Espresso Crème Brûlée

Gear:
4 small oven-safe custard dishes
1 large casserole dish
Medium-sized sauce pan


Ingredients:
1 pint of cream
1 shot espresso
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3 yolks

Ingredients

1. Bring cream and cinnamon to a boil and stir in espresso and sugar. Let cool for 1/2 an hour.

2. Whisk together 3 yolks and 1 egg and gradually combine with cream (minus the cinnamon stick).

3. Put custard dishes into the casserole dish and fill with water until they reach about halfway up the bowls. Pour the custard mixture into the bowls and bake in oven for about 55 minutes or until the centers are think and custardy.

4. Cool in refrigerator for a few hours.

5. Spread a thin layer of sugar (about a teaspoon per dish) and flame with a torch until it forms a hard, candy shell.

Fried Plantains

There's a fantastic Venezuelan place in Norwalk, CT, called Valencia Luncheria. I was there the other day an indulged in a side of fried plantai
ns. Kinda reminded me of eating at the Venice Cafe on Pestalozzi by the brewery in Soulard/Benton Park back in St. Louis.



Anyway, while I'm working on getting to know the folks at Valencia and maybe learning some of their tricks, I've given fried plantains a go. They turned out okay.

Ingredients:
Neutral Vegetable Oil (enough to cover half-way up the plantains)
2 plantains (they tell me green are better)
2 cups cold water (for soaking)
cinnamon (for dusting)
dash salt

1. Peel the plantains and coin slice them up into pieces around half an inch thick. It's important to make sure they're close in thickness so that they fry evenly.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a pan on a medium/low flame.
You can go 1 of two ways here. You can either fry em until they straight through, browning each side, dry them on paper towels, dust with a bit of cinnamon and serve with honey or sour cream or go to step 3.
3. Fry lightly until golden on each side (a couple minutes for each) remove from oil, pat dry, and soak in cool water for a few minutes.
4. Remove from water, pat dry, and fry again until each side's browned (about 3-4 minutes a side.

Chipotle Chocolate Chili Soufflés

People fear Soufflés. Everyone who's attempted one has a horror story of a deflated confection, a flat, eggy mess drooping apathetically like a punctured beach ball. I've been lucky so far, but that's not to say that I don't maintain a strong respect for the dish. I've read that French chefs used copper bowls for years to whip egg whites since the copper reacts with the proteins in the eggs to so the whites maintain their stiffness. The copper reacts with proteins in the egg white to prevent denaturing. I don't have a copper bowl, so I use 1/8 of a teaspoon of sodium bitartrate (cream of tartar) with the egg whites to maintain those stiff peaks.



Ingredients:
12 ounces of dark chocolate
1/2 cup of heavy cream
2 eggs (separated)
4 additional whites
chipotle chili powder (to taste)
ancho chili powder (to taste)
cayenne pepper (to taste)
pinch cinnamon (if you feel like it)
pinch salt
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
sugar
butter

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.
2. Butter the inside each ramekin, soufflé dish, or custard cup and spoon in a teaspoon of sugar and mix it around so that it sticks to as much butter as it can. Lay out your dishes on a baking sheet.
3. You'll be combining what's basically a chocolate ganache with your egg whites later, so make sure you have a large enough bowl or double boiler here (unless you want to transfer your chocolate mixture to a larger bowl later). Put the chocolate in double boiler (or metal bowl resting atop a heavy saucepan with a bit of simmering water) and mix in the cream. When the mixture begins to smooth, stir in the chili powder, pepper, salt, and two egg yolks. When the spices are distributed evenly throughout the mixture, take it off the heat and set it aside.
4. Whip the six egg whites and mix in the cream of tartar. Keep whipping until the whites form stiff peaks.
5. Spoon a bunch of the egg white into the chocolate mixture. You're going to fold in those egg whites to make the chocolate mixture less dense. Slowly fold in the rest of the egg whites until your mixture reaches a uniform consistency. Once you have it, spoon or pour out the mixture into your ramekins. It's important for baking purposes that you spread the mixture evenly among identical bowls. I either make eight smaller soufflés or four larger ones.
6. Once you've divided the mixture up, slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes for smaller bowls or 45-60 minutes for larger ones. I haven't done these for a while, but I'll update the cook times if necessary. Keep an eye on 'em.
Note: Depending on how spicy you want your soufflés, play with the chili levels. The picture I've included was a bowl that wasn't filled up all the way. If you want that nifty raised soufflé look, fill your bowls more. Any questions, shoot us an e-mail: culination@gmail.com