bully.
So “Atlas” heavy cream may be down; it may be on the ropes; it may be beaten until it’s tough, but it’s NEVER, gonna be whipped!
Insert the whisk head onto the mixer. Lower the motor into place and lock.;
Whisk on low speed to integrate, 30 seconds. You may need to stop, and use the spatula to scrape the powdered sugar on the edges of the mix back down into the cream;
After the sugar is fully integrated, increase the speed to the low part of the medium range;
When the cream gets super stiff, and starts breaking up, STOP. You’re done.
Scoop into your serving container. It’s thick enough you can use a small scoop to make an attractive plating, if you wish.
Named for the always intriguing Spanish Jazz guitarist Ximo Tébar, this Iberian-influenced roasted tomato soup has two speeds. Served cold, my fave, it has one flavor palette with exotic, aromatic fenugreek leaf notes. Served hot, it has a warm, bright tomatoey goodness. It has more body than a gazpacho, and far more rich character than a can of Campbell’s classic.
It’s All About the Tomato
If you haven’t read my Tomato: A Love Story, check it out before you run out and buy a bag of mass-market meh tomatoes at the local super.
You are what you cook, reputation-wise, even with your family.
Those machine-picked, green-gets-gassed-gagworthy tomatoes of most North American markets look pretty, but taste… sh—-ty.
Sourcing great tomatoes makes a HUGE difference, like great steak, or poultry in this recipe, so start with the best tomatoes that you can find/afford.
The best? Home grown; vine-ripened. As long as they’ll hold on to the vine at home, they’ll be awesome.
Don’t grow your own? Find tomatoes from a local farm, farmer’s market, or organic store.
Still stuck to the Super? Beware “Vine ripened.” Just because they ship them with the stem doesn’t mean that it wasn’t picked green, and gassed later. The article will fill you in!
SERVES
10-12 small course; 6-8 meal-sized.
THE GEAR
Ozeri Scale, set to metric. (Base 10 is both more accurate, and easier than all of that “How much is 1/4+ 2/3rds” stuff.)
Large non-stick roasting pan, or baking tray with lipped sides, e.g. not a cookie sheet.
Williams-Sonoma/Heston Nanobond™ 8 qt. pot, or equivalent;
2-4 large fresh basil leaves;I love my Aerogarden hydroponics because it grows faster. I can grab fresh right off the plant without all of the soil mess too!
Set the oven on ROAST (preferred) or BAKE to 200°c / 400°F. When it reaches temperature, grab your digital thermometer, quickly open it, and put your hand and probe into the middle of the oven, briefly, to get the read. If it’s off, adjust the temperature upward or downward a few degrees to compensate for the inaccuracies of your oven. You can just adjust, or, if you own it, have a technician come and recalibrate it, if it’s far off.
Peel the garlic cloves and onions. Slice off a bit of the top and bottom of the onion. Put them on the tray;
Wash all of the tomatoes. Pull out your non-stick tray or roaster and put it on the counter. Put them on the tray with the onions and garlic, flipping them on to their stem-side as the “bottom.” Take a sharp knife and score an “X” into the top of each.
Put the tray into the oven to begin the roasting.
Put the stock pot on the stovetop. Add the water. Set to medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
Check your roast periodically for the garlic, but absolutely don’t let it go for more than 15 minutes. If you see the garlic begin to brown earlier, pull out the tray. Use the tongs remove the garlic cloves. Add to the stovetop pot. Reduce the heat on the pot to a simmer when it has boiled.
Return the tray with the tomatoes and onions to the oven. Continue the ROAST for approximately 30 minutes, or until the skins are a bit wrinkly, as they’re pictured, below. A touch of char is okay on a couple near the edges, but don’t burn them, or it will impact the flavor. Remove from the oven, set next to your pot on heat-safe surface, and turn off the oven.
Using the tongs, gently put the onions and tomatoes into the stock pot. Don’t squeeze too hard! They can squirt hot liquids. If your tomatoes turn to mush when you pick them up, they’re either overcooked, or low supermarket-grade tomatoes. If they implode, don’t worry! Just deal with them in the next step.
Using your spatula, scrape off the bottom of the pan. There’s a lot of residual liquid with essential oils from the tomato, onion and the garlic that offer up some HUGE flavor! Don’t wash the goodness away.
Break up the tomatoes a bit with your spatula. Don’t get carried away, my OCD chefs. We just want to open them up a bit. You’ll be pureéing them later.
Drop in the basil, whole. No need to chop (You know that I’m talking to you…). The essential oils find their way in, and we’re pureéing, remember?;
Set the stockpot to medium, or bring it back to a boil, and simmer.
Add the salt, dried or fresh thyme, paprika, dried basil, bay leaf and fenugreek leaves. If you use fresh thyme, strip the leaves off of the stems, and discard the stems.
When it boils, reduce heat, and simmer for ten (10) minutes, breaking it up a bit as you go to get the herbs across the tomatoes. It should look like this:
While simmering, pull out your bread slices, or slice the stale bread. Really any bread will do, but avoid hard-seeded breads, as the seeds make the blend gritty.
At the end of the first simmer, about five to seven minutes, once all of the tomatoes and herbs are integrated, add the bread to the pot. Push it down into the soup so it saturates.
Simmer another five minutes. It should look like this when it’s ready to blend:
Turn off the heat.
Remove the bay leaf.
See video below:
Take your immersion blender, and, holding it a bit off of the bottom, begin blending on its normal, or low setting, stopping, and moving around the pan, to break the bigger pieces up. The more even that you can make it, the easier it is to purée.
Once it’s even, make sure that you are drawing down all of the tomato and onion to be pureéd. If it feels like all of the big pieces are gone, you’re ready to move
If you use the AllClad immersion blender, it has a “Turbo” feature. Holding firmly, with the blender touching the bottom of the pot in the center, press the Turbo button and hang on! It has a bit of a kick. The soup will puree and look like a more commercial tomato soup.
If you don’t have a turbo button, keep blending and it will get there.
If you have a blender, put batches of the soup base into the blender and pureé on a med/high speed.
Once puréed, add the cream, and blend quickly, as you see in the video. Putting in the cream earlier can change the character of the soup.
If you like it hot, serve, and garnish with the thyme sprig. If you want to try it cold, prepare the night before, or chill for at least six hours. You’ll taste more of the nuance of the fenugreek leaves, and herbs in the cold version, more of the brightly roasted tomato in the hot. Store, or serve.
Gravlax has a “lox” on smoked salmon. It puts the deli into delicious. Well, at least Google Keywords will be happy with that corny riff!
Meet Chet’s Char. Char is a fish that is very similar to salmon. It makes a nice gravlax (lox) that you can cure yourself easily! You can also use salmon. Just double the recipe for the “cure” below because those filets are longer, and heavier.
Named for Chet Baker, my fave trumpter, like him, it’s rich, complex, melodic, and a bit alcohol-infused. (Before it burns off in the sugar cure.)
For real: Every time that I see someone spend $44/lb at a deli on lox, or even pick up one of those $18.00 ‘cards’ of salmon at Costco, I cringe. Gravlax is ridiculously easy to cure. There’s not a lot of magic to it, and you can do SO MANY things with it, and a little improvisational imagination.
While we’re all used to the salt/sugar/white pepper cure, along with the dull dill Scandanavian slant, which make up 95% of the lox load, it can have an almost infinite number of flavors.
In the ‘why be boring?’ department, you know that I’ve got a riff that will make you smile.
Curing Fish, 101
The basics? Kosher salt, and sugar.
The patented “flake” of Diamond Crystal is so unique that you have to alter the kosher salt requirements when using other brands that are much heavier. Click the salt box to learn more!
Salt is the “exchanger.” In all living things, it helps move water in and out of cells.
Curing differs from brining in that, in brining, you’re trading out fluids inside the meat, and some bacteria, for good fluids, at 1:1.
In a cure, we’re intentionally removing fluids from the meats being cured. That’s why hams bacons, and salmon have a more compact feel.
So when we “cure” a piece of char, or salmon, into gravlax, we move water, and bacteria that would render the raw salmon pretty rancid, and disgusting, out, and move flavors in.
Kosher salts differ. A lot. That’s why, when a Twitter rumor started, in 2019, that Diamond Crystal was going out of business, it started a stampede of top professional, and home, chefs to grab boxes before it went away.
Read about what makes this Kosher salt unique, especially for curing, here.
We could cure the fish just with salt. It would be a bit harsh. Sugar helps balance out a gravlax cure and enhances the flavor of the fish.
The Flavor Game
As long as we’re “curing” the fish, why not infuse it with some flavor, as the bad stuff is on its way out?
Traditional flavors incorporate pepper, or white pepper, or dill. There really is a limitless number of riffs that you can do with flavoring gravlax.
Here we blend a little fennel seed, Raki, a Turkish anisette liquor, a touch of tangarine zest, its juice, and applewood smoke, into a aromatic marvel.
This is one of the better combos that I’ve created, but it’s only a reference. Feel free to experiment with your own.
If you want to make “Lox” or smoked salmon, the only difference is the addition of smoke.
The Chet’s Char blend includes:
Mild Aleppo chile pepper, or “Aleppo-style” since Aleppo, Syria, was reduced to rubble in that nation’s civil war. It adds a little earthiness;
White pepper, to bring a little pungent counter to the sweet, and earthy notes;
Fennel seed, which is both a fragrant and a sweet, pleasant spice that rises well out of the salt and sugar;
A little tangerine zest and a splash of tangerine juice act as citrus notes that blend well with the fennel;
The sugar offsets the salt, and brings up the flavor of the fish.
The Yeni Raki is a touch of exotic anise flavor that pairs well with the fennel and does a duet with the tangerine (Chet would approve).
Applewood smoked salt – Provides that “smoked” taste, without having to resort to a cold-smoker.
Smokeless Smoking? Smoked Salts!
One problem, for a long time, for home chefs wanting to cure fish with a touch of smoke was the “smoked” part of smoked salmon.
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Where there is fire, there is heat. Heat cooks, not cures, the fish. The answer, originally, was using a cold smoker, usually some sort of box with an attachment that brings in the smoke, but channels away the heat.
Not too many homes with their own cold smoker. Those of you reading this who HAVE a cold smoker, I can feel your smug superiority screaming across the Internet at me. Smoke the fish for about 5-8 minutes with applewood chips before putting it into the cure.
For the rest of us, there are now smoked salts, which impart a wonderful smoked flavor, without the smoker. Applewood, or alderwood, work best with char, or salmon.
Smoker owners can play with their gear. For the rest of us, we drop a little Kosher salt, and add in some smoked salt, for flavor.
Gravlax Curing Ratio
Remembering ratios of ingredients can help you make them on the fly, without resorting to recipes, a bit better. The cure is, roughly:
Gravlax Cure: 2:1 Sugar/Salt (2 parts sugar, to 1 part salt.)
Scale It
No, not descale the fish, although you should do that first.
Scale it!
Gravlax, or any other cured food, like baking, is one of those things that cries out for weight measure, as it helps us keep our ratios more accurate.
So grab a scale, set it to those evil GRAMS, because Base-10 weights are SIMPLE, and follow along.
You’re going to use the tare button. Tare is old-school scale-speak for “zero.”
It allows you to put a container, like a bowl, or a pan, on to the scale, and deduct its weight from your measure, so you don’t have to add in your head.
GO REAL BROWN, THE SUGAR OF REKNOWN
This recipe calls for Muscovado, real-deal brown sugar from the rich burnt cane, higher in fiber, and lower in sucrose-super-sweetnesss.
Can you get away with brown sugar? Sure. You can also skin your Rolls Royce with ads for Viagra, and international prepaid phone cards.
Muscovado is “real” brown sugar. The rich, burnt cane. Not white sugar with molassses added. The richness cannot be replaced by cheap, and more high-glycemic, mass-market sugars.
THE STUFF
THE FISH
1 char filet, or salmon filet, skin on, deboned.
At the market, look for a piece of fish that preferably is around 3-4 cm. (1-1.5 in) or thinner, at its thickest point. The more even the meat is from tail to center, the better the filet for a gravlax. Thick-centered filets cure unevenly. Until you get good at eyeballing fish, you can always ask your store’s fish monger to help you pick out a piece for curing.
(With no apologies to Gary X, or hPeter O’Toole). The Cure is a Post-Punk rock band that has had more band member changes than a Spanish Diario, but they still perform around the world. Check them out on Spotify, and go to their next tour date near you!
Lipped baking tray, or glass pyrex baking dish to catch liquid during refrigerator cure that lets the fish lie competely flat, and also fits your fridge;
Lots of plastic wrap.
PREP TIME
20 minutes @ start; 5-10 minutes @ finish.
CURE TIME
1-3 days, depending upon fish, thickness.
The Steps
Initial Prep
Make sure that the kitchen counters and prep spaces are clean before you start. Wash up before handling any of the food, and after each step. We’re curing the fish of bad bacteria. No need to introduce anything else new into the salt cure!
Put the pan on the scale. Turn the scale on, set to GRAMS. If the weight of the pan is on there, hit TARE to zero it. We want to weigh the ingredients, not the pan.
Toast the fennel and white peppercorns in the sautée pan over medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes, until fragrant. DO NOT toast until the seeds are browned/toasted. Set aside to cool a bit.
Put the work bowl on the scale. You’ll repeat the “tare” prodedure after adding any of the measured dry ingredients. Once you get the hang of it, it’s so much more accurate, and easy. Measuring cups and spoons lie like rugs about the volume in them. Add the salt. Tare the scale. Add the muscovado sugar to the work bowl. Tare.
Add the organic cane sugar. Tare.
Remove the work bowl from the scale, and place on the counter next to it. Using your fingers, break down, and integrate all of the muscovado sugar lumps with the salt and cane sugar until there are no lumps left.
Make sure to brush all of the ingredients off of your hands, and back into the work bowl, before you wash your hands. We need all of our ingredients!
Transfer the seeds from the pan to the grinder, or mortar/pestle. Rough grind for 10-15 seconds in the machine, or about 3-5 minutes with the pestle in the mortar. They don’t need to be powder. Add to the work bowl.
Using your zester, zest the tangerine(s) into the work bowl. Reserve the fruit for juicing.
Add all remaining dry ingredients in the cure by taring the scale, and adding the measured amount.
Put your liquids cup on to the scale. Turn on/tare. Switch to ML (Milliliters). Pour the correct amount of Yeni Raki into the cup. Remove from the scale. Juice the tangerine fruit over the cup to add.
Using a spatula, mix in the liquid by hand, until the moisture is distributed throughout the rough mass. Do not over mix.
Put the pan on your work surface. Bring out the fish. Before you pull the fish out of any packaging, test to make sure that it fits the pan. If it’s coming out of a container, clean the pan and dry it before proceeding. If the fish doesn’t lie flat, you need a larger pan that will catch liquid while leaving the fish flat. The salt/sugar cure has to make contact with all of the fish AT ALL TIMES in order to cure it properly.
Proper plastic wrap makes, or breaks, this recipe. Once we put the cure all over the fish, we have to keep it close. The salt is going to work its way in, and exchange fluid out. About 30%-50% of the fluid in the fish flesh will be sweat out, as flavor is inserted. We have to use several layers of wrap to seal it, so it doesn’t leak in the process, and the cure stays with the fish. Put the plastic wrap box to the left of your tray on the counter. Have the tray horizontal, the long part going to the left-right, in front of you. Before we do long, let’s start with wide. Pull off a piece of plastic wrap, at least three times the width of your fish. Put on the tray in the middle, making a cross between the tray, and the plastic.
Now we go wide: Pull out another strip that is a few inches longer, on either side, than the length of your fish. Cut it and lay it down across the tray, over the top of the other strip, making our plastic “cross.”
On the long sheet of plastic wrap, spatula out a pile of the cure, about 1/4” deep, that is as long, and as wide, as the fish. Shape it like the fish, for width, so there is as little excess outside of the fish as possible.
Place the fish, skin side down, on top of the cure. Spoon the remainder of the cure, across the top of the fish, and over its sides, so it is completely covered, about 3/8” to 1/4”.
Bring the long edges of the wrap together as firmly as possible, allowing as little air/gaps between the wrap and the cure. Take the “cross” vertical piece and use it to seal up the first wrap of the fish. Depending on length, you might need another vertical at either end, as well.
Set the fish aside, off the tray, line up another round of plastic wrap, and do it again. Flip over the seam-side of your wrapped fish, which should be up, so it’s on the new plastic wrap. Seal up the fish again. Repeat this flip and seal one more time. We’re making sure that the cure, and the fluids that will come out of the fish, don’t leak out. They have to make contact for this to work.
Take the fish, and tray/pan, and put them into the refrigerator to cure. Make a reminder on your phone, or on a calendar, to check the fish twenty-four hours later.
Day One
Check on the fish. Hopefully you have no leakage from your wrap. If you have a little bit, that’s okay, grab a bit more plastic wrap and mummify it again, carefully. If you have a lot, you may need to start over again. What you should be looking for:
Fish is more rigid. It shouldn’t flop around.
Gently feel the top of the fish. If it’s uniformly firm, not hard, across the filet, then it is likely ready. The thinner end is going to be harder. Char can be done in 24 hours Most standard American salmon filets take at least 36-48 hours. If it has any soft spots.
Turn the fish over, if it still is softer/squishy in spots. For char, and smaller salmon filets, check again in twelve hours, but don’t turn it again. If it’s ready, move on to the finishing steps on Day Two.
Day Two
Unless you have an insanely thick salmon filet, it’s usually well cured by 48 hours. Filet is stiff, firm to the touch, but not rock hard. The ends that are thinner might get harder. If they’re too hard, then you needed to cut back on your curing time a bit, although they’ll still taste delicious.
Make sure that your sink is very very clean.
Remove from the refrigerator.
Grab a sharp kitchen knife, and, from the skin side, open up the plastic wrap. Lifting the fish, with a slow stream of cold water running, pour out the excess salt and liquid from the plastic.
Remove the fish from the plastic, and rinse off the excess salt, and any of the seed mix that might have stuck to it.
Put on the tray or cutting board and pat dry with paper towels on both sides.
When it’s dry, re-wrap it. It needs to rest, prior to service, at least twelve hours. See why in the next step.
Day Three
Pull out the filet to serve. The fish has had some time to allow the remaining, more limited fluids in the fish to redistribute. It won’t seem as dry on the ends and edges as it did when you pulled it out.
Using a very, very sharp boning, or sushi-grade knife is best. Starting from the thick part of the filet, cut lines down into the fish, along the the edges to make for a clean edge to your slices on either long side of the fish.
Turn the knife flat, on top of the fish. From the thickest spot, begin slicing as THIN a slice of the fish from the top cured layer at its thickest point. It’s going to be a bit tougher than the fish inside because it’s been directly exposed to the salt cure. It’s super-tasty, though, so don’t chuck it. If it’s not visually appealing to serve, and you don’t want to snack on it, you can chop it and add to cream cheese for a really amazing lox spread, or pasta, with a bit of hazelnut oil, and salt.
Continue cutting thin slices from the fish, slicing across the top of the filet, from vertical line to vertical line. Practice, and a sharp knife will help with the look. Even torn-sliced fish, though, can still look and taste great on a piece of bread with a little creme-fraiche, goat cheese, or cream cheese.
Plate for service later, or add to lightly toasted bread with creme-fraiche, my fave, or goat cheese. Garnish with a sprig of dill. Serve.
A Six Minute Trip FROM MAINE TO KEY WEST VIA KANSAS
There are a lot of easy home runs for breakfast that don’t take a lot of work. You can improvise quickly just combining great flavors on hand!
Here we take an already wild Maine blueberry English muffin from Wolferman’s and key up its wild side a smidge.
The Irish, particularly Kerrygold, make the best, sweetest, nuttiest butter. With a little sweet citrus of the key lime marmalade, and a rich sharp bite from Kerrygold’s Dubliner cheese, you get a lot of mmmouthfeel fast.
Slice the cheese in advance and leave it in a container, and you can make these on the go out the door to work PDQ!
My confession: You know. You “experiment” in college. I used to be ashamed of it, but I can say it now:
I love puréed soups!
French cuisine’s powerful, simple heart of darkness. Beguilingly simple, flavorful, healthy… soup.
Club Med La Caravelle, Guadeloupe
My friend, who was a medical student at Columbia, talked me into taking an adventure: A student Spring Break deal at the Club Med on the island of Guadeloupe in the French Caribbean. College girls, fabulous beaches, tiki bars, college girls, and, as I found out when we got there, puréed soups.
Each night started with a different potage (soup), taking advantage of a good supply of vegetables that were grown on the island by the hotel, an early stab at sustainability by the French owners. Simple vegetables, a carrot-ginger. or a potato leek, or a lentil, combined with a spice or two, can create amazing flavors. These potages were hearty, nutritious, and so fibrously filling, that they kept you from over-indulging on the later courses.
A few of us played beach volleyball in the afternoons with the kitchen staff. They worked out their aggressions on the guests who were willing to endure their volleyball Thunderdome.
David, the Potager (soup guy), looked more like Goliath out there. He had a big mane of black hair, a rocket serve that could leave a huge welt on your arms if you actually stopped it. He always sported a massive, and confident grin, a visual affectation that telegraphed his palpable Parisian smugness. He had a right to be cocky. He was the kitchen’s rock star. His soups were the opening act of every evening’s meal.
One day, a few of us were allowed to come to the kitchen. I discovered David’s secret weapon was not a slingshot, but steam! He didn’t drown the vegetables, only adding enough liquid to make his soup, and leave enough room in his massive pot to allow for the steaming of his vegetables before puréeing. It maxed out the flavor and nutrition!
Fast Forward thirty-five years to 2017, in Killarney, a charming coastal tourist town south of Cork, situated near beautiful parks, on the verdant coastline of Western Ireland.
These days the big draw is a tiny rock of an island, Skellig Michael, recently made famous by Luke Skywalker’s appearance on it in final scene in Star Wars Episode VII.
The chef at the amazing Brehon Hotel, Charlie Byrne, rekindled my romance with puréed soups. His wicked wonder is a cauliflower soup, with a toasted cumin seed. The cumin seeds compliment the cauliflower brilliantly!
This is my more humble, and low-volume home homage to the soups of the Caribbean and Kilarney, with a lot of the heavy fats lifted from past recipes that I’ve tasted/reviewed, that rely on a lot of butter. Fats are a necessary part of our diet, but too much is a bad thing. Fatphobes, don’t freak out about the cream! 118 ml/ 1/2 cup, distributed over 12 servings, is only 10 ml per 148 ml serving (5 oz). By contrast, a pat of butter is about 12 ml. (1-1/2 tsp.)
It’s simple, easy to make with a good blender or an immersion blender (my fave). It’s also really inexpensive!
Serves: 12
THE STUFF
2 heads of cauliflower
1 large onion
2 stalks celery
118 ml / 1/2 cup whipping (heavy) or cream coconut cream (Vegan)
Set the pots and pans on the stove. Set your 8″ sauté/fry pan to medium low.
Add the cumin seed to the 8″ fry pan. Swirl gently to distribute the seeds across the pan or stir with a non-stick spatula. Remove when lightly toasted, meaning if y’all can smell the fragrance of the cumin oil warmed up, it’s done. We’re not looking for burn marks like toast. 3-7 minutes depending upon stove equipment. Use the spatula to put the toasted seed into a mini glass work bowl. Set aside;
While toasting the seeds, trim off the base and leaves from the heads of cauliflower. Open the head up by trimming clusters, breaking them down into smaller 1-2″ (approx) bits. Smaller chunks of cauliflower let steam work more efficiently to cook more evenly and help the immersion blender work better.. Stop and swirl/stir the cumin as needed. Put the cauliflower florets into the stock pot;
Peel the carrot. Quarter it. Put in the stock pot.
Clean the celery. Quarter. Put it in the stock pot.
Very coarsely cut the onion. Spray or coat the nonstick frying pan with avocado oil. Set to medium. Put the into the 12″ frying pan. Cook, stirring periodically with the spatula, until the onion softens and starts to turn translucent.
Add enough water to fill up about 1/3 of height of the vegetables. About 2 cups. Mostly we’re worried about steaming the veggies here. You can always add more water if it is too thick down-road;
Set the pot to medium. Cover. When is reaches a boil. Set to low to simmer. Cook for approximately 20-30 minutes, or until tender enough that the cauliflower falls apart easily when poked at with the spatula but still has some structure. Resist cranking up the heat, and let the steam do its job. Fiber is lost when overcooking.
Add the cumin, cayenne, and white pepper. Add the cream or coconut milk with coconut cream in it.
Using the pimer/immersion blender, purée the soup until smooth and creamy. Keep the blender down, and use the low setting, working in a circle by blending in different places to break down the bigger pieces.PIMER/IMMERSION TIPS:
REMEMBER TO STOP COMPLETELY before you pick up the immersion blender and move it, or stuff will go everywhere.
Don’t rest the stick on the bottom. Keep it just about a 1/2″ from the bottom to let the vegetables get under it.
If your stick has a Turbo feature, like the All-Clad, featured below, stick it in the middle. Get it positioned well. Brace yourself and hit it. Turbo can have a bit stronger pull, so hold on. This will get that final, nice smooth pureé quickly though. Otherwise you have to keep moving around on low speed to get it to the same consistency.
BLENDER/FOOD PROCESSOR TIPS:
Make sure it has a good motor. Soups can put more load on the motor than smoothies.
Empty the vegetables and any liquid in the pot into a large work bowl, as you’ll need to work in batches.
Reserve the pot, as you’ll return the finished puree back to it, and then finish the soup there.
Add salt to taste. If too thick, add a little water. Stir.
Serve.
The Jazz Chef’s Cauliflowah Cumin Chowdah goes great with slices of a nice crusty French bread. It can easily be frozen/reheated. If you do freeze or store, you may need to add a little water to thin it.
There was not a typo in the headline! “Fennilla” is my take-twist on a classic from-scratch vanilla pudding light as a cloud and tasty as a summer day that uses a little fennel pollen, vanilla bean, and a touch of orange zest for the American pudding with a little more, and, whoo-whee, the bonus is it’s gluten-free!
ORLEANS AVENUE
My pudding named for one of the best fusion jazz bands in the world today: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. Troy “Shorty” Andrews, aka Trombone Shorty and his band, Orleans Avenue, redefined the New Orleans sound by twisting the traditions of Jazz, Rock, Hip-Hop and the other sounds of the city into a harmonious whole that is a tasty treat for the ears and a some street beat for the feet! Touring the world to sold-out shows he’s featured guests like Lenny Kravitz, Jon Batiste (Late Show with Stephen Colbert), Brandi, and many more at concerts and on his albums. The band that surprises and delights is the perfect group to honor with a dessert that everyone assumes is going to roll old school, but takes off in its own direction!
American Pudding 101 & MY NEW SECRET WEAPONS
Puddings are not magic. They’re thickened milk, with sugar and flavorings in them. Not much mystery in the making. What makes them magic are the flavors. Flavors, like a high quality fennel pollen, vanilla, vanilla bean powder, and a touch of orange zest are better than just adding fats, more cream in this case, as a happy. They make you smile, without making your waist line expand.
Puddings are pretty easy to create perfectly, and give a richer in mouth feel IF:
You use a thermometer
You don’t overcook them
You use a little chemistry to give them a lighter structure
You DO NOT thicken them with cornstarch or wheat flour.
How they thicken is what separates the bland box powders and chemicals that imitate pudding from the wonderful wow.
THE INCREDIBLE EGG
The incredible egg! It’s rich! It’s strong! It binds and lifts!
As we’ve talked about with perfect eggs, the proteins in both whites and yolks bind together with our temperature mantra:
68/154 gives your eggs a little more.
We’re taught to cook by visual cues. If it’s boiling, it must be ready. It won’t kill you, but it kills the protein structures in the food, which we make up for by adding extra starches to go back and fix.
Science and a good digital thermometer helps us. Yolks are 50% water. So, as Hervé This points out in his groundbreaking book Molecular Gastronomy, 68°C or 154°F is where the water in the egg cooks out with enough time for the proteins to build and bind to make them light and wonderful. We can let it get a bit hotter, but if we want to maintain that light consistency, we have to avoid destroying them.
That presents us with a challenge:
The PERFECT Pudding Paradox
Boiling and baking is BAD. It breaks down the structure of the egg in most traditional recipes, and then most recipes add too much wheat and/or corn starch to correct the problem, which flattens pudding and turns it into sticky goo.
The ideal temperature to create puddings without textures like rice or tapioca is 180°-182°F/82°-83°c, about 18°F/10°c more than where our “binder” eggs, do their best work. How to fix that?
Meet Cream of Tartar (CofT). Yes, that jar of white stuff mocking you from your pantry!
You bought it for that scone or other recipe that called for it, but you really have no idea what it does. Truth!
Cream of tartar is an acid that strengthens proteins in eggs and milk, among other things, helping them solidify better at higher temperatures, without becoming rubbery or tough, and without the vinegar taste. Read my piece on it, It’s about to rock your world here by making one of the most delicate and flavorful puddings that will come out of your pots!
We put in the CofT after the egg yolks at 68°C or 154°F to help them as they build and bind in our low-heat cook that gradually moves up to perfect.
The PUDDING PLOT IS THICKENING
Once we have integrated the milk and egg, sugar and spice into this rich, wonderful whole, we aren’t making a smoothie. We need a thickener.
Most pudding recipes call for flour or cornstarch, unless you’re from Asia, or parts of South America where locating either is a bit trickier. A substitution that I discovered in Bali, Indonesia, years ago, works much better: Rice flour. It’s fine, delicate, neutral in taste, doesn’t get a gooey as corn starch and it’s gluten-free!
That gets us to good. What gets us to perfect is a bit of xanthan/guar gum, a natural thickener that avoids using too much of the rice flour.
THE FLAVOR FAVE OF FENNILLA’S A RAVE!
The base in this pudding can be riffed on almost endlessly by changing up what’s in it. Here though, I find that the fusion of fennel pollen with Tahitian vanilla, which is a bit more fruity than the Madagascar, and a touch of orange zest on the back-end for a little fresh finish, elevates the classic to a new A-Game!
BETTER SUGARS ARE BETTER FOR YOU
Most boxed foods are full of really toxic sugars like High Fructose Corn Syrup or use “diet” or “zero cal” fake sugars, including Stevia, that trick your tongue into a sweet happy only to have your pancreas crank out more sugar receptors, which is why you just don’t lose weight on diet sweets. Dextrose, in the glucose family, is closer to your body’s natural blood sugar. Read more here about how it works, and see if it’s right for your daily use. I put in a little finely ground caster sugar as a supporting sweet, but you can reduce it or omit it as you see fit.
LACTOSE-FREE SUBSTITUTIONS
If you use Fairlife whole milk, the only lactose-free milk that I’ve used that isn’t disgusting, and Organic Valley‘s lactose-free half & half instead of the cream, you still get amazing results.
Small tasting spoons for stirring and a couple for taste checks.
Medium size (60 ml / 2 oz) ladle
THE HOW-TOS
Get your ingredients and gear in place.
Zest the orange peel into a work bowl. Chop with a small paring knife if necessary to break up long strands. Set aside.
Measure the rice flour into a mini glass prep bowl. Set aside.
Measure the cream of tartar and put into a mini glass prep bowl. Set aside.
Measure the guar (xanthan) gum powder into a mini prep bowl. Set aside.
Measure the milk and cream. Add the vanilla extract.
Separate your egg yolks into a mini glass prep bowl.Set aside.
(Reserve the whites by cracking the egg over a storage container to use for another recipe or a nice omelette another day.)
Put the saucepan on the stovetop, and set to low (gas) med/low (Electric 2-3). Don’t rush the heat! We’re not bringing this pudding to a boil. Rather, we are working “under the radar” and taking it slowly up to180°-182°F/76°-78°c to give the yolks’ protein structures time to build a lighter pudding;
Add the milk, cream, vanilla extract, and your dry ingredients work bowl. (Everything EXCEPT the egg yolks, cream of tartar, and rice flour).
Whisk together. Your vanilla bean powder will float a bit even after whisking. This isn’t unusual.
When the ingredients reach 68°c/154°F, whisk in the egg mixture with the spatula. Scrape out the container with the raw egg yolk for any leftover with the spatula. Whisk in.
Take the cream of tartar and grabbing pinches with your fingers, sprinkle it over the top of pudding. Whisk in.
Whisk periodically, scraping the bottom so it does not burn. As the temperature rises, it will begin to thicken 5-8 minutes on gas, a bit longer for electric.
When the thermometer in the liquid in the saucepan hits 80°C / 176°F, pick up your rice flour in the mini prep bowl. Add water (about 30ml / 2 tbsp.) and stir with a small spoon until there are no lumps and the liquid is like a milk, not wallpaper paste.
When the temp reaches 180°-182°F/76°-78°c and is thickening up nicely, add the rice flour mixture. Stir.
The mix will thicken a bit more in 1-3 minutes, approximately. Some may be a bit longer.
Last, using your fingers and the whisk, pinch the guar gum and sprinkle lightly over the top as you stir with the other hand. This will put the final thickening on. DO NOT drop it straight in.
When it is thickened, it will look like this. Take off the heat.
Ladle into the small serving cups or a larger container.
Pinch just a small touch of fennel pollen on the top for color. DO NOT OVERDO. Put in the refrigerator to set for at at least two hours or until fully chilled. Cover with plastic wrap after fully chilled, or serve.
Rice pudding that sings? If you don’t think rice pudding is just grandma’s soupy or gooey glop, try this luscious lavender infused version made with a little science, better sugars, and soul, and you’ll stop singing the blues!
WHY “LADY DAY?”
Amazing dishes need amazing honorees. Billie Holiday, “Lady Day” was a jazz singer beyond elegant, sensual, soulful.
Yes, there are a million rice pudding recipes. Baked. Boiled. Steamed. Million of moms and even celeb chef ones. I’ve been through a ton of them. The problem with pretty much all of them? You make them without thinking about the ingredients, or understanding the “whys” that will free you from boxed Jell-O and let you improvise your own pudding pièce de résistance:
Most of the rote recipes that I’ve read or cooked rely on the easy-happy of fats, and don’t honor the aromatic ingredients or the basic, simple chemistry of pudding in the way that they’re prepared.
American Pudding 101
Puddings are not magic. They’re thickened milk, with sugar and flavorings in them. Not much mystery in the making.
What makes them magic are the flavors and any textures that you add. Rice is a texture. Flavors, like a high quality vanilla, cinnamon, and, here a little culinary lavender, are better than just adding fats, more cream in this case, as a happy. They make you smile, without making your waist line expand. Likewise, using pre-made rice that’s been washed and had the excess starch removed lightens up the pudding dramatically.
Puddings are pretty easy to create perfectly if you don’t overcook them. How they thicken is what separates the bland box from the wonderful wow. Instead of bogging them down with starches that make them gooey, go lighter in texture and richer in mouth feel:
The incredible egg! It’s rich! It’s strong! It binds and lifts!
As we’ve talked about with perfect eggs, the proteins in both whites and yolks bind together with our temperature mantra:
68/154 gives your eggs a little more.
Yolks are 50% water. So, as Hervé This points out in Molecular Gastronomy, 68°C or 154°F is where the water in the egg cooks out with enough time for the proteins to build and bind to make them light and wonderful. We can let it get a bit hotter, but if we want to maintain that light consistency, we have to avoid destroying them.
That presents us with a challenge:
The Pudding Paradox
The ideal temperature to create puddings without boiling them to goo or mush is 170°-172°F/76°-78°c, about 18°F/10°c more than where our “binder” eggs, do their best work. How to fix that?
Meet Cream of Tartar (CofT). Yes, that jar of white stuff mocking you from your aromata or spice rack!
You bought it for that scone or other recipe that called for it, but you really have no idea what it does. Truth!
Cream of tartar helps the proteins in eggs and milk, among other things, solidify better at higher temperatures, without becoming rubbery or tough.
In an American pudding, we have eggs. We have milk. We need them thicker. We need a bit more heat… Hmmm… Cream of Tartar!!
Read my piece on it, It’s about to rock your world here by making one of the most delicate and flavorful puddings that will come out of your pots!
USED RICE
Rice pudding is best as a follow-up to a rice served for a meal, where you either have a couple of cups left over, or you add a couple to your meal prep to make the following day.
If you use a rice cooker, the best way, just make sure that the rice stays moist overnight by adding a little water, a tablespoon or so, and stirring it in before you close up your rice cooker for the night. Anyone who has used a rice cooker for a long time knows this trick to keep rice for 2-4 days.
You can refrigerate the rice overnight, but if you do, then reheat it on 50% in the microwave with a tablespoon of water prior to using in this recipe to warm it through. Warmed or reheated, the preservation of moisture in the grains of rice keep the cooking time short enough to maintain the heat at the levels we want for the eggs.
PREPARE “NEW” RICE RIGHT
If you cook rice in advance for this dish, rather than use leftovers, always wash any jasmine or basmati rice rice 3-4 times in water before starting to cook it. Don’t use heavily starchy rice. It will affect how this light dish comes together. If you have setting for “Firmer” then use that. It will approximate rice that’s been sitting 24-40 hours in a rice cooker.
DO NOT USE PARBOILED, corner cutters. It is not built well for this kind of recipe because you can’t control the starches in a rice that often is “treated” as its parboiled to not stick, and locks in starches that release oddly when put into a low-temp pudding.
THE EVER-PRESENT RAISIN DEBATE
I would suggest you try this without. For you raisin-at-all-costs rice pudding fiends, though, this pudding’s lavender gives it a very delicate aroma and taste. Raisins have a pop of their own, and certainly you can sub out the lavender for them. If you want to dare to do both, might I suggest using currants, champagne-grape sized raisins, instead? 1/4 cup in a glass measuring cup, covered to just over the top of them with water, popped into the microwave for two minutes BEFORE you start your prep and allowed to cool/absorb. Then strain off the liquid and keep it for up to seven days. (It’s great in teas, mixed alcoholic drinks, and more as a flavoring.)
LACTOSE-FREE SUBSTITUTIONS
If you use Fairlife whole milk, the only lactose-free milk that I’ve used that isn’t disgusting, and Organic Valley‘s lactose-free half & half instead of the cream, you still get amazing results.
Serves: 8
PREP & COOK TIME: 15 – 20 Minutes with pre-made rice; 60-90 minutes with rice cook
Ozeri Digital Scale wet ingredients and dry ingredients work bowls (Zero/Tare weight of bowl) OR:
2 Cup/.5 Liter Measuring Cup
1/3 Cup Dry Measure
Measuring spoon set (US)
Small tasting spoons for stirring and a couple for taste checks.
Soup ladle
HOW-TOS
Have your rice warm and at the ready, Thermapen out because temperature control is everything here.
Measure the cream of tartar and set aside.
Measure your dry ingredients by metric weight into your dry ingredients work bowl (ideal) or with spoons (US)
Separate two egg yolks into the mini glass prep bowl, and lightly beat together with a tsp of water. (Reserve the whites by cracking the egg over a storage container to use for another recipe or a nice omelette another day.)
Put the saucepan on the stove, and set to low (gas) med/low (Electric 2-3); Add the milk, cream, vanilla extract and your dry ingredients workbowl. Everything EXCEPT the rice, egg yolks and cream of tartar.
Whisk together. Your Saigon cinnamon will float a bit even after whisking. This isn’t unusual.
When the ingredients reach 68°c/154°F, whisk in the egg mixture with the spatula. Scrape out the container with the raw egg yolk for any leftover with the spatula. Whisk in.
Add the warm rice and stir with your spatula to integrate. (If you add cold rice, wait for the mixture to return to 68°c/154°F.). Whisk periodically making sure to scrape the bottom, edges and sides so nothing starts to stick.
Take the cream of tartar. Using your fingers, pinch off bits and sprinkle it over the top of the rice in the pot. Whisk in.
Stir periodically, scraping the bottom so it does not burn. As the temperature rises, it will begin to thicken 5-8 minutes on gas, a bit longer for electric. When the temp reaches 170°-172°F/76°-78°c and is thickening up nicely, take off the heat.
Ladle into the small serving cups or a larger container. sprinkle with a touch of cinnamon and/or 6-8 lavender buds each. Put in the refrigerator to set for at at least two hours or until fully chilled. Cover with plastic wrap or serve.
This is a quick mac and cheese that has that diner-grade sticky gooey that can go toe-to-toe with my chili in my split dish Chili Mac Attack plating, and it’s a star in my scrambled mac sandwich, with scrambled eggs, ham and mac and cheese in a hoagie roll.
I do several mac and cheese recipes, depending upon how upscale I want to go with it. You can either lovingly grate quality cheese and go A-game, “grandma” mac and cheese, or, if you have a need for speed, you drop to this Diner-grade M&C.
Yes, greasy spoon Mac is all about speed, which, if you’ve made this stuff, usually means Kraft’s Velveeta. Please don’t go there for your base.
I have no problem with whey, which is most of a “cheese food.” Whey may not be cheese, but it is high in protein, and, if the fats are kept under control, and they keep the other junk out of the product, there is nothing wrong with it, from time-to-time, as a protein in your family’s week.
Big K, though, still manages to work in some really cheap stabilizers and other ingredients that aren’t things that I choose to feed my family, and you shouldn’t feed yours, especially with any weekly regularity. One of these days they’ll get the hint.
Amazingly, Walmart, of all places, the Mecca of mass-produced foods, your Official Obesity Center, seems to be on a better path with more organic foods and its in-house generics. Their reduced fat, Easy Melt cheese is far less full of junk than what is made by our friends at Kraft. Always good to read the labels!
I put in a little good dijon and white pepper to add a little of that sharp-cheddar edge that a better mac-and-cheese would have from using a higher-grade aged cheddar.
1 tsp Fallot or other quality dijon mustard (1.5 tsp for American Grey Poupon)
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 16 oz. box macaroni elbows (Barilla or Italian equivalent)
Salt for pasta water
THE GEAR
Pasta pot with insert for draining
Melting Pot big enough for cheese and all the mac
THE STEPS
Add water and salt to the pasta pot. Set on high
In the melting pot, put in the cheese block and the milk. Set heat to low. Stir periodically to even the melt.
When the water boils, add the pasta and reduce the heat slightly. Set a timer for 6 min.
Add the remaining ingredients to the cheese melt
When the pasta is just al dente, remove and drain. Put it into the cheese pot. Stir in, and let absorb the liquid in the cheese pot, turning occasionally for about 3-5 minutes. If it’s a bit thick, add a little milk, but not too much. We want it thicker, but we want the pasta sucking in some of that good cheesy liquid to bind inside the noodle.
There are a LOT of BBQ pork recipes out there. Literally thousands of ’em. So how/why to find a new take? Riff one of the best BBQ foods AND do it pretty quickly and easily?
I make a great shredded pork using my Komado, BUT it’s a lot slower, longer process. I was looking for something that has all of the authenticity of a good slow-cook pulled pork, with the speed and convenience that most home chefs need when they don’t have hours and hours to make food.
Photo by Gottlieb/ Wikimedia Commons
When I create an original, I like to honor one of the greats of Jazz with the dish. This one is so good that I wanted it to celebrate an artist who has been, sadly, all but forgotten by modern audiences… Pee Wee Russell.
He’s a guy whose career may be less celebrated, but, like the great Louis Armstrong, it spanned every era and style of the music, from Dixieland to Free Jazz,and his unique style saw him featured at gigs with Bix Beiderbecke in the Jazz Age of the roaring 1920s all the way to the Bop era with Thelonious Monk and others in the 1950s.
Pee Wee was a clarinet genius. Check him out if you have a minute, since I just freed up fourteen hours of cooking to get to this quality of pork.
Add the pork shoulder to the Instant Pot. You may have to cut it to fit it in the bottom of the pot.
Add all ingredients EXCEPT the tomato paste to the instant pot:
Muscovado sugar is real brown sugar. Straight burn from the cane, rather than molasses heaped into white sugar. Less purified, your body handles it better, it provides a great sweet and some smoky bass.
Salts are great flavor carriers. Since we're not smoking the meat in the pressure cooker, the hickory salt brings that BBQ flavor to the meat without putting it on the smoker first.
Tomato sauce helps shape the flavor of BBQ. Later we'll use the paste to thicken it. For now we want it flavoring the meat.
Tellicherry black pepper is a superior peppercorn. I grind my own to max out the flave.
Fenugreek, the seed, takes a while to bring its flavor out of the seed, even ground, and into the food. The baby leaves, however, are fragrant wonders, and give me speed. Sweet and savory. Wow.
Again I go with ground for better absorption in pressure cooks. Allspice brings a lot of flavor complexity to anything with a sweet savory edge.
A Japanese pepper gets thrown in for flavor and a touch of heat. They break down well.
Paprika provides both color and sweet body to the BBQ sauce.
Why powder over seed? The mustard needs to get into all of the food fast. The seeds take longer to break down, and for this flavor I need more instant gratification.
Add Turkish Urfa Biber which is a less intense spicy earthy pepper. It's the bass in my flavor symphony of bbq sauce.
Add tomato sauce (NOT PASTE) and the corriander seed, and other dry ingredients like salt.
For sauces if you're looking for more statement and less subtlety, use the dried. I like Badia's no-frills.
Onion powder is a better way to go with this than fresh onion because of its intensity. BBQ has to pop, and this gets you there faster.
Saigon cinnamon is a wonderful fragrant, and very strong, so a little goes a long way in this BBQ sauce to give it some aromatic contrast with the cumin and balance off the sour of sumac.
Sumac provides a hint of sourness without having to add additional vinegar, adding acid that makes BBQ harder to digest.
Cumin is a base flavor in BBQ and in Texas chili. It's a musky aromatic that adds dimension to sauces and condiments.
Add bay leaf, fenugreek leaves (big aroma), onion powder, etc.
I like the organic best, but get filtered.
Measure out roughly 1/3rd cup of apple cider vinegar
You can use regular worcestershire as well, but the spicy has a pop!
Stir and coat the pork shoulder.
Lock on the Instant Pot lid. Press the Meat button, then add time to 90 minutes using the PLUS button. Set the pressure cooker to HIGH. It will start automatically. (If using a Fagor pressure cooker, lock the lid set to 2 slower cook on the steam knob, bring the pot to a boil, and, once the steam locks the lid, with the button up, set to med. low or low and cook for 90 minutes.)
When the meat is done, remove it from the Instant pot with tongs. Leave the pot on its warming cycle. Let it drain before placing in a work bowl. Using your fingers and/or a fork, shred the pork, discarding any heavy fats or cartilage, and put the meat into a second work bowl.
Finished meat should look like this. Leave a bit larger chunks for good mouth feel. The meat is so tender you don’t need to shred it to bits.
Add the shredded pork back to the BBQ base and stir in.
Add the tomato paste.
Stir in the tomato paste. Run the video so you can see the proper thickness.
Cover the pork and keep warm until serving.
Plating – Take your bun of choice, and heap a little on with tongs. Let the sauce drain off a bit to keep the bun from swamping. Serve with some BBQ beans and a vegetable side. For a nice riff, make some mayo-free spicy coleslaw and add a bit to the top of the pork before topping with the bun.
Freezing – If you’re not feeding a bunch of people, store and freeze smaller batches. It freezes great!
Red velvet is one of those American cakes that has always attracted me so much. That dark red, combined with cream white, is just two colors I often use, even at home. Her gloomy appearance, soft and moist, made me mouthwash. In addition, its colorful and vibrant appearance immediately attracts the attention of children, and their delight.
It’s a pretty simple dessert, which can be prepared the day before, does not require much work but has a great visual effect.
Let’s talk about the cream filling. I love it! Simple, economical, but delicious! I often use homemade whipped cream for other desserts, to dress cakes or as frosting on cupcakes. It pairs well with the cocoa in the red velvet.
This icing is very handy to use, because it keeps its shape well, and can be used with a piping bag to create different decorations. The version that is made in Italy does not have the butter, but uses the whipping cream and mascarpone cheese. In the United States you might use a spreadable cheese like cream cheese or goat cheese.
On the web, I’ve seen so many types of red velvet, but I love to play a bit with new and original interpretations in my desserts. For this cake I am improvising off a recipe by Peggy Porschen, where there are a few clear steps to be respected, but I decided not to make the classic cake. I really liked the idea of creating a single serving for a lunch with friends.
Conventional wisdom, and my grandmother, say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and I must say that it is often the case. I find them perfect for a romantic dinner, to impress my companion.
Here are my irresistible little red pies! Two bites of goodness.
Serves 10
MISE-EN-PLACE
Work bowl and hand mixer, or mixer with whisk and beater attachments
Note: If you prepare it the day before you can still keep it in the fridge, wrapped in food film. The excess can also be frozen, dividing the diskettes with a baking paper sheet and wrapping them in the film.
Cover the bottom of a large low-sided baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside.
With an electric mixer blend the softened butter with the sugar and vanilla extract, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Lightly blend an egg and add half of it to the butter and sugar mixture, then add one tablespoon of flour taken from the total dose. When the egg is absorbed add half the remaining egg, along with a spoonful of flour.
Dissolve the red dye in the buttermilk. If you want a more intense red, you can add more food color in another step.
Mix half of the butter into the buttermilk mixture with the mixer at medium speed.
While mixing, in a separate bowl, integrate the cocoa and flour together. Stop the mixer, and add half of the cocoa-flour mix into the mixer bowl. Mix slowly to medium speed. When the cocoa-flour mixture is well integrated, add the remaining milk and the other half of the cocoa-flour mix.
In a small non-reactive (non-metal) bowl, mix the vinegar and the bicarbonate to form a foam. Add it to the dough immediately. This is the time to add more red food dye if you want to intensify the color.
In your parchment-lined baking tray, pour out the mix until 3/4 full. If necessary, you can divide the dough into several trays.
Bake in a hot oven at 340°F for about 20-25 minutes. Cool completely.
Flip the pan over on your work surface and gently remove the baking paper.
Using your 2″ biscuit cutter, cut three rounds for each cake.
FILLING (VERSION 1)
In a cold bowl, mix the mascarpone cream and sugar until it is smooth and thick compound. Do not mix too much, otherwise it will become granular.
Store in a container in the refrigerator for at least an hour to set.
FILLING (VERSION 2)
Mix mascarpone, cheese and sugar.
Using an electric whip to mount the cream and add the cream of mascarpone gently mixing from bottom to top.
Store in a refrigerator covered with food film for at least an hour to set.
ASSEMBLY & DECORATION
Place the top disks on a tray. Sprinkle with pearl sugar. Set aside.
Place the decorative tip on the pastry bag. Fill up the pastry bag with the filling.
Lay out the bottom layers.
Pipe on the cream.
Put on the middle layer.
Pipe on the cream.
Place the top layer with the pearl sugar on. Pipe on some of the cream. Top with a couple of fresh raspberries.
La red velvet è una di quelle torte americane che mi ha sempre attirato tantissimo. Quel rosso scuro, abbinato al bianco della crema, sono proprio due colori che uso spesso, anche in casa. Il suo aspetto goloso, morbido e umido, mi faceva venire l’acquolina in bocca. Inoltre, il suo aspetto colorato e vivace attira subito le attenzioni dei bambini, e la loro golosità.
E’ un dolce abbastanza semplice, che si può preparare il giorno prima, non richiede molto lavoro ma ha un grande effetto visivo.
Ma parliamo della crema, io la amo! Semplicissima, economica, ma deliziosa! E’ una crema molto comoda da usare, perché mantiene bene la forma, e la si può usare con la piping bag per creare diversi decori. La versione che si fa in Italia non ha il burro, ma utilizza la panna da montare e il mascarpone, o anche un formaggio spalmabile. Io la uso spesso anche per altri dolci, per ricoprire le torte o come frosting sui cup cake. Sta benissimo abbinata al cacao.
Sul web ho visto tanti tipi di red velvet, ma io amo interpretare in modo nuovo e un po’ originale i miei dolci, così ho deciso di non fare la classica torta. Mi piaceva molto l’idea di creare delle monoporzioni, da servire a un pranzo con degli amici. Così eccole qua, queste mini tortine rosse irresistibili. Due bocconi di bontà. Le trovo perfette anche per una cenetta romantica, per stupire il proprio compagno. La saggezza popolare (e mia nonna), dice che l’uomo si prende per la gola, e devo dire che spesso è proprio così.
Per questo dolce ho usato la ricetta di Peggy Porschen, in cui i passaggi da rispettare sono pochi ma chiari. La ricetta originale prevede l’uso del latticello, che però in Italia non si trova. Quindi ho indicato anche la procedura per fare il latticello in casa, è molto facile.
Per la cream cheese suggerisco due varianti. Una con solo panna e mascarpone, e un’altra, per gli amanti di un gusto più “cheese”, con l’aggiunta di un formaggio spalmabile (ad esempio il Philadelphia).
Per 10 persone
Cosa serve
Una ciotola o un mixer per impastare
Un taglia biscotti rotondo da 5-6 cm
Una sac a poche
Una bocchetta per sac a poche
Spatole o cucchiai per mescolare
Una frusta elettrica per montare la panna
Un contenitore per montare la panna
Una o due ciotole per mescolare
Impasto della torta
150 g di zucchero Zefiro
60 g di burro morbido Parmareggio
1 uovo grande biologico
130 g di latticello
1 cucchiaino e mezzo di colorante in gel rosso Hilton, o colorante in polvere naturale fino al raggiungimento di un bel rosso intenso/scuro
1 cucchiaio raso di cacao amaro (circa 9 g) Cameo
138 g di farina 00 Molino Chiavazza
mezzo cucchiaino di bicarbonato
mezzo cucchiaino di aceto bianco Ponti
mezzo cucchiaino di estratto naturale di vaniglia
Con le fruste elettrice montare il burro morbido con lo zucchero e l’estratto di vaniglia, fino ad ottenere un composto chiaro e spumoso.
Sbattere leggermente un uovo e aggiungerne metà al composto di burro e zucchero, poi unire un cucchiaio di farina preso dalla dose totale. Quando l’ uovo è stato assorbito aggiungere la metà di uovo rimanente, insieme a un cucchiaio di farina.
Sciogliere il colorante rosso nel latticello. Se desiderate avere un colore più intenso potrete aggiungere altro colorante successivamente.
Unire metà latticello al composto di burro, con le fruste a velocità media.
Setacciare insieme cacao e farina e aggiungerne metà alla preparazione. Quando è ben amalgamato completare con il latticello restante e l’altra metà del mix di cacao e farina.
In una ciotolina mischiare l’aceto e il bicarbonato, si formerà una schiumetta, e aggiungere subito all’impasto. Se necessario unire altro colorante alimentare.
Rivestire una teglia bassa e larga con carta forno e versatevi sopra il composto in uno strato alto circa un dito. Se necessario potete dividere l’impasto in più teglie.
Cuocere in forno già caldo a 338°F per circa 20/25 minuti. Fare raffreddare, capovolgere su un tavolo e togliere delicatamente la carta da forno.
Ritagliare con un taglia biscotti da 5-6 cm o un coppapasta rotondo, per ottenere 3 dischetti per ogni tortina.
Se lo preparate il giorno prima potete conservalo ancora intero in frigorifero, avvolto da pellicola per alimenti. L’eccedenza può anche essere congelata, dividendo i dischetti con un foglietto di carta forno e avvolgendoli nella pellicola.
Latticello
63 g di yogurt magro Yomo
68 g di latte parzialmente scremato Granarolo
mezzo cucchiaino di succo di limone
Mischiare tutti gli ingredienti insieme in una ciotola e far riposare mezz’ora a temperatura ambiente.
Cream cheese con mascarpone e panna (version 1)
125 g di mascarpone Granarolo
125 g di panna fresca Granarolo
40 g di zucchero a velo Zefiro
Montare in una ciotola fredda la panna insieme al mascarpone e allo zucchero, fino a renderlo un composto liscio e montato. Non montare troppo, altrimenti diventa a granelli duri.
Cream cheese con mascarpone, panna e formaggio (version 2)
80 g di formaggio spalmabile tipo Philadelphia
90 g di mascarpone Granarolo
150 g di panna fresca Granarolo
50 g di zucchero a velo Zefiro
Mischiare mascarpone, formaggio e zucchero.
Con una frusta elettrica montare la panna e aggiungere la crema di mascarpone mescolando delicatamente dal basso verso l’alto.
Conservare in frigo coperto con pellicola per alimenti
Decorazione
5-10 lamponi freschi
20 perline di zucchero
Composizione
Riempire una sac a poche con la cream cheese, scegliere una punta rigata o liscia, come più vi piace. Io ho usato una bocchetta rigata.
Posizionare un primo dischetto di torta su un piattino da dessert, farcire con 7 ciuffetti di crema partendo dal bordo e terminando con un ciuffetto centrale.
Sopra questi ciuffi di crema posizionare il secondo disco di torta e ripetere la procedura, creando con la sac a poche altri 7 ciuffi di crema.
Sopra questo ultimo strato di crema poggiare il terzo e ultimo dischetto di torta.
Spolverare con poco zucchero velo, decorare con altri due ciuffetti di crema (uno più grande e uno più piccolo), e completare con lamponi freschi interi o tagliati a metà, e perline di zucchero (o cuoricini di zucchero).
Conservare in frigorifero fino al momento di servire.
This recipe calls for Muscovado, real-deal brown sugar from the rich burnt cane, higher in fiber, and lower in sucrose-super-sweetnesss.
There are a lot of easy home runs for breakfast that don’t take a lot of work. You can improvise quickly just combining great flavors on hand!
One day, a few of us were allowed to come to the kitchen. I discovered David’s secret weapon was not a slingshot, but steam! He didn’t drown the vegetables, only adding enough liquid to make his soup, and leave enough room in his massive pot to allow for the steaming of his vegetables before puréeing. It maxed out the flavor and nutrition!
If you use 
