Category — Food Porn

Scallops, because of their naturally high sugar content, sear wonderfully. The crisp, golden brown crust of a seared scallop creates texture and accentuates its sweetness. I think scallop pair exceedingly well with tropical flavors, and this dish features quite a few.

First is a puree of young coconut. Young coconut is an immature coconut, and the meat is tender and mildly sweet. The puree is both rich and refreshing, a unique quality of coconut.

The diced pineapple is tossed with fresh Jalapeño and dark rum. The pineapple is then compressed in a vacuum sealing bag. As you remove all the air, the sides of the bag apply large but equal pressure on all sides of the pineapple, compressing the cell walls and creating a unique texture along with an intense concentration of flavor.

The dish also features a smooth avocado and lime sauce. The unctuous sauce combines the richness of avocado with the bright, acidic qualities of lime juice and lime zest. It contrasts well with the richness of the scallops and coconut. Leaves of fresh cilantro add intense bursts of flavor to the dish.

Finally, a fried slice of plantain adds some much needed texture and additional tropical influence to this seafood dish.

Young Coconut Purée:

• 1 young coconut
• Kosher salt, sugar, and lime juice to taste

Carefully crack open the young coconut above a bowl or other large container. Collect the juice, then remove the coconut flesh from the inner shell. The flesh will have remnants of the shell stuck to it. Trim the brown remnants from the flesh, taking care not to remove too much of the young coconut flesh. Place the coconut in a blender and add about half the coconut water. Purée on high speed for 1 minute. Add extra coconut water as needed to achieve a sauce with the consistency of chocolate syrup. Season with kosher salt, sugar, and lime juice.

Left to right: A young coconut, un-trimmed young coconut meat, cleaned and trimmed young coconut meat

Rum-Compressed Pineapple:

• 1 ripe pineapple
• 1 Jalapeño chile
• 2 Tbsp. dark rum
• Kosher salt, to taste

Slice the rind from the pineapple then cut into medium dice. Juice (or eat) the scraps. Slice the jalapeño into quarters lengthwise. Remove the seeds and the skin. Dice the jalepeño fine. Toss with the diced pineapple and add the pineapple juice (if you didn’t eat the scraps) and dark rum. Season with kosher salt. Place the diced pineapple mixture into a vacuum sealing bag and seal on high. Store in the refrigerator until needed.

Avocado and Lime Puree:

• 1 ripe avocado
• 2 limes, juiced and zested
• Kosher salt, to taste

Place the avocado in a blender with lime juice and zest. Season with kosher salt and blend into a fine puree. Pass the purée through a fine mesh strainer or chinois. Press plastic wrap directly on top of the purée and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Fried Plantains:

• 1 plaintain
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Kosher salt and ground allspice, for seasoning

Slice the plantain lengthwise on a mandolin to 1/16 inch thick. Fry the plantain slices at 365° F until golden brown and crisp. Season with a mixture of kosher salt and ground allspice.

To Assemble and Serve (For Each Portion):

• 3 large diver scallops
• Vegetable oil, as needed
• 1 Tb. whole butter
• 2 strips lime zest
• Cilantro stems
• Young coconut purée
• Avocado and Lime Purée
• Rum-Compressed Pineapple
• Fried plantain slice
• Cilantro leaves, for garnish

Clean the scallops of the small but tough side mussel. Season on all sides with kosher salt. Rest and dry the scallops on a paper towel. Heat a cast iron sauté pan over high heat and add a thin layer of vegetable oil. Sear the scallops to a deep golden brown on one side and then flip. Immediately add the butter, lime zest, and cilantro stems. As the butter begins to melt and brown, spoon it over the scallops (A French technique called poulet).

Arrange the purées, pineapple, and cilantro leaves on a plate. Add the seared scallops and a fried plantain slice. Enjoy!

Suggested wine pairing: California Sauvignon Blanc

These stunning photographs were taken by Mike Boehmer.

Mike is a Chicago-based photographer and a regular contributor to The Windy Pixel. Please visit www.mikeboehmer.com for more fantastic photography!

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Plantains are almost identical to bananas in appearance. In some parts of the world, plantains are called bananas and what we know as a banana is a “dessert banana.” A plantain, however, is much harder than a banana, with a very high starch content. Plantains require cooking and, as I like to describe them, are like the lovechild of a banana and a potato. They combine the flavor neutrality of a starch with the sweetness of a banana.

Like bananas, plantains are native to Southeast Asia, however, they have flourished in Central America and the Caribbean, both botanically and culturally. Plantains are a staple starch in the Caribbean and Central America. Tostones are ubiquitous in this part of the world. They are made by first frying a slice of plantain. Once the slice is slightly softened, it’s flattened into a disk then fried once more, often in pork lard, to create a crisp-on-the-outside, creamy-on-the-inside delicacy that can be topped with anything from mango to black beans to coconut.

Tostones: A fried plantain delicacy

The plantain tree yields other edible treat besides it’s fruit. The blossoms are often harvested and used in salads in Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos, much as you might find banana blossoms on the menu at a Thai restaurant. Plantain leaves can be used as wrappers for Mexican and Central American style tamales. Since the plantain is in a family of starches, thin slices can be deep fried and caramelized to perfection, yielding a slightly sweet but impressively crunchy snack.

Keep your mind, eyes, and RSS feeds glued to Garrett’s Table in the coming days for a dish incorporating fried plantains, along with other tropical flavors.

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I get great pleasure from modernizing classic dishes. There’s no doubt that duck and orange go together like peas and carrots and the flavor combination has stood the test of time. Duck A l’Orange can be found in any classic French cookbook, and each chef, Escoffier included, argues that their recipe is the best and only rendition of this dish that has so perpetuated the ethos of French culinary superiority. This is Duck A l’Orange only in that it is duck and orange, and not necessarily a strict adherence to any classical French recipe or dogma.

The dish features both duck confit and seared duck breast. I first cured the duck legs in a mixture of salt, sugar, orange zest, and fresh thyme for 2 days. Afterward I cooked the legs in their own fat for 5 hours at about 200° F with plenty more orange zest, fresh thyme, cracked pepper, and a few drops of pure orange oil. The result is a tender, sweet, and delicate duck confit inundated with the flavors of orange and thyme.

The duck breasts I marinated overnight in fresh orange juice and thyme, with a touch of the curing mixture. After marninating, I dried the breasts well, then seared them in a smoking hot cast iron pan. Once I seared the skin to a deep caramel brown, I flipped the duck breasts then added (once again!) orange peel and fresh thyme with a chunk of whole butter to the hot pan. I spooned the browned, flavored butter over the breasts (a technique called poulet) and then brushed the skin side with a glaze of raw honey, orange juice, and orange oil. I finished cooking the duck breasts in a 400° F oven to medium-well, brushing the skin twice more with the honey-orange glaze

The duck breasts being seared with a poulet of butter, orange zest, and thyme

The third flavor I added to the dish was fennel because I believe it pairs fantastically with both duck and orange. The white bulb I segmented then cooked sous vide at 185° for 2 hours, until the fennel was unnaturally tender. I finished the wedges by searing them in a very hot pan to create a nice char.

Fennel bulb segments vacuum sealed and ready to be cooked sous vide at 185° F.

Fennel stalks, chopped and separated into equal sized portions. Ready to be blanched and pureed.

Because they believe them to be too tough and light on flavor, chefs all to often discard the green fronds and stalks of the fennel bulb. This is an unfortunate waste. To make a light sauce that adds a touch of brightness to the contrastingly rich components of the dish, I made a fresh fennel puree by quickly blanching the stalks and trimmings, then pureeing with a bit of water, sugar, salt, and lemon juice.

Finally, navel and blood orange supremes add more bright flavor and vibrant color to this rich, early-spring dish while keeping it appropriately seasonal.

Voila! Duck A l’Orange

The stunning, professional photographs in this post were taken by Mike Boehmer.

Mike is a very talented, Chicago-based photographer and a regular contributor to The Windy Pixel. Please visit www.mikeboehmer.com for more fantastic photography!

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Fennel is a fantastically flavorful and versatile ingredient. It can stand alone as the main flavor of a dish and play an accompanying role (as in Latke Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Braised Fennel). Its delightful anise flavor can be used in savory and sweet applications (as in Fennel and Orange Páte de Fruit). We even drink fennel, considering its role in flavoring the notorious spirit absinthe.

Fennel owes its aromatic, licorice-like flavor to anethol, a volatile aroma compound also found in anise and star anise. The fennel we eat is a cultivated form called Florence Fennel. The anethol in Florence Fennel is not nearly as intense and the flavor is more sweet than other wild forms of Foeniculum F. vulgare. Culinarily, the bulb of Florence Fennel is most commonly used. Shaved very thin and dressed with a light balsamic vinaigrette, fennel bulb makes a bright, refreshing salad. Sliced into wedges and braised with butter and white wine, the flavor of fennel mellows significantly and the bulb becomes and tender and succulent side dish. Although the stalks and fronds of the fennel plant are not used very often (the stalks are notoriously woody) they can be blanched and pureed or used to garnish a dish. Aside from the bulb, we eat fennel seeds quite often and they are a ubiquitous ingredient in Italian sausage.

A pile of delicate fennel fronds

The ancient Greeks called Fennel marathon and Marathon (of the famed Battle of Marathon in 490 BC) owes it’s name to this aromatic vegetable. Fennel’s aromatic qualities are not surprising considering its close relationship to dill, evident in the shape and nature of it’s flowers. Like most herbs and aromatic vegetables, Fennel has been used as medicine in addition to food.

Fennel bulbs and seeds have been used as herbal medicine for millenia. Fennel aids in digestions, improves eye sight if eaten raw, is a natural diuretic, and improves the nutritional potency of breast milk. So eat all the fennel you possibly can!

Visit Garrett’s Table in the coming days for a fantastic recipe incorporating fennel.

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Your coffee service this evening may look terribly conventional. Indeed it is a cup of coffee with whipped cream and an Italian cookie. But in what forms are all these elements?

The coffee is actually an espresso créme brulée. Espresso combined with a velvety baked custard create a delightful hot and cold, creamy and crunchy version of the classic latté. The “foam” or “whipped cream” on top is a lightly sweetened mascarpone mousse with a touch of shaved dark chocolate.

The cookie is a cookie…but it’s also not a cookie: it’s lady finger ice cream. The ice cream is made and flavored with the classic Italian pastry. After freezing the lady finger ice cream, I used a homemade mold to reform it into the shape of the cookie to which it owes its flavor and inspiration. I made the molds using Silicone Plastique from Make Your Own Molds, a great online source for culinary mold-making.

Silicone molds of lady finger cookies freeze the ice cream into perfect cookie shapes

Beneath the ice cream cookie is a sprinkling of chocolate lady finger crumbs. These crumbs bear a striking resemblance to coffee grounds (a very happy coincidence considering I did not plan this at all), bringing the flavor and concept of this dish full circle.

Do all these flavor elements sound familiar? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, your cup of coffee is tiramisu.

How do you make this classic yet modern dessert? Well, I’m happy to share my secrets! Simply sign up for the Garrett’s Table E-mail newsletter by clicking the link below and entering your e-mail address. I’ll include the recipe, including instructions on how to make your own ice cream molds, in my next mailing (March 1, 2010). All emails are confidential and you can un-subscribe at any time.

These stunning photographs were taken by Mike Boehmer.

Mike is a Chicago-based photographer and a regular contributor to The Windy Pixel. Please visit www.mikeboehmer.com for more fantastic photography!

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