Shalmanese

When Mette said to create a series of "seasonal and local" dessert tapas, he didn't exactly say where it should be local to so I decided to get a bit creative with the rules. If you were to search for "vegemite dessert before today, you would get a stunning zero links. Such a thing evidently did not exist. Of course, after google crawls this page, this will mark the record of the public unveiling of the world's inaugural vegemite based dessert. This last dessert comes at a particularly auspicious time for me seeing as I managed to lose both The right to Habeas Corpus and also The right to own Vegemite in the same month. If you don't hear from me again, you may assume the worst. So enough with the fanfare, I present to you: Vegemite and Parmesan Cheesecake This totally stunned me but it actually works far better than I would have imagined. The taste of vegemite is definately recognisable but it loses it's harshness which puts so many people off. Instead, it morphs into something kinda nutty, kinda chocolatey, kinda savoury but very hard to pin down. In short, it tasted really, really good. I was really suprised by the extreme amount of vegemite I had to put into each one of these to get that effect. For each ramekin, there was a heaping teaspoon of vegemite. For those unfamiliar, thats about 20 servings worth. Still, I wanted to do something out there and a bit eye opening and this dessert definately fits the bill. I'm just glad it came out incredibly tasty as well.

Also, the 3 people I contacted about being the next Iron Baker all had previous commitments so I'm opening this up to the crowd. If you would like to try your hand at the Challenge, send me a PM. Names will be drawn out of a hat at 9AM tomorrow my time.

And... They're done and here they are: Phew, it was tough because my heart really wasn't into it today but the ended up coming out impossibly beautiful considering how haphazardly I did everything. For the astute observer, you'll notice there are only 6 desserts on that tray. The 7th Mystery dessert is still cooling and will be ready later. Trust me, it'll be worth the wait. Grapefruit Terrine and Lygonberry Jelly Shooter The unmoulding was a bit of a challenge and damaged the dessert somewhat. This one was rather simple, just chunks of grapefruit in a Lyngonberry jello which I made using Lyngonberry Syrup I got at PFI. The taste was really complex for something so simple. The lyngonberry had a tart astringency to it and then bursts of bitter would flash by as you bit into chunks of the grapefruit. Lyngonberry Shortbread and Wild Kiwis This was meant to be visually similar to a pea and shrimp dish. The shortbread was made using the same lyngonberry syrup and it came out slightly pink but not as much as I would have liked. I've never had wild kiwi until I came to seattle but I love the flavour. The shortcake was just a tiny bit dry so the kiwis really helped provide some moisture and the flavour contrast was quite refreshing. I think the biscuit needed to have a topping of some sort though. Pumpkin Ice Cream Cake Astute observers may notice the pumpkin ice-cream is now half the size. The previous portion was far too big so I cut it in half after the group shot. This was the weakest one of the bunch IMHO. The filling really needed to have some lemon in it to punch up the flavour and I tried doing the caramel with lemon juice added at the start and, as I feared, it caused the thing to turn slightly chewy instead of crisp. The caramel was also far too thick and the thing was impossible to eat. Still, it's a nice idea which just needs a better execution next time. Mini Toffee Apple with Cherry Candy Bits I bought these mini candies from PFI since I knew I was a pastry challenger but I didn't know what the theme was. Luckily, they came in handy. Again, the main flaw in this tapas was the toffee which was thick and chewy rather than crisp. The candies added a nice burst of flavour and the apples were really tart which helped a lot. Star Anise & Cinnamon infused Duck Biscuit with a Cilantro Syrup My Cilantro Jelly didn't gel so it became a Cilantro Syrup. I really enjoyed this one although it would probably be a bit challenging to some. You could definately get a hit of the duck coming through with hints of anise and cinnamon which made it wonderfully fragrant. The texture was also really good, softer than you would expect a cookie to be but also very crumbly. The Cilantro syrup didn't really add much. next time, I should just sprinkle on some fresh cilantro. Mini-Chocolate Bar This is nowhere near as impressive as Mette's efforts. I just made the base of it and didn't bother with the ganache or marshmallow. Very rich and deep chocolate flavour though. Personally, I don't much care for overly intense chocolate flavour but it was very good all the same.

Aren't display foods usually made of plastic? Theres an entire industry that does them in Japan. I have no idea where you would find one in the US, maybe ask the local japanese restaurants. I can't imagine agar being a good idea unless you like the idea of furry food. It's what labs use specifically to culture bacteria and spores because it's an ideal growth medium.

Not exactly what you wanted but here is a recipe I adapted off Gordon Ramsey which is stunning in it's simplicity and depth of flavor: Seperate brocolli florets from stems and peel the stems. Saute some shallots, add some thinly sliced garlic and deglaze with a bit of white wine. Add in the stems and steam for 5 minutes or until tender. Add in the florets and a bit more water if neccesary and steam for another 5 - 10 minutes. Add either water or chicken stock (I actually prefer 1/2 of each for this) and puree with a hand blender until smooth and then adjust the consistency and seasoning. Top with chunks of goat cheese, some almonds and some EVOO and serve. It's really, really good considering it's pretty much just brocolli. Gordon takes the minimalism even further and just does water, broccoli and salt garnishing with goat cheese, almonds, pepper & EVOO but I've never taken it down that far. You can also stick it under the broiler for a bit after you add the goat cheese for another level of flavour and texture. edit: Gordon's recipe is here

I always wanted to try mamster's Pancetta Embossed Chicken

Phew, busy day. I've been procrastinating about doing this for a while so I only really got into it about 3 hours ago. Should be coming in all on schedule though. I should take some pictures...

Buter is roughly 80% fat and 20% water so a 1 to 1 substitution may not work. Additionally, Butter has a different melting point to oil, a different viscosity at different temperature ranges and obviously a different flavour. For some applications, this doesnt matter but it does in others.

Bah, my worthless Australian friends don't know the meaning of RSVP apparently so the whole dinner party has been pushed back to next week due to multiple conflicting prior arrangements. I will still be doing a single set of tapas for this sunday night but the public unveiling will be next sunday.

Shalmanese thinks referring to yourself in the 3rd person is a bit pretentious and this isn't an italian meal so both the salad & soup are staying right where they are:raz:. The idea of moving the salad after the main is a good one though because it would allow me to do a sweeter style salad as a segue into dessert. Good job on the summary though, I don't think I would have had the patience to type all that out myself. Every time I try, my head goes in another direction and something even more bizarre comes out.

Just to recap everything that's gone on so far. On Sunday, I will be doing a 7 course menu with the last course being 7 tapas. 6 of those 7 tapas will have some connection to a previous course served and the last one is a mystery surprise tapas I'm going to unveil on the night.

I missed something here. Do you mean should you add yuzu juice instead of water for the caramel? Or are you thinking of using ponzu. (I wouldn't add too much if this is the case...would be quite salty!) ← I have something labelled ponzu but WITHOUT soy sauce. The ingredients say it's a type of yuzu vinegar. I don't know if I can get fresh yuzu juice but I'll try.

Ok, so logistically, this is what I'm looking at: Amuse: 6 teaspoons of crab meat - Whats best? It seems whole food has alaskan king crab meat. Uwajimaya has dungeness I think. Whats the difference between the two? 2 Chorizo sausages - Where do they have good ones? I tried some at whole foods and they were OK but not anything spectacular. 2Grapefruit - this should be fine. App: Pasta check, peas check, prawns should be check. Soup: Pumpkin - which is the best? I've been reccomended sugar pie but I could also get kabocha. I'm not sure what the flavour difference is. Seaweed check, need to pick up some ginger. Salad: Still have no idea, apples, yuzu, celeriac? walnuts? nothing really comes to mind. Main: Duck Breast (reminder:defrost ducks today) check, parsnips check, need a good recipe for a cherry sauce. Dessert: Chocolate check, whats the best way to integrate beer into a mousse and how much can I add before it affects the texture? Need eggs, cream, butter. Amuse Tapas: I'm going to do a grapefruit terrine in a lyngonberry jelly. I have all the ingredients for that but I need to find a good mould for the grapefruit. App Tapas: Whats a good recipe for hazelnut tuilles? I would like one that I could mould and then bake if thats possible but I could also mould them hot. Green kiwi check. Strawberry cookie: Still need a recipe for a pink coloured, crumbly style cookie. Is that a butter cookie, a sand cookie? I'm not too familiar in this area. Soup Tapas: This should be fine. Salad Tapas: How do I make a yuzu flavoured hard toffee? Should I melt the sugar with ponzu instead of water? Should I cook the caramel, add ponzu and then cook it again? I'm afraid of turning it chewy or sticky. Any ideas about how to make mini wooden handles for the toffee apples? Main Tapas: Duck Pastry - Help? I have no idea. Herb Jam - I've never really made a jam before. I just need sugar, water and pectin right and then I can stir in some finely minced cilantro/mint. Do I need acid? Is it going to taste flat without something else in there? Dessert Tapas: I'm working with Mette's recipe on that. Final Tapas: This is a surprise.

I think the shrimp-shaped pink-something is a good idea. You could use the classic marzipan, or a fruit paste (persimmon, papaya) to get the color. Green - I second the idea of using the kiwis. ← Hrmm... Pink marzipan gives me the idea that I should try and make hazelnut tuilles instead in the shape of some orichette. I'm going to need recipes for all this stuff if you guys have any favourites. I might make a sour cherry sauce for the duck breasts since I have some of that I got from PFI as well.

Here are the pics from Saturday: Oyster Bill from Taylor Shellfish Tony from Estrella Family Creamery, their goats cheese won first place this year at the American Cheese Show but I really loved their gruyere: Some wild kiwis which I bought 2 cartons of. These were the last the vendor was selling for this year so I'm glad I snagged them, excellent flavour: The Bakery we went to: Bottleworks in Wallingford, I bought 2 bottles of double chocolate stout and bottle of yuzu wine there: Union including a view of their walkin: PFI heyjude's Mindboggling cool cookbook collection: including a limited edition, signed copy of the French Laundy Cookbook sandwiched between TWO copies of Bouchon *squee*

I went there the other day and it's amazing. It's as if they managed to transport a mediocre beijing restaurant right into Seattle.

As long as they have liquid in them, they should be fine.

Of course! duh! I'll use the wild kiwis in that dessert.

I do it the Julia Child/Jaque Pepin way and discard the caramel sauce from the ramekin completely. By the time it's finished baking, it's watery and not very good. It's only useful to colour and flavour the custard. Instead, I make twice as much caramel as I need and reserve some and add in a bit of water to make a nice, thick caramel sauce. Discard the watery stuff and pour the nice thick stuff over the top. Sugar is cheap and more caramel is easier to cook than less caramel so why not? I also used to keep a stash of caramel sauce on hand at all times for micro-adjusting the flavour of dishes and I would replenish it whenever I made creme caramel.

Talked to Whole Foods today and they said they only get a tiny amount in every day and sell them out instantaneously. The best bet for getting them is to phone them the day ahead and have them put some aside for you.

Paella, yum! Got the rice from PFI yesterday and picked up bits and pieces today at Whole Foods while looking for inspiration for my dessert tapas. So easy to make and it tastes so good!

Back... Found these at whole foods: Score! Perfect for my Mini-toffee Apple tapas. They're about the size of a small golf ball. Also seeing some of these: had me thinking about a dish I had back in Sydney which was Chorizo and Yabby in a Chorizo fat and grapefruit broth. Since one of the guests professes a love for chorizo, I thought I would do an amuse of Chorizo, grapefruit and dungeness crab meat. There were also some figs there: Don't know if I can work anything with them. I also pretty much decided that I'm going to hand roll some hazelnut orechettie, bake some either strawberry or raspberry shortbreads in a cresent shape to mimic shrimp tails and have some sort of green sauce. Green dessert items turns out to be surprisingly hard, so far all I've come up with is mint, green melon, lime, green grapes... hrmm... So the Menu is shaping up something like this: Amuse: Chorizo, Grapefruit, Crab, Amuse Dessert: Grapefruit something? Appetizer: Pasta, Peas, Shrimp, App Dessert: Hazelnut Pasta, ???, Berry Shortbread Soup: Squash, Seaweed, Soup Dessert: Pumpkin Ice, Caramel Salad: Something with Apple and a Yuzu vinagrette, Salad Dessert: Mini-Toffee Apple with a Yuzu Caramel Main: Duck Breasts on a Parsnip Puree, Main Dessert: Five Spice infused Duck Biscuit with a cilantro jam Dessert: Stout Chocolate Mousse, Dessert Dessert: Deconstructed Beer Candy Bar Mystery Tapas: ??? - You'll find out on the day.

Heading to the markets for some inspiration... Back soon

Yes... Lots Interesting, I'll keep it in mind. I might do something visually similar with a sweet pasta, green sauce and pink garnish. Have to mull that one over. I've been pondering cracklings since I had the duck idea. Would crackling retain it's crunch if I baked it inside of a duck biscuit? The other idea I had was to semi freeze it flat, cut it into thin strips and then deep fry it to form an attractive curled garnish for the duck biscuits. I think I might drop the cheese and focus on something a bit more interesting for the 5th course.

Doh, I totally forgot. I have 2 cartons of wild kiwis that I picked up yesterday. This was the last day that vendor was selling them at the farmers market so I snapped them up because they were sure to be useful. It fits into the local and seasonal thing perfectly if I can figure out what to do with them. I was thinking duck with the wild kiwi sauce but then the rules of the dessert wouldn't allow me to make a tapas out of them... hrmm...