Interiors - August/September 2009

recipes

Poached Codfish
White Chocolate Sphere

serves 4

ingredients

4 four-ounce portions of codfish, skin removed 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 4 sprigs thyme peel of 1 lemon 4 medium vacuum bags Season fish with salt and pepper to taste. Place one piece in each bag, adding lemon peel, a thyme sprig and olive oil to each bag in equal portions. Seal the bags and cook them in a water bath at 136°F for 8 minutes. Rest 4 minutes before serving.

zolfino beans

3 1/2 ounces zolfino beans (a small white bean from northern Italy), soaked in water overnight

1/4 cup fine basil pesto

1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Rinse beans, place in saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 90 minutes. Add salt to taste. Remove from heat, let rest for 20 minutes. Drain and transfer into a food processor, blend until creamy and smooth. Add pesto, olive oil and blend.

serves 4

ingredients white chocolate and saffron mousse 5 egg yolks 1/8 cup sugar 16 ounces cream 8 ounces white chocolate, melted in a double boiler 0.05 ounce (1.4 grams) Aquila saffron 3 1/2 ounces white cacao liquor 0.2 oz ( 5. 5 grams) gelatin 16 ounces whipping cream Whisk together egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl. Bring the cream to boil, remove from heat and add the saffron to infuse for a moment. Pour the cream mixture over the egg yolk mixture and mix well. Transfer the mixture to a pot and heat to 190ºF. Add the melted white chocolate and gelatin and remove from heat. When the mixture begins to cool, add the liquor and whipping cream. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

baccalá mille feuille

7 ounces baccalá (salt cod), soaked, changing cold water until salt is removed; cut into large chunks

3 1/2 ounces waxy white potatoes, boiled and mashed 2 or 3 spring onions, white part only, chopped fine 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon of milk 12 large, thick potato chips (preferably homemade) In a medium pan, heat 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté. Reduce heat; add baccala and milk. Season with salt and pepper; simmer (do not boil) for 30 minutes. Add mashed potatoes; cook another 5 minutes. Remove fish; whisk remainder of olive oil into the potato mixture. Add baccala again; puree with hand mixer. Cool; transfer to a pastry bag. Create mille feuilles by piping cod mixture onto a potato chip, topping with another chip and repeating until 4 chips have been used. Create four mille feuilles.

marinated wild strawberries
1/4 pound wild strawberries
5 leaves verbena, julienned
1/8 cup sugar
Gently combine all ingredients and marinate for at least
30 minutes.

white chocolate sphere

Fill each (handmade or purchased chocolate) sphere with the mousse and strawberries.

wild strawberry gelée

2 1/4 cups wild strawberry juice

3 1/2 ounces sugar

0.2 ounce ( 5. 5 grams) agar-agar

1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

Bring strawberry juices to boil. Stir in the agar-agar and continue to boil for one minute. Remove from heat, add the lemon juice and chill until solid. Cut solidified mixture into 1-inch cubes.

guazzetto sauce

1/4 pound octopus tentacle, cooked and cut into small pieces 1/4 pound Mediterranean clams, cleaned

1/4 pound Mediterranean mussels, cleaned 1/4 pound razor clams, cleaned peel of 1/2 bergamot 3 ounces extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon chopped chives Steam clams and mussels in 7 ounces of water. Remove clams and mussels from their shells and set aside. Reserve 5 ounces of the cooking water. In a small saucepan, bring to a boil. Remove from heat; add bergamot peel; let steep for 5 minutes. Remove peel. When the liquid reaches 140°F, gently infuse the olive oil into the mixture with a hand-mixer. Add clams, mussels, octopus.

coconut sabayon

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup egg yolk

0.08 ounces of gelatin sheets soaked in water 5 ounces coconut milk 1/2 tablespoon Malibu coconut rum Beat the egg yolks until they are light and have nearly tripled in volume. Combine the sugar and water, boil until the mixture reaches 250ºF. Remove from heat. Gradually add small portions of the sugar mixture to the egg yolks, cautiously tempering the yolks so they do not cook from the heat. When fully combined, fold in the gelatin, coconut milk and rum. Chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours. Beat with a hand mixer before serving until the mixture is foamy.

garnish

12 pieces of semi dried date tomatoes

4 chervil sprigs extra virgin olive oil Garnish each dish with 3 tomatoes, 1 chervil sprig and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. (See photograph for plating.)