Technique: molten masher muffins

[Dave the Cook]

I faced something of a challenge this Thanksgiving: a menu featuring traditional ingredients, but presented to a number of folks who had already been through the usual menu (at least they got a day's break; my holiday dinner was on Friday). Still, the rest of us wanted turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes -- the real deal.

My first stop was at Sam Kinsey's blog, where I snatched half of his recipe for Turkey Two Ways. I braised the dark meat, but the roasted breast wouldn't do, since my diners had had it the day before. The rest of Sam's menu, while ingenious and sophisticated, deviated too far from standard issue to suit the crowd I was feeding. My search for alternatives led me to this thread, started by maggiethecat, where mashed potatoes are transformed into light, airy madeleines. Guajolote subsequently substituted muffin tins for madeleine molds. I tested the recipe myself, and in turning out the muffins, I was struck by the similarity to the common (and still excellent) dessert known as chocolate lava muffins (among other things). An idea was born. Could I somehow get gravy inside a mashed-potato muffin?

Turns out the answer was yes, and the dish was a success, although it still needs some work. Here's how to do it:

From Maggie's post:

Make garlicky mashed potatoes and throw in an egg. You have previously buttered the madeleine pans and pressed a thin layer of buttery fine breadcrumbs therein. Stick in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.

Press the potatoes (one pound makes twelve) in little humps in each madeleine mold. Drizzle with butter. Bake at 400 until puffy and browned...about 25 minutes.

I made a batch of mashed potatoes (I added a bit of flour in addition to the eggs, because it was a pretty loose batch), and chilled them while I prepared the pan. But instead of just filling them up, I stopped at 2/3 full, and put them in the freezer for 30 minutes. I took them out and made a hollow in the potatoes:

For a standard-sized muffin cup, a round teaspoon was the right size and shape for the indentation. Dipping the spoon in warm water between each muffin helped keep the indentations smooth. If I did this again, I'd leave the potatoes in the freezer a little longer (maybe 45-50 minutes); the mixture was still pretty loose. On the other hand, if you leave them too long, they will freeze, and you'll have to wait a while before doing your manipulation. As it was, they went back in the freezer for another 30 minutes to firm up the indentations.

I had made a batch of gravy, using proportions of 2T fat, 2T flour, 8 ounces of stock. This went into the freezer at the same time as the first chilling of the muffin cups. By the time I pulled the muffins the second time, the gravy had firmed up. Again, you can't leave it in so long that it will freeze, or you won't be able to with it. I was in something of a rush, and that's why I used the freezer. The refrigerator would surely work, if you had enough time for the gravy to chill thoroughly.

I pulled the muffins and filled each indentation with one teaspoon of chilled gravy, then covered it with more mashed potatoes:

Back into the freezer for 30 minutes. The only reason for leaving them in this long was to get everything to more or less the same temperature, so the assembly would cook evenly.

After a dot of butter on each, they went into a 400 F convection oven for 30 minutes. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of them before turning out; they looked like miniature souffles. Here's how they turned out:

They got a garnish of pressed fried turkey skin (sorry, this photo isn't very good, and was taken after the specimen had cooled, fallen, and been transferred to a melamine plate, but you get the idea):

Did it work? More or less. It looked like an alternate-universe Hostess Cupcake (I'll repeat my apology for the lousy picture):

Refinements:

It needs more gravy. I think chilling the partially-filled muffin cup a little longer would help me make a larger indentation. However, as the gravy heats up, it won't provide much support for the muffin structure. There's probably a limit.

The gravy needs to get hotter, so it flows out when the muffin is pierced. This relates to the same structural problem, though. The hotter the gravy gets, the thinner it becomes. I'm wondering if some combination of stiffer potatoes, a lower cooking temperature, and perhaps whipping the egg whites might help.

Next time, turn them over, so the more attractive top side is visible.

Oh, it tasted good, too.

[Ling]

I'm so impressed with your ingenuity. Thanks for sharing the pictures and the method. Maybe I'll make these for Christmas!

[Gifted Gourmet]

Now this is something I might actually be brave enough to attempt! Thanks for both the pictures and commentary, Dave!

[phifly04]

Very clever Dave,im wondering what those boundaries are for gravy to muffin density,flowing gravy coming out after cutting would be real cool At any rate,nice job!!!

Dave s

[Chufi]

that is such a great idea. Other stuff could go in there.. a cheese sauce maybe?

Now this is something I am going to play with! thanks!

[maggiethecat]

Utterly charming. Soooo cute, and truly tasty, I'm sure.

Could you back up a little and discuss the cool garnish? Pressed fried turkey skin is something I want t to know more about.

[Jinmyo]

I've done something similiar with minced lamb and shallots. Shepherd's Muffins.

[Dave the Cook]

Utterly charming.  Soooo cute, and truly tasty, I'm sure.

Could you back up a little and discuss the cool garnish?  Pressed fried turkey skin is something I want t to know more about.

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Your wish, Lily, etcetera, etc . . .

[alacarte]

This is really creative. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[iain]

Hmmm....this might be a good idea for using up some of the huge batch of onion confit I whipped up last week.

[Hest88]

Damn, I'm impressed!

[slkinsey]

Very interesting Dave! Kudos on the concept and design.

You do have a technical problem to overcome there with the gravy if you want it to be thinner so it runs out of the cake. My advice would be forego the starch-thickened gravy and use instead a sauce that is thickened by reduction. In my T2W recipe, I braise the dark meat in wine, port and rich turkey stock, then I strain out the solids and reduce the braising liquid by around 3/4 to make the sauce (which is then mounted with plenty of butter). There is some starch in the sauce, but really very little. This sauce is solid at refrigerator temperature due to the gelatin, but liquid at room temperature once it has been melted. If you used a sauce like this rather than a starchy gravy you would get the rich taste and mouthfeel, and it would definitely run out when the potato cake was opened.

Another thought is that the uniquitous "molten chocolate cake" is usually made in a shallow mold that looks something like this. These molds can usually be had fairly inexpensively, don't take up much room, are designed to look great turned out, and are perfect any time you want to make individual desserts for a dinner party. The advantage of having the slopiong sides and an overall shorter cake is that you don't have to worry about the structural integrity as much. This means a higher gravy-to-potato ratio is possible.

[sabg]

when they say better than sex..this is what they are talking about...they look sooooo good