a porcini

last night was our mushroom dinner for our Food for Thought dinner series.
i made a porcini.
two meringues using porcini powder...one chewy and tiny dehydrated ones.
tonka bean ice cream stood as the stem for the mushroom, hazelnut crunch snagged from the awesome milk bar cookbook, whipped porcini cream buried underneath, and some greens to round out the dish.
it was simple but the effect worked well.
why not have fun with your food, right?

sympathy for the strawberry

came across that great sonic youth title and figured i should do a post...or maybe the post was coming first and the song came second...anyway.
here are two versions of what could be considered a strawberry vacherin
strawberries, lime curd, meringue dusted with matcha, coconut-shiso sorbet, micro shiso
which one do you prefer?

the meringue is an amazing recipe/technique that i learned from Valrhona Chef Derek Poirier.  it is par-baked and then thrown in the blast chiller.  it has a crisp exterior while keeping a gooey interior...my new favorite cause i love meringues.

thanks Derek.

vacherin

this is a dish that came from two very specific influences. in los angeles, chef alain giraud is well known for his strawberry vacherin. my wife (ironically) says it is one of the best desserts she ever had. his consists of strawberry ice cream, buttercream, lavender, meringue, and raspberry coulis. it is a simple flavor profile and one that works so well at the beginning of summer with the great strawberries i've been getting from the market. as i have been so keen on working with meringues i really wanted to make a vacherin of sorts. looking at other recipes and through books there are not really any specific details about a vacherin except that it includes meringue and ice cream or sorbet. the flavors were there but how to execute the dish was the challenge. part two: in ducasse's pastry book i came across a dish consisting of a sphere of chestnut ice cream coated in whipped cream and rolled in crushed meringue. a vacherin of sorts. great technique. now to make it mine. strawberry sorbet, lavender "crema montada", lavender meringue, strawberry gel, vanilla bean cake, compressed strawberries, various herbs. after all that the finished dish tastes like those strawberry shortcake ice cream bars. i used to love those.

egg white pow(d)er

i wish i had more time to play with powdered egg whites. they have the potential to be miracle workers. i have faith. i made bergamot meringues by rehydrating dry whites with the juice and zest. adding rehydrated whites to regular whites and whipping them with sugar gave me wonderful airy meringues. i can only imagine the possibilities using egg white powder: macarons, souffles, semifreddo/parfait. standard egg whites have no flavor. if they can be substituted with flavored whites how much more can you get out of a recipe. possibilities are infinite. that is the beauty of pastry. if only i had time to explore more. anybody have ideas?