Spreading the Dulce de Leche Around

The complexity of dulce de leche is a versatile ingredient for enhancing sweet treats. It can be as simple as replacing honey, molasses, maple or etc. in baked goods. As you can see, I've only begun to scratch the surface of the potential...

Smoked Dulce de Leche "Cracker Jacks"

Pre-Bake Smoked Dulce de Leche "Key Lime" Pie

Smoked Dulce de Leche Corn Muffins

Smoked Dulce de Leche "Brown Sugar"

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

Hasselback Celeriac

Hasselback potatoes are a wonderful spin on oven fries and baked potato all rolled into one. The method is driven by thinly slicing an unpeeled potato most of the way through so it's barely connected. This is followed by basting with butter and seasoning. As it bakes through, the flavorful fat coated slices accordion and become crispy delicious medallions.

Pepperoni Hasselback Celeriac Post Bake

I figured this application would work for root vegetables. I decided give celeriac a try. I cut wedges of the root then hasselback sliced them. I wanted to optimize flavor infusion without having to fan the slices with the risk of breaking the segment apart.

Pepperoni Hasselback Celeriac Pre-Bake

I inserted pieces of pepperoni into each cut. As the celeriac baked through, the salami oil squeezed out and basted each layer. This created crispy and chewy textures from both the celeriac and pepperoni that worked in concert. The earthy celery flavor stood up to the salty umami of the cured sausage. They were delicious and fun to eat.

Hasselback needs to be applied to all sorts of root vegetables. Consider a carrot and pea pesto. Maybe sunchokes layered with chicken skin. Let's not forget the possibility of dense and unripe fruits. There's all sorts of goodness to be had. I look forward to hearing about what worked for you.

As always, keep the ideas bouncing...

Smoked Dulce de Leche

I've been messing around with smoking sugar for a while. The best results have come from using liquid concentrates like honey and maple syrup because they capture the flavor better than solids. My absolute favorite is mesquite hot smoked molasses. The cooking process makes it so smooth you can't stop eating by the spoonful. With the experience of leveraging heat to yield a delicious transformation, I couldn't help but develop a dulce de leche.

Corn Cob Smoked Dulce de Leche

I started by hot smoking sweetened condensed milk (SCM) on a sheet pan. The thought was to gain caramelization depth as well as kick start the Maillard reaction. All it took was a couple hours and mixing every fifteen minutes to develop enough smoke and complimentary brown butter notes. I'm sure you can get to full dulce with time, but it would likely be too smoky and there's no need.

Corn Cob Smoked Sweetened Condensed Milk

For the dulce de leche, I opted for the no fuss crock pot method. The process is dead simple. All you have to do is take a can of sweetened condensed milk, put it in a crock pot filled with water set to low and wait for 24 hours. Of course the smoked SCM is now uncanned, but that is easily solved by putting it into a mason jar. The bonus is that it's contained so the smoke flavor loss is minimized.

Canned Smoked Dulce de Leche

Smoking added pleasing depth without overwhelming the base notes. It's freaking delicious and should be used sparingly as with any dulce or caramel sauce application. Go make some and drizzle away.

As always, keep the ideas bouncing...

Any Cookie Spread

I'm always looking to experiment with the not so pretty and broken bits of cookies that come with holiday baking. Recently, I was noodling nut butter ideas and a connection was made.

Pepperoni Salted Ginger Snap Peanut Butter

Why not make a cookie butter? It should have been obvious after having experienced Biscoff Spread. It's a delicious speculoos cookie spread. If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend getting a jar to enjoy. Be careful not to eat the entire container in a sitting.

I spun up the food processor with ginger snaps until they were crumbs. Next I added peanut butter & continued spinning until it was thoroughly mixed. This was followed by drizzling oil until it became a spreadable consistency. I balanced the base flavor with pepperoni salt and a touch of honey. The result yielded a delicious so wrong so right moment. Once you try it, you'll understand.

The Needs

• Food processor
• Broken and ugly cookies
• Nut/seed/dairy/other butter (optional but recommended)
• Matching or neutral flavored oil
• Any complementary salt in concentrate, powder or granule form
• Sugar syrup like honey/maple/whatever makes sense

The Method

• Process cookies to yield 2 cups of crumbs
• Add 1/8 cup butter of your choosing & process until fully incorporated
• Drizzle oil while processor is spinning until it reaches a spreadable consistency
• Add salt to taste
• Supplement with syrup as needed

No hard and fast rules when it comes to the method. Follow your taste buds as you spin the ingredients.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with to keep the ideas bouncing.  

Puzzle Pieces of Passion

Passion is commitment. You strive to understand every single detail of how to be better at that thing you do no matter how miniscule. You are willing to seek it out at costs that most can't fathom. You don't sleep much because that's time away from the pursuit. When you do sleep, your brain is post processing ideas that will eventually become the inspirations and breakthroughs to fuel the fire. The beast needs to be fed with study, practice, experiments and experiences. It's an addiction you will never shake.

Passion has no space for stuff. The only material objects you accumulate are tools, equipment, references and notebooks in the pursuit of excellence. Some pieces have exceptions due to fond memories of who handed it down to you, that feeling of accomplishment when you first picked up a new skillset, where you discovered it for the first time and the list goes on. You can live without things because it's the knowledge that fulfills. That's the stuff you're made of.

Passion overwhelms. You've experienced the glazed over look when you can't stop talking about a new discovery when someone asks. You have a religious schedule that cannot be broken by just about any occasion. People who know you well enough don't ask you to party. Your significant other has given up on asking you to come to bed if you have one at all. It's not for everyone.

Passion connects. Most everyone in this camp is open to different perspectives and has a willingness to share experiences. It's just about impossible and ridiculous to become proficient without guidance. All you have to do is show true interest and it will open some serious doors. They're all doing the work here and you won't be disappointed. It's the family you've been looking for.

Passion yields identity. All the hard work, perseverance and stress brings your biggest obstacle to the forefront, yourself. You gotta dig deep and deal with those demons. Discovering who you truly are is where this path is headed. You only have a limited time here so make it your own.