Paper Chef: Truffles
On Saturday night I delved into the Paper Chef challenge: to combine eggplant, stale bread, pomegranite, and chocolate in one recipe. I managed this successfully, much to my surprise. After much consideration, I decided on creating my very own truffle recipe, based on the Hard Ganache recipe in The New Professional Chef, 7th Edition.
I wanted a truffle that began "savory" and finished sweet and tart. In order to achieve this, I devised a three layered truffle. On the outer edge was a spice blend that I created from dried hot peppers, cinnamon, dehydrated white eggplant, and fresh ground coffee. The next layer was a thick ganache made from bitter chocolate, cinnamon and cream, bringing us a bit closer to a sweet sensation. Finally, the innermost layer was bitter chocolate, cream, and pomegranite/blueberry reduction (and used a large proportion of the reduction for the most intense flavor).
In order to make the dehydrated white eggplant, I sliced them about 1/16" thick, placed them on a rack over stale bread (to help absorb moisture - a great trick) and into an oven at 350. Using the bread in this way was important for the crispness of the chips because eggplant just gets wilted otherwise. Once the eggplant dried out and became golden in color, I pulled them out and put them in the spice grinder with the other spices.
I also made sweet eggplant chips, which I used as a garnish. All I did for these is slice them 1/16" thick, "bread" them in granulated sugar, and lay them on the same rack. The rack is critical to the success of this - in a roasting pan or on a cookie sheet they will just steam and stick. The result was that the sugar caramelized and the eggplant dried out, making an awesome, golden brown chip with nice "sear" marks.
Finally I made a sauce with pomegranite reduction, cream and butter. It was somewhat thick and sweet, a great compliment to the bitter, mildly spicy truffles.
I was very pleased because I managed to balance a variety of flavors and textures that I had never really thought of combining. I will be making these again!!! Thanks for the challenge :)
Take a look at the pictures here! Enjoy!!
I wanted a truffle that began "savory" and finished sweet and tart. In order to achieve this, I devised a three layered truffle. On the outer edge was a spice blend that I created from dried hot peppers, cinnamon, dehydrated white eggplant, and fresh ground coffee. The next layer was a thick ganache made from bitter chocolate, cinnamon and cream, bringing us a bit closer to a sweet sensation. Finally, the innermost layer was bitter chocolate, cream, and pomegranite/blueberry reduction (and used a large proportion of the reduction for the most intense flavor).
In order to make the dehydrated white eggplant, I sliced them about 1/16" thick, placed them on a rack over stale bread (to help absorb moisture - a great trick) and into an oven at 350. Using the bread in this way was important for the crispness of the chips because eggplant just gets wilted otherwise. Once the eggplant dried out and became golden in color, I pulled them out and put them in the spice grinder with the other spices.
I also made sweet eggplant chips, which I used as a garnish. All I did for these is slice them 1/16" thick, "bread" them in granulated sugar, and lay them on the same rack. The rack is critical to the success of this - in a roasting pan or on a cookie sheet they will just steam and stick. The result was that the sugar caramelized and the eggplant dried out, making an awesome, golden brown chip with nice "sear" marks.
Finally I made a sauce with pomegranite reduction, cream and butter. It was somewhat thick and sweet, a great compliment to the bitter, mildly spicy truffles.
I was very pleased because I managed to balance a variety of flavors and textures that I had never really thought of combining. I will be making these again!!! Thanks for the challenge :)
Take a look at the pictures here! Enjoy!!
posted by Sasha Foppiano | 00:27
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