Interiors - December 2009/January 2010

recipes

Earth and Sea
Summer, Frozen In Time

serves 4

ingredients:
2 1/2 cups mushroom stock
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons vegetable stock
2 tablespoons kombu
1 1/2 tablespoons Katsuobushi, shaved or grated
shiro dashi
shiro shoyu
2 12” sheets freshly made yuba cut into 3 1/2" “noodles”
1 1/4 cup medium tofu
3 ounces silken tofu
5 tablespoons of egg whites
fresh ginger
fresh seaweed blanched and cut into 1/2" pieces
3 small Tokyo turnips, cut in eighths
3 ounces rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons of organic sugar
fine sea salt
12 pieces of watermelon radish, cut into thick julienne
1 whole lime
shichimi togarashi
agar agar

ingredients:
1 1/4 cups homemade yogurt, drained
1 pound of pureed fresh santa rosa plums
1/2 cup water
1 whole santa rosa plum
pink peppercorn, citrus, ginger, and rose essential oils
1 3/4 cups egg whites
1/4 cup organic granulated sugar
3 tablespoons lime juice
rice wine vinegar
Murray sea salt
fine sea salt
citric acid
alyssum flower

For the plum ice:

Mix plum purée with water and lime juice. season with fine sea salt, citric acid and sugar—the mixture should be sweet and tart. Pour into a flat metal container and place in the freezer. every fifteen minutes, scrape with a fork to create a flaky texture. continue until fully frozen.

For the dashi

Heat vegetable and mushroom stocks with konbu to just below a simmer. cook for 15 minutes, then add the katsuobushi. cook for two minutes, remove from the heat and let it stand until flavorful. strain through a cheesecloth and season the liquid with salt and shiro dashi to taste. While still hot, separate 1 3/4 cups of the liquid and add 2.4 grams of agar agar. Bring to boil, whisking rapidly. Transfer to a metal bowl that is sitting in an ice bath. cool completely, then puré. Place gelled dashi into a saucepot with 1 3/4 cups of liquid dashi and set aside.

For the tofu mousseline:

Place firm tofu, silken tofu, egg whites, and 1/8 teaspoon finely grated ginger in a blender. Purée and pass through a fine mesh sieve. season with shiro shoyu and salt. Put one tablespoon of tofu into a thick 8 ounce ceramic bowl and dust lightly with togarashi. Place the bowl into a water bath in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes.

For the turnips:

Place turnips into a 1 quart metal container. Bring 1 1/2 cups of water, rice wine vinegar, sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt to a boil. Pour over turnips and let them cool until they reach room temperature. drain the liquid from the turnips.

For the yogurt:

Pour into a whipped cream canister. add two n2o chargers. shake vigorously for five seconds then set aside in the refrigerator.

For meringues: separate egg whites into four mixing bowls. add 1 tablespoon of sugar to each. Whisk each with a fork until the sugar is dissolved. season each with a pinch of salt and a different essential oil. Pour into four separate whipped cream canisters. add two n2o charges to each and shake for 30 seconds. spray meringue onto parchment-lined, metal sheet trays and quickly move to freezer. When fully solidified, cut into cubes and return to freezer.

For raw plum:

Quarter plum and slice crosswise into six pieces. season with rice vinegar, sugar and salt.

To serve:

Place four small ceramic bowls into the freezer. When cold, add two cubes of every meringue. Top with six pieces of sliced plum. add four marble-size spoonfuls of yogurt. cover with about two tablespoons of plum ice. sprinkle with Murray salt and alyssum flowers.

To serve:

Warm dashi mixture to 160º F while mousseline is baking. add the yuba, turnip, seaweeds and lime zest. spoon the mixture over the baked tofu and garnish with 3 pieces of radish.