Category — Fun With Food

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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I recently stumbled upon the fantastic food blog Fancy Fast Food. In each entry the author Erik, and occasionally guest authors, showcase their stunning fine-dining creations that are made from nothing but fast food. The picture above is “Seared Pollock Cake with Southwest Ramalan Sauce” made from one McDonald’s filet ‘o fish sandwich and one premium southwest salad.

“Honey Apple Glazed Christmas Holiday Ham” made from Burger King Quad Stackers and breakfast Croissanwiches

“Chick-sat-A:” Chicken satay made from various Chick Fil-A items

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Have a heart this Valentine’s day…literally. Perhaps the most uncommonly used organ meat, heart can be delicious when carefully prepared. Here are a few photos of heart dishes, along with links and recipes, from around the internet. So return that box of chocolates and grab a heart from your local butcher!

Grilled beef heart with basil vinaigrette, roasted tomatoes, and poblano-brie grits from foodtease.com.

Lamb’s heart sandwich with rocket and wild garlic mayonnaise from Jason Lowe at The Independent.

Russian chicken heart stew from Russia Now

Peruvian grilled veal heart from Piolyn Restaurant

Beef heart shepherd’s pie from The Worldwide Gourmet.

“Hearts of Palm” from Chicago’s Alinea. I thought I’d throw this option in for vegetarians!

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Here’s a video of the chefs at moto restaurant electrically charging grains of kosher salt with a negative ion capacitor.  The salt jumps and bounces around in seemingly impossible ways. Crazy food of the future!  Oh by the way….this is where I work.

For more about moto restaurant, watch the video below!

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Back in April Popular Science published this article, titled “Bacon: The Other White Heat.” The accompanying video demonstrates how to melt through a steel pan using nothing but cured pork as the energy source. The creator of the “bacon lance,” Theodore Gray, actually used prosciutto, or what he calls “engineering grade bacon,” because it has more structural integrity and dries harder than conventional bacon. Watch the video and be amazed!

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