June 1, 2008

[The Guerrilla Gourmet]

All those entries look great; I especially love those duck entries! We were originally going to do something similar, but decided to go in a radical new direction. We like it, and we hope you do too. The actual process is a bit complex, and we had some trouble getting our pictures to display in this post, so head over to our blog for a full description and some more great pictures: http://www.theguerrillagourmet.com/2008/05/dessert-pseudo-sushi.html


Flying Raspberry "Roe" Marzipan Sushi Rolls and "nigiri" with almond rice, raspberry "gari", lime "wasabi", and chocolate-raspberry "soy" sauce.

     We originally got this idea from Dr. Z, who made "carrot caviar" at the Maker Faire. Upon meeting him, lofty plans were made for the guerrilla gourmet's first foray into molecular gastronomy. Alas, we got distracted by something shiny and put the chemicals on the back burner. But, when we saw the ingredients for the Leftover Queen's Royal Foodie Joust, it provided just the kick into action we needed. The color of raspberries reminded us of salmon or flying fish roe, the green of the lime reminded us of wasabi, and almond marzipan's flexibility and flavor make it perfect for creative candy-making. So pseudo-sushi was born.

     In order to avoid spending a lot of money on a very delicate scale, we decided to fly by the seat of our pants and use a complicated system of trial and error. To this effect, we've provided our measurements and the much more reliable measurements in grams. I'd personally recommend using a scale…but if you're like us, a bit of stubborn pride will win out in the end!

What's Guerrilla: Not much is guerrilla about molecular gastronomy; on a professional level it requires a huge outlay of new knowledge, fancy equipment, and chemicals, chemicals, chemicals. But we did a good job with it, I think, by getting our chemicals wholesale and using good old trial-and-error experimentation to eliminate the need for more expensive equipment.
What's Gourmet: It's sushi. Made from raspberries, limes, and almonds. That's pretty gourmet.

[toontz]

Hmmm, maybe I should wait until the VERY LAST MINUTE!

Went with a savory appetizer this time, after my sweet entry failed! Serves me right. This is an appetizer with a savory cream cheese filling. For the complete recipe, and details of my disaster, head over to my blog. http://okaramountain.blogspot.com/2008/06/appetizer-with-identity-crisis.html

A Sweet and Savory Appetizer •

Crust: Approximately one half recipe of Slug dough. http://okaramountain.blogspot.com/2008/04/whats-in-name-slug.html

Filling:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 teaspoon lime juice
2/3 cup sweet vidalia onion, (chopped and sauteed in butter and olive oil until translucent) cooled slightly
1/2 teaspoon chipolte pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped
1 cup frozen red raspberries, thawed, and drained
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup chopped golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds (need more for tops if desired)
Freshly grated pepper to taste

Glaze: 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water.

In a large mixing bowl, combine filling ingredients. Place filling in refrigerator while you shape the dough.

Divide dough into three pieces. Roll one piece of dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is between 1/8 inch and 1/16 inch thick. Cut into 2 inch squares. Place a scant teaspoon of filling in the middle of each square. Bring points together in the middle, press together, and seal seams. Make sure all seams are sealed well, otherwise the filling will seep out. Place appetizers (16) on a greased baking sheet to rise for approximately 30 minutes. Continue with remaining dough and filling. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush appetizers with egg glaze and sprinkle toasted almonds on top. Bake appetizers for approximately 15 minutes or golden brown. Remove to wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm.

[Pauline Panzer]

Friday Night Swine, aka Almond-Lime-Soy Crusted Pork Chop with Raspberry Yogurt Dipping Sauce



I started Panzer Kitchen about two months ago with the goal of expanding my range in the kitchen without hewing too closely to other people's recipes. I wanted to learn to cook, really cook, not just follow instructions. I'm beginning to think this was a good idea.

Last night I made something delicious of my own invention: pan-friend pork chops smothered (marinated?) in crushed almonds, fresh lime juice, olive oil, soy sauce, cilantro, garlic and jalapenos. That's right, I made it up, practically out of thin air. I never used to be able to do that.

I served it with a raspberry yogurt dipping sauce to cut the spice of the jalapeno and to add a touch of sweetness--also because I wanted to enter a monthly food blogging competition called The Royal Foodie Joust, hosted by the Leftover Queen, a real blog with actual ADVERTISEMENTS. The deal is you get three ingredients--in this case, raspberry, lime and almond--to turn into a meal.



I don't love this photo, but I need to prove to the judges that I used the raspberry yogurt. I did use it, I swear, and though not totally necessary, it also wasn't half bad.

Wait a second, I just realized anyone can be a judge! Just click on the link above, go to the June event and vote for me. Go on, vote for me. Do it. Do it.

Anyhoozle, if you want to make this yourself, and I encourage you to do so, just mix up the ingredients above in whichever proportions you prefer. I went light on the soy sauce, heavy on the lime juice and jalapeno, and used a hammer to crush a bag of raw, unsalted almonds. I massaged the mix all over the chops and then fried them up in olive oil. I would have grilled them outside if I hadn't discovered at the last minute that the grill was out of gas.



Word to the wise: the almonds will stick to the pan and they will burn. If you find they're getting too burned, remove them from the pan and set them aside. They'll be fine on the plate while you finish cooking the chops. I threw the extra almond mix into the pan because it was so tasty just cooked on its own.

When the meat was done, I deglazed the pan with soy sauce. I learned something from this, which is that when soy sauce is cooked on the stove and allowed to evaporate, it becomes extremely salty. Duh. Seems obvious now, but it didn't occur to me in that split second when my eyes happened on the bottle of Kikkoman and I thought: Deglaze! Still, a little dollop of this on the pork was a nice final touch.

Here's the link:
http://panzerkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/05/friday-night-swine.html

[Norm Schoen]

Lime Marscapone Panna Cotta w/ Raspberry Coulis
Ingredients:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons grated lime peel
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 1/4 cups whipping cream, divided
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese or cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
Small handful of fresh raspberries for garnish

1 cup fresh raspberries
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 lemon-juiced


Preparation
Combine 1/4 cup juice and peel in small saucepan; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup cream to gelatin mixture; stir over low heat just until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat.

Whisk mascarpone and 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl; gradually whisk in remaining 1 cup cream until smooth. Stir this mixture of very low heat until the cream just starts to simmer then remove from the heat .
Whisk gelatin mixture into cream mixture. Pour 4 ramakins or wine glasses. Chill until set, at least 4 hours or overnight.

For the coulis stir the lemon juice juice, 1/4 cup sugar, and the berries together in a small sauce pan. Gentle heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. Puree the raspberry mixture in a blender then strain the mixture through a mesh sieve and refrigerate .
To plate, warm the ramakins to help loosen the panna cotta, invert and plate-spoon or use a squeeze bottle decorate the plate with the Raspberry coulis and then grate peel from 1 lime directly over desserts.

I also made Belgian Tuile cookies that I hand dipped in chocolate and almonds.


I know I missed the cut off date, but this turned out well enough that I wanted to share it. For my blog post please see http://eatrdie.blogspot.com/2008/06/lime-marscapone-panna-cotta-wraspberry.html

[dhanggit]

great ingredients to play with :-)

finally i have time to participate in royal joust :-)

[Queen]

Wow Norm! That sounds really delicious! I am so sorry you missed the date, this would have been a contender for sure.

Lime Marscapone Panna Cotta w/ Raspberry Coulis
Ingredients:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons grated lime peel
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 1/4 cups whipping cream, divided
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese or cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
Small handful of fresh raspberries for garnish

1 cup fresh raspberries
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 lemon-juiced


Preparation
Combine 1/4 cup juice and peel in small saucepan; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup cream to gelatin mixture; stir over low heat just until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat.

Whisk mascarpone and 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl; gradually whisk in remaining 1 cup cream until smooth. Stir this mixture of very low heat until the cream just starts to simmer then remove from the heat .
Whisk gelatin mixture into cream mixture. Pour 4 ramakins or wine glasses. Chill until set, at least 4 hours or overnight.

For the coulis stir the lemon juice juice, 1/4 cup sugar, and the berries together in a small sauce pan. Gentle heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. Puree the raspberry mixture in a blender then strain the mixture through a mesh sieve and refrigerate .
To plate, warm the ramakins to help loosen the panna cotta, invert and plate-spoon or use a squeeze bottle decorate the plate with the Raspberry coulis and then grate peel from 1 lime directly over desserts.

I also made Belgian Tuile cookies that I hand dipped in chocolate and almonds.


I know I missed the cut off date, but this turned out well enough that I wanted to share it. For my blog post please see http://eatrdie.blogspot.com/2008/06/lime-marscapone-panna-cotta-wraspberry.html

[Natashya]

Beautiful panna cotta Norm, I have never made it before, is it difficult? Would it break easily? These are my fears. Fantastic job.
I also had a question about late-harvest wine - since you are the wine guy, maybe I'll visit your site and ask.

[Norm Schoen]

The Panna Cotta is a great recipe that looks like a $1,000,000.00 and is simple to make.
It is great for company since it looks fantastic and you can make it ahead of time. This Lime Marscapone version was tart and a good foil for a heavy meal. My own preference would be a simple vanilla recipe....check out the Food Network 

http://eatrdie.blogspot.com/2008/06/lime-marscapone-panna-cotta-wraspberry.html