Cippolini Soup Dumplings

I often wonder if whole roasted cippolini onions are worth the effort whenever I see them. Granted they are quite delicious caramelized, but when prepping I end up destroying the first thick layer of some. This time I made an effort to figure out a way to consistently remove just the paper.

After playing around with a couple ideas, I discovered that aggressively rolling the onions on their sides released the paper skin with ease. It crushes the outer cell structure, but what do you care? You were going to roast them anyway.

After roasting the onions with schmaltz, I noted that they looked very much like soup dumplings. In fact, there were more similarities than differences. The only disappointment was that there wasn't enough of a textural difference between the outer "wrap" and inner "filling".

I couldn't help but hold over a few to see if a second roasting the next day would give me the results I was looking for. The inside was hot, creamy and sweet with a touch of caramelization. The outside was nicely browned and had an interesting chewy texture. The "wrapper" needs a little work. Maybe an oven frying technique at the end will crisp it up nicely? Any suggestions?

Sometimes simple investigations lead to unintended discoveries worth pursuing. 

As always, please share your ideas to keep the ideas bouncing...

Cantaloupe Parsley Sorbet - Starting the Frozen Treat Inspiration Chain

Cantaloupe Parsley Stem IPA Vinegar Sorbet

I recently met up with @maxfalkowitz and @verysmallanna out in NYC. Armed with the understanding that we all love making ice cream, Max took us to two killer shops that were inspiring. This led to an idea. I proposed a frozen treat jam session.

Shaved Cantaloupe & Parsley Stems in Light Simple Syrup

The concept is to create a delicious frozen treat inspiration chain. The focus is to have fun with making unusual flavor and texture combinations that we all can experience and benefit from.

Guidelines

1. Riff on a previously made frozen treat in any way.
2. Use something in abundance for the base.
3. Accent with a flavor that has developed over time.
4. Bonus points for: 
• using an ingredient that would normally be thrown out
• using byproducts to make something else
• creativity of course
5. Upon completion, post a photo or link with a description of your creation on Twitter or Instagram using #FrozenTreatIdeas, tag @ourcookquest @verysmallanna @maxfalkowitz and hand the challenge off to a friend. 

Cantaloupe Parsley IPA Vinegar Soda

We look forward to seeing all the refreshing mash ups and relationships in between.

As always, please share your investigations to keep the ideas bouncing...

Miso Making Madness

Koji is a crazy enzyme packed medium that has the potential to convert almost anything into a delicious miso. We all know the wonders it does to soybeans. The focus here is to mix koji in with different bases that vary the ratio of protein to carbohydrate to fat and see what happens. I used nutrition facts tables as a rudimentary baseline for comparison. I'm on a mission to see if there are any limits to this process.

End of the First Batch of Plantain Miso

Plantain miso was my first adventure into a mash that wasn't a legume or grain. The high carbohydrate content was what I was most curious about. The nutrition ratio is similar to rice. After a year, the funky green banana scented miso was quite good.

Pepita Paste and Teff Koji

Pepita Miso Looking Like Mustard

Why not a seed? Pepitas seemed like a logical choice due to their use in moles. Somewhat close to the soybean ratio but the carbohydrate dominates instead of protein. Nutty soy sauce paste after 7 months.

Miso Method Hard Cheese

A hard miso cheese was the result of pressing and hanging ricotta inoculated with Jasmine rice koji. Primarily protein and fat. Amazing how similar it was to Parmesan cheese after a couple of months. Check out Miso Method Cheese Making for how the base was made.

Peanut Butter and Jasmine Koji

Ground peanuts were used to make a PB miso. The enzymes converted the high fat content into something ridiculously good after only a couple of months. A peanut butter umami bomb.

Cookie Dough and Teff Koji

Why not use a medium that's already delicious like cookie dough? Twice as much carbohydrates as fat with very little protein. Still waiting on this one...

Cookie Dough Miso Cookies?

Why not bake it off after a short fermentation period to use as breadcrumbs?

White Chocolate and Teff Koji

White chocolate miso had to happen. Interestingly enough, the ratio is very similar to cookie dough. Still too early to know if it'll be good.

Raw Egg and Jasmine Koji

Raw egg is pretty much all protein and fat. We'll see...

The koji enzyme monster has converted everything I've thrown at it into miso with unique characteristics of the base ingredient. Pretty much anything works. I don't have the palate to parse out the protein:carbohydrate:fat ratio conversion differences I was looking for. It has all tasted good so far so maybe it doesn't really matter.

I hope these miso making adventures will inspire you to push the limits of processes you already know and love. The key to discovery is understanding the fundamental method and applying it to your heart's desire.

As always, please share your investigations to keep the ideas bouncing.

Bay Leaf Snickerdoodles

Aromas and complimentary flavors are ties to comfort. Cinnamon has a way but the wonder is long gone. Vanilla is ubiquitous. No need to rest on those laurels any longer.

Broken Bay Leaf Snickerdoodle

The scent of bay leaves cooked with rice is quite nice. It adds a depth of flavor to savory dishes that we all have tasted but can't quite describe. Always a supporting cast member that allows the whole company to shine. What happens when it becomes the star in a cookie?

Pulverized Bay Leaf

Snickerdoodles are simple. Aside from butter and sugar, the driving flavors are cinnamon in the coating and vanilla extract in the base dough. Grinding dry bay leaves into a powder to do a swap was the easy part.

Bay Leaf Rum Extract

The bay extract required a little patience. 125ml of white rum and 12 dried bay leaves got a pressure infusion treatment in a cream whipper then sat for 2 months. The final flavor was quite medicinal, bay leaf bitters.

Ground Bay Leaf Sugar Coating

With the flavor agents sorted, one for one swaps were all that was necessary to execute the recipe.

Bay Leaf Snickerdoodle

The aroma immediately after baking was buttery with a clear floral note. The flavor of the cookie was well... indescribably good.

Sumac Snickerdoodle

Next time you bake think twice about reaching for cinnamon or vanilla. Use a spice that you enjoy in a completely different context. There's a whole world of flavors out there waiting to be rediscovered in your favorite comfort food. 

As always, please share your investigations to keep the ideas bouncing.

Leftover Chicken Stuffing Gougeres

Stale bread hanging around often becomes breadcrumbs. If a little ambition takes hold, stuffing or dressing isn't far from reach. Leftover stuffing breadcrumbs were inevitable...

Chicken Crackling Topped Stuffing Gougere

A flavorful breading makes all the sense in the world and you've already made that connection. Water is to stock as flour is to stuffing breadcrumbs. Why not treat them as a flavor concentrate to enhance a savory baked good? I couldn't help but test gougeres, AKA cheese puffs.

For the pate a choux, I replaced one third of the flour with processed pan dried leftover chicken stuffing. The use of stock instead of water also needed to happen. Cheese was cut in half in efforts to allow the chicken flavor to come through. 

Leftover Chicken Stuffing = Beautiful Breadcrumbs

Prior to baking off the cheese puffs, I wanted to add a crunch factor. Topping them with the breadcrumbs was my first thought, but I knew they would probably burn. I figured a little fat is all I needed to temper the heat. A tiny piece of leftover chicken skin over the middle of the crumbs was the answer. The crumbs were basted by the slow release of fat from the skin as it crisped up. In the end, a beautiful crackling was a perfect compliment to what I would describe as an amazing chicken pot pie gougere.

Cooking is all about getting the most out of the ingredients you have on hand. Leftovers are no exception. Phoenix food.

As always, please share your investigations to keep the ideas bouncing...