The Supreme eG Baking and Pastry Challenge (#2)

[lexy]

What about starting with the idea of mincemeat, but then sort of extrapolating the flavours? Cured bison with a nut, apples, dried fruit, and spice compote?

[jasie]

I watched the video linked off of the Macaroon thread.

What about doing something like that? Savory Macaroons with onion confit and pork cracklings instead of buttercream. Or a savory cookie?

Enjoy this and the last thread alot- alternating between being totally grossed out (sweet haggis?! ) , missing food from home (The bak kwa/sweet pork jerky), but being extremely amused and inspired by the process of thought/filtering all the information.

[miladyinsanity]

I have no suggestions, because I'm eating chicken right now and I've been thoroughly grossed out by some of you.

Good luck gfron!

[gfron1]

Well I'm awake now and can unequivocablly say that I will not ask anybody to suck the dessert out of a pig snout. S_Sevilla seems to be channeling my thoughts right now. All of these ideas are really great and I can't wait to make a decision...however, last night I got to make a greek cookie for a friend (I'll post in the dessert thread later), and tonight I have my bubble drink party - and there's still that cheese bust I need to carve. I'm also heading down to Deming today (1 hour south) to go to my carneceria for the suet in case I happen to use it.

I will also say that the backroom drama is much more intriguing than what the masses read on this thread. You would be surprised how many PMs have hit my box with secret tips, hidden secrets, and dirty gossip. Shame on you Ling...I never knew you were like that!

[jay b]

how about melon and prosciutto with reduced balsamic vinegar or a ginger sauce

[dockhl]

B'stilla?

[s_sevilla]

I wonder if you could do some kind of sweet-ish stuffed animal stomach, a la haggis....

Or dessert sausage. Maybe with mushrooms? Served with rice pudding? Shaved white chocolate on top to look like Parm

]]Puke[[

oh man that hurt. Though I do like the breakfast sausage idea, maybe not like that though.

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Hey, I'm just throwing them out there. Maybe one will stick.

What about the eskimo treat of seal fat mixed with berries? Can you get to a couple of seals where you are?

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I in no way support the use of whale in this manner, but I went to a specialty ice cream shop in japan and they actually did have a whale flavored ice cream........."scientific whaling" my ass.

[gfron1]

I'm not ignoring these suggestions - all very helpful, but I'm in the middle of boiling my bubbles for tonight. I had a very successful trip to my butcher. Now I've got a team of carniceriadors (I may have made that word up) rooting for me in Spanish. I have paper thin beef steaks, and my kidney fat...I haven't made up my mind but its coming together.

[Desiderio]

Ohh I am so glad I wount be the one have to taste these things Way to much mixing for my taste , other than usual ingredients other animal parts no thanks

By the way there is one italian cake or well I dont know what to call it , but its called "Sanguinaccio" and its made with pig blood ( you know they used to use everything out of pork ).Blahhhh

Good luck gfron1, waiting for the pics

[chiantiglace]

It sounds more like people are trying to convert pastry ideals to the savory side. I think some of you are a little confused. The idea is not to make a pastry thing savory, its to make a savory thing pastry.

It's really not even that, its specifically taking something that we all have confined in our mind as a staple substance of protein from living interactive creatures that has, over time, become a necsessity to our mind and body. Dessert is an off breed to the dinner meal, something that doesn't contain the bulk of our nutrition. Even vegetables are a little wierd in dessert because we think of them as a need, not a desire. Fruit is gods candy that has been given to us, so it makes sense why its is used predominately in dessert.

To accomplish this goal/challenge we have to think of the flesh of an animal not as sustinence or a provision but as an under appreciated, less-consumed entity to our bodies and minds.

If everyone can focus on finding a way to turn delicious, rewarding, and fullfilling flesh into provocative, exotic, out-of-reach attraction, then maybe we can find a way to turn this into a dessert.

Sorry if my statement seems a bit promiscuous.

Edited October 4, 2006 by chiantiglace (log)

[gfron1]

promiscuous?...exotic...fulfilling flesh... You naughty boy!

[s_sevilla]

It sounds more like people are trying to convert pastry ideals to the savory side.  I think some of you are a little confused.  The idea is not to make a pastry thing savory, its to make a savory thing pastry. 

It's really not even that, its specifically taking something that we all have confined in our mind as a staple substance of protein from living interactive creatures that has, over time, become a necsessity to our mind and body.  Dessert is an off breed to the dinner meal, something that doesn't contain the bulk of our nutrition.  Even vegetables are a little wierd in dessert because we think of them as a need, not a desire.  Fruit is gods candy that has been given to us, so it makes sense why its is used predominately in dessert.

To accomplish this goal/challenge we have to think of the flesh of an animal not as sustinence or a provision but as an under appreciated, less-consumed entity to our bodies and minds.

If everyone can focus on finding a way to turn delicious, rewarding, and fullfilling flesh into provocative, exotic, out-of-reach attraction, then maybe we can find a way to turn this into a dessert.

Sorry if my statement seems a bit promiscuous.

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This brings up an interesting revelation I had....We oven dried some really nice, sweet early girl tomatoes until they were nice and crispy. As I was snacking on them and some strawberries, I realized, holy crap, these things taste a lot like strawberries, then I remembered seeing a pastry here somewhere where someone did make a pate de fruit out of tomatoes.......

I'm really interested in seeing what's created, it seems like the dessert has already found its course....now to just sit back and wait.

[gfron1]

So here's the lay of the land...

Yes, the course feels set to me as well, however, I have two days of utter madness in my life - that damn cheese bust is going to be the death of me! So, I hope you all keep sharing ideas, because two days is a long time in my mind. I've switched my brain from "what should I do?" to "can I pull off this technique?" So, I'll be rushing around until Sunday trying to figure this out - as the light bulbs turn on...please share because I may toss it all out and start from scratch.

Tonight, however, was our bubble drink party. The fact that we had a bubble drink party should tell you how rural we are. We are about 3-5 years behind the coasts. I'm going to get posting the pics in the dinner thread.

NOTE: For the record, no dirty gossip was shared with me about Ling as I alluded to previously...Ling has accrued celebrity status among eGulleters, and so she has become a target of jabs and jokes. All in good fun

Edited October 5, 2006 by gfron1 (log)

[gfron1]

Good morning all. Two things came up whilst sleeping...

1. I've heard that tamale masa should be bought premixed (wet) for a good tamale maker (which we have plenty of around here) because its more refined than buying the bagged powder. Anyone know anything about this? The only reason this causes concern was that I was going to rub lemon (or orange) zest into sugar, and then incorporate that into masa before mixing....if its already wet, that may not work as well.

2. I have 6 paper thin sheets of meat (cut against the grain). My plan was to take lengthwise cuts of pineapple, layer them with the meat and brown sugar, and let the acids cook them a bit. Then I was going to try three cooking methods for the meat - 1. a dehydrator, 2. in a skillet with butter, 3. in the oven between two baking sheets on a low temperature.

My goal is to have the meat be very delicate and break off as soon as its touched. I assume that when I pull the meat from whatever cooking process, that it will be soft, but as it dries in the air, it will become delicate. As a side note, we rarely have rain here, so the humidity is generally very, very low, but we have a rainstorm coming in for the next 2-3 days - that may effect the drying.

[jackal10]

Your plan may enounter difficulties since the bromelin in the pineapple, unless deactivated by heat, will eat the meat and you will be left with a sloppy mush. I'm not sure if this is your intention:

Steak, before and after 3 hours in contact with raw pineapple:

[gfron1]

Gack!!!! Geez, thanks for the warning Jackal. OK, plan #2....

[ludja]

I think someone else also mentioned pork or chicken cracklings. If you think of bacon candy or dessert combinations that can handle a salty component that may lead you to some ideas.

The proscuitto/melon redux idea was already mentioned. It may be difficult for you to find down there, but along the lines of what you were thinking of with thin slices of dried beef would be the use of thinly sliced Bundnerfleisch (German) or Bresaola (Italian). I could see these working with some fruit and/or cheese combinations.

Other savory/sweet combinations that work and that might be amenable to manipulation more towards the dessert sphere:

Chinese Spicy Orange Beef and caramelized savory Vietnamse dishes.

I have some ideas for followup on these ideas but want to leave you some creative room.

Maybe with your busy schedule you could get a dispensation for a few extra days...

[gfron1]

Thanks Ludja...no dispensation needed...its all part of the challenge.

The 5 spice idea is interesting since I just made a mango 5 spice dome a week or so ago, but that would shift the southwest concept a bit.

[Shalmanese]

Here's something I've been working over for the last few months:

Bone Marrow Ice-Cream. Roast a whole bunch of bone marrow bones a la Fergus Henderson and then just churn like a normal ice-cream except with less cream to even out the fat content and less sugar. drizzle a little parsley "coulis" and garnish with a caramel glazed chicken skin for the crunch. Maybe serve with a mincemeat pie.

[FistFullaRoux]

Candied Carnitas?

[Kouign Aman]

Jackal10 beat me to it with the dissolving meat problem. (that's one hell of a 100-words picture!)

Why not sub another acid fruit? Lemon / orange / kumquat wont have the same discomforting effect as raw pineapple. The only two fruits that dissolve meat are pineapple and papaya (to the best of my knowledge).

Citrus is used to "cook" ceviche.

Or you might have some wicked sour local berries that would do the trick.

Or, cook the pineapple long enough to inactivate the enzyme.

Edited October 5, 2006 by Kouign Aman (log)

[gfron1]

I can't tell you how much I appreciated the pineapple warning - you learn something new everyday don't ya

Today I was knocked out by a cold...the good news is that I can skip work tomorrow and focus on the cheese bust. I also struck it rich with a friend who lived in Mexico for 15 years and helped me tweak the masa recipe.

Hang in there everyone - and keep the ideas (and warnings) coming. Its almost time.

[gfron1]

I could use some assistance from our sugar people...

I want to create a sugar thread that is shaped like a spring. When i do threaded sugar I can't seem to get a continuous thread beyond a few inches. How are those made?

[cjsadler]

The proscuitto/melon redux idea was already mentioned. 

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Yikes-- I'm scared of some of the ideas here. However, reworking prosciutto/melon sounds like it has possibilities. What if you infused the proscuitto flavor into a bavarian/mousse (easy on the sugar)? Perhaps this would create a pleasing foie gras like richness. Then layer it with a melon gelée?

[chiantiglace]

I could use some assistance from our sugar people...

I want to create a sugar thread that is shaped like a spring.  When i do threaded sugar I can't seem to get a continuous thread beyond a few inches.  How are those made?

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You need to get a small piece of pulled sugar nice and hot. Pinch off a small piece and carefully drag it away from the sugar using your first two fingers from your other hand to gentle rub underneath the "thread" or "ribbon" helping to release more from the block.

Once you sucsessfully made a long enough thread, take the thread and wave it infront of a hot oven or surface to make it malleable. Once the sugar starts to drupe andsoften start to corkscrew it with your fingers. You can also wrap it around a dowel or similar cylinder and let it harden like that.