STUDIOKITCHEN

The Perfect Tiramisu

Though several people in Italy may ask for my head on a platter dusted with cocoa powder, I have decided ladyfingers, sheets of genoise or any other cake are useless and actually ruin the texture of Tiramisu.

Aerating the flavors of Tiramisu are so much better.

Marcarpone Chocolate Cream set with Agar and Gelatin.

Marsala Syrup

Coffee Gelee

Cocoa Nib Brittle

Atomized Chocolate

Actually the first time I have ever completely eaten something I was shooting immediately afterwards.

Yum !   

Next version will be served with Tiramisu Ice Cream.

Chewy Dough Not Pasta.

Probably the most ubiquitous food item in the world's cuisines is the stuffed dumpling steamed, boiled or fried. Numerous renditions include Shumai, Samosa, Gyoza, Ravioli and my favourite the Pierogi. Pierogis unfortuantely seem to be made more with pasta dough than pierogi dough, don't get me wrong I love a good potato ravioli but that is not quite the point. There is a unique texture that comes from the use of sour cream, baking powder and salt that just puffs the dough slightly and when further crisped provides a fantastic texture contrast. While I gratuitously wrapped these with thinly sliced Hobbs bacon, they are perfectly fine plain. While it is delicious served with some sour cream and maple caramelized onions, it can make an approachable delicious "starch" served with a piece of meat of fish.

Ribeye Cap.

Bacon Wrapped Potato and St Marcellin Pierogi.

Pea-Truffle Pistou

 

Pierogi Dough

• 8 oz Sour Cream
• 3 Eggs
• 3 cups AP Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder

1. Beat together the eggs and sour cream until smooth. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir the dry ingredients into the sour cream mixture until dough comes together. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until firm and smooth. Divide  in half then roll out one half to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out 3 inch rounds using a biscuit or pastry cutter.
2. Place a small spoonful of your  potato filling into the center of each round. Moisten the edges with water, fold over, and press together with a fork to seal. Repeat procedure with the remaining dough.
3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook perogies  for 3 to 5 minutes or until they float to the top. Remove with a slotted spoon.

Curing Lardo

The Charcuterie at the ELEMENTS dinner was fantastic, I particularly liked the relatively quickly cured Lardo using the vacuum sealer to speed up the technique. As Alex put it, who has time to bury pork fat in salt for 3 months, I believe you do get a better product with cleaner flavor.

I sourced my leaf lard from Jennifer and Michael since I love their pork chops.

After exchanging text messages with Jeff Michaud in Italy, he recommended 6% salt by weight. I added a hint of spices inspired by my cilantro stem discovery of a few days ago.

The components for the spice mix are:

Allspice 5g

Star Anise 10g

Fennel 3g

Cilantro Stem Powder 10 g

Cinnamon 1 stick

Spices are toasted quickly and ground in a coffee mill. I used 6% salt plus an extra 5 grams of the spice mix as I only want it to have a hint of spice flavor. The question now is how long to wait, certainly no more than a week. 

I would like to grate frozen lardo over a scampocarpaccio, really super fresh or live shrimp, quickly dispatched and pounded thin with salt, lovage oil and roasted soybeans.

The effect of the pork far melting on the tongue with the pristine shellfish has to be fantastic

Thinly sliced scallops would work as well.

If all that fails, lardo bruschetta are failsafe especially with late summer tomatoes.

 

Spring Peas Process-Form-Texture-Contrast

This new format makes it easy to revisit old posts in detail. One of my favorite compositions and pictures from the last several years is the Green Pea Salad. This is my baseline of simplicity in the context of letting ingredients speak for themselves. The Pea Tendril above are the last component of the salad.

Essentially fresh ripe peas are seasoned with s and p and rolled around on a plancha for a few minutes.
They are then  sealed in an airtight container to steam with residual heat.
The base is made by putting peas and cubes of Pecorino in between 2 pieces of oiled plastic wrap.
It is pounded thin and then chilled in the freezer for about 20 minutes to firm up.
It is then cut into neat rectangles and placed carefully on the plate.

The pea tendrils and other roasted peas are strategically placed on top of the cheese "mosaic"
Clean elemental food that speaks for itself.